GIVEAWAY!

Just to relieve the general end of the summer blues I am having a little giveaway/raffle of some of my handmade crochet flower brooches.

Four brooches altogether: 
1 brooch will go to someone who leaves a comment on this blog post:
Next brooch will go to person who comments on my Facebook page.
Remaining brooches will go to two lucky people who leave a comment on both my blog and FB page.  Ok?
Brooches are my own designs and measure almost 3" diameter.  A decent size for pinning on your winter (sorry) woolies!
Winners will be announced on Sunday 3rd Sept.
Good Luck!
Ger x

Captured Fairy and other bits made for online swaps

This summer was a great time for making bits and pieces for swaps what with bad weather and general lack of holiday spirit!
First up are some crochet flowers made for Uk and Irl craft swaps

Wouldn't they cheer you up on a rainy day?

Captured Fairy in a Jar made for another Uk and Irl craft swap.

The jar looks a bit hazy because I sprayed the inside with some Crafters Companion gold glittery spray before I put the fairy inside.  The mushroom was made from some air drying clay, then painted, honestly it was so easy to do....(actually there are 2 mushrooms in the jar; the fairy is leaning on the 2nd one so you cant see it)
Finished off with a crochet trim using Twilleys Goldfingering for more glitter, a dangly charm and some die cut flowers on the lid.

Finally a mini-tag album made using Fancy Pants "Beach Babe" papers, yards of ribbon, Prima stamps (mostly Meadow Lark) and the good ol' Bind-it-all....

 

Thanks for looking!

Back tomorrow with a little giveaway...

Ger x

"Fruity" challenge reminder

Seems very autumny around here just now with lashing rain,wind and little piles of brown leaves along the streets.  Time to reveal my 2nd DT make for BTC&G's Fruity challenge:

The stamp I used is called "Fruity Foursome" from Dolphin Song.  I chopped up the design and mounted the 4 fruits on black card.  The backing paper is Bo Bunny Ambrosia and the ribbon is actually an orange and white polka dot but I turned it over and used the reverse.  This card reminds me of chutney and jam making!
So you have more than a fortnight left to join in the "fruity" challenge.  Details of rules and PRIZES here!   Good Luck!
Ger x

Weddings, Weddings, Weddings....

Lots of weddings going on lately.  Here are some of the cards I had to make.  I'll start off with the simpler ones...

Made with Stampendous "Wedding Couple"  stamp.

 Using Inkadinkadoo "Papercut wedding" stamp and Sizzix embossing folder.

 Using my own embroidered embellies; butterflies available here

Wedding cake and flower embellies also embroidered by myself.
Thats enough for today!
Ger x

"FRUITY" August challenge at By the Cute and Girly

Here once more with details of the August challenge at BTC&G.  This month the theme, chosen by Celine, is "Fruity" - a great theme for August, the month the harvest begins etc
Hoping that this month we would be eating out of doors, having barbeques and enjoying sunshine I have made some little all weather coasters and a bag to store them in.

 The coasters are made from squares of plastic mesh fabric on which I machine stitched (zigzag) oilcloth squares with pictures of fruit on them.

 The oilcloth came in a bag of scraps I bought for €1 in the local fabric shop.  There was enough left over to make the little storage bag with its strawberry ribbon handles.  Oilcloth comes in lovely designs and colours.  It is enjoying a revival now with all things retro and vintage being in fashion.  My mother always used it to cover her kitchen table during the 1960's and 70's.  The coasters are wipe clean and very practical.  Maybe they wont be used outside very much with the terrible weather we have this summer but they do brighten up our dining table.

To see more fruity makes please visit the DT members blogs and get some inspiration.

Back to the challenge:  We would love to see your fruit-inspired projects for this month.  Prizes are a $20 gift certificate from Simon Says Stamp and a £10 gift certificate  from Joanna Sheen.
More details, rules etc can be found HERE
Happy Fruity Crafting!
Ger x

By the Cute and Girly mid-month reminder

Just popping in to remind everyone that you have 2 weeks left to enter the July challenge at By the Cute and Girly.  And the challenge is?  To create any project with the theme "A Day at...".   It could be a day at the races/funfair/beach...whatever you get up to on a day out!  See here for the rules and sample the DT's creations to get you going.  Great prizes  see below

A $20 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp

A £10 gift voucher from Joanna Sheen

And 5 digital images (your choice) from MayzyArt


 For my mid-month project I decided to scrap some old family photos that date from the 1940's (I think).  They were taken during a days haymaking on my Granny's farm in West Cork at  time when everything was done by hand. A few years later tractors and machinery took over.  No one bothered to note the date or who was in the photos but I recognise my Dad!  Its lovely to remember when summers really were sunny after the wet summer this year.

                                                                            DAD

I used K & Co Ancesry paper and over stamped it with Hero Arts Wild Flower label and Inkadinkadoo's Meadow Flowers trying to give the effect of a hayfield.  Then the 3 photos were matted up and the bee and the jute ribbon added for a country feel.  Very fast and very easy.
That's all for today.  Hope everyone is enjoying the summer and maybe having a few days off work!
Ger x

By the Cute and Girly - July challenge

This month at By the Cute and Girly the challenge, chosen by Brigitte, is "A Day at......".    This is a great theme for the summer months and it could be a day out anywhere, the seaside, the lakes, the country, the Zoo.... whatever you fancy.

This month BTC&G has a new digi sponsor, Mayzy Art.  Mayzy's images are brilliant, full of life and detail and suitable for every occasion.  Please pop into her Etsy shop and prepare to be aMayzyed!  I used one of her images, Steampunk Zilpha, to make a sort of girly/non-girly card....As you can see from the wrench in her hand Zilpha is heading off to the Science Museum or maybe the Young Scientists Exhibition to lend a hand!  I used Bo Bunny "Timepiece" papers,  Kraft card, TH idealogy sprocket gears, Spellbinders labels dies and some flowers from my Etsy shop.   

 

                                                  

Recently I have been doing an online Crazy Quilting course and re- discovering my old hobby, hand embroidery, as a result.  So when I wanted to get the effect of chains around the image I stitched around the oval with cable chain stitch, so much handier that trying to glue on metal chains!

So why not enter this month's challenge?
We have great prizes up for grabs ie  
                     A $20 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp
                     A £10 gift voucher from Joanna Sheen
                     And 5 digital images (your choice) from MayzyArt
By the Cute and Girly is an all crafts challenge so it does not have to be a card..... rules etc HERE
Thanks for looking
Ger x