"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

By the Cute and Girly Reminder and Button Crochet Tutorial

Back again with my second DT project for BTC&G "Cute as a Button" challenge.  For details of the challenge, prizes, rules etc please see HERE   All the DT are looking forward to seeing your buttony makes!
Aren't buttons amazing?  There is so much you can do with them apart from using them to fasten clothes.   Here is a necklace I made from just cotton crochet thread and buttons

 I have made out a little tutorial in case you would like to make some button jewellery yourself.   The only crochet basics you need to know are how to make a slip knot and how to make a chain stitch and this YouTube tutorial explains it very well...

You need:

A small amount of yarn
A needle that will fit through the button holes
A crochet hook
Buttons

For the example I used Aran weight yarn, a darning needle, a size 4mm hook and Boofle buttons.

 Thread the darning needle with your yarn.  Take a look at your buttons.  You will see that most of them have a definite back and front.  Pass the darning needle from the back, through the hole...

 and back down through the button from front to back...

 This is what it should look like.  It dosen't matter whether your buttons are 4 hole or 2 hole....then push the button down the yarn towards  the ball...

 Keep going, adding more buttons.   Always add more than you think you need for your project to allow room for manouver!

For variety you can stack 2 buttons on top of each other and sew through them....

Push the buttons down towards the ball of yarn

 Here comes the actual crochet bit...refer back to the YouTube video if you get lost
Make a slip knot and a few chains to start off

Push the first button up tight against your hook (and the last chain you've made)

 Try to ignore the button and carry on making chains...

This is what it should look like (Please excuse the state of my fingers.  I do a lot of gardening!)

 Crochet on, placing a button every 3 or 4 chains (or wherever you like).  Stop when your work is long enough to go around your wrist for a bracelet or as long as you want for a necklace.  To end off crochet enough chains to make a loop that will slip over your first button....

Darn in the loose ends and here is your button bracelet!

If you have any questions or need some help leave me a message in the comments section and I will try and help you.
Thanks for puting up with my crochet obsession!
Ger x

Man card and altered Canvas

Made this card today with Fathers Day and my father in laws birthday in mind.  He is rather unfortunate: Father's Day and his birthday are very close together!

I have also altered a little A5 sized canvas in memory of my Herbie.....

                                           
The butterflies are supplied by Nanny Maggie, check out her creations HERE, the poem is by Henry Willett (Google it for the full version, after getting out the hankies!), the little glass bottle with his hair is from Create with Kate and the dog tag is Herbie's own.  I stamped some little paw prints around the edge and added his photo in a lace frame.
Entering this in Moving along with the Times "anything but a..."
Ger x