BTC & G Red, White and Blue Challenge Mid month reminder

Just a quick post to remind everyone that By the Cute and Girlys Red, White and Blue challenge runs until the end of this month......and December is a long  month so you have plenty of time to get your entries in.   Details of challenge, rules etc see HERE

As usual we have some great prizes from our regular sponsors, Simon Says Stamp ( $20 gift certificate) and Joanna Sheen ( £10 gift certificate) while Crafts and Me have donated 3 digital images.

 

For a quick mid-month project which would also make a lovely Christmas stocking filler I covered some pencils with red/blue paper and added some crochet flowers as toppers.  Any crochet flower pattern is ok as long as you leave a small hole at the centre to slip the pencil through. You can use die cut felt flowers if you don't crochet.  Plus a bit of glue to hold the flowers in place.

I have added some beads for the "white" element of the challenge in case you're wondering what the blobs are!
Geraldine

Daybook (Amy Tan style) swap on Aideens Swaps

Have decided that I'm going to post some Christmassy makes regularly on the run up to the 25th...starting with an Amy Tan style Daybook I made for a swap on the Aideens Swaps FaceBook page.

I choose Christmas, Christmas Lists as my theme...so warning there are a lot of photos coming up!

Cover of Daybook with acetate and bead crochet wrap.

Inside of front cover...

 Flicking through.....

 Lots of different shapes/sizes of pages...great for using up scraps.

 Tags and Angels...

 Plastic pocket with some Snippety treats inside...

Inside of back page with the Naughty list!

Finally, the back cover!

Yes, Santa made it with a little help from myself!   All the embroidered embellies are my own creations.   If you would like some just leave a comment or visit my Etsy shop....
Feeling a bit more festive now?
Ger x

Red, White and Blue December challenge at By the Cute and Girly

This month's challenge at BTC&G is hosted by Carol who loves red, white and blue colour combinations and who would love to see your creations using these colours.  Details of challenge and DT projects are Here

As usual we have some great prizes from our regular sponsors, Simon Says Stamp ( $20 gift certificate) and Joanna Sheen ( £10 gift certificate) while Crafts and Me have donated 3 digital images.

As it is coming nearer and nearer to Christmas (time is precious) I made a very quick card using Prima North Country papers, 2 snowflakes cut out with the Marianne die          Eline's Xmas star, a white Lora's flower, some buttons and pearl headed pins.  I stamped the sentiment on cotton tape with Versacraft ink.
Red, white and blue look so lovely and fresh together and all of us at BTC&G are looking forward to seeing your creations!
Happy crafting
Ger x
This post should have gone out hours ago but this is my 3rd attempt at doing it - somedays nothing goes to plan...

By the Cute and Girly mid month reminder and Free Star Crochet Pattern

Hi,
Just popping by to remind everyone that BTC&G's "Twinkle, twinkle little star" challenge runs until the end of the month.  Details, rules, prizes and inspiration here.
Your entry must include a star or be based on a Nursery Rhyme, ok?
All crafts are acceptable so my mid-month make is a crochet star suitable for a Christmas decoration or for giving to anyone who is a star in your life....

Here is my Star pattern.
I am using European crochet terms (not US)
Picot is made by making 3 chains and slip stitching to 1st of the 3 chains (making a small loop on top of a stitch)
I used a 3.50mm crochet hook, cotton double knitting yarn and a curtain ring approx 2" diameter.
Tie the yarn on to your ring.
Make 50 double crochet stitches around the ring and join with a slip stitch to the 1st double crochet.
Make 1 chain, work* 1 double crochet into 1st stitch
Work 1 half treble into next stitch,
Work a treble crochet into next stitch
Work 1 double treble crochet into next stitch
Work 1   "            "          "         "      "        "
Work 1 treble treble crochet, a picot, and 1 treble treble crochet into next stitch
Work 1 double treble into next stitch
Work 1    "           "       "       "       "
Work 1 treble into next stitch
Work 1 half treble into next stitch
You have now made one point of the star
Repeat from * 4 times and join to 1st stitch with a slip stitch
Decorate with bells, pom-poms, bows....and don't forget a loop for hanging!
Any problems just leave a comment and I will try to help you.
Ger x

Twinkle, Twinkle little star - By the Cute and Girly November Challenge

This month at By the Cute and Girly we are asking you to make a project using stars or inspired by a nursery rhyme.  This months sponsor is Crafts and Me and here is my star-studded card made using two of their digis, Irish Christmas and Christmas embellishment (the surrounding circle with the holly).

As usual we have some great prizes from our regular sponsors, Simon Says Stamp ( $20 gift certificate) and Joanna Sheen ( £10 gift certificate) while Crafts and Me have donated 3 digital images.

So why not get cracking and craft up some starry makes?   They dont have to be Christmas themed, just contain a star or stars.

For more details of this challenge and to see the DT's inspirational project please see HERE

Ger x

Time for BTC&G's Birthday Blog Hop!

Welcome to By The Cute and Girly's 3rd Birthday blog hop celebration!
If you have come here from Tammy's blog then you are on the right track, if not, you need to start from the beginning at Lora's blog.
The design team have all been busy making something to celebrate our 3rd birthday and we would love for you to visit us all to see what we made.

The blog hop rules are very simple, all you have to do is visit each of the design team members blogs and leave a comment on each one, then finish up at our challenge blog and leave a comment there to let us know you have finished the hop.

Your name will then be put in a draw to win one of the blog hop prizes.

If you also enter our challenge this month, you will also be put in the draw to win one of challenge prizes.

You have the whole month to enter and you can enter the challenge as much times as you like, as long as each entry is a different craft eg: 1 card, 1 scrap page, 1 altered item, 1 knitted item etc.

And as always, you can enter with any craft you like, from paper craft to baking and everything in between. If you made it yourself then you can enter is, it's as easy as that :)


The theme is "Birthdays" so it's a nice easy challenge and we have lots of prizes up for grabs from some great sponsors! Please check out the challenge blog to see all the prizes we have to give away!
Each design team member is featuring a different sponsor today, so you will see images or other products from a different sponsor being used on each of the dt blogs. We also have other sponsors on the challenge blog, so there really are lots of prizes to be won :)

The sponsor I am featuring is Pink Gem  and I have used their Keep Calm and Eat Cake digi to make a birthday card suitable for anyone who dreads birthdays and getting older.  Also tried to keep a Pink theme going ie cute/girly and pink with some gems!

I used the Sizzix Framelits Fancy tags die to cut out the image and an overlay of pink vellum.  Background is embossed with Divine Swirls folder and edging is made with EK punch.  Ribbon is from local craft shop and the flowers are made with Memory Box Honeysuckle spray die.

The next stop is Uta's blog.
Remember to leave a comment on this post and on all the other design team members blog hop posts for a chance to win one of the prizes. Then leave a comment on the challenge blog post to let us know you are finished the hop and your name will go into the prize draw.
Here's a list of the blog hop order in case you loose your way.
                                                    Lora

                                                   Celine

                                                    Aideen

                                                    Tammy

                                                    Geraldine

                                                    Uta

                                                    Carol

                                                    Brigitte

                                                     Kate

And finally, there are 2 Little Snippets selection boxes on the list of lovely prizes!  You can visit Little snippets etsy shop to see more lace and crocheted lovelies...

Good Luck and Happy Blog Hopping!
Ger x

Another Pink Gem card and Blog hop Reminder

Back again to remind everyone of By the Cute and Girly's Birthday Blog hop.  Details of prizes, rules and DT creations can be found HERE
I was lucky to get two images from my sponsor Pink Gem Designs and here is the card I made with their Steampunk Owl digi:

I used Bo Bunny Timepiece papers on Kraft cardstock, TH sprockets and gears die, a stick pin decorated with beads and wire and two metal bead caps that I hammered flat and filled their "petals" with black Stickles.  The grey/silver centres are Papermania Dewdrops (used them on owl's hat also).  The sentiment is machine embroidered on calico.  I have discovered how to do wonky writing on the emb machine so beware of wonky sentiments on everything!
Yes, it seems that I have had to make a lot of men's cards this year - this card was for OH's 60th birthday last week.  It would be lovely to sit down and make pretty pretty cards and stuff but life is not all lace 'n feathers.
Apologies for not blogging much recently.  I have been sick on and off for the last 2 weeks and can barely crawl at the mo...have had to shut down my Etsy shop for the time being....only doing this post 'cause I have to lol!
Finally, please don't forget to enter the BTC&G Birthday Blog Hop - there are 15 fantastic prizes to be won (including selection boxes of goodies from my Etsy shop!)
Ger x