Best Dad - for Spellbinders......

Here is my Spellblogger card for Spellbinders this week. With Father's Day coming up I thought this Die D Lites set called Toolbox was perfect - I am always happy when I find dies or stamps that work for male cards

So an easy card to make - I cut a circle using the classic circle die, then just cut out the toolbox and a selection of tools from silver card

I'm happy to tell you that Mike is now out of hospital, and recovering well at home, he is taking it easy and I am pretty exhausted, so we are doing rather a lot of watching daytime TV and lounging around, but now that has been happening for a couple of days, I am beginning to notice that the weeds in the garden have flourished with a mixture of sun and rain, so it's back to normality now! 

One die three ways

Today I am using the Glass Effects Card Creator die by Spellbinders for my Spellblogger post

For the first card, I cut the die in black, and backed it with vellum which I coloured on the back with ProMarkers. This gave a lovely stained glass effect. I wrapped a vellum band around the card with a sentiment cut from the Celebration two set 

The second card was cut from a pattern paper which I mounted onto a plain white card base, then slotted in some shapes cut from different plain and coordinating patterns. Just a few little gems here and there to jazz it up a little......

and the last panel was cut from a delicate peach coloured card which I mounted onto a delicate pale green card base, adding a flower cut with the medallion nine die, and some leaves from the Romantic Blooms One set.....

I love how changing the colours can result in such different looking cards, suitable for both male and female recipients

Thank you so much for all the emails and messages wishing Mike well, he is still in hospital and is recovering slowly, but life isn't back to normal yet.....xx 

Two colours only....

The challenge on Daring Cardmakers this week was to use just two colours, that includes the base colour of the card. This was tough! I was going to go with black and white, but in the end decided on a rather graphic teal and black combo. 

The background stencils, and the large 'happy' stamp were picked up at the Version Scrap show I recently went to in Paris. Go HERE to see what the rest of the team came up with for this difficult challenge, and do join in if you can

Everything is a bit topsy turvy here at the moment, as Mike was taken ill last week and is in hospital. Thankfully he is recovering now, but hospital visiting and worrying, means that other stuff is definitely on the back burner for now......

All about the glitter.....

Over at Daring Cardmakers this week, Shabneez set the challenge, and it's all about glitter. Do join in with the challenge, and hop over to see the lovely cards made by my team mates for inspiration

For my card, I added some double sided tape to the front of the card, then peeled away the top layer to sprinkle with glitter. I had some ultra fine glitters by Martha Stewart that were in a Halloween pack, but I think the colours look fun on this card. The butterfly was die cut using Stick it double sided papers, and treated in the same way, with glitter dumped on it when the top layer was peeled off revealing the sticky surface underneath

The shoe hunt continues - I must have tried on at least 50 pairs, and visited every shoe shop within a 20 mile radius of home. They are too high, too low, too plain, too fancy, the wrong colour or just very uncomfortable. Am I being too picky? Probably, but I am a woman on a mission. If I get very bored, I may lose interest and wear flip flops! I could always make some flowers in exactly the right colour to decorate them!........

Wedding Card

Here's a sweet wedding card I made using Fiskars punches - I used the Egalatine lever punch, and hand held cross stitch punch. I just punched a circle, and covered it with the blooms to make my bouquet. Quite quick and easy....

Talking of weddings, I am on the hunt for shoes and a bag for 'the big day' in September. Have you shopped for shoes lately? There seems to be three variations on a basic theme available:

Ballet flats - not exactly what I want to wear with my 'mother of the bride' finery

Glittery heels - most of the heels are precipitous six inch high spindles, some with added platforms and ankle straps to add to the danger. If I wore these, I would probably end up in the nearest hospital with a broken ankle, or suffer backache for the rest of my life. What happened to moderation?

Granny shoes - okay, I'm a Granny, but that doesn't mean I have to wear sensible court shoes with blocky heels like the Queen....she is in her nineties bless her, by the time I get there, I will probably be glad to wear them, but that day hasn't arrived yet

So the hunt for elegant, pretty shoes with a medium heel continues today. Wish me luck!

Mushrooms - for Spellbinder Spellbloggers

I was drawn to this mushroom set of Die D Lites from Spellbinders as soon as I saw it I cut it in white and coloured with Promarkers. Red seemed a good choice, although if anyone wandering through the woods spotted these and fancied mushrooms with their breakfast bacon, they may end up with a bit of a tummy ache.......

The mushrooms and grass come with the set, I added a few tiny flowers from the Draping Vines Frame set (more of that later this week), and mounted the whole lot onto a Pierced Square panel which I had sponged lightly with Simon Says Stamp sea glass ink (love that colour). Pop over to Spellbinders HERE to see all the latest dies - lots on sale over there as well.....

It has been glorious weather here this weekend, so  I have pottered in the garden, musing as I went why weeds, with no nurturing, watering, feeding or pruning, grow about ten times more quickly than the plants that have all the love and attention given to them..........  
How come the watering can/wheelbarrow/trowel are always at the opposite end of the garden when you need them?..........
Why do shrubs look gorgeous in the garden center when you buy them, and a year later (despite following the instructions on the label slavishly) don't produce a single flower......
Where DO flies go in the Winter? How can they reappear as huge fat buzzy fully grown flies as soon as the sun shines.......
and finally
If bees are so important to the planet, what is the purpose of wasps, apart from being really really annoying?.....