Alice in Wonderland for Daring Cardmakers

The challenge over on Daring Cardmakers this week has a theme of Alice in Wonderland - I came up with the March Hare having his cup of tea under a tree, away from the madness of the Mad Hatter and Queen of Hearts......

To be honest, I went around the houses a bit for this one - I started off thinking of the Queen of Hearts, then moved to the White Rabbit, nothing worked, but then I remembered this stamp by Inky Antics, and with a stretch of the imagination, it filled the bill.

Whatever you are doing this weekend, I hope the sun shines for you and you have a lovely time. 

Poppies and Asters - for Spellbinders

Three new cards today, all made with the Asters and Poppies Spellbinders die - it's on sale, check it out.......

and my favourite, using the lovely A2 Scalloped Borders Three...... I thought this would make a lovely wedding, or wedding anniversary card

Which one do you like best?

So now I am a bit addicted to the TV programme 'Say Yes To The Dress'. I am astonished how many brides want to dress as Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman - before she was rescued by the rich guy.   Also how many of them say that the dress is the most important part of the day. Hello......how about those promises you are going to make?
 But I did have a joyous moment when a forty-something bride had a (rather unhealthy) obsession with the late Princess Diana. Apparently they shared a birthday, and she 'talked with her' every night. So the dress had to be regal, fit for a princess, etc etc.  The dress she ended up with showed rather a lot of flesh, masses of it in fact, especially around the chest area. However, the bride was satisfied, popped a diamante tiara on top of her head and declared 'I look just like Princess Diana on her wedding day'
No, not quite, (although that might have something to do with the fact that the princess lookalike was African-American) the amount of flesh on show would surely have given the Archbishop of  Canterbury a heart attack, poor chap, he would never survive the ceremony, and although I reckon Prince Phillip would enjoy the latest royal fashion, the Queen would NOT be amused.....

Rad! - For Spellbinders

I couldn't resist this set from Spellbinders called Hipster 2 - perfect for those difficult male/teenage boy cards.........I am so behind the times, that I actually had to google the word RAD to see exactly what it meant. I'm not exactly hot on new urban language trends.....

Mind you, this would be a good card for Max, my ten year old grandson. When I went for a goodbye hug on our last visit, he announced  'I don't do hugs any more Ma, I do fist bumps......!'  ✊

If you go down to the woods today - for Daring Cardmakers

It's my turn to set the challenge over at Daring Cardmakers this week, and I chose a great outdoors theme, with the title 'if you go down to the woods today' - so think of country walks, picnics, nature trails and camping. Here is what I came up with, a little scene which needed a tiny pop of colour, so my tent is hand drawn. Since it's night time, the campers are obviously inside, warm in their sleeping bags. Mind you, if they had any sense they would be warm in their beds at home.......

Do pop over to see what the team have come up with for this challenge, and if you can join in, we would love to see your take.......

Whatever possessed me to think of this as a challenge theme - I have no clue. There is nobody in the world less likely to camp than me. I tried it once, when I was a teenager. We camped in a field in Wales. It poured with rain all night, I lay there clutching my cream coloured suede handbag to my chest, as protectively as if it was a new born baby. CREAM SUEDE! CAMPING! Was I crazy? Since then, if there isn't a solid roof over my head, and a nice clean surface to park my handbag, I prefer to stay at home

Happy New House.......for Spellbinders

 I spotted this little Shuttered Window die on the Spellbinders website - it's on sale at a bargain price, so hurry if you want one....

I used bits of a trailing vine from the Draping Vines Frame die, and added some pink enamel dots to the flowers. The sentiment is by Simon Says Stamp

Which reminded me - I made this card with the Draping Vine Frame set ages ago, and I have never shared it with you

Ice Cream - for Spellbinders

A 'sweet' card today using the versatile Chill set of Die D Lites by Spellbinders

I piled the ice cream scoops up high and made sure my favourite flavours were there - pistachio, strawberry, chocolate, and do I spy a scoop of cookie dough ice cream..........I cut the sundae dish and spoon out of silver card, it all looks quite authentic!

Here is a peek at the set, I just love it, and I haven't even used the ice lollies yet (or popsicles, depending where in the world you are living....)

What else is going on in my world? A very painful frozen shoulder for one thing which has made life a bit difficult for a few weeks now, but a cortisone shot seems to be helping - a bit!

It is now only two months until the wedding and I have a huge list of things to do. The current boring repetitive job is making the Order of Ceremony cards, still to go are the place cards, table plan, wedding sign.....I can't wait to  show you everything, but of course I can't until after the big day

Does anyone else have a problem with those hand held electronic signature things that delivery drivers thrust at you when delivering a parcel? I don't know if it's because I am left handed, or because I have a built in suspicion of being asked to sign for anything, without having first looked inside the parcel to see what exactly I am signing for, but the squiggle that I produce looks nothing at all like my normal signature - just a long scrawl across the screen. I could put the stylus in seven month old Molly's hand and she would do a better job! I don't really see what exactly the squiggle achieves. If there was a dispute over delivery,  I guess it would show that the family dog/cat/hamster/infant child were at home to receive the parcel and scribble on the screen. But show the signature to an expert handwriting analyst, and I am quite confident that they would never match it to my normal flourish. One of the mysteries of modern life that makes me ponder.........

Flowers - for Daring Cardmakers and Spellbinders

Today it is Dawn's turn to set the dare over on Daring Cardmakers and she gave us this photo collage for our inspiration. Now I am a little bit behind the trend on unicorns, and couldn't find a single stamp or die in my stash to fit the bill, so I focused on the photo of the pretty tiered fabric tent and the hot pink flowers.......

I cut a card into a pyramid shape and used a die from the A2 Scallop Borders three to create the layers on the base. Then I used the Dogwood dies to create the pretty flowers - I cut in white and just swiped with distress inks to colour

They look so pretty, and were a breeze to assemble