Giveaway!!

Hello and happy Thursday! For all my American friends, Happy Thanksgiving 😀
Over on my Facebook page I'm having a giveaway! I have two lovely packs of handmade festive pegs (check them out here) to giveaway and a pack of 5 handmade Christmas cards.

 To be in with a chance all you have to do is like, comment on the post and then reshare the post! Easy peasy ;)
I hope you have a wonderful and peaceful day, wherever you are :)
Eithne

When you came in my life you changed my world

Hello, and happy Friday! Today over at Craft for the Craic we have some beautiful mid month inspiration. This month the theme is "Inspired by Music". As this is the middle of Birthday Season for my family, I'm showing the birthday card I made for my daughter Sarah. 

 We are big "Thin Lizzy" fans in our house. Our dog's name is Lizzy because when we found her she was really skinny and scrawny (get it, thin Lizzy?!!) Anyway, unintentionally a few years later our first child was born and we called her Sarah because we loved the name and it suited her. Coincidentally Phil Lynott's (from Thin Lizzy) daughter is Sarah also! The title is the first line of the song, which is so true when kiddies came along in my life! :)

So although, I was making this card for a birthday (it could be inspired by The Beatles Birthday either ;) ) it ties in with a lot of musical influence :) :)

 I used a series of dies (Bigz doily die, Bigz Styled Labels, Technique Tuesday happy die etc), papers, washi tape, embellishments to complete the card. 

I couldn't help a bit of doodling either in my silver pen!

Anyway, I have to go and finish eating some of this - it *IS* quality control before any guests arrive ;) ;)

If you are crafting, and it ties in with the theme, why not enter over at Craft for the Craic?!

Have a wonderful Friday, wherever you are :)

Eithne :) xxx

Thank You Tattered Lace!

Hello and thank YOU for popping by!

Beautiful Autumnal weather here in Ireland, but you can feel the nip in the air slipping in :) I was asked recently to make a Thank You card for a member of the clergy. Last year my very kind Aunt, die cut some of her beautiful Tattered Lace dies for me. I wanted to use them on something special, so this card was just the ticket!!

With a navy A5 base, I layered it up with some kraft card. Using some of my 3d Matte Gel by Finnabair, I created a stenciled affect and then stamped some music (Finnabair's music stamp) in brown ink over it.

 I embossed some navy board, and mixed some mica in with the 3D Matte Gels and created a glowing affect. I did different levels of colour to create the affect of the light shinning from it. I layered this with another shade of kraft card. Roughening the edge, stamping and inking the edge in navy ink to tie in with the base card. Some gold confetti musical notes glued all around for a bit of "bling".

Look at the beautiful ornate Tattered Lace cross! 

 With another Tattered Lace corner die cut, I placed it over a layer of die cut vellum. Stamping and die cutting the badge, I placed the "Thank You" on top. I find this colour combo perfect for male cards, and I love how the gold mica shows off on the navy.

I hope to enter this card in the following challenges:

Crafting Desert Divas - Favourite Colours (navy, kraft and gold are one of my favourite colour combos!)

Unstampabelles Challenge - Boys will be Boys 

Simon Says Stamp - Use a Stamp

Glitter n Sparkle - Use a Punch or a Die Cut

The Corrosive Challenge Blog - Mixed Media

Thanks again for popping by, hope you have a wonderful day :)

Eithne

Craft for the Craic: Septembers Challenge :)

Check out the new challenge and beautiful inspiration over at Craft for the Craic today!



 Craft for the Craic: Septembers Challenge :): Hello and happy Friday to you!! Wow, September already. Where is the year going to! Thank you so much for all the beautiful entries for ...

End of month inspiration over at Craft for the Craic

Hello! Happy Friday to you! Can you believe it's the last Friday in August? This week has been pretty chaotic, my eldest daughter went back to school, my second girl started playschool and my husband started a new job, having changed careers to become a teacher. All school based this week! Thank God for the weekend ;)
I'm posting a card I made for my husband, before starting his new job.

This month over at Craft for the Craic this is the photo inspiration. I chose to let the greens inspire my card.

I wanted to avoid the "good luck" messages, so chose a more thought provocative one from KaiserCraft.

I decided to use up a selection of my off cuts (scraps - don't tell my husband ;) ) that worked well together.

I die cut some vellum and embossed it with my heart folder, it complemented the heart die cut. I used Versafine Sepia ink to stamp the sentiment onto some kraft card I had, and used some kraft card to layer the two lime green papers. I used a top folding cream card, 6" square.

Thank you for stopping by today, do you ever get to use up your scraps/off cuts?

Have a great Friday, and if you are crafting, why not give the challenge a go?

Eithne

Watch the flowers!

Hello!

Today I have a quick card to share, I couldn't resist the beautiful pink base. 

I used some paper from the Pebbles Garden Party Collection 12 x 12 paper and matching die cuts.

I stamped the sentiment with sepia ink on  layered squares. Just a quick make, I'm hoping to build up a stash of these cards!

Thanks for stopping by, have a great Sunday :)

Eithne

A Kraft Best Wishes

Hello, hope you are having a wonderful day :)

Today I made a 5"x7" card for a friend, who was feeling a little under the weather.

A while back I bought some DoCrafts Papermania 5x7" Kraft card blanks. I am a sucker for kraft card lately, and couldn't pass up on these beauties ;) The tone of the kraft is beautifully rich, and they go so well with all my deep colour card and paper stock, especially My Mind's Eye Remarkable Smile and complementing paper range.

I used some cream board and layered it with some My Mind's Eye paper, and then stamped the sentiment with black Archival ink. I placed a strip of yellow Remarkable Smile paper going horizontally, with a co-ordinating brad.

My friend loved the card, and is now thankfully on the mend!

Hope you have a wonderful day, and thanks for stopping by.

Eithne :)

Craft for the Craic: August Challenge - Photo Inspiration

Check out the new challenge over at Craft for the Craic with a photo of my "wild" garden for inspiration! ( *PLEASE do NOT look for the weeds ;) ;) )

Craft for the Craic: August Challenge - Photo Inspiration:



Hello, and happy Friday to you! Hope the summer where you are is better than the Irish one....

Crafting while camping?!

Hello!

Hope you are enjoying the summer. Here in Ireland we have a few days of summer, and then Winter takes over!! With all the "summer" activities going on, I'm finding I have so many photos and trips to journal/scrap about. Keep a watch on this space for some scrapbooking adventures!

We recently went camping, a first time as a family to Westport House, Co. Mayo, Ireland. My husband and I camped around New Zealand in 2003, but with kids it's very different! Priorities change, and this time the best camping spot was the one closest to the kids sand pit play area!

If you are ever in the West of Ireland, near Westport, Westport House is a definite must. It is built in rememberance of Grace O'Malley, on the same land of her tower, by her ancestors. Such magnificent house and gardens.

I am so tempted when going camping, to bring some crafting supplies with me. This time I didn't bring any, and I was quite glad not to have. We had quite a few torrential showers, and I didn't fancy having to protect any paper supplies from the wet west weather. Do you ever craft while camping?!

 After all the camping adventures, on my return I was able to craft in my dry room!! I made for my neighbour.

I used a 5x7" Kraft card (I'm particularly in love with this tone of card ;) ) and used some of My Mind's Eye paper collection to layer up.

I die cut and stamped the sentiment and used a beautiful Prima Pebbles Cailioux.

Hope you have a wonderful day, and do you ever craft while camping?

Eithne :)

Good day sunshine :)

Hello, and hope this July day is finding you well and your summer is going great. I have been quiet the last few months here on my blog, but busy crafting away in the background. So much to craft, so little time!

Here is a card I made for the July challenge over at Craft for the Craic. This month's challenge is Summer Time, how ever you decide to interpret it.

A few years back, I very luckily won a blog candy from the wonderful Sheena. I used the beautiful Tilda stamps a few times, but never blogged about them. Recently I have been using my ink pads correctly (ie the water resistant ones I've been using with water colours, and not wondering why the ink was bleeding!!) and it has opened up a whole new world (a lightbulb moment ;) )

So I stamped this Tilda girl, and decided to use my inktense pencils to colour her in on the watercolour paper. I then used some watercolours paints for the water and sand, and added in a bit of glitter and heat embossing for the sea foam.

I used a broken scissors to roughen the edge, and layered it on black card. With a few scraps from my desk I layered up the lovely pinks in the background.

I then stamped the sentiment, and die cut it out. I used a pen to outline the frame of the die cut.

I recently went to a class with Finnabair and was so inspired by her, I bought some of the Art Basics 3D Matte Gel, which I used with a stencil to make the textured dot background. (I can also say I'm using the gel on EVERY.SINGLE.PROJECT since! ;) )

I really enjoyed making this card, along with the new techniques I used and learned from.
If you are crafting why not join in the challenge?
I hope to enter a few challenges with this card.
Simon Says Stamp = Wednesday challenge - Sparkle and Shine (glitter as the foam in the sea)
Southern Girls Challenge = Get Messy with Ink or Paint (Watercolour paints for the sea and sand)
Magnolias Midweek Challenge = Embossing (the foam on the sea was embossed)
The Sisterhood of Crafting = Summer Heat
Kraftin' Kimme Stamps - Wonderful Wednesday
Crafting by Designs - Summer Holidays
Fantastic Tuesday - A Day at the Beach
Papertake Weekly Challenge - Build it Up
Thanks for stopping by,
Eithne

Love

Hello! Hope your week is going well :) I am counting down the days until my eldest girl finishes school for the summer. Can't wait to have the relaxed, stress free days :) We are having glorious *summer* weather, which always helps everyones moods!! :)

Today I am showing a project that has been in my head for quite some time. I eventually took the *plunge* and started on this project, slightly smaller than an A4 (208mm x 270mm).
 Two years back I attended Ania's classes in Newbridge. As part of the classes we got some materials to do some projects with. Well to my shame, I have not been able to bring myself to use them since the class! I love the colours and found it desperately hard to force myself to cut on some of the papers. But with a new focus, to use all the beautiful supplies I have, I have started using my pretty papers.

This is a mixed media project I completed. I am hoping to frame it, and possibly add more text to it. I am just practicing my scripty writing and trying to think of something *UBER* inspiring first!!

I used watercolours paint and watercolour crayons for the blue evening (sun-setting) sky. I drew and cut out all the houses from some 7 Dots paper, and stuck them down with some paste/glue. Next I drew and cut out the hills. I went over the hills with some watercolour crayons, and then blended them altogether with water. When they were dry, I drew the designs on with permanent marker. I also used a white permanent marker to add some details to all the designs.

Then I deliberated for a few days. I knew I wanted to add a tree to the left side, but wasn't sure whether I would paint it or fussy cut it. Painting won over, so I mixed some red and green acrylic paint together to come up with the shade. Of course my painting supplies are limited, (ie non existent) and I had to raid my children's painting stash for a paintbrush :/ Needless to say, the quality was pretty poor and the tree did not have as much detail as I would have liked. The edges were not very defined, so I went over them with a gold marker to add definition. I highlighted a few other details as well.

While I had acrylic paint out, I used some white to add the clouds in. I fussy cut out a stencil, and sprayed the tree with some mists.

I only have blue and yellow, so I sprayed the blue mist first and then the yellow on top. It gave a yellow tinge towards the edge, which was perfect - nearly like a sunset glow. I added some jewels to the tree for interest and dimension, and added some butterflies on the right of the night sky. I used a wooden embellishment "LOVE" to ground the tree ;)

With all the watercolouring and gluing used, the board is slightly buckled. When it is framed hopefully the pressing from the glass and backing board will reduce the buckling, but if you know of any magic solutions, please be sure to share them with me!!!! :)

Supplies used:
Paper for the hills - 7 Dots Studio - Nights Fever Dreamers Collection
Paper for the houses - 7 Dots Studio - Sweet Dreams Dreamers Collection, Domestic Goddess Over Used Tablecloth & Kitchen Wallpaper. (It is a little bit difficult to see the papers, as I went a bit heavy handed over with the designs ;)  )
Wood Embellishments (LOVE) by Prima Marketing Inc
Some embellishments I had in my stash
Gold, Black and White permanent markers.

I hope to enter this into the following challenges:
7 Dots Studio - Tree


Simon Says Stamp - Use Paste 
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - Favourite Technique and/or product (at the minute my watercolour crayons are my favourite product and hand drawn designs are my favourite technique)


Thanks so much for popping by.
Have a wonderful day,
Eithne :)

Good day sunshine!

Hello and happy Wednesay to you :) We are being treated to a glorious day of sunshine here in  Ireland after the weeks of rain and gale force winds!

Today I would like to show you a layout I created and framed for a present. It includes a photo of my two cheeky girls ;)

Recipe:

7 Dots Studio - Night's Fever paper for right background

Tim Holtz Sizzix Honeycomb die

KaiserCraft Clear Stamps "You!"

Project Life Journal card (numbered 1-9 on Left side)

From my stash:

Red card to layer the photo, buttons and gems.

Thank you so much for stopping by, hope you have a wonderful day :)

Eithne

Floral Best Wishes Card!

Hello! Hope you are enjoying the long weekend :) we are having a repeat of Winter here in Ireland!!!

This month over at Eclectic Ellapu the challenge is Anything Goes for the Pink Team.

This is the card I made for the challenge. It is a card for a friends wedding coming up.

 

Using some kraft card as a base, I followed it over to an A5 size and used a 6" x 6" sheet of paper pad, cutting it with a wavy blade on the guillotine. With a combination of die cuts and punches I layered the paper/card on the left side.

I used a selection of skeleton leaves, flowers and embellishments to decorate the card.

If you are crafting this month, why not enter the challenge?

Thanks so much for popping by,

Have a great day,

Eithne :)

Best Wishes Card

Hello and hope your Friday is going well. Over at Craft for the Craic this month, the challenge is "Wings". 

Today I am showing a card I made with a combination of stamps, dies, papers, embellishments and an embossing folder!

I die cut a heart out of some Kraft card, and then embossed the rest of the sheet of card. This was layered onto some beautiful My Minds Eye "Oliver" glittery paper.

I used the house, windows and doors from the Simon Says Stamp "Where the Heart is" collection. I used some Promarkers to colour them in to add some colour that would co-ordinate with the rest of the card. (I only recently bought some Promarkers, so this is my first project to colour with them yet...!!)

I used some blue and cream embellishments - a butterfly bead (Wings), flat backed pearls, buttons, beads to add some detail on the embossed card.

I then die cut a frame from some more My Minds Eye "Oliver" paper, and also cut the banner. I used a stamp set I got free with a magazine for the sentiment and used a wooden veneer heart for the right hand side.

This card is for some friends who recently moved house. If you are crafting and it matches the theme for Craft for the Craic, why not give the challenge a go?!
I am going to enter the card into the following challenges -
Simon Says Stamp - Monday Challenge SSS Brand Product (The house stamp is from the "Where the Heart is" set)
Wags 'n' Whiskers - Lots of Layers
Creative Card Crew - Embossing
Whimsy Images - Colour an Image

Thanks for Stopping by,
Hope you have a wonderful weekend,
Eithne :)

Die-ing for Spring challenge CFTC

Hello :) I am still here, and only now getting back to blogging! I've been blogging over on my challenge blog, Craft for the Craic. Been a crazy few months, but now hopefully things are calming down.

Over at Craft for the Craic this month, the challenge is "Die-ing for Spring or an Easter theme". Here is the card I made for the challenge:

 I used a Bigz lace die, a tag die and the Happy Birthday tag die. I also used a doily lace cut out in lime green, in the background.

 Also used some vellum, and stamped the music notes onto it, and used the music washi tape. (Every project seems to need washi tape ;) ) 

 I cut out the age, 11,  with some glitter foam and used a butterfly charm tied on with bakers twine. I also used some green thread to add some texture by sewing.

 Layering some flowers, and using a gem as the centre piece really makes it pop! The cerise pink paper in the background was embossed and torn to create a non uniform backdrop.

Of course I couldn't resist adding some embellishments and buttons for a bit of dimension!

Hope you have a wonderful Friday, and thanks so much for popping by. If you are doing some crafting and it meets the challenge theme, why not give it a go?

Happy Crafty Friday!

Eithne