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

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

Something suitable for a child

Hello! Hope your Friday is going well :) I've been very busy lately with Birthdays! My youngest daughter will be 3 next week, so just one more birthday hurdle to go ;) For my eldest girls birthday, she wanted to decorate the cake - so after a morning of roll out icing shaping, this was the finished look!

Don't you just love when kiddies help decorating?!!!??!?!?!!! It tasted delicious, we are especially partial to cream and jam sponge! Yum yum!


Anyway, enough thinking of cakes! ;) This week over at Craft for the Craic I am posting for the mid month inspiration. This is my card:

 I was commissioned a while back to make a card for an 8 year old girl, this is what I came up with. The girl loved it, and she particularly loved the fairy, as she got a fairy door as a birthday present.

I used a series of punching, embossing, die cutting, and sticking down some embellishments along with my favourite embellishment - WASHI tape! I am in love with washi tape, if you haven't noticed from my previous projects ;) :)

Why not pop over and give the challenge a go? Don't forget about our wonderful GIVEAWAY sponsored by Mixed Media Place - "Early Fall" kit. Look at that fabulous kit. You can enter here to be in with a chance of winning this fantastic prize.

Have a wonderful Friday, and if you have a Bank Holiday I hope you enjoy it also.

Thanks for stopping by,

Happy crafting,

Eithne ;)

Birthday for a Lady :)

Good morning! Wow the beginning of September. I can't believe it!! September always reminds me of school, and would have been the most depressing month, only for my birthday at the end of it!! Since having children, between both sides of our families we have 8 birthdays within 6 weeks. Needless to say it is the busiest 'season' in our house!

I chose the theme over at Eclectic Ellapu this week for the purple team. I am not an organised person, but I do try, so thought if I chose the theme I would be one card up!!

I made this card for a lady - I will have a choice of three birthdays to use it for. Only 7 more cards to go!! I used a combo of dies on silver card and on vellum. The black and white colour combo is complemented with the splash of red.

I heat embossed with some kaleidoscope embossing powder, I love the stuff! It is so unpredictable to use. I also used my old reliable washi tape. If you haven't guessed by now from my previous creations, I have a slight weakness for washi tape. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the stuff!! ;) Enough of my ramblings, have to get my eldest ready for her first Monday in primary school! 

Hope you have a great Monday and pop over and check out the new monthly challenge.
Have a great day,
Happy Crafting,
Eithne :)

Purple Team for Birthdays

Hello and hope you have a wonderful Sunday. This week over at Eclectic Ellapu, the purple theme is 'Birthdays' and the pink theme is 'feeling fruity'. As I am on the purple team, I made an A5 birthday card. This was for my daughters friend, who turned four yesterday.

I used some printed vellum paper, and used a punch to cut it into a circle. The layered up some papers, punched the black sheet and used some outline stickers for the sentiment. I stamped the image of the cupcake and roughly coloured it. I used some gems and washi tape to add to the card.

Thank you for stopping by, hope you can join in the challenge.

Happy crafting ;)

Eithne

CFTC - Something for Easter or Spring

Hello, and happy Friday!! :) Can you believe it is April already? Where are the weeks going. Here in Ireland we have been enjoying snippets of spring/summer weather. It is such a tease, but a great way to ease us into a nice (hopefully) summer!!

This month's challenge over at Craft for the Craic, is Something for Easter or Spring. As usual, the themes are very broad to allow for a range of crafts to enter. Why not give it a go?

This month I made a card, with some Spring colours and floral papers which remind me of Spring.

I used some distress ink, and a stencil to ink up the background. Then used a combination of handmade papers, printed papers, washi tape, greyboard and some embellishments to finish off the card.

I left the card with no sentiment, as I'm between minds what occasion it is for. 

Why not pop over and join in in the challenge?

I am entering this card into the

Simon says challenge blog - birthday challenge http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/simon-says-happy-birthday/

Thanks for stopping by,

Eithne :)

Craft for the Craic #1

Hello again,
Hope you are enjoying your weekend :)
Here is a step by step of the card I made for the first challenge on the new challenge blog I started, Craft for the Craic. Have a look at Michelle's beautiful projects and why not take part?!

This is the card I made, it's an A5 landscape card. First I used some distress ink and a mask to do the dots on the background.

With a heart doily I inked the edges with the same ink. Using my nested dies, I cut out the largest heart shape and a smaller one within the large heart. Roughened the edge of the heart with a broken scissor (very advanced tools I use :D ) and then inked the edges with the same distress ink as per the background and doily.

 I also die cut out the doily from a different paper pad that had complementary shades. 

I got these beautiful wooden words as a Christmas present, and couldn't wait to use them on a project! It worked really well with the colours and shades of this card.

 I am a huge fan of washi tape. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! This is a roll I got to push myself out of my usual colour comfort zone. The shades of peachy/pink and light teal are not a colour combo I would use often, if ever, so it was a great way to adventure with it. I cut the arrow edge on it, and did the inverse of it on the top left hand corner (photo below)

I couldn't make a card without some buttons, so I glued some in the middle of the die cut heart. I remember years ago some bride-to-be informed me that, anything wedding wise/love should have three - it represents three words 'I love you'. But alas, I am not that romantically-inclined and just felt the uneven number suited the look of the card!! :D

Thanks for stopping by, and would love you to join in the challenge.

Have a wonderful, crafty day :D

Eithne

Birthday wishes to Anita :)

Happy Birthday Anita! Today's post is part of a surprise blog hop for Anita. It is her birthday today, and as a surprise all her design teamies made a birthday card. This is the card I made:

I was spoiled this Christmas with beautiful gifts, a lot of them crafty stuff :) How blessed I am! With a few new supplies, I decided to try and incorporate them. I got this beautiful washi tape, and HAD to use it. The colour combo is not one I would usually use, so I decided to work with it.


I embossed some grey paper with one of my favourite embossing folders - Cuttlebug honeycomb folder. With some pink art paper I punched the edge with a Martha Stewart punch ( I used this same punch for the border on the inside sheet)

Using my Sizzix Framelits 'Label, Ornate no. 2' I die cut with the largest and 3rd largest die. I cut the smaller shape for an opening, and folded it back on itself. I purposely used double sided paper to show the reverse side. (I normally can't stand to use double sided paper as I feel it's such a waste to hide one side when it's stuck down!)

I stamped the sentiment onto some white board, and die cut it out. I got some pink bakers twine and threaded through the tag die cut, and also looped a charm through it.

For the bottom right hand corner, I added three buttons and a flat back pearl, in colours to complement the card.

Please check out all the other beautiful cards on the surprise blog hop, from my design teamies!

Lucy

Lisbeth

Net

Debs

Rebecca

Teresa

Lynne

Nicola

Sian

Darcy

Ashley

Fiona

Jacqui

Me! ====> You are here!

Pam

Sylvia

Sara

So Anita, wishing you a wonderful day, and hope today is a great day, filled with laughter, fun, happiness and LOTS of cake. ;)

Eithne

x

Here Comes Christmas with Penny Black :)

Good morning! It's Christmas week, agghhhh!! Can't believe how close it is :) Woohoo :)

http://pennyblackinc.wordpress.com

This week's challenge is Here Comes Christmas with Through the Purple Haze Challenges and we are sponsored by the amazing Penny Black Stamps.

Penny Black Facebook Page

One lucky winner will receive these 3 stamp sets - how beautiful.

This week I choose to do a layout, again I'm using a 8" x 8" layout.

I used a doily stamp to add a bit of colour to my white 8" x 8" sheet. As this was a pigment ink, I heat embossed it to seal it in. (Can you guess the embossing powder used?!!) I embossed a strip of paper with a circles folder. I haven't dry embossed in ages, and forgot how lovely it looks after embossed. I will make sure in future to do more embossing!!

I stamped the cute little hedgehogs onto a bauble in black ink, that I hand cut out slightly smaller than the die. With some mirrored card I cut out the bauble and layered them. I used a combo of watercolour paints and some fine nibbed markers to colour them in.

I used some green snowflake paper, and real doily to layer my frame. I die cut the 'garden trellis' in grey board to make the frame. I sprayed it with some Rangers ink, and then put lots of glitter glue on it. I used some washi tape and buttons, and star charms to finish off the layout.

I put a photo of one my little elves in it!! :)

The photo does the layout no justice! Just can't get the light right in these short dark days. Over Christmas I have great hopes to make a light tent, and hopefully my problems with light will be gone :D 
I hope wherever you are, you are enjoying the second last Monday before Christmas. What crafty stuff are you up to?
I hope to enter this in a few challenges. Why not pop over and enter the Through the Purple Haze Challenges. Have a brilliant Monday and week.
Eithne

Christmas is coming...

Hello, can you believe it is December? Where has that year gone! I best get started on my Christmas cards! ;-)

This week over at Through the Purple Haze Challenges, the theme is Christmas is coming. We are sponsored by Kenny K.

Here is the creation I made with my lovely digi 'On Vixen': -

I made a wall hanging for Christmas.

I used some foamboard, covered with a 12x12" paper.

I used some washi tape, and some nested stars. For the sentiment, I just typed it out on the computer to fit my nested dies.

I did a combo of mediums to colour this lady; watercolour paints, markers, glitter and embossing powder.

I also cut out a doily in some silver paper, and used some outline stickers for the corners. I added as much glitter as I could to jazz it up for Christmas.

Thanks for stopping by, why not take part in the challenge.
I hope to enter this in a few challenges.
Have a great Monday,
Eithne

Sketch Challenge at Eclectic Ellapu

This week over at Eclectic Ellapu we have a sketch challenge.

I have to warn you all, this post is going to be photo heavy and very little text. It's my birthday weekend, and I am relaxing for a change!! ;-)

So here is my card, why not take part in the challenge?

Sorry for the bad lighting, I'm going to have to stockpile all "photo shoots" for the bright days, to get the best shots!! ;-)

 This card was made with a combo of Oriental kits, which I received from a very kind friend. I have been trying to find something to make so I could use the papers, so I was delighted I got to 'play' with these!! :)

Thanks for stopping by, and hope you have a great day!

Eithne

Sketch challenge

This week over at Through the Purple Haze Challenges, the challenge is a sketch.

Sketches can be a love/hate relationship with me sometimes!! But once I saw this one, I knew I would love it. As you might have noticed I LOVE LOVE LOVE my 'scalloped circle lace die', and thought it would fit right in with the circle. I also have a tendency to do banner style designs with washi tape, and let me tell you, this week was no different!! ;-)
This week it is Team A vs Team B, our monthly inter team challenge. So please, do pop over and vote for your favourite. The sponsors this week are Penny Black

and Stitchy Bear.

As it happened, this weekend was a crazy one for us! My youngest brother James, had his 21st birthday party, so I decided to make a card, following the sketch for him:

I used a brown board for the back, and used my *favourite* die, (any guesses??!!) "Scalloped lace circle die', using some green paper I recently bought (his favourite colour is green) As per usual, I have no embellishments that suit a card for a male, so I had to dig deep!!

I used a kraft tag, and cut out a slightly smaller size cream piece of card and embossed it, using my Happy Birthday folder. I then lightly smudged some blue and green ink over the raised letters to highlight them. I cut out the two digits out of glitter foam.

With the twine, I threaded some alphabet beads spelling out 'JAMES'. I attached some honeycomb greyboard that I inked in brown (really need to get some more of this honeycomb!!) and attached it with two pegs. I used some washi tape, and cut it to give the bunting look, to tie in with the sketch.

 I cut some cream card, and used a ribbon punch to punch out the slots, and then threaded some music printed paper through (James is a drummer and loves music). I used a combo of buttons and flat backed pearls around the scalloped die. I took the printed sentiment from a lovely scrapbook kit that I recently bought second hand.

Thanks for stopping by, and hope you are having a wonderful Monday! Why not give the challenge a go?
I will be entering the card in some challenges.
Anything Goes - http://totallygorjuss.blogspot.ie/
Emboss like a Boss - http://anyoneforanya.blogspot.ie/
Music - http://thatcraftplaceblog.blogspot.ie/ (the strip of music paper)
Cards for men - Tag - http://cardsformen.blogspot.ie/
Lots of layers - c is for challenge - http://cisforchallenge.blogspot.ie/
Simon Says Stamp - embossing - http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge/challenge-embossed/


Eithne