Saturday 26 September 2015

It will soon be here…

 

 

Hello lovely crafty friends, thanks for stopping by

It’s the weekend again already and my holiday seems so long ago…  I need to spend some time clearing my garden before the weather changes. The bedding plants had a slow start this year but they turned out lovely and I’ll be sad to throw them away. I love it when the garden is full of flowers, always such a shame when the last of them go in the brown bin!

We’re well on with the move at Lili of the Valley, the building we are in is lovely but is really too big for our needs so we’re moving to a smaller office on the same site and also opening a new coffee shop. It’s all still in the pipeline but Lisa and Laila are hoping to hold some craft events in there now we no longer have the shop so watch this space! Make sure you’re signed up for the Lili of the Valley newsletter and keep an eye on the website for more news

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As if we need reminding that the year is disappearing in the blink of an eye our new challenge at Papertake Weekly is…

It Will Soon Be Here

…of course we’re talking about Christmas so your entry this week can be anything festive

I used some of the new Lili of the Valley Trio sets to make 3 little mini cards. I adore these useful stamps and they have been so popular that we just can’t keep up with demand for them. They are back in stock now if you’re waiting, we’re so pleased that you love them as much as we do

 

Sept 22 - Christmas

Sept 22 - Christmas 1

Sept 22 - Christmas 2

Sept 22 - Christmas 3

 

These are 4” square cards and I used Simple Joys papers

Just finish with a sentiment, some gems and a couple of poinsettias and you’re done. I like this Marianne poinsettia die, a lot of them on the market are too big for my taste so I use this a lot. Of course there is tulle and stickles on there too, I don’t think I ever make a card without either and you can get them both (as well as the gems) from the Ribbon Girl

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Full details for the challenge are on the papertake blog, there is a fab prize as always and some inspiration from the team

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Enjoy your weekend everyone

 

Sunday 13 September 2015

Ribbon Girl – Everything Goes with an Image

 

 

 

Hello crafters, hope everyone is ok and thanks for stopping by

We had a lovely break in Zante, it was very hot and since we came back I’ve noticed the change in the weather here – it’s definitely feeling Autumnal which is hard to believe! How did it get to September already? I think I must have missed a few months somewhere. X Factor and Strictly are back which means my Saturday nights are taken care of until Christmas    …much to Keith’s disgust, he hates reality TV ha!

Joe is back from India, he had an amazing experience after getting upset and wanting to come home the first week! I don’t think he was prepared for the poverty and hardship he saw and he really got attached to some of the children at the school they were helping in. They really had nothing and he couldn’t understand how they could be so happy, I think once he realised that he couldn’t compare their lives with his because they didn’t know any other way then he enjoyed it more. I sent him a box of crafty goodies over by courier which they loved, it cost me a bloomin’ fortune and I was so mad with myself because he only took about half his weight allowance. We could have filled his case with things when he went but it never crossed my mind at the time. He said it was all much appreciated, especially the huge chalks which I got from Hobbycraft so they could draw outside – he said they loved doing that, and loom bands too which were all the craze here last Summer!

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It’s time for another ‘Anything Goes with an Image’ challenge at the Ribbon Girl and as usual we have two fabulous prizes, the first is a stamp of the winners choice from Lili of the Valley and there’s also a £10 voucher from The Ribbon Girl

 

You can use any image you like so it’s a nice easy challenge and it doesn’t have to be a card – we love to see cards, boxes, tags, layouts… in fact projects of all kinds!

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I had to make a card for my elderly neighbour so didn’t want a cute image this time and I used a lovely topper from the Lili of the Valley English Charm Art Pad (wish my wisteria looked like that, it’s been in 5 years and never had a flower!!)

 

September

 

I wasn’t thrilled with this card and when I was halfway through making it and it nearly went in the bin. I love these Hot of the Press ‘Rosemary & Thyme’ papers but thought they were maybe a bit too heavy for the image I’d used. It was too late to make another though as I had to get it delivered so I carried on and once the flowers and sentiment were on it didn’t look as bad. I’m still not 100% sure about it though so I’m interested to know your thoughts.

The sentiment is Lili of the Valley from Set 7 and of course I used lots of gorgeousness from the Ribbon Girl store;

17mm Laila white vintage style lace

Stardust stickles

Tulle

Flatback pearls

 Cherry blossom (lilac/white)

 Sweetheart blossom (white)

Rose leaves

Princess pin (Green)

 Bead string (3mm ivory)

 

Aa always the details for the challenge and some fabulous Inspiration from the team can be found on the Ribbon Girl blog

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I’m hoping it’s going to be a bit brighter today and then I can get my garden cut back. It doesn’t seem like 2 minutes since I was putting my bedding plants in but they’re looking a bit ‘back endish’ now and I don’t think I’ll get much longer out of them. I got some chrysanthemums from QVC for the Autumn but I’m very disappointed with them as they are still quite small, maybe it’s still a bit early for them?

Enjoy your Sunday everyone whatever you’re up to xxx