Paper piecing at Papertake Weekly .....

This weeks Papertake Weekly Challenge is 'paper piecing' and The Ribbon Girl are giving a £10 voucher to spend in their online store

I stamped Tilda with balloon and coloured her with copics then stamped again onto this lovely paper with the tiny pattern on it - I cut out her dress and her hair ribbon and used the same paper for the background.  I added lilac velvet lace, ivory organza pearl rose ribbon, 7mm orchid satin ribbon, a flower shaped acrylic button tied on with natural hemp twine.  I added Stardust Stickles to the flowers on Tilda's dress and inked around all edges of paper with walnut stain.

I replaced the balloon with a small round sentiment which is a Molly Blooms stamp - perfect fit :-)

For my flower arrangement today I used a Ribbon Girl cream daisy with mocha beaded stamens, a Kort & Godt lilac rolled rose, Wild Orchid lilac cosmos, ivory cherry blossom and mocha chrysanth - leaves cut with my good old Martha Stewart punch.  

All flowers, lace, ribbon, button, twine and stickles are from The Ribbon Girl

I hope you can enter this weeks challenge, it was great fun 'dressing' Tilda, a bit like the cardboard dolls and paper dresses I had when I was a little girl.

I'm entering the Marvellous Magnolia challenge ' add a bow ' (even though mind is very small)

Magnolia Down Under challenge - lace and flowers

See you soon,

Mary x

Lilac birthday card ....

The May Colour Challenge over on The Ribbon Girls blog is 'lilac and lavender' and there are some fabulous projects by the DT - please pop over and have a look - you can't fail to be inspired to get crafting!  The prizes are a £10 voucher for LOTV generously donated by the lovely Laila and Lisa, and a £10 voucher to spend in th Ribbon Girl online store

I made this lilac birthday card using a LOTV pre-printed image - the sentiment is from their new printed booklets, I just punched it out and added a backing which I enhanced with liquid pearls.

For my flower arrangement I used a Wild Orchid 35mm trellis rose and some lilac/purple sweetheart blossoms, a Kort  & Godt lilac rolled rose and Ribbon Girl white beaded stamens, lilac beaded berries and a white organza flower with a pearl centre.  I added a touch of Stardust Stickles to the rolled rose.

I added a clear 5mm gem to a silver colour butterfly from a pack of 5, bent it's wings up slightly.  You can see the piece of faux diamante mesh I cut from a 6-row piece - it's very versatile and so easy to use

I finished my card with 22mm white guipure lace and 7mm orchid satin ribbon both adhered with 3mm sticky tape, a few pearls and a little Stardust Stickles.

Ribbon, lace, butterfly, stickles, flowers, beaded berries, stamens, liquid pearls and sticky tape are all from The Ribbon Girl

thanks for visiting and see you soon, 

Mary x

snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes

''Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into springs
These are a few of my favorite things''

The theme at this weeks'  Papertake Weekly Challenge is 'The Sound of Music' so a song or your favourite things, mountains, goats, and so on.  Check out the great projects by the DT  - we hope you will be inspired!  I chose these words 'snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes'  from the song 'my favourite things' and made a winter card to which I'll add a sentiment later.   I used a LOTV pre-printed image to which I added Stardust Stickles and teamed it with LOTV/Nitwits Bonnets & Bowties paper, 25mm No 7 heliotrope satin ribbon  layered with 15mm white/silver snowflake grosgrain, topped with a 15mm sparkly acrylic button tied on with natural hemp twine**.

a close up of the diecut snowflake border and the 5mm flat pearl string - this is very useful and easy to stick down with tape or glue.

My flower arrangement incudes white stephanotis with diamante centre, lilac Kort & Godt rolled rose, Wild Orchid Crafts lilac small gardenia, cosmos and chrysanth, plus Ribbon Girl white starburst stamens and white/white beaded stamens with a tiny stalk of sparkly clear crystal hearts on silver stem.  I punched the leaves from a scrap of the backing paper but decided they looked better on the white reverse-side.

 I hope you can join us at Papertake Weekly - there are so many ways you can interpret this challenge! 

All ribbons, button, flowers, stamens, crystal stem, Stardust Stickles, flat bead string and hemp twine are from the Ribbon Girl 

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

http://sparklesforumchristmaschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ (favourite colour)

http://craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ (stars)

and ** and don't miss the giveaway on the Ribbon Girl Blog - you could win some of this gorgeous new hemp twine!

See you soon, Mary G

Two stamps ...

This week's challenge at Papertake Weekly is to use two stamps - there are some fabulous cards so please pop over to be inspired and see the great prize on offer

For my cardI stamped Tilda and coloured with Copics then cut with an oval nestie -  then stamped around the edge of the oval with a Stempelgade stamp in pink but it doesn't show up too well in this photograph.

My papers  are from a Pandura Tilda pad and I added ivory and pearl lace and vintage pink fluted edge ribbon.  I had to cut one flag off my lovelhy banner 'cos I should have placed Tilda lower down the page and if I'd left all four flags on they would have obscured her face - I'll know next time :-) The flower arrangement today includes a flower from a Marshmallow Mix Anenome pack, a WOC deep pink 35mm trellis rose and pink 20mm open rose, Kort & Godt white chrysanthemum, RG white beaded stamen, RG white starburst stamen, a clear crystal heart stem and a diamante stem for a  bit of sparkle.  The round sentiment is from a LOTV preprinted pad (very useful) and I also added soome pearls

All flowers, lace, ribbon and crystal stems are from The  Ribbon Girl

Mary x

Add a button ....

It's a beautiful day here, blue sky and sunshine - the weatherman has promised a warm, dry day - just perfect :o)   The May Card challenge on The Ribbon Girl  Blog is to 'add a button' and this is my card.  The design team have made some fabulous cards so please pop over and be inspired.  The prizes on offer are a £10 voucher for the Ribbon Girl store and a stamp of your choice from the lovely ladies at Lili of the Valley (perfect timing because they have a new range of stamps just out!)

I added a wooden heart shaped button tied with candy pink divine bakers twine.  The image is Tilda coloured with copics and the double sided papers are from a Pandura Tilda pad.  I added  'Bethany' ivory guipure lace and 7mm Berisford old rose (mauve) satin ribbon.  My flower arrangement includes RG ivory beaded gypsophalia, Kort & Godt pink rolled rose, Mocha 35mm trellis rose, 20mm open roses in stone, pale pink, victorian pink and dusky pink

See you soon, Mary x

Sketch time at PTW ....

It's sketch time at Papertake Weekly - I used a LOTV image and added WOC baby pink cherry blossom and RG white beaded stamens.  The lace at the top is white flower guipure with 15mm Berisford satin  on top, the bow is tied with a 15mm clear crystal button tied on with pink Divine Twine and a silver colour butterfly charm.

Flowers, ribbon, lace, button, twine are all from The Ribbon Girl

Mary x

Watering the flowers .....

I hope you have all had a lovely weekend.  This is my last GDT spot on LOTV's Ideas to Inspire blog - thanks so much for asking me ladies! Todays card features 'Watering the Flowers' stamp which I coloured with Copics.  Papers are from the Bonnets & Bowties and the Promises pads

I added some white cheesecloth behind the image, lilac floral bias binding with white lace and white ruffle edge sheer ribbon.   he butterfly is punched from paper with stalks cut from the flowers for antenna. My flower arrangement includes WOC lilac 35mm trellis rose, purple carnations, lilac and white sweetheart blossoms, pink/white  hip rosebuds, lilac cosmos flower, RG beaded white swirl, Kort & Godt white chrysanthemum all from The Ribbon Girl

Mary x

Posted by Mary

Magnolia Only

The April Magnolia Only challenge 'add a diecut'  begins today on The Ribbon Girl Blog - I used Tilda with Flower and coloured her with Copics, adding Stardust stickles for her wings. I die cut the oval frame, the leaves and the little flowers. The papers on this criss-cross pocket card are from Pandura - one 12x12 double sided sheet of this gorgeous thick paper are sufficient for the card and the insert and everything matches perfectly.

I added lavender openweave ribbon and white daisy venise lace. 

My flower arrangement includes a stem from a white pearl and crystal branch; purple Kort & God rolled rose and white chrysanth; WOC two tone lilac cherry blossom, Ribbon Girl white starburst stamen, white beaded stamen, lavender beaded gypsophalia and white daisy with a 15mm amethyst and diamante embellishment in the centre.  All flowers, pearls, lace, ribbons and embellishments are from The Ribbon Girl

The standard of cards and projects made by the Magnolia Only Design Team are fantastic - please pop over to have a look - you can not fail to be inspired!!

Mary x

Bella in a circle of flowers ......

I really like this cute little Bella with Flowers stamp from Wild Rose Studios - I've coloured her with copics and added stardust stickles to the centres.  I fancied making a round card for a change and I used Kort & Godt Rolled Roses, WOC Cherry Blossoms, Sweetheart Blossoms, Cosmos Daisies, Asters, approx 2 metres of 25mm flat polyester lace, Stardust Stickles and 5mm clear gems.  The leaves were cut with my Martha Stewart branch punch out  of white paper for a change

I'm entering this into the ABC Challenge 'Lace'

All flowers lace, gems and stickles from the Ribbon Girl

see you on Sunday for the Ribbon Girl Magnolia Only challenge on Sunday!

Weather with you at PTW ...

This week's Papertake Weekly challenge is 'weather with you'   I saw a card made by Lorraine last week and she'd used this sweet image from Wild Rose Studios - I ordered one straight away and couldn't wait to play with it.  I decided to use sepia type colours only and then added white opal liquid pearls as 'snow'

The paper is from one of the new LOTV pads 'country gent' and the sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

I used 45mm ivory guipure lace, 16mm ivory pleated satin, 16mm bridal white satin ribbon, cream Kort & God chrysanth, a 35mm mocha trellis rose, pale milky coffee cosmos, mocha 20mm open roses, ivory hip rosebuds and ivory beaded gypsophalia, white opal liquid pearls, stardust stickles all from The Ribbon Girl

I hope you will be able to visit Papertake Weekly - there are some lovely cards by the design team and you could win a great prize!

I'm entering this into  ABC Christmas Challenge

Mary x

Ivory silk criss cross card and a pretty box ..

The April colour challenge starts today on The Ribbon Girl Blog - I made a criss cross pocket card and used  Ivory pleated satin, 'Astrid' lace, ivory silk ribbon, 5mm pearls, 35mm ivvory trellis rose, 20mm pale pink open roses, ivory and pink hip rosebuds, ivory beaded gypsophalia

the insert says 'If I had a rose for every time I thought of you, I'd be picking roses for a lifetime' - this sweet sentiment is a Stempelglade set which my lovely daughter Andrea gave me for my birthday in March

I made this box for my third GDT spot at Lili of the Valley and I used a pre-coloured image plus lilac velvet lace, white daisies with amethyst 15mm diamante embellishments in the centres replacing the yellow centres, white beaded sprigs, lilac asters and purple/lilac sweetheart blossoms all from The Ribbon Girl.  I used 11mm pearls as feet on the bottom of the box

a view of the top

see you soon, Mary x

Spring has sprung .....

Spring has sprung, the grass is ris, I wonder where the birdies is ....

they're all making a nest in my leylandi hedge in the back garden - even a massive wood pigeon - I'll try to get a photo later in the week

Wow, yesterday we had temperatures in the 'teens, blue sky and sunshine - the tulips on my back patio burst into flower and the roses have fresh green  leaves  - summer is on the way :o)

see you tomorrow for the Ribbon Girl April Colour Challenge

Mary x

Just one backing paper ....

The new challenge at Papertake Weekly is 'one paper' so I made a boy birthday card and used one piece of paper from LOTV out of this pad  - I love my new stamp - I coloured this cute little mouse with copics and was really pleased how it turned out.  I added some ivory jute mesh, a blue button from a baby boy blue button mixture pack, a piece of blue saddlestitch ribbon and some natural button twine all from The Ribbon Girl

I hope you will find the time to pop over to Papertake Weekly - fabulous projects by the DT and a lovely prize to win!

See you soon, Mary x

Dainty dancing ...

This is my second guest DT card for Lili of the Valley Ideas to Inspire Blog  -  a heart shaped easle card using that dinky little ballet dancer from LOTV  with WOC rosebuds, cherry blossom, open roses and a Ribbon Girl white daisy with a pink diamante embellishment in the middle.  I've also used pink box pleated ribbon, pink tiny pom pom trim, pink loopy trim, white flat lace and pink spotted organza

nb  this should have been published on 11th April but due to blogger problems - it didn't appear

Spring colours

I was invited to be a GDT at Lovley Hanglar & Sweet Magnolia where the challenge theme is 'Spring Colours' and made this criss cross envelope card with insert and easel stand.

I coloured the image with copics and used a variety of flowers including:   WOC large rosebuds, tulips, asters and sweetheart blossoms.  Ribbon Girl white daisy and blue/white beaded stamens.   I added  13mm 'Olivia' white vintage style fine cotton lace, 9mm pink/white spot organza, pink button twine and a large flower charm - all from The Ribbon Girl.

The insert - stamped with a Stempelglade sentiment

The easel stand cut with a Sizzix die

I hope you will join in with the challenge, why not pop over and take a look

http://lovely-haenglar-only.blogspot.co.uk/

and I just wanted to tell you that there is a lovely pink flower give away over on The Ribbon Girl Blog

see you soon, Mary x