Hippo Birdie to You

Hello there, hope your week is going well.  I have had a few days off work this week, Monday was unexpected so that was a bonus, I managed to do housework, shopping and some washing.  Today (Wed) I have had as holiday so I am spending some time crafting and relaxing.  I have spent this afternoon making some dividers for my stamp storage boxes, so I guess that is classed as crafting :)  Hopefully this evening I can make a wedding card that I need to get to my sister in law before she flies over to the states for my nephews wedding.  

A few days ago I made this little card using a Lawn Fawn stamp set and matching dies, the set is just called Year Four, it's one of the little sets.  I stamped and cut out the little hippo, bird, balloon and party hat and then coloured them all with Copic pens.  I added some glossy accents to the balloon to add some shine to it.  I mounted the cute characters onto a panel of white card that I cut using a Mama Elephant die, Femme Frames and then stamped the sentiment and cut that out using a Sizzix die, Word Bubbles.  I used three little gems to finish  it off.   

On a none crafting note, I thought I would share with you where we went on Sunday.  Kevin has always wanted to go down into the cave, Gaping Gill, which is on the way up to one of the three peaks of Yorkshire, Ingleborough.  They only allow the public to go down Gaping Gill on certain days in the year as you have to be winched down on a chair using a powered winch.  The drop is 365 feet, which in new money is 111 metres.  It was a very wet and windy day and the walk to the entrance to Gaping Gill was a long one, once we arrived we were told that there was no queue and if we wanted to go down we could go straight away.  I took a little persuading but in the end I decided that I would be really brave and take the plunge (fingers crossed not literally!).  It was a long way down in the dark and the running rain water was icy cold but once I arrived safely at the bottom it was just incredible!  The cavern was enormous, it really made me feel quite small and insignificant.  The guide that was already down there gave us a bit of information about the rock formation and pointed out some of the tunnels that had been explored.  Then it was time for the journey back up in the chair.  I must point out that we had to wear hard hats the whole time.  You can have a read about it and see some photos here.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post and to those that leave comments, thanks very much it means so much.

Dawn x

Colour Swatches

Good evening, just a quick post from me today, I have been busy making  a swatch book of my inks and Copic markers, it's been a labour of love, I have to say it took me loads longer than I thought it would!  I have heard that it is supposed to help to choose and match colours, especially if you are wanting to use patterned papers and colour images to match the colours in the paper (I have yet to see if it works as not had chance to use the system yet).  At least I have an up to date record of my inks and Copics :)  I used a pretty folder that I got from WH Smiths several years ago with the addition of some ATC pocket inserts.  I used a stamp set from Avery Elle called 'To The Point' it had a solid chevron that I used for the ink pads and a strip of chevrons that I was able to stamp and colour with my pens.  I used my Tim Holtz ATC die from Sissix to cut loads of cards so that they would fit the pockets perfectly.  I now just have my Distress Markers to do, but as I don't use them very often, it may be sometime before they get done :)

Ink Pads

Copic Markers

I will let you know how I go on with the swatch system once I have used it for a while.  Thanks for dropping by.

Dawn x

Dad's Beep Boop Birthday Card

Good morning, how are you this Tuesday morning?  Yes I know, two posts in as many days!  don't know what's come over me :)  I have had a bit of a run on birthdays lately so I have a few cards that I haven't blogged yet so thought I better get a move on.  

The card I am sharing with you today is the one I made for my dad for his birthday which was on Sunday.  I have used a stitched frame from Mama Elephant to make the top layer of card it's called Femme Frame, I am just loving the look of these stitched frames at the moment, I have my eye on a few more that I would like to purchase but will have to wait for funds to accumulate first :)  The little robot is from a sweet little set by Lawn Fawn, it also has coordinating dies which of course I just had to have!  The set is called Beep Boop.  I stamped the robot and coloured him with my Copics and then cut him out, I gave him the balloon and cupcake to hold which again were stamped out, coloured and die cut.   I decided the card looked a little plain so I went through my dies and found a little cog die from Spellbinders and cut three little apertures into the card and backed it with some paper from a 6x6 pad by Doodlebug called 'Hip hip hooray'. I stamped out the happy birthday greeting and die cut that out and added 'Dad' at the bottom using a stamp from Clearly Besotted.  The balloon has had Glossy Accents applied to it, to add some shine.  I finished the card off by adding three little enamel dots.

Although my dad was 76 this birthday, he still loved this cute little fun card.  

Thanks for taking the time to pop by and fingers crossed that this post has published as I am putting it on a scheduled post :)

Until the next post....

Dawn x

Sitting Pretty

Hi everyone and thanks for calling by, it's just a quick post from me today. 

The card I have to show today has been made using a stamp from a Paper Smooches set called Woofers and Tweeters.  I have used a nestie to cut out an aperture in the front of the top layer of card and then backed it with some paper from Prairie Chic by Bo Bunny.  I also embossed the top layer with an embossing folder, sorry not sure what make as it's not written on the folder.  The stamped image has been coloured with Copic pens and I have added a little glossy accents to the nose.  I cut the strip for the sentiment using a banner die from Die-Versions and then stamped the Happy Birthday using a stamp from Clearly Besotted.  I added a few enamel dots to the sentiment banner and one on the dog's bow. 

Thanks for taking the time to pop by and thanks also to those who leave comments, it means so much.
Hugs
Dawn x

Chevrons and The Tour de France

Hi there, hope you are all well this bright and sunny evening. I can't believe it's almost two weeks since we set off to the campsite at Kilnsey to see the Tour de France, where did that time go?!!!  Well we had an amazing time, the atmosphere was brilliant and we got a great view of the cyclists coming past Kilnsey Crag.  Kevin and I had a ride along the route on our bikes on Saturday morning before the roads were completely closed from all traffic.  We rode from Kilsney to Kettlewell along with hundreds of other bike riders, it was great because the public were already lining the route and were cheering us along :)  We watched the TDF Caravan parade and then went back to the big screen on the field to watch the race until it was a few miles from us and then we walked up to the edge of the road to see the Peloton go by, they went at such a rate it was difficult to make out any individual riders and the wind rushing by as they raced past was incredible!  We had wonderful few days and even the lovely sunshine appeared to add to the experience.  Well done Yorkshire for putting on such a spectacular event!  

(I have tried several times to add a little video for you all to see but with no success, if anyone has any tips on how to do this I would be most grateful)

Here are a few photos from the TDF weekend.

Our Campsite at Kilnsey

Kevin with Maisie and his brother David

The 'Yellow' sheep

The start of the Caravan

The giant screen where we watched the race once it had been past the campsite, the picture on the screen is as the peloton travel up the high street in Skipton, you can see the GIANT yellow  jersey on the church tower at the top of the street

I have a little card that I made to show today, I stamped some chevrons onto patterned paper using a stamp set by Avery Elle called 'To the point' I then die cut an inlay into the top layer of my card using a die from a 'Little B' set called Arrows.  I stamped a happy birthday greeting using a Paper Smooches stamp set and added some Doodlebug enamel chevrons to complete the card.  I think this would make a great card for a man.

Thanks for taking the time to drop in on my little blog.

Hugs
Dawn x

Let's Shell-ebrate :)

Hi everyone and hope you've had a good Monday :)  I've had a busy day at work but only one more until I finish to get ready for the big caravan trip to see the Tour de France in Yorkshire, I'm on a countdown now, the caravan is almost ready to go, just needs clothes and food and we're off :)

I have made a little card using a cute little stamp from a Paper Smooches set called 'Party Posse'  I stamped him out and then paper pieced the shell and party hat, the rest has been coloured with Copic pens.  I chose a honeycomb embossing folder to make a background as I thought it went well with the shell shape.  I then added a couple of punched borders and a sentiment that I stamped onto a banner shape and a couple of matching strips to tie in with the colours I had used on the image.

Thank you for calling by and hopefully I will get chance to do another post before we go away.

Until next time....
Dawn x

Tour de France and Amy's Birthday Card

Hi and thanks for dropping by, hope you are all well.  I have had a day doing jobs around the house and a bit of shopping in prepartation for our camping trip to the Velofest  (Tour de France camp site) at Kilnsey near Grassington.  We are only a few miles from Kilnsey but anyone who knows us will know that Kevin is a keen cyclist and we follow the TDF ever year, even if we are sat at home in front of the TV :)  The tour map goes up on the wall in the living room and we can see each stage as it progresses.  We have booked on the site from Thursday 3rd July to Monday 7th July and we are hoping to see the first two stages of the Tour de France as it passes by the campsite on the Saturday and then again on the Sunday as it goes past Bolton Abbey which is a few miles away. There are lots of events happening on the site, Giant screens to watch the race and groups on in the evenings as well as food and drink.  Really looking forward to  this year's race and getting so excited, can't wait to get my festival wrist band :) yes I know that sounds a bit sad but, hey ho, I won't be the only one Lol.

Well at last I can show you the card I have made for Amy's birthday, it arrived safely in Thailand last week along with the parcel of goodies we sent for her birthday.

I used a stamp set from Mama Elephant called 'Type it' and the matching die set.  I stamped the typewriter and then cut it out, I used a pale Copic marker to add a bit of colour to it.  I then stamped out the message on the sheet of paper stamp and again cut it out with the matching die.  I cut a circle out of the pink card and punched out some holes to make it look like a piece of paper out of a note book, I did this by using my Bind it All and then I rounded off the edges with a corner rounder.  I cut out 'Amy' using my Cricut machine and an arrow from a Little B set of dies.  I added some enamel dots and a little 'love you' sentiment that I stamped onto a banner die cut shape. The backing paper came from a Bobunny 6x6 pad called Prairie Chic.

Well got to dash now as I am off for my Pilates class so thanks again for taking the time to pop by my blog.

Dawn xxx