Monday 31 July 2017

Have a Hoot!

Well I am on my extra long shifts at work this week - just time to pop a quick blog post on before I have to get ready to go. Hoping I can swap my shift for tomorrow as I have relatives coming round and I won't be here to see them if I am unable to swap my shift :(

It is looking a little drier outside at the moment - the poor hubby went off-road motorbiking for the first time this weekend and it did not stop raining! He had to stop before the ride was finished just because he could no longer see well enough to carry on - due to the mud!

Anyway - here is my crafty creation for today:

This is the final image from the current Limited Runs progressive challenge. I wanted to make him look like he was flying through the trees at night, so I used a Kanban textured cardstock in black. I had to use the washi tape down the folds as you could see the cracks where the cardstock had been folded! I then cut some ivy out using a Marianne die and X-cut adhesive glitter paper. For the centre the image is actaully on part of the base that was partially cut using an X-cut scalloped circle die. I then cut the owl image using a smaller die and added to the panel. The sentiment is a separate piece. The owl is coloured using chalks.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Limited Runs - Progressive challenge
Kort 'O' Mania #179 Anything Goes
Country View #53 Things with Wings
ATSM #252 Make you Mark
Glitter 'n sparkle #250 Things with wings

Here is a picture of my new shed!

It matches the fence quite well actually lol



And also, for those of you who are following my progress - a Dino update (36 hours on this second Dino):
Once again thank you for looking - now to dash to work!!

Hugz Tinz

Saturday 29 July 2017

Sketchy Under the Sea

The rain is still going!! OK it has been dry this morning - enough for me to go out and do some avon, for the first time this fortnight, without getting soaked to the bone! I even went and fed the ducks up at the pond. It seems the little girl with the poorly leg may actually be getting better. Either than or another little girl now also has a poorly leg! I didn't go out where I wanted to do a butterfly count, simply because I wasn't sure when it was going to start pouring, but I did do one out by the Duck pond - and I saw a Small Copper!

Anyway - to really celebrate the wonderful wet weather we are getting currently I have made an under-the-sea themed, Just for you card:

I used scalloped sqaures which I stamped a sentiment, or a shell image onto using BlueWhispers ink. I also added a blue wave to the shell squares with the ink pad. I inked the edges of the squares too. Finally I used a couple of sea creature dies, some diamante teardrops and a central sentiment panel.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Die-cuttin' Divas #327 Under the sea
Sweet Sketch Wednesday #117

 MMM #51 Monochromatic (Blues and Blue greens - although on a grey card base)
scrapbook stamp society #121 Monochrome (Blues and Blue greens - although on a grey card base)
 inkychicks #86 Use a sentiment in place of the image

Here is my latest completed Cross Stitch piece:
He will become a Birthday card shortly!

My carrot crop that hadn't been eaten by slugs, out of the blue paddling pool:
And Doris with her new bed!!! She loves it!!

This was before the rain obviously lol.

Thank you for looking,

Hugz Tinz





Thursday 27 July 2017

Forever Celebrations

Hi there,

It is a little nicer outside today, but apparently it is going to rain over the weekend now :(. There goes my opportunity for doing some butterfly counts and enjoying the wildlife outdoors. Guess I will have to make do with the wildlife indoors lol.

After much rushing around yesterday, due to blogger issues and a busy work day, the new challenge has gone live over at Aud Sentiments, along with the winners and top 5 from the last challenge! (I just hope I have done it all correctly). We are offering a Crafting Voucher, whcih can be redeemed at a variety of on-line stores, to the winner this time.

Anyway, our challenge for you all this time is to make a card that does not have a sentiment on the front. Do remember though that a requirement for our challenge is that a sentiment MUST be included on the creation, somewhere. Now it is up to you to figure out where you can put that sentiment, without having it on the front of the card :). I have lots, and lots, of ideas for this, but decided to go for the simple option of just adding the sentiment to the inside of my card. This challenge has made me realise however, that maybe I need to start doing more on the inside of my card - as I very often just leave this blank, except for a quick sentiment occassionally.

Here is my card, which I created using a free Forever Friends Christmas stamp:

I added some gold stripy paper to a white card base, leaving a small border top and bottom. I then stamped the star corners straight onto this using Pretty Colour black ink. I stamped the image onto watercolour cardstock, die-cut into a scalloped circle, and then coloured with Papermania Pastel Brush Watercolour Markers. The shading was created by mixing a little of the ink from the inkpad with the pen and blending this before it dried (but this ink is not a fast drying ink). I layered this onto a bright yellow circle and then placed onto the card front. I then took two punched stars and drew around the edges using a gold paint marker pen and used these to overlap the image layer. Finally I added the sentiment to the inside of the card.

I would like to add this card into the following challenges:
City Crafter #372 Something beginning with S (stars and stripes)
Crafting by designs - Get ready for Christmas (although this one can also be used for a birthday)
CCM #193 Lots of layers

Anything Goes @ Crafty Calender; Simon Says Wednesday; Cute Card Thursday #488

I would also like to share a Fish Tank update with you all - at just over 151 hours:
It is really coming along now and I cannot wait until it is completely finished!!

And for some outdoors pictures too - we went butterfly and hoverfly watching at the weekend, in between the rain, and got these lovely pictures:










As you can see I had great fun capturing the images.

Thanks for looking,

hugz Tinz


Wednesday 26 July 2017

Summer Nights

I am loving the summer weather at the moment, although it is a shame that it seems to be really nice when I am working, and then rains when I am off. This means I haven't really managed to do many butterfly counts for the Big Butterfly Count. However, there is still time, and apparently it is not going to rain this coming weekend!!

So speaking of summer, our twist over at Creative Moments today is to make a summer themed creation. I have used Wine Tableau from Sparkle N Sprinkle for my card:

Again I coloured the image with promarkers. I mounted this onto a very patterned card base after fussy cutting. I cut some blue pearlescent card to sit in front of the table and added a sentiment strip to this. I then used a chipboard S and red peel-off letters to spell summer.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Card Mania #94 Summer Fun
Cute card Thursday #487 Summer Colours
CAGI – Summertime
ATSM #252 Make your Mark

I made a pudding with my Gooseberry and Raspberry crop that has been kept in the freezer. Hubby said they were really nice, but as they were bread based they were a little too heavy for my tastes:
And the moment you have all been waiting for - my new patio area:


 Here are the previous pictures again just for comparison:



And here is the shed base now - and before:

The shed picture will follow as it was delivered yesterday, but it is a little wet at the moment to get a decent photo.

Thanks for looking and I cannot wait to see you summer inspired creations,

hugz Tinz

Decoration for a boy

It is a lovely day as I am starting to write this, but apparently it is not going to last, with rain coming in through the day. I also just saw a female dragonfly in my garden, but she was too flighty to get a good look at - she was a Hawker of some description, but no idea which one lol.

Anyway, we have a new challenge starting over at I Love Promarkers today, and this time we are creating for the males in our lives. We are sponsored by the lovely Dr Digi's House Of Stamps, and I have used...Hamish McDougal

I coloured him with promarkers (didn't write down which ones I used this time though), and then die-cut using X-cut nesting ovals Extra Large dies. I used two tropical double sided papers (quick cards magazine) to add a pop of colour to match the brightness of the kilt, and several peacock themed double sided papers for the remaining parts of the star.

The paper sheets were cut into 12x12cm sqaures and then folded in half. Cuts were made, measuring along the folded edge, at 2cm, 4cm and 6cm from the edge, from both edges. The cut stopped just short of the cetre, to keep the squares intact, and then when the square is unfolded the loose corners are joined together for each strip, alternating forwards and backwards to get the different patterns showing through.

I would like to enter this creation into the following challenges:

City Crafter #372 Something beginning with S
PFP #405 use 3 patterned papers  (I got the random winner prize!)
Allsorts #425 Fancy Folds
Fussy and Fancy #192 Anything Goes
Not just cards #46 Anything Goes

I also have a couple of pictures of my little girlies - Beau (blue) and Florance (green with a lack of tail feathers lol).

And some more pictures from my garden too:

 I love the splash of red from the Gladioli, against the white wall
These are the planters I bought for the houses the own this bit of land, so that we can make it look a little bit prettier. I have also been given permission to put espaliered fruit trees down the wall on the left of this also :)

Thank you for looking and I cannot wait to see what you create for our challenge.

Hugz Tinz

Saturday 22 July 2017

Bright Ice

Welcome to the weekend, and the big butterfly count has been live for a week now. How many counts have you managed to do so far?? We were going to do one today over in a meadow we found early in Spring, however it then rained and was slightly blustery, meaning not many butterflies on the wing. I will still submit my sightings though, as any recording is better than none - but it is best to do your counts when the sun is out if you want to have much chance of success.

And speaking of summer - here is a card I made for a friend with a summer birthday:

The letter is cross-stitched with pastels and metallics on black aida, which really makes it pop. I added it to a pre-embossed Forever Friends card blank and coloured the embossed areas in pastel promarkers. To finish I used alphabet stickers to spell out the sentiment.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Not Just Cards #46 Anything Goes
PFP #404 Bright Colours
Cute Card Thursday - Summer Colours

And here is a picture of our Baby Beau:
And of poor Florance after she dropped her tail feathers (she was fighting with my other female, Piper, and I grabbed her to make her let go, but she tried to fly away and I ended up just getting her tail).
Once again thank you for taking the time to view my blog,

Hugz Tinz

Wednesday 19 July 2017

Flowers at Christmas

Hi there,

Here I am with the reminder post for our Christmas in July twist over at Creative Moments. I have actually used Shadow Manger for this card. It is a nice simple card. I have simply printed out the image with a small border onto the card base. I then stamped the sentiment (Personal Impressions stamp) onto the top of the silhouette and heat embossed with Personal Impressions White and Silver Sparkle powder. 



I would like to enter this card for the following challenges:
ABC christmas - N for new (digital image)/ O for old (sentiment stamp and embossing powder)
TIOT - Let it shine (the silhouette shines out from the black background - also sparkle embossing powder)
Jinglebelles - photo inspiration (I know what you are thinking - how? but it is the cosyness of the fire is like the manger, and the white stands out against the background, the same as my manger does)
 
 Polkadoodle - Christmas
Sweet stampin' - Christmas in July

I also have this floral creation to share with you all – made entirely from peel-offs. I used some stickers that I got from my mum for the main images, and then a glitter dragonfly and a papermania sentiment to finish.

This card is suitable for these challenges:
Quick Cards Floral challenge
Crafty Calender - Anything Goes
Alphabet challenge - I for insects
Addicted to CAS #115 Summer

 I would also like to share with you some pictures from a recent walk around the local nature reserve at Magor Marsh:




this one is an ant carrying another ant - but really poor focus :(


And finally I would also like to share a dino update:
Thanks for looking,

Hugz Tinz