Happy Bank Holiday Monday

What a difference a week makes don't you think. Last weekend we were baking under hot sunshine and this weekend it's been wet, windy and decidedly chilly. Typical Bank Holiday weather really. Still I hope it hasn't stopped you enjoying whatever it is you've been up to.

I thought I'd just share with you a Layout I did last week of the beautiful Tulips we had in the garden this year. The hot weather finished them off so I was glad I photographed them when I did.


I used lots of freebie papers I've accumulated from various magazines and then stamped the bazzill with an Inkadinkadoo beautiful stem and coloured it with promarkers. The title was cut on my Slice and the border was made using my favourite Martha Stewart punch.

Thanks for stopping by and for all the lovely comments you continue to leave. I love reading them. Enjoy your Monday.

Did you enjoy Summer?

Hello out there in lovely Blogland. I hope you enjoyed Summer over the weekend and made the most of it. Wasn't it fantastic. I'm afraid I just took my book outside and sat in the garden for 3 days, no housework done or anything. Hot sunshine was just too good to miss and I'm glad I did as it's raining today so all the housework and other to do jobs have all been done.

The challenge over at Tuesday Taggers this week is It's A Man's World and is sponsored by The Craft Barn. I don't do many male cards, they all tend to be girly, but I have just made one for our friends Son's 6th Birthday so I thought I'd enter it this week.


It was a Lily Of The Valley stamp on a Nestability coloured with pro markers. I layered it with a Scalloped Nestie and stamped the background with the free stamp from Craft Stamper last month.

The number was cut with a Sissix Die.

I'm loving these LOTV stamps at the moment and have been experimenting with the colouring so I'll warn you now, you'll be seeing lots more of them.

Thanks, as always, for stopping by and I hope your week is going well so far.

Happy Birthday

I hope you are all enjoying the first signs of Summer. After a slow start it's been beautiful here this afternoon. Doesn't the sunshine make you feel so much brighter.

May and June are such busy months for birthdays here so I have been fitting in cards in between more fun crafting for the last few weeks and I thought I'd enter this one into the Allsorts challenge which this week is Birthdays in honour of their first Blogaversary.


I've made this one for a friend of my MIL who is celebrating her 70th Birthday next week and has a passion for Orchids. I found the image on the internet and printed it out several times so that I could decoupage it before adding glossy accents.

I've kept the colour scheme quite simple with just a hint of a Martha Stewart punch. The sentiment is from Dawn Bibby.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your week is going well so far.

Beautiful Butterflies

Hi there lovely Bloggers. How's your weekend going. Good I hope.

I am pleased to say that everyone in the Craft Garden is now fit and healthy and normal service has been resumed, thank goodness.

I have just been drooling over the mountain of Tim Holtz goodies that Sir Stampalot are offering for their May challenge, "Blossom and Butterflies". If you are a fan of the master it is definitely worth checking out.


I thought I'd enter the Butterfly Boxes I made both our Mums for Mothers Day. Yes, I know I'm a bit late in showing you these. I saw these wonderful boxes on many of my cyber buddies blogs and they linked back to a wonderful blog, Magic Boxes and when I investigated I was hooked.

These first attempts are not very original I'm afraid. I loved the idea of Butterflies coming out as the box is opened but was learning on the job so I stuck very much to the tutorial given.


The sides were sprayed with a gold Starburst Stain and then edged with Faded Jeans DI and iridescent blue cosmic shimmer applied straight onto the ink to give a lovely shine. The stamps were from the Graphicus Wildflower plate and I used a colourbox pigment ink and clear embossed. Each side was matted with gold mirricard.

The Butterflies were also from Graphicus and painted with Sparkling H20's and the little flowers were from a QVC set. I coloured them and then cut down a petal and glued to give it some shape.


I really enjoyed making them although they took a long time and the Mums were thrilled with them. I loved their faces when they opened them and the butterflies popped out.

I've got lots of ideas now about different themes so I think you'll be seeing them again in a different guise in the near future!!

Thank you for stopping by and for all the lovely comments you have left us. I passed all your good wishes onto Freya. She will definitely be having a belated birthday in the next few weeks, we have a bowling date to keep!!

Anyone For Cake

Well, I'm still here and still standing up, thank goodness. It looks like the lurgy has passed me by, keeping everything crossed and touching wood!!!!!

Thank you all so much for your kind wishes. Everyone is recuperating slowly although Freya gave us a real scare, so much so that after the Emergency Doctor said they were too busy to come out to her on Saturday we had to put her, barely conscious into the car, in her night clothes and drive over to the hospital (thankfully it is only 2 streets away) but we then had to sit in a waiting room to see the Emergency Doctor. Luckily, she said that it was just a nasty viral infection which caused blackouts.

It does make me wonder what you have to do to get a home visit by a doctor these days. In 9 years I have taken Freya to see the nurse for an ear infection when she was a baby and to the doctor once because the school asked me to, to confirm she had German Measles, so we are definitely not panicky parents.

At least when my Hubby went down with it on Sunday night I was prepared for what was going to happen.

Anyway, enough doom and gloom. I do have some craft to share with you.


It was Freya's 9th Birthday last Friday, although she didn't get to enjoy it properly and this is the cake I made for her. We still have loads left as there is only me eating it. I think I shall have to make her another in a week or so to make up for it! Anyway, she had asked for Butterflies, these, along with fairies being her favourite things. In our house, butterflies are fairies in disguise!!


I used one of my new Lili Of The Valley stamps to make her card. These are my new favourites at the minute although I am still trying to get to grips with the colouring. This one was coloured with promarkers. I used my Nesties and dotty cuttlebug folder, along with a MS edge punch, another of my new favourite things!! The base card was from Kanban.

You will be seeing a lot more of these stamps over the next few weeks as I have been using them for every card I've needed to make. I just LOVE them.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you are all having a good week.

Don't Come Near.....

Just a quick post today to apologise if I'm not around much this week. A really horrible bug has hit The Craft Garden household over the weekend and I am currently the last man standing. I'm keeping everything crossed that I don't get it too, otherwise goodness knows what'll become of us!!! Sorry I'm being a bit dramatic now, think it's lack of sleep. I've been up for two whole days and nights now and things are getting a bit fuzzy.

I hope you all have a lovely week and I'll see you when I see you.

Crafting Now and Then

Hello out there in Blogland. I'm so sorry to have been absent lately. Time just seems to have escaped, partly due to visiting friends and family and partly due to being up to my eyeballs in cakes and Birthdays.


Freya created a tag the other day with my Distress inks which I nervously allowed her to use with strict instructions to not mix them up and this is what she created, all by herself. I know I'm a proud Mum but for an 8 year old I think she's done really well. She used a Heidi Grace swirl stamp and the feathers and sentiment were from a new set I've not even used yet from The Stamp Bug.


She must have crafting in her genes. We went to visit my Aunt at the weekend who is currently building a dolls house and she took us to a brilliant shop that sold everything you could think of for Dolls houses. This reminded me of my dolls house that my Dad built for me when I was about 8 and was currently residing at my Mum's house under a dust sheet. On Sunday we went and collected it, gave it a good clean and for a 30 plus year old, it's looking pretty good, although we had a good giggle at the orange kitchen, a real 70's throwback. I think I shall have to modernise a little bit.


The lights still work and it has a front and back that slide on. My Dad was a very talented model maker and I think this was his first. A real heirloom that hopefully will be passed on for many years to come.

Thanks for stopping by. I promise I shall be back with some craft very shortly.