A bright Easter

This one is a bit different, using die cut felt bright yellow flowers with turquoise bling centres. The turquoise flowered card is from the Kanban QVC kit and the sentiment is computer generated and printed. The stamped image is from a See-D Easter set (long neglected!).


This is for:

Cuttlebug spot: oh so soft ... felt challenge
Woodware USA 23: die cuts/punches
Incy wincy 90: bright and bold
Off the wall craftiness 51: Easter - bright colours
Stamping vacation special month challenge: April
One crazy stamper: April flowers challenge
CES 33: spring colours/images
Crazy 4 challenges 83: create an Easter card
Crazy amigo: Easter
Cutie Sunday 138: Easter
Die cut dreams 87: it's Easter time
Penny's 51: Easter
Scrappy frogs: Easter
ECP 36: Easter
Craft your days away 18: Easter
Picture perfect creations speciality 6: Easter
My time to craft 137: Easter wishes
Paperplay 16: Easter time
4 crafty chicks 34: Easter
Kaboodle 63: thoughts of spring/Easter
Pixie dust studio 71: spring forward
Spoon full of sugar 148: let's celebrate - Easter is a good time of celebration
Whoopsi daisy: we are free and easy
Shelly's terrifically thrilling Thursday: show us what you got
Aud sentiments 26: anything goes
Sentimental Sundays 51: celebrate spring/Easter
Stamp dreams 78: Easter
Stamp n doodle: Easter
Pile it on 16: smells like rubber - use a rubber stamp
Inky impressions 13: flowers
C.R.A.F.T. 99: flowers
Sweet stampin: Easter

Sticky note holder (for a change)

A change from all the Easter (and Christmas!) cards with a sticky note holder - very simply made with a piece of striped bling DCWV card and a die cut snail :

This is for:

Lexi 38: anything but a card
Papertake weekly: spots n stripes
Craft your passion 54: you've been spotted
Creative inspirations 108: pets/animals - wouldn't call a snail a pet, but it is an animal!
Cute card Thursday 16: no text

Egg-cellent Easter

This is another card made for Easter using the Kanban QVC kit and a chipboard butterfly. The scalloped edge and the border of the sentiment mat are gold foiled.

Once again this card was inspired by by the photo inspiration with Shabby tea room 58: how egg-cellent - pastels and stripes:


This is for:

Crreative Belli 115: eggs/bunnies
Sukkersoft 121: eggs
CES 33: spring colours/images
Crazy 4 challenges 83: create an Easter card
Crazy amigo: Easter
Crafty pad 116: Easter
Cutie Sunday 138: Easter
Die cut dreams 87: it's Easter time
Penny's 51: Easter
Scrappy frogs: Easter
ECP 36: Easter
Craft your days away 18: Easter
Picture perfect creations speciality 6: Easter
My time to craft 137: Easter wishes
Paperplay 16: Easter time
4 crafty chicks 34: Easter
Kaboodle 63: thoughts of spring/Easter
Pixie dust studio 71: spring forward
Spoon full of sugar 148: let's celebrate - Easter is a good time of celebration
Whoopsi daisy: we are free and easy
Shelly's terrifically thrilling Thursday: show us what you got
Frosted designs fabulous Friday challenge: birds and/or butterflies
Flutterby Wednesday 151: open - with butterfly
Papertake weekly: spots n stripes
Craft your passion 54: you've been spotted
Aud sentiments 26: anything goes
Sentimental Sundays 51: celebrate spring/Easter

Enjoy Easter

Another Easter card that uses components from the Kanban QVC kit and a chipboard butterfly and flower (had these for ages). The scalloped edging on the striped card piece is gold foiled (not black as it looks here). Another card inspired by the photo inspiration with Shabby tea room 58: how egg-cellent - pastels and stripes:



This is also for:

CES 33: spring colours/images
Crazy 4 challenges 83: create an Easter card
Crazy amigo: Easter
Crafty pad 116: Easter
Cutie Sunday 138: Easter
Die cut dreams 87: it's Easter time
Penny's 51: Easter
Scrappy frogs: Easter
ECP 36: Easter
Craft your days away 18: Easter
Picture perfect creations speciality 6: Easter
My time to craft 137: Easter wishes
C.R.A.F.T. 99: flowers
Paperplay 16: Easter time
4 crafty chicks 34: Easter
Kaboodle 63: thoughts of spring/Easter
Pixie dust studio 71: spring forward
Spoon full of sugar 148: let's celebrate - Easter is a good time of celebration
Whoopsi daisy: we are free and easy
Shelly's terrifically thrilling Thursday: show us what you got
Frosted designs fabulous Friday challenge: birds and/or butterflies
Flutterby Wednesday 151: open - with butterfly
Aud sentiments 26: anything goes
Sentimental Sundays 51: celebrate spring/Easter
Sugar creek hollow sensational Saturday: circles

Easter bling

Another Easter card, this time using card that came with the Kanban QVC kit and stickers that I bought at Poundland two or three years ago - these are edges with silver holographic so they are 'blingy'. The flowers at the bottom are glittered too.

The colours were inspired by the photo inspiration with Shabby tea room 58: how egg-cellent - pastels and stripes:


This is for:

Totally Gorjuss 77: bling it on
Card cupids: pastel colours
Papertake weekly: spots n stripes
Craft your passion 54: you've been spotted
Tuesday throwdown 45: polka dots
CES 33: spring colours/images
Crazy 4 challenges 83: create an Easter card
Crazy amigo: Easter
Crafty pad 116: Easter
Cutie Sunday 138: Easter
Die cut dreams 87: it's Easter time
Penny's 51: Easter
Scrappy frogs: Easter
ECP 36: Easter
Craft your days away 18: Easter
Picture perfect creations speciality 6: Easter
My time to craft 137: Easter wishes
C.R.A.F.T. 99: flowers
Paperplay 16: Easter time
4 crafty chicks 34: Easter
Kaboodle 63: thoughts of spring/Easter
Pixie dust studio 71: spring forward
Spoon full of sugar 148: let's celebrate - Easter is a good time of celebration
Whoopsi daisy: we are free and easy
Shelly's terrifically thrilling Thursday: show us what you got
Frosted designs fabulous Friday challenge: birds and/or butterflies
Freshly brewed 43: let's see you shine with lots of sparkle
My mum's craft shop 2: all that glitters

CHNC challenge 17: a touch of Easter for Christmas

Happy Easter to everyone. Can you believe that we are already approaching the end of April and it's time for challenge 17 already over on my Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge blog. If you don't know what I'm talking about then please click here to take you to the challenge - it would be lovely if you could join in.

So for challenge 17 I'd like you to bring a touch of Easter into your Christmas crafting. Yellow is a colour we associate with Easter and, of course, it's a time of year when eggs feature (oh yum, I know that I'm getting a Hotel Chocolat dark choc egg) and, of course, eggs are oval in shape. So I'd like you to use either the colour yellow - little or a lot (you can use other colours as well, as long as yellow is visible) and/or an oval shape on your card.

I'm really not too sure about my card - too much yellow, I think - not a colour we normally associate with Christmas, but, hey ho, why not?!

The paper is My Mind's Eye from the signature Christmas glitter book, distressed with mustard seed DI and stamped in the corners with an unknown stamp with memento rich cocoa. The oval pyramage has been in my Christmas box for two or three years. I edged each piece with the mustard seed DI and the outer piece with brushed corduroy, than gently edged the other pieces with the memento rich cocoa.


I'm also linking this for these challenges:

Sparkle creations week 20: anything goes
Alphabet: Y for yellow
Nightshift stamping: oval on oval
Cupcake 138: lots of layers
Karen's doodles: lots of layers
Spoon full of sugar 148: let's celebrate (this time Christmas)
Kort o mania 38: vintage
Truly scrumptious 55: vintage
Nadia's challenge 4: vintage
Delicious doodles 22: anything goes
Whoopsi daisy: we are free and easy
Shelly's terrifically thrilling Thursday: show us what you got
Stamping vacation No! No! challenge: no black ink (only used memento rich cocoa and mustard seed and brushed corduroy DIs)
Stamping vacation monochromatic challenge: yellow
Do more with less: get dimensional with Donna Mundinger

Happy Easter

The colours used on this card are for In style Wednesday colour challenge:

The paper is Basic Grey, the yellow flowers were bought ages and ages ago at Early Learning Centre and the stamp is one of my favourite Easter ones coloured with copics.

This is also for:

Fun at fairy knoll: Easter and in all fairness ... spring
Craft your passion 54: you've been spotted (dots on the ribbon)
Rubber cafe 14: polka dots
Tuesday throwdown 45: polka dots
Basic Grey 42: Easter/spring
Crazy amigo: Easter
Crafty pad 116: Easter
Creative inspirations 57: Easter
Cutie Sunday 138: Easter
Die cut dreams 87: it's Easter time
Penny's 51: Easter
Scrappy frogs: Easter
ECP 36: Easter
Craft your days away 18: Easter
Picture perfect creations speciality 6: Easter
My time to craft 137: Easter wishes
C.R.A.F.T. 99: flowers
Paperplay 16: Easter time
4 crafty chicks 34: Easter
Kaboodle 63: thoughts of spring/Easter
Pixie dust studio 71: spring forward
Spoon full of sugar 148: let's celebrate - Easter is a good time of celebration
Whoopsi daisy: we are free and easy
Shelly's terrifically thrilling Thursday: show us what you got
Stamp dreams 78: Easter
Stamp n doodle: Easter
Frosted designs fabulous Friday challenge: birds and/or butterflies
Fussy & fancy: springtime
Sukkersoft 121: eggs
Pile it on 16: smells like rubber - use a rubber stamp
Cards for men 8: Easter (think this one is suitable for a man)

Delicious doodles crocus for Easter

These are two cards made using the Delicious doodles crocus digital image - the first one was coloured digitially in Paint and the second one coloured with copics. Both cards use FF spring time papers and the second card also has a piece of DCWV pocket full of posies from my offcuts box. I used an embossing folder on the first card for a bit of texture and some stitched ribbon on the second card.


These are for:

Fun at fairy knoll: Easter and in all fairness ... spring
Delicious doodles 22: anything goes
iCopic lover 26: monochromatic (copics used on the second card)
Copic creations 48: favourite paper for copic colouring - smooth bright white card from PDA
There she goes 103: monochromatic magic
Sugar creek hollow sensational Saturday: monochromatic
Really reasonable ribbon 22: violets & lilacs & plums
Crazy amigo: Easter
Card cupids: pastel colours
Crafty pad 116: Easter
Creative inspirations 57: Easter
Cutie Sunday 138: Easter
Sentimental Sundays 51: celebrate spring/Easter
Die cut dreams 87: it's Easter time
Penny's 51: Easter
Scrappy frogs: Easter
ECP 36: Easter
Craft your days away 18: Easter
Picture perfect creations speciality 6: Easter
My time to craft 137: Easter wishes
C.R.A.F.T. 99: flowers
Paperplay 16: Easter time
4 crafty chicks 34: Easter
Kaboodle 63: thoughts of spring/Easter
Pixie dust studio 71: spring forward
Spoon full of sugar 148: let's celebrate - Easter is a good time of celebration
Aud sentiments 26: anything goes
Whoopsi daisy: we are free and easy
Shelly's terrifically thrilling Thursday: show us what you got
Fussy & fancy: springtime
Claudia & company 80: clean and simple
Creative craft: embossing (the first card)
Simon says: emboss it (the first card)
Your next stamp 40: texture it (the first card)

Rainbow of colours for Easter

Another Easter card, this time a fun one with a couple of chipboard glittered chicks. Crop stop 16 is asking us to use the colours of the rainbow, so I think this qualifies. Day 50 on 365 cards is 'blog inspired' - inspired by the blog header, which is a rainbow of colours. (this reminds me that I've fallen by the wayside yet again as far as the 365 challenges are concerned - I started off the new year so well, but a week away and other things have meant that I've got behind).

The papers (well they are card really) are Kanban from a QVC kit and the pastel ribbon across the bottom is some that I've had for ages and had forgotten about - sorry, you can't see the 'Happy Easter' on the ribbon very easily here.

This is also for:

For fun: Easter
Catch the bug: Easter
Fussy & fancy: springtime
Top tip Tuesday 30: open challenge
Creative Friday 42: open theme
Beary sweet 24: wings
Crazy amigo: Easter
Card cupids: pastel colours
Crafty pad 116: Easter
Creative inspirations 57: Easter
Cutie Sunday 138: Easter
Sentimental Sundays 51: celebrate spring/Easter
Die cut dreams 87: it's Easter time
Penny's 51: Easter
Scrappy frogs: Easter
ECP 36: Easter
Craft your days away 18: Easter
Picture perfect creations speciality 6: Easter
My time to craft 137: Easter wishes
C.R.A.F.T. 99: flowers
Paperplay 16: Easter time
4 crafty chicks 34: Easter
The lollipop ladies: Easter eggs (on the ribbon) with some glitter and sparkle (on the chicks)
Kaboodle 63: thoughts of spring/Easter
Pixie dust studio 71: spring forward
Spoon full of sugar 148: let's celebrate - Easter is a good time of celebration
Aud sentiments 26: anything goes
Whoopsi daisy: we are free and easy
Shelly's terrifically thrilling Thursday: show us what you got
Frosted designs fabulous Friday challenge: birds and/or butterflies

And another I made earlier

Here's another Easter card, this time using a favourite Magenta daisy stamp coloured with copics. Main paper is PM Honey & hugs and the pieces for matting ar FF spring time. The sentiment is a PM stamp (have used this loads of times this Easter, including on inserts - love it). The colours are for Paper pretties 150: pink, green, plus neutral and also for Pink elephant 98 colour challenge:



This is also for:

Dream valley 5: Easter
Sisterhood of crafters: it's an easter eggstravaganza
Cardmakin mamas 19: spring colours
For fun: Easter
Catch the bug: Easter
Fussy & fancy: springtime
Crazy amigo: Easter
Card cupids: pastel colours
Crafty pad 116: Easter
Creative inspirations 57: Easter
Cutie Sunday 138: Easter
Sentimental Sundays 51: celebrate spring/Easter
Die cut dreams 87: it's Easter time
Penny's 51: Easter
Scrappy frogs: Easter
ECP 36: Easter
Craft your days away 18: Easter
Picture perfect creations speciality 6: Easter
My time to craft 137: Easter wishes
C.R.A.F.T. 99: flowers
Paperplay 16: Easter time
4 crafty chicks 34: Easter
Kaboodle 63: thoughts of spring/Easter
Pixie dust studio 71: spring forward
Spoon full of sugar 148: let's celebrate - Easter is a good time of celebration
Delicious doodles 22: anything goes
Top tip Tuesday 30: open challenge
Creative Friday 42: open theme
Aud sentiments 26: anything goes
Whoopsi daisy: we are free and easy
Shelly's terrifically thrilling Thursday: show us what you got
Stamp magic 34: Easter
Stamp dreams 78: Easter
Stamp n doodle: Easter
Pile it on 16: smells like rubber - use a rubber stamp
One crazy stamper: April flowers challenge

Here's one I made earlier

Still no crafting here. John had his op on Tuesday - recovery going well so far. Thanks for all the best wishes. And yesterday we've had our DIL and girls here, which was lovely - we sat in the garden and the girls did some crafting.

For this card I used another shaped blank (I do like these cards), distressing the edges first with mustard seed DI and then with shabby shutters.

The image is Karen's doodles Easter cross digi, coloured with copics. Sentiments are computer generated and printed.

This is for:

Crafty sentiments: Easter cards
Pear tree designs 45: Easter
For fun: Easter
Crazy amigo: Easter
Dream valley 5: Easter
Sisterhood of crafters: it's an easter eggstravaganza
Card cupids: pastel colours
Crafty pad 116: Easter
Creative inspirations 57: Easter
Cutie Sunday 138: Easter
I did it: Easter
Sentimental Sundays 51: celebrate spring/Easter
Die cut dreams 87: it's Easter time
Penny's 51: Easter
Scrappy frogs: Easter
ECP 36: Easter
Craft your days away 18: Easter
Picture perfect creations speciality 6: Easter
My time to craft 137: Easter wishes
C.R.A.F.T. 99: flowers
Cardmakin mamas 19: spring colours
Paperplay 16: Easter time
4 crafty chicks 34: Easter
Kaboodle 63: thoughts of spring/Easter
Catch the bug: Easter
Bee crafty 49: Easter
Pixie dust studio 71: spring forward
Fussy & fancy: springtime
Spoon full of sugar 148: let's celebrate - Easter is a good time of celebration
Totally Gorjuss 76: no patterned paper
Ladybug 24: anything goes
Top tip Tuesday 30: open challenge
Aud sentiments 26: anything goes
Whoopsi daisy: we are free and easy
Creative Friday 42: open theme
Shelly's terrifically thrilling Thursday: show us what you got
Delicious doodles 22: anything goes
Ann's creative nook 132: anything goes with a technique (distressed edges)
Cards for men 8: Easter (think this one is suitable for a man)

Pastel Easter

I haven't done any crafting since we returned from our week away - I think my mojo has stayed on holiday! Anyway, I made a lot of Easter cards before I went, so I'm going to blog some of them now.

This is very similar to a card I showed a couple of weeks ago here, this time using a square card base.

This is for:

The paper variety: flowers
All kinds of cards 25: Easter
Sundays with Crissy April 16: spring is in the air
Tellen's place: Easter
Rainbow lady 148: springtime
Sisterhood of crafters: it's an easter eggstravaganza
Creative Friay 41: Easter
Card cupids: pastel colours
Crafty pad 116: Easter
Creative inspirations 57: Easter
Cutie Sunday 138: Easter
Dream valley 5: Easter
Sentimental Sundays 51: elebrate spring/Easter
Die cut dreams 87: it's Easter time
Pear tree designs 45: Easter
Little red wagon: Easter
Penny's 51: Easter
Scrappy frogs: Easter
Creative Inspirations 107: Easter
C.R.A.F.T. 98: Easter
ECP 36: Easter
Craft your days away 18: Easter
Picture perfect creations speciality 6: Easter
Totally papercrafts 62: springtime
Creative card crew: spring
Pals paper arts 89: flowers
Paper romance 46: paper flowers
Pixie dust studio 70: say it out loud - include a sentiment
Aud sentiments 26: anything goes
Whoopsi daisy: we are free and easy

CHNC challenge 16: sing song

It's Saturday again and time for another challenge on my Craftyhazelnut's Christmas blog - your can find all the details of the challenge here - hopefully you'll be able to join in with a Christmas card inspired by a song or a carol.

My card is based on 'Away in a manger' using the Penny Black 'the manger' stamp coloured with copics - I kept the colours fairly subtle to tone with the My Mind's Eye papers from the Christmas Glitter book. These already have a distressed look, but I further distressed edges, first with spiced marmalade DI and then fired brick. The inner shape is a nestie, so I'm linking this for Jingle Belles challenge to use die cuts, - their challenge this time is 'cross-pollinated' with Betty Bee's Buzzing honeybee challenge, so I'm linking there too.


I'm linking this for:

Paper pretties 149: at leas two different designer papers
Alphabet: X for Xmas

A walk by the river

On Monday we met up with some of John's family at Allington, outside Maidstone and it was such a beautiful sunny day so we decided to amble along by the river into Maidstone - it was much further than we had thought and it took us a loooonnnngggg time (going at John's speed, or, should I say, lack of speed). Anyway, I took a few photos along the way.

The first photo is looking back at the Malta Inn where we had lunch.

Together again ...

While we were at Maidstone, Louise from Guide Dogs (whose parents now have Josey in retirement) brought John's ex-guide dog, Josey, over to the Hilton Hotel to see us - it was so lovely to see her again. She is looking so well and happy.

A few crafty purchases

While we were in Maidstone I just happened (cough, cough) to stray into one or two craft shops and pick up one or two (or more!) items. This is what I got:

Prize from Woodware USA

When we got back from Maidstone yesterday there was a lovely package among the post that had accumulated during our week away - a prize from Woodware USA - I was told here that I was the winner of the free stamp set for the month.

The package contained more than just a set of stamps - two sets, in fact, some lovely Anna Griffin stitched ribbons and some Jolee's bling dimensional stickers.


Thank you Nancy, for such a lovely package of goodies - I look forward to using them.

Honeys, I'm back - with my Salt LO: the servant king

Couldn't think of any other catchy title!

We're now back home, having had a week away in Maidstone - only about 30 miles away, but an opportunity to get away from everyday life and 'chill' for a while - and we were so blessed with the weather - lots of really warm sunshine.

I took my little lappy with me and memory sticks with cards on that I intended to blog ... in the end I didn't do any of it - only the post about my Christmas challenge and that was already prepared before we went.

One thing I managed to get down just before we left home last Thursday was a LO for today's Salt challenge 'The Servant King' set by Lythan - you can read more about it here.

It's a very simple LO (it had to be because time was very short). I used the Servant King song by Graham Kendrick and a couple of download pictures mounted on torn paper.

Unfortunately, when I prepared the picture I only saved a small version so you can't actually read the song, so these are the words:

From heaven you came
Helpless babe
Entered our world
Your glory veiled
Not to be served
But to serve
And give Your life
That we might live

This is our God
The Servant King
He calls us now
To follow Him
To bring our lives
As a daily offering
Of worship to
The Servant King

There in the garden
Of tears
My heavy load
He chose to bear
His heart with sorrow
Was torn
'Yet not My will
But Yours,' He said

Come see His hands
And His feet
The scars that speak
Of sacrifice
Hands that flung stars
Into space
To cruel nails
Surrendered

So let us learn
How to serve
And in our lives
Enthrone Him
Each other's needs
To prefer
For it is Christ
We're serving

© 1983 Kingsway’s Thankyou Music

I hope to be back soon with some cards that I made before we went away and I might also show a few crafty items that I happened to buy during the week.

Life is going to get back to normal very quickly as we are up at Guy's hospital tomorrow for an appointment for John and then on Tuesday he is having the op on his hand.