A Cute Christmas Couple and a couple of catch ups !

I made this card as a momento for a couple who are celebrating their First Christmas Together.

 It was commissioned by one of their Mums.



The card opens out and says inside:

 " Love is the real thing the rest is just tinsel"

(what a cool quote!!)

I used Webster Pages 6x6 Die Cuts, and a Happy Holidays sentiment stamp from Happy Daze and a Papermania Stamp Set.

I hope they like it xxx

This year I have decorated my mantle piece like a curiosity shop. It is full of all those little things rather than one big swag or ornament. I have finally found an excuse to display my red flocked Pierrot doll!! It's tacky and kitch like the flocked reindeer but I love it!!

I don't think I have blogged this little altered frame.
 |It also has a 50's kitch ornament in it and is made with Websters Die Cuts. You can see it on the HappyDaze Facebook page.

The Father Christmas is Gisella Graham and I found it in a charity shop.

The elves behind are this years new additions and look like they are from The Grinch movie.

and finally my tree is up with only a couple of new additions this year, 3 White flocked polar bears and some more white felt hearts and Bens train from Santa.

Being train obsessed we have been on a Santa train ride....it wasn't quite the Polar Express so he was a little disappointed!

..and Georgia has been doing the rounds caroling with the local choir.

If I don't catch up with you before the New Year have a lovely Christmas and I will see you in January...and also some lucky peeps will see me in Febuary in New Zealand!!!!

eeeeeeeccckkkk can't wait..it's more exciting than Christmas..almost..lol

Love Ruth xxx

This months challenge at HappyDaze is an "Explosion of Colour" and is a theme I have really struggled with.

I love colour as much as the next person but I like my colours to compliment and co-ordinate, finally after a period of crafters block I was inspired by a photo on Pinterest.

I cannot claim the credit for the Colourful Doiley Bunting idea, but I did come up with the idea of using Cosmic Shimmer Chalk Mists all on my own!

The transformation from cream to gleam was instant and incredibly satisfying...and my bunting looks as bright and kitch as a 50's Tupperware party......which is exactly how I wanted it to look!

I think I may now be a convert to brightly coloured doileys as you can see the beautiful patterns more clearly and truly appreciate the work that someone has put into making them.

Cosmic Shimmer Mists are available in a huge range of colours from only £2.95 each.

You can enter this months competition and find the rules here, to have a chance of winning a £15.00 voucher to spend in the HappyDaze shop.

Good Luck

Ruth xxx



Come fly with me....

Pink Paislee papers (from Happy Daze), have come up trumps again for me with the Amber Road range. 

 There are some rich, elaborate autumnal papers in the collection that reminded me of a Scottish Hunting Lodge at christmas.

The super cute reindeer antlers are also from Happy Daze and only cost 35p each.

I inked and glittered the naked wood.

TFL

Tiny little miniature birdhouses by the DT.

Moira at Happy Daze had the fab idea of sending each of us a miniature birdhouse to alter as a christmas decoration.

You can see the incredible design team results HERE.

I used the beautiful Pink Paislee Parisian Elements paper, a wooden spool, Kaiser Craft wooden picket fence, and Prima flowers, I also used a chalk spray, ultimate glue and gesso.

Mine is a one off but I love the idea of making them as place setting name holders to have on the dinner table...good job there are only four of us!

Love and tiny things
Ruth xxx

Photocute...photocube.

I have had a 5 inch cardboard photocube left over from a kit for about 3 years and when I needed to find a way to scrap my friends six children for her it was the 6 sided photocube that sprung to mind.

I used some Basic Grey papers from the sale at Happy Daze and altered my selected photos with the "Picnik" programme to give them all the same tones.

I'm not used to working with such bright colours but for this many kids it was definately the easiest option!

.....and finally my little namesake Lucie xxx

Love and large families

Lucy-Ruth x

I want never gets....

My Mother always used to say "I want never gets"...but sometimes in life .............you just have to figure a way around these things!

I have always wanted a Cath Kidston radio but am never going to get one (they cost nearly £200!!).

I didn't even get the retro radio I asked for for my birthday, (I was in hospital with Georgia on my birthday) and Argos had sold out of the cream retro ones so my DH bought me a modern one. Still the sound quality is good though so I can't complain...... but it still wasn't quite my dream kitchen accessory!

You should have seen his face drop when I mentioned that I was going to alter it!!

I felt guilty at first but what the heck..what was it that William Morris used to say...everything must be both beautiful and useful.

...and now it is thanks to these pretty Girls Paperie papers and a lick of Mod Podge.

Love and rock n roll

Ruth xxx

Little Black Dress Challenge at HappyDaze

This months challenge at Happy Daze is all about your little black dress..

.....you know the old faithfull one thatyou can't live without!!

When it comes to crafting I just can't live without beautiful papers and use them as my fallback time and time again. 

I used My Minds Eye Portobello Road and some Prima packaging.

What is your favourite crafting product that you fall back on each time and just can't live without?

To enter the competition click HERE

Love and chickens

Ruth xxx

2 new layouts at last......phew!!

I made both of these layouts in August but have had to re-photograph them 3 times.....it seems that the pale backgrounds are washing out the details in the bright summer light..(cough cough)....so now that September is upon us and I am grumbling at losing the light again it seems that this time is 3rd time lucky.

If Ben could read he would curse me because he is actually a Train spotter but all in the name of art...etc..I made the telescope from brown felt and gold thread. Ben was actually looking through a telescope in a childrens park but it wasn't quite as interesting as this one!

I enjoyed making a fantasy page with the cut out sillhouette from the photo and am certainly planning to do alot more.

More my usual style this is the one that was struggling to stay true to its colour for me which is annoying because I like to colour compliment my photos, and it just wasn't happening once I had loaded them onto the PC..grrrrrrr.

As soon as I took a photo of it on a cloudy day it turned out grey..sometimes no matter what you do the photos don't reflect the true beauty of the layouts:(

The dragonfly is from HappyDaze and is one of the PinkPaislee Butterfly Garden wooden shapes, which come in a pack of four including a cool birdcage.

I kept it completely natural and simply coated it with glitter glue and it looks so much better in real life then on here.

Both pages were made using 2 sheets of the same Websters Pages 12x12 papers.....kind of handy when you buy the full kits....I have finally progressed from being a one page scrapper to a 2..lol!!

It works though because it's nice to know that I can afford to cut out the images from the spare one and have a bit more freedom.

It's all those years of shopping in scrap shops and only buying one of each design that caused me to be so frugle.

Love and generosity

Ruth xxx

Pink Paislee - MISTABLES made in HEAVEN

This cute hairslide is part of the Pink Paislee Mistables Range. The collection consists of all sorts of alterable things such as tags, scalloped fabric edges, 12x12 resist papers etc and they are all compatable with any type of sprays and inks.

Once you remove the distressed muslin hairslide there is a fuzzy felt mistable flower undeneath so that the card doesn't look quite so naked! The background papers and the die cut tags have been smudged with distress inks.

 

On this card I used a hint of yellow on the background and a smudge of green on the tag to compliment the Websters 6x6's.

All products are fron Happy Daze and can be found here.

Love and a mistable marriage

Ruth xxx

An ode to Adele

You know my daughter loves to sing....

I have always thought that role models like Adele are the type of personalities she should look up to rather than certain other pop stars...fortunately she is growing out of her Disney stage at last  and listening to more discerning music these days...a relief to my ears!!

I used the beautiful reverse side of the Websters Pages

Hollywood Vogue and a sheet of their matching vellum from

Happy Daze.

The chipboard heart is by Twiddleybitz from my dear friend Carol in Australia.

Love and heroes

Ruth xxx

Happy Daze at the sea-side....

This months challenge theme at Happy Daze is the beach..it couldn't have been more timely, what with the "mini heatwave" we have had.....I love how the English have mini heatwaves...basically it means 2-3 days of good warm weather!! lol.

I borrowed a friends photo of her daughter Lucie for this "Queen of the Sandcastle" layout.

The papers are Pink Paislee and the ephemera and trim are still available in the Happy Daze shop.

"Oh I do like to be beside the Seaside" is the theme for the August challenge.

You can enter in one of 3 ways:

Blog your entry and use the Linky widget here to link to your blog entry

Load to the Happy Daze Facebook Page

Sent a pic by email to info@happy-daze.net

The current challenge ends at Midnight Wednesday 31 August 2011. Any type of work based on the theme is fine. One entry will be drawn at random to win a £15.00 Gift Voucher plus free P&P for the Happy Daze shop. Maximum of 3 entries per person. Entries must use at least one product which can be purchased in the Happy Daze shop.

Love and sandcastles

Ruth xxx



Arch - de - triumph

This project has been a bit of a triumph for both Georgia and I for personal reasons.....either way it feels good to be scrapping again!

When closed it reads "Live your dreams like a star".

When open it reads "Georgia you rock....you are my star"

I tried to fill it with positive messages. (This is not about being famous......oh no far from it!!)

Small details: Liquid Pearls, altered Prima Butterflies and  Handmade Mulberry flowers...tutorial coming soon.

Websters Pages paper pack from Happy Daze.......my advice buy the whole pack as soon as they get each range in and then just go for it!!

Accessories and single 12x12 pages available HERE from 90p each.

The back of the arches is a Christmas Photo but I liked her wings.....and the sides are actually the front...if you know what I mean!!

I glued wooden beads onto the base to create feet.



Love and triumph over adversity

Ruth xxx

Magpie collector - Dangly Things Challenge @ Happy Daze

I can't resist keeping shiny and broken things.....just like a Magpie!!

So when I discovered these beautiful

 Vintage Trinkets by Prima from Happy Daze

 I remembered my collection of Antique Bronze broken jewellery pieces, and using some head pins, joined some beads and the birdcage etc together.

Happy Daze have a challenge running at the moment called Dangly Things with a £15.00 voucher for the winner.......click HERE and good luck!!

Love and shiny things

Ruth xxx