Back On Deck!

Ladies, I have noticed a fair bit of time has elapsed since I last posted and I am sorry for that. Decided I would put a post up tonight as my Mondays seem to be filled up lately. We have had a busy month or two catching up with our various families, down to Dunedin to spend time with the family there, then we travelled down to the farm and had a lovely time with the ones there. Cam and Michelle have just built a fabulous retreat cottage on the farm and overlooking the Tahakopa Beach  which has  million dollar views. I will advertise it here,  as it is well worth a visit. Tahakopa Bay Retreat.  It is just stunning. A weekend ago we also had a trip to Christchurch to celebrate our lovely grand daughter's 21st. We have been reasonably social lately but have now settled back into retirement mode. In a couple of weeks though, we are off to Mt Cook, with our family, as our grandson is doing a marathon there - we're actually staying at Twizel.

Now, I do have a couple of cards to share tonight which were made for our friend's 50th wedding anniversary. One was from ourselves and the other was an order from another friend. So of course they had to be different!

Trust you enjoy the viewing ladies. The first is my usual 5 1/4" square card and the second an easel card. Both are made with reasonably older collections and to be honest, I have forgotten their names. Gold mirror card has been used to cut the dies out. Contact me if you require the manes etc of the dies. I'm a bit lazy tonight to go to my workroom to check them out.

Do hope you are all well and managing to dodge the colds etc that are making the rounds. Hugh is rather sorry for himself at the moment, as he has a rather nasty cold - tells me he's on the improve now which I am very thankful for. Coughing does keep the two of us awake at night! Thanks again for checking up on me and may you all know much blessing.

Betsy  xxx

Monthly Advent!

Good morning to all. Well, it does look like it might be a monthly advent putting up a post ladies, as time seems to get away on me. I sure don't know where the month has gone - mind you patchwork seems to have taken over lately. We are not all that productive on the card line but I am still making an odd one or two. I have been preparing for two card classes which I am taking for Jo, at Embellish It, as the girls have all deserted us for more exciting pastures! Do hope all goes well at SENZ - it will be the first year that I haven't attended for a number of years, so am going to miss catching up with all the lovely friends I have made over the years. Next year coming up!

I have been making a few cards for orders so thought I would showcase a couple of them today. Do hope you enjoy the viewing and maybe get some ideas for your next projects.

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An easel card is always a hit. For the shape I have cut out a Spellbinder's Labels 4  and then have used Heartfelt Creations Decorative Ovals die HCD1-762. The collection is Kaisercraft's With Love which is lovely. I fussy cut  the flowers from one of the papers in the range.

Gold and white - couldn't be prettier! The base card has been embossed using a 3D Embossing folder, then placed onto gold mirror card. The dies are Heartfelt Creations, Eyelet Diamond, HCD1-7227. I really love these diamond dies and of course, had to have them! The flowers were made using another Heartfelt Creations die, stamping first with gold embossing powder, cutting out using their dies and moulding with their moulds. The effect is lovely and a change from foamiran flowers! The sentiment is from the With Love collection from Kaisercraft.

That's it ladies. Thanks so much for sticking with me, I really do appreciate you all and the lovely comments etc I receive. Must carry on with the good work, so until next time may you all know God's blessing and happy crafting.

Betsy  xxx

Two New Cards!!

As I add this post, I am feeling rather ashamed of myself for not having been in touch before now but Mondays seem to have been very busy lately. No excuse I know, but thank you all for not having given up on me. To be very honest, I have been totally obsessed with my patchwork and have just spent another weekend with my patchwork friends. A fabulous time was had and I did accomplish quite a bit. Will share at a later date ladies.

Today I thought I would showcase a couple of cards which I have recently made. Yes, I am still making cards on the sideline! Hope you enjoy the viewing .

I really enjoy putting these 3D cards together and the response to them is amazing. Becca Feeken excelled when she designed these dies - just fabulous. For those of you who are interested, they are Spellbinder's Dies, The main card is S6-136 and for the insert happy birthday, S5-345. I do hope Jean liked her birthday card and had a wonderful birthday.

The next one was made for our super cute grandson. I have been thinking of all the cards I have made for him over the years and all the various images used. This year was snow boarding as you can no doubt guess. It is called a Kite card, very simply made and it folds flat for posting. If wanting to make this card, Sam, at Mixed-Up Crafts  has a You Tube which is very easily followed. Do click on the photos to get a clearer image - think I may need to renew my glasses as things are looking a bit blurry.

Well thanks so much for sticking with me, I will try and do better in the future! We have a beautiful day here, which we are really enjoying after a rather heavy frost. My husband has gone to a bull sale today ( once a farmer always a farmer!!) and I have reneged, so all's peaceful here. Maybe I'll get a bit more quilting done!

Trust all are well and dodging all the bugs that are floating round at the moment. Happy crafting ladies until next time and may you all know God's blessings.

"This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it," this verse just came to mind!

Betsy  xxx

Turnable Double Photo Frame

Hello to all my special friends. I do hope you are all well and avoiding the flue this season, as well as all the other multiple things going round right now. I managed to succumb but am now on the mend I'm thankful to say. I'ts certainly not my favourite time of the year!

Having had plenty of time lying round, I have been able to check up on a number of You Tubes etc and have discovered an amazing number of great different ideas and different designers. The project I am sharing today is just one of my finds. A Turnable Double Photo Frame which has been designed by Nicole Silhouette, who lives in Holland and sells her dies through Ali Express - she also has videos to follow up with her dies. She is a very talented lady and is very productive as far as designing goes. I'm so glad I discovered her and I so enjoyed putting this frame together. I so hope you enjoy the viewing ladies. Do click on the images for a clearer showing.

I have used 49 and Market papers for this as they are are a firmer thickness, hence I didn't have to cover with designer papers, which halves the work. The frame pivots on a drinking straw, rather unique but very stable and it turns beautifully. The images are taken off Pinterest off course. Thanks Nicole, I am so pleased with the finished product, in fact love it and it's a little change from card making!

Well, must away and complete a card order - just have to personalise them with sentiments and names. As we had a lovely day at Ashburton on Saturday with my card making friends, I managed to get the four made up, so just the finishing touches now.

Thanks again for not giving up on me, hopefully I should be right now!! Again trust everyone is well and enjoying what you are doing. This comes with God's blessing on you all, until next time,

Betsy  xxx

A Couple of Step Cards

The 1st of April - where is the year going!! The year is certainly moving fast but this girl seems to be moving slower! It does take me twice as long to get things done these days but still very thankful that I am still here and able to enjoy life and friends. We said goodbye to a very special lady and friend this past week, we sure miss her but know she is past suffering now and enjoying being with her Saviour.

Thought I would share a couple of step cards today - of course using my favourite Cherry Lyn Design, Step Card Die. When I bought this die ( thanks to KK many years ago) I was apprehensive about whether I would make full use of it, as I don't mind measuring and cutting out, but what a bonus it is and certainly well used.

Every year I get an order from Grandad Bruce who wants an appropriate card for his grand-daughter MacKenzie - I do enjoy personalising cards and I feel I almost know MacKenzie really well now after a number of years, growing with her actually! As you will no doubt have guessed she is into unicorns at the moment. I used my stitched circle dies to cut out the rainbow in various coloured card.
I did have fun making this card.

Isn't it amazing how many different looks one can get from using the same die!  This card was made using the latest collection from Graphic 45, Love Notes Collection. My all time favourite paper ranges. This was another order and I do hope Jan and Peter had a lovely celebration.

Do click on the images as you get a far clearer photo.
Thanks so much for taking a peep and not giving up on me - trust all is well with everyone and still enjoying what you are doing. This comes with special love and blessings to all.

Betsy  xxx

My Latest Projects.

I see a month has gone by but I am not going to be making excuses this time! Do hope you haven't all given up on me - just put it down to old age!

I am going to share another couple of cards which have been made for birthdays for my lovely grand-daughters, Jade and Millie. They have grown up far too fast.

For Millie's card I chose to do a Tower card. It is a simple card and very effective. There are tutorials on line for anyone wanting to make it. One of these was displayed in the shop and it sure made a hit, in fact a number of the ladies were copying it at a crop day.

Jade McKenzie's card is a side step, again using the Cherry Lynn Step Card Die. I have certainly made full use of this die as it really is versatile. I also love this Becca Feeken oval die, Spellbinder's Sweetheart Swirl, S5-365. Think you will agree it is lovely. Of course some more of my foamiran flowers just to complete the look.

Something a little different here ladies. When at SENZ, in Auckland, I bought two of these kits, one for a friend and one for myself. They are rather nice and just something more to dust! Oh well, one never learns but they were tempting and made up very nicely.

That's it today ladies, thanks again for stopping by. Trust all are well and not melting in all this very hot weather. It does have an Autumn feel today, so more bearable. Special blessings until next time. 

Betsy  xxx                                                                                                                                               

Two New Cards.

A special hello to all. Yes, my computer problems have been worked out thanks to my lovely friend Graham, so here we are again to add a blog. That boy is worth his weight in gold!

Today I am sharing a couple of cards which I have made recently, one for our delightful little great grand boy who has reached the old age of one. A few months ago that is! Clayton is just so gorgeous and we did get to spend some time with them over the Christmas period, our newest little one as well.

For Clay's card I have used Papers from the Mintay Collection, called Farm Life. Our little boy is a real farmer and loves all animals, so hence the animal card. Not too sure he appreciated it but I did have fun making it. The papers in this collection are lovely.

This card was made for a very special friend for her big birthday. Wandering Ivy Collection from Kaisercraft I have used, again I love this colour combination. Other than that, both cards are my usual 5 1/4" square cards and rather self explanatory.

Well ladies, thanks so much for checking out this blog post - it so nice to know you are still there and I do appreciate you all. Trust you are all enjoying this fabulous weather, not finding it toooo hot! Until next time, may you all know God's blessing,

Betsy  xxx