Anything goes with option of goodbye - Crafting with Dragonflies DT

Hi all,

A bitter sweet post today...

A little over a year ago, still fresh to blogland and with only a month or so of stamping under my belt, I thought I'd take a chance and apply for a position on a design team. This was a first for me, and I was a little nervous to say the least, and if I'm honest didn't really believe I would be accepted.
So imagine my surprise when a little while later I received a lovely email from Hilde at Crafting with Dragonflies, inviting me to the team!
I was so excited, and in those first couple of weeks I learned so very much! Being on a team brings a whole new side to crafting, and it's one that can be very rewarding, in many ways. In those early days it really helped me become more confident, which led to a few more applications and fabulous DTs to play along with.

So, why the reminiscing? Well, unfortunately, life has a way of upsetting things, and Hilde has made the difficult decision to close Crafting with Dragonflies. The new challenge that starts today will be our last. :-(

The theme is Anything Goes, but there's an option to make a Goodbye/farewell card if you like.

I Went from "goodbye" to "travel" and eventually ended up at "journey" (which can be interpreted both literally or as a more spiritual concept, if you will), which was the main thought behind the card and matching tag I made (both again using the emboss resist technique).

The butterfly on the card is a digi from our sponsor Pickled Potpourri, and the embossed background stamp is from LOTV. When I'd finished it, I sprayed the entire thing with glimmer mist, which you can sort-of make out of the close-up below.

And the matching tag: Another embossed LOTV background stamp, and this time the focal stamp is part of a Papermania urban stamp.

And there they are. My last creations for Crafting with Dragonflies.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Hilde for taking a chance on a newbie and inviting me to such a lovely crafty group. My thoughts will be with you Hilde! x
And to all my fellow Dragonflies, past and present, you girls rock! Don't be strangers.

And to everyone else I say, what are you waiting for? Go give this challenge the fabulous send-off it deserves and play along this fortnight. We're all there waiting for you!

Health and happiness to you all.

Sammy-x

Use a Dragonfly - Anything but a card - Crafting with Dragonflies

Hi all,

It's that time again... a new challenge at Crafting with Dragonflies and this one is twofold... First of all, we'd love for you to make something that's not a card, and second, we'd love to see a dragonfly on your creation!

I decided to have a play with a little chest of drawers. (I really mean little, it's a 10cm, or thereabouts, cube!

I used LOTV paper, gorgeous purple paint and some shimmery dragonfly die-cuts.

I also raided my WOC flowers and Hobby House gem swirls, and even managed to find a teeny dragonfly charm in my stash...

And a close-up of the dragonfly. I opted for purple with a lovely shimmery paper underneath:

Your turn. Make, alter or otherwise create something to share with us, and don't forget the dragonfly! If you're stuck for ideas, my fellow Dragonflies have some gorgeous creations waiting for you!

I'd very much like to enter this into the current Party Time Tuesdays "Anything goes" challenge. (PTT187)

Have a fab day!

Sammy-x

Pink for breast cancer - Crafting with Dragonflies DT

Good morning folks.

I'm here with a special card today, because this fortnight at Crafting with Dragonflies we're doing our bit for a very special cause - breast cancer awareness.
So, with that in mind, we'd like to see your pink creations! Now I know this isn't a problem for most of you , and it certainly wasn't for me! (though apologies to Susan, who must be going cross-eyed from all the pink recently! lol)

Our sponsor, Sami stamps, gave us some lovely images to play with, and I immediately pounced on this one!

Doesn't get much pinker than that!! I was trying to go for a pink lycra feel for her clothes... I can just picture her as a dancer! I used the same Docrafts papers I've used several times recently, and the "believe" and ribbon stickers were sent to me last year by the lovely Jennifer.
A handful of pink gems and some pink sparkly ribbon finished it off.

And now it's your turn to show of your pink crafting skills and come join us this fortnight.

Have a fantabulous day!

Sammy-x

Anything Goes - Crafting with Dragonflies DT

Hello all!

It's that time again... A new challenge over at Crafting with Dragonflies. And the theme is the easiest of all... Anything Goes!

For my project I used an image from one of our sponsors, the Dollar Graphics Depot, and made a door hanger.

I fussy cut the image after colouring it with my Promarkers, and attached it to the hanger, which I'd covered with some paper from Grace Taylor first. I added a die-cut branch, then sealed everything with a couple of coats of modge podge.
Finally, some buttons and twine to finish it off, and it's ready to go on someone's door!

Initially I was going to add a name to it, but both my kids have long since outgrown this kind of thing, and I wasn't sure who else to make it for, so left it nameless in the end!

Now I hope you'll all come see what my fellow Dragonflies have been up to, before you come and enter the challenge yourself!

Have a fantastic day, and I'll see you all in a few hours with my next post (two of three today!).

Sammy-x

Gift card holder - Crafting with Dragonflies DT

Hey there all,

It's that time again... A new challenge over at Crafting with Dragonflies, and this fortnight we're looking for gift card holders.

For mine I decided to use one of the kits from LOTV, to which I added a tag image from our sponsor Bugaboo.

These are so very easy to put together, and take no time at all, but they look ever so pretty.
I also added a velcro dot to keep it closed.

So now it's your turn. Make us something pretty for holding a gift card and come and link up. After you've been to check out what my fellow Dragonflies have created, of course.

Have a great day!

Sammy-x

Girly and Lacy - Crafting with Dragonflies DT

Good morning all!

It's a new challenge at Crafting with Dragonflies today, and the theme is Girly and Lacy.

We are sponsored by All Dressed Up, who gave us this gorgeous image to play with.

I decided to go with the obvious... Pink! And chose some pretty paper from Maja Design to pair up the gorgeous image with.

I also made a matching tag.

And both of them together...

Your turn. I'm sure you can make us something pretty and girly (don't forget the lace!). Looking forward to seeing the entries!

I'd also like to enter the following challenges:

Papertake weekly - Anything goes
Craft Hoarders Anonymous - All the pretty flowers
Paper Sweeties - Photo inspiration

Have an excellent day!

Sammy-x

Tissue box - Crafting with Dragonflies DT

Good morning everyone!

The new challenge at Crafting with Dragonflies starts today, and we're looking for you to create a tissue box!
Well, this was a first for me, and you know me, love to do something different... Now I have to admit that I struggled a little with the maths side of it, working out measurements and whathaveyou (Maths has never been my strong suit, and these days my brain just refuses to even try! lol), but I think I got there in the end.

I received a lovely sunflower digi from our sponsor Bugaboo, and let the design happen from there...

First there was G45 paper, which was perfect because of the sunflowers... I made a "sleeve" for a square box out of them (you can just see a pink spot at the bottom where the inside box is peeping out, lol).

And I added the sunflower digi to the top of the box, after colouring and fussy-cutting.

So there you go, one tissue box! And my fellow Dragonflies have been hard at work too, so I suggest you so check out their work too.

Have a fab day my dears!

Sammy-x

Centre or Side Step card - Crafting with Dragonflies DT

Hello there ladies and gents.

Please don't forget to enter my blogoversary candy here.

It appears that we've whirled around again to a new challenge at Crafting With Dragonflies, and this fortnight the challenge is to create a centre or side-step card.

We have two sponsors this challenge, and I opted to use this fabulous image from Make it Crafty.

I teamed her with papers from the Dovecraft back to Basics range (another "really old" bit of stash), and added a LOTV sentiment.
To finish it off, I added some buttons and pearls.

This is incidentally the first time I've played about with "unnatural" hair colour... It just seemed to me that the image needed it!

So, after you've been to see the lovelies created by my fellow Dragonflies, you'll come and play along too, yes?

Have a fantabulous day!

Sammy-x

Bag and Tag - Crafting with Dragonflies DT

Morning/night folks!

Don't forget to enter my candy here!

So, another new challenge at Crafting with Dragonflies, and it's something a little different. This fortnight, we'd like you to make a bag and tag!

I had put this challenge to the back of my mind when I first found out we'd be doing it, and let it sit and stew there for a while. Then, when I picked up the June copy of the Docrafts magazine, there it was! A gorgeous envelope bag. Perfect! Now, I did alter the design a little, and obviously went for a different look (though that one was a Gorjuss bag, which I love, I had other plans for this!). And I ended up with the following:

I used LOTV Country Lady papers to decorate, and also included a metal frame from Docrafts.
My plan was to create a bag with separate pockets for specific occasions, and fill each one with small tags to suit, then present it to my mum when we go up at the end of this month. That way she'll have some pretty tags to add to pressies, and somewhere to keep them in too.

Some of the individual envelopes:

The little journalling tags are also from LOTV. such a cute set, and so useful!

And of course, I had to make lots of tags too! Here's one I made using a stamp from our sponsor Sami Stamps:

Now I know this is a little more work than our last challenge (which was CAS), but it was oh so much fun to do, and it was great doing something different! So go on, have a go! ;-)

And go check out the lovely work my fellow Dragonflies have produced!

Have a supercalifragalistic day!

Sammy-x

CAS -Crafting with Dragonflies DT

Hello there peoples!

Yup, another new challenge at Crafting with Dragonflies, and this fortnight it's a challenge indeed... Or at least, for some of us it is, as the theme is CAS. I know some of you are seasoned experts however, so I do hope we'll see some of your entries this challenge!

I used a lovely image from our sponsor Pickled Potpourri and layered it several times with pearlised gold and black card, and then doing the same with the sentiment, which was a magazine freebie.

I decided to leave the image itself uncoloured, and instead went over it with my Sakura gelly roll pen. It adds a gorgeous shimmer!

I was quite pleased with the outcome, even if I did have to put it away immediately to stop me from adding embellishments! lol.

Your turn! Go take a peek at the fabulous creations prepared by my fellow Dragonflies and then why not come and play along?

Have a super day!

Sammy-x

ATCs - Crafting with Dragonflies DT

Hello there everyone!

I'd been looking forward to the new challenge at Crafting with Dragonflies for some time. You see, I'd been meaning to try my hand at ATCs for a while, but never did get round to it. So here was the perfect excuse!

I got to use some fab images from our sponsor Pickled Potpourri, and I decided to use them on an inky background...

So first of all I started with a playing card as template (from the Mirage casino in Vegas. No, I've never been, I just found them in a charity shop, lol). I liked these cards in particular, as they had unusual shaped corners.

I played about with my distress inks for the backgrounds. I wanted them all to look like they belonged in a set, yet to all be different, so I tried to vary the position and amounts of the colours I used.
I couldn't resist using the Creative Chemistry "spritz and flick" technique too, hoping they would possibly evoke the idea of dewdrops! lol.

I then stamped all with a script stamp from LOTV, changing the position and portion of the stamp I used for each one.
I also used the leaf stamp I used recently on the photo frames I gave a make-over to. I SO love that stamp!

I added round and flower gems to each as well, again varying their positions.

And finally I finished it off by adding a word from the Tim Holtz Chitchat pack to each of them. I went around them all with a black fineliner too in order to make them pop a little more.

So there we go. my first ever attempt at ATCs. Trust me when I say I definitely got the bug after these! In fact, I may or may not have made 12 sets already!

Now, those of you that haven't tried making ATCs before are no doubt thinking about trying it, so here's your excuse! And those of you that have..? well, you know how very addictive it is, so go on, you know you want to!

See your entries soon, I hope!

A fabulous day for one and all!

Sammy-x

Zentangle - Crafting with Dragonflies DT

Hello everyone!

Another new challenge over at Crafting with Dragonflies today, and it's one I have to admit I was dreading for a while! Most of you will know my aversion to doodling, and I can now confirm this includes Zentangle.

I know a lot of people love it, but I simply don't like to doodle, in black and white or otherwise, lol.

However, I put my big girl pants on, and managed to produce a little something to try and inspire you all, in the hope that those of you who are doodle-whizzes, will come and play along!

As you can see, I used an image from our sponsor Bugaboo, and used the frame for doodling in.

And I even added doodles to the inside! This should show you all how dedicated I am, lol.

Now, time for you lot to go show me how it's done! ;-)

Have a fabby day!

Sammy-x

Pegs! - Crafting with Dragonflies DT

Hello all,

And here we are again on a Wednesday looking at a new challenge at Crafting with Dragonflies! The challenge this fortnight is to use wooden pegs on or as your project.

I decided to make a notice board. I took an old placemat, and covered it in Docrafts "Happy Days" paper. I then did the same with a few pegs and die-cut some shapes to use as labels.
A little more paper on the background and a hint of washi tape finished it off, and made it look like this:

I kinda love that chevron paper, even though it makes my eyes go funny, lol.

I liked the idea of having one central place to corral all those scrap bits of paper that need attention at some point or another. Normally they end up on a surface in either the living room or kitchen and from there vanish never to be seen again (or at least, they take some finding!). This should hopefully help, and it's cheery and colourful to boot!

Now then, my fellow Dragonflies also have some great ideas for using them, so I hope you'll go take a peek, and maybe you'll be inspired to play along?

Have a super duper day!

Sammy-x

Congratulations! - Crafting with Dragonflies is 1 year old! + DT call!

Hello everyone!

Us dragonflies have our party hats on today, because Crafting with Dragonflies is one year old! Which of course means a matching challenge! The theme is Celebration, which can be any type of celebration you like, and I myself decided to go with Anniversary, using an image from one of our sponsors, Make it Crafty.

I fancied using a muted colour scheme, so went with mostly neutrals, with a hint of pink.

The papers are from the First Edition Love Letters pad, and I used one of my favourite Memory Box dies for the heart embellishments. I also used some Tattered Rose Distress ink to lightly colour the die-cut background around the image, as I felt the white was a little too white...

Now, we'd love it if you go see what my fellow Dragonflies have made, and join in with the fun, but there's an exciting opportunity for you all too... We're looking for a couple of new Dragonflies to join the team!
The full details are found here, but in a nutshell, if you fancy joining a fun group of crafty gals (for now, we welcome guys too!), to make not only cards, but all sorts of other items too (which was what drew me to the team in the first place), this is your chance!

In the meantime, have a fabulous day!

Sammy-x

Use a CD - Crafting with Dragonflies DT

Good morning all!

And here we are again, another new Crafting with Dragonflies challenge. This fortnight we have something a little different for you... We're challenging you to use a CD, either as the card itself, or on the card as decoration.

I have to admit this challenge had me stumped for some time, until I decided to paper the CD, and use it as a layer on this easel card:

I used a lovely rose digi from our sponsor QKR, and chose the LOTV "always and forever" papers to accompany it.
I added some corners cut with a die-namics die, and the sentiment is a Spellbinders die.

I scaled down and printed the rose a second time, as decoration for the bottom half, and finished off with some lovely Hobby House pearls.

Well, that's one way of using a CD, but there's so very many more. I strongly suggest you go take a peek at what the rest of the Dragonflies have thought up too!
And of course, we'd love it if you joined in.

Have a fabulous day!

Sammy-x

Mother's day/special lady - Crafting with Dragonflies DT

Hello everyone!

Is it me, or is time going by a little too fast at the moment? It seems like only a couple of days since the last Crafting With Dragonflies challenge, and here is the next one all ready to go! This fortnight we're going by the theme Mother's Day (for those of you living in parts of the world that haven't already celebrated that one recently), or otherwise a card for a Special Lady.

Our sponsors this challenge are Heather Ellis and Meljens, and I was given a Meljens digi to play with...

As you can see, I teamed the digi with some LOTV papers and sentiment tag, and embellished with organza ribbon, roses and some pearls.I used some faux stitching to try and bring everything together.

I figured the heart and sentiment made it suitable to send to one's mother - or other loved one - at any time, not just mother's day!

I hope you'll take the time to see what the rest of the team have been up to, and then come and play along!

In the meantime, be excellent to each other!

Sammy-x

Blog hop winners - Crafting with Dragonflies

Hello all!

Just a quick one from me to let you all know that the winners of the Crafting with Dragonflies Baby Blog Hop have been announced on the blog!

And you may recall I was offering a little surprise package of my own, and I'm happy to announce the winner of said package is...

Samantha K

Congrats hun! If you email me with your addy, I'll get it posted out to you asap!

Thanks everyone for taking part and leaving such lovely comments, we all enjoyed the blog hop so much!

See you in the morning with my Rhedd and Rosie's DT card!

Sweet Dreams,

Sammy-x

Easter - Crafting with Dragonflies DT

Hello my dears,

Another hump day has arrived, and with it a new challenge for Crafting with Dragonflies.  Thank you all for your participation in the recent blog hop, and the lovely comments you all left. Stay tuned for the winners announcement this time next week!

The theme this fortnight is, rather unsurprisingly, Easter, and we're being sponsored by both Bugaboo and Squigglefly, and for this challenge I made cards with images by both companies.

My first card features the Squigglefly Easter basket builder set on the front, and another of their images on the inside.

The paper is Grace Taylor.

And for my Bugaboo card, I used Floral Easter Eggs - Egg 2

The paper on this card is First Edition "Spring Feast", and I used a Sizzix doily die as a frame and an X-Cut punch for the flowers.

So those are my contributions! Please do go take a look at what the other Dragonflies have been up to!

Have a fab day!

Sammy-x

Babies Blog hop! - Crafting with Dragonflies

WE are having a BLOG HOP as well as a Challenge this fortnight!

This year our theme is - BABIES!

We have some wonderful sponsors who have generously donated lots of goodies for you and our wonderful Hilde also has a freebie to give to you to use for the challenge if you want to - go to the main blog for this.

Our Sponsors for this Blog Hop are listed below but the twist is that they are associated with each individual member of the Design Team's blogs, so you need to go to their blog and follow the instructions to be in a chance to win. There is a prize for the Challenge winner as well and our normal TOP THREE awards. You do not have to go in the BLOG HOP as well as the Challenge, but what else have you to do with your time? Of course you will enter both!! However, you do have to be a member of this blog to be eligible for the Challenge and Blog Hop prizes. 

OUR WONDERFUL SPONSORS

Sponsors: Digistamps4Joy Prize: 

$10 to spend in the store  - on Tania's blog

Sami Stamps Prize:

 

$12 to spend in the store  - Judith has this one

Flourish with a Bling Prize:

 

$15 dollar to spend in the store - you will find this one on Ina's blog

Handmade Harbour prize: 

six digis for the winner  - hiding away on CG's blog

Pickled Potpourri prize: 

 $7 to spend in the store  -  Hilde has charge of this

Meljens prize: four digis for the winner  

 

Sammy, Susan and Wynn are being sponsored by Meljen

Wynn and I are both offering a surprise prize of our own!

The way you can hop is by thinking of numbers! Go to each Design Team's blog, read the clues and THINK OF NUMBERS while you do this! Remember - our theme is BABIES, so what do Babies have related to NUMBERS?

There may be a small amount of poetry in there........but I am sure you will be able to work that all out! You collect a word or maybe a whole phrase from each blog along the hop and you need to make sure that

1. You leave a comment on a blog to be eligible for that blog's prize
2. You DON'T mention the word/phrase in your comment on that blog!

Leave a comment on the main blog as well as entering your own Baby themed project into the Challenge on the  Crafting with Dragonflies . Also follow the instructions on the main blog to finish off the hop from there. 

Happy Hopping Folks

Order of the HOP

Crafting with Dragonflies

Tania

Hilde

Wynn

Sammy   You are here!

CG

Judith

Ina
Susan

Crafting with Dragonflies 

Now then... Now that all the technical stuff is out of the way, I shall share some pictures, a story or two and, oh yes, a card with you!

First of all, I'd like to introduce you all to my daughter, Kayleigh. Not as she is now, all teenage-y and whatnot, but as she was when we first brought her home:

Adorable, wasn't she? And oh so very tiny! It was hard to imagine, nine months before, that this tiny little person would instantly become the centre of my life. but that she did!

Now, you may wonder how she came by her name? And if you'd guessed she was named after the song, believe it or not, you would be right! I fist heard Kayleigh by Marillion when I was 15 years old, and immediately decided that if I ever had a daughter, she would be called Kayleigh. It was, and still is, the most beautiful name I'd ever heard. As luck would have it, her dad turned out to be a big Marillion fan, so there was no battle over a name.

We saved the battles for our second child...

Meet Sean as a baby. And rather than the centre of my life shifting from one to another, it simply expanded to accommodate this adorable young man:

Now, had Sean been a girl, the name would again have been a simple matter. He would have been Caitlin. But as my due day grew near, we still hadn't settled on even a short list for boys names... I had my heart set on Kieran, but hubby was having none of it, and even though we'd had almost nine months to figure it out, we got to a couple of days before the birth with nada! Every time one of us came up with a name, the other would veto, and vice versa.

Then we happened to be watching The Fellowship of the Ring one evening, and hubby joked "What about Frodo?"

I recall throwing something at him, and telling him all LOTR names were out of the question. (I had a friend in high school who had the misfortune to be called Gandalf. He got teased mercilessly back then, I can only imagine how much more difficult his life became after the films came out!). 

I then thought for a moment and added "And cast names are also out... Orlando? Viggo? I think not!"

But then hubby said "What about Sean?"

Well, he had me there. I freely admit to having a weakness for Irish names (and Sean Bean! lol), and it immediately went on the list. We ended up adding a few more names over the next couple of days, but as soon as I held him for the first time, hubby and I looked at each other and said "Sean" at the same time. sometimes names just fit.

So, that's my little story (hope you kept your eyes peeled for the "magic" words!), and now finally, I can share my card!

I used the Meljens image "baby shower". 

I dug around in my stash for some baby-related goodies, and decided to not go with traditional blues or pinks, but instead with a more gender-neutral colour scheme.

So, that's it from me for today. If you managed to make it through to the end, I think you deserve a medal! However, I don't have any of those, but if you leave me a comment below, you will be in the running to win a little surprise something. And don't forget to visit the rest of the dragonflies too, as there's plenty of other chances to win, and stories and lovely makes to see!

Have a fantastic day!

Sammy-x