Bespoke envelopes for my Groovi cards!

Hello friends,

Just popping in because a little birdie alerted me to a comment on this post by Barbara Gray from Clarity.

Paul Church has worked out a great way of making envelopes out of the Clarity Designer Paper.  A lady had commented on Barbs blog post about Paul perhaps coming up with the maths, on how to make bespoke envelopes, for her cards.

Well, I have the answer for every single card you make.  I bought one of those Envelope Punch Boards a long long while ago for my class ladies, to make envelopes for their cards.  My husband, bless cotton socks, then made it so easy for us all, he wrote a computer program to work with it.  Yes, the board comes with some sizes but for one, it's just too hard to read and two, sometimes I want inches and sometimes I want centimetres and most of the time I want a very difficult size!

Here's a few pics on how it works:

You'll find my Crafty Envelope Punch Board Calculator here.

Measure your card and choose which Clarity Designer Paper you'd like to use (the one I chose for this card was from Shenandoah)  

Type into the software the card size - no need to add a bit (just type in the exact card size).  You can choose whether you want centimetres or inches!  The picture below shows that I've chosen Centimetres, you can see I've added my dimensions.  The paper size and first score line comes up automatically (as if by magic)!

I cut my paper to exactly 19.4 x 19.4 cm and lined it up at 9.7 cm on the board.....

This next picture shows that I've scored the line (I also punched the top notch)....

This next picture shows that there is no need to measure again, all you do is turn the paper, the pointer on the notch punch bit, points at the line you've just embossed.  Punch and score again.....

This next picture shows all the score lines done and notches cut out......

When you've folded the score lines to make the envelope, you can make a neat little rounded corner by placing the part you want to be the closing flap, into the corner rounder tool on the board!

All that is left to do is to stick the sides down for a perfect envelope!

The finished envelope.....

So it's as easy at that!  These Envelope Punch boards can be picked up very reasonably from most crafty outlets!  My calculator is free to use, no spam, no adverts, just there for anyone to use!

Happy crafting and envelope making!

Carole xx

Parchment Groovi Lace Frame & Cameo Lessons

Thank for checking out my post today.

I'm pretty excited about this frame I made for a pattern I saw on the internet, for a Parchment craft lace border.

I'm not one to take lots of time on borders like these but I thought this one might be quick and felt if I were to try and make one of my frames for lacy borders like this, this simple design might just be a good place to start!

I made another card out of the middle which was cut out.....

Here they both are side by side.....

I still teach the occasional one to one Silhouette Cameo lesson.  If you'd like to learn how to make frames like this or how to get the best use for your style of crafting, out of your Silhouette Cameo machine, my details are on the right of your screen, email me if you're interested  ;-)!

Hope you've enjoyed looking at my cards today.

Happy crafting.

Carole x

Groovi Zig-Zag Border 2 & Tina's Rosie Doodle plates

Hello Friends,

I'm back today with another Zig-Zag card for you to see.

I've been making frames for my class ladies for some time now and usually as soon as one class has finished, I'm on to designing the next frames, using different Groovi Plates for the next class.  Not this time though, I'm really enjoying working with my Zig-Zag frames.  It took me ages to get the measurements correct, so I might as well utilise the Silhouette file I created, as much as I can!

That's the beauty of making cards with my Silhouette, with the features available within the software to use, I can just keep on designing, all I have to remember for these designs though, is that I can't resize those zig-zags!

One of the main ideas behind my frames was to cut down on the amount of snipping that has to be done to make a card.  To me, so long as I'm using great card stock, I think they finish a Parchment card off neater than snipping round the edge sometimes.  With that said though, this time I thought it's time for a bit of snipping, after all it is one of the main components of Parchment Craft.  

For my card today, I pricked around the edge of one of the frames that I'd made (see my last post) and then went back to my trusty Silhouette to make a Zig-Zag card mat!  So easy when you know how ;)!

The parchment is attached to this card by just that tiny bit of thread on the button, in the centre of the butterfly.

The Groovi plates I used were;

Groovi Border Plate 2, Tina's Rosie Doodle Wreath and the Straight Pattern 1 piercing grid.

I hope you like how I've used my Groovi Plates today.

Happy crafting.

Carole x

Groovi Zig-Zag border plate

Hello friends,

Over the last year or so I've been designing bespoke frames using my Silhouette software to make parchment craft easier for myself and ladies attending my classes.

The launch of the Groovi® parchment craft system by Clarity, was fabulous, it enabled thousands of people to start parching (some again, like myself) and me to go back to teaching the craft.  What I found though was that ladies who attended my card class wanted quick cards, just like myself actually and many of them were not wanting to spend their time snipping out intricate edges.

I'm still someone who aims to make a card neat - in fact that is my main aim.  I also like to use what I consider to be the nicest products, card stock to me is especially important.

I really do enjoy parchment craft using the Groovi® system, especially now I've teamed it up with my knowledge of the software for my Silhouette Cameo machine.  The more frames I've made the more adventurous they have become, I suppose you could say.

It was this latest batch of frames that I designed, that got me thinking I really ought to blog about them.  I wanted to share with you how you can utilise your electronic die cutting machine to cut out frames.  Not only will you find they are great for parchment craft but I'm sure they will work well with rubber stamping and other paper crafting techniques too.

I designed these frames around using this border plate from Clarity.

Email me if you have any questions.

Thanks for stopping by to see my creations.

Happy crafting.

Carole x

Groovi Parchment Craft Christmas cards - with Silhouette!

Hello friends,

I've been mixing my stash of designer papers, stamps, inks, Groovi plates, dies and of course my Silhouette Cameo to make a few Christmas cards.  These were made by the ladies who came to my Groovi classes during November.

I wanted to share how to use large ball tools and shader tools to white emboss on Parchment for a larger area and I also wanted to show my students how to change up their Groovi nested plates a little, using these techniques we made this card....

Can you see how we used a few dots to break up the lines on the Groovi nested circle, I was really pleased to come up with that one, I hadn't seen it before.  We used Pergamano pencils to colour in the bits that are coloured, blended the colouring with a tiny amount of alcohol and then very gently embossed the body and face of the snowman.  I'd still rather not use brads on parchment, so like usual, I made a frame to fit perfectly, on my Silhouette Cameo.

After photographing the card I thought it needed a little something extra so I produced a matching rim, again using my Silhouette machine.

The next technique I wanted to share was how to make beautiful coloured parchment papers similar to the Clarity ones.  I love the Clarity ones, I think all the ladies I teach here own them, but I really wanted to try and make my own, choosing the colours that I like....

I die cut the parchment using a dotted frame die, on the back we dabbed (with a sponge) Brushos mixed with alcohol, it was great fun.  We stuck the star die cut on the the front and hid Perga glue behind the bits on there to attach the parchment to the background mat and card.  Again not a brad in sight, just carefully dotted glue ;)!

Our final card was actually more about the envelope than the card, to be honest.  I found a great envelope made by someone on Pinterest and thought it would be a fabulous parchment project.  I made one in parchment but it wasn't great (I wasn't careful enough with the scoring so the parchment tore a little bit in places), I showed my students and we decided to go with making a paper one in class, they then had the option of making a parchment one at home.

The card is very simple!  There are actually two different ways of folding the envelope for two different effects, you'll work that out if you make one!

I hope I've inspired you to change up those nested Groovi plates and try a little something new with your parchment craft.

Happy crafting.

Carole x

Silhouette Cameo - Lessons - Graphtec UK & NEC Hobbycrafts show 2017!

Hello Friends,

What a fabulous day I had yesterday at the Craft & Hobby show at the NEC.  I was given the chance to demonstrate for a short while on the Silhouette UK stall, so that Lisa could have a little break.  I really enjoyed being back at the NEC demonstrating, it's been years since I was last there "on a roll" and I loved it!

They are a great bunch of people, showing, sharing knowledge and selling great Silhouette products and I'd like to thank them for giving me a little go, at what I used to do best!

I chatted to lots of people and it seems that there are lots of ladies out there who do need help with the software.  I have been teaching on a one-to-one basis for about 5 years now and am happy to discuss with you about what you'd like help with and how I can help you, to get the best out of your Silhouette Cameo or Portrait machine.

Over the years I've given one-to-one Silhouette software lessons to a jewellery designer,  a book binder, a few ladies interested in home decor, three or four teachers who bought the machines for decorating their classrooms, and quite a few card makers and scrapbookers.  Most of these ladies have travelled miles and miles, either by car or train (I can pick you up from my local station - 3 minutes away) to my home, where they have been given my full attention on how to help them the best.  They also get ongoing support for a few weeks afterwards, just in case they need reminding of anything.

You can learn a lot by designing and making a card, no matter what you use the your Silhouette Cameo for, you do need to learn the basics.  You can do that by yourself, there are so many wonderful on-line tutorials out there or you can indulge yourself, take away the search and the stress by spending a day with me!

My contact details are on the right side of the screen.  Email me if you are interested in learning about how to get the best out of your Silhouette Cameo or Portrait machine, or if you'd like a lesson before you decide to make your purchase!  I'm guessing some of you reading this haven't even got yours out of the box....go on - do it - unbox it, download the software and have a play - you certainly won't regret it!

Happy Silhouette crafting.

Carole x

Silhouette Cameo 3 - workshops, classes, one to one tuition

Hello everyone,

I'm so excited, I just can't hide it!  Look what's just arrived!

I only decided to order one yesterday lunch time and it's arrived today.  Thank you Graphtec for your very prompt service, I am so impressed!

To begin with, when I got it out of the box, I thought it was much bigger than my Cameo 1, but it's not all that much bigger.  It's just more solid and better designed, I'd say.

I was going to wait for a while before I upgraded but it seems that the launch of this new machine has bought more interest to my little old blog :).  I am having requests again for one-to-one tuition, on the Silhouette software.

I taught a wonderful lady last week who had bought her Cameo 2 about two years ago and hadn't even gotten it out of the box!  In fact she tried to return it to the supplier she bought it from, hopeful for a swap, to no avail.

The lovely lady concerned felt better about her machine, when she saw my old Cameo 1, still working for me and doing what I want it to do, chugging away merrily after about 5/6 years!  She doesn't need to upgrade, now she's had a one-to-one with me at my home, she just needs to get it out of the box and get designing and cutting!  She will be brilliant at, when she gets going - she's a jewellery designer!

So what made me upgrade?  Well, I've had another couple of enquiries about tuition, one lady I can't contact because she left me a comment on my blog post and I have no way of contacting her......hope she's reading this and another lady who has booked a whole day with me the week after next.  The lady booked in to my diary has a Cameo 3!  So there we are.....I need a new one!  There a fair bit of difference between the two machines and in order to get myself up to speed, I could have watched a whole load of Youtube videos or I could "just" buy one!

I would consider myself an expert in most of the features of the Silhouette software, that a general card maker or scrapbooker would want.  If you spent a day with me, you could get yours out of the box, with the confidence that you can make beautiful projects, using the features that you're most interested in.  We would exchange emails where I listen and learn from you what you're actually looking to create, so that I have an idea of how I'm going to get you to get the best out of your machine in a day!

I'm so looking forward to sharing years of knowledge and tips side by side with you.....

For details, email me, my email address is just over there......on the right of your screen!

Happy crafting!

Carole xx

Groovi Parchlet Twinchie

Hello friends,

I've got a colourful parchlet twinchie to share with you today made especially for our FB groups creator, Tina Cox.

The actual parchment part of this card is just 2 x 2 inches.  Tina loves grid work so I included some of that on my little piece.

We were asked for "colourful", which is quite out of my comfort zone, to be honest but I'm pleased with how my colourful work turned out.

I used one of the Groovi plates Tina designed for the butterfly, it is actually my favourite Groovi plate - I love her designs and style.  I also used the nested square frames and the piercing grid to make my pattern.

I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut the tag style card and mat with the two and a quarter inch square aperture.

I hope you find some time to craft today.

Carole x

Groovi Parchment Twinchie

Hello Friends,

I have another little twinchie to share with you today.  This week our FB group is using silver in our creations.

We are thinking about and making awareness of all these charities:

Brachial Nerve Plexus (BNP) - Silver Ribbon with a bell (Also Blue Ribbon)
Brain Disabilities
Brain disorders awareness
Campaign for the Brain
Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT)
Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI) AwarenessDisabled Children
Dyslexia
Elderly Abuse
Encephalitis
Essential Tremor
Gynaecological Cancer awareness (NZ)
Kienbock's Disease (Silver and Black)
Medical Device Injury Awareness Niemann-Pick Ovarian cancer awareness (Australia)Parkinson's Disease Schizophrenia
Sciatic
PainStalking Awareness
Cytomegalovirus (CMV)

With the terrible news that hit London again yesterday, I kept my creation simple, thinking of all involved with that tragic incident.

I've silver embossed the sentiment, used the new Groovi Spacer plate, the Nested Square plate and the Scalloped Nested Square plate.  I cut the aperture with my Silhouette Cameo and matted the parchment on silver mirror card.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hope you have some time to craft today.

Carole x

Groovi Parchment Twinchie gate-fold cards - Silhouette Cameo weld function

Hello friends,

Thanks for popping by again today.  I've got two 5 inch square, gate fold cards to share with you today.  Over on the Parchlet Treasures FB page they are asking if we could use orange for some of our artwork this week, to hight light lots of different charities.

Checking through my stash, I came across this rather beautiful paper, it's sort of a pinky orange colour so I thought I'd use it.

Anyone who knows me, will know that I will always spend a little more time on the actual card design, composition and how I'm going to mount the parchment, than the actual parchment piece!  It's just the way I'm programmed, I suppose.  This is why I'm really liking these parchment twinchies, I can make a small simple piece and go from there.

I designed and cut the decorative mats on my Silhouette Cameo, it's easier than you think!  I welded together an oval, a square and a couple of rectangles, it's as easy as that!  From there I was able to make the gate fold square card, with the exact same shape cut away - simple!

As you can see from the second card, I even designed and cut a couple of slots to hold my parchment piece into the top mat :)!

The parchment twinchie on the first card is only held by that one tiny brad in the centre of the flower at the bottom.  I think people think that they need to put a brad in each corner but it's not necessary for such a tiny piece, I don't think, as the parchment itself is fairly strong and rigid, it easily holds up on its own, even if the brad is in the bottom corner ;)!

Just so you know, the cut out heart in the centre of the second parchment twinchie is a design change!    I had a big accident with my Perga glue so ended up pricking the heart and instead of snipping it out, with a chance of ruining my Perga cutters, I gently tore it out ;)!  So pleased that the Parchment Police can't get me for that these days ;)!

Thanks again for popping by and thanks for looking.

Carole x

Parchlet Treasure

Hello,

I've got another little Parchlet Treasure to share with you all today.

I used various Clarity Groovi Plates to create this piece and I've used Perga glue to mount the parchment onto the card stock.

Thanks for popping by.

I hope you have some time craft today.

Carole x

Groovi Parchment Twinchie - Christmas tree plate

Hello friends,

I've got another Parchment Twinchie for you today.  I started this "Parchlet" not actually having a card in mind, then I remembered that I did need to make a 30th birthday card so ended up inserting a "30" in the gap I'd created for a sentiment.

I embossed the whole twinchie line art with the no. 2 tool, which makes the lines softer, which in turn makes the white work easier too ;)!  The sections I fully embossed, I used the no. 4 tool Groovi tool first then went over the work again with the no. 3 tool.

I used the Square Groovi plate and the Christmas tree plate - I really like the design on the Christmas tree, not just for Christmas - eh?!

The dimension on the white work is quite impressive when you look and feel it up close, which I'm very pleased about.  If I'd have wanted to spend a little more time I could have allowed my work to rest and gone over the white work once more, to make it 'whiter' but I'm happy with how this turned out by just gently embossing the areas twice in long, smooth and gentle strokes.

The Parchlet is attached to a piece of card stock the same size by one tiny staple - underneath that little punched patterned heart, you can almost see the staple on this close up picture (so I did actually stick a second punched heart on top, to hide the staple mark!).

I'm so pleased that I'm able to get back to Parchment craft, Clarity has really got me hooked again and for that, I do thank them.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Happy Parching.

Carole x

Bristol Parchment Exhibition & Parchment Twinchie

Hello friends,

What an incredible day I had out at the Bristol Parchment Exhibition yesterday.  There were lots of very enthusiastic and talented Parchers there sharing their work, tips and tricks with us.

I took a little gift along with me to give to Tina Cox, she has totally inspired me to keep up my Parchment work by setting up the Parchment Twinchies group on FB.

Here is the little gift I made for her...

.... she's such a blessing in the Parchment world!

It's a tiny tissue box, the "bless you" in the heart, on the front is just 2 x 2"!  I got the file from the Silhouette store and cut it out on my Silhouette Cameo.

I learned a couple of new tricks whilst I was there yesterday.  One was to stipple the outline of an image on a Groovi plate and the other was how to colour with wax pencils and then watercolour pencils on top.

I made this little Twinchie this morning to have a very quick practice at the two techniques I'd learned....

...I was fairly happy with my stippled outline but not so happy with my colouring, I definitely need more practice on that!  Although, I was very happy with the blue background.

I used some old waxy pencils that I'd had years and years ago Karismacolor by Berol and blended the colours with Sansodor (my bottle is as old as my pencils)!  I hadn't thought to use Sansodor on Parchment, but it does work well, I used a blending nib by Ranger and worked round and round in circles.  The problem occurred when I tried to use water colour pencils on top, it went a bit grainy so I might just have to email the lady who taught me yesterday to see where I went wrong.

As for mounting my Twinchie, you can see from the last photo that I wrapped the Parchment Paper around the back of a two inch square of card stock and adhered it to the back.

The flower came from the Wedding Cake box.  It's a good size for such a little work of art.

I used Tina's Straight Piercing Border plate for the pricking.

I used a die from my stash to add the tiny holes to the front of my card.

My desk is in a total mess, I'm off to tidy it up before I dare work play any more ;)!

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you find some time to craft today.

Carole x

Groovi Piercing Grids & Parchment Treasures

Hello friends,

I'm definitely on a roll, feeling totally inspired by these miniature works of Parchment craft.

Today I have another green one, I do love the colour green and I really like this shade!  Whilst looking through my Groovi plates to see what I can use for todays card, I found one of my absolute favourite ones, the Wren & Daisies baby plate.

One simple daisy in the middle of all that parchment lace would look great, I thought.  I used the Groovi Straight Border grid again and found the inspiration for the border on this piece on Tina Cox's blog.  She really is inspirational, I love her work.

I hope you find some time to get into the Groove with Groovi today ;)!

Happy parching.

Carole x

Groovi Parchlet Treasures & Mental Health awareness

Hello friends,

Yesterday on Tina Cox's Parchlet Treasures FB group we had a theme for our miniature works of art, it was 'green' to try and help raise awareness of Mental Health issues.

Here is my little green parchment treasure, again turned into a small card...

I used three Groovi plates to make this, Funky Henna, Straight border grid and Straight Basic Piercing Grid.

I didn't make any fancy frame for my card on my Silhouette Cameo this time.  The Parchlet piece is held by the brad in the centre of the flower!

All card stock and paper are from my stash.

I've got another similar one to share with you tomorrow.

Happy parching!

Carole x

Groovi Parchlet Treasures

Hello Friends,

It's one of my friends birthday today and I wanted to make her a little Parchy card!  I don't normally send out my parchment cards, I save them as samples and keep them secret, as I'm still filling in for the Parchment tutor at Denman (although I really ought to by saying "winging it" for the Parchment tutor!).  I do love tutoring there and the ladies that I'm teaching seem very happy - thanks to Clarity and the Groovi system, for sure!

Since the very lovely and talented Tina Cox started a FB group called Parchlet Treasures, I seem to have taken the whole idea on board and realised that I can add just a small amount of parchment work to my cards and actually send them out to my friends and family!

So here's what I made for my friend Alex.....

....it is very similar to the card I posted yesterday, but today I cut the flowers out on my Silhouette Cameo.  I gently embossed the base flower using the flicking kind of embossing and stippled the top flower.  I thought stippling would be quicker than picot cutting, but I think I got that wrong!

Anyway, I'm really pleased how this card turned out and I hope you (and Alex) like it.

The parchment frame comes from the Groovi Border Plate Mate.  The flowers are from the Silhouette  online store and the rest is from my stash!

I hope to be back soon with some more Parchlet Treasures.

Happy crafting.

Carole x

Groovi Parchlet Treasures

Hello friends,

I'm back to share another little Parchment Twinchie with you today.

The actual parchment work on this card is just two inches by two inches.  I made the aperture in the frame just a little bigger than the parchment work to give it a border, on my Silhouette Cameo.

If you zoom in you may notice that I've been practicing my picot cutting on the flower.

I've used two border plates for this little card, one that comes with the Border Plate Mate and the other one is the Funky Henna one.

The card stock, paper and sentiment are all from my usual stash!

Happy crafting.

Carole x

Parchlets, Groovi, Silhouette Cameo, Birch Allergy & TFW Abingdon

Hello Friends,

Gosh, it's been almost a year since I posted something on here!  I'm going to refrain from the asking the question "have you missed me?", as the last time I asked that question to a group of ladies, I didn't like the answer one of them gave ;) ha ha!

My life has gone in a different direction, a direction totally opposite to crafting (TFW - Training for Warriors, Abingdon), that's for sure!  Although I have been crafting a little, because I've needed to - for my tutoring work at W.I. Denman and each time I finish a course there, I always did mean to blog and share what the ladies had made but somehow time never allowed - I apologise.

Anyway, why are you hearing from me today?  Well, I've been totally focused on only a couple of things for the last few months and I need to make some changes, to cut out some stress in my life and to get myself better.  Basically I want to do something for somebody but I can't, because what I was doing was making me really pretty sick.....I've been trying to help someone, which was fine during the winter but over the last few weeks my skin has gotten worse and worse and I was becoming more and more emotional and tired.  My husband worked it all out on Friday - the neighbourhood I'd been spending only an hour or two at,  3/4 times a week, where I was doing something lovely for someone who is really suffering right now, has a couple of Silver Birch trees - I'm 100% allergic to birch, not just the pollen but those trees release chemicals off their leaves that keep aphids away and it is that chemical that burns my skin and brings me out in huge horrible and very uncomfortable blotches!!!

So here I am, back to being perhaps almost house bound until the end of November, when those pesky trees stop bothering me!  I'm back to driving everywhere as I can't risk walking past one!

I was feeling really sorry for myself yesterday, wondering what on earth I was going to do now, when I had two 'signs' to get me crafting for pleasure again.  One was seeing on FB that the very talented and gorgeous Tina Cox was setting up a Parchment Twinchies page, which totally inspired me to try and make something to share on her page and the other was, that I've been contacted again by a lady asking if I still teach Cameo Silhouette lessons.

For me I've always felt that Parchment craft goes really well with my Silhouette Cameo.  After all trying to attach Vellum to cards has always been as pesky as birch trees are to me ;) and I can make all sorts of frames to hide glue on my Cameo ;)!

I'm hoping this is the start for me to getting back into some crafting for pleasure again, although I've been hampered greatly by greasy fingers - I need to plaster on the ointments to make my skin feel even slightly comfortable at the moment and even if I wash my hands thoroughly afterwards, I still find myself with greasy finger tips after a little itch here and there, on my face, neck and arms from those blasted tree blotches!

This little card has taken me ages because of the my greasy issue, but I hope you like it!

I made my own Silhouette Cameo file to create the card base and patterned paper mat, which has a two inch square aperture, which easily hides all the adhesive underneath :)!

I've used the Straight Border plate and diagonal grid plates from Clarity for the piercing and embossing, paper from Maja Designs and card stock and punches by Stampin' Up

Hope to blog again soon.

Happy crafting.

Carole x

Sending love - Groovi

Hello Friends,

I've made a card for a special friend this morning.  She's a neighbour from the opposite end of the close to me.  She's one of the most kindest ladies I've ever met, full of wisdom, intelligence and life stories, which she draws upon, at times when she's needed for comfort and advice.  A couple of years ago she became a real friend, when my husband was having an awful & stressful time.  She is a counsellor and is a masseuse, the perfect combination for anybody who is dealing with 'stuff'!

Over the last few days I've thought about her and thought about her because she is German.  Not only am I worried about my own family, with deep European connections in Germany and France but my worries go much further - for anyone in our country from any nationality right now.

On my walk this morning I saw this most gorgeous lady and my first instinct was to rush over and hug her, as soon as I saw her, offering my sympathy and support.  Apparently I've been the only one....what does that say about my neighbourhood?  I thought I lived in a lovely Oxfordshire location.

I can't dwell on this.....the only way I know how not to beat myself up, and for it taking me so long to check to see how she felt/how she was coping, was to make her a card to reassure her that we loved her, she was very welcome here in our close and we were totally here for her, if she needs us.

It's a Groovi parchment shaker card.  I mixed my crafty stash again, I'm liking the mix, I hope you are too!

Please try and find some time to connect with any international friends you have right now, maybe they need you, just a hug and a kind word is enough, we need to 'share the love' right now.

Love to you all and happy crafting.

Carole x

A touch of "Groovi" - birthday card

Hello crafty friends,

Have you ever been too busy that you forget to smell the roses?  Said "yes" before you thought?  Dived in with both feet and wish you hadn't?

That's been me over the past couple of weeks and possibly months, if I were to be honest!

I've been neglecting some stuff (again!), my house, some of my best friends and certainly my poor family, who seem to be witnessing me at the end of my tether, more often than they're used too ;) !

I've been struggling with allergies again, every time I go into the countryside, it seems, my hands swell, then my eczema breaks out and ..... and.... I'm frustrated with not being able to do much other than the bare essentials around here!

Today my hands are not too bad.  I was going to tackle some of my housework, I really was!  I'd even emailed a friend telling her I was going to start with my ironing.....

....then I decided to catch up on some emails first and saw this beautiful card and remembered it was one of our friends daughters birthday today.  We had a great weekend, out in the countryside (I know, I shouldn't have gone but I did!) having a picnic with a group of our friends and the young lady whom I've made this card for was amongst us.  She is a gorgeous girl, growing up very fast, who definitely deserves a little bit of my time and a pretty card!  She's one of those special girls, whom has actually turned into a carer for her mum, who has a disability.

So instead of "catching up" with stuff I really can do tomorrow (so long as I remember to say "no" to any opportunity that comes my way), I decided to "smell the roses" this morning and make her a special card, one with her name on.

I had another friend in mind when designing/making this card, a good friend who has purchased some Groovi products from me, whom is feeling a little overwhelmed ;)!  I wanted to make a card to show how to include/incorporate just a little bit of Groovi!  I think with Groovi, you do need to give it a little bit of time, you do need to rub the back of the vellum with a tumble dryer sheet and not forget that you can stamp onto vellum and add die cuts etc on top, which is a great place to hide the glue that sticks the vellum to the card.  Also with Groovi you need a little time to think backwards when adding names and writing!

I used the Groovi Plate Mate to add the "Grace" and the trellis plate to add the two areas of texture.  I did have to move the vellum on the trellis plate to get a smaller pattern ;)!

The other products used were stamps and punches from Stampin' Up, my old and well used Spellbinder Nestabilities and Maja Design paper.  For the sentiment banner, I used my Silhouette Cameo - swapping the blade for a pen to write the sentiment, it's so easy!

I hope you also find some time to craft, crafting definitely is the therapy I need right now ;)!

Thanks for popping by to take a look today.

Carole x