We had a fabulous weekend, it started with the new Challenge blog going live - Thank you Lisa for setting it all up and to the DT ladies for kicking it off in style! If you haven't seen it yet, pop over here:
Things just got better from there! The clan were all set to go to the Maritime festival in Belfast and right as we were getting into the car we all decided to ditch the crowds and bustle and head for the country! I am so glad we did! We ended up at Springhill House, a lovely old house near Cookstown. We'd never been there before but already we're making plans to go back with a pic-nic.
It is a glorious place I've heard it's haunted and i'm itching to see inside but there was a country fair on in the grounds and we were so entertained that we never made it inside!! Kept it for another day, I have a few pics of the place here for you at the end of the post. Right now, I have a card!! shock!!
I had this idea for a sort of inverted frame, I used two dies (Spellbinders labels 12) close in size. I laid them on top of a scene I built up (on a piece of square card aleady cut to size) with stamps from the Asian Gardens set and then simply ran it all through the cuttlebug. One thing I did do was invert my cuttle bug cutting sandwich so's I could see the dies on the card as I ran it through and I held the dies in place with a few pieces of ripped (not cut - leaves hard edges) post-it note.
Then I simply mount the 3 pieces on the cad at different heights using dimensionals! I mounted the centre panel highest (two layers of foam dimensional) the immediate frame was stuck directly to the card base and the outer frame was put on one layer of foam dimensionals. I like how this turned out!! virtually no effort at all! LOL
Beautiful Springhill
A little wrought iron gate leads to a magnificent Copper Beech tree.
The back of the house viewed through the rhododendrons.
Springhill Roses.
Inside the little bookshop on the grounds, where I scored many, many Maeve Binchy novels at exactly the right price!! DD got a bargain Harry Potter hardback! Wee tiny ones got piles of picture books and DH was rewarded with a single boiled sweet for his patience! LOL
Hope it tickles!
Gorgeous card! So elegant!! And thanks for the ripped post-it note clue - I've had trouble with unwanted impressions.
ReplyDeleteStunning card,Claire! I want to try this.
ReplyDeleteI love the way you used the nestabilities, you make me a bigger fan than I already am.!!
ReplyDeleteLove your layered framing Claire and the great colors you used! What a wonderful outing with your family - looks like a lovely place to spend the day!
ReplyDeleteLovely card! Great use of that glorious bird and cage :) How lucky you are with these beautiful
ReplyDeleteoutings! Those rhododendruns are magnificent! I've never seen them that prolific & oh, I love roses!
Thanks for the post-it tip. I have always done my sandwich this way
using regular tape but taking the tacky out by defuzzing first.
I've had a hugely busy week and am just now getting my bearings. I need to create badly-lol!!
What a beautiful card Claire. I've saved this one to my inspiration folder!!
ReplyDeleteClaire, your card is so beautiful! The layering really makes it special.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you added some of your lovely photos..looks like a fantastic trip.
Wow Claire! This is gorgeous. I love all your photos. XO
ReplyDeleteGorgeous - both the card and the photos! Thanks for the hints with the spellbinders dies as well.
ReplyDeleteSpringhill is lovely - went there a few years ago with hubby and maybe a small child or two. Gardens beautiful, and inside the house lovely too. Definately worth a visit.
ReplyDeleteLovely card too - colours are just perfect. Love this card.
This is a beautiful card, Claire - what a great idea to create the continuous frame. The flowers in purple are gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteAlways love your pictures of Ireland, too. I keep dropping hints to Bill that Ireland should be our next trip! :)
A great card...I'm warming to this set...didn't at first. Imagine you came to Cookstown last Saturday - and got a lovely day....Springhill is a beautiful house and the staff dress in period costume to enact the family who used to live there....the grounds are beautiful...and one of the bedrooms is haunted. I'm wondering if my friend was in the bookshop...tall slim and elegant and full of chat? At Christmas this place is magic Claire...wee kids, santa's workshop, a stable with Mary and Joseph and donkeys which belong to the friend in the bookshop....little lights everywhere...oh it really is total magic for kids and adults alike. Seemingly you didn't make Lough Fea but you can save that for next time!
ReplyDeleteYour card is beautiful, Claire. Even though you explained it well, it is an optical illusion that - when I look at the card - it appears the center panel is recessed slightly and the outer frame is the highest. It is just a trick of the eye - or camera - but this just means the card would look good either way! LOL! Fun technique that I will have to try.
ReplyDeleteLovely card, can't wait to try that idea! Those pics are beautiful too and I love Maeve Binchy books, have read almost every single one!
ReplyDeleteWonderful card and I LOVE the photos! I hope you have a wonderful day!!!
ReplyDeleteLovely card Gorgeus!!! Brava Ciao Lory
ReplyDeleteBeautiful card! Love how you layered it. Thanks for sharing your trip too.
ReplyDeleteBreath-taking! Not much more can be said - except thank you!
ReplyDeleteI love your card, but I just LOVE the photos from your weekend adventure. I miss Britain (my mum is from Scotland, where my brother is now living), and your pics make me 'homesick' to go back.
ReplyDeleteAnd I LOVE Maeve Binchy... you are likely the only person other than my mother I've ever known that knows of Maeve - of course, she's local for you!
Oh never mind! I see it now -- there are 2 dies in play, and it's just a matter of height for each piece. I somehow thought you'd used 2 different colours of background, but it's just the shadow making the "lowest" layer appear darker.
ReplyDeleteBoy, am I ever going to CASE this!
Awesome! You made purple actually look good.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE Maeve Binchy. She's my fav! I'm sure I have read every one of her books unless you have more out your way than I can get my hands on here?!!
Beautiful card Claire! I love the purple! and I LOVE Maeve Binchy - have ready almost all of her novel except the most recent (no time for reading these days!). Light a Penny Candle is one my favs! Beautiful pictures!
ReplyDelete