A warm welcome to all my visitors,

Thank you for taking the time to come and look at my blog, I really do appreciate it. I would love you to leave me a comment, even if it’s just to say Hi. It means I can come visit you!

All my designs are original, so copyrighted to me. If I have been inspired by someone elses work, I have named them in the post, and where able, I have provided a link.

Please feel free to use my designs for inspiration, I just ask you to credit me, and provide a link back to my blog.

Thanks, Shaz XX

Wednesday 6 April 2016

WOYWW #357

I believe I've commented already about how fast this year is going, but we realised yesterday that in 3 weeks time we will be on board the Thompson Majesty, setting sail for our 7 days around Portugal/Gibraltar & Spain. But, for now, back to the crafting. My desk this week then, for all of you joining in from Our Julias, over at The Stamping Ground.




For the first part of my show & tell, some new Lavinia Stamps, ones that she launched at the NEC a couple of weeks ago. I'd been impatiently waiting for her to have them up on the site ever since. Those fluffy cats and mice are so cool, and I know Jan will be loving the fluffy hares.




Also on my desk, and this cost me £3 on E-bay! I only have one small butterfly punch, and had wanted a bit more variety for a while, but the problem with punches is the smaller the punch, the less it can punch through, which can limit your options a bit.
This was the perfect answer though, as there are huge number of different shapes and sizes of butterfly on it.
And so, cutting out some butterflies kept me happily occupied for a couple of hours, so I could have a tubful handy. I wanted some more for the Sweet Poppy Butterfly Tree stencils I've got done.
Butterflies of all sorts and colours, cut from glitter paper and coloured vellums.
 By the way, in the post below this one, I did a quick how-to on the plastic canvas drawer dividers, with a link to the lady's blog the idea came from, and to the plastic canvas on Amazon. Well, have a lovely Wednesday everyone, I'll catch up with you in a while.
 For anyone interested, there will be some more Sweet Poppy stencils Christmas cards, and a few Birthday cards later in the week.

38 comments:

Helen said...

I love the new stamps! The butterfly die was a real bargain - I love this one but haven't bought it for the thought of all those loose butterflies... but think doing it the way you have, in bulk and storing them, is the way to go. Well done for grabbing the great price! Helen #?

Virginia said...

Wow that's a lot of butterflies to use, find you I get where you are coming from as cutting them individually can become very tiresome!

Have a great day!

Kathyk said...

All those butterflies make you desk look fab!

HAPPY WOYWW

Kathyk
#21

Julia Dunnit said...

I like the tall cap mushrooms, I'm useless with animal stamps! Great score on eBay - we think alike even if we don't act alike...I never pre-cut dies, I just wait till I need them. Because I just know I won't have cut the right colour or material and then it's a whole other playtime to colour one or two to get the job finished. Honestly, you'd think I didn't like crafting!!

Neet said...

That die for the butterflies would have been ideal for the Holocaust Project a couple of years ago. Have fun with them all - what are you going to do with so many?
Hugs, Neet 3 xx

Christine said...

What a brilliant punch!!! Just sorting through them would make me happy, butterflies do that for me.....
Have a good week
God Bless
Christine

Bishopsmate #25

lisa said...

I wonder what you call a collection of butterflies???? That die was a real bargain and it looks like you've certainly been putting it through it's paces. I have my eye on the lovely new Lavinia stamps too, they are gorgeous aren't they?
Have a good week
Hugs Lisax #35

Lunch Lady Jan said...

Blimey, that's a big beautiful bounteousness of butterflies!! I bet you enjoyed yourself punching out all those...you'll have to stick a butterfly on everything you make from now on, lol 😂😃. You're right, I do love that hare stamp, it's such a great shape...some hares just aren't right, the legs are too long etc, but those are perfect 💖💖💖💖
Hugs, LLJ 16 xxxx

Diana Taylor said...

Ooh, what gorgeous stamps - I especially love the toadstools. That's a great die you found, what a bargain and such a good idea as cutting out can be so fiddly and time consuming. Thanks very much for the post on making the drawer dividers - that job is on my list of things I will definitely get round to doing sometime! It's a long list!
Hope you have a good week,
Diana #18

Anne said...

Lovely stamps Shaz and I love butterflies!!! Anne x #38

ToadilyDiane said...

Great stamps. Love the cats. Too jealous you are going on a cruise!
Have a great day.
Diane - WOYWW #30

Annie said...

I'm having a lunchtime catch up with my fav blogs today as my curtain cutting assistant came early and I then went on to shorten the dreaded curtains first....they are all done now :-)
Thats a serious amount of butterflies there today....really pretty.
Hug's Annie x # 10

Sharon said...

That butterfly die was a wonderful bargain. So many butterflies! Your trip sounds like fun. Time is flying by. I can't believe it's April already. Seems like only yesterday that it was Christmas.

Sharon K #42

Fiona@Staring at the Sea said...

Not just Jan! I'm a fan of those hares too. What a bargain you got with that die. Have a great week Shaz x

Fiona #48

Monica said...

great stamps, love the cats and mice. You can never have enough cat stamps. I find it hard to think Christmas when it is just getting to summer. Even for us it was long and cold.
Monica #47

buterfliecrafter said...

Love the stamps, but Loove the die even more so, one can never have too many butterflies. Happy WOYWW Vicky#12

Lisca said...

Great stamps. I love the cats and also the mushrooms.
Good for you to get that butterfly die. I had my eye on it too a while back but haven't found a seller that would post to Spain. I do what you do. I die cut little things with lleftover paper bits. I even (and this is sad!) pick up shiny clothes tags from the street after the market has been. And then I die cut them and keep them in a small box.
Happy WOYWW and thanks for visiting,
Have a great week ahead,
Blessings,
Lisca

Tracey said...

I love that Tim Holtz die Shaz & all those butterflies look fab :o)
Hugs
Tracey
xx
#49

Shaz in Oz.CalligraphyCards said...

Hi Shaz very interested in your storage solutions in posts below, love the drawers, look great, don't have enough of any to warrant that much room though, but grand idea.
Very pretty new stamps and looking forward to your new stencil etc next week. Love your new blog look too, lovely photo at the top.
Praying for you and Doug, happy WOYWW,
Shaz in Oz.x 36

Unknown said...

I am completely in awe of that butterfly die and all the butterflies you cut out with it!! So cool! Also love the kitty and bunny stamps. Your upcoming trip sounds completely dreamy. Thanks for your sweet visit. Have a good week. Sandy Leigh #43

BJ said...

Yep glasses made to prescription and delivered the next day all for under £20 - not bad at all. Nice stamps and super butterfly die, now that has me tempted know what you mean about punches, was only doing that for a church craft activity the other day! Happy WOYWW and thanks for visiting BJ#51

Unknown said...

That's a lot of butterflies you have punched! Very cool! And great stamps! Your trip sounds like GREAT fun! Take oodles of pics to share! Thanks for the visit! Have a fab week!
Carol N #45

Kim said...

Those cats do intrigue me too ! I'll have to check out her site. Great steal on that die! I'll occasionally do a ton of cutting; then, like Julia, have to do one later for a specific project..though usually because I don't want to use the one perfect one I have already...cause, you know...it's perfect! LOL!
Have a great week.
-K #57

Sharon Madson said...

Oh, look at all those butterflies! Wow! Thank you Shaz, for your visit and comments earlier! I appreciate it. #52

Stacy Sheldon said...

I am totally grinning because, I did the same thing with that die when I got one :) love your happy pile of wings Shaz. ooh the drawers look so tidy :) ~Stacy #53

Unknown said...

Hello Shaz. Wow I love the stamps I see and oh my that is for sure a pile of butterfly's you have. I am soon wanting to do that with my scrap bin as it is over flowing and no room left in the box. Have a fantastic week and thanks for the visit to my blog earlier today. Hugs~Anne L #44

Darlene said...

I am on a butterfly craze right now ! so luvin your find.....thx for visiting
darlene # 50

Bernice said...

That should keep you well supplied with butterflies for a while! Enjoy playing with your new stamps,
Bernice #13

Clair said...

It looks as though we have had a similar start to our week, cutting out butterflies (and in my case, some other shapes!) I love your selection - lots to work with!

Clair
WOYWW #20

Elizabeth said...

Fabulous selection of stamps there, Shaz, and of course I particularly like the cats though the mice and hares are super too. You've reminded me to look out my (old) Lavinia stamps and do something with them again :) After your couple of hours of cutting out there could be enough to create a veritable kaleidoscope of butterflies! Wishing you a wonderful week. Hugs, Elizabeth x #41

PS: thanks for your earlier visit and comment - it's much appreciated.

Tilly Tea Dance said...

Wow, that butterfly die cutter is fab, I bet it will be really useful. Thanks for stopping by my desk earlier and leaving lovely comments :-). Happy crafting, Max #26

Cara said...

Okay, so you're not going to run out of butterflies in the near future! Love the stamps you bought too. Cara x

April said...

I can't wait to see what you do with your stamps. I cheated and saw what you did with the butterflies. :-)
April #34

Twiglet said...

I love the crafty beauties on your latest post but did chuckle at the thought of you sneezing those flakes over the table! x Jo

Felix the Crafty Cat said...

Hi Shaz, thanks for the visit to mine. Sorry I'm a bit late this week but I had a migraine Wednesday afternoon and spent the rest of the day in bed but I'm back now Lol! Lucky you, gorgeous new stamps. Happy crafty belated woyww, Angela x 24

Shoshi said...

Now that's a LOT of butterflies, Shaz! I'm so glad you two are able to get away for a lovely holiday, and hope you have a wonderful time, with good weather too. We can't get away because of our 2 high maintenance kitties but we are very happy being here, and are planning more outings this year.

Thank you for your lovely comment - you are right, Phoebe does get very distressed with the seizures and needs a lot of loving and reassurance afterwards. Her bloods came back normal, and the vet has increased her dose slightly and we'll see how she gets on. The decorating is now finished and I am thrilled with how it came out - seeing my vision becoming a reality is marvellous and it couldn't be better. We still have a few things to bring back in but we are using it again and loving the new uncluttered feel. So glad you like the stencilling - it came out even better than I'd hoped.

We've had an extremely busy couple of days because as well as the decorating and other odd jobs being done, the men came at very short notice yesterday to replace our blown double glazed units with nice new clear ones, and we had to move at high speed to clear the rooms ready for them. I am therefore very behind with all my WOYWW comments as I didn't have any time to be on the computer yesterday.

Happy belated WOYWW,
Shoshi #28

Aimeslee Winans said...

Hey Shaz - just wanted to thank you for enabling me. Had no idea this die existed til I came here - now, I own one, lol. Amazon actually had the best American price, BION. (I want to make a pile like you have, haha.) Spain must be the happening place this spring - I know 3 other couples who are cruising to Barcelona soon as well. xoxo

Kelly said...

Okay... I've looked at this butterfly strip die but did not think I needed it. I have multiple sizes of dies for butterflies. Now I'm rethinking. You are such an enabler... and I love you, dearly. Creative Blessings! Kelly #40

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