Monday 16 May 2016

Cast a clout the May be out!

Yes the May is in full bloom on the Hawthorn trees and if the old English saying, "Ne'er cast a clout till May be out" is correct it's time to get rid of those outer coats and clothes (clout) and look forward to warm days and nights. Hopefully we will have seen the last of any frosts here in Southern England until the autumn.

I love the Hawthorn, it has such spectacular flowers which although usually white, can have tinges of pink right through to being pure pink.
I snapped lots of hawthorn flowers whilst out and about this week.


here is the lovely pink version.


Fairy folklore was associated with the Hawthorn too. It was known as the "Faerie Tree"and May Queens were decorated with Hawthorn. It's also known as the bread and cheese tree as the blooms, leaves and berries can all be used to make wines and jellies.

I also noticed that the cherry trees are losing their blossom now and it is flying about like fairy confetti in the air.

These cherry trees looked so pretty standing in a pool of pink fluffy blossom.



So yes trees, fairies. blossom and blue skies were the inspiration for my card I am sharing here today. I won some fabulous stamps from Lavinia in April and got them out to play with. I made a card. I have entered it over on their Facebook challenge here. If you remember in April I asked my lovely Blogging friends to go over and "Like" me there. Getting into the top 20 is necessary to get through to the final DT judging. Can I ask you to follow this link here and like me over there. If you want to share my card, please do....but I only get votes if peeps come back and like me on the original  Lavinia page. Thanks so much in advance x




The background was created with distress inks. I embossed all the images. The die cuts are Tim Holtz wild flowers (my favourite flower die of the moment) as is the sentiment.

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges;

Simon says stamp Wednesday flowers
Anything but Cute celebrate your style yes I have several styles, all of which I love to play with...this is another of mine...and I do love fairies (and mermaids, and Christmas and...LOLOL)
The Ribbon Girl 1/3 any image
Crafty friends 2/3 in the garden
Paper Creator 2/3 anything goes
Fussy and Fancy 2/3 birthdays
Noor spring flowers
Bastel-traum Fantasy
Seven Hills Crafts Embossing I used Hero Arts clear embossing powder for all my stamp embossing.
WOW  embossing powders May challenge

I hope you all had a lovely weekend. Ours was lovely, sunny and warm in our sheltered garden. I have been really busy making cards in my studio. I also bought some lovely bedding plants from our local nursery and will be potting them up once I have hardened them up outside for a few days.

I am back again tomorrow with a GD post for the lovely ladies over at Try it on Tuesday. It would be lovely if you can stop by again and see what I made...here's a clue.....birdsong was my inspiration ;0)

Bye for now,

Jane x

29 comments:

  1. Such beautiful blossom pictures, and a gorgeous fairy and blossom card, Jane! I loved all your photos, but especially the pink hawthorn ones and the pool of cherry blossom. Such a gorgeous time of year! Wishing you a wonderful week ahead.
    Helen xox

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  2. WOW! The trees are amazing and the blanket of flowers is just so lovely! And you captured the feeling of it all in your beautiful card, Jane! Absolutely exquisite! (I voted and shared, so that you will hopefully get some more "likes"!

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  3. Hello dear Jane,

    Lovely post!
    You know how much I enjoy following your beautiful pictures to discover how they have inspired your latest creation! Your card is magnificent! I never knew about the fairies and the Hawthorn and you have captured that magical atmosphere so well!

    Thank You~

    xx

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  4. Your May is a little ahead of ours Jane, I wandered along our paddock hedgerows yesterday and it's nearly there and I am hoping in a couple of days I will get my annual photos. But never tire of seeing beautiful blossoms.

    Lovely fairy card today, never tire of them either.

    B x

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  5. This is card is so beautiful! I love the fairies and gorgeous background. Thank you for sharing with us at Fussy and Fancy, good luck and I hope you will join us again.
    Hugs
    Gina xx

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  6. Stunning!!!, love the colours and the softness to this...it is so very pretty...love it! Clever touch with the coloured die cuts to match too.

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  7. So I am in agreement with these beautiful flowers and always dream that fairies are flying about the petals. When I was reading this and looking at the pics I was wondering what your card would look like and then I saw it. I put my hands together and literally said out loud "Ooooh". This is beautiful and makes me want to case your card. I am heading over to Facebook now

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  8. Yay roll on evenings when we can sit in the garden and enjoy the fruits of our labours. Love those hawthorn photos Jane they are stunning and your card fits the theme beautifully. Have a great week. Fancy meeting up in London on Thursday??? xxx

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  9. A beauty of a card jane and i love all the photos and folklore .. how inspiring! Hugs rachel x

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  10. Stunning card Jane, adore the colour mix and design. Already liked on FB. Good luck with the challenge.
    Julie x

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  11. I enjoyed all the pink blossoms and the pink in your card.. everything seems to be coming up pink and I love it. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  12. Gorgeous, beautiful card, the cherry blossom inspired a brilliant card.
    Thank you for joining us at Simon says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.
    Luv
    Debby

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  13. Wow Jane, your fairy tale piece is completely magical!! I was completely drawn in by the soft palette and the wonderful contrast with the black stamping! The ivy hanging down really creates such a secret fairy garden feel, LOVE IT!! Your photos made me say ooh and aah today! I have only recently discovered flowering trees and I have to say they may be my favourite thing about spring (other than baby animals of course) lol. Thank you so much for joining us at Anything But Cute for our 'Celebrate Your Style' challenge, LOVE your style! Hugs, Pamellia DT :)

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  14. Awe what a pretty little card! :)
    The cats are having great fun chasing cherry blossom here. I've not spotted the hawthorn yet but then we are always a little behind you southerners!!
    Not so nice here today, cooler and it has just rained. :(
    V x

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  15. It really is a shame about the cherry blossoms, I always wish they could last a bit longer.... the Hawthorn photos are gorgeous.

    Fairies have always fascinated me and I love how these look against the soft pastel background you created. You created some lovely dimension with the floral die cuts too! Thanks so much for joining in our 'Celebrate your Style' challenge at Anything But Cute. Anne DT xx

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  16. Lovely blossom picts, Jane! My cherry blossom is just starting to shed it's petals and leave it's candy floss carpet!
    Love your pretty card with the soft colour tones and such depth from the silhouette stamps and die cuts. We've had another beautifully sunny day here in Wales though the weather is said to turn this evening and Mother Nature will be watering the garden tonight! Hugs, Lisa x

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  17. I adore your photos Jane! It's always a bit sad that blossom lasts for such a short time, I never thought to look at it as a pretty carpet as you have. That's opened my eyes more.

    Love your card, captures the feel of fairy blossom perfectly. Off to like your entry now. Good luck!

    Hugs

    Di xx

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  18. Lovely Card Jane. Faboulas combo of colours against you silhouette fairys nice and elegant.
    Beautiful blossom as pretty as your card.
    Thank you for sharing with Fussy and Fancy.
    Best wishes
    Jules xx

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  19. What a pretty magical card, so glad you have joined again at Crafty Friends it is always a pleasure to see your cards and photos. Hugs Blankina

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  20. Oh wow, this is absolutely stunning!! I love the beautiful colors and the design!! It's so dreamy and magical!! What a gorgeous project this is!! I liked on FB, too - good luck!! Thanks so much for playing along at Anything But Cute!! And your photos are so beautiful, too!! I love the carpet of pink blooms!! Have a great day :)

    Lisa, DT
    A Mermaid's Crafts

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  21. Truly stunning card, thanks for joining us for Mays Any Image Challenge at Ribbon Girl
    Hugs Jacqui x

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  22. WOW what a gorgeous card Jane, I love that beautiful image and your wildflowers die cuts! Beautiful photos too! Thanks so much for joining us at Crafty Friends.
    Tammy x

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  23. what for a stunning card. A silhouette fairy play... Thanks so much for sharing your card by bastel-traum... Hugs Ute

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  24. A gorgeous card! And wonderful spring photos...
    Thank you soo much for taking part in our "in the garden” challenge over at Crafty Friends.
    Hope to see you again in our new challenge as well…

    Hugs,
    Melanie
    (DT-Coordinator Creatalicious Challenges)

    (DT Come and Get It)

    (DT Crafty Friends)

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  25. So nice!!!
    Thank you for joining Crafty Friends

    Laura

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  26. And another gorgeous creation! So sweet and cute! Love the color combination. Faries are fabulous!
    Thank you very much for sharing this beauty with us at FFFC. Good luck and hope to see you again really soon!
    Sasha

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  27. The flowering trees and falling petals really do look like a fairy land and your card is perfect to go with your inspiration! Your fairy card is indeed magical!
    sandy xx

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  28. Beautiful, such pretty colours. Thank you for joining us at Paper Creator's Crafts.

    Pam x

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  29. Hello Jane

    Wow, I know I'm behind in my reading, as usual, but I've just found out my Feedly seems to be deleting older posts...and as you are such a terrific and prolific blogger and I am a crap reader, I'm so sorry if I keep missing blocks of posts.

    Anyhow, LOVE Hawthorn and it's pretty confetti flowers, but once read a book where a kids hides in it and there is a big bit about how the flowers smell of cat wee and now, every time I walk pasta bush, I can smell cat wee! Not ruined the beauty of the flowers though, they are still a wonderful sight.

    Hope you are well, apologies in advance for the barrage of comments coming your way :)

    Bethxx

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Jane x