A Happy Gnome

Hi everyone.  Today I’m back with a little card to share for my Make the Day Special card this week.  Natasha always moans at me when I use blue and orange together, she thinks they are awful colours!!  She screws her nose up and says those two colours shouldn’t be seen together!!

I made this card for my little eleven year old friend, well actually she’s Natasha’s best friend, but she’s a very special girl.  For our wedding she gave us this adorable little gnome for the garden, isn’t he the cutest?!!!

I’m sending this off to her in the post today, hope it makes her smile (and that she likes blue and orange together lol)

I used the Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge inspiration pic

and the sketch from Card Patterns..

For all you Copic lovers these are the colours I used…

I used the following Paper Smooches stamp sets.. Pretty Phrases, Forest Whimsy and Whimsical.  Papers used were MME Honey Bee.

This happy gnome really needs a name so I thought I’d do a little giveaway of a few of my unloved crafty items that need to go to a good home.  Leave me a comment with a fun name for my gnome and I will send a parcel to the winner.  I will draw a winner in two weeks’ time.  Put your thinking hats on!!

Paper Issues Honey Bee Blog Hop

Woohoo, we have a fun blog hop over at Paper Issues for you and our theme this time is Honey Bee!  We were sent some gorgeous MME Honey Bee goodies to play with and I decided to use the honey theme for my honeymoon photos.  I knew if I used this theme then my photos would actually be used instead of being filed in the drawer to gather dust!
We went to Sorrento for our honeymoon, just for a few days because we would miss Tinks too much.  We only got back the other day so I haven’t had much time to play, it’s a bit of a work in progress, but this is what I have done so far…

I’m planning to do a bit of journalling and also to get Ian to write some things in.  As is probably normal for most couples we have lots of photos but hardly any of us!

For my front cover I just coloured in the little die cut bumble bee using my Copics and added him to the sheet using pop dots. The papers are all 12 x 12 so it seemed a shame to cut them up but I love that the way the images are printed you can still use them again for other things.  That gorgeous ribbon trim is from Cassie’s Paper Issues shop, it’s by Websters Pages, ‘Bloomers’.  Isn’t it divine?! The stamps are Lawn Fawn, ‘Grand Greetings’ and ‘Harold’s ABC’s’ that I used to spell out ‘you’re my honey!’  I added some holes using a standard hole punch and that was the front cover finished.  For the cover I adhered the paper to a piece of blank white card to make it a bit tougher. The inside pages are just using the double sided papers.

I hope you can make out my writing!

First up is all about Capri. They have the most amazing jewellery there.  I’m not sure I’d wear any of it though, it’s all very ostentatious.  Loads of sea creatures too. I’m quite happy for them to stay in the sea where they belong! On the left hand page I just used the MME paper and the little doily die cut, that I coloured in yellow with my Copics. I stamped the sun and sentiment using Lawn Fawn’s Partly Cloudy set. On the right page I loved the background paper so just used some of the honeycomb shapes to write some words in.  I created a little pocket for our tickets and added a little honeycomb shape with a heart on for interest. (Memory Box die)



Next up is Pompei.  We had a rotten day there, it poured rain all day and when I say poured I mean monsoon style!  Typically it was the day I was wearing flip flops!  To say we got soaked is an understatement. I brought a coat but it got so wet it wasn’t even dry the next day so I had to dry it in the hotel gardens before going home!!  Apparently this isn’t typical for this time of year, but we’re told when it rains in Sorrento it pours! At least we’ve come back to a heatwave in the UK!!

I added little tags to the top of the pages for the photos from each area and when I complete the book will add in more pages. Simple journalling was done for the left page and using Lawn Fawn’s Partly Cloudy set I stamped the sentiment on the top photo. the right I just added a couple of stamped sentiments using flower fusion die and stamp set.  I used a Memory Box hearts die for the heart on the photo and added a button with twine for a bit more detail.


Next is all about Sorrento. They are Limoncello mad there, well anything lemon really.  There are loads of lemon (and orange) groves all over the place, with tons of lemon gifts to buy.  There are lots of little shops to visit and they have amazing ice-creams (gelatos) mmmmmm. 

Some blank pages to finish off with..

Anyway enough of me, you want to carry on with the blog hop. I hope you like what you’ve seen.  This is the gorgeous set up for grabs..

To have the chance to win this great prize and give yourself a few chances of winning you have to follow the Paper Issues blog and facebook page.  For an extra chance to win follow my blog too (but please only follow if you like my stuff!)  For full details of what you need to do to win pop on over to Paper Issues.  Winners will be chosen in two weeks’ time.

I also have my Paper Issues discount coupon of 20%.  Just use Ruby2Shoes at the checkout to receive your discount.
Now don’t forget to pop on over to see what the other girls in the hop have cooked up for you…

1. Ruby (you are here!)

2. Kristy Dalman

3. Corri Garza

4. Holly Humbert  

5. Judean Patten-Clark 

6. Christina Heeren

Have a great day!  I should be back up and running properly soon.  I’m still enjoying time off with my gorgeous honey for the rest of our honeymoon.

Don't forget to link your project to the linky party for Paper  Issues. Happy creating!

Some Wedding Photos

Hi everyone, it seems like forever since I blogged.  Today I don’t have any projects for you, just far too many photos of our special day!  I will be back soon though with a project for a mini blog hop over at Paper Issues.

Our wedding was absolutely perfect in every single way.  It was a tiny intimate affair. We’ve both been married before so all of the usual wedding hype wasn’t necessary, we just wanted something really simple to celebrate us getting married. 

I only had one disaster, where I knocked the head off the rose of my bouquet.  That doesn’t sound that dramatic but seeing as I only had three roses in total it was quite a problem.  Stamping Up ribbon to the rescue and a few pins and ta-da bouquet fixed!

My lovely Marmie wishing me all the best before the big day.

We literally stopped the traffic on the way to the registry office!  The main road was so busy we had to get the traffic stopped for me to get there. We arrived a bit late but Ian knew I would turn up I’m sure!


The ceremony went really well, I was much more nervous than I thought I would be so was relieved when I was allowed to hold Ian’s hand to say my vows.

A photo of some of the family; a rare picture with little Robert, our page boy grandson, actually being caught on camera before he runs off.  Isn't he the cutest?!

Doesn’t my princess look adorable, very Audrey Hepburn?!! 

Thank you to all of the McGuires for welcoming me into your family. 

Ian with my new stepdaughters!

After the ceremony we went back to the Old Mill House for afternoon tea served with Choccywoccydoodah cake.  

We had two butterflies (you can only see two here though) and one dragonfly added to the cake for Natasha, my daughter, and Ian’s two girls, Sabrina and Charlotte, my new step-daughters.  Ian wanted to have two red shoes on the top of the cake for my ‘Ruby 2 Shoes’.  In one shoe Ruby 2 Shoes was written inside, the other the number 210.  The number 210 is really significant to us.  It pops up all over the place for some reason, really weird, so we thought we would have it in the other shoe to symbolise ‘two people, one love, no doubts’.  The roses were done darker to match the Baccarat roses in my bouquet and we (ok, I) wanted sparkle everywhere!

We had so many people doing special things for us it’s hard to know where to start with a thank you list, but the girls that were helping Fi, our very special friend, with the catering, Tara and Chris, had added in a few special extras.. the first being some embroidered aprons with ‘Ian & Ruby’s Do’ badges for them all to wear. 

They then tied our cake knives/slices with big ruby coloured ribbons to match my dress and decorated the tables with the same materials.  When we got back from the ceremony they had also tied some of our remaining roses to the bridge with some more fabric.
Just gorgeous!

Our photographer, Jeanine, was fabulous.  I don’t know if I’ve ever said but I hate my photo being taken!  I only have a few rare pictures that I really like, so a day like a wedding is a day to be dreaded in my book lol.  We felt like the paparazzi were there, such jaw ache lol.  Jeanine really made us relax and just enjoy the day, she has taken some gorgeous photos.  I even got a few taken of Lulu, well she had to be in on the day too, didn’t she!  Ian’s Dad also took hundreds of photos too so we have them to look forward to.  Ian’s Mum says there are some fab ones, so I may even bore you with a few more at some point lol.


and this one, three generations of hands… My Mum, Tinks (aka Natasha) and me..

We managed to get a sneak peak of our wedding photos at the airport on the way out to Italy for our honeymoon, I asked if Dixons would let us look at them on one of their pc’s.  Cheeky, but you have to don’t you lol.  Thanks Dixons!! When we got home though we couldn’t get the memory stick to work and a lot of the photos got corrupted.  Fortunately, our photographer has a backup on her pc.  Phew!

She also took this picture of some of the craftiness of the day which was in the collection of photos, such a lovely surprise..

Early evening was when the food and speeches commenced, with Ian’s brother Aaron, giving a fabulous best man speech.  You never know what is going to come up with speeches, do you?  Aaron did us proud. It was such a pity that Ian’s other brother, Martin, wasn’t able to be there with his fiancee Angela.  Let’s hope we can catch up with them soon.

The celebrations went on until late evening when we sat in a beautiful candle lit garden and the boys set up a fire.  Ian’s Mum made up candles for us, she has her own little company Vandles Candles, you should check them out!  They smell so yummy.

Here is a picture of my dress, with us standing by the smoking fire!  It was funny watching the guys being all manly getting a fire going while us girls watched on.
We finally collapsed into bed in the early hours of the morning with just a few hours to spare before leaving to set off for our honeymoon.

Our biggest thanks have to go out to our friends Fi and Malc
who hosted our very special day.  It couldn’t have been more perfect.  They worked so hard to get everything just right.  What wonderful friends we have.  We had our wedding in Dorset, at their beautiful Old Mill House… Their grounds were just so very pretty for the photos..

One of their friends even came out and decorated the arch for us the day before the wedding. 

The Old Mill House with the beautiful river..


We have felt so blessed with beautiful cards, gifts and wedding wishes from all over the world, it’s been incredible.  Thank you to everyone who helped to make our day so special.  We can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives together now.

What a day!  I would live it over and over again, it was perfect!  I love my Mr McGuire!

Make The Day Special Blog Hop

Hi everyone.  Just a quick note to say that my blog is going to be a little bit quiet for a couple of weeks because I’m getting married, so am taking a bit of time off but I will be back raring to go very soon but before I go a few of the Make The Day Special girls have planned a mini blog hop for you.  We all thought it would be fun to showcase a particular set of stamps and see all of the different ideas we would come up with using the same stamps.

We chose Lawn Fawn’s Blissful Botanicals as our first set and I created this card…


I'm not sure if you can tell from the picture but I stamped the pink and chocolate cardstock with the leaves stamp (I call this my Orla Kiely stamp!!)  to create some texture, I then stamped the sentiment onto the white panel to which I rounded the corners.  Finally I stamped and coloured the little flower and butterfly. A few gems and a big striped ribbon finished it off.

If you like what you see pop on over to the Make The Day Special shop and grab yourself this gorgeous set.

I’m entering this into the Retro Sketches challenge with their gorgeous sketch of the week…

You should have come from Lucia’s blog.  I’m your last stop.

Just in case you missed part of the hop you can start at the Make The Day Special Blog or you can pick up the hop sequence here…

Clair Rigby

Jenny Mullens

Kate Capper

Lucia Gattuso

Me! (You’re here)

Have fun!  We hope you leave feeling truly inspired.

Don't forget to join in with the latest The Play Date Cafe challenge, it goes live today.  I've got withdrawal symptoms already!!

MTDS & Well Old!

Hi, it’s my day over at Make The Day Special and I’ve made this man card.  I love this fun set from Paper Smooches, the little man especially was so fun to colour in.

 The latest challenge over at Paper Smooches SPARKS Challenge is

'The challenge is to take inspiration from this fabulous trendy challenge image.  Follow it closely or use it loosely...just have fun! Think of everything you find in the SKY.'  I followed it loosely by choosing the blue for sky, the yellow (ok mustard!) for the sun and the stars for well.. stars!!

Pop over to the Make The Day Special blog to see what stamps I used.  The computer font I used was ‘Black Boys on Moped’.  Don’t you think it works so well with the PS stamps?!  The papers are Authentique ‘Genuine’.

I’ll just leave you with the colours I used.

I hope you all have a great week!

Ciao for now.