True Blue

Hi Everyone, I've been on the go all day today, but I have managed to get a card made while Sophie had a little nap this afternoon, and before I had to pick Nathan up from school.

I'm going to put it in for two challenges,


The first is Retro Sketches where we could choose a sketch from their challenges over the last year, and I choose this one (#24),


The second is this colour combo from Dynamic Duos, where we could also use a neutral with the 2 blues.



Here is my card

I choose this layout as it was so completely different from what I would normally lean towards, and it would be fun to do it as a triple time stamped project.

Recipe :
Card = Island Indigo, and white cards FMS
Stamps = Flowering Flourishes and Lots of Thoughts
Inks = Island Indigo, Pool Party, and Crumb Cake
Tools = Big Shot, Nestabilities, and Stamp-a-ma-jig

Hope to be back soon

Baja Butterfly

Today I've had a lovely lie in, and slow start to the day. I'm making the most of it as the rest of the week will be hectic as usual, starting with an early morning drive tomorrow. 

The card I've made today is for 2 challenges.

The first is The Paper Players with this CAS sketch, 

and the second is Fab Friday where they have these lovely colours.

This is my card

                   

                                                           

Recipe :

Card = Baja Breeze, Wild Wisteria, Gumball Green, and white card FMS

Stamps = Just Believe

Inks = Wild Wisteria and Gumball Green

Tools = Big Shot, Nestabilities, Shapeabilities, Martha Stewart punch

Extras = 3D pads

Tomorrow I am driving my Mum to the hospital for some pre-op tests as she is having major surgery in a few weeks, and then I'm on baby sitting duties with my niece ( Sophie ). I'm sure a bit of shopping will take place while we're out, and then also a visit to our friend so she can see Sophie, before flying back home to meet Nathan from school. Hopefully, he will be too tired to concentrate to do any crafting, so I may have to play super heroes to keep him occupied till his parents get in.

I'll be back soon

Hi Ho Silver

Today's card is a sad reminder of a close family friend that we lost last year, and with the anniversary of his passing coming up, I wanted his widow to know that she is not alone in her grief. It also fits into two challenges ( hopefully).

I thought that silver would be a better colour than a maudlin black card, and as  CAS-ual Fridays theme is Silver this is the first challenge I'll be entering.




The second is Clean and Simple with this sketch






It was difficult to photograph, but here is my card

I've used one of my favourite stamp sets, and stamped the flower in Versamark before heat embossing it in silver. I did the same to the sentiment and die cut this with a Nestabilitie in the Big shot, then layered it onto silver card and placed it on a square white card on 3D pads. It was finished off with some gems.

Thanks for looking, and I hope to be back soon.

CAS Flourishes

I've just had my latest delivery from SU, so I've used my new set for this project. I am going to put it into two challenges

The first is Pals Paper Arts with
 this sketch,

and the second is CAS Colours and Sketches where they want a CAS
card with these colours.





Here is my card

I coloured the stamps with my Write Markers and stamped them onto white card using the Stamp-a-ma-jig to position the designs in the right place. I put the yellow card in an embossing folder in the Big Shot, and cut the circles and labels at the same time. I added a few cut out flowers to the circle and base design, and finished with some gems that I'd coloured with my markers.

Recipe :
Card = All white card, with some coloured with orange and sand inks
Stamps = Flowering Flourishes and Verve
Inks = Sahara Sand, Summer Starfruit, Dusty Durango, and Basic Black
Tools = Big Shot, Nestabilities, Fancy Fan SU EF
Extras = Gems and 3D pads

A very excited Nathan phoned me last night to tell me that he had been to his friends Birthday party, where he had seen his very good friend Adelaide. She had thanked him for his Valentine card, and told him that she had taken it to school for "Show and Tell", and everybody had been very impressed with it.

He has well and truly been bitten with the crafting bug, as I had spent hours with him on Friday making his Mothers Day card. What do you think?

Thanks for dropping by today, and I hope you can call back soon.

Spotlight card

Yaaaaaayyy!! I've got to blow my own trumpet and say a big "Thank You" to the DT over at Make My Monday where I was one of their Top 3 in the Jane Austin Literary challenge," Thanks ladies"

Now, today has been as hectic as usual, but I have found some time to myself, and a chance to make a card which I hope to enter it into two challenges.


The first is Try Stampin' on Tuesday where they have this sketch,

and the second is Stampin' Royalty with this picture for inspiration.




I made this card using the Spotlight technique

I stamped the image of roses and fern leaves onto white card, masking the roses with Post it's as I built the picture up. I then cut a circle out of the design and coloured it with SU Write Markers and an Aqua Painter, before mounting it onto a black scallop circle and repositioning it back into place.

Here is a close up of the coloured image which is slightly off centre to match the challenge sketch
(which I have rotated 90* anti clockwise )









The design was finished off with a punched border along the top, and a black ribbon and sentiment at the bottom.

Recipe :
Card = Melon Mambo, Basic Black, Whisper White, and square white card FMS
Stamps = Growing Green, and Verve
Inks = Melon Mambo, Gumball Green, and Black Archival
Tools = Big Shot, Nestabilities, Post It's, Aqua Painter, and Martha Stewart punch


My new SU stamps have arrived, so I hope you can drop back tomorrow to see what I've done with them.

Until then, enjoy the rest of the weekend

Cajun Daisy

Hi All! I'm back in the land of the living after my hospital treatment, although I still don't feel 100%.

This evening I've made a card that I'm going to enter into two challenges.

The first is Mojo Monday where they have this sketch,


and the second is Color Throwdown where they have this colour palette






Here is my card

I inked the SU stamp with my Write markers and stamped it onto card which was then cut with a Nestabilities die in the Big Shot. I did the same with the sentiment, and layered these onto scalloped circles. The background  was embossed with dots, and wrapped with a ribbon before the circles were placed slightly off centre on top ( the smaller one on 3D pads). Two leaves were added before the sponged daisies were layered together, and topped with the butterfly.
( As I don't have any Soft Suede or Lucky Limeade card, I used my SU markers to colour white card shapes)

Recipe :
Card = Marina Mist, Very Vanilla, Whisper White ( coloured with markers), tan and card base FMS
Stamps = Just Believe and Bliss
Inks = Soft Suede, Lucky Limeade, Marina Mist, Basic Black, and Cajun Craze
Tools = Big Shot, SB Nestabilities and Shapeabilities, Cuttlebug dots embossing folder
Extras = Ribbon and 3D pads

Tomorrow is the last day of the school break, so my last day of entertaining my Niece and Nephew. I hope to be able to get back to blogging after that, so I'm sorry that I haven't had any time to blog hop and leave any comments, but I will try to catch up over the weekend.

Whatever you are doing, I hope you have fun and don't get too much snow, as I hear there's more on the way.

Keep warm, and I'll be back soon

Pink Diamond

Hi All!

Today was our Club workshop where we were making Diamond fold cards.

I decided to make mine as an early Mothers Day card and combine it with a new challenge blog I've found over at The Play Date Cafe where they have this colour palette for us.

 Cranberry . . . Raspberry . . . Petal



This is my card. Cherry Cobbler ( Cranberry ), Melon Mambo (Raspberry), and Pretty in Pink (Petal)

                          and here is a side view 

This is the card inside a box I've made with an acetate wrap, and with ribbons across opposite corners topped with a bow to keep the box from sliding out of the wrap.

            Here is a photo of the side of the box

First I scored some white card to create the central diamond, and then I decorated the ends with cards that had been border punched, and added ribbon. I used Jacqueline's SU dies for the layered central panel, which I then decorated with flowers that I'd stamped onto white card and cut out, and arranged with the middle flower raised on 3D pads and a bow, all under the MUM sentiment. I made the box bottom in white card, and scored some acetate to make the wrap.

Recipe :

Card = Cherry Cobbler, Pretty in Pink, and Whisper White

Stamps = Ornate Flowers and Papermania sentiment

Inks = Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink, and Certain Celery

Tools = Cuttelbug ( Jacqueline's ), SU Dies, and Martha Stewart punch

Extras = Acetate and Ribbons

As I mentioned the other day, I'd helped Nathan make a valentine card for his friend Adelaide. He did all the designing and stamping himself, even though I was there to help him, he told me that he wanted it done "his way, or no way!!", the little Diva.

What do you think of his talents? I wonder where he got them from?

  

He even decorated the inside.

The inks and majority of the stamps are SU, but there are a few toppers and unknown stamps that Boris the Elf had sent him!!

Well that's all for now, I'm hopefully having my hospital treatment tomorrow, so I'll be back soon.

Have a great weekend whatever you're doing

Inspired by Nature

For today's card I have combined two challenges.

The first is a new challenge blog I've discovered, over at Fab Fridays with this sketch,

and The Paper Players with these colours





Here is my card

I love the daisies in this set, and I haven't used it for ages, so thought I'd give it an airing. I used my favourite technique of colouring the stamp with my new Write Markers before stamping it onto white card. Both the yellow and pink ( strangely the photo makes it look orange but it is pink, honest! ) cards, were put through the Big Shot in embossing folders before layering them on the base card. The blue flower border was made by colouring some white card blue with the marker, and cut with a border punch and stuck under the central panel. I cut the banner with with two SB Labels Nestabilities that were bigger than the pieces of card so that just the ends were embossed and shaped, and stuck it down on 3D pads.

Recipe :
Card = Whisper White, Summer Star Fruit, Primrose Petals, and white base FMS
Stamps = Inspired by Nature and Verve sentiment
Inks = Summer Star fruit, Primrose Petals, and Midnight Muse
Tools = Big Shot, SB Nestabilities, Spots and Constellations embossing folders, and Martha Stewart border punch


This morning I helped my friend Rita, sort through boxes of china and kitchenware that belonged to her Mum, Angela, who recently passed away from the dreaded C word. She gave me a beautiful heavy crystal vase that I lovingly wrapped in tissue paper and placed in the boot of my car with boxes of bric-a-brac for the charity shop. After dropping the boxes off, I thought my vase would be ok on its own, and it was, till I reversed onto my slopping driveway. When I opened the boot, the world turned into slow motion time, and I helplessly watched as the vase rolled towards the lip of the tailgate. I bent to grab it, but ended up juggling with it from one Arthritic hand to the other, finally with it smashing in thousands of crystal splinters on my drive. Somehow, during this commotion I sliced my little finger on my left hand, and middle finger on my right, and even now, 4 hours later, the bleeding still hasn't stopped.

It's the craft club tomorrow, and then I'm in hospital for another IV treatment on Wednesday, and will be in bed till the weekend, so I hope to be back then.

Please bear with me, so until then, keep warm and Happy Crafting

Bob's Birthday

Today, I have to make a Birthday card for my friends husband who used to own a Morris Miner garage, and every year I make his card using the pick up in the Loads Of Love set.

With this in mind I looked around the challenge blogs for inspiration and came up with these.


Clean and Simple have this sketch ,

and CAS-ual Fridays  are looking for a song inspired project.

and ( I'm sorry, but it fits AGAIN ) the Addicted to Stamps challenge to Make Your Mark and use markers.



Here is my card

The song I chose is one of my favourites by Snow Patrol called "Chasing Cars" and has the lyrics.......

"Let's waste time, chasing cars, around our heads...."  and these aptly fit my pick up car.

The vehicle, presents, and bird cage were all stamped in black onto white card, and then I used my SU Write Markers to colour them blending the ink with an Aqua Painter. They were cut out and placed on 3D pads to give them some dimension. The brown road was done in the same way, and the sentiment was stamped in black.

I placed the bird cage on top of the presents, as Bob is a Twitcher and loves his garden birds! so this card is tailored personally for him, I hope he likes it.

Thanks for dropping by and I hope to be back soon

Baroque Best Wishes

Yaaaaay!! I've made a card and it's still daylight!!!

Just for two challenges today, firstly at Pals Paper Arts where they have these colours for us,

and again over at Addicted to Stamps where we are required to Make a Mark with marker pens.

So without further a do, here it is

I have used my SU Write markers to colour the rubber stamps before stamping onto the white card, and then using the Big Shot to cut the Nestabilities Labels, and mounting them on 3D pads. The finishing touch was the addition of white pearls to the centres of the small flowers, and three under the sentiment.

I love this stamping technique as several colours can be used in one go, instead of several times with the different colours and the hassle of trying to match the designs up. A little tip with a larger stamp ( such as the flourish in this SU set) is to huff a breath on the stamp to moisten the whole design before stamping onto the card, as it can take a while to colour the stamp, the starting point can dry before the final detail is reached.


Recipe :                                  
Card = Real Red and White card FMS
Stamps = Baroque Motifs,Fresh Vintage, and Fiskars sentiment
Inks = Real Red, Primrose Petals, and Pool Party
Tools = Big Shot and Nestabilities
Extras = 3D pads and White Pearls

 Thanks for dropping by and I hope to be back soon.

Just for You

I've been very busy all day today again, hence another late night post, but better late than never.

My card is for three challenges,

the first is ColourQ where they had
these colours.

second is Try Stampin' on Tuesday with this sketch,

and thirdly Addicted to Stamps where we had to Make a Mark and use Marker pens in the design.


Here is my card

The flowers on the panel were coloured with SU Write markers on the rubber image before being stamped on white card. The ribbon design, sentiment and little flowers were done the same way. The cards were then
put through the Big Shot with the flower shaped Nestabilities, and I cut the ribbon by hand. The flower shaped topper was raised on 3D pads for some added dimension and interest.

Recipe :                
Card = Cherry Cobbler, Pumpkin Pie,Whisper White, and white card FMS
Stamps = Fresh Vintage and Just Believe
Inks = Pink Passion and Blushing Bride
Tools = Big Shot and Nestabilities


I've got another busy day tomorrow, but I hope I can get some crafting done before dark falls. Please pop back then to see if I make it!!!