Forever Friends Birthday

Hi everyone,

Another beautiful day here, the earlier cloud has burnt off and the sun is really hot.

Here is a little card made this morning for a friend's birthday:

The background paper is from My Minds Eye.  A marvellous square nestie was cut in the same co-ordinations card as the mat to layer the diecut decoupaged characters. (I did trim them back further because I don't like the white edges always left on diecut images like this).
I added a few tiny Anita's gems for a touch of sparkle.

I could definitely get used to being a lady of leisure if funds allowed, thank heavens for the school holidays.  Off for a cuppa in the sunshine now while it lasts.  Hope you are able to enjoy it too.

Summer's Here

Hi everyone,

Phew, the summer break is here and I am hopefully back with more creations.  I mended the desktop computer after my son ordered a part and told me how to fix it, but it has broken again (only lasted a week) although it is still working at present on it's side.  I have started some stamping and colouring for Christmas cards but not yet made them into cards and have also been making more of the paper flowers.  So I have been crafty but nothing much to show for it yet.

Here are a couple of fairly recent cards that I have not yet posted:

A 6" x 6" one using Kate Knight designer paper for the background, mounted on black card.  The stamp is a freebie Docrafts one from a while ago, coloured with promarkers to match in with the papers and cut with XCut doorplates die.  Prima flowers  (with tiny Anita's gems) and small corners (made from a nestie marvellous squares die) to finish.

The second one is an 8" x 8" card made for my eldest son and his wife's wedding anniversary.  It has Papermania vintage notes backing paper with the edges chalked in a turquoise colour to match the ribbon.  The images are from a Debbi Moore cd-rom that came free with a magazine.  The trimmings are from my stash, some cotton lace (over turquoise ribbon), a small rosebud, few pearls and a couple of charms added to a length of chain.  The sentiment and larger heart are also cut from the papermania paper stack.

Thank you for looking and for any comments, they are really appreciated. 
 Have a good weekend x

Third One Completed

Hi everyone,

I am still struggling to get decent card photo images on this laptop, (it was so easy on the desktop grrrr), this one has been watermarked in paint but manipulated in photobucket!  Still, here is the third masculine birthday card for the week:

It is made with an image from a Thomas Kincade cd-rom from Joanna Sheen printed on matt photo paper.  I decoupaged one layer on part of the image to give it a bit of dimension.  The A5 base card was made from a sheet of lovely rich brown pearl card that shimmers with gold (not shown in photo unfortunately).  The image is matted on to gold and lime green layers.  Gold peel-offs and a lovely tassel complete this simple card.

Thank you for looking

Wish You Were Here?

Hi everyone,

This week I have three men's birthday cards to make, here are the first two:

As you can see they are variations using the same stamp, a  Docrafts MIchael Powell one.  I stamped both with a memento black inkpad.  The first one I  coloured with a combination of water colour pencils and marvey le plume pens.  The background paper is from First Editions Animal Antics and is mounted on a pearlescent brown A5 landscape card base.  The buttons are from my stash and are threaded on some bakers twine.  The sentiment stamp is a freebie one from a magazine cover.  

The second card I left the image uncoloured, mounted on to some black mirri card, which I also embossed for the sentiment rectangles with a Cuttlebug folder.  The background paper is again First Editions, but this time from the Up, Up and Away pad.  This one is mounted again on the back mirri and then a black A5 landscape card base.

Will have to put my thinking cap on for the third masculine card I need, I find inspiration for them hard to find.

Thank you for looking and any comments you are kind enough to make.

Happy crafting.

Back at Last

Hi everyone,

I am back after a month!  We had a lovely weekend away after my last post, then I had a fundraising day at Pre-school to prepare for.  Putting inserts in my box of surplus cards, (a job I always seem to leave until the last minute), bagging them and pricing them up for the fundraiser was time consuming.  We baked cakes and manned stalls and the children had a playbus and bouncy castle for entertainment.  It was a shame after all the effort that went into it that the attendance was really poor.  It made us about £100 altogether (much needed to keep us going).  

I have also had computer problems, desktop pc has expired, and have had to get used to Windows 8 on my laptop (which I have had since Christmas but only used for basics).  I am still trying to get an easier way to adjust, crop and watermark my card photos than Gimp which I have downloaded and spent all afternoon to try and get a decent result.  I'm not the most computer literate person and it is a bit complicated for me, I may have to find something simpler.  Still, here is my Father in Laws card for tomorrow.  I have also entered it into Joanna Sheen's challenge http://joannasheenchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/fathers-day-goodbye.html

A very simple one I admit.  We made similar ones with the children at Pre-school (without  the tiny buttons and pocket), they had fun cutting the ties out of animal print card, resulting in some wonderful creations!

Sorry for what sounds like a whinging post.  Have a nice weekend everyone and hopefully I will post more often again now.  Thanks for looking.

Jelly Beans

Hi everyone,

This is another House Mouse Project Book 1 card for the Joanna Sheen forum May challenge.

I printed the decoupaged image on pearl digital paper again.  Before cutting out and layering up I used a versamark pen and some clear embossing powder to give the jar a glossy finish. I also used a cuttlebug embossing folder on the jelly bean backing paper and side panel before creating the layers.  Even the banner sentiment was printed from the project book cd-rom.  To give a little extra colour and interest I used some ribbon to create corners, a band and a knot.

Thanks for looking and for any comments you may wish to leave, they are really appreciated.

Have a lovely weekend.

House Mouse

Hi everyone,

I have a couple of cards to show today, one for a forum challenge over at Joanna Sheen's website and one a birthday card for my father-in-law.

The image is from House Mouse Project Book and has been decoupaged.  The shaped easel card is made with Grand Nestability Labels 11.  The pretty background paper is from Papermania Vintage Notes 12" x 12" paper pack.  I machine stitched around the edges of the upright section before apply the decoupaged panel.  On the bottom of the card I embossed the paper with Creative Expressions lattice embossing folder and then stitched through the centre of the embossed lines to make the patchwork effect base.  Some pleated paper for a rosette and the stopper embellished with some tiny satin ribbon roses complete the card.  I have yet to decide the occasion or recipient so there will be sentiment added later.

My second card uses another Joanna Sheen cd image, this time from theThomas Kincade set, although I did crop the image to make it the right shape to fit my card.  The background papers for this one are from a 6" x 6" paper pad from Papermania colossal pack called Simply Elegant.  The computer generated sentiment is cut with a nestie circle and mounted on a scalloped circle and is finished with a bark effect button and piece of raffia, which also serves as the fastening for the upright z-fold card.

Off into the garden now for a bit of sunshine, it's probably warmer out there than here in my dining room!

Thanks for looking,