It's been a while ....

.... since I've posted, and with all that's going on around here, I'd say my crafting and blogging opportunities over the next few months will be pretty limited. I haven't actually made anything over the whole month of August, and now my son, my daughter and I are all back at three different schools, with three different timetables and collection schedules so life is going to be horribly hectic for the next year.

Having said all that, I made a card for my little godson's 2nd birthday.  We spent some time on holidays with him and his family in August, and he is just the most sunny, happy little chap.  Here's what I made for him:

I used last week's sketch from Deconstructed Sketches and I'm also going to enter the following challenges: Corrosive Challenges ("Let's hear it for the boys"), Crafty Girls ("Anything Goes") and Crafty Cardmakers ("Make an Impression")

I used some very old Cosmo Cricket papers (I could probably keep making cards for the next decade and still not run out of paper!) and added buttons and a double-embossed number 2.  Here's a side-shot of the dimension on the card:

Recipe:

Papers: Cosmo Cricket ("Lil Man")

Embossing Folder: Cuttlebug "Tiny Bubbles"

Fonts: "Learning Curve" and "SimHei" - www.dafont.com

Other: Basic Grey buttons

Thanks for looking!

The countdown ....

.... is on - only two and a half weeks left until school starts again.  We're just back from our holidays in England, we spent most of our time in Kent, but spent one night in the Cotswolds and another in Telford on the way to and from the ferry.  We had a smashing time, loved Kent - the beautiful countryside, villages, architecture and, of course, the White Cliffs of Dover.  I will post some photos on my next post.

While we were away, our daughter turned 20 (that's the end of the teenage years, until next Spring, when Jed will be 13 - what were we thinking?!!!).  I made Daisy's card beforehand and brought it with us - we were camping on the morning of her birthday and gave her a surprise awakening, complete with a bunch of helium balloons outside her tent and a noisy bunch of people with party blowers!

Here's her card:

Update 23/08/14 - this card was voted Top 3 at Shopping our Stash - thank you!!

I'm entering the following challenges: Crafty Girls Challenges ("Anything Goes"),  Little Red Wagon ("Happy Birthday"), Shopping our Stash ("Back in the Day" - no fancy cutting machine for me, just scissors!) and Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge ("Scratched Up").

I was inspired by a card I saw on Pinterest, with big black thicker letters as a focal point.  I don't have any thickers like that, or a cutting machine that would do them for me, so I made my own big black chipboard letters, painted them with acrylic paint, and finished with a top coat of Mod-podge.  I also painted the button with acrylic paint and then distressed it with sandpaper.  Here's a closer look:

Recipe:

Papers: Basic Grey "Clippings", "Carte Postale" and "Basics Kraft"

Fonts: "Mom's Typewriter" and "Bambi Bold" - www.dafont.com

Punch: EK Success "Binding Edge"

Stencil: Tim Holtz "Stars"

Other: Staples, buttons from stash, hairy string

Thanks for looking!

I am so good ....

.... at holidays!  I'm definitely in my holiday stride now - like last summer, we've been having a bit of a heat-wave, but I don't do sun, so I've been thoroughly enjoying myself loitering inside with all the windows open, pottering in the shady bits of the garden, and making a fairly respectable amount of cards, for once!!

I'm heading to the afters of a wedding this evening, and here's the card I've made for the happy couple:

I'm entering this in the following challenges: ABC Challenge ("Pearls"), Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge ("Emboss It"), Crafty Girls Challenge ("Anything Goes") and Daring Cardmakers ("Kathy's Style - I've done embossing and foliage").  The said foliage comprises 56 (yes, I counted!) punched leaves, I distressed inked the sides of them all and adhered them to a skinny heart template, then added crackle accents, pearls and stuck the whole thing down on the embossed and crackle-accented background.  Here's a closer look:

Recipe:

Punch: MS "Branch"

Embossing Folder: Cuttlebug

Other: Hero Arts pearls

Thanks for looking!

An interesting ....

.... angle, a graduation and a winner!

June has flown by, it was a very, very busy time in work - but as of Thursday at 12 noon - we are now on holidays!!  Yippee!!

It was my son's last year in primary school.  In September he will head off to secondary and I will be going to school "on my own" for the first time in the 14 years I've worked there.  Copying an idea of my friend, Jackie's, I took a pic of Jed on the first day of 6th Class and another on the last.  Here they are - even allowing for slightly different angles, he has grown a fair bit, I think.

 

I made this thank you card for his teacher.  I was working on the distressed and stamped panel for a good while, then I laid it squarely on the plain card base, and it was just ... boring.  What to do?  I didn't want to start from scratch, hate doing that.  So I turned it at an angle.  Better.  Then I stencilled and inked the card base.  Better still.  Finally, I added ribbon, metal findings and tag.  That'll do!!  Here's what I ended up with:

I'm entering this into the following challenges: Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge ("I ought to use this more" - the metal findings, I love them but usually just hoard them!), Shopping our Stash ("Colour My World" - I have too many favourite colours, but one of my favourite colour combinations is blue and brown), Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and Crafty Girls("Anything Goes") and Sentimental Sundays ("Summer" - what could be more summer than a thank you teacher card?!!).  Here's a closer look at the lovely metal flowers:

Recipe:

Stamps: IndigoBlu "Grand Tour 1", Kaisercraft "Numbers",

Stencil: Tim Holtz "Bubble"

Other: Ribbon from stash, Prima Finnabair "Vintage Trinkets", brad - recycled packaging

Finally, a couple of weeks late, the winner of my giveaway is .... the only one who entered:

Grá 

Thank you for entering and congratulations, Grá - email your address to me and I'll get your prize package to you asap.

Thanks for looking!

Giveaway reminder - and a card ....

.... for a very old birthday girl!

My husband's grandmother was 94 yesterday.  She still lives by herself in her own house, about an hour's drive down the country from us, and we headed down with family on Saturday to bring her out for a birthday lunch.  I had only a little time to make a card for her (and frankly, she's always more interested in what's inside the card, she opens the envelope, takes out the card and shakes it to see what falls out!!!) - here's what I ended up with:

I used the sketch from this week's Deconstructed Sketches, although I didn't have time to incorporate all the elements, and I'm also entering this into the following challenges:  Creative Card Crew ("Shabby Chic/Vintage"), Crafty Creations ("S" - my word is Summer), Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and Crafty Girls ("Anything Goes"), Brown Sugar ("Birthday") and The Shabby Tearoom ("Vintage Love").

As I was so short for time, rather than print or stamp and colour an image, I printed off this sweet vintage image from Pinterest on photo paper.  I love the tinting and big floppy pink bow in her hair, which I echoed by tying a crumpled seam binding bow at the bottom of the panel.  Here's a close-up of the image.

Recipe:

Papers: Crate Paper "Emma's Shoppe"

Other: Seam binding

Thanks for looking - and don't forget my giveaway - HERE is the link to the post.

Who's making a guest ....

.... appearance - me!!  I won a challenge back in January on Our Creative Corner and Laura invited me to do a Spotlight post featuring my work.  I didn't hesitate to say "yes" - and today my post appears on the Our Creative Corner blog.

I made a card for my old boss's new grandson, and here it is:

I used a recent sketch from Deconstructed Sketch and I'm also entering the following challenges: Party Time Tuesdays  and Crafty Girls ("Anything Goes"), ABC Challenge ("J is for Just as you Like"), Creative Inspirations ("Lots of Layers") and Stampin' for the Weekend ("Your Favourite Stamp").

 

I still haven't bought any new baby stamps, so I thought I'd do something a little different with the Lili of the Valley one I've used so many times - I stamped on kraft, coloured with prismas and cut out a circle.  Here's a close-up of the image: 

And here's a side-shot of the layers on the card:

Recipe:

Papers: Basic Grey "Persimmon"

Image: Lili of the Valley "Baby Blanket"

Colouring Medium: Prismacolor pencils

Embossing Folder: Cuttlebug "Tiny Bubbles"

Font: "Throw my Hands up in the Air" - www.dafont.com

Other: Nestabilities "Large Pinking Circles" die, Basic Grey "Ambrosia" and "Granola" buttons

Thanks for looking - and thanks, Laura, for spotlighting my work on Our Creative Corner.

Gold Fingers ....

.... that's what I had after finishing a card for my friend's 50th birthday.  I do like a little bit of glitter, from time to time, but this card was absolutely laden with it, and the shiny debris was everywhere - under my nails, on the floor and, thanks to a few little spillages, all over one leg of my trousers!!!  Here's what I made:

 

I used the sketch from this week's Mojo Monday and I'm also entering this the following challenges: Sentimental Sundays ("Flowery Springtime"), My Time to Craft ("Mother's Day/Special Lady"), Brown Sugar and Crafty Girls ("Anything Goes") and Charisma Cardz ("Birthday Girls").

 

My inspiration for this card was the gift I bought for Jocelyn - I was out to lunch in Monkstown on St. Patrick's Day and when walking back to the car, saw this jewellery designer's lovely shop - Vivien Walsh - I bought this beautiful bracelet for Jocelyn.  It's gold (appropriate for a 50th birthday, I thought!) and the white stones are jasper.  As the birthday girl is heading off to the sun for her birthday week, I thought this would look so pretty against a tanned arm!

 

 

So I used white and gold as the colours for her card.  I used some very old Japanese paper and some corrugated card painted white and embossed with gold.  I made rolled roses and glittered gold numbers (Jocelyn laughed when she saw them and said "Thanks for keeping the numbers small" - she's not relishing the thoughts of this birthday!).  Here's a close-up of the roses:

 

Recipe:

Font: Notera - www.dafont.com

Punch: MS "branch"

Other: Gold e.p., gold stickles, Japanese paper

Thanks for looking!

Inch by inch ....

.... I haven't made an inchie card in a very long time - before I had my blog I think.  I like the fiddlyness of them - the precision of stamping on the little grid of squares, adding colour, splatter or whatever, then separating them, inking, backing them and finally ever so carefully mounting them with a little, hopefully perfect, bit of a gap between each one.  Here's the finished inchie card:

I'm entering this in the following challenges: Stampin' for the Weekend and Crafty Girls ("Anything Goes"), Little Red Wagon ("Truly Dimensional"), Creative Inspirations ("Favourite Colour Combination" - I love blue and brown), Crafty Creations ("Happy Birthday") and Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenges ("D is for Distress").

The map stamp is from a Tim Holtz set, which also has an airplane that I could have used, but as this card is for a Mini friend, I stamped a Mini instead - and combined with the awful punning sentiment!!  Here's a side-shot of the dimension of the card:

Recipe:

Papers: Authentique "Abroad"

Stamps: Tim Holtz "Warehouse District", Mini

Colouring Medium: Watercolour paints and distress inks
Font: Cheddar Jack - dafont.com

Other: Clear embossing powder, baker's twine, Doodlebug brads

Thanks for looking!

Triple ....

.... trouble.  A colleague was having difficulty finding a card in the shops for her friend, who has just had triplets, all boys - can't imagine there's a huge mass-market for the taking there alright!!  So she came to me and this is what I made:

Update 17/02 - this card was chosen as Top 5 on Crafty Cardmakers - thank you, Carole!

I took my inspiration from the babies' biblical names - this is little Noah and his brothers safe in their cozy ark - and as they were born very prematurely, but fingers crossed are holding their own so far, I like the safe and sound on the stormy sea analogy too.  I've done a couple of similar cards before using this lovely October Afternoon wave paper - it's so good for little scenes like this.

I'm entering the following challenges with this card: Craft Your Passion ("Pick any Challenge" - I'm going with #174 "All at Sea"), Crafty Cardmakers ("This is a Man's World"), Totally Papercrafts ("Hey Cutie") and Crafty Girls Challenge ("Anything Goes").

I love the little swinging name banner on this card, here's a side-shot of a giant thumb and a close-up of the banner doing its thing!!

Recipe:

Papers: October Afternoon "Seaside" and "Weathervane"

Other: Bakers' Twine

Thanks for looking!