Little House in ....

.... the Big Woods!  Friends of ours in Sweden have moved house as they're getting married this year.  She used to live in a city and he lived in a town.  They've relocated to the countryside mid-way between the two.  I looked up their new place on googleearth - it is literally in the middle of a forest, no street view - there isn't even a street!!  They've been posting pictures of the trees, lakes and snow - it's very beautiful, and very Swedish!!  I made a card to send them, inspired by red Swedish cabins and conifer trees.  Here it is:

I'm entering the following challenges: Craft your Passion, Creative Inspirations and Creative Card Crew ("Anything Goes"), Cutie Pie Challenge ("Krafty Cuties") and Shopping our Stash ("Inspired by a Book" - see the title of this post!).

I stamped the little house, cut it out and then popped up for dimension.  I hand-drew the trees, with fear and trepidation in case I messed them up, but all was well.  The stars are white glitter paper, but you can't really see in the picture.  Here's a closer look at the little scene.

Recipe:

Stamp: Basic Grey "Nordic Holiday"

Font: "Shorelines Script" dafont.com

Die: Mama Elephant "Lots of Stars"

Other: Ribbon from stash, hand-drawn trees

Thanks for looking!

I'm a fairy ....

.... godmother!!!  Well, I'm about to be.  My husband and I were chuffed and delighted when our friends asked us to be godparents to their baby son, and today's the day of his baptism.  Have to go soon to get dolled up, but first I thought I'd show the card I made for him:

You wouldn't really guess it was for a baptism, I know, but I find religious cards very difficult, so I'm going with a kind of "launching into the Christian family" kind of vibe.

I used the sketch from this week's Deconstructed Sketch and I'm also entering this into the following challenges: Creative Inspirations ("Anything Goes"), My time to Craft ("Song or Film Inspired" - "We are Sailing"!) and Cute Pie Challenge ("Pretty Pastels").

Here's a side-shot of the layers:

Recipe:

Papers: October Afternoon "Seaside", "Weathervane"

Other: Doodlebug "Uncle Sam Stars" button, needle + thread

Thanks for looking - off to put on my glad rags now!!!

No stitching ....

.... on a card?  Haven't done that in a long, long time.  I've been really inspired lately by some new challenges and some new blogs.  One crafter whose work I'm absolutely loving is Amy Sheffer - I adore her shabby, layered yet not over-embellished style.  I was sitting down to make my husband's birthday card, and I was inspired by the layout on one of Amy's recent creations.  Here's what I ended up with:

I'm entering this into the following challenges: Papertake Weekly and Basic Grey Challenges both have "Anything Goes", Shopping our Stash ("Best Deal Ever" - mine is the hairy string, my husband "rescued" a huge ball of it from his work - it was being thrown out - I reckon free has to be the best deal of all!), Crafts and Me ("Reds"), Crafty Creations ("No flowers"), Cupcake Craft Challenges ("Get Krafty") and Cutie Pie Challenge ("Distress your cards").

I love the papers I used.  The BG "Little Black Dress" line has a great combination of lacy feminine designs and the lovely masculine patterned papers I've used on this card. 

I know there are punches and die cuts for doing pennant banners all in one go.  I don't have one, so I made the red pennant banner by chopping some cardstock into sections, using a square punch to do the pennant bits, and then sticking the hidden ends equidistant on a slim bit of cardstock.  That's me, if there's a fiddly and time-consuming way to do something, I'm there!!  I added some scrabble letters that I've had in my stash for ages, some shiny red circles and lots of BG buttons.  Here's a side-shot of the layers:

 

Recipe:



Papers: Basic Grey "Little Black Dress" and "Granola"

Sentiment: Computer-generated

Other: Basic Grey "Ambrosia", scrabble letters from stash, hairy string

 

Thanks for looking!

 

From one extreme ....

.... to the other!  We went to my friend's son's 21st party at the weekend, and also in attendance were other friends with their new baby, Matthew - all of 5 days old!!  He is the cutest little guy, and also the most calm and tranquil baby I've seen in a long time.  But in case you think I was getting broody, I wasn't - I am so glad I'm past that stage!!!  I made this card for him:

I used the sketch from this week's Sweet Sketch Wednesday, and I'm also entering it in the following challenges: Mo's Digital Challenge ("Anything Goes"), Cupcake Craft Challenge ("In Stitches") and The Cute Pie Challenge ("No Flowers").

I used one of Mo Manning's cute baby images - here's a closer look, followed by a side-shot of the dimension of this card.

Recipe:

Papers: MME "Stella Rose - Hattie"

Image: Mo Manning "Binky Baby"

Colouring Medium: Distress Inks

Other: Brads and ric-rac from stash, buttons - Basic Grey "Granola".

Thanks for looking!