One that nearly ....

.... got away! Just going through photos and I realised that I never uploaded my brother's birthday card (back in .. gulp .. May!).  Better late than never, I always say, so here it is:

Quite difficult to see all that white against the background - in retrospect, I ought to have put a contrasting something or other behind it, but never mind!

I'm entering the following challenges: Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and Inspiration Destination ("Anything Goes"), Brown Sugar ("Birthday") and Creative Knockouts ("Something to Say"). 

I like the elements combined and layered on this card - stamping in two colours, washi tape, sentiment panel with string and homemade sort of melted hama beads!  Here's a side-shot:

Recipe:

Stamps: IndigoBlu "Ink Splats" and Hero Arts "Grid"

Font: Arial Black

Other: Washi Tape, homemade enamel dots, recycled black string.

Thanks for looking!

That was ....

.... quick - I only posted my mother-in-law's 70th birthday card a few weeks ago, now she's 71!!

Here's the card I made for this birthday:

I used the sketch from this week's Mojo Monday and I'm also entering the following challenges: Craft Your Passion, Lemon Shortbread and Cards Und More ("Anything Goes"), Paper Sweeties (inspiration pic - I went with the colours) and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge ("One Layer").

I used a technique I saw on Pinterest for the background of this card.  I dry-brushed acrylic paint on kraft and when it was dry, inked over with pumice stone distress ink.  I really like the soft, chalk-like effect.  I coloured the stamped flower with promarkers.  Here's a closer look at image and background:

Recipe:

Stamp: Hero Arts "Peeking Posies"

Font: "KG Always a Good Time" dafont.com

Other: Acrylic Paint, Hero Arts gemstones, rock candy stickles

Thanks for looking!

See ya ....

.... January.  It's February, and that means the reveal of the January Card Chain Challenge on Deborah's blog.

I made and sent a card to Christy in California, using the theme of "friendship".  Here's what I made:

I'm going to enter the following challenges: Craft your Passion and Brown Sugar ("Anything Goes"), Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge ("Ray of Sunshine"), City Crafter ("Plastic Fantastic") and Shopping our Stash ("Dreaming of Something Warm").

I made some home-made enamel dots, out of plastic hama beads, having seen them on pinterest.  I made one batch of varying colours and burnt them, then turned the oven down and left another batch in for ages and ages, they came out ok but not perfect.  Will have to fiddle with temperature and timing to get the next lot right!!  Here's a side-shot:

Recipe:

Stamp: Hero Arts "Floating Leaves" and Kaisercraft "Chevron Texture"

Font: "Joe Hand 2" dafont.com

Other: White e,p., home-made enamel dots, baker's twine

And here's the lovely card I got from Toni - all the way from the west coast of the U.S.  Thank you, Toni!

The February sign-up is open until 6th February - if you'd like to join up, head over to Deborah's blog and see all the details.

Thanks for looking!

For old ....

.... time's sake - I was very sad to read an email from Basic Grey saying that they are stopping production - they were the first paper company whose products I really coveted.  I think Scarlett's Letter was the first collection I bought - still love that line - and so many others were divine.  Lovely colours, patterns, buttons, brads - there's an awful lot of it still in my stash. 

I pulled out an old collection, Marjolaine, to make a card for my friend's daughter - here it is:

Forgive the slightly blue cast to the colours - we're having yet another dull, rainy January day.  I used the sketch from this week's Mojo Monday and I'm also entering the following challenges: Craft your Passion and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge ("Anything Goes"), Crafty Cardmakers ("Punches or Dies"), Little Red Wagon ("They say it's your Birthday") and Moving Along with the Times ("Embossing").

As mentioned already, I used Basic Grey "Marjoleine" papers - such pretty colours.  I stamped a criss-cross background and heat embossed in white e.p. and also embossed in silver around the edge of the sentiment layer.  I hand-drew the number 14.  Here's a side-shot where you can quite clearly see the embossed criss-crosses:

Recipe:

Papers: Basic Grey "Marjoleine"

Stamp: Hero Arts "Envelope Pattern"

Die: Spellbinders "Pinking Circles"

Font: "Bakery" dafont.com

Other: Hand-drawn numbers, silver and white e.p., hand-made enamel dots

Thanks for looking!

The one that almost ....

.... got away.  I've just realised I never blogged this make, that's because I finished it last Christmas Eve morning in a mad rush!!  It was a commissioned piece that I wasn't even sure I'd have time to make, for my daughter's friend.  He wanted it for his boyfriend, he had organised a surprise holiday as a Christmas present, and asked for a card.  I suggested a gift-box with slider card incorporated into the lid instead.  Here it is all closed up:

And with the slider opened - the gold card is for a secret greeting:

I'm entering the following challenges: Crafty Cardmakers ("Snow"), Shopping our Stash ("Let it Snow"), Creative Inspirations ("Merry Christmas"), Brown Sugar ("Anything Goes") and Daring Cardmakers ("All Wrapped Up").

And here are two further views of the top of the box with the slider closed and the inside with "surprise" tags for writing details of the gifts on, or whatever:

Recipe:

Stamps: Hero Arts "Stunning Snowflakes" background stamp,

Paper: Basic Grey "Granola" 

Other: gold e.p., gold stickles, gold ribbon from stash, navy house paint

Thanks for looking!

Construction ....

.... time again!

I haven't made our Christmas cards for three years, twice because Jed designed a card in school and last year because I .... gulp, whisper .... bought them!  So I was quite excited by the prospect of making them again.  Had a design in my head and went about ordering the supplies back at the end of October, they arrived, I put them in a pile in the craftroom and they sat there for a few weeks until last Monday week ago, when I made the first one.  Very nice, very pleased - had a craft club meeting on the Saturday so I figured I would make all the components and make up kits to bring along and I'd get the whole lot put together in one go.  Oh Lord, what a palaver.  I spent the whole week making the kits, then went to the club and got only 20 .... TWENTY .... out of 50 done in the day.

But the story has a happy ending - I got most of the rest done on the Sunday and finished up on the Monday.  The second big job of writing the flippin' things is now also done (yay!).  Here's the product of all that sweat and tears:

The light is terrible, we've been having biblical quantities of rain here in Ireland lately.  The cards are white, not blue!!

I'm entering this into the following challenges: Our Creative Corner ("Wish upon a Star"), Creative Knockouts ("Winter Wonderland"), Moving Along with the Times ("To a Special Someone at Christmas" - all my relatives and friends are special!), ABC Challenge ("W is for Warm Winter Wishes"), Crafty Creations ("Happy Holidays") and Little Red Wagon ("Snow Much Fun").

Here's a side-shot of the card, showing all the layers:

And here are all fifty cards finished.  I always think at this point "Isn't it a shame to split them up"!!!

  Recipe:

Stamp: Hero Arts/Basic Grey "Nordic Holiday"

Dies: MFT "Stitched Mountain Range" and Mama Elephant "Lots of Stars"

Stencil: Simon Says Stamp "Falling Snow"

Font: YorkWhiteLetter dafont.com

Other: Bakers' Twine, texture paste, glossy accents.

Thanks for looking!

Another lovely ....

.... worldwide swap.

The November reveal for Card Chain Challenge is up on Deborah's blog.  This time, I received a card from Gail in Norway and I sent a card to Greta in Oregon (both places I'd like to visit!!).  Here's what I sent to Greta:

I spent some days thinking this one through, I had decided to use the little bird house stamp and the woodgrain paper, but getting it how I wanted took a bit of late-night wrangling!!  I picked lilac and yellow (not colours I normally use), coloured the bird house and stamped the background image, then meh!  Something was missing!  Then I thought about adding some stitching, so picked vibrant yellow thread and I think it just lifts the whole thing.  Here's a close-up of stamping and stitching:

Recipe:
Papers: MME "Miss Caroline Fiddlesticks"

Stamps: Hero Arts "Happy Hello", Hero Arts "Hello Circles", CC Designs "Birdhouse"

Other: Glossy accents, needle & thread

And here's the cute Gorjuss Girl card that Gail sent all the way from Norway - love that glossy black hair:

Thanks for looking, and if you'd like to join in the challenge, the January sign-up opens on 7th December.

Cards all around the ....

world!  I've noticed the Card Chain Challenge before, as you might have too, but this was the first time I've gotten organised enough to join. Due to some serious work commitments, our Card Chain Challenge hostess, Deborah, was forced to push the October Reveal back a few days until now.

I got a lovely card from Jo in England.  She sent me this gorgeous cat, with a very funny sentiment.  I love the colouring of the cat's eyes and the cheese.

There are various themes/a sketch/colour combination that the participants can choose to make their card.  I went with the theme of friendship, and my card winged it all the way to Robyn in Australia (very impressed with the postal system, it only took 8 days to get there).  Here's the card I sent to her:

Recipe:

Papers: Basic Grey "Archaic"

Stamps: Papertrey Ink "Simple Sunflower", Hero Arts

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

You can take a look at all the other participants cards by visiting Deborah's blog here and if you're tempted to become a link in the January chain (we skip December) you can click here to find out all the details.

Thanks for looking!

Thinking about ....

.... stars, specifically 3 small shiny red stars, at 6 o'clock in the morning!!

I woke up early this morning (most unusual for me!), and was thinking about the card I made last night.  I thought it was finished, but had a little niggly feeling that there was something missing.  As I tried to get back to sleep at 6am, I decided that three small shiny red stars would be just the thing.  So when I got up, I made them, left them to dry and headed to church, and when I came home I added them to the card.  Anyone else do this?  Or am I the only sad sack?!!!

The card is a thank-you for one of my husband's customers, and here it is:

I'm entering the following challenges: Cas-ual Chic ("Tic-Tac-Toe" - I've gone with stitching, colouring and distressing), Little Red Wagon ("Tags"), The Kraft Journal ("Take your Pick" - I've gone with stamped, tag and die-cut), Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge ("Watercolour"), Craft your Passion ("Anything Goes") and Craft Stamper ("Take a Technique" - mine is stitching)

I haven't sewn on a card in ages and ages - it's too time-consuming, but this card needed that pop around the edges.  I used white ink to stencil on the kraft background, stamped and white-embossed the woodgrain and the flower, then coloured the flower with watercolour pencils.  Here's a side-shot:

Recipe:

Papers: Basic Grey "Nook & Pantry"

Stamps: Hero Arts: "Hello Circles"

Stencil: Tim Holtz "Bubble"

Font: "Shelter Me" - dafont.com

Other: needle + thread, glossy accents, colouring pencils

Do you think the stars look right?

Thanks for looking!

Something quick ....

.... for Christmas.  For my last craft club of the year, we had to make a Christmas decoration and card to swap between each other.  Inspired by something I saw on Pinterest, I made what turned out to be a quick, fun but really effective looking ornament.  Here's what I made, with card to match:

Those are drawing pins stuck all over a Styrofoam ball, I love the finished effect - I think it looks like an armadillo.  It's amazing how heavy it is too, and it will look fab on a tree with other gold and red decorations.  I made the card in red and gold to match too, with gold jingle bells I recycled from around the necks of Lindt chocolate rabbits or bears or something!  Here's a little side-shot:

I'm entering these into the following challenges: Crafty Cardmakers ("Christmas"), Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and Creative Inspirations ("Anything Goes"), City Crafter ("Glittering Snowflakes"), Shopping our Stash ("Favourite Technique" - mine is distressing), Little Red Wagon ("So flaky") and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge ("Bling it On").

Ornament Recipe:

Styrofoam ball, drawing pins, ribbon from stash

Card Recipe:

Paper: Basic Grey "Ambrosia"

Stamp: Hero Arts "Stunning Snowflakes" background

Font: "Apex Lake" - dafont.com

Other: Ribbon from stash, Lindt bells, gold e.p.

Thanks for looking!

This one was ....

.... not the easiest card to make.  I've never made a birthday remembrance card before, being a look-forward, not back, kind of person, but I just had to make something to send to a friend to let her know I was thinking about her and to mark the day her special little fella would have been 12 years old.  Here's what I made for her:

I used the sketch from this week's Deconstructed Sketches and I'm also entering this into the following challenges: Fab 'n' Funky ("Walk on the Wild Side"), Moving Along with the Times (Colour Challenge - blues, greens and bright yellow), My Time to Craft ("Paper Piecing") and Try it on Tuesday ("Things with Wings").

I loved the sketch I used because it had a lovely big rectangle in the middle, which really lent itself to making a little scene.  I used a scrap of some cloud patterned paper , then stamped a tree and hand-cut a grassy strip out of cardstock.  I stamped, coloured and cut out the bird, then paper pieced his wings, and coloured the flowers on the tree to match the bright yellow hearts and the bird.  Here's a closer look: 

Recipe:

Papers: Basic Grey "Dasher" and October Aftenoon "Weathervane"

Stamps: Imaginesce "Once Upon a Time - Tree" and Hero Arts "Holiday Bird"

Colouring Medium: Prismacolor Pencils

Punches: Martha Stewart "Branch" and "Valentine's Lace"

Other: Glossy Accents

Thanks for looking!

Pretty birds and ....

.... flowers.

I had a sympathy card to make for a funeral this morning.  I had bits and pieces of a card that I'd started months ago but never finished and it came together nicely.  Here's how it ended up:

Update 02/07 - this card was Featured on Little Red Wagon - thank you.

I'm entering this into the following challenges: Craft Your Passion ("Ribbons"), Crafty Creations ("Things with Wings"), Little Red Wagon ("Animal Antics"), Crafts and Me ("Add Wings") and Dragonfly Dreams ("Anything with Wings").

I've used an old Hero Arts cling set to make the cherry blossom branch and the individual blossoms, which added a little something to a very plain sentiment.  Here's a close-up of the detail:

Recipe:

Papers: Basic Grey "Oxford"

Stamps: Hero Arts Sparkle Clear "From our Home"

Other: Bird cut from wrapping paper, ribbon recycled

Thanks for looking!

Forgot all about ....

.... this one.  I started making this card well over a year ago, at a crop I think.  Then bits of it sat on my desk for months and months until eventually I finished it at another crop.  Then it sat on the desk again for a while, then I put it in a storage box, and when I took it out to write for a friend's birthday today, I realised I'd never photographed or uploaded it!!  Here's the slow card:

I'm entering this in the following challenges: Crafty Cardmakers ("Slap it On"), Papertake Weekly ("Anything Goes") and Shopping our Stash ("3-2-1" - I have 3 banners, 2 flowers, 1 brad).

This card covers the change in style of my card-making - see, I was still spending ages and ages stitching when I started it (the background paper and the circle base for the flower) and then the other layers aren't stitched at all!!  Here's a little side-shot of the dimension on this card:

Recipe:

Papers: Basic Grey "Ambrosia" and MME "Stella Rose Hattie" - I think!!

Stamp: Hero Arts "Doodle Leaf Flower"

Colouring Medium: Prismacolor Pencils

Die: Nestabilities "Eyelet Circles"

Other: Hero Arts pearls, Julie Frog's washi tape, Basic Grey "Sugared" brad

Thanks for looking!

Venturing into ....

.... three dimensions.  I don't often make things that aren't cards, but spent a fair bit of time earlier in January wrangling with a sheet of card, paint, mod podge, etc., making a box to hold three Yankee Candle votives.  I did a card to match, and all was sent to a lovely crafting friend called Margie, who is going through a period of ill-health, leading up to a pretty major operation last week.  She has received her package now so I can post the pictures.  Here's the card, first of all:

I used a sketch a couple of weeks old from Deconstructed Sketches and I'm also entering the following challenges: Creative Card Crew ("Recipe - 1 ribbon, 2 patterned papers, 3 pearls/gems"), Party Time Tuesdays ("Anything Goes"), ABC Challenge ("D is for Dazzle") and Creative Inspirations ("Stamping").

I'm really liking gold and gold glitter these days, there are a lot of companies incorporating this look into their lines - I've had this fab lamé ribbon for years, and I dipped the hearts and brad, which were just plain, into glue and them gold glitter - fan-tab-u-lous!!  I made the acetate banner letters and stamped a pretty scalloped circle lightly on textured cardstock for a shabby look.  Here's a close-up:

And here's the box, it's a little bit bockety at the sides, I've altered boxes before but this was the first I've made from scratch (and I learned a lot whilst doing it!):

And here are the two together.

Recipe:

Papers: Basic Grey "Kissing Booth" and Crate Paper "Maggie Holmes"

Stamp: Hero Arts "Scallop Background"

Fonts: "Falling Rain" and "A Little Swag" dafont.com

Embossing Folder: Cuttlebug "Textile"

Other: Ribbon from stash, gold glitter, gold hearts

Thanks for looking - and if you're looking, Margie - hope you're safe at home now!

Back to ....

.... basics - or back in black - either phrase will do for the card I made for my friend's husband, who turned 50 recently.  I haven't made a card with no patterned paper for a long, long time - but somehow this had to be that way.  Here's what I made (excuse dark photos, pics taken at night!):

Update 08/02 - Wow - this card has been picked as overall winner for January's Our Creative Corner - thank you Claudia!

I used the sketch from this week's Deconstructing Sketches and I'm also entering the following challenges: Our Creative Corner ("No more Shopping Sins"), Totally Papercrafts ("One for the Boys"), Stampin' for the Weekend ("Happy Birthday"), Brown Sugar ("Embossing") Crafty Cardmakers ("Black and White") and Charisma Cardz ("It's a Boy Thing").

I used three background stamps on this card - the houndstooth one I've had for yonks and never used.  I did clear embossing over the sentiment with another background stamp - but you can't see it in the photo.  The embossed pattern on the black card is really back to basics, I used a marker cap to make the repeat pattern.  I dry brushed a load of housepaint on the edges of the black card and the corrugated card.  The numbers are hand-drawn, and the pointy finger is from a set of stickers I bought in IKEA (a nod to my friend, who works there - Liz, can you tell me the product name of this set?!!).

Here's a close-up of some of the detail:

Recipe:

Stamps: Hero Arts "Grid" and "Houndstooth" backgrounds

Font: 28 Days Later - dafont.com

Other: Corrugated card, IKEA sticker, paint, eyelet, clear and black embossing powder.

I've been working on something else in January, which has now been posted to a crafty friend - I will post it here once I know it's been received.

Thanks for looking!