Slightly belated ....

.... but I'll say it anyway, Happy New Year to one and all - hope 2011 will be a good year for you and yours!!

I've seen lots of threads on message boards about New Year's resolutions.  Typically, my resolution is not to make a resolution, I find that's an easy one to achieve!!!  But really, the most improving thing I could do is to stop procrastinating!!!

This card is a case in point, one of the teachers at school asked me to make it in mid-December.  OK, the snow was a valid excuse, then Christmas itself and all the visiting and socialising that entails.  But by last weekend, when I was still ensconced on the sofa and the house was cleaned up after the New Year's party, I had run out of excuses.  So I dragged myself up to the craftroom and, what do you know, made something!  Here's the card:

I used the sketch from this week's Friday Sketchers.  I'm also entering this card into the following challenges: Shabby Tea Room (11 elements - mine are: 4 papers, 4 hearts, 1 image, 1 ribbon, 1 border punch), Lili of the Valley ("New Beginnings"), Paper Sundaes ("Something New" - my new is the ribbon) and Papertake ("Anything Goes").

I used Pumice Stone Distress Ink to ink the edges of the papers, I like the look against those pale pink papers, makes them stand out more.  I used the same Lili of the Valley stamp that I used on the last baby card  - it's so cute - just coloured with distress inks and highlighted with stickles.  Here's a close-up:

And here's a wee side-shot of the layers - lots of paper on this card, but I kept the dimension as flat as I could as the client is sending it through the post:

Recipe:

Papers: Basic Grey "Sugared"

Stamp: Lili of the Valley "Baby Blanket"

Colouring Medium: Distress Inks

Other: MS Valentine Lace punch, Nestabilities Labels 4, diamond stickles, gingham ribbon, needle + thread

That's all for now- I'm going to go and make a start on taking down the Christmas decorations - such a gloomy job!

Thanks for looking!

It's still ....

.... snowing, we've got another snow day off school tomorrow, and my cup of joy is overfloweth-ing!!!!

It's Thursday, and that means time for another challenge on PaperPlay.  We're sponsored this week by Whimsy Stamps and our challenge is "Monochromatic".

I went for an all-pink card, for a teacher in school who has just had a baby girl.  Here's what I made:

Sorry about the terrible light - it's very grey here with all the snow clouds so photos are coming out very dark.

I'm used the sketch from this fortnight's Truly Scrumptious and also the "think pink" optional extra.  I'm also entering this into Lili of the Valley Thursday Challenge ("a few of my favourite things" - stitching, distress inks, stickles!) and A Spoon Full of Sugar (Recipe - 3 papers, 3 flowers, 3 buttons).

It's the first card I've made with some recently acquired Lily of the Valley images.  I love this little cutie - perfect for Baby cards for either boy or girl.  Here's a close-up of the image:

Recipe:

Papers: Basic Grey "Bittersweet"

Image: Lili of the Valley "Baby Blanket"

Colouring Medium: Distress Inks

Other: Wild Orchid flowers, mesh and buttons from stash, stickles, needle + thread

Now I'm going to clean up my messy house, and then head out for some fun in the snow.  I hope to take some pictures to contrast with those I took on Sunday, there is SO much more snow since then.

Thanks for looking!