A Scottish ....

.... Valentine's Day.  My cousin got married in Edinburgh last week, so we went over there for a few days.  The wedding was held in Mansfield Traquair - it's a deconsecrated church in the Georgian New Town section of Edinburgh and is the most magical wedding venue I've ever seen.  Here's the front door:

And here's the main interior all set up for eating and a closer shot of the altar area where the ceremony took place:

Isn't it divine?!

The wedding invitation was art deco in style, so I made a card with a nod to that era.  Here it is:

I'm entering the following challenges: Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge ("Upcycle/Recycle" - I've used a little heart charm from a Lindt rabbit), Crafty Cardmakers ("Love, love, love"), Creative Card Crew ("Love"), Lemon Shortbread and Creative Inspirations ("Anything Goes") and Moving Along with the Times ("Words Only - No Image").

I used liberal amounts of gold embossing powder, to go with the black/red/kraft colour scheme and the art deco style lettering.  I also gold-embossed some wood veneer hearts - they came out really well.  Here's a side-shot:

Recipe:

Paper: Basic Grey "Kraft Basics"

Font: "Betty Noir" dafont.com

Other: Gold e.p., ribbon from stash, Lindt bunny charm, Studio Calico wood veneer hearts

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!

Um, hello ....

.... skulking back on my blog after a long hiatus.  What can I say, we went on hols in July (back to the Cotswolds, gorgeous!), then our house was invaded by English teenagers for over two weeks - and it's taken me until now to recover!!

Have done very little crafting during all these weeks, but have a few things in train at the moment, hope I get them finished.  And, sob, weep, wail - we are back to school at the end of next week.  Next week? I can't believe it!!!

It's PaperPlay challenge today, we are sponsored by Whiff of Joy and our theme is "Use a Sentiment as the Image/Main Focus".  I made a card for my friend for her daughter's wedding and here it is:

I'm entering this into the following challenges: Stampin' for the Weekend ("Monochromatic"), Creative Inspirations ("Sentimental"), Simon Says Stamp and Show ("No Rules") and Papertake Weekly ("Pins and Needles").

My friend's daughter is a music graduate, and for her 21st birthday, her now-husband had a necklace made for her with a treble clef and interlinked diamond and gold circles.  I used this idea as the basis for the card, making the rings and treble clef from chipboard and embellishing them accordingly.  Here's a close-up:

Recipe:

Papers: Magnolia

Die Cut: Lacy Circles Nestabilities

Other: Pins, doily, butterfly, seam binding and gems from stash, needle + thread

Thanks for looking!

Knew I meant ....

.... to do something, but I forgot.  We were away over the Easter holidays, in Iceland, and I had intended to post pics before I did my next "usual" post, but too late - as it's PaperPlay time again, I'm posting a card instead:

Our challenge this week is "Animal Antics" - we're asking participants to use their critter stamps.  I made a wedding card for my friend's daughter.  The wedding isn't until August (amazing, I know - I actually made something ahead of time!), but I've had ideas for it floating around in my head for a while so decided to get them "down on paper"!!  Here's what I made:

I'm entering this into the following challenges: Craft your Passion and 7 Kids Challenge ("Die cuts and punches"), Papertake Weekly ("A stitch in time"), Charisma Cards ("Shabby Chic") and Crafts and Me ("Vintage").

I hope you can see all the sparkle on the heart and letters - I've used different textures and colours of glitter - here's a close-up:

Thanks for looking - and I promise to sort through those holiday pics and post some!

A whiter shade ....

.... of white.  We had to go back to school today, sob sob weep wail!  Had completely forgotten what 7am looks like (answer: not very nice!), having not seen such an disgustingly early hour in two whole months! 

My daughter went back to school on Tuesday, looking very smart in her new senior jumper.  Son and I were waving her off at the front door, and he turned to me, wiping an imaginary tear from his eye, and said "they grow up so fast!".  OK, grandad!!!

I had a few crafting buddies over on Monday for a last hurrah, and I made an all-white card.  A first for me, was almost going to cave and add coloured stitching, but I stayed strong and this is what I ended up with:

It was so hard to photograph, the sun was out today and the white kept sort of disappearing into itself, so I ended up taking pics in a shady corner!!  This card would work for this week's PaperPlay Challenge, which is "Make your own Flowers", but it's not my team's turn.  So I am entering My Time to Craft ("In Full Bloom"), Moving Along with the Times ("Handmade Flowers"), Creative Card Crew ("Anything Goes") , Totally Gorjuss ("As you Like it") and Charisma Cardz ("Anything Goes").

I made handmade rolled roses for my card - distressing along the edges before I rolled them which looks much nicer, I think.  I stickled them for added interest.  Here's a closer look:

Recipe:

No patterned papers, no image, no ink!

Other: Nestabilities Lacy circles, MS branch punch, diamond stickles, doily, pins, ribbon from stash, needle + thread.

Thanks for looking!

Nearly there ....

.... we get our school holidays on Friday at 12 noon - only 36 and a half hours to go (who's counting?!).

Another of the cards I had to do was for another work colleague who is getting married over the summer.  She and her Mum both craft (Hi Avril and Lauren!!) - and they made the most gorgeous, elegant invitations for the wedding.  They visited my craft room a while back and both were crazy about my Hero Arts heart stamp set, so I decided it would be only right and proper to use those on this card:

I kept to roughly the same layout (flipped 90 degrees) and style as I used for the other staff wedding card I made a few weeks back, but changed the colour scheme.

I'm entering this on The Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge (wedding/anniversary) and A Spoon Full of Sugar (good luck/best wishes).

Thanks for looking!

One down ....

.... I'm not counting what's left to do 'cos I don't want to think about it!

I've got a deadline of the week after next to get quite a few cards done, so last night I made one of them as my DT entry for this week's PaperPlay - the theme is "home" - and it's quite a loose interpretation, e.g. new home, something from your home that inspires the project, etc.  I was thinking about this during the week while looking out at the back garden, and I saw rather a lot of dandelions on the lawn.  "Bingo - a dandelion wedding card", thought I.  I had intended to post a picture of these inspirational dandelions, but husband cut the grass in the meantime!!!  So here's the card:

 

Sorry about the abysmal lighting - another November in June day here today!!! 

I've used the sketch from this week's Sketch Saturday and I'm also entering it on Create 4 Fun  (black/white/one other colour - mine's silver).

This card is a rariety for me, because I didn't use any patterned paper - just cardstock.  And I'm really annoyed, I carefully measured up the centre section before I stuck it down - normally I just go by eye - and after all my sums and adding up on my fingers - the piggin' thing is off-centre!!   Grrrr!

The black bit down the middle is a gorgeous black velvet ribbon I've had forever, with a narrow silver ribbon on top.  I stamped the image twice, first in Tuxedo Black, then overlapped with Versamark and heat embossed with silver - might be easier to see in this close-up:

Thanks for looking!

Pale and ....

.... interesting (just like my legs in summer - ha ha!!!!)

No, seriously - it's the title of this week's PaperPlay Challenge, set by Dei:

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"I would like to see you use predominantly white with just one colour as an accent!"

Here's my entry, my accent colour is gold. I've used a lovely dandelion stamp, and heat embossed it with gold sparkly embossing powder - only two sparkles can be seen in the photo, but it is a lot more sparkly in real life!!

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I used this week's sketch from Friday Sketchers so am also entering it in that. The new stamp I've used on this card is one I got with my winner's prize from there a few weeks ago!!

There's a very sweet story behind this card. It's for a couple who have been married for a long time, but the wife had a stroke a few years ago. She made a very good recovery, but her long-term memory is impaired, and one of the things she has no recollection of is their wedding. She can remember nothing about it, even looking at photos doesn't bring it back. So they decided to get married again by renewing their vows, he proposed, they had a church blessing, reception, photographer, etc., so she has a wedding to remember. Isn't that lovely.

Thanks for looking!

Julie

Yet another Baby ....

.... Girl! What is going on in the world - I don't know anyone who has had a baby boy recently - all girls. Isn't that supposed to mean a more peaceful time?!

Anyway, decided to incorporate this week's SFTW challenge, which is to use the colours pink and grey. I also used this week's Friday Sketchers sketch. Thank goodness for sketches, they can be great for kick-starting some inspiration.

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Isn't her name gorgeous? Have to visit her later in the week - pressie bought and wrapped too - I usually buy clothes, but when we were on holidays I spotted an Elmer toy and book in a shop window and I couldn't resist them.

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And a relative of mine is getting married at the weekend in Somerset. We're not going to the wedding, too close to back to school, but here's the card I'm sending. I don't really like doing "occasion" cards (apart from birthdays!), can't seem to think of anything and I don't have any wedding-y stamps either, so I always do a variation on this quilled bouquet for wedding cards. This time I've varied the background layers a bit.

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Thanks for looking!