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!

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!

Lots of ....

.... in-jokes in the project I'm showing you today. 

I rarely make very personalised cards, apart from adding a name or an age.  I can't imagine anything worse than having to make a card for a 70 year old school caretaker who likes drinking whiskey and betting on racehorses (this was a real card a crafting buddy had to make - I would have said "No" to that particular commission and ran screaming in the opposite direction)!!

Friends of ours had a joint 40th birthday party on Saturday night - it was a vinyl party, everyone had to bring old records - we had a very odd mix of 60s soul, 70s disco and 80s electronic, based on the age and record collections of those present!  The birthday couple, especially the guy, are big fans of Father Ted and can quote great chunks of the episodes verbatim, so we decided to get them a copy of The Specials "Ghost Town" as a joke present and base the card/gift holder around it.  Here's what I made:

Front cover:

Inside, with pocket for gift cards on left, and 7" record holder on right:

Here's a close-up of the Mo Manning dancing nuns image.  For embellishment, I typed out various Father Ted quotes and stuck them down, haven't put close ups 'cos some of them are a bit rude (nothing stopping you from clicking on the image, though)!!

It was a busy weekend, on Sunday we went to a car show.  The weather was glorious.   Here's a few pics:

The two Minis we brought - blue Traveller to the front, black Cooper behind:

Some fab VW camper vans and a divine Fiat 500:

The Minis all lined up in the sunshine:

And I was delighted to finally meet a fellow blogger, Margie.  She and I have been talking for over two years, but have never met in real life until now - it was an absolute pleasure to chat to her and her lovely niece, Rommeij.  Here we are in front of Margie's lovely Morris Minor Traveller - and see that necklace I'm wearing, it made an interesting pattern on my sunburn - the bit I forgot to put sunblock on.  Duh! 

(Iif you were wondering about the Father Ted/Ghost Town connection, here's a utube video of the piece of the relevant episode)

Thanks for looking!

Mmmmmmmmm ....

.... choooccccoolaaaaaaattttte!!!

Yup, Easter is nearly here - so this week's challenge on PaperPlay is exactly that (Easter, not chocolate!!!).

I made a little basket/box thingie, using a tutorial from the Spring Magnolia Magazine, and filled it with chocolate eggs:

I'm also entering it on Stampin for the Weekend (Easter),  Simon Says Stamp (Easter),  Totally Gorjuss (ribbon - my second entry this week), and Fussy and Fancy Friday (Easter).

I used one of Elisa's cute digistamps from her site, Mamidoodles, for my image.  Have discovered that my printer is not digi-stamp friendly, I tried colouring with promarkers, then prismas with sansodor, then finally prismas on their own and this was by far the best way (until I get a laser printer some day!!!).  Here's a not-so-close up!!!

Recipe:

Stamp: Mamidoodles

Colouring Medium: Prismas

Papers: Basic Grey Sultry

Other: MS Border Punch, Distress Ink, Shimmerz, ribbons from stash, chocolate eggs from Sainsburys!

I finished the horse card last night and gave it to the customer today - she loved it, thank goodness.  Will post a pic tomorrow.

Thanks for looking!