I would love if this ....

.... was the last birthday card I'll have to make for this nephew!!  I've moaned and groaned before about my husband's nephews and how difficult it is to make their cards.  Husband was wondering aloud the other day if we're done with marking the oldest guy's birthday now he's hit 21?  Could I be that lucky?  Probably not!! 

Last year's card was a corker, I used an image of a heavy-metal drummer and he just loved it.  This year, I couldn't get into it at all.  Coloured up another image and hate, hate, hated what I was doing, was as close as I've been in years to actually ..... eeeek ..... buying a card! In the end, I dumped the image and made this:

I used the sketch from this weeks' Deconstructing Sketches (loving these!) and I'm also entering this into Crafty Cardmakers ("More than one punch/die cut").  Here's a side-shot of the dimension on this card:

Recipe:

Papers: Basic Grey "Skate Shoppe"

Other: MM letter stickers, Doodlebug brads, crackle accents

Thanks for looking!

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!

 

More adventures ....

.... with boxes.  Those of you who've been reading my blog for a while will remember my son's self-made costume, "box-head", from last Hallowe'en!!  Well, this year, the box went upmarket with a coat of gold spraypaint.  Jed, ever the innovator with his obscure ideas for costumes, declared that he was going to be "the gold robot head dancing guy from the video for Party Rock Anthem"!  Riiiiiiiiiggght - we all know that guy, don't we?!!! 

Having decided that "the guy's" gold lamé tracksuit wasn't necessary for the finished look (phew, I dodged a bullet there!), here he is about to head off out trick or treating:

I've had a bad back for the last week or so, hence no crafting, but I'm glad it had improved enough to be able to tackle the pumpkins, as I love carving them. Here's what we did this year.  Jed made the "Scream" movie character, and I did an oozing skull.  Here they are finished and ready for display and the following pics are them lit up:

My back is definitely on the mend, so with husband's birthday coming up shortly, I hope to get up to the craftroom very soon.

Thanks for looking!

No images again ....

.... I've been doing a lot of sentiment only cards lately, I wonder is my style changing?  Only time will tell, I suppose! 

This card is my bit-late-again DT sample for this week's PaperPlay.  Our challenge is called "Wooden it be Nice", use something to do with wood, could be woodgrain paper, wooden embellishments, tree image/stamp.  I used lovely woodgrain paper.  We are sponsored this week by Whiff of Joy.

This card is for the family of a very elegant and stylish elderly lady who died last week.  At her funeral, we were told how she had a different coloured umbrella for every ensemble!  She always had hair, makeup and nails impeccably done and, indeed, on her way down for MRI tests in hospital, made the porter wait until she had her can of hairspray with her!!  So with all this in mind, I wanted to make a card fit for a lady.  Here's what I ended up with:

I used the lovely sketch from this week's Mojo Monday and I'm also entering this into the following challenges: The Shabby Tea Room ("Rustic Elegance"), Fussy and Fancy Friday ("Anything Goes" and The Crafty Pad ("Distress It").

Here's a side-shot of the card, showing the distressed, inked and rolled roses:

Recipe:

Papers: Basic Grey "Capella" and MME "Miss Caroline Fiddlesticks"

Other: Ribbon from stash, Hero Arts pearls

Thanks for looking!

Brief? What's a ....

.... brief?  You know how I can't do "themed cards"?!!  I laughed when my friend asked me to make a card for her brother-in-law's 60th birthday.  She told me his name and age (obviously!), and then went on to say he likes Jags, Man Utd., and what his job is.  I asked her who did she think I was and said she'd get the name and the age on the card!!!  I did add a little car paper and red/white colours (among others), though!  Here's what I made:

I used the sketch from this week's Deconstructing Sketches, and I'm also entering this into the following challenges: Simon Says Stamp and Show ("Favourites" - mine are BG papers and stitching), Stamp with Fun ("Three Papers") and Totally Gorjuss ("Traditional Christmas Colours").

Here's a side-show of the layers and stuff!

Recipe:

Papers: MME "Holly Jolly" and BG "Oliver" and "Wander"

Other: Handmade tags, circular numbers, needle + thread

Thanks for looking!

And now for something ....

.... completely different, well maybe not that different, but it feels like a slight departure from the norm to me!  I decided to make a "just because" kind of card, it's a long time since I've made something that I don't "have" to make for somebody, so I thought I'd start a stockpile.  And I also decided not to use an image and to use a more heavily layered style. 

It's also my DT sample for this week's PaperPlay.  We're sponsored by Simon Says Stamp and our challenge this week is called "Shine On" - we want to see sparkle, shine or gloss (or all three!).  Here's what I ended up with:

I went for shine, not that you can see it in the photo, but I promise, the letters are glossy accented, the leaves are crackle glazed, and there's a shiny brad in the centre of the flowers!!

I used the sketch from this week's Mojo Monday, and I'm also entering this into the following challenges: Simon Says Stamp and Show ("Leaf-spiration"), Simon Says Stamp ("Glimmer and Sparkle"), Crafty Creations ("Colours of Fall"), Papertake Weekly ("Anything Goes") and Sentimental Sundays ("3-2-1" - mine are 3 papers, 2 leaves (or flowers!) and 1 brad).

Here's a side-shot of the dimension and layers of the card.  You can sort of see the shine on the letters and leaves, too.

 

Recipe:

Papers: Basic Grey "Max + Whiskers" and "Pyrus"

Die Cuts and Punches: Nestabilities "Pinking Circles" and Woodware leaf punch.

Letters: Computer generated

Other: Prima flowers, Doodlebug brad, ribbon from stash, needle + thread.

Thanks for looking!

So that's September ....

.... done and gone!!!  Well, more or less, anyway.  September is always a mad month, given that not only are the kids back in school, but so am I!!  By this week, my office was beginning to look a bit less like an explosion in a paper factory!  And now that all is settling down, it's time for me to start work on Junior Infants for next year!! No rest for the wicked!!  The state of my house, though, is another story that will do for another time!!

All that being said, I've had neither time nor energy for crafting until another pesky deadline grabbed me by the throat this week.  A card for my friend for her husband's 50th birthday.  Here's what I made:

 

 

I used the sketch from this week's Papertake Weekly, and I'm also entering this into the following challenges: Charisma Cardz ("Something for the Guys"), Cute Card Thursday ("Letters and Numbers"), Moving along with the Times ("Seeing Red"), Crafts and Me ("Favourite Colours" - mine is that petrol-y blue) and Simon Says Stamp ("Anything Goes").

 

Excuse the light in the pics, I was in a rush to take them this morning, and now it's Autumn, we're back to bad blue natural light and cruddy yellow artificial light!!  Here's a yellow-lit side-shot of the dimension in this card:

 

Recipe:

Papers: Basic Grey "Oliver" and "Oxford" and MME "Holly Jolly"

Die-Cut: Nestabilities "Petite Ovals Large"

Other: Recycled corrugated card, star snap from stash, Rusty Pickle numbers, needle + thread

Thanks for looking!