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!

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!

On the road ....

.... again!  Our lovely piano teacher at school has just retired, and I wanted to make a card that didn't include any of the obvious music/keyboard/piano motifs.  She and her husband head off with glee each summer holiday to travel the roads of Europe in their caravan, so I decided to base my card around that.  Here's what I made:

I used the sketch from last week's Deconstructed Sketch (flipped) and I'm also entering the following challenges: City Crafter ("Chipboard"), Creative Inspirations ("Distressing"), Fab 'n' Funky ("Feels Like Summer"), Little Red Wagon ("I need a Vacation") and Charisma Cardz ("Anything Goes").

I used some very old papers by Cosmo Cricket - my starting point was the cute car and caravan chipboard image - never thought I'd get to use it!  I highlighted the vehicles with glossy accents.  I cut the foliage from one of the patterned papers.  Here's a side-shot of the dimension on the card.

Recipe:

Papers: Cosmo Cricket "Mr. Campy"

Font: "Alexis Marie" - www.dafont.com

Die: Nestabilities "Blossom"

Other: Glossy Accents

Thanks for looking!

A production ....

.... line - a long time since I've made cards that way.

I mentioned on my last post that I had to make some thank you cards for a few kids at school who gave me gifts at the end of the school year, bless them!!

I kept them very clean and simple - here they are finished:

I used the sketch from Clean and Simple Stamping (flipped it around a bit) and I'm entering the following challenges: Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge ("Spots and Dots"), Shopping Our Stash ("Can't put it away" - mine is distress ink, had to do the edges with it!), The Kraft Journal ("Sun" - for the bright summery sunshiny colours I've used) and Craft your Passion ("Citrus/Tropical colours".

I stamped using Versamark and then heat embossed in white, then I coloured the flowers with Prismacolor pencils.  I stamped, embossed and coloured an extra flower to add a little dimension, then stamped the simple sentiment and doodled the dots around the edge of the cards.  Here's a side-shot:

Recipe:

Stamps: Stampendous "Flower Swirls"

Colouring Medium: Prismacolor Pencils

Other: White e.p.

Thanks for looking!

Quick and clean ....

.... and simple.  I've been making some relatively quick cards over the last week.  I've got thank yous to send to some of the kids at school that gave me presents at the end of term, those cards are in progress at the moment and will hopefully be ready tomorrow.

But this card is a sort of get well card.  I visited my friend's wife in hospital last week - she's been in for over 6 months and ended up having a heart transplant.  She finally got to go home on Friday, I popped in to visit on Thursday afternoon having thrown together a quick card - it ended up being a bit over-symbolic, I think, but she loved it.  Here's what I made:

I'm entering this into the following challenges: CAS-ology ("Glow") and CAS-ual Fridays ("Hearts in Summer Colours").

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!

An interesting ....

.... angle, a graduation and a winner!

June has flown by, it was a very, very busy time in work - but as of Thursday at 12 noon - we are now on holidays!!  Yippee!!

It was my son's last year in primary school.  In September he will head off to secondary and I will be going to school "on my own" for the first time in the 14 years I've worked there.  Copying an idea of my friend, Jackie's, I took a pic of Jed on the first day of 6th Class and another on the last.  Here they are - even allowing for slightly different angles, he has grown a fair bit, I think.

 

I made this thank you card for his teacher.  I was working on the distressed and stamped panel for a good while, then I laid it squarely on the plain card base, and it was just ... boring.  What to do?  I didn't want to start from scratch, hate doing that.  So I turned it at an angle.  Better.  Then I stencilled and inked the card base.  Better still.  Finally, I added ribbon, metal findings and tag.  That'll do!!  Here's what I ended up with:

I'm entering this into the following challenges: Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge ("I ought to use this more" - the metal findings, I love them but usually just hoard them!), Shopping our Stash ("Colour My World" - I have too many favourite colours, but one of my favourite colour combinations is blue and brown), Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and Crafty Girls("Anything Goes") and Sentimental Sundays ("Summer" - what could be more summer than a thank you teacher card?!!).  Here's a closer look at the lovely metal flowers:

Recipe:

Stamps: IndigoBlu "Grand Tour 1", Kaisercraft "Numbers",

Stencil: Tim Holtz "Bubble"

Other: Ribbon from stash, Prima Finnabair "Vintage Trinkets", brad - recycled packaging

Finally, a couple of weeks late, the winner of my giveaway is .... the only one who entered:

Grá 

Thank you for entering and congratulations, Grá - email your address to me and I'll get your prize package to you asap.

Thanks for looking!