So pampered ...

... today - I had the most wonderful relaxing facial this morning.  I was given a course of treatments as part of my birthday present in June.  Today was the second session - four more to go - and it was fantastic.  Steph, my beautician, is super - she has the most brilliant hands.  I had a bit of tension in my shoulders and she worked it all out.  If you've not tried a facial before - I highly recommend them.

When I got home it was back to the more mundane things in life.  You know, washing, cleaning, tidying!!  I did a bit just so that I didn't feel too guilty when I went back into my craft room.  I've been busy working on the scrapbook - it's almost done.  Hopefully I'll post some pictures tomorrow.

Today's cards were made for an anniversary and a birthday.  I decided that some simple flowers would be most appropriate for the card.  These poppies are just lovely - I don't know who made them as I borrowed the stamp from my friend Kath.  I embossed the image in gold and then coloured it using Twinkling H2Os.  These give a really pretty shimmer to the image.  I mounted it on some pretty paper and topped it off with a pink ribbon.   The finished card was 5 x 7 in size.

The birthday card was altogether different.  This was a special request for a 70th birthday and I was asked to include pink and black as the colours.  I decided to make a large card and opted for an A4 card.  I stamped the blank with some lovely flourish images that I got from QVC - I used Memento London Fog as it gives a more subtle finish.  The lovely pink card is from Kanban - again purchased from QVC as a set (I'm not sure whether it's still in stock).  I mounted the main piece and the topper onto some shiny black card for definition, and the I used a Marianne Design die to cut this elegant black butterfly.  The lettering and numbers were cut with the Cuttlebug Olivia alphabet.  Finally, the birthday greeting was stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black and I inked over with one of the Tim Holtz Distress Inks - can't remember the name at the moment.  Jackie was delighted with card and so, I believe, was her Mum.

Anyway, that's all for now.  I'm about to take Kathryn off for her ballet lesson.  Will be back again this evening.