Visa news and a couple of cards .....

.... Things are suddenly moving a lot faster now and we had news about our Visa application yesterday - we all have to go to London next week for our interview on Thursday at the US Embassy.  It's all so exciting - and a bit scary too!  All being well, we should get the Visa by about 17th February and then it's all systems go!  BUT, until we have the Visas in our passports, anything can happen.  Mind, at this stage, it should be okay.  Will let you know!!

In the meantime, I've got a couple of cards to share with you today.  My first card has been made for a few challenges:

• Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge - WMSC82 - a lovely sketch from Anya
• Colour Q - cQc122 - just love these colours!
• Waltzingmouse Christmas Card Challenge - WMSCCC12-01 

As soon as I saw those wonderful colours from Colour Q, I knew that I wanted to make a Christmas card with the Nutcracker Prince resplendent in his uniform of red, pink and black!!!  I didn't quite make enough Christmas cards last year, so this year I'll be making sure to make cards as and when I can - to join in with the WMS Christmas Card challenge go to the WMS blog and join the forum!  The theme for January's challenge is to feature a day or nighttime sky, and you need to use some Waltzingmouse stamps.  I've used Anya's layout for the card.

I started off by stamping the Prince onto some white card, embossing him, colouring with Promarkers and then cut him out.  I tried to make a hill effect with the text stamp - it sort of works.  And I stamped snowflakes in my day time sky in shades of pink, red and kraft - it's a fantasy world!!  For my scalloped banner, I used the deep daisy stamp on some red foil card, cut a piece of regal rose card and attached a dotty ribbon over it.  To finish it off I added some black embossed hearts.  Finally, I used a Fancy Tag for my label sentiment, sponged on some red and stamped the sentiment in black.

Stamps:  Waltzingmouse - Nutcracker Sweet, Compliments of the Season, Sewing Box Hugs, Text-it
Inks:  Stampin' Up! - Real Red, Regal Rose, Crumb Cake; Versafine - Onyx Black
Spellbinders:  Fancy Tags Three (S5-031)
Promarkers: Poppy, Crimson, Salmon Pink, Khaki, Black, Blush, Ivory
Accessories:  Martha Stewart - Deep Edge Daisy Punch; Clear embossing powder, ribbon and card from stash

Recently I was asked to make a 21st birthday card.  I emailed a couple of sketches with suggestions for layouts, Diane told me what she wanted and off I went.  I decided to do a mock up, just to make sure it was okay.  My first attempt was far too formal, especially as the card is for a 21 year old!  So I grunged it up a bit!  She liked the mock up, so I made it last night.

This is an 8" × 8" card - you need something special for a 21st!  I started off by lightly spritzing the card base with some Cosmic Shimmer silver and then stamped the funky circles - they are second impressions as I didn't want the images to be too strong.  Then I used the graffiti stamps in pale grey and stamped them randomly around the card.  I added the grid stamp in shades of green for a bit more depth.  To finish the card base I spritzed again with more of the silver and some purple.  The card has a lovely shimmer.

For the postage stamp squares I made my own coloured card.  I used my Promarkers to make the dark and mid blue squares.  The large postage stamp has been coloured with a few Cosmic Shimmer Mists - silver, purple and green - it not only adds shimmer, but gives a lovely metallic feel.  The computer and book image and the runner were from the web and have been printed on satin photo paper - Aidan is at University and loves running!  I finished off the card by making the "21" from a stencil and my Promarkers.  To make Aiden's name I used one of my Cuttlebug alphabet sets.  I'm really pleased how this turned out.

Stamps:  Waltzingmouse - Free Spirit Boy, Off Beat Backgrounds
Inks:  Kaleidacolor - Blue Breeze, Fresh Greens; Memento - London Fog
Spellbinders:  Postage Stamps (S4-348) # 4 & 5, Standard Squares Lg (S4-126) # 4 & 5,
Promarkers: China Blue, Indigo Blue
Accessories:  Cosmic Shimmer Mists - Silver, Purple Violet, Meadow Lush; Card from stash

We've had a big skip delivered this morning so that we can declutter (again).  It's is really amazing how quickly you can build up "stuff" - things that I might need again, but in reality am unlikely to go back to.  That's all for today - I'm off to town to send the 21st card to Diane and get started on a bit more house stuff!  I'll be checking in tomorrow for a few more challenges, but I suspect they are going to be the last for a while!!  Sob!  See you!