Happy Birthday Photographer

... Good afternoon! I'm here to share another birthday card for my hubby, Jonathan. This is the one that I've made for my mum to give him. Jonathan's main hobby is photography and I have a few photography stamp sets which always come out to play for Jonathan's card. Here it is:

Stamps: Concord & 9th - Oh, Snap!; Uniko - Simply Said, Simply Said Birthday; There She Goes - Oh Snap; Gina K - Birthday Cheer Mini

Inks: Versamark; Versafine - Onyx Black; Gina K - Wild Dandelion, Fresh Asparagus, Ocean Mist, Moonlit Fog

Dies: Concord & 9th - Oh, Snap!; Memory Box - Distressed Windham Collage

Accessories: White Card; SU Card - Costal Cabana; Clear Embossing Powder; Copic Markers

I'm submitting this card to The Male Room - TMR#185 where they want to see embossing, Color Throwdown - CTD#790, and to Freshly Made Sketches - FMS#633.

This is a US A6 card which measures 4½" x 6¼". I cut a piece of aqua card to be slightly smaller than the note card and used a Memory Box die to cut the patterned corners (it's been ages since I used this die). I coloured some scraps of white card with a bright yellow Copic marker and glued them behind the die cut corners. I used Versamark ink to randomly stamp cameras, film, and pins on the card to create a subtle background. I used my MISTI to stamp the Polaroid camera and photo on white card, removed them from the MISTI and coloured with Copic markers. I used the matching dies to cut out the images. I stamped a greeting on the photo along with instructions to 'pull here'. I put the photo through the slot on the camera, and used dimensional pads to adhere it to the card.

For the inside, I cut a mat layer of aqua card. On the white panel I stamped a row of polaroid photos and stamped the word 'click' inside each one. I finished the panel with a bold, black birthday greeting.

That's it for today. See you soon.

SHC - Happy Birthdays .....

.... Good morning! I'm here with my regular weekly post for Seven Hills Crafts. Today I'm sharing a couple of birthday cards that I've made. My husband, Jonathan, and his sister, Charlotte, share the same birth date - 30 April, just seven years apart! I'll start off with the card I made for Charlotte:

Stamps: Concord & 9th - Let's Party Turnabout, Tiny Tagalongs, Yay for Birthdays; Altenew - Hello Hydrangea

Inks: Gina K - Soft Stone, Wild Dandelion; Delicata - Silvery Shimmer; Memento - Gray Flannel; Versamark; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Dies: Altenew - Hello Hydrangea

Accessories: White Card; Copic Markers; Lawn Fawn - Silver Embossing Powder

I'm submitting this card to Color Hues - CH#16 where the colours are yellow and grey - the Pantone colours of 2021. 

I started by stamping the Let's Party turnabout background in two shades of grey, silver and silver embossing. Next, in my MISTI, I stamped the lovely hydrangea flower on white card. I removed it and coloured with Copic markers. I know that a totally yellow hydrangea like this doesn't exist in nature, but I wish it did!! I returned the coloured image to the MISTI and restamped with Versamark ink and heat embossed with silver embossing powder. This is still one of my all-time favourite techniques. I used the co-ordinating die to cut out the completed flower along with two more plain white card die cuts. I layered the die cuts together to give some diemension and strength to the flower and adhered it to the front of the card. I finished the front by stamping a simple birthday greeting in black ink. On the inside, I cut a piece of white card slightly smaller than the note card. I stamped another birthday greeting, this time overlapping the words. I added some little flowers to decorate the inside, edged the card with a yellow marker and adhered it. All done!

While I had the Let's Party turnabout in the MISTI I made another background using shades of blue, green and teal for Jonathan's birthday card:

Stamps: Concord & 9th - Let's Party Turnabout, Oh Snap!, All the Birthdays; Altenew - Birthday Builder

Inks: Gina K - Key Lime, Powder Blue, Ocean Mist, Jelly Bean Green; Versafine - Onyx Black; Versafine Clair - Nocturne; Memento - Grey Flannel

Dies: Concord & 9th - Oh Snap!

Accessories: White Card; Copic Markers; Clear Embossing Powder

I'm submitting this card to Never-Before-Used-Schtuff - NBUS#25 - the Let's Party stamp is quite new, but I've had the Oh Snap! set for a while - it's the first time I've used them both!

After stamping the background, I turned to the focal image. Jonathan loves to take photos. While he doesn't use a Polaroid camera anymore, I'm sure he did once upon a time! I had to find some photos of these old polaroid cameras to work out how to colour it. I was very happy to see that they had a rainbow on them, so I added that to my completed camera. I used the matching die to cut out the camera and also the little slit where the photo comes out. I stamped the photo image on white card, used the die to cut it out and then added a birthday message in the centre along with a little 'pull here' message on the photo tab. Once assembled, I used dimensional tape to (a) hold the photo in place and (b) adhere it to the front of the card. Inside, I cut a piece of white card onto which I stamped a birthday greeting and decorated with photos stamped in various colours.

I think that they will both like their cards. Charlotte is celebrating her 50th, and Jonathan will be 57 years old (my toy boy!). I am going to make a special fruit birthday cake for Jonathan - his favourite.

That's all from me today. See you again soon.

SHC - Anniversary - Love You ....

... Good morning! I'm here with my regular weekly post for Seven Hills Craft. Today's card is very special. Twenty years ago today I married the most wonderful man - Jonathan - the love of my life and my best friend. This card is for him:

Stamps: Concord & 9th - All the Love, Dahlia Turnabout, Petals and Pallets, Just Because, Lots to Say, Oh Snap!, Geode, Love & Hugs; MFT - Sweet Nothings

Inks: Gina K - Key Lime, Turquoise Sea, Blue Lagoon, Christmas Pine, Blue Raspberry, Blue Denim; Memento - Bamboo Leaves

Dies: C&9 - All the Love

Accessories: White Card; Gina K Card - Christmas Pine, Key Lime, Blue Lagoon; Nuvo Clear Aqua Shimmer Brush; Glossy Accents

I'm submitting this card to Never-Before-Used-Schtuff - NBUS#25 - All the Love is brand new and some of the older sets haven't been used before either 😁 I'm also playing along with Happy Little Stamper Anything Goes with Dies - HLSAGD#04.

I went through all my stash to find words to create a background for this anniversary card. I wanted words to express my feelings for Jonathan - my rock, BFF, you are gorgeous, all the feels, you matter to me, and my favourite - 'hi gorgeous' which is something I say to Jonathan all the time. I used my MISTI to check that all the stamps were straight and then used a variety of green, blue and teal inks to stamps the words. I filled the spaces with hearts from several of the stamp sets and did them free hand. Next, I used the large 'love' die from All the Love dies and cut four pieces in dark green, lime, turquoise and white. I layered them together and adhered the word to the centre of the card. I added some sparkle to the letters with a clear aqua shimmer brush and added shine with glossy accents. Once dry, I finished the front by adding the word 'you'. I cut the word from black card and only after gluing it on did I realise that I couldn't see it properly, so I cut another 'you' from white card and adhered that on top. Perfect!! On the inside of the card, I cut a mat layer of dark green card and on the white panel stamped a message - Jonathan is very much 'still the one'.

Normally, for a special anniversary we'd be going out to dinner, but as dining in at restaurants doesn't open up again until the middle of next month, we'll be dining at home! I can't believe how fast the last twenty years have gone by.

Anyway, that's all from me today. See you again soon.