Birthday Flowers

... Morning!! I was on a bit of a roll yesterday, it's so nice to be back making cards. I've another birthday card to share this morning:

Stamps: Uniko - Birthday Sentiments, Birthday Wishes

Inks: Gina K - Sunkissed Coral, Sea Glass, Emerald Sea; Versafine Claire - Nocturne

Accessories: Uniko Stencil - Fun Flowers Spray Mask; White Card; Copic Marker; Simon Says - Moonshine Confetti

I used colours from CAS Colours & Sketches - CASC&S#567 (so nice to be playing along again), and I'm also playing with Seize the Birthday -STB#312 - I've gone with the Anything Goes birthday theme.

I used another stencil that's been in my stash for a while. It's a two-piece stencil and mask. I placed the stencil on white card, lightly inked the leaves and flowers, added the mask and inked details in the flowers and leaves. I used post-it notes to mask off some of the flowers - it worked fairly well. I finished the front by stamping a bold birthday greeting in black ink. I trimmed the panel to be slightly smaller than an A2 (US size) card, edged the panel with a black Copic and adhered to the card. I completed the card by adding some sparkle with confetti bits. Inside the card, I cut another piece of white card, lightly stencilled the flowers at the bottom of the panel and added a greeting. That's it. Another card for my stash!

It's good to be back. Thank you for visiting and leaving comments - they are always much appreciated.

Happy 80th Birthday ....

..... Good morning! I'm sharing a couple of birthday cards I've made for my father-in-law, Simon, who is 80 years old today. He's not much for celebrating birthdays, so I decided not to put a number on his cards, but you I think you can tell it's a special birthday! Here's the first card:

Stamps: Impression Obsession - Umpteenth Birthday; Concord & 9th - Yay for Birthdays; Waltzingmouse Stamps - Woodgrain

Inks: Gina K - Sandy Beach, Dark Chocolate, Soft Stone, Barely There; Versafine Clair - Nocturne; Memento - Summer Sky, New Sprout

Dies: Spellbinders - Contemporary Squares

Accessories: White Card; Scrap blue and green card

I'm submitting this card to The Male Room - TMR#149 where the theme is wood. I've used the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches - FMS#480 for the layout, and I'm also playing along with Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies - HLSAGD#04.

I thought I had some real wood card in my stash, but I couldn't find it, so I stamped a woodgrain image on white card using two shades of brown and a soft grey. I used a Spellbinder die to cut out the swoosh of contemporary squares. I adhered the outline piece to the front of an A2 card. I used some scraps of blue and green card to cut out the 'squares' and adhered them inside the outline. I finished the strip by adding the square of 'wood' card. I completed the front with a fun birthday greeting, which I'm sure Simon will like! On the inside, I cut a piece of white card slightly smaller than the base. I stamped a fun birthday cupcake in soft tones of blue and green and finished with a fun sentiment.

The card above is the one that mum sent to Simon. I also made one for Jonathan and I to send to Simon:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Best of Birthdays; Concord & 9th - Birthday Stacks

Inks: SU - Merry Merlot, Mossy Meadow, Daffodil Delight; Versafine - Onyx Black

Accessories: White Card; Visible Image Stencil - Two Tone; Copic Markers; Clear Embossing Powder; Nuvo - Clear Aqua Shimmer Brush

I'm submitting this card to CAS Colours & Sketches - CASC&S#414, Perfectly CAS - PCAS#13, and to Seize the Birthday - STB#211 where the toppings option is Squares.

I started by masking the card to create a central panel onto which I stencilled lots of little squares in burgundy, yellow and green. Next I stamped this cute cake topped with loads of candles and a fun sentiment. I coloured the image with Copic markers and fussy cut it out. I added lots of sparkle to the cake with a clear aqua shimmer brush. I used dimensional pads to adhere it to the front of the card. Inside, I cut another piece of white card, slightly smaller than the card. At the bottom I stamped a line of bold birthday candle which I coloured with Copic markers to match the central panel. I embossed the candles and finished with a bold, simple birthday greeting which finishes off the message.

While travel restrictions have been relaxed in the United Kingdom, it is not possible for us all to get together to celebrate. However, we will be having a Zoom get together for a quiz and to chat later this afternoon. So looking forward to when we can all meet in person!!

That's all from me today - have a good one. See you soon.

A Twofer Flowers ....

... Good evening! It's been a bit of a day here in Northop Hall. I woke early to see falling snow - not too much, but we're really not geared up to handle snow in the UK. I did a quick trip to Tesco for the weekly groceries, and I've spent the rest of the day working in my craft room. I've made a couple of cards for the current Twofer Card Challenge - TCC#34 where Darnell wants to see us use Flowers:

Stamps: Dare 2B Artzy - Flowers for Mom, Blissful Blossom; MFT - Whimsical Greeting

Inks: Hero Arts - Unicorn; Versafine Claire - Nocturne; Versafine - Onyx Black

Dies: Dare 2B Artzy - Joyful Flowers D42; Lil Inkers - Dual Dotted Rectangles #5

Accessories: White & Black Card; Dare 2B Artzy DP - Fields of Joy; Copic Markers; Sakura Stardust Pens; Clear Embossing Powder

I'm so pleased to play along with the Twofer challenge, I always have good intentions, but run out of time. I've had the D2BA design paper, matching stamps and dies for quite some time and it's the first time I've used them, so I'm going to submit them to Never-Before-Used-Schtuff - NBUS#22. I'm also submitting the cards to Dare 2B Artzy - D2BA#01 where the January challenge is Anything Goes.

I started by making the Mother's Day card. I used the D2BA die to cut out the flower from the design paper. I cut out several flowers. I used a large dotty rectangle die to cut some design paper to cover the card. I cut a couple of plain white rectangles, rounded the corners and on one I stamped the greeting and some outline flowers, on the other I adhered the die cut flower. I adhered them both to the front of the card. On the inside, I cut another piece of the design paper for the mat layer. On the white panel I stamped a lovely greeting and added another of the die cut flowers to the corner. I'm submitting this card to Just Add Ink - JAI#538 as I used their sketch for the layout of the card.

My next card is a clean, simple birthday card. This time I stamped the flower image on white card, coloured it with Copic markers, restamped with Versafine black ink, heat embossed with clear powder and cut it out with the matching die. I added some sparkle to the flower with Sakura Stardust pens. I cut a strip of black card onto which I stamped a birthday greeting in white ink and embossed this with clear powder. On the inside, I kept it simple with a greeting in black and added one of the die cut design paper flowers. I'm submitting this card to CAS Colours & Sketches - CASC&S#402 - I used their colours, and to The Flower Challenge - TFC#52 where they want us to use Embossing (heat or dry).

I had lots of fun making these cards - same materials, but looking so different. Here are large versions of each card.

Before I go, here are all the challenge graphics:

It stopped snowing earlier this afternoon and the sun came out, so some has melted, but it's going to be cold tonight, so I expect it's going to freeze!! Ugh! Oh well, it means I'll play again tomorrow. Bye for now.

C24C - Santa Claus ....

.... Morning! Wow, this month is flying by - we're already half-way through. However, that does mean it's time for our new challenge at Christmas 24 Challenge - C24C#22 where we want to see your cards feature the main man - SANTA CLAUS. I've made two cards, here's the first:

Stamps: Waltzingmouse Stamps - Around Christmas Time

Inks: Gina K - Sea Glass, Red Velvet; Versamark

Dies: Die-namics - Circles Stax 2 # 7

Accessories: White Card; Copic Markers; Silver Embossing Powder; Stardust Clear Glitter Pen

I'm submitting this card for CAS Colours & Sketches - CASC&S#396 and to The Colour Throwdown - CTD#619. It's been a while since I played along with any challenges, so this feels good.

The card was super easy to make. I used the MISTI to stamp the lines on the card - that way I made sure they were straight! I stamped the Santa circle on white card, colour the hat red (of course) and added some colour to his face and to the words. I repositioned the image in the MISTI and stamped in Versamark ink and embossed with silver powder. I used a circle die to cut out the image and adhered it to the front of the card. I added some sparkle to the little bell and added a simple greeting in red. On the inside, I simply added another Christmas greeting.

Here's a close-up of the Santa image - this one has always been a favourite of mine:

My next card is a slightly different take on Santa - this one features Santa's footprints:

Stamps: Waltzingmouse Stamps - Secret Santa; Concord & 9th - All the Merrys

Inks: Gina K - Soft Stone, Red Velvet; Versamark

Accessories: White Card; Copic Markers; Silver Embossing Powder; Stardust Clear Glitter Pen

I'm submitting this card to Freshly Made Sketches - FMS#461 and to Time Out Challenges - TOC#174 where the theme is Festivals - Christmas is a biggy!!

I positioned the large shoe print stamp in the MISTI and it on white card. I removed the card and coloured the lines with Copic markers, repositioned the image, stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with silver powder. I carefully cut out the embossed image and edged it with a soft grey marker. I cut a panel of white card onto which I stamped a row of Santa's footprints up the side and then adhered the large embossed shoe print. I edged the panel with red ink and adhered it to the front of a 6¼" × 4½" card. I finished the front by stamping a greeting in red. On the inside, I added another greeting and a 'approved by' stamp on the corner.

I took a close-up photo of the shoe print so that you can clearly see how the colour appears:

I think this is a fun challenge and I look forward to visiting your blogs to see your creations. Don't forget to visit our Christmas 24 Challenge blog to see more cards from the rest of the design team. Bye for now.

C4Glz - Stay Up ....

... Hello! I hope everyone is okay and enjoying the cooler weather!! It's time for our new challenge at Cardz 4 Galz - C4Glz#123. For the next couple of weeks we want your cards to feature more than one fold - you can go as mad as you like, but I've simply added one extra fold to create a Z-fold card:

Stamps: Concord & 9th - Polka Dot Turnabout, Cozy Up
Inks: Gina K - Kraft, Sea Glass, Dark Chocolate; Stampin' Up! - Pear Pizzazz
Dies: Concord & 9th - Cozy Up
Accessories: Cream Lustre Card; Copic Markers

Here's a side view of the card where you can easily see the Z-fold effect. I have to thank Jennifer McGuire for the inspiration for this card.

I'm submitting this card to CAS Colours & Sketches - CASC&S#373 - just love the colours they've picked for this week.

I penciled a line down the centre of the card front and positioned the heart die and did a partial die cut (see Jennifer's video). I rubbed out the pencil line and then scored above and below the die cut heart and folded back to create the z-fold. I put the card into my MISTI and stamped the log heart, which I then covered with a heart mask. I used the polka dot turnabout stamp to create the background on the inside of the card and on the front. I removed the mask and stamped the greeting using a dark brown ink. I die cut a cream heart which I put on the inside of the card to add my greeting. I finished the front of the card by adding a couple of coffee mugs, coloured to match.

Don't forget to visit our blog to see more inspiration cards from the rest of the team. I look forward to visiting you soon to see what you create. Have fun and bye for now.