Birthday Candles for Kat

... Hello! It's been quite sometime since I posted in my blog. My mojo has taken an extended holiday! Fortunately, I think it's back now and just in time to make a birthday card for our gorgeous daughter, Kat. Here's the card we've sent her:

Stamps: Gina K - Birthday Sparkle

Inks: Gina K - Red Velvet, Tangerine Twist, Wild Dandelion, Lucky Clover, Turquoise Sea, Blue Raspberry, Wild Lilac; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Dies: Gina K - Birthday Sparkle; Spellbinders Grand Nestabilities - Grand Label 23 (LF-347) #1

Accessories: White Card; Gina K Stencil - Layered Candles; Pilot - Juice Up 0.4 Gold Pen

I'm submitting this card to Addicted to Stamps and More! - ATSM#476 where they want us to 'make our mark', and also to Seize the Birthday - STB#291 - where I've gone with the 'general birthday' theme.

 

Just for a change, I've made a shaped card. I used the smallest of my Grand Label 23 dies from Spellbinders (I've had these dies for so long, and it's the first time I've used them for ages!!). I folded a piece of white card, placed the die on making sure not to cut through the top fold. I then cut two further labels in white card. I used the layering candles stencil to add a rainbow of candles. I applied a light layer of ink with the first stencil and a heavier layer of ink with the detail stencil. I hand drew a gold outline around the candles and flames with a thin gold pen. I added a light touch of yellow ink around the edge of the die cut panel, and adhered the panel to the folded card front. I finished the front with a simple, bold, black birthday greeting. I stamped the image, die cut it and two further blank greetings, layering them together for dimension.  On the other die cut panel, I stamped a greeting and some stars. I trimmed the top of the panel down and adhered it to the inside of the card:

This card will be posted tomorrow and should (hopefully) get to Kat on Tuesday - when she'll be 23 years old. I'm struggling with the fact that my baby girl is going to be 23 years old! Time goes by so fast.

That's all for today. I'll be back tomorrow with the card that I made for my mum to send to Kat. Take care, see you soon.

Make A Wish

.... Hello! May the fourth be with you!!! Wow, this month is marching on. I've made another card for my birthday stash - this time it's one for a kid (might be a big kid, but a kid at heart). Here it is:

Stamps: Gina K - Birthday Sparkle, On the Inside Birthday

Inks: Versafine Clair - Nocturne, Green Oasis, Verdant

Dies: Gina K - Birthday Sparkle

Accessories: White Card; Stampin' Up! DSP - Animal Expedition; SU Card - Shaded Spruce

I'm playing along with Cardz 4 Guyz - C4G#346 where they have a jungle theme, and with Seize the Birthday - STB#282 where I've gone for the birthday anything goes option.

I've been having a bit of a tidy in my craft room and came across this old SU design paper - and it's perfect for the jungle theme. I trimmed the paper to size, layered it onto dark green card and added to the front of an A2 note card. I stamped the birthday greeting in black ink and used the matching die to cut it, and two plain white dies, layered them together and adhered to the front of the card. I finished the front by adding some stars and sparkles in green and black.

Inside the card, I cut a mat layer of dark green card. On the white panel I added a fun greeting for a kid and added more sparkles and stars. I finished by adding one of the crocodiles that I fussy cut from the design paper.

I'm very pleased how this turned out. I don't often use design paper, but I have a huge stash that needs using, so I guess I'll be using more soon. 

It's been quite grey here today - we had summer on Thursday when it got to 23°C!! Not even close to that today. Here's hoping that warmer weather will arrive soon. That's all for now. 

Birthday Balloons

.... Good afternoon! It's been a lovely day here in Northop Hall. Bright, sunny, and cold! Jonathan has had a photoshoot at home, Mum's been to church and has been enjoying an afternoon movie, and I've been in my craft room working on more birthday cards and listening to music. Here's the card I made:

Stamps: Gina K - Birthday Sparkle, Big Birthday, So Many Sentiments

Inks: Gina K - Red Hot, Tangerine Twist, Wild Dandelion, Lucky Clover, Turquoise Sea, Blue Denim, Wild Lilac; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Dies: MFT - Dienamics - Stitched Fishtail Flag Stax #4, Fishtail Flags Layers Stax1 #5

Accessories: White & Black Card; Gina K Stencil - Bold Balloons

I'm submitting this card to Just Us Girls - JUGS#724 where it's anything goes with a stencil, and to Seize the Birthday - STB#282 where the topping of 'off the edge'.

I love rainbow birthday cards - they are so bright and cheerful and work for everyone. I cut a piece of white card and masked an area to create a column of balloons. I started at the top with red and finished at the bottom with purple. I used a stitched edge die to cut the fishtail flag (it was a bit longer than I wanted so I moved the die down to make it shorter). I cut a fishtail in black card for the mat layer. I adhered this to the front of an A2 white note card. The tag is very slightly bigger than the card, so it's off the edge and meets the STB challenge requirement. I added some rainbow and black stars/sparkles directly to the white card and finished the front with a simple birthday greeting.

For the inside, I stamped a bold and fun birthday greeting in black, added some stars/sparkles and finished with a few balloons stencilled at the top going off the edge.

Before I go, I have to thank everyone who has stopped by to leave a comment. I appreciate the time you take and your lovely words. Thanks. And that's it for today.

60th Birthday Card

.... Hello again! This is a very special card - it's for my wonderful husband, Jonathan. He'll be 60 years young on 30 April. Jonathan is a huge Dr Who fan, so I decided to make a postage stamp style card with Dr Who style 'stamps'. Here's his card:

Stamps: Viva Las Vegas - Plate 925 (Dr Who); Kindred Stamps - Dr Who; Gina K - Birthday Sparkle, Post Cards and More; Waffle Flower - Postage Collage Fall; MFT - Vanity License Plate

Inks: Gina K - Key Lime, Blue Raspberry, Soft Stone; Versafine - Onyx Black; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Dies: Waffle Flower - A7 Postage Stamp Collage; Gina K - Birthday Sparkle

Accessories: White Card; SU Card - Pear Pizzazz; Clear Embossing Powder; Copic Markers; Primacolor Pencils; Visible Image Stencils - Ripples, Off the Grid; Waffle Flower - A7 Postage Collage Block Stencil; Stampendous - Tim Holtz THS115 (stars)

I'm submitting this card to Seize the Birthday - STB#281 - I gone with 'any colour and green', Addicted to Stamps and More - ATSM#466, and The Male Room - TMR#185 where they want to see embossing.

I think if you've seen my blog recently, you'll be aware that I just love the postage collage style cards. Waffle Flower have produced dies for all size cards - this card is 5" x 7" and uses the A7 die and stencil. It's great because I can use larger images in the 'stamps'. I die cut the stamp collage from white card, placed the block stencil over the top and used grey, blue and green brush to lightly ink the stamps. I then used three different stencil to create background patterns and inking with a heavier hand. I didn't reink any of the brushes - it was just what was left on the brush. I have two stamp sets that have a Dr Who theme. I used my MISTI to stamp the images. The Statue of Liberty and fish fingers and custard images were stamped with Versafine ink, embossed with clear powder, coloured with Prismacolour pencils and then fussy cut out and adhered to the stamps. The Tardis, Dalek, and Adipose babies were stamped in the MISTI, removed and coloured with Copic markers, restamped with Versafine ink, embossed with clear powder and fussy cut out. I then used various postage stamps to add detail stamping. I found a 60c stamp in Gina's Post Card & More set - so appropriate! I finished the front with a happy birthday sentiment stamped in black ink, die cut and adhered to the card.

Inside the card, I cut a mat layer of green card. On the white panel I stamped a greeting using words from the Kindred Stamps set, and added a cute (!!) Weeping Angel in the corner.

For those who don't know (and why not?) the Weeping Angels are statues that, if they catch you, transport you back in time. There is a catch with them, they can't move if you're looking at them - so 'don't blink'. The Statue of Liberty angel appears in The Angels take Manhattan. This episode always makes me cry. The Daleks have been the Doctor's adversaries since the series started in the 1960s. Google Daleks and you'll find loads of clips. The Adipose babies appear in Partners in Crime (David Tennant and Catherine Tate), one of my favourite episodes. Finally, the bowl of fish fingers and custard come from The Eleventh Hour where the newly regenerated Doctor (Matt Smith) meets Amy for the first time - it's a wonderful scene.

That really is all for today - I had so much fun making this card and I know that Jonathan will love it. See you soon.

Birthday Hot Air Balloon

... Morning! I hope you've all had an enjoyable weekend. We've had fun - see below, and I've made cards. Today I'm sharing a card that I've made for my brother-in-law, Tim, who has his birthday at the beginning of May. Here's the card:

Stamps: Dare 2B Artzy - Balloon Tangle; Gina K - Birthday Sparkle, So Many Sentiments

Inks: Gina K - Sea Glass, Turquoise Sea, Tranquil Teal, Tomato Soup; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Dies: D2BA - Hot Air Balloons; Gina K - Birthday Sparkle

Accessories: White Card; Blue Vellum; Simon Hurley Stencil - Polka Dot Assortment; Copic Markers

I'm submitting this card to Freshly Made Sketches - FMS#632, and Just Us Girls - JUGS#723 where they have a super moodboard.

I started by cutting a piece of card 5" square and stencilled a pattern using the colours from JUGS. I love this type of stencil - there are almost endless possibilities for patterns. I trimmed the panel to size and adhered it to an A2 note card. I used my MISTI to stamp the hot air balloon, removed it from the MISTI, coloured with Copic markers, replaced it and stamped the image again in Versafine Clair black ink. I used the matching die to cut out the balloon.  I stamped the birthday greeting in black ink and cut it out with the matching die. I found some vellum in my stash, cut a mat layer, adhered the stamped images and then added the whole lot to the card.

Inside, I cut the remaining vellum into a mat layer. On the white card I stamped a fun greeting and added a balloon flying off the edge of the card.

As I mentioned above, we had a good time over the weekend. We went for a drive on Saturday; we live in such a pretty area. Then in the evening Jonathan and I watched Oppenheimer - it's an excellent film. I can see why it won so many Oscars. Then on Sunday afternoon, I listened to Taylor Swift's latest album. It's good. My daughter, Kat, will be delighted that we've caught up with it!! Bye for now.

Happy Birthday

.... Morning! I'm still working on building up my birthday card stash, but this one is a special for my wonderful sister-in-law, Charlotte. She and my hubby, Jonathan, have their birthday on the same day! Only she's seven years younger than Jonathan. I got inspiration for this card from the brilliant, Gina K, it's a fun video to watch. Here's my card:

Stamps: Gina K - Birthday Sparkle, On the Inside Birthday

Inks: Gina K - Dusty Rose, Passionate Pink, Blue Raspberry, Wild Dandelion, Sweet Mango, Tangerine Twist, Ocean Mist, Blue Lagoon; Memento - Summer Sky; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Dies: Gina K - Master Layout 8, Birthday Sparkle

Accessories: White & Black Card; Gina K Stencils - Perfect Poppies, Create Friendship, Summer Bouquet, Layered Carnation; Gina K - Masking Magic Strips

I'm submitting this card to the following challenges:

Addicted to Stamps and More - ATSM#466 - the theme is to make a mark.

Never-Before-Used-Schtuff - NBUS#61 

Seize the Birthday - STB#281 - Anything Birthday Goes

This is a large 5" x 7" note card. I used a stitched edge die to cut a panel of white card and masked the edges with ¼" wide Masking Magic. I used four different floral stencils to create the background. Once I finished inking the flowers, I lightly inked around the edge of the masking strips with whatever ink was left on the teal brush and then I removed the tape revealing a clean, crisp white border. I layered the panel onto a black mat layer. I adhered the whole piece to the front of the note card. I stamped the greeting on white card and used the matching die to cut it out, along with three white pieces. I layered them together for dimension and stability and added it to the card. To complete the front, I used on of the little sparkle stamps to add tiny black, star accents.

On the inside, I cut a mat layer of black card and on the white panel I stamped a birthday greeting in black. I used the carnation stencil to add a flower at the bottom of the panel. 

I'm enjoying making larger cards, especially with floral stencils - it's so pretty. That's all for today. I've got a card to make for Jonathan and then one for Tim, their brother who has his birthday at the beginning of May. See you soon.