Happy Birthday Kat ....

... Hello again. Today I'm sharing the birthday card that Kat got from her Nanna. Mum asked me to make something special for her and I was only too happy to oblige!

Stamps: Visible Image - faerie Magic, Zodiac Virgo; MFT - Anything But Basic Birthday Wishes, Bitty Birthday Wishes

Inks: Gina K - Soft Stone; Kaleidacolor - Pastel; Versafine - Onyx Black

Dies: Altenew - Featured Sentiments Die Set

Accessories: White Card; Kaisercraft DP - Chase Rainbows; Copic Markers; Watercolour Pencils; Nuvo - Clear Aquashimmer Brush; Clear Embossing Powder; Vellum

I'm submitting this card to Never Before Used Schtuff - NBUS#18 and to Seize the Birthday - STB#199.

I started by stamping the fairy onto the card, masked her off and then stamped the background with a mixture of smaller images and added the fairy wings using the Kaleidacolor pad. I stamped the fairy again onto white card, coloured her with Copic markers, restamped with Versafine black ink and embossed her with clear powder. I then carefully cut her out. I stamped the wings again on vellum and added sparkle with a clear aquashimmer brush. I adhered the wings to the card, then added the coloured fairy image. I finished the front of the card with a simple birthday sentiment at the top stamped on white card and layered on a piece of vellum. On the inside, I cut a mat background from design paper and on the white panel added a greeting and the zodiac constellation of Virgo and a girl's head.

Today is Kat's last full day at home. It's been a week full of 'last' events and it's been a week of excitement and tension. Kat packed all her goods for university earlier in the week, packed up the car yesterday, and had her birthday party with friends - all socially distanced in the garden - in the evening. Today, we're taking Kat out to dinner in Mold. It'll be fun. Tomorrow, Kat heads off to Nottingham with her Dad. Sadly, owing to Covid-19 restrictions, only one parent can accompany the freshers to their rooms and help them settle in - and they only have a short time slot too.

That's all for now - see you again soon.

JUGS GD - Happy Birthday ....

.... Morning! I can't quite believe just how fast the days are passing - I guess it's because they are all so similar at the moment. I'm Guest Designer at Just Us Girls for the month of May - still so excited. I'm here with my card for our Trend week - JUGS#535, where the key word is MINI. Now, for me this immediately suggested the iconic British Mini! But this is what I made:

Stamps: Dawn Bibby - Flower Swirls DB026 (mini), Flower Swirl DB196 (lg); MFT - Bitty Birthday Wishes, Anything But Basic Birthday Wishes
Inks: Versamark; Distress Oxide - Tumbled Glass, Shaded Lilac; Distress - Tumbled Glass, Shaded Lilac, Broken China, Wilted Violet; Gina K - Black Amalgam, Soft Stone
Dies: Spellbinders - A2 Locking Loops (S5-175)
Accessories: White Card; Tim Holtz Water Colour Card; White Embossing Powder

I'm submitting this cad to Cupcake Inspirations Challenge - CIC#492, such pretty colours, and to Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge - HLSWC#05, where it's Anything Goes with the option of Embossing.

So, as you can see this is not what I immediately thought of - I couldn't find a stamp or image of a Mini car!! So, I had a think and decided to use a large and mini image of the same flower. These are old stamps, so it's nice to get them out and play. Using the larger image I stamped the corners of the card in turquoise and lilac inks, then added some mini images in the same colours. For the focal point of the card, I die cut a panel of water colour card and stamped the mini flower image in Versamark, heat embossed it with White powder and then added distress inks to the panel to make the image and sentiment pop. Once the water colour panel was dry, I attached it to the cardbase with dimensional tape. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of deep lilac card and on the white panel stamped the large flower image in soft grey, added a fun birthday greeting, and finished by stamping two of the mini images in lilac and turquoise.

That's all from me today - do join in with this week's Just Us Girls challenge - JUGS#535 - I can't wait to see what you make that's Mini!! Take care and see you soon.

One year older ....

... Hello! I hope you've all had a good weekend and are ready for the new month! Yes, it's March already and I don't quite know how that happened so quickly. Oh well, it's time to share another birthday card with you today:

Stamps: Stampendous - Steampunk Shoes; MFT - Anything But Basic Birthday Wishes
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Stampin' Up! - Poppy Parade; Gina K - Black Onyx
Dies: Memory Box - Postage Rectangle Layers #2; Die-namics - Fishtail Flags Layers Stax #4
Accessories: White Card; Copic Markers; Clear Embossing Powder; Sakura Stardust Pen; Red Mirri Card

I'm submitting this to two challenges - Freshly Made Sketches - FMS#424 - I do like this sketch; and to Cardz for Galz - C4Glz#116 where the theme is shoes. I don't know how I've missed Cardz for Galz as I've been playing with the companion site Cardz for Guyz for ages!

I've had the Steampunk shoes stamp set for ages, but this is the first time I've actually used it. I think it might make a couple more appearances this year. I stamped the shoes on white card, coloured with Copic markers and a silver Sakura Stardust pen for the metal parts. I added a pop of green for fun. I used a fun edged die to cut out the image and added a matching sentiment. I cut a fishtail flag out of red foil card and attached it to the card. I added a fun birthday sentiment and then adhered the shoe image with dimensional pads. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of bright red card and on the white panel added another fun message, along with some red cogs and some words that relate to the red shoes. My Dorothy is a funky girl!

Today is going to be busy. Kat has to complete her accommodation request form for University of Nottingham, the electrician is coming to work on the garden lights, Jonathan is busy with work, I've got craft club this morning, and tonight Jonathan and I go to camera club. Should be lots of fun. Hopefully, it'll be a nice day too. That's all for now.

Birthdays look great on you ....

.... Good afternoon! I think we're extremely lucky in Northop Hall, it's a beautiful day with bright sunshine and blue skies, mind there's a freezing cold wind too! Still, we've been lucky to get off with no rain today. I've made another birthday card for my stash as I really do need to have a few more ready. This is a cute, clean and simple card:

Stamps: MFT - Playful Peacocks, Anything But Basic Birthday Wishes
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Gina K - Black Onyx, Soft Stone
Dies: Die-namics - Playful Peacocks
Accessories: White Card; Copic Markers; Nuvo - Aquashimmer Brush; Doodlebug Sprinkles - Swimming Pool; Clear Embossing Powder; Sakura Stardust Pens

I'm submitting this card to CAS Colours & Sketches - CASC&S#359, I used the sketch, to AAA Birthdays - AAAB#10 where they want Cute, and to Fab Friday - FABF#184 I used their colours.

This was so much fun to make. I stamped the cute peacock on some scrap card, coloured it with Copic markers, put it back in the MISTI and restamped using Versafine black ink, then heat embossed with clear powder. I cut out the image with the matching die. I added some sparkle to the peacock's feathers with a clear aquashimmer brush. I stamped the greeting directly on the card, used dimensional pads to adhere the peacock and finished the front with a few enamel dots. On the inside, I stamped another greeting and added another cute peacock peeking in from the side. I used Sakura stardust pens to add some shimmer to him.

So, what have you done with your extra day? I had a nice walk up to the local shop this morning to pick up mum's newspaper and it was lovely. Mind, I was glad I had my gloves, just wish I'd added a scarf. I found this gorgeous camellia peeking over the fence of a neighbour's house and with the blue sky and sunshine, it almost felt like spring:

That's all for today. I'm off to get some lunch/dinner for the family. Do pop back tomorrow when I have a new Christmas card for our Christmas 24 Challenge. See you soon.

It's Your Birthday ....

....  Hi! It's not quite the next day, but much better than that last few months! January is a very busy month for our family we have 7 family birthdays and several friends too.  I'm completely out of birthday cards in my stash, so I need to get busy making new ones.  Here's the first:

Stamps: MFT - Simply Snowflakes, Anything but Basic Birthday Wishes
Inks: Versamark; Distress - Picked Raspberry, Fired Brick, Carved Pumpkin; Gina K - Black Onyx
Dies: MFT - A2 Stitched Rectangles Set 2 - #9
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Tim Holtz Watercolour card; Clear Embossing Powder; SU Card - Poppy Parade; Sheer Shimmer - Sparkle

I got the idea for using snowflakes on a birthday card from this week's challenge at Just Us Girls - JUGS#517. The colour inspiration and layout came from Amy Lee, although I've changed them up a bit; I'm so out of practice that I need to CASE at the moment.  I'm also submitting this card to Seize the Birthday - STB#180 where anything goes.

I die cut a panel of watercolour card, stamped the snowflakes in Versamark, heat embossed with clear powder and then added colour.  I wet the card and simply added the three shades of Distress ink and allowed them to blend.  I also added some shimmer to the panel using Sparkle Shimmer Spray - it's so pretty in real-life.  I finished the panel by stamping a simple greeting at the top.  I adhered the panel with double-sided tape.  On the inside I cut a mat layer of red card, a layer of white card slightly smaller on which I stamped another greeting and a few coloured snowflakes.  I like that you can make snowflakes work in any colour!!

That's all for now.  I still have lots of cards to make.  And I've still got quite a lot of sorting out to finish in my craft room - we used it as a dumping ground while all the building/renovation work was going on, so I've got stuff to move!  See you soon.