Happy Birthday ....

.... Hello again! I'm on a bit of a roll - another card this week! It's another birthday card:

Stamps: Paper Smooches - Hip to be Square; Concord & 9th - All the Birthdays; Stampin' Up! - Clockworks, Happiest Birthday Wishes
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Gina K - Sea Glass, Blue Lagoon
Dies: Concord & 9th - All the Birthdays; Altenew - Featured Sentiments
Accessories: White Card; Gemstone Cardstock; Copic Markers; Clear Embossing Powder

I'm submitting this card to Seize the Birthday - STB#198 - the theme is add Gold or it's Anything Goes Birthday, so I've picked the latter.

This card came together so quickly. I already had the background image of the squares mounted on a card (it was actually made when I was on TMR design team in April 2018 and I still have one background to use). The die cut HB letters were left over from the birthday cards I made last week for my Seven Hills post (I still have the pink letters to use). So all I had to do for this card was finish the front with a sentiment stamped on a die cut panel. On the inside, I added an image and funky birthday greeting - so quick and so easy!

It seems that summer has come back again - was lovely yesterday and I was able to turn the heating off and enjoy the sun! That's all for now - see you again soon.

Hello ....

... Hi! I'm here with a card for the new challenge at The Male Room - TMR#135 where the DT want the sentiment to be the focus. I think this card does that:

Stamps: Paper Smooches - Hip to be Square
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: Winnie & Walter - Hello Cutaway
Accessories: White Card; Black Card; Nuvo - Clear Aqua Shimmer Brush; Shimmer Vellum; Copic Markers

This card came together very quickly as I already had the background done. I actually made it in April 2018 when I was on TMR DT. I die cut a large sentiment from black card, along with three other diecuts in white card and layered them together. I used a die to cut a fancy shaped piece of vellum so that the focus is on the sentiment and not the background pattern. I finished the sentiment by adding lots of shimmer with a clear aqua shimmer brush. The inside is blank for my message.

I think this card will be in the post later today - I'm going to send it to our son, Ben. He lives in Hastings and we don't get to see him much.

Changing tack completely, today we enter our seventh week of "lockdown" in the UK. We are only allowed out to get food, medical supplies or visits, an hour's daily exercise, or to work (if you can't work at home). The Government will be reviewing our lockdown status this week, but I don't think things are going to change for quite a while. For me, crafting has helped so much and given me something else to focus on. I've been busy working on various mixed media projects - I'll share them soon. That's all for now. Keep safe.

TMR - Theme ......

.... Hi! I'm sorry, I thought I was going to get back on track with regular posts, but then Easter arrived and spring break. So we went away for a week and had a super fun time with pretty much no Internet! Anyway, I'm back today with my card for our new challenge at The Male Room - TMR#83. For the next couple of weeks, we want your masculine projects to feature SYMMETRY! I'm sure that word brings back memories of finding lines of symmetry in shapes during maths lessons - it did for me!! So that's what I played with - shapes and lines! I actually made a set of four cards, but only finished one:

Stamps: Paper Smooches - Hip to be Square
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: Winnie & Walter Cutaways - Hugs
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Basic Black, Tranquil Tide; Copic Markers; Wink of Stella - Clear

I really like this stamp from Paper Smooches (now discontinued) as it makes super simple cards. You can leave the squares plain or colour them in a pattern, which is what I did. I used two shades of purple and created a symmetrical pattern. If you ignore the sentiment, you can fold the printed image vertically or horizontally and it will be symmetrical. I layered the finished panel on some green card and adhered it to the front of a white card. I finished this card by adding a simple greeting - I die cut it several times, in green, white, and black and layered them. I offset the white and black die cuts to create a shadow effect. I also added a touch of sparkle to the green word - just because it's a card for a guy, doesn't mean you can't have sparkle!!! On the inside, I cut a mat layer of dark green card and attached a white panel but have left it blank for my own message. I'm submitting this card to The Paper Players - PP#388.

I mentioned earlier that I made four cards - here are the other three:

I had fun colouring in the squares and creating different patterns. These cards have all gone into my stash and I'll add greetings as I need them. Don't forget to visit our blog to see more cards from the rest of the Design Team and also from our guest designer Majda. You've got plenty of time to play along with the challenge, submission deadline is midnight (BST) on Tuesday 24th April (that's 7.00pm EDT in the States). See you soon.