Cityscapes ....

... Hi everyone!  According to Trendy Tuesday - cityscapes are all the rage at the moment.  And I have to admit I'm currently waiting (not so patiently) for the postman to arrive with my latest stamps from Papertrey Ink - they have released some fab stamps, sentiments and dies with images and words about buildings and cities!! 

Last year I made a Halloween cityscape card for the Play Date Cafe challenge - I have to say that it's one of my all time favourite cards.  I'm thrilled that Katherine contacted me last week to ask if I'd like to have the card featured!!  Are you kidding?  I'm absolutely delighted to be included in the feature with such fabulous artists.  Here's the card I made:

Not only am I pleased with this card, but it was also picked as Cup of the Week!  Okay, that's enough of blowing my own trumpet - I'm off to make a few birthday cards that I need.  See you soon.

Elegant birthday wishes ....

.... Morning all!  Time is marching on soooo fast and I have lists as long as my arms - just to make sure that I don't forget anything before we fly on Thursday.  But I've made sure of some "me" time and here's a card I made for a very special lady.  My mother-in-law has her birthday when I'm in the UK, so I've gone a bit mad and made a large (8" ×8") card for her.  I used a couple of challenges to make it:

• The Play Date Cafe Challenge - PDCC85 - just adore these colours
• My Favourite Things Wednesday Sketch Club - MFTWSC127 - sketch

Stamps: Stampendous - Jumbo Dahlia; Hero Arts - Layered Flowers; Waltzingmouse - Say It Loud; PTI - Stylish Sentiments - Birthday
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Island Indigo, Raspberry Ripple
Dies: Die-namics - Fishtail Flags Layers Stax # 3; Spellbinders - Grand Big Scalloped Circles (LF-249) #3
Accessories:  Kanban DP (Grey); Martha Stewart Punch - Arches Border; SU Card - Island Indigo, Raspberry Ripple; White Lustre Card;

I had such fun making this card.  I love the colours - so rich and elegant, perfect for my mother-in-law.  I cut a mat layer in raspberry onto which I layered this lovely grey/silver paper - isn't the flourish just wonderful?  I had to trim the grey paper to fit the card, and used the scrap on the envelope.  I stamped the dahlia onto white card and cut it out, layering onto a teal scalloped circle.  I stamped the sentiment onto white card and cut it out with my Die-namics fishtail dies.  I finished the front of the card with a punched border in white and an accent flower, layered with all the colours.

For the inside I cut another mat in raspberry and on the white panel I stamped another dahlia (using second impression for a more subtle look) as well as the flourish from the same set.  I think the sentiment is just right for Madeline's card - she's always in our thoughts, but more so on her birthday.


To complete the look, I also decorated the envelope using the left over strip of grey/silver paper - I couldn't waste it - far too nice.  I punched the arch border in the grey paper and laid it over a strip of raspberry card.  They look great together.

I got lots done yesterday - washing and ironing - making sure that Kathryn and I both have clean clothes for our trip.  I laid out the suitcases in the spare room too - and am starting to pack!  I have to be careful to make sure I don't go over the baggage weight limit!

That's all for now - I hope to have a card to share with you tomorrow.  Bye for now.

Paper pieced flowers .....

... Hi everyone from a very sultry Northville.  It's not as hot as yesterday, but much more humid.  I managed to get a couple of hours in my craft room to play this afternoon and I've a card to share:

• The Play Date Cafe Challenge - PDCC182
• CAS-ual Fridays Challenge - CFC101

Stamps:  Hero Arts - Curly Flowers; CAS-ual Fridays Stamps - Mum's the Word
Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black
Accessories:  Kaisercraft DP - Elegance, Remember Me; Gems; White Lustre card

I'm so pleased to use the colours from this week's Play Date challenge - they are just lovely, but it was only this afternoon that I came up with a card!!  It's loosely based on the card in the challenge graphic.  I have quite a few packs of pretty papers and I don't always like to use them, however, the CAS-ual Fridays challenge to stamp on DP means I have to!!!  I used this lovely soft green stripey paper (Elegance) to cover the base of the card.  Next I stamped the sentiment in the corner and used my stamp-a-ma-jig to stamp three flowers.  I stamped the flower head onto a couple of pieces of red paper (Remember Me) and then cut them all out.  After attaching the flowers to the card, I finished off the front by adding a few gems.  Another birthday card for my stash.  As yet, I haven't decorated the inside, but I think I'll do that when I decide who it's going to.  I might try to take another photo of the card as the green paper is looking a bit blue!  It really is a lovely soft jade colour.

That's all for now - time to pace away for a while and make a start on dinner.  Thinking of grilled pork chops and salad!!  See you soon.

Centenarian ....

.... Good morning!  Hope you're all keeping well.  I had a lovely long chat to my Mum yesterday, and as the conversation was finishing she had a special request.  She asked me to make a birthday card for my Aunt's father.  He has a very special birthday coming up - he'll be 100 years old on 24th April.  He's seen so much change in his life - and it will be a day of celebration.  I used a couple of challenges to make this card:

• Freshly Made Sketches - FMS81
• The Play Date Cafe - PDCC177

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Memorable Moments, Sassy Salutations; My Favourite Things - Birthday Sentiments
Inks: SU - Night of Navy, Cajan Craze
Dies: SU/Sizzix - Framelits - Labels Collection # 2 & 3
Accessories: SU Card - Night of Navy, Pool Party; SU Design Paper - Cajan Craze; White Lustre card; Brads; Martha Stewart Border punch

The FMS layout really works for this type of card - it showcases the central image so well!  And the colours couldn't have been better!  Just right for a masculine card.

I had just the right set of stamps to make the 100th birthday label - Memorable Moments.  I started by stamping the number onto white card and then diecut the label positioning the number in the centre.  To position the words I used my stamp-a-ma-jig and finished by stamping the dotty outline.  I cut a mat layer in Pool Party and adhered the birthday label to it.  I made the card base from Night of Navy.  I cut the Pool Party mat to size, then cut the design paper to the same width and punched the border decoration.  Next I stamped the word Congratulations (using my stamp-a-ma-jig for alignment) and cut the design paper to fit above the word.  I finished the front by added three copper brads.  I mounted the whole panel to the front of the card with dimensional tape.  The inside is very clean and simple - a mat in Pool Party and white onto which I stamped a greeting.


This card will be going in the post shortly - as it needs to reach Mum in time for her to sign it and post it!

That's all for now.  It's still very wet here in Michigan, but I think we've had it easy by comparison to those experiencing snowstorms and tornadoes.  Keep safe wherever you are!  I don't know about you, but I'm more than ready for spring to arrive.  See you soon.

Birthday card ....

......  Hi - hope you're all having a good day.  I've finally made it into my craft room and I've made a card for a few challenges:

• CASology - CAS38 where the cue word is "UP"
• The Play Date Cafe Challenge - PDCC176
• CAS(E) this Sketch! - CTS22

Stamps: Hot Air Balloon (got it in a bargain bin and don't know who made it); My Favourite Things - Western Sentiments
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Early Espresso; Memento - Grey Flannel
Accessories:  Cuttlebug EF - Chicken Wire; Promarkers - Ice Grey 1 - 4; SU Card - Early Espresso; Cream lustre card; Ribbon

I made this card for my father-in-law; it's his birthday next week and hopefully he'll get it on time or just a bit late!  I embossed the card base with my new Cuttlebug embossing folder and used the coordinating border folder to emboss the brown strip of card.  I made the tag from cream card and coloured it with Promarkers shading from the darkest to the lightest.  I know that a hot air balloon is not original for the cue word "UP!", but it's just perfect for this card!  I found this ribbon in my stash, cut it in half and attached it to the card with a staple.  For the inside I made a mat in brown and stamped a number of balloons around a simple greeting.

It does feel good to get back to making some cards for my favourite challenges!!


That's all for now - off to make dinner.  And then this evening we sit down to watch Dr Who - our favourite family viewing.  See you tomorrow.

A splash of coral ....

... Good morning - I hope you all had a good weekend.  My was really good - I watched the England v Wales rugby match on Saturday and was delighted that Wales won.  Mind, I would have been okay with England winning too - that's the plus of having both English and Welsh sides to the family!!  I do hope that all my Welsh friends have recovered from their hangovers ;))))

Today my card is a really quick and easy one - I've made it for the current Play Date Cafe Challenge - PDCC178.

Accessories:  Papermania - Inspirations Design Paper; Stampin' Up! - Calypso Coral Marker Pen; Promarkers - Coral, Soft Peach; Craftwork Cards - sentiment label; Gems, white and black card from stash

As you can see - there's no stamping on this card at all!  I selected a piece of the designer paper with nice big flowers so that I could colour them.  I edged the white paper with some Calypso Coral and then attached it to a black mat.  On another sheet of paper I coloured a few more flowers and then cut them out.  I attached a few flowers to the card, a label sentiment which I edged with coral, and lots of tiny gems. 

That's all for today - I really do have to catch up on some house stuff!

Mother's Day ....

... Good evening - I do hope you've all had a fabulous weekend.  I did plan to do quite a lot of crafting this weekend, but instead caught up with Season 4 of Fringe - it was brilliant.  I finally got into my craft room about 4.00pm this afternoon.

In the UK Mother's Day is a moving date; it falls on the fourth Sunday in Lent so is much earlier than Mother's Day in the US.  As both my Mum and Mother-in-law are in the UK I need to make a couple of cards for them.  Here's the first:

Stamps: Uniko Studio - The Hands of Time; Stampin' Up! - Occasional Greetings; Hot of the Press - Stitches; CAS-ual Fridays Stamps - Loving Thoughts, Only You
Inks: Memento - Grey Flannel; SU - Daffodil Delight
Dies: Spellbinders - Circles Sm (S4-116) # 5
Accessories: SU Card - Daffodil Delight; Cuttlebug EF - Mistletoe Kisses; Promarkers - Ice-Grey 3, China Blue, Sunflower; White Lustre card, ribbon and gems from stash

I followed a couple of challenges for this card: Mojo Monday - MOJO281 and Play Date Cafe Challenge - PDCC170.  I realised today that's it's been a while since I played along with these challenges - but I love the colours and it's a really fun sketch.

I cut a panel, slightly smaller than the card base, stamped the faux stitching and then embossed it in my bug.   I stamped a couple of the lovely doilies from Hands of Time, the solid one in yellow and the open one in grey which I coloured with Promarkers and then carefully cut both out.  I stamped the sentiment onto white card and added a few of the smaller doilies around the sentiment, then I cut it out with my circle nesties.  The ribbon started off white - I simply coloured it blue with my Promarker so that it's an exact match.  I also coloured the gems with Promarkers.  The sentiment circle was attached with dimensional tape. 

I decorated the inside to match the front.  I cut a mat layer in yellow and on the white panel I stamped several of the doilies, using the second impression to make them a little more subtle.  I stamped the greeting in yellow and grey. 

I'm not sure yet whether this is for my Mum or my Mother-in-law.  They would both like it!!

That's all for now - I'll be back tomorrow with the other card.  See you soon.

Doily Love - take 2 ....

... Morning!!!  It's President's day today and is a federal holiday, which means that Kathryn has a day off school.  Unfortunately, this is not the case for Jonathan; he has had to go to work.  So Kathryn and I are planning a day out together.  I got this card made last night.  It'll have to go in the post on Tuesday - but should get to the UK in time.

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Dainty Doilies Small, L'il Buddies
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Regal Rose
Dies: Die-namics -     Fishtail Flags Layers STAX
Accessories: Kaisercraft Design Paper - Secret Admirer; Kaisercraft - Secret Admirer Doilies; Stampin' Up! Design Paper - Marina Mist; Doily from local supermarket; White lustre card

I've made this card for three challenges:

• Waltzingmouse Blog Party - WMSBP02-13 where the theme is doilies
• Play Date Cafe Challenges - PDCC169
• Freshly Made Sketches - FMS73

I really like the colours in this week's Play Date challenge, but I have to admit that I've struggled a bit with them - the colours in my card are brighter tones than on the graphic, but I think they work.  This is a bit out of my comfort zone as I don't often use just design papers.  But these papers from Kaisercraft are so pretty that I had to try.  I cut a sheet to cover the front of a square card.  I got the doilies from my local supermarket last year - pretty.  For the horizontal panel I cut a piece of Marina Mist DP.  I cut the banner tag from white lustre card and stamped a simple birthday greeting in pink.  The green doily comes from the coordinating Kaisercraft set.

For the inside I decided to use another sheet of paper from the pack.  I cut it to fit the card - making sure that I kept the birdcage image in the top corner.  I stamped a couple of doilies in the opposite corner and left a space for the greeting.  It is actually a very clean and simple card!

That's all for now.   Kathryn and I are off to see Warm Bodies - an unusual twist on a romance - a zombie and human!!  It's had good reviews.  I'll report back!  See you soon.

HB2U - clean and simple ....

.... I was introduced to an online Clean & Simple class by Tara's super gradient card.  I'm late joining the class, but I've had a super morning catching up with the videos and lesson notes.  I've also been doing some of the "homework", although it's hard to call such fun stuff homework!!  This card is based on the sketch and craftsmanship tips provided by Kristina Werner.

Stamps: My Favourite Things - Gift Card Greeetings; Watlzingmouse - Free Spirit Boy Sentiments
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Raspberry Ripple
Dies: Spellbinder - Inverted Classic Scallop Circle Lg (S4-194) #4
Accessories: Creative Expression Stencil - Retro Squares; Cosmic Shimmer Mist - Golden Mint; SU Design Paper - So Saffron

I cut the white panel to 5¼" × 4" and used the inverted scallop circle to cut the space.  Next I placed the retro squares stencil over the panel and lightly spritzed on this shimmery green.  I stamped the bold birthday sentiment in Raspberry Ripple.  I attached the die cut panel to the card using dimensional tape.  I finished off with an additional sentiment printed on some pale yellow design paper.  I'm submitting this card to the following challenges:

• The Play Date Cafe Challenge - PDCC167 - such fresh, spring-like colours
• CAS-ual Fridays - CFC88 - to use letters on our CAS card
• Clean & Simple Online Class 2 - CS2D1

It's been snowing steadily since first light and I'm not venturing out of the house today.  Jonathan went out this morning to a photo shoot in Royal Oak - it was only snowing lightly when he left; it's heavier now!  He left in his car but as he was going round the mini roundabout at the end of our road, the car slipped and had a quarrel with a rock on the side of the road.  The front bumper is wrecked!!!  Fortunately, Jonathan was going quite slowly and wasn't hurt but his car is not usable - good thing we have my car then :)) 

That's all for now - I'm off to do some more "homework" - some super techniques to try out.  See you later.

Chalkboard - take 2 ....

... Good morning, it feels a bit strange not posting a card for CR84FN, and while I'm sad to say goodbye to the challenge, it does open up a space to play.

So I've made another chalkboard card using some scrap from my first card.  This was actually my first attempt at the technique, but I didn't leave enough space for the sentiment I wanted to use.  After finishing the other card I went back to the scrap and had a play.  I over stamped the embossed circles and then stamped around the edge - I didn't reink, just used up the ink on the stamp.  Then I decided to have a go at adding some colour.

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Free Spirit Boy, Yonder Star
Inks: Versamark; Stampin' Up! - Whisper White
Accessories: Black card from stash; Promarker - Emerald; Staedtler - Ergosoft Pencils

I actually think this is my favourite of the two cards - I like the touch of colour and it's a bit grungier.  I drew the line around the edge free hand and then got out my colouring stash.  I used an Emerald Promarker and a couple of green pencils and just coloured!  I did make a sentiment to go on the front, but it didn't look right, so I attached it to the inside of the card and will be posting this to Ben on Monday.






I'm submitting this card to Claire's Monday Morning Make Technique challenge - WMSMMM1 and to this week's Play Date Cafe Challenge - PDCC166 where the team want us to use a splash of emerald green!  



As we still have lots of snow around here, we are planning a relatively quiet day, although we do have to clear the drive and paths!!  Jonathan is off for a photo shoot, Kathryn is still working on her Nancy Drew mystery and I'm going back into my craft room.  I've joined in with a class at My Creative Classroom - Use Every Stamp 2013.  In order to achieve the aim of using all my stuff I am doing a much needed reorganisation of stamps, dies and all the stash we have.  It's not a job that will be completed in a week or even a month, this one will last at least the year.  However, I made a really good start yesterday and finished cataloguing and organising all my dies and embossing folders - see picture below.  The next step is to finish cataloguing my new stamps and then to move on to converting all my wood mounted stamps to cling!!  That might take quite a while, but should free up so much space.

That's all for now - I'm off to do some more organising and I'll see you tomorrow with a card (or two)!!  Have a great day.

Best wishes ....

.... hello everyone - it's very cold and frosty this morning, but looks lovely!  Last night I made a card for a couple of challenges:

• Play Date Cafe Challenge - PDCC164
• My Favourite Things Wednesday Sketch Club - MFTWSC106

 

Stamps: Designed by Claire Coxon - free with Creativity (UK craft magazine)

Inks: Memento - Rich Cocoa; Distress - Antique Linen; Stampin' Up! - Night of Navy

Dies: Spellbinders - Floral Ovals (S4-356) #4

Accessories: Design Paper - Kaisercraft - Periwinkle; Promarkers - Lime Zest, Pear Green, China Blue, Midnight Blue, Satin; Sakura Stardust Pen - Clear; Cuttlebug EF - D'vine Swirls; Card from stash

This card came together really quickly. I really like the simplicity of the design and these colours are just gorgeous!  There is a subtle tone-on-tone pattern in the backing paper that's really pretty with lots of flowers and leaves.  I cut the elegant frame using the largest of the Floral Oval dies.  I made the central panel by cutting around the inside of the die with a scalpel, then I embossed it and added some colour to highlight the pattern.  The elegant lady is a free stamp that came with a UK craft magazine.  I stamped the image in Rich Cocoa and coloured with Promarkers, adding a touch of sparkle on the edge of her shawl and on the trim to her dress.  I used a scalpel to cut out the image as I wanted it to look like she's standing in front of the panel.  I stamped Best Wishes into the corner.  Clean, simple and elegant - just like Ben's grandmother.

Have a great day - see you soon.