My Happy ....

... Good afternoon! The day has flown by! Today is a public holiday throughout the UK, but since the "lockdown" at the end of March, unless you're a key worker, most days have felt like a holiday. Normally, this would be a four day weekend to celebrate Easter, and many people would be out visiting with family or just going out for the day. But we're all staying home. I've been crafting and I've a simple card to share with you:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Love is Kindness; Concord & 9th - Lots to Say
Inks: Gina K - Black Amalgam
Dies: Spellbinders - Classic Diamonds (S4-288) #7
Accessories: White Card; SU Card - Grey Granite; Copic Markers; Nuvo - Clear Aquashimmer Brush

I'm submitting this card to Colour Throwdown - CTD#588, such pretty colours, Freshly Made Sketches - FMS#430, and Inkspirational - INK#210, where the theme is spring.

I think my all time favourite spring flower is the tulip - so many gorgeous colours, simple and classic, or frilly and full - I just love tulips. So, I was totally inspired by the photo on the Colour Throwdown graphic. I stamped the image on white card, coloured it with Copic markers and used a diamond die to cut out the image. I cut a mat layer of soft grey and adhered the whole panel to the front of the card. I finished with a bold, simple sentiment. I've adhered totally to the sketch at FMS. I did add some sparkle to the tulips and today I've even managed to capture the sparkle in the sunshine. I've left the inside blank.

One of the hardest things about staying at home is that my Mum hasn't been able to go to church. Well, today I found that our local Presbyterian church has a Facebook page and they are producing services that Mum can watch on You Tube - gotta love social media!! Mum was able to listen to her pastor this morning and there's a service on Sunday too.  So happy for my mum. That's all for now.

Birthday Flowers - CAS Colours & Sketches - Guest Designer ...

.... Hello again! I am absolutely thrilled to be joining the CAS Colours & Sketches team as Guest Designer for the month of May. It was such a surprise to get an email from Patricia asking me to join them and it's been so hard to keep it quiet! Thank you ladies - you've made my month!!

The challenge this week is colours - CASC&S#221 - green, pink and pale aqua. I've made a simple birthday card, featuring my favourite spring flowers, to share with you:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Love is Kindess, Water Colour Wishes; Clearly Besotted - All Occasion Sentiments
Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Versafine - Onyx Black; SU - Melon Mambo
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU DP - Pool Party; Copic Markers; Spectrum Noir Sparkle - Clear; Clear Embossing Powder

I've based the layout of this card on the sketch from the current Fusion Challenge - FUSION#72. I cut a piece of pale blue design paper to cover the card and then a panel of white card smaller and offset. I stamped the greeting using my MISTI and embossed it with clear powder. Then, using the MISTI I carefully positioned the bunch of tulips to rest on the greeting. I coloured the image with Copic markers and added just a touch of sparkle to the tulip flowers. On the inside I cut a mat layer of design paper and on the white panel added a greeting, some more tulips and a few pink hearts.

I'm also submitting this card to the new challenge at Seize the Birthday where the theme is Anything Goes.

Thanks again to the CASC&S DT for inviting me to be part of the group this month - so thrilled. Have a fun day!

Spring flowers ....

...  Hello, good morning!  To all my friends who celebrate this holiday - Happy Easter!  And to those who don't - Happy Weekend!!  I've got a clean, simple and, I think, very pretty birthday card to share with you today:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Love Is Kindness; Winnie & Walter - The Party
Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black; SU - Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise; Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: Lil Inkers - Stitched Circles #4, Stitched Stars #1, #2
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU DP - Daffodil Delight; Copic Markers; Wink of Stella - Clear

I've used several challenges in the making of this card:

• Colour Q - cQc#285 - colours
• AAA Cards - AAA#36 - Easter pastel colours
• CASology - CAS#140 - cue word "Spring"
• My Favourite Things Wednesday Sketch Club - MFTWSC#222

I think I've mentioned that my favourite spring flower is the tulip, and this stamp is just gorgeous.  It really makes me think of spring.  I coloured the image with Copic markers, love the yellow and pink tulips.  I cut a panel of white card slightly smaller than the base, die cut a circle and adhered using dimensional tape so that the bunch of tulips show through.  I coloured some scraps of white card and die cut some stars and adhered them around the frame.  I finished the front with a pre-printed birthday sentiment, which I cut in half and adhered either side of the circle.  I've applied clear Wink of Stella to the flowers and stars.  On the inside I cut a mat layer of yellow design paper and have gone to town on the white panel with birthday streamers and a huge greeting.

This is one of several scheduled posts that I've got set up.  We are having a family holiday in the Big Apple!!  Jonathan and I were last in New York in 2004 to celebrate his 40th birthday and Kathryn was still tiny and stayed at home with my Mum.  Kathryn is now 13½ years old and has been desperate to visit New York - we have a full week planned.  I'm sure that I'll be posting lots of photos!  Bye for now.

Tulips in bloom ....

.... Hello!  The weather here this week has been absolutely gorgeous with blue skies, sunshine and above freezing temperatures.  While it's not officially spring for a week or so, it certainly feels like it around here.  So I decided to make a fresh, spring style card:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Love is Kindness
Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black, London Fog
Dies: Die-namics - Happy Hellos
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Wild Wasabi, Basic Black; SU DP - Wild Wasabi; Copic Markers; Wink of Stella - Clear; Doodlebug - Sprinkles; WeRMemory Keeepers Twine - Citrus; Cuttlebug EF - Geometric Circles

The colours, YELLOW and GREEN, are from this week's Less is More - LIM#214 - so fresh.  I'm so glad I got to make a card for the challenge.  The layout is based on the sketch from Retro Sketches - RS#156.  I adore tulips, such simple yet elegant flowers and I do like this stamp.  I stamped onto white card, coloured the image with Copics and then spent a while fussy cutting it out - so worth it! I embossed a panel of white card, cut it down and adhered some design paper behind.  I cut a length of citrus twine and put this behind the image which I adhered with dimensional gel.  I finished the front with some yellow enamel dots and a die cut sentiment.  To make the sentiment I die cut two green and one black, and slightly offset the black die cut to create a shadow effect (seen this technique on quite a few cards). On the inside is a mat of green card and on the white panel I stamped another bunch of tulips in pale grey and added a touch of colour to the blooms.

I added a touch of sparkle to the tulips with my Wink of Stella brush - you can't really see it in the photo, but it is very pretty!

Last night, Jonathan and I went to Northville High School to see a Choir Concert.  The 7th, 8th Grade and senior school choirs were all performing - it was a super evening.  Kathryn goes up to the High School in September and one of her electives is Varsity Choir, she actually got a letter from the school encouraging her to pick Choir!  There were a couple of spectacular singers in the High School section.  Kathryn is really keen to get there!  That's all for now.  See you soon.