Happy Birthday Friend ...

.... Good afternoon. It's a gorgeous day here in Northop Hall. Mum is in the garden putting in some new plants she bought and I've been playing in my craft room. Well, it's my happy place. Today, I've made a large birthday card for a friend of mine;

Stamps: Stampendous - Agapanthus Thanks; Woodware - Countryside Stems, Huge Friend

Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Gina K - Turquoise Sea

Dies: Spellbinders - 5x7 Modern Stationary (S6-013) # 6 & #7

Accessories: White Card; DP from stash; Copic Markers; Clear Embossing Powder

I'm submitting this card to AAA Birthday - AAAB#22 where they want to see a large sentiment, and to The Color Throwdown - CTD#631.

I love this big, bold friend word. I used the fancy die cut to cut a mat layer of turquoise design paper (no idea who made it) from my stash and a piece of white card. I positioned the word 'friend' in the centre of the white card and stamped it. I removed the card from my MISTI and coloured the letters with Copic markers. I returned the card to the MISTI, restamped in Versafine black ink and heat embossed with clear powder. I then stamped little message above in turquoise and stamped some agapantha flowers around the edge of the card. I adhered the finished panel to the front of a large 5" x 7" white card. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of the turquoise design using the shaped die and another piece of white card. I stamped some more agapantha flowers to the side of the panel and added a birthday greeting in black at the bottom right corner.

One of my favourite flowers are agapantha. I don't think you can get them in turquoise, but I do think these look very pretty. 

I'm going to see how mum's getting on with putting in the new coloured hellebores - to go with the white hellebores we already have in the garden. See you again soon. Keep safe.

Speedy Recovery ....

... Good morning! I really should make sure I have enough get well/speedy recovery cards in my stash. My great-nephew was born with club feet and had to have surgery yesterday to fix them. I made this card specially for him - I think it's cute and I think he'll find it's funny:

Stamps: Lawn Fawn - On the Mend

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

Accessories: White Card; Copic Markers; Clear Embossing Powder; Nuvo - Clear Aquashimmer

I'm submitting this card to Color Throwdown - CTD#625 (love these bold, bright colours), Addicted to Stamps and More! - ATSM#396 where they want us to make our mark, and to CAS on Friday - CASOF#196 where the theme is Feel Better.

I used my MISTI to stamp the background of cute little plasters in a soft grey. I then stamped several more on white card, coloured them with Copic Markers, put them back in the MISTI and restamped with Versafine ink and heat embossed with clear powder. I then carefully cut them out. I edged each smiley plaster with a black marker pen. I adhered three plasters to the front of the card and added sparkle to each one - which, for a change, you can see in the photo above. I finished the front with a strip of white card, edged it with a black marker and stamped a greeting and adhered flat to the card. On the inside, I cut a panel of white card, edged it with black and stamped another message along with a cute little tortoise.

Nico-Lewis (guess his parents favourite sport 😊) should be going home today (provided there are no problems. He'll have a huge plaster on for at least two weeks, but hopefully after that things will improve a lot. Provided the Covid-19 vaccination programme goes well, we might be able to see him this year!!

I used a spare plaster on the envelope:

That's all from me today. See you all soon.

C24C - Santa Claus ....

.... Morning! Wow, this month is flying by - we're already half-way through. However, that does mean it's time for our new challenge at Christmas 24 Challenge - C24C#22 where we want to see your cards feature the main man - SANTA CLAUS. I've made two cards, here's the first:

Stamps: Waltzingmouse Stamps - Around Christmas Time

Inks: Gina K - Sea Glass, Red Velvet; Versamark

Dies: Die-namics - Circles Stax 2 # 7

Accessories: White Card; Copic Markers; Silver Embossing Powder; Stardust Clear Glitter Pen

I'm submitting this card for CAS Colours & Sketches - CASC&S#396 and to The Colour Throwdown - CTD#619. It's been a while since I played along with any challenges, so this feels good.

The card was super easy to make. I used the MISTI to stamp the lines on the card - that way I made sure they were straight! I stamped the Santa circle on white card, colour the hat red (of course) and added some colour to his face and to the words. I repositioned the image in the MISTI and stamped in Versamark ink and embossed with silver powder. I used a circle die to cut out the image and adhered it to the front of the card. I added some sparkle to the little bell and added a simple greeting in red. On the inside, I simply added another Christmas greeting.

Here's a close-up of the Santa image - this one has always been a favourite of mine:

My next card is a slightly different take on Santa - this one features Santa's footprints:

Stamps: Waltzingmouse Stamps - Secret Santa; Concord & 9th - All the Merrys

Inks: Gina K - Soft Stone, Red Velvet; Versamark

Accessories: White Card; Copic Markers; Silver Embossing Powder; Stardust Clear Glitter Pen

I'm submitting this card to Freshly Made Sketches - FMS#461 and to Time Out Challenges - TOC#174 where the theme is Festivals - Christmas is a biggy!!

I positioned the large shoe print stamp in the MISTI and it on white card. I removed the card and coloured the lines with Copic markers, repositioned the image, stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with silver powder. I carefully cut out the embossed image and edged it with a soft grey marker. I cut a panel of white card onto which I stamped a row of Santa's footprints up the side and then adhered the large embossed shoe print. I edged the panel with red ink and adhered it to the front of a 6¼" × 4½" card. I finished the front by stamping a greeting in red. On the inside, I added another greeting and a 'approved by' stamp on the corner.

I took a close-up photo of the shoe print so that you can clearly see how the colour appears:

I think this is a fun challenge and I look forward to visiting your blogs to see your creations. Don't forget to visit our Christmas 24 Challenge blog to see more cards from the rest of the design team. Bye for now.

Improve with Wine ....

.... Morning! I don't know what the weather was like for you yesterday, but here in Northop Hall it started out lovely, but by lunchtime was cold, wet and miserable!! So cold in fact, that I ended up putting on the heating - I had already added a cardigan, but was still cold!! So I played in my craft room and made this card:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Half Full, Sassy Salutations; MFT - Myriad Dot Background
Inks: Gina K - Soft Stone; Versafine - Onyx Black; Memento - Tuxedo Black
Accessories: White Card; Copic Markers; Clear Embossing Powder

I'm submitting this card to Color Throwdown - CTD#609 - I do like these pretty colours.

Mum asked if I could make a birthday card for her to send to her brother, no problem says I. What do you want on it - something to do with wine she replied. I have the perfect set and a fun sentiment too. I stamped the bottles of wine, class and notice board on white card, coloured them with Copic markers, repositioned in the MISTI and stamped with Versafine black in, embossed with clear powder and then fussy cut them out. I also edged each piece with a black marker pen to hide the white card. I found a nice dotty background which I stamped in a soft grey directly on the card. I adhered the bottles and notice board, using dimensional pads for the top bottle and glass. On the inside, I kept it really simple with a birthday greeting and another bottle of wine!

I've got a few card orders to make at the moment, so I'll be back again soon. Take care, keep safe.

Creative Chaos ....

... Good afternoon! Have you been enjoying the rain? I've had to be careful when I go out for a walk, got soaked on Wednesday, but I've managed to go out between the showers. The garden is looking lush!! Anyway, I spent this morning playing with a few challenges and this is the card I made:

Stamps: Visible Image - Random Acts of Kindness, Creative Chaos
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Gina K - Key Lime, Jelly Bean Green, Jet Black Amalgam
Accessories: White Card; Visible Image Stencil - Two Tone; Copic Markers; Clear Embossing Powder; Nuvo - Clear Aqua Shimmer Brush

I'm submitting this card to The Card Concept - CC#136 where they want Bright Flowers, Colour Throwdown - CTD#596 - those gorgeous bright colours, and CAS(E) this Sketch! - CTS#375.

I masked off a rectangle on the card and applied two shades of green ink through a dotty stencil. After removing the masking tape I stamped the stem of one flower directly on the card and heat embossed with clear powder. I put the card back in my MISTI and stamped the flower head and heat embossed. I finished the front by stamping the sentiment directly over the flower and embossing. I stamped the flower again on scrap white card, coloured it with Copic markers, restamped and heat embossed with clear powder. I carefully cut it out and used dimensional pads to attach it to the card. I also added a lot of shimmer to the flower. On the inside I kept it simple with a tiny flower.

I took a close up photo of the flower to show the sparkle, and you can see it in this photo - the sun came out and it sparkled!!

That's all from me today, the sun has come back out and I'm going to grab the chance of another walk before the rain comes back. See you again soon.

Two for one ....

Good morning everyone! It's the start of another week of lockdown, although here in Wales we are now allowed to go out for exercise more than once a day. And there's the possibility of some garden centres opening. Anyway, I'm here this morning to play along with Darnell's Twofer Card Challenge - TCC#27 where she wants us to use Flowers. Here are my cards:

I really enjoy this challenge, but I struggle to play along. However, this time it was easy. One of my favourite flowers is this large chrysanthemum from Uniko and I'm pleased to be able to play along this month. Full details of each card can be found below.

Stamps: Uniko - Pure Florals - Chrysanthemum; Altenew - Bad Days Happen
Inks: Gina K - Ocean Mist, Soft Stone; Delicata - Golden Glitz
Dies: Spellbinders - A2 Matting Basics A (S5-131) #1, A2 Matting Basics B (S5-132) #1
Accessories: White Card; Gina K Card - Blue Lagoon; Gold Linen Effect Foil Card

I'm submitting this card to Colour Throwdown - CTD#592 and Freshly Made Sketches - FMS#434.

I stamped the large chrysanthemum in pale aqua ink in opposite corners of the card. I cut a strip of dark turquoise card and adhered them to the card. I stamped the sentiment in soft grey on white card and used a die to cut it out, and layered it on some gold linen effect foil card which had also been die cut. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of dark aqua card and on the white panel added a greeting and a smaller, gold, chrysanthemum. I think this card is perfect for the very strange times we find ourselves in - and it's going in the post today.

My next card is very clean and simple and is a birthday card:

Stamps: Uniko - Pure Florals - Chrysanthemum; Gina K - Birthday Greetings
Inks: Gina K - Dark Chocolate; Delicata - Golden Glitz; Versamark
Dies: Uniko - Chrysanthemum
Accessories: White and Cream Card; Gold Embossing Powder

I'm submitting this card to Less is More - LIM#419 where they want us to use White and Cream, and to CAS on Friday - CASoF#179 where they want us to use our favourite flower.

I stamped the large chrysanthemum on cream card in Versamark ink and heat embossed with gold power, and die cut with the matching die. I made the card from cream stock and cut a panel of white card slightly smaller onto which I stamped a birthday greeting in dark brown and gold. I adhered the panel to the card base and used dimensional pads to attach the large flower. On the inside, I cut a panel of white card onto which I stamped a birthday verse in dark brown and added a small gold chrysanthemum.

I'm so glad that I finally got to play along with Twofer. That's all from me today. See you again soon.