Happy Birthday

... Good morning! I hope everyone is okay and coping with the wintery weather we're having. I made this card on Monday - needed to get it in the post to get to Xander on time. It's a birthday card for my nephew's son:

Stamps: Visible Image - Set the Tone, Happy Birthday, Accessorize; Carabelle Studio - Number '1'

Inks: Gina K - Soft Stone; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Dies: Gina K - Master Layouts 2

Accessories: White & Black Card; Clear Embossing Powder; Copic Markers

I'm submitting this card to the following challenges:

AAA Birthday - AAAB#47 where they want us to have stripes and/or dots 

Inkspirational - INK#285 - where they have a word prompt to use 'Numbers'

Just Us Girls - JUGS#670 - their word prompt is 'Rainbow'

Seize the Birthday - STB#257 - the toppings option is to 'make a card for a child'

Xander is 11 - he's at the age where it's so hard to know what to make for him. As I don't know his favourite football team, I decided to concentrate on his age. I used my MISTI to stamp the number 1 twice onto white card, removed it from the MISTI and did rainbow colouring down each number. I restamped and embossed the image with clear powder. I then fussy cut each number out and edged with a black marker. I die cut a stitched-edge panel of white card and stamped the dotty/grungy background in soft grey and added a birthday greeting below. I used dimensional pads to adhere the numbers and then layered the piece onto black card and added to the front of an A2 white notecard. Inside, I cut a mat layer of black card and on the white panel I stamped a bold birthday greeting and added a sweet birthday cupcake. I coloured the cake case in rainbow order to match the numbers on the front of the card.

It was fun making this card. And the best way to spend a very wet and windy Monday morning - safe inside my craft room.

That's all for now. See you soon.

Teenage Kicks

.... Hi! I hope everyone is having a good day. It's lovely here today - bright sunshine, blue skies and an icy wind!!! Kat asked me to make a birthday card for her to give to her boyfriend, and this is what I've made:

Stamps: Visible Image - Teenage Kicks, Grunge Tones, Happy Birthday

Inks: Gina K - Sandy Beach, Soft Stone, Light Lilac, Powder Blue, Keylime; Versafine Clair - Nocturne; Versafine - Onyx Black

Accessories: White Card; SU Card - Crumb Cake; Clear Embossing Powder

I'm playing along with The Paper Players - PP#623 - it's a colour challenge this week, cool, frosty colours, just right for this time of year!

I stamped the brick wall along the bottom of the card - using two inks to give some texture to the wall. I used my MISTI to stamp the legs (twice to give good coverage) directly onto the card in Versafine black ink and heat embossed it with clear powder. I stamped a simple birthday greeting on the 'wall' and finished by adding some grungy texture in blue, lilac and green. Inside the card, I cut a mat layer in kraft card and on the white panel I simply stamped the grunge texture stamp diagonally across the card. I didn't add a verse - so there's plenty of space for Kat to write her message.

It's been a busy day - I took mum to the garden centre this morning - she had some Christmas vouchers to spend. Mum got a couple of nice blouses and a new dark purple hellebore for the garden. I got a lovely table runner and napkins for Christmas - 50% off. I love a bargain!! That's all for now. Keep safe and warm. See you soon.

Grunge Birthday

.... Hello! It's a dull, wet and cold day here in Northop Hall, so I'm spending the day playing in my craft room. Last year, I wasn't able to make many cards - the various cancer treatments made me quite tired. However, I'm at last beginning to feel much more like myself!! And I intend to get back to making lots more cards. Here's the first:

Stamps: Visible Image - Nothing to Wear, Set the Tone, Happy Birthday; MFT - Bitty Birthday Wishes

Inks: Gina K - Plum Punch, Cherry Red, Keylime; Versafine - Onyx Black; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Dies: Gina K - Master Layouts 1

Accessories: White & Black Card; SU Card - Cherry Cobbler; Visible Image - Count Me In Stencil; Copic Markers; Clear Embossing Powder

One of my favourite challenges is CAS Colours & Sketches - CASC&S#501, and I've used their colours on this card - however, I do realise that this is not entire clean and simple!!! I'm going to link to the challenge anyway and do better on my next card. I'm also playing along with Seize the Birthday - STB#253 where the topping is 'winged things', but I'm playing with the 'anything birthday goes'.

I'm continuing my intention to make more cards with coloured bases; I used Cherry Cobbler to make the note card. I placed the stencil over a piece of white card and brushed on purple and red ink, making sure to blend them well where they met in the middle. I used dies to cut out a mat layer of black card and the stencilled panel and glued them together. I put the piece into my MISTI and stamped a simple birthday greeting in the bottom of the panel. I used the MISTI to stampe the t-shirt image onto white card, removed it and coloured with Copic markers. I returned the coloured image to the MISTI and placed on the skull, and stamped the t-shirt and skull again in Onyx Black ink which I heat embossed with clear powder. I then carefully fussy cut out the t-shirt. I edged the image with a black marker and adhered it to the stencilled panel. I added the whole piece to the front of the note card. For the inside, I cut a mat layer in black. On the white panel, I stamped a dotty background in lime green ink and finished by adding a birthday greeting.

This card is for Kat's boyfriend, Kobie. He's a lovely young man - he loves green and purple, so I think this works perfectly for him. I safe to share it here as neither Kat nor Kobie look at my blog!! Gotta love your kids! Now that I've finished this card, I'm off to make another for Kobie - this one will be from my mum!!

That's all for now. See you again soon.

Happy Birthday ....

..... Morning! Surprise, another post from me this week. I've got a birthday card to share. I made this for my brother-in-law:

Stamps: Visible Image - Ahead of our Time, Happy Birthday

Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Gina K - Sea Glass, Ocean Mist, Turquoise Sea; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Accessories: White Card; Visible Image Stencil - Ripples; Clear Embossing Powder

I'm submitting this card to Never-Before-Used-Schtuff - NBUS#26 - the stencil and birthday stamps are new, and the Ahead of our Time image is old and not used before!! I'm also submitting to Seize the Birthday - STB#213, I'm skipping the Toppings option and just making a birthday card. I'm also playing along with The Paper Players - PP#539 where they want Cards for Boys.

My BIL likes the artist René Magritte. Many of Magritte's paintings feature a man wearing a bowler hat, and this image from Ahead of our Time is just perfect for Tim's card. I used my MISTI to stamp the image in black Versafine ink and heat embossed it with clear powder. I repeated this twice to make the image as black as possible and to get as much shine as possible. Once cooled, I placed the stencil over the image and inked the design with three shades of teal ink. I finished the front by stamping a simple birthday greeting. On the inside, I cut a piece of white slightly smaller than the note card which is 6¼" x 4½". I stamped the spiral clock face in the centre of the panel using teal inks. I then added the verse from the Happy Birthday stamp set. I like this verse and can see it being used often! I edged the panel with a marker pen and adhered it to the card.

It's okay to share the card today as it was Tim's birthday yesterday!

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