Hip Hop Birthday ....

.... Good afternoon! It's a really dismal day here in Northop Hall - dull, grey, wet but mild! So I've been playing in my craft room. A friend recently asked me to make a birthday card for him, so I came up with some ideas and made the one he liked. But I had a few idea left over, so I made one of them today. Here's a birthday card for my stash:

Stamps: Visible Image - Hip Hop Girls, Tomorrow Doesn't Exist, Random Art of Kindness, Rays of Light; MFT - Bitty Birthday Wishes

Inks: Gina K - Wild Dandelion, Sweet Mango, Bubblegum Pink, Key Lime, Powder Blue; Versafine - Onyx Black

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

I'm submitting this card to Seize the Birthday - STB#208 - I going for the Anything Goes option, to Just Us Girls - JUGS#572 where they want to see rainbow colours, and to Happy Little Stampers Stencil Challenge - HLSSC#02 Anything Goes.

This is a one layer card. I started by stamping the hip hop dancer in black ink and heat embossed with clear powder. I covered the image with a mask and then stamped the numbers to act as a ground for her and added the rays of light behind her. Again they were stamped in Versafine black ink and heat embossed. Next I stamped the birthday greeting and embossed that. I finished the front by adding rainbow colours through a stencil. It has a very grungy feel. I've left the inside blank for my own message.

That's all for today. I'm going back to messing about with paints and inks. I've been doing an online class with Dyan Reaveley - Distinctly Dylusions 12 - where we've been using her wonderful hexagon stamps and stencils. I've lots of pages prepared to colour. I'll share some in the next few weeks. See you soon.

Alice goes Goth ....

... Hello again! I'm back with another card made for Kat's 18th birthday.  This is the one I made for my Mum to give to Kat.

Stamps: Visible Image - Alice in Wonderland, Rays of Light; MFT - Bitty Birthday Wishes; Uniko - Birthday Wishes
Inks: Distress - Hickory Smoke; Gina K - Powder Blue, Jelly Bean Green, Black Onyx; Versafine - Ony Black
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Night of Navy; Dylusions Shimmer Spray - Periwinkle Blue, Slate Grey; Nuvo - Aquashimmer Brush; Clear Embossing Powder; Copic Markers

As you can see there's a bit of a theme here.  Kat really loves Alice in Wonderland and when she saw the Visible Image stamps I was told that I had to get them.  This card is 5" x 7".  I created the background by randomly stamping several of the smaller stamps in blue and grey.  I had to add the large number as it's her 18th!! I stamped Alice on white card, coloured her with Copic markers, stamped again with Versafine and heat embossed with clear powder. I inked the edges of the card with soft grey and layered on navy blue card. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of navy card and on the white panel added a super birthday greeting from Uniko.

I'm submitting this card to several challenges.  The layout is based on the sketch from Fusion - FUSION#0509, as there's a number I'm playing at Seize the Birthday - STB#174, and also to Love to Craft - LTCCB#09 where anything goes.

Before I go, I want to share a few more photos of my gorgeous daughter - Kat:

The last one was taken on 4 September when Kat went back to school for her last year - her senior year in the UK!! That's all for now - see you again soon.

She's all grown up ....

.... I can't quite believe where the time has gone; it's simply flown by.  Today, our gorgeous daughter Kathryn, or Kat as she prefers, is 18 years old.  I know that I see her with a mother's bias, but she truly is a wonderful person - kind, caring, loving, bright, funny, intelligent, sassy, unconventional, confident, arty, curious, moody, supportive, fearless, and straight forward - I could go on 😊😉😍 Here's the card that I made for our girl:

Stamps: Visible Image - Queen of Hearts, Rays of Light, Alice in Wonderland, Music On World Off; MFT - Bitty Birthday Wishes; Uniko - Birthday Wishes
Inks: Distress - Hickory Smoke, Black Soot; Gina K - Jelly Bean Green, Dark Sage, Black Onyx; Versafine - Onyx Black
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Basic Grey; Visible Image Stencils - Dark Hearts, Count Me In; Dylusions Shimmer Spray - Slate Grey, Fresh Lime; Nuvo - Clear Aquashimmer Brush

Recently, Kat and I went to London for a girly weekend and saw Six. A fabulous fast-paced show based on the six wives of Henry VIII. I highly recommend it!!  Kat's favourite Queen was Anne Boylen, she wears a beautiful black and green costume, sings some very sassy songs and I used the character as the theme for this card.  Kat has been a bit of a goth princess since she was a little girl, and she still is.  This is a large 8" x 8" card.

I used the Dark Hearts stencil with Hickory Smoke ink to create the base card. I cut a panel of white card 6" x 6" to go on top. I created the age panel by using the small queen of hearts image and added numbers for her age.  I added the word queen in black and again slightly offset in green and above that used a number stencil for the background.  I randomly stamped musical notes, crowns and some keys, and finished the panel with some Dylusions shimmer spray in green and grey.  I used my Misti to stamp the queen image in a pale grey.  I added some squares to the queen's skirt and coloured them to match the costume from the show. I put the coloured image back into the Misti, stamped in Versafine onyx black and heat embossed with clear powder. I added some shimmer to the image with a clear aquabrush. I fussy cut the image and adhered it to the smaller panel.  I edged the panel with grey ink and used dimensional tape to adhere the panel to the base.  The inside of the card is quite simple with a grey mat layer and birthday greeting on the white panel.  I added the queen and a little green crown.  I took a close up to show the lovely shimmer of the ink spray. 

I based the layout of this card on the sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch! - CTS#339, I added some numbers as per the topping theme at Seize the Birthday - STB#174.  As I used a couple of stencils on the card I'm going to submit to AAA Birthday - AAAB#05, and I'm also submitting to Time Out Challenge - TOC#144 - the photo gave me the idea of black, white and green.

The photo below was taken by Christine Long when we were living in Northville, Michigan.  One of the traditions that I did like about high school in the States was having photos taken in your senior year - such lovely memories.  Kat was one of Christine's models in 2019 school year and this is my favourite shot.

Happy Birthday Kat - have a wonderful day!!!

TMR - Anything but a card ....

...... Hi! I've done it again, it's been ages since I posted here. But I've a good excuse - I've been away at a crafting retreat (more of that in the new week or so), and since being back I've been busy with the school's drama production. I'm here today with my project for our new challenge at The Male Room - TMR#84 - Anything apart from a Card. I do have to own up to the fact that this is an old project that I made towards the end of 2017, but I just haven't had time to make anything new. However, it is in use every day:

Stamps: Visible Image - Somewhere in Time, Ahead of our Time, Rays of Light
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Smoky Slate, Emerald Envy
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Vippies Designs - Large Self Adhesive Calendar Pad

You can find full details of how I made the calendar here. This one is in our dining room. I also have a calendar in my craft room and on my office desk.

That's all from me for today as I'm still trying to get back to my normal routine. For more inspirational projects - none of them a card - check out The Male Room blog to see what the rest of the team have created. You have until midnight (BST) on Tuesday 8th May to play along - that's 7.00pm EDT in the States. Have fun!!

New Calendars .....

..... Hi! Good morning. We've really been enjoying our holiday weekend - all very relaxed. I had a fun time in my craft room yesterday afternoon - I made some calendars for next year. They are really easy to make. I did ten in all:

Stamps: Visible Image - Somewhere in Time, Ahead of our Time, Rays of Light
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Smoky Slate, Lemon Lime Twist, Berry Burst, Emerald Envy; Gina K - Passionate Pink, Cherry Red, Sweet Mango, Jelly Bean Green, Blue Lagoon, Blue Raspberry, Wild Lilac
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Vippies Designs - Large Self Adhesive Calendar Pads

To make the calendar you cut a panel of white card 11½" x 4¼" - basically cut a sheet of letter size paper in half vertically. Score across the centre at 5½" and fold. Next cut a panel of card 5" x 4¼", this should be scored at 1", 2½", and 4". Fold at the centre and crease into place, and crease the other two folds in the opposite direction - you should end up with a piece of card in the shape of a W.

On the large folded card stamp your design. I decided to use these wonderful time-related images - so appropriate for a calendar. I used my MISTI to stamp the images - it was so quick and I was able to restamp any images that needed extra pressure! Once I'd finished all the stamping, I added tape to the outside flaps of the "W" card and adhered them to the inside of each printed card. I finished each calendar by adding the calendar pad. Here's a close up of two of the calendars:

I have kept two of the calendars - one for my craft room and one for my office desk. The rest are going to be sent to family and friends. I'm entering these calendars into the November challenge at Love to Craft Challenge Blog - LTCCB#16, where anything goes.

I've got a really fun day planned for the last day of our holiday. This afternoon I'm off to my local craft shop - Scrappy Chic - for some art journaling fun, and then in the evening Jonathan and I are off to Royal Oak to see Squeeze! So excited. That's all for now. See you soon.

Sweet Sixteen .....

.... Good Morning! It's Kat's 16th birthday today. By some strange miracle Kat was up early this morning :) We wished her a Happy Birthday, she spoke to her Nanny in Leicester and she's opened her card. She loved it!!! Yea. To celebrate we're having a birthday brunch at Fox Hill Golf Club - they do a wonderful spread. Kat started her birthday weekend with dinner on Friday night with her best friend Alyx at The Cheesecake Factory in Novi (we dined there too, but at a different table). The girls spent yesterday together at The Heritage Festival in Northville and then at home - I think they spent the day chatting, laughing, listening to music and just enjoying being together. Last night I finally made Kat's card:

Stamps: Visible Image - Sing, Tomorrow Doesn't Exist, Rays of Light; Uniko - Simply Said Birthday; Winnie & Walter - Moonlight; Your Next Stamp - Whatnot Sentiments One; Stampin' Up! - 25 Days
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Gina K - Cherry Red, Black Onyx; Distress - Black Soot
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Basic Black; Clear Embossing Powder; Wink of Stella - Clear; Lindy's Starburst Spray - Rudolf's Nose Red; Dylusions Stencil - Cobweb Lg

I got the idea for this card from Kat, she sings all the time, she loves all things Goth and Halloween, and she's very fond of black and red. I spritzed Lindy's red spray over the cobweb stencil. Once dry, and after cleaning the stencil, I lightly sponged over the edges of the stencil with black distress ink. I rubbed over the surface with an antistatic bag and then stamped the number and singer in black and heat embossed with clear powder. I positioned the musical notes to come from the microphone, stamped and embossed that image. Then I stamped the star burst and word 'birthday' in cherry red ink. I finished the front by stamping the word 'happy' and adding just a touch of sparkle to the dress with a clear wink of stella brush. I used a sponge to define the edges of the card. On the inside I cut a mat layer of black card. On the white panel I stamped some cobwebs, some pumpkins, added a greeting and finished with some stars.

I'm submitting this card to Inkspirational - INK#143, where they have a photo for inspiration. My take on the photo is to use a silhouette image of a singer (another of the arts), the musical notes floating in the air, and to create an overall background that suits my daughter. I'm also playing along with Love to Craft Challenge Blog - LTCCB#14 where it's Anything Goes!

Before I go, I have to share few photos of my gorgeous girl:

Our Goth Girl - it's actually a handbag she's holding! Taken by Alyx.

Kat - photo taken by Alyx, her best friend.

And this one is Kat, Pluto and Alyx - taken in April when we went to Disney. They're still little girls at heart!!!

That's all for now. Have a great day.

21 today ....

....  Ben, is 21 years old today. I'm sure that time goes on a faster path once you have children - it really doesn't feel like 21 years since I had Ben. My blond baby boy is a man - with black hair and a beard! I was really lucky to spend a few days with him over the new year period helping him get settled into his new flat. This is the card that I made for him:

Stamps: Visible Image - Tomorrow Doesn't Exist, Rays of Light, Music Speaks; Uniko - Simply Said Birthday
Inks: Kaleidacolor - Blue Breeze; Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: Stampin' Up/Sizzix - Large Number Framelits
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Black Gloss Card; SU Card - Basic Black; Doodlebug Sprinkles - Black; Clear Embossing Powder

I'm not sure whether or not Ben will have received the card yet! Some of the post I send to the UK gets there quickly, other times it takes ages. I've made a really clean and simple card for Ben - he tends to like them that way. I used my favourite ombre blue inks - Blue Breeze from Kaleidacolor - to ink up the sound waves and sun ray images. I die cut the numbers from some black gloss card and also from some plain black card, layering them together to give some thickness to the number. I adhered them flat to the card front. I finished the front by adding some simple black enamel dots. On the inside I cut a mat layer of black card. On the white panel I stamped another of the sound wave images and added a birthday greeting which was made up from stamps from Uniko and Visible Image. I heat embossed them with clear powder.

I really like the Visible Image sets - they work so well for masculine style cards!  I'm submitting this card to several challenges:

• Less is More - LIM#310 where they have a Colour challenge and they want an ombre look
• CAS on Sunday - CASOS#99 where they want Black, White & one other colour - I picked blue
• Cardz 4 Guyz - C4G#152 where they want to see Birthday cards
• City Crafter Challenge Blog - CCCB#344 where they want you to cheer up someone and use blue
• The Male Room - TMR#51 where we have an ANYTHING GOES theme

I actually made this card before any of these challenges were posted - it's amazing that it works for them all :)

Before I go, I'm going to share a several pictures of my young man Ben, after all, it's his 21st birthday:

Ben dressed up in a knitted suit. Get a load of those specs I'm wearing!!

One of my favourite photos of Ben - pure joy on his face - he was 11 months old here.

One of my pageboys at our wedding in April 2001.

 It's super Ben - Canterbury. 

Ben and Jonathan - family trip to Pontin's in August 2006. Ben was 10 years old here.

Taken on a very cold morning at the Detroit Thanksgiving Parade in November 2014.

And this is my most recent photo of Ben taken on 1st January 2017 in Hastings railway station. We'd been shopping and Ben walked me to the station to get my train back to London. It was pouring with rain and we both got soaked! I hope that Ben has the most wonderful birthday and send him all my love and best wishes.

That's all for today.