Goth/Halloween Wedding ....

.... Hello! I'm here this morning with a rather unusual wedding card. Last Friday 13th October we all attended the marriage of our friend Rachel to her partner Barry. They are both complete nerds! They absolutely love Halloween - even to the point of picking Friday 13th. They also share a love of friends, family and all things goth and nerdy. It was a wonderful evening and I can now share the card that I made for them both:

Stamps: Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz - Day of the Dead 2; Waltzingmouse Stamps - Hocus Pocus; Winnie & Walter - Moonlight, The Big, The Bold & You; SU - Cheers to the Year
Inks: Distress - Milled Lavender; Versafine - Onyx Black; Gina K - Black Onyx; Memento - London Fog
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Perfect Plum; Copics; Wink of Stella - Clear; Clear Embossing Powder

The inspiration for this card came from Rachel and Barry's wedding invitation (see the end of the post). I stamped the old fence along the bottom of all the pieces of card in pale grey. I added some bats, spider's web, and spider to add atmosphere. I used my MISTI to stamp the word 'congrats' and embossed it with clear powder. I finished the front by stamping the Day of the Day wedding couple, colouring it lightly with Copics and added sparkle with a clear Wink of Stella brush. I lightly inked the edges of the white card with some pale lavender and black ink, layered it on plum card and attached it to the card base. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of plum card and on the white panel added the smaller Day of the Day couple along with a simple message. I also decorated the envelope to match.

I'm submitting this card to Love to Craft Challenge Blog - LTCCB#15 where the theme is Anything Goes.

Before I go, here's a look at the invitation that inspired the card:

I don't think I'm ever likely to make another wedding card like this, but I had such fun making it! That's all for now - see you soon.

ASM - CAS ....

...  Hello all!  It's time for our Clean and Simple challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More!  I really enjoy making CAS cards, although I think I do tend towards a slightly more layered look than the entirely clean and simple card.  The idea is to have a clean, crisp image, minimal embellishments and lots of white space (you should note that "white" space can be coloured).  Here's my take on a clean and simple thanks card:

Stamps: StampArt Design Digi - Jem; Winnie & Walter - The Big, The Bold and You, Big Bang Confetti
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Wisteria Wonder, Perfect Plum
Dies: Spellbinders - Wonky Rectangles (S4-306) #5
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Perfect Plum; Copics; Glitter

Our sponsor this week is StampArt Design and I've used on of Kathryne's fabulous images on my card.  I do like the way you can make the image exactly the size you want.  I've used the colours from The Card Concept - CC#9, I like the monochromatic purples and the style is Clean and Layered.  I printed Gem off twice, used my Spellbinder wonky rectangle dies to cut out one of the images and I coloured and glittered the wings on this image.  On the other image I coloured Jem and her wand with Copics and then fussy cut it out.  I ran one of the copic markers around the edge of the die cut panel to define the image and then adhered the fussy cut Jem.  I stamped a random pattern of stars on the card base and a few on the panel and I finished the front of the card with a bold sentiment.  On the inside I cut a mat of light purple card and on the white panel stamped some more stars.

For more inspiration card with a clean and simple theme - check out the rest of the team's work.  Looking forward to seeing your projects.

I told you that we had Jonathan's 50th birthday party on Saturday; it was a huge success.  So many friends were able to join us and celebrate and Jonathan has lots of lovely birthday cards and presents.  I made Jonathan a fruit cake for his birthday - nothing fancy, just a plain cake with a funny candle.  Here's a photo that our friend Rachel took:

We had a bit of a theme going for the party - sort of Hawaii 5-0 - hence the leis!!!  It was so nice that Mum was able to be here too.  Today Mum and I did a bit of shopping - not clothes, books!!!  I share my Mum's love of a good book.  Well that's all for now.  See you soon.

Bohek effect ....

... Morning all!  It's really dull, grey and wet here this morning, so I've the perfect excuse to stay in my craft room and play - at least for a while!  One of my favourite effects in photography is bokeh - where there is a blur on lights in the background of an image.  I've noticed that people are creating a similar effect in stamping.  Here's a card I made trying for the same effect, not entirely successful, but I like it a lot:

Stamps: Winnie & Walter - The Write Stuff: Love Story, The Big, The Bold & You, The Big, The Bold & The Happy, You've Got Love Mail, Big Bang Confetti
Inks: Brilliance - Aurora, Twilight, Peacock; Versafine - Onyx Black; Memento - London Fog; Stampin' Up! - Real Red
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Vellum; Clear Embossing Powder; Copics; SU Card - Pink Pirouette; SU Marker - Smoky Slate

I used the layout from Freshly Made Sketches - FMS#129 and the inspiration photo from Winnie & Walter's Playdate - W&WPD#1.  To create the bokeh effect I used the a couple of stamps from Big Bang Confetti, inking them up with Brilliance ink which has a lovely shimmer, and echoes the W&W image.  I stamped the journal style heart on to white card in grey and used words from a couple of sets to create the greeting; I added the kisses by hand. I cut out the heart and added a bit of definition to the edge by running a grey Copic around it.  I didn't want to hide the pretty bokeh panel, so I cut a panel of vellum and stamped the sentiment in Versafine and then heat embossed with clear powder.  I ran the vellum through my Xyron to make it self-adhesive, that way you don't see the adhesive!  I finished by adhering the heart with dimensional tape.  On the inside I cut a mat panel of pink and stamped another heart with a greeting.  I've included a close up of the heart to show the pretty colours!

The image on the W&W graphic suggested family to me and, as it's our anniversary next month, I though I'd make a card for Jonathan.  We will be celebrating 13 years of marriage on 22nd April!!  The time has simply flown by.  I know I've posted this card early, and I know that Jonathan will see it, but he's terrible at remembering - so this is a BIG hint!!!  That's all for now.  I suppose I'd better get on with ironing - again!  See Ya!!

A thank you ....

.... Today I've a clean and simple thank you card to share with you.

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Funky Feathers; Winnie & Walter - The Big, The Bold & You
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Coastal Cabana, Soft Sky, Pear Pizzazz, Sahara Sand
Dies: WMS - Funky Feathers
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Soft Sky

I've used the soft, subtle colours from Colour Me Card Challenge - CMCC#12 and the layout has been inspired by Marion's card at MUSE - MUSE#59.  This card was also inspired by last week's Less is More - LIM#163 challenge to use either stencilling and/or masking, but this card is rather more than less!!!  I created the mask by die cutting the feathers and then sponging in the different colours.  After I removed the mask I stamped the actual feather using the same colour of ink.  I added a panel across the centre for the sentiment.  At the moment the inside is blank!  The Clean & Simple Card Making 3 class has been concentrating on techniques for one layer cards, and the masking technique is lots of fun.  However, this is not a one layer card!

That's all for today.  Jonathan and I are off to a photo shoot with the wonderfully talented Holli!  See you soon.