Music Birthday .....

... Morning! I had planned to put up a project yesterday but I got busy sorting through paper work. I did have some time in the afternoon to make another, much needed, birthday card for my stash:

Stamps: Visible Image - Rock Out, Music Speaks; Uniko - A Gift for You
Inks: Distress - Dried Marmalade; Gina K - Turquoise Sea; Versafine - Onyx Black
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Gina K Card - Turquoise Sea; Clear Embossing Powder; Tim Holtz Stencil - Concerto (THS067); Turquoise Fountain Pen

I got the theme from Cardz 4 Guyz - C4G#225 where they want to see music related cards. The colours are from Less is More - LIM#401. CAS on Friday - CASOF#162 want us to use a stencil on our cards. And finally, this is a masculine birthday card, so I'm submitting it to The Male Room - TMR#117 for the birthday theme and also to AAA Birthday - AAAB#04 where they want cards for boys.

After masking the right side of the card, I stencilled the musical background using tangerine distress ink to form an ombre from dark to light. I used a turquoise fountain pen to ink in an aqua border. I stamped the grunge guitarist using Versafine ink and heat embossed with clear powder. I finished the front with a simple birthday greeting in aqua. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of aqua card. I stamped an oscillogram image at the bottom of the white panel. I left the rest blank for my own message.

That's all for now. We have a weather warning for high winds in North Wales, so I don't plan on going out. Perfect excuse to spend more time in my craft room - it's so nice to be back!!!

Happy Birthday .....

.... Morning!! Over the past year I've used up most of my card stash and I really need to make some new cards, especially birthday cards. Here's a fun card I made yesterday:

Stamps: Lawn Fawn - Stuck on You, So Much to Say; Newton's Nook - Cuppa Cactus
Inks: Distress Oxide - Victorian Velvet, Shabby Shutters, Twisted Citron, Crushed Olive, Mowed Lawn, Rusty Hinge, Vintage Photo; Memento - Tuxedo Black; Gina K - Black Onyx
Dies: Newton's Nook - Cuppa Cactus Dies
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU - Basic Black; BoBunny DP - Garden Party; Copic Markers; Nuvo - Aquashimmer Brush; Visible Image Stencil - Two Tone

I used several challenges to create this card. The theme of cacti comes from Cupcake Inspiration Challenge - CIC#475, from Your Next Stamp - YNS#119 I got the idea to add Lots of Squares, the layout is based on the sketch from last week's Paper Players - PP452 challenge. I'm also submitting this to AAA Birthday - AAAB#04 where they want birthday cards for boys.

I made the card base from black card. I cut a panel of white card onto which I stencilled lots of squares using several shades of green Distress Oxide inks. On the smaller white panel I stamped a number of different cacti using Distress Oxide inks; they blend so beautifully. On a scrap I stamped the cacti in cups, coloured them with Copic markers and cut them out with the matching dies. I used dimensional tape to add the cups to the card, you can see the dimension in the photo below. I used a scrap of design paper from my stash and finished by adding a simple, bold birthday sentiment. On the inside I cut a panel of white card and added another cactus. I left the panel blank for writing my own message.

That's all for today. I'm really enjoying being back in my craft room!! See you soon.

TMR - Birthday - 6 Years ....

.... Hello! I hope this is not too much of a shock. It's been a really long time since I've actually posted anything card related. I am thrilled and delighted to be Guest Designer at The Male Room - TMR#117 for this special birthday challenge. It is an honour to be joining the team to celebrate the challenge's 6th birthday. Here is my card:

Stamps: My Favourite Things - Gift Card Greetings, Bitty Birthday Wishes; Lawn Fawn - Simply Celebrate
Inks: Kaleidacolor - Blue Breeze; Memento - Tuxedo Black; Gina K - Black Onyx
Dies: Lawn Fawn - Simply Celebrate; Die-namics - Wonky Stitched Circles #4
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Stampin' Up! Card - Blueberry Bushel; Copic Markers; Nuvo - Aqua Shimmer Brush

I used the sketch from Fab Friday - FABF#169 for the layout. I stamped the row of cute candle on white card, coloured them with Copic Markers, cut them out with the matching die, and added some sparkle with a clear aqua shimmer brush. I found the HB2U greeting on an old My Favourite Things set, stamped it with blue Kaleidacolor inks, and cut it out with a stitched edge circle die. I cut a panel of blue card and used foam tape to attach it for some depth. I finished the front by adding the stamped circle and the blue candles. On the inside I cut another panel of blue card, and on the white panel I stamped the row of candles in blue and finished with a simple, clean sentiment.

Moving back to the UK from Michigan, and all the renovation works going on in the house, has meant that it's almost exactly a year since I sat down to make a card. In fact, I need to restock my card stash. So I made another card - very similar to this one, just switching up the colour and the sentiment in the die cut circle:

Stamps: My Favourite Things - Birthday Sentiments, Bitty Birthday Wishes; Lawn Fawn - Simply Celebrate
Inks: Kaleidacolor - Fresh Greens; Memento - Tuxedo Black; Gina K - Black Onyx
Dies: Lawn Fawn - Simply Celebrate; Die-namics - Wonky Stitched Circles #4
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Stampin' Up! Card - Wild Wasabi; Copic Markers; Nuvo - Aqua Shimmer Brush

I'm submitting this one to Love to Craft Challenge Blog - LTCCB#37 where the theme is Anything Goes. I think I'm going to make a few more cards based on this layout, just switching up the colours.

I'd like to thank Jane for inviting me to join the design team and celebrate The Male Room's 6th Birthday. I had lots of fun making these cards, and it was just what I needed to get me back into my craft room. Do drop by and check out what the rest of the team have made.

That's all from me today, but now that I've started making cards - you'll start to see more regular posts. Bye for now.

Finished it ....

PHOTO HEAVY!!

.... Morning! It's been quite a while since I posted anything remotely creative! Well this morning, I'm sharing pictures of my completed black Dyalog insert book. I started working on this book when I came back to the UK last summer. I spent many happy evenings in different hotels doodling backgrounds, adding images and words to my pages. I shared some of those pages on the Facebook Dyalog & Creative Dyary group last year. I spent some time this past weekend in my craft room finishing off the last few papes - and it's all done now.

I'm going to enter the current Love to Craft Challenge - LTCCB#35 where it's Anything Goes. Here's one of the spreads I worked on:

Inks: Dylusions Spray Inks - Postbox Red, Polished Jade; Posca - White Paint Pen 0.7mm bullet nib
Accessories: Dyalog Black Insert Book #1; Image from Dylusions Colouring Sheets #1; Nuvo Aqua Shimmer Glitter Gloss

I started on the right-hand page by drawing the boxes by hand - hence the wobbly lines! I added lots of different doodle designs using a white Posca pen. I picked one of my favourite images from the colouring sheets book, cut it out and adhered it to the page. I doodled the border, added a touch of colour using my paint pens (Tim Holtz water brushes filled with Dylusions spray inks), and finshed off by adding the quote. Sadly, you can't see the sparkle on the little labels on her coat from the shimmer pen - it's so pretty!!

Here are the rest of the images from the completed book - I had such fun working on this and can't wait to work on more.

Apart from one "oops" I used only Polished Jade and Postbox Red inks as the spot colours, on the "oops" page I used Cut Grass and London Blue. Most of the stencils are also from Dylusions. I do hope you've enjoyed looking at my black Dyalog.

We are fully settled back into our house in Wales - so nice to be home, but I do missed Scrappy Chic and Stampeddlar - my local craft stores in Michigan. I am fortunate to have Dyan's shop - Art from the Heart, here in the UK, but it is a three hour drive from where I live. I will be visiting later this year - more of that later.

Life here is very busy. I'm almost recovered from the surgery I had on my ankle - cast off and now having physio and learning to walk with my new fixed ankle. We've done renovations on our two main bathrooms, and will be started work on converting a couple of rooms on the ground floor and the double garage into a suite for my mum. She can't wait to move into her new place. After that we'll be renovating the kitchen - but more of that much later.

That's all for now - thanks so much for sticking with me. I hope to get back into a more regular pattern of posts again soon. See you!