Golden Wedding Card Album

This project was made for my husband's Aunt and Uncle who celebrated their 50th Anniversary this month.

I was asked several months ago if I could make a special keepsake card to send across the water to them in Australia and if possible, include photographs of all the family members back here in UK.
When I didn't hear anything more about it over the next few weeks I presumed the idea had been shelved.

Then, last week I was handed envelopes with photographs ... and bits of photographs which had been diced and sliced to within an inch of their lives ... or in some cases a centimetre!!
Not exactly ideal to work with but I did my best.

After an initial panic attack, wondering what I could possibly do quickly that would look half decent, I came up with this gatefold card which opens to show one of their original wedding photographs and is deep enough to hold an accordian album containing all the family photos I was given.
Both sides of each page shows a different family member or family group and I used a combination of punches and nestabilities to create gold frames in an attempt to disguise the uneven scissorwork.
**I have blurred the images so as not to upset anyone by plastering their faces for all to see without permission, but you will get the gist of what I've done.**

The matching box and gift card were made from gold mirri card with paper roses and feathers tied with ribbon providing a little decoration.
Bearing in mind the postage costs, I had to make sure it wasn't too heavily decorated.

Hopefully it will be well on it's way by now and will arrive safely in plenty of time for them returning from their holiday in mid September.


As this is a keepsake album and box I'm hoping it will qualify for entry at Truly Scrumptious Challenge #14 where they are asking for anything but a card ... but that may be pushing the boundaries a bit.

Organised Chaos

Actually ... I'm not too sure about the 'organised' bit of the title but the 'chaos' definitely describes how my week has been so far and it doesn't look like the weekend is going to bring any lull as we will be spending most of it in Stirling bowling alley.
Anyway, I really just wanted to let you all know I'm alive and kicking but just been really busy and haven't had time to check in.
Normal service should be resumed next week.

Hope you all enjoy a wonderful weekend and if you could possibly find time to send some positive thoughts and good vibes for Naomi to play well it would be very much appreciated.
THANK YOU XXX

Luv'n'Stuff
Max
xx

Patchwork Pals Christmas

I'm still actively playing catchup with all Fab's Christmas Challenges and pursuing my rather ambitious goal of completing them before December.
If successful I will have a decent stockpile of Christmas cards in advance and obviously this will reduce the number of shop bought cards I will have to send this year.
This card is for Challenge # 33 which is to use a Christmas kit.

Most QVC viewers will recognise our cheeky friend Billy and this time all the components are from the Christmas Patchwork Pals kit apart from the mirri card.

He looks very dapper with his holly trimmed hat don't you think?

Patchwork Pals & Funky Elegance

What a bloomin' weekend this has been!
Full of highs and lows ... and everything in between.
But much as I feel like indulging in a good ol' rant, that really wouldn't be very polite in front of visitors.
Soooooooooooo ... I'll just show you the card I made for my nephew's 8th birthday instead.
Happy Birthday Robbie xx

I used a cute wee character called Billy from a Kanban Patchwork Pals kit purchased on impulse from QVC a while ago.
He is die cut and has a back and front view designed for using on aperture cards or on cut away cards, like I have done here.
My only complaint about this kit is that some of the front and back pieces don't match up very well ... and in fact I'll need to give Billy another wee trim before popping him in his envelope.
Hey! ... That cheeky wee monkey looks like he's eyeing up my paper stacks don't you think?

The papers are scraps of Basic Grey - Colour Me Silly and CCSR -The Big One that were left over from previous projects, and they are matted onto gold mirri card which serves a dual purpose of not only looking good but also strengthening the card so it is extra sturdy and stands properly.
**If you click on the images they will show full size.**

My other offering before lights out is something of a completely different nature.
Funky Fairys Challenge #30 is a sketch by Joanne and as I had printed off some free downloads from the Funky Fairys Inspiration blog a couple of days ago and they were pleading with me to be used, I took pity on them and had a play.

Now I confess I had to correct a wee mistake which wasn't noticed until I thought I was finished, but I think I got away with it.
Shhhhhh ... don't tell.
**Lesson learned .... must start printing the sketch to refer to and not rely on my rather inadequate memory.**

The lush wide black velvet ribbon was a bargain buy from Morrisons in their January sale ... reduced to 25p from £1.50 so I cleaned them out of their remaining stock and the black felt flowers were another bargain but apologies because I can't remember where from.

Anyway ...
"Time for bed!" said Zeb ... will see you all later and thanks for visiting.

Summer Colours

Nearly didn't make it to The Pink Elephant Challenge #28 this week which has a Summer theme.
Not because I didn't find time to make something ... but because I forgot to post it on my blog!
Hmmmmm ... let's just put it down to a MadMax Moment and say no more.
Anyway, this card was made entirely from a selection of free goodies that come with various craft magazines I've bought. The brightness and vibrancy of the colours just scream Summer to me.
I followed sketch #1 from Vee's Sketch Pad ... a new blog which showcases various inspirational sketch designs by Vee and her friends.
It is NOT a challenge blog with weekly sponsored prizes although Vee may occasionally select a few cards that have been submitted to go into a draw for a small prize.
So if you're feeling stuck for ideas and you fancy doing something just for fun, then pop over and visit Vee.
I'm sure there'll be a warm welcome waiting for you and you may get an inspiration boost while you're there.

Penny Black Birthday

My Brother~in~Law should've received his card by now as his birthday was yesterday, so it's safe to show.
The image is Penny Black Lazy Days which was sent to me in a RAK and I actually coloured and mounted it onto an embossed card panel back in June when I used the same image for a Father's Day card.
The background paper is from a paper stack by Papermania and I added chipboard letters for personalisation.
This will be an alternative entry into Bubbly Scrumptious August Challenge.

KT's Challenge

Over at my forum buddy Shells blog is a Sketch Challenge which has been set by her 11 year old daughter and as I'm all in favour of encouraging the 'littlies' to be creative, I wanted to join in and give my support.
It would make her day to get a good response, so if you have a spare half hour and fancy playing along then hop on over to Shells.
I used a cute Penny Black stamp ... I really love those hedgies ... and it was coloured in with watercolour pencils before using a scallop punch and adding some doodling.
The patterned papers are from Papermania and they have been matted onto purple cardstock.
Purple and white velvet ribbon and a Prima flower topped with a button brad were added before mounting onto foam pads and sticking to the front panel.
The butterfly was created using silver decorative corner peeloffs and 2 small purple punched hearts with some graduating adhesive sparkle gems for the body.
Peeloff dots were ideal for the butterfly trail down to the greeting which is a transparent circle sticker on a leftover scrap of purple card.

Anniversary Love

My brother and his wife celebrate their 14th Anniversary later this month and I wanted to make them a card that was romantic but not too mushy ... if you know what I mean.
I think I've managed to achieve that with this card by using this beautiful double sided cardstock from Imaginisce.
I really love the softness of these colours together and the lovely flowing lines just cried out to be cut around, giving me fabby top and bottom panels for the front and also providing an interesting panel for the message inside.
The pink centre panel cardstock was embossed on the Cuttlebug using my favourite Swiss Dots folder and pale blue ribbon was threaded through slits in an acetate greeting and secured behind with tape before attaching it to the DL blank.
A couple of Prima flowers with liquid pearl centres add some decoration.
The small silver peel off letters on the heart are their first name initials and I hope that I haven't made them so small that they will be missed. Various different sizes of letters, both peel off and chipboard, were hauled out of my stash, but these were the only ones which didn't overpower the paper too much.

The inclusion of embossing and initials on my card will hopefully mean I can enter it for both of the challenges at Bubbly Scrumptious ... their usual monthly challenge and their new weekly challenge ... IF that's allowed of course!
No doubt someone will tell me if it's not.

My First Christmas with Daisy and Dandelion

At long last I've finally managed to ink up one of the cute Daisy and Dandelion Christmas Collection stamps I've had in a drawer for weeks.
This little character is one of the bears but I can't tell if it's Bubble or Squeak 'cos he's in disguise!

He has been coloured with watercolour pencils for a change and the fur trims on his coat and hat have been sparkled up with Glistening Snow Writer from Decoart.
The patterned papers are from an A4 pad called 'A Winter's Tale' which are also from the Daisy and Dandelion Christmas Collection and it must be said that they are good quality papers that co ordinate with each other beautifully.
The green background is simply a piece of cardstock which has been embossed with the Snowflake folder on the Cuttlebug and then cut slightly smaller than the card blank.
My favourite gold mirri card was used for matting the papers and 3D foam pads add some dimension to the various layers.
Amazingly, I think I may have managed 4 different challenges at the same time, which is virtually unheard of for me but they all made it very easy to double up challenges this week.
... Charisma Cardz Sketch # 32 for the layout
... Fab's Christmas Challenge #32 is to follow a sketch
...Our Creative Corner & Dutch Dare Card Challenge where the theme is "Christmas In August"

Room With A View

How many of us are lucky enough to look out of the window every morning and be met with a beautiful view like this?
Not me that's for sure!
The Kanban Concept Card sheet used to make this card was bought from QVC a long time ago ... (I believe it was one of the TSV's) ... but the reason I've dug it out is because the lovely image fits in with Kaboodle Doodle Challenge # 11 which is 'Window'.
All I've added is some black cardstock for matting and a few adhesive gems in the corner to break up the black space a bit.
A Quick ... Easy ... and hassle free card!

Merry "PINK-mas"

The challenge at Funky Fairys this week is Xmas so I grabbed the opportunity to play with their scrummy pink Xmas papers kit, which it's worth noting are a free download from their Inspirations website.
I have to tell you that I really like them ... A LOT!! ... which is amazing 'cos I'm not particularly a fan of pink.
All the components apart from the greeting, the ribbon and the adhesive glitter dots, (which are Papermania), are from the Funky Fairy kit and once cut and mounted onto a silver mirri card background mean it's very easy to make a funky modern Xmas card in minutes.
Oh yes ... I think this kit will be a favourite one for mass production this year.

For Dad

Another card for hubby's birthday tomorrow and this time I used Basic Grey papers from their Colour Me Silly range as I thought my son would want something a bit more "manly" for his dad's card.
The greetings are once again recycled from shop bought cards but I added a dab or 2 of ink to 'muss' them up a bit so they blended in better with the papers and were less pristine. I also swept the inkpad across the embossed card panel, added a few brads and doodled some faux stitching.
The layout follows this week's sketch challenge at Charisma Cardz so it will be my entry.
A simple card ... no nonsense ... no fuss ... no mushy stuff.

Side Step Card

It is hubby's birthday tomorrow so thought I should make him a card, or if he's really lucky, maybe even 2!
It's the least I can do especially as he very kindly finances my crafty addiction ... and more importantly, NEVER complains!
Anyway, this card uses papers from CCSR The Big One and a slither of patterned paper from my scraps for contrast, all matted onto gold mirri card.
I wanted to try making a side step card just because it's a bit different from the norm and have to say I quite like it.
The cute image has been recycled from a recent birthday card but because it has a sepia look it was perfect to fit in with The Pink Elephant Challenge #27 which asks us to use Brown, Turquoise and Neutral. Is sepia neutral ??

Right ... better go and see what else I can conjure up for him before tomorrow.

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

I'm being a total lazy lump this afternoon and chilling in my favourite place.
I'm not feeling particularly adventurous though so decided to keep things simple by using a DCWV card stack pack.
These pads are brilliant for making quick cards as all the matching papers and cardstock are there ready just to rip out and use.
The colours kind've fit in with the Our Creative Corner's Inspiration Challenge and the layout follows Carol's Sketch Fun Challenge #11 ... or at least I thought it did.
Until I checked the spacing of the panels and realised I should've paid a bit more attention.
However, not to worry ... it's a handy wee 'Thank You' card when all's said and done and will be added to the collection in the 'Grab'n'Go' box until needed.

Flower Doodle

Am being forced to catch up on our laundry today 'cos there's a severe basket overflow situation with piles big enough to sink the Titanic ... where does it all come from??

In between washloads I've managed to make a couple of quick cards, which are virtually identical apart from the wee bit of doodling I added to the 2nd version around the petals and the edges of the layers.
Click the picture for a larger image.

The Pink Elephant Challenge #26 is a recipe where the ingredients are ...
3 x brads
1 x flower
1 x patterned paper

... and Funky Fairys Challenge #28 is to use Black and White ... so I've killed 2 birds with 1 stone here.
The focal flower image with the funky border is from Funky Fairys Doodmentals kit ... which was a free download ... and I simply printed it onto white paper, then matted and layered with black and white card from the scrap box before adding a black button brad to the centre.
The patterned paper was also in my scrap box but I can't remember which range it came from ... sorry.
All the bits were popped onto a plain white DL card blank and finished with spotty ribbon a sticky sentiment and large white brads.
Super simple!

Monday Monday

I must say a huge "THANK YOU" to everyone for all for the recent visits and lovely comments ... you do wonders for my ego! Please be patient with me until I get around to visiting all your blogs over the next couple of weeks as family life is pretty busy right now with the school holidays and hubby being home. I know many of you will understand but just don't want you to think I'm rude by not returning your kindnesses. I will eventually get round to you all.
My brother and his family are up visiting from England this week so we are spending some precious time with them before they emigrate to Australia in September. No doubt it will be a while until we see them again.

Following the disaster with Naomi's birthday card, I thought I'd show the replacement which sadly, isn't as nice as the one I destroyed ... but she liked it well enough so that's all that matters really and as she didn't see the original there was no disappointment.
The stamped image is 'Nellie and Foal' and I paper pieced Nellie but used Whispers Brush Markers to colour the foal and added a couple of dragonfly rub~ons that I thought were dinky.
Her favourite colour is purple so I chose various patterned papers and cardstock from my stash, with silver mirri card for layering and the observant among you will see that I once again followed last week's sketch from The Pink Elephant for the layout. Told you I'd be using it again.
Our Creative Corner Colour Challenge is to use purple this week so this will be my entry.

She enjoyed a busy birthday, especially as she had ten pin bowling training in the morning, but the most memorable moment was when she walked into her favourite restaurant that evening, expecting to sit down to a quiet family meal for 4 and was greeted by 18 family members singing 'Happy Birthday' ... well you can just imagine the surprise on her face I'm sure. It was just perfect. A memorable birthday indeed and I've no doubt she will treasure many magical moments of her special day in the years to come.
We're off to the cinema later this evening and tomorrow we are going to visit the The Falkirk Wheel so that should be a fun day out. We took the precaution of prebooking as there's so many of us and we didn't want to risk turning up and there not being enough room for everyone to make the trip. That would be a big disappointment.

In A Tizz !

I want to scream .... REALLY LOUD!!
I've just spilled hot coffee all over the birthday card intended for my daughter who will be 14 tomorrow !!
Will try to salvage it but am pretty sure it's a bin job.
ARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!