A Manly Time

The weekend's cardmaking was predominantly male orientated as we celebrated Father's Day here in UK. 
A Dad is a girl's "first love" and will always hold a special place in her heart ... I'm lucky enough that mine lives close by and is still playing an active and important role in our family life.
Another important man in my life is, of course, my husband and the children each needed a card for him, so I was kept busy in the craft room on Saturday.
My daughter's card uses elements from a collection of Fizzy Moon goodies 'cos she likes 'cute'.

 The front of a large square card was folded back to create a z-fold card and the panels were decorated with layers of plain blue card and glittery heart patterned paper matted onto silver mirri.   A strip of blue ribbon knotted on one side helps to break up the empty space.

Fizzy Moon chipboard emellishments were matted onto silver mirri card and placed on the front panel with foam pads ... simple silver peel off letters spelling the word 'DAD'.

The sweet sentiment was computer generated on my PC and placed inside, leaving enough space for her to write her own personal message.

Something a little more grown up was needed for my son's card, so I decorated a large square card inside and out with GCD studio double-sided papers and folded an origami shirt from a matching leftover scrap.  Black Stickles glitter glue was perfect for creating shiny buttons and alphabet letters on gold mirri punched circles are arranged above it.  No ribbons this time lol!

The sentiment inside came from a little used Penny Black stamp set which I came across the other day and I thought it was ideal as a meaningful, yet non-gushy, message that a grown up son could send to his dad.

For my own dad's card, I coloured a digi image of a dog relaxing in his chair, armed with nibblies, a cuppa'  and ... most importantly ... the TV remote!  Quite appropriate really given that Euro 2012 is dominating TV at the moment ... yawn.

This image was bought ages ago to help raise awareness and funds for an Air Ambulance charity and it is an almost identical replica of a card featured previously on my blog somewhere ... but unfortunately I can't find it and I can't remember who to credit.  If anyone knows or can point me in the right direction, I'd be very grateful.  Rest assured when I do find out I will add the relevant credits and links etc.

Finally I just wanted to show the belated birthday card made for one of Naomi's ten pin bowling pals.  It was his birthday last week but as Naomi was in The Ochils hiking and camping for Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award at the time, she was a bit late.

 

Kanban came to the rescue with this cute Scottie dog image with tartan background elements and I played around with words for the computer generated belated message inside.

I am submitting entries to the following Male themed challenges ...
My Sheri Crafts - Challenge #87 Father's Day
Dream Valley Challenges #34 - For That Special Guy
CI Paints - Inspired By Father's Day
Card Makin Mamas - Challenge #47 Father's Day

"Bunny Friends"

That's the title of the Penny Black stamp I used to create these cards and I have to say that it ranks among my top 10 favourite PB cuties ... after the hedgies of course!
It is quite a large wooden stamp featuring 5 cute bunnies in flowerpots so, after stamping on linen effect card and colouring with Promarkers, I decided to chop it up to see if it was feasible to make 2 cards from 1 image.
The Papermania Spring Time pad was still sitting on the desk from earlier, so I matched cardstock to the colours of the paper I'd chosen and punched 2 scalloped circles. 

Then I doodled with green fineliner on one and pierced holes around the other for some detail before cutting out 2 of the bunnies and paper-piecing the flowerpots from a scrap of textured card.  This fits in quite nicely with One Stop Craft Challenge 74 which is Paper Piecing.
The Happy Easter sentiment was the freebie from Quick Cards Made Easy, (also still lying on the desk), and it was inked up with Brilliance Dew Drop Pearl Olive before matting it onto offcuts of card and adding some tiny flower gems.
For the 2nd card, I cut a square of lilac gingham card slightly smaller than the  purple cardstock and then cropped the corners before matting them together and adding some faux stitching with a white gel pen.

From the remaining purple card and some pretty pastel green spotty paper, I used the rotary trimmer to cut 2 strips of varying widths from each, with a deckled edge blade.
After overlapping them horizontally and vertically on the gingham card I added another 2 bunnies cut from the original stamped image and finished decorating with a few buttons and a lilac satin bow.

I must say I'm quite taken with the colouring on the textured card with the Promarkers - normally I stick to smooth cardstock - but the linen effect gives an interesting result and is something I will definitely try again.

For the first time in a long time I am able to join in with this week's Penny Black Saturday Challenge.  Their theme "Check It Out" requires the use of checked paper or ribbons along with a PB image, so both cards are suitable as entries.
Our Creative Corner are looking for us to Break Out The Buttons, so my 2nd card qualifies for this challenge and Stampin' For The Weekend are asking for Ribbons and Bows so my tiny lilac bow sneaks me in there.
Finally, The Pink Elephant Challenge 60 is Pastels so I reckon either of these cards would work.
For the benefit of those who haven't seen the Penny Black Bunny Friends stamp in it's entirety - here you go!  

Definitely worth keeping a look out for if you don't already have it - if only for the cuteness factor.

Tree- mendous

My Graphico have a theme challenge and a sketch challenge every week, which effectively means they offer a challenge choice to everyone to join in with one or both, depending on your time and inclination.
I used their lovely tree freebie images to join in this week with their Challenge #41 - In Threes.
I opened the trees in PSP (Paint Shop Pro) played with the sizes and then printed them off along with a computer generated sentiment, before cutting around the lot with scalloped scissors. 

There was a small strip of spotty paper in my scrap box which provided a nice backdrop and this was matted onto yellow card.  The green card was embossed on the cuttlebug with swiss dots and then matted onto another piece of yellow.  A small yellow bow is the perfect embellishment for the scalloped oval greeting.
Once again I find myself eligible for more than one challenge ...
The fresh spring colours allow me a second entry to Rosie_D's Challenge #67 - Yellow, Green and White and also to join in at Charisma Cardz #12- Spring.
Rainbow Lady's current challenge asks "In my garden I see ..."   - trees and birds are both visible in mine, (although admittedly they don't look like these ones), but then again, she never asked for real life ones so reckon I'm pretty safe and Pixie Cottage Challenge 12 is to use circles - there are plenty of them here with the globe trees, the spotty paper and the swiss dots.
Hope you all enjoy a wonderful weekend ... oh and remember we "Spring  Forward" an hour on Saturday night/Sunday morning if you're in UK!

Q: Whooo's a Twit-Twoo?

A: Me!
Q: Why?
A: 'Cos I forgot someone's birthday and didn't send a card - DUH! 
That little snippet of information probably won't come as any great surprise to a lot of people who know me as they can see me getting more scatterbrained as the years go by.   Hey Ho ... old age doesn't come by itself LOL!

Anyway ... my little moment of amnesia meant I needed to make a belated birthday card and as there was a box from QVC sitting on the desk with DB's Spring Woodland kit inside, I thought I'd have a wee play. 

You will have guessed from the title of my post that I opted for the owl image from all the cute woodland characters, but that came about because it fitted the idea I had for the greeting. 
The cream base card was 8" x 8" and I sliced a section from the front before layering the back panel with some pretty double sided patterned card, (from the kit), matted onto silver mirri card.  The remaining front panel was then decorated wih the reversed patterned card, also matted onto silver mirri.

The die cut wavy border was then attached with foam pads - this was already foiled so no cutting out was needed. 
From the remaining strips of patterned card I punched the circles for the alphabet stickers, (not included) and then cut 2 x Nestability scalloped ovals with my cuttlebug - one of which I trimmed and overlapped to make it big enough for the owl image, (can you see the join?) - and then I used the offcut for the alphabet stickers on the front before doodling with a white gel pen.

Inside I opted to use the cute die cut bunny message which was layered onto the last wee scrap of pink dotty card - and that's it!
I now need to get this card in the post or it'll be a week late - and that just won't do!
I'm going to submit this card as an entry at  
Crafty Cardmakers whose theme is Spring
and also 
Daring Cardmakers, for their theme of Tweetie Pie, if multiple entries are allowed.

Bah! Humbug Challenge #7 - Trees

If Blogger is playing nicely, this message should post automatically before I've arrived back in Bonnie Fife after my little adventure with Ann and Irene.
Can't believe we will have survived a whole week without the internet ... but hopefully we 3 'Humbuggers' will have had a fabulous week of fun together and be just about ready to return to normal life, our families and our routines.
That does, of course, mean it's back to our Bah! Humbug! weekly challenges, which thankfully is a nice easy one - TREES.

The wire tree embellishment used on my card was recycled from our Christmas Crackers in 2008 ... I knew I would use it eventually! 
I really wanted to keep the card simple so have just overlaid the wire tree with silicon glue onto one of the larger trees cut from the Dovecraft Christmas Blues background paper.  This was then matted onto silver mirri card and cut around with scallop scissors, before mounting onto square panels of the same background paper, silver mirri card and green cardstock. 
I wasn't sure whether I wanted to add ribbon or a sentiment so have left it 'naked' for the time being.  It will be easy to add either - OR BOTH - before sending.
If you'd like to see what my fellow 'Humbuggers' have been up to for this challenge, then pop over for a look see and please feel free to share your own  Christmas tree card or project with us by leaving a link in our comments section. 
We look forward to being inspired by your fabulous creations.

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.

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.

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.

Wedding Card Box and 2 Challenges

I still have to personalise the wedding card box ... silly me ran out of A4 silver mirri card ... but it's as good as finished so thought I'd show you before it gets sent off.
It was made using a sheet of silver mirri card for the base and a sheet of double sided card forms the lid because I thought a mirri card lid might be a bit overpowering.
The edge of the lid was scalloped using a corner punch with the guide removed and then I added some sparkly decorative lace around the sides and knotted some pink satin ribbon for decoration.
Sorry the sparkle isn't showing in the photo but trust me, it looks lovely.

The 2 heart shapes were cut freehand from the remnants of that gorgeous floral embossed paper and they have been mounted onto silver mirri card and cut out leaving a narrow border. Silicon glue has been used to attach them.

The Pink Elephant Challenge #25 is a sketch this week and I can see me using this layout a lot 'cos it's so easy to follow.
The image and sentiment are free digi downloads from Whimsie Doodles ... don't you just love that cute wee face?
I've used Sakura Pens for colouring and they have a lovely subtle sparkle effect when dry.
A black fineliner was perfect for the doodling and 'faux stitching' with teeny weeny Making Memories brads and Prima flowers adding the decoration.

Kaboodle Doodles Challenge #10 is to use a digi image so this fits in perfectly and I must admit that I've amazed myself for managing to combine challenges this week, 'cos I usually find this very difficult.

Sporty Uncle

Found time this afternoon to make a card which qualifies for both The Pink Elephant Challenge #23 which is a Colour Challenge using Red, Light Blue and Darker Blue and Carol's Sketch Fun Challenge #10

I opted to use up some more of the Dufex Sporty Decoupage Kit that's been hiding in my stash for ages and which was purchased from one of the shopping channels many moons ago.
The red card was embossed with Cuttlebug's Swiss Dots folder and the scallop edge was achieved with a small circle punch.

Cupcakes

Have you noticed that cupcakes are all the rage at the moment?
These 2 cards are another offering for the very worthwhile project run by Post Pals and will be accompanying small gifts to 2 very special children later today, in the hope that it will bring a smile to their faces for a while at least.
If you would like more information about this project then click the Post Pals link above or the icon on my sidebar.

Simon Says Stamp is this week encouraging us to make multiple cards and projects for their Happy Mail Challenge and so if you want to join in then pop over there and show your support.

Bubbly Scrumptious are running a Cupcake Challenge throughout July so these are perfect for that and there is a fabulous prize on offer there too worth ... wait for it!!! ... approx £75.
EEEK!! Unbelievably generous.
To check out the rules properly, click on the links above or the cute wee blinkie that's flashing on my sidebar.
As I have no cupcake stamps or templates ... how sad am I? ... an oval scallop punch was used to create the topping from some button printed cardstock and this was inked around the edges. The cases were simply cut from blue gingham card and then foam pads were used to adhere them to the card.
Buttons and a teeny bit of ribbon provide a smidgeon of decoration and a simple greeting finishes them off. Doesn't get much quicker or easier than that.

Colour Create Challenge 4

Whilst blog hopping the other night ... skipping through links (as you do) ... I found the Colour Create Challenge blog, (which is now added to the rapidly growing sidebar), so thought I'd follow their colour palette challenge of Pink and Grey to produce this very simple card.
Scalloped circles, scalloped scissors and some black doodling add a wee bit of interest and the fushia pink ribbon is the finishing touch.

Anniversary Wishes

Today my parents celebrate 51 years of marriage ... and whilst I don't suppose for one minute their lives together have always been blissful, their commitment to their wedding vows and each other must be acknowledged.

At the risk of sounding like a fuddy duddy, I wish later generations had even a smidgeon of such staying power and then maybe there wouldn't be so much 'dysfunction' in our society.

Anyway ... I digress.

I used papers from a HOTP book of Pretty Papers to decorate a cream card blank and cut a circle and heart with scallop scissors to embellish the front pages which are only adhered at the folded edge.

Satin pink ribbon tied in a knot through punched holes, adds the finishing touch to the folded spine.

A wee peek inside reveals some layers using the offcut papers and a sentiment stamped onto pastel card has been gold embossed.

Revealed

I recently posted a 'Sneaky Peek' and I can now reveal the whole card as it was safely delivered last week ... better late than never.

Lovely K. & Co. papers and letter tiles, scalloped edges and a touch of ribbon helped to make this pretty card for my good friend and fellow blogger Tiggertastic.
Her gift was a photo cube kit which I know she will enjoy making, although she may prefer to use prettier papers than those included with the kit.
She had already told me that she was getting a new sewing machine for her birthday, so I sent her a bundle of fabric to play around with, not for her birthday ... just to get her started.
I know she'll make better use of it than me as my machine only ever sees the light of day when hubby needs to turn up his jeans.

Grab'n'Go

I decided to take a break from the Xmas card orders and make another couple of cards for the Grab'n'Go box.

Again I used the Papermania Spring Life paper stack and added no greeting for the moment as it makes them more versatile.

Really like the yellow, blue and brown colour combination as it looks so fresh.

Scallop punches and a piercing tool add a touch of detail to textured blue card.

Thank You Card

While the router in the attic was having a hissy fit, making it impossible to get online, I made a wee 'Thank You' for my MSN buddy Carole who did me a huge favour last week.

Nothing too fancy ... just a wee show of appreciation.
As you can see I'm still enjoying using the scallop punch but also tried making a larger scallop using a mini circle punch and placing the punched shapes behind a circle of scrap card. Not too sure whether mirri card was the right choice but the technique is going to be handy, especially if you want a scalloped edge on an irregular shape.

More Kit Cards

As the LMC Issue 18 Kit was still sitting on my workspace ... (yep ... I'm afraid I don't come anywhere close to being a tidy crafter)... I made a few more cards with it this afternoon.

I really liked the luxury paper samples in the kit and my only complaint would be that they were quite small pieces and there weren't enough of them LOL! However, using my faithful punches, I was able to combine several of them to make this Best Wishes card which stretched them a wee bit further. It's quite bright isn't it?

I also made this Birthday card which is more along the lines of the Vintage Theme of the kit.

I sacrificed a couple of card blanks for matting and layering and used a small circle punch to create scallops. A clear border stamp and black Stazon ink were ideal to decorate the scalloped edges.

There are lots of vintage images which haven't even been touched yet, but I'll probably combine them with vintage papers from other collections in my stash ... I have loads of papers which would work really well.

Busy Weekend

Despite being busy this weekend, I managed to finally open the Let's Make Cards Issue 18 kit and make something with the contents.

I used the packaging to provide the white card blank, and created 3 apertures with a scalloped circle punch on the front face.
I then used a small circle punch to create a scallop edge to a section of pink spotty paper and this was then glued to the left hand edge.
A few of these punched circles were then used to decorate the front and I drew 'faux stitching' with a green fineline pen. Another section of this paper was used to line the inside, showing through the apertures.
Using green floral paper, (also from the kit), I punched 2 flowers with a daisy squeeze punch, mounted them onto silver mirri card circles and placed them in the middle of the top and bottom apertures, adding a small green gem to the centre of each.
A small section of white braid ribbon was threaded through the Happy Birthday sentiment tag and this was mounted to the front, over the central aperture.
Additional green gems were glued to the spotty circles, as a finishing touch, using Diamond Glaze because it dries clear.

There's loads of kit left wih some fabbylicious papers and vintage images, so hope to get a chance this week to make some more cards for my Grab'n'Go box.

I must also show you the beautiful Anniversary card and gorgeous RAK received last Friday from my very special CB friend Tiggertastic (aka Sarah).
Look at all these luvverlies ... can't wait for a chance to play with them all.

The fabulous wall hanging is for my horse mad daughter who was, yet again, blown away at the time and effort put into making something especially for her.
You are so very kind and generous Sarah ... huge thank you hugs from us both xxx

Monday ! Monday!

Another grey and wet start to the week and sadly, today is the last day of the school holidays. This Summer has been one of the wettest I can remember and I feel quite sorry for the kids as we've definitely not had much in the way of T~shirt and shorts weather over the last 6 weeks.

Forgot to show this card the other day, made with another of the cute English Paper Company papers. Don't you just love those bird's faces.

Once again my scallop punch was used ... this time to mount the image behind the aperture.

Saw the LMC Issue 17 magazine the other day and decided to buy it.

The kit is quite pretty with lots of cute baby bits'n'bobs, so made this card for a baby boy.

Gave me a chance to play with pop out parcels on the inside too. Cute huh??


By simply changing the paper these pop out parcels would work for Birthday Cards and Xmas too.

Apologies for the blurry photos ... will replace them with better ones if I get a chance.

Black and White Challenge

Blimey ! Where has this week gone?
I seem to have blinked and missed it.

Anyway ... I haven't been idle ... far from it ... but some of what I've been busy with has to stay secret for a while longer. However, I can show this Black and White birthday card I made which fits the criteria for the Black and White Challenge over at White Ribbon Cards.
Susie is celebrating her upcoming wedding and 20,000 hits and has a super prize on offer. Pssssstttt .... I'd really appreciate it if you didn't enter so I have a better chance of winning LOL!

The paper is from the DCWV 'All Dressed Up' stack and the pretty black daisy embellishments are from a scrapbook kit in my stash.
A large scallop punch gave me the large daisy for the greeting ... I just cut into it to create the petal effect and then mounted the stamped greeting on top. Cool huh?

Thanks for looking.