Flamboyant Colours

There's a section in my filing cabinet filled to the gunnels with card sheets from Kanban, so I had a root through them and found these flamboyantly colourful images ... enough to brighten up anyone's Sunday afternoon don'tcha' think?  
This would be the perfect image for Masquerade Ball invitations.

6" x 6"

5" x 7"

DL

Easel Card

Combined with some pretty paper from Papermania, snippets of coloured card stock and a couple of sentiment stamps - the result is a collection of 4 very different cards.  
I'm heading back to Pixie's Playground again this week to enter my easel card for their Snippets Challenge.   They're keeping a swing for me so would be rude not to go and play!
Would also like to enter Crafting When We Can- At The Movies ... obviously the movie would have to be Masquerade.

Finishing up for today with something a lot more subtle.

Another Kanban sheet but this time showing a cute wee girl with a fluffy bow bedecked sheepdog.  Adorable!  Some pink papers and ribbon are added to make a card suitable for any age and any occasion.  I'm going to enter it in the challenge over at That Craft Place where the theme is For A Child.

 

Back To Blogland

YOWZA!
Where did 2012 go in such a hurry?
It's been such a long time since any crafty blogging has happened here ... so thank you to all the faithful followers who haven't jumped ship during my absence. 
It's fair to say that 2012 was a barren year for activity here at MCC,  although 'real life' was anything but ... being pretty hectic at times and frequently verging on chaotic!  My biggest problem was finding the time and enthusiasm to deal with it all effectively following my surgery. 

The intention for 2013 is to be more organised in all areas of my life and hopefully my mind will follow suit ... so fingers crossed I'll be able to do all the things I want to do, both crafty and otherwise and still have enough time and energy to share snippets of it all with everyone.

But  ... before that and to kick things off, allow me to share just a few of my 2012 cards that didn't get an airing. 
If you have any questions about techniques or supplies used, then leave a message and I'll do my best to answer your query.

Babies

(Kanban Kit)

(Stamping and Embossing)

(Stamping and Embossing)

(Stamping, Inking and Mirri Card)

(Inside View)

(Digital Stamping and Promarkers)

(Digital Image and Stamping)

(Inside View)

Birthdays

(Digital Image and Computer Sentiment)

(Inside View)

(Kanban Kit)

(Inside View)

(Kanban Kit with Butterfly Embellishment)

(Inside View)

(Kanban Kit and 3D Elements)

(Kanban Kit and Diamante Ribbon Buckle)

(Kanban Kit, Pearls and Glitter Paper)

(Inside View)

(Kanban Kit and Cupcake Wrapper Decoration)

(Inside View)

(Kanban Kit, Mirri Card and Ribbon)

(Inside View)

(Doodling and Stickles)

(Inside View)

(Easel Card and Diecutting)

(Recycling)

(inside View)

(Digital Stamp, Paper Roses and Ribbon)

Other Occasions

(Embossing and Stickles)

(Inside View)

(Kanban Kit with Black and Gold)

(Inside View)

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

Bah Humbug! Challenge 37

Don't know why I always seem to be chasing my tail these days, but here at last, is my DT offering for our Bah! Humbug! Challenge 37 - Flourishes and Swirls.

Although it's another simple design using panels of Kanban mirrored foiled card adhered to a black tri-fold card blank, with an embossed panel matted onto black overlapping the fold, the finished result looks kind've good ... in fact I would even go so far as to say they're verging on elegant.

Last year I remember using this same design idea for my Mother-in-Law's personalised Xmas cards, making a batch of gold designs and a batch of silver and they proved to be quite popular, so I may be making some for myself to send this year.

Gold Collection 2010

Silver Collection 2010

Our Guest Designer Barb has Flourishes and Swirls galore on her project this week, so I suggest you take a peek before heading off to make your own fantastic flourishy creation for our challenge HERE. 
Go on now - run along and see for yourself if you don't believe me and enjoy the remainder of your weekend ... wherever you are and whatever you are doing.

2011 Bah! Humbug! # 1

The Bah! Humbug! Christmas Challenges are back! WHOO HOO!
The theme for our first challenge for 2011 is  

Holly and/or Fairies

... and there is a fabulous prize on offer for one lucky random entry so it's got to be worth having a go hasn't it?    We also have a brand new Guest designer who has 2 beautiful cards to share and although I know you're just dying to know who it is, I'm not telling you ... you'll have to go and see!  
Our fellow Humbugger Irene is unwell at the moment so she's sadly unable to join in this time,  but Ann and I hope she will be back with us very soon 'cos it's just not the same without her work up there too.
Anyway ... getting back to challenge #1
I chose the Holly theme and created this card using some gorgeous gold foiled card from Kanban which was layered with some rich green textured card matted onto gold mirri card for a classy look.

 The Holly, berries and wreath shape were cut using a Marianne Creatables die set and some pretty green and gold ribbon adds a little more luxury to the inside back panel of gold mirri card.  If you'd like a closer look at the fabulous foiling, then just click the images.

If you fancy the idea of having a ready stash of Christmas cards in 2011 without any last minute running around like a headless chicken, then join in with our Bah! Humbug! Challenges every week and you'll see just how easily that can be achieved.  
Look forward to seeing you there!