Love Birds Anniversary Card for Owen

Today is our wedding anniversary and this is the card I made for my dear hubby Owen - not to mention patient and long suffering! I used the supplies that Joanne gave us for the August SU! Stamper's Ten challenge - CS in Really Rust, Taken With Teal and More Mustard, a piece of Autumn Meadows paper and some Mustard ribbon.

I added small teal crystals as eyes and I popped up both birds. I also added 3 larger teal crystals to the strip of ribbon - I know Owen doesn't mind a touch of bling on the cards I make for him! I finished off by sticking on the metal photo corners. These were a bargain I found in the Cancer Research UK shop, 50p a pack or 3 packs for a £1 - so I snaffled a few packs!



Supplies:
Stamps: Sentiment by Stampendous
CS: SU! Really Rust, Taken With Teal & More Mustard
Patterned paper: SU! Autumn Meadows Designer Series Paper pack
Ink: SU! Really Rust
Tools: SU! Two Step Bird punch, small heart punch
Embellishments & accessories: SU! More Mustard grosgrain ribbon, Kaisercraft teal crystals, American Crafts Pewter metal photo corners, 3d foam pads

CAS Cupcake Card - Craft For Life Campaign

Today's CAS challenge on Splitcoast Stampers is to make a card inspired by the word delicious. I immediately thought of my Hero Arts Cupcakes stamp set, one of my favourites! I used a favourite colour combo of pink and chocolate brown too.

The eyelet card was already die cut and waiting in my card blank stash. I added a strip of stripy grosgrain ribbon. I paper pieced the cupcake, sponged some Regal Rose ink around the icing, added some pink glitter and topped it off with a big pink jewel. The icing is popped up. I stamped the words on patterned paper, cut them out and popped the 'delicious' up. This card will be donated to the Craft for Life campaign to support Cancer Research UK.



Supplies:
Stamps: Hero Arts Cupcakes clear set
CS: SU! Chocolate Chip
Patterned paper: SU! Bella Bleu Designer Series Paper pack, SU! Sweet Pea Designer Series Paper stack
Ink: SU! Chocolate Chip
Tools: Sizzix Bigx XL Card Fronts, A2 Eyelet & Ornate die
Embellishments & accessories: Pebbles Inc. ribbon, Art Institute 'Miss Muffet' ultrafine glitter, Doodlebug Cupcake jewel, 3d foam pads

Holly Merry Christmas Easel Card

This is a simple easel Christmas card made using the Waltzingmouse Stamps Sewing Box Christmas set. I love how the holly looks after paper piecing, it was an easy, fun card to make! The card measures 4 1/4" square.

The paper is from the SU! Merry Moments pack. I used my new Sizzix decorative strip die, but this time I used the rick rack die cut shape. The olive square panel is popped up.



Supplies:
Stamps: Waltzingmouse Stamps Sewing Box Christmas set, SU! Best Yet set
CS: SU! Real Red, Garden Green, Old Olive & Very Vanilla
Patterned paper: SU! Merry Moments Designer Series Paper pack
Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black, SU! Real Red
Tools: Labels One & square Nestabilities dies, SU! plain and scalloped oval punches, Sizzix Loops & Rick Rack Decorative Strip die
Embellishments & accessories: 3d foam pads

3 Flowers Birthday Wishes - Craft for Life Card

This is the second card Joanne designed for us to make at our August SU! Stamper's 10 Make & Take evening. I've made mine slightly differently - Joanne used a white card base and SU! green glitter for her flower centres but I've made a Pretty in Pink card and I used silver glitter for my flowers. This card will be donated to the UK Cancer Research Craft for Life campaign.

The small flower stamp is from the Vintage Vogue set. The stems were hand drawn with a Mellow Moss marker pen. We rock and rolled the flowers, inking first with Pretty in Pink ink and then rock and rolling in Perfect Plum ink. We cut out the flowers and shaped them a bit by running an embossing stylus around the flower centre while it was in the palm of our hand. We added some doodling around the white panel with a Perfect Plum marker pen and sponged some Pretty in Pink ink around the edge. A sentiment and a bow for the flower stems finished off the card.



Supplies:
Stamps: SU! Vintage Vogue & Sincere Salutations sets
CS: SU! Pretty in Pink, Perfect Plum & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Pretty in Pink, Perfect Plum & Mellow Moss ink pads, Mellow Moss & Perfect Plum marker pens
Tools: Embossing stylus
Embellishments & accessories: Silver glitter, SU! Pretty in Pink taffeta ribbon, glue dots

50th Birthday Easel Card for Kevin from Peter

Today is our friend Kevin's 50th birthday. He is currently celebrating by living the high life in New York on holiday. Peter asked me to make Kevin a birthday card for him and gave me a very specific brief - the card had to have a 50 on it, be turquoise and black and feature champagne. With that specific brief I didn't have to think too much, it was quite easy! I love easel cards and this is what I came up with and I was really pleased how it turned out. Peter said it was "stunning" so I just hope Kevin likes it too!

The card was made using SU! Tempting Turquoise and Basic Black CS plus some gorgeous SU! Groom Specialty Paper. The image was simply stamped with black ink and I've added some ultrafine crystal glitter here and there. The 50 was made with circle punches and number dies. I couldn't resist adding some bling in the form of turquoise gems to the scalloped border on the bottom of the card!



We spent a weekend with Kevin earlier in August when he had his 50th birthday party. Peter had themed the party decor to be turquoise and black and I made some table decorations. Just some simple punched and die cut stars to go on each of the five tables - we sprinkled in some 50 confetti too. Here's a photo showing one of the tables, you can click it to get a larger view.



Supplies:
Stamps: Funstamps Celebrate
CS: SU! Tempting Turquoise & Basic Black
Patterned paper: SU! Groom Specialty Paper
Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black
Tools: QuicKutz Scallops 12" border die, circle punches, Sizzix Rat-A-Tat alphabet die set, Sizziz Stars #2 die, star punches
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Tempting Turquoise grosgrain ribbon, Crystal ultrafine glitter, Kaisercraft turquoise gems, silver brads

Birdcage Flower Shaped Card for WMSC11 with 6" Ruler

This is the card I've made for the Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #11. I spent a lot of time at the weekend cleaning and sorting out my crafting room and I came across some long neglected items in my stash. When I saw the round shape of the WMS sketch this week I remembered I'd seen my flower shaped cards and I thought one of those would be perfect!



I bought these cards from Craftwork Cards years ago but haven't used one in a very long time. Each card comes with three flower shaped pieces - two coloured pearlescent shapes and one plasma (clear plastic) shape. Each flower shape has a hole and you tie ribbon through the holes to connect the pieces together to form the card - the plasma shape goes at the front. The card fits in a 6" square envelope.

I used the lovely Asian Gardens set for my image panel. The flowers are all popped up with 3d foam pads. Nestie dies were used to cut out all my circles. The patterned paper is from the Basic Grey Kioshi line. I stacked two lilac buttons together after threading thin strips of Artichoke CS through the small buttonholes. I couldn't resist adding a clear crystal to the birdcage!

I've recently joined the Birthday RAK group on the Splitcoast Stampers website and this card will be the last birthday RAK card I send out for August. I've stamped the 'Birthday Wishes' sentiment from the Asian Gardens set inside the card as I didn't have room on the card front.




A little while ago I came across Monica Gale's fab idea of decorating 6" rulers with double sided patterned paper. She has a video tutorial here on her blog post. I decorated a ruler with the same Basic Grey Kioshi paper I'd used on the card except I used the reverse, flowery side for the front of the ruler. I've added a coat of clear gloss varnish to the back of the ruler to make it more durable. They make such an inexpensive, fun RAK gift, and being flat, they're perfect for posting! Please click on the photo if you want a larger view.



Supplies:
Stamps: Waltzingmouse Stamps Asian Gardens set
CS: Lilac pearlescent Craftwork Cards flower shaped card, SU! Always Artichoke, Elegant Eggplant & Whisper White
Patterned paper: Basic Grey Kioshi 'Lilo'
Ink: Memento Bamboo Leaves & Sweet Plum, VersaMagic Eggplant chalk ink
Tools: Circle Nestabilities dies, Crop-A-Dile
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Elegant Eggplant grosgrain ribbon, clear crystal, PaperMania buttons, SU! Pewter jumbo eyelet, Wilkinson 6" clear plastic ruler, 3d foam pads

Perky Pig Treat Cup Card

This is one of the cards Joanne designed for us to make at our August SU! Stamper's Ten Make & Take evening. It's quite a time consuming card to make so I only got this one made. I'm hoping to make the other, more simple card, later on. That pig is so sweet! Joanne named him Perky, a very fitting name!

We used Bashful Blue CS to make the A6 sized card but covered the front with a piece of Whisper White CS we'd added a sky background to. We made the sky background using a cloud template - a few overlapping punched out circles attached to a piece of CS - and then we sponged Bashful Blue ink around the template, moving the template around the CS as we went. The grass was made with torn strips of Garden Green CS. We used Nestie circle dies to cut the apertures. The pig was made with Nestie circle die cuts, various sized circle punches and for the trotters we used a small heart punch and the ears were made using the wing from the Two Step Bird punch. To make the curly tail, we drew a spiral on a punched out circle and then cut out the spiral. For the smiley mouth we used a 3/4" circle punch and punched just part way into some black CS and then punched again with a 1/2" circle punch. We edged all the Pretty In Pink shapes with Pretty In Pink ink to add some definition.

The 'for you' was stamped onto a Round Tab punched shape and the tab was then glued to a square of Pretty In Pink CS. We glued the black panel to the card front on three sides only so that we could then slide the pink tabbed panel behind the treat cup. This way the recipient can get to the goodies inside the cup by sliding out the tab and without ripping the card apart. I bought some fruit Mentos sweets and just put some pink ones inside my treat cup. My neighbour Kath is absolutely mad about pigs. Her cute granddaughter always visits on Sundays so I'm going to give this card to Kath so she can give it to Georgie. I've got more of the sweeties so granny can keep filling up the treat cup too!



Supplies:
Stamps: SU! Pocket Silhouettes & Occasional Greetings sets
CS: SU! Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Garden Green, Pretty In Pink & Basic Black
Ink: SU! Pretty In Pink, Bashful Blue & Garden Green
Tools: Circle Nestabilities dies, various sized circle punches, SU! small heart punch, SU! Two Step Bird punch, SU! Round Tab punch, sponge daubers
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Sweet Treat Cup, SU! Sticky Strip red liner tape

Coffee Easel Card for Owen

A fun little easel card I made for my hubby Owen. I'm loving these smaller size easel cards at the moment, this one measures 4" square.

The stamp set is from Elzybells, it's so sad that they're closing down. I love the cups in the set and they're perfect for paper piecing. I've used olive paper from the SU! Sweet Pea stack. I also used my new Sizzix decorative strip die on this card, I love those loops! The die also has a large rick rack design on it too. I do like to use ribbon and bling on cards but I don't always use them on masculine cards - but I know Owen doesn't mind if I sneak some on a card for him!

I wrote "well, two out of three ain't bad!" on the card.



Supplies:
Stamps: Elzybells Tea For Two set
CS: SU! Taken With Teal, Chocolate Chip & Whisper White
Patterned paper: SU! Sweet Pea Designer Series Paper stack
Ink: VersaMagic Jumbo Java chalk ink
Tools: Square Nestabilities dies, Sizzix Loops & Rick Rack Decorative Strip die
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon, Kaiser teal gems

CAS Trees Birthday Wishes Card - Craft For Life Campaign

Today's CAS80 challenge on Splitcoast Stampers is a sketch inspired by this fab card made by stampingout. I really liked the layout and thought I'd take the opportunity to make another masculine birthday card for the Cancer Research Craft for Life Campaign.

I cut a piece of A4 Old Olive card in half lengthways and then scored at the halfway mark to make a top folded A6 size card. I've used the SU! Funky Forest wheel stamp - but I use mine unmounted. I stamped the image in Olive ink and then I've gone in afterwards with my Choc Chip marker pen to add colour to the tree trunks. The shaped border was made with a Tim Holtz On the Edge die. To finish off, I tied some Choc Chip satin ribbon around the card in a knot.



Supplies:
Stamps: SU! Funky Forest wheel stamp, sentiment from SU! Wow Flowers set
CS: SU! Old Olive, Chocolate Chip & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Old Olive & Chocolate Chip ink pads & Chocolate Chip marker pen
Tools: Sizzix Tim Holtz On the Edge 'Brackets' die, metric Scor-Pal
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Chocolate Chip satin ribbon

Tree Trio Birthday Wishes - Craft for Life Campaign

Here's a masculine birthday card I made for the Cancer Research UK Craft for Life Campaign. My hubby Owen volunteers in our local Cancer Research UK shop and I gave him a bunch of cards to take in a couple of weeks ago. Owen checked the card spinner on Monday and told me I need to make some more as almost all of my cards have been sold!

I've used the SU! Trendy Trees set for this card, it's such a fun set to use. I love that the patterned paper from the Sweet Pea stack matches the stamp set! The middle tree circle is popped up.



Supplies:
Stamps: SU! Trendy Trees & Wow Flowers sets
CS: SU! Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Taken With Teal, So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie & Whisper White
Patterned paper: SU! Sweet Pea Designer Series Paper stack
Ink: SU! Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, So Saffron & Pumpkin Pie
Tools: Circle punches, EK Success Dotted Wave punch
Embellishments & accessories: 3d foam pads

50th Birthday Card & Candle for Kevin

This is the card I made for Kevin's 50th birthday. I saw the green candle in a shop a couple of days after I'd made the card and decided it would be fun to decorate it to match the card. It's not his birthday until later on in August but the party was on the 7th and he opened cards and gifts from the guests at the party. I've only just recovered from the fabulous birthday bash weekend!

The card measures approx. 5" x 7" and was made with Bashful Blue CS. I stamped the candles on the So Saffron layer and also stamped on Bashful Blue patterned papers so I could paper piece the candles. I've added yellow Stickles to the flames. At the bottom I've added a strip of Chocolate Chip ribbon, a strip of Old Olive patterned paper and I then added some blue candy dots. I made the 50 circle element with my Cuttlebug Olivia alphabet set and two offset 1 3/4" punched circles. The 50 and the 'celebrate' candle are both popped up.

For the candle, I adhered a strip of Saffron paper and then added the 50 circle element. This time, I used a 1 1/2" circle matted onto a 1 3/4" circle and squidged the numbers closer together. The belly band around the candle slides off so he can use the candle without the reminder of being 50!



This pic shows the inside of the card:



Supplies:
Stamps: Hero Arts Big Candles clear set, inside sentiment also Hero Arts
CS: SU! Bashful Blue, So Saffron, Old Olive & Chocolate Chip
Patterned paper: SU! Bashful Blue Prints Designer Series Paper pack, Sweet Pea Designer Series Paper stack
Ink: SU! Chocolate Chip
Tools: Cuttlebug Olivia alphabet set, Nestie circle dies, circle punches, corner rounder punch, star punches
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon, Pebbles Inc. Baby Blue Candy Dots, Yellow Stickles, 3d foam pads

CAS Tree Feel Better Soon Card For Robin

Our friend Robin is going into hospital today for an operation and I've made a card for him so he knows we're thinking of him and wishing him well. I think the tree from the Waltzingmouse Stamps Asian Gardens set is fabulous for masculine cards!

The card is a standard A6 size, made with SU! Chocolate Chip CS. I inked the tree trunk in VersaMagic Jumbo Java ink but used two green inks for the leaves - I first inked with Tea Leaves and then I added just a touch of Spanish Olive around the edges. I used my new Nellie MultiFrame oval dies and then sponged distress ink around the vanilla ovals. I did exactly the same for the bird image I put on the envelope flap. I even remembered to use a cream envelope rather than reaching for a white one!



Supplies:
Stamps: Waltzingmouse Stamps Asian Gardens set
CS: SU! Chocolate Chip, Old Olive & Very Vanilla
Ink: VersaMagic chalk inks in Jumbo Java, Tea Leaves & Spanish Olive, Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distress Ink
Tools: Nellie's MultiFrame Oval MFD013 dies

Dandelion Thanks So Much Card

Another card made using a new embossing folder, this time the Crafts Too Swirl Frame folder. The card is approx. 5 3/4" square and is made with hessian textured card. I embossed the folder on the same textured card, rounded the corners and covered the inside of the frame panel with the same patterned paper I used for the background.

For the image panel, I stamped the dandelion and sentiment and then added some colour to the dandelion with shimmery chalks. I swiped Choc Chip ink around the image after rounding the corners and have popped it up with foam pads. Some ribbon and a few gems added to the dandelion completed the card.



Supplies:
Stamps: Dandelion from Hero Arts, sentiment from SU!
CS: Snow White Hessian textured CS
Patterned paper: PaperMania
Ink: SU! Chocolate Chip
Tools: Crafts Too Swirl Frame embossing folder, Pebbles Inc. Shimmer Chalks, X Cut Corner Rounder punch
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Choc Chip grosgrain ribbon, small clear gems, 3d foam pads

Embossed Frame Bird Thank You Card

This is my first card using the lovely Cuttlebug Flourished Frame embossing folder I recently bought. I kept things very simple. The card base was made with SU! Pale Plum CS - this folder suits A2 size cards better than A6 so my card measures 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". I stamped the image twice, once in green ink and then again in eggplant ink and I cut the eggplant bird out and I've popped it up. A stamped sentiment and some bling to the corners of the white panel finished the card!



Supplies:
Stamps: Inkadinkado Birds Galore clear set, SU! Thank You Kindly set
CS: SU! Pale Plum & Whisper White
Ink: VersaMagic Tea Leaves & Eggplant chalk inks
Tools: Flourish Frame Cuttlebug embossing folder
Embellishments & accessories: Crystals, 3d foam pads

Wedding Anniversary Card for Jackie & Bill

A scheduled post today and for the next couple of days as we're heading back to the Cotswolds for the weekend to celebrate Kevin's 50th birthday - can't wait! Our friends Jackie and Bill just celebrated their 30th (pearl) wedding anniversary and this is the card I sent to them. Of course, I had to get some pearls on the card!

I used a piece of the gorgeous SU! damask Groom Specialty Paper to make the card base and cut it out with my Sizzix Ornate card die - quite elegant I think! I stamped the hearts, cut them out and popped them up. Then I just added the sentiment strip, the ribbon and the half pearls.



Supplies:
Stamps: Hero Arts Hugs 'n Hearts clear set, sentiment also Hero Arts
CS: SU! Groom Specialty Paper & Whisper White
Ink: VersaMagic Red Magic chalk ink, VersaFine Onyx Black
Tools: Sizzix Bigz XL Card Fronts Ornate & Eyelet die
Embellishments & accessories: Red grosgrain ribbon, self adhesive half pearls, 3d foam pads

Bright & Cheery Hello Card - WMSC8

I am absolutely chuffed to bits that my card for WMSC7 was chosen for a Top Mouse award, that put a huge smile on my face! This is the card I've made for the WMSC8 challenge. Here's the sketch:


I received my new Waltzingmouse Asian Gardens stamp sets on Friday so I knew exactly which stamps I wanted to use. I opted to make a bright, cheery hello card to catch up with a friend I haven't heard from in a while.

For the circle elements, I stamped a variety of the Sakura flowers and punched them out with different sized circle punches. For the hello circle, I stamped the rain image from Asian Garden Additions as a background and then stamped the sentiment and tiny flower before matting on a larger Melon Mambo circle. I've popped three of the circles up on foam dots. For the top of the card, I stamped the background border stamp and I added a strip of dotty ribbon. To finish off, I've added some bright pink bling.



Supplies:
Stamps: Waltzingmouse Stamps Asian Gardens & Asian Gardens Additions sets
CS: SU! Melon Mambo, Barely Banana & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Barely Banana, Memento Rose Bud
Tools: Circle punches
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Melon Mambo dotty grosgrain ribbon, pink gems, 3d foam pads

CAS Chrysanthemum Feel Better Soon Card - OLW14

I made this card for Susan's OLW14 challenge which was to make a one layer square card and use an outline stamp. I'd made 30 white one layer thanks cards for a friend before making this card so I was ready for some colour! I chose SU! Pale Plum CS and paired it with Rich Razzleberry ink, love those colours together!

The card measures 4" square and I rounded just the top corner of the card. I'm afraid I couldn't resist adding the self adhesive metal embellishment I found in my stash - it was the perfect size and colour after all! I then added a crystal over the top to bling it up a bit.



Supplies:
Stamps: Waltzingmouse Stamps Big Blooms Chrysanthemums & Asian Gardens sets
CS: SU! Pale Plum
Ink: SU! Rich Razzleberry
Tools: Corner rounder punch
Embellishments & accessories: PaperMania self adhesive metal flower embellishment, Swarovski crystal