By the sea

I'n another year older today, and although I won't be by the sea I thought I would share this card with you as I will be in Krakow, Poland, celebrating quietly away from the Olympics and perhaps (unsure as scheduling this post in advance) some grey UK weather?

I've gone completely out of my comfort zone to create this card which is based on an idea I saw on Crafting Clare's site.  She always makes such beautiful cards and inspires me to try new ideas, but often I can't get the same effect.  With this card though I actually managed to get the watercolouring/sponge daubering to work and after fiddling around a bit and adding a frame and a border with some Night of Navy card and attaching it all to a Bashful Blue card base I have a reason to celebrate.

I also thought I'd enter this into the Crafty Boots Challenge (not easy to do when scheduling posts, so I will be back to change the link at some point).

Fingers crossed there are some handmade cards waiting for me to open when I get back on Monday, otherwise I may be struggling for blog posts by then :P.

For a friend

Sometimes in life you are lucky enough to find someone who you can be yourself around, and talk to like no one else!  After I lost my other half, Nick, in 2010, a very good friend was there for me more than anyone else... of course a lot of my friends were there for me too, but this friend didn't find it as hard to listen to me, or talk to me after what happened, which made it easier for me in a way! 

Sadly, for a number of reasons; my move to Cambridge for a large part of the week being the main one, he has since become very distant.  It's his birthday today so I just wanted to let him know that I am thinking of him...

It's almost an exact CASE of a card I created earlier this month (see here) using the 'dragonfly' from the Natures Nest stamp set, but instead I have used the 'peacock feather' inked in Island Indigo and the base card is Tempting Turquoise.

It's the sentiment inside that is the important part, from the Perfect Pairs stamp set I've stamped 'I'm here for you'.  I just love those sentiments, even more than the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set, but they don't yet have their own punch ;).

Dragonfly birthday wishes

This card is quite clean and simple, just a little bit of fiddly cutting out of the dragon fly from the Natures Nest stamp set, after colouring with Stampin' Write markers using a blender pen.



The dragonfly has been stamped 3 times onto Whisper White card and then punched out with the 1 3/8 inch circle punch and then mounted onto a Tempting Turquoise circle punch of the same size to create a 'shadow' effect behind the image panels.  I've raised up the dragonfly after cutting him out, to make it 3D.

Finally the sentiment is from the Happiest Birthday Wishes stamp set.

I really love this stamp set, and will be looking for more ways to use it very soon.

Varying layouts

There are so many different layouts possible when making a card, I thought today I would show you just how easy it is to create a few different cards using the same materials.

I've used the cute tortoise stamp from the Natures Nest stamp set from the main catalogue for these birthday cards and coloured it with Stampin' Write markers.

The first card is a Old Olive base onto which I have created a Soft Suede panel and punched the edge with the Scalloped Trim border punch, before mounting the Whisper White image panel.



On the card base I have added 2 lengths of Early Espresso grosgrain ribbon and then a sentiment from the Perfect Pairs stamp set, inked with Early Espresso onto Whisper White and then punched out with the 1 3/8' circle punch before mounting onto a Scalloped circle punch and raising up with dimensionals.

For the second card I've used a Whisper White card base to create a 13.5cm square and then added a strip of Soft Suede card stock in the centre and then a piece of DSP from the Beau Chateau paper pack. 

Onto this I added the 2 circular shapes from the Perfect Pennants die, cut from Soft Suede and More Mustard and then in the centre I have added 1 1/4' circle punched from Whisper White which has been run through the Square Lattice embossing folder, before finally adding the tortoise.

And finally, another Old Olive base and paper from the Well Worn paper pack, with a central panel cut from Soft Suede and the image stamped onto Whisper White.

I could go on creating layouts like this, so why not have a go yourself and see what you can come up with.

Wherever you are

Happy Saturday!

Today I have a card for someone very special... although he's travelling somewhere and out of contact I hope this card has gone some way towards letting him know that I am thinking of him.  Happy birthday, Phill x.

This card features one of the stamps from the Natures Nest set, ideal for nature lovers, and those getting on a bit ;)!  I've inked the tortoise in Early Espresso and then coloured in with blender pens using Stampin' Write markers.  The background panel was created using the Top Note die twice to create a symmetrical shape cut from Whisper White and then cut out and run through the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder and then another cut from Early Espresso card stock to create the frame.

I had to use a retired punch to create the squares, but there are several other square punches in the current main catalogue which would work just as well or you can just cut them on your trimmer and then run through the Square Lattice embossing folder as I have done.  The colours are Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Tempting Turquoise and Pumpkin Pie...

For those of you who enjoy a bit of walking or Geocaching, as I do, will recognise the colours ;).  I've finished the card with a sentiment from the Hostess set Happiest Birthday Wishes.  Oh and I almost forgot to mention that the base is Crumbcake.