Brayered Outlined Occasions

The challenge at CAS-ual Fridays this week is to use black with pastel shades. I'd been thinking about this for a little while and then I spotted my brayer and thought I'd whip up a pastel background.  I had the Less is More challenge on my mind too, to combine three of the previous challenges on a card,  and decided to go for Birds, Silhouettes and Use Ink. Come and have a look:

The background reminded me a little of a early-morning lake scene...

... which prompted the stamping of the bird taking off into the sky. I liked the bird against the background so much I made a similar card with a whole flock of them!

Actually I prefer this one! The bird is a very useful little stamp from the Sale-a-bration freebie Elementary Elegance while the 'Thanks' in the first card is from another Sale-a-bration set, Outlined Occasions. The Sale-a-bration promotion will end at the end of this week so if you're keen to add these fabulous sets to your collection, do contact me as soon as possible!

Here's what you'll need to make today's card:

Stamps: Outlined Occasions, Elementary Elegance (sale-a-bration freebies)

Ink: Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Pink Pirouette, Basic Black

Card stock: Whisper White, Naturals Ivory

Other: Markers, brayer, corner rounder, stamp-a-majig

I'd be delighted to order any of these items for you and can have them delivered to your address in the UK. I'm committed to providing excellent customer service and am always happy to offer help and advice. To place your order, just send me an email or give me a call on 01280 820593.

As part of the Sale-a-bration promotion, here until 31st March, you can choose a free stamp set or set of papers with EVERY £45 you spend. Click here to see all the fabulous Sale-a-bration freebies.

I rather liked these cards until I showed my teenaged daughter and she burst out laughing! When I asked her what was wrong, she said she was amused that the dramatic birds taking off over the lake should have been accompanied by a sentiment like 'Hello'! What next? she asked me - a raging inferno with 'Let's get together for coffee'! Hmmm, perhaps she has a point!

Thanks for looking anyway. See you tomorrow!

Three Minute Thursday Good Luck

I was so looking forward to using last week's ColourQ inspiration but sadly, being called away meant I didn't get time. This week there's a very intriguing palette!

Greens and greys - aren't they gorgeous?! Greens are always associated with good luck in my mind (for some reason that I can't quite pin down at the moment...!) so I made a quick good luck card. Come and have a look:

This ornate frame from the free Sale-a-bration set Elementary Elegance is perfect for a focal sentiment and seems to be at home in pretty much any colour. Not only that but the set is free with any order of £45 or more - which just adds to its loveliness!

The sentiment is from Sincere Salutations and is one of my most-used sentiment sets with its gorgeous flowing scripts. I added the little bird from Elementary Elegance - I love the way these little images look when they're used as part of a sentiment.

Here's what you need to make today's card:
STAMPS: Elementary Elegance, Sincere Salutations,
INK: Basic Grey, Garden Green, Wild Wasabi
CARD STOCK: Naturals Ivory, Certainly Celery, Garden Green
OTHER: Stamp-a-majig
I'd be delighted to order any of these items for you and can have them delivered to your address in the UK. I'm committed to providing excellent customer service and am always happy to offer help and advice.
Until the 31st March you can choose a free stamp set or pack of papers as part of the Sale-a-bration promotion - with EVERY £45 you spend. Click here to see all the Sale-a-bration freebies.

Come and see the lemon meringue pie I made on Sunday:

My son isn't a big fan of cake so he asked me to make him a lemon meringue pie for his birthday instead. The last one of these I made was before I had the children!

It was pretty tasty, although I did wonder how we were going to get the candles in...

In the end my son lit and blew out one large candle 11 times which he enjoyed enormously!

I'm still trying to catch up after being away last week and after the weekend's birthday celebrations, so if I haven't been round to your blog yet I do apologise - I'll get there in the end!

See you tomorrow,

Just Believe it's spring!

I've definitely got that spring feeling now and have been having a lot of fun with spring flowers. Do you remember my tulip card on Sunday? Well now I've come up with some punch crocuses! The St Lukes Charity Challenge, Make My Monday and The Paper Players are all asking for spring cards so I thought my crocuses would be just the thing! Come and see:

Wisteria Wonder, one of this years in-colours, is such a beautiful delicate purple and it's perfect for these crocuses. So how do you make them? It's simple...

 ... just punch two of the large hearts from the Heart to Heart punch and cut one of them in half with a curved cut; colour the vellum with markers - I used Wisteria Wonder with Concord Crush highlights and a touch of Old Olive at the base - and glue them together with the two-way glue pen.

With these two, I cut all the hearts in half so that I could vary the amount the crocus was open. The large image in the Just Believe stamp set is brilliant for making background foliage and I added some leaves made from strips of Vanilla and Ivory card stock with a stripe of Old Olive marker down each side.

I popped the crocuses in a 'basket' made of Early Espresso card stock embossed using the Square Lattice embossing folder, and tied it up with this scrumptious wisteria wonder ruffled ribbon - isn't it gorgeous?!

The card is finished with sentiments put together with my stamp-a-majig. I added the bird from Elementary Elegance with a surprise flash of yellow. I find these little images invaluable for embellishing sentiments.

Don't you just love floral cards? Well, so do loads of people - so they sell really well! Why not send some floral cards in to the St Lukes Charity Challenge this month - you'll find the address on the website; you'll have great fun making them and they'll be sold to raise money to keep the St Lukes hospice open and caring for terminally ill patients and their families.

Supplies needed for this card:

Stamps: Just Believe, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Happiest of Birthdays (hostess set), Elementary Elegance (free Sale-a-bration set)

Ink: Lucky Limeade, Daffodil Delight, Wisteria Wonder, Early Espresso

Card stock: Vellum, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White, Early Espresso, scraps of Naturals Ivory and Very Vanilla

Other: Markers, Wisteria Wonder ruffled ribbon, Square Lattice embossing folder, Heart to Heart punch, stamp-a-majig, corner rounder

I'd be delighted to order any of these supplies for you and can have them delivered to your address in the UK. I am committed to providing excellent customer service and am always happy to help and advise. Just send me an email or give me a call on 01280 820593.

Click here to see all the free Sale-a-bration sets and don't forget to let me know which ones you'd like - remember, you get one free item for EVERY £45 spent!

Crocuses always remind me of my youngest son as there was a beautiful bowl of them in the living room the day he was born. I had him at home with the help of two of the most wonderful midwives and it was lovely to retire to my own bed with him when it was all over. Nowadays whenever the crocuses start pushing up in the garden, I know it's time to be planning something exciting for his birthday!

It's Three Minute Thursday here tomorrow and I'll have a quick card to show you. Do drop in if you have a minute!

Hugs,