Birthday blossom

Hello, crafting friends!

 

Today I'm enjoying being the Surprise Party Guest at Seize the Birthday where Jules has chosen a fabulous new challenge and loads of inspiration from their talented design team! So what's the Topping?

 

It's a fun one - to make a coordinating tag and card set! There's a spring birthday coming up in my family so I couldn't wait to get started. Being a lazy crafter, I decided to stamp and colour one image and then divide it into two pieces with dies - cunning huh?!

 

Using Nesting Arch dies from The Greetery, I was able to created an inset panel on a card and a double layer tag for my gift. Here's a closer look at the card:

 

Isn't that blossom image beautiful?! The cherry blossom isn't out here yet so it gave me a lift to see it on a card!

 

The stamp is from Blossoms in Bloom by Clearly Besotted, stamped on watercolour paper, coloured and splattered with my Arteza watercolour brush pens, and left to dry before cutting the arch. To complete the card I cut the same size arch in a card panel and used it to position the blossom arch before popping it up on dimensional tape.

 

The sentiment is a favourite from The Greetery's Arched Sentiments set, positioned to overlap the 'frame'. The card was finished with a few clear gems.

Here's a close up of the tag:

 

There's a little bud sprig at the end of the blossom image which I thought made the perfect image for the coordinating tag - not the same but clearly a part of it. I added a sentiment and a gem and tied the tag with a larger arch onto the gift with coordinating ribbon from my stash.

I had so much fun making this card and tag set! I do hope you'll join in and enjoy yourself too :) Don't forget to go to the Seize the Birthday blog and check out all the samples the amazing design team have made to inspire you. You can use the Linky Tool at the bottom of the post to share your own creation. 

CHALLENGES

I'm linking up with Double D where the theme is First Signs of Spring - and I've gone for blossom!Make My Monday and Try it on Tuesday both also have a Spring theme so I'm joining in there; and Retro Rubber want to see a card featuring favourite spring flowers using stamps older than a year (Blossoms in Bloom was a 2019 release.)

 

AND IN OTHER NEWS

With Mothers Day taking place last Sunday and coinciding with a family birthday on the Monday, we've unexpectedly had everyone come to visit. What a joy it was to feast and laugh and chat and catch up! Going out to a restaurant to eat always triggers memories of our family holidays when our offspring were children and it always amazes me that what everyone remembers is different. One thing we all remembered from a holiday in Kent was when we came across a signpost giving directions to Ham on one arm and to Sandwich on another. This tickled us so greatly we must have laughed for about half an hour! What a blessing family is!

 

Sending hugs,

Spring flowers for Mothers Day

Hello, crafting friends!

 

Welcome back to the Tic Tac Toe Challenge! Today, it's my turn for the privilege of coming up with a board to inspire you 8 different ways :)

 

There's a real spring vibe about the board because I'm so excited about everything coming up in the garden! I went for the diagonal from bottom left: Use a Stencil/Flowers/Sentiment to create a card for Mothers Day which is coming up in the UK on 19th March.

 

I got out some favourite spring flower stamps from Clearly Besotted and used masking techniques to create the flower grouping. I watercoloured the flowers, adding detail with coloured pencils when the image was completely dry.

 

To finish, I positioned an arch stencil from The Greetery over the group and sponged blue ink through it. Once the stencil was removed I stamped the greeting in soft grey ink and added clear dots for that 'fresh as the morning' feel!

 

Okay, so now it's your turn! Which row or column will you choose? Or are one of the diagonals calling to you? Do hop over to the Tic Tac Toe Challenge blog to check out the amazing inspiration from the design team. You'll find the Linky Tool at the bottom of the post and you can use it to share your own creation with us. I'm looking forward to seeing how you use my board!

CHALLENGES

I'm linking up at We Love Stamping which has a Spring is in the Air theme this month; also Hand stamped Sentiments where I used the pretty sketch; I'm also joining in at Retro Rubber where Anything Goes using stamps older than a year (the tulips and daffs were released in 2018 and the blossoms in 2019.) And I'm going for the Anything Goes option at Allsorts this week.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

Sorry I've been a bit AWOL recently. What with regular visits to the dentist with my youngest son, wedding planning and sorting out Eva and her pals' social lives, I've been the busiest of bees. My allotment is calling for attention, the garden needs a good tidy up and as for the house - well, shall we say that a spring clean is definitely on the cards!! And talking of cards... I have a few made that need blogging and am trying to come to terms with some new technology. Help! Whelm is happening!

 

Perhaps I should take a leaf out of Eva's book and have a relaxing spa day...?!

Sending hugs,

Bricks and blossoms

Hello, crafting friends!

In my opinion, it's only ever properly spring when the blossom comes out! Snowdrops, crocuses, daffs, hyacinths, muscari, primroses - they are all wonderful but essentially they're flowers that are just giving you hope for the real spring. 

This card is a tribute to the wild apple blossom that I see on many of my local walks. I started with a masked card base and inked some brickwork courtesy of Funky Fossil's Brick Wall stencil.

I adore Clearly Besotted's Blossoms in Bloom and use it a lot. Here, it was stamped four times, watercoloured and fussy cut before being attached to the bottom of the stencilled brick in a curved shape. The sentiment, from Uniko's Floral Vines, was stamped in a space left by the curve and I embellished with clear gems.

EDITED TO ADD AN AWARD

This card won an honourable mention at Addicted to CAS and More!

CHALLENGES

I'm adding this card to The Flower Challenge's Favourite Flower challenge (because of course I have more than one favourite!); I'm also joining in at As You See It where we are asked to fill in the blank: My Favourite First Flower of Spring is... and I've gone for Blossom;  Addicted to Stamps and More are looking for Die Cuts and/or Stencils so I'm also linking up there; and I'm playing along at Watercooler Wednesday too, where Marsha's challenge this fortnight is All Things Feminine.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

Today's card was also inspired by a photo I took of some aubretia I saw when my youngest son and I were 'visiting' one another in a grave yard a little while ago (I know, I know, we did that joke!)

Look at those flowers just going ahead and growing in the wall! The thing about socialising outside is that you see some beautiful things and also, Enid Blyton was right about food tasting so much better outside - or perhaps that's just hot coffee and cake on a chilly spring day!

Sending hugs,

A box full of spring

Hello, crafting friends!

A lovely crafty friend of mine was celebrating her birthday this weekend and I wanted to make her something a little bit special. This is what I came up with:

I've been admiring the MFT Outside The Box dies (wistfully, from afar!) The cards they make don't have the extra flaps of the traditional box card and I like the simplicity of that. This is a square version I made manually (just until I can convince my bank manager that the dies are essential!)

I cut and scored the box and inserts (and I've put the measurements at the bottom of the post in case you fancy having a go.) All the outside panels of the box were stamped except the tallest panel which was left blank for a message - but the INSIDE of that panel was stamped. I used a neutral ink and a variety of flowers from Clearly Besotted which were then watercoloured in pastel shades.

For the background, I washed in a sky and suggested grass with brush strokes. The grass treatment was also given to the inside of the box and to the inserts, front and back. When everything was dry, I assembled the box with strong double-sided tape, spacing out the inserts evenly.

I stamped, coloured and cut out more of the flowers and glued them to the inserts. I thought a bird might enjoy nestling in there so I added the branch and one of the birds from Stampin' Up's Birds and Branches.

Hmm, bit tricky to post, you may be thinking... but no,  it cunningly folds flat!

Here are the measurements:

For the inserts:

Cut 4 pieces of card stock 1" high x 3" wide (2.5cm x 8.5cm)

Score at 1/4" and 2 3/4" (1cm x 7.5cm)

For the box:

Cut a piece of card stock 4" high x 10 1/4" wide (10cm x 26cm) 

Score and crease at 2 1/2", 5", 7 1/2" and 10" (6.5cm, 13cm, 19.5cm and 26cm)

Turn the card stock 90 degrees and score down the length of the card stock at 2" (5cm)

Cut away the shaded areas as below.

CHALLENGES

I'm linking this card up with Just Add Ink where they theme is Just Add 3D; I'm also squeaking in at the last minute at The Flower Challenge where the theme is Pretty Pastels; We Love Chocolate Baroque has a Springtime theme so I'm joining in there;  Addicted To Stamps and More has a theme of Birthdays so I'm playing along there; and I'm also linking up with Happy Little Stampers Watercolour challenge.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

The sun continues to shine here and I've done some extra long walks with Madame La Floof. I've also indulged myself in another great pleasure - curling up with a good book in an armchair in the garden, surrounded by spring flowers and nesting birds. It's been like a little holiday :)

Sending hugs,

A rainbow of new homes

Hello, crafting friends!

I'm excited to have been invited to be guest designer at CAS on Friday today after a win there with THIS card. The new challenge starts today and the theme is:

NEW HOME

I decided on a one layer design with lots of overlapping images and I used lots of masking techniques to achieve that! 

The first step was the sentiment. I wanted it to stretch across the card base, so I chose two sentiments, lined them up in my stamp platform, and masked off each part so that I could ink them different colours. Once they were stamped, I added versamark ink to the stamps (without removing them from the stamp platform,) stamped over the top of the colour and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.

The next step was to stamp the row of houses from Scene it More by Clearly Besotted. I stamped with Memento black ink and used a cotton bud to carefully wipe away the ink on the sentiment. The houses were coloured using coloured pencils as these don't bleed through the card stock. For the last step, I stamped the houses again onto a stick note and trimmed around the roofs. This was used to mask off the houses while I inked in the sunshine using Clearly Besotted's Sunny Day stencil.

I hope you'll join in with this challenge! The team are always incredibly creative so hop on over to the CAS on Friday blog and enjoy the inspiration. You'll find the Linky Tool there too where you can link up your own creation. I can't wait to see what you make!

CHALLENGES

I’m linking up with AAA cards where the theme is Two quarters with optional twist of Rainbow; also Day of the Month Card Club where the theme is Find a Rainbow Day.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

Today I’d like to share one of my favourite photos of last year. It was taken on a wet day from the car where my daughter and I were talking very deeply and seriously. This amazing double rainbow suddenly appeared in the sky in front of us. It’s hard to capture the impact of a rainbow in a photograph but it was so huge and bright in real life, and it gave us such a feeling of comfort and hope. 

Sending hugs,

Its a wonderful world

Hello, crafting friends!

I'm very much on board with the idea that valentine's day is not just about romance but also about the other kinds of love and appreciation. In my experience, no-one ever seems to mind being told that they are appreciated! Today's card was made for a lovely friend who always cheers me up.

I was thinking about those lovely fabric hearts that you can hang on the dresser handles of your French Country interiors (oops, took a dive into fantasy land there!) I was a little handicapped by not having any heart dies but I wasn't going to let a tiny thing like that stop me! I folded a piece of scrap paper in half, drew half a heart, opened it out, used it as a stencil on kraft card stock and on a snippet of designer paper and cut it out. (And after all that faffing about I put in an order for some heart dies!)

To decorate my heart, I cut off the top of the floral paper heart and stuck the bottom bit onto the kraft heart, using another snippet of paper to cover the join. I had some flowers and leaves left over from Monday's wreath card and tied a black twine bow to it, glueing it to the bow of the heart.

The 'planks' panel was another snippet of designer paper, trimmed to size with a stitched rectangle die by Heffy Doodle. I stamped a Clearly Besotted sentiment  directly onto the paper, drew a line to 'hang' my heart up with, and finished with some clear gems.

CHALLLENGES

Nope, still can't resist the photos at Inspired By! This is my entry for their Krafty Love challenge; I'm also joining in with the Paper Players where Anne Marie has come up with a hearts or flowers theme this week; and The Day of the Month Club Challenge where the team want to see valentine's day cards.  I've used lots of snippets so I shall ski down to The Snippets Playground too!

AND IN OTHER NEWS

It may have been freezing cold today but the sun was out, the sky was blue and the ground was hard under my feet! After months of rain, grey skies and mud, I could believe in a wonderful world again! Cue the fabulous Louis Armstrong and a mesmerising crafty video:

Sending hugs,

A hill of hearts

Hello, crafting friends!

Are you ready for a fun new challenge from CAS Colours and Sketches? Jeanne is our hostess this month and she has come up with a great sketch featuring a lovely curve.

Valentine's Day is coming up and while I wouldn't normally send out loads of valentines I am determined this year that every single small event in the calendar will be celebrated big time! All my family will be getting a card (and probably a load of heart-shaped confectionary too!) so I went with a heart motif. 

My curve was made with one of the Lawn Fawn Stitched Hillside Border dies. I scribbled pink swatches onto a scrap bit of card stock with alcohol markers and cut hearts out with a small heart punch, then arranged them in ombré fashion along the edge of the curve. Once the hearts were glued down, I trimmed the curve to card width using a stitched rectangle die by Heffy Doodle.

To finish the card, I used grey ink to stamp a sentiment from Blossoms in Bloom by Clearly Besotted and attached the curved heart panel to a card base using dimensional pads.

Now it's over to you - but don't forget this is a CAS card challenge, so do remember to leave plenty of white space when designing your card! Check out all the inspiration HERE, from this week's special guest designer, and from my talented teamies :)

EDITED TO ADD AN AWARD

So happy that this card was showcased at Less is More!

CHALLENGES

Less is More has an All In A Row theme this fortnight, so I shall link this card up there.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

Our snow is on its way out now but when it first settled the fields at the back of my house were full of snowmen by late afternoon. There was non-one about so I let Eva romp off to career about, roll in the snow and dig for invisible mice. Two minutes later she came bouncing back with a carrot in her mouth. It was a snowman's nose which she had stolen and I'm sorry to say it was demolished it before I could return it :/

Sending hugs,

Hearts and flowers

Hello, crafting friends!

I think I'm preaching to the converted here when I suggest that an hour or two of crafting a day keeps the head doctor away! Card challenges are particularly fun because it's great to have a few rules and boundaries to keep us on your toes. And they often lead us down paths we may not have taken left to ourselves.

When I came up for air after making this card I was quite astonished at how it turned out! I wouldn't necessarily have chosen red and purple together but I love it - they were colours in the inspiration photo. It wouldn't have come naturally to me to place the flowers there but the sketch suggested it. Silver sequins? A nod to the silver heart in the inspiration photo. 

The background was made by positioning Stampin' Up's retired Hardwood stamp on the card base in my stamping platform. I inked the stamp up and then sponged away the ink where I didn't want it, which is what has given this fade-out look. I still don't have any heart dies (!) so I just drew a heart, cut it out and stamped it with Gingham by Kaisercraft.

The flowers were cut with small flower punches then coloured with alcohol markers. I paired them with a die cut from the Holiday Foliage die set by Flora and Fauna. The sentiment is from Clearly Besotted's Blossoms in Bloom.

CHALLENGES

I just can't resist the inspiration at Inspired By these days - thank you ladies! - so I'm joining in there. I used Heather's intriguing sketch at As You See It to arrange all my elements so I'm linking up there too.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

It snowed at the weekend, much to Eva's delight. Golden Retrievers were bred as gun dogs in the highlands of Scotland. They have double coats to insulate them and webbed feet for swimming, and think nothing of being out for a day, splashing in and out of the freezing rivers and streams to retrieve birds (or sticks in Eva's case!) 

Sadly Eva has a very silly owner who would rather not be out in the snow for the day, and is inclined to set off home after only an hour or two...!

 

Sending hugs,