Forest Friends birthdays

It's the school holidays here and I like to start work early so that I have some time with my family. It's very peaceful first thing - my husband doesn't come down until about eight o'clock and the two older children don't surface until later. But my youngest son is an early riser (and also a sociable personality!) so we sometimes craft together until the hustle and bustle of the day begins.

Do you remember the adventurous Mr Rabbit, who found himself adrift on the high seas? (He's on this card on the left.) Well, you'll be glad to know, he was rescued by friendly fish and found himself a new home in the Warbling Woods. Here he is on his way to a birthday party!

The card came together very quickly. I wheeled Funky Forest across a Whisper White card base, then adhered Patterns DSP in Old Olive below it. The Right on Track 'fence' was wheeled across that and across a cut-out Mr Rabbit (oops! he's the wrong colour!) and then he was attached to the matching part of the fence so it looks as if he's behind it. Some balloons coloured in with a blender pen, a sponged sky, some cut-out Trendy Trees for the woods, a sentiment - and voila! It was done!

I can't resist showing you the card my son made this morning. His Mr Rabbit IS the right colour and look - he's having another adventure! My clever boy - he did everything himself apart from the matting. Just look at that professional sponging!

Crafting is a lovely activity that all ages can enjoy together. And if you do it with someone under ten you might get a story thrown in for free!
Have a good day.

Stamping 411 Challenge number 145

How lovely to have time to make a card for a challenge! This one's for this sketch over at Stamping 411.

Have you noticed I'm obsessed with this little bird carrying flowers about? The birds around here can be seen carrying things about lately (although I've not seen one with a flower!) presumably to make their nests.

Supplies: (all Stampin' Up unless specified)
Stamps: Best Wishes and More, Happy Moments
Ink: Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Bashful Blue
Card stock: Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie
Other: Funky Forest Wheel, designer paper, word window punch, Boho Blossoms punch, 1/4" circle punch, linen thread, Basics eyelet, Old Olive and Chocolate Chip markers

There are lots of birthdays coming up in our family so I hope you can join me for a week of birthdays!
Thanks for looking today.

Right On Track fence

The Right On Track wheel makes a great railway track but I've often wondered what else you could do with it. Well it came to me the other day that it could turn into a fence. I had a go at it today using the emboss resist technique and here's the result:

This looks complicated but it's quite easy. You just stamp the things you want in the foreground first - in this case some leaves and two flowers. Load your stamp with versamark, then with ink, sprinkle with clear embossing powder and set it with a heat gun. (I used to worry that putting a versamark loaded stamp into my classic ink pads would hurt them, but it doesn't at all.) Now you can add the fence with the wheel, go over it with a versamark pen, sprinkle with clear embossing powder and set that layer with your heat gun. Anything else you stamp now will look as if it's behind these two layers. The ink that gets onto your embossed images can be carefully wiped off with a cotton bud or a wisp of tissue.

Supplies: (all Stampin' Up unless specified)
Stamps: One of a Kind, Autumn Days, Touch of Nature, Sincere Salutations
Ink: Always Artichoke, Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Brilliant Blue, Bashful Blue, Chocolate Chip
Card stock: Whisper White
Other: Versamark pad and pen, clear embossing powder, Right on Track wheel, Funky Forest wheel, Corner rounder

When I first came across the emboss resist technique I thought it looked terribly advanced and wouldn't try it for ages - but once I'd given it a go, I didn't look back, and now it's become one of my favourite techniques! I shall post a tutorial in the next few days so look out for that - and do have a go!
Thank you for visiting today.