Party This Way!

I've been so excited about the thought of today's card ever since I saw the CASual Fridays challenge last Friday. The ladies over there are in Mardi Gras mood and are asking for clean and simple party cards using ribbon. Well today I'm in a party mood because I finally managed to take the idea out of my head and turn it into a card! Come and have a look:

Tying ribbons onto the tail of a kite is what I wanted to do! I started by sponging a background of cloudy sky using Pool Party ink and a mask made with different sized circles glued together, then attached it to a Pool Party card base - yes, even my choice of colour has a party theme!

The kite is made from designer papers from the Everyday Enchantment pack that's free as part of the current Sale-a-bration promotion. It was fun mixing up the patterns! I stuck my paper kite onto a couple of pieces of card stock glued together to give it a good solid chipboard feel.

The kite's tail is drawn with the fine end of a Crumb Cake market and then gone over with a dashed line for a bit of texture. The ribbon is the fabulous 1/8" taffeta ribbon, tied into little knots and attached with glue dots.

The sentiment usually says 'party this way' but I used a marker to take the word 'party', stamped it and doodled the word 'let's' and the exclamation mark. Purists will immediately notice the lack of the apostrophe in the word 'let's' so you'll be pleased to know that I have now added it!

Supplies needed for this card:

Stamps: Party This Way

Ink: Pool Party

Card stock: Pool Party, Whisper White

Other: Markers, circle punches to create clouds, 1/8" taffeta ribbon in Real Red, Marina Mist and Certainly Celery, Everyday Enchantment designer paper (sale-a-bration freebie), stamp-a-majig

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!

Of course we're in Mardi Gras mood over here too - it's Pancake Day! We don't eat pancakes at any other time of the year in our family and it makes them so special on this day. This evening we'll all gather round in the kitchen and I will produce a large pile of pancakes which we'll eat sprinkled with lime juice and sugar! My husband works with a lovely man in Louisiana who sent us over a box filled with gloriously coloured Mardi Gras beads one year, and we like to wear those while eating our pancakes!

Happy Shrove Tuesday to you too!

Three Minute Thursday - Party This Way snow scene

Yesterday I came across this wonderful inspiration picture from the wonderful Colour Q site and an idea I've had in my mind for a year came flooding into my mind. Every time I look at the arrow in the Party This Way stamp set, I see a house - yes I know, a psychologist would have a field day with me! - and with these wonderful colours and the image on the angel's dress to inspire me, I've come up with a snow scene that only took a few minutes:

What do you think? Can you see the arrow?! I also used the flame of the candle in the set to create tree shapes! To create this kind of background, I use a post it note mask. I find it's easiest to fold it in half before tearing a random shape out of the centre.

I placed my mask on a square of Whisper White card stock and sponged Sahara Sand ink around the top. With the torn inside of the mask held over the bottom of the shape I added some Bashful Blue ink to create fields. Using a Sahara Sand marker I coloured the outline of the arrow and stamped it over my background adding colour and details with markers and using a very scribbly style.

This 'merry Christmas' sentiment is turning out to be my go-to sentiment this Christmas - I use it all the time! It's from Petite Pairs and has a partner to stamp inside the card which says: 'and a happy joyful bright new year'.

The beauty of this style of card is that it comes out slightly differently each time, so you are giving a card that is absolutely unique.

Supplies needed for this card:

Stamps: Party This Way, Petite Pairs

Ink: Sahara Sand, Bashful Blue, Night of Navy

Card stock: Whisper White

Other: Markers, dimensionals, stamp-a-majig

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. 

I'm afraid my youngest son made such a miraculous recovery yesterday that I feel certain his future career lies on the stage! My older son is much better now and furious that I won't let him go out with his friends until his voice is back to normal. Unfortunately my daughter has now succumbed to the lurgy and has retired to the sofa, clutching a box of tissues and complaining of a throbbing head. "I know the perfect cure for for that!" my youngest son announced cheerfully. "Really?" we all said. "Yes," he said with the air of a nobel prize winner. "Coca Cola!"

Thank you to all my lovely visitors and to everyone that leaves me comments and emails. I know I keep saying it but I can't get back to some of you because you don't have blogs or links, but I want you all to know that I love receiving your comments, they mean a great deal to me.

I'll be back tomorrow with some more seasonal inspiration and hope you can join me.

Hugs,