A celebration of friends

Hello crafting friends!

Today I'm sharing the second card I made when I decided I needed to make cards again. I had found a few stray wood-mount stamps (funny how I'm photopolymer all the way now!) and some Stampin' Up markers I'd given my son for school projects but then ruthlessly grabbed back. Come and see:

All the stamps are from retired Stampin' Up sets - the wonderful jar from Perfectly Preserved, the flowers from Garden Silhouettes, the tag from Tiny Tags and the tablecloth from a grid-patterned builder wheel called (and I've just gone off into gusts of giggles over this) Albert. I kid you not - the wheel was called Albert!

I stamped the jar and the flowers, extending the stems so that they rested on the bottom of the jar. To get the water effect, I cut a mask for the jar and sponged ink into it. The whole thing was cut out with sharp paper snips and decorated with a little label tied on with linen thread.

Albert *goes off into further fits of giggles* had been unmounted so I used a tiny bit of glue to get him on an acrylic block. I had to ink him up with a marker as I had no ink pads AND had to stamp him four times without a stamp positioner, but it sort of worked out. (Perfection, as my youngest son would say, is for lame nerds that are cramping on my style! Well yes, indeed! I would totally agree if only I knew what it meant!) I coloured every other square to achieve the gingham tablecloth look before attaching the jar of flowers with dimensionals.

It was a bit of a faff using Albert, and I was going to throw him away, but I can't now because he's become my special friend! Watch out for him on forthcoming cards!

AND IN OTHER NEWS

This card was made to celebrate the birthday of a lovely friend of mine. I absolutely love her to bits because she is who I want to be when I grow up! She is full of enthusiasm for everything, always has an amazing new project on the go and sees the best in every situation, as well as being staunch, loyal and always up for a laugh. What a lady!

Do you have any wonderful friends in your life you'd like to celebrate? Any stamps you cannot throw away? Or both? Do tell me about them in the comments below :)

Hugs,

A jar of Pleasant Poppies

Every now and again it's fun to go tall and thin... No, I've not been squished and stretched - I'm talking about card bases! I wanted to showcase Stampin' Up's Pleasant Poppies stamp for the current Addicted to CAS challenge, where the cue word is Flower, and thought this shape might emphasise those elegant stems. Come and see:

Pleasant Poppies is a huge stamp but the flowers have been separated into bunches so you don't have to use them all at once if you choose not to. I isolated some of the flowers by inking up with markers before stamping onto my panel and colouring in, again with markers.

I adore the wild red poppies you get around the English countryside in the summer but I've turned these into Californian poppies which I also love for their fabulous yellows and oranges. The shading on this stamp is absolutely brilliant - I have literally scribbled over these flowers with a couple of markers (and I do hope you're not all thinking that it shows!)

This jar from Perfectly Preserved is such a useful stamp to have in your stash. There are endless possibilities for things to put in it! (I saw a card where someone had put the ship from The Open Sea in it the other day - must try that.)

I've just seen that there's a 'Make Your Mark' challenge over at Addicted to Stamps and More so I think I'll link this card over there too!

Here's what you'll need to make these cards
Stamps: Pleasant Poppies, Perfectly Preserved, Itty Bitty Banners
Ink: Cajun Craze, Wild Wasabi, Soft Suede, Marina Mist plus markers in Gumball Green, Tangerine Tango, Pumpkin Pie, Summer Starfruit, Basic Black
Card stock: Whisper White
Other: Linen thread, stamp-a-majig
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 I have a fondness for orange flowers. When I was a child, my father used to grow nasturtiums in tubs for our veranda and they always seemed so bright and cheerful to me. I wanted nasturtiums in my wedding bouquet but they weren't in season so I gave up that idea. Instead, I suggested to my florist that I'd like my bouquet to look as if I'd just picked a bunch of leaves and flowers from the hedges on my way to the church - and I still giggle now when I think of her horrified face!

I'll be at an exhibition and sale of the most gorgeous patchwork and quilting in Tingewick village hall this Sunday, 28th April and would love to see you there. We'll be raising funds for Arthritis Research UK and Medical Detection Dogs, and proceeds from my card sales will go into the fund. I'll also have retired stamp sets and accessories on sale at bargain prices! Hope to see you there!