For the Beautician

Not an instructor this time but the beautician, and she wasn't 21! The dark purple paper is by craft creations and the paler floral one is LOTV all have been cut using Spellbinder dies then mounted on each other graduating from large to small in the alternating papers. The topper is Scruffy Little Cat by Crafters Companion - Niamh. Her onesie has been coloured using copics in pale purple with yellow hearts. The young lady in question has blond hair so it's as near as I can get. The stamp pamper yourself also comes with the stamp. Birthday stamp is from LOTV and flowers and leaves from stash.

Second of three

Here is the second of the 21st birthday cards. This is for another of the instructors at the gym  who loves dancing so this Betty Boots stamp is ideal. The circle was cut with a large spellbinder die and a decorative one was cut from Orange paper from my stash. I did second and third generation stamping of music notes along with a congratulations stamp by Woodware and stamped randomly on the background. I used the 

Woodware 21st stamp and paper pieced it. Betty Boots was stamped and embossed then coloured with copics before being cut out. The disco ball, from the same set was stamped onto clear, single sided sticky paper using Stazon then sprinkled with ultra fine glitter in silver. Happy 12st Gabby x

Final one!

This is the last of the 21st cards and is for another instructor at the gym, can't believe they were all born same month, same year. Anyway this is another young girl who loves dancing and not wanting to do another Betty Boots I chose this lovely LOTV stamp and coloured with copics as usual. I cut card and backing paper from stash and cut a large scalloped shape using spellbinder die. I already had the paper pieced large 21using the paper left over from one of the others that I made. So took the colours from that. I cut two smaller scallops in corresponding colours for the topper and 21 then fixed to the card. Next, using the same colours I cut the happy birthdays using All Occassion Dies and attached at the top and bottom.

First of three

This for one of the instructors who is on maternity leave at the moment. She is a very quiet, genteel girl so I thought this stamp by Kanban fit the bill nicely. I cut a large die from a set by Go Create plus the slightly small one for the paper by LOTV. I gently distressed the edge using tea dye. The large 21 is by Woodware 21st Birthday which I paper pieced with scraps from my stash. The stamp and greeting I have embossed and coloured with copics and just added a thin line of silver Stickles glitter glue. The flourish dies are by Cheery Lynn and I think the flower die is too.

Fitness

My friend and I go to a ladies only gym twice a week and this month 5 of the girls (the supervisor, three instructors and the beautician) have their birthdays. Three of them being 21! So this is the first card. The decor and colours of the kit is dusty pink and black and going through my stash I found this pink card which is a near perfect match. I have used three of the stamps from the Woodware setGrafitti and coloured them in using Stickles glitter glue. I then stamped the greeting again from Woodware Birthday Wishes. The gymnastic figures are by Clarity. This one is for the supervisor who carries out our monthly assessments.

Jeepers, Creepers

This is for my best friend Jackie's grandson who will be 19 next week and I thought this stamp by  Stampendous Sneakers is just perfect. As usual I stamped and bossed the image twice, coloured with copics then cut them out. I got paper and red card from my stash and mounted onto a card. Using the complimentary stamp by Stampendous Sneaker Background I stamped, embossed and coloured the panel to go down the side of the card. The banner is from a greetings set by Woodware which is stamped and cut out, I have then cut out his name using All Occassion Dies and stuck onto the banner. I'm really pleased with the effect and think this is such an ideal stamp set for a male friend/relative young and old alike.

Sophisticated Lady

Tomorrow is my beautiful daughter-in-law's birthday and these cards are for her. The card on the left is from me and is of a very sophisticated lady contemplating her bath! The stamp is Scruffy Little Cat - Lola which I have stamped and embossed then coloured with copics. Using an embossing folder resembling bubbles I embossed a piece of white card which I then very lightly distressed with spun sugar and faded jeans distress inks. Mounted this onto red card, cut a shape from the same card and fixed some black lace around the edge with double sided tape. Out of gold card and using Marianne Swirls (CR1245) I added a swirl then added the image on top. I added a few sparkly gems on the red card just to give it a bit of bling.

The other card was achieved using Stampendous Heat and Bond sticky embossing powder and while still sticky press foiling over the top. Any areas missed with the foil I went over with Pearlex powder. The stamp and sentiments are Steampunk Shoes by Stampendous and have been stamped and embossed the same way, then cut out and mounted onto card which has been stamped with a script stamp. 

This card is for my son's two girls to give to her and the message that they wrote inside included 'thank you for being a second mum to us' which I thought was lovely and I know will bring tears to her eyes. Hope she has a great birthday! 

Black hair, black eye beauty

The black hair, black eye beauty in question is my gorgeous gt.granddaughter whose birthday is next Tuesday. I have been so busy lately, crafters will know what it's like, birthday are like buses there aren't any for a while then they all come at once. Plus it's half term, it's my sons turn to have his daughters and they have spent nearly every day here. I have also painted the down pipes on the outside of the house. Then I suddenly remembered Francesca's birthday, thank goodness once again for LOTV toppers. I do stamp and colour myself - honest! Anyway she loves the family cat so I thought this one was ideal. The background papers are also LOTV which I have mounted onto dark blue card, the topper is mounted in the same way. I have attached these to a ready decorated card by Woodware. The sentiment is also LOTV. The 4 Today are All Occassion Dies. A few faux pearls to finish. All ready to dash to the post office with it only to discover she flew to Portugal today along with Mum and Dad to spend her birthday there, last year it was Brazil! Oh well! There's always next year!

Sweet Iris

                             My friend in Cornwall, her great Granddaughter will be two at the end of May and this is the card I've made for her. The card and papers are cut using Spellbinder dies. The dark red rose paper is from LOTV as is the topper which I have cut out.the pink card is from my stash. The sentiment, name and figure 2 are All Occassion Dies. The banner is just scrap paper cut with a Stampin Up punch. To finish I just highlighted certain areas on the topper with Sakura Gelly Roll pens.

Wedding Day

My son asked me to make a wedding card for his friend who is getting married in June and this is what I came up with. I embossed some white card with a rose folder by Embossalicious and distressed the edges. This was mounted onto an eight by eight card. The very fancy die is Anjas Vintage Decoration by Marianne. I cut two of these and positioned them in the centre of the card leaving a gap in the middle which is where I placed the other two die cuts. This set is by spellbinders and again I distressed the edges. I have used All Occassions Dies for the names. The swirls are by Cheery Lynn and all the flowers are from my stash. The sentiment on the ribbon bow is by LOTV.

Disco Girl

It was my friend Kim's eldest granddaughters birthday last week and I thought this stamp was ideal for a teenager.  It is Creative Expressions Betty  Boots which I stamped and embossed then coloured with  distress inks  and distress markers, tea dye, brushed courdroy, rusty hinge, faded jeans, worn lipstick and preserved berries. Her top and the laces in her shoes  I coloured with clear Wink of Stella. The glitter ball has been stamped using Stazon onto acetate . This was mounted onto double sided sticky sheet and cut out. I then covered the reverse side with silver glitter. The two sentiments which came with the image have been coloured with Sakura gelly roll pens. Two of the background papers are by LOTV and the chequered one is made from scraps of card from my stash. I think you'll agree a swinging card!

Card for teenage girl

It is my friends youngest granddaughters birthday next week and as you can tell from the card she will be a teenager. The stamp is by Sarah Kay which I have coloured with Marvy La Plume pens used as watercolours. Cut image and mount with spellbinder dies. The background paper is LOTV distressed with faded jeans and brushed courdroy distress inks. The swirls are dies by Cheery Lynn and the flowers and leaves are from my stash. Her name and the 13 are from All Occasion Dies.
My blogs are like buses, wait ages for one then several come at once!

Get Well Ged

I love this stamp from Woodware  happy frog it is not only good for birthdays but I have used it a couple of times as a get well card which is what I have done here for my friend who is in hospital again. I stamped and embossed the images on watercolour card to which I have given a wash background using tumbled glass distress ink. For the frogs I used forest moss distress ink and painted them all over. I next went over the spots with bleach. Stamped the hip hop randomly over the background along with the hopping by stamp to which I extended the dots. On the inside I continued the dots then added my message on the end. The whole was mounted onto dark green card. The eyes are squiggly ones from Tesco. 

Still at it!

Here are more cards I have made from previous classes I have been to. I think I'm catching up! Four of these have been bleached out, a couple have been left, the other two I have part painted over. The fifth card, top right, has been stamped using versamark then dusted over with mica powder, mounted onto LOTV paper. Greeting to finish. Sentiment can be added to others as needed.   WHEN my bits box is empty I have promised myself that when I go to a class I will MAKE a card instead of just bits! ................. We will see, don't hold your breath                                                            

Peel Offs

My friends neighbour has been in India with her husband for the last four years. He was asked to go there for a special job and she always goes with him. It has taken very much longer than anticipated and they cannot wait to get home. Not having anything in my craft room with an Indian theme I got these peel offs of ceremonial elephants. The background is made using peel offs which are based on the pattern made when using henna to paint on the hands etc. I lightly stuck them to background card then used light brown chalk to cover the area. On removing the peel off you are then left with a relief of the pattern. The elephants I have painted with distress inks. So peel offs do have their place in crafting.

Easter

I don't send many Easter cards, as you can see, these three were for my daughter and family, my brother and my best friend. The cards on either side are Lili of the Valley stamps coloured with copic pens. The religious one in the centre ,I'm sorry I can't remember who makes it,  was also coloured with copics.

More Catch Up

I am continuing the good work and playing catch up with another half a dozen cards. Unfortunately because these were stamped and coloured at a class that took place a couple of weeks ago I cannot remember which stamps I've used. So I apologise to the various stamp companies. What I do remember however is that the card on the bottom left was made using tea and coffee. I really must try harder to finish them earlier but sometimes it is difficult with all the usual chores etc. today I was gardening nearly all day, repaired the drain, hopefully, and made a large cottage pie for my family tomorrow. We will wait and see.

Good Girl ??

 Just recently at Davina's classes tutored by Kim we have been making window cards. As always I go home with lots of bits that I have cut out or coloured, put them in a box, forget about them until it overflows! So I've decided to be a good girl (if that's possible) and go through my boxes and turn my bits into cards. Here are four that I've made recently. I haven't added any sentiments so I can use them as the occasion arises and put it on then. I have more to post later. See I have been doing my homework Kim x

Sweet Seventeen

Here is the card I made for  my granddaughter. For the background I used Woodware   Graffiti stamped with versafine and embossed. Using distress inks I watercoloured the background and the words. I drew some 17s  in the odd spaces. For the topper I used another Woodware stamp  Just for u. I coloured the letters  in to match the background. Drew some squiggly lines round the outside, some dots around the letters. Mounted on black card.        

Rotten year so far.

This year didn't get off to a very good start as my elder brother was ill for the whole of January. I cannot ever remember him being that bad before. The worse I'd seen him was when he had food poisoning. He was poorly for three days, if he gets a cold he shrugs it off in a few days. Never has a flu jab, never goes to doctors and this time he couldn't have got to the doctors if he tried. Well pleased he has fully recovered, back to eating and his old self. Then on 20th February my other son-in-law died from brain cancer, just like my other son-in-law who died last September.
Yesterday this was how my son ended up, in the trauma unit at St. Marys, Paddington after a three car rta. Phillip being in the middle got the worst of it ending side on down a ditch. Air bags didn't explode so hit his head on side window. Thank God no broken bones. Severe concussion, badly shaken up and in terrible pain from all the jarring. Phillip hates hospital after bad experiences when younger and wanted to come home. Once his memory returned and his ops were ok he was allowed home with instructions to rest both body and mind. They said his brain had been badly shaken and needed rest, no computers,etc. Car write off! - company car. Thank goodness he has a lovely wife who will ensure he does just that! Love you both.

Two for one

I made these two cards using a Magnolia die - rocking horse. I first cut the image out from white card. For the first card I cut a heart from the centre then using a Crafts 2 embossing folder of baby feet ran half of the card through the Cuttlebug. I selected a nice dark pink paper with stars on from my stash which I stuck to the inside of the card. I slightly distressed the image with Spun Sugar distress ink and affixed to the centre of the aperture.
For the second card I used the 'waste' after cutting the horse and mounted it onto plain pink card which I then cut out using a 'blossom' shape nestie. I lightly distressed with spun sugar and stuck the tiny hearts, eye and the centre of bottom of the rocker. Again I picked paper from my stash to mount it on. I haven't put any sentiment on either as they can be used for new baby or for my gt. Granddaughters first birthday.

Resist with a twist

One of the classes we did recently at Davina's was 'resist with a twist' and as I have been laid up, so to speak, with a bad back I occupied my time with putting to use the samples that I made (of which there were many!) lol. So I have quite a few to share with you. All images are stamped with versamark and embossed using clear powder. The card on the right is a Woodware Sketchy Buddlia I  cut an oval template from scrap paper using a spellbinders die, taped it over the image then sponged with distress ink spun sugar. The background was preprinted script paper. I mounted it onto black card. The paper the whole thing is on is Bargello themed made up from scraps of paper from my stash.
The card on the left uses the same technique but the poppies were much more open, as you can see, and these I painted using distress inks barn door and peeled paint. I lightly sponged the paper with tea dye. I added a thin red ribbon and some card candi. Sentiment by Woodware. This I sent to my friend for her birthday, she was delighted!

Thank goodness for toppers

What a saviour LOTV toppers have been while my home has been all upside down. They came to the rescue once more on this card for my youngest gt.granddaughter who, as you can see, will be one on Wednesday. I have used a spellbinder nestie to cut it out and sponged it with distress ink Spun Sugar while still in the die. This I have then mounted onto pink card cut out using a decorative die again by Spellbinder. I have used a ready decorated card by Woodware to mount the panels on. Added the sentiment and her name also the number one onto the balloon to which I then added Glossy Accents. These were all cut using All Occasion dies. A couple of pink faux pearls top and bottom to finish

Back in business

At the end of January it was my eldest gt.grandson's birthday and thank goodness for LOTV toppers! I grabbed some bits and pieces and assembled this on the coffee table while squatting on the floor in my living room with the builders coming and going. The background papers are also LOTV and the sentiment is Woodware.

The number 9 and his name are All Occasion dies 

A few faux pearls to finish.

Worth the wait!

i am very pleased to say my new shower room is finished and my flat is now all back to normal.

   

This how it looks now and I am delighted with it, unfortunately the photos do not do it justice.

Also I have my craft room back!

Work In Progress

Hello folks, had a very quiet Christmas and New Year clearing things out of the bathroom and shifting round my craft room in preparation for the equipment to be delivered for my new bathroom. Well goods arrived on schedule and work commenced on schedule. We have now completed the second day and this is the status of my 'craft' room.

 So as a consequence I cannot do any crafting, but when the builders have finished, which should be by Friday, I then have to redecorate. I suppose in an indirect way that's crafting lol. Be nice when it's finished. I will post more pics then. Bye for now and a Happy New Year.