Quotations...

'God has given us Memories that we might have Roses in December'

I love this quote by JM Barrie and was really pleased to find a PSX stamp on ebay that had it on. I didn't actually set out to make a sympathy card - I just wanted to find a beautiful rose picture that would work with the stamp, but as I made the card I realised that the quote was perfect to send to someone who had lost a loved one.

I stamped the quote onto cream card and then overlayed this with vellum - the quote is far easier to read in real life than in the photo - honest! I love the way vellum softens the effect of both coloured and patterned paper.

My card is just right for the challenge at http://lotstodocallenges.blogspot.com/ where this week they are thinking about 'quotations'.

Materials used:

• soft gold card
• cream card
• PSX quotation stamp
• vellum
• rose painting image
• cream organza ribbon
• gold mock brads

Penny Black ATC...

It's ages since I entered the challenge at http://pennybfriendssaturdaychallenge.blogspot.com/, which is crazy because I love Penny Black stamps. Anyway the challenge this week is to create and ATC and of course you have to use at least one Penny Black stamp.

The stamp I have used is one I bought at a craft show a little while back and for some reason I just never got round to using it. Could it be that I buy too much stuff? - any of my friends reading this are now nodding their heads wisely and saying we told you so!!! The stamp is called 'Burst of stars' and the quote is a clear stamp on a set by Cloud Nine Designs.

Materials used:

• 'Burst of stars' Penny Black stamp
• 'You never know when you are making a memory' quote clear stamp
• Black corrugated card
• Vintage earthy brown paper DCWV
• vellum
• brown brads
• Adirondack 'ginger' ink pad
• Versefine Black ink pad

More words of wisdom...

These are some more cards I created for our challenge at Ooh-la-la-creations this week. I would love to say that I created the background papers from scratch but I didn't! I used one of the papers from the DCWV vintage collection which I then stamped with a fern rubber stamp.

Materials used:

• DCWV paper from 'Olde Worlde' paper stack
• gold mirror card
• brown card
• gold brads
• fern rubber stamp by 'Make your mark' at York
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad in Mahogany
• clear rubber quotation stamps from the 'memories' collection by Cloud 9 design
• cream organza ribbon
• scalloped circle punch

Words of Wisdom...

Our challenge at http://ooh-la-la-creationschallenges.blogspot.com/ this week is to use a quote in your work.

I used an image from the CD 'Silhouette Magic' and a quote from the Quote Garden to complete my card.

My quote reads...

'There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colours are brighter, the air softer and the morning more fragrant than ever again by Elizabeth Lawrence'.

Do visit our challenge blog and take part if you have time. It would be great to have lots of entries.

More Great Shapes...

Should have added this card at the same time as my other one, but I had too much reflection on the mirror card on my first photo and decided to try again. I've now discovered that you can get a much better shot by avoiding pointing the camera directly at the card when taking the photo.

Materials used for this version:

* gold mirror card

*Stazon ink and sentiment by Cloud 9 Design

* cream pearlescent card embossed in corners using Fiskars Shapeboss

* cream organza ribbon

Great Shapes...

Two challenges this week are aimed at making us think about using shapes in our designs. At http://artygirlzchallengeblog.blogspot.com/ the instructions are 'to add any shapes to your creation' and at http://tandastamps.blogspot.com/ the emphasis is on 'Great Shapes'.

Materials list:

* Clear quotation stamp from a collection by Cloud 9 Design. The quote is 'Laughter is the brush that sweeps away the cobwebs of the heart'.

* Stazon

* Gold mirror card

* Paisley patterned vellum

* Cream pearlescent card

* Gold brads

* Cream organza ribbon

Sorry that the photo is not as good as it should be - taking a photo of mirror card is a nightmare.

Handmade backgrounds - The Arty Girlz Challenge

Having just bought a set of Autumn Leaves clear swirl stamps I was really pleased to see this challenge on http://artygirlzchallengeblog.blogspot.com/.

Guest Designer Paula said "I love patterened paper very much but it is far too easy to whack on cards etc. So for my theme, I want to see handmade backgrounds. Get those fingers inky & painted & make a custom piece of paper/card for your design"

For my design I didn't exactly get all that inky but there was a lot chalk around and many different stamps being inked up. I chose card stock that already had a misty blue look to it and stamped the different swirls all over. Then to emphasise the misty effect I used blue chalk to deepen the edges and the swirl pattern. The James Dean quote was stamped on to plain card and then mounted on the blue.

I couldn't resist adding diamonds on parts of the design - although it was hard to part with so many on one card as they are my favourite embellishment at the moment and this card took the last of my tiny ones.

The swirl stamps are by Autumn Leaves and the quote is one of a few on a sheet of clear stamps by Heidi Grace.