I would love if this ....

.... was the last birthday card I'll have to make for this nephew!!  I've moaned and groaned before about my husband's nephews and how difficult it is to make their cards.  Husband was wondering aloud the other day if we're done with marking the oldest guy's birthday now he's hit 21?  Could I be that lucky?  Probably not!! 

Last year's card was a corker, I used an image of a heavy-metal drummer and he just loved it.  This year, I couldn't get into it at all.  Coloured up another image and hate, hate, hated what I was doing, was as close as I've been in years to actually ..... eeeek ..... buying a card! In the end, I dumped the image and made this:

I used the sketch from this weeks' Deconstructing Sketches (loving these!) and I'm also entering this into Crafty Cardmakers ("More than one punch/die cut").  Here's a side-shot of the dimension on this card:

Recipe:

Papers: Basic Grey "Skate Shoppe"

Other: MM letter stickers, Doodlebug brads, crackle accents

Thanks for looking!

Well that's that ....

.... for another year!!  Can you believe it's 2012 already?!!  I hope you have all been having a happy and peaceful Christmas time, are rested, relaxing and raring to go this New Year!

I am a bit shame-faced that I haven't posted since the 15th of December - I did make a few more Christmas gift bags, and a card for a 5 year old whose birthday is so perilously close to Christmas that this is the first time I've actually got it together enough to make him a birthday card!!!  I did intend to post those projects whilst it was still December, but didn't, and now it's January there's no point really!

So, on with the new - remember that nephew's birthday card I've been mentioning in every post for the last month and a half?  I .... em .... made it .... yesterday!!!  Here it is:

 I'm entering this into the following challenges: Passion for Promarkers ("Celebrations"), and Kenny K Krafty Girlz, Basic Grey Challenges, Crafts and Me, Simon Says Stamp, Stampin' for the Weekend and Creative Inspirations, who all have "Anything Goes" challenges.

The aforementioned nephew is a drummer in a heavy-metal band, so this Kenny K image couldn't have been more perfect.  I coloured it with pro-markers for a strong and cartoon-like effect - here's a closer look:

I continued the metal theme with lots of copper embossing powder and also with the Spellbinders gears and sprockets.  I got this set back in the NEC in early November as part of an early birthday present from my stepmother, but had to hand it over to her to add to the rest of the gift and wait till my birthday to get it for real!  I cut the gears out of plain old cardboard, but "metalised" them using some fab metallic stuff that you just rub on with your finger.  Here's a side-shot of the dimension and all:

Recipe:

Image: "Metal Drummer" by Kenny K

Colouring Medium: Pro-markers

Papers: Basic Grey "Skate Shoppe"

Other: Doodlebug brads, Stampendous Copper e.p., Spellbinders Sprightly Sprockets, metallic rub-on

Wishing you all a wonderful 2012 - here's to lots more crafting (a definite resolution on my part, anyway!!!).

Thanks for looking!

The sun has....

gone in again.  Oh well, this is Ireland!!  We've had some glorious weather over the past week, Friday and yesterday were particularly nice - I was out in the garden planting strawberries, tomatoes, rhubarb and chilli peppers (try cooking something with that combination!!).  Having great difficulty getting my stuff back into the craftroom, somehow having more storage is messing up my head, can't work out where is the sensible place to put things.  I guess I'll keep struggling with it!!

I was asked to do a card and gift tag for a couple who are celebrating their 65th Wedding Anniversary next week.  They were married on 24th April 1945.  I just can't get over how long ago that is - WWII still had a few months left in it, for goodness sake.  I spent days and days dithering over what kind of image to use - nothing I have seemed appropriate for a man and a lady in their late 80s. Then I had a brainwave and decided not to use an image, just text!!!  I went for a sort of vintage romantic look.  Here's my card (taken today when the sky was grey and cloudy!):

I used this week's sketch on Friday Sketchers.  I'm also entering this challenge on Cute Card Thursday, their challenge is called "Touchy Feely", they want to see texture, I've used cuttlebug embossing!! 

I was asked to use pink/blue colours, but it wasn't going so well, so I ended up with the blue/yellow/white combination, which happily fits the colour challenge on this week's Basic Grey Challenges.  I'm proud to say that I've used papers from more BG collections than I've ever done at the one time before.  I've got Figgy Pudding, Skate Shoppe and Nook + Pantry all together!!!

Here's a pic of the card and gift-tag set:

Recipe:

Papers: BG Skate Shoppe, Figgy Pudding, Nook & Pantry

Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Antique Linen

Font: English

Other: Crackle Paint, Big Scalloped Rectangle Nestabilities, needle and thread, cuttlebug embossing folder, Hero Arts pearls

Thanks for looking!

Tag It ....

.... that's the title of this week's challenge on PaperPlay Challenges, set by Jackie:

I would like you to use a tag or multiple tags on your creation .. any size .. any shape!!

Here's my DT entry:

.

I used one of my favourite BG paper lines, Skate Shoppe - an old 'un but a good 'un!! The image is my Leanne Ellis for Sugar Nellie cutie - you can't see in the photo but I've highlighted the flowers and leaves with glossy accents.

Thanks for looking. Next week it's my turn to set the challenge - eeek!!

More Gorjuss ....

.... stuff.

It was my teenage daughter's confirmation last weekend. We had a super day (bar the weather, which was dreadful!), church service was lovely, tea/coffee and homemade bakes in the parish centre afterwards, then home for lunch and chat with family and friends.

DD adores the Gorjuss Girl stamps I had bought from Funky Kits, but she didn't know that the artist who designed them, Suzanne Woolcott, does a whole lot more than stamps. We ordered a print from her shop and got it framed for DD as her confirmation present. I can't get a good picture of the print in the frame, so HERE is a link to it on her site.

.

The picture below shows the framed print on DD's bedroom wall - it's a lovely pewter colour distressed frame with a very soft powder blue mount and it shows the print off really well (even though you can't tell in this pic with the nasty flash!):

.

To complete the theme, I made this card for her (her name is the blurry bit!)

.

Thanks for looking!