Card Swap Challenge - September

 

Today I am sharing the card I made for this month's Card Swap Challenge group.  The brief was to get to know your partner, and to reflect this in the card.  Oh, and the card had to have some movement to it!  I was ok with the challenge until the last part, as I don't generally make this type of card - but there again, it is a challenge group.  After much trawling through Pinterest, I came across this card type.  I don't know what it's called - it's a bit like a Z Fold, but it may also be called a Lever Card (any suggestions gratefully received!).  I made a prototype in cheap card, and fiddled with it until I was happy.  Then on to the real thing.

 

Sue, my recipient, loves the colours lavender, turquoise and silver, and nature (birds, butterflies and squirrels).  She also likes clean and simple cards.  Perfect - ticks all the boxes for me.

 

I made the card base in SU's Tempting Turquoise.  The two white panels were stamped in Wisteria Wonder ink, using the Flowering Flourishes stamp set.  I stamped a variety of small butterflies from Papillon Potpourri (one of my favourites), and punched them out with the corresponding punch.  I used Tempting Turquoise, Wisteria Wonder and a silver inkpad that I've had for years.  The butterflies were curled a little bit for dimension, and I added a couple of tiny gems to each one to finish them off.  The banner sentiment was stamped from a set called Floral Wings.

  

I've just got back from a residential school trip to Wales.  We went to a PGL site and had five glorious days with a great group of children.  There were a few tears at bedtime, not enough sleep, and the obligatory travel sick child, but apart from that, it was a lot of fun.  I was planning on a restful weekend, and maybe catching up on a little bit of scrapbooking but that is not looking likely at the moment.

Talking of scrapbooking, check out the new blog button on the right hand side of my blog.  I joined a scrapbook kit subscription group in May, called likeforever, and it has really helped inspire my layouts.  The person who owns and runs likeforever, Nicola, is absolutely brilliant.  She puts together amazing kits, using the latest collections.  There is a very friendly and supportive Facebook group for subscribers, and so much inspiration.  I recommend that you take a look.  I'm loving being a part of it.  I hope to give my blog a little bit of a facelift over the coming weeks, and post some of my layouts too.

Well, that's me done for today.  Thanks for dropping by, and I am very appreciative of your comments.  Have a great weekend.

Take care

Michelle x

60th Birthday Card

Hi, just popping in to share a recent card that I made for my mum to give to her friend who is turning 60 in October.  The brief was that it needs to be a box card, and pink!

 

These cards are so easy to make, and I find them quite therapeutic.  I used a card blank from Craftwork Cards, as well as the papers and die cut flowers.  I added some punched gold flowers, and I die cut the "60s" from the SU Little Numbers dies, then coated them in gold glitter.  I dug deep in my stash for some Craftwork Card sentiments, and some gold Card Candi.  I haven't used many Craftwork Cards products for ages, as I have been solely using SU, but I do have rather a lot!

 

I'm going away tomorrow for a week, on a school residential trip.  We are going to PGL in the Brecon Beacons.  I'm pretty much all packed and ready to go.  Hope I don't forget anything this time - last year I forgot to pack my toothbrush!  It doesn't help that I am full of cold and have been feeling pretty poorly this weekend - my first quiet weekend in ages!  I had grand plans for lots of scrapbooking but sadly that was not to be.

Hope you all have a good week.  Thanks for dropping by.

Take care

Michelle x

Cascade Card - Card Swap Challenge Group

I though it was about time I popped back to my poor neglected blog and updated it.  Life has been crazier than ever, with very little time to craft, never mind blog. 

 

After the end of my last card swap group, I was invited to join a challenge group by the lovely Sue at Birdcage Craft Studio (check out her blog here ).  My first challenge was to make a cascade card but there were certain conditions attached - no flowers, no butterflies (HELP!!), no white, pink, blue, orange or yellow.

 

First things first - how to make a cascade card.  Thank heavens for Pinterest and You Tube!  I decided to go for a set of papers from Stampin' Up - Timeless Elegance - with the colours Basic Black, Very Vanilla and Sahara Sand.  The problem I encountered was how to embellish it.  I'm not a very fussy or ornate person, and I was a bit worried that my card would look boring compared to everyone else's. I decided to go with my instincts and be true to myself.  So I made a little plaque and added a die cut "hello" to it, and left it at that. 

 

I hope you like it - I was quite pleased (in the end!).  Wait until you hear about the next challenge!  I'm still mulling it over.

Take care and thanks for dropping by. 

Michelle x

Final Card Swap Challenge

Today, I am sharing the card I made for our final challenge.  Sadly, our card swap group is coming to an end, but I've thoroughly enjoyed being part of it for the last three years.  I made some good friends and received so many beautiful cards.  A big thank you goes to Jane for getting us all together, setting the challenges and co-ordinating everything.

 

The challenge was that anything goes but there had to be stamping on the inside and on the envelope.  I kind of knew what I wanted to do but I still had a little look on Pinterest (I spend my whole life on there!), and saw something similar to what I had in mind.  I had bought a SU set a few week's ago and have been dying to use it - Birthday Blossoms - it was perfect for what I had in mind.  I also used three of the new SU In-colours - Mint Macaron, Cucumber Crush and Watermelon Wonder.

 

The card was fun to make, and used a few techniques - stamping, masking, punching die-cutting and colouring.  I hope you like what I've made.

 

 

 

Thanks for dropping by, and I really appreciate any comments that you leave.  Enjoy the rest of your day.

 

Take care

 

Michelle x

Lovely Lavender

Hi everyone.  There's not a lot happening on the crafting front at the moment (which I hope will change now that the summer holidays have arrived!), so I thought I would share some photos of my afternoon out.  Mark and I went to the Hitchin Lavender Farm, somewhere I've wanted to go to for a while now.  It was surprisingly busy, until we realised that there was a wedding reception happening at the Lavender Farm, as well as the general visitors.  What a wonderful backdrop to your wedding photos!

 

What hadn't occurred to me was that the lavender would be full of bees.  Silly I know, but I hadn't really given it any thought.  Now, I'm pretty phobic of bees and wasps, and yes I know bees won't hurt me but I still get freaked out by them.  I never expected to conquer a fear amongst the lavender today! The only thing I would change next time, is to wear long trousers, instead of cropped ones.  I really didn't think it through properly.

 

 

 

As you can see, the place is pretty stunning.  We had a lovely time, and we were very blessed with the weather considering the tremendous amount of rain that we had yesterday.  I just have to decide what to do with all the lavender that we brought home with us - any suggestions?

 

Thanks for calling by.  Take care.

 

Michelle x

Shaving Foam!

What a fab afternoon I have had today!  And this is the card that started it all off.  This is the beautiful card I received from Zoe, from my card swap group.  I was fascinated by the background, and she told me it had been made using the shaving foam technique.  She briefly explained how to go about it, and after checking out a couple of videos on Youtube, I thought I would have a go.

 

 

I used the Stampin' Up reinkers that I had (Brights), and created two different coloured backgrounds,  The first one used Real Red, Pumpkin Pie and Daffodil Delight.  I realised after a few tries, that I needed to swirl it a little bit more, so I had another go, this time using Tempting Turquoise, Bermuda Bay, Old Olive and Pacific Point.  This batch looked much better - more marbled and less splodgy.  And here are the four cards I made from them.

 

Each one is different and I'm pleased with them all, but my favourites are definitely the blue ones.  I know I will be having another play with this technique, and I may even use it for my scrapbooking.  What has been really lovely today, is just having the opportunity to play - usually I make cards for a specific reason.  Today, I could just enjoy getting messy and experimenting, with no pressure. 

Apart from the reinkers and shaving foam, I also used:
Card stock : Real Red, Bermuda Bay, Basic Black and Digital Smooth card stock.
Stamps : Gorgeous Grunge, Petite Petals, Butterfly Basics, Teeny Tiny Sentiments, Crazy About You and Sheltering Sky - Stampin' Up, as well as Your Special Day by Marion Emberson.
Sequins, Gems, Punches, Dies and Glossy Accents.

Hope you like them and thanks for dropping by,  Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Take care

Michelle x

Shaun in the City Part 2

Good afternoon.  I hope you are all enjoying this lovely sunny day (hope it lasts!).  Today I am sharing the final part of our Shaun in the City adventure.  When we went up to London a few weeks ago to look for the Shauns, little did I think that we would manage to find all 50 of them (I have the sore feet to prove it!).

 

Mark and I went searching on Bank Holiday Monday after a fairly hectic weekend of celebrating Edward's 16th birthday.  We didn't plan to trek all over London to find the remaining 23, but our competitive side got the better of us!  We started off at Liverpool Street, following the trail that led round the city (the Royal Exchange, Leadenhall Market, Fenchurch Street Station) until we arrived at the Tower of London.  Then it was over Tower Bridge and along the river until we ended up at London Bridge and the Shard.

 

Then to give our poor feet a rest, we took the tube to Paddington, to find two lost sheep that had wandered over there!  Back on the tube to St James Park to find the Royal Sheep (without the baby princess sadly).  The across the park to Green Park tube where we hopped on to Oxford Circus to find a further two around Carnaby Street.

 

Our final destination was Canary Wharf, where we found two more which took our total to 49.  Obviously, we were not going to admit defeat and not find the final one, and Mark had a cunning plan!

 

We were going back to London the following night to (hopefully) see QI being recorded and the final sheep was at Somerset House just across the river from the ITV London Studios, so we went home happy.

So Tuesday, back up to London.  Found the final sheep - yay!  Queued for QI.  Didn't get in!!  We had non-priority tickets which means that there is no guarantee.  Nevermind, apparently we will get priority tickets next time.  So we went to Covent Garden and had some delicious tapas.

We have had a lovely time and seen so much of London that we wouldn't normally have seen.  I'm hoping to make a Project Life style album from my photos.  An onwards to 70 more Shauns in Bristol in the summer!!

Thanks for dropping by.

Take care

Michelle x

SAB Birthdays

Hi.  Just popping in to share some birthday cards I made a few months ago during the Stampin' Up Sale-a-bration promotion.  All products are SU.

 

 

I've had a busy few days since we broke up for half term on Friday.  Firstly, my daughter Emily came home from uni for a few days (with an absolute mountain of washing), then we spent Saturday cooking and cleaning for Edward's 16th birthday which was on Sunday.  We had a lovely family party.  Then on Monday, Mark and I went up to London looking for more Shaun the Sheep (more of that later).  Yesterday saw us back in London, with the hope that we would be able to see QI being recorded - sadly not to be.  However, we consoled ourselves with some lovely tapas in Covent Garden.  Today I have been ironing (the said mountain!), in preparation for taking Emily back home tonight.  At some point, I may actually be able to do some crafting - here's hoping!

 

Take care

 

Michelle

Embossed Card

Good morning.  Today I'm sharing a card from my card swap group.  The challenge was embossing.  I decided to keep the colours simple and showcase nine of my Stampin' Up embossing folders (they look pretty cool on the Very Vanilla cs).  I added some stamped and punched butterflies and a few crystal gems.

 

This is the card that I received from Aileen.  The colours are gorgeous and the embossed and stamped hearts are so pretty,  I love the way the card has been put together - it works really well.  I'm really not very good at placing elements at angles.  Anyone who knows me well, knows I don't like random!

I'm still trying to catch up with my backlog of posts.  Hopefully, over this half term week, I will be able to remedy this.  Although I have more photos to share of Shaun in the City (part 2), and I'm really hoping to get busy with some paper later on in the week.

 

Thanks for popping in.

 

Take care

 

Michelle x