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

Shaun in the City Part 1

Hi All.  Just wanted to share with you what Mark and I have been up to today.  We went to London to look for Shaun the Sheep, by following the Shaun in the City trails.  There are 50 in London, which are there until 25th May, with another 70 appearing in Bristol in the summer.  Followers of my blog might remember the photos I posted of the Grommit trail in Bristol 2 years ago.  For more information about Shaun in the City, click here,

 

We were supposed to go last Sunday, the Bank Holiday weekend, but due to me being unwell and having a bad back, plus the dreadful weather, it was not to be.  However, we couldn't have picked better weather for today's little jaunt, and I'm feeling a lot better.

 

Mark and I have walked for miles today, and we have the sore feet to prove it!  But we are very proud of ourselves for finding more than half of the Shauns - a lot more than I thought we would achieve,  I think had Emily and Edward been with us, it might have been a different story!  We saw so much of London - we had lunch at the Globe Theatre, afternoon tea in Covent Garden, and we even saw the Red Arrows fly over for the VE Day celebrations.  A truly memorable day.

I hope you had a lovely weekend too.  Thanks for popping by.

Take care

Michelle x

New Home

 

Hi.  Here's a card I made for a friend who moved house back in January.  I saw the idea for the card on Pinterest.  The base card (Very Vanilla,) is from SU, as are the embossing folder and the house stamp.  I coloured the image with my Promarkers.  I liked the simplicity of the design.

 

I'm still ploughing through my backlog of cards - got a few more to show you over the next couple of weeks.

Life is going to get even more hectic from next week, as Edward starts his GCSEs.  He's seems quite calm about them at the moment, and has been working hard - so fingers crossed.  We also have SATs in the class I am working with, so that's pretty full-on.  And finally, Emily starts a two week work placement at university.  She will have to get up at 5am every day in order to be at uni and on the minibus by 7am.  Her placement school is an hour's drive.  She'll be exhausted by the end of it.  Just as well she will coming home for 5 days to have a bit of TLC, as well as to celebrate Edward's 16th birthday.

Thanks for dropping by and hope you are all well.

Take care

Michelle x

Card Swap Birthday

Hi.  Yet another card from months ago.  I believe it was for one of my card swap group, but I may be wrong.  All products are from Stampin' Up.  I was particularly pleased with the colour combo.  I love the colour grey, much to my daughter's annoyance.  She was particularly rude when I painted my nails grey a while ago!

 

I haven't posted since my Scrapbags Retreat in the Easter holidays.  I know I mentioned the driving.  I was very proud of myself when I arrived, and felt that I had overcome a big hurdle.  I don't feel brave enough to drive on the M25 yet, but one day maybe!!!  I did have a lovely time and hope to post about it at some point.  Most of the layouts that I made were using SU DSP that I have had for a while, and I'm trying to use up.  I will try and take photos and show you, although some pages still need a few bits and bobs added to them.

I hope you are having a lovely Bank Holiday weekend,  Emily came home on Friday and we are taking her back tomorrow, so my weekend has been mostly about doing her washing!  We were planning to go to London today, but the rain and the fact that I'm a bit under the weather put us off. 

Thanks for dropping by.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Take care

Michelle x