Card Swap 7 and 8

Greetings lovely bloggers!  Be prepared for a long post today.  Typically, I am massively behind in posting about the last couple of card swaps.  Scarily, Jane has just sent out the email regarding the 9th card swap - so I thought I had better get my act together!

 

Card swap 7 - the theme was to have a sentiment as the main feature.  Now, I'm not really big on sentiments (you may have noticed this already).  I like a simple little "happy birthday" or "thank you" etc.  So I was a little bit scared to have to make it the main feature.  I admit that I tried a few ideas with stamps and inks and I just wasn't happy with the results.  So I got out my favourite SU Paper Stack in the current In-Colours and cut out the letters of hello in Baked Brown Sugar and Pistachio Pudding dotty paper.  These were mounted onto white card, which in turn was mounted onto corresponding card stock (I added a little border of piercing for interest).  I mounted a piece of the Pistachio Pudding  dotty paper onto the base card and added the sentiment on top.  It did look a little bare, so on the advice of my daughter, I added some punched flowers and gems in the corners.

 

I was quite pleased with the result  I hope the recipient was too.

 

The card I received was amazing!  I was totally blown away by it.  It was made by the lovely Margaret who is such a talented lady (check out her blog here ).  I don't think the photos truly do it justice, but it is definitely my favourite card so far.

So onto card swap 8.  The theme this time was to create an Autumnal card.  Now I don't really have any leaf stamps from SU so I reached for a really old Hero Arts set that was just perfect.  The rest of the materials are all SU.  I stamped all three leaf designs in a variety of colours - More Mustard, Cajun Craze, Always Artichoke, Old Olive, Real Red and Early Espresso - onto a single piece of white card stock.  I softened the edges with an Aqua pen and trimmed the panel into three pieces.  I made a card blank from Crumb Cake and then cut a slight smaller panel out of the same card stock and stamped the Woodgrain stamp onto it with Early Espresso.  The three leaf panels were mounted on top. I then cut a band from More Mustard and stamped a sentiment from the Teeny Tiny Sentiments in Early Espresso.  The leaf embellishments were cut out and I used Glossy Accents to give them a bit of a shine.  These were stuck to the band when they were dry.

Again I'm quite pleased with the results - a bit of a departure for me - and, again, I really hope the recipient likes it.  I felt quite bad because I was very late in sending my card off, but actually as I haven't received my card for October yet, I cut myself some slack!

The subject for November's card swap is to use your all time favourite stamp, so this is going to require a lot of thought -  I do have rather a lot of stamps that I have accumulated over the last 18 years!

I mentioned in my last post, that I had made a card for my parents' wedding anniversary, and here it is.  I was inspired by a card I saw on Pinterest (what would we do without it?!), but tweaked it a bit.

The products are all SU.  The stamps are Creative Elements and Teeny Tiny Sentiments, and the colours are Old Olive and Tangerine Tango.  I used a variety of punches and some retired Scallop Dots ribbon.  This card did take me a while to make as I had a couple attempts at the stamping and the aperture until I was fully satisfied with the result.  I'm very pleased because there is still quite a lot of white space on the card!

So that's all the cards and photos for the time being.  Last weekend I was away at a Scrapbags Retreat - three days in a hotel scrapping all day - bliss!  I really have the scrapping bug now, but save it for retreats and crops, otherwise I would never get any cards made!  I'm still trying to get my Christmas cards finished, not panicking quite yet!  And with all this, we are still in the middle of University visits and UCAS - but that at least is all under control!

OK, that's me for today.  I hope you stuck with me, you are amazing if you did!  Thanks for popping in, and I really love hearing your comments, so thank you.

Take care and have a good week.

Michelle x

CASE Card

 

Greetings lovely people!  Don't know about you, but I'm finding it hard to believe that we are nearly at the end of October.  I know it's a cliché to say this, but where has the year gone?

 

I guess now I have to start thinking about the dreaded C word.  To be fair, I have made a good start on my Christmas cards, but I really must get my head around what to buy people.  I try to be organised each year - I like my lists - but this year I have the lovely SU Seasons of Style This and That Journal to help me out.  Hopefully it will bring me divine inspiration too!

 

I wanted to share some cards with you that I made at the end of the summer (yes, I'm appallingly behind!).  I was totally inspired by a card I saw on the very talented Jen Nelson's blog, The Tiny Blue Butterfly - check out her card here.  I was really struck by it and knew I had to copy it.  I particularly loved the die that she used - it's from Avery Elle in America.  I immediately had a little Google and found the die on the website and, oops, it just fell into my basket!

 

The card is cut from Crumb Cake cardstock, and the paper is from the Gingham Garden set.  I made a little pin wheel and found a tiny little brad to finish it off, and the sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Sentiments.  I'm really a fan of this type of card with the fold at the top (as you will see over the coming months!).  Jen makes a lot of cards like this and her blog is truly inspiring.

 

I used the smaller of the four dies to make the following card.  The card stock is Pear Pizzazz and the paper is still Gingham Garden.  Sentiment as before.

 

The final card in this selection is made using Calypso Coral card stock.  The paper is from This Is Me.  I added a stamped element along the bottom as my daughter said the card was too plain!  The chevron stamp is from an old SU set, Border Banter (stamped in Basic Grey).  I actually cheated and stamped it on an off-cut, cut it out and added it to the card afterwards - I was too worried I would muck it up and ruin my card!.

Well, it's half term for me this week, and I am enjoying a really lazy week.  I did actually make a card yesterday - for my parents' Wedding Anniversary on Thursday, 49 years.  And today I am in the middle of making a card for the Card Swap group I belong to - probably should have made that last weekend, but  we are still in the middle of University Open Days - only two more to go!  I'm hoping to get a little more crafting done over the next two days and then on Friday, I'm away at a scrapbooking retreat my Scrapbags, which I am looking forward to immensely.

I'll leave you now as my SU Envelope Punchboard has just arrived and I'm off to have a little play!

Thanks for dropping by.

Take care

Michelle x

A Wedding and a Birthday

 

Hi everyone.  I've been wanting to share this card all week but apathy has ruled this week!

 

A good friend and colleague got married last week and this is the card I made for her and her husband.  The theme of the wedding was natural colours and wood, and I followed the colour scheme from the invitation.

 

The base card is made from Kraft card stock.  I cut a panel from Very Vanilla and stamped a heart from Hearts a Flutter in Early Espresso, Soft Suede and Crumb Cake all over it.  I mounted the panel on glimmer paper and adhered it to the card.  I then wrapped some natural twine around the bottom third of the card and added a sentiment, which is from Border Banter stamped in Early Espresso.  I personalised the card with some brown rub-ons.

 

 

The next card is a birthday card for one of our Card Swap Group - Ann.  Happy birthday Ann (it's today!).  I used a white square card blank, and cut a slightly smaller square of Pool Party.  I cut a circle from the centre and stamped over the cs with a stamp from Best of Shelli in Versamark ink (you can just about see it in the photo).  I then stamped the same image in Midnight Muse on the white card blank to show through the aperture.  I used my paper piercing templates to add some interest around the edge and around the aperture.  The sentiment is from Morning Meadow stamped in Midnight Muse.

 

That's me for now.  Have a super weekend.  Thanks for dropping by, and all comments are gratefully received!

 

Michelle x

Catch-up

Just popping in to have a quick catch-up from the last few weeks. Since I last posted, I have been working hard to get Emily's birthday album finished, and I am pleased to report that it is finally finished.  After a 12 hour crop on Saturday, I breathed a massive sigh of relief on Sunday lunchtime when I finished the final page.

 

Instead of one album, it ended up that I had to have two.  I made 80 pages in total and they wouldn't fit into one book.  I'm really proud of the work I have done and I hope Emily likes it.  I will post some photos in the coming weeks when everything has calmed down.

 

Card making has taken a bit of a back seat over the last few months (as has blogging!).  I'm looking forward to some relaxed card making time coming soon - especially as there is a new Stampin' Up catalogue going live in the next few weeks and I will definitely want to have a play with some of the lovely new products.

 

Anyway today I am sharing a selection of things that I have made over the last month.  The first being an anniversary card.  I actually had three anniversaries to make cards for in May, so I cheated and made three of the same design!

 

I used the Bloomin' Marvellous set from the SAB promotion, as well as A Word For You.  The colours are Wisteria Wonder, Calypso Carol and Lucky Limeade.

 

This next card was made for my neighbours' daughter, using some polka dot paper and Martha Stewart glitter.  A little bit of scoring and some Nestabilities completes the card.

And the final card is the one I made for my dad for Father's Day.  I used the Clockworks set with Always Artichoke, Crumb Cake and Early Espresso ink, on a Kraft card.  A little bit of Washi tape and natural twine, as well as the Teeny Tiny Sentiments.  It was a bit of a different look for me - I find masculine cards quite difficult - but my dad liked it.

And the final thing I'd like to share is a little crocheted cherry brooch that I made for a friend  who is getting married soon.  It's for her bridesmaid who is called Cherry!  I was rather pleased with it and may have to make some more.

So apart from a spell of illness last week, and Edward getting hit in the head with a tennis racquet (nice golf ball sized lump!) life ticks on.  I still haven't made Emily's card - she hinted at a pop-up Hogwarts card - nothing like a challenge.  Hopefully I will be back soon to share some quick cards that I made a few weeks ago from a kit.  Until then, take care and thanks fro dropping by.

Michelle x

More Snowflakes

 

 

Another day, another Christmas card! 

 

Again I have used the Serene Snowflakes stamps and the same combination of colours from one of the previous cards (Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze and Crumb Cake).  I really likes these colours together, and they may very well feature again!

 

I can't believe it's going to be 1st November tomorrow. I really must get my skates on with my Christmas cards.  This week hasn't been as productive as I would have hoped, but there is still plenty of time (isn't there??!!). 

Thanks for dropping by.  Take care

Michelle x

Serene Snowflakes

Hi everyone.  Hope you all enjoyed the extra hour in bed this morning, I know I did.  I was very warm and snuggly.  I have to say that I am not enjoying this sudden drop in temperature, and have had to crank the heating right up.

 

I am, however, enjoying the fact that I don't have to go to work tomorrow!  Half term has been a long time coming, the last eight weeks have seemed never ending.  Although when we go back we will be gearing up for the madness of Christmas. 

 

With that in mind, I have made a start on some Christmas cards.  I have lots to make, both for my personal use and for a charity event I am supporting, so I need to get busy!

 

My first batch were made with the sadly discontinued Serene Snowflakes stamps from Stampin' Up.  I have coveted this set for quite some time and am enjoying using them so much.

 

The two cards I am sharing are the same design but with different colours.  The first set of colours are Cherry Cobbler, Sahara Sand and Pink Pirouette, and for the second I used Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze and Crumb Cake.  I added a few crystals to give them a bit of subtle bling!

 

The sentment is one I've had for years from Denami.

 

 

 

Thanks for dropping by and I appreciate the comments you leave.  Come back tomorrow and I will share another Christmas card with you.

Take care and wrap up warm.

Michelle x x