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

Card Swap Group - 2

Hi Everyone

 

First of all, I want to say a big thank you to all the wonderful comments I have had about Emily's birthday album.  It's really lovely to have such great feedback and it has given me such a boost.

 

I've been a bit behind this week, too much going on, so all the posts I intended to make have not happened.  Anyway, today I would like to share the cards for the second month of the Card Swap group I belong to.

 

I made for Margaret this month, but she also had a rather special birthday so everyone made her a birthday card too.  The first card I am sharing is obviously her birthday card.  She likes natural colours, so I tried to keep this in mind.

 

I used a Kraft card as a base, then cut another panel in Kraft which I put in my Honeycomb embossing folder and ran it through a Cuttlebug.  I edged it with a couple of narrow strips of blue paper from the Spice Cake DSP.  I cut some hexagons from some scraps of the DSP and stuck them randomly to the embossed panel.  After attaching it to the base card, I wrapped some Pear Pizzazz pleated satin ribbon and natural twine around the middle of the card.  I cut a hexagon in Kraft card and stamped the 60 in Early Espresso ink from the Memorable Moments stamps set. I then mounted this on more Spice Cake paper and stuck it to the card with 3D foam.

 

 

 

This month Jane set a challenge to use left over DSP on our cards.  I really like the Tea for Two papers at the moment and have been using them a lot.  So I chose four designs that complemented each other and cut panels which I stuck to my square base card.  I wrapped a piece of So Saffron taffeta ribbon around the middle and tied a bow (which I'm very proud of!) on the left hand side.  I cut an oval from the Ovals Collection Framelits and stamped the sentiment from the Oh Hello set in Indigo Island.  I then cut a bigger oval from Lucky Limeade card stock and stamped the chevron design from Oh Hello with a Versamark pad.  I mounted them on the card with more 3D foam pads.

 

This next card is the beautiful card I received from Ann.  She picked my favourite papers of the moment and teamed them with Island Indigo.  I really like the little embroidery frame and cross stitch design, which ties in so well with the stitched edge on the patterned DSP.  Simply stunning.

 

 

Well I have finally got to the end of this rather long post.  Sorry I've rambled on a bit, hope you stayed with me.

 

Take care and thanks for dropping by.

 

Michelle x

 

Betsy's Blossoms (Again!)

This is the card I made for my mother-in-law for Mother's Day.  I wasn't going to make her one, Mark was going to buy her a card instead.  But as you know, we've been under the weather, him in particular, so I thought I would save him the job of going into town.  I needed a quick design so though I would rely on "old faithful".  This is such a quick but effective card and I love it so much.

 

This time I chose Concord Crush, Wisteria Wonder and Lucky Limeade as the colour scheme, and used the Notable Alphabet for "Mum".

I've had a busy afternoon sorting through photographs for the final selection for Emily's album.  It was lovely looking back, but hard to believe that she is going to be an adult in three months.  She has no idea what she wants to do for her birthday or what she would like - helpful as ever!  The problem is that she doesn't want to grow up, she really wants to stay a child.  I think she would be really happy with some Harry Potter Lego!

Thanks for dropping by.

Take care

Michelle x

Hearts a Fluttering

A mid-week post in a working week - how unusual.  I'm taking the opportunity whilst Mark is watching the Man U and Real Madrid match - it holds no interest for me.

 

We are still a house of germs, everyone is coughing and coughing.  I feel so sleep deprived that my right eye has been twitching since Thursday and it's very uncomfortable.  I'm thinking I may have to resort to an eye-patch soon!

 

Anyway - today's card.  This is a bit radical for me, completely not my usual style, but I have to say that I rather like it.  The card was for my friend Karen who was 40 on Saturday.  I used my new Hearts a Flutter stamps and matching Framelits (a great value bundle option available in the Spring mini catalogue).  I used Lucky Limeade, Pool Party and Island Indigo and stamped and cut out a variety of banners.  Looking at the card now, I realise that the way I have mounted them is not at all random, there is some order there.  I have a problem with random - it just doesn't sit well with me!  I scored a diagonal pattern on a strip of Lucky Limeade and mounted that on Island Indigo. I stuck this over the banners to give a neat finish.  I forgot to say that I curled the banners around a pokey tool first to give some dimension

 

 

I wrapped some Baker's Twine around the card and added the sentiment (my favourite Itty Bitty Banners stamped with Island Indigo) mounted on foam pads.

Finally I stamped one of the heart stamps in all three colours, cut them out and mounted them near the bottom of the card slightly overlapping each other.  I used some rub-ons to add the numbers.

And there you go.  I'd be interested to know what you think.  Well that's me for tonight.  I'm off to fashion myself an eye-patch from SU products!!  Have fun!

 

Michelle x x

Hello

Well, apologies for the absence.  I won't bore you with all the details, but we have been a very poorly house recently, so crafting and blogging have taken a very large back seat.  I'm slowly getting round to visiting other blogs and leaving comments.  I feel like I have missed out on seeing lots of lovely inspirational work.  I've even had a box of new goodies from Stampin' Up sitting on my living room floor for nearly two weeks without barely giving it any attention at all.  Inside are all the lovely Hearts a Flutter stamps and framelits, as well as the More Amore DSP, intended for Mark's Valentines card - well that didn't happen!

 

Anyway, I'm back on track.  It's half term and I'm feeling crafty!  Robbie Williams is on the CD player.  I've set myself a goal to spend the morning scrapbooking and card making and then catch up on other stuff in the afternoons.  I'm having a little break to write this post - and feeling rather virtuous as I have completed a scrap book layout for Emily's album this morning.

 

I would like to share a card with you that I made a few weeks ago before the lurgy struck.  I've copied it from one I saw in Pinterest, so I can't take any credit for it at all, and all the materials are from Stampin' Up, apart from the gems.

 

The stamps used are from the Best of Everything stamp set, which I really love.  The colour scheme is dictated by the paper - a retired hostess set called Cheerful Treat - Lucky Limeade, Concord Crush and Melon Mambo.  I've used some matching stitched ribbon and a couple of gems for the middle of the flowers (punched with the flower punch  from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack - a very versatile punch).

 

So that's me for now.  I'm going to delve into that box of SU goodies and see what I can come up with.  Hopefully there won't be such a long gap until my next post.

Hope you all have a good day.  Thanks for dropping by, and as ever I really appreciate your comments.

Take care

Michelle x