Spades, hearts and diamonds

These two cards were finished a few days ago but they both needed to be photographed rather than scanned and the weather has been a little chill, to put it mildly - I prefer to do it outside with natural lighting so waited until today when most of the snow has gone. Now I need to put the first card in the post to America and hope it arrives in time.

It isn't really anything to do with hearts, except that my niece's birthday is on Valentine's Day. Liz loves her garden so I had a bit of fun with this - yes, it's a side stepper just like the last card I made. I've said it before: I never claim to be imaginative and when I find something that works I'm likely to stick with it! The lady gardener is by Paper Nation, stamped and coloured with pencils then mounted on dark green using a Mega Deckle Rectangle Nestability die. The background stamp is by Hero Arts, the quotation and small images are by PSX. The little metal tulips I've had for years and cannot remember who made them, but they were just perfect to finish off the front.

I am entering this card in the Sir Stampalot challenge for February which, fortuitously, is entitled 'In the Garden'. Or more accurately, it was the challenge theme which gave me the idea for Liz's card! :)

In my last post I said I would be making a very special card for a very special lady....and here it is. I belong to the Women's Institute and our county federation has organised a competition for a card to be sent, on behalf of all Hampshire members, to congratulate Her Majesty the Queen on her Diamond Jubilee. I must say that left to myself I would not have made such a card as, although I am a monarchist and admire the Queen greatly, I just do not do things like that. However, I try to enter what competitions I can to show support for the organisers. There are over 7,000 WI members in Hampshire and maybe 100 will enter; I don't expect my card to be chosen (not everyone likes plain and simple but I'm no good at beautiful and elaborate) and if it isn't then I can change the insert and save the card for someone's diamond wedding instead!

The base card is bright white Bazzill card. The embossing folder is by Cuttlebug as are the die cut numbers; I matted the Nestie diamond and the top layer on the same silver mirri card as the numbers using the Perfect Layers Tool then raised the diamond on foam pads; there are tiny clear gems where the embossed lines intersect.

The wording inside was indicated by the Federation: I have printed it in the standard WI dark green on parchment and it is more legible than it appears here (also the tape doesn't show up as much IRL).

Where did January go?

I can't believe it's almost February, I had such plans for the start of the new year that came to naught because a bad cold laid me low for a good two weeks. But I haven't been completely idle: I've made 50lb marmalade, have four knitted jumpers (sweaters) in various stages of progress for orphans in Zimbabwe (I enjoy knitting them but hate sewing up), stitched four card bookmarks for a giveaway through FaceBook (and bought another set of six patterns...) and started to spring clean the kitchen cupboards. But what happened to my plans for making birthday cards two months in advance (I should have six made right now) and eight (reduced from 14 - whatever was I thinking?!) Christmas cards per month? I'll leave you to answer that one :(

But fear not, I produced this card yesterday :) The friend for whom I made the seaside card in my last post will be celebrating her Golden Wedding next week and I've been brooding over possible designs all month; finally everything fell into place and I'm very pleased with the result. I used a lovely pale gold pearlescent card for the base, cut to a side stepper using a template by Get in Shape Templates. The rose stamp, embossed in gold, is by PSX and I mounted it on matt gold using once again the Perfect Layers tool. Oh, that's such a wonderful invention!! I used it also for the panels on the steps where a rose patterned paper is mounted on the matt gold, which I also used to cut the numbers from the Cuttlebug Hippie Chick font. The 'Congratulations' and strip of tiny roses are gold peel offs, and I used the same roses down each side of the inner panel.

I am entering this card in the Joanna Sheen monthly challenge for January, the theme being 'Celebrations'.

There's another couple of friends celebrating their Golden Wedding in August: that will be my fifth GW card in 18 months! But next up is a very special card for a very special lady....watch this space and I hope to have something soon :)

December birthdays old and new

A very special friend will be 70 tomorrow and this is the card I've made for her: I always make a special point of making something as different from a Christmas card as I can, so this seaside theme fits the bill perfectly. I struggled with it but was finally happy - it was the inclusion of the bright yellow that tipped the balance even though it's among my least favourite colours. I love the quotation which is an old PSX stamp I managed to track down on eBay last year and it's cut with the beaded oval Nestability . The sketch of the woman is by Stampin' Up! cut with a small classic square Nestie and matted using my new, indispensible tool, the Perfect Layers ruler. Highly recommended, it's so simple to use and results in perfectly even mats without any measuring. And no, this isn't a sales advert: I have no axe to grind other than being one very happy crafter!

Well, there's a new birthday added to the calendar for December: Holly Louise was born on Wednesday 21st and this is the card for her proud parents. The teddies by PSX are my favourite go-to stamp for baby cards, coloured with chalks and mounted on pink which I promise you is not as lurid IRL as it appears here! And the piece at the bottom cut with a Nestie Fancy Tag die really did come from the same piece of card although it looks very different. The holly background is shaded green so I 'm not blaming the scanner for colour variation there, and although you can't see it the insert sheet has its edges decorated with a Fiskars holly border punch.

I should be back next week with the final card for this year - a friend's birthday is on New Year's Eve.

Winter friends

A quick posting today of a card made for the new Joanna Sheen blog challenge which is called Christmas Wishes :) The verse is a custom made stamp, the snowman is by Inkadinkado coloured with dry pencils and cut with Classic Oval Nestabilities. The background paper is from a large batch of handmade Indian paper I bought several years ago - this particular design has made wonderful snowflakes!

I'm also entering this card in the final Bah! Humbug! challenge for Cute Christmas Critters because it gives me a way of saying thanks to Max and Ann for all their hard work and apologies for having disappeared off their radar for most of the year. Ladies, you won't have seen my previous post explaining that I've been ill for the past 6 months (or at least not well) but I am now recovered and rarin' to go with next year's Bah! Humbug! challenges :)

I'm still alive!

I'm sorry it's been so long since my last post. For the past six months, since our holiday in Scotland, I've not felt well and although I kept trying to pick myself up and get on with things it didn't work. Finally I went to the doctor and after several comprehensive blood tests I can now state categorically that there is nothing the matter with me; possibly I have had a virus which has gone, and apart from monitoring my blood pressure for a couple of weeks I shall not need to visit the doctor again (I hope). I certainly feel very much better than I have done for months and have been trying to make up for lost time, especially in the Christmas card department!

The card shown here is not the only one I've made in the past month but all the others are just copies of some shown earlier. I thought that would save time, but choosing to make a dozen of a particularly complex design was, perhaps, not my brightest idea... This is one I've had in mind for years and in fact I made it with a stamped background many years ago. If anyone knows where I can buy Christmas tree paper like this I'll be forever in your debt - this is half of a small sheet given free with Making Cards magazine Christmas special, and I was stupidly reluctant to make a second card and use it up! The bauble shape is from Spellbinder's Heirloom Ornaments 2011 cut from holographic card, and the stamped sentiment is from JustRite Stampers Merry Little Christmas set. The large greeting is a silver peel off and since scanning it I've added a line of tiny silver peel off stars at the bottom of the background paper which improves the overall look considerably.

I intend to return to my blog with a header photo of all my handmade cards when I finally call a halt. 2012 will see me blogging much more often, showing off birthday cards made two months before they're needed, and at least 14 new Christmas cards each month. I shall sail serenely through the cardmaking year.....and if I manage that it will only be because, like a swan, I'm paddling like h*ll out of sight!

On the first day of Christmas...

I'm a bit apprehensive about this card! I made it last week to give to a young friend who is supposed to be leaving for a holiday in Thailand tomorrow. She was very pleased with it, but in view of the terrible floods in that country I'm wondering if she will actually be able to go. She has made all her own arrangements so doesn't even have a travel agent to advise her, and although I know the trip has been over a year in the planning so she will be bitterly disappointed if she has to cancel, the important thing is her safety. My heart goes out to the Thai people trying to live in such conditions, too - I should think the last thing they need right now are tourists!

This is the first in a set from Pinbroidery and I think it's a great design! Much quicker to stitch than I expected, but if I continue with all 12 I don't think I shall want to send them.....maybe I could use them as part of our holiday decorations instead :) Stitched using Kreinik Cord, which is a single ply metallic thread.

More parchment

This Christmas card was made using a stencil designed by Alison Yeates, one of the tutors on last week's parchment course. I've always felt that the use of such stencils was sort of cheating but having discovered how versatile they are, with many design elements to use in different ways, I put my scruples aside and thought I'd try it. I love the result! And there's enough 'real' parching skills in the execution that my scruples have been banished entirely and I'm keen to try another design :)