Four more for February

I've been quite busy on the card making front but don't seem to have much to show for my endeavours....the stitched cards take a while to put together (and I can't show one yet because the intended recipient does occasionally read my blog!) but here's a couple of Christmas cards using the same pattern but embellished and mounted slightly differently.

The one on the left is as shown on the original pattern: I wanted to use a die cut greeting but because the flower motif intrudes on the space there wasn't room for a longer second line. A straight peel off looked too skinny and the angled version was definitely an improvement. When I did the pattern again I turned it through 180* and was able to use my Britannia Die and achieved (I think) a better relationship between space and lettering. I have another ready stitched but not mounted - I may turn it through 90* from the original and see which looks best.

Our young neighbour was 4 last Monday and this is what I made for her. Originally it was coloured with pencils but looked rather dull so I went over it with Promarkers - it doesn't have the perfect finish that other people manage to get but I'm hoping that Florence wasn't too miffed :) The pink die cut was a lucky find in my scrap box - originally it hadn't cut cleanly and I'd discarded it, but by replacing it in the die and passing it through the Cuttlebug again it came out perfectly. Even more amazing was it being the perfect size for the picture! The balloons in the corner were made with a small punch.

My sister introduced me to Pinterest recently and like every other user I'm finding it quite addictive. Yesterday I decided my next make should be based on one of the many cards I have pinned and this is it - certainly unlike my usual style, and quite different enough from the original that I doubt anyone would recognise it as a derivative. The punched flowers usefully disposed of quite a lot of scraps; it was the first time I had used this particular embossing folder, and it's rare for me to use ribbon, so quite an adventurous card overall.

The Flowers that bloom in the spring, tra-la!

...bring promise of merry sunshine according to WS Gilbert and we could certainly do with some! These two cards were made yesterday using papers from a special floral issue of Making Cards magazine published a couple of years ago. The poppies are for my niece in America who loves red; having covered the base card and made the tag with peel off sentiment (yes, I know it's not centred or straight but why change the habit of a lifetime?) I was stuck for what to do with it. I don't often use ribbon but thought this might be the right occasion, and the shaded green which I bought 3 years ago seemed just the thing. There was still something lacking.....and then I remembered that on one of my craft boards a member has been showing off several cards using the Memory Box die called 'Prim Poppies'. Eureka! I have that die too (and have actually used it a couple of times). Coloured with Promarkers and tucked under the ribbon with a couple of sticky spots to hold it in place, it finished the card off beautifully.

The second card is a bit of a cheat because I copied the design of one in the magazine, using the same papers and toppers but constructing it differently although the finished effect is very similar. The top layer of the base card is folded back on itself and the picture of the basket of flowers stuck on that side, overlapping the inside. It actually wasn't as crooked as it appears in the picture (Honest!) and is now on its way to Spain, where the need for a glimpse of spring may not be as urgently required as it is here in soggy England but may serve to remind our friend of  what she is missing in other ways.

Three cards

The past three weeks have been very busy and my crafting has been done in odd, snatched moments. I've also done a lot of sorting/tidying in my craft room, having bought a storage unit which fits on top of my desk and now holds my card stock sorted by colour on individual shelves. I bought a unit for just that purpose a year ago but found that because it was it low down in poor light I couldn't see the card; the advantage of the 'Best Craft Storage' system is that all fittings are interchangeable, so having moved the paper shelves to above eye level, and put drawers in the floor unit, it all works perfectly. I've even had enough clear space on my desk top to finish off the three cards shown here!

There isn't much to say about the first two -: more of Emy's lovely beaded alphabet, the first being mounted with the addition of a Martha Stewart 'Punch Around the Page' punch. The turquoise base and the brown mat are both in pearlised card. K is for Karen, our dear ex-DIL, who loves purple.....

This was supposed to be the same as the card shown in my previous post - I knew I had another blue card blank and when I started to make it one evening I was a little surprised that the electric light drained the colour out so much. It was only next day that I found I had mistakenly been working on a dull grey blank instead! Rather than scrap it I covered the snowflake with a previously made poinsettia to brighten it up and added a lot more silver flecks plus the red greeting, I was pleased with the final effect and will no doubt be getting rid of several more subdued blanks in similar fashion.

I have added another post back dated to 31 December to show cards made but not scanned previously. I'm missing about 10 more but some are very similar to others I made last year, and several I cannot borrow back for various reasons so will have to remain unseen. No doubt I shall repeat them at some later date!