A chance to win Blog Candy

Here is a chance to win blog candy 3 digital kits
 - Be in it to win it!

A New Challenge Blogspot

Here is a new challenge blogspot to follow and a chance to win a super prize. Why not check it out & sign up to follow?

May CP swap

The May card swap challenge on Crafty Place was set by Sarah and entitled 'Here comes the sun'. My partner was the lovely Jacqui who sent me a delightful card and matching bookmark with a vintage image. I love it Jacqui - Thank you!

I really struggled to come up with a fresh idea that I could 'do' as my colouring leaves a lot to be desired. I eventually settled on this busy Penny Black? gardener hedgehog watering his giant sunflower and matched it with a giant sunny prima flower of my own centred by a glassy gem. I used pistachio Pink Petticoat polka dots paper (I'm glad I don't have to say that) and bridged the join with ribbon coloured with Copic New Leaf green. Flowers from I can't remember where? once again cover my wonky layering and a little 'Hello' just stops it all looking a bit bare. Oh! and I edged the bottom with my MS doily punch. I do hope Jacqui has received it otherwise I may have spoilt the surprise.

Red Birthday Card

Here is a card that I think is one of my better efforts, they are few & far between!!. Those who follow my blog will recognise the image as one I have used before, a digi image coloured in Paint shop pro. The papers are Pink Petticoat polka dots positive & negative in crimson. I used my MS doily punch on each layer and the base card. The scalloped oval, circle and butterfly were red mirri card and the leaves were part of a very generous gift from the lovely Sonia. The roses were white ones from 'The Works' that I coloured with my crimson Copic pen and had to be put there to disguise that I still haven't mastered layering things central! Any suggestions?  

Thank you for looking.

Birthday Goodies

Here is a picture of all the beautiful hand crafted cards I received for my birthday on 1st May.

Where has the time gone?

The cards were on the mantle piece for a couple of weeks but I've only just found time to blog them, and I'm sorry to see that one or two that are laid down and some gifts I received can't be seen properly.

Top step L to R Melissa, Jenny, Aimee, Oona, Karen, Caroline, Sue (not an MSE girl) Sarah. Lying down cards from Debbie and Alison.

Bottom step L to R Christine, Claire (Mad Frog), Jane, Susan, Sally and Jacqui. At front Claire (Wanna B) and Gemma.

Thank you all very much for taking the time & trouble to make my birthday so very special.

Follow this link to see the new LOTV stamps due to be released on 1st June 2010.
http://ideastoinspire.blogspot.com/2010/05/dont-miss-chance-to-win-full-set-of-our.html

It was Kirsty's {Sylphraven} birthday today and now I am sure she has received the card I made for her I can show it to you. I chose red for the card as I had an idea Kirsty liked red. I followed a sketch from Magical Crafts. The papers are all printed from Pink Petticoat, Crimson plain, big and small dots. As the plain backing paper looked a bit bare I stamped a silver corner to lighten it slightly and added a couple of gems. I can't recall where the vase of flowers digi image came from but I coloured it using Paint Shop Pro - (Thank you Caroline {CT} for explaining how to do it.) I layered the image with a red miri card scalloped circle and added the roses (CP stash swap from Oona {Choccy}). The sentiment is Craftworks, the swirls were also cut from the red miri card and the gems were from my stash. i would like to enter this card in the Magical crafts fortnightly challengehttp://magicalcraftsfortnightlychallenge.blogspot.com/ though I'm not sure this is the right way to do it!!!

I really liked following this sketch so I used it again to make a get well card for Tams {Rusty} as she has been in great pain and been in hospital this week.

I chose blue for this card as forlorn looking Tatty Ted has a blue nose, I tried to keep to the same tones of blue. The bird backing paper and the check one are Papermania Sweet Nothings. I have no idea where the other two came from though as I had printed them out some time ago.  I stamped some silver swirls to stop the bare look on them. Tatty Ted was layered onto silver holograph card and I hand wrote my own sentiment as I hadn't got anything else suitable. Dark Blue card candy completed 'the look'. I do hope that this card and all the others from her friends on MSE help cheer Tams up as she has had a bad time lately.

I made another card to this sketch today but until it reaches its destination it wouldn't  be fair to show it, would it?

However, in the best Blue Peter tradition here is one I prepared earlier - in April in fact......I don't think I've blogged it before. I made it for the lovely Melissa's birthday. The paper was papermania from the prize Toni {OAP}sent me, the scalloped circle is lovely green dotty bazzill, the plain backing beige gemstones (I think). The flowers and the (already coloured) image were from my stash, as was the craftwork sentiment. I added some glossy accents to the flowers on the image.

Thank you for looking at my efforts  - I do hope you like them.

Crafty Place Cards & ATC Swaps

The card swap challenge topic for April on Crafty Place was for a green and/or lilac card. I was lucky to be paired with Jenny (aka Dragonllew) and above you can see the super card she made for me. The colours she has used are very delicate and the wings are glittery. I don't think you can tell from the photo but the flowerheads are tiny gems. Thank you Jenny!

Below is the card I made for Jenny. I couldn't find a lilac shade to tone so my card was entirely shades of green, using paper from the prize Toni sent me for the MSE challenge. The fairy is a lily of the valley one set at an angle, not because she was drunk! but so that you can see more of the flowers on which I had used glossy accents. The sentiment was stamped, mounted on a scalloped circle, coloured with a copic pen & stickles added. The base card was a cardcraft one.

 

My good fortune also applied to the ATC swap 'cos I was paired up with Sarah (aka rainmac) The theme was Touchy Feely. Sarah made me a delightful scene of owls and a delicate tree all cut out so neatly and raised on 3D pads. There was also an owl charm at the top rt which isn't clear from the photo. Sarah also sent me this vibrant pocket card which I love. Thank you Sarah!

As regular readers here will know there is almost always a tale to tell about anything I concoct and this was no exception! My original idea was to make a spongy felt ATC,  with brads, ribbon and buttons giving different textures to feel. The felt 'thing' came to me as soon as the topic was announced because one of my late Mum's 'jokes' was to show you a piece of felt, say, a beret & say "just feel that........" and as you reached out your hand to touch she's whip it away "Too late - it's felt!

Anyway suffice to say my idea didn't work (probably the wrong sort of felt!) or with the sponge just too bulky for the size of an ATC.

Plan B worked a bit better, It was some rather thick stitching of a pansy with a pretty flower bead sewn into the centre, and lightly ribbed green ribbon for grass with a couple of sticker butterflies all on some very pale green card with a sheen. I backed the ATC with swiss dotted card to hide the stitching and add just a bit more texture. 

Thank you for visiting and reading so far........