Some quick birthday makes....

Hiya!

A quick couple of cards before the school run! I might not have spent much time in blogland lately but I have been crafting!

These are for a couple of George's school friends:

This is for Harry. He's a Birmingham City fan so it was a real struggle for me to colour the shirt in blue (those who know me know that I'm a Villa fan so there really should have been some claret in there somewhere! Oh well, he's young. I'll forgive him!) I cut the goal from a picture - a bit of a cheat but it's the perfect size for this card.

I had my first go at creating clouds on this one - can you see them? I'm always such a wuss! Too scared to use bolder colours. Must be braver!!! The image is from a recent candy win from Sarpreet (thankyou!) I think it might be Wild Rose Studio???

And then a pirate card! Love this image :-) but again I was too much of a wuss with the colours.... The sentiment is a digi - I must look up who it's from (sorry!)

A close up of the image....

Right. I must be off. I'll have a look for some challenges later. Gotta get the kids ready. Gosh, is that really the time???? Gotta go!

Love 'n' hugs,

Dream Valley Challenge 14 - Photo inspiration

Hiya!

I'm back with my DT card for Dream Valley's latest challenge which is to use this beautiful photo inspiration:



We have two fab sponsors this time and there will be two winners!

One Stop Card Crafts our fab Monthly Sponsor

At One Stop Card Crafts we have a big range of ever changing discount making and card making craft supplies.

We are always adding to our range of craft supplies which are ideal for making handmade greeting cards, do-it-yourself invitations scrapbook pages, altered items and much more.

Our card making craft supplies include free UK postage, our popular discount scheme and quick service means our customers keep coming back for more.

Our prices are very competitive and this & makes us an ideal place to buy your card making supplies online. Some of our new products include Petaloo flower layers, Ranger Glitter Glue and Martha Stewart Punches.http://onestopcraftchallenge.blogspot.com/

Prize - £10.00 voucher for their store


and our second Sponsor

"Sassy Studio Designs is a fresh new company. We have been designing and selling for a year now, and we have been kindly received into the community of digi stampers and crafters. I started designing images shortly after I started stamping, reason being...I didn't hardly like anything else out there I was a young adult woman at the time I was engaged, had no kids, I wanted fun sexy images that I would enjoy using and my friends and hubby would enjoy receiving. I designed images for 2 other digi stamp companies when my wonderful hubby kept trying to get me to go out on my own. So in June 2009 thanks to the few faithful followers I had, Sassy Studio Designs was born!  It has been a wonderful journey starting my own store. We have just grown so much these past months.I still try to keep "

Lindsay Dyer: keep with my original philosophy and reason for designing stamps, make them fun and keep them sassy...and yes sometimes even sexy!

Sassy Studio Designs

Lindsay

The lucky winner will get 4 images!


Anyway, on to my card.....


It's my cousin's wedding next weekend and my Mom wanted me to make her a card with a bride and groom on the front that looks just like them:

I started with a bride and groom colouring page I found on the internet! I cut them out and added pictures of my cousin and her fiance and then set about making the clothes. The dress is made from some organza and has been fixed in place with a mixture of stitching and glue. It's difficult to see here but I've made a tiny organza flower and added it to the waist with some beads sewn into the centre just like her actual dress! (I wish I'd got a close-up of it but the camera just wouldn't focus - grrrr!) Her fiance's suit is made from George's old school trousers with a waistcoat and tie added using promarkers and some black pearl buttons.

I cut a shape in the front of the card with my nesties and fixed the happy couple to the inside of the card.  I cut the same shape from my dovecraft wedding papers and added the outline of the shape to the front of the card and the inside of the shape as a background inside the card. That way the papers still match up when the card is closed!

I added silver glitter round the edges of everything and even added some to the flowers in the corner. I also used some gem sprays my good friend Yvonne gave to me. This is pretty much the last of them now though :-(

I added a punched butterfly (that I forgot to take a close-up of!) and then I printed the wedding details onto some card made a tag. More glitter..... :-)

 Because I'd fixed the bride and groom to the inside of the card, there was nowhere to write so I decorated the back of the card too using the same papers and the piece of card I'd cut from the front - waste not, want not!

The lovely sentiment is from Sentiments 4 You.....

Challenges:

Charisma Cardz - Anything goes

Moving Along with the Times - Handmade flowers (organza flower on bride's waist)

Paperplay - Make your own flowers (organza flower on bride's waist)

Sarah Hurley - Bling and sparkle

Right, I need to be heading down to my allotment to pick more beans - there's millions of them!!!! It took me three hours to prepare last weeks harvest :-)

Don't forget to have a look at the rest of the creations from Dream Valley's design team here.....

Love 'n' hugs,

For my Mom.....

Hiya!

I'm up at silly o'clock again cos I can't sleep and it seems to be the perfect time to get my cards posted on my blog :-) Today is my Mom's birthday!!!! Happy birthday, Mom!!!!!

I used a fab sketch from Sketch Saturday but I didn't really think it through cos I couldn't post it on here till Sunday so I missed the deadline - duh! Oh well.....

I really enjoyed doing my distressed DT card for Dream Valley the other week so I wanted to have another go:

I've used (finally!) a beautiful Tilda my good pal Clare got me for my birthday - I stamped the image as soon as I got her but I've only just had the occasion (and time!) to be able to colour her in..... Thankyou, Clare, she's gorgeous!!!! I've added oodles of sparkle to her flowers and the lace on her dress but I'm disappointed with how it looks here - it looks fab on my camera :-(

I went around the edge with strips punched with the flower doily border punch from xcut. The papers are all papermania's summer bloom and the sentiment is one of papermania's relations clear stamps.  I've cut a cute little hummingbird from one of the papers and added it to the corner.....

Other things I've used:

Promarkers

Lace and ribbon from stash

Kraft cardstock

Challenges:

Moving along with the times - Birdy's

Charisma Cardz - Glitter it!

CRAFT - Colour fiesta

Sarah Hurley - Bling and sparkle

Totally Gorjuss - As you like it

CES challenges - Brown, pink and aqua

Finally I'd also like to show you a couple of the cupcakes I bought for my Mom when I went to see her a couple of days ago..... I hope you can see them properly - I had to take the piccies through the window on the box cos I'd have never got them packaged again looking so nice and the battery in my camera was dying! They were made by the incredibly talented Emma of Mai-Belles Cupcakes...... Please take at look at her gorgeous piccies on facebook to find out why I just have got to have these for my wedding day..... The giant cupcakes are amazing! The wedding towers are spectacular! And, I have to say, they taste every bit as good as they look :-) Thankyou, Emma!

Right..... I'll link these up and then I'm back off to bed to see if I can sleep now :-)

Love 'n' hugs,

Dream Valley 14 - Citrus Colour Theme

Hiya!

It's time for another challenge from Dream Valley! This time we want you to use our citrus colour scheme: 

Don't you just love those fab, zingy colours??? Just perfect for brightening up this lovely, erm "Summer" we're having! We are lucky enough to be sponsored by Stitchy Bear who gave the DT some fab images to play with and are giving our lucky winner $10.00 to spend in their store :-)

I chose to use Flight of Fantasy Silhouette on my card:

I've been a good girl and used up some leftover paper scraps for this one.... The yellow gingham and orange flowers papers are from Crafts Too and the green is limeade filigree from Doodlebug. I've matted onto different coloured card and then onto black to make them stand out a bit. The ribbon and brads are from my stash and then I've made another of my scrunchy flowers using some lemon card cut with scalloped circle nesties.... I've added a bit of faux stitching around the edges using a brush marker.

I've followed the fab sketch over at Cupcake Craft Challenges.

Right.... Another busy day today. I need to get some more done on my allotment and I've got the two littl'uns to entertain.... I'm fast running out of ideas. Why do they make the summer hols so long? We've done everything and been everywhere. Twice! We made some yummy gingerbread men yesterday... perhaps we should decorate them???

Enjoy the rest of the weekend! And don't forget to pop over to Dream Valley to see all the zingy loveliness the other DT members have created :-)

Love 'n' hugs,

Some thankyous......

Hiya!

Hope you are all keeping well! I made these back in July before the kids broke up from school. They are for my son's teachers to say thankyou for helping him settle in. He's has a fab first year at school! Lots of photos in this post so I hope you don't get too bored :-)

The first is an easel card and bookmark....

The image is Fizzy Moon and the sentiment is from Sentiments 4 You. The ribbon is from a candy win so I'm afraid I don't know where it's from - but it's gorgeous! I wish I had more :-)

A computer generated sentiment on the reverse.....

On the card I used Daisy and Dandelion papers, nesties, ribbon and pearls from my stash, a little punched butterfly, Xcut border punch and sizzix decorative swirl.

A close up of the sentiment....

Just so you can see the glitter on the flowers..... :-)

And then the second set is in purple.....

Bookmark the same as before....

But with a different name on it.....!

The papers are also Daisy and Dandelion.....

The same little butterflies, and glitter on the image....

The pins are from a candy win and I got the flowers from last year's NEC craft show..... :-)

Challenges:

CRAFT - Gifts

Totally Gorjuss - Round and round

Whoopsi Daisy - Anything Goes

Right I'm off to go shopping with my sister for bridesmaids dresses..... :-) How exciting!

Love 'n' hugs,

Forever Friends Anniversary Card

Hiya!

Hope you are all well. We're all back to normal now since returning from our holiday and then the riots in Birmingham. They didn't affect us much other than being locked in our local travel agents for a while because trouble was supposed to be heading our way. It didn't materialise in the end but better to be safe than sorry! At least we managed to get our honeymoon booked!!!! :-) We don't tend to go abroad but for this we've made an exception - Lara Beach in Turkey. If you've been yourself and have got fabulous stories, please tell me so I can look forward to it even more :-)

Anyway, back to my card. I love this fab FF image for anniversaries and as it isn't too gender specific I find it also works well for same sex couples which is just what I needed in this instance! I stamped directly onto Kraft cardstock and coloured with my promarkers.

A close up of the image - you can see the sparkle I added to the rose....

I've added a close up of the border punch because you can't see it very clearly in the top picture. I think it's an Xcut one....

I decorated the inside so that the border punch showed up a bit more. The papers are also FF. I used a stamp I got from ebay and nesties for the shape....

I'm entering this into Little Claire's Wedding/Anniversary challenge and I'm also posting a link to Sarpreet's Forever Friends Sunday. Please pop over and take a look!

Right, I've got a nasty headache so I'm off to raid the paracetamol and make myself a cuppa!

Love 'n' hugs,

Dream Valley Challenge 13 - Distressing

Hiya!

Back again..... I've been on my hols and had a lovely time but now I'm trying to sort out piles of washing and post that built up while I was away - it's endless! And to top it off my internet connection is playing silly wotsits - not a happy bunny!

I did manage to find some time to craft though - and I loved making this one. This is my DT card for Dream Valley. Our challenge this week is distressing - I had a lot of fun duffing up my papers for this one. I was just in the mood for it :-) We are sponsored by the fabulous One Stop Card Crafts and Digi Doodle Shop. Digi Doodles gave us some gorgeous images to play with. Mine isn't one of them (it's one of my fave LOTV images) but if you pop over to Dream Valley you can see what the other DT members have created with them - beautiful!

This is an anniversary card for my pal, Nic and her husband Dave who got married last year......

I love this image.....

I added one of my flowers made from layering scrunched up scalloped circles cut with my nesties, held together with a brad.....

I used:

Image and sentiment - LOTV

Promarkers, glitter glue

Papers - Summer bloom, papermania

Nesties

Mini butterfly punch

Ribbon and brad from stash

Challenges:

CRAFT challenges - Anniversary

Creative inspirations - Summertime

Ladybug Crafts Ink - Favourite stamp

Sarah Hurley - Punch it

Right, I've got loads to do today so I'm off. I hope to be able to pop by all your blogs very soon and see what you've been doing while I've been away :-)

Don't forget to check out all the other DT's creations at Dream Valley. They're gorgeous!

Love 'n' hugs,