Special birthday!

Good morning, folks!  Isn't it wonderful to be heading into Spring with all its newness and hope?!  I love this time of year - winter is definitely not my season even though I really try hard to be positive.  I think I need to hibernate from November to March, lol!

So today I would like to share this card with you that I made for my wee grandson who is one year old today!  He's such a wee cutie and has such an endearing smile, which is always on his face (except when his sister tried to put a birthday hat on his head!).

I am entering this card into the AAA Birthday challenge #23, which is to use patterned paper and into the challenge at Let's Craft and Create #169, which is Anything Goes plus Green and Purple.   I chose the free Designer Series paper I got when I joined Stampin Up in January this year.  This paper is in Bermuda Bay (one of the Brights Collection) and I used Bermuda Bay and Gorgeous Grape ink.  The photopolymer stamp set is new to me and is called Family Party.  I love it, it is so versatile with family names, numbers and a few other cute extras, including sentiments.

Thank you for popping in today!

Stay safe x

Sympathy for a friend

 Good afternoon, folks.

I don't know about you but I have had an awful lot of Sympathy and Get Well cards to make during lockdown.  There has been so much illness and sad things happening.  My friend recently lost her mother-in-law and I made her this card with some of my new products from Stampin' Up! including the stamp, die and the beautiful ombre paper.  I stamped the image on to watercolour paper and used my Stampin' Write markers to watercolour it.  I'm happy with how it turned out.

I am entering this card into these challenges:

The Flower Challenge #53

Colour Crazy Craft Challenge - Week 5

Thanks for visiting today xx

HLS Challenge with dies

 Hello there!  Today I'd like to share a card I made for a friend who gave me a gift.  It was very kind and generous of her.

I love this Stampin' Up paper - isn't it lovely with the beautiful butterflies and wild flowers?

I stamped the sentiment in Granny Apple Green and the flower in Highland Heather (both stamps are from a long time ago Saleabration set) and then die cut it using a stitched circle die.  Less is more I think with this one as there is plenty going on in the paper.

I'm entering this card into the February challenge at Happy Little Stampers.

Thanks for visiting today x

Pretty banner

 Good afternoon, folks.

Today, I'm sharing a card using the bold watercolour paper from Stampin' Up! that I got in the clearance rack at Christmas.  I love watercolour and I love bold, bright colours so this is perfect for me.  I so enjoyed making the flowers - they are heat embossed in white and watercoloured, using Stampin' Write Markers.  Using the markers as my watercolour was brilliant, because you could use as much ink from the marker, or as little, depending on what part of an image you're colouring.  This was so therapeutic.

I am entering this card into the Just Add Ink #539 challenge which is to Just Choose Two - a border, banner, bow.  Obviously I chose the banner and border (love that little banner stamp - it's so versatile).

Thanks for visiting today xx

80th Birthday

 I was asked by a friend to create a card for her Great Granny who was turning 80 years young, and here is what I came up with.  I have to say I'm pleased with the results, as I wanted something quite stylish and I found that these Autumn foil speciality papers from Stampin' Up! fit the bill.  I've just recently signed up as a SU! demonstrator and am waiting for my new goodies to arrive, so in the meantime I had to use SU! products from older catalogues.  The stamps used here are from Number of Years and the dies match the stamp set.  These are great for anything celebrating birthdays or anniversaries.  I die cut 3 of each number to raise it up and give it dimension.  The little tab with Granny's name on it was cut out with a previous SU! punch.

Hopefully when I get my new goodies, I'll be able to share lots of what's going on in the new catalogues, including Saleabration where you can get free products for every £45 you spend!  What's not to love about that?!  There is also a new Mini Catalogue available with some gorgeous items in there too.

Pop back next week to see more!

Welcome 2021

 Hi folks.  I'm so glad to be back posting again after a bit of a break.  I hope you are all well and had a good restful Christmas holiday.

At Christmas, my husband and I were very blessed to receive kind and thoughtful gifts for which we are truly thankful, so I needed some cards to say Thank You.  Is it just me or do people not really say thanks much anymore?  I think we take too much for granted and I really believe we should always be thankful for what people give us - and then let them know it.  I know that the recipients of these cards appreciated them and that has also shown me how much people still like to receive a card in the post.  A text, WhatsApp or Instagram message is OK, but a card can be kept for a long time, put on display and be a reminder of how someone cared enough about them to take the time to make a card for them.  So I'll always be a fan of snail mail!

I enjoyed using this Stampin' Up! three step stamp which was a saleabration stamp a number of years ago.  The papers are also Stampin' Up! and I got them in the Clearance rack for a few £s.  I used Flirty Flamingo Cardstock as my mat, as it is one of the colours in the paper.

I'm entering this card into the Anything Goes Challenge over at Word Art Wednesday.

Thank you for stopping by today.

Karen xx

Colour Crazy Summer Flowers

Hi there!  Happy Monday to you all!

Today I'm sharing a card with you that I made for my friend who moved into her new home just before lockdown here in Northern Ireland. I coloured this Taylored Expression image using my Polychromo pencils.  I love this stamp because there is a space in the centre for adding your sentiment.  This little sentiment is one I got from Purple Onion Designs, many moons ago!  Then I backed it with some Rose Red Stampin' Up! cardstock that I still have after many years!

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Colour Crazy Challenge #30 - anything goes as long as it is handcoloured

Less is More #425 - summer flowers

Word Art Wednesday #450 - #451 - anything goes

Thank you for visiting today x

Floral sympathy

Hello friends.  I hope you are keeping safe, wherever you are today.

Today I would like to share another card that I made five of, for some friends who have lost a beloved family member this past week.  I used the Number of Years stamp set from Stampin' Up!, which is a favourite of mine, because of the numbers (I also have the matching dies).  However, I've never really used the pretty flower before.  It is actually a sweet flower, which can be stamped in green for the leaves and then the blooms can all be added separately in different colours.  I'll definitely be using this one again!  The colours I used are: (Stampin' Up!) Pear Pizzazz, So Saffron and Blushing Bride.  I matted the card with So Saffron cardstock. The sentiment is from My Favorite Things.  It was so simple to make multiple cards using my Misti.

This is my second entry into the challenge at AAA Cards #170 - Maxi white space with a twist (flowers)

Thanks for stopping by today x

CAS celebrate with flowers

Hi folks!  Today I’m sharing a very clean and simple card that I made to keep at the ready in my stash of cards for just when I might need it quickly. I’m actually pleased with how it turned out. 

I used a stamp that I bought many years ago from Stampin’ Up! but I can’t remember the name of it. It was originally one of the small wheels stamps, but recently I took all the stamps off the wheels and turned them into single border stamps. Using the Misti, it is really easy to line them up and I get better use out of them now. I have stored them in a large SU! case. 

I used Crushed Curry ink and scored a border line on each side of the stamp. I die cut the word You from a MFT die and stamped and cut out the sentiment from the same set in Crushed Curry. 

I’m entering this card into two challenges:

AAA Cards - maxi white space, twist - flowers

The Paper Players - CAS Celebrate

That's all for today.  Thank you so much for popping by!