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

Wedding card

Good afternoon, folks.  

Today I'm sharing a card that I made for a young couple who will be getting married in October.  Their wedding invitation is really lovely and autumnal with the gorgeous warm colours that we associate with autumn.  You can see a wee peek of their invitation on the left.  I knew exactly what I wanted to make and this is what I came up with.

The diagonal stamp and the sentiment are both from Clearly Besotted; I inked these up in Old Olive and then I added a few leaves which I die cut from the absolutely gorgeous new Stampin' Up! Rainbow glimmer cardstock, using some Lawn Fawn Stitched Leaf dies.

I'm entering this card into the challenge at Just Add Ink #523 which is to incorporate something to do with the letter 'A', which in this case is the word 'autumn' - no guesses there!

Thanks so much for stopping by today x 

Guest Designer!

Hi folks, I just had to pop in and blow my own trumpet!  I’ve been making cards for over a decade now and for the first time ever, I was invited to be a guest designer for a card challenge. It’s over at Feeling Sketchy. I feel very honoured to have been asked to do this. 

Here’s the sketch for the challenge along with my card. Hope you like it. 

Thanks for stopping by!

September stencilling

Good evening, folks!

Today I have a simple card that I made for a friend's birthday (tomorrow, and I haven't even posted it yet).  I used a stencil that I've had for ages and I think have only used once before.  Saying that, I absolutely love it, because it has a gorgeous pattern of leaves (love anything with a pretty leaf on it!) and it is so open to many possibilities for a card.  I think it is a Concord & 9th stencil but I'm not 100% sure.  I'm entering this card into the challenge at As You Like It, which calls for a stencil and reasons why we love it.

I used some Distress Inks for this card, following the challenge colours at Colour Throwdown #610 - Barn Door, Wild Honey, Antique Linen and Gathered Twigs. 

The stamped sentiments are also from a Concord & 9th set (I never keep the packaging so I can't say what it is).

I'm also going to enter this into the challenge over at CASology week 373 - September.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Hope you have a great weekend!

At the edge of the beach

Hi folks! I hope you’re all well. 

Today I’m sharing a card that I made for AAA Cards Challenge #171 which is this...

I've been practising my colouring and was playing around with my new Copics and I really wanted to colour this lovely image from Sheepski.  I'm only a novice with copic colouring and the key seems to be practice, practice, practice!  I just wanted something that looked colourful and fun!  I stencilled the sun's rays with Distress Ink but I think I've placed it wrongly.  I was just trying to have white space while adding an extra bit of detail.  Hope you like it anyway.  

Thank you for popping by today!

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