Retirement

My husband, who only ever buys cards for me, went to see our doctor the other day. He surprised me when he came home by stating that as our doctor (of 20 odd years) is retiring we should send him a card to thank him for all his help. Ok I thought I'll just buy one, but then I had a bit of spare time and fancied the challenge of making my first male card. I had a look at some challenge blogs for inspiration but most of them seem to be about Easter or spring at the moment so I plumped for Stamp Something's Doodle challenge as it isn't too specific. Luckily I know the doc plays the guitar in a band so that gave me a focus. I found some Basic Grey paper that reminded me of a fret board and attatched it to some circles and then added some embroidery thread as strings to make part of a guitar. Then I found some male papers in my stash which had a sentiment that fitted the theme of retirement. The button is one I found in my mother-in-law's button box a while ago when she very kindly said I could take what I wanted and the doodling is the musical stave at the bottom.

Orient Express

I haven't had much time to craft lately (no more days off work with colds) and when I could be crafting I really should be doing my annual accounts. Something I always put off until the last possible minute and then some! However I did want to use this fantastic image by Mo Manning on a birthday card for a friend. She is in Japan at the moment visiting her daughter who is spending a year out there teaching English, and her birthday is on Sunday, the day she flies home. I had already coloured the image some time ago without really thinking about what papers I had to match so was pleased to find a couple in a mixed batch of Basic Grey I ordered from craft superstore recently. I used a trusty Promarker to edge the papers and make them stand out, a technique I borrowed from my sister Jenni, also edging the flowers to tie the colours in. I didn't have time to find a challenge to enter before I started so I was really pleased to find three different ones it will fit into.

They are:

Colour Create Challenge -Your Choice of Pastels

Pile It On -Furry Friends

SophistiCat Challenge - Mint green,lilac & one other colour + flowers

I hope she likes it!

Another week another virus!

Stuck at home again with another cold, only just having got over the last one! The only good thing about it was I had been asked to make a card for someone who is retiring and I was running out of time. The cards I usually make in those circumstances are A2 size so they can take a while! No sooner was I finished that than I remembered my Aunt's birthday on Friday so I quickly found a challenge to do. I really liked the sketch over at Simon Says and literally threw this card together. It was a really easy sketch to follow. It did ask if poss to use Magnolia stamps but I wanted to use this one by my sister Jenni as it reminds me of my aunt, who used to make us cuddly toys when we were small. I coloured it with Promarkers and as I didn't have a suitable patterned paper I used a little teddy stamp to make some. The other bits came from my stash.
I am also entering it in The Color Dare Challenge and Cupcake Craft Challenge.
Now back to bed so I am fit for work tomorrow!

Mother#2

Wait a minute, I hear you cry, you already made a card for your mother but of course there is also my lovely mother in law to think of and I don't think her son is going to make a card any time soon! I looked at some of the many wonderful challenge blogs out there and decided on

the I love Promarkers challenge as I wanted to try out a new technique I learned at the Make It show at Farnborough a few weeks ago.

The challenge is to make a card which is a different shape to the normal square or oblong so I have made a mountain fold which I did at a workshop with Dimention Fourth who make unmounted stamps. The alphabet stamps are theirs which I over stamped with a flourish and then covered with clear gloss. The image of the bird is a digital one from my sister's shop which you can find over here it is of course coloured, as are the letters, with promarkers and the papers are digital ones but I can't rememember who by.

Mother

Thank goodness it's the weekend! The end of a stressful week worrying about various generations of my family, not that the problems are resolved but at least I can relax a bit and enjoy some crafting. First I have made a card for my mother using a digi stamp by marvelous Mo Manning. The image really reminds me of my mum as she has loved books all her life even having some of her work published. I am entering the card in two challenges, the first is My Time To Craft which is to make a card 'Just for Mum'. Secondly I am entering the Digital Tuesday Challenge which is to use scallops.