GET WELL SOON CARD FOR MY MOM

Wow this is probably the most important card I've ever made.  I just wanted it to be so good.  My mom is going into Hospital tomorrow to have a Hip Replacment.  I know there's nothing to worry about.  Thousands are done every year etc...  But it's my mom and I've been through so much pain in my life and I hate to see other people suffer from pain too.

So I made this card for her using Marianne Dies, Heart Felt Creations Dies and Stamp for the Flower, Centura Pearl Paper and Card, a sentiment topper that I've had for years in a drawer, so I'm not sure who made that.  The Leaves are also from fake flowers and leaves that i buy randomly when ever I see any.  And I then went mad with the Cosmic Shimmer PVA Glue pearl dots around the card.  Maybe a couple too many I think.  For the inside I printed a simple message on Centura Pearl Paper then cut it out using a Tonic Die, and for the leaf corner embellishments i used one of the Spellbinders Die-lites Die Fantastic Flourish Two.

Here's the card;

ANNIVERSARY CARD FOR MY DEAR FRIENDS.

I've not been crafting for a while.  Sometimes when I have no birthdays or occasions to make cards for I take a break from it.  I don't sell any of my crafts.  I don't think anyone would buy them, and they cost far more to make than I would get if i sold them.  I do the cards for family and friends and the other crafts for me, family or friends.  Having comments from followers is wonderful and It gives my confidence a real boost when someone says how lovely a project is that I've made.

Anyway here's an Anniversary Card I have made for my Dear friends.  It's nearly all Centura Pearl Paper and Card, Spellbinders Dies, Sentiment Dies by Britannia Dies and Heartfelt Creations dies and Stamp set with a few Flowers and Gems.  Oh and the Sue Wilson Technique of doing Pearls around the card using Cosmic Shimmer PVA Glue in Cosmic Pearl.

 

LEAFY TREE HANDMADE CARD

Autumn will soon be here and my Nephew has an Autumn Birthday so I thought about using one of my new SWEET POPPY STENCILS and using INDIGOBLU FLITTER GLU with their YORKSHIRE DALES GILDING FLAKES onto Black Card. I also heat embossed  "Birthday Wishes" with COSMIC SHIMMER LAPIS BLACK AUROURA EMBOSSING POWDER onto the black card.  I then matted the card onto Gold Mirror Board. 

The background card is a mirror board from CARLEY at CREATA and was embossed by using one of SHEENA DOUGLAS LEAF EMBOSSING FOLDERS.  Then with one of the leaves I added RANGER ADIRONDACK colour GOLD ALCOHOL INK and outlined this leaf with STICKLES colour PATINA.  To finish the card off I matted all of this onto another piece of Gold Mirror Board and edged this with a TONIC PUNCH and added a few black and green gems and a gold bow with a button.  The finished card is an 8 inch square white card.

Sometimes I don't know what size of card I'm going to make and just start of at making the Topper first, then simply just matting and layering until I'm happy.  I then add all this to a card I have in my stash, sometimes having to cut a card down to size, or even make one from scratch.  I find it easier to make the Toppers first, than stare at a blank white card and wonder where to begin and what with.

I hope you like it.  The photo doesn't do the gilding flakes justice. They are actually greens and golds and very light reflective, but not on this photo I'm afraid.

WATERCOLOUR SCENE FOR MY DADS BIRTHDAY

Well it's my dad's Birthday soon and he lives in Spain now, but he used to love our own coastline, especially Cornwall and i think this picture I've painted reflects our coastline. I'ts painted in  Watercolours on watercolour paper and just matted and layered onto 8 x 8 card.  Then added a Happy Birthday die cut from BRITANNIA DIES by JOANNA SHEEEN.  It's one of the simpler cards I have made. I love to paint but haven't done it in ages.  I'm definitely out of practice. Hoping my dad won't see the errors.

So here's the card.

SHIMMERING BUTTERFLIES

I love making tags.  They are obviously bigger than ATCs and so can take much more detail. I hate being restricted by the size of an ATC. With this tag, the background is just a mixture of watered down acrylic paints, then I added some COSMIC SHIMMER SPARKLE PAINT in ANGEL GOLD and just splatted dots all over the tag to add some shimmer.  I then used SHEENA DOUGLAS DISTRESS STAMPS for embossing around the edge of the tag.  I love this stamp and has become one of my most used stamps. To add some detail to the tag I wanted a delicate floral background and used a stamp that i have no idea where i got it from.  Sorry.  I then embossed the stamps using PERFECT MEDIUM and COSMIC SHIMMER in  LAVA BLACK AURORA. The butterflies are from SHEENA DOUGLAS and embossed with COSMIC SHIMMER in VIOLA BLACK AURORA.  I painted the butterflies using SHEENA DOUGLAS H2Os in various colours to match the tag. I finished the tag off with a sentiment on a die cut, added some STICKLES GLITTER GLUE  to highlight some of the flowers and butterflies then tied various scraps of ribbon to the tag.







Here's the same tag but taken in a different light and totally shimmers in a completely different way.

Also the photo shows just how dimensional it is.


I absolutely love it and shall add some distress ink to the reverse and then leave a clear space for a message for someones birthday.  Trouble is i hate giving them away, but happy to know that when i do give them away, they are usually kept by the receiver and that means the world to me.

Having someone say they are going to keep your work is just simply the biggest compliment anyone can get.

TO ADD A BOW OR NOT TO ADD A BOW THAT IS THE QUESTION.

Is a bow too girly?  This card is for my son and has been made by using a DARICE circles embossing folder on black card and repeating it trying not to have a visible line.  But this folder does not repeat match so a line was inevitable.  I then used COSMIC SHIMMER GILDING WAX and rubbed this all over the card. So to hide the line I used an EK SUCCESS BORDER PUNCH on tan paper and then on white paper. I also added die cut shapes to to add a "Happy Birthday" sentiment die cut using the BRITANNIA DIES from Joanna Sheen. I matted and layered the card, then added stickles glitter to the inside of the embossed circles, but then came the question.  Do I add a bow?  The card just looked a bit bare even with four pearl adhesive gems in the corners. I tied the bow and placed it over the tonic border and it seemed to go really well, but is it too girly to add a bow to a mans card? I haven't yet added an insert to the card just in case I decide to change my mind and make something else. I'm hoping maybe some advice from readers may help me.

Here's the card.  Would a guy find it too girly?

HAVEN'T BLOGGED FOR OVER A MONTH

Wow it's been ages since I've sat down to craft.  The weather was just too hot to sit inside.  I'm such a sun lover so when ever the sun is out I'm out. Was very tempted to buy a paddling pool to cool off. I haven't even been bothered to do much in the garden this year either because of the heat and I love gardening. Mind you, losing four trees over the winter storms has made me very sad and my garden just doesn't look the same anymore. I have replaced two of the trees but it's amazing how bare it now looks.  Anyway, i may not have been crafting much but i have been adding more crafty items to my stash.  So I have lots of new things to play with.  Another reason I haven't crafted much is because I still haven't moved from downstairs where i have no room to spread out, to my spare room which I'm trying to get set up as a craft room.  Takes money though and at the moment I'm not in a position to go spending lots on new furniture. Although I have to admit, as my son pointed out, that if I stopped the crafty spending then my craft room would be furnished much quicker. Proof positive my son is no longer a child anymore.  Infact he's 19 this month hence the reason to get back making things again.

KNOCKED BACK AND GUTTED

I recently applied to be a member of a design team for a lady who really inspires me to craft, and still will even though I wasn't selected when 6 ladies were chosen. My first thoughts were that my crafting just wasn't any good, and that I had been silly to think that I had any talent. I'm just so critical of myself.  And knowing that I didn't even make the top 6 really hurts. 

Now to positive thinking. Pick myself up and just forget that I put myself out there and just carry on doing what I'm doing for the love of doing it.

Here's the three designs I put forward.  I thought they were a good representation of a varied selection for the Lady who required new DT members.  Obviously they weren't, but at least they didn't go to waste because the card was for my Brother in law who loved it. The Frame was for my bedroom and I love it, and the scrapbook page is for my own scrapbook that I'm making slowly around other things.

HEART OF FLOWERS

This one has taken me a little longer than normal to make because I had to let the crackle dry for 24hrs.  I used one of the larger hearts from IndigoBlu, Kroma Crackle mixed with yellow and orange acrylic Pebeo Paints, Centura Pearl Card, Ivy from Creative Expressions Stamps and Sheena Douglas Daffodils which have really brightened up the plaque.  I also used one of Sheena's distress stamps and used Flitter Glue to add some of the IndigoBlu Gilding Flakes to the background. Once the Crackle was dry everything was easy to put together.  I then finished it off with highlights of Stickles glitter on the daffodils, around the edge of the heart and just touches on the ivy.

MISS YOU CARD

I love this card I've made today.  A friend of mine is having so many health problems which has meant that we haven't been able to get together to sort the world to rights very much. So I thought this card might cheer her up and remind her that I'm still here for her whenever she's ready for visitors again.

The card is an orange linen effect card with a super smooth white card which I've embossed and tinted with Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink.  I've then added some lace flowers, die cut a beautiful Marianne Die and Stamped eight different sized Sheena Douglass Flowers and layered them onto some die cut leaf sprigs. The flowers are painted in Sheena's Radiant Rain and H2O paints so have a beautiful sheen to them, which sadly again the photo does not do it justice.  Although I think thats my photography skills to blame. To finish the card I've added a Miss You label and large gem stones to the center of the flowers.  I think it's a real cheerful card and I hope it makes my dear friend feel more cheerful too.

BIRTHDAY BUTTERFLIES

Here's a birthday card made with a Butterfly Stamp that I received free a few years ago with a subscription to Craft Stamper Magazine.  Of which I still have today and read from cover to cover every month.  Anyway I love how big this stamp actually is and I embossed it in Cosmic Shimmer Lapis Black Aurora, and then painted it in using Sheena's Radiant Rains. I also used a Resplendent Rectangle Spellbinder for the Phrase. I am not sure if the shimmer of this card is picked up at all by the photo but trust me it truly shimmers. I also don't think that the photo shows the dimension very well either but the wings are rounded and it looks like the butterfly has just landed for a moment or two. To match everything together I matted and layered using similar colours to the Radiant Rains. I also thought that by mounting the butterfly higher on the card it not only gave me room for the sentiment but made the card look just that little bit more unusual. I'm actually quite happy with this one. Shock!.

ROSE AND SWIRLS WITH GLOSSY ACCENTS

This is what I love to do, which is messing around with inks and paints, although the photo doesn't really do it justice. Why? because it really has  dimension that isn't really shown to it's best in the photo.  The rose was stamped and coloured in using distress inks. Then once it was dry I used Glossy Accents to cover each petal and leaf.  Only I did one petal at a time then let it dry so that it didn't run into the next petal.  This made it feel so raised and you could even see the depth of the petals and leaves etc...  To finish I layered onto textured papers and then used a beautiful swirl stamp over distressed inked paper, again using glossy accents to highlight and add texture to the swirls.  This card really feels and looks better in real life than in the photo.  Again in my critical view of myself I wish I had never used the pink alcohol pen around the the whole card.  I wish i had layered onto pink paper.  But hey ho, done now.

MOMS 70TH BIRTHDAY CARD

This is the card i have made especially for my moms 70th birthday. I'm hoping she will not think it is  too plain because as usual i am very critical of myself and now that it is finished I feel it is a little too plain and simple.  The flowers took longer to put together than the card did. All i had to do with the card was do some matt and layering of pearlescent papers and then emboss the top layer. The paper underneath the top layer through the die cut circles is more subtle than i wanted it to be really.

I find it really difficult to make cards for loved ones especially on such special occasions as a 70th birthday because i really want them to love them. So I hope she likes it.

A MEMORY BOOK FOR MY FRIEND

Oh boy this memory album was on the go for years.  I know if i was to start all over again the pages would be very different because now I am more into stamping and making my own background papers with inks etc... But I had to start somewhere and paper crafting was where i started.  In fact this album is basically how I first started to craft. When i finished it i was so proud of it and copied the pages.  Only just have i thought to put it on my blog to show off how i started crafting.  I then went onto making what i call put together cards from paper and card sets, and now things are very different as i love inking and rubber stamping.  But it's always nice to revisit old projects and i hope anyone who passes by will like it.

The person i made it for is my best friend who I consider more family than friends. I have known them for 27 years and although we don't see one another as much as we'd like to anymore, due to 100miles between us, we still chat for hours and reminisce about how we met and how our lives have changed over the years. She and her family have become my family & this memory album is meant to show to her how much I care about them all. I didn't want it to be a scrapbook because that word sounds like it's full off scrap items. So I called it a Memory Album.

Each page has been put together using pretty papers, photos, poems, pictures, lots and lots of written memories in envelopes both on the front and back of the pages.  Just items or phrases of things that meant and still do mean alot to us all.
 

These Three pages are of my best friends wedding in 1987.

Sadly her father is no longer with us but giving his daughter away must've been one of the best and worst moments of his life.  He loved her so much.  And i had to show that by writing a little poem for her.

Oh the pages are all 8 x 8 inches.  It was my first ever album before i was into stamping an inking etc... but they came out well.

On the reverse of the pages are the personal memories.  I even left empty spaces or envelopes for her to put her memories into them, so that when the album is handed down, her son will have my memories and his mom and dads too.

Now this one is  of my wedding.  I may not be with this man anymore but he was still a huge part of all our lives, so again memories for all us.  I'm not going to write the memories because they are obviously personal to us all.  But I thought it would be nice to include these pages of the friendship book in my blog.

I've always loved this photo of my friends.  It was taken at a place that means so much to all of us.  Even now we still go there and if we don't go together because I'm not always in a financial position to go the same time they do, we write each other daily diaries of what we do and where we go.  We can picture each other doing where they are and it's a brilliant way for us to stay connected.







I had to include one of myself with my dog. His name was Max and again no longer with us.  He was a rescue dog from a shelter and became one of the most loyal dogs I have ever had. Although it took me a long time to get over his loss i still miss him to this day. 

I only have one photo of myself with my friends Mom.  She really was the kindest and sweetest lady. They made me feel that i was at home with them. They I left my family to be with my husband. And yes my friends family became mine.

It wasn't often that as friends we would actually all get together and have a day out because we all had husbands, or boyfriends and worked different hours etc... So going to Scarborough was actually a rare occasion for us.

Most of the pages are of Cornwall because this is a place that we first went to as pen-pals, then carried on going to throughout and after my marriage.  Even today we still go to Cornwall. So sorting through all the photos was really fun and brought back so many memories.  

  Best Friends.
        (Sisters)

Never were we short of anything to say to one another. We were just like sisters. Our husbands were friends too so these years were some of the best and happiest of my life. 

Making this album was a way to express that.

Summers in Cornwall were what we planned from every January.
Every detail from clothes, places to visit, things to do and what food to take.  Everything was sorted right down to the very last detail. Sounds boring but to us it was fun.

 
Cornwall not only gave us memories of previous holidays but of our first holiday with her mom and dad. Every year we would laugh over how we all met.




I hope the pages are liked by people who stop by.



I love this photo and page i made for them. The flowers are painted with mica powders and just glowed when moved around. Mica Powders came to me before inks and I basically painted anything that stayed still long enough with them.  Oh and stickles were also my fave products at the time too.  Everything was glittered and mica'd.

 

In the left page i used a waterfall effect of some of our favourite sights in Cornwall. Plus a picture of the original shop in Boscastle before it got washed away in the floods, 

These two pages are of Windermere in The Lake District, but at different time. 


Windermere maybe a beautiful location but it just aint Cornwall.

Now this is an old photo of my friends mom and dad. I wanted the page to reflect the sepia colours of the photograph.

The page below are again her parents who were just the most wonderful people. I say "were" because they are no longer with us. One of her dads favourite sayings was "Don't Worry Be Happy" and he lived his life like this.

They are both sadly missed but  I felt they had to be included into her memory album.

      "YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE "

This was a favourite phrase and song that was played at her fathers funeral. Again the memories are on the reverse.  Too private for a blog.

Now this little boy is my friends much awaited for little boy.  She had suffered miscarriages and when this little one arrived he was spoilt by all. I too was pregnant five months apart so we had some fun times planning our babies futures.  This is really what a memory album is for.  Looking at the photos and reading how much one small child can make a difference to our lives.

There really wasn't at that time a more wanted and cherished little boy int the world. He was beautiful and i have to say that 18 years later he still is cherished and very handsome.

                     MISTY

I had to put Misty into her album. He was her mom and dads dog and although she and her husband are not dog lovers they could not give him away when her parents passed away.

He was a big reminder of many happy memories of her mom and dad and he was such a lovely happy dog.

Ryan loved him and Misty loved Ryan.

I wish i had seen her face when she saw some of these pages.  I should have given it to her face to face.  That is my only regret.


                                           MY NEW BABY BOY CAME INTO THE WORLD

 

Now this is my little boy. It is only when I held him in my arms for the first time that I knew what love was. Honestly having a child was just the most wonderful experience in my life. And he was such a good baby and everyone who saw him loved him.

Including these pictures into my friends memory album was to bring back memories for her of the two of us having children at the same time.  It truly was amazing.

This was our first holiday to Cornwall with our children. Although her child was walking now, having the sand beneath his feet was not something he liked very much. My little boy wasn't walking so he just crawled along the sand following my husbands feet.

I loved making this page, i think it's one of my favourites to be honest. The papers and pictures go wonderfully together.  And life really was a beach at that time of our lives.

                                    FUN TIMES

All the following pages are all just some of the fun times we had with our children before my marriage broke down and before i then left for my home town in the West Midlands. Although there was five months between our children, they really did get along and never once did they fight or argue.

They were happy healthy kids and life was joyous.

The page on the left is covered with clear raised circle sticky tabs and the texture of this page is just brilliant.

Towards the end of the album I wanted to include photos of my lad with my memories. Because making my mind up to leave was one of the hardest choices I have ever had to make.

I wanted to include these pictures so that she could remember how i felt about leaving and the memories are again written on the back in pretty envelopes.

I wanted her to be reminded of my little boy and how different they are today.

I wanted to remind my wonderful friend that those last few months were the happiest and saddest of my life.  I didn't want to leave and in my notes on the reverse I told her so.  She knew my reasons for leaving but I wanted her to know that I really didn't want to.

                                WESTS

Before i did move she an I worked in a small local convenience store together.  Now these were some of the best and most fun times we have had.  Even working together we got along.  Never once did we get mad at one another for anything.  If she did I didn't know about it and I guess that's what friends are for.  W always supported one another and makig this album for her was my way of acknowledging her for being my life long friend.





I included this photo because it is my favourite one of my son and I.  My much thinner days and my son has a wonderful smile.  I loved the page too and it went beautifully with the photograph.

               OUR LAST DAY OUT

These photographs to me are lovely but for my friend an I we knew that this was our last meal together. Everything we did was for the last time.

The kids on the other hand jut didn't understand what was about to happen. They didn't know that i was going to be over 100miles away. They didn't understand that we weren't going to be able to meet up every other day and play anymore.

It was a hard day and eve worse h day i actually left. But those thoughts and memories are again private to just us.


And now to the last photo and memory page in the album.  My favourite photograph from our last day out together and just a wonderful picture of my friend an her son.  After this photo was taken we have stayed in touch but our boys are not friends because they do not know one another. Which is sad, because although I am away, she and I are still the very best of friends. We chat for hours on the phone and meet up every once in a while. We did spend a week together in Cornwall when the boys were young and they got along, but time has pulled them apart.  But thankfully not for my Best Friend and I.