HANDMADE CARD FOR MOTHER'S DAY WITH THE HELP OF SPELLBINDERS.

I wanted to make a lovely fresh and bright Mother's Day card but the more I progressed the more it became an Autumnal looking card with oranges and browns.  I started off with Velum which i inked with an orange distress ink showing the white paisley design off lovely.  I then found some double sided orange card but this is where the browns came into it.  So i just went with the flow.  I used distress inks, spellbinders, stickles and even cosmic shimmer glue to make brown pearls.  I love the card and my mom did too which was the point.  It actually took a few days to make but my mom is so worth every ache and pain it took to make it.  I even decorated the inside which i forgot to photograph, but for me it's one of the best cards I've ever made.  And I have Spellbinders to thank for that.  I've invested in quite a few now so I'm hoping to be inspired by some of Sue Wilsons designs from the Creative Expressions group.  Her imagination for the use of Spellbinders is infinite. But then again she does have the use of the whole range at her finger tips.  As for me i have five sets now, but better than none at all.

SO MANY BIRTHDAYS

Wow, i have so many friends and families Birthdays, Anniversaries and even Valentines Day to make cards for during the first three months of the year, but unfortunately i had to actually buy in a couple of cards from the shops.  One card shop sells absolutely lovely cards for under a pound.  There is no way on earth i can compete with that if ever i decided to sell mine.  It's a budget card shop but crammed with customers.  Buying cards was  something i said i'd never ever do again.
But i did my best to make handmade ones, and although some were what i call put together cards, i still think they looked pretty good.  Although i do prefer to actually sit down and make absolutely everything on a card as possible.  But this isn't always possible for me, because sitting for such long periods of time really  hurts on my back.
Anyway here's some pics of the ones i did make.  Some I'm proud of, some i know i could've done better and I'm even showing the ones i really don't like at all.

This one i made for my son.  I know he's 18 but we've always exchanged cards and it was so simple to make and i think looks stunning on pearlescent paper and layered on tone on tone pearlescent cards.  He loved it anyway.

This one, I'm very proud of the picture again using my wonderful and favourite Stampscape Stamps to create a lovely scene.  I used Adirondack inks and even pro markers on the cabin and I used a white highlighter pen on the mountains and highlights on the grasses etc.

The only thing that spoilt the card was the Happy Birthday. Never mind.  We learn by our mistakes and again I'm never 100% happy with any card i make.  I'm just so critical of myself. 

This card is one that i would say as a put together card from toppers and printed quotes with matching card etc...  I like the end result and it felt very substantial, but i just find these types of cards easy and quick with very  little thought on my behalf.
I'm not ashamed of making cards like this at all infact they are fun to make.  But i do like to mess with inks, stamps and powders etc...

Again this is a put together card.  Most of the cards i make are 8 x 8inches and the papers used were free from a Debbie Moore Magazine.  I loved making this though and the shells were given dimension to make the card look more 3D.
It was for a mans birthday but there were so many papers that easily I could've taken the ship off and put another picture of hers onto it to make it more feminine. I'm not a huge fan of Debbie Moore because she has done alot of Art Deco and for me I'm not into that, so this was a lovely change to see from her.

Another put together card but again very pretty and this time i made it into an A5 card.  I tried to do something different by cutting the front card in half on the diagonal and it looked great. The Verse and sentiment is actually hidden under the main rectangle topper.  The papers used were lovely and i think were by Papermania.  Note to self that i need more fancy papers.  I've so much card stock but very little fancy papers. On this card it is hard to see the insert paper but it was embossed with roses.  So beautiful.  The papers to me were the show because they were shiny and not matt.  Also the birds are sweet too and i used Pinflair to raise them up and also added a butterfly for dimension. Plus edged it all with border peel offs.

With this card, again i used the Papermania papers along with a topper and a couple of butterflies for dimension with gems.  I have to admit that this card has been my worst card to make. I just didn't feel into it.  Some days you just love what you do and other days the inspiration just isn't there and i think it shows in this card.

I don't know.  Feedback would be great but i have to admit, that when your hurting, card making is not a good hobby.  Although the recipient of this card absolutely loved it.  Well she would say that anyway.  No one is going to turn around and say thats horrible  and i don't want it.  Besides she was only 7. If she said that to me I'd've been floored.

Now this really was a rushed card.  And put together by pieces of scrap that i had in a box. Everything on this card was experiments that i didn't think worked but i kept anyway.  Then decided to try and make a card from them.  To be honest i hate it.  The only good thing i like is the bow.  I've put it on here just to show that even scraps make a card but the card may not be one of your best.  It certainly wasn't for me anyway.

Another put together card from a set specifically for men. Took all of one hour to make and although it looks okay, to me it's another one I really don't like.  I can't even think of anything to say about it.  Is my card making getting worse?  Probably has been of late because i just haven't been able to sit for long a the craft desk.  I so want to play around with all my inks etc but pain tells me something else.
So i hope if anyone passes by they do not think i can't make cards.  I love making cards and painting and drawing etc....  Or i should say i used to love doing all that.

CLARITY STAMP BIRTHDAY

Now this one is inspired by Barbara Gray from Clarity Stamps.  For me this was easy, looked amazing when finished and was so glossy you can even see my reflection in the black card.  The photo doesn't do it justice because it looks like there are imperfections on the card but there really wasn't. The Mica powders I used were from Cosmic Shimmer onto Versa Mark Sticky Ink onto High Gloss Black Card. Then mounted onto co-ordinating coloured background card.

I consider this to be one of my favourite cards made by myself but then again I'm a huge fan of Clarity and study her art.  She is just such a perfectionist and so wonderfully talented. For me this card was a pleasure to make.