Smile it's your birthday

 My blog title means it could be yours! If it is Happy Birthday.

I made this card for someone, then realised I had too many layers and because of the weight, I resisted sending it abroad, call me mean!

I used an image kindly sent to me a while ago by a lovely blog friend. Thank you again, you know who you are. I coloured it with DI's, layered it onto black card, then die cut and stamped the sentiment. I decided it needed more, so used my Silhouette die cutting machine, to cut the film negative shape, and the Smile. In addition, a piece of acetate was placed behind the negative. I didn't think the word stood out enough, so added gold glitter pen. All added to the top corner and the card was finished. 

Mouse image - House Mouse

inks - Distress Inks, tumbled glass, hickory smoke, mustard seed tea dye, 

brushed corduroy, black soot

sentiment & die - Julie Hickey

negative - I adapted an image of a negative border by Angie Svoboda

smile font - Beverly Flower font

Silhouette

House Mouse & Friends Challenge #388 Sorry not water!

Hubby's 80th Birthday

 Hi Everyone, it was my dear hubby's 80th birthday on the 20th, so this is a picture heavy post with a few piccies of our day out included.

 

I went all out and decided on making a many layer box card, after seeing it on the MSC blog. I changed the colour mix, to make it more masculine. 

 

After taking all the pieces into my Silhouette, I made them larger, making the card approx. 215mm x 155mm (8.5in x 6in) and cut from the red, white, black, gold, and gold holographic card. They were cut and then layered. 

Birthday slice card  - My Scrap Chick

card - The Range

Silhouette die cutting machine

 

side view

 

That wasn't enough, I decided to make another, so that I could have a lovely verse inside.

 

I die cut a car, coloured with markers and then embossed it all over with clear embossing powder. I printed off the sentiment and stencilled it, with a stencil I cut myself on the Silhouette Die cutting machine. After inking it, I layered it onto green card and adhered it to the main card, with the car placed centre. The layer looks off kilter, but it's probably because of my straightening of it in Photoshop. I didn't notice until I looked at it here. Silly me.

I printed out a sloppy verse inside, (he deserves one.) It's green, because he loves the "Racing Green" that used to be on the old cars. The light has given it different green areas, it's the same colour all over. 

 car - Sweet Dixie Die

markers - Spectrum Noir

embossing powder - Papermania

silver gel pen - Uniball

stencil - Tanya Beatrak ID #63771 Silhouette Design Store

ink - Distress Oxide, lost shadow

Silhouette

 

I then went into my Silhouette again and cut out his name and age, from the same alphabet I used here by Extraordinary Chaos. Before I went to bed, I stuck them to the window, so that when he opened the curtains he could see them. I coloured them with Distress Oxides, not as precisely as it could have been, but it was a last minute thought, so quick colouring. It's 12 x 12 inches

 

 

you can see them in reverse in the window.

here's how they looked from outside, shame about the reflection.

Hubby isn't one for fuss, although he deserves it, and all he wanted was to go out for a run in the car. He decided on West Wales, so off we toddle and first visit was St Davids Cathedral, a beautiful place to visit, we have been there several times, so our Pilgrimage has been completed over and over. AND, it was a glorious day, even though the wind was chilly. We drove through gorgeous countryside, seeing lots of Ewes with their lambs, cows, and horses in the fields. Everything is so very neat, with everyone having freshly painted outside their white or coloured houses. Also gardens so well looked after. A very beautiful part of Wales.

On our way, one of my favourite views from the car approaching Newgale beach

 

  

St David's the approach from the car park.

 

 

This is part of a sign inside the Cathedral about the Pilgrimage.

 Strumble Head Lighthouse,

 it doesn't look like it, but it's on its own island. A new place for us.

  

 

 

 

 In Fishguard we saw Cockle Pickers. 

Don't know what cockles are? here's a link, that may interest you.

 sorry this is out of focus, but they were a long way out in the bay.

 

 

I hope this wasn't too long a visit for you, but you enjoyed a little of our day.

WLSC Real Bird mid month

 

Hi Everyone, my DT card today is for We Love Stamping 

the theme this month being "Anything Stamped with Birds or Animals". 

 

My card today is another real bird, I've had this stamp for ages, but couldn't think what to do with it. I was rummaging in one of my ribbon drawers and came across this unused ribbon. I found Oxide inks to match, then laughed that they were "peacock colours". Then spread the ink, hoping to make lines or something. It didn't quite work, but I liked the colours, so out with my feather stencil, that I cut myself with the Cameo and stencilled the background with Distress inks to make a subtle background. 

I stamped the Peacock and embossed with white ink. I also inked, stamped and embossed in white again, a feather and sentiment from the same set. The feathers were attached to the tail, and I cut the sentiment on a diagonal and also added it onto the tail.

The ribbon was attached to the card, after cutting the wire from it and fraying the edge. The peacock layer with 3D pads was laid on top. A few clear sequins added, and the card was done. 

Peacock, feather & Sentiment - Magazine freebies

stencil - Tanya Batrak Silhouette Studio # 62274

inks - Distress Oxide, lucky clover, peacock feathers

 Distress Ink, peacock feathers

ribbon - stash

Brilliance ink - Moonlight White

embossing powder - Papermania

Giving Bear QKR

 

Hi Everyone, my DT card today is for

http://qkrstampede.blogspot.com/

We will select two winners each of the weeks 

1 using QKR Stampede  or Eureka Stamps image

 and 1 using any image!

Anything Goes every 1st & 15th of the month

It seems I forgot to post it yesterday, silly me.

I love this little bear, so I had to use him again, this month. I decided to colour him very differently to normal, I don't usually use purple, but purple and green was my choice today, for some reason? 

I added him into Silhouette and cut him 4 times, I also printed the sentiment and cut a 130mm square, then coloured him with DI's attached all the layers, then added sparkle pen to the bow. A matting of card was placed to mask, while adding a grounding in green with DO. Then I embossed the greeting just on the green. The background layer was added to the main card and the bear was attached to it.

image - Giving Bear  & Too Special

inks - Distress Inks, mowed lawn, antique linen, shaded lilac, seedless reserve, wilted violet, vintage photo

ink - Distress Oxide, rustic wilderness

embossed border - Tattered Lace

sparkle pen - Spectrum Sparkle Pen

Silhouette

 

showing the sparkle from the pen

 

Colour Hues Purple & Green - Yep!

Dinosaur Bones

 Hi Everyone, my card today was for our Great Nephew, who want so be a Palaeontologist. He has decided on this profession, since a very small child and is still as keen today. I made this card for his 15th birthday, as it says on the card! 

I decided to add a piece of double sided card, with lots of foliage on it, into which I cut bone shapes. After cutting and adding it to the card, I turned the cut bone shapes over and placed them back into the piece of foliage card. I decided it wasn't enough foliage, so stamped lots more on the plain side of the main card. Hubby passed by and said the bones looked like flowers? Nooooooo! All I could do was go around the bones with a fine liner black pen, sigh! Retrieved.

I decided on a shape for the sentiment and print and cut it on the Silhouette die cutting machine, adding stamped leaves and a raffia cord, then added 3D glaze over the 15.  I had the Dinosaur image in my files and also print and cut him out, on the Silhouette, and 3D'd him onto the foliage card, with the sentiment shape.

 The insert was designed in Photoshop, with a joke I saw on the web and the dinosaur. I don't know if he liked it. He's one of those children who has never said thank you or made a comment about his cards or presents. His brother enthuses over his cards and shows everyone, such different boys. Never mind, he's had it, that's all that counts.

dinosaur -  Digital Scrapbook (Pixelscrapper)

foliage card - Craft Sensations

leaf stamps - Magazine Freebies

inks - Whisper dye ink

3D glaze Nuvo Crystal Glaze

90th Birthday

 HI Everyone, a post from me that isn't scheduled, at last. This card was for my Brother in law, who has dementia, Bless him, he asked who was 90! It was the first card he opened. Anyhow, quite a simple card, I used a wonderful "cut" and free alphabet and numbers. I printed the sentiment out onto card, then die cut it. I attached it to a die cut holographic gold card. I cut the numbers out with my Silhouette and placed them onto the printed sentiment layer. Using the off cuts, I added them to the sentiment. The card is 8x8. I was pleased with the outcome. He was too. 

numbers - Extraordinary Chaos

dies - Sue Wilson Noble square dies.

RAINY WEATHER CHC

 

 Hi Everyone, my DT card today is for,

 

 Crafting Happiness Challenges

  The theme for this month is "Rainy Weather"

Would you believe I had trouble coming up with a card for a rainy day? I just couldn't decide, out of all the things I have on the subject of rain. Anyhow, after a few trials went into the bin, I put this together and although it's nothing much, it makes me smile.

I have had the images for years. The Raining image and the watering can were taken into Silhouette to print and cut 4 times. After a lot of faffing about with 2 other images and these, I decided to use just the 2 with a sentiment, which is computer generated. I guess I had it from the web a long while ago. The images were already coloured, I just added a light grey border for shadow on the watering can. 

I placed the layered can and raining girl, onto a dark grey card, well it is a rainy day, and drew, with the glue pen some rain, then heat embossed with the embossing powder. The sentiment was printed and die cut. It just needed a die cut tiny butterfly too. Very simple, but as I said, but it makes me smile.

image - I can't read the designer, but it was from Hugware, (long time gone.)

watering can - Garden showers - Lettering Delights

butterfly - Tattered Lace

glaze - Nuvo Crystal Glaze 

Quickie glue pen

embossing powder - WOW Clear Sparkle

 a closeup of the "rain"

 

Hope to see you at the Anything Goes Challenge, it's on for the rest of the month.

Stencil or Dies TMR

 Hi Everyone, my DT card today is for 

 The Male Room

 I seem to have been on a theme with last month's DT card for TMR and this one. I found a stencil design in my Silhouette files and cut it out. So handy to be able to cut my own stencils and with a laminated sheet, cheap too. I stencilled it onto a piece of card, also adding gold ink to enhance and give it a shine. The stencilled piece was die cut with a layer of brown card. The feather stamps were stamped onto the brown card and I fussy cut them, then stamped a sentiment and die cut it. 

stencil - Tanya Batrak Silhouette Studio # 62274

ink - Distress ink, vintage photo

gold ink - Kuretake

stamps - Magazine freebies

brown card - stash

embossing powder - Altenew Antique Gold 

sentiment - stamps and die - Julie Hickey

frame dies - Card Making Magic

 

 

 showing the shine of the gold embossing and paint

Real Bird WLSC

Hi Everyone, my DT card today is for We Love Stamping 

the theme this month being "Anything Stamped with Birds or Animals". 

My card today is a bird, I have been frightened of this stamp since I had it. It has so many small parts that I didn't think I could do it. I'm not the best stamper, that is why I joined the DT, so that Brenda, could stretch me, and I can tell you I was stretched with this card. 

The stamp set, as I said, has tiny stamps, and each of them represents the coloured parts of the bird, a Blue Tit. I cut a square of water colour card, as I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, design wise.

I stamped the branch, using 2 colours of ink on the stamp, not done before, then added a watercolour pencil for shadows. The feet were stamped, near enough to the branch, it was just of landing! Don't say it hasn't got its wings out! :)  The outline of the bird was then stamped, and fit the different stamps in the right colour, inside. I am so chuffed I managed to do it practically all inside, and in the right place. Well apart from a slight correction in one part, but I'm not letting you know where! 

As I hadn't planned anything, (I didn't think I could do it). I had to think what to do for the background, and decided to do more stamping, simpler this time, stamping a part of a tree in the 3 corners. It needed something else, and I noticed that there was a tiny flower stamp in the set, so I stamped a little flower amongst the leaves and added a darker centre, again with watercolour pencil.

Thinking CAS, was not an option for me with this bird, so off I went and found some digital paper that matched the colours and even the stamped flower, so lucky, I used in the stamping. I added them to my Silhouette and made a square frame to fit the bird square and the background, then print and cut them out. I also cut 2 layers of white card to the printed square dp to raise it up off the bird. A sentiment was stamped and die cut, then coloured to match, and placed onto the dp square. Whew! it was finished, and I'm pleased with the result, as simple as it looks. Perhaps I won't be as frightened next time?

bird stamps - Simply Cards & Papercraft Magazine #165

tree stamp - Chocolate Baroque 

sentiment stamp & die - Julie Hickey

digital paper - Simply Cards & Papercraft Magazine #215

inks - Whisper pigment inks (very old)

inks - Distress Inks, vintage photo 

watercolour pencils - Nuvo Vibrant

 

 

These are the lovely prizes you could win for your entry

 

3 prizes, AALL and Create Elegant Peacock, Serengeti stamps and Starry Night stencil

Horse & Hat CCC

 Hi Everyone, I have 3 DT cards today, I hope you will be able to visit each of them, this is for -

Critter Crazy

 Anything Goes but they MUST feature a critter as the main focus 

Whether Furry, Feathered, Fantasy, Fairytale, 

Scaly, or Insect, there must be a critter...

My Niece who has a beautiful white Spanish horse and is horse mad, was 60 a month ago, and I have always or for many years anyway, made her a card with a horse. 

I purchased the fabulous image and then didn't know what I was going to do with it. I thought of a fancy die border, that I have, but it wasn't big enough, so off to Silhouette, and I cut 2 fancy scalloped borders, 3 layers of the horse and 3 layers of the 60. I inked gold over the digitally die cut border, but wasn't keen, so I tried the white over it, better, but it needed a pale blue background to give some depth, I thought. So I used a watercolour pencil to mostly cover the centre, then used water to spread it out. They were then attached just off centre to show the gold ink.

The image was coloured with watercolour pencils and I cut one of the layers to add 3D pads to raise the balloons more. The 60 was added after colouring with gold ink, but just one layer. I then thought it needed more, so took a fine brush and inked around the card, adding gold inked horseshoes I cut out. Yep! a bit wavy, but I don't mind that. It's got a lovely shine to it. You may think I didn't colour the horse, I did, but tried to make it a white one, wasn't that successful though.

image - Hetty Clair, Tea Party Pony

watercolour pencils - Nuvo Vibrant Watercolour pencils

scalloped border frame - Shirley's Templates 

horseshoes - freebie image made into cut file

 

 

I hope to see you at the challenge

Tulips QKR

 Hi Everyone, my DT card today is for

http://qkrstampede.blogspot.com/ 

We will select two winners each of the weeks

1 using QKR Stampede or Eureka Stamps image and 1 using any image!

Anything Goes every 1st & 15th of the month

I love tulips, and we have quite a few come up in the garden. I also love this border of tulips, that at first I was going to make smaller and make a border of a few of them. Then changed my mind and used some oval dies to place them into. I chose music paper to back them, as the song "Tulips from Amsterdam"by Max Bygraves, was going through my mind at the time. 

I print and cut the tulips seperately, with the Silhouette and coloured them with DI's, placing them onto the music paper and then onto the different colour green card.

As I was about to layer the ovals and tulips onto the card, I felt it a bit bare for this card. I grabbed a long time unused die and embossed a piece of card, and added the ovals and tulips, then changed my mind again and added some mirror card butterflies. I was then more pleased with it all.

tulips - Tulip border QKR Stampede

inks - Distress Inks, mowed lawn, peeled paint, 

festive berries, mustard seed, fossilized amber

oval dies - Tonic

butterflies - Tonic & Tattered Lace (I think)

die (embossed) - Tattered Lace

mirror card - Hunkdory

 

I thought I would share our tulips that have decided to flower in the dreadful rain and gales. I hope they stand up to the bad weather.

Tulips, Azalea about to open, a peep of the polyanthus,

 you can also see the heather further up the garden. 

 

more tulips and Hellebore, with a peak at the Pieris about to open

 

tulips with the new Diatzia flowering

 I hadn't realised what a great match the Skimmia and Cherry Blossom would be,

when we planted them together.