Marlene's birthday card

 Hi all. Here this damp evening to share a card for one of Mum's friends. I treated myself recently to some new Penny Black blooms (like I really needed more new stamps lol) and thought these lovely roses would do the trick. 

Coloured with polychromos and some red glitter added to the little berries. I thought it looked a bit meh, so got my metallic paints out, added a few gold and pink splatters and it looks much more party time now! 

Penny Black Saturday January - something new 

We Love Stamping January - new things (my stamp)

Time Out #305 - favourite technique - I do love a splatter to give some interest to an empty space

Addicted to Stamps #509 - any occasion 

Last Christmas cards and Mum's birthday card

 Happy New Year! It's a cold one here and blowing a blizzard at the minute, definitely an evening for my PJs and the heat on. Miss Molly loves the snow but it's no fun for either of us defrosting the snowballs from her wee legs! 

Anyway here to share a card that was sent to my aunts, using this new-to-me set from Penny Black. Coloured with polychromos and the girl in the centre popped up on foam pads. For the sky I used a snowy stencil and just coloured through the holes with a white gel pen. 

Simon Says Stamp Monday - sparkle and shine

Word Art Wednesday #730-733 - anything goes

Penny Black Saturday December - anything goes/ something new

And this is Mum's birthday card - I had an absolute stinker of a cold when I was making it so it's not my best work, but better than expected!! I only thought of it after but I wish I'd had the numbers spelling out her birth date instead of just random. 

Cut it up #346 - anything goes 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - add a sentiment 

Happy Christmas!

Hi all! Hope you are having a lovely Christmas! We had the usual fabulous feast in Mum's (and back today for the leftovers yummmm) so we're well stuffed!!! Can hardly believe that's it done and dusted for another year, though I'm off work now till the 5th so a nice long and much needed break from work!

I managed to get all my cards made in time (and hopefully posted in time too!) Didn't get a pic of all the variations but they were all from a Penny Black set, and all done on a production line - some evenings I'd be stamping, some colouring, some making backgrounds and then finally sticking them all together! 

Addicted to Stamps #507 - Christmas 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - add a sentiment 

Penny Black Saturday December 

Christmas Kickstart #105 - I wasn't organised enough to play with Jo's challenge all year so I'm glad to be able to join in with her last one of the year! 

And finally, here's a wee pic of Molly with her prize Christmas present - I'm sure the squeak can be heard across the Atlantic so the sooner she 'kills' it the better!

50 Christmas cards

 I was asked to make a stack of 50 Christmas cards for our volunteers in work so that has kept me busy these past few weeks!  I had a bit of a production line going...some evenings prepping my card bases, some evenings stencilling and adding snowy silver splatters, some evenings sticking them all together, and most evenings with my pencils out! I can't deny that I'm glad to have them all finished. 

I mostly used these stamps from Gerda Steiner, with a few Penny Black carolers to mix it up a bit.  I made a few in our company colours of purple and green, but I'm 100% sure nobody will notice but me LOL.  I added chunky glitter to all their hats so they're nice and sparkly, as a Christmas card should be!

I made maybe half a dozen of each design, only took a few photos but they will give the gist of what I made...

Just add ink #774 - stencils/ dies

Fab n Funky #626 - all that glitters

Addicted to Stamps #506 - make your mark

Stamping Sensations November - Christmas 

Sparkles Christmas challenge #178 - festive wear

Birthday card for Aunt Cilla

 Hi all, I've taken another break from my Christmas card order to make a card for my mum to her sister.  Mum has a beautiful rose garden with every colour of bloom, so I thought I'd send Cilla some roses from her garden!  

This Penny Black image does take a while to colour but it's worth it, though I'm never entirely happy with how I colour the vase, some day I'll take some time and learn how to do it LOL.  I happily found some DP which kinda matched the roses, I've added some metallic gold splatters to the background and then some pink, red and gold gems to pull it all together. 

Layout from Freshly Made Sketches #712

As You Like it - favourite embellishment - mine is definitely these little gemstones which I use on a lot of my cards for just a wee bit of sparkle 

Penny Black Saturday November - anything goes 

Word Art Wednesday #724/725 - anything goes 

Think Pink!

 We've had a wild couple of days with Storm Amy passing by, but thankfully it wasn't as bad as Storm Eowyn earlier this year - still plenty of trees down and flooding in parts but I think the worst of the rain missed us.  i love how storms are named nowadays, it certainly makes them more memorable!

I'm back with another one of my little carolers, this time in pink. I hadn't intended to add the tag in the corner but it's covering an oops from my ink pad and the snowflakes are covering a splodge from my sparkle pen too!  They do kinda hide the circular stencil I used though. 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - think Pink

Simon Says Stamp Monday - trees

Addicted to Stamps #502 - Christmas 

As You Like It - square or not - I used to make A6 sized cards but always struggled to cut my base layers straight, so getting some square dies and going down the square card size was a godsend for me! 

Sparkles Christmas challenge #177 - non traditional Christmas colours

Here's a wee pic of Molly post-walk, not looking too impressed with getting caught in the rain! 

First Christmas card

 I am sooooo behind with my Christmas cards, but hoping this sweet set from Penny Black will give me the oomph to get going!  I reckon you'll be seeing a lot more of these carolers! 

I had a good root round my stash and found this old holly die and a wee sentiment to match.  Coloured with polychromos; clear gloss and glitter added to the bauble on her hat and the bells (?) on her top. A few red gems on the holly to finish. I used a snowfall stencil for my blue card and just coloured through the holes with a white gel pen.

Addicted to Stamps #502 - Christmas 

Simon Says Stamp - anything goes 

Just Us Girls #794 - use a stencil 

Layout inspired by AAA Cards #300

Penny Black Saturday September - spots or stripes 

Cards for Renee, Andrea, Edmond and Shona!

Hi all! I'm caught out every year with all my June birthdays, you'd think I'd know better by now and not have such a mad rush every year!  Anyway, apologies in advance for the long post....

First up is this one for my Aunt using this Gina K stamp, which I love but it does take me an age to colour.  I hadn't intended to have sparkly butterflies but I lifted clear gloss instead of glue (they're decanted into the same design bottles), made a mess so just went for it and got my glitter out instead! 

• Allsorts # 825 - what makes you happy - I find 90% of my pleasure in making cards comes from colouring the images
• Addicted to Stamps #494 - any occasion 

Next up is for my Uncle's 80th birthday, using a Penny Black yacht, a couple of stencils and some sparkly silver die cuts.

• Just Us Girls #779 - word week - number 
• Cut it up #332 - masculine 

Third is this Whipper Snapper cutie for my sister-in-law with a few die cut flowers to finish it off...

• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - fur, feathers +/ or flowers
• Fab'n Funky #618 - use die cuts
• Word Art Wednesday #702 - anything goes 

And lastly some Gerda Steiner chickens for my friend.  The dude in the middle is popped up and a few clear sequins to finish.  Not adding it to any challenges as it was inspired by one I saw on Gerda Steiners blog, but wanted to post it for my own record.

Embossing 2 ways

 Hi all!  I seem to be in a blue phase at the minute, I need to get a different colour palette going LOL

First up is this little sailing boat from Penny Black - coloured with polychromos and popped up on foam pads. I've used a new slimline embossing folder that I thought would kinda work as the sea and added a few metallic paint splatters to give a splashy feel.

Penny Black Saturday challenge May - monochrome or anything goes

AAA Birthday #73 - any birthday 

Cardz for Guys #371 - body of water

This one is similar to one I made a while back, using this pretty Altenew flower stamp. I used the same embossing folder in the background along with a few white dies to use up some leftover white card.

Cut it Up #329 - so sorry

As You Like It - - soft or bold colours? - well, it depends what I'm making! For sympathy cards I definitely think more subtle colours work best

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - beautiful blooms 

And just for some brighter colour!... Here's a wee photo of my lovely Rhododendron - it usually gets hit by the frost or rain, but we're enjoying a lovely sunny dry spell this past couple of weeks so it's looking fabulous this year!! 

Floral sympathy

Hi all!  I always like to have a few sympathy cards in my stash but don't have any at the minute, so I'm aiming to get a few made. For this one I've used this lovely floral stamp from Penny Black. Not sure where that background die was from.  Image coloured with polychromos and popped up on foam pads.

Floral/colour theme from The Card Concept #206 

Layout from Inspired By #IB284

Word Art Wednesday #643/644 - anything goes 

Snippets Playground #478 - the little bit of blue card leftover from my diecut was just the perfect size for my sentiment

I love this time of year with the brighter evenings and plants all springing to life, but our weather has been absolute pants! It feels like it has rained almost every single day since September.  The bright side of not being able to tackle the garden is that I've been having a good clear out!  My craft stashed is all sorted and tidied and this morning I raided out the crockery cupboard - next on my hit list is the good old junk drawer! 

Retirement cards for Gareth, Gerard & Marlene

 Hi all!  Well it finally feels like Spring is almost here!  We finally got out to our back garden which has been sodden for months to get bushes pruned, dead stuff pulled out, grass cut and some lovely bright primroses planted up in my hanging baskets! It is so good to see the evenings on the stretch, I absolutely hate the long dark days of winter 😁

Anyway, just wanted to share some retirement cards for some ex-workmates of Mum.  The first two are for brothers so I kept the same vibe for them both.  So first up is this one using a Penny Black stamp...

Just Us Girls #715 - anything goes stencil week 

Word Art Wednesday #635 - anything goes 

I was hunting for a different hot air balloon stamp for this one but of course it was nowhere to be found, but luckily came across this unknown oldie instead.  The house border is an old MFT die

Allsorts #769 - things that fly

CAS on Friday #277 - male/boy

And finally, a nice bright spring card using one of my favourite Lili of the Valley stamps (I still have this one out to make a thank you card so you'll be seeing it again very soon!). I added some clear gloss to the daffs to make them pop a bit. 

Simon Says Stamp - beautiful blooms

Layout from Freshly Made Sketches #624 (just noticed my yellow panel should have been longer)

Snippets Playground #474 - my butterflies were cut from the leftover bit of yellow 

Alexandra's birthday card

 Hi all, here this lovely spring day with a birthday card for my niece - I can hardly believe she is 14 already, it's absolutely no time since she was a wee tot!  

She's a St Valentine's Day baby, so this old Penny Black stamp with the heart balloons was just perfect.  Silver and blue metallic splatters added to the stencilled background. 

Layout inspired by Atlantic Hearts Sketch #563

Simon Says Stamp Monday - fun with stencils 

AAA Birthday #58 - hearts

Seize the Birthday #277 - splatter

When I was 14 on the 14th the Falklands War ended, that's a long time ago now!  I wonder will Alex remember in 40 years time what happened on her double-14 day! 

Marlene's birthday card

 Hi all! Bit of a wild night here, we have Storm Isha visiting and it's blowing an absolute hooley out there!  Definitely not an evening for walkies! The noise from the wind is frightening and our lights are flickering away here, hopefully the power stays on!  Molly is fed up with the weather too as we're just getting over our first taste of snow and ice but thankfully it only hung about for a few days.

Anyway, I've I card for a friend of mum's to share this evening. I've used an oldie Penny Black stamp and some of my new flower dies from Creative Depot.  Some background splatters with metallic paints and the little flower gems have been in my stash forever so I'm glad to use them!  MFT striped paper.

As You Like It - favourite paper brand - I don't buy a lot of designer papers but have always loved any My Favourite Things pads that I've bought, they're great quality and always nice colours. 

Penny Black Saturday January - anything goes 

Snippets Playground #472 - unfortunately I missed playing in Di's 12th anniversary challenge so I'm making sure to play along this week!  My snippets on this card are my flowers cut from the leftover bit of the circle

My Time to Craft #525 - new stash (my flowers)

Catch up!!

 Hi all, sorry I've been missing in action again, I just never seem to have time for blogging and the old mojo isn't being particularly co-operative either! Anyway I've lost to post this evening ...

I'm waaaay behind in my Christmas cards and the overseas ones should have already been away so they're going to be very CAS this year!!  

I cut an aperture for this one, blended the background and then stencilled in some snowflakes.  Polar bear stamp from Creative Depot.

Layout from MFT Wednesday Sketch #674

Colour theme also from MFT Colour Challenge #224

CAS on Friday #271 - Christmas 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - anything goes

And a few more just for my reference as some of them are a bit samey to others I've done ...

Katie's 21st, using a Stamping Bella stamp

Baby Padraig (the Irish version of Patrick) using an old Lili of the Valley stamp

Sandra's birthday card using a Penny Black stamp. 

October calendar page and Lauren's birthday

Hi all, here this evening with Mum's calendar page (just a tad late!) I can hardly believe these calendars started as a one-off Christmas gift in 2015 and I'm still making them LOL

I've used a couple of oldies from Eat Cake Graphics and stencilled in some grass and clouds.  

I added some sparkle to the red part of his cape, shows better in this pic...

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - stencil fun

As You Like It - fairies or Halloween - I LOVE all the spooky Halloween images and always wondered why Halloween cards have never really been a thing here!

Daisy Chain Challenges #79 - Halloween 

And this card was a special request, similar to one I've done before, so just adding it for my own reference