Autumnal mushroom

 I'm back! Can't believe the end of September is in sight - we had a lovely dry summer (not much sun though!) and are not long back from a fab holiday to Spain with day trips to Barcelona and Gerona.

 I've had a bit of time off from blogging and haven't made too many cards this past couple of months but the darker evenings are here and it's time to knuckle down!  With the damp run of weather here there are lots of wild mushrooms sprouting up everywhere, so I thought I'd colour up this cutie from Creative Depot... I did have an unfortunate placement of my sentiment when it had a run in with a splatter of metallic paint! 

Layout inspired by CAS on Friday #318

Stamping Sensations September - CAS or anything goes

Make My Monday #261 - autumnal fall

Here's a wee pic of me on my jollies in Malgrat de Mar - my sister says this mural looks like it would belong on one of my cards!  There's even a Molly dog lying in front of the fire! 

And one of us in Barcelona, just off Las Ramblas...

A three-fer!

 Here's 3 cards for the price of one LOL!

I made a card for my Aunt Jean, liked how it turned out, so amended it for my card to my sister, and then Mum was looking one for her friend (also called Ruth) for her 80th.  It's not very often I'll make cards virtually the same but figured I'd get away with it as none of them were likely to see the other's cards! 

My image is an LOTV stamp, coloured with polychromo pencils and then popped up on foam pads.  I've also added some splatters to the background with silver metallic paint.  For the numbers, I stuck an extra set together to make them a bit stronger and then covered them with gloss and lots of glitter. 

 

AAA Birthday #75 - summer birthday 

Word Art Wednesday #706/707 - anything goes 

Let's Craft & Create #221 - use a die

Seize the birthday #309 - food or drink

We've had a glorious few days with wall to wall sunshine and temps kicking 30 degrees - a nice change as we're usually on the wrong side of the Jetstream and miss all the sunny weather!  Molly was a nightmare though, no matter how much shade we created in the garden she'd find the sunniest hottest spot and cook there until we chased her into the house! Here's a rare moment of her in the shade... Back to normality tomorrow though as it looks back to usual and rain due. 

Ruth's birthday card #1

So this is card #1 for my sister's BIG birthday, requested by my BIL. 

I thought for ages and ages what I could make and then the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches made me think of birthday candles.  I knew I had some digital images of candles from Lili of the Valley, so all I had to do was print some out. Easypeasy. Right? WRONG!!! Every time I printed them they were too small.  I must have printed them maybe 7 or 8 times - each time I'd start colouring and cutting them, only to realize they were still too small, so I'd have to go back and edit the images to make them longer. Of course I turned my laptop and printer off every time in between LOL.  I think I spent 8+ hours making this, good job I don't charge by the hour! 

Ah well it was good exercise climbing the stairs to the printer and it's done now and I do like how it turned out. 

Freshly Made Sketches #693

Snippets Playground #510 - my little stars were cut from some leftover sparkly card that I cut my numbers from

Word Art Wednesday #706/707 - anything goes 

Haven't shared a pic of Miss Molly for a while, so here she is on a recent trip up the beautiful Antrim Coast road.  She absolutely LOVES the beach, the more smelly seaweed on it the better! 

Leaving card for Laura

 Hi all. I was asked to make a card for a student in work who has been with us these past few weeks.  Luckily I had already coloured up this cutie I'd bought from Creative Depot and the card just kinda made itself!

 I printed off my sentiment in a paintbrushy font, added some brick stencilling and some die cut flowers.  Oh and some metallic paint splatters too, though I maybe got a bit carried away with my splattering! The little tiny daisies are from a cheap nail art set that I bought on Amazon. 

Addicted to Stamps #495 - dies/stencils 

Word Art Wednesday #704/705 - anything goes 

As you like it - sentiment? - I almost always add a sentiment and the only time I don't is if I think it would be a useful one for my stash and might be suitable for several different 'occasions'

Stamping Sensations - furry friends 

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!! 

Blue Sympathy

 Hi all!  Happy first of the month! I can't believe it's May already, though I absolutely LOVE this time of year with all the lovely fresh leaves on the trees and all the hedgerows in bloom.  So much nicer than the dark days of winter.

So I've a wee sympathy card for my stash to share  .  I hadn't quite planned on cutting the flower there but I thought I was scribbling on a scrap piece of card and turned out it wasn't.  Grrr.  Then I got myself tangled up with the layout, chose that corner die , stuck it down, and then wished I hadn't! Ah well, it is what it is, and the flower took soooo long to colour I definitely wasn't going to waste it.

Addicted to Stamps #491 - make your mark

Simon Says Stamp - anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #696 - anything goes 

And here's a wee photo of the fields all around our daily walk, a real sea of yellow dandelions!