Congradulations

I’ve had this idea in my head for a while, I love the pretty pink posh layered stencils so of course I wanted to use it, I went with the infamous eclipse but with a bubble twist, definitely works really well and make the sentiment stand out much more.

Eclipse stencil who knew!!!

I thought I had lost this card when my camera stopped working, but then I found them all and inadvertently deleted this…. sometimes I wonder what I’m thinking lol.

I love a good eclipse and never thought to do it on a stencilled background before but I really like it. I bought the sloth image in May last year at a craft fair and knew who I wanted to use it for too.

I might have to make more of this design, when it’s freshly made I remember the trials and tribulations of getting my vision to translate to the card in front of me, six months out though it all seems easy lol.

Chocolate mice anyone?

This idea was percolating in my head for ages and now its completed it is nothing like I expected lol. The letters don't stand out as much as I had hoped and I think I should have added glossy accents to them

Shaker 39

Apologies for the awful picture quality, this was one of those cards that took way longer than it should have and the picture needed to be taken just as it was delivered to the recipient.

I was inspired by Jennifer McGuire to make the shaker letters and although I like them I made them too high but at least I know for the next one. I also tried stencilling on coloured card stock and that I liked a lot.

Snow Globe Shaker Card Version 3

After making the snow globe cards with the Elf and Santa I decided to use the other stamps and see what they looked like. I learned a lot from the last set of cards and decided to add the snow globe front to the acetate and it definitely looks different. I also didn't add the sentiment plaque, this however was an oversight lol.

In our house we refer to this day as "christmas Adam" as Adam came before Eve lol.

Hope you are all ready, I am almost sorted, got the food and all the presents are packed so why am i stressing lol.

Ingredients
Image: Winter Plushies from Clearly Besotted (free with creative stamping magazine) and "ready set snow" from Lawn Fawn
Card: "red" recollections from Michaels
Dies: Blueprints 29 and 20 both from MFT , snow globe from Lawn Fawn
Background: Simon Says stamp falling snow stencil and cosmic shimmer glitter paste
Sequins: gens from Jillibean Soup and sparkling clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh

MFT Retreat Card 2

The second card I have from the retreat at MFT is designed by Stephanie Klauck and used a new paper pad that I had to buy three of lol. 

For some reason in the photo it looks wonky but it really isn't lol.

I did make a decision to start using the cards I make rather than just storing them and I have allocated almost all of the ones I made to people. The only issue I always struggle with is that the sentiments aren't what I normally put on a card, I am a plain and simple "happy birthday" girl, I know I'm boring lol.

Wine Shaker 2

This is the second wine shaker card and I think my favourite of the two, all the info is the same as the previous card but I did change up the sequins a bit and of course add a few more. I do find it hard to judge how many is enough for a good shake but not too many so that it doesn't move at all, as they say practice, practice, practice lol.

Ingredients
Dies: wine shaker and large cheers both MFT
Paper: "black and white" from MFT,  "chalkboard" from We R memory keepers , glitter paper from Paperchase
Sequins - Rose gold, marshmallow and sparkling clear from Pretty Pink Posh

Wine Shaker Card

I have had this card in my head ever since I first bought the wine shaker dies and pouches, of course it has taken ages to actually be made but still I have actually made it lol.

I made two same but slightly different cards in one sitting, I have been trying that if I think the recipients will like them but its not always quicker lol.

I eventually made this card because I picked up an unwanted paper pad at playday and this paper was just perfect for the idea in my head, I love that one persons trash becomes anothers treasure and this was certainly the case this time, so thank you Sher.

Ingredients
Dies: wine shaker and large cheers both MFT
Paper: "black and white" from MFT,  "chalkboard" from We R memory keepers , glitter paper from Paperchase
Sequins - Rose gold and sparkling clear from Pretty Pink Posh and stars from studio Katia

Stacey Yacula Birds

These images were coloured ages ago so the colours I used are escaping me but I do know I used crayola pencils and gambol lol. 

This is one of those cards that seemed to make itself, everything I thought of worked and it was a dream, at one point I did think I was dreaming but thankfully I wasn't lol. Even the paper which in real life matches better than the photo was one of the lawn fawn free papers that fell out of my paper storage and I used all three pieces rather than put them away to forget about again.

Ingredients
Image: "tweet friends" Stacey Yacula at MFT
Dies: A2 stitched rectangles and hugs, with MFT
Paper: Lawn Fawn

Penny Black Number Bears Again

Sometimes I think if it ain't broke don't fix it should be my mantra lol, it certainly is in the case of the big birthday cards for ladies, I used this design for two 40 cards two years ago, a 30 card last year and now 2 more 40 cards. it of course doesn't work as well for guys but still having something that I can go to for these occasions certainly helps.

Not much else to say except I used papers that had fallen out when I was looking for something else, they were loose as they were a free gift from lawn fawn, whenever you order direct from them they include a small stamp and a few papers, normally 12x12 cut down. I don't think I have used them before but I might be mistaken, they were lovely quality just like you expect from them.

Ingredients
Images: "birthday bears" from Penny Black
Dies: Blueprints 29, circle shaker window frame and happy birthday circle frame all MFT
Sequins: sparking clear, marshmallow, rose gold, spring mix, pink mix all Pretty pink posh and gold from the dollar tree
Paper: "polka dot" free samples sent from lawn fawn (free with an order from last year)

Copics
Bears - E35, 34, 31
Sky - BG11, 10
Grass - YG03, 25, 17
Yellow - Y17, 15, 13, 11
Pink - RV14, 13, 11

Happy New Year and Happy Birthday Kay

Today is my good friend Kay's birthday and as she loves spiders I had an idea of the card I wanted to make. I watched an Amy Rysavy video where she used Studio Katia products to create a web shaker card and I knew straight away what I wanted to create, however there are no studio katia suppliers in the UK and the postage and customs would be astronomical so I thought how can I recreate without those specific items. This was how back at the start of my card making journey I would make stuff, I never had the correct/exact item so I would improvise and I enjoyed it so I thought revisit that period and see what happens.

Of course I had no spider web dies but I knew someone who did and I asked if I could cut it, I used black glitter card for the web and normal black card for the background and my initial idea was to use the one as a stencil but that went out of the window when I saw how thin the lines were.

It doesn't look anything like Amy's but I think it works and I am oddly pleased with it.

Last things to do is wish Kay a very happy birthday x

Ingredients
Image: "creepy Crawlies" Robertos Rascals from CC designs
Dies: Sizzix Spider Web
Card: "glitter pad" from the Works and "cranberry" from Michaels
Sequins: "sparkling clear" and "charcoal" from pretty pink posh, 'red" dollar tree and "silver stars" Studio Katia

Margarita Time

I basically copied the card I made at the MFT retreat but went cleaner as there is minimal ink blending on the background.

Next time though I would blend the background as that makes the glass pop rather than blend into the background, I would also stamp the birds on my copy colouring card and not a random piece that was sitting on my desk lol.

Ingredients
Image and Sentiment: "Toucan do it" from MFT
Dies: blueprints 31 and margarita shaker all from MFT
Distress Oxides: "cracked pistachio" Tumbled glass"
Sequins - Green and aqua from dollar tree, Ice cubes from MFT and Pinks from Pretty Pink Posh

Copics
Beaks - Y17, 15, 13
Green - G02, 00
Pink - RV14, 13, 11
Aqua - BG15, 13, 11

Penny Black Birthday Bears Again

I used this design and even this paper pack last year to make some 40th birthday cards and I thought why am I trying to reinvent the wheel for a 30th card when I already have something that works, looks nice and the recipient hasn't seen before so here we go.

Not much else to say except after the fairy garden card I am loving making grass strokes lol.

Ingredients
Image: "birthday bears" from Penny black
Dies:"circle shaker frame" and "happy birthday frame" both MFT
Sequins: sparking clear from pretty pink posh, aqua from dollar tree
Paper: "Party patterns" from MFT

Copics
Bear - E44, 43, 42
Signs - BG57, 53
Ground - YG01, 03, 25, 17
Sky - BG11, 10

Penny Black Birthday Bears Again

You might recognise this design from one I made in October, in case you were wondering yes I made them at the same time but I waited to show this one until after the recipients birthday.

It was a fairly simple card to construct and the shaker pouches are so easy and effective, I have the heart ones and now I might buy them all.

This one has more sequins, it was the second one I made and I realised you could add extra so of course I did. Nothing remains except to wish Cheryl a very happy 40th Birthday xx

Ingredients

Image:  "birthday bears" Penny Black

Sentiment: "happy birthday circle frame" MFT

Paper: "Party Patterns" MFT

Dies: Blueprints 13 and shaker pouch dies all mft

Sequins: Pretty Pink Posh

Penny Black Birthday Bears

I have been watching a lot and I mean a lot of youtube recently and I discovered Therese from Lost in Paper, she is based in Australia and her laugh makes me giggle too. I saw a card she made with the bears and circle sentiment and I immediately thought I could use that idea for my friends 40th Birthday card, I have two friends turning the big 4 0 this year so I made two but I won't show that until after her birthday.

This was day 2 of the colouring challenge in September and woohoo more made into cards.

Ingredients

Image:  "birthday bears" Penny Black

Sentiment: "happy birthday circle frame" MFT

Paper: "Party Patterns" MFT

Dies: Blueprints 13 and shaker pouch dies all mft

Sequins: Neat and Tangled and Pretty Pink Posh

Magical Friends Take One

As in previous years I'm starting the batch making of cards for the littles, this year the six are all 4, so it's going to be a "my little pony" year lol.

This first card is a shaker but as the rest need to be posted they are going to be flat versions of this one, also for this one I went with reds and yellows and I did check if ponies like these exist in the MLP universe before I coloured them. The favourite colour of this little one is red so I had to find ponies that were mostly red. I'm hoping she approves lol.

This card has been fermenting in my mind for months and it looks almost like I pictured it.

Ingredients
Images : "Magical Friends" The Greeting Farm
Dies: Crealies XXL stitched squares, cloud border and rainbow from MFT
Background : "tumbled glass" and "broken china" distress inks
Sequins : Pretty pink posh sparkling clear and red and yellow from Doodlebug

Copics
Rainbow - R29, 24, YR07, 04, Y15, 13, YG17, 03, BG15, 13, B26, 23, V17, 15
Pegasus - Y17, 15, 13, R59, 29, 27, 24, 14
Unicorn - R59, 29, 27, 24, 14, T2, 0

Altenew Vintage Pink Roses

This card was inspired by this card by Kristina Werner, when the video was made I hadn't even bought the stamp set but I knew I wanted it. I decided on the Vintage roses rather than flowers as the roses had more sizes and layers in this set.

I decided to change her colour scheme though as I don't have any of the inks she used, I had recently watched a laura bassen video and she used her pti inks to stamp an altenew lily and I thought I wonder if I could achieve the same with mine and the roses.

There is a ton of masking on this simple card but it was worth it to see the end result, I have kept the masks so you never know I might even recreate it.

Ingredients
Images: "vintage roses" altenew
Sentiment: "happy birthday" Simon Says Stamp
Background: "wood plank" mft stamps
Sequins: "marshmallow", "sparkling clear" and "pink mix" all Pretty Pink Posh

Inks
Roses - "sweet blush", "hibiscus burst", "raspberry fizz" and "scarlet jewel" all Papertrey ink
Leaves - "limeade ice", "simply chartreuse" and "ripe avocado" all Papertrey ink
Background - "grout gray" from MFT

You're My Cup of Tea

I made this card as soon as the paper pack arrived along with the August magazine but unfortunately I couldn't show the card until after the recipients birthday. It is a gorgeous paper pack, greys and pinks one of my favourite combos and I know that you will be seeing much more of this one.

The person I made the card for is a big tea drinker in fact its a bit of a joke that they drink so much tea that the kettle is never off, so of course it was only natural for me to make a tea inspired card.

Ingredients
Image: "you're my cup of tea" A La Mode by MFT
Paper: "Isabella" by BoBunny free with Cradmaking and Papercraft Magazine in August
Card: "basic grey" Stampin Up
Dies: Zig zag oval and oval staxs, vertical stripes and blueprints 1 and 2 all MFT
Sequins: "charcoal" and "pink mix" both Pretty Pink Posh

Copics
Skin - E000, 00, 11, R20
Hair - E47, 44, 43
Cup - N3, 2, 1, E57, 55
Dress - RV34, R83, 81
Jacket - N7, 5

Shoot for the Stars

I made this card to wish my neighbour good luck at University. I wanted her to know I was thinking of her and that I I know she will do very well and enjoy it immensely.

I was looking for something inspiring and this set was on my desk, ok confession time it had fallen out of the MFT box and I had forgotten to put it back lol, the quote seemed perfect and I thought a galaxy background would work perfectly. The distress inks blend so beautifully on the watercolour card, much better than standard card. I was going to try the water droplet technique but went with the sprays instead, they give the paper a lovely shimmer.

It looks much darker on the screen than it does in real life.

Ingredients
Sentiment: "count the stars" MFT
Embossing powder: Ranger silver fine detail
Stars: "Sketchy stars" Papertrey Ink
Card: Snippet folder and Tim Holtz watercolour
Sequins: "charcoal" and "clear" pretty pink posh
Distress inks: "seedless preserves", "chipped sapphire" and "black soot"
Sprays: "amethyst" and "white" both Heidi Swapp