How can my nephew be turning 16???

Hi again,

As the title suggests, I can not believe my nephew could possibly be that old. Hardly seems any time since he was a baby. He lives in Russia and wants money for his b'day but we are sending over cards (of course!). I made one from Mum & Dad & one from me. I am pretty sure I am safe to post it here before we send it as he's not likely to be perusing my blog LOL.

Firstly the one from the Grandparents:

I took the layout & basic idea from here and the grunged it up a bit and moved the stars around. I love stars for male cards. I finally got 'Wonderful Favourites' when it was on sale earlier this year and it is such a handy set. Perfect for a card from Grandparents. I couldn't use 'favourite' as there are 2 grandsons. I took inspiration for the colours from the 'Sweet Pea' DSP, again sent to me by Lavonne (wow Lavonne, you're a life-saver!!!). While I really love our Aussie DSPs it has been a bit 'light-on' for male papers (the 'Urbans' & 'Windsor Knot' have been the main ones with suitable 'boyish' papers). I really like this stripe from the 'Sweet Pea' papers for guys. I used the fabulous alphabet sizzlits (exclusive to SU) with the 'Big Shot' for the '16' and the 2 star punches. The silver embossed star uses a PTI stamp set that co-ordinates with our star punch. The little stars are from a retired SU set that is too handy to give up. The colours are 'Taken with Teal', 'Pumpkin Pie' & 'Basic Grey'.

Now for the card from me:

I must be honest & say that I was thrilled with how this turned out. I took the layout from a past Inkspirations Sketch challenge, #29 (se below) and inspiration from this fab card by Louise Ryan. I have been meaning to CASE it for ages, but then really liked this layout.

I have once again used SU 'contraband' from the States. I love, love, love these 'Extreme' sets. I think there might be a riot if these don't turn up in our next Catty. There is a large number of demos who have been asking for them for a few years now. They are so good for teen boys. There is the 'Extreme Elements' set used for the background image on the circle, & then individual stamps, this guitarist, a skateboarder, snowboarder, surfer & dirt-bike rider. Who couldn't find a use for at least some of those images????

Anyway, back to the card. I started with 'Night of Navy' CS and stamped it in Silver Encore ink using a retired stamp set (Starring You???). I stamped my background from the 'Extreme Elements' set in 'Night of Navy', 'Pumpkin Pie' & 'Kiwi Kiss' & black embossed the guitarist image over the top. I cut out the image, plus 2 more circles in 'N of N' & KK CS using my 'Circle

Scissors' (with lots of Dotto, that is absolutely essential in getting great circles). I cut two rectangles of CS in KK & PP & distressed the edges using my 'Cutter Kit'. I stamped them with 2 of the 'Extreme Elements' images. The Circle is raised up on Dimensionals. I used yet another contraband stamp from the US set 'Four Square', inked in N of N on Whisper White CS. I loved this stamp for boys cards. (thanks again Lavonne!). I backed it with a square of 'N of N', using my square punches.

Well, that is about it for today. I have a few more cards up my sleeve so hopefully will post a bit more frequently. Thanks for popping by. Must have a cuppa & then face cleaning the bathroom (uugh). Then I'm off to take Dad shopping for Mum's b'day (you never read that Mum, LOL).

Cheers,

Fi xox