Kid's birthdays

Hi again,

Don't faint at me being here two days in a row! Several of my friends and my cousin have kids with December or January birthdays. Thus I not only made quite a few Christmas cards but had to come up with birthday cards as well. I showed some from early December on here but still have a few left.

Dominic was on 27/12. They spend a lot of time on the water so thought he might like the Extreme Surfer image. I inked up the background 'Splat' image from 'Extreme Elements' in white and the 2 different blues to create a bit of an 'oceany' feel. I was inspired by this card but the image seemed to suit better with the stripes vertical rather than horizontal. As I'm sure you've noticed, I love Pacific Point & Real Red for boys.

Next was Curtis, my friend from Tamworth's youngest. I can't believe that he is 7 already! I can't remember where I got the inspiration for the layout, it is pretty generic I suppose. I was going to use the 'Extreme Skateboard, but I was chatting to his Mum on the phone as I was preparing to make his card & she said the 'Extreme Guitar' would go down better. I inked up stamps from the 'Extreme Elements' set too (can you tell its a fav??) and used my fall-back for boys cards, Celebrations DSP. The '7' is a chipboard number, inked in white, then Pacific Point & covered in Crystal Effects. After all this I forgot to take it to the PO when I sent the parcel & had to post it separately, duh!

Finally, for now, a card for my good friends' '8' year old Zach. They are great kids and always open the card and really seem to appreciate the work that goes into them. Could be because their Mum is a scrapper...

I CASEd the same layout as the first (Dominic's) card but had much more time to play.  Celebrations DSP, check, 'Extreme Elements', check, "Pacific Point' & 'Real Red', check, 'Extreme' stamp, check, must be a boy's card LOL. I used my Big Shot to cut out the '8' and placed on a star cut using the large star punch. I love the 'Wish Big' stamp from the fab 'Word Play' set. So many great sentiments in this set. Anyway Zach was suitably impressed, and his Mum was amazed that I'd stamped the background behind the Skater, she thought it was DSP. My mission was complete!

Must get going. Need to have a cuppa and then consider going back to bed as I am working tonight. Got up for the plumber but bed is calling.

Cheers,
Fi xox

Birthdays in December

Hi Guys,

I can't believe it's been nearly 3 weeks since I was here.What a crazy busy time of year, not helped by having only 2 days off last week instead of 3 (as I do permanent 10hr night shifts, 2 days off actually only gives one full day not at work).  I have been creating, just not posting (slacker!!!). Not only have I been making Christmas gifts to sell at work (see previous post) but, to add insult to injury, there are also 4 December birthdays amongst my family and friends. I have been making their cards, plus must make 2 today for my brother & SIL who have b'days in January but live in Russia. Phew! It's not surprising, then, that my stamping stuff has been the first thing returned to order post painting.

Anyway, enough of my drivel. How about some cards!

Firstly, here are two that I made for my gorgeous niece who has, unbelievably, just turned 14 this month. She is a beautiful girl, inside & out, and greatly missed (Russia is soooo far away!). You may remember me CASEing Karen's gorgeous 'Aviary' card (see 2nd card here). I loved it so much that I had to CASE it again. Doesn't a change of colours & DSP make a difference? (Forgive the poor photo, had to take quickly before I rushed to the PO). I made this one from Mum & Dad.

The DSP is from the 'Playdate' pack, so cute but not too young. The '14' is cut out of 'Totally Turquoise' CS & a painted with 'Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint'. I am in love with this stuff!!! The sentiment is from a past mini cat hostess set, thought it was so appropriate to use with the scrummy 'Aviary' set.

Next is my card. I CASEd it from this blog but originally found her card on good old Splitcoast.

I love the 'Sweet & Sour' DSP colours, the spotty pattern is my fav. I was never a fan of orange but being part of SU has given me an appreciation of all colours and this 'Pumpkin Pie' Satin Ribbon is just beautiful, it has a real glow to it. I have used the Level 1 Hostess set, 'Birthday Bakery', isn't it cute? The number stamps are retired, I stamped them in 'Pumpkin Pie' ink and added 'Fine Supernova Glitter' with my '2-way Glue Pen'.

If you can handle it, I have one more card. I CASEd this one from p58 of the catty. It is for my cousin's son's 6th b'day.

I used the 'Celebration' DSP as my inspiration. I'm pretty sure I've said it before, but I love this DSP for boys. The stamps are from 'Lots of Bots' and I made the cog by cutting the petals off and punching a circle out of the centre of the flower die that comes with the 'Timeless Type Junior Alphabet' dies. The 6 is painted chipboard covered in 'Crystal Effects'.

Thanks for popping in, I hope you've survived to the end of this post. Will try & post some Christmas card pics tomorrow.

Cheers,
Fi xox

Another birthday and a challenge

Hi Guys,

I've had fun playing with some more challenges. I needed to make a card for a 3yo and was going to use last week's Mojo Monday sketch again (see this post, 2nd card) however I came upon the Sweet Sunday challenge which was to use a favourite past sketch. I already had in mind making a card with a rectangle panel using 'Choo Choo' so searched til I found a suitable sketch.

This is the one I decided on:

And my card:

I am so in love with this Celebrations DSP for boy's cards. I will need to order more 'Pacific Point' & 'Real Red' CS as I think I'll be using it a lot. The hills are cut from 'Pear Pizazz' CS layered over 'Bashful Blue'. I did the grass with the 'Wonderfully Worn' BG stamp, another new love. The '3' is made using my Big Shot. I always think "can I be bothered using it to cut out just one thing", but with my fairly organised stamping area it takes less than 5 mins to do, so very easy. The track is from the 'Right on track' wheel, so cute.

I covered the train windows & my '3' with Crystal Effects. Only prob is that I sat something down unintentionally on the card before the windows were quite dry so they're not real smooth, DUH!!! The ribbon is retired, it came wrapped around a free stamp set that i received at Convention. Waste not... I wish they had Pacific Point ribbon in the new catty, oh well.

Must keep moving. I am hoping to post another card I made for the JAI challenge.

catch ya,
Fi xox

Finally, time for some challenges.

Hi There,
I have really missed playing my fav challenges like Keesh's and Sweet Sunday. I finally took the time to have a play.

Keesh's latest sketch challenge, #39, (can you believe it?) is very cute and I have had 2 plays (I know, shock, horror). Firstly, here is the sketch:

My first play is a Birthday card for my friend's son who is turning 7. I have been hanging to get my hands on the new fab 'Celebrations' DSP as it is perfect for boys. I've been wanting to combine it with "Lots of Bots" and figure that would be fine for a big 7 y.o. boy. So, the image isn't a flower but figure challenges are all about poetic licence. I love the paper with the numbers, so used it & the cut out an extra '7' and popped it up on dimensionals and added Crystal Effects. I coloured the bot with my inks and a blender pen as it is a bit more subtle than straight markers.

 ETA: I realised that I need to put the next card in a separate post so that I can link both with thumbnails.

Cheers,

Fi xox