Commissioned Valentine's Card

My work colleague asked me to make a Valentine's card for his fiance and I was really touched so wanted to make it extra special. The only guidance he gave me was that it should be pink and cartoon type characters would be okay. I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to use one of my cute squares from Lili of the Valley - the rest came together quite easily and I was really proud of the finished card. I really love this style and use Bev as my inspiration (check out the stunning cards on her blog).





The flowers wouldn't fit in a normal envelope so I made a matching box tied with pink satin ribbon for the card to be given in instead.



Supplies
Image - Love & Romance Cute Squares from Lili of the Valley
Papers - Madly In Love by Die Cuts With a View
Cardstock - Core'dinations
Sentiment - Stamp Calendars by Lili of the Valley
Ticket - Whimsy Shapeology Ticket Die & Ticket Sentiments Stamp Set
Punch - Lace Hearts by Martha Stewart
Roses - www.iamroses.com
Pearls - Nail Gems from Poundland
Ribbon - Pink Satin Ribbon from The Range
Card Blank - 148mm Square Scalloped Cards from Craftwork Cards


I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

• The Crafty Pad - Challenge 109, Red, Pink and Black


• Scrappy Frogs Challenge - Love Is In The Air


• I Did It Creations - Challenge 43, Anything Goes


• Crafty Calendar - Challenge 17, Love


• Little Claire's - Challenge 1, Anything Goes


• Crazy 4 Challenges - C4C75, Use Dies


• Digi Doodle Shop - Challenge 47, Anything Goes


• Lili of the Valley - Challenge 84, Favourite Colours


• By The Cute & Girly Challenges - Red Is All Around Us


• Creative Cottage - Challenge 33, Fabulous Florals


• Craft Your Passion - Challenge 45, Pink

Fishing Birthday Cards

My boyfriend's Dad and Brother-in-Law share a birthday on 9th January. They're both fishing mad and we brought them both tackle so I decided to continue the theme in their cards!

This first one was quite simple to put together as I designed it for Martin to make for his Brother-in-Law. He cut everything out then insisted he wouldn't be able to assemble it straight, so I had to do that bit along with stamping the greeting. It uses one of the cute Lili of the Valley die cut squares, DCWV Stack 6 designer paper, Papermania Natural Raffia and an assortment of buttons that i've collected.



This second card was designed in Digital Scrapbook Artist 2 and then printed onto Matt Photo Paper. The photo I used is actually of a fish Martin's Dad caught last year! It felt a bit like cheating though so I added some stitching and eyelets, covered the letters in Glossy Accents then matted it onto some green cardstock. The card blank was 8" x 8" and is the first time i've used this size but it's perfect for projects like this with lots of detail.

Shaped Anniversary Card

So Martin asked if i'd help him make his parents a 32nd anniversary card. Suprise suprise that involved me making the card and him taking the credit lol! To give him his due though he came up with the original idea for the layout, which I then designed and cut out on my Craft Robo. I love the idea of shaped cards but they're a bit hard to write in...

Congrats Random Font Card

When I got back from my holiday I found out my colleague had got engaged so I decided to make him a quick card. I've always wanted to do one using a random mix of fonts and thought it would be quite easy. How wrong was I lol! It actually ended up taking me forever to decide which font and paper to use for each letter, but I'm pleased with the finished effect.

Piece Of Quiet Card

My Mum is a really awkward person to buy presents for and whenever we ask her what she wants her answer is always "just give me some peace and quiet". I spotted this Penny Black image used on someone else's blog and thought it would be perfect to use on a tongue-in-cheek birthday card for her. The card was well received and made her laugh...

Purple Engagement Card

My friend has just got home from Thailand where her boyfriend proposed to her. They're a lovely couple and i'm so pleased for them - plus she's asked me to be a bridesmaid and make all her invitations! I've made this card for them using a ring design and lettering cut out on my Robo. I stuck loads of tiny pearls everywhere as i'm a bit obsessed with them at the moment...



I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

• Alota Rubber Stamps - Challenge 39, Glitter and Pearls


• Alphabet Challenge Blog - L for Lace

Commissioned Wedding Card

I was asked to make this card by a lovely women at work for her nephew's wedding. The sweet image i've used is from the new Tilda Wedding collection and the stunning mulberry paper roses are from Wild Orchid Crafts. I spritzed almost everything with Glimmer Mist to create a gorgeous shimmery, pearlised finish and made a pretty matching box for it to be given in.


I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

• Wild Orchid Crafts - Challenge 1, Say It With Flowers


• Totally Papercrafts - Challenge 24, Swirls & Pearls


• Craftalicious - Challenge 3, Cute


• Creative Card Crew - Challenge 54, To Die For


• Your Next Stamp - Challenge 20, Flower Power


• Paper Sundaes - Challenge 26, Lots Of Layers


• Cowgirl's Sunday - Sherbet & Ice Cream Colours


• Allsorts - Challenge 60, July Love

Yay this card won Cowgirl's Sunday Challenge here.

Crafty Cardmakers GDT Card

I was really pleased to be asked to be a guest designer over at Crafty Cardmakers. The challenge I was given is to create something using a photo of Love Hearts as inspiration. Seeing as I've been given a Craft Robo as an early birthday present, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to have a play! Here's what I came with (everything has been cut out on the Robo)...





Pop over to Crafty Cardmakers here to enter the challenge and be in for the chance of winning a £10 gift voucher for Joanna Sheen's online shop.

MSE Music Challenge Card

The challenge this fortnight on MSE is to make a card with a musical theme. This is my entry using my new Sugar Nellie Rock Idol stamp which is fab. The backing paper was perfect so all i've added is thread for the guitar strings and completed the greeting with peel offs. I've distressed all the edges as i'm really loving this effect at the moment and it's especially perfect for male cards.

Green Winter Flip-Flop Card

Again I first got introduced to flip-flop cards (aka swing cards) over on CraftyPlace. It was a bit fiddly working out the measurements and then cutting the central square but makes an awesome effect. This card is for my brother and on the flipped side has a die cut Merry Christmas in green mirri card. The cute stamped image is from the lovely Rusty.

Hidden Message Card

This is the Christmas card i've made for my boyfriend. It's a hidden message card so when you pull the ribbon either side it flattens out revealing the message in the middle. That's the idea anyway but the matted layers seem to stop this working so well and it needs a little persuasion but it's the thought that counts! I found the instructions for it here if anyone fancies trying their own - they're really easy to make.

Christmas Fairy Tri-Fold Card

This tri-fold card is for my Gran and I got the idea (along with links to instructions) from one of the CraftyPlace card swaps a few months ago. I love how this turned out but almost seriously harmed myself when trying to get a photograph of it to put on here! I managed to knock a huge painting off the wall which smashed over my head - luckily I only cut my hands though.

Fairy Cracker Card

I came up with this great idea of making a card shaped like a Christmas cracker but it turned out slightly harder than I thought (always seems to be the case lol)! This is what I came up with and it pulls apart revealing the message in the centre. It turned out better than I thought and the girly pastel colours make a nice change - I love the backing paper.

Santa Collage Card

I really love this image - it's absolutely gorgeous. I have seen quite a few of the girls on MSE use it before but haven't been able to find the stamp myself, so the lovely Jennie aka TheWife kindly sent me some stamped images. I'll definitely look for it for next year though. Somehow I managed to stick everything on upside down first time round so had to peel it off and start again!

Fold-Flat Nose Reindeer Card

I've made this card using one of the templates in Papercraft Inspirations for Rudolph. It's really cute and I love the effect of the nose! I inked the edges then layered the reindeer onto a window complete with acetate for the glass. The snowflake paper is Daisy & Dandelion and santa with his sleigh is a peel off (coloured with ProMarkers of course).

Santa Window Card

Yay i'm now the proud owner of the 92 original ProMarkers! Once I'd finished playing with them (including doing a colour chart) I figured I could use them to create a stained glass window effect on acetate so this is what I came up with. It's a bit plain and I wasn't where I could squeeze a sentiment but i've now got loads more ideas for using acetate windows...

Neon Manga Birthday Card

It's my friend's 23rd birthday this week and she's obsessed with everything starry, so i've made this bright funky card using a stamped image from CraftyGranny. I've coloured her with gel pens and gone embellishment crazy on the background. I love this little Manga girl she's so cute but has attitude - I shall definitely be buying the stamp!

Chalked Snowmen Card

I came up with this idea but then didn't have the right coloured ink to stamp the image in so it co-ordinated with the backing paper. Instead i've stamped it in clear ink then chalked it with a pastel blue. I haven't done this before but love the really soft effect it gives. To finish it off i've added a few punched snowflakes, a couple of which i've covered with Glamour Dust.

Christmas Pudding Card

Last week I treated myself to a Tim Holtz Distress Ink and the blending tool. I absolutely love it - the effect you can get is amazing and I've already ordered another one. This is the card I made when I was playing with it for the first time and I think inking the edges has given it more depth. The christmas pudding was cut out using my Nestabilities.

Gingerbread Man Card

I couldn't decide what to do with this fun Christmas paper, then found some great sheets of foam stamps in Poundland that I thought would go perfectly! The greeting is cut from mirror card using my Banana Split alphabet, which i've been using on everything recently. I think this would be a perfect card for a child so am entering it into Lily of the Valley Challenge 38.