Roses and Pearls

I've been really inspired by the recent Craftwork Cards Goody Box which contained lots of beautiful die-cut flowers to make roses, wreaths and other lovely things.  I've made a couple of cards copying straight from Julie's inspiration sheet and here they are:

As you can see the first is a birthday card with a trio of roses that have been inked and shaped.  I'm afraid I've also got the liquid pearls bug so you'll be seeing more of them in my next few creations!  I just love the extra dimension they give to cards, especially when using them as a border, or in this case in little groups of dots.  This card has already been given away.  It is a special birthday card for my administrator at work, without whom I'd be really stuck.  She definitely deserves an extra special card for all she does for me! Here's a close up of the roses.

The next card I think could be used for a Wedding or Anniversary, as well as a birthday. 

On this card the pearls have been used as a border.  I am loving the combination of Tea Dye Distress Ink and Platinum Liquid Pearls - almost as if the are designed to go together. 

Lovely feminine cards aren't they?  I love Julie Hickey's designs and now I've done a couple of straight copies from the kit, I feel confident I could adapt them to my own creations. Hope you like them too!

Helen

An Irish Blessing

As I've mentioned in a previous post, I love this saying.  Living in Oxford means that a lot of people come here for a short time and then move away, and a good friend of mine was leaving this weekend for Scotland. I wanted an understated but stylish card suitable for a man so the challenge was on. Having been ill for a few months, which has kept me out of the craft room, I was dying to get my fingers all inky again!

Kraft cards couldn't be better for me as they fit well with my nature themes, and appropriately this card has turned out quite autumnal.  The background is stamped with a stampin' up set. I loved the transparency of the skeleton leaves, as well as the 'splodge' stamp which made it look like water drops had splattered on the surface. I used distress inks in walnut stain, vintage photo, and bundled sage.  Here's a little close up, along with buttons (bargain pack from The Works!) which are the perfect non-blingy embelishment for the guys.

The main image has been built up using Claritystamp  products, and techniques demonstrated by the wonderful Barbara Gray.

I purposely kept the background quite stark so the words would be the part to draw the eye. As a first foray into the inky world for some time, and being in a bit of a rush, I was quite happy with how this turned out. Wouldn't mind having a play with the stamps again to see how I could improve things. So you never know I might have a new post up again soon.

Helen x

Bicycle Cake

So here is the second cake that I was challenged to make this summer!  My really good friend Samantha is a bit obsessed with bicycles.  When she was getting a new car and it was plain old boring silver, she decorated it (well me and a friend decorated whilst she admired it!) with bicycle and flower stickers.  It looks like this:

 

So when her big birthday was looming and we were planning the party she also wanted a bicycle on her cake. Not easy hey?  Anyway this is what I came up with - more of a cake tableau than a bicycle on a cake!

 

I used two bought cakes for the wheels as I wasn't going to be able to bake big enough cakes in my temperamental oven.  Then I just had to create the bike frame and fill the basket with flowers. I love flower arranging but rarely get chance to indulge so it was nice to work with such bright colourful and beautifully scented flowers for the basket. To get an idea of perspective the board is A1 so it is pretty massive.  And just about enough for the 100s of guests who came to the party.  She's made so many friends from church, work etc and people came from all over the country and even overseas.  It was a wonderful day, set in a village hall with adjoining field.  

Samantha chose a vintage country fayre kind of feel with bouncy castle, space-hoppers, rounders, hot dog stand, ice-cream stand, gospel choir, sketches, afternoon tea with cake stands, and a quiz and live music in the evening. Something for everyone. It really was a very special day!

You never know you might get to see some cards again soon :-)

Helen x

A Lion Cake for the Little Cub

 

My gorgeous little nephew Leo celebrated his first birthday a couple of months ago and his mummy set me the challenge of making him a lion cake. So here it is!  The mane is piped chocolate buttercream which the little fella just loved :-).  I'd been scouring Pinterest for ideas but none were quite what I was looking for so I ended up just making it up.


Here it is on the table with the candles etc. Mitzy Ritz the little black and white cat approved of her feline cousin.

Leo's mummy was happy so that is all that matters!

I've got another cake to show you in my next blog post. Been a bit rough with my health and managing work, especially in all this heat, so had to take a bit of a break from the cards for a while but hopefully I'll get to play a bit this weekend! Here's hoping :-)

Helen x

70th Wedding Anniversary - Platinum

I got a commission this month - well two really.  One of my best friend's parents-in-law were celebrating their 70th Wedding Anniversary.  Well first we had to look it up and apparently it is Platinum, and secondly you can't find many cards out there for a 70th Wedding Anniversary (or any for that matter).  Imagine how special it must be to celebrate 70 years! So it gave me chance to totally personalize the cards - one from the two of them, and one from her dad. Their's had to take centre stage with the one that they sent off for from The Queen so I knew it had to be special. So I did a bit of research and found out that the lovely bride had pink roses in her bouquet on her wedding day in 1943, and so along with platinum theme this is what I came up with:

It is quite a large card - 8"x8", custom made from Centura Pearl in Ivory, which has such an amazing sheen to it.  The roses are Anna Griffin decoupaged stickers, which I formed into a wreath, overlain on a Anna Griffin background paper, punched in a circle, and accented with Platinum Liquid Pearls (this months obsession!). The sentiment is bespoke as well! Here's a little close up.

Well of course such a special card wouldn't go in any normal envelope so out came the boxer board as well:

 

I completely forgot to take a picture of the insert but I had found a very special Christian-themed verse online which was perfect for them. Apparently the special couple were over-the-moon with the card, especially the effort that Jane had made in getting it so personalised.  There is no greater compliment to the crafter than the giver and the recipient both being pleased with the results. Probably not my usual simple style but you have to adapt to those in a different generation don't you?

The second card was a smaller card just focusing on the platinum theme.  This was definitely a good stash buster - card blank I've had for ages, a ribbon offcut, and bead embellishment from who knows where, and scraps of cards punched out for the sentiment. But doesn't it look elegant?

I hope you like them.  Sorry most of the photos are on a funny angle.  I must have had a wonky head that day, and trying to fix on the computer was making the pics blurry so you'll have to tilt your heads too to really appreciate them :-)!

I've got another couple of dolly mixtures cards nearing completion so I'll be back with them soon.

Helen x

Time for spring

Don't you think it is about time for spring!  Well May Day started with frost here in Oxfordshire but the sun soon came out to play and it has been a beautiful day.  Really hoping it will last this time.  I didn't make it to May Morning in Oxford as it was just too early.  Missed sleep = a week of misery for me. So how about a little card sprinkled with the spring daisies that are starting to pop up in my lawn?

I started by creating a custom gatefold out of some A4 Kraft Card from CWC, as are most of the bits on this card.  The daisies are one of the Delightful Daisies wreaths cut out and split in half.  I used some flowers from the Privilege kit but also punched some out and added some from my stocks to jazz them up. I love the pink and green checks. So fresh and classy.  Here's a view to see them in a bit more 3D:

And then opening up the card to see what's inside:

And finally the full inside:

I've not made a gatefold card in such a long time and I actually really enjoyed it.  The papers are from the Colleen Dolly Mixtures pad - not a duff paper in the whole pack. Love them all. I've also been encouraged by some blog posts to get out the liquid pearls and stickles for accenting again. Love them!

Hope this card has brought a little bit of spring cheer to your computer.

Helen x

Bunting

I've just won a bunting kit on the Craftwork Cards blog http://craftworkcards.blogspot.co.uk/

Yippee! Can't wait to play so look out for the finished article soon... I'm thinking of something for my craftroom so I get to keep it but we'll see. Whatever I think it is going to be unashamedly girly - flowers and ribbons and a bit of sparkle. and probably in pink and green :-).

Helen x

P.S. There is still opportunity to win today's bunting kit if you head over to their blog and leave a comment :-)