Easter goodies

Apologies for the ridiculous amount of time since the last post! I have still been crafting but wanted a screen break so haven't kept up online (writing or reading). Anyway just wanted to post a few pictures of some goodies I've been making for the office this Easter. A friend and I are doing a bit of fundraising so have put a basket of goodies together.

My contribution is some Easter cards, jellybean flowers and some little birdhouses.

Inside are chocolate mini eggs and a little chick. I've used a Stampin Up die for the boxes. So cute aren't they?

And here are the flowers:

Bye for now!

Helen x

Absolutely Fabulous Red and White Flowers

The sentiment 'Absolutely Fabulous' was just made for this over-the-top glamorous card:

 This is a twisted easel card made with one of my many Craftwork Cards goody bags.  The flowers are just held together with teeny tiny amounts of PVA tacky glue. That's all they need!  Just decide how they will join and then add a smidgen with a cocktail stick. Amazing! This is the side view showing the construction.

The leaves and butterfly are trusty Martha Stewart punches, and the antennae lovely Karen gave to me!  Here's a view from above to show the sentiment:

Now I need to pick one of my absolutely fabulous friends to send this to. I did a purple version of this card some time ago. I purposely didn't look at the previous card so it wouldn't be a straight copy.  Now I can't decide which one I prefer!

I've another cake creation coming  up, and some more floral cards and fancy boxes so watch this space! Hopefully it'll mean you'll be seeing me once again in blogland and I really hope I get around to visiting some blogs and making comments again.  I've missed seeing what amazing creations all you fabulous crafters have been making, but I'm still getting back on my feet after a health setback in the summer. But the approaching Christmas season is getting my creative juices running again :-)

Helen x

A few more everyday cards

Very simple buttons and sentiment with some faux stitching.

I found this topper I'd embossed ages ago. Loving the ribbon!

Craftwork cards flowers and candy with a patterned Kate Knight paper inside. Oh and trios of liquid pearls again.

That's it. Short and sweet but glad the crafting bug is continuing. Hope you are in and keeping warm in this dreadful weather.

Helen x

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