A seaside card and fabulous at 50

Very quick post today with a couple of my latest cards! First off a good friend and colleague has recently turned 50.  Now there is now way on earth that she looks that old and I am sure her birth certificate must be wrong... We needed a big card to circulate at work so out came the 8x8 square cards again, and I wanted to make it fresh, vibrant and funky.  And a little bit of paisley was also needed to reflect where her hometown.

She loved it and was very thankful that the age was hidden down at the bottom! And now for a little seaside card inspired by my hols in Anglesey.  This time for my cousin who has recently moved there.  The stamps are clarity stamps and of course they are coloured in with my trusty ProMarkers. I was quite pleased with the simplicity of it all.

Wish I was back there, but with weather like this maybe not. I'm resisting putting on the heating seeing that it is still August (just) but it's pretty nippy isn't it? No signs of an Indian summer then...

Slate, Shells and Sea Glass

And now for something completely different... no card, paper or ribbons in sight!  Last week I was in Anglesey with my family and after a very blustery afternoon beachcombing me and my big sis got to play. This is part of our beachcombing haul:

And this is the beautiful beach.

So here is creation 1 and in keeping with all great artworks it had to have a name and so henceforth it shall be named 'Sea Flower'!

And the second creation is 'Shell Cottage'.  Not quite the amazing creation seen in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, but come on, I only had a few shells, a bit of driftwood and some sea glass.  I do love sea glass.  I cannot walk past a bit without squirrelling it away in my pocket.

And finally creation 3!  This little beauty of a clock was mainly made with the help of my brother-in-law and isn't it stylish?  I actually made 2 - one for home and one for my office. I reckon down here in Oxfordshire they would sell for a small fortune.

The mosaics are designed for staying outside so I think I'll hang them near my new garden bench and bring a bit of the beauty of Anglesey and the seaside to my little garden.  Hope you've enjoyed seeing something a bit different!

Wild flowers and birds

 Nature theme, green, birds, ribbons - anyone spotting a theme in most of my cards?  Thankfully my sister is also a fan of all things nature so this is what I've come up with for her birthday card.  Hopefully she'll like it.  The papers are Botanical Gazette from Stamping Up and a bit of green Coredinations to matt with. The ribbon and pins are from my local fabric shop. This is the inside:

I wanted to make it a bit special and carry on the theme.  The bird and flower stamps are Stamping Up again - the Nature Walk set.  I just love these stamps, birds, flowers, bumble bee, butterfly, eggs and a bird cage, and create beautiful crisp images.  If you fancy some for yourself then my friend Tamara sells them and you can see all the details here http://www.pickledpapercrafts.blogspot.com/


Off on hols with the birthday girl this week to Anglesey where hopefully we'll be seeing plenty of birds and wildflowers in real life! And you never know we might even spot a glimpse of Will and Kate (unlikely!).

Another Sepia-tone Card with the ProMarkers and Copics

Just a quick post today - been a rough couple of weeks and not much time for crafting.  So in danger of repeating myself this is another little card that demonstrates my attempts at using the ProMarkers and Copics to achieve a sepia tone (see here for previous card).  It's actually quite a tiny little easel card using a Craftworks Card elegant rectangle die cut which was scored twice to make the easel.  The Popcorn the Bear stamp is a freebie I got from Crafters Companion during their birthday event last year.  I thought it might be a bit cutesy for me but it's growing on me and I'm sure I've got some friends who quite like cute.

Might be a bit of a gap now before the next blog post but who knows!  Going to Krakow, Poland with work (woo hoo) and then back at the desk for a week before going on hols to Anglesey (double woo hoo!).  Hopefully there'll be more crafting by the sea as I unwind and recharge the batteries...

Flowers and Ribbons

Sometimes I just love to make an unashamably feminine card - all floral papers, fancy ribbons, pretty flowers and dinky embellishments! This card has been  in my mind for some time so really pleased how it finally came together.  The papers are K&Co, the punched edge is Martha Stewart, the flowers are Prima, and the lovely satin ribbons are from my local fabric shop who do bundles of ribbons for 50p! Even better when you get a bargain...  I've left it 'sentiment free' as I can imagine it being used for a number of different occasions for one of my lovely friends or family. I often do this as I can always add a specific sentiment at a later date.

The things we do when we have to

This is not just any frozen peas compress, this is a Marks and Spencer hand-selected petits pois compress! The things you will do when your head is pounding with a monster migraine...

P.S. I don't normally have M&S petits pois - they were probably on special offer!

A very proud Auntie

My little nephew painted this owl last night whilst me and his mum were nattering and I think it just brilliant!  When I look at my own efforts in painting and colouring in with ProMarkers, when I haven't even drawn the outline because they are stamped, I am put to shame.  I especially love that the owl has eyelashes - how cute is that?!

Maybe I can pick up some hints and tips as I'm about to embark on an online journalling class dreamed up by the very talented Kirsty Wiseman that is called Me in My Moleskine.  With my love of nature, maybe a picture of a little owl can sneak its way in somehow.   My kit arrived yesterday all wrapped in pink tissue.  Take a look below:

 
What you can't see are lots of little strips of card with 'fill in the blank' sentences that I'll need to fill in all about ME!  Bit scary but hopefully it will be good to look back on when I am old and crazy (OK the crazy bit already applies!).  The class looks brilliant - there is an online live streamed session this week, a private forum to discuss what we are doing, a flikr group to show our creations, a class workbook etc. Can't wait! I'm sure I'll be posting some of  pages in the journal on the blog so keep a watch out.

Right off to bedskis.  Glad it has cooled down a bit.