Happy Birthday girl!...

Hello there chaps and chapettes!

Today is my colleagues birthday - yipee!!  She started at work the same time as me a few weeks ago so we're fellow newbies ;)

Now, I know she LOVES owls...I mean LOVES owls.  Unfortunately for her I don't have anything owl-related, but I kept the animal theme and hopefully she'll like her card anyway :)

This card is for The Card Concept challenge #7 too, where the theme is - Butterfly.  I'm really not sure which category my card falls into this time>  Maybe Clean and Simple, maybe Clean and Layered, maybe even Clean and Graphic?!  Ok, so the graphic one might be pushing it a bit!

It's also kind of based on the CAS(E) This Sketch layout from last week (#70) - I really liked it!

I finally own a butterfly stamp!!  Woohoo!!  I got this one in the awesome set that came with the last issue of Get Stamping magazine - it's beautiful!!  I heat embossed it in WOW! Ebony powder and then used Distress Inks to blend the colours, I think they're kinda pretty ;)  I also used some new-to-me WOW! embossing powder for the sentiment - it's Calypso glitter powder and it is STUNNING!!  It has a lovely sparkle in real life and I'm loving it!!

So this is happy birthday to Jade, I hope you have a great day!!  :)


Thanks for stopping by y'all!  ;)

Supplies
Card:     Paper Mill Direct - Black, White
Stamps: Verve - Hope Blooms; Clear Impressions - Cherry Blossom
Ink:        VersaMark
Other:    WOW! - Ebony, Calypso Glitter e/p; Craft Concepts - Cottage Floral e/f; rhinestones

I finally made it...!!

I love the sketches over at CAS(E) this sketch, so imagine how disappointed I was when I sat down to participate in this weeks sketch only to find that my mojo had done a runner!!  One was not impressed...

So, determined, I sat there and thought that I would start by choosing the colours I might use and maybe that would kick my mojo into gear...apparently not :(  

This is my third, yep that's right, THIRD attempt at this sketch!!  How ridiculous right?!!  Don't get me wrong, I think the sketch is brilliant, my brain just wouldn't play ball.

Bearing this in mind, please don't expect too much from today's card!

See how good this sketch is?!!  The card really should've made itself!  Anyway, here's mine...

It's kinda growing on me...I think...I'm not sure!  Oh well!  Also, my photography skills (what few I have) abandoned me completely too - this butterfly is actually super sparkly!  I used WOW!'s clear hologram embossing powder to make this little guy the main attraction and I just could not get a shot that made the sparkles show up, so you're just going to have to take my word for it!  The sentiment is embossed in WOW! earthtone grape which I think is a really nice shade of purple :)  I am entering this into WOW!'s challenge too :)

Thank you for stopping by ;)

Supplies

Card:     Paper Mill Direct - White, Pink Sorbet, Lilac, Primrose

Stamps: Verve - Hope Blooms; SU! - Bliss

Ink:        VersaColor - Violet

Other:    WOW! - Clear Hologram, Earthtone Grape e/p; Craft Concepts - Venus e/f

Sketchbook Saturday #90...

Hey!

I love Chupa's Sketchbook Saturday sketches, they're always so different from what I normally come up with!  I like the challenge of the layers and embellishments, although I'm not sure how successful I am!!

It's been ages since I made a card with butterflies on so I HAD to keep these as butterflies!  I don't have a butterfly die or punch (yet!) so that's probably why I don't use them so much.

Here is my card;

This picture looks a bit dark because I'm now in a work space where I have no windows so I have to take my photo's using artificial light.  Not ideal, but at least I now have a space to call my own!!  You can't really see it, but there's glitter down the middle of each butterfly, it looks nice and sparkly in real life :)

I really enjoyed this challenge, thank you Chupa!  This card will be going to my friend next month for her birthday, I hope she likes it :)

Thanks for stopping by ;)

Supplies
Card:      Paper Mill Direct - White, Black, Primrose, Pink Sorbet, Lilac, Pale Turquoise; K&Co - Best Of
Stamps: Papermania - Celebration
Ink:        VersaColor - Lavender, Old Rose
Other:    Spellbinders - Classic Edges One; WOW! Earthtone Grape e/p; gifted butterfly punch outs; pearls;
             Glitter Glue

Viva La Verve, August Week 2

Hello!
I would like to start off by thanking everyone who leaves such wonderful comments on my blog and SCS Gallery, they are really appreciated and encourage me to continue and better myself.  I would like to say a special thank you to Michelle for her kind words, they really meant a lot to me as I really was daunted by entering this challenge :) 

I have finally got around to photographing my card for Week 2 of the Viva La Verve Challenge!  I made this in the week but the weather has just been so appalling here and I've been holding out for maybe a little sun to shine through my window, but alas, just rain!  I was getting impatient and decided that I didn't want to wait for the elusive English summer sun any longer, so I've had to take my photo in the gloom!  I apologise for this in advance.!  I don't have a light box or anything fancy like that - living here it really ought to have been one of the first things I invested in huh?!  It pains me to buy things like that though, I'd rather spend money on stamps!

Because of the lack of lighting the colours don't show quite true, although I have tried to adjust it a little.  You'll just have to take my word on the colours!  (If the sun comes out then I'll take some better photo's to replace these.)

Here is Andrea's sketch for this week.  I knew it was going to be a good'un when I found out Andrea was in charge!  I just love everything she does!  I check her blog pretty much every day and almost always find something new a amazing to look at!  Although our styles are poles apart (hers is awesome, mine not so much!) I really enjoy soaking up her vintage, shabby chic-ness and all the femininity.  If you have never visited Andrea's blog (then I can only conclude that you live under a rock?!) then I suggest you get yourself over there right now - you have no idea what you're missing!  You can imagine how pleased I was when Andrea commented on my Week 1 entry in my SCS Gallery!  Aaaaah!  I was starstruck!

and here is my take on the sketch; (remember to forgive the lighting!)

those are soft green stripes!

Now, I made this card and looked at it for quite a while.  I really wasn't sure about, although it is growing on me!  I was going to say that it's not 'me', but it must be because I made it right?!  There's something about this Viva La Verve challenge that's making me go all 'vintage-y', but in my own CAS way of course!

I don't have any dies, as I mentioned before, so I was hunting high and low for something oval that I could use as a template.  I couldn't find a single thing!  However, on the end of my desk was my other half's bottle of aftershave.  It was kind of oval so I thought I'd use that!  I quite like the shape actually!  Having only a small stash of supplies makes you more resourceful don't you think?!  (Might just be me then!)
A while ago I was experimenting with things and came up with that antique-y script piece of card.  I dabbed some Antique Linen and Vintage Photo Distress Ink onto an acrylic block,spritzed with water and then pressed a piece of card onto it to make the background.  Once it dried I stamped the script in VersaColor Charcoal and then 'damask' in SU! Basic Black.  I was quite pleased with how it turned out and then had no idea how I was going to use it!!!  I decided it was high time it made it's debut and where better than at Viva La Verve!  It's matted on a distressed piece of card that was created with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

The butterflies were a gift from a friend of my Mum's, Jackie.  I met Jackie when I recently went 'home' to visit the family.  She has a much larger collection of tools, punches, stamps - everything - than I do!  I really love the Martha Stewart Monarch butterfly punch and guess what, Jackie has it!  She had a load of the butterflies punched out in white and coloured card and was kind enough to give me a load of them!  Something else I've been dying to use!  Thanks Jackie!!  The top butterfly was one of the white ones but I inked it in Antique Linen and added some gold glitter to the wings.

Anyways, I think that's more than enough of my ramblings - I must keep these posts shorter so as not to bore everyone to tears! 

Thanks for staying with me, have a great Sunday!

Supplies:
Card:      White 220gsm; Create & Craft Ivory Linen 200gsm; ColorBase Pastel Card in Chamois
                    170gsm; Harlequin wallpaper Anoushka collection - II0023 Jolie Stripe (background)
Stamps:  SU! Bliss; SU! En Francais; Debbi Moore Birthday Definition
Inks:       Distress Inks - Antique Linen, Vintage Photo; VersaColor - Charcoal; SU! - Basic Black
Others:   Ribbon; MS monarch butterflies; rhinestones; glitter

My First Post and CAS-ual Fridays Challenge CFC10

Hello!

To point out the obvious, this is my first post!  I thought I'd throw myself in at the deep end and make my first post a challenge entry - aargh!

I have been following the CAS-ual Fridays challenge since it began but have never submitted anything before.  The challenge at CAS-ual Fridays this week is 'Shaped Cards' and here is the card I have made.....

The main shape and the concentric shapes are all hand cut, as are the butterflies.  I inked the edges of the layers with Distress Inks and blended the colours on the butterflies.  I used VersaColor charcoal coloured ink and then clear embossed the flourishes on the butterflies and then ran the largest one through my Cuttlebug using Divine Swirls ef.  I added the same charcoal colour to the edges of the butterflies and mat of the sentiment panel.

It's a day of firsts today - first post, first challenge entry and the first ever shaped card I've made.  I did say I was throwing myself in at the deep end!  Wish me luck!

I am going to have a play with my camera to figure out how best to take photographs of my cards, apologies for the photo's above :)

Thank you to anyone who has taken the time to read this, please let me know what you think (honestly, don't just feel the need to say something nice!) and any tips for making a successful blog would be greatly appreciated! :)









Supplies
Card:     White 220gsm
Stamps: SU! Just Believe (sentiment)  Penny Black Scroll Strip 3863H (large butterfly flourishes)
              Magnolia Wedding - Fancy Squiggle Flourish (small butterfly flourishes)
Ink:        VersaColor Charcoal, Distress Inks - Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge, Broken China, Victorian Velvet
Others:  Cuttlebug Divine Swirls ef, Papermania clear embossing powder, rhinestones, jewellery wire