A Purple Thank You

Good Afternoon!

Today, I'll be honest, I didn't wake up in the best of moods.  But that all changed when the Postman arrived!  (which is not usually the case!)  A little while ago the darling Kelly told me to send her my address and she'd very kindly send me some die cuts because I don't own any dies yet.  I e-mailed her to thank her for her generosity and told her that she didn't need to do that, although it would be lovely.  Anyway, this morning I heard something pretty heavy come through the door and I figured it was a big bill - it absolutely was not!!!  I opened it up and it was FULL of goodies!  Loads of die cuts of butterflies, flowers, leaves, birds, note tops, ovals, circles and scalloped circles!  I mean, loads!  And, in that parcel was a beautiful butterfly embossing folder! 

Also, Kelly sent me this cute card (click here for more details and a better picture on Kelly's blog) It's lovely and I love those bubbles!  :)

Agh, I was so excited that I got to work immediately!

I have made this card for two challenges that I have never entered before.  The Mojo Monday sketch challenge and Jay Gee's Nook challenge.  I thought I'd combine a sketch challenge with a colour challenge.  And, as I ended up doing some embossing (surprise, surprise!) I think I'll enter it into Mark's Finest Papers challenge too.  (I had a look for the rules on their blog and I can't find anything that says that you can't enter more than once?!)

Jay Gee's Nook Challenge #10

Here's what I came up with;

I used the flower die cuts that Kelly sent me.  Inked them up and layered them on top of one another.  I think they look like a starburst - I love them!  I can't tell you what they're called though!?  I finished the centre off with some rhinestones.

I was mostly inspired by the damask at the bottom right hand corner of the Jay Gee's Nook inspiration image - so I made my own.  It's stamped in lilac ink and clear embossed.

Now, as you may or may not know, lots of panels and patterns are not really my thing.  That's what I love about these challenges, they push me to do things that I wouldn't ordinarily attempt -  that's the whole point of the word 'challenge' I guess!  It took me an obscenely long time to choose just the right papers to go together and even longer to make myself cut into them!  (I'm a terrible hoarder!)  It doesn't really show in the photograph, but the swirls in the paper on the bottom panel are pearlescent and look really nice in the flesh.  I did a bit of hand stitching on this card too - not like me at all!

I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out and I think I'll save this one for my sister as she absolutely loves all things purple!

I hope you've enjoyed your stay at my blog and I hope you pop back soon :)

Supplies:
Card:      White 220gsm; Damask Oyster wallpaper; Purple Flower wallpaper
Stamps:  Stampin' Up! - Just Believe, Bliss
Ink:         Distress Ink - Victorian Velvet, Broken China; VersaColor - Violet, Charcoal; ColorBox Cat's Eye -
                       Heliotrope
Other:     Rhinestones; 25mm organza ribbon; present ribbon; sewing thread; Tonic Studios double
                       corner punch  

Things That Move!

Hello there!

I hope you all had a good weekend?!  This weekend I discovered the Less Is More challenge blog, thanks to Kelly.  Kelly suggested that I enter it as I may be good at it!  Bless her, thank you for believing in me!  (By the way, Kelly's been on a proper Viva La Verve mission this weekend - I suggest you check it out!!)

So, I checked it out and this week's theme is 'Things That Move'.  This could range from anything that would in real life move (animals, vehicles, prams etc) to things that physically move on your card.  Once I read this challenge I had to have a go!

When we were little we (Mum, mostly!) used to make Christmas cards to give to all our friends at school and family.  The idea originally came from an episode of Blue Peter!  Our cards became somewhat infamous and people began to expect them each year.  I really wish I had a picture of one to show you - although mildly embarrassing I still love them!  The main idea of the card was to have an image hanging in a window on the front of the card.  We did Christmas Puddings, Christmas Trees, Stars, Snowmen and all sorts!  So, given this challenge I just had to make one of these cards!

I'm hoping this counts as something that moves?!  I'll find out sure enough if not!!  Even if it doesn't, it took me back to making cards with my Mum so I'm happy  :)

So, without further ado and sentimentality, here is my card;

Sorry for the photogrpah quality - it's such a dull day here!

This is a slightly more mature version of the cards we used to make - there's not a drop of glitter glue in sight!  (Glitter glue was what used to hold our cards together, I'm sure of it!)

I drew the ornament shape based on the SpellBinders Heirloom Ormanent Die template, cut it out and inked it using Crushed Olive Distress Ink, edging with Vintage Photo.
I made a small rosette for the centre from some parchment coloured card that I'd printed a musical score onto.  I then placed a red circle on top of that and then a circular piece of background paper that I'd made myself previously using Antique Linen and Vintage Photo Distress Inks and SU! En Francais and Bliss stamps.

No card is complete without a bit of sparkle, and neither is Christmas, so I added some rhinestones to the ornament!  The sentiment was stamped in Scarlet ink (ColorBox Cat's Eyes) and then clear embossed. 

I am also going to enter this card into the following challenges;
CAS-ual Fridays - Embossing
Mark's Finest Papers - Emboss It!

Well, I hope you enjoy looking at this card as much as I enjoy the nostalgia it invokes  :) 
Thanks for dropping by :)

Supplies:
Card:      White, Red, Parchment 220gsm
Stamps:  Stampin' Up - Bliss, En Francais; Inkadinkado - Doodle Frames Holiday
Ink:         Distress Ink - Crushed Olive, Vintage Photo, Antique Linen; ColorBox Cat's Eye - Scarlet
Other:     Rhinestones; present ribbon; Tonic Studios double corner punch