60th Birthday Card

Another friend joins the over 60 Club!  We joined him with friends and family to celebrate at a surprise barbeque at Crombie Country Park in Angus (Scotland).  Beautiful weather and relaxed company - what more could you ask for?






I find it difficult to make cards for men but I had seen a card  made by Maria Simms for Clarity Stamps that had appealed to me. I used this as my inspiration to make this card. No Clarity product was used here but I really covet the Gelli plate that Barbara Gray demonstrates and was used in the original.  I have too many other purchases to get to grips at the moment.  Perhaps I will succumb at the NECC in November!

 The base card was made from Kraft Card. The papers are from my stash.  I used Spellbinders Sprightly Sprockets to create dimension.  The text was produced on the computer.  It looked a little "clean" so I smudged Walnut Stain Distress Ink  on to the dotty paper and the white sprocket.

Shine on

Now, we have had some sunshine today but it has been joined by thunder, lightning, torrential rain and......hailstones!  What is going on?  I put the tortoise out in his pen when it was sunny so he experienced the other elements at first hand.  Didn't seem to bother him though.

The challenge at the Less is More Blog this week is to create a card using

Something Shiny

Lots of thinking time needed this week!  I found some gold paper so decided to use this and then there were the unopened Nestabilities label dies that I bought at Craftology in Glasgow a few weeks ago.



I cut a mask with the die first, then placed this over cream card before stamping the image. I used the same die as a template to draw around on the gold paper before cutting with scissors .  This created a larger shape than the die which acted as a border.  I then punched the butterflies from the same gold paper.   This was glued and assembled on  to a cream 15cm square card blank.  I hope this makes sense! 

Favourite Stamp - Sweet Stampin Challenge

I came across the "new to me" Sweet Stampin Challenge blog a couple of days ago and the challenge this week is to chose a favourite stamp.  Well, I just had to join in and I make no apologies for using my favourite of the moment - Daisy.  Three post in a row....in danger of becoming boring I know....but I will lay it aside for a while before using it to post again.  I had wondered about linking my most recent post but thought that it might break the rules.  It also gave me the excuse to use it again.

I decided to make a gift bag similar to the one that I made at a class a couple of weeks ago with Erika Gunter.  (I posted this previously) I used a rectangular shaped die for the basic bag shape and then another square shaped die for the image and mount.

The image was coloured using Promarkers and I added accents of glitter to the flowers with Stickles. Dies - Labels Eight, Labels One and Standard Circles - (for the handle cutout)

Patience is a Virtue

I described in a recent post how I waited patiently ( and successfully) for a discontinued die that I just "had to have"  become available a a reasonable price.

Well, it's happened again. I think that it is due to my experience with Ebay.  I have come to realise that even if you miss out, there is bound to be another one along soon. ( just like buses!)

This time it was the renowned Daisy stamp by Elisabeth Bell.  Almost two years ago I attended a day long session with the firm that produced the Sugar Nellie stamps and this is one that we used. I now regret that I did not take the opportunity to purchase the stamp on the day.

Shortly after this there was some kind of dispute which resulted in the removal from the stamp from the Sugar Nellie collection. I watched as it reached ridiculous prices on Ebay. I loved it ...but not that much!

Again my patience has paid off.  The licence to produce the stamp was given to Elphine House in Australia and I received a clear stamp version last week. The image produced is slightly larger than the original but I am very happy. Here is the first card, coloured with Promarkers, that I have made.



Spellbinders Class

Such lovely weather! I spent this morning in the garden.  I cannot believe the plant growth over the last few days.  I'm sure that if I could stand still long enough I would be able to see it happening. I always feel rather dissatisfied with the design of the garden at this time of year..... after watching the Chelsea Flower Show on tv.  I would love to be able to incorporate some of the ideas that I see in the show gardens.....clean lines... concrete structures... sculptures...wild meadows...Dream ...dream ...dream. 

Anyway, I had to  leave my husband to continue riddling the gravel in an area that had been overtaken by very vigorous weeds so that I could attend a class that I had booked at The Papeterie.  Poor him! 

It was a rather hot, but very enjoyable session with Erika Gunter. I have several Spellbinders dies but usually keep to the labels types. I have resisted the hype and the endless offers on Create and Craft tv shows for the other, more intricate dies. After this session I think that I may "need" some of those that we used during the class.   This is the end result.

I am pleased with my efforts as it has given me a different perspective about how to be creative with dies.

Postscript.  When I arrived home, husband was still " riddling". Told him to stop and that I would finish it tomorrow.  Hope the weather holds!!! 

Top Gear

Just getting back into gear after my trip away. Talking of gear(s), I bought a set of Spellbinders Sprightly Sprockets dies at Doncaster that inspired me to make this card for this week's Less is More Challenge.  The theme is CIRCLES and I thought that these dies would do the job.

I used copper coloured mirri card and a computer generated font. 

A gift for a gardener

I like to have variety in my crafting so I was happy to make this notebook to give as a little gift for a keen gardener. I didn't actually make the book - just covered it in K and Co papers. I fed the ribbon through the spine and secured the ends with beads. This will act as a bookmark.

WordArt was used to print the lettering and diecut the shape with an oval Nestie. A litttle stamping took away the harshness of the green.

Going to visit her tonight - I'm sure that our mutual love of gardening will be a hot topic of conversation!

The butterflies on the back cover were diecut using Spellbinders. This was not a necessary addition but I thought that it just adds a little interest.