Ann B's Birthday Card & OOPS! Sorry

I know Ann reads my blog so I have scheduled this card for the latest date I will be away so that she should have received it by the time this blog is posted.

I was late with this card and as Ann's surname begins with "B" I decided to use some Elusive Image stamps and make "B ... is for blossom" the stop on the easel card.  On the back it carries on saying "... Birthdays, B(her surname) and Belated".

I used Bundled Sage, Wild Honey and Forest Moss to colour my Distress Ink background.  Then stamped the images in Black Archival Ink and coloured the dots on the blossoms with Twinkling H2o's.

Just hope she likes it.

OOPS!  SORRY FOLKS.  Was rushing.  Here it is:

Yet Another

This is my next birthday card, uploaded Monday for posting today whilst I am not around.  

This one features a fold down the side and some of those tiny butterflies from my new die.  I used some Elusive Images stamps to finish it off.  As this is a scan you cannot see the fold.

This view shows the card as it stand open - the grasses go along the bottom of the inside.

It is just a normal card size with a valley fold 1 1/4" from the fold and a mountain fold 1 3/4" from the fold.  As you can see from the closed card there is a scalloped piece underneath the ribbon and if you look closely at the picture above you will see there is a scalloped piece on the inside edge as well.

This was a card taught to me by Gayle in America (Gayle, if you are reading I will get those instructions done as soon as possible for the project you want).

Another Birthday Card

Just a simple one using Tumbled Glass, Victorian Velvet, Spun Sugar Distress inks again for the background.  Spun Sugar for the flourishes on the main (pink) card.  All stamps are by Paperartsy (new Hot Pick) and Victorian Velvet and Tumbled Glass used to stamp with then Archival Black over the top.  I jsut love that grass and bird stamps.

Happy Birthday Ann!

Working Through Anger

In 2007 someone, who shall remain nameless, decided I had snubbed him and has held a grudge against me since then.  Things came to a head a few weeks ago and today I decided "my anger" (at his latest tirade) was no good being bottled up so I finished off a background page I had done a while ago in my journal.

I bought this stamp at Aintree a couple of weeks ago, just because it "tickled" me and finally I have used it.  Think it says a lot.  Then I went through my many word stamps - my friends always think I have a lot of 'wordy' stamps but the ones I have used today rarely come out - well, where would you use them?

Not sure if this will really qualify for the Lots to Do challenge this week, which is "collage" but then if I call it a "collage of words" maybe it will.  For a collage I would rather use lots of different things, bandage, torn book pages, postage stamps, buttons etc. and make it quite a textural piece but although I have something in mind I have not the time to produce as we are off to Ormskirk again until after the funeral..

Also made some birthday cards and one of those was using masking as a technique so that could possibly be classed as a collage as it uses different stamps.

Did make a few cards today to catch up on birthdays that are coming up but as I don't want the recipients to see them before they receive them I'll do a "post option" and upload them day by day.  Anyway, here is my journal page:

Not a clue where I got the word stamps from but the Alphabet is a Fourth Dimension one which I have wanted for ages, the main image was bought in a bargain box at Aintree for £6 instead of £12.95 (yes, it is a mounted stamp) and it is an Inkadinkadoo one.  The background stamps were featured way back when I first began journalling and are designed by Penny Bearcroft for The Stamp Bug.

Here is the birthday card which might also qualify for the Lots to Do challenge using Non Sequitur stamps from the "Roaring Twenties" plate.  I used Tumbled Glass, Spun Sugar, Victorian Velvet and Chipped Sapphire Distress Inks for the background (and Spun Sugar for the perfume bottle, shoes and telephone on the main cardstock, and the flourishes (Paperartsy - I love this flourish) on the Distress background).  All other stamping is using Archival Sepia Ink.

Don't think the recipient goes on my blog - well at least I hope she doesn't.

Auntie

Do you remember on the 24th March I posted some photographs of Auntie, taken at her 80th Birthday?  Well, I have been missing from blogland because Auntie had to go in a nursing home but her stay was not to be long.  It all happened over Easter weekend when she went to live in Silver Birch Lodge in Ormskirk.

We got a call on the 2nd May to say she was very ill so we moved over there to be with her as much as we could.  Sadly she died on Saturday, 8th May.

There is a lot to do so I will still be missing for days at a time but this morning I finally got some crafting done - made two cards to say thank you - first to the nursing home where she got such excellent care and attention,

and the second one to Jill, the Macmillan Nurse, who realised Auntie needed 24 hour specialist care.

Now to try to catch up on making some birthday cards for friends, but first we have to visit a 96 year old friend who has been in a nursing home for several years.  We have had to neglect her these past few weeks so now is the time to make amends and see her once again.

In its Present State

Here is my little house book as mentioned in yesterday's blog.  Did, and still do, intend to put some more bits on it, as and when I get time, but for the moment this is as it stands.  I did take my Distress Inks - new colours - over to aunties with me and three boxes of Paperartsy stamps plus my gel pens so that is all I managed to do - colour in some of the images.

Must look through my ephemera and other things to see what I can put on to make it more three dimensional.  Am thinking feathers, metal bits etc.  In fact I have a metal Archie somewhere at home which I will hopefully be putting on the page that features him.

Had to scan in two halves so you have an overlap of one of the images

The cat is out of context as he is the cover for the side that features the birds.  Just could not resist using him on the outside cover and I thought it rather cute that he is saying "you know you love me" to that little grumpy looking bird.

These are on the other side of the book, featuring the bird images from my collection.

That's it for now, hope you like what I did with my project from Paul at Victoria Stampers.

Vicky Stampers

Last Saturday at the club my good friend Paul was taking the class and we made a little box in the shape of a house.  This was to house a concertina type book in the shape of a house also.  Paul had worked really hard, not just making a sample but in producing templates for us to use prior to the workshop so that we could just get on with cutting, assembling and decorating.

As they would say up north "Ee lad, tha' did a reet good job"

Anyway, here is my house, completed at the club but still minus a chimney.

As you can see I am still into my Distress Inks and I used Tumbled Glass, Wild Honey and Forest Moss on the main part but did sneak a bit of my favourite, Rusty Hinge, in as well.  The corners, door and window are coloured with Barn Door.

This is a sneak peek at the book inside.  I chose not to tie it together with ribbons or any other kind of fastening as I like it opened out in the box as it is.

As you can no doubt see it is made up entirely from Paperartsy stamps but I have decided to use the "post option" and upload them tomorrow for you to see.

I am going to be away from my computer for a few days due to illness within the family and not wishing my blog to remain neglected too long (we have just slipped home for an hour or so) I chose the "post option" as mentioned above.