YAY! for Birthdays

Hello again,

Thank you for all the lovely comments left on my previous post, they mean so much. The rebuilding process for Qld (both in SE and Nth Qld) following the floods and cyclone as well as the fires in the Perth area will take quite some time, given the vast area of destruction and devastation. And some fairly significant storms/showers/rain patterns continue to roll through the SE area as well. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. Also, for our neighbours in NZ following last week's earthquake. There are still some significant aftershocks hitting the Christchurch area, hampering recovery efforts and adding to the fear and distress of those in the area.

Now...onto happier things. Here's another card I made recently for a birthday.

I purchased this Penny Black stamp from my "new" LSS and couldn't wait to get it inky.

And, I remembered to stamp this one on watercolour paper as I was planning to colour with my Distress Inks and blender pens.

I used this super cute paper from Prima's Jack'n'Jill collection as my inspiration for colours and it all came together from there. The 6x6 page already has the cream distressing printed around its borders, however, as this was cut to fit the Australian A6 card size (1/2 of an A5) I had to add to the distressing by swipping my PTI Vintage Cream around the "new" edge.

I've been guilty of hoarding several packs of Thickers for some time now....and here I have actually used them for the first time!! I likey....and need to accept that when you buy these lovely things, you need to use them and if they run out or you don't have the right letters left....you need to buy more!! Heeeee...my note to self for the day.

The only thing I'm not keen on with this card is the shadowing I added under the stool on the image. I really need to practice getting that right. I also purchased a new circle cutter, but need to start driving it a bit better. I don't tend to waste to much paper/ribbon/DSP etc, when I'm creating so I stamped this wee fellow in the corner of my watercolour sheet, however, the circle cutter really needs the paper to be 'grounded' on every side whilst cutting. The image moved a bit and ended up not being cut perfectly along the lower left of the circle. Out came the distress tool (actually I just use an old craft knife for this) and a few swipes to roughen up the edge around the entire image and voila! no evidence of crooked cutting left to be seen. Really going to have to work to overcome my reluctance to stamp in the middle of a sheet of paper!!

I'm awaiting some new stamps/papers/dies from PTI, Hero Arts, MFT and Sweet November Stamps to arrive any day now!! Eeeee.......might need to go home and clear away the items I've been using during the past week or two so I can get inky with the new things when they arrive.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs,

Michey xxxx

CARD DEETS:

Stamp: Penny Black (I'll come back and add this stamp's name once I get home)

Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa (image), Tim Holtz Distress Inks (various - watercolouring)

Cardstock/Paper: SU Kraft (base); Prima Jack'n'Jill 6x6 DSP; SU Blush Blossom (Retired - matted underneath image); Watercolour Paper (A5 pad purchased from art store)

Miscellaneous: American Craft Thickers; SU Very Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon; PTI Vintage Cream Ink; Circle Cutter

Another Birthday Card

I seem to have been on a card making roll this last week or two. And its great!!

Had an old College friend visiting Australia and, specifically Sydney again, this week. She now lives in the UK (London) and I hadn't seen her in just over three years, when I was in London on hols and stayed with her. She is affectionately known to us near and dear as the "Tyrant Tour Leader" as she powers us in and around London to see the sights. Its fantastic - I don't have to stop and ask for directions and she knows all sorts of interesting tidbits, its just that sometimes in her zeal for us to see as much as possible in the day or two we usually only have - she forgets to allow us to stop and revive with food and/or beverages as well!!

Anyway, its also her 40th birthday in a couple of weeks (I can't believe most of my friends are now having 40th birthdays!!) and we all pitched in to get her a lovely Pandora bracelet and a few charms for the occasion. I felt that this needed an appropriate card too so pulled out my as-yet-uninked Flapper Anya and got to it. You can't tell, but I've coloured all the tassels and the feather in her hair with Spica Glitter pens too to add a little bling.

I also followed the instructional video from Dawn McVey for tying the ribbon. I had YouTube playing it beside me on my iPhone as I did it. Still getting the hang of it - but I think I'm doing okay. :)

Thanks for taking a peek. Hope your weekend is going great. Michey xxx

Card Deets:

Stamp/Image: TGF 'Flapper Anya'

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper/Card: SU Whisper White; Flourishes Classic White Paper (for the image); Basic Grey 'Indian Summer' collection

Others: Copics; Spica Glitter 'Red'; Brown/Orange ribbon (from Eckersley's)

MTSC59

Wow!! Just realised its after midnight over here and I need to get my tuckus into bed as I have an early start for church in the morning.

This is a card I whipped up this afternoon (make that yesterday afternoon, lol) for one of my bestie's who has a birthday today (Sunday) - though I'm not seeing her until next weekend. Its a semi-big one.....the one before 40!!

I knew which stamp set I was going to use and then looked for the right paper before colouring this delicious Anya set in.

My dear friend is a Psychologist working mostly with children, youth and families. She's especially busy (sadly) and also has some presentations to make in the next couple of months and so is in a super busy time. I wanted to wish her a year of finding time for herself as well as everyone she cares for and these little Anya's were perfect.

I've based my card layout on Mercy's Tuesday Sketch for this week and am so proud of myself for continuing to participate in challenges atm. Hoping it will continue and I will get better at it as the year progress.

I actually decorated the inside of this card too......Cut some of the DP to fit and rounded the corners and used the "after" Anya to finish it off. I hadn't planned on distressing the edges of any of the papers, but clearly I need to replace the blade on my trimmer as it 'distressed' them all for me. :)

Yellow is definitely not my favourite colour to work with.....but I think I've pulled it off. My dear friend does great things with yellow as she has beautiful dark skin and luscious dark hair.

Card Deets:

Stamps: TGF "Me Time Anya"

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper: SU So Saffron, BG Two Scoops 'Creme Brulee'; Flourishes Classic White Paper

Others: Copics, Stickles 'Cotton Candy', PTI Ribbon "Sweet Blush", White Gel Pen, WeRMemoryKeepers Corner Chomper