A Commission & A Birthday

 This first card was made for my train buddy Claire, for her sister's birthday. The papers are Birdsong &Wild Asparagus. The photo was given to my & they are Claire's sister, two dogs enjoying a spell of sunshine in the garden.

The second card was made for my friend Kate. She used to travel on the train with me and was my reading buddy. We meet once a week for a catch up. It was her birthday the first week in April & she spent her birthday in Norway, with husband Alex. Paper is Birdsong,

image Lili of the Valley- Best Friend.

Shabby Chic/Distress Challenge

This week on the Stampman Challenge http://thestampmanchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/ we were asked to make something Shabby Chic/Distressed. I adore this theme as I use shabby distress a lot in my work. I obtained some free Pink Paislee paper - Spring Jubilee in a card making magazine & knew it would be just perfect for what I had in mind. I love to read & every now & then I decide I need a new bookmark.

I decided that today was the day & I would use this theme.

I took some of the paper & dry brushed is with gesso to tone down the colours & then I stamped a TH Stuff to Say journal stamp down one side before dry brushing some more gesso over the top to give it the apperance of the stamped image already being part of the paper design I smugged it slightly to give a distressed look. I then stamped my main quote & added a small chipboard butterfly. I made the button by gluing a small piece of the same patterened paper to the reverse of a clear button. The bird image is courtesy of The Graphic Fairyhttp://graphicsfairy.blogspot.co.uk/ The lace was from Ribbon girl. I cut the actual frame of the bookmark from Xcut fancy frames.

It was important to try & keep it quite flat as it does have to go in a book!!

Golden Wedding Card

I was asked by one of my travelling companions if i would create something for her parents who were celebrating their Golden Wedding Anniversary early April. I saw this Recessed Window card on a blog and one that my forum friend Carol had made & decided this was for me. Sadly when my computer died I lost a couple of the pictures but I have this front shot.

I also got these two shots of the inside of the card & the multiple pages I created. I'm having a few problems with this blog post, blogger won't let me select & edit the text! Looks like i will have to upgrade to the new version they have mentioned!!!! Papers are Prima Pixie Glen. Photo is of Claire's parents on their wedding day printed onto canvas.

Stampman Challenge "Bingo Card"

I am extremely late with this challenge but as you will see from my post below, my computer developed problems on my birthday (19th March) and after it being in for repairs it became obvious the damage was irreparable. I have lost a hold bunch of great software but all my files are entact! Phew, big sigh of relief because to lose 7 years of photos & artwork would be devestating.

The http://thestampmanchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/bingo card challenge was to pick a line from a set of choices & I chose Green, Flowers & Swirls. The swirl I inked with clear embossing ink & used table salt to give a distressed look (see craft Stamper February 2011). I kept the scheme clean by using just green & white & left off a greeting until i need a card & then I can add something suitable to it either computer generated or stamped.

Materials used, Secret Garden Embossing folder, Xcut Ornate square frame die, Birdsong paper, Chipboard swirl die, paper flowers.