Two New Baby Easel Cards + Yesterday's Haul

Morning All,

And it is a lovely morning too - well, in Ayr it is and I hope it is wherever you are.

Recently my lovely niece, Louise, let us know that she is pregnant, and to say we are delighted is putting it mildly. You see, Louise has had diabetes since she was a wee girl and this has caused her no end of medical problems over the years - so having a family seemed to be just a dream to her. However, despite all this, she has remained a cheerful and happy girl who has taken the blows life has brought her on the chin and has even happily become the primary carer for her mother, my sister Margaret, who has MS.  All in all, a great girl, so you can see why I am so pleased I couldn't wait to make a card for the event even though the baby is not due until the new year! As you can see, I've made two - well, boy or girl? -  we don't know yet.

I was able to use a single sheet of 12"x12" scrapbook paper from Daisy Bucket Designs, appropriately entitled 'Perfect Harmony', because as you can see the colours cover both blue and pink shades.

I liked the combination of the singing birds with the sleeping babies. I also found a use for the card I  brayered and bleached recently, using pieces for the matting of the images.

Materials used for the boy card:
Stampin' Up smooth card, blue; smooth white card; Glossy white card; Big & Juicy, Hydrangea, Household bleach, Spritzer; Daisy Bucket 12"x12" design paper, Perfect Harmony; Stamps: Magnolia Sleeping Baby coloured with Promarkers, Pastel Blue, Blush, Ivory & Soft Peach; A Baby Boy stamped with VersaMark & embossed in white; Ribbon, pale green; Prima flower in turquoise; button, blue tied with cream twine

Materials used for the girl card:
Stampin' Up smooth card, pink; smooth white card; Glossy white card; Big & Juicy, Hydrangea, Household bleach, Spritzer; Daisy Bucket 12"x12" design paper, Perfect Harmony; Stamps: Magnolia Sleeping Baby coloured with Promarkers, Blossom, Pale Pink, Blush, Ivory & Soft Peach; A Baby Girl stamped with VersaMark & embossed in pink; Velvet ribbon, pink; Paper string, pink; Wild Orchid Crafts, rose & cherry blossoms, white (petals tipped with ProMarkers)

These cards are being submitted to Passion for Promarkers - Week 106 - babies

Friday was a bad day - I had to go to the dentist because I'd lost an old filling - oh, the pain! So as consolation we took a trip to Glasgow yesterday, to IKEA and to Craft World - the biggest craft shop I have ever been in - it was heaven :)  Of course, there was so much I wanted needed and quite a lot that I simply wanted. Here's the reason for the latest hole in my bank account.

Can't wait to play!

Happy crafting to you all,

Yesterday a Lily, Today, Poinsettias - Week 26 Christmas Card

Evening All,

A huge welcome to my new follower, Chadsgirl510, sorry, couldn't find your real name. I hope you enjoy visiting this blog and feel free to comment on my posts - I really appreciate the feedback. Now onto this evening's card.

This card had me thinking  - yes, I know, not much of that going on usually but this card triggered the thought that we must all have design papers in our stash that we find difficult to use. This double-sided 12"x12" sheet was one such for me. The problem was that the big flower image, gorgeous as it is, covered about two-thirds of the surface so what to do with it. I couldn't cut it down to make several cards. I couldn't scrap on it - it would have been a tragedy to cover up the image with photos and embellishments. Periodically, I took it out, stroked it, admired it, then put it back in it's folder and on the shelf again. However, this weekend, during a visit to the garden centre, I found a pack of 8"x8" kraft card blanks - a card size I've not made up to now - and it was then I had a light bulb moment, this size of card would be just right base for my treasured DP.

After the card base, matting and layering card, and DP edges were distressed with a combination of  Fired Brick and Black Soot DIs, I stamped the Christmas Wonder stamp (this is fast becoming one of my favourite sentiments) to the left, where there was less of the pattern . . . on reflection I think I could have stamped a little higher.  For the flourish around the top and left edge I just inked up the handle on the Candle Holder image . . . stamped with both the first and the second 'generation' of ink to add more interest.

The flowers are from the reverse side of the paper, I just cut them out, inked the edges with Fired Brick and layered them up using glue gel. I gilded the centres of the flowers using a Zig 2 way glue pen, leaving the glue to become tacky and then adhering the gilding flakes to it and, finally, I sprayed them with Spray & Shine to give them a lovely gloss finish. Black gems were added in the corners for the finishing touch.

I've finished off the inside and the back with strips of the leftover DP, using the reverse side, edges brushed with the red DI. I'm not sure I would want to write on kraft card so I will probably add a rectangle of smooth white card inside for my message.

Materials:
Card: 1 x 8"x8" docrafts Papermania kraft card blank; 1 A4 sheet each Papermania textured card, dark red & smooth card in black for matting and layering 
Design Paper: 1 x 12"x12" sheet docrafts Papermania Poinsettia Duo patterned paper
Stamps: Claritystamps, Christmas Wonder (No.50) & Candle Holder (No.56)
Ink Pads: Archival Ink, Jet Black; Tim Holtz Distress Inks, Fired Brick & Black Soot
Other materials: Ink Dusters; Zig 2 Way Glue;Crafty Notions Gilding Flakes, Sunshine; Crafter's Companion Spray & Shine; black gems from stash

I'm submitting this card to the following:

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Week 26: Anything Goes
Deep Ocean Challenge Blog - Challenge #2: Flowers
Just For Fun - June's Fifth Week - Anything Goes
Hooked on Craft - Challenge #2 - Show us Your Flowers

So a card with a story and a question - how many of you, like me, have gorgeous paper tucked away in your stash simply because you can't bear to cut it up, or can't think what would be the best way to use it? I bet there is more than a few of you.

I look forward to hearing your precious paper stories.

Happy crafting,

WOYWW - Week 108 + My Favourite Lily Blooming at Last

Good Afternoon Everyone,

There's lots on my desk this morning - I think I've found my messy streak at last! That's because I was working on this week's Christmas card when the postman delivered my latest edition of the Craft Stamper. Needless to say the makings of the card were abandoned until the mag had been read and digested - I'm just too easily distracted : )

Under the magazine there's the paper intended for another card which will feature the cute little baby sitting on the easel (actually there's two - one coloured in pink is hidden behind). There's also a sheet of cream card lined up for a scrapbook page of the sea view photographs taken on holiday.

I've been increasingly drawn to vintage work I've seen recently on so many of your blogs so I raked out the book you can just see at the top of that pile - Vintage Greeting Cards by Maryjo McGraw. I've had it for sometime and, yes, I have looked through it before but not studied it deeply until now. Ms McGraw has packed the book full of techniques - some I would simply never have thought of - ever. For example, using brown shoe polish as an overlay to age photographs, or using a patterned paper napkin as a background or that a fragment of sea glass, the stuff we can pick up from the beach, will make an interesting embellishment when adhered to a photograph.

Some of you might be wondering why there's a roll of  aluminium insulating tape balanced on top of my tub of gilding flakes. Well, the EM spotted it in one of his favourite haunts - the building suppliers. He recognised it as one of the materials seen on a recent steam punk themed TV demo and thought it would probably be a handy addition to my crafting arsenal . Most women get flowers, I get aluminium insulating tape  - and I'm definitely not complaining!

Well, that's me for today but, before I go over to Julia's Stamping Ground to hop amongst the workdesks of the world, I thought you might like to see this photograph of my favourite lily, taken just this afternoon.

This pot of lilies that sits on the deck and last year it didn't do too well, but this year it has gone mad!  There's been dozens of buds just waiting to pop for simply ages so we have been awaiting the grand opening with baited breath - you see, we'd forgotten what colour these lilies were. They are simply the most gorgeous deep red - fabulous!

Happy Crafting,