Big Boy's Birthday

I'm sure this LotV stamp was designed with children in mind but I know Dad is a massive football fan and so I thought I would make a card for him with it (and he is 65 next birthday- soon!).  The card follows the current Sketch Saturday layout.

The papers I used on this card are actually Papermania Christmas ones but I thought the spots and stripes in these colours could be extended to any occasion.  I added detail by stamping 'Happy Birthday' (Stamplorations stamp) and footballs (part of the main image).

Simple thankyous

I thought I would use the current Retrosketches layout as inspiration for making a couple of simple thankyou cards with Clare Llyod's Paperartsy stamps.

 

Forever Friends Thankyous

Thankyou cards come in very handy this time of year and so I dusted off this Forever Friends stamp to make these two cards.  They follow the layout for the current Sweet Sketch Wednesday challenge.

 

Cow Scene

When I was choosing 7 images from Bugaboo (part of a recent prize) I fell for this cow scene.  I thought it was so fun.

 

Warm and Cosy Christmas wishes

Another go with air drying clay and this time I pinched some cookie cutters from Mum to make some mini bunting.  It's subtle and could do with more vibrant colouring, but as a learner I think it is OK.

I used Clare Llyod's paperartsy stamps to add more of the details and Fireworks ink sprays (after a layer of clear gloss for resist) for colouring.

The snowman and the yogurt pot!

I think (know) I must be going slightly strange when I was thinking of what I could make for a Facebook group challenge (Mini Marvels Christmas challenge) and saw a yogurt pot that Mum had recently finished with.
Washed out, with the card label removed:

 Stamping with acrylic paints and Staz on, washi tape, cutting out into circles and stringing together with buttons led to this little fellow:

Waste not want not!

Christmas Angels

I thought I would give air drying clay a go.  I used it years ago and found it to be not that easy to work with.  I have to admit, on second attempt it wasn't much better. 
I saw similar angel designs on Pinterest, but these are my own interpretation.  The stamping was done using Clare Llyod's Paperartsy stamps.

 

Howdy Partner!

I got given some really cool little boy themed stamps from a friend a while ago (thankyou!) and thought it was about time I tried out this little cowboy for size.  The card follows the current Sweet Sketch Wednesday layout.

 

Wine cork Decorations

I'd not really seen crafting with wine corks until the FB Mini Marvels Christmas challenge but they really caught my interest.  Having talked to Mum since, apparently we used to make figures out of old wine corks as children.  Here I have made two Santa's out of two Champagne-style corks.  The first I added most of the details using quilling- not done that in a while!  The hair is toy stuffing.

 For the second I went for a whimsical design with long limbs.  The hat is made from felt this time.

 

Fizzy Moon and Flowers

Whoppee!  I won one of the prizes in last weeks Mojo Monday challenge.  Sooooo looking forward to getting my Verve stamps :-)
I made these card using the current Mojo Monday sketch.  Thought they might work for 'Thankyou' cards.

 

Dinky Christmas

Sadly I haven't been able to keep up with all the new DigiStamp Boutique characters this year but when I looked the other day I found a Christmas version of Dinky which I thought would be great for cute cards.

 

Hoppy Birthday

A month or so ago I was very lucky to be given a few 'little boy' themed stamps from a friend (thankyou :-) ).  I thought this frog image and background stamp would work well with the current Retrosketches layout, along with a splash of colour.

 

Happy 60th II

This is the second 60th birthday card that I made this week (the first was on my blog on Tuesday).  Again I have used a LotV image (one I have had for a while this time).  A bit of a coincidence that I used LotV on both cards! 
The card follows the current Retrosketches layout.

 

Little Fox

I thought this 'Little Fox' image from Sami's Stamps was adorable when I was looking through their collection.  The card follows the current Sketch Saturday layout.

 

Happy 60th I

A close family friend is 60 early in January and Mum is meeting up with her this week.  Hence I thought I'd get my card ready now rather than use Royal Mail later.  In the end I made 2 cards- one for me to give and one for my parents to give.  This is the first card (which I'm going to give).  It uses a LotV stamp that I bought in a recent sale they had and follows the layout from this weeks Sketch Saturday challenge.

 

Rudolph love

I loved this reindeer image that was released by DigiStamp Boutique last year and so had to print it out again.  Not sure how many more Christmas cards I'm going to make before the big day...  No doubt a few more.  Anyway, this one follows the current Sweet Sketch Wednesday layout.

 

 

Teenie Ted and tree

Another card made using a couple of the images from DigiStamp Boutique's Teenie Teddy collection.  This card follows the current Mojo Monday layout and I have used my new(ish) Papermania papers.

 

Flower Doodles

I guess I really should have doodled this image myself but it is actually a digi from Bugaboo that I got the other day.  It has made me think that I should do a bit of zentangle again.  I kept the rest of the card quite simple and roughly followed an old sketch from Retrosketches for inspiration.

 

Penguin and sledge

A third card in three days using images from one of DigiStamp Boutique's new releases- Teenie Teddy.  For this one I got penguin to pull the sledge loaded with a Christmas tree and presents to his home.

The card follows the current RetroSketches layout.

Teenie Ted and sledge

A second card using some of the images from DigiStamp Boutique's Teenie teddy collection.  I decided for this card that Ted could be giving the penguin a ride on the sledge.

The card follows the current RetroStetches layout and I have used my new Papermania Christmas papers yet again!

Teenie Ted

I treated myself last week to one of DigiStamp Boutique's latest releases- the Teenie teddy collection.  This is the first card I made, using the current Sketch Saturday layout for inspiration.

 

Winter Owl

I was lucky enough to win a few Sami Stamps images from a recent Sketch Saturday challenge and thought I would use this one today on this card.  I also spoilt myself to some new Christmas backing papers last week (last years or the year befores design from Papermania but they were in the local Works) and couldn't wait to get stuck in.

The card follows the current Sketch Saturday layout.

Christmas tree

I got this Christmas tree image from Bugaboo last year but still think it is fab.  Lots of glitter and glossy accents added!

I made this card following the current Sweet Sketch Wednesday layout.  I will also enter it into this weeks Little Miss Muffet challenge (anything goes).

 

Monster Christmas

This monster was one of my favourite DigiStamp Boutique images released in 2014.  I'm up for the challenge of making tall thin cards after dismantling a lot of old hand made cards I made 10 or so years ago the other day.  About half of these were tall thin card bases.  Hence this weeks Mojo Monday sketch was good inspiration.

 

Cutie

I think the girl in this Bugaboo image is cute but there is also something mischievous about her too.

Makes me smile at any rate :-) 

Pugs and stars

You might be bored of me and pug images for the third night in a row, but this is the last!  This time I have loosely followed the sketch from the current Retrosketches challenge.

The image is part of a new set from DigiStamp Boutique.
 

Stuffed!

Another pug image from the new DigiStamp Boutique set.  Again the card follows the current Sketch Saturday layout.

 

Pugs and Kisses

DigiStamp Boutique released a new digi set about a week ago and I fell in love with it at first sight.  I'm not a dog person but I think pugs are very cute to look at (actually having one would be another matter though!).  This card follows the current Sketch Saturday layout.

 

A Christmas trilogy

I guess it has to be a Christmas item on my blog for 1st December.  It really doesn't feel Christmassy though and I haven't started shopping or writing cards yet- ooops! (Also very unusual for me.)
These are two cards made with new Bugaboo images that I got recently.  Enjoyed making these (added lots of sparkle to the images).

 

Hello

Another Bugaboo image from my latest digi stash acquisition.  I kept the rest of the card simple. I think it works. (?)

A nice change to make a non-Christmas card :-)

Gingerbread man

A couple of weeks ago I won a few Bugaboo images from the Sweet Sketch Wednesday challenge.  I couldn't resist printing 6 of the 7 off immediately (would have printed off all 7 but they wouldn't have fit on the paper in one go!).  Thought I would use this gingerbread man one for a card to enter into the current Sweet Sketch Wednesday challenge.

I seem to have a bad habit of using the 'wrong' colours (or pink for male images like this and vice versa).  I guess I just don't like gender stereotyping! (a good excuse at any rate ;-))

 

Something a bit different

Mum asked me to do a scrapbook for a special family friend who is 60 in January.  The only problem is that I don't have any photos, so I suggested we make it a joint project- I would do the arty stuff and she could do the photos.  I have been playing around with mixed media lately and decided to decorate the pages like I would prepare an art journal page.  I have done about half of the scrapbook and now it is in Mum's hands to do some of her side of the project!
Since gesso-ing and painting gets a bit messy I have only used one side of the pages and stuck alternate ones together, back to back.  I punched a shape out of the top and made this into a little pocket with another sheet of paper inside (hence all the ribbon loops you can see).
First double page (credit card gesso and acrylic background, stencilling in white, paint splats and stamping):

 More of the same, with a different colour scheme:

 And more again.... (also added spray of fireworks mica ink to each of the pages for shimmer)

 Went for baby wipe application of paint and gesso on this one:

 Actually a double page spread but only shown half:  This is a simple gesso background, spray and stamping:

 I played around on this background and melted oil pastels!  Next stamping with acrylic paint and finally with black Stazon.

 Put my water colours to the test here (gesso primer and then stamped in StazOn before colouring):

 Acrylics applied with a brush in spirals with stencilling, spraying and stamping on top:

 Same again, but this time striped rather than spirals for the first layer:

 Back to the credit card method:

 Tried to accentuate the texture on this by stamping with my wood effect stamp:

 And finally just lots of stamping and a few paints splats on a gesso-ed background: