Spring Time Birthday

Hello everybody!

I'm back with another card, this is actually the first mother's day card I made, but my DH didn't like the distressed look for his mother so what do you do....you make another card! I've posted that attempt earlier this week, which he liked a lot. And I got to craft a little more, so everybody's happy! I decided to make the  first attempt into a birthday card for my stash:

Materials:
* Scalloped white base card
* Prima Marketing Sparkling Spring Collection DP, distress with TH Distress Tool (What lovely anger management therapy that is!)
* Studio Light Decoupage Image (by Janneke Brinkman)
* Ribbon and pink DP (again distressed) from stash

Challenges:
* Bunny Zoe (Shabby Chic/Vintage)
* Catered Crop (Use Ribbon)
* Gingerloft (Spring)
* 2 Sisters (Spring Colours)
* A Gem of a Challenge (Perfect Pastels)
* Allsorts (Say it with Flowers)
* Crazy 4 Challenges (Spring is in the Air)
* Paper Sundaes (Feminine Flair)
* Hotshot (Ribbon)
* Crafter's Companion (Spring)

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Mother's Day UK

Good morning all!

Mother's Day is just around the corner, well, the UK version at the very least, so I made a card for my mother in law. I went shopping with my friend recently and bought these cute wooden butterflies, so thought I would use them in this card. Hope you like it!

Materials
* White scalloped base card
* Prima Marketing Jack 'n Jill Collection DP
* Studio Light Decoupage image (artist = Janneke Brinkman)
* Inside Mother's Day sentiment from the Internet (I can't remember where exactly from though)
* Butterfly Lace, wooden butterflies, sentiment stamp and gems from my stash

Challenges:
* Simon Says Stamp (Mother's Day/Special Girl)
* Sassy Studio (Polka Dots)
* Crafty Catz (Mother's Day/For a Special Lady)
* Cupcake Craft (Going Dotty)
* Dream Valley (Mother's Day)
* Pan Pastel (Girly/Mother's Day)
* Scrappy Frogs (Seeing spots)
* The Crafty Pad (Mum's the Word)
* Craft Your Days Away (Mother's Day)
* Crafts 4 Eternity (For a Special Mum)

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Christmas Greenery #2

Good morning everyone!

This my second Christmas card for the Green Challenge at CCAYR, you still have the rest of the month to participate. And there has been a change is challenge rules; you don't have to make 5 cards anymore to qualify for the prize, one will do just fine! :) Good news, right? I think I will keep it up though, so there will be a lovely big pile of Christmas cards ready to send come December. maybe you'd like to do that too, so a green challenge might be just the ticket to start you off :)

I love combining red and green on Christmas cards, it's a classic combination for a reason, right?


Materials:
* Studio Light decoupage image & sentiment, also green DP
* Marianne Design Scandinavian Christmas red DP (edged inked with black ink)
* SEI Christmas Mint Collection: Vanilla Icing Accents
* White and green ribbon from stash

Challenges:
* Christmas Card Challenges (Christmas with optional Embossing)
* Crafty Hazelnut (Seeing Red)
* ABC Christmas Challenge (Evergreen)
* Perfect Sentiments (Christmas Trimmings)
* Inky Impressions (Luck of the Irish....Use Green)
* DYSU (Go Green)
* Papertake Weekly (Anything Goes)
* Divas by Design (Favourite things - Using Traditional Colours for Christmas Cards)
* Digistamps 4 Joy (Green)
* Scrapalicious USA (Anything Goes)
* Whimsical Designs (Green)

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Patrick's Green

UPDATE 8th of March ---------
Unfortunately, when I posted this message I didn't yet know that Friendship's Garden is closing its doors. This challenge won't be opened and no new challenges will start. You can read our head Garden Girl Becky's farewell message here. On a personal note, I want to thank all of you who have participated in the challenges or commented on my DT cards for Friendship's Garden. It's a shame to see it go, but as Becky says: Nothing lasts Forever. Thank you all.
-----------------------------------------------------

Hi Everyone,

Yet another challenge at Friendship's Garden is starting today, the theme is "ST. PATRICK's DAY"! We don't celebrate that in the Netherlands (funny how a lot of holidays aren't really celebrated here, I can assure you we are not all work and no play!), so I decided to go with a Green & Lucky theme. I thought a tag would be just the ticket for a colleague leaving or someone moving away, so that's what I did. Here's the tag:

Materials:
* K&Co Roam Tag Pad, edges distressed with my new TH tool and inked with green ink
* Studio Light Clover image
* Sentiment and horseshoes from Word Clip Art
* Ribbon and gems from my stash

Challenges:
* My Grafico (St Patrick's Day)
* Paper Pretties (Going Green)
* Incy Wincy (Something Old, Something New; Old = All of it, but especially my ribbon and gems, New = My Tim Holtz Distress Tool that I bought on Monday!)
* Creative Mondays (Anything Goes)
* Craft Your Passion (Anything Goes)
* There She Goes (Tag It)
* Stamps & Fun = Creativity (One Bow)
* Catered Crop (Ribbon)
* Paper SUndaes (Green or Good Luck)
* The Hybrid Chick (Lucky & Green)

I hope you can join us once again at Friendship's Garden, hope to see you there!

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Anniversary Mini Album

Good morning everyone!

I'd thought I'd share with you a little tip I've recently discovered trying to make a mini album without any real specialist equipment. Bear with me, I have never done this before and I unfortunately forgot to take any pictures of all the differences stages. If there's any detail that you've missed or I haven't explained enough in detail, drop me a line and I will try and fix it for you!


If you're like me, you have plenty of paper lying around,so.........

* Try and find a 12x12 scrapbook page paper with a design that you really like and one 12x12 plain page.

* Fold both pages in half.

* Fold them both in half again so you have a roughly square shape. Make sure you make you scores really sharp!

* Fold both pages all the way open again

* Take your patterned page and put glue on the back of one half of the page, then fold over the other half of the page to glue together. You now have a page half the original height with your desired design on both sides.

* Take your plain page and cut a little strip off the side of the paper. Then do the same to your plain page as you did with your patterned paper, or cut the page in half (you will then have more pages inside the album, 8 instead of 4).

<The reason I folded both papers double is so the album was quite a lot more sturdy than just plain paper>

* Sit your plain folded paper inside the patterned paper and you see your album coming together!

* Take some twine or ribbon and thread it through a large needle, I used one that my mum used to use to repair our socks :) Use the needle to make two holes in the fold of the plain paper and the patterned paper, this will hold your little album together.

* Thread the ribbon or twine through the holes starting on the outside of the album, so that when you've threaded the twine/ribbon through both holes, you can tie the ends together on the outside of the album.

* You can fasten  the other side any which way you like, I have used a regular office punch and am going to thread ribbon through it so it will stay nice and compact. You can of course also leave it as is.

Your basic mini album is now ready and you can start decorating both inside and outside! Here's my attempt:

I decorated the inside with pictures of my parents throughout the year, starting with their wedding picture and finishing with a picture taken last Christmas. I've already given the album and they really loved it :)

Materials:

* Me & My Big ideas Fashion District 12x12 paper and some plain 12x12 cardstock from my stash
* Hunkydory Classic Cameo oval cut out and cameo couple
* Inkssentials Crackle accents on the couple
* Making Memories Vintage Findings Trims Cool
* Holographic dots on the flower centres on the outside of the album


Challenges:
* 4 Crafty Chicks (Anything but a Card)
* Papercrafting Journey (Anything Goes)
* I Brake for Challenges (Love)
* Amusing Challenges (Use a Die-Cut)
* That Craft Place (Anything Goes)
* Catch the Bug (Anything Goes)
* Little Claire's (Romance)
* Stamp, Scrap & Doodle (Use Your Stash)
* Crafty Creations (Vintage Fashion)
* Little Red Wagon (Vintage Item)

Hope you liked my little idea, I'll be back tomorrow with my Friendship's Garden project, see you then :)

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Seeing Green

Good morning all my crafty friends,

Nice of you to stop by :) It's time for another Card Makin' Mamas challenge and this time the theme is "GREEN"! Seems to be going round a lot doesn't it (if you read my post from yesterday, you'll understand)! I've opted for another birthday card, this one's for my aunt who had been complaining that she hadn't received a handmade card from me yet. So here it is, I hope she likes it. I like like this card, it's so girly! :)

Why don't you join in the challenge? Have a look at the challenge blog to read the rules (cards only!), you will also find more details on the challenge there. Hope you all will have a great weekend, I will be visiting my parents and do a spot of shopping with an old friend :) See you next week!

Materials
* Champagne base card, gatefold
* Crissy's Digis "Birdie Friend" (a digi I won from Whimsey Stamps), coloured with Promarkers
* First Edition Hideaway DP
* Flower from stash, coloured with Promarkers
* My Mind's Eye Bloom & Grow paper flower
* Flower punch
* Brad & gems from my stash

Challenges:
* Joanna Sheen (Spring is in the Air)
* Celebrate the Occasion (Birthday, Must Use Bling)
* Clear It Out (Birthday + Use Up Your Bling)
* Deep Ocean Challenge (Spring)
* Passion for Promarkers (Pastel Colours)
* Crafty Bloggers Network (Spring Time)
* My Grafico (Flowers)
* Nettie G's Gems (Show Your Best)
* Cutie Pie (Flowers)
* Cute Card Thursday (Signs of Spring)
* Scrapbook Sisters (Spring Flowers)

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Christmas Greenery #1

Hello Everyone!

March already, my goodness, how time is flying by! A new month also means a new challenge over at Christmas Cards All Year Round, the theme this time in "GREEN". I am sure we all use a lot of green in our Christmas cards, so just up the dose and play along with our challenge. After all, you have all month! If you make 5 cards for our challenge, you get included in the draw for the prize, which this time is I have decided to attempt making 5 cards for each challenge too, so that I have a varied stash of Crimbo cards at the end of the year. I will be showing them throughout the month, the full set will be posted on the challenge blog!

Here's the first of my cards, I've been rummaging in the scraps box again to try and use up some of the lovely papers bits that are in there. I have been focusing on diminishing the scrappy pile for a while now, unfortunately I haven't really made a dent in it yet but will continue with my mission regardless :)

I'm loving distressing papers with distress ink at the moment, I really like the grungy look although I admit I sometimes take it a little too far, don't really know if it happened here too. You be the judge :)

Materials used:
* Champagne base card
* Paper scraps from my stash, most notably from Basic Grey (Jovial) & Marianne Design (Winter)
* Sarah Kay decoupage image
* Sentiment stamps for Daisy & Dandelion All Wrapped up Stamp set
* SEI Vanilla Icing Chipboard
* White gel pen to trace the poinsettia
* Vintage Photo Distress Ink
* Flatback pearls from my stash

Challenges:
* ABC Christmas Challenge (Distress It)
* Pixie Cottage (Anything Goes)
* Perfect Sentiment (Anything Goes + Die Cut)
* Allsorts (Anything Goes)
* Shopping Our Stash (Sentiments required OR use a Bugaboo image)
* Whoopsi Daisy (Spots/Dots)
* Partytime Tuesdays (Anything Goes)
* Sassy Cheryl (Are You Seeing Spots?)
* Christmas Card Challenges (Music or Anything Christmassy Goes)
* Crimbo Crackers (Female)

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