Boo .......... !!!!!

I hope I didn't scare you, with something from me suddenly appearing in your blog feed! After 3½ months of being AWOL in Blogland, I'm back! How are you all?

Sorry that I disappeared on you all, however life distinctly got in the way of crafting and (to cap it all) Mr. Mojo cleared off on a very long vacation. Anway, I'm back crafting now and I will be bringing you regular blog posts ... fingers crossed!

Here's a little taster; a card which I produced last week for my youngest's birthday. She saw me making an identical card the week before (which I put into a box of cards to be raffled at my friend Karen's 50 Shades of Pink fundraising Grand Ball - I'll blog these another time!) and asked me if she could have one for her birthday. Well, of course I had to oblige (didn't I?), and here is the result:

Sorry the photo isn't too bright - it's another grey and dreary day here, and this was the best I could do!

My card recipe is follows:

• Base Card - is Centura Pearl in Ivory which I cut, scored and folded to make a 15 x 10.5 cm simple Z-fold card.
  
• Design Paper - is from a set called Candy Hearts by Goblinmarket.
• Image -  is Nail Polish by Melissa at MelJens Designs and I chose this image following a win earlier in the year at Tuesday Morning Sketches - shame on me that I haven't used it until now!!! I flipped this digital image in my word processing package before cutting it using my new toy (I've treated myself to a Big Shot!!!!) and my second largest Framelits Oval Die. I've used the "Out of the Box" technique just to add a bit of interest to the design, and then brought the image to life using my Spectrum Noir Pens in the following colours:
• Nail Varnish - PL1, PL2
• Bottle and Lid - IG1, IG2
• Charm & "Sparkles" - Silver Gel Pen
• Gem - from my stash
• Sentiment - comes from a set called You're So Sweet (which was a magazine freebie last year), which I stamped onto an additional die cut oval using Memento Ink in Tuxedo Black. I fixed this oval into the middle of the bottom layer of the card, before superimposing my main image over it.

There you have it ... easing myself back into Blogland gently! 

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges (with a little help from the girls at Paper Playful - thanks girls!):

• Day 295 - This and That Stamping at 365 Cards
• Challenge # 237 - Anything Goes with the Option of a Sketch at Creative Inspirations
• Anything Goes at Ladybug Crafts Ink
• Challenge #185 - Think Pink at Craft your Passion Challenges
• Colour Pink at That Craft Place
• Challenge #55 - Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness at The Squirrel and The Fox

Hope you have a great day ... I'm off for a quick run and studio class, followed by crafting this afternoon!

Hugs, Helen x

A Wedding Card

Hi,

This is my latest creation, a "classy" wedding card:

My base card is 300gsm Centura Pearl in Blackcurrant from the Crafter's Companion Darks pack which I folded into a 6 inch square card with the coloured card inside. I then folded one half back on itself so that the lovely rich coloured card can be seen!

The sentiment on this front part of the card is one I genereated using my computer's word processing package - the font is Kristen ITC. The ribbon is a satin edged organza ribbon which I tied into a lovely bow using the bow-maker on my Ultimate Crafter's Companion. The gems at the bottom came from the bumper bag I bought whilst on holiday in France.

The sentiment comes from a package called "Simply Put" which is sold by the wonderfully talented Paulette at Create with TLC. The image of a bride and groom came from Papercraft Inspirations and was coloured using my Spectrum Noir Pens from Crafter's Companion. The bride's bouquet had been intentionally left blank for crafters to embellish as they pleased. I chose to add pink sequins to the bouquet, and also small pink flower sequins to some of the larger flowers on her dress and those tumbling around the happy couple. These also give the card some depth as well.

All my pieces of white card were treated to a glittery coating of Iridescent Spray and Shine (Crafter's Companion) before they were fixed to my card base.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:
* Challenge #82 BINGO at Craft your Passion - a diagonal of Flowers (sequin embellishments), Free Square (ribbon and/or glitter) and Bling (gems)
* Anything Goes (plus a bit of bling if you want) at Papertake Weekly

I would like to apologise firstly for the poor quality of the photos but they were taken in holiday accomodation which didn't have the best light and also for not adding links into this post - I've been tweaking with my blog layout and have obviously done something rather silly!

Hope you like this card.

PS: Monday evening - I've now sat at my computer and have sorted out my "link" issues! Tee hee, of course it was 'user error'! :D  Got it sussed now, and have reinstated my prettier blog layout.