Flowers and Butterflies to say "Good Luck"

Hi,

I'm feeling quite excited as this card I'm showing you today is my first commission - whoo hoo! And I'm really pleased with it. It's also the first time I've made a Side Stepper card :o)!

A work colleague has asked me to make her 3 cards, and this is the first of them. It is for a lady who is moving to a new job, and the only requirement was for the card to be pink ... that box can be ticked!

My card recipe is as follows:

• Base Card - Centura Pearl 300gsm card in Fuchsia from the Crafter's Companion Brights pack
• Design Paper - Strawberry Kisses CD Rom, also by Crafter's Companion
• Sentiment - a freebie offered by the lovely Annette on her Blog
• Image is called Nanny Rose and she is, unfortunately, a now retired digi from Kelley Kids, who are no longer operating. She is such a darling and to bring her to life I used my Spectrum Noir Pens in the following shades:
• Hair - 104, 100
• Skin - 132, 133
• Dress & Bows - 147, 88, 86
• Shoes - 120
• Rose - 147, 88, 86, 48, 43
• Outline - CG1
• Butterflies - are one of the stamps in a  "cover freebie" stamp set from Cardmaking and Papercraft, stamped and coloured using my Spectrum Noirs in the same colours as Nanny Rose. I used a small piece of sticky pad to fix each of them to card, and then bent the wings upwards to give some definition.
• Flowers - are recycled from the swing tags from my daughter's pyjamas, also coloured using my Spectrum Noirs (Shades 147, 88, 35, 33) and cut out.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

• Challenge #159 - Recycle It at The Crafty Pad
• Pink and Girly at Ladybug Crafts
• Challenge 46 - Throw us Some Shapes at My Mum's Craft Shop
• Challenge #27 - Shaped Cards at The Stamping Boutique
• Anything Goes at Simon Says

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Hugs, Helen x

Yet another Birthday!

Hi,

Another week brings another birthday! A niece celebrated her 17th birthday earlier this week and here is the card I made for her:

My card recipe is as follows:

• Base Card - Centura Pearl 300gsm card in Ivory (Crafter's Companion) cut and folded to a 12cm square card.
• Backing Paper and Sentiment are both by Create With TLC and were goodies the February Club. I can see this sentiment will be getting quite a bit of use and it looks just as good going vertically like this as it does horizontally!
• My gorgeous image is called Saffron and she is Little Miss Muffet image - although I'm not sure she's available in the store, but there are plenty more delightful images there to tempt you! Barbara was offering her as a Follower's Freebie in January. 
• I brought this cutie to life (although I'm not sure I've got the sheen on her hair quite right!) with my Spectrum Noir Pens in the following colours (original numbering system):
• Hat & Scarf - 68, 65
• Hair - 104, 100, 92
• Skin - 132, 133
• Coat - 96, 91 
• Muffler - 171
• Boots - 91, 98
• Outline - CG1
• I completed my design by adding 3 pieces of Bling to highlight Saffron's hat and also put them under the sentiment.

I would like to enter this card for the following challenges:

• Anything Goes! at Willow Sketchie Challenge
• Anything Goes (for using a Little Miss Muffet Stamp) at Little Miss Muffet Challenges
• Challenge #39 Happy Birthday (Second Entry) at Card Makin' Mamas

Have a great weekend!
Hugs, Helen x

"B" is for Birthday, Bling and a Bow!

Hi,

I've made another birthday card, this time for a friend's daughter who will be celebrating her 10th Birthday next week. I decided to have a go at making a Rocker Card, as I have only made one before ... and that was from a kit! Here is the result:

My card recipe is as follows:

• Base Card - Centura Pearl 300gsm card in Snow White which I embossed using the largest scalloped circle on the Springtime Sweets and Cupcake Treats embossing board, cut and then scored and folded (using my Boxer Board) to a make a rocker card. These boards go with the Ultimate Pro by Crafter's Companion.
• Image is the middle sized cupcake from the Springtime Sweets and Cupcake Treats embossing board, which I then coloured using my Spectrum Noir Pens in the following colours:
• Case - 178, 171, 68
• Icing - 137, 8, 15
• Cherry - 11, 45
• Design finished with a "Happy Birthday" Ticket (downloaded from Stamp Fairy) to which I added 3 small pieces of Bling from my crafty stash. I also added a pink bow using ribbon that I won in The Crafter's Cafe Holiday Open House over Christmas and New Year.

I would like to enter this card for the following challenges:

• Challenge #157 - The Letter B at The Crafty Pad
• Challenge #89 - Shaped Cards at Sentimental Sundays
• "Happy" Challenge at Aud Sentiments
• Challenge #39 - Happy Birthday at Card Makin' Mamas

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Hugs, Helen x

Valentine's Hugs and Kisses

Hi,

Well, Valentine's Day is now over for another year, and hopefully next year will be a better one for us. I've got a streaming cold and my other half has a nasty virus. Amid the pills and tissues, we did exchange cards (we've given up on presents!) and I reckon it's now safe to show you all the card I made for him:

My card recipe is as follows:

• Base Card - Centura Pearl 300gsm card in Ivory (Crafter's Companion) cut and folded to a 15cm square card.
• Backing Paper, Calendar Sheet, Tickets, are all by Create With TLC. The calendar sheet came from the January Blog Hop, the rest were from Paulette's February Club. I printed these onto lightweight cream card from my stash, distressed the edges (this was a new technique for me!) and then chalked the distressed edge with Red. The Heart is also by Create With TLC and I printed this onto white card, coloured it (with my Spectrum Noir in shade 11) and then mounted it over the 14th using foam pads.
• The really cute image is also by Create With TLC  and was a goodie from the February club. I brought this gorgeous little girl to life with my Spectrum Noir Pens in the following colours:
• Dress - 1, 3, 5
• Hat - 104, 100, 1, 3, 5
• Skin - 132, 133
• Shoes - 120
• Basket - 92
• Hearts 137, 8
• Grass - 175, 42

I would like to enter this card for the following challenges:

• Challenge #94 - Square Cards at Robyn's Fetish Challenge (my second entry)
• February Colour Challenge (Real Red, Whisper White, Melon Mambo) at Come and Get It Challenges
• Challenge #11 - Valentine's Day at The Squirrel and The Fox
• Monthly Challenge #18 - Romance at Little Claire
• Challenge #118 - Lurve! at Totally Gorjuss
• February Challenge - Love is in the Air at Joanna Sheen
• Challenge #1 at The Crafter's Cafe Challenge
• Challenge 21 - Anything Goes at Crafter's Companion

I hope you had a great Valentine's Day!

Hugs, Helen x

A New Home!

Hi,

My brother, sister-in-law and niece are moving house in a couple of weeks to their own first home. I've got really organised ahead of time, and made this card for them.

I've followed the current sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketches for this card and I really enjoyed doing this layout.


My card recipe is as follows:

• Base Card - Centura Pearl 300gsm card in Snow White (Crafter's Companion) cut and folded to a 15cm square card.
• Design Paper and ribbon border from the Strawberry Kisses CD (Crafter's Companion).
• Image is by The Crafty Pad and was a freebie on the site - thanks Debbie! I brought this little chap to life with my Spectrum Noir Pens in the following colours:
• Skin - 43, 51
• Eyes - 33
• Outline - CG1
• I finished the image by colouring the background using pastels/chalks (which were given to me by a friend who has given up making cards) in the following colours:
• Grass - Dark Green, Green, Lime Green
• Pond - Turquoise
• Sky - Light Blue
• The sentiment tickets were from the February club at Create With TLC which I then tweaked in my word processing package to remove the original sentiment and then added my own sentiment.
• The 3 pieces of Bling came from my stash. 

I would like to enter this card for the following challenges:

• #132 at Tuesday Morning Sketches
• Challenge #94 - Square Cards at Robyn's Fetish Challenge

Hugs, Helen x

Another Happy Birthday!

Hi,

I've made another Birthday card this week, this time for the Receptionist at work who is celebrating her 50th Birthday on Sunday. I've done another Swing or Flip Flop card ... I just love this style ... and this one is a really bold colour scheme!

My card recipe is as follows:

• Base Card - Centura Pearl 300gsm card. This one came from a local store, however Crafter's Companion have the shade Blackcurrant (which is fractionally darker than this) in the Dark Card Pack
• Design Paper and both sentiments are by Create With TLC. The design paper is called Purple Passion Val Paper 7 - both it and the word art montage on the rear of the card were goodies in the current February Club. I tweaked the word art montage slightly by exporting the graphic into my normal word processing program and adding the purple 50 next to the "TH" to make 50th! I hope Paulette doesn't mind! I think the sentiment on the front of the card was offered on a blog as a Challenge Freebie.
• Image is called Nanny Queen and she is, unfortunately, a now retired digi from Kelley Kids, who are no longer operating. However, I think she is a real cutie and I used my Spectrum Noir Pens to bring her to life, together with a silver gel pen for her necklace and tiara to add some sparkle. I added 3 bits of silver bling to the points of the tiara, just to add a further accent. She is, after all, a girl who is going out somewhere! :o)
• Ribbon, bow and flower - black organdie ribbon from my stash. I made the flower and used a small purple bead as the centre of the flower.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

• Birthday Challenge at Catch the Bug
• New Year Sparkle - use glitter and gems at The Crafty Pad
• Challenge #147 - Texture Please! at Stamptacular Sunday - my textures are a visible texture to my design paper, organdie ribbon (bow and flower), gems, bead
• Challenge 129 - Bold and Bright at Incy Wincy Designs
• Challenge #52 - Bows at Ladybug Crafts
• Buttons, Bows, Bling and Blooms at Papertake Weekly - any combination of these, so I've used a bow, some bling and a flower
• What's your favourite Colour Combo! at My Mum's Craft Shop Challenges - has to be purples and adding black to it is just a classic look!
• Challenge #104 - Bingo at Fab 'n' Funky Challenges - my line is the top row of Handmade Embellishment (Flower and Bow), Digi Image, 2 Different Papers (I've taken a slight liberty here because the Centura Pearl card is so pretty I just can't cover it up! So, I'm using this as one of my papers with the other being the purple paper behind my image ... hope this is OK ladies!)
• Celebrations at Joanna Sheen Challenge Blog
• Monthly Contest - Birthday Projects at The Stamping Boutique

Hugs,
Helen x

A Bright Happy Birthday!

Hi!

Last Friday was my Sister-in-Law's Birthday and, as she was the person who inspired me to start making cards I couldn't let her down with a shop-bought card, could I ...? So here is the card I made for her:

This card layout is a sketch challenge over at Catch the Bug and proved to be a challenge for me as I've don't think I've ever really got to grips fully with matting and layering. However I love this layout, and I can see it's one that I will use many times as it's very versatile.

My Card Recipe is as follows:

• Base card - embossed snow white card (250gsm) purchased from a local independent craft shop, and cut and folded to a 15cm (6 inch) square
• Red Mat and Layer card - sooooo old, I think I bought it in the mid 1990s (from a local independent photocopy shop which has probably long since gone) for a Wide Game for Guides!
• White Mat and Layer card - my favourite Centura Pearl Snow White 300gsm which I embossed using 2 different sizes of flowers on the embossing board Springtime Sweets & Cupcakes Treats with my Ultimate Pro - all from Crafter's Companion (one of my fave places!)
• Design Paper and Sentiment are both from Create With TLC (my other most favourite place!) The paper is called Birthday Candy Paper 12 which is a goodie from The February Club. If you're really quick, you could join the club as Paulette has very generously opened it to new members for a few hours more -click here to read about it and, I can promise you, you will not be disappointed with the mail-outs. The sentiment is a TLC freebie which was offered on a blog challenge last month that Paulette was sponsoring.
• Image is called Girl in Pretty Dress and she is a Jellypark digistamp, although I'm not sure she's available in the store (plenty more gorgeous images there to tempt you though!) Claire from Jellypark offered her as a freebie image for a challenge she was sponsoring in The Crafter's Cafe December 2012 Open House. To bring this little cutie to life, I've used my Spectrum Noirs in the following colours:
• Skin - 135, 196, 137
• Hair - 104, 100
• Hairband - 11, 12
• Dress - 11, 35, 33
• Shoes - 96, 91
• Outline - CG1
• Design finished with 3 small pieces of Bling from my crafty stash - I think I've now been making cards long enough to be able to say that now! And, that feels good :o)!!!!

I would like to enter this card for the following challenges:

• Stella Says Sketch! at Catch The Bug Challenge Blog
• Old Year/New Year Challenge at Jellypark Challenges - Something old is the red mat & layer card & something new is my digistamp.
• Challenge #102 "Somthing New" at Fab 'n' Funky Challenges - Something new is my digistamp
• Simon Says ... New Something at Simon Says Stamp! Challenge - Something new is my digistamp
• Happy New Year at Card Makin' Mamas - Showing off my new digistamp
• Challenge #198 "What's New" at Cute Card Thursday - My digistamp is new
• Challenge #34 "Anything (Something Old, Something New) Goes" at Digistamps4Joy - Something old is the red mat & layer card & something new is my digistamp.
• January Anything Goes at Catch The Bug Challenge Blog
• Challenge #38 "Something New" at My Mum's Craft Shop Challenges - Something new is my digistamp
• Challenge #51 "Anything Goes Using Your New Stash" at Ladybug Crafts Ink Challenge - My new stash is my digistamp and design papers
• Birthday Projects at The Stamping Boutique Challenge

The wonderful Paulette at TLC has also showcased my card in one of her Creations Posts. Thanks Paulette!

Hugs, Helen x