Happy birthday....

... to my not so little girl. Jemma is 12 today, 12 years that have flown by in the blink of an eye. She spent her day shopping, and swimming, and now has a friend over for a sleepover. However, her main party is Saturday, when 3 of her friends are coming out for a meal, and then sleeping over...

This is the card I made for her birthday. Jemma has taken a shine to baking just recently, so I thought I would make her a paper cupcake! I used 2 sketches from Sketch Support for this card - Card sketch #5 and Add-on sketch #3.

I used up scraps from BasicGrey Recess collection, and the "frosting" of the cupcake uses Scenic Route scraps. I scored kraft cardstock with my Hougie board to make the cupcake base, and the border is punched with a Martha Stewart punch. I cut the circles for the "frosting" were cut using my circle Nestabilities. The sentiment stamp is by Personal Impressions, and the foam numbers are American Crafts Thickers. I added some Frosted Lace Stickles to the cupcake to add extra frostiness!!

Jemma loved the card, and had a great day. She is already counting the days til her next brithday, although I know I am not that keen for her to be a teenager as quickly as she is....

TTFN


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A card for the boy...

...who is going to be 9 tomorrow. Now how on earth did that happen. He made me laugh last night, as he was going to bed he turned round and said "Mum, it's my birthday the day after tomorrow, that means I have been alive for 9 years. 9 years of life, doesn't it go so quickly..." This from the mouth of a nearly 9 year old. It sure does go quickly, my little man.

Another card made entirely from scraps - leftovers from the Tyres layout and a few other odds and sods from the scraps file.
It is based on card sketch #4 over at Sketch Support. I changed it slightly, by using 9 candles instead of 10, and adding the 9 in the top right hand corner. I added some stars I punched out with probably one of my oldest punches - I think I bought it while we were stationed in Gibraltar, about 10 years ago! - and added a few flat backed jewels.

Card blank: PaperMania

Patterned Papers: Jillibean Soup, Scenic Route

Number sticker: American Crafts

Punches: Dovecraft

Sentiment: Craftwork Cards

Flat back jewels: PaperMania

The parcels are all wrapped, the cards are arriving in the post, and the new bike is hidden away in the shed. I have a cake for tomorrow night, after the slap up roast dinner he has requested (after being dissuaded from Mac'n'cheese...) and the boy is beyond excited that it is his birthday. As only nearly 9 year old boys can be. Me, on the other hand, still can't get my head round the fact that he is going to be 9... my baby can't be 9....

TTFN

xxxx

Playing in the Sugar Bowl...

This week is the Mother-in-law's birthday, so as a dutiful daughter-in-law, I made her a card...

I was taken by the sketch and colour theme posted on the Sugar Bowl Challenge blog this week, and was inspired by Erika and Kiki's examples as I came up with this card.

Doilies seem to be the rage right now, and since I picked a couple of packets up at my "local shop for local people" aka The House of Sugar on Saturday, I thought I would use them!
The image is Fairy Tale, one of the Simply Sassy stamps, which I coloured in with ProMarkers. I covered the image in a 3D Clear Gloss, and when it was dry, I cracked the gloss and swiped some brown ink over it to make it look like an old tile.
The script paper is a Prima stamp, and the sentiment is from Personal Impressions. The lace and ribbon is from my ribbon box, and all the cardstock is Bazzill Basics.
This card also qualifies as one of my Card from Scraps, as the blue paper is an unknown scrap from my scraps folder.

The weekend has been full of work, sleepovers and a little bit of crafting. On Saturday, Jemma and I went to see our friend Erika demo-ing at our local craft shop, affectionately known as The House of Sugar (seeing as it is the home of Sugar Nellie stamps). Jemma stood the whole time next to the demo table, taking in everything that Erika did. Needless to say, when she got home, the craft box came out, and I now have various felt and paper flowers strewn about the house, all Stickled within an inch of their lives! Me, on the other hand did a bit of heckling with some of the girls from the Hopeman Crop - life would be boring without a bit of banter!
We did a little retail therapy, as it is rude not to, and I came out with some more Distress Inks, some Stickles and a couple of new rubber stamps. Jemma used some of her pocket money to buy some card toppers and a bottle of Stickles. So a pleasant afternoon was had by all!

Apart from making a birthday card, I have been working hard on my next DT sketch - it has been a challenge, but then that's part of why I wanted to be on a DT in the first place!
Talking of Sassy Lil' Sketches, the new sketches are up today on the layout and card blogs, and the girls have created some fabulous pages and cards! I can't wait to play with the layout sketch myself!!

So, all that is left is to wish you a Happy Valentine's Day, and I best get this card down to the Post Office.....

TTFN



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Birthday cards

The busy social life of my 8 year old!! Tom has 2 parties this weekend, so I needed to make 2 cards. I saw a beautiful card on the Simply Sassy blog, and had to google some instructions, as I had never made a Stair Step Card before. I found some great ones here.

The cards were made with scraps, naturally! For the boys card I used some BasicGrey, and I am not sure what the paper was that I used for the girls card. The image stamps are both from Sugar Nellie - Manga boy, and Purrfect friends (without the cat!). I coloured them in with ProMarkers. Sentiment stamps are from Studio G (For my friend) and Elzybells. I cut the 8's out using my cricut and SCAL. A couple of buttons and a flower and I called them done :)

I've spent the afternoon chatting and crafting with my pal Erika, mainly chatting, as we haven't caught up in ages!

TTFN

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SLS 14th Jan Sketch

Cherie provided another fab sketch over at Sassy Lil' Sketches last week.

Another chance for me to use up some scraps, and this time it was the Jillibean Soup scraps leftover from my Shoulders layout that were put to use!

I inked up one of my Sugar Nellie Gorjuss girls for this card, and coloured her in with ProMarkers. The sentiment stamp is from PaperTrey Ink. I found an oddment of trim that went perfectly with the sketch, and added some machine stitching and a button to finish it off.

From February, Sassy Lil' Sketches will also have a card challenge blog - and will be posting more card sketches, on the 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th, just like the layout blog! There is an awesome DT lined up, who are ready to inspire you with their work, and some great sponsors with amazing prizes to offer! I can't wait!!

TTFN

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Get Sketchy #70

Time for another card! I used this weeks sketch over at the Get Sketchy card challenge blog for this card. And I also used the Add on sketch over at Sketch Support. Two sketches on one project, never managed that before!

The stamped image is one of Sugar Nellie's Simply Sassy stamps - delightfully called Luv a Latte. I coloured her in with ProMarkers, and punched her out with a 2.5" circle punch. I added some chalk ink round the edge for a background. The mug is the add on sketch at Sketch Support. I followed the measurements given on the sketch, and then added a chipboard heart instead of a snowflake. I added a heart tag to make it look like it had a tea bag in it! I added some swirls out the top using Stickles for the steam.

This is another one of my cards made from scraps, all the papers are from the scrap box again. I don't know who makes the duck egg blue polka dot paper, but the other paper is Echo Park. I used my sewing machine to add some stitching around the edge. The sentiment stamp is from a Personal Impressions set.

I think this card is going to a friend of mine, who has just found out her 8 year old daughter needs open heart surgery, to correct a hole in her heart. This little girl was Tom's first girlfriend at nursery, and her misses her lots, especially as she now lives the other end of the country.

TTFN


xxxx

GS #69

Second post of the day, and it's a card this time. This uses the Get Sketchy #69 sketch. And it's another card made just from scraps.


The little house stamps are from One Four Zero, which I have had for eons. I coloured them in with ProMarkers. The sentiment stamps is from Elzybells, which unfortunately is no longer trading :( The papers are BasicGrey and My Mind's Eye, and the holey cardstock is Creative Imaginations. I did a bit of machine stitching to finish it off.

I can't believe I haven't found card sketches sooner, considering what a sketch addict I am!!

TTFN


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Dinosaurs!

Wow, it's Sunday already?? How did that happen. Oh yeah, work happened...

Plus I have been working on some DT work, that I can't share just yet. Yay, I've always wanted to put that in a blog post!!

Anyhow, here is something I can share. Card #2 in my quest to use only scraps to make cards in 2011.

I used a card sketch from the brand spanking new Sketch Support site. This is Allison Davis's new site showcasing all things sketchy. And this week the sketch was a card sketch. So I took the sketch and rotated it, as I wanted to use this chipboard dinosaur.

Would you believe I bought a whole box of BasicGrey just for these chipboard dinosaurs? Yep, I bet you do. I have been coveting them, and now I think it's time to use the stash not just look at it ;) The whole card is made from scraps, all BasicGrey Archaic scraps. And the sentiment is an Elzybells stamp.

My card collection is growing, and I'm enjoying making cards again. The sketches I am finding out in blog land help alot ;)

Off to play with more sketches...

TTFN

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Twice as Sassy...

My fellow Sassie Pia set up a challenge over at the Sassy Lil' Sketches Forum to see if anyone was willing to join her by making cards this year only out of scraps. Now I have a large scrap folder bursting to the seams with scraps, so I said "Why not" and put my pledge in for 26 cards made out of scraps for 2011. This is number 1.

Now my title says "Twice as Sassy". There is a reason for this.

1. I used a Sassy Lil Card Sketch - this is the sketch from 14th December

2. The image on the card is a Sugar Nellie Simply Sassy stamp! This little cutie is called Bella Bunting, and you can get her here.

I coloured her in with my ProMarkers, and then hunted through my scraps for some, erm, scraps! The polka dot is from October Afternoon, and all the cardstock is Bazzill. The sentiment stamp is from a Studio G stamp set. The flower is made from a leftover piece of a punched border, gathered into a circle and then a button added on top.

I'm not a confident colourer, but these stamps are just so lovely to colour in! I even managed to make her have a hairdo like mine, with a few streaks in, and she also has my hazel eyes LOL. I know that this is one image I will turn to again and again.

TTFN


xxxx