Emma's Butterfly Birthday Card

Emma loves butterflies... so I made her this easel birthday card in the shape of a butterfly.

My sister-in-law brought her butterfly die cutter with her on a recent visit and I asked her to cut out this lovely butterfly from a very heavy gold glitter paper.

I used the shape to draw around for the card and to mask the less than perfect edge... despite trying hard (I guess that is why die cutters are so popular!) went around the edge of the card smudging it with a lovely verso gold colour ink pad. I deliberately smudge the paper to give it an old fashioned sort of a look. It doesn't show up so well in this picture.

I added little purple stones and added a dragonfly off a birthday card Val had made for me to give extra layering and interest.

Rachel's Sea Canoeing Birthday Card

My Manager is a very active person and one of the things she likes to do in sea canoeing.

When it was her birthday I decided not to make the usual 'flowery' birthday card but instead put a picture of one of her hobbies.

I saw this photo of a canoe on the sea in google images and contacted Debbie at Plas Gwynant Outdoor Eduction Centre in Nant Gwynant, Caernarfon to ask if I could use it to make a 'one-off' card, and she gave permission.  Thank you.

I really liked this card... although my husband thought it looked too dull.... I thought it was tasteful.... make your own mind up.  I like it anyhow and hopefully so did Rachel.

Three Different Christmas Cards

I actually made about 50 Christmas cards in 2012, but the quality was compromised because of quantity.

I have promised myself that in 2013 I will endeavor to make my Christmas cards throughout the year... if I made one per week I would have the same number without the rush at the end.

I thought I would put just three of the Christmas cards I made that are all very different to look at.  In my rush I hardly took any photo's and yet made over 30 very different looking cards... a bit ambitious I think!

Mary's Birthday Card

Mary's birthday card 2012 was inspired by the ribbon. I loved the ribbon when I saw it in the shop and knowing she liked burgundy decided to buy it.

When I came to make the card I discovered that using this unusual ribbon wasn't quite so easy and after a time of fiddling about... this is what I came up with.

Using lovely dotty papers layered I then used this ribbon to look a little like a plant growing up the side.

Jenny's 2012 Christmas Cake

Somewhere underneath this mass of icing is a cake! ha ha...

Jenny looks after my lovely dog when I go out and for this I am extremely grateful.

So this is my thank you cake to Jenny this year.

I told her I had made a cake but hadn't decorated it and she said, "Put a Christmas tree on it"... so I have!

THANK YOU JENNY

Christmas Cake 2012

I was asked if I was making a Christmas cake this year.... I think it was a hint!

Well yes I was so asked how they wanted the cake decorated and Graham said he would like a Father Christmas sitting by the fire in a rocking chair.

Well that wasn't quite enough on its own so came up with the idea of a two-scene cake. The edge of the cake was outside... the path, front door, brickwork, Christmas tree and the reindeer's hooked up to the sledge but taking a rest.

The top of the cake was Father Christmas in his rocking chair, sitting by a fire and on the table was the usual glass of sherry and mince pies.  It was fun to make... I felt like a big kid with my plasticine!

Embroidery Guild's Anniversary Cake

I was asked to make a cake to celebrate an Embroidery Guilds 35th anniversary.

I did not make the cross stitch band that went around the cake but made the fruit cake, covered it in marzipan, regalice and then made the bits and pieces to decorate the top in a variety of Squires sugar paste and royal icing.

It was fun to make.

Wedding Anniversary Card

I made this card with the help of my sister-in-law using her card making CD to create the background paper and adding a wedding photo on top.

I then layered the card to create a memory of their wedding day for their second anniversary.

Nina's 33rd Birthday Card

Nina would love to own a bag shop selling all the posh bags you can possibly purchase.... of course this is a dream she doesn't expect to realise, but there is nothing wrong with  dreaming.

So with the help of my sister-in-law and her card making CD, she produced the pictures for this card.

I then built the card up using the pictures and peel offs placed onto acetate to create this really effective card. This picture doesn't do the card justice, and you cannot see how all the windows are see-through. When the card was opened you could view the whole of the inside of the shop, rather than just peeking through the windows!

Nina thought it was the best card I had ever made for her so that was good.

September Card Making Day - Sue's Challenge

Well in September 2012 we had another card making session. Four of us met (a different four to last time... no Julie but Sue came along) and we set each other a challenge. Sue started the day by giving us a pack of identical materials and said that we did not need to use everything in the pack, and that we could add two items of our own for variation.

You can see the cards have a similarity because we all used the tree and the teddy... but after that we all did our own thing.

It was a lovely day we spent together, and I liked the way we all came up with such different styles of cards where no two were remotely alike.

What a lovely time of food, fellowship and fun card making. I can strongly recommend it.

September Card Making Day - Pam's Challenge

 So this was my challenge... the second of the day, and I gave everyone a card with an oval hole in the middle... an aperture card it is called... I am told. How lovely to see the different way people tackled it.

September Card Making Day - Mary's Challenge

Mary set us a challenge of making a Christmas card but have to say only Sue and I actually made one.  Chris said it was too early to make Christmas cards and she and Mary busied themselves finishing off other cards.

I really enjoyed this challenge because Mary brought along lots of lovely Christmas die cutters and papers and left us to help ourselves.

It is funny how other people's stuff seems so much more interesting that our own.  I felt a bit like a kid in a sweet shop!

September Card Making Day - Chris's Challenge

This is Chris's challenge.  She gave us a set of papers and a sheet of card in different colours and told us what style of card she wished us to make.

It was lovely to see how we all started off with the same materials and yet we all made it differently.

Folded Thank You Card

I made this card to express my thanks to good friends who really proved themselves to be just that this week.

My sister-in-law was all ready to make the long coach journey to our home town on the Monday when she received a phone call from me the day before telling her I had picked up a nasty bug was ill and it was very contagious. Sue had a very important occasion to attend on the Thursday and we could not risk her becoming ill.

So we asked our friends if they could step into the breach and they did. They drove 18 miles to fetch Sue from the coach station, took her home and have looked after her for the past three days.

I had to make them a thank you card...  so decided to have a go at this folded card my friend Chris (of Purple Peonies blog) showed me from a CD by Anna Griffin. The inside has a pocket also, and we wrote a little note and tucked it inside.

Sheri's Birthday Card

I work with Sheri and this is the first birthday card I have made for her so I hope she likes it. The inspiration came when Chris from the 'Purple Peonies' blog came to craft.  She had the lovely die that cut the scalloped edge and I had the die cutters for the flower.  Well Chris started making a card cutting out this flower and then decided she didn't fancy using it so I wasn't going to let a good flower go to waste.
The background paper does look a bit 'peachy' but in actual fact it was a lovely pale ivory coloured paper... just in case you were thinking that these two colours don't go together!