Happy Birthday Cheryl

 Today it's my friend and Stampin' Up! downline, Cheryl's birthday.

As I am off for a game of golf I'll pop back later and give you the recipe for this card.

Have a great day Cheryl

Birthdays!

Today is the birthday of three very special people.

My Great-nephew, Ethan, my fellow Jem, Silver Elite Twin and good friend, Julie Wade, 

and my good friend and Stampin' Up! down-line, Lynda.

Here are the cards that I have made

For Ethan's card, I have once again used the fabulous fancy fold card that my fellow Jem, Silver Elite Sister and good friend Amanda showed us on the Jems monthly Blog hop 

      HERE

Thick Whisper White card stock was used for the base card and Pacific Point card stock

was used to cut out Ethan's name with the Large Letters Die.

The DSP used for the back and side panels was Party Animal

and the Happy Birthday greeting was stamped using a Big On Birthdays stamp set stamp.

I intend to use this design for all the mens birthdays that I have this month!!

For Julie's card I used the Flourish Thinlits dies and cut out the various components using

 Silver, Smoky Slate and Perfect Plum cardstock.

The greeting was stamped using Wetlands stamp set, 

which is sadly retiring at the end of the month (sob)

For Lynda's card I used the Eastern Medallion Thinlits.

Thick Whisper White, Smoky Slate and Blushing Bride card stock.

The background was done by Debossing using the Petal Burst Embossing Folder.

Here's hoping that you all have a wonderful day today!!

Jems May Blog Hop - Something For The Men

Hello again, long time no see.  I have been really, really, negligent with my blog, but what can I say! Sometimes life just gets in the way, not to mention spending a month in the Canaries at the beginning of the year, plus two weeks of Jury service.  It's been quite a hectic few months, and I have to get back into some sort of blogging routine, so I'll make a start now with the latest Jems' Blog hop,

 and I hope that you enjoy hopping round and seeing the rest of the teams' makes. 

 I am sure that, like me, you find mens' cards more difficult to design,

 so hopefully you will find inspiration by taking a tour of this blog hop.

So without further ado, here are my offerings. 

The colour combination for this card is a preview of two of the new In Colours

Tranquil Tide and Lemon Lime Twist.

The de-bossed (rather than embossed) "celebrate" sentiment uses one of the 

Celebrations Duo Embossing Folders, then this is stamped on top with 

one of the "You've Got This" stamps.

The background is created using one of the stamps from "Balloon Adventures"

as is the "It's your birthday" sentiment, the balloon and string.

The stars are from the Brights Sequins Assortment.

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The colour combo of this card is simply Night of Navy and Lemon Lime Twist

(which is fast becoming one of my favourites, so you may well see it featured again!!)

The sentiment uses the Happy Birthday Thinlits die which will be available to purchase

 from the new Annual Catalogue on the 1st of June!

the bits of confetti have been made using the waste from the

 "Hang up your Stocking"  Thinlits die.

Balloons punched using the Balloon Bouquet punch. then the splatters stamped on

 using a stamp from the Touches of Texture stamp set.

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This last card uses various shades of blues

(from left to right) Night of Navy, Island Indigo, Dapper denim, Pacific Point,

Tempting Turquoise, Marina Mist, stamped using one of the Work of Art stamps,

over the de-bossed Happy sentiment from the Celebrations Duo Embossing Folder set.

The word Birthday is stamped using the Stylized Birthday stamp 

and by just inking the word Birthday.

The subtle border is stamped using a Touches of Texture stamp with Soft Sky ink.

The sequin embellishments again are from the Brights Sequin Assortment.

Well now I do hope you will pop over to Linda's blog

Or maybe you want to pop back and recap on what Sarah has posted

Have a good day!  See you soon!