Paul and Cheryl's Anniversay

As well as the 12th August being Barry's birthday it is the wedding anniversary of a lovely couple who we met on a Nile Cruise a good many years ago, who we still keep in touch with.

Here's the card that I made for them

the stamp set is the Hostess set "Love you Lots" and I have just loved colouring in 

these two cute little hedgehogs - aren't they adorable!

The background papers are the Pop of Pink DSP - one of my favourite colour combos.

Hope that you both had a lovely Anniversary !!

And Denise's Birthday......

I did say that there were loads of birthdays last week didn't I!

Barry shares his birthday with one of my good friends Denise.  

Don't see a lot of her these days, but we exchange birthday cards and Christmas cards.

Here's the one that I made for her.

It's quite a simple card, but I think that these beautiful papers from the Blooms and Bliss suite are so beautiful you could just use the paper on a card with a simple greeting.

I chose to use the papers with the sentiment from Vertical Greetings - so useful!

Barry's birthday card.

Friday was hubby's birthday, and to celebrate he went on a lads golf away day, 

so I didn't see him until late! He had a good day and won £20 for scoring a two.

Here's the card I made for him.

The background paper was from the Serene Scenery DSP Stack.

The waves were cut using the Swirly Scribbles Thinlits dies and overstamped with a swirl stamp from the matching Swirly Bird stamp set - the same stamp was used for the background stamping on the base card, using Dapper Denim and Emerald Envy ink.  The little boat was stamped and then die cut using this bundle.

The greeting is the Stylised Birthday stamp. It's a good size for when you need a large greeting.

I am really pleased with this card, which I believe was inspired by the lovely Amanda Bates.

Amy's card

Here's the card that I made for Amy, I used the same design as the one I made for Lucas,

 but used different papers  - from the Pop of Pink suite.

 The colour combo. Melon Mambo, Black and White, which I really like.

The same stamp and dies were used as on Lucas's card.

Lucas's birthday card

Here's the card I made for our Grandson Lucas who was 13 last Wednesday.

Thought this would be suitable for him now that he is a teenager.

I used the retired Its my Party DSP for the background and the retired Little Letters 

and Little Numbers  dies for his name and the 13. 

They are just the right size for this A6 size card.

The greeting is the Stylized Birthday stamp It's a lovely large greeting,

just the right size for this too.

Whoops where did last week go?

Well it was a fast and furious week last week.  Birthdays  - .Carol and Julie on the 8th,

Lucas on the 10th, Amy on the 11th, Barry and Denise on the 12th (as well as Paul and Cheryl's Wedding Anniversary), Catherine on the 13th and now I can make something just for me and have a play with my Stampin' Up Christmas Pre-0rder  - yippee!!

Meantime I'll show you the cards that I made last week.

This is the card that I made for Julie H, I made the original one at monthly Julies' Jems training 

and fell in love with the stamp set, so I just had to have it!!

(you may have spotted that there are nearly as many Julies in my circle of friends as there are Chris's)

This card uses the Jar of Love stamp set and matching Framelits 

and has a colour combo of Pool Party, Flirty Flamingo, Blushing Bride and White.

Don't  you just love that matching ribbon?  I do - it's fabulous.

I can't find a photo of Carol's card just now, if I find it later I will add it on to this post.

Jems August Blog Hop - Boxes/Bags/Packaging

Well doesn't time fly - I can't believe that another month has passed by and that the time has come

for our next monthly Jems Blog Hop - where our theme is Boxes/Bags and Packaging.

Here's what I have made using the Perfectly wrapped Project Kit

Front view

Top view

Angled view

This kit was only delivered yesterday, so I have only had chance to make this box,

but here's what you can make with this kit.

---------------------------

My second project is one of the Petite Cafe Gift bags,
to which I have simply added a tag and a Gold Binder Clip

Apologies for the poor quality of this picture, but I think that you can see from this

that the bag has a tin tie closure at the top and the bag is food safe.

------------------------------

My third project is a little box which I have made year in, year out ,

it measures 5 cm square by 3cm deep, it's very useful for small pieces 

of jewellery, earrings etc.

Box closed front view

Box closed top view

Box open

Box open view 2

The colour combination is Melon Mambo, Black and White.

Punches used - Scalloped Tag Topper, Pansy and Petite Petals.

Paper is Pop Of Pink Speciality DSP.

Basic Black solid Baker's Twine

and  a single Basic Rhinestone embellishment.

Hope that you have enjoyed seeing my selection of projects,

so now please hop along to see what Linda has to show us
by clicking on the picture below

OR

If you want to go back and see what Karen has made and the ones before her 

click on the picture below

Enjoy!!

More Christmas crafting with Chris

Here's another Christmas card that I made with Chris the other week, when we had our 

weekly Crafting get together.

Viewed flat ready for posting.

Angled view showing card stood up.

We made this stepper card using the Snow Place stamp set with the matching

Snow Friends Framelts die.

Colour combo is Cherry Cobbler, Black andWhite.

We used the Brick embossing folder for the background and Dazzling Diamonds 

glimmer paper for the fallen snow.

We are getting serious about our Christmas card making now!!

PLEASE CALL ROUND TOMORROW TO SEE
THE JEMS MONTHLY BLOG HOP

Feel better soon!

Here's another card featuring the Pretty Kitty stamp set.

It's for a friend of mine who has been feeling a little low, 

so it's to let her know she's in our thoughts and hoping that

she feels better soon.

I am really enjoying colouring these images in - takes me back to my childhood.

No sarcastic remarks about how long ago that was if you please!

Sam's birthday card

Today is the birthday of my Stampin Up great grand-daughter Sam.

Here's the card I've made for her

The stamp set used is Pretty Kitty, and I think it's really cute.

The sentiment is from Birthday Blooms, and the colour combo is Soft Sky and White.

The banner has been punched using the triple banner punch with paper from the Subtles DSP stack.

The ribbon is Pool Party 3/8" Stitched Satin ribbon wound round with Silver Metallic thread.

Have a great day Sam, happy birthday!

Christmas crafting at Tuesday Class.

Having made the Christmas stepper card at Chris's the other week, and thinking of other designs

 that would work, Janet and I planned this card, and she made it this afternoon.

This still uses the Snow Pals stamp set and matching Framelits, but this time the colour combo

is Soft Sky, Black and White. The paper is from the Subtles DSP stack and the igloo is made 

using the Brick embossing folder.

Jan's birthday card for Clare

Here's the card that Jan made at tonight's class for her daughter Clare's birthday.

She used the Fresh Fruit stamp set and used one of the cards in the catalogue

(On page 148) as her inspiration.  She actually stamped a full A4 sheet with her design, 

to make a one sheet wonder, then cut a square from it and matted and layered it, 

first onto Peekaboo Peach and then Whisper White card.

Hasn't she done a great job. 

And then it was Julie's birthday

Yesterday was the birthday of one of my crafting ladies who comes to Wednesday class.

It's another Julie! Her name is actually Julia, but most people call her Julie.

Anyhow - here's the card that I made for her birthday.

The colour combo is Very Vanilla, Sahara Sand and Blushing Bride.

The stamp set Grateful Bunch and the flowers are cut with the matching punch.

The sentiment is from Cottage Greetings.

The design is one of my fellow Jems, and I have cased the card from a swap I received, 

probably from an all day training in January.

If it's yours just drop me a line and I'll link back to your blog!!

Christmas crafting with Chris.

Yesterday it was my turn to go and spend the day with my lovely friend, who also happens to be my Sister-in-law, Chris.  We spend alternate Wednesday's at each other's home and have a lovely time crafting and have a spot of lunch halfway!

Chris had recently made a super card and took it to our monthly Stampin Up training last week,

and we all admired it very much, so I was extremely pleased when she offered to show me how to make it yesterday.  It wasn't as difficult as I had anticipated, but that didn't stop me glueing a bit in the wrong place!  Luckily I was able to quickly remove it before the glue dried and then stuck it on in the right place.  So without further ado ....... Here it is!

The sliding pop up card!!

Front view

Side view

Closed and flat for posting.

                 The colour combo is Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Garden Green and Very Vanilla.
                         The papers are the This Christmas Speciality Designer Series Paper 

Stamp sets used are Baby Bear and Peaceful Pines (which has matching framelits!).

Both the trees are embossed using Versamark and Gold Embossing Powder.

I love this card!!

Thanks for sharing it Chris!!

Get well soon Herbert

Today I have made a card for one of our friends who has been admitted to hospital over the weekend

with a suspected heart attack.  He has already had a triple by pass, so we are quite concerned for him, as I am sure all his family are too.

It's the old favourite one using the owl punch to make a nurse, 

hope that this will bring a smile to his face!

I used some pieces of card and DSP that were left over from Simon's birthday card,

I think it looks quite good for a get well for a man, don't you?

Get well soon Herbert!!

Happy birthday Son!

Today is my son Simon's birthday, so naturally I have made him a card.  

I know that fellas don't make a thing about birthday cards, 

but I do like to make their cards whenever I can.

Here's what I made for him.

Front view

side view

view from above showing the double Z fold.

As you may have noticed I have become very fond of this double Z fold card,

introduced to made by the lovely Amanda at the Craft Spa

 - if you follow the link you will see loads of her fabulous creations there.

I have kept a very simple colour combo of Marina Mist and White for this card,

the Subtles DSP Stack and the Time of Years and Vertical Greetings stamp set.

I have used my Little Letters dies (retired) as they were just the right size for the job.

I am really pleased with this and will probably repeat this design again

(maybe for Barry's Birthday!)

Jane's Birthday

You may recall that I said that July was a busy month for birthdays, and today sees the birthday of another of my sister-in-laws, Jane.

Here's the card I have made for her.

The design is based on a different one of Amanda's Double Z Fold cards.

I have done this in a colour combo of Sahara Sand, Blushing Bride and White.

The DSP is from the Subtles DSP Stack

The sentiment is from "Time Of Year" stamp set

and I have used 3 separate stamps to make this greeting.

The banner is fussy cut.

The only embellishment is the beautiful new Blushing Bride 

3/8"" Stitched Satin Ribbon Bow.

Card folded flat for posting

Card stood up partly open

View looking down on the card showing the mechanics of the Double Z

I am really pleased with the finished card and I trust that Jane will be too.

A Get Well for Jean

One of my ladies from the Wednesday Class went into hospital yesterday for an operation, so I 

Have made a card to let her know that I'm thinking of her and wishing her a speedy recovery.

I've used the Blooms and Wishes stamp set with the following colour ink pads

Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz, Blushing Bride, Flirty Famingo, and Peekaboo Peach.

The sentiment is from Hopeful Thoughts.

Basic Rhinestones are the only embellishments it needs,don't you think?

Get well soon Jean!

Julie's Birthday

July is a busy month for birthdays, Jan's was on the 1st, Chris's on the 2nd and Julie's on the 3rd.

Sister in law Jane's is on the 6th and our son Simon's is on the 9th. I am however well prepared and have them all done in good time.

Here is Julie's card 

An In colour combo of Dapper Denim and Sweet Sugarplum was used for this card.

The sentiment and banner is from the Thoughtful Banners stamp set 

and is cut with the matching punch.

The Flourish Thinlits diecuts have been simply embellished with tiny Basic Pearls.

I do like this colour combo - hope that Julie liked it too!

Chris's birthday card

Hi everyone - I hope that you all enjoyed the Jems Blog Hop yesterday.

Weren't, there some fabulous projects on there, I really enjoyed hopping round

To see everyone's makes.

Yesterday was the birthday of Chris (my Sister-in-law, fellow crafter, close friend 

and Stampin' Up down-line) and I wanted to make her something special to mark the occasion,

Here's what I came up with.

I used one of my favourite fold cards - inspired by the lovely Amanda from the Craft Spa

- I think she calls it a double Z fold.

I opted for my new favourite In Colour - Sweet Sugar Plum cardstock and ink,

added matching paper from the 2016 - 2017 In Colour DSP stack

and used the Swirly Scribbles thinlits die to cut the swirls.

I used the waste from the cardstock swirl to the DSP swirl and vice versa.

I think it looks quite effective - better than the white card showing through.

I used the computer to personalise the card strip, trying to match the colour.

Don't you just love that greeting - another of my new catalogue purchases -

the Vertical Greetings stamp set.

Card open for display

Card fully opened showing second panel

  Above you can see the second panel, stamped with a topiary tree from

 the Vertical Greetings stamp set 

Card closed flat to go in envelope

I am really pleased with this design, hope that Chris likes it too!!