Puttin' On The Ritz!......

This card was made for one of my Cricut workshops earlier this year. I like making men's cards as it's a real challenge to lay off the ribbon and flowers, and step outside my comfort zone. The card base is a DL easel, and the papers are from the Wellington 12x12 pack from Dovecraft. The dinner jacket was cut from black, white and grey pearlised cardstock. It was adhered to the front of the card with foam pads. The sentiment was computer generated, the words cut out individually, matted onto blue card then adhered in a random fashion with foam pads. The 'stop' on the base of the card was created with a 'chain' border punch from EK Success. The punched border was adhered to blue cardstock, cut out then adhered to the base of the card with foam tape. 'Happy Birthday' was cut from black card and adhered in the space below the stop. The card was finished with some wooden buttons threaded with 'paper' string tied in a knot. They were adhered to the card with Dovecraft acrylic glue.

Carts used:

Dinner jacket- Formal Occasion

Happy Birthday- Stamping Solutions

Thanks for dropping by!

Heather xxx

Put on your dancing shoes!!!!......

My niece Lauren loves to dance and hopes to make it her career, so I thought that this little lady would make an ideal topper for her birthday card. The card has a shortfall-front with a punched edge. The papers are from an old Papermania A4 pad. I added some wide spotty purple ribbon and a flower with pearl centre. The dancer was cut from textured cardstock. I gave her high heeled dance shoes instead of trainers so she looks like a real 'hoofer'! I glittered a pattern around the neck of her leotard. The sentiment was computer generated and adhered to a scalloped oval on the front of the card.  'Lauren' was cut from purple glittercard and adhered vertically on the inside back of the card. A trio of punched stars completes the card.

Cart used:

Dancer- Paper Doll Teen Scene

Lauren- Lyrical Letters (Loopy Lou font)

Scalloped oval- Elegant Edges

Thanks for dropping by!

Heather xxx

Gingerbread Christening......

Krishnan's girlfriend Sofia has a new baby cousin called Charlie. His parents sent out Christening invitations with gingerbread men on- why gingerbread I don't know!!- and Sofia asked me if I could make a card for her for Charlie's christening that was inspired by the invitation. I copied the gingerbread man, even down to the patches on his legs, although the design of the card is my own. The card base is an 8x8 square, and the blue heart paper is from the Boofle colllection by Dovecraft. The gingerbread man was cut from brown card, trimmed with paper patches and a bow, and a stitched line drawn around the edge and crosses for eyes. He was then adhered to an embossed square- the embossing folder is also from the Boofle collection-matted onto blue cardstock, then adhered to a loopy-edged square. The topper was adhered to the front of the card with foam tape. A blue heart-shaped button was adhered to each of the four corners of the embossed square. The sentiments were computer generated in blue ink onto white cardstock, then trimmed and matted with blue and white cardstock, then adhered to the card with foam pads.

Carts used:

Loopy square panel- Elegant Edges

Gingerbread man- Jolly Holidays

Thanks for dropping by!

Heather xxx

Something a bit different from me.....

This card is a deviation from the norm for me! I've used an image on it that HASN'T come off a Cricut cartridge. When I saw the new 'Strictly Party' collection from Papermania I just had to have it and use it on a card for my sister Valerie's birthday which was on the same day as Krishnan's graduation and a day after mine. For £11.95 you get papers and more die cuts than you can shake a stick at! There are loads of these beautiful girly designs- birthday girls, ladies who lunch, party girls- in both decoupage and flat options (about 2 pages of each design) plus tags, paper ribbon, sentiments and embellishments. I used the birthday girl decoupage, layered it up and adhered it to a scalloped oval. The card base is an 8x8 and the paper is from the Lucy Cromwell 12x12 Designstax, also from Papermania. I added a sheer purple ribbon and bow across the middle of the panel then adhered the decoupaged topper with foam pads.The sentiment is also from the Strictly Party pack. 'Sister' was cut from purple glittercard and shadowed with purple textured cardstock. It was adhered to the card with foam pads. An aqua bloom and a smattering of clear gems completes the card.

Carts used:

Scalloped rectangle (under decoupage)- Elegant Edges

'Sister'- Sophisticated (Theresa Collins cartridge)

Thanks for dropping by!

Heather xxx

A Fan-tastic birthday........

I've recently got a liking for 8x8 cards. I've been making a lot of A4 cards for Debbie so 8x8's are just a step down in size, but still a great size to create with. I love this fan. I've used it a lot and I wanted to super-size it to use on a card, and it looks better on an 8x8 than and A4. The card base is from a Papermania pack of 8x8 cards & envelopes from The Range. The layout is very simple. and the papers are by Dovecraft. The fan was cut twice- once from silver mirri and once from paper. The 'struts' were cut from the paper fan which was then adhered to the silver fan with foam pads. A WOC floral arrangement, containing roses, pearl strands and punched foliage was adhered over a sheer ribbon bow on the handle of the fan. The smaller central panel was wrapped with burgundy sheer ribbon and a bow, then adhered to the card. The fan was adhered to the bottom left-hand corner of the panel with foam pads. A computer-generated sentiment was adhered to a scalloped circle, embellished with a single bloom, then adhered to the top of the card over the ribbon. A smattering of pearls completes the card.

Carts used:

Fan- Pagoda

Scalloped circle- Elegant Edges

Thanks for dropping by today!

Heather xxx

Graduation cards.....

I thought I'd pop back with the cards that I made for Krishnan and Sofia. Krishnan took a photo on his phone and e-mailed it to me, although the image is a little bright as the cards are on the windowsill. Still, I hope that you can see them ok.

The cards are both A4 in size. Krishnan's card holds a mortar-board (cap) and scroll, and Sofia's a girly graduate. Sophia's card is purple because she likes the colour, and is not the colour of her Faculty. She'll have a brown stripe on the cowl of her gown on Monday. I made the graduate look like Sofia by changing the colour and length of the hair. I also added some polka dot ribbon and a Prima bloom.

Carts used:

Krishnan's card:

Mortar-board- Everyday Pop-Up Cards

Scroll- Wrap It Up!

Sentiments- Stamped

Sofia's card:

Girly graduate- Paper Doll Teen Scene

Sentiments- Stamped

Thanks for dropping by!

Heatherxx



A Day To Remember.....

Yesterday Krishnan graduated from The Queen Mary University Of London with a 2:1 Degree in Law. It was a fabulous day and thankfully the rain kept off! Here is Krishnan with his lovely girlfriend Sofia before the ceremony (Sofia graduates on Monday with a 2:1 in History & Politics) He looked extremely smart in his three piece suit and his gown and cap. The cowl on his gown was lined with white silk edged with blue, the colours of the Law Faculty

Here he is with some of his fellow graduates.....

... and joyful that all their hard work is over (for the time being at least!) they throw their caps into the air....

....and finally, after visiting their old rooms in the Halls Of Residence, Krishnan, Sofia and their friend Katy pose for a final photo.

We are so proud of Krishnan. He never wanted to be  a doctor like his dad, it was always going to be the Law. Now he has achieved what he wanted, he has a lot of hard work ahead of him in the Corporate Law field.

We wish him all the luck in the world!

Thanks for dropping by!

Heather xxx

p.s Stupidly I've deleted the phots of the cards that I made for them both so unfortunately I can't share them with you. Boo Hoo!!!!



Theatrical retirement......

This is the second card that I made this time round for Debbie. David is one of my hubby's colleagues who also retired last month. David is an amateur thespian, so I made it the theme of the card. It's A4 again and my tried and tested layout. The papers are from DCWV Natural stack. The central panel was decorated along the top and bottom edges with a gold mirri card punched border (using an EK Success border punch) The fabulous comedy and tragedy masks were cut from black, brown, copper, gold and silver mirri, then adhered with foam pads to opposite corners of the panel. The lettering was cut from gold and black mirri, then adhered to the card with foam pads. A smattering of gold Card Candi completes the card.

Cart used:

Art Deco

Thanks for dropping by!

Heather xxx



Alpine retirement...........

This card reminds me of our holiday in the Rocky Mountains! I was asked by Debbie (hubby's secretary) to make a couple of retirement cards for two colleagues who were retiring in June. This one was for a doc who skis in his spare time. I have a couple of cards with ski-ing related images on- skis' boots, ski poles etc, but I wanted to do something different. Then I found this great ski-lift image along with a snow-capped mountain range complete with trees. I kept to my usual 'commission card' layout using paper from my stash and white textured cardstock. The mountain range was cut from grey cardstock and white glittercard, and the trees from green cardstock. I prepared a central panel from white cardstock with a strip of blue adhered across the top. The mountain was adhered with foam tape over the join in the cardstock. The ski-lift was cut from black cardstock and adhered to the panel with foam tape. I added a length of silver card diagonally across the 'sky' tucking it under the top of the ski-lift. This gives the effect of the lift being suspended from a wire. Although they can't be seen in the photo I added some ski trails with glitter on the white portion of the centre panel. The wording was cut from bluey-green shimmer cardstock shadowed with silver mirri card. It was adhered to the crd with foam pads. Some silver card candi completes the card.

Carts used:

Mountain and ski-lift- Dude!

Sentiment-George (haven't used that one in a good, long while!)

Thanks for dropping by!

Heather

I'm back!!!!..........

.......from a brill 16 day holiday to Canada! Two days were spent on board the Rock Mountaineer, a very slow train, through the Rocky Mountains from Jasper to Vancouver. We flew into Calgary where we overnighted. Then took the bus to Banff where we bathed in hot springs and took a gondola (not the venetian kind, a cable car!) up to the top of Sulphur Mountain. Then we took the bus to Jasper where we went on a bear hunt, and found several, one of which came right up to the door of the bus!

Whilst in Banff we took a walk on the breathtakingly beautiful Athabasca glacier and drank ice cold, pure glacier water, straight from the glacier itself! It was delicious! That's me and hubby and our friends Imroz and Mary in the photo.

From Jasper we took the Rocky Mountaineer to Kamloops where we spent the night. Then on to Vancouver where we walked the Capalino Suspension Bridge high above the forest floor, then finally on to Victoria where we went whale watching and saw Orcas! What a blast! We finished our holiday in Seattle in the USA where we visited friends who live in a beautiful woodland home in North Bend.

We arrived home yesterday and are very slowly getting into the swing of things. Ain't jetlag a pain?!!!!

Well, it's nice to be back and I'll be back here tomorrow with a card .

Heather xxx