Friday Sketchers Week 57

I hope I'm not too late to enter this week's challenge on Friday Sketchers. I loved working with this sketch. I have used faux stitching around the image and the main backing paper - by paper pricking and then using a Sakura gel pen to make the stitches. This is also my first attempt at a lollipop flower, from the tutorial on The Next Level blog. I have used a Whiff of Joy image, coloured with watercolour pencils, the backing papers are Kay and Company Sparkly Sweet (I just adore the colours of these papers), put some heart shaped beads on wire curled around my round nosed pliers, added some ribbon, brads and a sentiment, et voila!!!

Anyway, I'd better go and link my card onto the challenge.

Hope to be back soon!

Love
Andrea xx

Wallet Card

Wow! Today has been such a gorgeous day - warm and sunny with a nice breeze! And I have been feeling so much better after feeling off-colour for a few days - headache, a bit of a cold, a cough (and every time I coughed it felt like my head was going to explode!) and soooooooooooooooooooo grumpy! I sent my husband off to work yesterday with a flea in his ear... all because he hadn't rinsed his cereal bowl out after eating weetabix, and doesn't that just dry like cement?, and he hadn't rinsed the tuna can out! Very irritating, but I did feel awful later about the way I had a go at him!!

Anyway, I have been feeling so much better day, so I thought I'd show the card I made for my Dad's birthday.

A wallet card - I found the instructions for this fabulous card here - http://stampingaddict.blogspot.com/2008/04/mens-billfold.html
It was so easy to make, and I think it looks really effective. I paper pricked around the edge, and did faux stitching with black gel pen, but the stitches didn't show up all that well. I made some fake credit cards, put a verse on the back of one, and then we were able to write our messages on the back of the others. And it was perfect for holding the money I gave him.

I am so sorry about the photo - the flash kept coming on inside the house, and it was too windy to take it outside, then the battery died in my camera, and it was time to take my Dad his card. Hey, ho!! So this is the best I could get, I'm sorry!

Anyway, hope you like this card - my Dad did! I'm off to get my son a drink of water and then attempt to make a card.

Hope to see you again soon!

Love

Andrea xx

50th and 18th Birthday Cards

Above is the shadow box card I made for my brother-in-law for his 50th birthday - it was made using one piece of A4 card cut in half. These cards are so easy to make, and I think they look really effective; they can be flattened to go in an A5 envelope, but I made a box to put this one in.

Items Used:
Papers from Hot Off The Press
Decoupage - Bowling Man from Papernation
Number Templates from Colour My World
Sentiment printed from computer

And I made this card for my nephew. I have used my Crafter's Companion Ultimate Pro to emboss the stars.

Items Used:
Papers downloaded from Crafts Beautiful website
Crafters Companion Ultimate Pro Board
Number Templates from Colour My World
Adhesive Stars from my stash, coloured with permanent pen

Well, I hope you like these cards. Must go now, as I have to get tea before going to a meeting for work, and the children are falling out!!!

Lots of Love

Andrea xx

A Few Good Men!

Well, a few cards for some good men anyway!! (LOL).

I'm not keen on making men's cards (like lots of cardmakers, me thinks!), but June seems to be a month when I have to make quite a few - my brother's birthday 1st June, my father-in-law 4th June, brother-in-law and nephew 12th June, my Dad 20th June, then it's Father's Day (my Dad, father-in-law and husband), and my friend's son on 1st July. Whew!! hope I haven't missed anyone out!

Anyhoo! I thought I would show you the ones I've made so far:

Above is the card I made for my brother. Because I used digi download papers, I was able to decorate the inside too - often, I just add an insert from a Crafters Companion CD, but other bloggers have inspired me to attempt decorating the inside with papers used on the front! I really enjoyed doing that, and may even do it more often!!

The image is a Dottie Download - Sports George from Charmed Cards and Craft. I have used one of the pre-coloured images, to save me some time! The papers were downloaded from Daisie Company quite a while ago. The swirl stamp is from Hot Off The Press. Ribbon and gems from my stash - the gems were yellow, so I used a permanent marker to colour them brown.

And now to my next cards -

I made this card for my father-in-law, and this is the one my children chose to give him. It is a Dottie Download Sports George image again - I've used one of the pre-coloured ones again. The 'leafy' paper and vertical striped paper was free with a Crafts Beautiful Magazine a few months ago. The horizontal striped (thicker stripes) paper was recycled from one of my hubby's birthday cards. I have used some plastererboard jointing tape (!!) to look like a goal net, and I coloured some clear gems with red permanent marker. I did decorate the inside with offcuts again, but forgot to photograph it before the children wrote their messages (doh!!)

And my final card for today (because I really should be in bed!!)



I used Sketch CPS117 from Card Positioning Systems challenge blog for this layout. I did alter it a bit because the sketch was on a square card, and I have used an A6 card. I didn't enter the challenge because, by the time I had finished my card, I couldn't remember which blog it was on!!

The image is a Sports George one again, the cricket backing paper was a download (but I can't for the life of me think where from now!!), and the large cricket ball was again pinched from one of my husband's birthday cards.

PS - I have used a Sakura Stardust Clear pen on the hair on each of the cards.

Well, I hope I have given some of you a little inspiration for men's cards. There should be some more to show soon - when they are made!!

Sorry for the long post, but hope you'll be back to look at some more of my cards sometime.

Love from

Andrea xx

Card For 1st Birthday

It is my niece's first birthday on Wednesday, and I have spent days trying to come up with inspiration for a suitable card. In the end, I just had to find some papers and a base card, and sit down to conjure something up! It's not exactly spectacular, but I'm reasonably happy with it! Hope my brother and his wife like it!

Items Used:
Card Blank from stash

Number Template from colourmyworld.co.uk

Beatrix Potter Card Toppers (free with July edition of Crafts Beautiful)

Peel Offs, Ribbon and Backing Paper from stash

Paper Used for Number from a Kay and Co scrapbooking kit

Speak to you again soon!

Love from

Andrea xx

Just Magnolia Challenge #7

Wow - we have been having gorgeous weather for the past week or so - hope we have more of this through the summer!

Hooray - I've managed to make another card for the Just Magnolia Challenge!! This challenge was to include animals or insects - my card has butterflies on the backing paper, and I've added a butterfly charm, and (not sure if you can see it!) there is a small butterfly sticker in the corner of the image base card. The image is coloured with watercolour pencils.

Items Used:

Image - Shy Tilda coloured with watercolour pencils
Backing Papers - Kay and Co Sparkly Sweet

Charm and Gems - From stash


I have some more cards which I hope to show you over the next few days, so see you soon!

Love from

Andrea