Monday 8 November 2021

Grateful


I celebrated a significant birthday recently which was wonderful  - to be able to celebrate I mean!  I don't like the fact that I'm getting older but the alternative is much worse, so it's fair to say I'm feeling extremely grateful at the moment!  It was wonderful to be surrounded by loved ones even given (or perhaps because of) the recent loss of my mum.

After the party I sat down and started a bunch of thank you cards for all the friends who had helped me celebrate the occasion.  The house was full of the most exquisite floral arrangements (in fact I ran out of vases) and was inspired to create floral arrangements of my own.

Initially I started quite simple.  I cut six garlands from an old Sizzix Bigz die (Tim Holtz Regal Crest) from brown card stock.  I cut these in half and distressed them with green and red inks and sprayed with Mustard Seed Glimmer Mist.  Because I had left and right facing garlands, I had left and a right facing cards.   I cut a whole bunch of these small flowers (Tim Holtz Funky Foliage) from white card stock. I think they're supposed to be cornflowers, but I coloured them in the reds, yellows, oranges, pinks and purples from my birthday bouquets using alcohol markers.  Alcohol markers are great for colouring and blending seamlessly - though the flowers are so small, the blending is almost imperceptible.


When I had used up all the "cornflowers" I had cut, I was tempted to get a little more adventurous.  I don't know about anyone else, but 10 of the same design seems to be about my limit!  I started cutting other flowers from the Funky Foliage set and also from the Funky Nature set and colouring these.  I also cut a few of the MFT Sunflowers.  I also tried some foliage left over from a previous project and decided I preferred a more delicate foliage so cut a bunch of these.  Finally to finish the cards, I cut and stacked these Grateful sentiments (Winnie and Walter Big, Bold and Blessings set) which summed up just how I was feeling!  



Of the twenty or so cards I eventually made, this one was my favourite!


I'd like to enter the Four Seasons Anything Goes Fall Challenge for November.  


I'd also like to join the Shopping Our Stash Challenge #457 which has the prompt You Don't Bring Me Flowers.

And Little Red Wagon Challenge #626 - So Very Thankful.

And 613 Avenue Create Challenge #11 - AG with optional Twist Thankful.

 You may have noticed the wood panels I used for the initial cards.  I'd like to enter the Double D Challenge - A Walk in the Wood as this was exactly what I had in mind when I started these cards.  

Finally Day of the Month Club Challenge #33 which has the prompt Beautiful Day - I'm still basking in the glow of my beautiful day!

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit.  If you leave a comment, I’ll be thrilled!  I’ll also know you were here, so I can check out what you’ve been up to and we can get better acquainted!

Kate

17 comments:

  1. WOW! These are just GORGEOUS! Love your overall design! Thanks so much for joining in the fun at our Four Seasons Challenge! Good Luck and we hope you’ll come back again soon.

    Darlene
    FOUR SEASONS CHALLENGE
    DAR’S CRAFTY CREATIONS
    Please stop in for a visit!

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    1. Me again ... thanks for also sharing these beautiful cards with us over at our Double D ‘A Walk in the Woods’ challenge! Good Luck and we hope you’ll come back often.
      Darlene
      DOUBLE D Challenge Blog

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  2. Beautifully created cards! Thank you for joining our challenge at Double D and Four Seasons! Happy late birthday too!
    Diane DD DT and FS DT

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  3. You HAVE been busy! A wonderful collection of cards. Sounds like you had a good time celebrating your birthday. xx

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  4. Wow, so many beautiful cards! Love the colors and the overall design! Thanks for joining us at The Four Seasons Challenge!

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  5. Very nice cards that put a smile on your face. Glad you joined us at DotMCC. Gundi

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  6. Kate, these are all GORGEOUS...an what a wonderful reason to be inspired to create them. Thanks so much for sharing with us at Little Red Wagon Challenge this week!

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  7. Simple, but oh so classy!
    So glad you have shared this with us at 613 Avenue Create.
    Please come back again!
    The best of luck with your entry.
    Jackie, DT member at 613 xx

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  8. Gorgeous cards, Kate. LOVE the first one and WOW, you're creative. Thanks for sharing with us over at The Four Seasons Challenge, and please visit us again soon. We look forward to seeing more of your wonderful creativity.
    Blessings,
    Karen L, DT Member
    The Four Seasons

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  9. You're always welcome to stop by Word Art Wednesday to play along with us there as well. I would LOVE to have you share your art with us and link up for your chance to WIN. You can find us here:
    www.wordartwednesday.blogspot.com

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  10. Beautiful designs. Thanks for sharing with us at Double D Challenge Blog. We hope you join us again.
    Kathy
    DD DT

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  11. Oh my gosh these are amazing. Great colors, layout and fantastic collection of die cuts you used on them. Thank you for stopping by my blog and adding a comment to my card. I appreciate you taking the time and card love.

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  12. Lovely grateful card. Nicely designed. Thank you for joining us at 613 Avenue Create this month. Hope to see you back here in 2022. Happy Holidays. Judy DT

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  13. Your cards are absolutely wonderful and it is such a nice gesture of you to say thank you after your birthday to the ones that helped you. I am glad for you that you could enjoy some nice time together with loved ones.
    Lots of greetings from stempelfrida
    http://stempelfrida.blogspot.de

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  14. Congratulations on your birthday - the alternative as you say is much worse. Gorgeous cards - thanks for joining in with our extra challenge at 613 AVenue Create

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  15. What a lovely bunch of cards ! They are all beautiful and difficult to choose a favourite one. Love the pretty colours you've used for these arrangements and they pop up beautifully over the stitched and wood backgrounds. So glad you had such a beautiful days (your birthday and the day to make these cards). Thanks so much for sharing and for playing along at DotMCC.

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I'd love to hear from you !!!