Another Fine Mess

When my husband asked if I could make a thank you card for his Luxembourgish teacher, I reached once again for my favourite caligraphy sampler stamp from Clearly Impressed and this little ink pot and pen from Stempel Winkel.
When he told me his teacher was of Spanish descent, I had an image of red with black lace and thought I would make a card like this one I made last year for my mother-in-law's birthday, but in red.
I can't tell you what Adirondack alcohol ink colours I used in this background because I made it yonks ago and it's been sitting in my scraps stash - I'm pretty sure Red Pepper was one of them as it's much more red than this photo let's on.
I used the Merci from the Waltzing Mouse set Paris Nouveau.  Originally I had stamped a label from this set and cut a label from the matching Spellbinders Labels 25 set, but it was too big and completely obscured the calligraphy panel.  I ended up cutting out the centre from the label using a Spellbinders Petite Oval (I didn't have enough scrap to start again), and mounted it with a Spellbinders Fancy Tag and a larger Petite Oval cut from black.
I have to thank Laurie Schmidlin and WMSC110 once again for the inspiration for this card.

ONLY 341 DAYS TO GO

Panicking yet?  No, I'm not either.  That's because I plan to do the same as last year and build up my stash of Christmas cards well before the big date.
This is my offering for Waltzing Mouse Christmas Card Challenge for January 2013.  It's based on a sketch by the brilliant Anya Shrier.
Anyone from the U.K. who shops at Marks and Spencers may recognize the "design paper" on the top half of this card.  Yes it's wrapping paper.  When I was wrapping my Christmas presents last Christmas I fell in love with this paper and in particular with the red/black/white colour combo.
I stamped Cabin Plaid background with black Versafine ink and laid the paper over the top of this.  I then stamped and cut a a tag using the WMS Opera Tags and a sentiment using the WMS Ornate Ornaments.  The poinsettia is die cut with the mini   Poinsettia and Cardinal - a Movers and Shapers Die from Sizzix.  The poinsettias stamped on the envelope were from the WMS Bountiful Baskets Additions set.
I have another 5 under construction so "Cheers" to Christmas 2013.

A Little Get Well Card

I made this little rocker card for a little baby girl.  It's my first rocker card and I used a Sizzix Bigz Scalloped Circle as the base.
I wanted a tartan base so I used the WMS Cabin Plaid background stamp to overstamp the front and back of the scalloped circle after it had been scored and folded, and embossed with white embossing powder.  This way I was sure the pattern would be straight.  I cut a large plain pink circle using the largest Splendid Circle from Spellbinders and cut a plain circle from another piece of plaid-stamped pink cardstock.  I was pretty chuffed when my friend Jaine (a very experienced card maker) dropped in on Tuesday as I was playing with the background pieces and asked where I got the gorgeous pink and white plaid cardstock.
I went through all my dies and found this little Sizzlit Rocking Horse (seemed appropriate for a rocker card) which I cut from a pretty pink plaid paper from DCWV.
I suppose I was still influenced by the last sketch from WMS - WMSC129, because I couldn't think where else to put the sentiment other than to the side plus this made the card a little more substantial. The sentiment and frame were stamped using WMS Fancy Phrases and cut with a Spellbinders Fancy Label.
However, I was so carried away with the aesthetics of the piece that I forgot all about physics - the card tipped to the right and wouldn't rock at all.  SO I went through all my brads and found these three spotted pink and white heart brads and attached them to the left side - the card now rocked a little but still leant to the right.  So I cut another two chipboard hearts and attached these to the left as well - phew it was more or less balanced and rocks really well.
At only 8 weeks old Sarah Jane won't be able to play with it yet but I hope it puts a smile on her mummy's face as she waits by her hospital bedside.

Birthday Wishes for a Gem of a Friend !

Our good friend Kay turns 60 next week, so I wanted to make her a really special card.

I had it in mind to use tartan 'cause she's scottish and I had this gorgeous "diamond" which I'd been saving for ages which I thought would be perfect for a 60th birthday card.

As usual I turned to my favourite sketch challenge for inspiration and found this wonderful sketch by Edna Morrisedie and all the pieces just fell into place.

What better way to frame the diamond than to use the new splendid circles set I got as a late birthday present, which is incredible - it reminds me of the crocheted doilies my grandma used to make when I was young.  All that was left was to choose the colours and papers.  So I went through my stash looking for tartan papers and found this lovely purple and blue tartan from DCWV.  I teamed it up with some purple swirly DP from HOTP Busy Scrapper's Solutions for Girls to Women, and some silver, purple and orchid card stock and a little vellum.

I stamped a banner using WMS Bitty Banners and a sentiment from WMS Bountiful Baskets Additions.

Et Voila !

It's actually an easel card with a foam mounted die cut "60" inside.

I'm quite pleased with how it turned out, though in the excitement of putting it together I forgot to mount the silver ribbon I had set aside and add some little diamantes in the holes on the punched border.  Oh well I can still add the diamantes before I pop it on the post.

Secret Santa Holiday Card Exchange

I entered in a Secret Santa Holiday Card Exchange at Waltzing Mouse Stamps this Christmas and received this exquisite Christmas card from Antje in the Black Forest region of Germany.  

I love the subtlety of the cream on white, and the wonderful distressed look of the card and then there's those dinky little red bells on those lovely leaping reindeer.  I think my favourite bit though is that embossed strip mounted across the middle.  Beautiful to see and touch.

Sorry if the photo is too dark.  I've been experimenting a lot but I'm afraid this was the best full shot of the card.  Here are some close ups of the card - 

Thank you Antje !

And if you would like to see the card I sent to Renee in the U.S., she has it up on her blog here