Playing!

I made a couple more cards for the Less is More challenge for no other reason than all my pink, green and grey stuff was out for the card I made yesterday and I wanted to 'play'! The first card really was inspired by the picture provided by Chrissie & Mandi for this week's challenge, I kept looking at it and trying to think how I could make some gerberas. As it happens I think they look more like daisies but that's sometimes what happens when you play, the end result not being quite the same as the picture in your head. I used the smallest flower on the Flower Daisies die, cut from Pink Pirouette and folded over, then punched the large flower shape with the Boho Blossoms die in Certainly Celery and cut it to make the base, the stems are just a strip of Certainly Celery gently teased around to give a curve. All the flower pieces were lightly inked with a sponge dauber to add a bit of depth. For the border I used the Sandy Speckles Wheel with Basic Gray then masked this and sponged over Pink Pirouette before positioning the flowers, added a knot of Pink Pirouette Taffeta ribbon and a sentiment from Happiest Birthday Wishes stamped in Basic Gray. Now onto my second card which really was playing!

In my kitchen I have a pot of pink hyacinths, bought for me by my daughter for Mothers Day and, again, I keep looking at them thinking how can I make something that looks like a hyacinth. So that's where the playing comes in, I took the flower stamp from Flight of the Butterfly, a Pink Pirouette stamp pad and a piece of Whisper White and stamped, then over-stamped until I was (reasonably) happy with the shape. I then added the stem using a stamp from Greenhouse Garden and some leaves with a stamp from the Build a Blossom set. The stem and leaves were given a touch of shading using a Crumb cake marker as they looked a little flat then the panel was matted onto Basic Gray and Pink Pirouette cardstock before placing in the centre of a plain white card blank with a knot of retired Basic Gray Taffeta ribbon added to the bottom corner. In hindsight I think it would have been better to have stamped the flower using a mixture of Pink Pirouette and the slightly darker Pretty in Pink as the 'hyacinth' does look a little flat and insipid but that's what palying is all about - I'll know better next time :0) 

I hope you are all having a lovely weekend, the sun is shining beautifully here but boy is it cold!!!!

Another of the birthday cards which I made for my sister and this time I was inspired by an idea in the brand new SU catalogue. It is called an Ideas Book & Catalogue because it is exactly that, not only are there fabulous products in it there are also some great ideas for using them! If you would like to purchase a copy then please do not hesitate to contact me.
The base colour for this card is Wild Wasabi and this time I used the lovely textured cardstock, teamed with DSP in the same colour and Crumb Cake. The large flower was made with 5 petals stamped with one of the stamps from the Build a Blossom set and punched with the Blossom Petals punch with a circle and a button in the centre. The leaves are a piece of cardstock folded and run at a slant through the crimper before cutting with the Blossom Petals punch and the small flowers are made with Boho Blossoms and Itty Bitty Shapes punches. For the sentiment I used a stamp from Four Frames and punched out with the Decorative Label punch and then added the 'happy birthday'. For the inside I cut a piece of Whisper White with the Top Note die and stamped with a retired stamp which co-ordinates with Boho Blossoms in the corners.