Makes me Smile!

The theme over at LIM this week is - 'Makes me Smile' which took a bit of thinking about. There are lots of things that make me smile but how to show them in a card? Well this is my way of doing it -
All of my family & friends make me smile so the sentiment is dedicated to each and every one of them
Flowers always make me smile so here they are on my card
Clean, simple and orderly makes me smile (and being a tad OCD that's not just in my papercrafting!) and that is the overall card.
Just to prove that flowers make me smile I thought I would share a photo of the beautiful flowers my 3 year old Grandaughter chose for me for my birthday a couple of days ago

Oh and I really can't forget the other thing that makes me smile (my birthday present from my 5 year old Grandson) Chocolate of course!

They know me too well!!!!

Have a great weekend

Margaret x

Simples Sunday Shadows

The LIM challenge this week is a one layer card using shadowing so, once again, I've used that theme for my Simples Sunday card.
I started by making a 'faux' frame with one of the Square Framelits - this is done by placing the framelit onto the cardstock with the cutting part facing upwards and the pressure makes an indentation in the cardstock rather than cutting it. I put a piece of copy paper on the top so it cut out a square to use as a mask. (The smaller picture shows the frame much better)
The leafy stem from Summer Silhouettes was stamped three times without re-inking to give the shadow effect using Old Olive and the same was done with the flower (also from Summer Silhouettes) but this time in Rich Razzleberry. I added two butterflies from Papillon Potpourri to the top corner, again stamping with re-inking. I wanted something subtle to embellish the flowers and butterflies so, rather than pearls or rhinestones, I used tiny dots of Dazzling Details. The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Sentiments.
Have a good Sunday whatever you may be doing - I am having two of my grandchildren for a 'sleepover at Granny's' tonight so wish me luck :0)

Margaret x

For My Mum!

This is the card I made to give my Mum on Mother's Day, using my two favorite stamp sets of the moment! The background for the flowers was done with stamps from Gorgeous Grunge, stamped in Real Red and the flowers are, of course, from Petite Petals punched out with the co-ordinating punch. The sentiment from Teeny Tiny Sentiments, punched with the Word Window Punch and matted onto a Modern Label Punch. I finished the card with a few Basic Pearls.

Can you believe it's April already - where is the year going to??

Margaret x

Those Men Again!!

Hello and here I am back with yet another 'male' card and my fifth and last entry to the LIM challenge!! I am showing you two cards today because I started off making the card shown below with the men in mind but, when I'd finished it, I actually thought it looked quite girly so I set to and changed the colours slightly and ended up with the one on the right which I think is a much more manly version.
Isn't it strange how a change of colour to exactly the same design can make so much difference?

 Another very simple card but, as I'm sure you realise by now, less is very much more in my world :0)
I started by stamping a 'splat' from Gorgeous Grunge (a stamp set I didn't like until I actually bought it and now can't stop using!) in Coastal Cabana and Crumb Cake (for the card above) and Real Red stamped off (for the card on the left) then added a strip of DSP from the Fresh Prints Stack - available in the Spring catalogue. The sentiment, from Express Yourself for the card above and Teeny Tiny Sentiments for the card on the left, was punched with the Large Oval Punch and matted onto a label cut with an Apothecary Accents framelit which had been sponged round the edge.

Thanks for visiting and I'll be back tomorrow with something girly!

Margaret x

Sketch Challenge

This card is one I've made for the Sketch challenge over at CAS-Colours & Sketches which also co-ordinates with a little treat box I've made today.
I have used Real Red cardstock for the triangular section, stamped with a flower from Petite Petals and matted onto a white card blank. Using a framelit from the Circles Collection, I cut an aperture into the card and decorated around the outside with flowers made from a stamp in Banner Blast and cut with a punch from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack. The sentiment from Teeny Tiny Sentiments was stamped through the aperture onto the inside and tiny Basic Pearls were added to the flower centres to finish the card.

Thanks for stopping by and I would love you to pop back tomorrow to see the 

co-ordinating treat box

Margaret x

Sneak Peek Engagement

This is a card I made for a work colleague who got engaged on Christmas day. The stamp sets I used are sneak peeks of products which will be available very soon (SAB free with qualifying orders from 28th Jan and the Spring/Summer catalogue available to purchase from 28th Jan)
I started by silver embossing the images and sentiments,from Happy Congratulations, and added the silver embossed hearts which is a stamp from a SAB set called Banner Blast.
The Whisper White panel was matted onto Brushed Silver cardstock before placing onto a white card blank. Some Basic Rhinestones were dotted around to finish the card off.
My apologies for the 'blue tinge' to the photos but they were taken in not very good light and this was the result :0)
I also made an envelope with DSP from the Neutrals Paper Stack, using the Envelope Punch Board. I added a bellyband decorated with a punched heart and a sentiment from Teeny Tiny Sentiments.

Back soon

Margaret x

Sketch Challenge

Whilst hopping around blogs the other day I came across a site called Paper Craft Crew Challenges and when I saw the sketch for this week I had to play. A completely different style to my normal cards but I enjoyed the challenge so much I ended up making two!! Come and have a look.






For this one I used some leaves that were lying around which I'd cut with the Autumn Accents die the other day. I sponged them, along with an acorn, using 'autumnal' colours - too many to mention but all SU! The leaf on the oval is from Lovely as a Tree and this was stamped in Old Olive and coloured with a blender pen, using some of the same colours. Cardstock is Early Espresso, Neutrals Ivory and Very Vanilla with the leaves in Crumb Cake and Pumpkin Pie. I finished the card with a knot of twine made from strands pulled from a piece of Burlap Ribbon and a sentiment from the Express Yourself Hostess set.
I am also entering this card for the Around the World challenge (AW03) which this month is 'Fall' (or Autumn in the UK!)



After my first attempt I went on to make a Christmas card using the same sketch. The colour combo is Coastal Cabana, Smoky Slate and white with a piece of Winter Frost Speciality DSP for the background. The snowflakes are from Festive Flurry stamped in Smoky Slate and cut out with the matching Framelits. Both sentiments are stamps from Teeny Tiny Sentiments and a bow of silver ribbon and some Basic Rhinestones were added to finish the card.

Thanks for stopping by, back soon

Margaret x

Simples Sunday CASE'd Card

Whilst browsing through the lovely entries for yesterday's LIM challenge I came across a card which I loved and just had to CASE. It was made by Jenny and her card can be seen here (with another version here and yet another here) - do go and have a look they are fab! I do hope Jenny is not offended that I've called it simple but, even though it may be simple to make, I think the design is stunning.
Normally for my Simples Sunday I don't make cards that use a lot of products as I know how annoying it can be to see a card you'd like to make but not have the right dies or punches etc etc. However I make no apology today as, even if you don't own the products that I used you can easily 'do it yourself' with a little cutting. (see card below)
I used the Petite Pennant Punch for the trees, punched from Polka Dot Parade DSP, and one of the Adorning Accents Edgelits for the snow mound. The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Sentiments, stamped in Old Olive.
And here's one made with just scissors and no fancy stuff!

Margaret x

Definitely CAS!

Back with my second post of the day with yet another entry for the LIM challenge which, this week, is Trees.
For reasons best kept to myself I'm not a great fan of Christmas and find it difficult to motivate myself to make cards so I took the opportunity to make a few using Chrissie & Jen's theme - thanks ladies!
I definitely think this card comes into the Clean & Simple category - lots of white space and a very simple design, as well as being easy to make which is always a bonus :0)
I started by masking off the small 'fir' tree, using the large stamp from Lovely as a Tree, inked with Versamark then silver embossed. This was cut out using the small oval die from the Ovals Collection Framelits then matted it onto the next size oval, cut from Brushed Silver cardstock. The sentiment from Teeny Tiny Sentiments was silver embossed onto Brushed Silver cardstock and punched with the Modern Label Punch. A single Basic Rhinestone finished the card off.

Back tomorrow for Simples Sunday with a CASE'd card

Margaret x

Simples Sunday

Today's post should have the title - Simples Sunday using Scraps because that's exactly what it is! I was asked to make a 50th birthday card the other day and these leftover oddments were lying on my desk, so what could be simpler than using pre-cut cardstock or pre-stamped images?
For my commissioned card I cut an aperture in a piece of Perfect Plum, using one of the Labels Collection Framelits, so this left me with the diecut shape which I used for the centre of this card. I stamped the now retired Beautiful Birthday sentiment onto this using Whisper White Kraft ink and stamped a couple of flower images directly onto the card blank before fixing the diecut. A few leaves from Stippled Blossoms were stamped around in Pistachio Pudding and the three diecut flowers, from Flower Shop, were arranged on top. The 'friend to friend' is from Teeny Tiny Sentiments and punched with the Word Window punch.
I am always very careful to keep all my leftovers as they can be really useful if you need to put together a quick & simple card - the only trouble is, once I have tidied them up, I never seem to remember to use them!!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I'll be back soon

 

This is a card I made for a very good friend who, sadly, lost her Mum earlier in the week. I got inspiration for the card from a fellow SU team member, Lizy Bartaby (you can see Lizy's card here). I used a stamp from Mosaic Madness, stamped in black Staz-on, and added a flower to the centres punched from one of the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack. A knot of Basic Black Taffeta Ribbon, a sentiment from Teeny Tiny Sentiments and three Basic Pearls were added to finish the card.

Margaret x

Masculine SUO Challenge

The challenge at SUO (Stampin'Up! Only) this time is a Masculine card and, as I need a couple of cards for men over the next few weeks, I thought I'd give it a go.
My card is a triple time stamping card, of which there are several fabulous examples around but I first saw the idea on a YouTube video by Dawn Olchefske.
As it's for a man I decided that the lovely leaf stamp, Magnificent Maple, would be ideal and I have stamped it in Chocolate Chip onto Very Vanilla. The base card and mats are Soft Brown Sugar and the card was finished off with some Linen Thread, a button made with Simply Pressed Clay - coloured with a Baked Brown Sugar marker and a sentiment from Teeny Tiny Sentiments. I decorated the inside with another leaf, this time stamped off to give a lighter shade, and a sentiment from Field Flowers.

Thanks for stopping by

Margaret x