#121 James 21

Theme at I ♥ Promarkers - tutti frutti
Sponsor & prize this week - Joanna Sheen (£10 gift voucher)

I chose to interpret the 'tutti frutti' theme with zesty colours - and a colour scheme which would suit my son down to the ground.  He has always loved zingy to the point of florescent colours.  Now, I am beginning to feel a 'bit ancient' - as you can see from card's photos, this card and matching box is for his 21st - which of course, just cannot be right as I never got older than 24!  Well, not in my head! LOL.  I fear cameras coming out in case they prove 'beyond reasonable doubt' that I am not.  However, I have been organised enough to have made the card in plenty of time for his landmark birthday as this isn't until September, but time marches ever onwards and I feel better that it is done now and 'out of the way'.  As long as I can find a good place to keep it safely until required.

The image I am sure most of you will recognise, is from Kenny K and is called 'Party Time'.  Isn't he just so perfect for a lad's card?  I coloured him with Promarkers but I paper-pieced his T-shirt.  For fellow Silhouetters who like to know these things, he is a p&c welded onto a frame that I had 'twenty-one' cut out along one side using the Rockwell font. I also cut out the white mat on the Cameo to include the word 'son' which this time was bound on all sides with a rectangular frame. I also used p&c for the bunting triangles which were added onto pale green twine.

On the inside of the card, I matted up a verse for the left hand side but a popped a frame I had used previously on the other which I like to match to the triangular bunting. Yes, I have used it before & yes it was one of my own cut files - but you don't use your Spellbinders the once & throw it out do you! LOL.

For the box lid I used the same pearlescent white card as I had for the card itself, replicating the orange Cameo cut frame but this time welded 'James' into the centre and cut it out using glitter card (which I had used for various mats on the card itself).  If you can't have a bit of glitter for a special birthday, when can you have it! LOL.  For the box liner (coz you know I am fussy like that, LOL), I added a more thought-provoking quotation.

Hope you all like it (not to mention James himself, come September of course), and I thank you again for all the lovely comments you leave me.  They are always much appreciated.

Tine :)

Challenges I wish to enter this into are:
SJ Crafts - all about the boy (+old stash = glitter card)
PaperCraftingJourney - colour it up (hand coloured)
Passion for Promarkers - lots of layers
CRAFT - male card
Delicious Doodles - for the fellas
Dream Valley - for that special guy
Phindy's Place - masculine or Father's Day
Simply Create Too - for a male or Father's Day
Cardmadfairy's Digi Days - masculine or Father's Day
Pan Pastel - boys or fathers
Tammy's Scrapin' Corner - for the boys
Platypus Creek - for the boys
Sentimental Sundays - for a special guy
Crafty Pad - let's hear it for the boys
Great Impressions - die cuts or punches
Opus Gluei - it's all relative
Catered Crop - banners or bunting
Scrapbook Sisters - bunting
Lexi's - happy birthday
Ladybug - big birthdays.

Friend Linda

Hi everyone, and the card I am showing you today I have made for a friend of mine who has just got her first laptop.  She hasn't used a computer before so has taken herself off for a few lessons.  How perfect an image for her birthday card then than this one from Mo Manning called, 'Checking FB'.

I have coloured the image with Promarkers, giving her a paper-pieced dressing gown and matching slippers as well as providing her with a trendy green lid to the laptop. The fab papers I have used on this card are from Design House Digital, tearing the edges of some layers (& inking the edges of the bottom layer too with Distress inks).

I then used the same papers for the inside of the card, teaming them with a sentiment from Sentiments4You (within Crafts4You).

No, I haven't abandoned my cutter on this card. I created the scalloped edge border on the front, cutting it from plain white card as well as a design paper and used a 5-petal flower from Bird's Cards to echo the style of flower on the dressing gown paper. I then made myself the 3-petal bud style flower cut file to match the paper too. The sentiment I treated as a print & cut and I also used my Silhouette to cut the circle mat for that sentiment.

Tine :)

Challenges:
Mo's Digital - anything goes (using a Mo Manning image)
Tammy's Scrapin' Corner - for the girls
Digital Tuesday - anything goes (+digital - image & papers)
2Sisters - inside & out
Ooh-la-la - girly
My Mum's Craft Shop - bingo (flowers, pearls & die cuts)
Paper Cupcakes - 3 in a row (punches, flowers, circles)
Celebrate the Occasion - use a flower
Crafty Calender - flowers in bloom
Hotshot - distress ink
Crafty Cardmakers - distress it
Catch the Bug - anything goes.          

#120 For a Little Girl

Theme at I ♥ Promarkers - for a little girl
Sponsor & prize this week - LOTV (£10 gift voucher)

Using one of our sponsor's images called 'New Hat', I tried to keep this one attractive enough to a little'un and simplistic enough for them to walk around with without 'bits' coming off.  Nothing like a child pulling at a flower just to see if it can come off (you know I am right, LOL)....and what young girl doesn't try dressing up in her mum's hat & shoes at some point - therefore a perfect image.

So made this nice and colourful - and didn't go the whole 'pink' route. Why girls are force fed Barbie-pink all the time I don't know?  Trouble is they think they should like it because it is 'girly', but who tells them it is 'girly' in the first place. My sister used to love all the autumnal colours when she was a tot & I have always been more of a sky-blue/lilac kinda girl myself.  The colours I went for on this one are I reckon bright & happy (courtesy of fabby dps from Design House Digital), and chose what I hope a child would consider a 'pretty' shape too. Not too large a card either, so when she takes it out of the envelope she can cope with doing it on her own.  To the image I gave just the one layer behind but that is a sunshine-y lacy one and kept the embellishment to a bare minimum with just one strip of narrow satin ribbon (from Fantastic Ribbons).

Have a great week everyone and thanks so much for all the lovely comments you leave me.

Tine :)

Challenges:
Lili's Little Fairies - anything goes
Paper Crafting Journey - anything goes for kids
Ooh La La - make it girly
Tammy's Scrapin' Corner - for the girls
Crazy - childhood memories
Joanna Sheen - remember when (yep, there is indeed a photo somewhere of me in my mum's hat and carrying her handbag! LOL)
My Time to Craft - hats & handbags
Hotshot - dies
Cutie Pie - die cuts/punches
Ribbon Girls - ribbon or lace
Crafty Pad - ribbon
Ribbon Carousel - (spooled item +birthday)
Cooking It Up With Katie - celebrate, ribbon & die cut
Digital Tuesday - anything goes (digital papers)
Fatpages & Cards - anything goes or Father's Day
ATCs & Cards With  Attitude -  anything goes or Father's Day
Bugaboo - anything goes
Papertake - anything goes
Secret Crafter - anything goes.

#119 Race Day

Theme at I ♥ Promarkers - Use a digi image
Sponsor & prize this week - Digi Doodle ($10 gift certificate)

Not sure about my photographic skills on this one, so my apologies.  My card today uses an image from our sponsors, Digi Doodle called 'The Jockey-Lucky #7' and I did of course, use Promarkers to colour it giving the earnest looking jockey the Queen's racing silks. (Well, why not? LOL). I reckon he makes a fun male's card either for Father's Day or birthday - providing they like horse racing of course, and come to think about it maybe he would also do nicely for the Queen herself, LOL.

Not too much to tell on this one really I don't think, but I hope you can see face-less spectators either side of the rails as the horse gallops by. As you may have spotted, the winning post doubles as a rosette too.  The grey to colourless 'crowds' and the winning post sign are p&c (my own files) & the green 'track' was cut from green textured Papermania card stock.

As for the inside of the card, I kept it 'manly-enough' by keeping it relatively simple layout-wise, making a regular kind of insert. However, the bit my father-in-law will not appreciate whatsoever when he receives this as a Father's Day card, is that the 'race' taking part along the bottom of this insert is all merged images (& you, dear crafter, will be able to appreciate how long that can take!!!). You eagle-eyed folk will also see that whilst it is still the lucky #7 winning, all the other numbers have been removed from the following throng. Well, they all can't be wearing #7 can they, LOL, & why add numbers to them as no one tends to remember those who don't win do they - they are merely the 'also rans'.  Can you tell I love horses but not horse racing? LOL. The card is not for me though is it, and the FIL is interest in racing, so hope he likes it.

Tine :)

Challenges:
SJ Crafts - all about the boy (+something old - my mirri card & ribbon)
Southern Girls - die-cuts/punches (Cameo Silhouette)
Moving Along with the Times - not birthday (Father's Day)
Chocolate, Coffee & Cards - for the boys
Fairytale - boys+men
One Stop Craft - one for the boys
2 Sisters - bring on the boys
Little Claires - male themed
Forever Friends - one for the boys (+animal)
Lexi's - for the man/boy in our lives (in this case FIL)
Hotshot - diecuts
Totally Papercrafts - animals
Bearly-Mine - animal kingdom
Here Come the Boys - anything goes (male themed)
Tammy's Scapin' Corner - anything goes any artist
Crafty Sentiments - anything goes
Great Impressions - anything goes.

#118 Janet 18

Theme at I ♥ Promarkers - die cuts (digi cutters allowed too)
Sponsor & prize this week - Die Cut Dreams

Gosh, doesn't time fly? The years shoot by in no time at all which leads me to my card for today as I have made this one especially for my son's girlfriend who is now celebrating her 18th birthday.  The image from Stamp Fairy is called 'Lenny 5' and is just perfect for celebrating - especially a milestone birthday.  I did of course use him not long ago on a card but this time I have made it all more 'girly' with my colour scheme, not to mention the pink champagne!  I coloured my image entirely with Promarkers other than the tiny bitzy bubbles fizzing away at the top of the champagne which are dots of white gel pen.

The image has a frame cut using my Silhouette which I did of course, make myself too, as were the dual-layered flags of the bunting (spelling out her name) hanging from my pink & white twine.  The design sketch I decided to use was based on the CLP challenge last month (April) but I could see this working nicely for me so used it even though it isn't applicable to the current challenge. The layout had a fancy element down the right hand vertical strip which I interpreted, again using my cutter, this time using letters to spell out her age. The cut out shapes making quite a lacy border too, I thought.

Inside the card.

The inside of the card has quite a few layers too, though not too many as I need the card to close! LOL. Here, I replicated the pink frame but rather than an image it contains the kind of sentiment 'Eighteen box frame' I made on the PC leaving a nice, broad white space in the centre where I intend to write just before I give the card to her.

As this was a special card I made it a box to complete a matching set & have used Stamp Fairy's image of 'Lenny 5' yet again. Not recognise him? Well, this is him in a cut down form peeping over the top of the cut out name. Instead of holding the champagne glass, I used my craft knife along the edge of his hand so that he actually has his hand over the top.  The image was of course again coloured with Promarkers.

The card in the box.

Having made my own geometric frame for the card, I altered & welded it to include Janet's name across the front too.  I then nearly replicated the bunting on the card front, but this time omitted the lettering as it wasn't needed having spelled out her name on the frame instead. It still is two layers of cut work for each flag though.

Box includes a sentiment on the liner too.

Having made the box itself, I then turned my attention to the liner, typing out my sentiment on the computer before printing & cutting an appropriate fancy zig-zag edge to complement the frame and adding it to the box.  I have added the sentiment I used onto here, changing the colour to black if you would like to use it on your own projects but I thank you for leaving a comment if you do decide to copy it.  Should work as usual, by clicking on it to enlarge & then Save Image As etc.

Tine :)

Challenges:
Passion for Promarkers - birthdays
Hotshot - die cuts
Pollycraft - photo inspiration (colour)
Truly Scrumptious - pretty in pink
Crafty Catz - let's hear it for the girls
Joanna Sheen - happy birthday
Craft Your Days Away - all creatures great and small
Forever Friends - use 2 images
PanPastel - pastel colours
Creative Card Crew - dimension
Ooh-la-la - ribbon/twine or both
Simply Create Too - either Mother's Day or feminine
Sentimental Sundays - whimsical (def: playfully quaint or fanciful, esp. in an appealing & amusing way. - reckon this fits!)
Bearly-Mine - anything goes

#117 Cookie Fairy

Theme at I ♥ Promarkers - anything goes!!!
Sponsor & prize this week - The Paper Shelter ($20 voucher to spend in store)

The I ♥ Promarkers DT are all using images from our generous sponsor this week, The Paper Shelter and the one I am using is called, 'The Fairy of the Cookies' and she is of course, coloured with my ever-ready Promarkers. I know there must be fairies living in my biscuit tin as I fill it up and they all vanish!  I was going for a fairly clean, country kitchen look - so you will have to let me know if I have achieved it.

The image, for you Silhouette aficionados (coz I know someone will want to know), was a p&c as was the uppermost layer of the tag featuring a sentiment concocted from a few words (& stars) from Shabby Princess with the bottom line I added myself on the PC using a font I thought matched as closely as I was going to get.

The Silhouette is also responsible for cutting the cookie jar shaped card itself too, using a design I made myself especially for this Cookie Fairy.  (You probably know by now how much I like to mess about & do my own thing! LOL).  So the cut file here included the card base itself, a separate lid for the front & the horizontal layers for the lid.  The tag is the one from the Silhouette Library which came with the machine and was attached to my cookie jar using twine.

















Now what does a cookie jar need? Cookies of course! So just had to add some to the inside of the jar didn't I?  All created by my good self of course, courtesy of the cutter once again and using p&c. Double choc chip, choc chip, Bourbons, Jammie Dodger-esque ones too and a very large 'iced' one (to write the 'to' & 'from'). The inside is probably a lot less dimensional than you might think. I cut the Bourbons & JDs in 2 layers, offsetting them a little to give the illusion of more dimension than there was having inked the edges with Distress Inks for a 3-d feel.

Thanks for reading my post today - with my apologies if you are now feeling a little peckish! LOL.

Tine :)

Challenges I wish to enter this card into are:
SJ Crafts - favourites ( Promarkers and the Silhouette Cameo)
Bearly Mine - die cutting
Sundays With Crissy - things with wings
Crafty Calender - things with wings
Fairy Tale - things with wings
Catch The Bug - things with wings
Stamp & Create Monthly - for the ladies
Squirrel & Fox - one for the girls
Joanna Sheen - happy birthday
Ladybug Crafts Ink - anything but square
Truly Madly Crafty - 5 (different types of biscuits)
Crafty Sentiments - bingo (patterned paper, coloured image & punches/die cuts)
Delicious Doodles - try something new (made my all own cut files)
Inspire Me Fridays - (link + button at bottom of sidebar :) )
Crafty Emma - anything goes
Whimsy - anything goes
Truly Scrumptious - anything goes
Bunny Zoe (DT) - anything goes.

#116 Wedding Tryptic's Box

Theme at I ♥ Promarkers - use a charm or pins
Sponsor & prize - our own Karen (some fabby pins)

I might have made the card for my niece's wedding good and early, but I still hadn't made the box to keep it in so thought our challenge this week would be the perfect opportunity - and add some gorgeous pins that teamie Karen had sent me too. She had apparently sent us all slightly different ones so it was my good fortune that these tied in beautifully with my wedding themed box.

The image is that stunner from LOTV called, 'Wedding Couple' and I coloured it with Promarkers and matted it onto blue 'woven' textured card from Papermania (the same sort & colour I had used on the card to go in my box).

Card in it's box, but from this angle you can also see the dimensional layers of the top design as well as the cut-work around the box's sides.

As for the actual box itself, having already worked out the size I would need, I made the base quite easily but the top was going to be more complex as you can see.  I used my Silhouette to cut regular slots around the perimeter which would tie in with those on the top of the card.  (If you would like a reminder of what the card looked like I shall pop the link here).  I used an embossing folder to give me my dotty rectangle, layering it onto pure white pearlescent card as opposed to the pearlescent ivory card I had used for the lid and all the other features - well, other than the vertical border down one side which was the same white card. I then added the narrow white satin ribbon.

I started afresh with the trellis work, this time putting it into an arched shape and also added the 'ringing bells' I had put onto the card to create a stained glass window effect. This was added using glue gel, setting it up to be slightly proud for a bit of dimension.  The image's mat was then also put on using glue gel to raise it up still further.  The roses were cut from two different files, the round petalled ones were Silhouette's own but the jagged edged ones are my own file. The leaves (from Penny Duncan), I hand embossed down the centre and to the centre of my bridal bouquet I added the pearly pins. I then dotted a couple of the smaller cut flowers, shaping some but dotting the centres with liquid pearls. I actually then dissected a few of my flowers (on the Studio software) to give me some individual petals to be dropping in the path of the happy couple. I also set these at various angles using glue gel.

The verses on the liner.

I then created my box-liner on the PC, printing off 3 sentiments, 'pearls of wisdom' regarding marriage & separated firstly by two of the small flat flowers and then a row of the scattered petals to finish it all off.

Hope you like it and I thank all of you who take the time to leave me such kind comments on my cards & projects. They are greatly appreciated.

Tine :)

Challenges:
LOTV - anything goes
Hotshot - young love
One Stop Crafts - celebrations
PaperPlay - stamps/pins/pearls
Crafty Catz - flowers as part of the image (bridal bouquet)
Pixie Dust Studio - flowers
Miss Muffet - May flowers
Joanna Sheen - flower power
Crafting For All Seasons - handmade flowers
I Brake For - florals
Do You Stack Up - circles
Crafts 4 Eternity - use ribbon (narrow white)
SJ Crafts - favourites (colouring with Promarkers, cutting using the Cameo and my fav card stcok)
Craft Us Crazy - inspire using your favourites (see above)
Craft-room - emboss it (logo at bottom of sidebar)
Tammy's Scrapin' Corner -dies/punches
Aud Sentiments - anything goes
Emerald Faerie/A&T - anything goes
Creative Craft - anything goes
Catch The Bug - anything goes.

#115 Fairy Tabia's Bubbles

Theme at I ♥ Promarkers - fairies
Sponsor & prize this week - Joanna Sheen (£10 gift voucher)

Now I am not always the most decisive of people - but that is only because I can often see so many possibilities....  When I started to make my project for this week's challenge, this was one of my problems. Too many things flying through my head!  So many in fact that I just might produce some of the other variations as some point just to get them out of my system! LOL. The image is 'Fairy Tabia' by Mo Manning. Isn't she just gorgeous?  I do love Mo's images.

Yes, I was still playing with my Silhouette too, so made my framework for Tabia on this creating a 'special place' for Tabia to reside within the bubble circle all of which I had also made myself.  This circle of circles is in fact two layers so that I could add the coloured 'bubbles' neatly. These ones were actually made from colouring Promarkers onto acetate. The reverse is actually ever so slightly different (a couple of extra cut out bubbles so it is just that little bit more interesting on the back than it otherwise might have been - I know, I am mad!!!)  The logic being of course, that as it dangles it will rotate slightly so didn't want it to be too boring on the back.

The second circular panel is a variation of the first one, but with extra bubbles/circles including one in the centre, a dangling sentiment. Again this panel comprises of two layers to sandwich the 'bubbles' safely & neatly in between.  The chain I have had in my stash for some time (well, years to be perfectly honest, LOL) but the links (fortunately), were pliable enough to allow me prise them apart with some pointy nosed pliers to get my card elements in.

Now all I need is some sunshine so the 'bubbles' can come to life......LOL.


Tine :)

Challenges I would like to enter this card for are:
Mo's - favourite colours
Craft Us Crazy - favourite stamp company &/or found inspiration
SJ Crafts - favourites (..one of my fav images, cutting with the Silhouette & colouring using Promarkers)
Crafts & Me - fav colour combo
Drunken Stampers - acetate
Our Daily Bread - no dps
Little Claire's - doing the rounds (use circles)
Sweet Stamping - anything but square
Scrappy Frogs - shapes
Come & Get It - anything but a card
Catered Crop - the letter 'B' (...for bubbles)
Sundays With Crissy - things with wings
Inspire Me Fridays - anything goes
Creative Mondays - anything goes
Papertake - anything goes
Incy Wincy - Mother's Day or girlie
Outlawz (Monday Greetings Challenge)- either Mother's Day or for a girl  (the latter)