Birthday cake

It was my birthday last week, and I thought my birthday cake packaging and ribbon would be great to recycle to create an art journal page, so here it is (smile).

I started by adding the wording “Have your cake & eat it”, which I ripped from the bag that the cake came in and then stuck into place using a glue stick. Then I added clouds over the page covering the wording too, to match the blue cloudy sky design on my cake, using Speckled Egg and Salty Ocean Distress Ink and a Slimline Sunburst Stencil/Mask by Marianne Design. The circles were die cut from the cake box packaging and I arranged them onto the page with the pretty rainbow ribbon which was around the base of the cake. To finish, I added some Tim Holtz Label Stickers to the circles; they read “Happy Birthday, “Eat cake”, “Thanks” and “Make a wish”.

Don’t forget that there is still another week to join our Rainbow Colours challenge over at Try it on Tuesday, it would be lovely to see you there.

Here’s my birthday cake, it was a light sponge cake filled with buttercream and raspberry jam, covered and topped with royal icing decoration; it was very yummy and we needed a fire engine with all the candles my mum added to it (smile!). 

Hoping that you all stay safe and well! x

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Challenges

I’m joining the lovely Valerie and her Geometric Forms challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the circles on my page (smile!).

No place like home

There’s “no place like home” and I’m so glad to be back here in Blogland; I missed you all!

My page today is for our new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday, which is Autumn and features some beautiful autumnal colours – Happy October everyone!

I started by stamping Dandelion, Rich Cocoa, Potter’s Clay and Toffee Crunch Memento Inks over the background using a square patchwork stamp by Urban stamps. I added a zig zag stitch stamp, which was from the same stamp set, between the squares using black Archival Ink. Then I covered the page using white gesso using a brayer to tone down the colours a little. Next I die cut some flowers and foliage from some Tim Holtz Kraft Cardstock – Classic using a Funky Nature Sizzix Thinlits set and I arranged them on the page with some die cut pieces from a Ephemera set by Simple Stories. To finish, I added a button along side the wording “No place like home”.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to see the amazing creations from our Guest Designer and the rest of my Design Teamies (grin!). I hope you are inspired to join our challenge; it would be lovely to see you there!

I haven’t been blogging for a couple of months, life just got in the way and the time off helped me realise that my priorities and commitments have changed. As I haven’t really shared any life events with you for a while, here are some of my happy highlights so far this year:

Holiday in Torbole, Lake Garda, Italy

Family Birthday Celebrations (not mine nor my hubby’s).

Spending time and visiting with Family and Friends – this was a yummy meal that we enjoyed at our local Greek restaurant with our dear friends.

Although I haven’t been blogging, I have been getting creative so there will be more art journal pages and photos posted if you’re interested to see what I’ve been up too.

I hope that you are staying safe and well!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Challenges

As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to join the following challenges:

MIUCB #67 Anything Goes + optional Make Your Own Background over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with the background that I created and techniques that I used.

Thank You Friend

It’s the first Friday of May, so it’s time for a new challenge over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, which as always is Anything Mixed Media Goes.

My mixed media page was inspired by birthday cards and goodies from my dearest friends; the dotty paper was a recycled envelope from one of my birthday cards and the gorgeous butterfly was a napkin that was sent to me by my good friend, Tracey.

I started by ripping the dotty envelope into pieces and arranging them onto the page using a glue stick and some matte gel medium. Then I ripped the edges of napkin from around the beautiful butterfly image and applied the butterfly to the page. I arranged the ripped pieces of leftover napkin in-between the dotty paper and stuck them in place using matte gel medium. When dry, I used various colours of Kuretake watercolour paint to match and colour around the napkin pieces. Then I edged the papers and butterfly using a Uni Pin fine line marker smudging the ink with my finger. To finish, I added a Tim Holtz label sticker which reads “Thank You Friend”.

For more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from our Guest Designer and my fellow Design Team members over at Creative Artiste too. All you need to do is to use three different mediums on your projects to join our mixed media challenge; I hope you are inspired to join us, it would be lovely to see you there!

I received some beautiful cards and gifts last month for my birthday; this homemade card and crafting goodies were sent to me by my dear friend Tracey from New Beginnings …Creating in my Corner – thank you so much!

Stay safe and well!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Challenges

As well as Creative Artiste , I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Art Journal Journey which is being hosted by the lovely Aimeslee this month, who has chosen Flowers as her theme; so I’m joining in the fun with the flowers of the butterfly image on my page.

Triple B Challenge where everything is about Birds, Blooms and Butterflies so as their May Challenge; I’m joining them with all the blooms and butterflies that my main butterfly image is made up from.

LTSCB#161 – Anything Goes over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my Thank You page.

Cosmos Birthday Cards

Today I’m over at Country View Challenges sharing more birthday cards for this month’s Birthday Card for a Man challenge; this time I created them using some beautiful Cosmos papers by Stamperia.

These cards were very simple to make, I cut out the picture panels of the wolf, deer and frog from a piece of 12×12 Cosmos design paper from a Stamperia paper pad. Then I mounted them onto some 6×6″ blank cards, which I had covered in a complimentary backing paper. To finish, I added some toppers which had happy birthday sentiments on them.

I hope you are inspired to join our challenge over at Country View Challenges too, if you do, you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts.

These Stamperia papers are so beautiful, here are the individual cards …

This howling wolf is my hubby’s favourite.

Then we have the elegant deer.

Finally the fun frog, but don’t tell Chris from Pearshapedcrafting about this one as I seem to remember she doesn’t like frogs that much (smile!).

Stay safe and well!

Thanks so much for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Challenges

As well as Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

The Four Seasons Challenge and their Spring Season March 2023 Challenge with my frog card as their is a cute frog on their spring photo inspiration this month.

Birthstone Challenges and their BSC #2 Anything Goes with Aquamarine & Diamond Colors as my card colour palette matches these birthstone aquamarine and diamond colours. Please be sure to check out this challenge blog as it’s new (smile!).

Birthday Boy

It’s the first of the month so it’s time for a new challenge at Country View Challenges which is Birthday Card for a Man.

The lovely Corrie is hosting and as it’s her birthday month chose this challenge – Happy Birthday Corrie!

For my card, I covered the background using a Wordies Sentiments Sheet – Birthdays by Creative Expressions, cutting a piece of the sheet to fit the card. Next I embellished the card and also covered any female sentiments with some plaid Christmas Fabric Tape by Tim Holtz. I finished by adding the fun walrus, which was created using an Under The Sea #2 Sizzix Thinlits set and Kraft Cardstock – Classic, both by Tim Holtz.

For more inspiration please see the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Country View Challenges.

We are looking forward to seeing your makes and you never know, you might even win a £20 voucher for the shop, Country View Crafts! Before you enter your project though, please read the rules!

I love the fun walrus on his card! If you didn’t know, walruses are rare here in the UK, there have been somewhere around 27 sightings in the last 130 years. However we’ve had sightings of walrus on our UK shores in 2021, 2022 and also recently in 2023; a walrus was seen and photographed earlier this week in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland.

Stay safe and well! x

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Challenges

As well as Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Challenge #67 – Anything Goes over at Ally’s Angels Challenge Blog with my birthday card.

Make A Wish – Birthday Card

Today I’m over at Country View Challenges with another birthday card for this month’s Happy Birthday Challenge.

My feminine design was inspired by some pretty Sleeping Beauty Stamperia papers which I used to create this card.

I started by cutting a page of the Sleeping Beauty paper pad for a 6×6” blank card and stuck it in place using some double-sided tape. From the same paper pad, I cut the “Make a wish” birthday cake panel, edged it with a Cold Grey Faber-Castell marker and stuck it in place using double-sided foam tape. The “Happy Birthday” was die cut using a Female Occaions Sizzix Thinlits set from a couple of contrasting papers and I pieced them together onto the card using some double-sided tape. I coloured the “Happy Birthday” lettering using some Tarnished Brass Distress Paint and then I added some Ranger Glossy Accents over the top.

To finish, I added some drops of Glossy Accents onto the card and left it to dry to form clear 3-dimensional beads.

I hope you are inspired to join our Happy Birthday challenge over at Country View Challenges too, if you do, you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts.

If you’re interested, here are the other products that I used to create this page.

I hope that you’re staying safe and well!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Challenges

As well as Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Paperbabe Stamps and their #174 – Anything Goes challenge with my birthday card.

Ally’s Angels and their Challenge #61- Anything Goes with my pretty paper inspired card.

Eat Cake

It’s a new month so it’s time to launch a new challenge over at Country View Challenges which is Happy Birthday; the lovely Monika is hosting and asks that “you join this challenge with a birthday card and/or a gift”.

So for this challenge, I’m sharing this fun birthday card which I created using a Sizzix Celebration Cake Mini Thinlits Die.

I started by die cutting the cake using the Sizzix Thinlits die from some leftover soft pink cardstock, some recycled grey paper and some bright pink design paper. I also used the same bright pink paper to create the background and frame the cake by die cutting a circle from the paper. Then I layered everything together onto a 3×3” white card and I embellished the cake with a thin strip of the background paper and a pretty flower sticker. To finish, I added the “Eat Cake” wording which was a Sentiments Label Sticker from Tim Holtz.

As this card design was simple to make, I made a few of them to send to family and friends.

For more inspiration please see the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Country View Challenges. I hope you’ll join us, it would be lovely to see you there and you never know, you might even win a £20 voucher for the Country View Crafts shop! Before you enter, please read the rules!

As I’m also joining T Stands for Tuesday today, I’m continuing the birthday theme by sharing my cuppa with a piece of one of my homemade birthday cakes (smile!) – Happy T Day everyone!

Wishing you a Happy August and I hope that you’re staying safe and well! x

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Challenges

As well as Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Paperbabe Stamps and their #173 – Anything Goes challenge with my birthday cards.

LTSCB#156 – Anything Goes over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with the leftover and recycled papers that I used on my cards.

All the cake

It’s time for a new challenge over at Sparkles Monthly Challenge which Shaker Card/Project.

I’ve never created anything Shaker designed before so this was a first for me, so I decided to create this fun mini art journal page – see what you think (smile!).

I started by covering the chipboard page with a couple of layers of Bronze Distress Paint. When dry, I stamped the circles and starbursts using Fossilized Amber Distress Archival Ink and a Sparkles stamp set from AALL & Create. The “All the Cake” frame was from Simple Stories and I cut it to size, layering all the cakes together, to fit the page.

I added some prettily decorated film to the inside of the frame and filled it with lots of colourful sequins. The frame was layered onto the page with some balloons which were die cut from coloured paper using a Sizzix die set. To finish I added some tiny red stars to the background, which were from the same sequin pack, sticking them into place using Ranger Glossy Accents.

I hope you’ll join us at Sparkles Monthly Challenge too, for more inspiration please check out the amazing Shaker designs from my Sparkles Buddies in the Design Team; we would love for you to join us so please be sure to check out the rules here.

When asked I often make Birthday cakes for people and this year I made this cake for one of my dearest friends.

It was fun to make and you may recognise the little dog on the top that I created as the likeness was based my friend’s dog, Ellie (smile!).

I hope that you are staying safe and well!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Challenges

As well as Sparkles Monthly Challenge , I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Paperbabe Stamps and their #171 – Anything Goes challenge with my shaker page.

LTCCB#69- Anything Goes over at Love to Craft Challenge Blog with my fun “All the Cake” page.

Things with Wings

Over at Sparkles Monthly Challenge, we are launching a new challenge today which is Things with Wings.

So today I’m sharing the birthday card, that I made for my mum this year, featuring a huge Thinlits butterfly from Tim Holtz (smile!).

I started by creating a masterboard from watercolour paper smooshing it using Salty Ocean and Peacock Feather Distress Inks. When dry, I cut a panel from the masterboard and stuck it onto a 6×6” card using double-sided tape. Next I added some white rub-on transfers from a Remnant Rubs set by Tim Holtz and used some outline stickers to add some silver dots and a silver border around the panel. The large butterfly was die cut from white cardstock using a Perspective Butterfly Thinlits set by Tim Holtz and to finish, I added the “On Your Birthday” wording which was from a topper set.

I hope you’ll join us at Sparkles Monthly Challenge too, for more inspiration please check out the amazing Things with Wings designs from my Sparkles Buddies in the Design Team too; we would love for you to join us so please be sure to check out the rules here.

This is the gate that greets you at my mum’s house and as you can see it features many “things with wings” (smile!).

I hope that you’re staying safe and well!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Challenges

As well as Sparkles Monthly Challenge , I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

MIUCB #59 Anything Goes + Optional 3-D over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with all the different techniques that I used to create my 3-D butterfly card.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #169 – Anything Goes challenge with my butterfly card.

Flamingos

This page was inspired by the beautiful flamingos that we saw whilst visiting Blackpool Zoo (smile!).

I started by covering the page with Speckled Egg, Twisted Citron and Rustic Wilderness Distress Paints. When dry, I used the same Speckled Egg paint to stencil and also stamp a Waves mini stencil by Creative Expressions. Then I stencilled some Ranger Texture paste using a Carabelle Studio Art Mask and left it to dry. The flamingos were fussy cut from a topper sheet from Hunkydory and to finish, I added the wording “wild & free” which was a sticker by Little Yellow Bicycle.

Here are the gorgeous brightly coloured flamingos that we saw wading around in their lake. They are Caribbean flamingos and fly in flocks of several thousand in the wild; they fly in formation like migrating geese and make a similar honking sound.

They can live up to 40 years and are omnivorous in the wild, but, in captivity are fed on flamingo pellets which determine their colour and also small insects.

Challenges

I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

The lovely Matilde from http://craftowanie.blogspot.com/ is hosting this month at Art Journal Journey and her challenge is Birds so my flamingo art journal page is perfect (smile!).

Paperbabe Stamps and their #167 – Anything Goes challenge with my flamingo page.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Not A Card theme with my art journal page.

MIUCB #59 Anything Goes + Optional 3-D over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with all the different techniques that I used to create my flamingo page.

Using stencils on my page reminds me that you still have a few days left to join our Use A Stencil challenge over at Try it on Tuesday too; it would be lovely to see you there!