A Sunny Sunday Morning

Hi everyone, I hope your Sunday is as bright and sunny as it is here!

I had a little time to get crafting yesterday while Hubby went to the football so I broke out one of my favourite stamp sets: Ranunculus by Stampendous. I need a batch of birthday cards to see me through September and October so decided to check out the challenge over at Seize the Birthday. This week the topping is 'black and white' and the DT girls have really pulled out all the stops with a fabulous selection of inspiration. I was especially taken with Janet's beautiful card and decided to have a go at the technique she'd  used.

Janet's original is stunning and so well made. My homage (or CASE!) is a little shaky but I think it's ok as a first attempt. Stamping across three layers proved to be difficult and in places I had to ink-in the lines that were faint or missing.

My second card uses the same stamp but this time I embossed in gold and added a die-cut. I think this card would also work well as a wedding or anniversary card in these colours.

Finally, here is a slightly blurry picture I snapped out in the garden earlier.

It really is begging for a caption so feel free to leave one as a comment if the spirit moves you!

Back to school/work tomorrow: where did the summer go?

Pandamonium too!

I'm road testing a new camera so please forgive that I am back to post a companion card to the one I posted yesterday.

While I was setting up my card a single leaf twirled down beside it. I liked that it matched my colour scheme so left it where it landed.

Looks like the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness isn't too far away.

Pandamonium

Here I am again ready to share a card AND some holiday pictures.

If you want to skip the holiday pictures just take a quick peek at this rather cute card made using the Pandamonium Clear Stamps from Mama Elephant, The pandas, lanterns and sentiments are adorable and this set requires very little colouring or fussy cutting. I created the background using an embossing folder and Distress inks. Unfortunately, after assembling the card I added too many sequins but never mind.

So now for the holiday news... We are just back from a lovely break in the tranquil town of Cavtat in Croatia.  We stayed in an enormous hotel (unusual for us) and lazed around eating too much and enjoying the scenery. Here is the view across the bay from our hotel.

We visited beautiful Dubrovnik by boat.

 And went up in the cable car for a breathtaking view and a rather tasty lunch.

Each day the harbour in Cavtat was full of an assortment of truly amazing boats. Here's the one I'll be buying when my lottery numbers come up! If I look a bit bedraggled it's because we were drenched  by a wave on the return trip from Dubrovnik. We were quite literally soaked to the skin so thank goodness it was really warm and sunny.

If only every day could be like this...

July Card Chain Challenge Reveal

I am always, always late in posting my 'reveal' for Deborah Card Chain Challenge!

Here is the card I sent to the lovely Joy.

I hadn't inked up a Gorjuss Girl in ages so decided to use a Santoro cling stamp bought in a sale a while ago. Unfortunately, I discovered that the cling part of the stamp was really tacky and had stuck to the packaging. Perhaps this is why the stamp was in the sale? Luckily, it doesn't seem to have damaged the stamp, just the illustration but you might want to check your own stamps by this manufacturer just in case.

After stamping the main image I carefully masked it so I could create a background using Hero Arts stamps with Versacolour ink in grey and silver, with highlights of blue. These were Deborah's colours for July and I have to say that I love this pretty colour combo.
I was lucky enough to receive a card from Mynette in Kansas, USA this month and am very proud to have such a pretty card sitting on  my mantelpiece!

You can sign up for the August Card Chain Challenge over at Deborah's blog. I've made some lovely new blogging buddies through taking part in this challenge and would urge everyone to give it a go.

Finally, I thought I'd share a picture of the amazing Mr C.
Sweet Custard the cat has a choice of four sofas, some soft rugs, and three cat beds for snoozing during the day but right now he seems to prefer a dusty patch of garden. Guess who was given a thorough brushing before he was allowed in the house...

Have a happy day!