This year's obsession ....

.... yup, it's my son's birthday again.  He is one of those boys who gets completely obsessed with things, so each year, I make a card relevant to his current craze!!  Last year, it was James Bond, the year before it was Nightmare before Christmas.  We've had Mister Men, Countdown, etc. down the years.  But, to give him credit, these are no flash in the pan fixations - we usually get a good 6 to 18 months before he moves on to the next big thing!!!

This year, he is madly into Lego PowerMiners.  So having dithered about with large shapes and got nowhere, I decided to use Sandie's sketch for this week's PaperPlay Challenges, and here's what I made for him (his name has been blurred out):

I layered up pieces of the image (it's a Rock Monster, should anyone wish to know!!!), here's a side shot:

And I printed out lettering from the computer, transferred it to black card for the number and yellow for the lettering.  I've used Rock Candy Stickles to highlight his tusks and the number 8 - that stuff is fabulous, here's a little close-up - see how chunky it dries.  And since this fortnight's Fussy and Fancy Friday challenge is called "Dazzle Us", I'm entering it in - bit different from the usual entries, but there's a lot of shimmer and shine on this card, with the Rock Candy, also I stamped the background in metallic silver, and have used glitter buttons.  Bling!!

Recipe:

Papers: BG Ambrosia

Stamp: Hero Arts Grid

Ink: Brilliance Silver

Other: Rock Candy Distress Stickles, Doodlebug Buttons, needle + thread

I also made party bags for his friends, using the Rock Monster's face and more letters for their names:

Lots of cutting out!!!

And when DS opened his card, he said "Oh. My. Gosh.  That.  Is.  So.  Cool!!". 

Result!!!!

Someone finally had ....

.... a baby boy.  Just looking back, I've made nothing but baby girl cards for the past 6-8 months.  Now, one of the teachers at school has bucked the trend and had a boy. 

Here's my card - I made it at a crop in Marie's (Crafty Angels) house on Saturday (thanks Laura and Marie - I had a lovely day).  This card doesn't cover any challenges, 'cos all the ones I normally do were still doing Valentine's when I made it, or else needed images from a specific company, I just used my Hampton Art stamp again.

Recipe:

Stamp: Hampton Arts

Ink: Staz-On Dove Grey (+ Tim Holtz Antique Linen for distressing)

Papers: Piggy Tales

Other: Crackle Accents, MS Zig-zag punch, ribbon from stash, needle + thread.

Once again, a very dark photo, the crackle glaze on the image wasn't dry enough to take a daylight pic, so this will have to suffice!!

Oh Mother-in-Law ....

.... you don't know how lucky you are!!!!  I got my pack of BG Origins and you got the first card made with it!!!!

This week on PaperPlay Challenges, the challenge is "Birthday for Someone Special", and since it's MiL's birthday this week, she gets to be it!!!

Look at this yummy paper, who would have thought that yellow/green/brown could be combined and actually look good!!!

I'm also entering it on this week's BasicGreyChallenges, which is to use this sketch:

And Quixotic Challenges this week is called "Tag it" - they want to see tags on projects.  Well, I've got a little tag that pulls out from behind the image, here's a pic:

I'm also entering this on CraftyAngels, their challenge this week to to use your favourite colour.  Here's the weird thing, I think my favourite crafting colour is brown.  I never ever wear brown, I wouldn't decorate my house with brown, but nearly everything I make papercraftwise has brown in it somewhere.  Can't understand it at all!!!

Recipe:

Papers: BG Origins (drool!)

Stamp: Hero Arts stamped using Pro-markers

Colouring Medium: Pro-markers

Other: MS Doily Lace Punch, MS Branch Punch, Distress Ink, needle and thread, ribbon, gems and flowers from stash

Thanks for looking!

Yahoo, a commission ...

.... from school, for a teacher who recently got engaged (I've never made an engagement card before).

I've also made it for this week's challenge on The Sugar Bowl, which is this interesting sketch:
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I've flipped it 90 degrees and done a DL card (very out of my comfort zone - but there needs to be plenty of space for all the staff to sign it!!!). I used my Leanne Ellis "True Love" stamp, and decided to use more masculine colours - after all, the card is for a bloke as well as a girl!!!
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I agonised for ages over whether or not to cut the image into 4 pieces to replicate the "window" in the sketch. In the end, I did it and I think it makes it a much more interesting card. I also glossy accented the flower and leaves.

Recipe:
Papers: MME 29th Street Market
Stamp: "True Love" Leanne Ellis for Sugar Nellie
Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Ink, Vintage Photo and Antique Linen
Colouring Medium: Pro-markers
Other: Ribbon and brads from Stash, Fiskars border punch, needle and thread

ETA: Took the pics again in daylight today - it was a grey day so they're only a bit better, but the colours are at least truer!!
Thanks for looking.

P.S. Update on the baby's name from a few posts back, they called her Cara (so glad I put repositional adhesive on the nameplate!):o).

One card a week ....

.... oh, this is just too bad. I'm so thankful for my DT position, it makes me make time to craft once a week even when things are crazy busy. I'm about to off-load a voluntary secretary job that I've been doing for the past 5 years, it takes up a lot of my time on a sporadic basis, especially at this time of year. It's the AGM at the weekend, so all I have left to do is take the minutes, transcribe them and then hand over to my "lucky" successor. That will surely leave more time for crafting!!!

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Anyhoo, this week's challenge on PaperPlay Challenges is called "Love Notes", given the time of year and all that!!!

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Here's my DT sample, it's my card for my husband, who would recoil in horror if I made something pink and frilly with hearts on, so I made black (and red and green and gold) with hearts on!!!

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I'm also entering this card in Fussy and Fancy Friday, their challenge this fortnight is "Hearts" and Simon Says Stamp,who this week have a photo challenge of red roses on a green background (I've taken the colour scheme and shabbied it up a lot) and Double Dutch, their challenge is "Be my Valentine".

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I used the divine BG Scarlet's Letter papers, they are the first BG I saw and I still love them. Great for manly Valentines cards!!! And I've put a little joke on DH on the card - he is NOT a fan of MS punches, I won't tell what he says about them, it's not repeatable. See those little black hearts, they are the throwaway bits from the middle when you punch using the Valentine's Lace punch. I got them out of the bin and put Crackle Accents on them. He'll never know there's MS punchwork on his card!!!

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Here's a little close-up:

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Recipe:

Papers: BG Scarlet's Letter

Stamps: Hero Arts stamped in Gold with Gold E.P.

Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Old Paper, Fired Brick, Black Soot

Other: MS Valentine Lace Punch, Crackle Accents, needle and thread

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Thanks for looking!!