Beside the Seaside

 With the warmer weather now, it's time to start making some Summer themed birthday cards

I've always been glad that my birthday falls in the summer, it's a good excuse to have a trip out or BBQ, and I never had to go to school on my birthday!

However, you could never guarantee the British weather and some birthdays have been washed out due to torrential rain and thunderstorms!

Handbags & Boots

 

I came across some old foam stickers of handbags and  boots  recently. I think they were a freebie from a magazine ages ago, so it was time to use them!

Plus use up a couple of old handbag shaped sentiments from Craftwork Cards too . 

POW!

 I invested £2 in The Works on these Superhero stickers to help me make some cards suitable for young boys and teenagers, always tricky to find a suitable subject for them!

The bright, vibrant colours meant I was also able to use up some more of my odd scraps of paper

I also add a few drops of bright lime green Nuvo Drops to the next card!

More Feathers

 

For ages now I've been hunting for my favourite feather shaped die. I haven't been able to find it for months and had to rely on stamping out feathers or using a smaller die to decorate my cards (like on the card on the left)

Then I picked up a pad of background papers, and there it was, stuck to the back! I was so pleased and made a couple of garden bird themed cards to celebrate.

Party Invites

 

It's my Dads 80th Birthday soon, so I was volunteered to make the party invitations. I've only got to make 15, but I wanted them to each be similar, but different. So, I used a mix of die cut balloons, champagne glasses, birthday cakes and stars in a variety of colours and mirricard -  it also helped to use up some scraps of card from my stash!

More Scraps

 Another birthday card made up of contrasting scraps of paper - I need more inspiration, as there is still a big pile left - might need to pop over to Pintrest to see what other people have made! 

Cat & Dog Stickers

 

I picked up this cheap booklet of cartoon cat and dog stickers for only £1 at the Works this week.

It's been useful to use up some scraps of paper - my piles of off-cuts are ever increasing!

Also produced a slightly different style of cards to my usual.

Lucky Car Boot sale

 

Yesterday I want to my first card boot sale of the year - lovely and bright, but boy, was the wind cold!

I picked up an unused 6x6 paper pad called 'Lets Celebrate' by Love to Craft for 50p. On another stall several rows away I found packets of matching tags and bows for another 50p! Great to make these bright birthday cards.

But, the best buy of the trip was a Hornsea Pottery mug with a weird face on it that cost 75p. After checking it out when I got home, I found it was quite rare and sold it online that evening for £35. 

Snap!

 

I found this pack of round snap cards in a local charity shop for £1 - I think they were from a MacDonalds kids Happy Meal promoting the recent Space Jam movie.

I thought they would make great toppers for kids birthday cards

They are bright, cheerful and feature many different Loony Tunes characters!

Still Dreaming!

 

 Yet more cards made from the fab Japanese dreams stamp set.

The koi carp were stamped onto a piece of paper which I had experimented on when playing with the brushos powder back in April 2019!

More Japanese Dreams

 

I'm really enjoying playing with these oriental stamps from Creative Stamping Magazine

and using the the orange/yellow/pink colour combo when colouring in images with my promarkers

Japanese Dreams - Creative Stamping Mag

 

I couldn't resist picking up this copy of Creative Stamping mag on a trip to Hobbycraft - it was the Koi Carp and the Good Luck Japanese Character that appealed to me.

So, of course, the first cards I made with the set featured them. The coin with the hole in the middle I have had in my stash for years!

Next I'm going to try out the Mount Fuji Scene and the paper lanterns

Charity Shop Bargains

 

Somebody must have been having a big clear out of their craft room as there was a large pile of brand new, unused card making stuff at my local charity shop when I popped in last.

There was a lot of Hunkdory items -books of  toppers, card making packs, sheets of sentiments as well as paper pads and die cuts.

I spent £15 and picked up a lot of  bits to keep me busy for quite a while - and left some for other crafters to enjoy too!

Sprig of Holly

 

Desite having piles of Christmas stash, I couldn't resist this little cutting die from The Works - it was only £2, and I have cut out about 20 of these already

They look great added as a corner embellishment

also cut out of patterned paper with coloured berries

added to a recycled Christmas card from last year

...and of course, cut out in gold and paired with my festive tiger! 

Missing In Action

 Sorry I haven't been blogging for soo long, but moving house seems to have taken up far too much time and energy than I expected!

However, we are now nicely settled into our new home and starting to relax and enjoy it.

Of course, the craft room was one of the last rooms to be unpacked and I have twice had to move furniture around to get a set up that I am happy with - you know, the things you use the most close to hand, whilst others can be further back.

Christmas card production is now in full flow, although I started a month later than normal, so may not be able to donate so many cards to charity as usual.

Nothing says Christmas more than a tiger wearing a Santa hat does it! I was surprised to see these toppers in Hobbycraft but couldn't resist them. Hope you are all well on the way with your Xmas cards now.

Sunflowers

 It's lovely seeing Sunflowers at this time of year, a field of them in Rougham, Suffolk is open to the public this weekend. So a Sunflower card seemed appropriate to make this week!

Fairy Wishes

 

Sorry it's been a while since I last posted - decluttering, cleaning, packing, birthdays and a family engagement have all been taking up my time. Although I still have time to make a card now and then! The craft room will not be packed up until we get a date to move, so I still get time to craft occasionally. 

Looks like we are going to be moving home in September now, the weeks are ticking away - but despite being in a short chain of 4 people, there still are issues and concerns to be dealt with - no wonder they say it is a stressful time for all concerned.

Beneath the Sea Part 2

 

A few more cards made with those coloured images from my last post!

Haven't used mulberry paper on a card for ages!