Celebrations!

Yesterday my biggest boy was

 His dad and I had lots of fun on Facebook with old photos like this one

although now he looks more like this

and as we were walking along to the cinema yesterday I realised that he has actually grown a bit recently as I was having to look further up than I used to. (Still not tall but almost!)

We celebrated by going to the cinema to see Elysium (which I loved, the rest of the family not so much. It was quite a moral tale - but with lots of scenes to make you go "ew" as well, so sadly, although it makes you think, will not be one I can play clips of on a Sunday morning in Church) and with a Pizza Express meal (yum! and the discount code for 25% off all main courses made it taste even better). The last bit of celebration is tomorrow when we go to the zoo. We were going to go yesterday but Hywel had to sign on in the middle of the day and then we were going to go on Monday but we can't because he will be working. He got a job on his birthday in computer games programming - working from home (8 hours a day!) We are so excited and pleased and proud.

My card was made with celebrating a birthday AND a Daring challenge in mind (always try to do both if I can!) This week's challenge, chosen by Svenja, was Heavy Metal
Here is a bigger version of my card

I made a similar shaker frame for an upcoming Quirky Kits layout and decided it would be fun to do one for the card. I found some chipboard frames and painted them teal. I sandwiched acetate and sequins in between. Fiddly but fun! In order to see them better I put white card at the back. The patterned paper is Fancy Pants.

I used some thin embossing metal with PTI dies and a Cuttlebut embossing folder. I added some silver dots with stickles and left them to dry. In the morning they had all fused together - disaster! But I found some silver stick on gems and a silver (plastic) key to try and disguise the mess. I think it just about worked.

I suppose now I ought to make a congrats card!

Things can only get better

Reasons to be cheerful:

• The sun is still shining (mostly) this summer and Torbay looks beautiful
• Although H didn't get the job that he applied for last week he was very philosophical about it and has several other irons in the fire
• I have recieved the latest Quirky Kit to play with and it is awesome.
• I get to see some of my favourite people this week. They keep me balanced (well as balanced as I am ever going to get)
• tonight is Buff-fest. Sadly we are on series 7 and every episode is bittersweet as we get nearer the end. But I've never watched this series and apart from someone accidentally giving away a major plot point I have no idea what happens. (Not quite as bad as the poor woman who had made friends with someone else on the Ferry to france who she had spotted reading a Harry Potter book, thought it was the one after and gave away a mahoosive spoiler. When she realised what she had done she spent the last 30 minutes of the ferry crossing apologising....)
• After the last card debacle I am pleased to say that this one came together in no time

Kathy chose our Daring Cardmaker theme this week - Just Beachy  and as I live VERY close to the beach (10 mins including the steep hill/Cliff Railway) I had to join in. There was only one key focus for me - something that made the beach awesome for my lovely great-nephew Max

 (Yes ok, so our beach has this rather disappointing red claggy sand. But it is still a beach with sand, right?) 

A bucket and spade! These were cut on my Cameo using bought shapes that I have had for a while and never used. I inked the edges to give shadow and also went round with a black Sharpie for extra definition. The yellow paper is from a Fancy Pants 6x6 pad (park bench); the red and yellow spot is American Crafts Lucky Charm and the zigzag is from  Fancy Pants Wonderful Day. The sentiment is Paper Smooches (one of my most used as I am sure you are aware) stamped onto a Dienamics die cut. The last touch is some enamel dots. I had a few of these dots in colours that make me go "meh" so I covered them with black Sharpie and they are much more useable for me.

The bucket and spade are on foam pads as you can see better here

As I live in said beach resort it is better to stay at home than try to travel anywhere so that is what I am doing this weekend. If you are travelling have a fun and safe Bank Holiday weekend. And if you are in Brixham this Sunday why not come to Brixham United Reformed Church at 10:30 am (its just up from the cross roads where the traffic lights are). I'll be the short one at the front.

How long does it take to make a card?

In this case four days.
FOUR
DAYS
and there is hardly anything left from the first version that went on to the second version.
And even that nearly went into the bin
Sigh.
I think it was performance anxiety as I loved the Dare from Friday so much and wanted to make a most excellent card
and it all went pear shaped.
So, this weeks Daring Card challenge is "colours of the sea"
My fave colours
I love the colours of the sea and not just when it looks as amazing as this sherbert style

(photo taken of our local beach following a rock fall in May)
Green and teal and turquoise and light blue.
Yummy.
My card - not so.

Part of the problem was that some new Distress Glitters arrived that I was desperate to play with. I had the idea of die cutting a Dienamics flower, dry embossing the part left behind, smooching it with the matching distress inks and then replacing the flower - now covered with the glitter.

BUT I had forgotten that on the video I had watched Sir Tim had warned not to try to use the glitter on thin strips. And I discovered that my ever trusty glue pen does not work with these glitters. 

I was left with a huge mess.

This version has strips of card and double sided tape. I had begun assembling when I realised that the Peeled Paint glitter - lovely though it is, was now completely the wrong shade (you can just about see it sneaking in through strip 2 from the bottom). In the end I covered it with green Stickles - which did not dry evenly so I added some liquid pearls.

The next strip of ultrafine glitter over double sided tape - no problem. The thicker strip needed several pieces of DST and that all went a bit wrong and some of the Peeled Paint glitter got in there (how? why? dunno) so needed more pearls and stickles

I added a strip using the Peeled Paint and Peacock Feathers distress ink (fine once I had cut it straight. That took three goes)

Just be glad that the sentiment stamped perfectly the first time or there wouldn't be a card even now.

Still I like the layers now it is finished

and we are not going to mention the tiny speck of blue ink that obviously came off my finger on the edge of the card are we? ARE WE? Good.

I'll be back in a calmer frame of mind with some layouts very soon!

Just like buses

or Tuesday is the new Friday.
This really is just about the first chance I have had to sit down and blog. I thought I would have some time on Friday - but no. I had even set a page up but didn't have time to fill in the gaps.

We have had visitors.
We had three lots coming and going on Saturday!
Which is really, really lovely. We are enjoying catching up with friends and family and sharing the beautiful place we live with them. Doing some things we haven't before. But the combination of that and work hasn't left much time for anything else.

When I have a chance to craft again some of the adventures we have had will be revealed. But as I have the Florence album to finish and the Cornwall album to start it may be sometime. Still memories are captured and can never go away.

So here is last Fridays Daring card. Zuzana found the most beautiful inspiration image for us

and this is my effort

 

I used some MME doily border stamps and white embossing powder on some VERY old Piggy Tales scrapbooking paper. It looks like Wedgewood pottery in real life (she says fancifully)

I stamped my brand new Clearly Besotted poppy stamps onto watercolour paper and embossed and die cut them. I used pink distress ink to colour in the flowers. The leaves were stamped with two green distress ink and all were cut out using the co-ordinating dies. I mounted the flowers onto white dry embossed cardstock and that was matted on some white paper which I had coloured with the pink Distress ink to match. White opal liquid pearls and another new CB stamp finished it off.

Two more cards made recently - both as a "use-up" after creating a layout (which will eventually feature!)

Mostly MME papers; various dies from Spellbinders and Dienamics and a Paper Smooches sentiment

A Simple Stories card - which also uses three different sentiment stamps to make the pun. There is some Wink of Stella shimmer action going on with the cherries if you look close up.



Life continues to be busy round here - but I wouldn't have it any other way (well except for the lack of blogging and crafting time but that will come again I am sure!)

And another week flies by!

Busy week work wise  - quite demanding in lots of ways. I just managed to squeak in a tiny bit of crafting. It probably felt a lot harder this week in that I worked on Monday to save a day off to spend more time with friends and family in the next few weeks. (I say a day off but I seem to be adding in work bits already. Hmmmm)

Anyway it is August. (Eeeek!) so it is colour combo week for Daring Cardmakers. Svenja came up with a delicious picture (I think she made juice with the fruits later on!) to whet our appetites

I started looking around for suitable coloured bits and bobs and suddenly found that everything I needed was in the scraps left from the last Quirky Kit and Lite kit!

 

I used some of the Studio Calico stickers, along with a Martha Stewart leaf punch and some Nestie dies. I dry embossed the card base. It went a bit wrong in that the folded card wouldn't go all the way through the Cuttlebug. But I think I got away with it (almost!). The lovely Studio Calico Sundrifter vellum had an ombre effect and I was dead chuffed that I still had the yellow part left. It is stuck on behind the circle and paper strips.  A few sticky gems and I am done.

BUT

although I like cards with "hello" on - they are visually engaging which maybe why the phrase is popular on card blogs - who do I send it to? Maybe I will add a birthday greeting inside on on the front somewhere before I send it!