Happy Birthday Chris and Susannah

Two birthdays on the same day .... first my brother celebrates his 40th today - yep he finally enters the over 40's club - welcome Chris!

Isn't the little penquin cute - he's the two step owl punch with a slight adjustment to his ears - I chopped them off ... brutal I know - hence his startled look I think :)

The little balloons are from the Party This Way set and the numbers were cut using the Sizzix Timeless Type alphabet.  I really love the Celebrations Designer Series papers - they are just so bright.

And my second card is for my lovely friend Susannah who lives in Scotland.  We met at a painting class many years ago and have remained friends ever since.  

Another Fifth Avenue rose, this time in Rose Red - watercoloured and then cut out - I sponged the edges a little.  I used the Friendly Words roller and Versamark to create the background and layered up pieces of embossed card, leaves from the Two Step Bird punch and offcuts from the beautiful new Vintages trims to create this card.  The lace at the bottom is called Chantilly and I've added a few of the little self adhesive pearls - I think you can just about see them the photo - they are very tiny - and a quick spritz of shimmer mist.

Happy birthday to both of you.

Love from Nikki

xx

NOTE:  The latest Stampamemory challenge started today - if you missed this morning's post scroll down :) 

Just Add Ink Challenge #48

With the festivities over and enough food left to feed an army, I've had no more excuses for not sitting down and trying to find my lost mojo.  So yesterday whilst the boys were at the MCG watching the cricket, I made some of my new tea - Buddha's Tears  (the nicest green tea I have ever tasted) .... and thought I'd start with the latest JAI challenge.  Six cards later .... I think I've finally cracked it .... missing mojo found - YAY :)

So here's the first of many cards to show you:

The beautiful rose from Fifth Avenue Floral makes a lovely outline to watercolour.  I stamped it onto watercolour paper in black Stazon and then used an Aqua Blender pen and some Rich Razzleberry ink to colour in the image.  The Victoria Crochet Trim and a little Vintage Trinket from the Summer Mini are perfect to create a vintage look ... the little self adhesive pearls and some shimmer paint  to finish it off.  

Hope you are having a fun and relaxing time and find some time to create - hop on over to JAI for lots of inspiration.

Back soon with more .... need to start scrapbooking again too.

 

JAI Challenge # 36

It's been a while since I have taken part in one of these.  The JAI girls have a lovely sketch for their challenge this week - check out the details here.

I've been making Artist Trading Cards for a monthly swap I participate in and I thought I'd create a card at the same time.

With Spring having well and truly sprung I have been taking photos of flowers and blossoms ... the colour inspiration for this card came from a bunch of flowers I bought for a friend last week - Canterbury Bells ... and old English flower.

 They are just so beautiful aren't they.  The colours I have used are the new Concord Crush and Pear Pizzazz.  The stamp set is Baroque Motifs and I've also used the new Whisper White taffeta ribbon with a Tiny Tag sentiment.

Back tomorrow with another Making Merry Monday.

JAI Challenge #29

The girls at JAI have a colour challenge this week - I did like these colours when I saw them but I actually struggled to include Kraft - yes I know ... shock horror!

Now I am really not sure about this card ... I like the ribbon detail - that's been in my head for a little while now but I am not sure about the placement of the flower.  I've used the So Swirly wheel and a Rose Red ink pad for the background .... the floral stamp is from the Tiny Tags set  and the sentiment from Pocket Silhouettes ... you can see I fiddled with this for a while can't you.

The ribbon is the 1/4" grosgrain, I've knotted little bits along a main peace - Always Artichoke and Very Vanilla.  Oh and I've sponged a bit here and there too.

 

Making Merry Monday

I got a bit inky making this one!  In fact I made 11 of them for a team swap so I was very inky indeed! 

Using the Tiny Tags and Tiny Tag punch these cards were quick to make.  Colours are Baja Breeze and Confetti White card stock with Basic Grey.  The little snowflake is from the Winter Post set.

Back this week with news of a special offer.

 

Happy Birthday Yvonne

May is our birthday month - do you have one of those?  Lots of friends and relatives have birthdays in May.  I do have a sense of achievement when I get all the cards made for this month ... I even had most of them in the post super early too.

This is the card I have made for my sister-in-law Yvonne.  

I am in love with the Big Shot - and especially the embossing folders - you can make cards so quickly and easily - and the new Tiny Tags set and matching Medium Jewelry Tag - so cute and so quick.

I've punched out several of the punches and then tied them all together with a piece of hemp twine ... just a cute little embellishment.

And here is another version, yes another birthday ... this time for Aris, a good friend of mine who celebrates her birthday at the end of April (yes this one was late!).

These cards are so easy to make and very effective ... expect to see lots more of these :o)

Happy Birthday.