Swap Cards - Hello & Thank You

Some more swap cards for my CraftMad Swap group.

 

We had to swap two cards.

 

Card #1 - using a defined colour palette 

 

I started with an embossed card front and selected some inks that were sort of close to the defined colours and went about 'colouring in' using my ink blending brushes to create a feathery soft layered effect.

 

I Trimmed the cardfront down using Waffle Flower Rectangles and inked the edges to give definition to the border.  The cardfront was mounted with foam to a 300gsm cardbase.

 

I then diecut the 'hello' out of black cardstock and placed onto the front of the card.

 

I finished off with some gems that were received as part of my Secret Santa gift.

 

Linking Card #1 with:

Allsorts Challenge #843 - embossing

Beautiful Blossoms - Anything floral goes 

 

Card #2 - using items from Secret Santa gift.

 

The following card was made with several items received in my Secret Santa gift.

 

Secret Santa Gift 2025

I used a sheet from the paper pad and several elements of ephemera layered with foam tabs. 
 

 

The background paper was inked around the edges to define the border.  The gold 'thank you' sticker is from a sheet that has been in my stash for years!

 

I am quite pleased with how the cards turned out, even though they took a while to come together.

 

PS:  I ate the choccie santas, they didn't last long!  Thank you Secret Santa! 

 

Linking Card #2 with:

Beautiful Blossoms Challenge - Anything floral goes 

 

 

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Happy Anniversary

It's was our 44th Wedding Anniversary on 13th February.

 

There have been a few challenges this year, but I am happy to say we survived  LOL

 

So here is a card I made for our Anniversary.

 

I recently purchased some wonderfully fun images from ETSY.  

 

There was a wonderful selection of images - the hardest part was deciding which one to use, but when I saw these three images, and I knew that they would be perfect for our Wedding Anniversary card! 

 

I used Photoshop to place the 3 images on 3 different layers;  playing with different layouts and sizes  LOL  you have no idea on how long that took and the many minute changes I made to and fro  LOL

 

The Anniversary sentiment went on a different layer.

 

The cardfront was printed on 'glossy photo paper'.  I printed the sentiment layer separately with the Laser printer first, so that it could be foiled using my Mini Minc.  Then the images were printed using my Epson Ink Jet printer.  

 

After leaving the image to make sure it was completely dry, I trimmed the cardfront to size using Waffle Flower Nesting Rectangles and mounted to 300gsm red leathergrain cardbase.  No Kindy Glitz/Stickles on this card, as it for Mr Fixit!

 

If you've read this far, I shall explain the significance of the images.  

• We first met when I was a frequent roller skater at St Clair Roller Skating, Woodville and our first 'sort of' date, was roller skating. 
• He was in a 'band' and played guitar, and very often played for me.
• Now, it is me doing most of the driving when we go out.

And now the card I made for Valentines Day - this card is so very us lately LOL

The is essentially very simple - just the sentiment doing the talking, but what was challenging was finding a way to make only certain lines of text foiled in a different colour.  I solved my problem by placing a sheet over the area not being foiled, then cutting out 'slots' to expose only the words to be foiled.

It's a little bit smudged in some parts, as I fed it through the Minc twice, but I'm happy with how it turned out - after all, it's the thought that counts.

So another year done and dusted - next year the big 45...... which means Sapphire!  Woo Hoo!

 

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Happy Birthday Bestie!

It was my BFF's birthday recently.   Here is the card I made for her.

 

I recently purchased some wonderfully fun images from ETSY and I knew exactly who I was going to make a card for!

 

There was a wonderful selection of images - the hardest part was deciding which one to use.

 

Once I decided which image to use, I placed the image on one layer in Photoshop, then created another layer for the birthday sentiment.  

 

The cardfront was printed on 'glossy photo paper' using an Epson ink jet printer.  

 

After leaving the image to make sure it was completely dry, I trimmed the cardfront to size using Waffle Flower Nesting Rectangles and mounted to 300gsm cardbase.  I then highlighted a few select parts of the cat with Kindy Glitz/Stickles and the outer edge of cardfront.

 

We eventually caught up with each other and went out for a meal with our respective partners.  Food was good and as always, the company was great!

 

Linking with the following challenges:

CAS on Sunday #327 - Anything Goes

All Sorts Challenge #843 - Anything Goes 

Critter Crazy Challenge #107 - Anything Goes 

 

 

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Monotone Christmas & Shaped Card

Another crafting session, another card swap completed.

 

Card #1 - Shaped Card

 

I struggled to make a new card - I wanted to make a 'teepee' card, but no matter what measurements I used, it would not come together, so that idea was put on the back burner.  I pulled out my Klik n Kut to use but 'old technology' got the better of me  LOL

 

Time was running out and I did not want to be late AGAIN!

 

So I reverted to a card I had made previously, using my CraftROBO (before it went to crafty heaven) and kept in my 'to use' pile waiting for the right moment to send it.

 

I designed the card using a pretty font and applying offets, the cutting from SU Cardstock and some pretty DP with just a touch of glitter!

 

I threw in an extra one to make up for not making up a new card :)

 

 

Card #2 - Monotone Christmas card with Tag 

 

I decided to utilise some 'emboss heat resist' for this card and stamped a 'Kaszazz' christmas bauble (I think - if anyone knows for sure, let me know please) with Versamark and heat embossed with White powder directly onto the front of the cardbase.  I then ink blended using green Distress Ink over the stamped image. 

 

Using the Cuttlebug, I diecut a circle out of an A6 cardfront (cut with Waffle Flowers A6 Layers) and then embossed it with Couture Creations 'Scattered Notes' folder (singing along all the way).  I swiped the same Distress Ink over the raised bits and finished with a bit of ink blending around the circle aperture.  The cardfront was then mounted to the cardbase using foam tape.

The tag followed the same embossing and colouring process, but instead of heat embossing, I diecut 'Merry' from Hero Arts Stamp & Cut several times, layered, inkblended then attached with glue.

 

Linking the above card with the following challenges:

As You Like it - Anything festive 

Can You Handle the Pressure? Anything goes with twist of 'any holiday' 

 

I also made a little 'card' for my swap partner. 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday & Happy 35th Anniversary

Another family gathering, another round of birthdays - this time for the November & December birthdays.

 

Brother-in-law & Sister-in-law celebrated their 35th Wedding Anniversary in November, so an extra special card was made.

 

It's not an original idea, but I did consult the internet on just how many days, weeks, months etc were in 35 years! 

'35 years' anniversary is Coral (Traditional) or Jade (Modern) anniversary.  I didn't have any Jade cardstock, so Coral it had to be LOL  I even searched to find the right RGB code for the font colour (MV Boli).  The Champagne bottle & glasses were purchased from ETSY back in May 2025.  The cardfront was printed with an inkjet printer on 210 gsm cardstock, trimmed down to suit the A6 Cardbase using the Waffle Flower A6 Layers die, then highlighted with just a touch of Kindy Glitz/Stickles.

 

The inside of the card says 'but who's counting?'

 

Linking the above card with the following challenge:

Word Power - December 2025 

 

Next is a card for the brother-in-law, Greg.

 

I diecut a heap of diamonds out of my stash of cardstock (snippets), printed a sentiment with the computer and cut out by hand.  I then 'splashed'  a white background with black ink and placed the diamonds in rainbow order (ROYGBIV) with foam tabs on the front.  I strategically placed the sentiment and added some black bling as a final touch.

 

The white cardfront seemed to disappear on the white cardbase, so I edged the cardfront with black Copics to give it a rough edge.

Quite happy with the way the card turned out.   I have CASED a card I saw on someone's blog a few years ago - I can't find it now, but it had 'handmade by Tasha'.  They used several dies from the Altenew Fine Fames set, but I have chosen the centre diamond, and I used bling/gems whereas I think they used sequins.  I love working with the rainbow colours, and I love any opportunity to work through my snippets stash!

 

Linking the above card with the following challenges:

Cut it Up Challenge #345 - from your stash 

Snippets Playground #521 - use up snippets 

Allsorts Challenge #838 - Anything Goes 

 

I also needed a card for the Sister-in-law, so I duplicated a card I made earlier for a swap, this time using different DP, but everything else was done the same.

 

Colorado Craft Company Sundae Funday image stamped and heat embossed, then hand coloured with Copics.  Spellbinders Circle Dies and offcuts/snippets layered on the background from my stash, and a touch of bling. 

 

This is about as CAS as I get.  I did use an old FMS sketch for the layout.

Linking the above card with the following challenges:

Critter Crazy Challenge #105 

 

 

It felt good to be in the craft room making card for my family :)

 

 

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.