Enjoy .....

Your retirement!

 

 

 

My friend Mandy & her husband have decided to retire and I thought the occasion worthy of a card!  They ran Blue Edge Crafts for 23 years and I have been a customer for at least 20+ years.  We became friends over that time.  Apart from our love of papercrafts, we also shared an interest in quilting although, I confess, I haven't touched my sewing machine of late.  

 

I am a member of a Facebook Group, World of Creative Crafty Challenges and this month, I was asked to be a Guest Designer by Kerry, who is also a friend I made through Blue Edge Crafts :)  Knowing I wanted a retirement card, an idea was brewing ....... I knew I wanted something fun and light hearted.

 

Some NBUS .....I have had the Car & Road (unbranded) dies for quite a while now - I got them for some children's cards but never got around to using them.  The same with the stamp set 'Islandia' from Creative PL - I have had it for so long, I can't remember where I or when I got it.  The packaging says it was made for Aldi Stores, so that makes me think I got it on one of my trips to an Op Shop, as I haven't ever been to an Aldi Store.

 

The background sky was blended using Distress Inks in 2 different blues, the sun & palm trees were stamped directly onto cardbase.  Inspiration Station Challenge inspired me to use Orange for the sun.  The Road was cut twice out of grey, then the green layer was cut and strategically placed.  

 

All of the small die cut items were cut from left-over scraps (SNIPPETS) which shows that it is good to never throw away your off-cuts!

Sentiment 'enjoy' from Honey Bee 'Bitty Buzz Words' die cut & layered, then placed on front of card with foam dots.

The car was cut out of Blue cardstock 3 times and layered together.  Blue is Mandy's favourite colour!  Wheels were cut from Black 3 times & layered together, with a gel pen detail in silver for hub caps.  

I love this little car...  My first car was a 1960 VW Beetle 💗 and I love the way this card turned out!

 

Linking With the following challenges: 

 

Time Out #241
Cut it Up Challenge #281
Shopping Our Stash SOS499
Inspiration Station #50
NBUS #51
Snippets Playground #457
 

ITEMS USED

Stamps/Dies:  Creative PL 'Islandia', Honey Bee Bitty Buzzwords, Car & Road Border Dies (Unbranded)

Inks: Distress Inks, Memento Tuxedo Black

Tools:  Cuttlebug, Blending Brushes

And one more photo to finish off :)

Here we are in 2014 at our QLD Craft Mad retreat
Front Row:  Mandy, Jan, Kerry
Back Row:  Me, Therese, Ruth, Kaye, Tracey

Our Craft Mad retreat in QLD was the highlight of my year
and I loved every minute of it!

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.

Love You ......

It's that time of year for us ........ we celebrate our 41st Wedding Anniversary on 13th February, and of course, 14th February is Valentines Day  ... 

 

Here is the Anniversary/Valentines card I made for Mr Fixit

 

On the inside of the card it says "I think I will keep you!"

 

Sentiment (font: Finesse) printed with laser Printer, the heart shape was foiled in Red with the MiniMinc.  Centre panel was die cut with Spellbinders, then background was ink blended with a brush using Distress Ink (Candied Apple) while still inside the die, giving another border effect, without adding an extra layer.  

Centre panel was then layered onto red cardstock, then mounted onto black leathergrain (300 gsm) cardbase using foam dots.

Red Gems and Black Bling hearts added as a finishing touch!

There are so many challenges with a 'love' theme at the moment :) it is a real love fest out there!

 

The 'InspiredBy' challenge inspired the placement of the two overlapping heart shapes I used.

The 'Inspiration Station' challenge inspired the use of red hearts.

The 'TicTacToe' challenge, I chose Across Middle Row: Red/Free/Love Sentiment 

The 'Try it on Tuesday' challenge theme is 'all you need is love' ......

 

-oo0oo-

 

Linking With the following challenges:

Try it on Tuesday - All You Need is Love

Tic Tac Toe Challenge #196

 

Inspiration Station - Photo Inspiration (inspired by the Red & Hearts)

Cut it Up #271 - Have a Heart

Inspired by Challenge - Hearts

 

Creative Knockout - Love is in the Air

Cardz 4 Guyz - valentine for a guy

Allsorts Challenge #715 Anything goes with hearts

ITEMS USED

Stamps/Dies:  Spellbinders large rectangle Die

Inks: Distress Ink Candied Apple

Tools:  Cuttlebug, blending brush, Heidi Swapp Mini Minc

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.

Sorry for your loss

More time to play with my new stamps ...... this time with Altenew Paint A Flower - Poppy set.

 

 

I stamped the flower on white blending 250gsm cardstock using Versafine Clair Onyx and heat embossed with clear.  I then coloured in the flower & leaves with Distress Inks using a waterbrush.

 

For the background, I mixed up a 'slurry' of gold Delicata ink and using a brush I flicked it onto the cardfront. I picked up some of the remainder green from the leaves and flicked that too!

 

Sentiments were stamped using StazOn Ganache (not black - more of a browny/black) -- 'sorry' from HoneyBee Stamps 'Miss You Big Time' die cut 3 times, then layered together and placed on front of card.  'For Your Loss' single layer was stamped and the strip manually cut then layered with 3D foam.

 

A final touch of black hearts bling added.  The Cardfront had warped a little bit with the water colouring so I added another 210gsm layer using double sided JAC paper to add some structure, then placed that onto a Dark Maroon cardbase.

 

All cardstock in this project is from Blue Edge Crafts and the stamps were purchased from Auzz Trinklets N Crafts  I have no formal Affiliation with these stores, I include their links because I like to support Australian craft stores where I can, and I have always had a positive experience with these stores in particular!

Thankfully, this card is not needed right now, so it will go in my 'stash' ready for when I do need a sympathy card.

 

--oo0oo--

 

Linking With the following challenges:

 

Inspiration Station #45 - I was inspired by the flowers on the window sill

Cardz4Galz #190 CAS  - A clean and simple card (well, clean for me LOL)

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Fabulous Flowers

PRODUCTS USED

• Stamps/Dies:  Altenew Paint A Flower: Poppy, HoneyBee Stamps 'Miss You Big Time'
• Inks:  Versafine Clair Onyx, Distress Inks, StazOn Ganache, Ranger Embossing Powder
• Tools:  Cuttlebug, Couture Creations Precision Stamp Press, Couture Creations Mini Guillotine Trimmer, Couture Creations Mini Score Board, Heat Tool
  
• Cardstock:  250gsm Blending Cardstock, 210gsm white cardstock, 300gsm Coloured Cardbase

 

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.