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.

You're not old, you're a classic

Another Cardmaking session for me!

 

CARD #1

 

Masculine Card -  

The Altenew Vintage Vibes stamps & dies were still on my desk from my last card.  So I went with a similar layout, but decided to do a 'shaker' element for the screen. 

 

I stamped all the layers of the TV, then die cut it out twice and joined the layers together for added dimension.

The assembled diecut TV was then mounted to the front with foam tape for added dimension.

Sentiment was stamped with black ink direct to the cardfront.

 

The ONLY BLING on this card was the shaker elements! 

 

Linking with the following challenges: 

 

 

Items Used:

STAMPS:  Altenew Vintage Vibes

DIES:  Altenew Vintage Vibes, Waffle Flower A6 Layers

INK:  Distress Inks

CARD STOCK:  Blue Edge Crafts Cardstock – Cream 300 gsm, White 210 gsm, Acetate

DP:  unknown (from stash)

TOOLS:   Cuttlebug

EMBELLISHMENTS: Sequins, hearts

 

CARD #2 

 I used some stencils I have had for a while and ink blended them using slightly different that traditional Christmas colours. 

 

Just the plain ink colour was a bit bland, so I re-positioned the stencil and went over it with Kindy Glitz/Stickles ...... I think it added just the right amount of sparkle.  Sentiment 'christmas' was stamped underneath baubles.

 

 

The card front was mounted onto some copper mirror cardstock, then added to the 300 gsm card base.

 

"Merry" was diecut several times with white cardstock and once with the mirror cardstock, layered then attached to the cardfront.

The Tag followed the same process for the card - ink blending and adding sparkles, mounted onto mirror cardstock and copper organza ribbon added.

 

Linking with:

Sparkles Christmas Challenge #177 - non-traditional Christmas Colours 

 

Items Used:

DIES:  Waffle Flower A6 Layers, Hero Arts Merry & Bright

STENCILS:  Christmas Baubles (BlueEdge Crafts)

INK:  Distress Inks

CARD STOCK:  Blue Edge Crafts Cardstock – White Linen 210 gsm, Mirror Copper

TOOLS:   Cuttlebug, sticky matt

EMBELLISHMENTS: Kindy Glitz/Stickles, organza ribbon

 

 

 

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.

Thinking of you today and every day

I have been a bit sidetracked in the craft room of late, but sadly, I was in need of a sympathy card to give to my sister.  Her mother-in-law, who turned 90 in February this year, passed away on Saturday night.

 

 

This is an Altenew stamp & die set - Wild Flora - flowers were stamped with Versafine Onyx Black and heat embossed with Zing Clear embossing powder.  I hand painted the flower & leaves using Altenew Inks.

 

I recently purchased some stencils and blending brushes from Amazon and was keen to have a bit of a play.

 

I made the background using one of the stencils with a blending brush and lightly blended using Altenew Ink in the centre.  When mounting the background onto the matt, I thought it got a little lost, so I ink blended the edges as well, and added a few splatters.  I then stamped the sentiment directly onto the background.  

 

The background & matting were cut using Waffle Flower A6 layer dies and layered onto an A6 300 gsm White Cardbase.  

 

I layered the background onto the purple matting, then layered the purple matting onto the white cardbase.  The flowers were then positioned on the front in a pleasing manner with foam tabs to add dimension.

 

Linking this card with a few challenges

 

TicTacToe #272 (centre column - layers /Free/ Floral/foliage

 

Just Add Ink #754 - Choose Two - DieCut-Flower-Ribbon - I chose DieCut/Flower

 

Just Us Girls #778 - Die Week - Layers - I used several dies to make up multiple layers

 

 

Cut it Up #331 - anything goes (with a die)

 

 

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.

Thinking of You

I was in need of a Sympathy card this last week ..... my sister-in-law's father passed away.

I was lucky enough to have a background pre-prepared - it was an experiment on making some patterned paper; I wasn't happy with it at the time, but kept it anyway.  I stamped the sentiment multiple times across the background (partly to cover up an oops moment!).  I then stamped the sentiment in black to make it stand out - the sentiment is heat embossed in clear, but it doesn't show up very well in the photo.  

 

I used the 'Lavender' stamp set from Altenew and stamped & die cut more flowers which were tied together with gold twine, then mounted to front of card with foam tape.

 

The Retro Rubber Challenge Blog asks us to state how old the stamp is ..... this stamp set was originally released in 2019, but it is fairly new for me .... I got them in January 2023, so I have had them for about 18 months and I love using them!

 

 

 

My cardbase is 300gsm white cardstock from Blue Edge Crafts (A4) size, but this time, I cut the A4 in half length-wise .... making it a Top Fold card.

Linking with the following challenges:

Beautiful Blossoms Challenge #20 - Anything Goes

Cut It Up Challenge #310 - Thinking of You

Retro Rubber Challenge #237 - Tic Tac Toe - Die Cut/Heat-Dry Emboss/Pattern Paper

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.

Card Swap June

2 new cards from me today, this time swap cards for CraftMad Swappers

 

I was extremely late with my cards for June .......

 

 

At first, I struggled with deciding which 2022 card to case, as they were all so good!  but in the end, I couldn't go past this one by fellow swapper, Tracey.

 

 

Card #1

 

I set about making my own background with sponging varying shades of purple/pink inks, then I randomly stamped my Kaisercraft butterflies and heat embossed in gold.  I also heat embossed the edges of the cardfront with gold, then attached to cardbase with double-sided tape.

 

I die cut sentiment out of white cardstock, mounted onto a black shadow then attached to the cardfront with foam squares to add dimension.

 

Card finished off with some randomly placed bling!

 

 

Card #2

This card followed the sketch, and I took the opportunity to have a play with my Penny Black Stamps - Party Time set.

Images were stamped with black Versafine ink, then clear heat embossed.  I coloured them in with Altenew Crisp Dye Ink (Dusk) using a watercolour brush, and then inked the edges of the boxes.  Waffle Flower A6 layers dies were used to cut the different sized boxes :)  

 

 

The most perfect background Scrapbook DP came from my stash ..... I don't know how long I have had it LOL.  The text 'happy' was diecut twice from white cardstock and coloured with same ink used to colour my images, then mounted with foam squares.  

 

 

The boxes were placed according to sketch and layered with foam squares to add dimension.

 

I also made a 'thank you for being my swap partner' card :)

 

 

When you open it up, the image of the die cutting machine stays on the inside :)

 

I just 'love' the die cut of the paper trimmer!!

 

'Thank You' card was made entirely with offcuts/snippets of white & silver cardstock and some leftover scrapbook DP

 

Linking 'Thank You' card with the following Challenges

Snippets Playground Challenge #485

 

Linking Card#2 with the following Challenges:

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - July - Anything Goes/Food 

Cardz 4 Galz #229 - Shades of Blue  (oops!! Too late!)

TicTacToeCallenge-#252 (Middle Column - DieCut(s), Free, Any Sentiment) 

tttc#252

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.

Thinking of you

Here is another card using my new set of flower dies ......

 

 

Background was handmade using the 'ink splatter/splotch' technique.

 

'Thinking of you' sentiment cut twice and layered together for dimension.

 

The coneflower layers were diecut from spare offcuts (snippets) of white cardstock (I always knew those smaller pieces would come in handy), then ink blended using Altenew inks.

 

My selection of colours may have been influenced by the photo in the Beautiful Blossoms Mood board!

 

A very simple layout, which for me anyway, makes the flower shine :) 

 

Linking with the following challenges:

Addicted to CAS:  #258 - Flower

Beautiful Blossoms Challenge #17 - Anything goes 

Cut it Up Challenge #304 send me flowers

Snippets Playground Challenge #480 

The Flower Challenge #91 - Colour your flower

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.

Floral cards

I have been playing with some more floral stamps from #Altenew. Here are some using the Build-a-flower Coneflower & Anemone Coronaria sets.

 

My February card swap for the CraftMad group had the theme of florals + sketch - we swap two cards, one card following a theme and one card using the theme + sketch.

 

 

Card 1 - Floral card

This card was in my stash of cards made last year - you can read how it was made HERE 

I think it was perfect for my first swap card. 

 

 

Card 2 - Floral + Sketch

The next card came together fairly quickly :)  I had some flowers left over from a previous stamping session, so it was just a matter of playing around to find a pleasing layout.

 

The background ribbons were cut from offcuts/snippets of cardstock.  The gold has a lovely sheen that doesn't quite show up well in the photo.  Ribbons were layered using 3d foam tabs, then the flowers were added to cardfront 3d foam tabs for more dimension.  Sadly, the sheen on the gold ribbon does not show up well in the photo ..... it looks lovely in real life!

 

Stay tuned for my next post for the March swap ...... coming soon!

 

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.

Thank You for all you do!

Mr Fixit was experiencing some health issues at the end of last year and I don't know what I would have done without the support of my family but the help and support from my BFF Joy has been exceptional!  Joy has gone above and beyond!

So, I have made her a card to say 'thank you'.

 

Once again, I have used the Altenew BAF Lavender set and die cut several layers, glued together to add dimension.   These particular lavenders were stamped with some different shades of purples and greens from an old ink set from 'color box' which I got for $5 from a 'craft fair' ....... I think ...... I have had them for so long, I really can't remember where I got them from. I tied 3 lavenders together with some gold twine and glued them together, then added a 'tag' diecut stamped with 'thank you for all you do'.  The layered lavender flowers were then added to a black cardfront using 3D foam tabs, which was then then added to a white 300gsm cardbase.

I am loving this Altenew stamp set ... the more I use it, the better I get at lining up the layers and the more confident I get at selecting different colours to stamp with. Next time, I am going to use some pinks, or maybe some reds and see how it looks. #Altenew, #AltenewChallenge, #CaughtbyAltenew  The As You Like It Challenge asks us to nominate our favourite, and as I struggle with masculine cards, my favourite is definitely feminine LOL .... on checking my stamps (both physical and digital) there is definitely a leaning towards the feminine and I seem to have a preference for flowers and 'very girly' stuff  LOL
 Linking with the following challenges:Creative Inspirations February: A Special Friend As you Like It Challenge:  Feminine or Masculine

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.

Thinking of You

I was in need of a Sympathy Card this week ..... a dear family friend had passed away.

 

Serendipitously, I had been playing with some new #Altenew inks that had arrived in the mail from Auzz Trinklets N Crafts just a few days earlier.  I stamped up some lavender flowers using the Altenew BAF Lavender set and die cut several layers, glued together to add dimension.  I tied 2 lavenders together with some gold twine and glued them together.  For the background, I used a single lavender stamp, and Altenew 'Wisteria' Crisp Dye Ink - stamping several times, then adding some 'splatters' using a few other inks.  I then stamped 'thinking of you' using the Altenew 'Permanent Black' Crisp Dye Ink at the bottom of the cardfront. 

 

 The layered lavender flowers were added to the cardfront using 3D foam tabs, and a final touch of 'bling' added with some randomly placed pearls. Linking with the following challenges:Creative Knockouts #515 - die cuts/stencils/punches Beautiful Blossoms Challenge #14 - Anything Floral
#Altenew, #AltenewChallenge, #caughtbyaltenew,
 

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.