Birthday Celebrations For My Number 1 Man!

It's a very special birthday today.  Not only is it my Dad's birthday, but today, we are celebrating a special birthday.

As it was bank holiday yesterday my family got together to celebrate.... there was even cake!

Here is the card that I made for Dad....

I wanted to keep the card simple but make the image stand out.  The card was covered using Tim Holtz paper (sorry, I can't remember which pad, I think it is Dapper).

The vintage car was stamped using Coffee Archival ink onto Dictionary paper, showing the definition of 'Dad'.  I also cut out 'birthday' and added this above my stamped sentiment, which is from Tim Holtz's Simple Saying set.

To finish, I added a scalloped border and a seam binding ribbon.  I also couldn't resist adding Dad's age!  

So there we have it.....  I am sure Dad will like his card.  I know he loves us all being around him and so yesterday would have meant a lot to all of us.

Thank you for joining me today.

Happy crafting!

Forever Yours

Tonight I am sharing a project over at the Paper Artsy Blog. 

The theme for the challenge is Paper Dolls.  I don't know about you, but these have become a bit of an addiction.  They come in all formats and I just love them!  For me, it's an easy way of being able to own a variety but without spending a small fortune on old photographs.

Here is the project that I created:

Pop over to the blog to see how I created this.  I hope that I have inspired you to join in with the challenge over at PaperArtsy.

Happy creating!
Miriam

Vintage Neutrals with Eclectica Everything Art

Good evening all,

Tonight I am over on the PaperArtsy blog showing a project for the theme of the fortnight, Vintage Neutrals.  I always love to see vintage colours on projects, and people like the very talented Jennie Atkinson carry this off really well.  It's always been a colour scheme that scares me a little.  Although I don't lean towards very bright colours, subtle and neutrals are also not a combination I tend to us, mainly because I think I can never pull it off very well. 

I have to admit, I loved creating this project and was really happy with my finished project.

I wanted to use the lovely Eclectica Everything Art stamps for my project as they can be used with all colour schemes and give a different effect each time.

I lightly brayered Buff, Chalk and Sage Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paint over a card blank and the stamped the script stamp from EEA04  using Shadow Grey Archival Ink.  I chose this colour as it went really well with the colour scheme and it's a beautiful subtle grey.

I then stamped the lace ribbon to the edges of the card blank using Pink Peony Archival ink.

I painted a panel using Sage Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paint and set this aside to use as a mat for my main image.

For the main image, I used a technique demonstrated by Lauren Hatwell at Stamperama earlier this year.  This technique has completely changed my way of working!!

I stamped the image from EEA01  using Coffee Archival ink using the Stamping Platform.  I then pained over the image, leaving the card in the same position on the Stamping Platform.   As I was using Opaque paints I painted over the detail of the image as seen below.

Then , and this is where the genius of Lauren set in... I just re-stamped over my image again using the Stamping Platform.  Why do I never think of ideas like this?!  But it works a treat.

I then started to put my card together, layering the main image on the Sage mat I had created and then layering on top of some dried flowers which gave it a softer and more vintage look.  

 

To finish, I stamped the quote from EEA02 and added a bow using Seam Binding Ribbon.

I was really pleased with my finished result.  I am now wanting to make more projects using this colour scheme!

Thanks for joining me. Pop over to the PaperArtsy blog to see other inspiration for this fortnight's challenge.  I hope I have inspired you to join in!

Have a great evening.

Country View Crafts Challenges - Be Humourous - Part 2

Hello again,

Today I am sharing my second project for Country View Crafts Challenges.  The theme is 'be humourous'.

I teamed this with gel press experiments that I been playing with.

Here is my finished project:

Don't you just love happy accidents!!  That's exactly how this started.  I had been playing with my gel press and when I cleaned it off this was the print that appeared:

I just loved the depth and texture - for me, it just worked!

I then added some stamping, highlighting and scribbling - Kate Crane style!

Followed by a touch of gold paint.

I've recently purchased a couple of the awesome Carabelle printing plates and I kept my first experiment and decided to use it for this project.

The Dina Wakely image was stamped onto the hexagon and then the hat stamped onto scrap gel press print.

To finish I added a Tim Holtz Snarky quote to finish.

I really enjoyed being pushed out of my comfort zone this month!  I hope that I have inspired you to join in with the challenge.  Don't forget, someone will be picked at random to win a voucher to spend in the shop!

Thanks for joining me.

A Very Happy Birthday

Today is my dear friend, Wendy's birthday.  I have a very special present arranged for her in a couple of weeks and so wanted to create a special card to give to her on the day.

I wanted to show her how much her friendship means to me and so I used this wonderful Paper Bag studio image.  True friends really are like family and so this was perfect.  I added stencilling to the bottom left of the stamped image to add a filler.

The background was created using the Gel Press.  Blues are one of Wendy's favourite colour schemes and so I knew that this would be the scheme for the card.  I used my favourite PaperArtsy Fresco  Chalk Acrylic Paints and created my mono-printed background.  I also used Chalk Fresco Acrylic paint through a mini JOFY stencil.  At this stage I always go through the stage of not liking my creation, but I know that I have lots more layers to go.

Once this was dry, I added further stamping using a mini PaperArtsy script stamp and blue Archival ink and the amazing Seth Apter background stamp using black Archival ink (I must add that this has soon become a stamp that I use so often it is always on my desk!!).  I also used the Stampotique Kate Crane Marks cube to add some lines and scratches.

I then started to highlight areas in white and add some scribbling (Kate Crane told me that I would never look back once I got used to scribbling and she was right!).

To finish my background, I added gold dashes in a few areas.

To complete my card I added some dried flowers (one of my flower loving friends will be able to tell me what these are).  I also added a scribbled border and a stamped sentiment.

I hope that Wendy has a fabulous birthday and I hope that she loves her card, and then just as the birthday celebrations are over, it will be time for her weekend away with me.

Thanks for joining me.

Happy crafting!

Happy Anniversary To My Two Favourite People!

Today is my Mum and Dad's wedding anniversary.

Here is the card that I made for them

I have had the stamp for years.  I purchased it from Simply Craft in Cardiff.  It is one of my favourite images.

Here, I stamped it onto paper that I aged with Antique Linen Distress Ink.

The main background paper is from 7 Gypsies that I purchased from PaperArtsy at a show last year.  I just love this paper and have spent so much time stroking it, so I decided to use it.

I wanted to make the focal image stand out and so kept it simple.

To finish, I drew a gold border and made a display of flowers, beads and heart pins.

A perfect way to show my Mum and Dad that I love them!  Here's wishing them a fabulous day.

Thanks for joining me.

Country View Crafts Challenges - Be Humourous

I am actually in disbelief that we are into May!!  This year is just whizzing by!

Here is my first project for Country View Crafts this month.

This challenge really was a challenge for me - I am not known for my 'humour' - so it really pushed me outside of my comfort zone.

I used the wonderful Crazy Cats  stamp set from Tim Holtz, teamed with a fun quote from Dyan Reaveley.  

I kept the card very simple so that the image and the quote stood out.

I hope you join in with the challenge this month - it was fun.  Pop over to the blog to see the inspiration from the rest of the design team.  And don't forget, if you do join in you will be in with a chance to win a gift voucher to spend in the shop.

Thanks for joining me.