Father's Day card and an apology

Firstly, an apology to my big bro, Matthew. It turns out he does read my blog and his wedding anniversary is not until the end of July, so I have spoiled the surprise of the card he will be getting from our mum! Sorry bro! Maybe she will send a different one instead ...

And further apologies for being a bit lax with the blogging recently. I have been super busy with one thing or another, mostly the WI! Having taken on the role of Editor of West Yorkshire News I have been chasing copy, designing layouts and battling with budgets so far this week! There is fun WI stuff happening too - today I am doing a Jacobean embroidery workshop for the day and later this week I will let you in on some super exciting Buns & Roses news!

For now though, male cards.

I was so glad to see the Plane and Simple set in the Stampin' Up! Mini Catalogue. It is ideal for my dad, as he is the treasurer of his local model flying club and loves to build, fly and crash model airplanes! It's also a good alternative to golf and beer!

Now, I'm fairly sure my dad doesn't read my blog, so here goes with the card he'll be receiving for Father's Day! If you see this dad - sorry!



I went with neutral tones and some embossing and distressing to add interest without having to go for the traditional embellishments such as buttons and ribbon. I used the Square Lattice Embossing Folder for the background piece of cardstock.



The splodges were made using the Sprizer Tool and the edges of the card were roughed up with the Cutter Kit. The label (this is one for my stash to sell hence why it says happy birthday and not happy father's day) was attached with a brad for a bit of movement.

Right, time to get busy with a needle and thread!

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Cards for bikers

Just a quickie today as I have muchos to do - pick up my framed goldwork, get my hair dyed, do some work, prep for the WI AGM tomorrow ...

It's my friend Flower's birthday this weekend (he is Hayley's husband) and he's a biker, so of course the new Motorcycle stamp from Stampin' Up! makes an appearance!

I went for simple, as I was quite pushed for time when making this and wanted to do a few in the same design so some could go in my box to sell at craft fairs.



I simply stamped the image on to Whisper White and matted it on to a piece of coloured cardstock. I used the sentiment from Plane and Simple as well as the long patterned stamp from that set - it looks a bit like a tyre track!



Job done! I'm pretty sure he'll appreciate it.

Right, must crack on ...

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Musical birthday

Today's card was made as one of my mum's commissions for my uncle Alton, who is very musical. He plays all sorts of instruments and runs the local folk club so the Music Notes Wheel was just the ticket!

Again, design inspiration came from the lovely Vicky. Her cards never fail to amaze me!



I rolled the wheel in Versamark and then sponged over it with ink, but you can't see the resist effect in the pics. I added wheeling again in blue and black. The writing uses the Just Perfect Alphabet.



And here's the inside!

I hope he likes it! Must admit I don't usually make cards for all my relatives now. They get to see my work as my mum always buys all her cards off me anyway.

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Cards for little monsters

I've been doing so much the last few months that I have a big stack of pictures to show you, so today I thought I would do a few at once!



The Make A Monster set is my favourite one for kids. It's just so much fun and you get to create and colour!



Thereare three different bodies in the set and several eyes, mouths and head-things, so you can go mad and make some very strange-looking beings!



And they're not just for kids - many of us have difficulty doing a card for men, so why not appeal to the child inside them and use Make A Monster?! They never grow out of being terrors!



I have combined the set with the Celebrations DSP, Party This Way set, some ribbon and buttons, and used lots of bright colours.

Right, lots to do this week so I must crack on!

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Happy birthday to me!

I had an amazing birthday yesterday, thanks to all my lovely freinds. I received a lot of gorgeous cards from, my family and my Stampin' Up! family as well as tonnes of cake and some super presents.

These are the cards from mummy Jules and my sisters/nieces! I am so proud to know such talented and thoughtful ladies.





And here are the cards from my "real" family. The general theme is cake, shayshos (hedgehogs) and cats.



Here are my presents from Hayley and Helen. A crocheted toilet roll cover, a funky padded picture and some cross stitch pattersn for tissue boxes.



And then there were these .... JLS condoms!



And this is the cake that Tessa made for breakfast!



Along with that, Chinese takeaway, Cava and more cake (Hayley's peanut butter delights) I felt rather sick by bedtime!

I had a great day though. Thanks again to everyone who sent a card or message - they mean a lot to me.

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Something for Leeds United football fans

Right, time to actually show you a card!
Here are two football cards made using the Just Soccer stamps for Leeds United fans. I am hoping these will go down well at the craft fair next weekend.

They were really easy to make - simply stamp a piece of A4 cardstock randomly all over and cut it up into strips. Then do a football and Goal on Whisper White, cut out and stick on with Dimensionals.
My lovely SU mummy Julie loaned me the stamp set, which is really great for boys and a bargain at £10.95, but only available in this format and price until the end of this month.
I'm slowly getting ready for the craft fair (Armley Prison, Sept 25th from 9am), but still have loads to make and organise! Fingers crossed it's all worthwhile!

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