Hubby's birthday

I've suffered a terrible lethargy since Christmas. It always seems to happen. The Christmas machine is in top gear and you start to realise what you could achieve if you could keep the momentum going when the season is over. Of course you can't do it. I don't have a lot of special dates at this time of year so nothing else was competing for my attention when I started this. It is for my husband's birthday next week.

If you saw my ribbon collection blogpost you may recognise that I've actually managed to use one of them. This is what the inside looks like. The greeting is inside the black inner card.

If you look closely at the detail you'll see I've cut the small diamonds slightly crooked as I know it all adds to the 'charm' expected of a handmade card! The large diamond on the front serves to hold the inner black card closed.

The damask leaves and diamonds are all from the Elusive Images Filigree Fusion stamp plate. The cream card has been embossed in Detail Gold EP and the bronze and gold card has been embossed in Moonglow Midnight Gold Obsidian EP. The black card has been embossed with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder but you can't really see that in the photo.

In case you were wondering...

...and in answer to Phree's query...

I didn't actually get those lilies and sea hollies arranged but I did bring them onto the dining table to replace the roses. Here they're just standing on the floor so that the background doesn't spoil the picture.

Unfortunately I haven't managed to trim the stamens off quickly enough each day so the pollen has stained the flowers a bit. I bought them on Christmas Eve and today I've trimmed off the first faded blooms. New ones are still coming out every day. Not bad going huh?

Still rollin'

This card was based on one I had bookmarked as 'inspiration' and randomly drawn out of the hat when deciding what to play with today. You can see the original by Lynda Benden here. I started by choosing my colours but couldn't decide what colour card I should use for the main oval image. I had to edit the pic to get rid of the slightly green tint on the oval as it is actually pale gold pearlescent card. Unfortunately the editing has made the pink card look more intense than in the flesh which is a shame. I wasn't sure about the gold with the pink and burgundy at all until I stamped part of my image on an offcut of the card, trying to find the right ink. I was blown away by the Brilliance Cosmic Copper. I was really convinced I didn't have any Brilliance inks as I keep this little one with my Versamagic Dewdrops. I was triply(?) thrilled because it looked just as good defining the edge of the embossed background and and also printing the greeting on top of the Cuttlebug embossing. I felt so cheeky even trying it. I'd already printed the greeting on an unembossed piece of card to use as Lynda had. But as my greeting is bigger it didn't balance very well with the raised oval. I think this works better as it doesn't detract from the oval image. Since I took the photo I have added some pink gemstones like Lynda's.

I'm pleased with the card but wouldn't make these in batches for Christmas because of the time taken trying to line up three layers of stamping. It has worked pretty much but the reindeer almost looks like he is running downhill, which wasn't part of the plan.

First Christmas card of 2009

Nothing like starting early!

Last year I couldn't wait to make something that wasn't a Christmas card as soon as the season was over. This year I still have so many Christmas stamps and materials I didn't get the time to use that my engine is still running. So I thought I'd make a few cards and put them away for next year.

I've been intrigued recently by all the good results that have been achieved by using browns and blues together. Lynn Robinson-Hunter is a real master of this. So when I decided my blue card needed a touch of colour round the edges I took a deep breath and followed her lead.

The flourish greeting and background flourishes are from Inkadinkado's Winter Trails. The Snowflake and star are from Elusive Images' Angel and Trees. You might just be able to make out in the photo a couple of touches of the clear Stardust pen. Oh, and the ink used for edging is Antique Linen Distress.