On the receiving end

I've discovered something even nicer than sending a handmade card and that is receiving one. I was lucky enough this year to receive cards from two talented ladies. As fellow members of the Graphicus Guild we share similar tastes so these friends knew exactly what I would appreciate. The first card was from Elaine, who has kindly agreed to me putting a picture of her card on here. The photo doesn't do the card justice. It's a luxurious black velvet card with not one but two stunning chandeliers. Each is highlighted with jewelled flames. Gorgeous!

The second card was from my crafting kindred spirit Lesley in her very distinctive style. I was going to post a picture here but Lesley has put it on her own blog so why not go there and pay her a visit. Again, the picture doesn't do justice to Lesley's subtle shading. She has built up the image using masks and stamps in both background and foreground. The swooping bird is deliciously pearly.

I feel so lucky to have these cards on my mantelpiece and, more importantly, to have made friends of these clever and generous crafters.

Dry spell

Dry spell? Not outside the window I know, but here on my blog it's been very dry. In fact I struggled to remember where to find the 'New Post' button! Time has been the problem. Now I have the time as I've broken up for the summer. But the juices aren't flowing again yet. This card took some time in the making and is modest but hopefully the start of a more productive era. I've used some glittered marble card, panels embossed in my Cuttlebug using the Swiss Dots folder, some flowers and ribbon from my stash and flourishes courtesy of my crafty friend, Lesley. The image has been glazed with clear embossing powder and I was pleased to see that my white souffle and clear stardust pens both show through the glaze, although that might not be obvious from the photo. The card is to congratulate my cousin Matthew and his wife Naomi on the birth of their son, Max.

New favourite

This is now my favourite stamp in the whole wide stamping world. It is a relatively new stamp and appears on an Elusive Images plate called Brocade Backgrounds which you can see here.

I've been experimenting with it and found it really versatile. The stamped image here, which only uses part of the stamp wasn't the one I liked the best but so far it is the only one I have turned into a card. In the picture above, the flower looks like it has some dirty splodges on it but you can see below that these are gold in the light.

The flower background was made by spritzing gold mica spray over Tattered Rose and Aged Mahogany DI on a craft mat. The flower itself is stamped in Crimson Copper Brilliance and embossed with Holographic EP. The card also uses Holiday Stripes by Hero Arts and Happy Birthday by Hobby Art.

It's nice to have something to post again. I've been waiting for so long for a little playtime. I may be able to do some more tomorrow but I am having a new window put in the kitchen, which is my craft room. Common sense tells me I should use my time to mount some new stamps and sort out some of my crafty chaos but if I get the chance to get inky again I'll be in it up to my elbows.

Thanks for looking.

Return to Venice

I've finally got my trip blogged on my other blog. As a little inducement to visit you might want to feast your eyes on these.

Cheery blooms

I couldn't resist these anemones from the florists last week. Sadly, they didn't last and are now long gone. But I had three days of glory from them.

These should last longer because Mother Nature is taking care of them outdoors. I'm not sure why we put our window boxes at the back rather than the front as I think the neighbours see more of these than we do. Maybe that was why we did it. It maybe detracts from the motorbike parts Matt leaves around the backyard when he's working there.

Isn't this mini tulip delightful?

Bodger comes of age?

This is not the card I set out to make! How often does that happen? I was planning to do something a bit more complicated. The first poppy image I made was much more subtle. It was stamped using coloured markers. I watercoloured it but wasn't hapy with the colour of the seed pods. Then, when I glazed the petals with Diamond Glaze, the colours changed. So I tried something a bit different, stamped in black and clear embossed, and the bolder image demanded a more 'robust' background than the one I'd prepared.

The resulting card is much simpler but what really pleased me about it was that I didn't bodge anything along the way. There were no bits I felt the need to disguise. I even managed to shape the petals in the foreground without destroying the glazed surface (not Diamond Glaze this time but clear embossing powder). I'd like to think maybe I've turned a corner but I suspect it's just a fluke and I will be bodging again before long.

Where did that come from?

Another one of those cards that sneaks up on you while you're doing something else. It is actually quite shimmery but you can't really tell in the poor lighting. Sorry about the shadows (and the wacky wavy angles). Silly time of day to be stamping, let alone taking pictures!