A Birthday Card, a Birthday Boy and a Visit to the NEC

Hi there folks, it's been a little quiet on here for a few days as I've been busy spending time with my Dad and helping him celebrate his Birthday.

Here's the card I made for him

I used a scallop edge 8 x 8 base card and created a background using a Memory Box hexagon stencil and Distress Inks.

The cute bees were a free digi from Uprintables by Rebecca B - there are some great images on her site for free download (check her terms and conditions before using).  I fussy cut all the bees and attached them with PinFlair Glue to give them different levels.

The sentiment is a stamp from a set by Stampin'Up! which I stamped using black Archival Ink then cut out using an oval punch.

Dad's birthday started by opening cards and gifts - helped by Miss Tilly, who loves nothing more than opening parcels as you can see !

The day finished off with a family dinner at a local restaurant and more card and gift opening

The birthday celebrations didn't end there, however.  The following day saw us heading off to the Craft Exhibition at the NEC where Dad was a huge hit with the presenters on the Create and Craft stand.  Stephanie Weightman very kindly spent a lovely long time speaking to him - I tell you he was a very happy chappie

Stephanie then gave him a signed photo and asked him to send her some of his cards, being most impressed that at 88 years young he was still an avid crafter.

I did add to my stash, even though I was sure there was nothing I needed !  I went a bit crazy on the Lavinia Stamps stand, but I know I will use my new stash often as I do love there stamps and dies.  I also picked up two great goody bags, the one from Create and Craft was particularly impressive and great value for just £10.   Containing dies, embossing folders, templates and punches plus loads more.

I think this post is about long enough, so I'll save my latest project for posting at a later date.  I hope you've enjoyed this little window into our family celebrations, thanks for visiting.

Three Little Pigs

I have a real fun card to share with you today, how can you help but smile when you see these cute little piggies ?

I'm afraid I don't know the manufacturer of the stamp as I found this image in my box of stamped images waiting to be coloured and used in a project.  I wondered if it might be a Penny Black stamp, but so far I haven't been able to track it down.  If anyone recognises the image, please let me know the manufacturer and name of stamp an I'll update this post.

I coloured the three little piggies using my Promarkers, then layered the image on dark blue card.  I created the background layer using Distress Inks applied using a stencil brush through a Memory Box stencil.  This technique gave me a lovely subtle effect, perfect for a background layer.

The fabby Happy Birthday bunting was stamped from the 'Streamers' set of stamps by Shaggy Dog Tails, which my lovely pal Jacqueline gave me as a birthday gift recently.  I coloured the letters with Promarkers then added Stardust Stickles to make it a bit 'blingy'.  I added Gold Stickles on the bobble hat and Glossy Accents on all of the hats to give them dimension.

As the coloured image is quite 'busy' and I made the card for my youngest grandson who was 10 years old recently, I decided to keep all the other elements and layers very clean and simple.

My grandson was delighted with his card as it make him laugh and he particularly liked the piggy in the middle !
 
Thanks for dropping by to see today's project, I do hope you enjoyed your visit.

Happy Birthday Harry !

 

Today is my Grandson Harry's 15th Birthday - Happy Birthday sweetheart !

Like me, do you find it so difficult to make cards for teenage boys?  I know it took me ages to decide what design to use for this card.  At 15 - and already six foot four ! - he's too old for 'cute' images and not old enough for the regular sort of male designs.  He is very keen on sports particularly Rugby and Soccer and plays Rugby in his school team so I opted for a football theme for his card and he is our own Football Hero.

It is quite a simple design but I don't think he'll be embarassed to have this card displayed on the mantelpiece !  Sadly, I won't be able to see him on his birthday as he lives a four hour drive away from me, but we will be thinking of him and will speak to him on the phone to wish him Happy Birthday.

That's it from me today, hope you have a great day whatever you have planned.

My No 1.....

Today I'm sharing the card I've made for my Hubby's birthday.  It's the Big Day on wednesday and I think we are heading out for a nice steak dinner in the evening. 

I've used the fabby Papermania Portobello Road paper stack, some Platinum Stickles, gold mirror card and a sentiment created on my computer for my design.

With the forthcoming Olympics everywhere we look at the moment, the design idea I came up with was to create a gold medal effect. 

I diecut a spikey circle using a nestie and some gold mirror card.  I then added faux spirelli using my Hougie Board, finishing the 'medal' with the sentiment I created on my computer.

The background Union Jack layer is one of the sheets from the paper stack, the shaped layer is a diecut from the same stack which I added over a square of blue paper, also from the stack.

I finished the layers by adding Platinum Stickles around the edges of the shaped diecut and the square layer. 

Nice and simple but I think Hubby will like it.  I'm safe to publish his card on here early as he rarely looks at my blog !! 

Thanks for taking the time to check out my project today.