ANNIVERSARIES----45 so far

     February, our anniversary month, 24th of Feb to be precise. This year it is our 45th, which apparently is a Sapphire anniversary. So of course I informed my lovely husband of this fact not expecting much response as he managed to bypass both pearl and ruby anniversaries. However as we were walking through the town centre a couple of weeks ago he took me into the jewellers. I am now the proud owner of some very nice sapphire earrings. Now what on earth do you buy a man who neither wants nor really needs anything. Think it will have to be a weekend away. 

     So all this links in nicely to the challenge at Claritystamps this month which is LOVE. I have made a card suitable for our big event.  I have used a combination of a Clarity stencil and Groovi boards. 
  

           I used the  Heart Rose stencil as the base of my design. I had to draw all round the outline with a white pen onto parchment. Then emboss carefully on the reverse. 



       

       

       Then I added a design into each of the apertures. I used the Wire heart and  All We Need is Love stamps for two of the designs. These I had to stamp onto copy paper first then trace over again with white pen onto the parchment.

                             

         

      

      Instead of embossing across the centre of the wire heart I pierced some holes and used some gold thread.

       On another heart I used a section from the Christmas tree groovi plate. So pretty these little swirls.   Finally I used the Banner and alphabet groovi border plate to add some lettering to the final heart.

     

            A few little gems on the swirls add a finishing touch. Some swirls from a  border plate around the outside neatened up the edges.

         
     I mounted finished piece onto dark blue paper, helped to show up the design and then onto some more blue and finally an 8 x 8 card base.

      I just hope the other half likes his card. I think he has actually been having sneaky peeks as I have been working on it.
   
                     Thank-you for visiting. xx

 

VALENTINES and ROMANCE

         A little late actually for Valentine's day but thought I would still share these cards with you all. I go to a workshop once a month in Nottingham run by Sally-Ann Hanes, we use all Claritystamp products and I really enjoy the opportunity to spend a day crafting with lots of other wonderful ladies. As our class this month was on Sat 13th Feb it was of course on a romantic theme. We used the  Garden heart Stamp on all our cards. I took the chance to make one of the cards for my husband for Valentine's day. 
     These are not my designs, they are by Sally- Ann.

                      
     

           

This one could be suitable for a Wedding Card.

     

This is the one I gave my husband for Valentine's Day.

I shall use this one for my brother's anniversary later in the year.

           I have one more to finish but as that is a parchment one it will take a little longer. I will share it with you as soon as possible. In the meantime if you get chance to join in a workshop please do so, I am sure you will enjoy yourself. Also quite probably learn a few new skills. 
      
        Thank-you for visiting and I hope you had some flowers on Valentine's Day. xx

CALENDAR CHALLENGE NO 2.

        Goodness almost halfway through February already, the days really do fly by. Not sure how I ever had time to go to work this retirement lark is certainly not restful. Good job I like to be busy. So on that note I would like to share with you my entry to February's Calendar challenge at Claritystamp.  The title is Taking Flight and we needed to use the Boy and Birds stamp.  Lovely large stamp, my nephew loves this image and I used it for his Birthday card last year. 

         So the idea is that we have to try to make our own copy of Barbara Gray's piece of art on her calendar. For February she had used a shaving foam background so rather difficult to get an exact copy. I gave it a good try and was quite pleased with my background. Then I just had to try to achieve some decent artwork. I am not going to bore you with details but will direct you to have a look at Barbara's blog for far better instructions on how to complete this piece of art.  Shaving foam with boy and birds.


                       Below is the original piece of artwork by Barbara Gray.

                              


          So could I manage to make a reasonable copy of this? I will leave you to decide for yourselves. I am quite pleased with my end result, not an exact copy but I don't think that is the intention, just need to see if we can follow the techniques. 

                           

        The colours on mine are not quite as vibrant but I had not got all the correct colours of re-inkers so had to substitute a couple. 

    Anyway hope you like this and that you will visit Barbara's blog One Day at a Time for more wonderful inspiration. 

               Thank-you  xxx

A LITTLE BIT OF GROOVI -TANGLE

          Just a quick post today. I made this card after Barbara Gray suggested we all try to make a card using just the GROOVI starter kit. If you have never heard of this wonderful piece of equipment please follow this link and check it out. Groovi starter kit   Well I am always ready for a bit of a challenge, there was also the bonus that if we were lucky our card might be shown on TV on HOCHANDA. So of course I did fancy five minutes of fame or possibly just a minute and had to give it a try. I was not lucky enough to be chosen but have to admit the ones displayed were amazing. Very clever people out there I have to say. 

                  

                 This was my effort, I used all the small elements on the plate mate to create a little bit of tangling or Groovi-tangle as I call it. Took a little while looks almost quilted. 
    
            

      

        A few close ups of the various sections of the parchment. 

      Thank-you for joining me today, hope you are all staying safe in this very stormy weather we are having lately. xxx