Fairs - fairs.......

well I have posted the last two years birthday cards that I made for our son so here is the one I made for our daughter last year.........

 

 

the previous years card (2012) can be seen on the post dated 2nd December..................

The emboss folder is by Crafters Companion and the dies I used are from Go Kreate - the sentiment dies and flowers are from Spellbinders and the butterflies are from a Memory Box die the sentiment is an Indigo Blu stamp.......

Well after having a weekend of rain, sun, rainbows, hail and lots more rain it has been dry and relatively sunny today - although extremely cold.  I have been for a walk with our daughter and her adorable dog around the local golf course and it is like a quagmire - the dog and us were both pretty 'mucky' when we got home but still enjoyed the fresh air and spending time with my gorgeous daughter.  Thermals were required and a hat with flaps to cover the ears - not a good look but at least my 'tabs' were warm.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you like what you see.

xx Gail xx

Making up for lack of blogging over the last couple of weeks......

here is the card I made for our son in 2012 as it was a special birthday for him ..........

the finished card was A4 in size so I took lots of photos in close up so I could recall exactly what I had done - I didn't even know blogs existed then but I am so pleased I kept a record of cards I made so I can share then now.........

the calendar is from Tim Holtz and I circled date of his birthday..........

the playing cards are from a Christmas cracker (I know - what a way to recycle)!!  they are just a smaller version of a proper pack of playing cards and kept them to use on holidays.......
so glad I did now......

 sorry this is a bit blurred - but wanted to try and show up the crackle glaze

the clock is another from Tim Holtz as are the clock fingers.....

I crackle glazed the playing cards to give them aged look and added initials/numbers where appropriate to spell out his name and age......and the time he was born on the clock face.....

I wasn't sure whether to post this card as all the details on it are so personal to him, but I wanted to show the comparison between his 2012 card and his 2013 card which I posted yesterday which is very simple in comparison.....the card was also very appropriate as he went to Las Vegas for his 30th so all in all a 'winner' (sorry) I think as I know he absolutely loved it and although it has a lot going on - it was all relevant to that particular birthday and if you can't go a bit overboard for a milestone birthday - then when can you??

Hope you are still with me and I can assure you that I do not have any other cards with as many photos.......
so you can all breathe a sigh of relief!!

Thanks for popping by and again thanks for your comments and support

xx Gail xx

Sorry I've been missing for a while.........

I've been on my jollies so that is why there have been no posts - but fortunately I managed to keep up-to-date with all the blogs that I try (and usually manage) to follow on a daily basis......

Here is a card that I made for our son for his birthday last March - I really do struggle with mens cards but because of the local football team that both he and my significant other support, owls always go down a treat.......

I used the black and khaki card from CE neutral card pack which I inked around the edge with Distress Inks to give it an aged feel......the stamp is one from Indigo Blu and the branch stamp is one that I have had for a while.......I masked the owl after stamping so that I could stamp the branch to make him look as though he his perched on it, the branch is only very narrow so stamped it a few times at different angles and lengths to hopefully give it a natural look......I wanted to keep this card simple - hence no die-cutting in this one, just simple matting and layering. I kept the sentiment simple too and again just matted and layered to match........I wanted the card to look like an old picture that could be framed if the sentiment was not there, hopefully I achieved it.........

Thanks for popping by and as always thanks for you support and comments.

xx Gail xx

Another twofer.........

I made these cards for relatives birthdays in April and May last year.......

this was the one for made for an April birthday and I was so pleased with how it turned out I made her mum (my sister) more or less the same..........see below...

The flower is made with SB Vintage floret dies which are fab - it was a bit of an experiment for me as I used velum which was from some wrapping that I had received and thought was so nice I couldn't throw it away.  I die cut it, not being sure whether it would cut okay but felt I had nothing to lose as it was 'free' stash!!  It was quite a heavy weight velum with a self pattern on it but you cannot see this as I then brushed a Versamark ink pad randomly over the constructed flower and then added gold embossing powder and even if I say it myself I just luved the end result (it floats my boat anyway)!

I scored the bottom third of the cards a-la Sue Wilson and I used SB Moroccan Accents border for the first card - which I cut using both colours of card (CE coconut white and soft gold) and offset them.  I used SB Classic Scallop border die for the second card.  SB Enchanted Labesl 28 and SB Labels 28 for the sentiment base and the first sentiment I think is a computer generated one and the second one is from a sheet of stamps from Crafters Companion that I have had for yonks!!  I used an M-bossablity folder for the top two-thirds of the cards using each side for the two cards, so although very similar they are also different (to me anyway)!!

I only made these two cards in this style last year but I may just may make them again this year for general birthdays because on revisiting them I still like them as much as I did when I first made them,  - hopefully you will too.


xxGailxx

Can I also just post a thanks to Marie Louise who has given me advice on how to update my blog page to allow followers and also to show the blogs that I follow - Thanks Marie, it is much appreciated xx

Hopefully everyone had a fab Christmas..........

and are managing to enjoy the break between Christmas and the New Year......here are a couple of birthday cards I made during 2013 and decided to post them together as basically they are the same components just put together slightly differently.......not sure which I like best!!

and version two........

The colours are exactly the same the coconut white and teal from the CE paper stock but the camera work on the second is not so good - sorry!!  The white looks more like the blush card stock but it isn't honest!!

When I started taking photos of my cards it wasn't with a blog in mind but rather something that I could refer back to when I had a craft block (which happens quite frequently)!!

Anyway, hope you enjoy the bit of normality before New Years Eve and whatever you are doing enjoy yourself and keep safe and warm.

xxGailxx

Well not expecting many people to read this today.......

as it is now 5.55pm on Christmas Eve and I have made a start on the food preparation for tomorrow.....done some steam cleaning.........done the ironing and managed a walk (all be it to the local supermarket for last minute things) just in case!!! the round trip is about an hour so at least I have had some exercise and fresh air and boy it is fresh but compared to the some other areas we cannot complain.....anyway taking a leaf out of Patricia (summerhousecrafts) I have decided to post a virtual Christmas card to the few followers I have......who knows they may grow during 2014.

Merry Christmas to one and all and hopefully you have a fab day with family and friends and get all that you wish for yourself.  Lets also spare a thought for all of those who have suffered due to the adverse weather conditions and have had to cancel Christmas - I really feel for you all.

I will try and post again between Christmas and New Year and thank you to the few dedicated followers that I have managed to achieve in my short blogging life - Thank You.

xxGailxx

It's nearly here.....................

well this time next week we will all probably be sat watching the telly with a glass of baileys or wine or beverage of choice and some choccys!!

Hopefully anyway........

My cards are now all posted and the giving out ones are nearly all 'gived' out.......I only have one pressy wrapped and that is only because I was meeting up with her yesterday.......so not really that organised yet!! 

I'm sure it will all fall into place...............arrgghh!!!!

on a lighter note here are some more Christmas cards from 2012.....



this was made especially for a friend who just luvs the colour pink.........

 

 

 

some more special cards that were made for family or special people in our lifes............

 

 

luv this card and the emboss part of it was a 'happy accident' but managed to duplicate the 'accident' on the other side of the card (probably wouldn't be able to do it again) lol

 

 

the negative and the positive used from the SB holiday tree - not like me to be this resourceful!!


Hope you like all or some of the above - one thing I have noticed I have kept my cards much simpler this year - not sure if that is due to lack of time or that I am in a 'simple' mood!!........make of that what you will.

xxGailxx