A Button

This week is a busy week for me birthday wise. There are 6 birthdays I have to make cards for. This one is for my B-I-L. 

I CASed a card displayed at Split Coast Stampers by Cara Denise.
I thought it was perfect for a man. I used my special ruler to get the torn edge accurate.
I added paper to a bought enevelope.

Supplies: 

Sentiment: Computer generated.

Paper: Black and green gingham a free down load from Activity Village
Odd button
String from a local hardware store.
Jef Paper Tear edger
Card Stock in Kraft 180gsm

Flowers for Penny

This is the card which I made for my S-I-L for her birthday. We are in the middle of a postal strike so I hope it makes it's way to her on time. The strike has been going on for 6 weeks now but my understanding is that it's the workers who operate the international depot who aren't working so there is hope for this card, she lives in the same country just 600km away!!!

I CASed this beautiful card from Freshly Noted.
The pattern I used is the same one used for this card.

Supplies:

Pattern: Stitching Cards  Free flower bookmark pattern.
Flat backed pearls

Pink Card stock

Envelope made using Crafter's Companion

Liner: a free download but can't remember the source, apologies!

Leopard

I'm taking part in Split Coast Stampers Queen for the Day challenge again this week. Our new queen is Lois. She has been creating cards for many years now and I have often been inspired by her work.

Here is my card to honour her

Leopards are by far my favourite big cat although I have yet to see one in the wild. The only one of the big Five that I haven't seen.

The card I was inspired by was this one.
Below is a card I made a while ago now using the same pattern. I don't think I'll ever do the yellow card stock again! It's combined with a blue not purple.

Supplies:

Pattern: Prick 'n Stitch Big Five
Thread: White or metallic copper

String

Paper: silver and blue

Card stock 180gsm in yellow and green

copper brads

Blue Flowers

This pattern is another one of Joke de Vette's.

I love the simple elegance of it.
It was inspired by a stamped one but unfortunately I did not take note of the name of the contributor.

Another version of the same pattern. This time I took my inspiration from a card over at Splitcoast Stampers

Supplies:

Pattern: East Embroidery by Joke de Vette

Flat backed gems in clear and mauve

Border Punch Martha Steward

Green and silver narrow ribbon

Thread: White, blue and green

A floating flower

We have finally had some rain which has done more than just make a mess of my car's windscreen! It's amazing how quickly the grass has turned from brown to green. So to celebrate the rain I thought I'd share a flower card with you.

I had a lot of fun making this card and loved seeing the birthday girl's face when she saw the flower 'floating' on her card.

To achieve this illusion I used my smallest die to cut 2 card stock circles pricking the flower onto one of them and stitched it. Then I used the next size up circle to cut the outside, slightly overlapping circle twice. Once on the folded card and once on a topper. It is more accurate if you place one on top of the other and cut them at the same time. Next I used some thin clear plastic and stuck it in between the card and the topper and trimmed the edge. I then stuck the stitched circle on top of the plastic and secured the second smallest circle onto the back of the stitched one to hide the stitches. It all sounds very complicated but really it is actually quite simple.

The sentiment is computer generated and I printed this before die cutting any of the circles. Satin ribbon in cerise and some faux stitching in black finished the layout. I was very happy with how this card turned out.
I can't claim all the credit for this layout, I got my inspiration from Bellarose cards

Supplies:

Pattern: Easy embroidery on paper by Joke de Vette

Thread: yellow and cerise

pink flat backed gem

Cerise satin ribbon

black felt tipped pen

Plastic. Recycled fruit punnett
Die Cuts: Sizzix 8 circle

Graduation Day

Recently I attended the graduation ceremony of a very special young lady who I am extremely proud of.

Her Mother was an employee of my Mom and I met her when she was just over three months old. She came from a home where money was always tight but despite this she worked hard at school and did very well. After completing her schooling there was no cash for any kind of territory education but undeterred she found a job and started saving. Nine years later she was able to enrol for a teacher's degree at a correspondence university and 4 years later, despite having a baby in her first year of study, she is now a qualified teacher.

Well done WM, you are an inspiration to us all.

Here is the card I made for her.

I CASed this lovely one from Bonnie.

Supplies:

Pattern: Stitching Cards   free butterfly pattern reduced to 50% of original.
Satin ribbon in peach.

Pale blue and black thread

Black beads

180gsm white card stock

Red Flowers

The pattern I have used for these cards is a free one from Stitching Cards. I have found it a very easy pattern to adapt and will show you some of the other cards I have made in the months to come.

It's also a great pattern for a beginner.

I have stuck to the same layout for both these cards just changed the colour combination slightly.

The red ribbon in the first one is recycled from around the neck of a chocolate Easter bunny, the bell will be used for something else in time.

I have machine stitched around the edge of the white card stock and the edge of the entire card to finish the look.

Supplies:

Odd buttons

Ribbon: Lindt chocolate Easter bunny.

Thread: Dark green, red and metallic gold.

Pattern: Stitching Cards  Bookmark Flower
Papers: Paper Pizazz dots checks plaids and stripes