A Candle in the Sparkle

Evening Everyone,
Has it been cold in your neck of the woods?
They keep predicting the 'white stuff' and it has certainly been cold enough for it at work today, so here is an appropriately chilly Christmas card.

When I was at the NEC with Imagination in November I did a Make and Take using the fabulous Diamond Sparkle Medium, a brayer and some white card.
It occurred to me while we were playing that it might make a good background to stamp onto, and as there is only one way to find out, I tried it............it works beautifully as you can see. It's just a shame that the sparkle doesn't show up too well in the photos.

I coloured the candle and holly using Promarkers and fussy cut them out before adding them to the main image using silicon.
I kept the rest of the card very simple and just added a 'wiggly' border using a fine permanent pen.
I would like to enter it into the following challenges.
Christmas Card Challenges - Anything Goes
Dream Valley Challenges - No Designer Papers
Glitter and Sparkle - Bling it Up
Thanks for stopping by, lets hope this doesn't act as a prediction for tomorrows weather lol.
Hugs Kimx

Happy Father's Day

Evening Everyone
I hope that you have had a wonderful Father's Day. Have you been waiting on him hand and foot, just as he is supposed to do for Mother's Day?
I have spent another day chained to my desk but the Grandkids have been making sure that their Dad is looked after with a cooked 'Brunch' and plenty of cups of tea and coffee.
We also had a lovely Sunday Roast dinner, which is always a favourite with everyone.
As my own Dad is sadly no longer with us I had no need to make a Father's Day card so I thought instead that I would share this card that I made for a friend to give her Dad on his birthday last month.

Her Dad had been in the Navy for most of his adult life so she wanted something with a Nautical theme.
I had very little in the way of stamps for this so I just had to have a little bit of a spend up with Woodware.

The greeting on the map is what Vicky asked me to put on the card, it is what they call her Dad.

The ship has been coloured using Distress Inks and then the sails have been painted with thin undiluted bleach.

I used Frantage powder on some of the background images as well as Sticky Embossing Powder and Copper Leafing.
The base to the card uses one of my favourite Punch Around the Page punches which is great for Men's cards.
I would like to enter this into the following challenges
613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes or TWIST Someone Special (A Male)
Dream Valley Challenge - Father's Day / Male Theme
Totally Gorjuss - For Dad
The Hobby House - Anything Goes (The compass charm is from their collection)
The Artistic Stamper - Makes for Men
Better get to bed, it is my last day off tomorrow and I still have so much left to do. I'm hoping that the Grandchildren will wake me up before they go to school.
Hugs Kimx

For a Very Special Young Lady

Evening Everyone,
The 1st of May is a very special day in our house since not only would it have been my parents 62nd Wedding Anniversary, it is also the 12th birthday of my eldest Granddaughter Megan.
I can't believe how quickly the last 12 years have flown by. I can remember the day she was born like it was yesterday.

I know that her favourite colour is purple, so this is the card that I made for her.
Once again I used the lovely sketch over at Saturday Sketch.

The main image is a Lili of the Valley die cut which I have cut out using a nestie. The background papers are from my stash.

I added a DooHickey butterfly and swirl as well as some embossed swirls on the background paper.

The butterflies in the corner are from part of an embossing folder.

The flowers and lace are also DooHickeys which are available from SirStampalot.

I also added some brads and purple chandelier.

I added Megan using letters from a Pergamano stamp set that I bought recently in a sale.

Megan told her Mum that she wanted a big badge to wear on her birthday, so I made this one for her. The photo makes it look blue but it really is purple, honest.

And here is the young lady herself wearing her badge and her One Direction PJ's. They are her favourite band.
There was much screaming when it came to present opening as her Mum and Dad have got her tickets to see said band in April next year. It was the earliest available date so God help her if she likes someone else by then lol.
The challenge over at Dream Valley this time is to make a card 'For a Special Lady' and she is certainly that.
Happy Birthday Sweetpea, I hope that you had a good one.
Hugs Mam-ma xx

A Valentine Wish winging your way

Happy Monday to Everyone.
At least this one was warmer than last week, or at least it was in my neck of the woods.

As tomorrow is Valentines Day it seemed the right moment to share this card that I made a couple of weeks ago for one of the guys at work to send to his fiance in Pakistan.

I love this bear stamp. He is a Whipper Snapper stamp called 'Love Bear' (LY855) and is just perfect for Valentines Day, or any other romantic occasion for that matter.
 He has been coloured using coffee.

 I used a Cuttlebug Embossing folder which was then cut out using a heart shaped nestie, and sanded to give it a vintage feel. The flower and swirly foliage are both DooHickeys from Sir Stampalot, as is the Heart border.

I paper pieced the LOVE from old Penny Black background papers from my stash and added my favourite Hero Arts F5042 Leaf Flourish stamped with gold encore ink.
I would like to enter it in to the following challenges

The Stamp Man - Texture
Hooked on Craft Challenge 17 - Hearts
Make My Monday Week 36 - Hearts and Flowers
Ooh La La Creations Challenge 98 - Be My Valentine
Stamp and Create - Valentine's Day / Love
Dream Valley Challenge 25 - Valentine

I'm off to bed now, not feeling quite so cold ridden tonight but still not 100% so maybe a relatively early night will help.
Roll on the Spring is all I can say.
hugs Kimx