65th Birthday card request

What do you do when the husband of one of your best friends asks you if you have a special card, big enough for 14 people to sign at her birthday meal, with an appropriate sentiment for a 65th birthday and if not he could count on me to sort something out?.......and he needed it in 24 hours time, despite the surprise birthday meal being planned months ago!  As I was out yesterday evening until 11pm and out all day today, the only choice I had was to start it at 11pm last night or tell my friend's husband to go to the local card shop and buy one.  So, what did I do?  I said I'd sort something out, will I never learn?!  I don't know why it seems to take me much longer to make a card when I'm under time pressure, but this card took almost 2 hours to make, the design evolving as I went along and with a couple of mishaps on the way.

For the background I used Sue Wilson Creative Expression 'Scalloped Lattice Frames - Set B'.  The stitched circles and rectangle are from Memory Box and the butterfly is two of the dies from the Spellbinders 'Les Papillons 2' set.  Five tiny clear gems for the butterfly's body finished off my card.

I am joining in the following challenges:

That's Crafty Fly Away Challenge
HLS September Anything Goes with Dies Challenge
Monochrome Magic Challenge Challenge #5 ~ Anything Goes Monochrome or Monochrome with a Twist of Add Gems/Pearls

Thank Whoo!

A second post today, another CAS card with a few challenges in mind.

The owl, coloured with Promarkers, is from a freebie set of stamps that came with a magazine several years ago.  I stamped it with black Archival Ink, as I couldn't get a good impression using my usual Memento ink pad.  I think it's to do with the quality of the stamp.  The sentiment is from a Woodware set of owl stamps.  I made a frame using MB 'Stitched Rectangle' dies and added some tiny punched leaves to the corners. 

I am joining in the following challenges:

Less is More Challenge #346 ~ Take Flight

Addicted to Stamps and More! Challenge #259 ~ Clean and Simple

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge ~ Clean and Simple

That's Crafty Fly Away Challenge

Cardz 4 Guyz Challenge # 178 ~ Nature

Easy as 1,2,3 Card

I've been AWOL for a while as we've been away for a few days with limited internet access.   I'm trying to catch up on my blog visiting!

Today's card is a card I made using a Darice 'Floral Whimsical' embossing folder, which I won recently over on the Butterfly Challenge. It's such a lovely, detailed e/f,  I didn't want to add too much to it.  The butterflies are punched with an X-cut punch and positioned on some of the embossed flowers.  So.... a very quick and easy card today.  I was going to enter this card for the both parts of the current Butterfly Challenge, but I think the colour is more purple than indigo.  I'm hoping the butterflies count as a silhouette.  

I am joining in the following challenges:
Butterfly Challenge #85 ~ Butterflies + S is for Silhouette and/or the colour Indigo
Cards in Envy Challenge ~ Easy as 1, 2, 3 Card Challenge
That's Crafty Fly Away Challenge

Happy 43rd Anniversary!

I can't believe that my hubby and I are celebrating our 43rd Wedding Anniversary today.  How time flies!  This is the card I made for him.

I used a Just Inklined digi stamp, 'Titanic', which is coloured with Promarkers.  The top part of the background is embossed with a Creative Expressions 'Love Hearts' e/f.  The border at the bottom was punched with a Fiskars heart border punch.  Because I didn't want the embossing to show through the heart aperture in the border, I used the punch again with white card and used the waste hearts to inlay into the red border.

 I am joining in the following challenges:
Ooh La La Challenge Challenge #237 ~ Happily Ever After

Little Hedgie

A birthday card today for a blogging friend.

The cute image is from Digi Stamp Boutique, which I've coloured with Promarkers.  I've used MB 'Stitched Rectangles' for matting and layering.  To make the panel, I used and old X-cut punch in a strip pink card and backed with the same green card I used for backing the image.  The bottom part of the card is embossed with a Creative Expressions 'Checkboard' embossing folder. 

I am joining in the following challenges:
Digi Stamp Boutique September Challenge
Tuesday Throwdown #360 ~ Happy Birthday

Thinking of You

❤️ Thinking of everyone caught up in the hurricanes. ❤️
Stay safe! 

A 'White on White' sympathy card made recently for a blogging friend.

Lots of dies used on this card.  

Creative Expressions: Ornate Pierced Rectangles, Double Pierced Ovals, String Flowers, Petite Vinery
Memory Box: Stitched Ovals, Pippi Butterfly, Isabella Butterfly
Cheery Lynn: French Lattice Small

The sentiment is grey, as black was too stark. I added tiny white pearls for the butterfly flight path and slightly larger ones for the flower centres. 

I am joining in the following challenges:
Dies R Us Challenge #80 ~ Die Cut Handmade Flowers
HLS September Anything Goes with Dies Challenge
Cuttlebug Mania Challenge ~ Anything goes with die cuts and/or embossing
Crafty Friends Challenge #66 ~ Use dies and/or punches
Crafty Cardmakers #195 ~ Monochrome

Flying high!

I can post this birthday card, now that I know it's been received by my friend's husband.  There's a little story behind this card, as it's not the one the recipient was supposed to receive!   We were on our way down to our caravan in Devon for a few days, when I suddenly remembered the date and realised our friend's birthday was before we came home.  I'd bought a caravan stamp to use especially for his card, which I intended to make after we got home, but didn't have it with me.  So, a little creative thinking was needed as I had a couple of hours to make a card before I needed to post it.

I had taken a few new dies I'd bought from eBay with me but, apart from fairies and a unicorn, the hot air balloon was the only other die I had.  I die cut the balloon in black, stuck double sided tape over the back, covering all the apertures, and inlaid all the coloured die cut pieces.  I had no patterned paper, embossing folders or inks to make a background, but then I found an old brochure for the caravan site we stay in, which had a map of the site in the middle.  It was perfect for the background as our friends frequently stay at the same caravan site too.  I attached the hot air balloon with foam pads to give the impression that it's flying over the site.  A sentiment peeloff I happened to have in the craft box I keep in the caravan finished off my card.  So the card was posted on time......although I discovered later that they were on holiday for his birthday and so I would have had plenty of time to make a card when I got home and post it!

I am joining in the following challenges:
Die Cut Diva's September Challenge ~ Masculine/Men/ Boys
HLS September Anything Goes with Dies Challenge
Cuttlebug Mania Challenge ~ Anything goes with die cuts and/or embossing
MIUCB #5 - Anything Goes + Inlaid Die Cut
Crafty Friends Challenge #66 ~ Use dies and/or punches