paper + card = robin christmas card

christmas is just over a month away
where did that year go?
my family have now come to expect a handmade card
sounds fine, doesn't it?
but when you have a MASSIVE family like mine, and you work too, it can get down to the wire
i've often posted them knowing that they will arrive after christmas, not good

here how i did it:
i drew a bird template on tracing paper
then just transferred the image to my plain brown card
i went over the pencil with a black ink outline
i used my thumb to apply some red acrylic to give the robin his red-breast
when that was dry i put a tiny amount of glue on the red breast and sprinkled on some red glitter
i had recently bought the embossing label maker
the embossed merry christmas gives it a little extra something
it's light hearted, QUICK and effective
perfect

paper +card = abstract birthday card

my friend lives quite a way from me 

invariably her birthday present is via a third party

this year was la maison du chocolat who do amazing bouchee delicacies
the real love bit comes via a handmade card
as she has her own sense of style, i like to avoid the twee
so i came up with a stamped card with resin and gold stiches that is orginal but still pretty

 

paper + card - ahoy!

with this card you get two for one
by carefully cutting out the letters with a sharp carft knife
and keeping the small insides of the letters a and o
you get a positive and negative image from the same base
i reckon the photo guide is fool-proof:

this card is bitter sweet
i made it to cheer up a friend, lifeboat mentor and teacher, called Bob who was suffering with cancer
his illness was short but painful and unbeknowst to me he had taken a sudden turn for the worse
i delivered the card on a saturday morning and, later that day, heard that he had died that morning
i doubt he even saw the card but i have no regrets about the sentiments i expressed inside
Bob was a great bear of a man and yet the gentlest and kindest person i think i have ever met
he had a laugh that was always bubbling and ready to burst out
if you heard it you couldn't help laughing too, even if you didn't know what you were laughing for
he was the living embodyment of father christmas
everyone who knew him will miss him
as i do

paper + card = ballerina with 'legs'

I haven't posted any craft for a while.

Quite frankly I couldn't whack up the energy. 

I've been in a job I loath for nine months and coming to the end of it's rather a slog.

I just about have the energy to endure and that's all.

However, on to more positive things.

Here's a card I made for my neice's birthday.

She loves to dance.

I thought she might like a jolly finger dance too!

Ballerina birthday card

Those are my fingers, not hers, by the way!

 I sketched a ballerina, coloured it using colouring pencils, and then used Anita's 3D gloss finish.

It's for clear embossing.  I assume it's a type of resin.  Here's a semi-profile:

Clear embossing

Fun, eh?

I'd had the embossing gloss for ages and never used it and when I did get round to it, I loved it so much I used it on a few more cards with I'll share another time.

For now,

Tinkety Tonk

paper + card = birthday card with a bonus

 Hello again,

This was a quickie card I made for my aunty Betty.

I hand drew (very casually) the card with tiny nibbed pens.

Then made two slits for the emboidered book mark.

 I pushed the ends through so the felt embellishment was in the middle.

 Here's a close up of the embroidery (I made a few earlier and stashed 'em).

She loved it (as well as the macaroons that I sent which were made by a proper baker!) and that's what matters ain't it?!
Tinkety Tonk

paper + card = congratulations card

My colleagues are all desperate to leave our place of work 

(a secondary school on the Isle of Wight, if everyone is interested).

I've handed my notice in sans new job but a colleague has secured another job -woo hoo!

We share a love of musical theatre and we've both played Reno Sweeny in Anything Goes (about 10 years ago and really badly in my case) and I wanted to show her how pleased  was for her.

She has only every taught at our current school and I want her to experience the nice side of teaching somewhere else, obviously.

I conceived the design from a sweetest occasion post that I found and I put my own spin on it.

 I used a phrase from a song in Anything Goes 

I started with some white pen as above then went over it in felt tipped pen.

I'm not sure which I prefer.

Plain white:

 or with a retro colour style:

What do you think, eh?

Tinkety Tonk