Happy Birthday Card

Good morning. I'm back with a quick birthday card. One to add to my stock pile for when my calendar flashes up a friend's birthday and it's too late to knock one up (why iCal is your default set at one day????? Dozy numpties like me need at least a week's warning)

Mind you, with the bright, cheerful colours going on here, I'd happily pop this card in the post and address it to myself just so that I can see it brighten up my own mantelpiece.

Right I'm off to go and enjoy some of that lovely, if somewhat rare, sunshine today

Quick & Colourful plus a Little Adventure

Just a quick post today - no bells and whistles, showing a card I made whilst the web was down temporarily this morning (something to do with BT Broadband)

I sponged two colours of Distress Ink onto watercolour paper, Picked Raspberry (which I always read as Pickled Raspberry) and Salty Ocean. I used a stitched Lil Inkers Die to cut it out. I then used another die to cut out the sentiment in yellow card. I backed it all onto a glittery green base and stuck the whole lot onto red card.

Oh, I almost forgot. Though I'm not posting about it as regularly, I'm still incorporating Adventure into my life and yesterday I attended something for the first time which Nick had arranged. It's an adventure I would never dream of doing - Go Karting! At an indoor centre in Manchester called Karting 2000.

(Not a photo we took. It's from their website)

Up front I'll say I'm happy to have tried it once but it really, REALLY wasn't my thing. Nick had a great time, which makes me more than happy enough to have attended. But I am not the most ambitious person when it comes to speed. I even have little old ladies overtake me on the motorway.

For 15-20 minutes, I stayed in the left hand side, pootling along at the slowest speed possible, cringing whenever I hit a tight bend. Everyone else happily squealed their tyres, threw themselves round the course and overtook me, many, many times. Oh and the noise! Those karts don't half make a racket. I was relieved when the chequered flag was waved to indicate the end. I am so glad there weren't any photos taken of me in shabby overalls, complete with a hair net and racing helmet, gagging on the taste of petrol that seemed to be permanently in my mouth.

If I hadn't come across exactly as a petrol-head to Nick before, then I think it sunk in afterwards. Boxing, I can do. Boys' toys, I don't. My normally pristine palms, had blisters. I was in danger of developing callouses!!! I couldn't wait to go home, run a bath, add lots of smelly salts and wash any evidence away that I had been near oil and grease.

Today, inking up a card in bright colours, I feel more at home.

POW!!!

You know what? I didn't think I'd be making anything in June, nor have the time to post if I did. Looks like I was wrong.

I was busy scribbling up some notes last night when I thought sod it and downed tools. I cleared my desk and pulled out a new die set which arrived in the post this week.  Bam Bubble by Paper Smooches.

Okay, so I didn't do something wildly innovative with it. In my defence, I had to get this idea out of my system. I'm afraid that the moment I saw this shape, this is what it said to me. And you know how much I love a simple, punchy design.

The word was die cut with a lettering set, out of felt. I was trying to think of a way to make them pop from background and I remembered seeing felt used by other cardmakers online in their designs and thought I'd give it a go.

Ahhh! It feels good to make something again :)

Colour Q #242

Hello Sweet Friends

I'm sat here tidying up my digital files on the computer listening to the rather marvellous music of Sohn. It's taking me back to my more youthful days. He's a musician  signed to the 4AD record label, who used to have my favourite artists on their books, the most well known being Cocteau Twins. So I'm drifting away here on a sea of experimental sounds.

Anyway, that aside, I actually pulled some of my paper stash out and made a card. It's for the Colour Q challenge. I haven't joined in with them for a while but when I saw what was lined up - I immediately wanted to see what I could do with these happy hues

I think this is fast becoming one of my favourite palettes. The combo is fabulous. Not sure I gave it full justice but this is what I came up with

And yes your eyes aren't deceiving you, I've used a glittery card too. I'm not sure without looking back through the whole of my blog but I think it's the first time I've ever made a project with glittery card.

Now you may find it goes a bit quiet on my blog throughout June. I'm going to be busy carrying out a few upcoming work projects with deadlines and for a few days, I'll be travelling as well. I'll not have time to make anything to share on here. But rest assured, all is fine. I'm dabbling in digital scrapbooking and making project life style pages as a creative outlet as this is easier to pick up and drop in short bursts. Hopefully, when I return to blogging, I'll have a few to share.

Happy Birthday Rosette Card

Hello my sweet lovelies

Another card to round the week off. I was inspired by this idea I found on Pinterest which used Washi Tape with a rosette embellishment.

I used Tim Holtz Rosette die and blue card to cut the concertina strip. I added the black washi tape and then glue the rosette together before attaching a decorative brad to the centre.

I die cut a scalloped circle from further blue card and mounted onto the red card with foam mounts. I die cut the banner and stamped the sentiment before again using foam mounts to attach.

Offcuts & New Tools

Hello again my lovelies

A few weeks back, I posted this card here.

Well as I was clearing up through my offcuts, I came across the blue heart cut from this design. Too good to throw away, I filed it and promptly forgot about it. Until now. So I figured I ought to make good use of it.

As you can see, I grabbed the same stencil but instead of blue, I inked over it with Khaki, using a new tool. Tim Holtz's mini ink blending tool.

I know it's created for his new mini inks (of which I have the original size pads and they still have plenty of ink in 'em, so I'm not tempted for the moment). But their circular design makes them a better applicator than the rectangular ones. You don't get those hard edges as you're dabbing the ink over the stencil.

Anyhoo, with my Khaki design, I overlaid the blue heart, trying as best I could to line the pattern up. I then added a paper bow from a die I recently purchased and stamped the sentiment, in black, onto Kraft card.

And there you have it. It's a bit quirky to have a pastel blue heart in a design and not red or pink but maybe it can be used to send to a guy. Blue and brown are a perfect combo for guys anyway.

CAS & Ego

I've been reading. I don't say that to shock you. I read a lot. I make no secret about the fact that I love a good read. And I know, I don't usually share what I finger through on here. That's because it's so wide ranging and not always relevant to what I am posting.

But today is different. I read a book that's only been out for a few weeks, called Die Empty by Todd Henry. It's a gloomy title I'll grant you. The reason I bought it is because I'm a big fan of Todd's better known, The Accidental Creative.

I enjoyed the content and made a few notes as I was turning the pages but nothing particularly spoke to me until I reached the chapter on Being Confidently Adaptable. The one which begins "This Chapter is for everyone but you. In this chapter we'll be dealing with the effects of an overinflated ego." And yes, he read me correctly. I started to mentally harumph at reading about inflated egos. It's not a problem I have, I can easily skip this section. And my finger momentarily hovered on the skip to next page button. But I felt challenged by the opening sentence, so despite myself, I read on.

What made me sit up was a passage on value and complexity. How when we are creative, we sometimes incorrectly assume that in order for an idea, design or piece of art to be seen as worthy by our peers, it must be complex. I recognised myself in this. I all too easily have dismissed my own ideas because they are too simple.  I have, in the past, felt I could only share projects with the world which have taken a good deal of time to make, have been complex to piece together or involve a new technique.

My ego has gotten in the way. Good design ideas and creative projects have been cast aside because I have deemed them too simple. Even if the design is near perfect. It went into my mental trash bin. Whether for my work or my hobby.

So I've done a simple CAS card. I could tell you that it's harder to do, as more attention and focus is on what little detail remains. I could impress upon you (and myself) how culturally significant and intellectual the art of minimalism is, to lend it some gravitas. To satisfy my ego. To have approval from my peers.

But no. Today, I've made a card that took just a couple of minutes to put together. Not because I deliberately wanted to prove a point. It's an idea I've had and dismissed in the past. I knew I'd love the look of it and it would excite tingling goosebumps of satisfaction in me. It's a good design. I would go all funny inside if I received something like it in the post from someone else.

This is the kind of card my ego doesn't want me to make or to share. I want you to think and know I could do much more. But this is a card I'd buy if I saw it in a shop or on Etsy.

I love that I have discovered this about myself. I'm now going to hopefully weigh up my future creative ideas differently. I love complex projects. I love simple projects. And if they both give great pleasure when making and fulfil their purpose, then they have equal value. That is, once my over inflated ego is told to take a hike.

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Supplies

Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Geometric Style