At last ... a non-Christmas card :-)

It's my dearest schoolfriend's birthday tomorrow, so despite having been somewhat run off my feet this past two weeks i thought I'd better sit down and make a bit of an effort ... and here's the result. The light here is really terrible today, so the pictures are pretty awful but alas i think this is as good as they're going to get .... roll on spring!!

As usual I did my best to take inspiration from a few challenges. I used the fab sketch from this week's Sketch Saturday Challenge #80, which I thought really suited the fairly large stamp I had in mind.


I also made it with the following challenges in mind:

Stamp Something - Glitzy Somethings. I have coloured my flowers with Twinkling H20's and decorated liberally with glamour dust; and have also used iridescent pink and holographic silver cardstock - it's such a pity the light is so poor that the photo doesn't really show it up very well lol!
Charisma Cardz #48 - Dreaming of Summertime. Summer makes me think of flowers, so hopefully the DT will agree!
Cute Card Thursday #89 - Swirly Girly. Well ... I mean ... how girly is this pink & silver & sparkly card hmmm? rofl!!
Everybody-Art-Challenge #68 - Stitching.
Pile It On #27 - Tinsel Town ... yes I know that sound like it should be a Christmas card ... but it actually says use glitter .... and i have sure done that lol!
Etsy Inspired #65 - So Stinkin' Sweet -I discovered this blog when i visited Pile It On ... this week's theme is to make a creation inspired by one of their soaps. So I have chosen "Pink Sugar Type" which you can see here - they describe it as "a girly girl's soap for sure".

Here's a very poor attempt to show the glitz and sparkle ...

And the inside ...

Recipe:
Main image: Penny Black "Fantasy", heat embossed in detail silver and then coloured wtih Twinkling H20's and decorated wtih glamour dust;
Sentiments: penny Black (inside and out);
Papers: Crafty Creations (I think!);
Supplies: brads and spacers from The Hobby house; silver lace from Bunny Zoe's Crafts; prima flowers; pink iridescent card, silver holographic card, dragonfly brads and pearls from my stash;
Tools: Martha Stewart "doily lace" edge punch; Leone Em "Ash Branch" punch.

Just off to do some jobs around the house now .. hope you're enjoying the start of your week.

Butterfly Kiss

I thought I would have a little break from making Christmas cards, so instead I sat down to make my November Docrafts friendship card for Karen (CarrieAnne). It was actually really invigorating to get away from the pressure of the Chrimbo card production line, as I have started to feel my mojo slipping away lol!


I followed this week's Stampin' for the Weekend Challenge #25 sketch .....


... and would also like to enter the card for the following challenges:

Daring Cardmakers - Initial thoughts. They would like to see at least 3 things on your card that begin with the first letter in your name. Well I'm quite lucky in that respect ... P is not only for Pauline, but is also for ....
- Penny Black stamps (* 3)
- Paper
- Pearls
- Petals
- Pearlised card
- Punched flowers
- Pricked holes (for the stitching) ....

... and also for Phew!! (lol!)

Stamp 'n' Scrap Hawaii - stitching
Flutterby Wednesday #84 - open theme featuring a butterfly, fairy or angel
Simon Says - Animal Antics. This is my second card for this challenge but i kinda get the impression that they are ok with multiple entries - hope so :-)
Corrosive Challenge #39 - Let's Go to the Movies! I have used the little known movie title Butterfly Kiss - ok so I had to look that one up on IMDb ... but it's there I promise you lol!

I used one of my all-time fave stamps, Penny Black "Bunny Bath" - I never tire of his cute little face looking so loved up with the butterfly :-)

I also decorated the inside, which I haven't been doing with Christmas cards as there just isn't enough time in the world when I have to make so many lol!



Recipe:
Main image: Penny Black "Bunny Bath", coloured with watercolour pencils with a little doodling around the edges;
Sentiments: Penny Black "... second self" (2386D) (front); Penny Black "Everything's ..." (2733E) (inside);
Paper: My Mind's Eye "Bloom & Grow";
Supplies: lace and charm from Quixotic Paperie; large pearl brad and spacer from The Hobby House; Woodware flower; pearl gems and dragonfly brad from my stash;
Tools: large oval and large scalloped oval nestabilities; Martha Stewart "Ash branch" punch.

Don't forget that if you enter this week's Penny Black Saturday Challenge there are loads of fab prizes on offer on our blog hop, plus I am offering some DT candy if you enter the challenge and visit my DT card here - plus all the other DT members are offering candy too :-).