Kanreki - Oriental 60th Birthday Card for a man

Did you know that according to the Chinese when you reach your 60th Birthday you enter into your second childhood? It's called Kanreki, so when a friend told me it was her Dads' 60th I decided an Oriental style card using the colour red (very lucky colour according to the Chinese)would be appropriate ...



I used printable accetate for the front window, the stencilled Koi carp (using Dreamweaver black paste and stencil) and for printing the proverb, which reads
At 60 you are reborn. At 70 you are but a child, at 80 you are merely a youth, and at 90 if the ancestors invite you into heaven ask them to wait until you are 100, and then you might consider it.The corner embellishments on the front, inside front and back page sentiment are made with rubber stamped images that are triple heat embossed to give the impression of that lovely laquering the Orientals did on their furniture. The font used is Kudasai. Other embellishments used were black tassels, enamelled beads, large gold brads and a Chinese coin.
Oh and I used faux gold leaf behind the Koi and Proverb.
So until the next project, take care and keep smiling :o)

Black and White - Monochrome Christmas Card 2011

Here's the card(s) I made for my Dad to send out. I decided to have a go with black and white...

The image and sentiment on the front of the card are rubber stamps by Serendipity. The paper on the front was embossed with Impressabilities Snowflakes. I used two of them (cutting off the border of the dies) so as I could cover the whole of the paper and I used my Grand Caliber. The inside sentiments are computer generated, the snowflake border was a free silicone stamp I got off a "Craft Stamper" magazine.

Hope you all had a great Christmas. Take care & keep smiling :o)

House Mouse Birthday Card for Phoebe

Back in February 2009 I made a house mouse card, and although I was happy with the main image I wasn't to happy with the rest of it. So, as it was my sons' girlfriend Phoebe' birthday I decided to revamp the card and give it to her. The first image is the original card...

The rubber stamp used inside the card is from GCS artstamp called "Loves me not". The sentiments are computer generated. My logo and text on the back are rubberstamps. Now I'm happy with the card, but I think I like the box more :o)

Take care & Keep Smiling

Birthday Card For My Dad - 2011

I made this card for my Dads' birthday which was in September. It's a pretty simple. The backing papers were made using Stampendous "Music Score" rubber stamp . Using VersafineOnyx Black, Toffee and Deep Lagoon ink pads for the stamp and Tim Holtz' Distress ink pads - Frayed Burlap, Antique Linen, Broken China,Pumice Stone and Chipped Sapphire. The main image is a clear stamp from Butterfly Kisses "Musical Collage". Stamped with Versafine Toffeeand Onyx Black. The swirls were gone over with a gold gel pen, the musical symbols were gone over 4 times with Black Sakura Gelroll pen. The musical notes were hand cut and heat embossed. card.
The quote book inside was computer generated and the swirl is a stamp by La Blanche "Flourish". And I used some rub ons. Now I've told you the boring bits here's the card...

Take care & keep smiling :o)

Steamer Trunk Gift Box

Finally got my crafting head on and came up with this, a steamer trunk gift box. My Dad went to Germany for a holiday, and bought back a small Stein jug to give to our friend Gillian, but it didn't have a box so my Dad asked if I'd make one. And to keep in the holiday/travelling spirit thought this was appropriate...

The "leather" work was made with Tim Holtz' Grunge paper and stained with his Vintage Photo ink pad and then hand stitched. The corners were cut from Nestabilities circle dies. The travel stickers were from Cavellini & Co. And the interior was fully lined with velvet paper. Oh and the box was made with mounting board, which was just under 2mm thick. Thank you for visiting and taking a peek.

Take care and keep smiling :o)

James Bond 007 Birthday card for my brother

As you may have seen from previous posts, my brother is a big film fan/buff, so the cards I make him tend to reflect that. On this occasion I chose to do something different from the horror cards, and went for action instead ...

 

Did you notice underneath my logo on the back of the card are the words "Take care & keep smiling Ann" That is a rubber stamp that was made especially for me from my lovely friend Els. When I opened the lovely little box she had made for it and saw the stamp, I'm not ashamed to say I cried. Thank you Els XxXxX
Well as I always say at this point...
Take care & keep smiling :o)

Valentines Day Card - House Mouse

Long time no blog !!! But I have been crafting away like a little busy little bee, and here is one of my efforts. I made this Valentines card for my son to give to his girlfriend. I decided on something a little different from the usual Valentines, taking into account that my son and his girlfriend live about 200 miles apart and don't get to see each other as much as they'd like. But saying that my son will be moving down to London (where his girlfriend lives) in the summer and then I won't see him so much :o( Oh well I can always get on the train and visit them :o) ...

Waaaay to many details on this card to list but I will tell you I used my Grand Caliber machine and HUUUUUGE circle nestabilities. Hope you all have a lovely Valentines day.

Take care & keep smiling :o)

Vintage or Medieval Christmas Card for my Dad

I am so, so naughty, I didn't finish this card until Christmas morning. But my dad said it was worth waiting for :o)

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas. Take care & keep smiling :o)

Vintage Christmas Cards for 2010

Here is my Christmas card for 2010. I made several of these for my Dad to send out to family and friends.

Flowers - Flower Fantasy Die Set - Marianne Design Creatables. Stamen - Nellies Choice punch. Foliage - Pine branch - Marianne Design Creatables - Starry Garland Die Set. L Em - Ash Branch Punch. L Em - Evergreen punch.

Merry Christmas Stamp - Penny Black.

Take Care & Keep Smiling :o)

Christmas or Halloween Card ? For my brother

OK, so this may not be everyones idea of a Christmas card, maybe more of a Halloween card, but my brother is a BIG horror film fan, and I always like to make cards reflecting the recipients tastes - interests. So here is my brother's Christmas card for this year, and you have been warned this card is NOT nice ... You can click on the pictures to get more gory detail :o)

The Vampire Santa is "borrowed" from Vampire Wars, a game I play on Facebook. Thank you for looking.

Take care, keep smiling and HAPPY HALLOWEEN ^v^