Christmas again!

Two Lili of the Valley Christmas cards, both designed by my friend, Ailsa.

I love them both and will definitely be making more of them.

Both cards are coloured with Promarkers.

The angel card has an acetate window which isn't visible in the photo.

Thanks for looking,

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday dear me
Happy birthday to me!!!!!

Well no-one else would be putting it on my blog would they?
And no... I haven't sent myself a birthday card. Even I wouldn't go that far!

Gotta go...OH taking me to town to buy my present soon and I'm not even dressed yet.

Oh and thanks to everyone for all the lovely cards. I was really excited to see all the hand crafted ones. They're all gorgeous. I've got such talented friends! x

Variations on a Theme

Two birthday cards for friends. Similar, but not the same!
The first is for one of my crafting friends whose birthday is today. She hasn't actually received this card yet as I had a senior moment and thought her birthday was next week. I'll be giving her it tomorrow at our weekly crafting session. Happy birthday Dawn anyway.

The second card is for a friend at work who shares the same birthday as me....lucky her. Lol. So Happy birthday to Jane too.

So as you can see the cards are similar. Both are made using the Bloomin' with Beauty stamp set ( which is retiring ...boo hoo). The ribbon is Pretty in Pink taffeta and the cardstock is WW, Pretty in Pink and the new Pink Pirouette. Pink Pirouette is a very pale pink so very useful for baby cards, weddings and of course birthday cards.

Dawn's card also has the En Francais big background stamp and beads and pin from the gorgeous  Pretties Kit (also retiring and currently half price at £11.63!)

Jane's card has flowers from the Vintage Vogue set which have pearl centres also from the Pretties Kit.

The pink dots on both are actually pearlescent so a little prettier than they look in the photos.

Thanks for taking the time to visit.

Birthday and Christmas

Here's two cards I've made this week. The first is a Christmas card. The photograph does not really do it justice as it is very pretty and sparkly. I'm hoping the close-up photo will show you better.

The church is from the Silent Night set which unfortunately is no longer available but you could get the same effect with any similar stamp. I also thought the sentiment matched it perfectly. This is from a new Level 3 hostess set called Occasional Quotes available from 1st October. It is not available to buy but you can get it FREE if you hold a workshop so contact me if you're interested. There are 12 sentiments in the set and they cover every occasion.

The church has been made glittery using the Heat and Stick and Beautiful Dazzling Diamonds glitter.

The 'book' is made with nestabilities and the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

This one is for my OH's grandaughter, whose birthday is tomorrow. It's made with a Lili of the Valley stamp coloured with Promarkers.

The cardstock is Pretty in Pink and So Saffron, as are the ribbons. The edge has been punched with the eyelet border punch and the paper is from the Bella Bleu DSP.

A couple of commissions

Here's a couple of cards commissioned by my mum (she likes to keep me busy, bless her).
The first is for my auntie (her sister-in-law) and the second for my sister-in-law (her daughter-in-law).

The cardstock on this one is Barely Banana and some pearly card I've had for ages and the paper is from Bella Bleu DSP. I used my nesties and X Cut butterfly and border punches.

Real Red, Regal Rose and WW cardstock and Pink Flamingo DSP. The stamp is Personal Impressions (coloured with Promarkers). The cherries are Papermania Dew Drops and although you can't see it there's SU Dazzling Diamonds glitter on the icing.

Thanks for stopping by,

LOTV Challenge

Back to achool this week means very little time to blog or make cards....but I've made a determined effort this week before the pile of books to mark becomes mountainous and the paperwork becomes impossible to complete because the teaching gets in the way!
So I decided to take part in this week's LOTV challenge which you will find here. It's called 'One for the boys, so here's my humble offering.

Sorry if the 'C' word has appeared too early for you but I was quite chuffed with how the colouring on this one turned out.

The cardstock is Stampin Up Basic Grey and Real Red with matching Stampin Up ribbon. The backing paper is from the Level 1 hostess gift pack (not available to buy....you've gotta have a workshop, so get in touch fast if you want one as everything changes with the release of the new catty on 1st October).

And here's another LOTV one for you. This rabbit is so cute!

The card is one of the new Stampin Up colours Rich Razzleberry (although it has been available to buy for a while) and the backing paper to match is the Cottage Wall DSP.

Thanks for looking,

All places for the April Virtual workshop have now been taken. If you would like to join the next one, please contact me on amwilliams@amwilliams.karoo.co.uk You can find out more about virtual workshops here.

More cards at last

Have just returned from a last minute visit to my sister's in Banbury. On Sunday at 5pm, my mum suddenly decided to tell me there was a family gathering in Oxford as my auntie and cousin were over from New Zealand. So my other half and I hastily packed a bag and headed for Banbury. I'm glad we went, as it was lovely to see them and some of my other family too.

Anyway we're  back now and here's the cards I made before I went but didn't get chance to post.

The first two were made using my Little Claire's elephant die which I bought in Doncaster but have only just got round to using.

These two are a couple of simple cards made with more lovely flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts.

The leaves were made with the Stampin Up 2 step bird punch.

Next is a pretty wedding card made with a cute Lili of the Valley stamp, 2 different embossing folders and more flowers from WOC.

Finally - a butterfly card!

The colours are Apricot Appeal, Close to Cocoa  and Cameo Coral (all retiring this month so get your order in quick if you want ink or cardstock in these colours). The paper is from the Spiced Cider set (also retiring).

The ribbon is satin Chocolate Chip (also retiring).

The butterfly was made by punching out 2 large hearts and usine the eyelet punch along the top edges. Then I punched a normal butterfly, followed by 2 small hearts.

Sorry all this seems to be retiring stock - I didn't do that intentionally!!!!

E mail at amwilliams@amwilliams.karoo.co.uk to order any Stampin Up products. Lots retiring this month and many are at reduced prices, so don't miss out. You can see them all here.

Thanks for looking.