Project: 80s theme at MAWTT

This week at Moving Along with the Times we want to see your 80s inspired cards. Time to feel that neon!

I decided to go for an atmospheric 80s stonewashed jeans vibe, so I splatter painted a piece of card stock with Distress Ink in bright pink, yellow, turquoise and added my 80s themed RAD! greeting. I have this cool Polaroid frame in my stash (I think it was Recollections but I could be wrong - and I think it came from Claire) and so I used it to crookedly frame the greeting off the side. Then I just added a bunch of sequins and glitter glue dots until I felt it was suitably 80s.

Hope you like it, can't wait to see what you do with the theme!

Project 315: Wedding card sketches in two colors

I was asked this week if I had a wedding card in my stash and I was gutted to discover I didn't! He needed it that day and I hate to disappoint someone so I was resolved to go home and make a few this weekend.

I really liked the sketch at Sketch Saturday and knew that the wedding cake die I have from DiesRUs would be perfect for the central banner:

The headline image is fun but formal. I embossed the magenta paper with dots and then added the die cut cake over a layer of paler purple. The greeting is from Stamping Up endless birthday wishes set and I heat embossed it in white. The little flowers are from a pack I picked up at the pound shop - I haven't seen them the last time I went so I have to use them a bit more sparingly! The black and white damask paper is Dovecraft.

This was my second take on it, I wanted to do a blue version as it can often make things a bit more masculine. It didn't really work in this case though. Happily I have a few wedding cards in the stash should there be any other wedding emergencies. Phew.

Project 314: Mother's day in purple scraps

I often make Mother's Day cards in batches of 3-4 cards in the same layout with different colors but this weekend I didn't really have the energy for bulk making so I just made a few one-offs based on blog challenges that inspired me. I liked the color scheme at Bugaboo's April Color Challenge:

And what's more I was planning on playing with the little Jacques bird image from Bugaboo and thought it'd work well with The Paper Player's sketch challenge:

So by happy accident I was able to grab some purple scraps and play along!


The image is colored with ProMarkers and die cut using two circle dies. The scraps were all from a scrap bag and the gingham and vellum have been in there for years and years - maybe 6? I think I bought them when I was doing wedding craft which dates it back to early 2010! The plain purple was the offcut from the circle die and I embossed it using a basket weave folder.

The greeting is from Claire and I think it rounds off the sketch nicely. I don't often leave a blank white background but I think the papers are busy enough to warrant a clean background.

Really pleased how it all came together, I may keep it for personal use rather than sell it!

Project 313: Simple mother's day card

I am a bit behind on my Mother's Day stash for the non-UK holidays so I was exploring some things that were popular previously and freshening them up a bit. I liked the colors at The Color Throwdown challenge this week and thought they'd work well with this Bugaboo image:

I colored it with ProMarkers in Mandarin, Hot Pink, Ginger and Leaf Green. I diecut it using a Sizzix nesting oval die, and then added rings of pink and orange (from scraps! I swear!) and added a few little pearls for bling. The greeting is hand written as I thought it worked well with the image, and then I left it at that. No extra fussiness this week, just clean and simple.

Project 312: Pineapple birthday card

We have a new girl at the office and she confessed to loving pineapples. It was evident when I saw them in her phone, on her glasses case...pretty much anywhere she could find a pattern there was a pineapple.

I thought the sketch at Retro Sketches this week would be perfect for me to have a play making my own patterned paper so I gave it a go using a little Recollections pineapple stamp I have:

The Celebrate greeting is an oldie but goodie, though I sort of wish I had heat embossed it to stand out more. Never mind. I liked the cracky nature of the stamp from repeated use, I thought that added a nice bit of retro age. The yellow string and green chevron paper have been in the stash for ages, was nice to find a fun card to get them out for.

Will give the card to my colleague tomorrow, hopefully she'll like it.

Project 311: Two very different cards for a sunny Sunday

I haven't been crafting this week, not because I don't have things I want to make (or need to, as US Mother's Day is around the corner...!) but because it has been one of those weeks where life got in the way. Today was going to be my catch up day, until I realized it's my 2 year anniversary from adopting our little dog from the animal shelter and the day was taken over with walks and treats and playtime for him!

All I squeezed in were two cards that I need to get in the post as they're both belated to start with. The headline card is a card for my sister in law, who just finished medical school. I used a Sizzix die set and a Recollections Trader Jane paper set, topped with some glitter glue and that was about it! Simple but nice. I really need to use this set more, it's wicked fun and the whole thing comes together really easily.

Next is this fun little Bugaboo elephant. My friend's baby girl turned 1 about a week ago and I forgot to send the little gift that I got her, rubbish friend that I have become! I love this little elephant colored with ProMarkers and I thought it worked well with this Sugar and Spice paper. I added some foam letters I just picked up from Tiger as a greeting. Kids don't care that things match (she's 1 - she's not reading this card, let's be honest!) so I decided to just go for a mix of colors.

I love how playful the final cards are, not bad for a slapdash craft session!

Project 310: Another yoga mother's day card

My friend asked me to make a card with a lot of fun little details. She asked me to have someone doing yoga and then asked me to do something to hint at how she is about to be a grandmother.

I researched different yoga poses and found Ego Eradicator, an energy pose that felt perfect. I cut it by hand as a silhouette. I put four hearts, as she has four kids, and inside is a smaller heart growing inside.

I die cut the sentiment in purple and layered it over the same teal paper.

No bling, no sequins, just simple paper shapes. I love it and think it fits the brief really well.

Project 309: A shaker baby card

I love a shaker card at the moment and this one is for a very special friend. I wanted a girl card that wasn't overly pink, but still had some special touches.

I chose a Sugar and Spice paper as the back as it's a bit tricky to work with but I thought was playful enough for a baby. The greeting behind the shaker is a manipulation of Endless Birthday Wishes from Stampin' Up, where it should say 'It's all about...' but I masked the rest and then added the 'girl' from a 'birthday girl' greeting of the same set. It's all about stretching the stamps!

The shaker is full of yellow, green and pink teddy bear punches and beads in the same colors. I did a double ring in white and teal to cover the foam behind it and added a pink kite from Claire. The greeting on the banner is from the oldest sentiment set I own!

I really like the final project and I think my friend will like it. It's really cheerful, if a bit busy, and a nice twist on the normal baby card.

Project 308: Another balloon sketch card

I was playing earlier this week with the balloon stamp that I got from Creative Stamping magazine last month and I wanted to try it with the Sketch Saturday layout:

I found this paper in my stash and I just love it, from Studio Calico. I thought the planks would work really well vertically with their sketch. The colors are also so springy and cheerful, perfect for this time of year.

The balloons are heat embossed in white on card stock and cut out by hand. I stamped the greeting from Fiskars on white so it would stand out and added some white twine for the balloon strings. I added a sweet little blue bow from my stash to bring it together. This card was an easy make but I'm really pretty impressed with the final output. Doesn't have to be tricky to be impactful and I love it.

Project 307: A cheerful Bugaboo challenge

I love Bugaboo stamps and have done since the moment Claire introduced me. I have no idea why I have never played along with their challenges! This is the perfect week as it is Anything goes on their challenge blog.

I chose this little balloon mouse as my central image. I always gravitate toward this little guy when I need a bit of a craft boost, it is just so cheerful to work with and I've made him work for babies, birthdays, just about anything. I colored him with ProMarkers and diecut him out. Die is just a bit too close for comfort, I lost some of his lovely balloon!

I backed it onto an equally cheerful paper from Studio Calico, a paper that needs simplicity as it's so busy. I decided to add a touch of glitter to the balloon and decided I needed texture in the background as well. Sequins were getting lost in the words so I went for these 3D plastic dots that Claire made me as a birthday present. These are the 'imperfect' ones because you can't tell against the background.

I love the final card - I always love it when I use this image - and think it's a fun little card to enter my first challenge with Bugaboo.

Project 306: A special going away card for a friend

My friend Beth is moving this weekend and while I'm so happy for her. It's a huge step for her and her relationship and a wonderful opportunity for her to pursue happiness after a few very hard years. But I'm going to miss her!

I also wanted to tap into the Anything Goes challenge at Retro Rubber this week. The sentiment has been in my collection for about 3 years and the butterfly is at least a year. Maybe 2? I have so many lush butterfly stamps that it's hard to keep track!

She loves all things girly and pink so it had to be a butterfly card. I decided to make it up lifting and make it a little shaker, so I stamped the background and just colored the background with ProMarkers in rose pink and amethyst. I used pink foam I got from the pound shop in the kids' art section and then I was able to just add the plastic as I didn't need to mask the foam ring, just made it part of the design. I love making shakers with beads, they are so colourful and rattle around so well.

The sentiment is big and central and I added a little tie around it and some pink metallic candies. The colors don't really go and I didn't love the extra details but I remembered it was for her, and she likes OTT bling and texture and that pacified me!

Project 305: A CAS sketch case

I recently discovered the CAS(E) this Sketch challenge blog and I loved the layout they had this week:

I thought it would work perfectly with last month's Creative Stamping magazine giveaways which included this fun balloon stamp that I've been wanting to ue for some time. I heat embossed them in white and then cut them out by hand. The greeting is a Fiskars greeting that I have had for sometime and the paper is from American Crafts. The white twine was tied together originally in a bow but I thought it felt too feminine with the masculine colors so I took out the knot.

I am pleased with the simplicity and think it's stronger as I left it without fussing too much more. And also pleased to play along with a new challenge!