Long ago, in a land far away, a dear friend celebrated a significant birthday. The presents were assembled, wrapped, annotated..... all it needed was the card to be finished. Then life stepped in and anything on paper that wasn't a school report or a budget spreadsheet went to the bottom of the pile. And the pile grew....and grew....and grew.
Okay, enough excuses. I lost the plot (Plot? What plot? What was the book again?), so finally here is the card, and the apology is heart-felt. She knows who she is, so the rest of my readers will just have to wonder...........
I saw this idea for a card like a pin-board somewhere when I was surfing. It has fine gold-edged ribbon criss-crossing a sheet of pretty blue and yellow nameless paper from Riot. There's a matching yellow mat to back it before being mounted on white CS. The various flowers are Kaiser and so are the brads. The birthday stamp was a present from friends across the sea and its embossed on yellow ink with iridescent powder.
I know your birthday was a happy one.......
The movie this week is Beauty and the Beast, and the instruction is to use some fantasy for inspiration. I thought of Belle wishing for so many things in her life: change, love, freedom amongst them. Wishing brings stars to mind and so came my idea for the card.
There is lots of sparkle to represent stars twinkling, and a delicate pattern of dew drops on the background. The black and silver represents the evenings when stars shine through the castle windows. When I was little, my Mum always recited the sentiment "Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight" whenever the Evening Star came out. When I grew up I found out this was always Venus, a big romantic star indeed. Finding a stamp with this verse was a special treat.
The card is a big 6in square one, with Francheville DP Pink Diamond Bling for background. The stamps are SU Stars (standard wheel), Stamp It! star, and the words are from the SU In The Stars set. The deep rose paper scrap and gauze ribbon are from my busy-room boxes. The little stars are embossed with dark hologram dust, there are a few diamonds in there too, and the big star has an acetate sheet cover to make it shine.
Since I'm sitting here in woollen trousers, long-sleeved jumper, fur-lined vest and my woolliest socks, even THINKING about sand and shells is difficult. I love the beach in winter, but its such a warm-weather destination for the most part.
So this is a card to evoke memories of walking along the sandy beaches at Blairgowrie, right at the edge of the water as it recedes, leaving the sand wet and glistening. I'd have left my thongs in the sand just far enough out of the water to avoid losing them when the waves wash back, and I'd be walking, head bent, looking for shells or jellies or tiny interesting pieces of driftwood. Hours pass, and I'm late for lunch......................
I used a piece of sandy coloured CS, some Colleen King Ocean Sands DP and some scraps for the thongs which have been embossed and then coloured with a gold gel pen. The stamps are from my local discount store specials bin, and the pieces of ribbon have finally come in handy!! I left them loose and cut the sentiment card to look a little like a banner pulled across the sky by a small plane. The tiny shells are from Blairgowrie beach one summer.
The first grandchild in my circle of friends.... had to make cards to celebrate, so there's one for his lovely parents Barbara and Gary, and one for his very proud grandparents (and two of my dearest friends). Nothing makes you feel how long life is... like the birth of a new generation. Friends please note: not a bloom in sight!! The sentiment is from SU Figures of Speech, stamped with Versamark turquoise and with just a wee bit of colouring. I've used two different Cuttlebug folders. I like the way the flourish and "with love" turned out. Have to use that one again. There's a little bit of Celebrate grosgrain ribbon too.
After an afternoon spent stamping, and with the help of the clever and talented Debbie P, I have a potted present to give another friend tonight. This lady and I have been friends for more years than I care to count, since starting school together, and she loves pink flowers. Debbie found a tutorial for making the pot, and I raided her stash for pink paper and inks. Funny how the plans I had for using another flower image didn't eventuate??? My favourite SU Eastern Bloom just looks right to me. Two of the flowers are embossed with white, and two with pearl. The details are picked out with silver and white gel pens. All the leaves are courtesy of Debbie who patiently punched out ovals and scored them down the middle, but its hard to see them in the little gaps. I tried out my new Versamark chalk stamp on a piece of acetate for the sentiment. The ribbon came from the busy room and was j-u-s-t long enough.
Long ago, in a land far away, a dear friend celebrated a significant birthday. The presents were assembled, wrapped, annotated..... all it needed was the card to be finished. Then life stepped in and anything on paper that wasn't a school report or a budget spreadsheet went to the bottom of the pile. And the pile grew....and grew....and grew.
