Valentine's sentiment

We are invited for a wedding on Valentine's Day. They are friends of the Culinary Consultant, and I don't really know them that well. But I thought I would make a card to celebrate the event. I didn't want to go overboard mushy with the card, as I'm sure a wedding on Valentine's day is all mushy and heart-filled and pink and red enough. So I turned to my trusty stamp friend. I absolutely love the Life's Messages sentiment stamp from Penny Black and I keep using it over and over, it's just so incredibly versatile. And I think it's great for a Valentine's card/wedding card as well. 

When I saw the colour combo over at ColourQ I immediately made a dash for my craft room. It's sooo fab, and I just had to use it for something immediately!! And I can honestly say this is the first time in the history of ever that I have used the word fab about a colour combo which contains orange. Orange, green and yellow are my least favourite colours, and I would never use them if it wasn't for colour challenges. But I thought Calypso Coral went so perfectly with this lovely combo. On a completely unrelated note, I can't figure out how the heels on the wool socks in the picture are made, they look very different to how I have learned to knit the heels. But no more on that subject. I was also completely inspired by this weeks sketch over at My Favourite Things, I think it's absolutely brilliant so I used it for my card. I was also inspired by the challenge over at Just Us Girls which is "Make your sentiment the focal point", and I think the lovely Penny Black sentiment is perfect for this challenge. I'm also entering the card in a few Valentine's themed challenges: Shopping Our Stash (theme Love Me Do), Stampin' Royalty (Valentine's), Time Out Challenges (Valentine's Day with the optional twist of Hearts) and The Card Concept (inspiration photo, I was inspired by the ombre colouring which I used in the background and also on the word Laugh).

I stamped the sentiment in Versamark and embossed using white powder. I then used sponges to ink Calypso Coral, Strawberry Slush and Aged Mahogany (I don't have Cherry Cobbler) in the background, and spritzed with water. I used a DSP from Venetian Romance for the background, and matted everything onto Strawberry Slush card. I coloured the word Laugh from the sentiment using Calypso Coral, Strawberry Slush and Aged Mahogany markers and stamped onto white cardstock for the banner. Last, I stamped the heart from Perfect Postage in Aged Mahogany. I absolutely love this sketch and colour combo, given that I don't really like Valentine's cards, I think this turned out rather good. I'm just so happy about all the great challenges out there and the amazing inspiration from the DTs who do a great job week after week. 

Card: Stampin' Up Strawberry Slush, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card, Stampin' Up Smoky Slate

Stamps: Penny Black Life's Messages, Stampin' Up Perfect Postage

Inks and Markers: Stampin' Up Calypso Coral, Strawberry Slush, Tim Holtz distress ink Aged Mahogany, Tsukineko Versamark

Paper: Stampin' Up Venetian Romance

Other: Papermania Seafoam White embossing Powder

Neon!

I made it home from work early enough to photograph this card in daylight, yay! Fading daylight to be fair, but daylight still. Days are getting longer (and I left work really early...). It will be spring soon! I'm trying to keep the spirits up, I'm convinced we will get through this miserable winter soon. The weather last weekend was lovely, and we did some gardening. I guess weeding in January is proof of a very mild winter, it seems a bit unnatural. I'm hoping we won't have any cold spells, as a lot of our bulbs have already popped their heads above ground and I would hate to lose them to frost. 

Nothing like a bit of super-bright colours to cheer us all up. Today's card is one of those you will either love or hate. I happen to love it, although I guess I'm a bit biased. The card is inspired by the very colourful inspiration picture over at Cure for the Monday Blues. I used the sketch over at STAMPlorations for the layout. I'm also linking up over at CASology where the theme is Birthday, Make My Monday where the theme is Bright and Cheerful Colours and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge where Anything Goes.

This stamp is one of those I just had to have, but it has remained almost unused since it's arrival in my craft room. So I thought it would be perfect for this challenge. I also love the technique of heat embossing in white and then colouring with Sharpies, as you don't have to buy a big bunch of coloured embossing powders. The colouring is also really fun! I stamped the arrow from Petal Parade in white craft ink on vellum and created the sentiment using die cut letters with Ice Stickles.

Card: Black 240 gsm coloured kraft card, Dovecraft 110 gsm premium vellum, Leonardo Stationery 300 gsm white card
Stamp: Hero Arts Sweet Threads Spirals, Stampin' Up Craft Ink Whisper White
Ink: Tsukineko Versamark
Colouring: 80's Glam Sharpies
Other: Papermania Seafoam White embossing powder, Ranger Ice Stickles

The Challenge #23

I have been making cards for about two years now, and this blog has existed for more or less a year. And I start to feel like I'm finding my style. I do like to make all sorts of cards, but the ones I always end up feeling most happy about are the CAS ones. Well, I guess I have kind of made my own sort of CAS, I'm not very good with white space in the traditional meaning of "white". I like colourful backgrounds but cards that aren't too crowded, and mostly have only one focal point. Today's card is an example of the type of card I feel most comfortable with. 

This card was totally and utterly inspired by the colours and sketch over at The Challenge. The colour combo is one I wouldn't have picked myself, but that's why we have colour challenges, right? For me they are pretty much my only avenue to using anything beside purple and pink... For this challenge, I wanted to play with watercolours. I need to start buying watercolour paper in bulk, I go through loads of it. I'm also linking up at Addicted to Stamps and More where the theme is Clean And Simple and The Pink Elephant where Anything Goes.

I started by spritzing the watercolour paper with water, and inked a stamp from Gorgeous grunge in Daffodil Delight and Bermuda Bay and stamped all over the cardstock. I then spritzed some more water onto the cardstock to make the colours run. I then switched to a stamp with smaller spots from the same set and stamped in Real Red and Bermuda Bay. After another few spritzes of water I dried the cardstock with my heat tool. I die cut the "Happy" from Real Red card and stamped the "Birthday" in Real Red. Then I matted the card onto Real Red card and adhered to a white card. It was so much fun playing with the watercolour effect. Then I put the card away quickly before I started adding anything to it, I think it's finished as it is.

Card: Leonardo Stationery 300 gsm white card, Stampin' Up Real Red, Daler&Rowney 300 gsm Aquafine watercolour paper

Stamps: Stampin' Up Gorgeous Grunge, Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler

Ink: Stampin' Up Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight, Real Red

Other: Stampin' Up Hello You dies

Up Up and Away

I'm continuing to focus on using up some of my hoarded papers maybe that's my belated promise for 2015 - to use more paper than I buy! This week's ShowCASe Your Style inspiration photo was perfect for a paper from the Stampin' Up World Spectacular DSP. I used the sketch from Retro Sketches, and the colours from the balloons on the DSP. The colours on this card were very far from my usual comfort zone, so it was fun to make something different. I'm also linking up at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge where the theme is "Up in the Clouds".

Card: Stampin' Up Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight

Paper: Stampin' Up World Spectacular

Stamps: Stampin' Up Yippee-Skippee

Ink: Tim Holtz Distress ink Aged Mahogany

Other: Stampin' Up Scallope Tag Topper Punch, Candy Dots subtles, Lawn Fawn Stitched Journalling Card die

Hugs and kisses

Today's card is inspired by the photo over at Just Us Girls. I didn't want to go for hearts as the obvious choice so I used feathers instead. I tried to use inks and markers on the stamps to mimic the marbled effect on the cookies, and use the colour scheme from the photo. The layout for the card is inspired by the sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch. I'm also linking up with CASology where the cue card is Friend and Brown Sugar where the theme is Valentine's.

I coloured the feathers with ink pads and markers to get a marbled effect and die cut them with the matching dies. I die cut spaces for the feathers in the bronze cardstock, and adhered the feathers into place. I stamped the sentiment in Regal Rose. Last, I used my Tim Holtz Spritz tool to add some airbrush stains to the white space. Unfortunately it doesn't show very well in the photo as only the most dark airbrush stains show, but it gives a subtle effect to the background. 

Card: Leonardo Cardstock 300 gsm white card, Metallic Bronze card, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card
Stamps: Stampin' Up Four Feathers and dies, Good Greetings
Ink: Stampin' Up Blushing Bride, Melon Mambo, Real Red, Regal Rose
Other: Papermania adhesive gems 

You can leave your hat on

It's been quite cold lately. I've had to scrape ice off the windscreen of the car in the mornings, and every time you stick your nose out of the door, you just want to retreat back inside. But that's ok, we are almost through January, and not many months now until spring. Days are getting longer. Soon it will be light when I leave for work in the morning. And even better, soon it will still be light when I get home, which means I will be able to get a bit more decent photos of my cards again! Yay!! I'm also saving up for a new camera, as my old one has really bad scratches on the lens and photos come out with strange blotches on them. I'm so excited about the prospect of a new camera, and am desperately trying to decide what I want. That's part of the fun, spending all the time online reading reviews and comparing cameras. 

Today's card is inspired by the fun challenge over at Daring Cardmakers with the theme "You can leave your hat on". Hence the cute little cap on the happy dino. I used the colours over at ColourQ and the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches. I was also inspired by the theme over at Lawnscaping, which is "Stamp your own background". I stamped the snowflakes for the background using white ink, and added some Perfect Pearls for a subtle glimmer. It doesn't show very well on the photo, but looks quite cool especially when it hits the light at the right angle. 

Card: Kraft card, Coloured 240 gsm coloured kraft chocolate, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card

Stamps: Lawn Fawn Critters from the Past, Critters in the Arctic and matching dies

Ink: Stampin' Up Craft ink Whisper White, Memento Tuxedo Black

Colouring: Stampin' Up Blendabilities Coastal Cabana and Melon Mambo, Stampin' Write marker Early Espresso

Other: Lawn Fawn Stitched Hillside borders die

Valentine's Flowers

It seems like I haven't been crafting in ages. I made the cards I posted this week last weekend, so I really haven't crafted much at all this week. I think I'm suffering from a bit of the winter blues, I just don't have the energy for anything right now. I just want to bury myself under the duvet with a ton of chocolate and not surface until April.

But admittedly I'm not having as hard a time as my poor Grandma. She turned 90 years last week! But she had to move out of the flat she has lived in for probably the last 50 years or so, and into a small rental studio while there is some major work being done in her own place. She is so unhappy about it, so I thought I would make her a bright and colourful Valentine's day card to cheer her up.

This card is inspired by my latest new toy, the Tim Holtz Distress Marker Spritzer. It's really fun to play with and creates cool air brushed effects. I used it on the Stampin' Up Irresistibly Yours DSP to create the cool background. I stamped the flowers from I Like You and coloured with Blendabilities and cut out using dies. I printed the sentiment (that says Happy Valentine's day in Finnish, although the literal translation is "Happy Friends Day" as Valentine's is called Friend's Day back home, which I like much more) and used the spritzer tool a bit over the sentiment banner. 

The layout for the card was inspired by My Favourite Things sketch challenge and the colours are from this week's Color Throwdown. I'm also linking up at Shopping Our Stash where the theme is "Not your normal paper" (I used the cool paper from Stampin' Up which comes with resist patterns and you can colour it yourself to match your project), at A Creative Need where the theme is "Something New" (my "new" is of course my new Spritzer tool and getting to use it on this card) and at STAMPlorations where the January challenge is stamps and inks.

Card: Leonardo Stationery 300 gsm white card, Coloured 240 gsm kraft card teal and baby pink, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card

Stamps: Stampin' Up I Love You

Ink: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz distress markers Spun Sugar, Picked Raspberry, Peacock Feathers, Stampin' Up Blendabilities Old Olive, Melon Mambo and Coastal Cabana

Paper: Stampin' Up Irresistibly Yours

Other: Tim Holtz Distress Marker Spritz tool, heart border punch, Stampin' Up Labels Collection Framelits

Valentine's chocolates

Well, who would have thought, but we are already on the better side of January. Time flies when you are freezing your bottom off, that's what they say, right? From a cardmaker's point of view, after the big push for Christmas, there's a month and a half until the hearts and pink stuff come out for the chocolate holiday. I'm not a huge fan of V-day, but when I saw Stella I thought finally someone who understands how I feel about Valentine's. And I bet my bottom one of my best friends feels the same way, which is why I made her this card. This digi is actually part of a bunch I won a while ago over at the Bugaboo challenge, I was like a kid in a candy store picking my prize digis.

I coloured the image with Copics, and inked the edges with distress ink. I matted the digi onto pink cardstock with an edge punched with my heart border punch and inked around the edges of the pink cardstock. For the background I used a heart pattern paper from Stampin' Up which was again matted onto pink card.

I am linking up with the following challenges:
Addicted to Stamps and More - Holiday
Crafty Creations - Something old and something new (old - heart paper, new - digi)
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Have a Heart
The Pink Elephant Challenge - Love

Card: Kraft card, Coloured 240 gsm kraft card Baby Pink, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card
Stamp: Bugaboo Frame It - Stella Valentine's Day
Paper: Stampin' Up More Amore
Colouring: Copics B00, E29, E33, E43, R20, R24, R46, V04, V93, V95, V99, Y13, Y15, Y19, YR000, YR00
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress ink Worn Lipstick
Other: Heart Border punch

Holly Jolly Challenge - Lots of Sparkle

Have you started your Christmas cards yet? Why are you giving me that look, like I'm crazy? Let me tell you, nothing like starting now and making a card or two a week. And while you make them, why not share them with us over at Holly Jolly Christmas Challenge. If you joined our first challenge, we do love looking at your fabulous creations. If you didn't, hop on the bandwagon for our second challenge of the year, which is all about Lots of Sparkle. You can find lots of inspiration from the awesome DT. And as usual, there are also a great prizes from our fabulous sponsors. This time our sponsors are The Stamping Boutique, Sami Stamps  and Oddball Art who are all giving three digis to one winner each. In addition, the DT will pick three favourite creations who will receive a badge to proudly display on your blog.

For my card I chose the super cute Holly Owl digi from Sami Stamps. I decided to do something slightly different this time and paper pieced the owl instead of colouring him. 

I started by printing the image onto white paper and creating the background. First I stamped the snowflakes using Versamark and heat embossed using clear embossing powder. Then I coloured the background using Tim Holtz distress inks Broken China, Chipped Sapphire, Faded Jeans and Dusty Concord. 

I tried my best to try and show the holographic embossing around the
edges of the card, although it was quite hard to photograph.

Next, I printed the owl onto brown and green DSP and fussy cut the pieces and assembled the owl, holly and branch from the pieces. I cut the eyes out from white paper and coloured the eyes using Copics. I stamped the sentiment using Versamark and heat embossed in white. 

Then for the "Lots of Sparkle" bit. I inked the edges of the card using Versamark and embossed using Holographic embossing powder. I also added red rhinestones to the holly. Last, I used the Lawn Fawn Stitched Snowflake dies to cut out snowflakes from white cardstock, and added stickles for even more sparkle. I matted the card onto brown cardstock and adhered to a blue card. I printed a sentiment for the inside and embossed some snowflakes and inked around the edges. 

I'm entering the card in the following challenges:

House of Cards - Glitter and/or colours and/or inspiration photo

Christmas Cards All Year Round - Anything Goes

Completely Christmas - Anything Goes with twist: Make it Cute

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Winter Stamping

Sparkles Christmas Challenges - A Christmas Critter with a Splash of Glitter

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - Anything Goes

Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes

Crafting From The Heart - Anything Goes

Sparkle N Sprinkle - Use loose glitter, embossing powder and/or flocking

Sami Stamps Challenge - Add a touch of glitter

Inspiration photo over at House of Cards

Cardstock: Coloured 240 gsm kraft card Navy and Chocolate, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card

Stamp: Holly Owl digi from Sami Stamps, Lawn Fawn Critters from the Arctic, Dovecraft Clear Stamps S'Noel

Inks: Tsukineko Versamark, Tim Holtz distress inks Broken China, Chipped Sapphire, Faded Jeans and Dusty Concord, Copics B00, B04

Papers: Dovecraft Merry Magic 8x8 Designer Paper Pack

Other: Ranger ultra fine clear embossing powder, Papermania Holographica and Seafoam White embossing powders, Papermania adhesive rhinestones, Lawn Fawn Stitched Snowflake dies, Ranger Ice Stickles Blueberry ice

Baby it's cold outside

Well, actually it isn't cold outside at all. We are having a rather strange winter over here in Cambridgeshire at the moment, the sun is shining and it's rather warm. Not that I'm complaining, we are saving on heating bills and not having to freeze your fingers off while scraping the car windows in the morning is a definite plus. Now if spring would only hurry up so there would be more light in the evenings that would be great. Thanks.

Today's card is inspired by all the "wintery" themed challenges out there. I do love the Critters in the Arctic stamp set from Lawn Fawn and it has been getting a lot of use lately in the InvisiblePinkCraftRoom. And this time is no exception. I love the little hat stamp, it's just sooo adorable. 

This card is inspired by several challenges. The layout is inspired by the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches. The colours are from the super comfy looking scarf in the inspiration picture over at Curtain Call. The background was inspired by the stencil theme over at CAS on Sunday. I was also inspired by the winter themes over at Crafty Creations (Brrrr the Blues) and The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers (W is for Wow it's cold).

Card: Dark Blue card from my stash, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card, Stampin' Up Tempting Turquoise

Stamps: Lawn Fawn Critters in the Arctic and matching dies

Ink: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz distress inks Broken China, Chipped Sapphire, Salty Ocean

Colouring: Copics B00, C01, C03, C05, R20, R43

Other: Xcut star dies, Imagination crafts stencil Snowflake Frenzy, Papermania adhesive dies Capsule Aqua

Time Out meets Fusion card challenge

I love it when you see a challenge inspiration image and it stays in the back of your mind like an obsession until you get the card out of your system. The current Time Out Challenge image was one of those. I keep pages open on my browser for challenges I want to participate in so that they are always there when I use my computer to look at and let my mind create connections with stamps or dies or other crafting stuff from my stash. This time it took another challenge, Fusion, before this card came to life. I'm also linking up with Hiding In My Craft Room challenge where the theme is Colour It, 4 Crafty Chicks where the theme is Flowers and Crafty Cardmakers and More where the theme is Something Old and Something New. My something old is the Hardwood stamp and my something new is the Calypso Coral Blendabilities which I have never used before.

I stamped the flowers and coloured them with Blendabilities, inspired by the colours of the pillows. I die cut the flowers using circle dies and matted them onto red card. I used the same red card to die cut the "Hello" using the Hello You dies. I used the hardwood stamp in Soft Suede onto kraft cardstock to create the background. I also used the Soft Suede ink to ink around the edges of the flowers, the sentiment and the background. 

Card: Kraft card, Coloured 240 gsm kraft card in Pillarbox Red and Chocolate, Hobbycraft 160 gms white card
Stamps: Stampin' Up I Like You, Hardwood
Ink: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up Soft Suede, Blendabilities Calypso Coral, Old Olive, Coastal Cabana, Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo
Other: Stampin' Up Hello You thinlits, circle dies

Colourful flowers to chase away the January Blues

The sun is shining outside! It seems like it's been ages since I have seen the sun. Everything seems better when the sun is shining, right? I'm also enjoying a rare treat, I have the house all to myself tonight. Which means I will spend the whole evening in the craft room, woohoo! 

Today's card is created using Bloom With Hope, which is quickly becoming one of my favourite floral stamp sets. I have been planning a card like this for quite some time, and now I was inspired by several great challenges. I started by stamping the flowers onto scrap paper until I had a layout I liked. Then I started by stamping the big flower, and created a mask for it. I stamped the flowers around it, creating more masks to mask all the flowers as I went along. Quite a bit of fussy cutting, but I think the result was worth it. Then I coloured the flowers using Copics, which kept me entertained for quite a while. Last I added the ribbon and tag.

This card was inspired by the challenge picture over at The Card Concept. I was inspired by the colours, the flowers and the pink ribbon. I was also inspired by the floral theme over at The Friday Mashup and the theme "Spring Flowers" at Allsorts Challenge. I am also linking up with Daring Cardmakers where the theme is January Blues (The logic being I hope the flowers and bright colours will help the recipient shake their January blues). Last but not least I will also link up with Inspiration Emporium where the theme is Fresh Start, and the challenge is just to get going again and create anything. 

Card: Leonardo Stationery 300 gsm white card, Coloured 240 gsm kraft card Baby Pink, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card

Stamps: Stampin' Up Bloom With Hope, Chalk Talk

Ink: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Write Markers Pear Pizzazz, Melon Mambo

Colouring: Copics

Other: Stampin' Up Scalloped Tag Topper Punch, pink ribbon from my stash

Friday is CAS day

 

Here we are again, the best time of the week. Friday evening, as far away from the doom and gloom of Monday morning. The entire glorious weekend ahead. Time to relax, craft, clean, maybe do some sports, take a long hot bath, pretty much whatever you like. 

I had a lovely end to my work week this time. Our whole team went for afternoon tea to Peacocks Tea Room in Ely. If you are ever in Ely, I cannot recommend the place enough. It's just unique. Such an beautiful place with friendly service, delicious food and an enormous selection of teas served from china cups and beautiful tea pots. I had a Chocolate Dream Cream Tea with a Chocolate Scone with whipped cream, a chocolate brownie and a very interesting tea called Chocolate Imperial. It was so delicious. 

After driving home from Ely and miraculously not getting stuck in any bad traffic, I had time to put together today's very CAS card. It was inspired by the great sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch and ColourQ. I used a stencil and distress ink to create the border and used my new die for the "happy". I also got myself some sequins. Originally I wasn't very keen on sequins, but I have to say they are starting to grow on me. I'm also linking up at Creative Knockouts where the theme is Birthdays, Fab n' Funky challenges where the theme is Something New (new sequins), The Sisterhood of Crafters where the theme is Anything Goes with a twist - use a new crafting stash (again, the sequins) and Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge where the theme is to use ink to create a background.

Card: Leonardo Stationery 200 gsm white card, coloured 240 gsm card Pink Sorbet

Ink: Tim Holtz distress ink Broken China, Chipped Sapphire, Dusty Concord, Picked Raspberry

Stamps: Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler

Other: Ranger Dylusions by Dyan Reaveley Shattered stencil, Stampin' Up Hello You thinlits, sequins from my stash

More Unused Schtuff!!

I got my monthly fix of Stampin' Up stuff in the mail today, and there is so much new goodies that I don't even know where to start. I was supposed to clean the kitchen today when I got home from work. I'm sure the mess will still be there tomorrow...

So what is my new stuff all about then? I immediately fell in love with the new Bow Builder punch. Those little bows are just soooo adorable. And easy to put together! 

I also love the Irresistibly Yours DSP. I can't be the only one who never has the right colour DSP. No matter how many packs you buy, you never have a colour combo you would need. I guess it's the same evil force at work that causes the "I have nothing to wear" phenomenon, which strikes me so often. Again, I can't be the only one, right? Anyhow, this new genius DSP is white with some resist patterns on it, so you can colour it, ink it, spritz it or whatever else you can come up with to create a custom colour DSP. The pack comes with several different patterns. You can't buy it, you can only get it as a free Sale-a-bration gift when you order. How cunning of Stampin' Up!!! I will have to stock up on this jewel, so I might just "have" to make another order soon... 

And can I just mention the new Hello You dies? I love them so much. I have wanted to get on the "word die" bandwagon for a while as I love the creations I see out in cyberspace and now I can finally join in on the fun.

This card came together really quickly, all I needed to do was colour the DSP, quickly punch and assemble to bow and die cut the "Happy". The Birthday part is heat embossed in white, and to finish off I added two Candy Dots. The card was inspired by the colour combo over at ShowCASe Your Style. I was also inspired by the theme over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, which is "It's a Guy Thing". I think this would make a great birthday card for that special guy in your life. I am also entering the card in Darnell's NBUS challenge and Addicted to Stamps where the theme is "make your mark" and I coloured the background DSP with markers.

Card: Leonardo Stationery 300 gsm white card, Stampin' Up Black card
Stamps: Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler
Ink: Tsukineko Versamark
Colouring: Stampin' Write markers Pear Pizzazz and Pool Party
Paper: Stampin' Up Irresistibly Yours
Other: Bow Builder Punch, Hello You Thinlits, Candy Dots Subtles, Papermania Seafoam White Embossing powder

Happy 90th Grandma!

This is a very special card, as it's for my Grandma's 90th birthday. It seems so incredible that someone has seen nine decades of life on this planet. And to think how different life was when she was born. She doesn't know what the Internet is, and it took a lot to get her to use a mobile phone. I wonder what things our grandchildren will use and take for granted that seem completely alien to us?

Today's card is inspired by the great NBUS challenge over at Darnell's blog. NBUS you ask? Never Before Used Schtuff of course! You know all that schtuff that you just had to have, but then never got around to using. This challenge is created for you to get these things out of your cupboards and into use. For this card, I used a NBUS DSP that I ordered a while ago. I also used my NBUS Gingham garden washi tape that I have had for ages. I have bought several rolls of washi tape, but hardly used any of it at all, I clearly am not a washi person. I don't quite know what to do with it. I am also linking up at CASology where the theme is NBUS as well. I was also inspired by this week's RetroSketch, as usual I love their amazing sketch. Last but not least I'm linking up over at Clear It Out where the theme this week is to use something pink from your stash. 

I stamped and washi taped inside the card as well.

Card: Coloured 240 gsm kraft card baby pink, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white 
Stamps: Stampin' Up Bloom With Hope
Ink: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up Melon Mambo, Pistachio Pudding
Paper: Stampin' Up Venetian Romance DSP
Colouring: E34, E39, R20, R43, RV29, Y13, Y15, Y19, YG11, YG13
Other: Stampin' Up Gingham Garden washi tape, Tim Holtz Inside Out Alphabet die