Friday 21 January 2011

A Mammoth Post!!

Hi guys!  I cannot believe how quick the time has flown past since Christmas and also that this is my first post for 2011!!  Oops!!  Have you missed me????

To make up for being absent for so long this is going to be quite a long post so I hope you are comfortable!  I'm afraid that I never did get around to loading up all those Christmas cards that I made last year so I have saved them and will load them up later on this year once we all start thinking about Christmas again.

Today I thought I'd share a 'special' card with you that I made last year for my Mum's birthday using the adorable 'Sisters' stamp by Belles'n'Whistles.  When I see this stamp it reminds me of stories that Mum has told me about her and her big sister so I thought it quite appropriate!  The card itself is quite large at 20x20cm so I was able to fit quite a bit onto it!  The pretty background paper was from the Kioshi collection by Basic Grey.  The wording stamps are from my Fancy Flourishes stamp sheet apart from the letters spelling out 'MUM' which came from a clear Hero Arts stamp sheet.  The lovely delicate flourish stamp that I've used around the main card and the Sisters panel is one of my favourite flourish stamps of all time by Penny Black called Scrolling Along.

As you can see I chose to add some interest to the main card using two Martha Stewart punches - Garden Trellis and Doily Lace Trim along with some Prima flowers from the E Line range, some pearl sprays from my own stash, punched out daisies, self-adhesive pearls, brads and spacers.

I stamped my main image using black Versafine ink onto watercolour card and used Distress inkpads to colour in my image,to stamp my wording with and the Scrolling Along flourish.  Lots of Diamond and Platinum glitter glue was then added to the card to make it sparkle!

As this was a special card for a 'special Mum' I chose to decorate the inside of the card too.  This is a picture of the whole of the inside of the card before I wrote in it.  As you can see I used the same papers as for the front of the card as well as some light green Bazzill card and used my Labels Nine Nestabilities dies for my centre panels.

Here's a closer look at the left side of the inner card.  You can see that I decorated the plain green panel by stamping it with the Scrolling Along stamp using a pale green inkpad and then used a darker green inkpad to stamp it again along the top and bottom.  I used another of my Martha Stewart punches - Floral Vine to provide some decoration along with some punched out squares, self-adhesive pearls and nailheads and of course lots of glitter glue!

I stamped the Belles 'n' Whistles Tea Time stamp into the Labels Nine die-cut and watercoloured the image using Distress inkpads.  Then I popped the corresponding Nestabilities back over the die cut and used my blending tool  along with a Bundled Sage Distress inkpad to softly ink around the edges of the die cut.

I also did this for this panel too which I then wrote in afterwards.  The wording used on these inner pages of the card came from my Fancy Flourishes stamp sheet.

I'd like to enter this card into the current Belles 'n' Whistles challenge Anything But Winter.

So are you still with me?  I did warn you that it was going to be a loooooooong post!!  I did make a box for this card to go in which I decorated too but I never got around to taking a photo of it.

I hope you liked this card - Mum did!  I'll try and do another post soon!!  Meanwhile a Happy New Year to you all.

20 comments:

Lynda Nielsen said...

WOWEE, this is absolutely GORGEOUS!!! Just look at all the detail, and your coloring is stunning!
thanks so much for joining our Belles 'n Whistles Challenge this week =)
Big Hugs,
Lynda

Cazza said...

WOW Kay, this is such a beautiful card! I'm not surprised your Mum loved it, it's gorgeous :o)

Happy New Year to you too hon,
Hugs,
Cazza
xxx

craftymum said...

Kay it was well worth the wait. A GORGEOUS card
hugs sarah x

Craftnut said...

Welcome back Kay and Happy new year to you. Lovel card Tracy xx

Fleur said...

Great to see you back. I adore these cards _ especially the one for your Mum. It's perfect
Hugz Fleur xXx

Sally H said...

Wow, Kay! that is one stunning card! I lvoe everything about it. Beautiful images, lovely colour combo and just gorgeous! Not surprised your Mum loved it x

lisa said...

Happy New Year, Kay. Lovely to see you again.
What a stunning card for your Mum, no wonder she loved it. There is so much work and detail in it and of course it's beautifully coloured.
Don't work too hard.
Hugs Lisax

The Little Stamper said...

Hi Kay!

Yes we certainly have missed you, but, as we all know, there are never enough hours in the say are there!!

This is a really beautiful card, which must have taken you hours and hours - I know your mum would have loved it!

Post again soon!

Sharon x

Julie said...

Happy New Year Kay. Such a beautiful card, I'm sure your Mum must be delighted with it, something to treasure. xxx

Pauline said...

Hi Kay,

Of course we missed you!! Happy New Year! I was just hoping that you weren't suffering from flu etc as so many people have been over the festive break.

Really gorgoeous card. Love the colour combo and detail. And love those Elisabeth Bell images. Have you downloaded any of her digi images from her blog?

Hugs, Pauline xx

Bluefairy4U said...

Hi Kay another beautiful card, so much detail and colour. I know your mum really loved it. The effort you make to make such special cards is always well apperciated. Hope you are well, you deserve the break. Look forward to seeing you soon when you are ready and able to face us crafters again he he !! Lots of love to all. Love JO.xxx

Sarn said...

Oooh, that's just FABULOUS. Bet your Mum loved it. The inside of our cards are too often left out and you've done a good job of making the inside really count!

Anki said...

Stunning cards! Love them both! Thank you for joining us over at BnW. Have a great week! Kramis - Anki

Elise said...

Wow! Absolutely STUNNING creations! I love both of these, what gorgeous colouring too! Thank you so much for joining us at BnW!

Hugs,
Elise

Iris Wiechmann said...

Oh wow this is super stunning! Your card is just wonderful inside and out! Awesome details! Thanks for playing with us at BnW!

Hugs,
Iris

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh!! This is so beautiful!! I love your papers and the colors!! The image is coloring in beautifully too!! ;) Thanks so much for joining with us at the Belles 'n Whistles challenge!!HUGS

brenda said...

Hi Kay

I was so pleased to see your comment as I had been thinking about youi just the other day and now I see when you did post I missed it - how did I do that I wonder ?

As you say time flies, but you have brought some lovely work to share.

B x

Kay Carley said...

Hi Pauline. Fingers crossed I have managed to stay clear of any nasty lurgies!! I know that just before Christmas you were suffering though - were you able to enjoy the festive period despite your ailments?

Haven't downloaded any of Elisabeth Bell's digi images as yet. Infact I don't possess any digi images at all - it just doesn't feel right to me not being able to stamp them!! No doubt I'll get over this in time LOL!!

Kay xx

Kathy said...

WOW Kay this is just gorgeous!!! I love the colors and all your beautiful details! Such stunning coloring too!
Thanks so much for joining us at Belles and Whistles ~ hope to see you again!
:)Kathy

Unknown said...

This is so pretty! Your coloring is lovely and you used one of my favorite stamps. Thank you for joining us at Belles n Whistles! Good Luck!
hugs,
Gini