Friday, August 16, 2013

Kraft and Blue for You, Mum

Today I thought I'd show you the card I made for my Mum's 83rd birthday recently. 
I'm really happy with the card generally but couldn't get the hair right (I was going for a particular shade of red/blonde that my hair was when I was young... when I couldn't get it I bailed on the "mini me" theme and gave her blue eyes - mine are brown!)  I've ended up over blending, but as I was going for a soft look it's not too bad.  The image is "Rachael", one of Sugar Nellie's Simply Adorable range, available here.  Sugar Bowl Challenges have an Anything Goes theme, so I'm entering there.  I've used Copics for colouring, adding gloss accents to her earrings and glitter then gloss to her hair slide.
I love the Kraft colour with the wispy sort of background paper, which is digital; from Bearly Mine Designs - Spring Blossoms set.  I said in my last post that I was going to be using Kraft a lot more... but I had in fact already made this card, so I had insider knowledge, lol.  Sweet Stampin' want us to Use Kraft, Great Impressions want a Square Card, and Bearly Mine Challenges have Anything Goes, so I'm entering them all too!
The off-centre panel is blue cardstock from my stash, embossed with Cuttlebug's Divine Swirl folder.  I distressed over the embossing with Cloud White ink, it really lifted it.  Cuttlebug Mania have an Embossing challenge so I'm entering there.  Paper Crafting Journey have Distressed or Vintage for their challenge, so I'm in.
The image panel was cut with Nestabilities Standard Circles and the mat cut with Nestabilities Lacey Circles.  The horizontal strip was cut with Martha Stewart's Double Edge Punch "Diamond Fence".  
The swirl is a laser die cut I got from Make It Crafty... Zoe has decided to stop selling her laser cuts, boo hoo, I had a few sets of these and bought a whole bunch of others to stock up - in fact when I went to put my latest order away, I found whole sheets I forgot I had - could be the curse of the tidy crafter, putting things "away", lol.
I coloured it with some Kaiser ink, several coats, then embossed it with iridescent EP - my favourite type :-)  It's very glittery IRL;  Creative Belli have Glitter for their challenge and both Card Mania Challenges and 2 Sisters Challenge have "Favourite Embellishment" as their theme... I don't use a lot of embellishments, but I do like die cuts... oh, and pearls - I've used teeny tiny ones here at the top and bottom corners, they're actually silver and look really nice (it's the first time I've used them since I put them in my "stick ons" storage box the day I received them from Bunny Zoe Crafts, again, I sort of forgot about them!  The sentiment is from Sentiments 4 U and the little blue heart is from my stash.  Crafty Cardmakers has 1 image, tick, 2 papers (well I have 2 patterned papers) tick, and 3 embellishments (die cut, silver pearls and little blue heart) tick - I'm in!!
I decorated the inside to match the front, as usual :-)  softening the edge of the jotting panel with a little blue ink but not popping the layers up like the front. Simon Says Challenge and That Craft Place both have Monochrome challenges (I hope my Kraft card doesn't make it NOT monochrome!) so I'm entering there. Through the Craftroom DoorThe Crazy Challenge and Crafty Calendar have Anything Goes challenges running so I'm entering there and Seize the Birthday has Anything (Birthday) Goes, so in there too.
Well that's about it for today's card, my Mum had a lovely day celebrating her birthday - my youngest son gave her a pamper package and taxied her around for the day (Mum loves spending time with Chris!) and then he took her to the Hyatt where we were waiting to have "high tea" with her;  Matt and Elaine brought the twins, which was a surpise for us as Chris has a bit of a cold and they didn't want him to share it with the babies.  Any of us being there was a surprise for Mum, and she loved it!  Dad even managed to dress appropriately, without her overseeing every step, lol.  I didn't take my camera, but snapped a couple of pics on the iPhone... not great quality but better than nothing :-)  If I can get them off my phone (it's not playing nice, lol) I'll add them next time.
I'll be back tomorrow with my DT card for Di's Digis Challenge.  Until then Happy Crafting, Donna

21 comments:

Miss Emerald said...

Very beautiful card! Thanks for joining us at Card Mania Challenges. Good luck and hope you'll join us again.

debby4000 said...

Absolutely gorgeous.
luv
Debby

Sue said...

such a beautiful card Donna. I love the image, your soft colouring is gorgeous and the papers are so pretty.
Glad your mum had a good birthday.
Sue xx

Lin said...

I bet your Mum adored this pretty card. Love the colour palette and it's such a lovely design.

Thanks for sharing with us

Lin xx
Crafty Cardmakers

OttawaMom said...

Such a soft and pretty card. And your colouring of the image is beautiful! Thanks so much for joining us at Seize the Birthday.

Teresa said...

Gorgeous card Donna, bet your Mum loved it.
hugs Teresa xx

Pia Larsen said...

Pretty. Thanks for playing with us at Sweet Stampin' this week. Pia x

Amanda said...

Hi Donna, what a lovely card for your Mum! Love those papers you have chosen. Thankyou for sharing with us at That Craft Place. Good Luck and hope to see you again. Hugs Amanda

Kerry said...

Very beautiful. Your colouring is amazing and I'm sure your mum loved the card you made for her. Thank you for joining in at Cuttlebug Mania this week x

Lorraine said...

This is gorgeous. I love the image and design.
Lorraine x

Meggymay said...

A gorgeous card, super details and image. Your mum will treasure it. Thank you for joining us at CCM this time.
Yvonne

Sandra said...

I love kraft and blue, it's a great combo.
Thanks for sharing with us at Sweet Stampin'
xxx

Kimbo said...

Such a pretty card. I hope you Mum enjoyed her day. Thanks for playing along at Cuttlebug Mania x

Tammy said...

Beautiful card Donna, your coloring is stunning! I bet your mom loved it! AND your picture of Rocky is sooo cute! Thanks for joining us at Crafty Calender this month!
Tammy x

lis-m said...

Very sweet, lovin' your details too!
Thanks for joining us at The Sugarbowl this time...Good luck"
Hugs x

Juls said...

beautiiful!! love it, thanks for joining us in the sugar bowl hugs Juls

Dwie lewe rączki said...

Very creative card and lovely colours. This image is just beautiful.Thank for joining us at Paper Crafting Journey!
Iwona

Ani said...

Beautiful card! Thank you for playing along at Card Mania! Good luck!

Jodene said...

I think your colouring of this image is simply beautiful and I love your card. Thanks for joining us at Seize The Birthday :)

Erin said...

I just love the silver flourishes you added to your card... so, so pretty!

Thanks for joining us this month at Great Impressions Stamps!

Sparkly Engineer said...

Oh my gosh, this card is simply amazing. What's not to love? You are a true card artist.

Mary Anne, Great Impressions DT