Clowning Around

G'Day from WA :-)

The card I have today was the card I made for my eldest son Matt's 36th birthday in 2017... just getting around to posting it... and no, it's not the oldest one in my Drafts folder, lol.  

 Matt has coulrophobia - a fear of clowns, so being a loving Mum I'd thought I'd tease hm about it.  Well, not really... I actually thought he'd got past this more than he has, he is very much better than he was... and it such a nice clown, but.... ah well.  We are a "jokey" family, he took it in the spirit it was intended, thank goodness.

The image is a digi from Rick St Dennis called, unsurprisingly, "Clown with Balloons".  I coloured with Copics adding some deeper shadows with Prismacolor pencils.  Glossy Accents to the balloon after adding the numbers "36" with my laser printer and then foiling them in iridescent foil with the laminator (hard to see in the pic, pretty effective IRL.  I added some fluffy/glittery cotton balls cut in half on his costume and hat (they DID try to fall apart, but I got 'em, haha) 

The paper is from a Kaisercraft pad, I only had a bit of the paper on the front left, so I cut around the edge of the windmills to give a banner-like effect. I used more paper from the same pad and used the same technique to cut around the flags on the piece I used on the inside of the card, and some more scraps to make the pocket to hold the gift card that was Matt's present

I also foiled the computer-generated sentiment using the laser printer/laminator technique, not that it looks shiny in this pic, mind you the glitter on the DP doesn't show up either, sigh

That's it for today's offering.  We are still (technically) in winter here, though the weather has been really very nice (not that winter is ever "bad" here... I've lived in England and Wales, I know the difference, lol) so I've (technically) got a bit more crafting time on hand.  It hasn't quite panned out yet, but I live in hope :-)  Work is very quiet, beyond the seasonal slump... the economy is pretty sluggish at the moment and hubby and I are enjoying a taster of (semi) retirement... gotta say, we are now not worried that we'll be bored when we DO retire, we are busy, busy, busy, lol.  My "other" bookkeeping clients are in the same boat, same industry more or less so no surprise THERE! If we go back to boom times I think I'll give them up, I'm enjoying the pace I'm at much better, One Power Ball....

Anyway, I'm entering my card in the following challenges:  

Little Red Wagon Digi Do (Use a Digital Image)

Aud Sentiments For a Child + a Sentiment (Matt's my child, and it IS a "child" image, so I hope my entry fits the bill)

Sweet Stampin' Spots and/or Stripes (Spots and stripes on the clown's cossie)

Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge Use Patterned Paper

Pixies Snippets Playground Use Snippets (The piece on the front)

Send a Smile for Kids Anything Goes for Kids (Again, this is a "kid" image, hope it's okay to enter)

Catch The Bug, Cute Card Thursday, The Paper Shelter, Simon Says Challenge, Through the Craftroom Door, Digi Choosday, Crafty  Creations, Creative Fingers, Li'l Patch of Crafty Friends, Polkadoodles, Gem of a Challenge and A Perfect Time to Craft All have "Anything Goes"

and I thought I'd add a picture of "the new dog", not ours... our son said he would leave it until little Rocky was gone before getting another dog.... true to his word, now Rocky is gone, here's Miss Molly with her new owners, The Twins
She is a sweet girl, and the kids love her... unlike her previous owners from whom she was rescued... so sad, but now not, she's landed on all four soft little feet :-))

Until next time, Happy Crafting, Donna

Lemon and Lime Birthday Time

I'm back today with a card I made for my lovely Daughter in Law's birthday

... I coloured it to match the birthday cake I made for her, which was lemon and lime flavour - her fave :-) and decorated with stripes.  I made an easel card - my fave (or one of them, lol)

The image is Stampin' Bella Brittany Birthday Girl.  I stamped on Linen card, using my stamping platform... so much better, but still room for improvement :-)
I had a little strip of stripey lemon-ish card that I thought was perfect for across the fold of the easel, I would have used that as the mat for the image but I didn't have enough, so I used some green stripy paper from my stash instead, could be Echo Park, but don't hold me to it!  
I die cut the edge with a tiny scalloped border die I got in a set from Ali Express.
I've coloured with Copics, adding shadows (and highlights, long story) with Prismacolor pencils.  There's a nice bit of glittery goodness on the image too, I used Stickles and Glitter Glue but I can't remember the flavours :-)  
The citrus paper is from DCWV, it's very glittery too.

I used the last scrap of the yellow paper with the scalloped edge on the top edge of the pocket inside the card, made to hold the gift card that was my DiL's gift and a little tag for the sentiment.  
The strip of rhinestone bling finishing the edge of the pocket helps make the "stopper" of the easel stronger, it is some of the (loads of, lol) such bling my lovely Mum bought me over the years... no doubt this came from one of their many trips to Malaysia, my DiL is very aware of such things and even commented on me "sharing" some with her, which I thought was very sweet indeed.  
The organza ribbon on the tag was from a present from my son (not my DiL's husband, t'other one) who loves to wrap gifts elaborately... and I love him doing so too as I get a lot of lovely ribbon and "bits" out of it, lol.
That's it for my card, oh here's a (iPhone, so not that great) pic of the cake that inspired the citrus them -it was YUM btw :-)
I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:
Crafty Cardmakers  For Someone Special (my DiL is Special to all of us)

Fab'n'Funky Challenges Just Add Ink

As You Like It Favourite Colouring and Why I love Copics, they blend so well, have a good range of shades and are refillable (so cost effective)  I used Prismacolor pencils too, because I find them excellent for adding very small detail

Pixies Snippets Playground Snippets That yellow stripey bit :-)

Sweet Stampin' Anything Goes, Opt: Mellow Yellow Ooh yeah, we've got yellow
Catch The Bug, Cute Card Thursday, Through the Craftroom Door, Digi Choosday, Crafty  Creations, Crafting With Friends Challenge #2, Creative Fingers, Li'l Patch of Crafty Friends, Polkadoodles, Gem of a Challenge, A Perfect Time to Craft and Creatalicious Challenges All have Anything Goes

I'll be back soon, I really do have to get through my Drafts folder :-)  Until then, Happy Crafting, Donna 

Belated Birthday

I was going through my Drafts Folder (which has still got loads of projects in, sigh) and found this "belated birthday" card I made for my hubby's brother-in-law a couple of years ago; the thing is when I found it I realized I've missed his birthday again this year (it was last week so I'll just have to get one made and sent... late - again, lol)

The image is from Mo Manning... called, appropriately enough "I Forgot".   I coloured with Copics and Prismacolor pencils - don't I always, lol, and cut it out with a Spellbinders Nestabilities Large Scalloped Square die
I used paper from Kaisercraft's Class Act pad.  I embossed some heavy black paper to match the card base with a Cuttlebug Forest Branches embossing folder for texture then cut it with one of the (Lawn Fawn I think) Stitched Border dies that I use all the time to put the panel across the top
I added some chevron ribbon from my stash - goes well with the chevron DP - and the "OOPS" which are acrylic letters I've had for a while.  I made the "I Forgot" sentiment on the computer.  The rest of the sentiment is on the inside, and Brad's name in the acrylic letters too
The inside of the card has some of the DP and ribbon from the front; it is a gift card holder as well as a card so I made a pocket on the inside front to hold the "scratch and match" tickets we get for Brad every birthday (family joke), I used embossed yellow card on the inside to brighten it up a bit.

That's about it for this card, very simple really... it's that cute image that makes it work I reckon :-)  I would like to enter my card in the following challenges: 

Aud Sentiments Has this Bingo Board, I've used either Die Cut / Embossing / Pattern Paper or Ribbon / Digi / Die Cut

Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge  Use Patterned Paper

Card Mania Challenges Embossing

The following are "Anything Goes" challenges

Creatalicious Challenges (Option: Birthday, which I've used)Create and Inspire, Simply Papercrafts, Crafting With Attitude, Corrosive Challenge, Card Mania Challenges, Little Miss Muffet, Through the Craftroom Door, Digi Choosday, Crafty  Creations, 4 Crafty Chicks, Crafting With Friends Challenge #63,  Creative Fingers, Li'l Patch of Crafty Friends, Polkadoodles and A Perfect Time to Craft 

Hope I'll be back a bit sooner next time, though it is the twins' birthday next week (they're 5 already, can you believe it?!) and I haven't made their cards yet - I'm not making their cakes this year as they are helping Mummy :-)) but I still have to get their cards done and the rest of their present sorted.  Either way, until next time, Happy Crafting, Donna

Fairy Wishes for Fiona

Time for another card to make its way out of my Drafts Folder.  It's not the oldest, but I just fancied showing this one today :-))  It's the card I made for my Sister Fiona's 60th Birthday in December, apologies in advance for the photo-heavy post!

Fiona loves Fairies, Butterflies and Purple... got it all IN SPADES on this card, lol.
I used the absolutely gorgeous "A Little Bit of Gossip" from Sugar Nellie... available as a digi here, and in rubber too. I coloured with Copics and Prismacolor pencils, adding gloss to the ladybird and LASHINGS of Ranger's Bridal Tinsel Embossing Powder to the wings.  
Creative Colours Challenge has this pic as it's inspiration this time around... perfect for my card methinks!!
When I made it, it was based on a sketch from Sketch Saturday, couldn't believe my luck when I checked out the blog today and see that the current challenge is to use any sketch # 215 to 362, I used sketch # 241, albeit flipped.
The papers I used came from Kaisercraft's Lilac Avenue pad, I cut all the circles using my Lifestyle Crafts Nesting Circles dies, the silver card for the matting was from my stash.  The white lace with silver thread came from my stash too, as did the letters that made up Fiona's name, the twine and the numbers (which are foam, covered with Silver Stickles)  
I used a Martha Stewart punch for the butterflies, and the coloured rhinestones on the Fairy's wings are from the days when we were involved in ballroom dancing... the kids used to scour the floor between events and I scored a zillion of different coloured Zwarowski stones, don't worry, I also bought my share!!

This card was also a gift card holder, so I added a pocket to the inside front with textured cardstock, added some lace and a Memory Box Vivienne Butterfly die with some not-Zwarowski (so not so shiny!) rhinestones as a body.  I added a voucher to my sister's favourite craft shop... she's a quilter, lives over 400 km away from Perth and there's a branch of this shop in the town nearest her, so it was a pretty good choice :-) 
Obviously (only because I ALWAYS do) I followed the same sketch  for the inside of the card, using more of the same papers and embellies.
The butterflies on the jotting panel are from the same Martha Stewart punch as the little ones on the front of the card.
Next time, or at least once I've learned how to do it quicker than just loading pics, I'll do a composite shot of the "extra" photos, in the meantime... sorry 'bout all the pics, I just was really happy with the finished product and wanted to "share"!
I'll be entering my card in all the challenges listed below,  

Creative Colors Challenge Colour Inspiration (see pic)

Sketch Saturday Any Sketch from 215 to 362

Pile It On Focus on Colouring

Top Tip Tuesday It's All About Hair

Papertake Weekly Product: Glitter

Clear It Out Theme: Girls Stash: Die Cuts and Punches

Cuttlebug Mania Bling

Seize the Birthday No topping

Cute Card Thursday Too Cute

The Crazy Challenge Ribbon or Lace

Crafty Calendar Things With Wings

Creatalicious Challenges Butterflies

Great Impressions May: Celebrate Spring

Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge Use Patterned Paper
Catch the Bug  Recipe (Canister #3 = Image/Die Cut/Bling)

Sugar Bowl Challenges Anything Goes

Hiding in my Craft Room Freestyle

Corrosive Challenge Anything Goes

Little Miss Muffet Anything Goes

Art by Miran Anything Goes

Simon Says Challenge Anything Goes

Tuesday Throwdown Anything Goes

Through the Craftroom Door Anything Goes

That's it for this card, I'll be back in a few days, until then, Happy Crafting, Donna

Di's Digis Going Spotty... or is that Dotty?

The new challenge starting today over at Di's Digis Challenge Blog has a Spots or Dots theme.  My daughter-in-law's mother had a very special birthday this week, my DIL bought her a Day Spa voucher and I thought this image was perfect for a gift card holder for it... of course I didn't get it finished in time!  Ah well, it's perfect for the next time I need a holder for a Day Spa voucher, lol

The fabulous image is Cheeky Duck, available here I coloured with Copics and Prismacolor pencils - don't I always, lol.  Moving Along With The Times has Girly Cards as their theme, so I'm entering there.  

I wanted the bubbles to look foamy so I shaded them first (I do wish I'd used blue instead of grey, it looks like the lass needed a good scrub and made the bath water all dirty!) then added Sparkly Fluff in Sugar "flavour". It looks really quite good IRL, hard to capture in photos as is all sparkle in my experience. 
Seize the Birthday want to see our colouring and Craft Your Passion have Cool Colours as their theme so I'm entering there, Little Red Wagon has this beautiful inspiration photo so I'm entering there too.
When I started looking for Spotty paper I was amazed how much I had in my stash, that said I went to my digi stash for the one I ended up using - this is from the Summer pack by Shery K Designs, I love Shery's papers; they always print so crisply. The purple card is Kaiser and from my scraps folder. Tuesday Throwdown has Stripes so I'm entering there and Clear It Out has Theme: Layer It Up Stash: Designer Paper so I'm entering there too.
I followed the sketch from Sweet Sketch Wednesday 2, I like a good Sketch and am so glad that the DT from SSW has kept going with SSW2 :-)
I made the sentiment on the computer, though I did get the idea from a digistamp I bought here, Aud Sentiments has Use Any Sentiment so I'm entering there.
The twine was part of my Christmas present from my son Chris - he got me loads of it, you may be seeing it a lot, lol, the little buttons are from my stash and the big dotty button is from a bag I bought at a craft stall... it was white with coloured dots, I coloured the whole thing with V04 Copic then "cleaned" off the dots with my 0 marker to have the original colour show.  Great Impressions, Whimsy Inspirations Challenge, Papertake Weekly  and Hobbycutz all want to see something new so I'm entering there.
I finished the inside to match the front, again don't I always :-) using more of the chipboard (coloured with the V04 Copic again) leaves that came from Make it Crafty - sadly Zoe doesn't sell them anymore, lucky I bought up a load before she stopped :-)  Card Mania Challenges and Through the Craftroom Door both have Anything Goes challenges so I'm entering them.
That's it for today, I hope you get a chance to pop over to the challenge blog and check out my teamies great makes, check out your stash for spotty or dotty paper and enter the challenge too, there's a great prize on offer from the Charm Barn, and if you use one of Di's fab images (don't forget you rubber lovers, there's an ever increasing range of them under the Candibean label) you go into an extra prize draw.
I'm about to put the air con on, it's been 37C again today, hotter tomorrow... it's still better than the 43+ we had last Saturday.  I just want to give a shout out to those in the Eastern States that are under threat from bushfires at the moment, especially Halls Gap where we visited a few years ago just after their last devastating fires, such a beautiful place with friendly folk, we're thinking of you.  Our thoughts are with those victims of the fires we had in Perth this week too, an acquaintance of ours had some damage to his home -he has sold his house and settlement is just going through so that complicates it, but at least his house is still standing - five of the 52 homes lost in these fires were in his street so he is counting himself lucky in the end. We still have a lot of fire season left, I pray it doesn't get any worse. 
Anyway on a lighter note, we're drawing up the plans for our new pool tomorrow; we took the last one out 8 years ago and replaced it with a pond and spa - it's time for a pool again with little kids back in the family, (and we have to isolate the pond and spa for peace of mind anyway) the licence from the original pool isn't valid for the new one (of course) so it's literally back to the drawing board!!
I'll be back in a day or so... I really do have to get some of my makes out of my draft folder, lol.  Until then, Happy Crafting, Donna

NOT Twenty One Again!

Yup, another Birthday card... but this one is NOT for a Twenty First... it's for my Mum, and seems as you asked it's her 82nd!  Her birthday is not until next week, but she and my Dad left for a holiday (yes, Penang again!) this evening and won't be back for two weeks; As her gift I gave her some Malaysian Ringitt to spend while away, so this card doubles as a gift holder.

My mum loves easel cards (so do I, so that's handy!) and she also loves these sketch style of images; this one is called simply Poppies and is from Delicious Doodles - digi of course!  I used Copics to colour the image but I did add some Prismacolor shadows and a few "veins" with pearl gel pens, it looks really effective IRL.  Bizzy Becs still have their Flower Power challenge running and Divas by Design has Flowers, so I'm entering those.   Crafts 4 Eternity has Brilliant Birthdays so I'm entering there. 
I used Mpress Victorian Frames dies to cut the image and sentiment panels, I cut the mats for them using the next size up and there really is too great a difference between them to leave plain, so I embossed them with a Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder, then embossed them in the frame die again which gave the nice finished edge and flattened the dots a bit to make it more subtle, I'm happy with the result.  I rubbed some Liquid Pearls on the mats to to soften the effect.
I've used the sketch from Stamping With The Dragon again, I know I used it for my last card, but I really did find it to be a very versatile sketch, and I think this card looks quite different from the last despite being to the same sketch.
I've used papers from Prima, Faerie Florals... I used my Cuttlebug Forest Branches embossing folder to add some texture to the panel behind the image, I can't believe how different it made the paper look, before I embossed it that panel just blended into the background, definitely be using THAT technique again!  The Stamptacular Sunday Challenge is to use three or more papers, so I'm in, Sassy Cheryls Tuesday Challenge is to use Pretty Papers, these really ARE pretty, so I'm entering there and I'll be entering the Sassy Cheryl Show Me Thursday challenge too, why not? :-) 

I made the pocket for the money and a tag (cut with the same die as the image, using some of the buff coloured card that is the base layer, it has embossed dots on it to, but they were flat enough to still be able to write on) by just not gluing the top edge of the lower panel... it works as a prop for the easel too. 
The butterfly is cut from scrap dp, and Memory Box Vivienne Butterfly die, the corner embellie is another Memory Box die, Macarena Corner,  I added some Liquid Pearls to those too.  The "body" of the butterfly is a strip of rhinestones that I got, believe it or not, in Penang when we were there in March, the pearls are from my stash (Totally Gorjuss has Pearls as their challenge) as is the lovely translucent ribbon with the gold swirls on.  I mounted the ribbon on a panel of card cut with a Spellbinders Classic Border die.  
The acrylic dragonfly is also from my stash, as is the lace edging so I'll be entering Lisa's Waste Not Wednesdays challenge. Everything is popped up on foam dots (I'm going to have to do my 50km trip to the scrapbook shop that stocks my faves, as I'm running out already!) so I'm entering the Paper Play Challenges Layer It Up challenge  - no challenge for me really, I LOVE layers :-)
I love all ice cream, though it's not particularly the season for it here right now, lol, I'm entering the My Mums Craft Shop Favourite Ice Cream Flavour challenge with Tutti Frutti being the colours of my card.  Bearly Mine Challenges and Deep Ocean Challenge  have Anything Goes themes, so I'm entering there too.
That's it for today, I hope you like my card, my Mum did... and that's the main thing (mind you she is a "good" Mum, and likes everything I do, what a sweetie)  I'll be back in a few days with my next offering. Until then, Happy Crafting, Donna

Aah To Be Twenty One Again!

Well, I don't really know if I WOULD like to be twenty one again really... all that angst!  This card is for the used-to-be-little-girl across the road from us... I can't believe she's 21!! I made a side-stepper simply 'coz it shows off all the card at once! We're going to a party for her on Saturday night, combined with her boyfriends 21st! I have to come up with a card for him yet, bit more of a challenge as I haven't known him since he was eight as I have Hayley!

I'm really pleased with the end result; it doesn't have a huge amount of embellies on compared with some peeps, but for me it's got plenty!  I've taken the piccies indoors, but the colours are pretty accurate. 
The colour was easy to decide, the invitation is red and black (coupled with the fact that her car is black with ladybirds on, her numberplate is "ladybrd" and her first car was red with black dots on.... getting the picture? lol) so I figure she likes the combo.  I've used the delightful digi "Blanche" from Saturated Canary, I have about twenty of Krista's fabby images... this is the first time I've been brave enough to colour one up!  I coloured with Copics and Prismacolors (the black is pencils, I get a better outcome with black pencils than Copics) the Saturated Canary challenge this time is Black White and One as is  Craft Your Passion , I'm hoping the grey that's on the paper doesn't discount it.   Craft Your Days Away wants Shades of Grey + One colour, so I know it's fine there!  I added some Stickles to her earrings and a Swarowski crystal to her sash, very glittery IRL.

Jotting panel on rear of tag

Sentiment tag

The sentiment tag fits in a pocket made simply by not gluing the top edge of the rearmost panel, there's a jotting panel on the back and room in the pocket for the voucher that is our gift.  I attached the sentiment (cut using Standard Ovals and Classic Scalloped Ovals) only at the top so it can "overlap" the front of the pocket.  Aud Sentiments wants us to put our sentiment on a tag, I have so I'm in.
The paper on the main part of the easel is from Starfish Lane, the rest of the papers are from my stash... Kaisercraft After Five and Shaken Not Stirred, the red and black card comes from my stash too... so I'll be entering Lisa's Waste Not Wednesdays challenge.
I cut the scrolls with a Marianne Designs die (that's three dies I've used, so I'm entering the Stamptacular Sunday Challenge to use two or more dies), there are black pearls on the "curlycues" of the black scrolls and the corners of each dp panel, so I'm entering Paper Crafting Journey Swirls and Pearls challenge.  I Stickled up the red scroll... of course it doesn't show in the pics, lol.

Trust me, it Blings!

The flowers are a mix of stash and new arrivals from Mulberry Crafts in the UK... when the parcel arrived (in very quick time, I might add!) it was amazing to see that it came from a place in Wales about ten miles from where I lived until emigrating to Australia with my folks forty years ago!  The world is indeed small :-)  Bizzy Becs challenge this month is Flower Power, so I'm in!
The only other embellishment on the card, apart from the silver and crystal brad on the sentiment, is the metal and rhinestone key in the floral arrangement; I must have taken twenty photos trying to get the bling factor showing, you'll just have to trust me - it blings :-)  The Paper Shelter  wants us to use a Metal Embellishment -I'm in.
My Mums Craft Shop has Birthday Girls and Divas by Design has Birthday, what you might call variations on a theme, lol, so I'm entering those... as well as the Simon Says Challenge Anything Goes challenge, of course!
Well that's it for today, I have to go to bed... should try to get on to making the other 21st card but have so much else to fit in.  The old adage about Haste making Waste showed up big time today; long story short, I was rushing to get some paperwork finished for one of my clients, I Cut information (two weeks worth of Data Entry) from one spreadsheet, Pasted it into another spreadsheet and then promptly saved the one with data cut from it and didn't save the one with it pasted into... normally (as in when I'm not rushing!) I NEVER Cut, I always Copy, figuring it's better to have the info in two places than none... and it would seem that that is very sound thinking, as now I have to do two weeks of data entry AGAIN, grrrrrr.
Hopefully I'll fit some craft time in and be back with something super :-) Until then, Happy Crafting, Donna

My Little Man turns 30!

Alright, so tell me, where did the last 30 years go?!!  It was my eldest son's 30th birthday yesterday and I made this card for him.

The papers on the card are from Kaisercrafts Shaken Not Stirred 6" collection; I think these are really great papers for guys cards, strong and masculine. The fabulous image is "Pitstop Penny" from Kenny K Downloads.  I used sketch #141 from Friday Sketchers, I've missed the deadline for the challenge but wanted to credit it anyway - great sketch!

Kenny K's Krafty Girlz and My Time to Craft's challenge for this week is "Circles": there are circles aplenty here - there's a circle behind the image mat, the row of circles under the chequered paper were punched from the Kaisercraft paper using a 1" circle punch, the sentiment (which I made on the computer, I had to look up the relevant info re 0-60 as I know NOTHING about cars and my son is MAD about them!) is cut using the same punch.  
Another circle is the little tyre which has "Good Year" on it, which I thought was a nice touch on a birthday card.  This tyre came from "The Basket" in the toy cupboard.  "The Basket" contains loads of little cars that my son collected from the age of about 18 months when I used to get him one if he was good when we went grocery shopping - yes I know some people would call it bribery, lol, all I'm going to say is there are a LOT of cars in that basket, he was obviously GOOD on shopping trips - a lot!!  I added polka dot ribbon from my stash. The image is pop dotted, as is the sentiment.

We went shares with our youngest son Chris and bought Matt a voucher for a half day Rally driving experience, driving four different cars over 24 laps then being driven by an Australian Champion for a "hot lap": This, gauging by his reaction, is a good gift for a car-mad thirty year old!!  I printed the voucher off, laminated it then made a gift card holder for it.  As the voucher is A5 size, it is one big gift card holder!  I decorated it with the same paper as the card.  The inside of the card is decorated with a strip of chequered paper and another of the sheets from the pad, all I had to do was trim it to fit - really effective and soooo easy!
 I coloured Penny with Copics and mounted the image panel on a mat of black paper with a texture like sharkskin but shiny - it really is fab!  
The red on both the stripy paper and the art deco style semi-circles are foiled, giving the card a nice shiny look, not that it shows in the photos; Cute Card Thursday and Paper Play Challenges have "Add some Shine" as their theme this week, so I'm entering there.  Pollycraft has Special Birthdays, 30 is pretty special so I'm entering there too By the Cute and Girly has "Red and any other colour" as it's challenge for this month and this card is that: Red and black.  Whoopsi Daisy's challenge for this week is "Free and Easy", they really are the easiest challenges, aren't they? 
I hope you like Matt's birthday card, I had real fun making it.....and making his birthday cake too, photos to follow.  In the meantime it's our Anniversary, I'll post photos of the card I made for my darling hubby tomorrow: it's really cute and I'm pleased with it so come back and see what you think!
Until then, Happy Crafting, Dee