Limited Supplies card

This was the result of a challenge from the This Thursday site. Participants were asked to surf through five sites then take inspiration from where they ended up, and after some totally random clicks I ended up at http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=45 and the 'limited supplies' board. I had just bought a kit from the pound shop (for one pound sterling!) which had some card blanks, small squares of card, and various little embellishments, so I thought I'd use that to make a birthday card for a four year-old whose birthday is next week. I ended up cheating, as I added some glitter and doodling, but the card blank, papers and tiny candle flames (I don't know if they come out in the photo) are all from the kit. It was fun putting it together and challenging my imagination - although four simple candles are not exactly difficult to cut out!

'Throw a curve'

This uses downloads from http://www.pinkpetticoat.co.uk/ to create a card for the This Thursday challenge. Crafters were asked to 'throw a curve' and as I tend to use straight lines for quickness it was quite an adventure for me! I cut away the front edge of the card and doodled a black and white border on white card, which I cut out and stuck on. I added a Christmas tree made from my own template, with beaded trim and gem flowers. The inside of the card is lined in another Pink Petticoat paper.

1950s layout

This is a picture of my mother as a girl in a very posh frock. She told me the original was a turquoise shade so I altered it in Photoshop to tint the dress. The papers are from the EK Success 'Life' range, which I though toned very well.

New baby card

This is a Hampton Art Stamps image, no 1223, 'A Star is Born', which I was sent as a freebie a while back. I kept to a rainbow pastel palette as I wanted a card suitable for either sex, and used gold embossing powder for a touch of sparkle. The watercolouring was actually done with felt pens and a waterbrush, and I added little touches of gold and pale green glitter so as not to overwhelm the delicate image. A quick rummage through my button jar produced the pastel and star buttons, and a similar rummage through my ribbon jar got me the sheer purple and green gingham ribbons. I added some Christmas jingle bells I bought in Lakeland a few years ago just to make it a bit more fun.

Scrap Christmas cards

As I'm reluctant to throw anything out, I find Christmas is an excellent time to use up all my little bits of paper I thought might come in handy. Long thin strips, trimmed from larger sheets, make up the background to this card, and a tiny tree cut from silver Bazzill Bling is decorated with some little gems. None of the material is specifically for Christmas, but it comes together to make quite a funky card.

Rainbow Christmas

This is the time of year when I really step up production of my Christmas cards - I send out over 200 each year, so many of them are done quite quickly. This is a great design for mass production, as the stamping is done in just one colour at a time, and the pieces can be cut and arranged quite quickly. I love rainbows and I always like finding ways to incorporate them into my crafting even at Christmas. This stamp from Kirsten Lapping Designs (http://www.kirstenlappingdesigns.com/) has been stamped in seven colours of ink onto seven shades of card to make a rainbow, on a black card base. I singled out one of the little trees on the green line to be glittered, to give the design a focus - I love glitter too, and it's a necessity at Christmas!

Cute Little Penguin

This card features in the latest 'Simply Cards and Papercraft' Readers' Gallery. The papers were free with a previous issue, and the cute penguin stamp is, I think, Creative Imaginations. He's holding a glittery ice lolly and wearing Bermuda shorts, and I stuck on google eyes for a bit of fun - he'd make a sweet Christmas card too!