Birthday

Die Cut Birthday

Hello everyone. It is my final card as Surprise Party Guest at Seize The Birthday. This time the theme is:

Birthday & no stamping – dies only

Here is my card:

This theme was right up my alley – I do prefer die cutting to stamping. I chose to use a die set from Concord & 9th from their Summer Camp 2025. This die set is called ‘Garden Of Gratitude’. A lovely set which creates a stitched background ‘plan’ for your florals – but you don’t need to stick to that plan…

I placed the die on a piece of Grape Soda card from C9 – sadly now retired – but I do have a bit of stock left – which left the sticthing outline in that piece.

I then used a combination of C9 and Spellbinders card stock to die cut all the elements, then had fun putting them all together, before gluing them down.

As the background was quite bright and vivid, I chose a combination of lighter and fresher colours to stand out.

The sentiment was die cut and attached with 3D foam.

I hope you can come and join the team for anything goes birthday – or to follow our theme by not using stamping – dies only. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

AAA Birthday – birthday and flowers

Addicted To Stamps & More – any occasion

Cupcake Inspirations – in the garden

Lil Patch Of Crafty Friends – anything goes

Ellibelle’s garden Party – anything in or from the garden

Sunflower Birthday

Hello everyone. I have a card to share inspired by my visit to the maize maze last week – where there was also lots and lots of gorgeous sunflowers. I knew I had a few items in my stash, and I chose the ‘Lovely Layers: Sunflowers‘ from Honey Bee Stamps to create my project:

I die cut the pieces for the flowers in a yellow, green, and brown card stock from Concord & 9th. Once die cut, I then ink blended the layers to create a little more dimension. I then curled the leaves of the sunflowers a little, then attached the layers using 3D foam pieces – for even more depth. I had to wait a little a the ink from the ink blending was still a little wet.

Once the flowers were assembled, I hunted through my stash for a background paper which had a distressed and splattered look, a very muted pink/lilac shade.

As the flowers are big, I used a 5×7 inch card base, cut down the paper and attached with glue.

The flowers were attached, then the leaves placed, leaving room for the silver foiled sentiment at the top. This sentiment is actually cut down, it did say ‘happy birthday to you’ but I cut the end down and glued to the edge.

I shall be entering the following challenges:

AAA Birthday – birthday and flowers

Cupcake Inspirations – in the garden

Inspiration Station – photo inspiration

Beautiful Blossoms – flowers

Ellibelle’s Corner I Spy – something yellow or sunflowers

Sending Birthday Swings

Hello everyone. It is hubby’s birthday on 11th August, so I created this card using Waffle Flower die and stencil sets as he is an avid golfer and frequently travels abroad on golfing trips:

I first die cut the golf bag and clubs, using grey and black, as his current golf bag is those colours – he isn’t a flashy kinda guy!

The background was created using another die and stencil set from Waffle Flower, first die cutting the mountains and the water, then used the stencil to create some dimension.

These were layered together, adding some paper for the sky area, and some green card stock for the grass.

The sentiment is also from Waffle Flower – part of this release – stamped then die cut, then layered a couple more times before gluing to the card.

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Love To Craft – anything goes

Mix It Up – anything goes, option of shaped card not taken

Addicted to Stamps & More – birthday

A Cut Above – anything goes with die cuts

Happy Birthday Quilt

Hello again. Another pre-scheduled post due to me travelling, and this time it is for the second card of my Surprise Party Guest at Seize The Birthday.

The chosen theme this time round is:

Birthday – square card – non-white base

Here is my card:

For this card, I created the centre first, by using a Spellbinders die set ‘Log Cabin & Flower Mini Quilts’, die cutting in several bright and cheery colours, as well as one in white.

I used the white as the frame, attached it to some other card and double sided sticky sheet, then inserted the coloured pieces back into their respective slots. I seem to be having fun with in-lay techniques at the moment….

The sentiment was stamped and die cut, then I created the card base, white panel, and a smaller square of green. trying to keep everything bright and cheerful.

I hope you can come and join the team with your birthday creations following the theme, though there is always the ‘anything goes birthday option’ too. xx

Happy Birthday Cat

Hello everyone, I am so excited that I am going to be the Surprise Party Guest at Seize The Birthday for the next couple of months.

The first challenge theme is:

Birthday and one or more numbers

Here is my card:

I was a little stumped at first, but then I remembered I had an older embossing folder from Spellbinders an ‘M-bossibility’ folder with letters on one side, and numbers on the other. This is at least 14 years old, but isn’t it surprising how you remember things?

I took a dark blue piece of card and ran it through my machine, then swiped some white pigment ink over the top to make the numbers stand out a little more.

The cat die and sentiment is from Simon Hurley/Spellbinders, all die cut and asembled as required.

For the sentiment, instead of popping out the letters, I left them in the banner, and used some double sided tape on the back to make sure they wouldn’t come out.

I hope you can come and join us with your birthday creations following our theme, but you can always have anything goes birthday instead.

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Ally’s Angels – anything goes

Critter Crazy – anything goes with a critter

Crafty Animals – anything goes with an animal

Daisy Chain Challenge – birthday

Yellow Birthday Roses

Hello once again. Craft time has produced the following card:

Following the current colours at Color Hues, I used Waffle Flower products.

I first die cut the collage panel out of white, then used the layering stencils for the roses. I inked the florals themselves in a lighter yellow, then used a darker yellow in smaller areas to create some dimension.

The leaves were ink blended with a light grey. The sentiment is white foiling.

This panel was adhered to a black panel, then adhered to a card base.

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Color Hues – yellow and black – certain neutrals allowed

Make My Monday – use a stencil

Allsorts – anything goes or bees/blooms/butterflies

Addicted to Stamps & More – die cuts and/or stencils

Floral Birthday

Hello there. I have a card to share inspired by the current challenge at Festive Friday:

This floral strip is an off-cut from a previous card I ink blended, using a Kristina Werner layering stencil set (Aubrey Blooms). I thought these florals looked too good to be thrown away, so came up with this layout.

I took a white panel and ran it through my machine with a Spellbinders embossing folder. I then aligned the floral strip with that panel, and ran that through too.

I then took a sentiment die from a Simon Hurley/Spellbinders set. Usually the letters would fall out – but they stayed in – so I stuck them in more securely at the back with sticky tape, then added another sentiment banner die.

This was then adhered to the card, and three green gems from Concord & 9th added to complete the requirements of the challenge.

Festive Friday – 3 items from list – ink blending + epoxy embellishment + birthday sentiment

Happy Birthday, Honey

Hello everyone. Cardz 4 Galz has started a new challenge. Dawn is hosting, and she has chosen the theme os:

Bees

Here is my card:

I used Simon says Stamps products which were part of a previous online class from 2025.

My first step was to stamp all the images in the set onto water-colour card stock in black ink, then add clear embossing powder. I then water-coloured all the images with my Zigs. When they were dry, I used the matching dies to cut them out.

The background panel is plain yellow card stock, but onto that I added pieces of the honey comb – die cut from a Simon Says Stamp die set called ‘Honeycomb Tag‘ and snipped in places, arranged haphazardly, for added interest, also adding some of the ‘fall out’ pieces. I do like to add die cuts onto the background instead of embossing sometimes for a different and quirky look.

The central hexagon is from this die set too, and die cut from a previously created ink smooshing panel, onto which I then added extra detail by stenciling through a honeycomb patterned stencil – also from Simon Says Stamp.

I hope you can come and join us with your creations following our theme. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Aud Sentiments – watercolour and/or Spring and a sentiment – water colour chosen

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends – anything goes

Allsorts – anything but square

Happy Birthday

I have a card to share created for a good friend who is celebrating her 60th birthday tomorrow:

Following the theme from AAA Birthday to use Washi tape, I gathered my Pinkfresh Studio product suites which included Washi tape, and used ‘Fluttering Butterfly‘ to create the leafy sections and the butterfly itself. The Washi was adhered to white card, then the matching die to cut them out.

To add interest to the background, I die cut the ‘Floral Lace’ die twice and layered it together, glui9ng to the card base.

The leaves and butterfly were adhere, then some gold gems for extra interest, and to match the gold within the Washi tape itself.

The sentiment banner is from a Simon Hurley/Spellbinders die set, cut out of gold, with a white backing, and adhered with 3D foam.

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Die Cut Divas – die cuts and birthday/anniversary

AAA Birthday – birthday and Washi tape

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends – anything goes

Happy, Happy Birthday

Hello again. I have a birthday card to share using some new products from Spellbinders:

There are a couple of challenges calling for Spring themed cards, so I used the new dies from Spellbinders which included these bluebells and pansies, and some bright card stock off-cuts I have handy.

I first cut and layered the pansies, then the bluebells, adding the stalks. The bluebell stalks hold one flower, but I layered three together to create several which dangle from the same stem.

The background panel was created using an older SIzzix 3D embossing folder and trimmed down slightly.

The bottom light brown/Kraft section was cut, and then the border added so it looked like a window box.

The flowers were arranged, then stems tucked beneath the brown section, with 3D foam behind each flower head.