Strawberries and cream...and flowers!!

Hey!! :)

Wow- it's hot, isn't it?!! I don't think this country does happy-mediums at the moment- it's either so cold you'd never know it was summer or feeling like a heatwave!! Think I prefer this to cold though!! :)

Well, this card is one I made at the beginning of the week for a friend's birthday- I have to say, it was nice to a make a femine card again after so many men's ones!! I've really enjoyed making all of them this year- I still have one more to show you sometime!! :) - but to get back to flowers and pink was a pleasant change!! Not to mention I finally got to use my new Martha Stewart Border Punch- my first!! :) - which arrived just as I was due to start on the men's cards and, much as I considered it, I didn't think Doily Edging would quite work on those!! ;)

So, I wasn't really sure what I was going to do- running out of steam a bit after making so many by then, I think- so I had a look around for ideas and came across the Strawberries and Cream theme at Cupcake Craft Challenges - which I'd planned to enter my card in and is the reason I'm posting this before I've got around to the last boy's one!- and also a sketch from Clare's Weekly Challenge over on Docrafts and this was the result:

The decoupage is left over from a kit I got to sell for Ayme last year and has been sat in a box, complete with glitter glue highlights, for twelve months so it was nice to use it! I chose various pink papers from my stash including one from the My Mind's Eye Pretty Please pad- I'm not used to trying to combine so many shades of pink and had out so many papers I couldn't see my desk (okay so that's fairly standard anyway!! ;) ) but I think they go together okay!!

The patterned paper is hand-stamped using the leaves from a gorgeous set of wooden stamps I got from Panduro a few years ago and have only used once and a swirl stamp from one of my trusty Heidi Grace flourish sets which I just love!! I used Versamark and Brilliance Moonlight White inks- I've always loved making my own background papers to match whatever project I'm working on but realised I haven't done it in what feels like ages, as I've got a few more patterned papers now, and I really must try to more often!!

I stamped the greeting, from Woodware's Jane's Script clear stamp set (another of my favourite sets), on some pearlescent linen textured white paper- it has a lovely golden shimmer which hardly shows on this shot!- and punched the corners. I used my MS Doily Lace ( yay!! :) ) punch on the central strip of paper and two Woodware punches for the flowers and edged everything in Moonlight White ink before putting it all together and adding a bit more glitter glue to the punched flowers!! :)

So, once again, inspirational sketches and ideas to the rescue!! :) I was going to go and link this up but just checked and realised I'm too late after all- oops...got slightly sidetracked midway through writing this earlier by my determination to get outside and enjoy the sun a little while the builders next door had downed tools for the weekend!! :S- but never mind, may as well post it anyway, as it's done now!! :) Thank so much for all the lovely comments on my cards this last week or so!! :) Well, I'm off to bed now!! Hope you've all had a lovely weekend!! :)

hugs,