AAA Birthday Challenge #11 - Flowers

Are you ready to increase your stash of birthday cards? Then how about joining in with the new challenge that's started today at AAA Birthday?

Flowers have got to be a favourite image for many crafters and it certainly is one of my go to for birthday cards.

I used the very gorgeous Beautiful Inside and Out stamp from Funky Fossil and some hot oranges and yellows to colour it up. Once that panel was double matted I then decided to make an extra frame using the same stamp around the edges, but this time I left it uncoloured.

Supplies:

Stamps: Funky Fossil, Beautiful Inside & Out

Inks: SU, early espresso

Card: Papermill Direct, cocktail daquiri, mocha brown

Pens: Copic, Y18, Y38, R27, R29, R39, G94, G99

How about some more inspiration? Pop on over to the AAA Birthday blog and check out what the rest of the DT and our Guest Designers Dhruvika (Cardogram) and Tasha have created to inspire you. Find it all HERE.

Thanks for looking today, I love it when I have company.

And keep crafting!

Jane
x

AAA Birthday Challenge #10 - Cute

Aww! AAA Birthday have the most adorable theme this month - Cute.

Here's my DT card:

As if this dragon and little lady were not cute enough on their own this stamp has them sharing a book and looking forward to the future - double cute! My background is an alcohol ink panel and I coloured up the mages with Copic pens.

I hand cut the images and speech bubble and arrange them inside and out of a stitched die cut frame. The birthday greeting was stamped onto a die cut stitched banner and placed inside the frame too.

Supplies:
Stamps: MFT, Magical Friends; Uniko, sentiment from a reitred set
Ink: Memento, tuxedo black; Ranger Alcohol Inks, sailboat blue, purple twilight on yupo paper
Dies: MFT Die-namics, stitched fishtail flag; Lawn Fawn, stitched rectangular frames
Pens: Copic, Y00,Y04,YG00, YG01, YG03, YG17, YG23, B02, B04, E000, E51, RV000; Wink of Stella, clear

So what does 'cute' mean to you? Well the AAA Birthday DT have all got different ideas to share with you and we've also got a fabulous Guest Designer Rachelle to inspire you. I hope to see your cute birthday card popping up in the the gallery over there soon. Find it all HERE.

It's been so much fun having you visit my blog today, thanks so much for your time.

And keep crafting!

AAA Birthday Challenge #9 - A Shaker Card

A lot of firsts at the moment and today sees another. AAA Birthday have their first 2020 challenge up and running.

As you can see the theme for this month is a shaker card and here's mine:

I've been struggling to get a decent photo of this card, the days are short and gloomy at the moment and then when the sun comes out for a brief appearance it's so low in the sky that it casts shadows all over my photography corner.

I stamped the balloons and confetti all over my card front and then die cut the happy for my shaker window. I double matted it onto white and pink card and chose sequin colours to pick up on the ink colours.

Supplies:
Stamps: Sunny Studio, Bold Balloon; sentiment from a Uniko retired set
Inks: Altenew, rose quartz, puffy heart, purple wine, mountain mist, volcano lake, lagoon; Versafine Clair, nocturne
Die: Winnie & Walter
Sequins: Pretty Pink Posh

I hope you'll be joining in with this new AAA Birthday Challenge and I look forward to visiting your blogs to see what you've created.  The rest of the DT and our Guest Designer Vita Thai have made some awesome shakers to inspire you and there's also a DT call going on. Check it all out HERE.

Thanks for looking, I really appreciate you taking the time.

And keep crafting!

Jane
x

AAA Birthday - #8 Balloons & Banners

The last challenge of 2019 is starting today at AAA Birthday.  And hey I know you're all into Christmas mode at the moment but birthdays still happen in December so take a break and rustle up a birthday card or two and get linked up at AAA Birthday.

Now I know a bit about December birthdays as one of my sons and now one of my grandsons have them. It can be fun having a December birthday but there are downsides too - it's easy to feel a bit invisible amongst all the Christmas mayhem.

Anyway here's my card to show December birthdays are just as important as Christmas:

I used a Polkadoodles digi stamp as my starting point. I masked it off and added some stencilled banners using Funky Fossil's Banners & Bunting. I then coloured the image using Copic pens  to match the banner blues and greens.

I die cut three layers of a stitched frame and then added a stamped and hand cut extra banner across the one of the top corners. I finished it all off with the Happy Birthday sentiment.

Supplies:

Stamps: Polkadoodles, Party Dude; Catherine Pooler, Birthday Icons

Inks: Memento, tuxedo black; Ranger distress oxide, mermaid lagoon, twisted citron, cracked pistachio

Stencil: Funky Fossil, Banners & Bunting

Die: Lawn Fawn, stitched rectangle frame

Pens: Copic, W1, W3, C01, C1, C3, C5, E21, E50, E51, E55, E70, R2O, B93, B95, B97, YG01, YG03, YG23, BG15, BG22, BG34

This post contains an affiliate link. Affiliate links are used by me to earn a small amount of any sale made from following the link at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support.

I'm so excited to share this link to the AAA Birthday Challenge blog as the DT have really outdone themselves with this month's theme and we also have the very talented and amazing card maker Maaike joining us as our Guest Designer. Find it all HERE and be very inspired!

Huge thanks for your time today. I'm always thrilled to have people visit my blog. Hope to see you join in with the challenge too.

And keep crafting!

AAA Birthday - #7 Include A Number

A new challenge has started at AAA Birthday and the theme is really useful for me as it's Include A Number.

My little granddaughter has her first birthday in November and if I'm honest that's why I chose this theme. time to indulge myself with a sea of pink and the number One.

This card is so far away from my usual CAS style that I surprised myself! Way back when I first started card making this was the sort of card I would always make and it seems it's a bit like riding a bicycle you never forget how. Although I did stop short of adding all the paper flower clusters I used to use - I did try them out but I'm guessing I've been CAS too long now and that was just a step too far!

I used that naughty Silhouette Cameo machine to cut the ONE in sparkly non-shed glitter card from Papermilldirect. And guess what? It cut through this card like a dream. Then I added the cutest ever digi stamp from LOTV and some pretty paper from Polka Doodles.

Supplies:
Stamps: LOTV digi, Teddy with Balloon
Card: Papermill Direct, non-shed glitter; Polkadoodles, Butterfly Daisy
Dies: Silhouette Cameo, One; Lawn Fawn, large stitched square stackables
Pens: Copic, R14, R20, R21, R22, R81, R83, R85, YG03, YG23, E41, E42, E43
This post contains an affiliate link. Affiliate links are used by me to earn a small amount of any sale made from following the link at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support.

The AAA Birthday team have also been very busy creating cards with numbers - some bold like mine, some more discreet. And Izzy Scrap has joined in as our Guest Designer with the most fabulous shaker card. check them all out HERE.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today, it's always so much more fun when I have company.

And keep crafting!

AAA Birthday - #6 Colour Palette

Hello my crafty friends! I'm excited to tell you all about the next new challenge that's just started at AAA Birthday. This month we have a colour palette to use and would like to see birthday cards using at least two of the colours.

 

And although the colours do scream Halloween and I do have a couple of family birthdays in October I didn't really go down that route - or maybe I did. What do you think?

I started by preparing a smooshy inky background on water colour paper using the reds and yellows from the palette, which of course also made the oranges where they merged. While I was waiting for this to dry I set to die cutting the bird houses in black - another colour from the palette.

I finished off by stamping a greeting and matting the whole thing onto a black card base.

Supplies:

Stamps: Uniko, Sentiments Outlined

Inks: Versafine Clair, nocturne; Brusho, orange, yellow, brilliant red

Die: Fantasy, Spring Dawn

How will you use these colours? There is a whole load of inspiration to be found on the challenge blog - HERE. And we're very lucky to have the hugely talented Trina P guesting with us too.  Do pop over and be totally wowed!

Thanks so much for joining me on my blog today, it's always so much fun to have you visit.

And keep crafting!

AAA Birthday #5 - Use a Stencil

And hot on the heels of the new AAA Cards Challenge come a new birthday card challenge at AAA Birthday.

And I'm loving using stencils at the moment so this theme is right up my street!

As soon as I saw this Polkadoodles Magical Grasses stencil I knew it would be perfect for this challenge and it sort of made its own way into my shopping basket. But apart from this use of it I know it will be a go to for me as I just love the idea of magical grasses and that top right part is like the most useful stencil as well!

So this was a card that made itself in minutes and I had so much fun blending and mixing the distress oxide inks. I finished it off by simply matting it onto dark purple card, adding some glitter spots and a birthday sentiment from Uniko.

Supplies:

Stamps: Uniko, Simply Said Birthday

Inks: Ranger distress oxide, cracked pistachio, twited citron, peacock feathers, picked rapberry, wilted violet, salty ocean; Versfine Clair, nocturne

Stencil: Polkadoodles, Magical Grasses

Embellishments: Liquid Pearls, white opal; Glamour Dust, crystal

This post contains an affiliate link. Affiliate links are used by me to earn a small amount off of the sale at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support.

Do you love using stencils too? Well now's your chance to give them an outing and come play along with the AAA Birthday Challenge. The DT have made incredible inspiration cards for you to swoon over. Check them all out HERE. And we also have the amazing Rachelle joining us as our Guest Designer. 

Thanks so much for looking today, it's been an absolute pleasure to have you visit my blog.

And keep crafting!

AAA Birthday #4 - For The Boys

And just like that it's time for the fourth challenge at AAA Birthday! 

Well last month was for the girls so obviously this month it's For the Boys!

My DT card is one I made for my football/rugby mad grandson:

I wanted it to be a card with movement and used my silhouette machine to cut the rugby ball which I then attached with a piece of cotton thread so that it would spin when opened. He said it was 'pretty cool' - so that was a win then!

I used a Uniko stencil to create the pattern on the ball and Uniko sentiment stamps for both the inside greeting and the Happy Birthday on the ball.

Here's a little video of how it works.

Supplies:

Stamps: Uniko, Birthday Wishes, Simply Said Blocks

Ink: Versafine Clair, nocturne; Ranger distress, blueprint sketch, mermaid lagoon, chipped sapphire

Stencil: Uniko, Abstract Triangles

Die: Spellbinders, petite ovals large

Cut file: Silhouette, football

Paper: Hobbycraft, watercolour pad

Over on the AAA Birthday Challenge blog there are so many fabulous ideas from the DT and Guest Designer Clarissa about making cards for those pesky tricky masculine members of your friends and family. Find them all HERE.

Thanks so much for your time today, it's been a blast to have you visit my blog.

And keep crafting!

AAA Birthday #3 - For The Girls

Hey!

Time for a new challenge at AAA Birthday - already it's the third challenge of this new blog!

And this is theme I don't often get a chance to create with so I really relished putting this card together. And I'm also enjoying that cards for AAA Birthday can be any genre - funny how even with the ribbon and scalloped die cut it still looks fairly CAS though!

I used one of the delightful images from Whimsy Stamps and my favourite pinky purples. I also added in another favourite colour - aqua, and then some bright orange. How bold was that! I'm not an orange sort of lady at all. I just had to balance it all out by using a bright pink backdrop for my photo!

Supplies:
Stamps: Whimsy, Mazarine Butterfly Fairy; Uniko, Birthday Wishes
Ink: Memento, tuxedo black; Versafine Clair, nocturne
Dies: Spellbinders, petite scalloped ovals large, petite ovals large
Pens: Copic, E000, E40, E43, E44, R20, B000, B00, B01, RV55, RV63, Y18, Y35; Wink of Stella, clear
Ribbon from my stash

I know that the rest of the AAA Birthday DT have some very special cards lined up for you, so do go take a peek at them on the challenge blog - HERE. We also have the amazingly talented Michelle Lupton joining us as our Guest Designer - her card will make you drool!

Huge thanks for visiting my blog today, it's been so much fun sharing some of your time.

And keep crafting!

AAA Birthday Game #2 - Use Water Colours

Wow! Already it's time for the second challenge at AAA Birthday! Where did last month disappear to?

This month the theme is to use water colours on a birthday card. Here's my idea:

First up I created the splodgy background and once that was dry I stamped the Uniko butterflies on top. I created a watercoloured look with them by inking up the stamp and spritzing it with water before stamping. Two got a liberal coating of water and one not quite so much.

I finished off with a trio of clear gems. I love how they pick up the background colour and look a little like water droplets.

Supplies:

Stamps: Uniko, English country Garden butterflies, Simply said Birthday
inks: SU, tempting turquoise, melon mambo; Versafine Clair, nocturne
Clear gems from my stash


We have four fabulous Guest Designers to inspire your creativity this month and of course the AAA Birthday DT have created amazing examples too! Go check them all out HERE.

Huge thanks for spending some of your time looking at my blog today, you know i enjoy your company.

And keep crafting!

AAA Birthday Game #1 - Anything Birthday Goes

Hello and welcome!

Today is a very exciting day as it sees the very first challenge begin at AAA Birthday. 

AAA Birthday is a sister challenge to AAA Cards, but as the name suggests is only for birthday cards. But - and this is a big but - unlike its sister AAA Birthday would like to see cards in all styles and genres. So a twin, but not identical!

Here's my card for the May challenge:

As you know CAS is my favourite way to create cards, but I stepped a bit out of my usual style for this card and added in a few layers. The image is really supposed to be for Christmas, but a simple switch up of colours and she's going to a birthday party instead.

Supplies:
Stamps: Whimsy Stamps, Fairy Gifts For You; sentiment from MFT Adorable elephants
Ink: Memento, tuxedo black
Die: MFT Die-namics, double stitched rectangles
Pens: Copic, W0, W1, C0, C3, RV02, RV04, RV09, E21, E33, E50, E51, BG32, BG34
Embellishments: Altenew enamel dots, our family; Wink of Stella, clear

Well are you ready to play along with AAA Birthday. You've got until the end of May to join in, so there's plenty of time to get your thinking cap on. Oh and there's a Design Team call going on there at the moment too. So come on over to the main blog, check out the DT and Guest Designer Hannelie's awesome birthday cards and get yourself linked up. It's going to be fun!

Thanks so much for your time today, I've loved having you visit my blog.

And keep crafting!

AAA Birthday - New Challenge

I'm really excited to be here today to let you all know about a new challenge that will be starting soon  - AAA Birthday.

Do you love making cards? Are the majority of your cards for birthdays? Well this could be the ideal challenge for you!

AAA Birthday is a sister challenge to AAA Cards, but we want to see all styles of cards, not just CAS.

A new challenge will start on the first Monday of each month and last for four weeks. There will be themes to challenge you and we hope you'll join in and have fun!

Pop on over to the AAA Birthday Challenge blog and meet the DT - HERE. 

Please spread the word and join our followers.

Thanks for your time and as ever Keep Crafting!