Happy 80th Birthday Nan!

Hi Everyone. We've made it to the end of an exhausting Month, Birthday wise. We've had the shops Birthday, my Dads, My Mums, Mine and now it's the turn of my Nan.
Today, Iris celebrates her 80th Birthday!And here's the card I made for her "special day". She has always been so active but in recent years, her health and mind have deteriorated some what. She was always a keen gardener and loves her flowers, so I wanted to bring back a reminder of one of her favourite past times on her card...I also wanted to give her a card that would give her something to think about when she opened it, not to confuse her, but to give her mind something active to work on.So I took a standard Easel Cardand played around with it a bit,seeing if working it a different way would be something different for her.Once I settled on my shape I covered the base White card with some patterned Vellum. I adhered the Vellum to the card using some Stick and Stay spray adhesive, as a light misting of the glue will not show through the thin vellum.I then punched a border into light Pink Mirror card using the Martha Stewart Doily Lace Trim Punch,embossed it with one of the Embossing Folders from The Cuttlebug Art Deco sets,attached small foam pads to the back,and applied it to the project.Adding some clear gems to hide the foam pads and to centre the flowers.I still wasn't sure about the shape and still could have used it as a standard Easel card if I needed to.But I decided to persevere with the change of shape.I punched some Flowers from the same light Pink Mirror card using the Martha Stewart Large Pop Up Water Lily Punch. Remember to use this punch with your card stock upside down,this way the petals will be pushed upwards and not downwards when the flower is turned over.I added some gems to the centre of the flowersand also punched out some leaves from the Martha Stewart Frond Punch in Gold Glitter Card and added them to the flowers in preparation for adding them to the project.I cut out my sentiment on my Cricut machine using the welding function on my Gypsy machine.. This was done twiceand the images stuck together to give them strength and dimension.I then applied the sentiment and some of the flowers to the front of the card,adding some more of the flowers down the inside of the card to finish it off.I could have still used this card as a traditional Easel card (if I hadn't already stuck the sentiment down that is!) but I was more than happy how it came out, and I hope it brings a smile to Iris' face today.Happy Birthday Nan!
Thanks for checking us out, see you soon.
Andy.

More Birthdays!!

Hi Blogland. Saturday saw yet another September Birthday in my family! And it's the most important one of all because it was mine!! Not a super special one (i.e not a zero one) like everyone else's in the family this Month, but no less important!!I just wanted to share with you all a few of the cards I received. None more or less important than any other one, as I know they were sent and made from the heart... But I did pick out a couple that I can appreciate the time and effort that went into making them.If you have seen her work already, I bet you could have guessed that this one is from my Sister.. Her Parchment work is always soooo stunning! And the Border Collie in the middle is always so apt! We had one when we were growing up called Ellie. Sadly she is no longer with us, but cards like this always bring back such happy memories!!Yes, I am a Libra! And according to Lyn's sentiment inside, Libras have their head in the clouds, fantasy is more appealing than reality, Never learn to say No and take on far too much!, but there was no mention of being unbalanced though!! which is a good thing seeing as Libra is the sign of the scales!Now, I know making cards for us guys is not easy but this one from Reene really does fit the bill I think!And Reene, as with all of her fantastic cards not only thinks of the front like I do, but crafts her cards from cover to cover!!Et en fin! (And Finally!) this little beauty from French Lin.. If anyone has wondered what to do with Tim Holtz's Gadget Gears then wonder no more!.And a side viewand even the back was decorated.. (Lin wanted me to point out that the original idea for this card came from Jill Tuck at The Stamp Man).
So, needless to say I was overwhelmed by the cards and gifts I received from all my crafting buddies, Thank you...
Back later this week with my Nan's 80th Birthday card, once I've finished it... Thanks for checking us out, see you soon..
Andy.

News, Awards and a card...

Hi Blogland, I hope things are well with you all today?
You'll remember that last week we had 2 BIG family Birthdays. So we ALL took a day off on Monday and had a family day together to celebrate. Lot's of food, drink, fun and games.. a really good time together.. We have 2 more family Birthdays to come in September.. MINE!!, and also my Nans 80th.. September really is a busy time for us all and it's a Month that really flies by...Also in September was the shops 7th Birthday and along with all the cards and gifts from our lovely customers, we also received this award from Toni.. So, seeing as I have finally worked out how to attach it to my blog (you wouldn't believe I used to be an IT Analyst before Pinnacles would you!!). I just wanted to say a BIG THANK YOU to Toni for awarding this to us...


More good news to share with you.. I have been accepted as a Design Team Member for the Cuttlebug Blogspot.. I was a bit apprehensive about applying but when I received an e:mail this week saying that I had been accepted I was over the moon. Thank you Nilda for this great opportunity.. So watch this space and also over on the Cuttlebug Blogspot to see what I, and the other Design Team Members come up with over the coming Months.That all said and done, here is today's little project. The last couple of posts have featured my parents Birthday Cards, and seeing as I don't have to get my Nan's 80th card done until the end of the Month I thought I'd pop back into Christmas...
I've had a bottle of Enamel Accents staring at me on my craft desk for weeks now.. And on this project I finally got yo use it..I started off by embossing some thick Acetate using the new Tim Holtz Alterations Embossing Folder, Tall Pines. This comes in a double pack along with another Embossing Folder called Branch Tree. These are great value and I'm just loving the new packaging too.. I have plans for that!!!Once embossed I took my bottle of Black Enamel Accents and drizzled it into the debossed side of my image. The debossed side was almost like a mould and as long as you don't squeeze the bottle of Enamel Accents to hard you can just fill up the area you need as the Enamel Accents are quite thick, the sort of consistency of Glossy Accents.. Once covered I put it to dry over night as recommended.Once the image was dry I was able to see the full effect on the front. I was a bit worried that I might have missed a bit or got an air bubble or 10, but the whole thing came out really flat (which is a good thing!) and smooth..
But what to do with it?? mmmm
Now, you know I'm loving my side stepper cards at the moment, and also the range of Twilight Card Stock we have in storeso I put the 2 together. Check back here for the instructions on how to make your own Side Stepper card.I then attached the Acetate to the card with some Glass Brads.When using Acetate, tape or glue is not really an option for me as you always know it's there, unless I'm attaching it from the back of the project.I then took a shape from the Large Labels Nestabilitie set and cut it out in Sliver and Black Glitter Card,I then took the next size down shape from the Small Labels set and cut out my frame from the Silver Cardand stuck the two together andapplied my sentiment.I added some additional die cut trees to the stepper side of the card. I hope you can see in the photo how the embossing on the Acetate has turned it White around the edges of the trees, framing them and giving them a shadow, dimension or even the effect of snow? I was going to go round the trees with the White Enamel Accents, but it really didn't need it!
It's weird, the picture above was taken with the camera flash on, giving an effect of say dusk,where as this picture was taken with the flash off, giving a darker night time effect.So, after I'd finished playing with my camera!! I attached my sentiment and there you have it! Hopefully Lyn, and everyone else, this will give you another idea for your cards this year!
Don't forget Club Members Weekend starts Tomorrow, look forward to seeing those who are coming along then.
Thanks for checking us out, see you soon.
Andy.

Happy Birthday Mum!

Hi Blogland. Yet another family Birthday this week. Wednesday saw my Dad turn 70, and yesterday saw my Mum turn ...., we'll keep that one a secret!! I have been warned not to divulge her age on here, and you have to respect the wishes of a pensioner don't you.. ooops!!
I knew that she would probably get lots and lots of flowers for her Birthday, which she did.. LOADS! Her home looks like a small regional branch of Interfloral at the moment! So colourful, and also so heartwarming that all of her friends thought so much of her on her special day! So I planned on giving her some flowers which would last forever, by way of making them out of paper in a hanging basket that she can keep above her desk here at Pinnacles, the company she started 7 years ago with Jo..And as Pinnacles emblem is a Rose, what better flower to choose to make!
Here we go with a step by step, it's a long one so grab a cuppa...I started out by cutting out 33 Flowers using a cut from The George and the Basics Cricut cartridge @ 2 1/2".Taking a selection of Green's and Red's Alcohol Inks I coloured each Flower,some with more Green than Red, some with more Cranberry than Green etc, etc....But finishing each one with a splash of Gold...Each full Rose requires 3 separate flowers. 1 has just one cut in it, the second flower you cut off one petal and the third flower you cut off 2 petals. Don't worry you will use all of these elements, so nothing will go to waste.The first flower with one slit in it gets glued in on itself, to form a cone. I used Glossy Accents as the bonding time is so so quick.You do the same with the flower which has had one of the petals cut off, this will form a smaller cone. Repeat this for the flower which has had 2 petals cut off.The next step is to cut off the tips which have formed on the back of the cones, so that when you stack the layers they will sit more comfortably together.
With the remaining pieces of the flower i.e you should have a set of 2 petals and one petal left over. Roll the set of 2 petals into a cigar shapeand attach it to the single petal to form the centre of the Rose.Then you are ready to assemble your Rose.Place each layer inside each other and secure with some Glossy Accents,teasing back the petals to give some dimension to the Rose.Do this with all of your images.. All different in their own way, just like they should be..
I knew I wanted to put these Roses is a basket of some sort, but how??Then I had a brain wave, (which is very rare to be honest!!) to use the Martha Stewart Garden Trellis Deep Edger Punch.I punched into a piece of Mirror card and then trimmed off the loops at the top which left a lattice effect strip.I did this a few times.I then took the Martha Stewart Doily Lace Trim Punch and punched 2 long strips from the same Mirror card.And glued them together to form a ring.And then started to attach my lattice strips.To form a basket.I needed to fill the basket to give it some strength and stability, I didn't have any Brown (earth coloured) tissue paper, so I had to use the nearest alternative I had which was Gold Tissue paper..Now for the hanging bit! I punched 3 strips from Mirror card using the EK Success Chain Edger Punchand attached them to the Basket.I then glued my Roses to the Tissue paper, initially I thought the Roses would fill the whole area, mmmmm NOT!! So I needed to fill in the spaces with some leaves.So I cut some at 2" from Gypsy Wanderings which is one of the pre loaded cartridges on the Gypsy machine.I embossedthem using a folder from the Cindy Loo Cuttlebug Setand applied them to the project using Pinflair Glue.Adding a few thin strips of paper as vinesand then giving the project a spray of Gold Glitter to finish it off.
Something a little bit different I think and something I hope she will enjoy looking at in years to come.. Happy Birthday Mum.. xx
Thanks for checking us out, see you soon..
Andy.