I haven't left the planet, honest

Hello...is there anybody out there?! I'm terrible, it's been an age again since I blogged but as usual I have been crafting away in the background. My card making seems to have gone in two different directions lately...one way I have been stamping and colouring with brush tip pens to make cute cards and in the other I have been creating some simple to construct designs from pre-brought kits. I find both have their good points: some days I just want to put things together quickly and feel like I'm being productive, so the kits help with that. Then other days I want to take my time and try to make something more detailed and that's where the stamping and brush tip pens come in. I think today I'll show you some of the more detailed cards I have recently made:

The above two cards were made for twin girls on their 4th birthday. The stamps are from Lili of the Valley, I have completely fallen in love with their entire range of pretty, cute stamps! I stamped them onto 160gsm watercolour paper and coloured them with 'Whisper' brush tip pens. I am thinking of investing in either some Promarkers or Copics if I continue with this style of card (probably Promarkers as they are cheaper!). The lilac card was decorated with some random handmade papers that I'd had lurking in my stash for ages, but the paper on the yellow card was made using a cuttlebug embossing folder, several different inks pads and some finger tip blending sponges...it was fun to blend the colours together.

I couldn't resist these sweet Forever Friends Easter themed stamps when I saw them recently and decided to use them for the small batch I'll make for this year. There are other images in the set, which I'm going to use next, but this bear with his hot cross buns is my favourite, so I used him first :-) Again the image is stamped onto 160gsm watercolour paper and coloured with 'Whisper' brush tip pens. The flower is made from a die by Marianne Creatables and is one of their 'ribbon flower' designs as there is a slot punched into the top petals that you can thread a narrow ribbon through. I finished them off with a Dovecrafts jewel brad in the centre. The background papers are from the same range as the stamps and all are made by Papermania.

Another card made using a stamp from Lili of the Valley, I think these two little girls having tea together are adorable! The card is 8"x8" and layered with card from Papermania and papers from the Laura Ashley range, the flower is a Prima craft one. The wide crocheted lace border is something I've had for a very long time, my Great Auntie gave it to me many years ago and it was still bundled up with a price tag of shillings and pence on it, so you know that it is at least 40 years old...practicaly an antique, a bit like myself ;-) I punched the bottom of the cream card layer with a Martha Stewart lace border punch to add interest, and gave it a couple of small square buttons to finish. I really enjoyed making this card and I think that my colouring is improving...I hope so anyway! This one is for sale at my Dreamaid shop here.

I'll leave it here for now, and hopefully I'll be back sooner next time. Thank you so much for looking!

Sarah x