I made this One Of A Kind Epic Concertina Card for my grandson’s 2nd birthday based on his favourite song Baby Shark. Please don’t ask me to reproduce this, it took a couple of weeks and many hours scratching my head to work this out. I used so many dies making this its hard to list them all so apologies if I miss any, but for those who are interested, here goes :- Sizzix Bigz Sassy Serif Numbers die, Cardmaking Magic Sentiment dies, Unbranded alphabet dies with shadows, Tattered lace Tiny tubs die 59 for shark fin, Sizzix colorise thinlits under the sea #2 665378, Underwater Friends die set from an old issue of Die Cutting Essentials I think, nesting ovals dies for shark bodies, small bunting die and grass die from Sizzix thinlits great outdoors set 661228 for sharks teeth, stems cut using die from Sizzix Susan’s garden, flower lilac 659253 die set, stems from the Lifestyle crafts Wildflower limited edition kit and the little boys were made using dies from the Studio Light Karin Joan Missees range. I’m happy to say that my grandson absolutely loved his card and still loves it over 6 months later, he uses it like a book as he sings and does the actions to the song. Well worth the hours of work invested. Apologies for the quality of the photographs but this was huge when finished and difficult to get the whole thing in one picture ( 21cm tall x 2.376 metres wide. = 8 x A4 landscape joined together).

I made this Karaoke themed Block Easel Card for a friend who had to wait 3 years to celebrate her 40th birthday due to Covid. Yes I got the maths wrong but she was still delighted with her card and said she’ll be able to put it up again next birthday when the ‘Plus 4’ will be more accurate. I made this using my favourite card base, the block easel card, as ever, inspired by Sam Calcott. I used various dies including; Studio Light Missees Dies and stamps, unbranded sentiment and alphabet dies, Creative Craft Products Happy birthday sentiment dies, Memory Box music border die, Golf ball and tee from spellbinders Golf die for the microphone. Background card was from Kanban Topper and backing sheets. Lettering highlighted with Glossy accents.

8″ x 8″ Tower block Engagement card inspired by Sam Calcott of Mixed Up Craft. The card base was made without dies and then embellished using various dies including Creative Craft Products Congrats sentiment dies, unbranded sentiment dies, Paper Boutique Engagement sentiment dies, unbranded bees and beehive dies, unbranded small shadow alphabet dies and decorative foiled papers from Home Bargains store.

This tiny tool box is super cute and a great way to send birthday greetings for a landmark 30th Birthday. I first made this a couple of years ago for my son in law and was requested to recreate it by a friend. To make this I used various dies including 3Diemensions by Tattered Lace Toolbox Die, Creative Expressions Craft Dies by Sue Wilson – Necessities – In the Tool Box, Die-Versions Marker Micro Font Die, Sue Wilson Designs – Shadow Box Collection – Stitched Square Peg Board and Sentimentally yours Elegance Script Upper and lower case alphabet and numbers die sets. To Finish off I made a cute little gift bag complete with coordinating tag.

I have enjoyed making various look alike cards over the years, they are so much fun and are always well received. I previously have used Quickutz, Tattered Lace and Sizzix doll dies. More recently I treated myself to a number of the Studio Light Missees Die and stamp sets. They are awesome. There are dies to cut basic shapes for heads, torsos, clothes and accessories and lots of stamps to add the characters faces, with lots of different expressions. Mixing and matching the various sets means the possibilities are endless. Admittedly I have bought all the available sets to give me maximum options for designs including the two male versions. Like lots of my crafty stash, they sat there for a while without being used but they are gradually making more of an appearance in my crafting. Here are two cards I’ve made using them, one for my friend who’s the landlady of our local pub and one for my sister who is a fellow crafter and artist. I’ve used my favourite card fold the box easel card as it really showcases these well.

I love it when we get invited to special events, particularly weddings. I get lots of pleasure from creating a special unique card to celebrate the occasion. I add personal details and, wherever possible, link my colour scheme and design to the wedding invitation and, in this case, the wedding venue itself. I used faded out photographs of the actual wedding venue for the front cover image. The double shutter card definitely makes a statement and will take centre stage on the mantle piece measuring 20cm in height and 80cm in width when fully extended. It takes a good amount of card stock to make and the finished card weighs quite a bit too. For details of dies and stamps used just click on this link then click on any of the related thumbnail pics.

We were invited to the christening of our friend’s grandson and I was thinking of a suitable way to mark such a special occasion. I made this little keepsake to double as both card and gift. It includes all the details of the day and has spaces for the parents to add specifics about godparents, guests and gifts received. I love making this as it gives me chance to use some of my cutest dies as well as using some of my vast stash of patterned papers. I used a bought chip board album. I painted the edges of each page with white acrylic paint and covered them with patterned papers on both sides. I used my Cropodile tool and eyelets to reinforce the punched holes. Once decorated, I added ribbons, beads, and charms to the binding rings. To see details of dies used, larger images and other examples just click on this link and then click on the thumbnail picture you want to enlarge. For examples of girls’ versions click this link.

Cards for men are always challenging, especially for men in my family as I’ve made so many cards for them over the years it’s hard to come up with new ideas. I have to confess, this card for my hubby was born more out of wanting to play with unused supplies in my stash than being particularly relevant to him. Although he is very much a ‘Mr fix it’ so it is kind of appropriate. This is a rare venture into the realms of mixed media. If you’re a regular visitor, you’ll know that mixed media is not really my thing ( although I have tons of mixed media stuff in my stash) so I saw this an an opportunity to have a go. Now the real truth is, I had a good old play and then thought to myself, hmmm I need to make hubby’s birthday card, can I use some of the things I’ve made to make his card. Because many of the elements are quite dimensional I decided to make a box frame to stick onto the front of the card and make it look like a framed picture. I used one of the Spellbinders frame making dies.

One of my regular ladies always requests an extra special card for her mum’s birthday and usually wants lovely flowers. I Used the Tattered Lace Retail therapy Shop and florists die sets and the Retail therapy CDRom to create a cute pink and white flower shop. I enhanced the colours of the flowers with promarkers as the printed versions are quite dull dirty looking colours. I rarely make boxes for cads but this was an exception as it was so dimensional it was preferable to have a box to protect it.

I absolutely love the Spellbinders Flower dies especially the large die of the month January 2023 which I was lucky enough to pick up a preloved set on ebay. I’ve since managed to pick the Be Bold Blooms and Holiday blooms sets too which I think will work really well with these. I was playing with the dies using pictures from Pinterest as inspiration and decided to use the fruits of my labours to create two cards, one for my sister and one for my best friend.