Birthday card for Janice

My lovely friend at work - Janice, recently celebrated her birthday, and this is the card I made for her

I used some new papers ( real bargains from The Works) and some older dies

The little hanging sign is part of a very old Marianne set, you can use it with a lantern to make a lamp post or you can do as I have done and turn it on it's side for a completely different look

I used a Martha Stewart punch for the border and most of the flowers are Prima

I will be back soon with possibly a Christmas card !

xxx

60th birthday, 2nd card

As promised yesterday, here is the second card I made for my lovely friend Sue

This one was made for the girls at work to sign

There are three panels as you unfold this card, so plenty of space for all the girls to sign

We had a wonderful day out, afternoon tea at the local garden centre and delicious it was too.

Many thanks to Sue's husband Paul and the ever lovely Jenny for helping to make the special day happen, it was all a surprise to Sue so it did take some planning !

xxx

60th birthday

This card was made for my good friend Sue, who recently reached a milestone birthday

The verse sits neatly on the return of the front of the card

I made Sue a second card, for everyone we both work with to sign, I will be back tomorrow with that card

80 years young

This was an extra special birthday card for a special lady

I made a 'flip' style card, which was a nightmare to photograph but looked really pretty in real life

Still wading my way through older cards but definitely getting more up to date now.

xxx

Journalling cards

I often accumulate little bits and bobs intended for one purpose and eventually end up using them for something entirely different

In this case, I had a little stack of journalling cards, bought for adding words to my scrapbook pages and now being used for matting and layering on my cards

Note to self, must start scrapbooking again !

Yes still wading my way through the last 6 months worth of cards, I can't even remember who I sent some of them to !

xxx

Best Wishes

Another card from 'way back when'

I am not sure I will ever catch up, but, at least I am finally finding my mojo again.

I got to the point of looking at some of my stash yesterday. I didn't actually get it out and I didn't actually make anything, but I did think about it 

I also bought a couple of little paper pads on my last trip in Newquay and Neil bought me some Christmas papers when we went to Truro

New stash does always inspire me, so maybe I need to get them out and start stroking them if nothing else

Hoping this beautiful weather stays a little while longer

xxx

From the archives

Another card from the archives

Working my way  slowly through the photos on my Mac

The weather remains glorious here in Cornwall, t-shirts and flip flops are still being worn, most of the trees are still lush and green, Autumn seems a while off yet !

Note to self, must start thinking about Christmas cards

xxx

Happy birthday

Playing catch up

Another birthday card, this one was for someone special

Lots of distressing and tearing, shabby chic and ultra feminine, my favourite kind of card to make

There will be no order, or rhyme or reason to the order in which I share my makes from the last 3 months, I just aim to upload and blog my way through my camera roll. 

Love and kisses

Tracey

xxx

No apologies

Sorry, not sorry !

I have been a terrible blogger, mojo for blogging had wandered off

 I am not sure it is entirely back, so please excuse me if this is not artful nor chatty, but it is a start

Thank you for the kick up the a*** Jan

So, no apologies ( I have been living life to the full here in sunny Cornwall, enjoying the amazingly warm summer and all that it entails)

A quick and easy birthday card, not for anyone in particular this time just one to keep in my stash in case I need one pronto

I hope I still have the occasional reader over here at Sandy Toes and if not - well, hey ho, I am used to talking to myself anyway

Love and kisses

Tracey

xxx 

Happy Birthday Chloe

We were invited to a 21st birthday party this past weekend

This is the card I made for the birthday girl

Ohhhh to be 21 again !!!

I used Tilda papers

Some payper box glitter stickers for the name and the numbers

Hanging heart die and 'happy birthday' die are from China

Butterflies were made using a Stampin' Up punch

Flowers are Prima and Wild Orchid crafts, with the daisies created using a Woodware punch

Thankyou for inviting us Ally, 

Chloe looked beautiful, 

we hope you all had a great day ( and evening)

Love and special birthdays

Tracey

xxx

Ann number 2

Good evening, as promised I am here to share the second Ann's birthday card

I used the same instructions as yesterdays card for the base, but instead of keeping the three layers in stepped increments, I cut diagonally all across the top

Papers are from the Poundshop of all places, dies are from China and flowers are Prima and Wild Orchid crafts

Sentiment and punch used to make the sentiment plate are both Stampin' Up

The butterflies were fussy cut from the patterned paper

I really like this variation of fold and can see me using it time and time again, I might have a go at making it in a larger size

Love and butterflies

Tracey

xxx

Ann number 1

I had two friends with birthdays in the same month, both called Ann, so I cheated and created variations on the same design

This first one was inspired by a gorgeous card I found on Pinterest 

I followed the Pinterest link and Lyssa gave brilliant instructions to the fold, you can find the instructions HERE if you fancy giving it a go

It was a little awkward to photograph, it unfolds concertina style and folds back up  - flat,  to fit into a standard envelope

I really like the graduated sizes of the three layers, thankyou for the inspiration Lyssa

I will be back tomorrow with a variation on the design that I altered to create a card for Ann number 2

Love and fancy folds

Tracey 

xxx

Happy birthday Linda

I recently made this card for my lovely friend Linda

I am still playing catch up with my photos but I am only about a week behind now, so hopefully should be up to date by next weekend

Lots of layering and die- cutting on this card

The little pennant banner was made using a Stampin Up punch as was the sentiment, all the dies except the ovals and leafy scroll are from China, the oval dies being Spellbinders and the leafy scroll being an old Marianne die I believe

Flowers are Prima and Wild Orchid crafts

We have enjoyed a beautiful week weather wise, only a couple of days with rain, the rest have been bright and sunny, the garden is going mad with growth. A couple of shrubs cut back at the end of last year have sprung forth with masses of new foliage and all the spring flowers are in full bloom. Considering there was absolutely nothing but weeds and empty flower beds two years ago we have been rewarded beautifully for our patience.

Love and perfect petals

Tracey

xxx

Happy 18th AJ

And today my 'baby' turns 18

18 !!!!!!!!!!

How on earth did that happen, where did those years disappear

How is my baby now 18 and 6ft 6in tall ?????

If you are a parent to a baby or toddler, cherish every single precious second, for in the blink of an eye, that tiny bundle of joy is all grown and you wonder how the hell it happened so fast

Happy birthday darling, love you and proud of the lovely young man you have grown to be

Love and cherished moments

Tracey

xxx

Robbie's birthday card

 Good evening

I am still working my way through earlier cards

This one was made for Robbie, his birthday was  on the 5th of this month

I can't take credit for this design, it is a variation of a design I have seen by many people over on pinterest. I am not sure who came up with it originally but whoever it was thankyou, its a great idea for a guitar loving guy

Robbie actually owns a special tool for making guitar picks so creating card ones for this creation just required a little secret  'borrowing' of his punch

Simple but effective !

Love and musical mischief

Tracey

xxx

Gillian's Birthday card

Tonight I have a card from back in January to share

I made this for my lovely friend Gillian

The dies and papers are all new

The more observant of you might notice a slight colour change in the background of some of my photos

I recently painted the kitchen

It had been magnolia since we moved in after the renovation and it was a colour that did nothing for the units, everything looked bland and uninteresting. I picked up  a colour that is evident in the pattern of the worktops as inspiration, and Farrow and Ball's French Grey was the perfect match

I am absolutely delighted with the finish, the kitchen looks so much more homely

I have the painting bug now, just need to choose a colour for the upstairs bathroom, magnolia be gone 

Love and colour therapy

Tracey

xxx

Happy birthday dad

It is my dad's birthday today

Happy birthday to you dad, love you xxx

I made a slightly unusual card, a three page concertina style 

And although dad is not really a big card player I found these humorous playing cards and knew they would make him chuckle

I concocted a couple of 'card themed sentiments' to add to each page

I used some of my favourite Prima papers and created the hearts and spades from a heart punch and the diamonds were handcut

Hope you are having a lovely day dad, miss you

Love and kisses

Tracey 

xxx

Happy birthday Nicki

Today's card is the last birthday card of the year and it now belongs to my lovely friend Nicki

Nicki was the first person I met and became friends with when I started running my shop, and we have been firm friends since then, so, almost nine years ( which has flown by)

Our friendship started out with a shared love of scrapbooking (crafting is such a wonderful way to bring people together)

Nicki is a beautiful soul and is kind and generous to a fault

 I created this card in a DL size, I used a Prima tag for the main background

The larger flowers are Prima and the small roses are from Wild Orchid crafts, the stamped sentiment is by Stampin' Up, the leaf dies are 'cheap as chips from china' - thanks Jan and Ann xxx,  and all the other die cuts on this card are Nestability dies

Hope you have a lovely day Nicki and get spoiled rotten by Mark and the girls, hopefully see you in the summer - can't wait to give you and the girls squishy hugs xxx

Love and friendship

Tracey

xxx

The dark side of Disney

A little departure from the norm this evening with my card design

This next project was a commission for the guy who did some of our decorating to give to his partner for her birthday

Bart commissioned me to make one a couple of years ago, if your memory is good, you might recall me sharing a Tim Burton style card

His partner loves all the evil queens from the Disney movies and her favourite colour is green - et voila

I created lots of layering on this 8in x 8in card, with the images downloaded from the internet

 I had the sequin waste left over from a previous project and the gorgeous black net along the bottom was a gift from my lovely friend Carol many moons ago

I tied all the colours together with some die-cut foliage and a sprinkling of gems

Bart loved the card and was sure his partner Carla would too

It makes me so happy to know I have contributed a little way in helping someone give a personal and thoughtful card to a loved one

This was just a brief interruption to the avalanche of festive makes, a continuance of christmas crafting will resume tomorrow

Love and, dark disney kisses

Tracey

xxx