80 years young

Our choir conductor is a lovely lady who has just celebrated her 80th birthday, though you wouldn't know it to look at her! She doesn't seem a day over 65! I can only wish to have her vitality and joie de vivre when (hopefully!) I get to her age!  I wanted to make her a special card, and this is what I came up with.

 I used a Go Kreate die to cut the components for an easel card, which I covered with papers from Crafty Individuals' Background Papers pad Book 1. The lilac stamp (Toomuchfun Rubber Stamps) is one I've had for nearly 20 years! It was coloured with Promarkers and it and the sentiment (Inkylicious) were cut out with Spellbinders Labels 4 dies. I kept the embellishments quite simple, as I didn't want to cover up too much of the pretty papers.  The butterflies are made with dies by Cheery Lynn, and the flowers with the Small Multi Flower Rose Die by Britannia Dies.

 Here's a closer look at some of the details.

Here's the card in its box.

And here's the box.

The only brief I had for the card was "She likes pink and lilac"! However, I'm pleased to say that she liked it!

Haven't made much else lately. I'm wilting in the hot weather! I suppose we shouldn't complain, but just a few degrees cooler would be lovely! One of the things I've been planning to do in the school hols is reorganise my craft room. My younger grandson (aged 4), who likes to come & do crafty things with me, told me the other day that my craft room needs a good tidy up! (I have a sneaking suspicion that his mum might have said something similar to him about his toys!) However, I must admit he's right. The shelves are all mixed up and things have started to creep on to the floor. Time to make a start, I think.......

Sir Stampalot October Challenge

Last month's inspiration photo obviously proved a bit daunting, but this month at Stampalot Challenge we have an easier task for you. We want you to

PUNCH AWAY!

Simply include one or more elements using punches on your project! (But please note that dies do not count as punches! It's fine to use dies as well, but your entry must use at least one element made with a punch, otherwise it will not be considered for the prize or top 3. Also, please remember that if you enter your project in more than five other challenges, it will not be eligible for ours. See the Challenge Guidelines at the top of the challenge blog for full details. )

On my card I've used a border punch and butterfly punch ( both by Martha Stewart) and a punch (make unknown) with a corner design incorporating 3 different sizes of flowers which I punched lots of to make the lilac flowers. The lilac stamp (Toomuchfun Rubber Stamps) is one I bought in the USA about 17 years ago. I coloured it with Promarkers before adding the punched flowers. The tiny flowers each have a dot of glitter glue in the centre. The background paper is an old one by K&Company (now sadly discontinued) and the ribbon came from a grab bag bought at a show.

My talented teamies have come up with some absolutely gorgeous designs, so do pop over to the Challenge Blog and have a look at them.

Due to pressure of work at Stampalot Towers, the photo of this month's prize was not available as we went to press, but rest assured that it will be as fantastic as always!

Sir Stampalot July Challenge

Time for a new challenge at Sir Stampalot. We've made it nice and easy for you this month, as the theme is

*ANYTHING GOES*

So you can make whatever you like! The design team decided that we would showcase the new summer Molly Blooms stamps, which are available right now, right here at Sir Stampalot. We were each given a Molly stamp to use however we wished. Mine is George on his hols.

Here he is on an easel card, taking a break from a hard day's surfing! The beach scene behind him was made with Hobby Art Scene-it stamps, also available from Sir Stampalot here. I coloured the beach scene with watercolour pencils, and the other elements with Promarkers. There is a little surfboard in the Hobby Art set, but it was too small for George, so I drew him one instead. The sentiment is by Hero Arts, stamped on to Nestie circles.

The wall (stamped three times to get the right length) came from Toomuchfun Rubber Stamps, bought when I was in the USA about 16 years ago, and would you believe, this is the first time I've used it! I visited the Toomuchfun shop, which was huge, and it was like being a child in a sweetie shop - I wanted everything! Back then there was all sorts of stuff you just couldn't get here, and of course it was before the days of easy internet shopping. I had taken an empty case with me (not a huge one, honest!) especially for the purpose and brought it back full of new stash! Somehow the wall must have got overlooked at the back of a drawer and I came across it again during my recent clearing out. Anyway, just the thing for George to sit on, I thought!

Of course, you want to know what the prize is for this month's challenge! Well, it's fabulous! Loads of the new Molly Blooms stamps, and much more besides to keep you busy with your summer crafting. Take a look at this lot:

With the theme of "Anything Goes" it shouldn't be too difficult to come up with a winner, so get those entries in! Just remember - to be eligible for the Stampalot Challenge, your entry may only be combined with 5 other challenges, ie. 6 challenges in total.