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Tuesday 29 May 2012

Birthdays & Blog Hop at The Craft-Room Challenge

Hi, I hope you are all enjoying the beautiful sunshine here in the UK - I soooo love the sun.  Now, this might be a long post, but read on - it will be worth it!.

Not only does each fortnight pass by so quickly, the last year has as well, as it's now the Craft-Room Challenge's first birthday!  We have had 26 challenges to date and the most wonderful and inspiring entries - thank you for making it such a success.  To celebrate and as a way of saying "Thank You", we're having a Birthday Blog Hop to run alongside our regular fortnightly challenge.

The Blog Hop

There will be two fantastic main prizes at the end of the Blog Hop, which have very kindly been donated by
Liz Welch 
of
Liz is giving one of one of her DVDs to two lucky random winners


How To Take Part

All you have to do is visit each of the DT members' blogs on the hop, where you will find one really easy question on each.  Make a note of your answers as you go, and once you have visited all the blogs, email all your answers to:

Do not leave the answer to your question in the comments section, but please leave a comment at each of our stops as there is a further prize to be won at each DT blog on the hop (see below for more details).


My question is:  What is the famous Sir Timmy's surname?
 

You should've arrived here fromEsther 

and your next stop will be:  Liz Welch


And A Little Extra Something.....

In addition to the main prizes, each DT member has kindly donated a prize to be given away on their blog to one lucky winner, who will be chosen at random from the lovely comments you leave, so don't forget to leave me a comment at the end of this post to be in with a chance of winning.  The prize I have donated is a Paperartsy A6 red rubber stamp plate, a Crafty Individuals stamp CI-155, and some cream and red lace.




The Main Challenge

Our theme for this fortnight is "Anything Birthday", which has been chosen by the extremely talented Julia.  Your creation doesn't have to be a card, so long as it has the word "birthday" somewhere on it, it can be whatever you choose.  Please pop over to Julia's blog to check out her beautiful creations.  As with all of our challenges, there will be a prize for one lucky winner, who will be chosen at random, and Julia will choose her top 3 favourites.  The prize for this challenge is:
A Mystery Lucky Bag

Now, for the first time in I can't remember how long, I've made a card!!!  There is a reason for this!  It is my daughter's 18th birthday in July, so I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to get it made early.
The idea behind this scene was that the woman standing at the beginning of the path would represent the start of my daughter's journey through life as an adult. 

The stamp I've used is one of four I bought on Ebay recently, and were made by a company who is no longer in business, although I don't know the name of the company, I'm afraid.  I will share the others with you at a later date.

I cut some white SU cardstock to size, stamped the image in black Archival Ink, masked the bottom half of it then stamped a Lavinia path around her feet.  I then used Iced Spruce DI around the image and just a touch of Pine Needles to darken around the edge.  I then stamped "eighteen" up the left side of the image, and foliage around the outside, both with Iced Spruce, then overstamped the foliage with Archival black.  I then matted it onto a black card blank and then finished it off with a little Black Soot around the edge, some pink roses, and a metal heart inscribed with the word "Love". 




The sentiment inside reads "Happy Birthday", and it is stamped with the foliage to co-ordinate with the front of the card:







I do hope you can join us in both the challenge and the blog hop, and I look forward to visiting you to see your creations :-)

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:

Ooh La La Creations - Make It Girly
Allsorts - Birthday for Someone Special
Crafty Boots - Anything Goes
Crafty Cardmakers - Distress It (I used my Distress Ink Pads to colour this)
Totally Gorjuss - Something New
Cute Card Thursday - Pink & Green

Have fun, and enjoy your week.

Maria x

32 comments:

Debi said...

Beautiful card Maria, I love it! Debi x

loulou said...

Gorgeous Card Maria. Happy 1st Birthday to the Craft Room, cheers Linda

Ephemera said...

Hi Maria, gorgeous card for your daughter, love that stamp (I'm always hunting on eBay for unusual stamps too!) love the slightly haunting feel to your card, appeals to my inner goth. Happy 1st birthday at the craft room and thank you for your lovely prize (haven't seen that CI stamp before) XX

Glennis F said...

What a very inspiring card - I am sure your daughter will love it

sue said...

Beautiful card I absolutely love it x happy 1st birthday x

Karen Petitt said...

ooh i really love this one - fab image, beautifully stamped - really gorgeous. thank you for the chance to win some candy hugs Karen x

Sue said...

This is such a striking image maria and the tones you've used are perfect for it. A really lovely card.

craft-roomjulia said...

Hi Maz, this is so special and I'm sure Hannah will adore it. The image is so beautiful and another one of your bargain stamps! I love how you have given the card atmosphere by keeping the white around the image. Just perfect. Julia xxxx

Esther said...

Hi Maria, I love the atmosphere of your card..stunning..Happy Birthday..Esther xx

Mervi said...

Hi Maria, love the image, gorgeous card!!!
fabulous prize too,
happy birthday;-))m

Karen C said...

Wow! This is fantastic! Gorgeous Creation! Glad I hopped by!
Hugs,
Karen C
www.busybusyhoneybee.wordpress.com

hazel said...

A beautiful card for your daughter Maria, I love the image and the whole atmosphere of the piece.
xxx Hazel.

Angie said...

What an amazing stamp . look the whole look of your card.

Zoechaos said...

Oh Maz I am so sorry, what is wrong with me? I didn't visit you yesterday!

You have given us another show stopper here with this stunning card. Lucky you finding this stamp never seen anything like it, not sure I'd know what to do if I did not a problem for you!

Thank you for all your work and astonishing samples its been a brilliant year let the story continue XOXO Zoe

Debs said...

Oh this is so beautiful Maria - stunning stamping and the image is just gorgeous - love the idea behind the choice of idea - just perfect!
Thanks for playing along with us at Allsorts this week.
Good luck.
Debs xx

Pia S said...

I think this card is absolutely gorgeous. This image has that "little something extra", and the masking to make the path is such a fab detail, as well as the flowery frame. And the 4 flowers add the perfect amount of color to your card. I LOVE it!

Nicola said...

Stunning card Maria, love your design, the colour combo and wonderful idea that the image represents the start of your daughters journey into adulthood - beautiful!
Thanks for entering our Special Birthday challenge over at Allsorts this week and good luck!
Hugs Nicola xxx

Anonymous said...

Hiya !! fancy seeing you here, what a lovely surprise. Right now swapping hats and being all professional like. Thank you for your beautiful card, the image is just gorgeous and the stamping and colors are perfect. thank you so much Maria for sharing your beautiful creation with us at Crafty Cardmakers and good luck !!

Marie

Dee's Craft Room said...

I love the concept for this card. Your papers are gorgeous and the flowers give the card a little lift.

Thank you for sharing your work with all of us at Crafty Boots Challenges.

Dionne

Vicky Hayes said...

Maria this is the most beautiful 18th birthday card I've ever seen. I love the idea of the beginning of the journey as an adult and the roses are the perfect embellishment. Vicky x

Velvet said...

Gorgeous, unusual card! The subtlety of it is perfect for an 18th birthday, and the little roses really pop from the monochrome background. :-)

Velvet at www.crafting-chaos.co.uk

Suzanne B aka brookfies said...

I love the dreamy effect you have achieved on this beautiful card..could be hung in a frame...stunning. Suzanne

Papercraft By Carole said...

This is a very inspirational card - your daughter will love it. Thanks for joining us at Crafty Cardmakers! Cxx

Claire said...

Your card is lovely, that stamp is very striking! Love Claire x

cebelica said...

Oh wow, this is gorgeous! Hugs!

Ink Art Designs said...

Hi Maria...such a beautiful card for your daughter! I love the depth with the spotlighting effect around the woman and then the foliage border. So beautiful
Dot x

chrissie said...

Fantastic card and stamped images are amazing.

Love Chrissie xx

Feebsy said...

What a wonderful card. I really like the unusual image and the thought behind your creation, I'm sure your daughter will love this gift.

Thanks for joining in with my Distress It! challenge at Crafty Cardmakers.

Feebsy
xx

* Shell B.* said...

What a fabulous card......I know that she'll love it!

Shell~Alaska♥

Wendi said...

Wow a beautiful card I also love the inside too
Thank you so much for sharing with us at ooh la la this week
Wendi

Von said...

Just LOVE that stamp ! you have used it to perfection :)
Von x☺x

JennyH said...

Beautiful card, perfect for an 18th.
Thank you for the chance to win the stamps and lace pack : )
Happy 1st Birthday Craft Room Challenge!!