Keys, keys, keys!

The letter 'K' is the challenge for this fortnight at the Craft Barn's alpha dictionary challenge.  K doesn't seem to have very many words in the dictionary and I was at a loss about what to do until I happened across 'key'!

This tiny word has so many meanings - additionally, it's a noun, an adjective and a verb, so lots of opportunity for illustration.  My tag illustrates two of the meanings - physical keys which I have cut out using Heartfelt Creations Burnished Key die; and a motto (Keys to a good life) taken from the Burnished Key background.

I stamped the key images and coloured them with mica powder - the photo is a bit flat but the keys are all quite shiny in real life.  

I'm pretty hopeless with keys.  Not only do I seem to spend half my life looking for them, but I always manage to be involved in a key drama on holiday.  One year I locked the keys in the car at a pretty remote beach in Mallorca, so my husband and I had to walk from the beach up to the town (quite a hike in heat) and catch a bus back to the next village to retrieve a spare set!  Then at our most recent holiday, we managed to lock a phone in the car at the airport and they weren't able to come out in time - so no phone for my husband for a week until it arrived home having been nicely packed up and posted!

Hope you like my tag - thank you for visiting my blog.

Anne x

A simple happy birthday card

Hello

My blog today is a simple 'happy birthday' card made with my balloon dies ('Fun on a String) by Spellbinders and a sentiment by Dee's distinctively   I'm entering it for the Craft Barn's two-weekly challenge where the challenge is to feature stars.  I was about to draw some as part of a Christmas card, but then quite by accident I found a sheet of backing card with quite multiple stars in foil, so I had the basis for my card.

I simply matted the backing sheet onto red card and made the sentiment and balloons out of red and silver to match and layered them all together.  

It was quite tricky to photograph as I kept being able to see my reflection in the mirri board behind the sentiment!

Hope you're enjoying your Sunday.  We have a sunny day with no rain here today - quite a novelty.

Thanks for visiting,

Anne

Beautiful Dreamer mini-album

The latest Craft Barn challenge is all about two different papers.  Ahah!  Right up my street.  I love buying and collecting papers and have only in the last 18 months or so taken to actually cutting them up and using them!  

As I've mentioned in a previous blog, I've been taking part in Kathy Byrne's mini album classes.  Last year's classes were for anyone with no experience, and this year I've joined the 'masterclass'.  

My entry for this challenge is a mini-album with a box and a drawer.  It is decorated in 8 different papers from Bo Bunny's Beautiful Dreamer paper and stamp collection.  I love the colours - the greens and pinks are gentle and pretty.  There are some beautiful illustrations of hot air balloons and and traditional bicycles alongside some quirky pictures of owls.  

Part of the charm of making mini-albums is the think about how photographs will look, using fold out and fold up pages, making hidden pockets to contain tags and other messages.  I've posted two photographs today of my project.

The first photograph is the outside of the min-album; the second is a close-up of the inside and a sample spread.  I really like to decorate the tabs.  The various die cuts on the tags and pockets are from Heartfelt Creations.  I've used Regal borders and pockets for the longer decoration running the length of the page, and Ornate borders and pockets for the tabs (you can just see a green tip poking out of the drawer).

A real test was making the drawer fit - not too snug, not too loose

Here are some of the pockets!

I'm typing this blog from my holiday in Mallorca!  It's a beautiful summer's day here in the north of the island, and our terrace looks out onto the stunning Tramontana mountains.

Here are a couple of pictures - I couldn't resist sharing them!

We've got a full week still to enjoy!  Normal blog service will be resumed soon.  Haha!

Thank you for visiting.

Anne