Late Nights and Early Mornings...

H folks...I've been on this planet for many decades and you would think I would know by now  that late nights and early mornings are not a good mix, staying up until the early hours of the morning watching the downhill and slalom ski-ing and then being rudely awakened by my furry companion a couple of hours later has knocked my body clock for six.  Needless to say, the time I normally spend in the cubbyhole has been replaced by snuggled up on the sofa afternoon snoozes and thank goodness the Winter Olympics only come around every 4 years because that's a habit I don't want to get into.
But I had a birthday card to make before I left for Stitches and I know the recipient would have been disappointed to receive one bought from M&S so on Friday, I hit the cubbyhole running, matchsticks in place to keep my eyes open and with the help of two fabulous sets of Thinlits dies from Tim Holtz and Sizzix, managed to conjure up a flower themed card with a Garden Centre gift holder card inside for my very special "obsessed with her garden" friend.

I scored and folded Distress Watercolor Card to make a 5.1/2 square card, applied a wash of Antique Linen Distress Oxide Ink front and back and then created splatters using the left over ink on my craft mat.

I stamped the Botanical background from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Botanical/Batik with Antique Distress Oxide ink and Ornate trims inked with Ground Espresso Archival on the front and insides of the card...

I coloured Distress Woodgrain paper with Ground Espresso Distress and Distress Oxide ink using a mini round blending tool...

and die cut using Tim Holtz/Sizzix Stitched Slots Thinlits

I then made lots of backgrounds using Distress Oxide inks...

and die cut a selection of flowers and leaves using Tim Holtz/Sizzix Funky Florals 1 Thinlits

I cut two tag shapes from the Distress Oxide backgrounds, stamped one with the script stamp from Entomology, embossed the other with the folder from the Sidekick Valentine Side-Order and sanded it back to reveal the heart pattern.  I tucked the gift card and tags into the slots and assembled all the flowers and foliage.

I stamped the sentiments from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Glorious Bouquet on to the Stitched Slots tabs and to finish off, I smooshed Abandoned Coral and Spiced Marmalade Distress Oxide inks on to my craft mat, spritzed with water and coloured the Idea-ology Crinkle Ribbon.

By the time you are reading this, I'll be waking up at the luxurious Hotel En and Mike in Birmingham and looking forward to another fun day at Stitches. Have fun whatever you're doing and I'll be sharing all the gossip from the show with you when I get back.

Toodle-oo for now

Hugs Kath xxx