Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Polly's Waltzing With A Mouse?

After a long rest from blogging I suddenly woke up and realised that it was high time that I sorted this out! This will only be a short post, due to the hour and the fact that I'm also playing with my new(ish) phone which is currently uploading a couple of Foo Fighters albums...

Anyway, I've been feeling rather guilty for all sorts of reasons recently. One of these is due to the fact that I haven't been posting my cards showcasing the lovely art work of Ms Claire Brennan who's stamp company Waltzing Mouse Stamps is just two years old now. Considering Claire's generosity of spirit and lovely personality, I really do feel bad about not showing her stuff off. So, this post is going to do just that!

This month's blog waltz features Claire's stamps in a masculine sort of way. To be honest it's not always easy to make a card for a guy, unless he's very small and hasn't yet grown out of pretty things like ribbons and bows! As it happens I've made a couple of cards for boys recently and while all the images may not be Claire's, the sentiments are hers.


My first card is a First Holy Communion card for a little boy who lives down the road, the image is from Our Daily Bread designs, but the sentiment on the front is stamped out from WMS Celtic Heritage Set and I think you'll agree that the simple script and the monochromatic browns of the image look great! (I'm modest too...)

I decided to age the look of the image by using Antique Linen Distress Ink to create a sort of golden glow around the chalice. In my own little mind this adds to the holiness of the piece, but then, that's fairly typical of me, isn't it?

Next up is a special birthday card for a young man who'll be a whole year old later on this month. I had great fun with this project as Grand-dad gave me a fancy studio print of the tot to include in the card! Of course I decided not to use the real thing, instead I scanned it into my computer and printed out a resized copy, rather than risk damaging the original copy.


I also decided to cut into the front of the card and make a huge big number one with a window! Sounds a bit odd, but it works. On this card I used lots of elements from the Half Pint Heroes set, and the Victorian Alphabet set to spell the wee lad's name out on the front of the card.

And for good measure I got to 'play' with my new toy, the Cricut Expressions personal die-cutting machine that I picked up last week from my good friend Sandy. Incidentally, she's having a sale of her retired stamps, why not pay her a visit and see what's up left for grabs...

I trimmed the card with broad one inch baby blue grosgrain ribbon picked up from my local haberdashiery shop for (excuse the pun) a snip! The poor woman was overloaded with the stuff, so I casually asked how much for the lot? Well, needless to say I jumped at the price quoted, it was a BARGAIN!!!!

By the way, I printed directly onto the ribbon using  Archival Black Ink, which is a look I adore, but am too mean to pay the extra for when ordering ribbon. And anyway, one sentiment mightn't suit all occasions! All other inks used are Tim Holtz Distress Inks also from Ranger Industries. As for the other supplies used in these projects the blue design paper is one that's been knocking around for ages, in various shapes and sizes following a scrapbook project that got deserted and the rest of the paper/card is from Paper Mill Direct.

So, I hope you like my double effort at Waltzing with the Mouse and showcasing her amazing designs along with all the other ladies on the WMS Blog Waltz which is taking place today 17th May 2011. For all the details follow this link - a word of warning though, you will have to register to enter the forum!

Well that's it for now folks, I hope you can forgive me my infrequent appearances her on the blog. I promise to make more of an effort from now on, honest...

Polly Pierce
Vinca Cards

18 comments:

Kary said...

Polly, both your cards are perfect for the little boys you had in mind!! Love them!!

Deborah Frings said...

You've been busy with these cards. I do like the first one - very elegant! But I adore the second - it's such fun and the picture is gorgeous!!

Polly Pierce said...

Awh, thanks ladies!

Joanne Gilch said...

glad to have you back and blogging again. Your cards are wonderful! Love the cut out and the wee one's pic. the FHC card is lovely with the sponging and it really does highlight the chalice.

Bonnie said...

THese are both so beautiful! Great ideas!

Cassie_lu said...

both are great cards for the boys

Tosha Leyendekker said...

What beautiful cards!! You showcased the WMS images beautifully!!

Jen Cuthbertson said...

These are such cute cards, Polly! I love the stamped ribbon and the first card is so elegant!

Julia Aston said...

Two lovely cards! Great use of the stamps on the little boy card!

Crafty Math Chick said...

These are terrific - what an adorable little boy!

Karen B. said...

The little guy is so cute, as is your cards!

Cyndie said...

Great cards! What a cool idea to cut out the digit like that! Thanks for sharing!

LaurieJ said...

Beautiful cards Polly! The first card, especially, is very elegant. And I love how you stamped the cute background for the second card.

Lee said...

Lovely cards. Love the stamping on the ribbon.

snowbear said...

What cute cards!!!!

Rob said...

What beautiful cards!! Great ideas!

Keep up the creative work.. :)

Anonymous said...

Loving your cards!! xxx

Polly Pierce said...

Thank you so much for all your lovely comments! And the very best of luck to Louise who's just started blogging, enjoy your time with Joshua!