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Today is my husband's 50th birthday - a very special day. So I made him this special card.

He is very much into cars, posh ones and vintage ones alike. So I thought I'd wink at his age by adding the contrast between the two types of car. The top image is decoupage, and I used silicone glue so that I could shape the paper to mimic the car shape. That doesn't show up very well on the photograph. It says 'Abraham' on the car. Over here there is an expression used for men at the age of fifty. For some reason they get called Abraham and are assumed now to know where Abraham gets the mustard (don't ask, I don't know). Women at fifty are Sarah's - nothing to do with mustard in their case, that much I do know.

The little milestone in the decoupage picture says 50.

The man in the car happens to have an amazing likeness to the love of my life. I just had to use this image, it was perfect for him.

The ribbon is glued on the front, and then lifts to the inside to keep the tag there. On the tag it explains he has a surprise to come. It gives him the option either to keep the tag and be patient, or to hand back the tag and find out what the surprise will be.

Also the base card from Hunky Dory not only has the vintage car, which he thought may well be a Rolls Royce (much appreciated!), it also has a faint reproduction of a street map. He reckoned it was Paris, as it has the Seine on it, and wondered if this is a hint towards the surprise... It suits him, though, in any case, as he is a geographer. Through a turn of circumstances he had never been able to use his training in his work, and has turned to teaching in the last couple of years, which has taken him back to the subject he truely loves. It has brought him to life again. Well, they do say life begins at fifty! 

He is most definitely the special man in my life. So I'd like to enter the card in two challenges around this theme: Lexi's Creations and Love to Create Challenge. Here come the boys happen to have an anything goes challenge on, so that's a perfect one to enter as well.

Wish me luck!

I hope the teams like this card as much as my hubby did when I handed it to him just after midnight, as his birthday started. He had a great big smile from ear to ear for ages as he just kept looking at it.

Always love to read your comments!

 
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Tomorrow's my brother's birthday. Yes, you read that right: tomorrow. I actually made the card in time! I even had a look before I started to see if there were any challenges I could strive towards.

And guess what - as luck would have it a couple have the theme 'Birthday Card': Timeless Tuesday (Happy birthday, Beate!) and Scrap Creations. And  the 2 sisters have 'birthday fun' going.

Then there is Cards for Men with the Great Outdoors, remember? Well, my brother as far as I am aware is a man, and I was thinking of making something for him incorporating his hobby of fishing. He has been fishing for very many years, since we were in our teens, and still seems to very much enjoy it. Thankfully my friend Fien had just sent me some really elegant fish, and I found a fishing scene in my stash.

That made it relatively easy to fit in with the Pink Gem Challenge photo inspiration challenge. What a gorgeous gem to inspire my choice of blues for this card!

'Numbers' was relatively straightforward too, especially since I had those lovely aquamarine felt ones. It happens to be the theme at the Pixie Challenge from the Pixie Dust Studio.

That leaves one much less obvious one, but since it was one of the first ones I came across during this search and one of the very first challenges I ever took part in,  I wanted to keep it in. That is ' Sew it' at Do You Stack Up, which added a bit more of a true challenge in this case. I used one of the Hunky Dory sentiments which is nicely finished with silver faux stitching, complimenting the fish and water beautifully.

Eventhough this card fits so many challenges, which would sometimes work so restricting, I am extremely happy with it. I wonder what you all think, and much prefer an honest answer, but I personally feel it is one of my best so far.

 
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When I saw the theme 'Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside' of  That Craft Place  I first thought that would be really easy. That day I had read several challenge blogs, and had gone through my stash and put stuff ready around various themes that appealed to me. I am used to taking one card at the time, and so after I had finished the first card, I was totally overwhelmed at the thought of all these other ones, I had complete crafter's block. It was clear I was going to use the boat - a base card from HunkyDory, but I started to think a boat is quite different from the seaside as such, and doubt crept in.

The same happened for the other cards I had planned, and I was really dissatisfied as I went into the night. I lay awake pondering, and by morning this card was designed. It still took a while to get around to actually making it, but here it is.

Since over at Quirky Crafts  the theme is to build a scene, I thought this would fit perfectly as well, so I am entering their challenge too.

I find these challenges really do stretch me, and make me learn at a much faster pace than I otherwise would.

Some of you know how scared I was of using my Promarkers. Well, here's my second try. I particularly like the way I have been able to put in the textures of the rocks underneath the lighthouse. I wish I had taken a close-up of it now, might still add one later.

I did post a close-up of the name of the boat: Happy Birthday, and for good reason. PanPastels have Happy Birthday as their theme. On the paper I cut the beach gear out of there was this tiny lettering with almost each picture, and this happy birthday one on its own. It is so small it could only be used as detail, and I pondered how I could do it to fit the scene. Using it like this on the boat seemed just perfect. If I would have any chance at all of winning this one, the prize of  a PanPastel trial pack would be the perfect addition to my still tiny, but gradually growing, stash.

One thing that was completely new to me was working outside of the base card. The boat is the only card that opens up, it is stuck on single card as background. It is a sign of slowly growing confidence that I have ventured into doing this. When I saw the 'Alter It' challenge at Lisa Somerville's  I thought I would leave that one for what it was. And then I found myself making this card and thinking: 'Hey, that's altered.' So I went back to her blog to see if it would fit, and I feel I can safely say Icreated the card for the Bloggers Challenge Alter It Challenge.

The Drunken Stampers  are looking for new in a different way, using something that is new to your stash. Well, as I said the Promarkers are, but I did use them once before, just a teeny weeny bit. But the beach gear is from a 12X12 I was sent by a friend when I was recently in hospital. I did have some of those as backing paper, just floral or abstract. A lot of the ones she sent me were much more specific, and this is one of those. So I looked for different ways of using those as well. That should qualify this card for that challenge too.

You know what I said about the anything goes theme, it being so broad I would not know where to start. Well, there is another one on the go at Poodles Parlour. It looks as if there is an unwritten rule to use a digi stamp. That would be another first for me, I am building up to it, but nowhere on their site can I find any rule or information that says you have to, and I thought this card has brought so many different elements together it would suit the anything goes very well. So I hope this entry will be accepted.

It is probably needless to say by now, but this card too is going to Jackie Newport's fund for Charmaine and Maddie, who live with cystic fibrosis. A facebook page will be set up soon to support this fund. I will pass on the link as soon as I have got it.