Forty and Fabulous

Today is my beautiful pal Nikki's birthday. I'm so gutted not to be celebrating this special day with her, so of course I wanted to make a handmade card for her. If you knew my pal, you'd see why this particular image is SO perfect for her. This beautiful image is very like my stunning pal right down to the tied-waist coat! The image is called Jordanna, drawn by the talented Krista Smith of Saturated Canary and it's so perfect for my stylish and gorgeous pal. 

It's a very special birthday, and I'm a bit heartbroken not to be there for this one. The year before we left the UK, we were all together celebrating a couple of our other pals 40th birthdays and had such a special time doing so, it feels awful not to share this day with my pal. So I wanted to make this card a bit special and for me, that means using my all time favourite papers, Maja Design. They're a bit spesh and so is she, so I found a gorgeous page in the Vintage Summer Basics paper pad called 1924, which has a paisley pattern in pinks and beiges and then coloured the image to tone in with the papers. I've gone for that 'close tone' colouring again that I favour, which to some may seem a bit 'meh', but I love it. So fingers crossed so does my pal.

I have a fabulous set of 'postmark' stamps from Papermania, which is from their Portobello Road collection. Meaningful for me, as I used to work on Elgin Crescent as an Aromatherapist, which is just off Portobello Road. So I loved that about this set. But what makes it perfect for this card, is the little greetings down the sides of the stamps, 'Thinking of You', 'Happy Birthday', 'With Love', and of course 'London, with Love', because that's where my pal is. My heart will be there on her birthday, but I however am in New Zealand. So these little greetings conveyed well what I wanted to say.

I've used some divine lace which I picked up from Wild Orchid Crafts quite a while back and the heart clip I found in a cute papercraft store here in New Zealand. I've threaded a sweet little heart onto the paper clip which says 'made with love'. I think I picked this up in a pack from MeiFlower before leaving the UK. The decorative corners I've cut from Kraft card bought at Dies To Die For. The large square doily I've had for yonks in my stash, I couldn't tell you now where that's from, but I love these doilies for large cards, they're a full 8x8 size, so make a great base layer. I've used it before like this on a sweet Sugar Nellie card I made, which you can see here. 

Here's a wee montage of some of the details on the card. I really love that vine corner and the heart pins. Yeah I know, you've seen them lots in my creations, so you're probably a little over them, but I love that little sweet finish they give to the flowers. These flowers are gorgeous and are from Flourish with a Bling in Australia. I have used these in a couple of makes now and I'm going back for more, I just love them! I added some Marianne Design leaves from the Chinese Roses die, cut from Kraft card, just to finish the blooms and of course, what's a 40th birthday card without the gentle reminder that you've 'come of age'! So I cut the numbers using my favourite set of number dies from Marianne Design.

Thanks for popping in today. I hope you've enjoyed seeing my lil' creation for my gorgeous pal Nikki's 40th birthday. Let's hope it wings its way to England at lightning speed! I never am fab at getting my creations ready well ahead of time. Thank goodness it's the thought that counts right?! See you again really soon. Hugs, Wends x

Challenge Entries:
Deep Ocean Challenge: #86 ~ Vintage
A Creative Romance: A Touch of Kraft
Allsorts Challenge: #275 ~ Pretty in Pink
Brown Sugar Challenge: # 110 ~ Use Lace

Crafty Calendar Challenge: Leaves & Lace
Crafty Girls Challenges: #26 ~ Anything Goes
Crafting With Dragonflies: #34 ~ Girly & Lacy
Crafting From The Heart: #35 ~ Anything Goes
My Heart Pieces Digital Stamp Challenges: Use a Digi Stamp
613 Avenue Create: #88 ~ Anything Goes with a Colour Challenge Twist