DCM Dares - Templates and Doodling

Well I've managed both of this week's Daring Card Maker challenges. First up was a midweek extra challenge set by Jo to use some doodling or pen stitching on card. I absolutely love Jo's work (check out her blog) so I hope I've done justice to her challenge :)

Here is my doodled and pen stitched birthday card for my MIL.

The papers are Basic Grey Perhaps, large silk bloom is from Dunelm Mill, the other blooms are from a fab kit which Tracy has put together at Creative Treasures. Everything else is from stash. I pen stitched the edges of the paper using a map pin and gel pen and there's a tiny bit of doodling on the centre of the flower.

Next up is this weeks main dare which is template based.
I don't tend to have much luck with doing template based cards but I was struck by inspiration for this one. I decided to spin the template on it's side and turn the circle and strip element into a flower.

Here's the card, it's a Mother's Day card for my MIL.

Papers are Basic Grey Blush, blooms are from the same Creative Treasures kit I used on the last card. The bottle cap embellishent is home made.

Last time I did a bottle cap embellishment someone posted a comment asking how I had done it so here's quick instructions.
- Flatten a beer bottle cap using a rubber mallet (unused ones seem to flatten better, I buy mine in Wilkinsons)
- Design the logo/greeting in Word or drawing software
- Cut greeting to size. I use the smallest circle on the Sizzix red die as it's exactly the right size
- Stick greeting on the inside of the flattened bottle cap. I use Wilkinson's transparent bathroom sealant for this (much cheaper than buying 'crafters' silcone glue)
- Cover with Glossy Accents or Anita's 3d Gloss and leave to dry.

As well as crafting I have managed to convert a couple of friends to the joy that is SingStar 80s on the playstation. We spent Saturday evening belting out such classics as 99 Red Balloons and Tainted Love - badly ;)

I can't get over how good the weather has been this weekend. Me and OH went out for a nice long walk this afternoon and couldn't believe how warm and sunny it was. It was more like May than February. I took my camera with me and here's one of the photos I took:

Cheers

Ruthie