Helen | haiku cards

Coffee and a book

23 Jan 2018 7 Comments

To be honest, I prefer tea, but there are more challenges about coffee 🙂 So this is a coffee pot.

I know a lot of people hate using books but this text comes from an old dictionary that was literally falling apart, and surely it’s better to reuse than to throw it away altogether?

The word ‘coffee’ was right on the bottom of the page and useless to cut out, but ‘drink’ and ‘drip’ worked well 🙂

This one is inspired by both the picture and the sketch at Fusion. Entered into

FUSION – Coffee and a Book

CAS-ual Fridays CFC #191 — More Coffee Please

and Cards in Envy Tuxedo (Black & White) Card Challenge

And a haiku:

‘Covfefe’ may be
how I feel before the first
coffee of the day!

Penguin wishes

21 Jan 2018 5 Comments

by Helen in Birthday, Cards, CAS

So here’s a penguin for a winter birthday. Seems appropriate as we’ve had a layer of snow today 🙂

He’s entirely one layer, which involved four stages of masking, and I’m quite proud of it!

This is for this week’s Muse challenge , as a CASE of Tracey’s cute card

and as I achieved the one layer: Less is More’s one-layer Cute challenge

Enjoy a snow day!
Like the holiday, it will
be suddenly gone

Red trees

20 Jan 2018 2 Comments

by Helen in Cards, CAS, Christmas

I don’t think I’m the only one still using up the Christmas bits and pieces left over from last year’s cards to get a head start on this year… so here is a Christmas card:

The remains of a background sheet I smooshed and spattered and splotted and Uniko Merry Christmas sentiment

Entered in Merry Monday’s Christmas Challenge #273 Red and Turquoise

Christmas gone for now
like snow that fell this morning
turned sadly to rain

Vintage car

19 Jan 2018 4 Comments

by Helen in Birthday, Cards, Masculine

A birthday card for an older gent… the kind who don’t really appreciate clean and simple and think the more you put on it the more you love them! (Bless!)

The car is cut from a printed sheet and the ribbon came from a Christmas cracker 🙂 I printed out the sentiment.

This one is entered in:

The Male Room challenge #77 Vintage

and

Watercooler Wednesday’s Masculine Challenge 153 from Gail

I’ve watched Design Team calls go by for these two of my favourite challenges. I wish I had the time to apply, let alone create the cards 🙁 Perhaps some day – when I retire maybe! Meanwhile, the artists who have been appointed are truly inspirational for which I’m always grateful.

Here is the haiku for this one:

As you get older
your worth grows faster than the
cherry we planted

New Beginnings

10 Jan 2018 9 Comments

by Helen in Cards, CAS, New baby

I love to make cards for new babies – such a happy occasion! The last one was a girl, but this is for a (male) colleague whose partner has had a lovely baby boy. I kept it simple with my favourite baby-related image from Uniko (Some Bunny), The sentiment is from Uniko as well, and the background is watercoloured.

new baby boy

This one is entered into two challenges:

AAA Cards Challenge #106 Something New

and

The Male Room #76 New Beginnings

The haiku for this one:

Little fingers grasp
My old hand, tightly holding
out promise of hope

Finally back! And a Happy New Year to all

06 Jan 2018 Comments Off on Finally back! And a Happy New Year to all

I can’t believe my last post was in August 2017… Well I did say that things were about to go crazy at work, and they did and they didn’t let up till Christmas! I went on holiday in October though, but as soon as I got back I fell ill (think I caught something on the plane). And that didn’t help. I did manage to make a few cards – even some for challenges – but didn’t get enough time or energy to post them.

Well, my word for this year is JOY – make joy, find joy – because I’ve been a miserable old thing ever since mum died in 2016 and it’s time I made an effort… and making cards gives me JOY so hurrah! And so does writing and blogging….

Here is a belated posting of my Christmas tree this year. Made from sparkly silver wallpaper and old book pages from an ancient dictionary which fell apart.

Christmas Tree

My birthday was in this period too and I managed to make it to a creative evening my friends organised for me at Debbie Bryan’s – it was a vintage-inspired jewellery making workshop. Thoroughly recommended! Here is my steampunk inspired necklace:

necklace

And I hope to see you around in blogland in 2018. Happy New Year!

And today’s haiku based on my word of 2018:

Blue skies and prospects
Of new creativity
Promise I’ll find joy!

Image by Helen

Pastel butterfly

13 Aug 2017 15 Comments

by Helen in Birthday, Cards, CAS

Final post for the day – and maybe the last time I’ll have to create for a while as things are getting busy from now on…

This butterfly mixes a few challenges.

butterfly salt

It’s Patricia’s sketch at CAS Colours and Sketches #235 (turned, because I preferred the card that way) and it’s coloured with watercolours and salt, meeting the requirements for the CAS Watercolour challenge this month. I wasn’t too impressed with the outcome, the salt seemed to turn an odd colour and it didn’t really create the effect I was trying to achieve from the videos I watched… But it is definitely different from before I put the salt on!

Also entered in Kath’s Watercooler Wednesday All About Birthdays challenge #131,

Cards in Envy’s Insects and Bugs challenge

and the Butterfly Challenge #84, with Wedgewood blue plus my choice of pink and aqua.

Wish I didn’t flit
From one thing to another:
Procrastination! 🙁

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Summer shells

13 Aug 2017 4 Comments

by Helen in Birthday, Cards, CAS

I’ve been wanting to work with shells ever since I got a new stamp set with a seaside theme. The stencilled blue is brighter in real life, and a bit sparkly as it’s pearl mist…

shells

This layout is inspired by the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week. Number 300! Congratulations to them on a real milestone 🙂

The colours are from Hand Stamped Sentiments – the sentiment stamp is also new 🙂

Also entered in CAS on Sunday (Friday now – glad it changed) #114 Birthday

And the haiku for this one:

Turned over like shells,
I wonder how I appear:
Battered by life’s waves?

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Pastel pencils

13 Aug 2017 2 Comments

by Helen in Birthday, Cards, CAS, Ladies

I need to learn a lot more about taking pictures of my cards. The lines on this one have become pixelated when I reduced the size to fit it on my page.

It’s inspired by the sketch and image at Fusion, and as we’re clearly in pastel country here, it uses the colours from Colour Throwdown.

pastel pencils

So entered into Fusion Pastel Pencils challenge, using the sketch and inspiration photo. I even used pastel pencils (watercolour pencils) to draw my lines…

And also entered in Colour Throwdown #455, aqua, light pink and lavender. Pastel Heaven!

I try draw my life…
But sometimes it seems someone
Else holds the pencil

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Summer fun in flip flops…

11 Aug 2017 5 Comments

by Helen in Cards, CAS

This “card” probably doesn’t work in countries where flip flops are called something else, such as ‘thongs’. Every summer at work, we update a particularly crucial system (Moodle, for anyone who really wants to know). When we take down the system and put it up again we call it “flipping” (to the new version) so I made a card (or two really, one left and one right!) to encourage the guys and gals who do the hard techie work.

flip flop