For my grand-daughter

I am hoping to do three blog posts today, and as I have arranged to Skype my sister this evening, I had better get cracking this afternoon! 

So first I have a card for my grand-daughter who turned fifteen this week. After having five sons and two grand sons, and just one grand-daughter, it was lovely to have new baby girl in the family. She was very cute, and back in 2009, I used this photo of her playing in my garden to make an ATC for a swap on the theme of childhood. For some reason I have not got a photo of the finished ATC - it was before I was

writing blogs - but I did find this one which shows it just before I added the final layer of her face, coloured to match the rest! She won't thank me for showing that will she?! I think this was when I was still experimenting in Corel PS, before I discovered Adobe, but it turned out alright I think.

Anyway, as the years passed I lost my little fairy girl and gained a 'sort of Goth' though I am not allowed to call her that. She wears a lot of black, both clothes and makeup, and listens to some pretty black music, so cards are not easy to make for her these days. But, along with her family she is crazy about the modern Sherlock Holmes. In fact I would say it is almost an obsession with her and her friends, so when someone on the Silhouette Facebook page shared this cutting file, I knew it was just what I wanted. (For the uninitiated, it is the profiles of Sherlock and Dr Watson, cut into the sides of the violin he plays). I cut it from black vinyl and attached it to plain white card. Then I added this to a red mat, and then onto a white card. I knew it would be a mistake to add any ribbons or other frilly bits for this young lady, so I left it as it was, and added a big Happy birthday greeting inside instead.

It is a very clever design and it cut beautifully, so once again I am indebted to the folk who so generously share their designs with anyone in the group.

And as a final line to that little story, almost by return post I received an unexpected letter and inside were two ATCs made by my grand-daughter. She used to love looking through my folders of ATCs, I have quite a collection of them, and for a while we did occasionally swap one, but we haven't done so for some years now. And what was on the ones she sent me? You might well have thought it would be something dark, but no... It was two fairies! So maybe my little fairy girl hasn't flown away at all. She just likes to hide under the flowers most of the time!!