Mojo Monday, Creative Inspirations and Kaboodle

So how did you spend your Valentine's Day?  I spent mine with my fabulous crafting buddy Julie!  It certainly wasn't romantic but with hubby away it was certainly the (next) best thing!  Thank you for coming to play, Julie!

I was less than successful, however with my card crafting.  I tried to make two cards and was not particularly happy with either.  Julie, on the other hand, made a fabulous card which will probably appear on her blog sometime soon.
My card below has changed a bit since Julie's departure.  I was trying to use "left over" scraps for Creative Inspirations which were spotted and striped for Kaboodle but I don't actually like the stripes and the spots together in this card as there is too little definition between the two. 

There was a fabulous sketch over at Mojo Monday and the DT inspiration for it was brilliant but what came out on my card was not quite what I had in mind and then right at the last minute I realised I hadn't left room for a sentiment so I had to try and remove the image and part of the background and put it on another card.  I actually like this one a little better and it does now have a sentiment.  It is for my nephew who will be 8 and I just couldn't not say Happy Birthday on the front!   I love the Hanglar image though!  My nephew has just started to fish with his Dad.