Sunday 7 September 2014

ABC Christmas challenge R for Red Poinsettas



Materials used:

Spellbinders poinsettia die
Red stickles
Picot edge circle die - largest
Word dies from Britannia

Entered in R for Red Poinsettas from ABC Card Challenge

Daring Cardmakers September Colour Combo Dare





Materials used:

  • Sizzix Hero Arts framelits with stamps
  • Green mica powders
  • Gold embossing powders
  • Black card

Entering in Daring Cardmakers September Colour Combo Dare

Less is more Chocolate Mint


Front of card

Inside card


Materials used:

  • Diesire Nouveau Stamping frame - rectangle
  • Dylusions ink spray - cut grass
  • Walnut Stain DI
  • Spellbinders Back to basics tags
  • Creative expressions gilding wax
  • Bakers twine stained with Dylusions ink spray - cut grass
  • Free stamps from Creative Stamping issue 17
  • Clarity stamps (happy birthday)

Entered in Less is More Colour challenge 188

Sunday 15 June 2014

Gold, white and blue




I bought the stamps used in the card a few weeks ago, just because they are so pretty. Of course, I put them to one side as I tried to come up with a plan to use them so I sat down this morning and decided to put stamp to ink. The Allsorts challenge seemed the perfect opportunity.

Elements used:

  • Artemio stamp set (sorry no name on the pack). The main stamp and the butterfly were used and stamped on white card using Encore Gold ink and then embossed with clear embossing powder.
  • Tumbled glass distress ink was used to edge and colour the stamped images.
  • Background was created using the That Special Touch eyelet mask and tumbled glass DI. I also edged the background with faded jeans DI to add dimension.
  • The flowers are prima flowers coloured with tumbled glass DI and a candi centre.
  • The flourishes are from Marianne creatables elegant elements.
  • The sentiment is, I think, from Red Hot Bed which I have had for ages.
  • Some white ribbon, lace and clear dew drops to finish.

I am entering the card in the Allsorts challenge - white, gold and another colour.

Saturday 14 June 2014

A Christmas Scene




Another Christmas card.

The picture looks so dimensional but apart from the embossing is flat. Its the quality of the stamp more than my colouring efforts that achieves the effect. Having done this though, next time I plan to try a decoupage version of the image.

Elements used:

  • Sheena - Bah Humbug 1 stamp for the scene plus the star and the sentiment.
  • Big and Juicy Mountain Meadow ink pad, sponged on to create the sky above the masked stamp.
  • Scene stamp coloured in with spectrum noir pens.
  • Then embossed with WOW white puff embossing powder to create the snow in the sky and on the buildings.
  • Stickles also added for sparkle but it doesn't show up on the photo.
  • The scene is matted onto some white card and some blue shiny paper, as is the sentiment. I also used a gold marker pen around the edges.
  • Sue Wilson 3D lattice bow from the same blue paper.
  • Britannia Xmas flight die cut from black paper and highlighted with white pen.
  • Clear gems and blue ribbon to finish.

Some close ups:

Sentiment

Christmas rooftops


 I am entering the card in the Winter Wonderland "A Christmas Scene" challenge.

Off the edge one layer card

One layer card


This card started off as a mistake. I was meant to be cutting some flowers for another card but forgot to add the border die! Then I saw the Less is More challenge and decided to see if I could turn it into a card.

The flower shape is from the Spellbinder d-lites Medallion nine. Having "mis cut" the first one, I added another one below. I snipped the edges off the flowers to add an interesting "edge" and then cut the card down to size.

Using three distress inks (shabby shutters, tumbled glass and mustard yellow), I randomly inked up the Creative Expressions newsprint stamp and stamped over the cut flowers and also in a border on the inside of the card. It would probably be easier to do the stamping before cutting in future!

I added extra colour to the central flower shapes to make them stand out more.

The "with love" border and butterfly stamp is from a Papermania set that came with the Creativity magazine this month.

I added some extra dimension with faux stitching using a micron pen.

Some extra views because this card was also really difficult to photograph:




I am entering this in the Less is More one layer over the edge challenge.

Friday 13 June 2014

"L is for Little Gifts"



There is something about June that always makes me think of Christmas. Perhaps because we are halfway there or is it because, as much as I enjoy the sunshine, I love cold winter mornings. Anyway, I always have good intentions to start preparing for Christmas early and never quite get there so this year I am going to try harder...

The card has a lot of different elements as follows:

  • Background paper is from Dovecraft Back to Basic Christmas 6x6 pad.
  • The presents and robin are stamps from a free magazine set and coloured with Spectrum Noir pens.
  • I used the spellbinders classic scallops to die cut the stamp and antique linen distress inks to colour the edges.
  • The scalloped circle is matted onto a circle of green coredinations card which I also used for the other die cuts.
  • The white strip is punched using a Martha Steward border punch.
  • The sentiment is from the Britannia word die set
  • The Christmas tree is the Spellbinders Mini Christmas tree die with stickles to create the "baubles".
I am entering this in the ABC Christmas challenge "L is for Little Gifts".

Monday 26 May 2014

Flowers and flourishes

Paper Engineering

I took inspiration for this card from HOTP "Susan's Journal of Paper Engineering".

The card is a simple window card. Using an A4 piece of card and folded in half to make a card (using the Crafter's Companion Ultimate), I mat and layered some gold and some criss cross paper on the front from an old Crafter's Companion paper set.

Using the largest of the Spellbinders Classic Oval set, I cut the aperture from the centre of the card (through all three layers).

I placed some beige coloured vellum behind the aperture but it looks white in the picture

I took some rose design paper from the Papermania Nostalgia Warm 12x12 pad and centred the spellbinders die so that some of the roses overhung the oval shape and drew round the inside of the die with a pencil. Cut along the pencil line and around the roses. I also cut out some extra roses to decoupage onto the image.

I cut the paper with the rose aperture down to size, edged it with some pumice stone distress ink and placed over the aperture in the card. I also added some faux stitching with a white pen around the outside.

At this point I should probably have added the stickles around the aperture, but I left that till the end which made it slightly trickier!

The flourishes are cut from the same vellum using the Spellbinders d-lites sprig die.

The bow and lattice ribbon are cut from the same rose paper using Sue Wilson's 3D Lattice Bow dies.

The sentiment is one from a sheet of sentiments but I don't know where it came from. I have lots of them!

I am entering this in the following challenges:

Crafty Cardmakers - flourish challenge
Charisma Cards - May flowers challenge

I am also sending this to the Allsorts Challenge Blog - HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY

Origami inspiration

Paper folding


The card was made using papers from the Gorjuss 6x6 paper selection.

The paper folding (central octagonal shape) is a fancy folded frame from HOTP "Susan's Journal of Paper Engineering", using a sheet of 6x6 paper that had a graduated colour scheme, it looks like more than one piece of paper is involved. I added a central square of blue paper to cover the white background.

On the central square, I added a waterfall folded paper in brown and turned it into a flower box.

The octagonal fold shape is then matted onto blue and silver square mats.

The flowers are from the d-lites dies - basil, sage and lavender.

The tag is from the same Gorjuss papers and a stamp from a freebie magazine set from ages ago.

I am entering this in the Daring Cardmakers challenge - origami



The card I made first for the challenge was the following origami shirt card:

Shirts
Then I noticed that one of the DT had already done this (Nat's card is fabulous!) so I decided to try again. Love this card though and if my DH hasn't noticed, he may just be getting this in June for Father's Day.

Die Cuts

Tweet Tweet

A quick and simple card made using die cuts - Spellbinders d-lites Tweets and HOTP 4 Seasons tree. The sentiment is from the Clearly Handstamped set.

I am entering this in the Less is More challenge - Die cuts

Sunday 11 May 2014

Less is More One Layer Thank you card

Thanks!

A simple card made using the Papermania Thank You stamp, which I masked off and then surrounded with flowers from a freebie set from a magazine that I have had for ages and cannot remember where I got them.

The image is coloured using a variety of distress inks.

The image came out larger than I expected so there isn't as much white space as I had hoped but I still like it.

I am entering this in the Less Is More One Layer Challenge.

Fancy Folds

Pop up card

I made a pop up card using the Crafters Companion ultimate pro. It took a few attempts to get the scoring right but I got there in the end.

I used the folded card to create a template for the layers trimming off a small amount each time to create the layers. The papers are from the Gorjuss 6x6 pad.

The lacy effect was done using vellum and a Martha Stewart punch and stuck behind the main fold.

The Gorjuss image was stamped and then coloured in using spectrum noir pens.

To finish - a bit of ribbon, some flowers made from the Spellbinders bitty blossoms set (smallest one), some hearts cut from the Gorjuss papers, a label from the same papers and stamped with a sentiment from the Clearly Handstamped set and stickles for a bit of glitter.

I am entering this in the Allsorts Challenge Fancy Folds.

Monday 5 May 2014

Colour challenge



The Daring Cardmakers challenge reminded me of some papers I had left from a Craftwork cards kit (sorry can't remember which).

I stamped the Gorjuss image and coloured it with complementary colours from my spectrum noir pens. I cut the image to a rectangle and edged with spiced marmalade distress inks.

The image was mattered onto some of the paper using the Perfect Layers rulers and then onto white card.

The flower was cut from the same paper set using the Spellbinders flower creations die. The flourishes are the Spellbinders d-lites fantastic flourish four die. The sentiment is also from the die d-lites range and is called sentiments one.

Some ribbon and sticklers to finish.

Daring Cardmakers challenge link.

Simple butterflies




The butterfly is a die from Tattered Lace and was cut from white card. I coloured it using three distress inks - spiced marmalade, tumbled glass and shabby shutters.

The background is a piece of vellum cut using the Die'Sire Square Doilies die (the smaller one) and coloured with the same distress inks.

The sentiment is die cut from white card and again coloured with same distress inks. The die is from Spellbinders d-lites sentiment one set.

I am entering the card in the following challenges:

Less is more three colours challenge

Allsorts butterflies challenge

Crafty Cardmakers challenge.

Monday 28 April 2014

Die storage


Like all lovers of dies, I have struggled to find a way to store them. The ready made storage solutions always seem so expensive and uninspiring. As a stop gap, I started to store them in an old index card case. I then hit upon the idea of making little pockets on index cards to slip the dies (stuck on magnetic sheets) into. 

Of course the index card cases are not very attractive and so I decided to decorate it:

The first...

Inside


I have to admit that the above decoration was the second attempt as the original paper pieces didn't stick so well. Collall glue did the trick the second time around.

The decoration is made from randomly cut and stuck pieces of paper (edged with a spectrum noir pen). The border, embellishments, bow and butterflies were all die cuts and I added a few gems as well.

I didn't decorate the tops as I may need to stack them.

As time went by and the stash of dies increased, it was necessary to add another (two) card cases. I could then sort the dies into different types.



The second... 


The third.


I will soon need another.

And here is a picture of them on my desk:

All in  row


As you see lots of die cut pieces of paper left over for other projects.

Sunday 27 April 2014

Blue and Purple

Butterflies and flowers

The base card was embossed, but not cut, using the Spellbinders Picot Edge Circle die. Using masks the embossed shape was coloured using shaded lilac and tumbled glass distress inks.

The flower stamp is from the Dylusions "how to grow your garden" set and is coloured with faded jeans, dusty concorde and olive green distress inks.

The butterflies are die cut from centura pearl card using the HOTP butterflies dies.

The sentiment is from the Clearly Handstamped set.

I am entering the card into the following challenges:

Less is more sketch challenge

Charisma Cardz Purple & Blue challenge

Saturday 26 April 2014

Handmade flowers

A profusion of flowers

Its that time of year when the flowers in the garden are beginning to show and you can see the promise of summer (if we get one!).

The above card is made using the HOTP a tree for all seasons die. The flowers on the tree and the larger ones are all from the Sizzix Tim Holtz Tattered Flower Garland strip - cut from various odds and ends which I had lying around - and decorated with gems.

A bit of matting and layering for the background using some centura pearl card.

Finished off with a tag from the Spellbinders Back to Basics Tags and a stamp from the Clearly Hand stamped set.

I am entering this card in the Crafty Cardmakers A profusion of Handmade flowers challenge.

Saturday 5 April 2014

A Touch Of Turquoise

Easter card

A simple card for Easter. I made to templates from two separate sizes of Spellbinders label one dies. Using the smaller "hole" I inked through with Tumbled Glass distress ink. I removed the mask and placed the larger "hole" over the first one and inked through again to get the two tone effect. The sentiment is from a set of circle sentiments from Lily of the Valley. The butterflies are a Fiskars punch. A bit of stickles added for a bit of bling.

Are you ready for your close up?


I am entering this in the Less is More Colour challenge 166.

Sunday 16 March 2014

Stencilling

Stencils

I am pretty new to stencilling and only have a few.

I made a pattern using the eyelet stencil from That Special Touch using picked raspberry, tattered rose and shaded lilac distress inks. I then cut strips from the pattern and arranged them on the card.

The sentiment is from Craftwork cards.

I am entering this in the Less is More - week 163 - masking or stencils challenge.

Pretty in Pink

Gorjuss Pink

I am not really a pink person but I do like making pink cards.

The image is from Gorjuss and is coloured with distress inks. I cut the image using an oval spellbinders die and then matted it onto a scalloped oval and a larger oval die cut from some white holographic and pink coredinations card.

I die cut some flowers from the spellbinders die d-lites blossoms using the same pink coordination card and edged with picked raspberry distress ink.

The paper chase banner is from the same Gorjuss stamp set as are the butterflies - all coloured using the same distress inks. The butterflies are also glittered but it doesn't really show up on the picture.

The lacy border is from the spellbinders Lacy Accents/motifs set.

The bow is from the Sue Wilson finishing touch lacy 3D bow set, using the same white holographic and pink coredinations card.

The sentiment is from Craftwork cards.

The layers are the same white holographic (hence the camera glare) and pink coredinations card and a piece of paper from the Gorjuss 6x6 paper pad.

A couple of silver embellishments to finish off.

I am entering the card in the Allsorts Pretty in Pink challenge.

Girls, Girls, Girls

Tilly at Christmas

The base card is from Craftwork cards. I love the shape!

The border is from the Spellbinders Lacy Motif/Accents set with some lace and velvet ribbon on top. The snowflakes are from one of the Spellbinders 2012 Snowflake pendants set.

The image is a Tilly stamp that I got free from a magazine but can't remember which one. It has been coloured with distress inks. I have used red stickles on the baubles on the tree.

The small snowflakes are an Xcut punch.

I am entering this card in the Winter Wonderland Girls, Girls, Girls challenge.

Sunday 9 March 2014

Not a card.. oops deleted by mistake

Winter Plaque
Oops - managed to delete the original post by mistake. Now I have to rewrite it all over again. Blogger kept telling me that the post could not be published. Then it did publish but did not delete the draft. So I deleted the draft and it deleted the post as well. How was I supposed to know that would happen????

I cut out the plaque from old cardboard using Spellbinders Grand Labels Four. I coloured the board using Antique Linen distress paint and then edged it with evergreen bough distress ink.

I cut another shape from the same die set using the wintery green/ blue paper. With the paper still in the die I embossed it using a Spellbinders embossabilites (sorry can't remember the name).

I stencilled the stars on top using Forest Green distress inks through a Tim Holtz tag stencil.

The centre piece is cut using the Spellbinders Fleur de Lis square with evergreen bough inked through whilst still in the die.

The sentiment is from Stampers Anonymous "Stuff to Say" set.

The words "White Winter" are die cuts but I can't remember from where. They have been embossed with silver sparkle embossing powder.

The flowers are from my favourite Spellbinders die d-lites blossoms one through four.

The bow is from the excellent Sue Wilson's new finishing touches dies - the lattice 3D bow set. Must save up my money for the rest.

The plaque is finished off with seam binding from Creative Expressions.

I am entering the plaque in the Crafty Cardmakers Challenge - No cards - Winter/Slap it on. I apologise to the organisers that my earlier link will have disappeared and hope I did not waste too much of their time as a result.

Colours...

Gorjuss Spring

The main image is from the Gorjuss stamp set "New heights". I have coloured it in using distress inks - spiced marmalade, evergreen bough, crushed olive, iced spruce and weathered wood and black soot for the hair. The face and arms were coloured in with Spectrum noir alcohol pens.

The topper was edged with spiced marmalade. I made a mat from white card coloured with evergreen bough distress ink.

The flowers were made from a piece of white card that I smooshed through the same distress inks (spritzed with water). I added extra spiced marmalade to the dried card using cut/dry foam to bring out the orange colour more. They were cut from Spellbinders die d-lites blooms two, three and four. The foliage is another die d-lites set which I coloured with crushed olive distress ink. I added some green Craftwork cards candi to the centres.

The  butterflies, label and corners were stamped from the same Gorjuss stamp set and coloured with the same distress inks. The sentiment is from Craftwork cards.

I am entering the card in the Daring Cardmakers challenge - March colour challenge.

Paper Chase

I made this tag mostly using papers and decoupage elements from the Gorjuss range:


The flowers are Spellbinders die d-lites blossoms one, two and three and are cur from papers in my stash that matched the Gorjuss colours. The word tags were cut from the Gorjuss papers and hand written, although they are not clear in this photo. The book on the backing paper is stamped from one of the Gorjuss stamp sets.

I am entering this in the Country View crafts blog challenge - Paperchase.

Saturday 8 March 2014

Less is More - One Layer - Spring flowers

Spring flowers?

The flowers were stamped using Dylusions "how does your garden grow" set, masking the flowers as I stamped. The images were stamped using distress inks - dusty concord, rusty hinge, fired brick and shabby shutters. I then used a waterbrush to drag in colour to the outlines.

The sentiment (a bit blurry) is from a Craftwork cards set. There is also a splodge of iced stickles in the centre of the red daisy.

I am obviously thinking of a very colourful spring garden. At the moment my own garden only has yellow daffodils and white snowdrops. Still waiting for the tulips and crocuses to make an appearance.

I am entering this in the Less is More challenge - 162 One Layer Spring Flowers.

ABC Christmas Challenge - E is for enclosed

Sizzix photo album

I have had the Sizzix photo album die in my possession for some time, but have not used it. A bit daunted by it to be honest, but decided to bite the bullet when I saw this challenge. I have been meaning to make an album of photos for my Mum showing pics of the kids at Christmas and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

The papers used are from the Papermania 12 days of Christmas pad. the tree and snowflakes are from one of the Sizzix Hero Arts stamps and dies sets. I have added some sprigs from the Spellbinders die d-lites holly sprigs set. The red gems were from my stash.

Now I have to go away and print out the photos and them to the album (only 9 months till Christmas).

I am entering the album in the ABC E is for Enclosed challenge.

Sunday 2 March 2014

Less is More - Yellow and Green

I was rummaging in my craft cupboard and found a stash looking for inspiration to start entering the Less Is More challenge again. I came across a stash of Gorjuss stuff and thought it might be interesting to use a different colour scheme.




The image is coloured with spectrum noir pens. The sentiment is from Craftword cards.

I am entering the card in the Less Is More challenge 161.