Saturday 16 December 2017

You Warm My Heart

I adore the 'Snow Days' stamp and die set from Lawn Fawn, its just so cute its impossible to resist using - so I made this card for a very special person in my life and the sentiment says it all really.



The background is a piece that I was messing about with for another project that didn't work so I threw it in my scraps box and had just enough to cut the circle from.  I also die cut the wavy bottom panel and attached over the top using the sewing machine with a beating heartbeat stitch.  Finally, I played about with the placement of the elements until I was happy then fixed it permanently.



I should be back before Christmas but if not, then I will take this opportunity to wish everyone that reads my blog or has kindly followed me this year...


A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Wishing you all peace, love and happiness 

YOU ALL ROCK and thank you!
xxxx

Challenge Links...


Supplies: Lawn Fawn Snow Days clear stamps/dies, unbranded circle and wavy die, Whispers ink, Copics, Zig watercolouring pens, HobbyCraft clear gems and Stickles.

Tuesday 12 December 2017

North Pole, University, Home

It's getting very busy and I'm a little behind on the family Christmas cards and this one is especially for my eldest son who will be on his way home from University next week :)

It came about when I saw the sketch from Fusion, now normally I don't like the restrictions of sketches because I wander.  Now that's not to say I haven't used a little artistic license for this one but I think it still works, well here's hoping.



I started by masking the cardstock so I could ink the ice, then cut a strip and drew diagonal lines down it in pencil, randomly (I don't measure either, life is too short) then coloured them in red, die cut the dome for the top of the pole and embossed the background.  Next came the little sign post signs, printed in blue (long story, possibly need a new printer).  I cut them out and placed them as if the polar bear had skated from University, had reached the North Pole and was heading for home.  OK in hindsight, I now realise the perspective is off but hey I'm not exhibiting at the Tate Modern so its good enough for me.



The sentiment inside reads 'Have a COOL Christmas'.  I had lots of fun with this sketch and pleased with how it turned out.


Challenge Links...

Fusion - Sketch/Blue Gift
Crafty Cardmakers - Christmas 
The Holly and Ivy - Anything Goes Christmas
Sweet Stampers - Anything Goes
Crafts Galore Encore - Anything Goes

Supplies:  My Favourite Things Polar Pals clear stamps, Zig watercolour pens, stitched circle die (unknown), snow embossing folder (unknown), Bazzil blue cardstock, Clearly Besotted 'Son' clear stamp and die and Sheenas stamping card/Crafters Companion watercolour card.

Saturday 2 December 2017

Merry and Bright

December arrived yesterday with a magical flurry of snow, a sprinkling of frost which made for a wonderful early morning walk along the partially frozen canal and I loved it.  

On my return, I'd had chance to think about my card design which I decided to use Lawn Fawn Snow Days - cant think why!


Its a little scene featuring two bunnies proudly decorating their Christmas tree with a red bow.  I inked and used a dots Cuttlebug embossing folder for the backdrop, die cut a snowy hill and then just coloured the furry friends with Copics and placed them in position.  I added the sentiment in festive red and inked and die cut the little snowflakes before taking to the sewing machine for a simple straight(ish) stitch border.

This little card has been sitting on my coffee table for the last day and I'm not sure I can part with it - I can't be the only crafter who struggles to give certain cards away, am I?

Challenge Links...

CASology - Round
Crafty Cardmakers - Animal Magic
The Holly and Ivy - Anything Goes

Supplies:  Lawn Fawn Snow Days stamps/dies, Cuttlebug dots embossing folder, Whispers/DewDrops ink pads and Copic pens

Tuesday 28 November 2017

Jingle Bells

When I saw Allsorts challenge this week, I had to smile.  I've been singing Christmas songs for weeks now and I'm not sure if its my angelic voice (cough) or the fact I've been doing it since late September that prompts groans from my family.  So with that in mind I just had to enter with Jingle Bells...



Once again I used TH tattered poinsettia cut from white cardstock, and a few holiday greens.  After assembling the poinsettia, I splodged pva randomly all over and sprinkled with glitter because snow does not drop evenly and I thought it would look more like a natural covering.  I infilled the gaps with Stickles to give it a real glisten when the light caught it, not particularly visible in the photo :(

The stars were die cut six times, and I sandwiched the string between the bottom and middle layers.  The top stars were glittered and then spritzed with hairspray to help stop the glitter shedding.  The two little gold bells were added after marking where the poinsettia was going to sit with hot glue, the rest was then layered onto the kraft cardstock that was embossed with a wood grain effect.

The sentiment is Stampin Up and stamped with Brilliance gold ink and that might be the last time I use the poinsettia die... hmm!



A better shot to show how sparkly it is in real life.

Challenge Links...


Supplies:  TH tattered poinsettia and Holiday greens dies, Spellbinders Nestling star dies, Stickles, Hobby Craft pearls, Stampin Up wooden sentiment stamp, Brilliance gold ink and unknown wood grain embossing folder.

Saturday 25 November 2017

Santa has some Favourites!

I love MFT products but I wish we all spelt words exactly the same, I know 'favourites' can be spelt with or without the 'u' depending on which side of the pond you're paddling in but for me it looks a little strange - although if it did have a 'u' in it, it would slip right off my card ;)



I stamped Santa and watercoloured him so his present matches the MME plaid paper and then fussy cut him out.  The Christmas trees are die cut on plain white cardstock and then coloured using distress inks with some Stickles added to the branches.  I die cut the scalloped border and used 3D foam to lift it from the paper.  Stamped the sentiment, which are two separate designs, coloured some pearls with a red Sharpie, some glitter and a pompom on his hat to finish off.

Challenge Links...

Sweet Stampers - Christmas
Double D - Santa 
Fusion - Photo Inspiration/Sketch














Supplies:  MFT Jingle all the Way clear stamps, Clearly Besotted 'son' clear stamp, Gansai Tambi watercolours, Kaisercraft pearls, unknown Christmas tree/scalloped dies, MME Be Jolly patterned paper, TH distress inks and Stickles.

Saturday 18 November 2017

Greetings of the Season

After my 'throw everything at it' card, I'm back to doing a more 'me' type of card although I like doing fussy every now and then.

This one features TH tattered poinsettia - yup again!  I can't help it, I just think its one of the best poinsettia dies and I've even used it on a none Christmas card so its pretty versatile :)



I watercoloured it this time, not exactly with precision - I mean poinsettias are red and that's about it, although I used artistic licence by splashing some gold paint on mine and then edged with Stickles frosted lace.  I wanted a traditional sentiment to match the flower and found a very old wooden stamp from Stampin Up which I thought suited the style of the card.


I added some faint paint splatters behind the poinsettia, popped a few gems on in red and then adhered to the card base using 3D foam tape, easy peasy... funny because it still took me hours, one day I'll make a quick card! 

Challenge Links...

Love to Craft - Anything Goes
Crafts Galore - Anything Goes
Allsorts - Glitter
Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes/optional blue

Supplies:  TH tattered poinsettia/holiday greens dies, Gansai Tambi watercolours, Stickles frosted lace, Stampin Up sentiment and KaiserCraft gems.

Tuesday 14 November 2017

A Wreath on a Card

Todays card is one I've made for my parents, now my Mom is extremely bias when it comes to anything I do but... she's not fooling me when she views my cards.  I allow her to think she is but I secretly know she's not a fan of my CAS cards so for this one, I've thrown everything bar the kitchen sink at it just because I know it'll make her smile everytime she walks past it :) 


I started by making the wreath, which is pretty easy.  You just draw two circles, one inside the other and cut it out, then wrap string around it, as if you were making a pompom.  I decided to use a couple of yards each time because I had a cat wafting a paw at me and eyeing the ball of string with malicious intent, crafting with a mischievous cat is not for the faint hearted.

I also cut another circle on kraft card and one out of the music sheet which I glued together then attached the wreath to that using a glue gun as string can be somewhat stubborn.  The patterned papers have all been distressed before layering.  I then set about cutting out the dies, for the poinsettia I used the music sheet, again adhering kraft card behind it because its really flimsy, then inked them using various shades of red, brown and green and a few white paint splatters... just because!



The reindeer was an after thought and actually I really like him nestled amongst all the other die cuts and that's it, my fussy throw everything at it especially for my Mom.

Challenge Links...

Holly and Ivy - Anything Goes Christmas
Happy Little Stampers - Anything Goes Christmas
Happy Little Stampers - Anything Goes with Dies
Craft Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes Christmas
Pixies Crafty Workshop - Use Snippets (yup lots)

Supplies:  8x8" card base, My Mind's Eye Holly Jolly patterned paper, BG Wassail snippets, Tim Holtz tattered poinsettia & mini Holiday greens dies, MB dandelion die, unbranded reindeer die and sentiment, green satin ribbon from local Haberdashery, music sheets (purchased from local charity shop), Tim Holtz distress inks in vintage photo/tea dye and various Whispers ink pads in reds and greens and Stickles for a bit of sparkle.

Saturday 11 November 2017

Nice List

In all the years I've been crafting, I have never done a one layer card but decided to give it a go after seeing Stamping Sensations November challenge.  I usually like to throw a little more at my cards but I think it turned out OK-ish!


I used MFT Jingle Bells and coloured the stamped image with my limited Copics, added a few paint splatters in blue with some Stickles on Santa's hat and pompom.  As its a one layer challenge, I added a black line around with a fine marker to give an illusion of another layer.  I did debate about adding a couple of sequins in a nice Christmas red but I didn't know whether that was allowed so I aired on the side of caution.

Challenge Links...

Stamping Sensations - Christmas one layer

Supplies: 6x6 white card, MFT Jingle Bells clear stamps, Copics, Inktense pencil and Stickles

Tuesday 7 November 2017

Believe...

This card took me blooming hours to complete, initially it was going to have a tag as the main focal point for a challenge but boy do I hate tags of any shape, size, colour or style.  Try as I did, my loathing for tags just made it impossible to make anything that resembled half decent and after ditching the doomed tag idea the card came together pretty quick.



After pushing the completed tag to one side, still in my line of sight and niggling me I decided to make the card base but as I was putting it together I realised the tag was just going to make the card look ugly as hell.  Instead I die cut a deer family out of white cardstock and inked up using distress inks to pop in the middle where said tag was going to sit which for the first time yesterday worked better than anything else I'd tried.  Its a bit fussy but compared to where it was going its a vast improvement so I stepped away and considered it done.

Lesson learned - never ever make a tag or use a tag, horrible little blighters!

Challenge links...

The Holly and Ivy - Christmas/Anything Goes
Crafts Galore Encore - Anything Goes
Love to Craft - Anything Goes
Daisy Chain - Christmas/Winter

Supplies:  Making Memories Christmas Vellum sentiments, TH Distress ink vintage photo/tea dye, Stickles, unbranded dies and ribbon from local haberdashery

Tuesday 31 October 2017

Merry Little Christmas!

Happy Halloween... I have my cauldron of sweeties and decorations at the ready.  Every year we have an abundance of little monsters and witches, all excited, dressed up in their spooky finery and I absolutely love seeing their faces as they squeal 'Trick or Treat' - innocence is priceless :)

So after all my Halloween/Birthday cards of late, I've moved onto Christmas cards.  I have to admit I had a loss of mojo for this card, I think I'm still in my All Hallows mood.



I used Tim Holtz poinsettia and reindeer die as the main focal points and I did, very reluctantly I might add, cut into my First Edition Wild at Heart paper pad for the poinsettia.  I used a sheet of old music paper for the reindeer but matted onto 2 lots of kraft cardstock because its really flimsy paper.  Added some Stickles and some teeny tiny die cut stars to finish.



Challenge Links...

Jingle Belles - Christmas/Animals
Allsorts - Christmas Creatures
Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes Christmas 

Supplies:  First Edition Wild at Heart patterned paper, TH tattered poinsettia and reindeer die, MB forest border die, unbranded circle and little stars die, Stickles, TH Distress ink in vintage photo and tea dye, unbranded sentiment stamp.


Tuesday 24 October 2017

Frankly!

This card and die caused me a little confusion at first as I wanted a 7x5" card but the die was too small, I thought I could align it back up but then it looked all odd so I had to settle for 6x6 and when my plans are scuppered I loose my concentration and momentum.


After settling on a 6x6 card and after filling a bin with failed attempts, it came together fairly quickly excluding the 2 hour practise session lol.  The slowest part was colouring the ghost, mummy and Frank.  I've made this card for my youngest son to give my husband and the sentiment reflects that as a step-dad - he's the best.

Challenge Links...

Less is More - Monsters
Cupcake Inspirations - Ghosts/Ghouls

Supplies:  6x6" card base, white linen cardstock, Dream Street orange patterned paper, unbranded die, Sugar Pea Designs clear stamps and sentiment.

Saturday 21 October 2017

A Frightful Birthday

I've finally got around to starting and finishing my husbands birthday card with a sprinkling of Halloween for the 31st October.


I absolutely couldn't resist this set of stamps from Sugar Pea Designs as soon as I saw the sweet little ghost, that face is so darn cute and I knew instantly he was destined for this special birthday card.

I did a bit of matting and layering then embossed a cobweb onto plain white cardstock after inking up the folder with pearlescent silver.  Every embossed line has been retraced with a Sakura clear glitter pen to make it catch the light and glisten.  I stamped and fussy the little ghost out and popped him on 3D foam, offset from the cobweb.


I think you can just about see the sparkle of the cobweb on the photo.  I inked the 'Husband' stamp in black at first but had a change of heart and inked half in black and orange and did the sentiment (which I think is cool) in black so it flows.  I added a little black bat and its all ready to be received.

Challenge Links...

Crafty Calendar - Halloween
Allsorts - Halloween

Supplies:  White/black cardstock, Sugar Pea Designs/Clearly Besotted stamps, Tim Holtz Hocus Pocus EF/bat die/cobweb, unbranded stitched circle die, Sakura clear glitter gel pen.

Saturday 14 October 2017

A Wicked Birthday!

Its my brother-in-laws birthday on the 31st October - yup he was born on Halloween but it gets better, he's my husbands twin brother... how cool is that? 

This year I've decided to create a birthday card for both of them with a twist of Halloween so the challenge was, to make sure the theme didn't detract from the fact it is his birthday afterall.



I knew I wanted to use the Penny Black cat on a pumpkin stamp and kept it pretty simple in design.  I started by die cutting a circle as a template for the bright creepy moon using a mix of red, yellow and orange inks.  Stamped the cat and added in some die cut clouds and bats in black bazzill.  The base cardstock has been inked with a pretty much dried out ink pad to give it an illusion of mist or soot - as I prefer to call it lol.



The cat/pumpkin do have a shimmery finish but unfortunately its too subtle for the camera to capture.  The 'Brother' is from Clearly Besotted together with the die and the sentiment I made in Word with two different fonts/sizes and colours.  

Challenge Links:-

Double D - Fright Night
Crafty Calendar - Halloween
Crafts Galore Encore - Anything Goes
Sweet Stampers - #12 Autumn/Halloween

Supplies:- Sheena's stamping card, Bazzill black cardstock, Penny Black rubber stamp, MB cloud die, Tim Holtz Hocus Pocus combo (bats), Clearly Bessotted Brother stamp/die, Dew drops ink Red/Yellow and Whispers orange ink.

Tuesday 10 October 2017

Favourite Flower

Over at The Flower Challenge blog they are celebrating their 1st birthday so Happy Birthday to everyone involved.  As a nice birthday treat they are offering lots of lovely prizes so why not pop over and take part showcasing your favourite flower.  If I'm lucky enough to win, I'd like to pick the Dies to Die For prize.

Onto my card and it could only be the gorgeous Echinacea, I love the varying colours and the way they stand proud in the garden during Summer - well, lets say during the months its supposed to be Summer!



I decided to do a no-line watercolouring image this time and after a little practise piece first I'm quite pleased with the results.  I used Gansai Tambi in various reds, pinks and oranges for the petals, I must admit I like having an artist license and not being so restricted to staying in the lines.


Me being me, I couldn't resist adding a few splatters in chilli red... and yes I still smile every time I flick the brush - what is wrong with me, I'm middle aged for goodness sake lol.

I cut the 'hello' from an unbranded die and added a few pearls in varying sizes to match the colours of the flower.

Challenges:-

The Flower Challenge - Favourite Flower
Less is More - Hot & Spicy Colours












Supplies: TH Echinacea stamp and tea dye Distress ink, Gansai Tambi watercolours, Inktense, unbranded stitched circle and 'hello' die, Queen & Co and Kaiser Craft pearls

Saturday 7 October 2017

ROAR-some

Todays card is another one for my boys, this time from the youngest to his big brother who turns 21 next month - no idea where those years went!

We're not a family that goes for very sloppy sentiments, we prefer a bit of cheek - you know something that makes you smile so onto my card...


I wanted to make a point that my eldest son was getting older, not that 21 is old but its much older if you're only just 16 so out came the BG Archaic range to stamp the T-Rex in a mix of browns and greens, not really visible on the photo but he is shaded a muddy dinosaur mix.  I die cut a circle twice, once in white and again from a snippet of Archaic patterned paper and matted them onto the card front. I stamped the 'brother' in pearlescent orange then die cut out.  


The sentiment was made in Word and the balloon is a clipart image that I added a line too for the string then fussy cut out, added some 'seen better days' Glossy Accents and made it look like the very ferocious & unaware dinosaur had a balloon attached to his tail, little things amuse me!  

Challenges:-

Pixies Playground - Use snippets
Always Fun Challenges - Dies & Punches
Daisy Chain Challenges - Happy Birthday

Supplies: 5x7" white card base, white linen cardstock, circle dies (unbranded), Clearly Besotted 'Brother' stamp and die, BG Archaic patterned paper/clear stamps, Brilliance ink pads in Cocoa Bean, Pearlescent Ivy and Rust and Glossy Accents.


Saturday 30 September 2017

Rudy Reindeer

I've been rummaging through my stamps determined to use some loved but forgotten stash.  Every time I buy something new, it gets used over and over again until it starts to disappear and forgotten about under new purchases which is crazy - so I'm on a mission to right that wrong!

What I found this week was a cheeky little reindeer stamp called Rudy by Pink Gem Designs and knew I had to use him for todays card.



Isn't he cute?  Anyway I coloured him using Inktense after I'd stamped him in black, stamped again with Versamark then heat embossed in clear and fussy cut him out.  I die cut a snowy hill with room to put the sentiment and edged it with some Stickles.  Added a few sequins/gems and a touch of Glossy Accents to his nose.



I recently found my Bazzill In Stitches, again an unloved/old stash item and thought I'd create a simple backdrop for Rudy of very pale blue snowflakes and still keeping it uncluttered... I think he looks super happy :)

Challenges:-

Christmas with the Cuties - Anything Goes as long as its Christmas & cute animals
CraftyHazelnuts Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes as long as its Christmas
Rudolph Days Challenges - Anything goes as long as its Christmas
Jingle Belles - Christmas and Embossing
The Holly and Ivy - Anything Goes as long as its Christmas

Supplies:  White linen cardstock, Rudy Reindeer stamp (Pink Gem Designs), clear embossing powder, Versamark, Stazon in Stone Grey, MSE sentiment stamp, Stickles stardust, Inktense, Bazzill In Stitches, Glossy Accents, AB sequins, My Next Stamp die (hill) and Simply Creative gems.


Tuesday 26 September 2017

Autumn Thank You

A very quick card I made yesterday, not overly keen on it but I think its because I'd had a headache and hoped crafting would take my mind of it alas it didn't and the end result was a mediocre card - I guess we all get those days.


I did make the background paper by using various ink pads in Autumnal shades and edged them in gold pearlescent paint dabbing off the excess.  I cut the lager leaf die out of the card base and attached the remaining coloured card behind it with 3D foam.

Added a few gold paint splatters, distressed the bottom edge of the card and the sentiment is from Altenew and at least I have a 'thank you' card to hand when needed :)

Challenges: 

Less is More - Sketch #21
Crafty Cardmakers - Autumn

Supplies:  Sizzix Leaves die, DewDrop pigment inks and Altenew sentiment stamp

Monday 25 September 2017

Gran

Last week was my moms birthday and I made this card for her from my boys.  As you'll see from the photo, my initial design was to cut the cat die out in black as a silhouette but earlier this year my parents had to have their beloved long haired ginger cat - called Lily-Mae put to sleep after 16 years so the cat has ended up being ginger in memory of Lily :)


The card happened by accident really, I was getting out my crafting stash and knocked over a big wooden tray, full of nik-naks I've thrown in there over the years and out fell some chipboard letters - light bulb moment.  I rummaged about to see if I could make the word 'Gran' from what was left and yay I could.

I covered the chipboard letters, filed the edges and inked with a little gold - then and only then I realised they didn't fit on the card so I messed about with layouts and this one worked best.  I then used an EF for the background, rubbed over some pale ink and mounted the frame on top but it looked boring so I added some dots in gold pen.


The little cat was die cut from linen cardstock and coloured using Inktense in orange, yellow and white then brushed with water to give her a ginger look with a few gems for the collar - afterall Lily-Mae was quite the prissy little madame in her day.  I also popped some gems on two of the letters and my card now takes pride of place at my parents :)

Challenges:-

Always Fun Challenges - Anything Goes #25
Crafts Galore Encore Challenges - Always Anything Goes

Supplies: Chipboard letters, Trimcraft patterned papers, Cuttlebug Birds & Swirls EF, Magnolia die cut cat, Inktense pencils, gold pen, Brilliance inks, Hobby Craft gems

Saturday 23 September 2017

Shaker Sixteen

Next week is my youngest sons 16th birthday and I have absolutely no idea where the last sixteen years have gone, my baby is now a strapping 6' teenager with a little more attitude than I approve of.

As with most boys their favourite colour is typically blue so with that in mind I decided to keep it simple but straight to the point of it being his 16th.



I started by making my own backing paper for the star by stamping some stars in Versamark and embossing them with silver then using a dark blue ink pad to add colour, then assembled the shaker star.  I stamped the word 'Son' with the same blue and die cut it out and adhered with 3D foam.  The sentiment underneath is from the same stamp set (sorry un-named from Ebay) just stamped in black direct to the card.



The 16 is actually a 3D sticker that I picked up as individual numbers from Hallmark Cards of all places.  They cost £1 each and come in blue glitter (as seen), silver glitter, pink glitter and diamante and are already sticky - going back for another set in silver for the other sons 21st in November :)

The confetti stars are also another card shop purchase, this time from The Card Factory for... yes you've guessed it a pound and they have lots of designs if you like making shaker cards or just to bug the recipient by tipping them inside the card so they make a wonderful happy mess upon opening!

Challenges:-

HLS - Anything Goes with Die Cuts Challenge
















Supplies: White 7x5 card base, linen white cardstock, Spellbinders nesting star dies, Hallmark Cards glitter self adhesive stickers and star, Brilliance midnight sky ink pad, Versamark ink pad, Confetti silver stars from The Card Factory and silver embossing powder.

Tuesday 19 September 2017

Christmas Snowman

Christmas is fast approaching, the nights are drawing in and I love it so I've been busy making another seasonal card.

Again it features an image from Lili of the Valley called Christmas Snowman which is, as always, so darn cute!



I started by colouring the image with Gansai Tambi watercolours, I used MME Frost patterned papers as I wanted a muted pallet to work with the kraft cardstock, although the papers are more blue than they look in the picture.  I distressed and inked the papers and matted them up with a KI Memories Flurry Pure lace cardstock and trimmed off the over hang.



I die cut the Poinsettia out of matching paper and cut the holly from kraft as a contrast. Added two MM leather photo corners from my scrapbooking days just because I think it worked lol.  The sentiment is a favourite of mine but I have no idea who its by or where I got it from, apologies.  Popped a few pearls around the flower to finish.

Challenges I'm entering:

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes Christmas
Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes Christmas/3 patterned papers

Supplies:  Kraft cardstock, Gansai Tambi watercolours, MME Frost patterned papers, KI Memories lace cardstock, MM leather photo corners, TH Poinsettia Bigz die, Sizzix Holidays greens dies, LOTV Christmas Snowman digi stamp, Hobby Craft pearls.


Saturday 16 September 2017

Photo Inspiration

I recently popped over to see the new challenge at Stamping Sensations and for the month of September its a photo inspiration challenge and here is the delightful colour scheme...


I'm usually not one for photo inspiration but I couldn't resist as the colours are so pretty especially when everything around us is turning Autumnal.


I'll be the first to admit that this card didn't exactly turn out how I envisioned it, I was a little disappointed if I'm honest but it would have been a waste of a Friday morning if I just threw it away (been known to happen, more than once).

I used a Tim Holtz flower stamp which was stamped in Versamark and embossed in antique gold then coloured using Gansai Tambi watercolours. 


I fussy cut one out and used 3D foam for an extra lift.  Covered the white card with paint splatters - as a middle aged woman I like paint splatters a little too much, just can't resist a smile when I do it.

The sentiment is from Hobby Craft, not keen - it was a gift and we all know you never look a gift horse in the mouth, as they say.  Finished off with a few gems and some pink bakers twine.

Challenges I'm entering:-

Stamping Sensations - Photo Inspiration
The Flower Challenge - Tic Tac Toe (gems, watercolour, CAS)


Supplies:- Crafters Companion watercolour cardstock, Tim Holtz clear stamps, Gansai Tambi, antique gold embossing powder, Hobby Crafts sentiment stamp, Kaiser Craft gems


Tuesday 12 September 2017

Skater Boy

We all have a month in the year where there seems to be an occasion every single week and September is mine.  I've already had my mother-in-laws birthday and my parents Anniversary.  Next week is my moms birthday and the week after that is my youngest sons 16th birthday.  

My eldest asked me to make him a card for his brother as he's completely exasperated at the awful service he's received from Moonpig since living away from home.  In true student fashion he asked me to make it 3 days before going back to University despite spending over 2 months at home, sigh... kids are just the best!

Anyway, here is what I came up with.


Its very clean and simple, and once I figured out what I was planning to do it came together quickly.  I water coloured the image and fussy cut it out, gave him a shadow under his skateboard, added a few star brads to compliment his shirt, rounded the corners with my trusty 2p and matted it onto red cardstock.  The 'brother star' is a Sizzix thinlits die which was cut several times to add depth, splashed on a few paint splatters and finished. I even managed to get a compliment from 'the student', I believe he grunted at me 'its cute' - miracles do happen ;)

Supplies:  Sheenas stamping card, Crafters Companion watercolour card, The Greeting Farm Skater Boy stamp, MM star brads, Sizzix bother star die


Tuesday 5 September 2017

Hearts and Flowers

Its my parents Wedding Anniversary on Sunday and I started this card a few weeks ago with the colouring of the LOTV digi stamp, mainly because I faff so much I can't colour and complete a card in one sitting but yesterday I finally finished it.



The patterned papers are snippets and because the card is 8x8, the papers were too small to cover the area so there are a lot of hidden joins under the doily and embellishments. All the papers have been distressed and the image was paper pierced, very roughly just with a pokey tool, nothing fancy here lol.



For the little sewn heart I dug out my Bazzil In-Stitchez, I'd forgotten how many little stencils I had so they maybe making a welcome return to my regular supplies.  The sentiment is computer generated using a font called Pretty Girls Script, free from Dafont.



The little Prima birdie hides yet another join, as do the leaves and the flower in the top corner, which happens to be a poinsettia just cut out using heart paper.  I did spritz the die cuts with water so I can could scrunch them up a little easier.  I would have liked a rose die but alas as a Mom to two boys and scrapbooker for years my stash is very limited on florals.

I'm going to pop along to Pixie's Playground, I haven't played for a few weeks and I'm hoping I'll get away with bigger than normal snippets ;)


Challenges:-

Pixie's Playground - Use Snippets
Love to Craft - Anything Goes

Supplies:  LOTV Hearts & Flowers digi stamp, Prima paper bird, Sizzix Poinsettia & Garden Greens dies, MM heart brads, Ink it Up dried black ink pad (perfect for edges), Bazzil In-Stitchez and a few HobbyCraft gems.


Sunday 3 September 2017

A Trio of Quick Cards

Hello there, a few very quick cards to share today.  Not been very productive this past fortnight as my husband has been on holiday so we've spent it relaxing together.


This was super quick to make using watercolour paints to create the runny background, added Memory Box Vivienne butterfly die in black cardstock, stamped the sentiment and finished with a few gems and sequins.  


This one is just layered using BoBunny stamps in various shades of pink/purple and was made for my Mother-in-Law.  Again really simple and using the same die, just cut in burgundy cardstock - not picked up too well with the camera, a little overcast and light is pretty dismal today.


I also made a yellow and black one while I had all the stamps out for my card drawer - sometimes simple just works.

I will get round to seeing what everyone has been creating this week and hopefully make a few cards for some challenges, in the meantime happy crafting!

Supplies: Gansai Tambi watercolours, Memory Box Vivienne die, Hero Arts sentiment stamp, BoBunny clear stamps in Urban, Write On and Fancy Frills.