Be Merry

Today I am trapped upstairs until about 4pm whilst the screed on the floor downstairs 'goes off', which probably means that it changes from liquid to solid.. We will be having a new floor through the hall, dining room and kitchen and that will be laid starting tomorrow. Downstairs, there is no way of getting to a loo without going over some of the screeded area, so I'm playing it safe and staying upstairs, with my picnic! We have also got problems with our internet and the Virgin engineer has been around to try to suss out the problem and it seems that during our kitchen refurbishment something untoward happened with the cabling and we need to get a new bit of cabling done... but of course the engineer can no longer get into the kitchen until the screed there has 'gone off'!

Such are the joys!

Anyway here is a card for a couple of challenges.  I used the colours from Fab Friday

and the stash Challenge from 52 Christmas Card Throwdown

I'm not sure of all the makes of the dies etc, I think the bow is from a bra set from MFT, the sentiment I think maybe from Penny Black and I can't remember the origin of the wreath die either. The wood plank stamp is from Impression Obsession.

At least the sun is shining!

 

Birthday Wishes

I was lucky enough to have one of my cards chosen as the CAS Perfectionist at Addicted to CAS.

 Kylie very kindly invited me to be the Guest Designer for the current challenge which is  

I don't know if any of you know the stories of Little Nut Brown Hare in the 'Guess How Much I Love You' series, but Anita Jeram, the illustrator, has designed lots of stamps for the Colorado Craft Company. The one I have used here, plus its matching die are from that collection!

I simply coloured the image with alcohol markers, die cut it and mounted it on dimensional pads. I say alcohol markers as I have to use a cross section of makes lately, as I have many different brands... Copic, Promarkers, Chameleon, Spectrum Noir, Mirage ... to name a few, but as I have had them all for quite some considerable time, many are drying up and so certain shades are missing, so I just mix and match where I can! I imagine that some time I will need to just throw out the lot and start from scratch! I probably would have done it sooner if markers were not so expensive.

The tiny sentiment is from Sugar Peas Designs.

Although I have a MISTI, I bought a Vaessen stamping platform some time ago which I actually prefer, as it is a little more versatile. It automatically adjusts to different thicknesses of stamps as the cover is spring loaded and it doesn't have a well or recess as the MISTI does, so an opened out card will fit into it, or rather will extend beyond the edges without getting creased!

I have been using a Scor-Pal to crease my cards, (which I cut from A4 sheets of card) for many years and is now becoming rather beaten up. I thought I would try the Vaessen version for a change as I was so pleased with the stamp platform, but stupidly ordered the imperial version instead of the decimal one, so I'll have a trip to the post office later to send that back. The proper version for me should arrive tomorrow. For some reason the imperial version was cheaper, which is probably what caught my eye rather than the dimensions!

Thanks once more to Kylie for allowing me to join in the fun with this challenge!

 

Noel

I don't often think about making tall or long skinny cards, unless a challenge suggests it, so here is one for the challenge at Christmas Card Throwdown.

I used a tree from Artemio and stamped it many times in my stamping platform, adding several colours of Distress inks for each stamping. The sentiment is from a Sizzix die stacked with 4 layers.

CASology

Merry Little Christmas

Anything Christmas Goes

ABC Christmas F- Fir Trees

Christmas Kickstart. Green Christmas

My kitchen is so near completion... however, I'm dreading having to move a lot of heavy furniture out of the way for a new floor in the dining room, hall and kitchen.

photos of the completed work will be coming soon I hope!

Congrats

 I really love the large background stamp (from Simon Says Stamp), which I used to make the panels for this card. I embossed a piece of black card using WOW Pale Gold EP and then cut it into three strips. The sentiment, (which is die cut and popped up on dimensional pads) is from Stampin' Up!

Addicted to Stamps and More

Colours and Sketches

I am getting a little concerned about letters not arriving when posted at my nearest post box. A card I posted last Friday to Portsmouth with a first class stamp, still hasn't arrived at its destination. Several packages of masks I made and other mail posted there also have gone astray. Something very odd is going on! I may have to pursue the matter further!

 

Thinking of you

A card for a couple of challenges.

CAS on Friday want to see a musical reference and AAA Cards have an Along the edge challenge.

 I haven't gone for the optional  twist this time, as I wanted to use this old violin stamp from Rubbadubbado, and it doesn't have a die to match so I cut it by hand.

We are now into the third week of being without a kitchen. It is being painted as I type, we are waiting for a couple of cabinet doors, as I changed my mind about the layout a little so another couple of doors had to be manufactured. On Friday the quartz will be fitted, swiftly followed I hope by the installation of the hob and the sink and taps. We will then have a couple of days grace before the floor is fitted, after which we will probably retire to a darkened room to get over all the upheaval!

Hopefully the end is in sight!

 

A card for Joel

A friend asked me to make a card for a little chap who will be celebrating his 5th Birthday and loves football (or soccer as our friends across the pond like to call it). I sat pondering for a while and then came up with the notion of making a spinner card. I've had this football die for ages and don't think that I have ever got round to using it before. I found that a Sizzix Framelit die was just the same size, so I cut one of those to use as a backing to stick all the fiddly bits onto. I cut one each in black and white and made 2 balls. I will use the other later sometime. The little footballer chappie is from a very old set of kid's stamps from Bang on the door. They are kind of foam backed, but work really well! By making the grass quite deep, it served to make a space big enough to accommodate the ball and by putting the cut out stamp to the back made it look like he was in the distance running up to the ball... that's what I think any way! I cut the name and the number with my Silhouette Portrait!

With the sphere of the ball and the hexagons on it , I thought it quite suitable for the challenge at Addicted to CAS.

Butterfly birthday

I have rather greenish tips to the end of my fingers, after having a lovely play making this card. I die cut the memory box butterfly and inked it with some Twisted Citron Distress Ink, then after spritzing both the cardstock and the butterfly, I used one to make prints on the other. After I had finished, the butterfly was quite a deep shade, so I decided that the colour was a little too far removed from the backdrop to be used as an embellishment, so I cut another butterfly and und gently coloured that with more ink and water.

I used the sketch from Fab Friday

and the technique from CAS Mix Up

Where they are celebrating their 5th Birthday.

Our new kitchen is progressing apace, however there have been a couple of snags but the boss man says all will be sorted... and I have every faith in him, he installed our last kitchen over twenty years ago and that has been great.

Outside the Box - Beautiful backgrounds

I think that the background made with this gorgeous Memory Box Butterfly is rather beautiful!

Stay safe everyone!

A couple of cards

Here is my final contribution to the colour challenge at CAS Christmas.

What a lovely challenge to celebrate their 3rd Birthday. Congratulations girls!

For this card I used a piece of DP for the gnome's clothes, I used an embossing folder to add some texture to his beard, it was part of a damask design I believe and I added a little interest to the bottom panel by heat embossing a French Script stamp in WOW Opaque white EP. The dies and sentiment are from Simon Says Stamp.

Just US Girls 

I often use embossing folders to add interest to die-cuts.

Addicted to Stamps and More 

Merry Little Christmas

Anything Christmas Goes

Here is another card for the inchie challenge at AAA Cards

I wasn't sure if I preferred it with or without a sentiment

Here it is with a sentiment. It's for some friends who have just moved house. I guess that as the challenge says One Inchie, the one without the sentiment is closer to the mark, however adding the sentiment does make the card a little more appropriate for the recipients!

The little bird house comes from a long line of houses on an Artemio stamp, which I masked with tape before inking, so as to have just one!

An inch looks very small doesn't it!

 

Jingle all the way

Here's another card for the challenge at CAS Christmas

I think that  this is a terrific colour combo and so  thought that I would have another go! 

I used a cut file from Silhouette to create the little reindeer and stamped the backdrop of the card with a plank stamp using Versamark to give the impression of a wooden stable, with the reindeer peeping out of the peek a boo window.

I covered the face with Nuvo Crystal Glaze. The sentiment is from Cutplorations. 

Today it is Mothering Sunday in Britain, the day when many years ago, domestic servants were given the day off to go and visit their mothers, probably gathering a few wild flowers on the way, to take with them. I am informed that a surprise will be arriving for me today, it's just a shame that my kids can't give me an actual hug!

Tomorrow the actual installation of my new kitchen begins!

Colour Challenge

I think that Christmas cards are my absolute favourite kind of card to make, probably because they all get used, whereas some which I make for challenges, never quite have the appropriate recipient and so they sit in boxes forever... just waiting!

Here is a really simple card for the challenge at Christmas Card Throwdown

I was intrigued by the colour combo and set about looking through my stash for ideas. I came across this ridged grey card and so started from there. I wanted the white to be a snowflake and so I needed to add some rose gold. I cut a square and embossed it many times with a mix of Copper and Gold embossing powders, the finished colour IRL is really rather nice. 

I ummed and ahhed about whether or not to add a sentiment and decided in the end to leave it as is.

Hopefully the Covid restrictions should start to be eased as more and more people are vaccinated. I have heard that sometimes there is a reaction to the second dose even is the first was symptom free, I should be getting my second next month, so fingers crossed that all goes well!

Stay safe everyone.

 

Merry Christmas

Here is a card for the challenge at CAS Christmas which has the requirement to have the the colours kraft, red and white.

 I have used this IO tree line die similarly a few times before, altering what I stamped/embossed the trees with. This time I used a large, old, SU stamp of French Script to add a little interest to the foliage. I think it almost looks like a smattering of snow. I had to take care how I masked off the lower part of the die cut as Post Its or whatever leave a little residue which can pick up embossing powder, so I used plain copy paper in sections and taped it to my glass mat. I used WOW Opaque Bright White embossing powder.

The sentiment from Sugar Pea Designs, was stamped with Aged Mahogany Distress Oxide ink. Having shortened the length of the tree line I put on the twine before finding a die to use as the mounting panel. Needless to say I couldn't find one which was quite the right size, however this rectangle die was just about right in one dimension, so I cut it from both directions, shortening it in order to make a square.

ABC Christmas F Fir trees

We have a weekend without workmen, whilst the new plaster in the kitchen dries. Next week the new kitchen installation will commence (hopefully).

Thinking of you

Here's another attempt for the challenge at CAS Mix Up to print using die cuts.

Congrats and many thanks again on your special celebration, it's quite a milestone!

Here I used some either Poppy Stamps or Memory Box leaf dies  (not exactly sure which). I slopped a little Peeled Paint  and |Forest Moss Distress Oxide Inks onto the cuts, and spritzed both  the paper and the die cuts with water before taking a print.

The panel was cut with an MFT fishtail die, cut part way from both ends to make it rectangular rather than have the pennant shape. The sentiment is from Clearly Besotted.

Addicted to Stamps and more Die-cuts Stencils

Sending Smiles

The gals over at CAS Mix UP are celebrating their 5th Birthday! It's quite an achievement and the tremendous time and energy which goes into running such an enterprise does not go unnoticed. Thank you all so much.

The challenge this time is to print using die-cuts. 

I have been wanting this shade of Distress Oxide ink for quite some time and this Speckled Egg pad arrived yesterday. I decided to make a stamp from some Funky Foam, using a Memory Box butterfly die.

I used a cut out from the die to make the background, adding colour with a blending brush and spritzing with water. I inked my 'stamp' with Distress Oxide ink and then spritzed that with water before stamping, then misted the whole thing with water after stamping. The splatters were from an old SU stamp. The tiny butterflies were die cut from some unsuccessful attempts at the background butterflies.

Its's not quite the method indicated on the challenge blog but I think it probably still qualifies as water did come into the process quite a bit!

At the moment our kitchen is undergoing some plastering as part of the renovation and the internet is offline whilst he works around the outlets. However  just yesterday I discovered how to use my computer using the wifi from my phone! There's life in the old girl yet!

Holly inchie

Here is a simple card made for the challenge at AAA Cards.

 

I love this tiny old wood mounted stamp from Stampendous. The image it produces is always beautifully crisp and it is perfect for an inchie! I simply stamped it with Versafine onyx black ink and then embossed it with some holographic EP. This leaves a little twinkle, which in fact is not apparent in this picture. A simple frame was dry embossed using the next size up of stitched dies. When I came to look at the card front I realised that it was slightly off centre, so before doing anything else I decided to try a second embossing, slightly offset from the first one, to make the whole of the embossing central. I knew that by putting the card through the Big Shot a second time would somewhat flatten the first impression, but as they were so close together, it wasn't as flat as I thought it might be and by gently rubbing the second impression from the back of the card, it equalised the depths of each impression.

I was tempted to colour the image but as the twist for the challenge this time is black and white I decided to leave it as is! 

We are having a new kitchen. This week has been a week of devastation. The old kitchen was removed totally and piping for the water supply to the new fridge installed, then yesterday the whole of the electrics were revamped, rewired, re-sited and the media gubbins moved to a new position.

When we moved into this house about 34 years ago, the kitchen window was central to that wall, but after a few years we decided we needed to move the wall slightly to give us more usable space. The kitchen we just had removed was installed when that extension took place. Kitchen #3 coming up!

How time flies.

My conservatory is my kitchen at the moment, the utility room sink will remain in action until the new  one is installed and usable in the kitchen, then the utility room will be renovated!

We are keeping well away from the action!

 

Merry Christmas

I saw a Tic Tac Toe challenge from Christmas 24 and spied that one of the choices was to use DP. Since settling on CAS as my preferred card style, I still have a reasonable amount of papers lurking around. I have taken lots to a charity shop, but still some remains. Here I used a piece that I would otherwise never use to make this card. I used some fort he clothes and some for the backdrop. The sketch is from Freshly made Sketches

I used Die Cuts, pearls and DSP

The die cut figure is from SSS and I coloured a piece of ribbon with an alcohol marker to match the paper.

The figure is mounted on dimensional pads and I thought that I had committed the unforgivable error of sticking it on before adding the sentiment, but using my stamping platform, I managed to get a neat impression of the stamp for the sentiment, without having to rip the gnome off!