Thanks so much

Recently I acquired some watercolor images which I think will be really useful for lots of occasions. I managed to find some free and some I purchased. I decided to do the under over technique here, I printed two images, one on the card front panel and another to die cut. After cutting the tag I superimposed one over the other after adding another tiny tag. (if looked at straight on the images do line up)

The embossing was done with a strip embossing folder which I believe was free with a mag some time ago. In order to avoid the telltale pressure lines from either side of the folder, I substituted a rubber mat for one of my cutting plates, I did have to add a shim to get just enough pressure, but the effect I wanted was achieved... no lines.

It's based on the sketch at AAA CARDS

 

Although a reversed the side of the focal point because of the angle of the foliage. No gnomes this time, but I may do another to include one!

 

Sending you love

I wonder if you ever see a technique and try it, but then don't know how to use the results of your labours. That happened with the backdrops for this card... it was so long ago that I made them, that I'm no longer sure of the technique I used. I know I used vellum, I think I used alcohol inks and blending solution... but I'm not sure.... anyway I quite like how the chopped up pieces look behind this die-cut. Speaking of which... I have had it for quite some time and never found a use for it before, until this sketch from Freshly Made Sketches

I simply added a plain white foliage die cut (Alexandra Renke) and a simple sentiment (Clearly Besotted)

 

Peace Love Joy

Recently I found a craft company called Creative-Depot from Germany whose products I simple love.  The service to the UK is quick and the shipping cost is not extortionate. One of the things which they make/sell are embossing dies... which simply emboss, not cut. Here I used a snowflake one a couple of times in the background. The cone branch stamp is also by them. Their website however,  is a trifle tricky to navigate for non German speakers. I found that I had to look up the translation of a word in German to enter, before anything could be found in a search. My computer's normal translation didn't seem to operate for this site.

I have several sets of nesting stars dies and I'm not exactly sure which set this is, but they are readily available everywhere. is Hero Arts.

I guess you could call it a partial eclipse as I stamped both under and over the star.

 Christmas 24 Simply Snowflakes

Merry Little Christmas

Anything Christmas Goes.

Good Luck

Another week, another challenge at Stamps & Fun = Creativity and another occasion for me to be a Guest Designer.

The theme this time is Lantern! I guess that at this time of year most people would think of a Halloween lantern... a pumpkin hollowed out and card to make a face, but I don't generally make Halloween cards so I thought I would do a Chinese lantern instead.

To make this one, I heat embossed a WOW background stamp in Gold onto a piece of red card and then I die cut an oval and put it through my paper rippler or corrugator or whatever the piece of kit is called. Actually I think it's called a crimper. Then I grabbed two tiny rectangles from a small part of a complicated die for the top and bottom of the lantern and then added a loop at the top. I didn't have any black thread, so I coloured a piece of stripy thread with a black marker.

I cut two fish tail banners and dry embossed the top one. The sentiment, from Clearly Besotted was also heat embossed in gold.

Despite all, I think it does look quite like a lantern!

 

Happy Birthday

Today is my friend's birthday and we will be joining her and her husband and another couple to celebrate the occasion over a meal. I will be giving her this card, however it is not the one that I made for her originally as that one has mysteriously disappeared! It must be somewhere hiding in plain sight but I can't find it... if it does reappear it will have to do for next year as I did put her name on it!

For this one I used the foliage, circle and tag die cuts by Alexandra Renke, colouring the leaves with a couple of shades of Distress Oxide inks and then stamping some splatters with one of the colours. The 'happy' is from The Greetery and the 'birthday' from Create a Smile. Both are stacked a few times.

The three ladies concerned in this celebration (Ladies who lunch) will be spending a day closer to Christmas meeting alpacas and doing a wreath making workshop, it's our gift to the birthday girl and should be great fun... but first to celebrate this evening!

The Paper Players

Watercooler Wednesday - All things Feminine

 

Happy Birthday

Here is a very simplified version of the sketch at Global Design Project!

The rectangle has been squished, the flower is in place of the circle and the sentiment is as is! If this is too far removed from the sketch I hope the gals over there will disregard it!

I used a plank die by Memory Box and a flower by Alexandra Renke, all coloured by dabbing with Distress Oxide inks. The sentiment is from Clearly Besotted.

The Flower Challenge is still celebrating its 5th Birthday and they would like to see a shape as well as a flower... I think the rectangle of wood satisfies that criterion.

 

I just had to change the water filter on my fridge, that in itself was a nightmare, firstly I bought the wrong one and as I had removed the wrapper,  it cannot be returned... expensive mistake at £60. Then once I had got the right component (fortunately as a slightly cheaper price) I found that I can't manage to reset the filter warning light. Don't you just love technology!

 

Noel

If there's one kind of card that I never tire of making it's Christmas cards, as I know that none will ever be wasted. Some cards which I make for challenges sit in my box of finished cards for years, but Christmas cards always find a home. I seem to send so many each year, for many friends it's my one annual communication with them, so it's important for me. I haven't bought a Christmas card for many years now and I think that the recipients of my cards enjoy the fact that I spent time making them!

This card uses a word die from Florartistry entwined with a couple of holly and ivy die cuts, the origins of which I have long since forgotten! I stacked the NOEL a few times to add a little definition and mounted it on a pierced die cut panel, adding just a few pearls for the holly berries!

ABC Christmas V for Vocabulary

Happy Little Stampers Anything with dies

Merry Little Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes

This one follows the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches

The bauble dies were freebies from a magazine! Tiny tags by Alexandra Renke.

Christmas 24  Simply Snowflakes

 

Happy Birthday

A dear friend of ours will be having a birthday very soon... I never know what to make for him but it usually has a link with music somehow or other. He is a musician, a composer, a singer and all round great fun chap. Here the reference is from a stamp by Artemio and a random quaver... or should I say eighth note for our friends across the pond. Years ago when we lived in Virginia for a while, I had to get used to all sort of different musical terms when we joined a local choir.... including all the names of the notes and measures instead of bars!

The Male Room - Black & White

 

Sending smiles

Here is another card made from a botanical print.

This is one of two pieces of watercolour paper that I squished a fuchsia flower between,  by running it through my Cuttlebug. You can see where I die cut the pansies (by Alexandra Renke) from this image. I will be able to get quite a few more cards in one guise or another from what is left.

I always think that pansies look as though they are smiling at me so this sentiment by SSS seemed perfect! Both the flowers and the sentiment are stacked three times. I stamped a tiny distressed  background stamp by Stamplorations behind the flowers and tried to match the colour by using Milled Lavender Distress Ink.

For mixed media my card is decidedly simple, stamping for the mini backdrop, plus the squished flowers and die cutting!

The Challenge at CAS Mix Up is still open, so do give it a try!

There are links to all sorts of techniques on the CAS Mix Up Blog!

 

Welcome

There's something about a new baby and an all white card that goes hand in hand... the purity of a new life and all white elements seem to me to be the perfect pairing.

I keep discovering dies that I had forgotten I had and having no recollection of their origin as with the scalloped edging, however I do believe that the rabbit is by Alexandra  Renke, the welcome is from Poppy Stamps and the tiny stars are the waste from a SSS background die.

CAS Colours and Sketches

Happy Little Stampers 

Watercooler Wednesday

 

The holly and the Ivy

Today I had a go working with the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches

I began by die-cutting the front panel with a stitched rectangle die from SSS, which I have to elongate a little to accommodate British card sizes. then I took two of the dies I have which make a frame and cut two normally and then cut another piece with the shorter one, shortening it even more to make the smallest stripe.

Next a couple of simple die cuts in deep, deep green and white for the holly and the ivy and then a tiny tag with an added star. Actually I think that the star is the centre of a flower from one of my wreath dies. The sentiment was computer generated in Are you serious font.

Today we were without power for a while, whilst our gas and electricity meters were changed. They will now apparently read themselves and the small smart display will scare us with how much power we are using during the day!

Hey Ho Progress!

 

Hello

It's time for yet another Guest Designer appearance at Stamp & Fun = Creativity and the theme this time is to use your favourite stamp.

This is a tricky thing for me to do. as I have a lot of favourites, but Penny Black's chickens are some of my all time favourites. This one called Totally Excited is just priceless!

I die cut a Sizzix background redolent of chicken wire and placed the chicken as though she was  fluttering out to greet us... hence the sentiment.

There must be lots of you who have a really favourite stamp, so why not join in the fun?

 

Let it snow

I had a fancy for using this tiny reindeer for my card for CAS Christmas this time. The challenge is to use the colours Grey and Red.

I dug out two shades of grey paper and a scrap of red. This little Memory Box deer doesn't actually have a nose per se so I used one from the waste of a holey border die cut. The trees I believe are from SSS or maybe Memory Box, sometimes there seems to be a bit of a cross over of the same dies from different companies. Rudolph is stacked a couple of times and the snow was embossed with a Sheena Douglass EF which is sadly no longer available!

The sentiment is from Stamplorations.

In fact the card started out with a different sentiment, but I looked at it and looked at it and decided it had to go... I really didn't like it. This was the original version.

The big old sentiment takes too much attention away from the little image...IMHO!

Would you agree?

CASology - View

 

Celebrate

This is a celebratory card for a couple of special occasions. 

The 5th birthday of the The Flower Challenge

and AAA Cards

who are celebrating their 200th game.

CAS on Friday  CIRCLES

I used Memory Box embossing circles, a small background stamp and 'celebrate' die from Stamplorations plus some crocuses by Alexandra Renke. 

I made a puddles of colour on my glass mat with Distress inks and water and flapped the die cut flowers into them, adding a little Wink of Stella when dry. The sentiment was stacked a few times, with one fewer layer under the 'c' where  it overlaps the stems.

 

Let it Snow

Today I tried a different method of constructing the well for this shaker card. Instead of using foam tape I cut out several layers of scrap card with a circle aperture the same size as that in the snowflake die by Sara Signature dies. I stacked and adhered them to the acetate behind the snowflake panel. I tried this for a couple of reasons, 1) to prevent the occurrence of the sequins sticking to the edges of the foam tape and 2) to make it easier to surround the circle to make a well. (Using small dimensional pads to surround a circle is a real pain!)

The backdrop was brushed with some Stormy Sky Distress Oxide Ink and then splashed with water and dabbed dry to remove some of the colour. This wasn't quite enough, so I spritzed a splatter stamp with water and stamped with that  then dabbed with paper towel to remove a little more colour.

The sentiment by Stamplorations was stacked 3 times.

ABC Christmas U and V

V for Vocabulary

CAS on Friday 

CIRCLES

Christmas 24 

 

Sending Smiles

Here I coloured the dies by Alexandra Renke by smooshing them in some Peeled Paint Distress Oxide ink and water on my craft mat. I dabbed the strawberries with a little Festive Berries ink and then spritzed them with water. I cut out the circle in the panel and stamped that with some splatters, then spritzed and when dry, put back into the panel, which is raised on foam tape. The sentiment by SSS was stacked with extra layers under the part which fits into the recess in the panel.

CAS on Friday

CIRCLES

 

Thinking of You

For my card I grabbed a bunch of different flowers and leaves from the garden and using my old Cuttlebug, I placed the flowers between pieces of watercolour paper and ran them through the machine. I have to say that a lot of gubbins comes out of the plants, as picked straight from the garden, there is a lot of water content in them, so this time I put a piece of paper towel under the lower paper and it happily absorbed much of the juice. This particular plant was a montbretia flower. Once dry and all the detritus of the plant scraped away it was simply mounted behind a peek a boo window, adorned with a butterfly and given a simple heat embossed sentiment! Lots of pressings are more random but this flower came out particularly clearly.

It's my DT card for the challenge at CAS MIX Up

 Host - Bonnie

Bonnie's Message

This month I'd like to find leaves, flowers, ferns, etc. from the yard and bring them into the craft room to use on a card.  You can put them between 2 pieces of watercolor paper and run them through the Big Shot, or use them on a gel plate, or even paint a leaf and press it onto cardstock.

I can't wait to see what you do with what grows in your space!

Video Tutorials:

Gel Print Leaves by Heather Telford (9:11)
Golden Leaves by Olga Direktorenko (6:30)

Stamping Real Leaves with Distress Oxide Ink by Gina K. Designs (8:22)

Press Leaves with Big Shot with France Martin (6:11)

Press Flowers with Big Shot with Karen Titus (3:53)

Welcome to our wonderful Guest Designer

 Izzy (Izzy Scrap)

Please ensure your card is CLEAN AND SIMPLE