Showing posts with label Computer Sentiment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Computer Sentiment. Show all posts

Sunday, 17 April 2022

40


Some years ago one of my cards found its way to a recipient who lives in Ireland. I usually put a little sticker on the back my cards with my name, phone number and email details etc and in this case it has brought many, many commissions from this particular lady. Every now and again I will receive a text from her requesting a bunch of cards. Sometimes it will be months and months between requests but it's always good to hear from her. 
The stamp used here is an old wood mounted one from Inkadinkadoo, which I think was called My Mother's Dress. I have another smaller version of it somewhere which came as part of a clear stamp set, but I've always loved it. I stamped it in black Versafine ink and then embossed it with WOW Black twinkle embossing powder. I began by colouring it with watercolour pencils, but it was just too insipid for the effect I wanted to achieve, so went over it with a couple of shades of red Copic markers.
I embossed some black card with the same EP and cut the numbers (Sizzix) and the shoes (Britannia Dies) from it. I tired to be a bit subtle with the shoes adding a slightly offset, under layer of red to suggest the brand of rather special manufacturer!






 

Tuesday, 12 April 2022

Have a magical birthday

 


This card is just a bit of fun. The rabbit was a 'thank you' freebie from Charlie & Paulchen with a recent order. I simply found a free piece of clip art of a magician's hat to pop him into, which I printed, cut out, and shaped, mounting it on some foam tape to keep the shape and adding a computer generated sentiment. The fonts used are Champagne and Limousines and Baby Lalisa.
The bunny was gently coloured with alcohol markers.
CASology - Fluffy

Birthday

Seize the Birthday - Anything Goes

Less is More - Occupations .... Magician!






Sunday, 17 October 2021

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




 

Monday, 11 October 2021

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!


 

Monday, 27 September 2021

Happy Birthday Rob


Here is a card which I made for a friend of ours. We went to the same church, we sing in the same choir and in fact I taught his son, who is now a consultant anaesthetist, when he was 5 years old. So our friendship goes back quite a long time. Besides singing he also used to play the tuba, so I thought a musical reference would be fitting! I cut the numbers with my Silhouette portrait, and added some stamping from Artemio. The sentiment was computer generated!
I used an MFT faux stitched circle to mount the momentous number on!

Watercooler Wednesday
- All things Masculine




 

Thursday, 26 August 2021

Happy Birthday


If there's one thing I love it's having a good simple sketch to follow. Today I found this one at 

I spent a long time going through my sentiment stamps to look for something which I thought would work, but eventually ended up using a computer generated one. In fact I did so much messing around with spacings etc, it would probably have been quicker to stamp one using a stamping platform.
Anyway the font is Formal 436 BT.
I decided to add a butterfly to the design to fit in with the challenges at 
CAS on Friday - Butterfly
and Watercooler Wednesday - All things Feminine


The Dreamy butterfly is from Memory Box, coloured with Salvaged Patina and Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide Inks applied with sponge daubers. When dry I stamped and heat embossed some silver splatters.
To make the matching tiny floating dots, I coloured a little card with the inks and then die cut a holey border die and used the 'holes' as the embellishments. There are two sizes of holes in this die and these are from the smaller ones. It's a good way to get and exact match to something you have already coloured... besides colouring dots made from White Nuvo Drops. (which I've actually not tried yet for myself)



 

Saturday, 10 July 2021

The sun will come out tomorrow

When my daughter was small, she loved the film Annie. The song which is quoted on this card was one of her favourites and I think that the sentiment is very upbeat and it's an attitude I have had all my life. If today is not a good day... then tomorrow will be better!
I cut a stencil from Mylar using a die to do the raindrops. I simply dabbed some Versamark through the stencil ... I did think of leaving it to dry but decided to add a little clear embossing powder for a little extra shine. The sentiment was computer generated in 'Are you serious' font.
I won a challenge at CAS on Friday a little time ago and so this time I have a Guest Spot with them.  I feel very honoured.


 

Monday, 5 July 2021

Support


I have made a card similar to this before, using this MFT die set. The insert of the bra is just plain, but I wanted to give a lacy effect, so I looked through my embossing folders to see if I could find one which would give that lacy look. I have used a different one previously, but discovered that this one of Small Flowers from Nellie's Choice fit the bill admirably.
The die set is called Support Hope and I think was intended to support women with breast cancer, but this sentiment, which was shown to me by a friend who was going through another sort of cancer, expressed just how important the fellowship and strength of friends are when times are tough!
I generated the sentiment on the computer in Formal 436 font, which I thought matched the black bra well.



 

Friday, 18 June 2021

Wonderful Memories


A commission recently required a condolence card with specific wording, for a gentleman friend of the sender who had passed away. When a life has been long and full, it is wonderful when good memories remain and that is the message this card needed to convey, so the words were all important, which is why I wanted to make them central to the design.
I positioned the words in a very technical way... I set my screen in Word to 118% which makes the visible page on the screen of my laptop the exact same size as a piece of A4. (On my last laptop it was 105%.) I then cut the aperture using the die with a piece of copy paper, which I could then hold in front of the screen, and using text boxes, could arrange the words where I wanted them to fit in the aperture. Once printed, it was easy to put the sentiment behind the aperture and add a simple die cut soaring sea bird to complete the simple design.

Watercooler Wednesday Occasions (Sorry this is a sad one)





Paper Minutes #696 - Keep it simple

 

Sunday, 14 February 2021

Will you be my Valentine?

Today us Valentine's Day!
I hope everyone has a lovely day!
A penguin may seem an unlikely character for a Valentine greeting, but there's a bit of a story to this one. I have a friend who asked me to make a Valentine card for his wife and he specifically requested a penguin.   It seems that last month, for her birthday, he bought a jolly looking card for her with penguins on, failing to notice that it was in fact a Christmas card!!! Needless to say his wife noticed it immediately and he was simply amused by his mistake. Now, wishing to keep the penguin theme going, he gave me this request! Funnily enough only yesterday, his wife put a memory on Facebook of seeing the penguins at Philip Island in Australia, so it was quite topical as far as that was concerned too.
This little chap is a cut file from Silhouette, with an added punched heart, and a computer generated sentiment in what I think is All Things Pink font.
I popped him onto dimensional pads for a little interest!






I am SO disappointed by the result of the impeachment trial in the US... just how so many Republican senators could vote to acquit after such damning evidence is beyond my comprehension. Let's hope justice comes by some other method!


 

Saturday, 6 February 2021

A balanced diet!


It almost seems impossible that it is 10 Years since Mandi and I got our heads together to come up with the idea of a Blog Challenge for Clean and Simple cards. 
The thing we came up with was "Less is More". 
At that time there were very few challenges for CAS cards and lots of people seemed to like the idea but didn't know how to go about keeping a design really simple. It was rather unexpected and at the same time, innovative, that we made suggestions to challengers on ideas for improving or simplifying their makes. The main thing is that we quickly amassed thousands (literally) of followers to our blog. We also encouraged contestants to comment on fellow entrants' cards. There were only two of us on the design team and even though we commented on each individual entry, that meant that there would only be two comments from the challenge. It was the beginning of a great community where lots of people got to know one another, via their comments, It was something that made us both proud.
I am so grateful that like minded crafters were willing to step up to help and when I finally decided to step back after about 6 years of running the challenge, the legacy has been allowed to continue.
Thanks go to everyone who has worked in whatever capacity to keep it going!
I am really touched that the girls at LIM have asked me to join them as a Guest Designer for this very special Milestone Challenge!
Now onto this card!
As with the very first challenge, it's a colour challenge and this time it's 
CHOCOLATE


I used an SVG file from Silhouette which I cut out with my Portrait and coloured the various layers with alcohol pens. When I had assembled the chocolates, I gave them a couple layers of clear embossing to add shine and make the edges look more realistic. I made the sentiment on the computer using the font Dohearts. I have my Word programme set to 105% which makes the actual size on my screen to exactly A4, so I can hold things up to my screen to see if I like the placement of the words. I use Text Boxes to add the words, so that I can move them wherever I want. Not very techy but it works for me!

I popped the chocs onto dimensional pads to add a little relief. 

I hope lots of people will join in on this very special occasion, and I hope to come and visit to see your makes!


Stay safe everyone!


 

Wednesday, 7 October 2020

Coffee


I wanted to join in the one layer challenge at AAA Cards
 
Quite some time ago I came across this sentiment, which I jotted down as I thought it might come in handy sometime. So I had the sentiment but couldn't find a suitably sized or appropriate image, so I thought that I would draw one. Being a one layer card I chose to colour it with watercolour pencils and a water brush, so that there would be no colour transfer to the inside of the card. I printed the sentiment from the computer and then added the drawing... it's not my finest hour but at least I think it looks like coffee!

I bought this set of pencils second hand (but hardly used) from my friend and they come in really handy from time to time!  They would have cost the earth brand new.
Maybe the folks at WOYWW would like to see them! 
I'm off to accompany my husband for a eye test, I don't trust him to choose new frames for himself, by himself!



Tuesday, 29 September 2020

Guest Elf at Christmas Kickstart

 

I was delighted to have been asked by the lovely Jo, to be a Guest Elf on the wonderful
It's such a great idea to get a supply of cards ready for Christmas throughout the year, so avoiding all that drama when posting deadlines approach and insufficient cards are ready!
The challenge this time is 

My first thought of sweeties at Christmas is Candy Canes. In the late 1970's, we lived in Northern Virginia for a period of three years. My son was newly born when we arrived and so Christmases  were extra special with a little one. Unlike the UK at that time, there were candy canes aplenty and I used them to decorate the tree (not that he was able to indulge in them that first Christmas)
There seems to be a phrase 'Candy Cane wishes and Mistletoe Kisses', so I used this image from Dustin Pike, added a tiny stamp of mistletoe, (which I think was freebie from a mag) and a tiny scrap of ribbon, tied with my bowmaker. I added a  computer generated sentiment. I just noticed that I missed the 'cane' part off the sentiment, but I think it's still OK!
The frame was die cut with a new set I just bought on Amazon from Presscut. There are 16 Stitch/Dot squares which emboss either side of the cut line, so that both panels or apertures are edged! They range in size from 1/2in to 8 ins and have coordinating plain dies of which there are 32! I think they are going to be exceptionally useful!
Why not join in the fun and get ahead with those Christmas makes!


 

Wednesday, 23 September 2020

Exhausting!


Here is a simple one layer card which I made for the challenge at The Paper Players

It's an image from Art Impressions, simply shaded with some watercolour pencils and blended with a water brush!
The sentiment was generated on the computer. 
In order to get it positioned just where I wanted it, I popped the two parts of the sentiment into text boxes and  stamped an image of the cat onto a piece of copy paper. 
I have my Word programme set to 105%  which makes the visible image on my screen exactly the size of a piece of A4 paper. I held the stamped image in front of my screen, and moved the text boxes around until I was satisfied with their location.  It's easy to see through the copy paper with the light of the screen behind it! Once the outlines of the text boxes were removed I printed the card and then cut it to size. With the help of my Stamp Easy I stamped the cat and coloured him!





 

Wednesday, 15 April 2020

Leo


The challenge at CASology this time is quite tricky I think!


I wasn't quite sure what to do for it, but then thought that I would try to do my birth sign constellation. So this is my interpretation of LEO!
I inked a piece of card with Tumbled Glass and Chipped Sapphire Distress ink, blending the two colours together. I die cut a mountain peak silhouette and placed it at the bottom of the panel. Next I plotted the stars from the Leo constellation and drew lines between them with a Jelly roll pen. I also dotted a few extra stars in the sky with the pen. Then I added some tiny silver stars to each point of the constellation. The sentiment is a quote from Theodore Roosevelt, which I think is just SO good and so very sensible!
We have been so lucky to have had such lovely weather since our lockdown began; at least we can spend some time outdoors and we have managed to have a short walk most days.
Do take care everyone and we will get through this!




Monday, 6 April 2020

Jingle Bells


I came across this stamp (from Stampendous) amongst my Christmas collection and thought it would be a good idea to use  it for the challenge at CAS Christmas

I have lots of dies which cut wavy lines so I thought I would use one of those to use for the mount. Nearly ALL of them swirl in the opposite direction to the wave of the music stave! Finally I found one which almost echoes it... if you don't scrutinise it too closely.
 The MFT Santa looks as though he's pointing to it so I thought I would add a sentiment to put into  words what I think he could be saying! I tried to use a font for this which was in keeping with that on that on the music stamp. 
I hope you're all staying safe!
Take Care!

Saturday, 4 April 2020

Different seasons


Here is a simply coloured SU image for the challenge at CAS Watercolour.
I stamped the image, masking off the sentiment, so that I could add my own. I used Watercolour pencils and a waterbrush to add colour and made a sentiment on the computer with a font to reflect that of the newsprint in the image.


This next one is for the challenge at ABC Christmas

The image is from A Day for Daisies, and as the teddy is inside the stocking, I thought that it would qualify for the 'I for inside' part of the challenge.
It was simply coloured with alcohol markers (I say that rather than using any particular brand name , as I have had many different sets of markers, some of which have dried up over time and been tossed, so I mix and match the brands to try to get the colours I want.)
I added a little Fun Flock to the band on the stocking for a little more interest, so I am also entering this into the TEXTURE challenge at Addicted to CAS

Thursday, 19 March 2020

Christmas Spirit


The challenge at Christmas Kickstart this time is 
Christmas Cheer AKA Alcohol!
I love the images from Bugaboo and having coloured this one I wondered what sentiment I should add, I thought that this one seemed somewhat appropriate!
When making computer generated sentiments, I try to match the weight of the font to the line of the image and the character of the subject matter. Here I used  Mahoni Free. I set my computer to see the page at 105% which makes the image I see on screen, the same size as a sheet of A4  (the size card I cut my card bases from). SO having coloured and cut out my image, I can hold it up against the screen of my computer and see if I like the placement and move the text around in text boxes to fit. All very technical ... NOT! But it works.
Stay well everyone!

Saturday, 21 September 2019

LIfe is just a bowl of cherries!

I had this piece of grey card left over from an aperture card I had made for a friend. SO when I saw the challenge at Just Us Girls, I decided to use it as a panel for my card. I stamped some script and some blotches on it in a slightly darker shade of grey and then die cut a few stems to superimpose over it. The green card was coloured by daubing some Cracked Pistachio ink over white card and stamping a few splotches in silver. The white piece was just distressed at the edges with Hickory Smoke ink. I added a few pearls and a simple sentiment.

I coloured this Penny Black image, cut it out and mounted it on my cards base, where I had computer generated the sentiment. I looked at it for quite some time before I noticed that I had missed the word 'a' from the sentiment. So it was taken apart and and a new base printed!!! I think these words come from a song but I don't exactly remember who sang it... I think it may have been Doris Day!

 Just Add Ink Just Add food.