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 

 

Peace

When I saw the challenge at Just Us Girls, I immediately thought of this fairly newly acquired little die from Creative-Depot. Being all white on white, it's a little tricky to see the half snowflake descending over the aperture. I dry embossed a snowy backdrop for the shaker part and filled it with creamy white sequins and little shiny things. The sentiment is stacked three times.

Extremely CAS, but I guess that's me!

 

Snowflake

Here is a card for the challenge at CAS Christmas, which is simply entitled Snowflake

For my card I decided to make a shaker card to use some beautiful jewels, sent to me as a prize. I cut the Memory Box snowflake from the front panel of my card and put a piece of OHP acetate behind the aperture. I cut two snowflakes and layered them over the acetate, into the space on the front panel. I then surrounded the shape with little dimensional pads on the reverse side of the panel and dropped the jewels into the gap.I always used to get into a pickle trying to place the window accurately onto my card front once it was filled with jewels or sequins or whatever, so now I put another piece of acetate over the shape to keep the shakey bits contained. Then I can turn it over to place accurately on the card front. I placed a piece of  a print from a stencil background I made some time ago behind the snowflake to add just a little interest!

It was a little fiddly, but fun to do!

Vellum or acetate

The challenge at Less is More this week is to use Vellum or Acetate.

Vellum is a really versatile medium and here I used it in a slightly different way from anything I have done before. 

I began by embossing a small sheet with a stencil and then dropped a variety of autumnal shades of alcohol ink and a little blending solution before allowing it to dry. I then cut some leaves from this and arranged them into a wreath shape and adding a layered die-cut sentiment from Stamplorations.

I attached them by spraying the reverse of the shapes with Spray and Stick, but I'm not too sure if they will remain secure... time will tell!

Die cut leaves are from Impression Obsession.

This one uses a little acetate to create the transparent part of this shaker card.

The die cuts are from Papertrey Ink and Cuttlebug.

Since photographing this I have moved the @ sign down a little... it irritated me that it wasn't quite in the right place... in fact I've also moved the Kim to the right and the 4 closer to the zero... maybe I should take another pic!

Here is another which I just made today at the request of a friend. 

It's for the daughter of a friend of hers who has just been awarded the OBE.
I began by printing an image of the medal on my laser printer and then foiling it in gold. So as to make the effect a little more subtle, I used a layer of vellum over this, to which I attached the sentiment. I used three different fonts for the die cuts and accentuated the OBE by using a larger set of dies and cutting them from gold card.
The dies used were from Memory Box (congrats and Mel) Avery Elle (celebrate) and Craft essentials Creative dies (OBE) The stars were a freebie from a magazine.

Shakers

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I made a couple of shaker cards today. This one uses a floral die  which came in the pack from Sizzix with my Big Shot Plus. I made the frame with a couple of stitched dies from Simon Says Stamp and accompanied it with a couple of butterflies from Poppy Stamps. The coloured card was made with the squished flower technique and has been sitting in the drawer since last season.

The Congratulations is from Tattered Lace.

It's for the Shaker challenge at AAA Cards

I'm not so fond of how this one turned out, but it's a flower from the same Sizzix bundle, together with leaves from Marianne, 'Happy'is  from Creative Dies and 'Birthday' from Papertrey Ink. The card was coloured with a smooshy inky technique, not sure exactly how I did it but it's another from the supply of background card I made some time ago!

This is another for the Black and White challenge at Dies R Us..

The trees are another new acquisition from Poppy Stamps, which I inlaid. The sentiment from Hobby Art was stamped and then die cut using a stitched die from SSS, lengthening it slightly so as to accommodate the length of the words.

The lady who commissioned this card seems to have an abundance of friends who produce babies on a regular basis, as I have made many many birth congratulations cards for her. This is the latest, for which I used the sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch. 

The images are from Simon Says Stamp on a background embossed with a Stampin' Up folder. The name was computer generated and the 'Welcome' is from Paper Smooches.The pink parts have been twinkled with Glamour Dust!

Sequins

We never like making Sympathy cards and this one was particularly difficult as it was for my son's Godmother whose husband passed away recently. She loves green and for me butterflies always signify change from one state of being to another and so is a focus I use often on this genre of card. The background was smooshed with inks and the butterfly cut with Memory Box dies.  The sentiment is from Die'sire.

The sequins are a mix of tiny ones from eBay (which are perfect for shaker cards) and some pretty shaped ones from Clearly Besotted.

I cut the front panel with a large, stitched, rectangle die from Lil Inkers, extended to make a square.

It's for AAA cards Sequins challenge

Addicted to Stamps - Anything Goes

"Less is More" is 5!

Can you believe that "Less is More" has been going strongly for five years!

I don't know where the time has gone to!

This week there are lots of sponsors and lots of prizes so a very good reason to join in.

As with our very first challenge, it's a colour theme and those chosen this time are

WHITE ON WHITE

Here is a die from MFT, embossed with a Craft Concepts EF, part of which fits the cups of this bra perfectly. The sentiment is from a Penny Black die with additional words computer generated,

I did have a thought after I'd made this that I could have put the  'for your support' bit behind a  lift up flap... maybe next time.

The sentiment here goes to all those who have supported Less is More over the years and it's truly heartfelt.

Here I am in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, last week at the beautiful Konoko Falls and Park... I do apologise for my lack of commenting during my holiday, but on board a cruise ship, there didn't seem to be lots of time!

Here's another white on white shaker card, using all die cuts. The champagne glass is from MFT, the letters are from Memory Box, Alphabet Soup with the @ sign from Cuttlebug.

Finally a wedding card using die-cuts and the Couture Creations embossing folder entitled Tied Together which I think seems so appropriate for a wedding card!

The heart is from Simon Says Stamp, the initials from Cuttlebug, the flourish from MFT and I'm uncertain of the make of the stitched, rounded rectangle.

The sentiment is computer generated in Andalus and Alex Brush Fonts.

I do hope that there will be a bumper number of entries in Less is More's challenge this week to celebrate quite an achievement!

Less is More recipe

The recipe at Less is More this week is Something shiny!

The something shiny in this one is Glossy Accents, added to this digi image from Chris Dark, the Sketching Stamper. It was coloured with alcohol pens and accompanied with a computer generated sentiment!

Here are a couple of Elizabeth craft bauble dies cut from gold card and made into a simple shaker design. I use tiny iridescent sequins as the shakers. Even the ribbons are shiny! The sentiment is from Wplus9.

More gold card here with a background of alcohol ink marbled card and a Memory Box butterfly and sentiment.

More Glossy Accents here over a simple image. accompanied by a computer generated sentiment. I don't remember where the image came from, I was having a tidy up the other day and came across all sorts of partially started bit and pieces, so just finished off this image and made a card from it!

We just heard that my daughter's cat has been run over and killed. Everyone is really sad and my grandchildren are distraught. Tilly had such a special place in everyone's hearts in her short life. She will be sorely missed!

CASe this sketch

The sketch at CASe this sketch is cute this week and there are some amazing DT examples so I thought I would have try at it!

Here are a whole mix of die cuts from different companies. It's a fraction of a Hero Arts background stamp embossed with WOW Sparkling Snow EP then cut and mounted onto a rounded corner stitched square die cut.

This simple shaker card is for the Holly Challenge at HLS Christmas Challenge

It's a Memory Box die and the JOY is from Wplus9.

It's also for the Die Crazy challenge at Simon Says Stamp!

I'm off to take a friend to the Oncologist for her assessment following Chemo and Radiotherapy to see when her surgery will be, then I'm off to Bath to look after my grandson for the half days of his last week of part time school. Life is never dull!

Shake It!

At Simon Says Stamp there's a challenge for a shaker card.

I haven't made a shaped receptacle for the shakey bits before, but there are such amazing DT inspiration cards this time that I thought that I'd have a go!

No stamping at all here, merely diecuts...and lots of them from a variety of sources. 

The large butterfly is Spellbinder, the larger ones inside the card and decorating the outside are Stampin' Up, the tiny ones inside are from a Dienamics die, the word 'happy' is Simon Says Stamp and 'Birthday' is Papertrey Ink.

Clean and Simple on Sunday have the challenge 'Birthday', so this is for that too!

In the frame

For the challenge at My Time to Craft this week I decided to make a shaker card.

The frame is a rubber stamp from the Miss Daisy Collection at Cuddly Buddly, which I heat embossed in silver and shaded with Copics.

I don't know if you've noticed, but there is a Giveaway going on at Cuddly Buddly at the moment. Each week, Kim is giving away a set of three new stamps to some lucky person who has left a comment on the blog! Might be worth a visit!

I discovered a roll of double sided adhesive 3D tape in Poundland, together with some 3D pads. Such good value... I must go back for more! This tape made the shaker box so much easier to construct. Previously I'd been using rows of tiny 3D squares, which was very fiddly, with this tape however, it can be done very quickly in comparison.

The box is mounted on a silver square and filled with varying sized silver hearts.

The papers are from Cuddly Buddly and the corner embellishments are from Cuttlebug dies.

I think that this card might be useful for engagements or weddings, or just to send a little love!