Fancy Fold

A little time agao I saw a video from Jennifer McGuire demonstrating a Bridge fold card and so I thought I would try it. I have worked out a couple of sets of dimensions which will fit into British envelopes. This one is for a 150 x 150 mm envelope. The joy of these three dimensional cards is that they readily fold flat for mailing.

I began by making the card base and then searched for a set of heart dies which could make a frame to bridge the gap across the front. I found these from Little B amongst my stash. The Mr & Mrs die is from Kaisercraft, although I think it is now discontinued. It was just too small to attach across the heart so I cut a piece of acetate to put behind the heart on to which I could attach the words. I used an embossing folder from Couture Creations (which co-ordinated really well with the foliage sprig from Sizzix,) for the back panel. To complete the card I added a twinkle of Glamour Dust on the heart and the sentiment and added a few tiny pearls as berries. The edges of the front flaps were cut with a border die from Stampin' Up.

Addicted to CAS

Just Us Girls

Special Day

My daughter has a close friend who will be marrying very soon and this is the card which I made for her.

The heart die is by Simon Says Stamp and once cut, I embossed it with a delicate Nellie's Choice embossing folder. The entwined initials are from Cuttlebug (Olivia) and the wedding sentiment die is from Creative Expressions.

The challenge at Happy Little Stampers CAS this time is Anything Goes, with the optional twist  entitled Special Day. I must confess that a wedding is really up there in the special league!

I made another card with this die for another Special day simply using various shades of card in the red spectrum, paired with a bold sentiment from WOW.

Someone from my choir bought this Valentine card. I hope the recipient was pleased!

Loving

Some years ago one of my cards found its way to a lady in Northern Ireland and since that time she has contacted me to make personalised cards for many occasions for many of her family and friends.

This week was one such occasion... it started as a request for four cards, which turned into an additional two before they were posted off to her this morning. This is for one of the requests. 

The way that I get the text onto the correct part of the card is all very technical... I have my Word program set to 105% zoom which makes it just about the same size as a sheet of A4, so using text boxes I put the words into the correct place by holding the front panel of the card with the aperture cut into it, over my screen and then move the text boxes around until the words fit behind the aperture! I'm sure there's a proper way of doing it, but it works for me.

CAS on Friday #149 Flowers

TIMEOUT 

Embossing folder by Creative Embossing, leaf spray Marianne, flowers Memory Box

Twofer

Darnell's Twofer Challenge this time is for a wreath!

Here I used a die from Memory Box I believe, for a Christmas card and a card which might be suitable for a Wedding, Engagement or an Anniversary!

Here are the cards individually

The Noel on this one is from Sizzix, the leaves from Crafter's Companion and the bow from MFT. To make the depth of colour of the greens for the leaves I used some glossy photographic paper and daubed it with alcohol inks. When dry, the colours are rich and vibrant and after die-cutting look fab!

The silver base for this card was the cover from a menu at a meal we attended! The dove die was a freebie from a magazine, the Congrats is from Hero Arts, and I'm not really sure of the origin of the tiny leaf sprig.

This next one is for the challenge at AAA Cards where the theme is On the Move

For this one I used some old Stampin UP stamps, tree dies and sentiment from a Magazine freebie and the embossing folder from Sheena Douglass!

This is also for the challenge at The Card Concept where there is this inspiration photo!

   

Having done a count of my Christmas card makes, I realised that I'm still a few short, so I'l be turning my hand to a few swift makes in the very near future!

Congratulations

A simple congratulations card, suitable for Engagement, Wedding or Anniversary. 

I think the scroll is from Memory Box and I'm unsure of the origin of the sentiment. Both were gently twinkled with Glamour dust and a pearl added to the centre of the scroll.

It's from the sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch. 

I put my sentiment beneath the scroll as it looked better balanced in this position on my card.

This is another card with practically the same layout, with the elements a little lower on the card. It's for the challenge at CASology with the theme Jumpy.

I think rabbits jump don't you! The image is from Stamping Bella and the sentiment from Clearly Besotted.

Another day, another card!

Here is a card which I made to enter a couple of challenges.

The sketch is from CASe this Sketch...

...with the theme from CASology

The beautiful scroll is from Memory Box and the butterflies (cut from card which I smooched with Inka Gold and Aqua Tints) are from Penny Black. A simple touch of bling completes the look!

Back from my cruise

I have recently returned from a two week cruise in the Mediterranean on the Cunard cruise ship Queen Victoria. We have been on her a couple of times previously and love the elegance of this lovely ship.

Here we are at a cocktail party given by some fellow guests, on the balcony of their suite. This was on one of the formal evenings on board.

Sadly the internet connection was not always very good and I didn't get to leave any comments on Less is More  submissions. If fact we were very busy most of the time with ports of call to be visited most days. It was a wonderful holiday.

Since my return, I have managed to get 56 Wedding invitations made for my DIL's sister. Her fiancé wanted to have a tree on them as it was significant in their courtship... the scene of their first date and the venue for his proposal.

This is what I came up with.

The tree is from Memory Box and the I don't recall the make of the tiny hearts and arrow dies. (I will try to find it)

The font used was Alex Brush.

Here is my card for the challenge at Less is More this week which has the theme Life's a Beach...more thoughts of summer holidays.

The beach hut die is from Joanna Sheen, cut from a piece of card which I had stamped with a wood plank stamp from Impression Obsession before die-cutting it. I simply added more colour with a water brush to the roof and door and mounted it on dimensional pads within a die cut frame.

The sentiment, in !Paul Maul font, reads 'There's nothing like a little vitamin sea!'.

We have our grandchildren with us from today for a week and then next weekend together with our daughter, we'll be taking them to Spain for a week, which is where I'll be for my 70th birthday!

What fun!

The Butterfly Effect!

The base layer for this card was retrieved from the bin after I had thought that it was not good enough to use on a card. In fact I think that it was thrown away because it didn't turn out as I had hoped, but after a quick spray with glitter mist I thought it might be OK for the backdrop for these butterflies... and in fact I'm really pleased with the effect.

The die is from Memory Box used within a panel cut with a SSS stitched rectangle. The sentiment is from Tattered Lace (I think).

The challenge at the Card Concept is this

The butterfly Effect!

I remember a time when I had to hand cut a butterfly that I need for a card, now I have heaps of dies and stamps and still continue to buy more... I just love them!
This is also for a new Memory Box Challenge entitled Outside the Box
The theme of the first one is butterflies!


Addicted to CAS has the theme Butterflies

"Less is More" Recipe

The recipe at "Less is More" this week is to include some metal on your card!

There seems to be lots which could be added, but I have gone with a buckle  for one card and a charm for the other!

I really love the simplicity of this one.. almost to the point of thinking that I haven't done much to make it... but the main feature of CAS is knowing when enough is enough... and I think that this has enough! The die is from Tattered Lace!
This is also for the challenge at CASology

This card is another simple one with a Memory Box Golf Landscape die coloured with alcohol markers, mounted on a scored panel, with a Fiskars punched edge. The metal charm is suspended on some baker's twine and the sentiment and its tag are from Stampin' Up!

One Layer at Less is More

The theme for the one layer challenge at Less is More this week is 

New Beginnings

Here is a simple, but oh so cute image from Squigglefly. It's coloured with Spectrum Noir pencils. It seems quite a good medium for one layer cards, as there is no bleeding of colour through to the inside of the card. The sentiment is computer generated.

This is also coloured with Spectrum Noir pencils... it's a very old stamp bought second hand on eBay, with a Clearly Besotted sentiment.

More clearly Besotted stamps here, with a frame embossed with a Simon Says Stamp stitched square die.

Stampin' Up stamps here with a little embellishment in the form of Memory Box doves.

I just love Bugaboo images and again this is coloured with Spectrum Noir pencils. The sentiment is computer generated.

I went to visit Anne's (LIM Designer) new house this week. She has done remarkably well especially as she is downsizing and it's such a difficult job to imagine what might fit into a new space. I think she's going to be really cosy and comfortable  in her new home... especially once she's got her craft space organised!

Tired or what!

I have just returned from supervising the delivery of my son's furniture into his new home. I was a little apprehensive about his wife's reaction to where I had instructed the men to deposit the furniture etc, but she was delighted with how she found the state of things on her return last night. 

Both my son and his wife are doctors and because the removal took place on a date (brought forward by a cancellation) when both of them had surgeries, they asked me if I could do the honours.

At least now they will have the long weekend to get themselves sorted out.

This next week I have my daughter's children for the half term week. What a lucky granny!

Anyway here are my cards for this week's "Less is More" challenge which is to use a die cut.

This one is mainly Memory Box... it's mainly die-cuts too!

The rectangular panel is called LucienneTile, the butterfly is made from Moonlight and Kaleidoscope butterfly dies, the sentiment is die-cut with a Spellbinders D-Lites Fancy labels Tag 3 die, mounted on an oval die the make of which I don't remember. Neither do I remember the make of the unmounted sentiment stamp!

Lots more die-cutting here. 

A Dienamics butterfly and a Tattered Lace sentiment. I have to use a few shims with these TL dies, as getting a really clean cut is quite difficult. I always add DST to the back of my card before cutting out with fiddly dies, as it makes adhering them to the project much simpler. Merely peel and press.

I probably won't get much card-making done this week, but we'll have fun. I may need a really long rest next week!

I used these super cute ladybird dies (thanks Chrissie!! I had to buy them after seeing you use them) and paired them with the hello word die from Clearly Besotted Stamps. The background uses the circles from the Geographic 2 set and it's finished off with a little enamel accents.

 

This is a little shadow stamping... (I thought I ought to have a little stamping somewhere) framed with a die-cut oval!

The stamp is from Unity, the sentiment from Hero Arts! 

Another Memory Box rectangle die... Ringo Tile this time, paired with the Chloe flower head and a tattered lace sentiment. The Green card is all twinkly IRL! Such a quick card to make.

I do hope you'll join in with us this time, I'm sure I'l spot some dies that I just have to have!

DIY Chevron Mask

This card was inspired by Day 3 of the online Stencilling course I enrolled in.

It called for a chevron mask, which I didn't have, so I went about making one for myself.

I used my Silhouette Portrait, to draw it and cut it from acetate so that it can be used over and over.

To begin with I spritzed a piece of card with a goldish shimmer and then when dry applied some embossing paste through my home-made mask. Whilst still wet I tapped a little gold Perfect pearls over it.

The leaves from Clearly Besotted were stamped onto vellum and embossed with WOW Sea foam white EP and die-cut.

The butterfly is from Memory Box and painted with a little white Perfect pearls powder mixed with water.The sentiment is from Paper Smooches embossed in gold and cut out with a slightly extended Framelit die. A few pearl and it was done. 

I quite like it but it took me quite a while to execute!
Silhouette Challenge - Anything Goes

CAS on Sunday - Lovey Dovey (as this is a Wedding/Engagement card)
Muse - The foliage, the central  focus element and the use of chevrons are in line with the Muse this week!

Sketch Time at "Less is More"

We have a really simple sketch this time at Less is More and here are a few cards using it!
I love this Canada goose from the SU Wetlands set. I've had it for a while but this is the first time it has felt any ink on it and I really am pleased with how it stamps. 

The edges of the edging layer of card has been coloured with the same Copic which I used to colour the grass. 

Here is how I managed to cut out a die-cut circle without cutting off the goose's head!

The protruding part is cut out with either scissors or a craft knife before the die is placed around the image, so  that it can be lifted above the die and therefore will not get cut!

This one is a simple stamp from Cart-Us.com. I think it's really sweet!

Computer generated sentiment again.

More Stampin' Up stamps here, for a really CAS Wedding card.

It's embossed in silver which sadly doesn't show up to well on this pic. Photography is not one of my strong suits!

I hope that lots of you will join in with this challenge again this week and thanks so much for all the lovely comments I received last time!

Glad to have Internet back!

Virgin Media must have had a huge problem in our area recently as TV and Internet services were out of action for over a day. It's surprising how much we come to rely on technology these days, I imagine that people in business using Virgin services were most frustrated.

Anyway we're back online now thank goodness.

Here is a card I just made for a friend who is attending a wedding on Saturday. Let's hope the weather remains as it has been for the past couple of days! 

It has a Stempelglede image embossed with silver and gold embossing powders and with Cuttlebug Olivia initials superimposed over it. The sentiment is from a Tattered Lace die.

The dry embossing is from Stampin' Up and the die cut shape from Spellbinders.

It's for Casual Friday's Congratulation challenge.

One of my choir members who sadly was one of those who didn't make it on the Italian Tour because of the Heathrow flight cancellations, requested this card for her husband's birthday. She specifically requested a boat with a red hull. He also sings in a sea shanty group at his sailing club as well as in the choir... hence the musical reference.

CAS on Sunday's challenge this time is for a 'Make it Masculine' card.

The yacht is from Hobby Arts and the music manuscript card came from a batch I bought at the NEC. The sentiment was computer generated.

Yesterday was spent taking it easy in the garden finishing off a novel written by a friend of mine from my time in the Bristol Youth Choir... that takes me back quite a while too! I really enjoyed it, she has a great writing style.