Floral Card

The weather is beautiful today with blue sky and sunshine - I hope it manages to stay nice for the Easter break as well.  The card to share today is a floral one on which the background was embossed and sponged with Victorian Velvet Distress ink.  flowers were stamped, coloured with a matching DI pen then cut out with scissors. The stamped greeting was layered onto punched ovals and a die cut fancy label (Tonic die).

I decided to use one of the Polkadoodle bird house images I printed recently to make a birthday card and just couldn't resist adding some die cut cats who look as if they might be thinking of taking up residence. I'm sure they are really friendly cats (like the one in the TV advertisement with the budgie - love that one!!) and that they won't harm the birds.  Background is a piece of kraft card embossed using a Creative Expressions folder and sponged with ink to show the texture.  Greeting from the computer.

Wedding Card

Posting on my blog two days running - can't be bad eh!!  I guess the weather can be partly to blame for that because it is wet and windy again today so I decided indoors is a good place to be.  Looking through my box of cards I noticed I needed a few more cards in various categories other than birthdays so started with this one suitable for a wedding or engagement perhaps.  I used the piece of Centura pearl card embossed using a Creative Expressions folder and added die cut circles from Marianne (the large frame) and Spellbinders.  The sentiment was produced using Craft Artist and then cut out using circle dies.

I'm Back!

My computer was returned to me yesterday complete with new operating system so hopefully I will be able to catch up with blogland - I do so hate being cut off from the world and using a tablet is no substitute for the real thing.  I have quite a bit of work to do re installing my programmes and retrieving my files but I'm hoping that won't take me too long and of course I have to get used to the new system but it seems pretty straightforward as far as I can see although some of my programmes aren't compatible so that's something else to deal with.  I have a card to share today which is one I made a while ago but hadn't actually shown. Background is embossed Centura pearl card and the other elements are from various Stampin' Up stamp sets with some die cut leaves and butterflies.

Autumn Flowers

AUTUMN FLOWERS is the theme for this week's challenge at Make My Monday and there are some lovely cards by the design team for inspiration.  I've used a silhouette stamp from Stampin' Up, inked using marker pens and cut out using a die from their Apothecary Accents set.  The embossed background is Centura Pearl card with a Creative Expressions embossing folder and the various layers and borders used up some more of my scraps of paper and card which hopefully tone with the image in autumnal colours.

One of Those Weeks

Most of my weeks seem to go by in a flash but this last one seems to have been speedier than others - probably because I have been out most days for various reasons.  I'm just scraping in by the skin of my teeth this week for the Make My Monday challenge which has the theme of  TEXTURE.  This card has been made using various embossing folders and dies from Tonic, Creative Expressions and Spellbinders.  The sentiment is a stamp from Stampin' Up.  I've not managed to visit and comment on as many blogs as usual either so apologies to any I've missed - I'll try harder in the coming week!!

Gilding Flakes

Earlier this week I met up with two friends for coffee, crafty chat and a bit of 'show and tell'.  One of the cards I saw was made by Anne and I've 'cased' it but using a different image and a different die. Thanks for the idea Anne.  The stamp is from Personal Impressions and the dies from Spellbinders. Background is some textured card with a sort of sheen and has been embossed with Creative Expressions heart lattice folder.  Corner is from Whimsy and the sentiment is a computer one on Stampin' Up punched labels. My pot of gilding flakes has been around for years and is now more like crumbs than flakes but they still managed to adhere to the sticky sheet used.

Memories are Stitched

I've been dabbling about with Distress inks, specifically Chipped Sapphire, which is maybe not a good colour to have all over my fingers when I'm demonstrating for a couple of days.  I guess my hands will need a good scrub unless I do something like making bread (only joking honest!!) but that does make the hands really nice.

I'm not totally convinced about this card now it is done but I did get to play with inks, texture paste (which I coloured with a drop of paint), stamping on tissue and some die cutting so I enjoyed the process. Backing paper is from Tim Holtz vintage shabby collection, textured through a mask with said paste and the stamped piece on tissue was applied over part of this to tone it down a bit.  Stamps used were by Tim Holtz and the border at the bottom was cut using one of his 'on the edge dies' with the addition of some die cut tattered lace.  The sentiment stamp was from Creative expressions, cut out with a Spellbinder die and I added a few flowers from my stash. Some silver gilding wax was applied to the scissors and bobbins.

Dimension

The challenge at Make My Monday this week is to add some dimension to the project.  I've done this in a fairly simple way with multiple layers.  The embossed panel has some red gilding  wax added to highlight the texture; the next layer had texture paste applied through a stencil mask. then coloured with Distress ink; the car was from Creative Expressions stamped and embossed; fancy metal brads rubbed with gilding wax were added to the wheels.   I finally added a couple of tickets and a bow tied with some pieces of red waxed cord left from making a bracelet (knew it was worth saving them!!).

All Those Years Ago

This title is the theme for Sunday Stamper challenge 258 and Hels is asking for something with a vintage feel, obviously to include stamping.  I recently downloaded some vintage images from an Etsy site HERE so based my card design around one of the lovely postcards and again using up scraps and left over bits and pieces.  Backing paper is from Tim Holtz vintage shabby range although it has been overstamped with lots of images so not really recognisable! There is a scrap of embossed watercolour paper, a scrap of die cut lace (also TH); the postcard of course and a stamped sentiment by Creative Expressions, cut out with a Sizzix die (Stampin' Up).  This also has some overstamping of swirls and finally a tattered flower (Sizzix).

Backgrounds

The challenge this week on Make My Monday is to make a background from scratch (no designer backing papers allowed) and there is a mid week motivation post with ideas and of course the usual lovely work from the design team.  My background was made on watercolour paper with distress stains, water and salt - once dry it has been overstamped.  The image is a Creative Expressions stamp designed by Sam Poole, coloured with matching Distress colours, cut out and popped onto a piece of embossed Core-d-nations card (sanded, inked and overstamped).  Apart from the little bee which is a Chocolate Baroque stamp all the other stamps used were from Creative Expressions by Same Poole.

Stitching

The autumnal theme continues on Make My Monday blog and this week the topic is STITCHING - REAL OR FAUX.   I've employed a bit of artistic licence here and gone with the mellow creamy browns of the season and I'd say this Wellington Bear from Papermania has reached the autumn of his life!!  A touch fanciful maybe??  I went for the faux stitching with a stitch stamp from Creative Expressions - keep meaning to actually stitch onto a card but just don't get around to it somehow. Background and various layers are all Papermania papers and there is a layer of decoupage on Wellington (I try to keep cards fairly flat these days because of the postage costs.  Often people won't buy a card if they think it will incur extra postage.  There are some great Design Team cards on the MMM blog - well worth a visit.

For a Friend

Have you ever spotted a 'must-have' die or stamp on a blog, purchased said item, only to find that it is much larger or smaller than it appeared??  Well that was the case with this lovely Marianne die set - much larger than I thought but at least it didn't need the addition of too much to turn in into a special card with a simple stamped sentiment from Stampin' Up. If you are wondering, this is a six inch card.  I made the roses using a Creative Expressions embossing folder and cutting out the individual flowers to manipulate and layer - a bit fiddly but something which can be done easily while watching TV. The leaves were made using a Crealies die and of course cut from some of my scraps.  Backing paper is from a Prima pad - love their designs.  Not the best photo but the light isn't brilliant at the moment and the flowers are too deep for a good result using the scanner.

Make My Monday Challenge

The challenge at Make My Monday this week is still on the French theme and this time they are looking for FRENCH VINTAGE  which I must say needed a bit of thought to come up with something suitable but I think I got there eventually.  Background paper is from Tim Holtz vintage shabby collection and fortunately there is French text on some of the sheets.  Image is a stamp from Crafty Individuals, a Sizzix top note die was embossed with Creative Expressions floral embossing folder, swirls were a Marianne die and the flowers and piece of lace from my stash.  I typed a few french words on the computer and cut them up to make the little 'tags' - spellcheck didn't like these!!  I had a lovely inky day yesterday which, considering the relentless rain, was a pleasant way of spending a miserable dark day - now I have to tidy up a bit so that I have space on my desk to work on some more ideas for using up the stash.

I see that the talented Hels Sheridan is on TV later with some wonderful new products so I've set it to record and must try hard not to be too tempted into adding to my stash!!

Vintage Travel

The theme this week on Make My Monday is VINTAGE TRAVEL and I've managed to keep up this week and actually complete a card before the time ran out.  Apologies for missing the last two weeks of this challenge but time has been flying for me.  Backing paper here is from a wonderful script pad by Prima (almost too nice to cut into) and I've overstamped with stamps from Creative Expressions; the tickets and embellishment are also CE stamps.   The main image is from a set of vintage transport stamps by Tanda - a bit of Cuttlebug embossing and some tied twine and that's it - vintage travel which could be an 'any occasion' card suitable for a man.  I almost forgot to say that apart from the piece of Prima paper everything else on the card was made using scraps from my bits boxes.

Haberdashery

Today's card is a result of a bit of a play with some haberdashery elements from various sources.  The dress form is a stamp from Chocolate Baroque and it has been stamped and paper pieced using a scrap of Tim Holtz shabby vintage paper; the backing paper is from Prima Nature Garden collection (no connection with haberdashery but I thought the design was just right); the strip of lace is another CB stamp from a lovely set with lots of lace; the tape measure, cotton reels and saying are from a Creative Expressions vintage sewing collection; the scissors cut with a Marianne die and finally the buttons were made using a Sizzix embosslits die from Stampin' Up. Apart from the background paper,  everything on this card  was made with odd pieces from my scrap boxes.

I hope everyone had a good Bank Holiday weekend despite the horrible weather (a good enough reason to stay in playing with ink and stamps) - of course the sun is shining from a blue sky this morning!!

Sunday Stamper Week 211

This morning started out very grey and quite windy although thankfully dry for the time being but certainly not the sort of day for going out and about so I opted for getting inky fingers.  When I saw the theme for the Sunday Stamper challenge this week which is 'You Gotta Pick a Pocket or Two' I was immediately reminded of a wooden backed stamp made by Rubbadubbadoo which I've had for many years and can't even remember when it was last used. After a short search I managed to unearth it and I've stamped it three times so that I could cut out the pocket details and add some tickets which are Creative Expressions stamps.  The background is a piece of Tim Holtz  Kraft Resist paper overstamped with a selection of Paper Artsy stamps which came free with a subscription to Craft Stamper - again a few years ago. Do go and take a look at the great project by Hels which has many more pockets and lots of interest.  I have a couple of male birthdays coming up next month and I think this will fit the bill for one of them.

Sunday Stamper week 210

What I should have been doing this morning was mowing lawns because all the wet weather has made the whole garden explode into growth and the grass has reached haymaking proportions.  However I spotted the challenge today on Sunday Stamper and was sidetracked into making a masculine style card instead (no contest really!!).  The theme this week is 'This Boy' and anything male themed should fit the bill.  I started by preparing a piece of background card using Distress Stains and then overstamped with some stamps from Creative Expressions and the natty gent in the hat and quote are from the same sets, all with a vintage/steampunk/inventor style. The numbers were produced using a Sizzix embossing folder on a scrap of card and then sponging with Distress inks; the typewriter (remember those?? - I used to use one very much like this!!) was cut using a Sizzix die and the squashed bottle top embellishment which I made using a Tim Holtz sticker has been glazed with glossy accents but unfortunately being shiny it hasn't photographed too well - sorry.  Again I've managed to use up some of my smaller scraps for the details on this card.  If you check out the link you will see a brilliant male themed project by Hels.

Bluebird

I've been keeping an eye on the Tim Holtz tags of the month and at last I've actually got around to having a go.  This one is based on his April one and you can see the details on the blog section of his website here.  As usual I didn't quite have all the items he used so a bit of improvisation was necessary.  The background text stamp on the tag is En Francais from Stampin' Up, the little bird is from a set by Chocolate Baroque and the 'dream' ticket is a stamp by Creative Expressions.  The background paper on the DL card is from Papermania  and has been sponged to match the colours on the tag - ribbon was also dyed with the same Distress colours. The embossing folder used and the tree branch die are from Sizzix.

Make My Monday week 44

I must apologise to anyone who had problems finding my blog yesterday - I couldn't access it myself but hopefully I've now managed to sort the problem and fingers crossed it appears to be OK now I've verified settings.

Over at Make My Monday we are still on a men and boys theme with the added topic of vintage - a favourite of mine.  Background paper is from My Craft Studio and it was tweaked a bit and overstamped.   Sizzix die cut and embossing folders were used to make a border in kraft card.  The stamps are from various vintage sets by Creative Expressions and Chocolate Baroque.  Hopefully you will be able to see this if there are no more problems with my blog which had apparently been removed by Blogger due to 'unusual activity'.