Noel

Something else seasonal to show today - this time a little  beaded Christmas plaque using a combination of  Peyote and Brick stitch.  The current issue of the Beadworker's Guild Magazine published designs for twelve of these little ornaments, each about 3.5 cm across and this is the one I've chosen to complete first.  I'm not sure how many I will be able to complete before the day this year - doubtful if it be all twelve!!  I hope the weather is better where you are - here it is very wet and windy but at least it is a great excuse to stay in and craft.

...in a Pear Tree

I've been doing my best to avoid visiting the newsagent and also decided I definitely didn't need to buy any new Christmas related 'stuff' as I have loads from previous years and don't  need to make a lot of Christmas cards. You can guess what's coming next - yes, this is a new die on the card I've just made but technically I didn't actually buy it as it was a freebie attached to a magazine; not from the newsagent but I was caught unaware in Tesco where they display magazines right where I go to pick up supplies of fresh fruit.  I really liked this Partridge in a Pear Tree die and I'm afraid I succumbed in a weak moment - well it was a very grey day and I needed cheering up so that's my excuse if I need one!!  The background paper is from a pad of seasonal papers which I must have had for several years, the white panel used a snowflake embossing folder, also a few years old.  The die shape was cut out from a scrap of Centura Pearl card and mounted onto some die cut circles cut from other scraps.  The sentiment was stamped using wording from a set of stamps received at a recent Christmas Extravaganza day which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Dies - freebie Partridge die and Spellbinder circles
Embossing - snowflake folder from Cuttlebug
Sentiment - from Stampin' Up Reason for the Season set

A 'Buckle' Style Card

I made this somewhat elaborate card some time ago as a demonstration sample following Sue Wilson's idea of using various die cuts  interlocked with each other and threading a strip of card through rather like a belt goes through a buckle.  I seem to remember it was a bit difficult to get everything lined up and glued in the right place but I think the result justifies the hassle involved (I'm sure an extra hand would have been useful at the time). Gilding flakes were used on the three Striplets pieces in the background and because these are quite long dies the card is larger than I make as a rule.

Background - Deco embossing folder Creative Expressions
Panels - Striplets dies by Sue Wilson
Circles - various Spellbinder circle dies

Pixie Snippets Week 201

My card for this week's challenge on Pixie Snippets is this one with several die cuts - a great way of using up the snippets of card which accumulate.  Of course another great thing to do with the smaller snippets is to make flowers.  Details of items used are given below.  The stamp set for the flowers also has a matching die set from Sue Wilson but for the time being I've contented myself with cutting them out with scissors. The background was one of my larger snippets which was embossed and sponged with ink to accentuate the design.  Flowers were stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with white embossing powder.

Background - Climbing Vine embossing folder Creative Expressions
Dies - Caribbean Island Collection Sue Wilson
Flowers - Shaded Peony Creative Expressions

"Fetch!" the Dog

Yesterday I raided my fabric stash to find something suitable (and pretty) to make this cute fabric dog which is a design from Debbie Shore's latest CD  where she has concentrated on storage solutions of various kinds.  This dog which she named "Fetch!" will be sitting on my sewing machine cabinet where the 'saddle' on his back will hold various items in the pockets so that they are to hand as I need them.  There are other interesting items which I'm sure I will get around to making in due course - a decorative way of using up my fabric 'mountain'!  I have to confess to saving fabric scraps in the same way as I do with paper and card - nothing larger than postage stamp size gets thrown out - what am I like??

Where Did That Week Go??

It's been a week since I managed a post and I'm not quite sure where the time went although we did have a couple of days with good weather so of course I took advantage and went out and about..  This week is the 200th challenge on Pixie Snippets so much celebration and three super prizes on offer.  My card for this week is a sympathy one which sadly we all need from time to time.  I used up various snippets from my stash with a stamps and a punch from Stampin' Up. The leaves were stamped onto a piece of Centura Pearl card which was then embossed.  The flower was stamped, coloured with pencils and cut out before popping it onto the tag.

Stamps - Bloom with Hope Stampin' Up
Embossing - Folder by Crafter's Companion
Tag and Sentiment - Stampin' Up punches

Pixie Snippets Week 199

For my Pixie Snippets card this week I've used up some pieces of yellow and white card which were left on my desk from another project and would you believe there are still some small pieces which could go into my bits boxes where I'm sure they will breed. I really should try to cure myself of the compulsion to save anything which is larger than a postage stamp size!!

I found a background paper in one of my boxes and as it was a bit bright I toned it down with the same colour of ink as I used to stamp the flowers before punching them out.  I used the yellow card and the white Centura Pearl to die cut some shapes including one frame which was done with the letterpress technique to print using a die. The sentiment is computer generated and some matching pearls were added to the flower centres.  Details of dies and colours used are below as usual.

Dies - Greek Island Collection for the frame and layers with a Lattice Arched Adornment and      
           Dandelion Clocks - all by Sue Wilson
Flowers - Stampin' Up Flower Shop and Petite Petals with matching punches
Sentiment - computer generated, SU oval punches
Colours - White Centura Pearl, SU So Saffron stamped with More Mustard ink