Clock Card

Filling some gaps in my box of cards and this time it is one suitable for a male.  I have lots of dies (too many I guess really) but I have been collecting them for some years so it does pay to go through the various storage boxes now and again, partly seeking inspiration and partly to remind myself of anything which may have been forgotten.  I knew I had this clock die but have to admit I had no idea which box it was in but luckily I managed to run it to ground.  I cut it from some heavy patterned paper (almost card weight) and then cut a larger circle from a different design in the same pad.  The hands were cut from a scrap of plain black card and the cogs from scraps of kraft card.  The old music design piece was sponged with distress ink to give it some age and a small spray of ivy leaves was die cut from a loose page from an old book which was falling to pieces (very useful to have book pages so wouldn't thrown them away).  The sentiment was a download sized in a graphics programme and punched out before layering onto a small cog.

Text design papers - Pad from Prima (scripts)
Music - a loose sheet from some ancient sheet music
Clock - die set from Marianne
Cogs - Bigz die from Sizzix
Sentiment - free download from Netty's Cards

Vintage Style

One of my recent cards left me with a spare die cut frame which I was determined to use so I've built up a card around this item using an off cut of patterned paper which just happens to have part of the design which just fits nicely into the frame..I actually decided to cut another two of the small frames so that they could be layered up to give it some dimension.  This in turn has left me with some small rectangular and square pieces which you can guess I probably won't be able to throw away!!  I've used a larger off cut from the same paper pad as a background and die cut a lace border in the matching lilac shade.  The sentiment was computer generated and punches used to cut out the shapes.
Now to decide what on earth can I make using a little collection of plain card squares and rectangles??

Background and image in frame - paper from Prima Nature Garden Pad
Frames - Card Creator 1 die from Paper Rose
Lace - Tim Holtz vintage lace die
Sentiment - punches from Stampin' Up

Pixie Snippets #360

Time to visit the Playground again with a card for the current challenge and as usual Di has made a brilliant snippets card using the prize which should come in really handy for using up some of the smallest pieces which we all save.

For my card I've used another piece of sparkle card which was coloured using alcohol inks - encouraged by Di of course who posted recently about this technique which I just had to try.  I had a piece left from my colouring session and found a large snippet of purple to go with it and some snippets of silver card for the oval frame, sentiment and butterflies.  I started by putting the sparkle piece into an embossing folder then just tickling the edges of the embossed butterflies with some silver gilding wax.  An oval was cut from the background purple piece of card before popping the embossed piece behind.  I felt it needed a frame so I die cut one from some scraps of silver card along with a few butterflies.  The sentiment was cut from the remaining piece of the purple card and the backing from some of the silver.  The card was then assembled and there you have it - a snippets card which not only fits this challenge but also just about does it for the Butterfly Challenge (only with the colour and the butterflies) but that should be enough to qualify I hope.

Oval panel - coloured using alcohol inks on Tim Holtz sparkle card
Oval frame - Oval die set from Tonic
Butterfly embossing - free embossing folder from some time ago
Butterflies - dies given away with magazine
Sentiment - dies from Tonic

...and Another Drop

While I had the alcohol inks out on my desk I decided to use them on some Yupo paper which I bought ages ago and which, to my shame, I'd never used for some reason.  I'm sure I'm not the only one guilty of buying things maybe at a show, bringing them home and promptly forgetting to actually use them.  Anyway I did enjoy my recent dabble with the alcohol inks and in this case once the surface was dry I popped a stencil onto it and applied a little of the blending fluid using the felt applicator - this had the effect of lifting off some of the ink to leave a pattern.  My next move was to find some scraps of white pearl card, the largest of which was coloured with the same shades of alcohol ink before die cutting a large oval.  Smaller dies were used to cut a frame and an oval to back the stencilled piece before layering it all together.  I wanted to make a feature of the stencilled pattern so have simply added a die cut sentiment with its own backing.  A linear design was added to the base card before adhering the ovals into place for this CAS style of card.

Ovals - die set from Tonic
Sentiment - Gemini die
Ranger alcohol inks and blending solution used

A Drop of Alcohol

No, I've not been drinking it but have dragged my alcohol inks out from the depths of my stash, prompted by seeing the post HERE from Di (of Playground fame) who had been trying out some of the new Tim Holtz silver sparkle card which I believe was developed with alcohol inks in mind.  I treated myself to some of this card and it certainly does have a lovely surface appearance.  Luckily my inks hadn't evaporated, although I must say they've been in storage for a long time, and I coloured a piece of the sparkle using pinks and purples blended with blending fluid.  There is a link in Di's post to a good video on this topic, well worth watching.

I've made a card using the resulting piece behind a window style die.  First I cut a square of lilac card using a stitched square die before placing the window die in the centre and cutting it out.  I then repeated this with white pearl card so that I could mix and match.  The sparkle piece was trimmed to fit behind the 'window' in the lilac layer before placing the white frame into the centre.  This is much simpler to do than to describe!  A sentiment was stamped onto the bottom of a white card blank using my trusty Misti.  The next move was to die cut a flower in black to match the sentiment and contrast with the other colours.  I've been left with a white stitched square piece and a lilac window piece ready to make into a similar card.  There really is a super sparkly effect on the coloured card but sadly the picture doesn't do it justice.

Sparkly Layer - Silver sparkle card from Tim Holtz, alcohol inks used
Square Die - Noble pierced squares set from Sue Wilson Creative Expressions
Window - Card Creator 1 die from Paper Rose
Flowers - Tim Holtz for Sizzix - wild flowers
Sentiment - from freebie set of stamps given away with magazine

Snow Globe

The weather for this holiday weekend seems to be pretty good with blue skies and lots of sunshine so it does seem a bit weird to be showing you a wintry Christmas card!  The backing paper is from a sheet I remember printing to use for cards last Christmas but of course I've completely forgotten the source.  The snow globe was die cut using White pearlescent card and a  blue circle was cut to place at the back as sky with the addition of some snowy ground, various snowflakes, trees and a young deer to complete the scene.  A Christmas greeting was stamped onto a die cut label and two tiny sprigs of holly added.

Snow Globe - die set from Crealies
Trees and snowflakes and holly - cut from various seasonal die sets
Label - Sizzix die
Words - stamp from a Stampin' Up set
Deer - from a Sizzix die set

Owl Congratulations

I've made a 'congratulations' card to go into my card box and which would be suitable for maybe an anniversary, engagement or other happy occasion.  The image is a digital download which has been printed and the background paper was printed from a CD which I've had for many years.  Some swirls were stamped around to give it a bit of interest and to tone with the mat layer on the image.  A piece of white card was run through a heart embossing folder and brushed with matching ink.  A small heart was punched to add to the sentiment banner.

Image - download from Polkadoodles (Pink Gem)
Background paper - Artylicious CD, over stamped with swirls
Sentiment - stamp from a Stampin' Up set
Banner - Sue Wilson die set, stitched banners
Heart embossing - folder I've had for many years, probably no longer available