Tuesday 30 May 2017

Daisies & Butterflies

Hello everyone,

Not had much time to make cards this last week due to the garden needing a little tlc, the hubby off work as well as a cheeky drink at the pub, well it would have been rude not too considering the weather screamed 'get outdoors' even if I did take that to mean the beer garden!

To get back into the swing of things I made a simple card this afternoon to check that the mojo is still intact... needs fine tuning I think.



My apologies for the photo, the light really wasn't the best so it looks a little washed out. Anyway, I wanted to keep to a minimum colour scheme as time was limited today, firstly I stamped the sentiment using Versafine and embossed with white, then water coloured a blue background.  Cut out the daisies, added a few leaves and butterflies for a more layered look with a few gems to finish. 

Although after seeing it sitting on the window sill, it looks like it needs an underwater theme rather than daisies, meh!



A close up of the sentiment, which is more visible than a camera and computer screen make it appear.  

Supplies: Basic white textured cardstock, Kuretake Clean Colour pens in shades of blue/yellow, Hero Arts sentiment stamp, Penny Black Bashful Daisy & Sizzix Garden Greens dies, Martha Steward butterfly punch and HobbyCraft gems.  


Tuesday 23 May 2017

A Peeping Hedgehog

Hello everyone,

In delight at seeing the sun finally this week, I decided to go for an outside theme and that can only mean rolling hills, puffy clouds, blue skies, a smiling sunshine, hot air balloons and furry friends so out comes my Hobby Art Forest Friends stamp set, I can't resist foxes or hedgehogs... just so darn cute!



I did have a whoops number with this card, I was too impatient for my stamping card to arrive and decided to use my watercolour paper instead, its OK but his eye and nose ended up a little smudged and in places my Kuretake pens bled, boo hoo!

The hedgehog in the set is in a full standing pose but I'd already made my mind up while hoovering that he was going to be cheekily hanging over the card edge.  To achieve that I just cut into the image either side and cut around his paws and nose and then carefully popped him into place.  I think he needs a little friend so my next card will more than likely feature a buddy for him... wait and see :)

I'm entering this card into two challenges both with the themes 'Anything Goes', one at Always Fun Challenges and the other at Daisy Chain Challenges

Supplies: Basic white & green cardstock, Hobby Art Forest Friends and October Afternoon tree/sentiment clear stamps, Simply Creative clear gems coloured with a Sharpie brown pen, Memory Box Puffy Cloud die, MFT Cloud stencil, Stazon Stone Grey and Brilliance Coffee Bean/pearlescent Ivy ink pads, Kuretake Clean Colour pens.

Saturday 20 May 2017

Embossing Folder Flowers

Hello everyone,

After my last post and my whoops #1 moment, I decided I liked the flowers fussy cut out from the embossed image and wanted to use them as the main focus of a card and ta'dah...



I used the same Cuttlebug Stylised Flowers embossing folder and chose an array of different coloured ink pads, I tried to keep it to a Spring/pastel palette.  Its a little time consuming keep cleaning and inking the folder for all the flowers and then the fussy cutting but it kept me occupied and quiet for sometime!



I added a few swirls underneath just to stop the flowerings looking like they were floating, matted it onto black cardstock to create the pop and added a sentiment, albeit after finishing, I realised it should be slightly further down... oh well once stamped no going back.

Supplies: Basic white & Black cardstock, Whispers Inks, Hero Arts sentiment stamp, Cuttlebug Stylised Flower embossing folder, a few AB sequins and BoBunny Flourish stamps.  

Tuesday 16 May 2017

Pink It Up!

Hello everyone,

I'm still playing with the Vivienne Butterfly die but decided to go totally over the top girly using glitter and pink, not my normal choice of colours by any stretch of the imagination and glitter is my Achilles heel, hate the stuff - love the look!



I decided to use the sellotape technique for the glitter, a quick explanation.  Cut out your image, turn it over and apply sellotape or the like, then fussy cut the excess tape off, turn over so sticky side facing up and cover with glitter, hey presto!  To finish the butterfly and keep the glitter from shedding everywhere, spray a coat of *sigh -   Elnette hairspray because I couldn't find the cheap brand I bought solely for that purpose, to put a positive spin on it... the card smelt divine :)

I will share with you my 'whoops moments'...

Whoops #1 - Cut the embossed background too small because I'm a crafter that refuses to measure anything, despite the fact it would clearly save me time and help to stop all my faffing!

Whoops # 2 - Changed the glue in the my glue gun and rushing to attach the leaves in the bottom left and not paying attention, my glue gun pooped way too much glue out and it become an unsightly blob - argh!



Idea, to cut out the embossed flower from my first whoops to cover up the second whoops and if I'm honest I prefer the card after numerous whoops... result!

I'm entering this card into Always Fun Challenges as it fits in perfectly with the dry embossing #6 challenge :)

Supplies: White card stock, Memory Box Vivienne and Country border dies, Sizzix Garden Greens die, Cuttlebug Stylised flowers embossing folder, Hero Arts sentiment stamp, Whispers Grand Cranberry ink pad, Hobby Craft gems and unbranded glitter.

Sunday 14 May 2017

Vivienne Butterfly

Hello everyone,

Today, I'm taking the big step of entering my card into a challenge blog, namely Pixie's Snippets Playground.  Its with trepidation but I really fancy having a go so we'll see, who knows :)

So here is my card, the main focus is the butterfly from Memory Box that I paper pieced together from a tiny snippet of red cardstock, red being my favourite colour so I won't throw the tiniest bit away.  Actually, most of the card is made up from snippets of cardstock and paper from my scrapbooking days.



To give a little more definition to the butterfly and create a focal point I've raised it with 3D foam pads. I used a white Inktense watercolour pencil just to add a little detail to the ivy leaves and make them more realistic and less flat.



After yesterday's card, I am really pleased with how this one came out and it reminds of the Red Admiral butterflies I used to see as a child fluttering amongst the garden flowers.

Supplies: White linen cardstock, Black cardstock, Memory Box Vivienne Butterfly and Hexagon, Spellbinders Springtime, Sizzix Tim Holtz Garden Greens, Sizzix Daisy #2 dies, Stamping All Day sentiment stamp and Intense watercolour pencils.

Saturday 13 May 2017

An Off Day!

Hello everyone,

I've been playing around with my Stylised Flower stamp from Indigoblu this week and although I love dandelions (apart from in my grass), this card quickly became a really stubborn weed.  Nothing I tried worked so in the end I gave up and just stuck it together, it will be my 'how not to made a card' in the future. 



Despite my dislike for the card, I thought I'd still share my 'off day' with you.  I must say my husband decided it was his favourite, bless him for trying but the card was doomed and I was more than a little fed up working on it.

Supplies: Black Bazzill card base and cardstock, smooth yellow cardstock, Indigoblu Stylised Flowers, Memory Box Country Borders die, Stamping All Day sentiment, unbranded antique gold embossing powder and Hobbycraft clear gems coloured with Sharpies.

Tuesday 9 May 2017

Bashful #2

Hello,

Today I'm sharing another Penny Black bashful die card as the last one I did I was less than happy with it.  So second time lucky!



I've also changed the background using a Cuttlebug embossing folder with ink and I really like the effect and was so simple to do.



The sentiment this time is from Stamping All Day and stamped using Stazon Jet black and I'm much happier with the result.


The background was embossed but before that on the flat side of the folder I inked it with Whispers Green Green ink (yes it does wash off in soapy water) and run it through the BigShot to create a relief pattern.  I used Memory Box Country borders die just in a scallop style rather than the zigzags I used previously and everything else remains the same and I'm no longer niggled by anything!

Supplies:  White basic cardstock, Penny Black Bashful die, Whispers Green Green ink, Cuttlebug Birds & Swirls embossing folder and Stamping All Day sentiment.

Monday 8 May 2017

Stylised Flowers

Today I'm sharing a very basic and easy card to complete with any stamps you have available.  



For my card I chose some Stylised Flowers from Indigoblu and a selection of Whispers inks to create the squares.




I stamped the Stylised Flowers in black first, then stamp directly over the flowers using the ink pads to create the squares, nothing too technical but don't do what I did and muddy your pad being too impatient.  I coloured some cheap clear gems with Sharpie pens in yellow, green and orange to compliment the squares and placed randomly.  Stamped the sentiment in the middle and there you have it, a simple yet effective card.

Supplies:  Basic white cardstock, Indigoblu Stylised Flowers, Whispers Inks in yellow sunshine, savoury green and orange, Hero Arts sentiment stamp.

Saturday 6 May 2017

Bashful

Hello there, yesterday I had fun playing with the Penny Black bashful die which is just the sweetest and had my Shasta daisies been in flower that may well have been the backdrop in the photo but alas.



I have one niggle with this card, the sentiment. I had a Hero Arts one in mind but I made the outside edge too small to fit it on perfectly so had to compromise, it looks OK, but...!



The music sheet I used is from an actual music book that I found in a charity shop.  If your lucky like I am and have an abundance of charity shops nearby its always worth a look and from experience always ask, I very nearly gave up on my quest when one of the ladies asked me what I was searching for on the floor in the corner.  After we spoke she disappeared and to my sheer delight came back with a huge pile of old, stained and grubby looking music books which I thought was absolutely perfect... she wasn't as convinced if the look on her face was anything to go by.  Enjoy your weekend.

Supplies: Basic white cardstock, Memory Box Country border and Penny Black Bashful dies, Heidi Swapp 'Happy Birthday' sentiment stamp, Inktense pencils and a few cheap gems from HobbyCraft.

Monday 1 May 2017

Gorjuss Again

Hello there, today I have another Gorjuss card to share.  I'm really enjoying playing with the compendium gift set (Christmas present) even the decoupage, now that's something I didn't think I'd ever say. 

I'm still trying to jazz the girls up a bit and make them a little less Gothic looking while keeping it as true to Santoro as I can, I'll let you decide if I've managed to achieve that.


As with my previous card, this one also has a sewn border and I've no idea what the patterned paper is at the bottom, I found it rummaging through my 10 year old stash of paper scraps! The metal plaque is also from the Santoro range and I've added some leaf die cuts behind it just to lift the whole card and give some dimension.



The sentiment is from a cupcake set of rubber stamps, apologies I can't remember the manufacturer right now, even though I can see the packaging in my head.  I will find out next time I craft and add the details into my supplies list.

My favourite bit... the little apple, its too cute!

Supplies: Santoro decoupage, metal plaque and card base, BoBunny patterned paper (green), Bazzill card stock, Making Memories button brads, rik rak ribbon and Sizzix garden greens dies.