Greetings!

Typical, just as I thought the windy weather had finally settled down I received yet another yellow weather alert for strong winds from the weather app on my phone! It has been quite a blustery start to the year so far.

One member of the household, our wee Jack Russell, who hates the rain decided that for some reason he now likes to go out in the howling, gale force gusting winds. I'm not sure if it was because of strange noises or new smells but he kept going up to the patio doors to get into the back garden, at one point I opened the door just as a massive gust decided to head north & straight in through the house. My neighbours had the opposite problem with their young Springer Spaniel who decided he didn't like the noises the wind was making and was apparently freaking out so his dad ended up spending the night on the sofa to try and keep him calm.

Work on the late 60's/early 70's chest of drawers I bought to up-cycle for my son's room continues. I'm only doing a little at a time but the drawers are almost finished, they just need varnishing and the two painted ones need their new handles fitted.

The new handles cost 10 times more than I paid for the unit from a local second-hand shop.  The owners are moving to new premises and reduced the price of just about everything to the princely sum of £1! I had very nearly bought it the week before but wanted to check sizes of it to make sure I had enough of the decoupage paper I wanted to use to cover the area I needed it for.  

I asked my son how he would like it done and had to laugh when I was told "As long as it's in keeping with the aesthetics of my room Mum I don't mind"!

For my attempt at this week's Freshly Made Sketches Challege #222 I decided to go for black & ivory and hopefully manage to make a card suitable for a male of the species.

For the card base I used a landscape hammered ivory card. I then took some black cardstock and ran the two short sides through my Darice Feathers on Side folder and applied it to the base. The card is a UK A5 size and the folder much smaller. In order to prevent the edges from marking lines down the cardstock I ran it through my Grand Calibur but instead if using the full size Raspberry Embossing Plate I used the embossing plate from my Sapphire which was the perfect width for the feathers.

I used the ivory hammered card stock with an assortment of dies to create the embellishments and added some faux stitches around the edges of the black card.

After I originally thought I was finished I just kept looking at it thinking something was missing & it was bugging me! In the end I had another look through my die collection. I found the Spellbinders Delightful Tree set which  had some small birds which I felt would add some additional interest and be in keeping with the feather embossing.

What I Used

Cardstock
Ivory Hammered - PayPer Box
Black - PayPer Box

Dies
Leafy Flourish - Die-Namics
Birthday from Happy Birthday Garland - Spellbinders
Birds from Delightful Tree Set - Spellbinders
Roses from Floral Heart Accent - Spellbinders
Greetings from Tim Holtz Holiday Word Script Set - Sizzix
Oval from Radiant Rectangles Set - Spellbinders Gold

Embossing Folder

Feathers on Side - Darice

Busy with Birthdays!

It's been a busy time Birthday-wise (not forgetting it's also Father's Day) this weekend. The next day or so will also be busy as I have a number of Sympathy cards to finish after a family bereavement as well as floral tributes to create.

As well as it being my friend Gena's Birthday it is also the 40th Birthday for  Niece, Donna, so that's three Birthday cards and two Father's Day Cards. I'm only posting the Birthday cards on my Blog today.

:: :: Good Friends:: ::

For Gena I've made two cards, one for my son, Liam, (Gena's Godson) to give her and one from Hubby & Me.

I've had these Tim Holtz stamps for a few weeks now and have been practicing my "colouring in" in preparation for finally getting around to using them properly.

I had a few false starts stamping the images as I hadn't quite got some of the positioning right. I impressed myself with my first attempt masking off and stamping a second image to look as though one was behind - only to put the word "alone" in the wrong place!  With a bit of jiggery-pockery in the guise of a die cut label stamped with a sentiment I think I may have got away with it!

As I was using the same Bird Crazy stamp on the inside as well as the outside
I coloured them both at the same time to ensure that they matched as well as I could get them to.

Outside of Card

Inside of Card

Cardstock:

Image - Supersmooth White

American Craft - "Summer" Collection Blues

Stamps:

Stampers Anonymous - Tim Holtz "Bird Crazy" & "Way With Words"
Lawn Fawn - Balloon from "Hippo Birdie" Year Four die set

Lindsay Mason Designs - "Everyday Words Happy Birthday"

Ink:
Memento - Tuxedo Black
Ranger's Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Faded Jeans

Letraset ProMarkers - Assorted Colours

 :: :: "Hippo Birdie To Ewe" :: ::

The one I made for Liam to give was a fun one based on the Karen Burniston's Katie Label Pivot Die from Elizabeth Craft and Lawn Fawn's "Hippo Birdie" stamp/die set. I thought if you have a Hippo and a Birdie you really need to have two Ewes as well so I also used Rachelle Anne Millar's "Love Ewe" stamp set from Crafter's Companion. To complete the card I used Couture Creations "Pure Pleasure" small embossing folder - oh and some Marianne Design Butterflies & Flowers coloured with Promarkers then heat embossed with glitter embossing powder!

Front

Card When Opened

I used a fine liner pen to try and create a similar grassy area under the Hippo & Birdie dies as on the "Love Ewe" Stamp

Close Up of Ewes

Cardstock:

 PayPer Box - Turquoise

Image - Supersmooth White

Dies: 

Elizabeth Craft - Karen Burniston's Katie Label Pivot Die Lawn Fawn - "Hippo Birdie" Year Four die set

Joy! Crafts - Cut & Emboss Butterflies Set, Cut & Emboss Flower Set

Stamps:
Lawn Fawn - "Hippo Birdie" Year Four stamp set

Crafter's Companion - "Love Ewe" stamp set by Rachelle Anne Millar

Ink:
Memento - Tuxedo Black

Letraset - Promarkers Assorted Colours

Embossing Folder:

Couture Creations - "Pure Pleasure"


 :: :: Donna's 40th :: ::

For Donna's Birthday I spent rather a long time working on this card only doing a little at a time and each time not being entirely happy as it wasn't quite coming out as I imagined it would!

Apart from the Karen Burniston's "Lots of Pops" Pop Up die from Elizabeth Craft the embossing folder and dies are from Spellbinders. I used a pearlised card stock but some sheets appeared to be a slightly different colour to others which I didn't really spot when working late at night under artificial light. I also put my new heat gun to use heat embossing butterflies with a glitter powder - in the photo below they appear to be quite dark but there certainly wasn't such an obvious difference in "real life".  

Inside is the Karen Burniston "Lots of Pops" Pop Up mechanism which was teamed up with the labels from the "Lucy Labels" Pop Up set, acetate strips (recycled from some packaging) and various Spellbinders' butterflies which were heat embossed with embossing powder. When Donna got married she used the same colours with a butterfly theme so made this card with that in mind. The interior card was embossed with Couture Creations "Ambrosia" Folder.

Cardstock:

PayPer Box Pearlised

Dies:

Spellbinders "Outrgeous Butterfly", Small Butterflies from "Postively Me" Jewel Flowers and Flourishes Set, D-Lites "Corners & Accents Two" 

Elizabeth Craft's Karen Burniston "Lots of Pops", "Lucy Labels"

Embossing Folders:

Spellbinders "Labels Thirty Four Medallion"

Couture Creations "Ambrosia"

  

It's Here!!!

My Birthday isn't for another week yet but hubby's pressie arrived today & I've been allowed to open it!

  

I've just unpacked it and taken a few photos to show how dinky it is in comparison to the Grand Calibur: 



 The Sapphire has two little drop down doors that act as platforms for the plates. From this view I think it looks as though it has a face that's crying out to be personalised. I wonder where I put that pack of googly eyes!

 

It's a pity that Spellbinders decided to change the colour of the plates for the sapphire.  

Whilst I get the reason for changing the colour of the embossing plate from pink to sapphire blue why on earth did they feel the need to change the Base & Cutting plate colours to the reverse of those of the GC - some folks (me) might get confused going from one to the other.

 

If you have a big enough handbag (it fits in my Kipling Defea very easily and with plenty room to spare) you could easily take this on the bus, train or plane and do some crafting on the move. It certainly would be handy to take on holiday in case of rainy days.

 



Handle has a "Sapphire" set into it!

I am now going to go and play with that "might come in handy" box of scrappy bits & bobs that that I have and and get to turning them into some die cuts with the set of appropriately sized dies that came with it. I have some small Lawn Fawn dies that will be just the right size for this and I shall sort through what dies I have and work out what will fit and mark them accordingly for future use.  I'm also going to try putting my Darice border embossing folders through it - I think I have a couple of small Sizzix ones as well that may also fit. Hopefully I shall have a card or two made using this ready to photograph soon!

A Little Bird Told Me

It's Sunday, the sun is shining (in between the showers) and our garden is starting to bloom! I've had my fingers crossed since January after I took loppers to my dwarf James Grieve apple tree for the first time since I got it as a Birthday present around12 years ago. I'm pleased to say that it is now covered in gorgeous pink blossom so it's looking good for a nice crop this year! 

 

I picked up a "Quick Cards" magazine earlier in the week, I don't often buy magazines but it had a rather nice "Moonbeam Meadow" Stamp Set by Crafter's Companion as a "free gift".  The new set of Promarker Pens I bought as an almost, not quite, nearly, early, Birthday present to myself arrived yesterday so it was practice time!

 

Last night I stamped out some of the "Moonbeam Meadow" designs and set about colouring them, when I was finished I played about with some ideas to use for the  Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #186 

 

As this challenge is based on a sketch  containing a diagonal I was drawn to the design of on a sheet from one of my Trimcraft 6x6 paper pads, Spring in Bloom, which has the main pattern concentrated into the right hand corner. The paper was put into the trimmer at cut on the diagonal and then separated to elongate it to fit a rectangular card shape and to create an inner strip for embellishment.

  

 

 

 The edges of the diagonal were decorated with promarker coloured strips cut using the dot/dash edge die from Spellbinders Borderabilities "A2 Bracket Borders One" set with matching DS satin ribbon (photo shows it darker). The central strip was coloured with Promarker to match one of the pink colours on the background paper. The little flowers and pearls were also colour matched to those on the background paper. The circles  used for the Little Bird topper came from my "might come in handy at some point" box and are the inners left over from cutting out some Joy Craft Floral and Celtic Circles!

 

Cardstock:

Image - Super Smooth White

Trimcraft - Spring in Bloom
PayPer Box - Gold Pearlised

 
Dies:
Spellbinders - Borderabilities A2 Bracket Borders One
Joy Craft - Circle

Stamps:
Crafter's Companion - Moonbeam Meadow

Ink:
Versacolour - Sepia
Letraset Promarkers - Crimson, Dusky Rose, Rose Pink, Pastel Blue, Blue Pearl, Leaf Green, Grass 

Love Holds The Key - FMS 185

 

It's an overcast day today with rain looking imminent but I managed to get the photographs of my card taken while the sun decided to peep out for a wee while.

 

Once I saw this week's Freshly Made Sketches challenge sketch I decided to have a rake through my dies to look for some inspiration.

 

With some of my newer die purchases I'd made samples to be kept together with them in their packaging so I could see what the actual die cut looked like. Whilst going through my box I came across the Spellbinders "Heart Locket" die. The sample I'd cut out was in matt silver metallic cardstock so thought that could be a starting point and with the latest addition to my collection being a Fawn Lawn "Scripty Love" die I decided to try them together. When I was playing about with them I picked up the love die  to change it's position and  as I lifted it up I found that it had the key hooked over the "e". I had a wee laugh to myself when I realised that love really did hold the key!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a little clearer in close up . . .

 

 

 Cardstock

Image -  Supersmooth White

PayPer Box - Matt Silver & Red Metallic

Black Cat - Black

 

Embossing Folder

Spellbinders' M-Bossabilities - Hearts 5 x 7"

 

Dies:

Spellbinders - Labels 4

Spellbinders - Heart Locket

Cheery Lynn  Designs - Pierced Banners

 

 

 

White Birthday Card

I decided to have a look through my die collection,  it's not a big one as I've only recently started collecting them, and picked out five that I thought might work together. In the end I only used four of them and a punch. Originally I was going to make a self coloured card but something seemed missing so I used some of the beautiful non-shedding glitter card I have in my stash (a bargain £1.49 for 10 sheets from B&M!). My first thought had been to use the pale blue but in the end thought silver was best .  



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I chose to go with the Marianne Design Creatables Anja edge die, I had been going to use the Anja Corner die with it but in the end decided to use the edge die by itself and create a gate-fold card. I added Marianne  Designs "Ivy Corner" and the largest butterfly from a Joy! Craft set. The flowers are from a Woodcraft daisy punch and the sentiment is the Spellbinders Sentiments 1 "Happy Birthday".

 

 

Card Stock:

White Pearlised Card from PayPer Box

Silver Non-shedding Glitter Card from B&M

 

Dies:

Marianne Designs Anja Edge

Marianne Designs Ivy Corners

Joy! Craft Butterfly Set

Spellbinders Sentiments 1 "Happy Birthday"

Woodcraft Daisy Punch

 

Embellishments:

Pearl & Bling from stash

 

Baby, Baby, Baby - Freshly Made Sketches 183

It's been a while since I've made as many cards as I have in this last week - maybe I'm getting my mojo back!

On looking at the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge for this week I thought I would adapt the baby onesie shaped card I made last week and make a smaller version which could be used as a topper.

In order to get an idea of the size I would need for the onesie I used linen effect card to mat and layer the three outer dies of the Spellbinders "Radiant Rectangles" and used the width of inner rectangle as a starting point.

Using a rectangle of paper folded in half I cut out a template for the topper and used it to transfer the design onto linen effect card. (I don't have exact measurements for it as I did it all by eye.)



Once the design was cut out, everything I wanted pink (card, DS satin ribbon and bling) was coloured with a Dusky Pink Pro marker to ensure a good match. I took some small scraps of left over patterned paper (from FMS 182) and used them to embellish the onesie, It was then trimmed with the fine DS satin ribbon at the neck and legs. 


The completed onesie was then mounted onto a piece of foam and shaped to give a more dimensional look.
 
I've had the pale pink gingham cardstock for a while and although I kept looking at it I never seemed to find the right project to use it - until now! I thought the gingham would look nice with the lace effect frame created from the Radiant Rectangle dies.

Cardstock:

Gingham and linen effect card from PayPer Box

Patterned card from Trimcraft Kiss and Tell 6x6" Pad

 

Dies:

Spellbinders Radiant Rectangles

Spellbinders Congratulations

Hobby Craft Small Daisy Punch

 

Ink:

Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Picked Raspberry

Letraset Pro Markers - Dusty Pink

Stamp:

"New Baby" from Paula Pascall Sentiments Set

 

Embellishments:

Ribbon, button and bling scavenged from my

craft stash!

 

 

 

 

 

My next project is going to be a Birthday Card for my Sister's Birthday next weekend I shall have a rummage through my craft stash over the weekend to see what comes out.  Who knows, I may even make her a piece of jewellery as well - if I can come up with any ideas that is!

Busy Wee Bee!

It was a bit last gasp but last night I thought that as it is our Wedding Anniversary (today) perhaps I'd better get a move on and get the card I'd been saying for the last month I was going to make for hubby finally made!

In the end it didn't come out in anyway shape or form as I'd planned over the weeks. I lost count of the chopping and changing I made - the original idea was, by now, long gone out the window! Anyway here is the card that greeted him this morning:

 

 

 

 Card Stock:

Black, Ivory Leather Effect and the Gold Pearlised cards all from PayPer Box

Patterned Card from Trimcraft 6x6" Serenity Pad

 

Dies:

Spellbinders Nestabilities Radiant Rectangles

Spellbinders Shapeabilities Arched Elegance

Sizzix Framelits Die Set 8PK w/Stamps - Hello, Jillibean Soup by Hampton Art

Stamps:

Sizzix Framelits Stamps - Hello, Jillibean Soup by Hampton Art

Ink:

Black from the 3 colour Ink Pad Tsukineko Brilliance Pad, Tiramisu

 

 

 

 

By the time I finished John's card I was on a roll and decided to make something else.

 

Earlier in the week, whilst out with my friend, we were looking in the window of a rather pricey Gift Shop which had opened recently. It was there we saw a couple of handmade cards for a new baby which were in a "onesie" shape. They were made in brown Kraft Card, which had been very roughly cut out (you could see lots of what looked like jagged scissor marks) and then stamped with a sentiment. I couldn't see a price on them but going by the rest of the prices in the shop, they were unlikely to be cheap! 

 

So at 0200hrs this morning, I decided to see if I could do better. I made up a template from a piece of UK A6 (US A2?) sized card using a ruler and a small circle die (it came from the free gift I received when I signed up to Tonic Gold). Once complete I used the template to trace around a tent folded A6 card and came up with this, the collar/bib was cut from a Spellbinders D-Lites Love Locket border die:

 

 





I'll have another try later to see if I can refine the design a bit more.

 Card Stock:

White Pearlised and Aqua Spotty card from PayPer Box

 

Dies

Spellbinders D-Lites Love Locket (cut down to form bib/collar)

Tonic Circle die (from their freebie Tonic Gold die) to form neck & leg holes.

 

Embellishment

Pearls tinted using Promarkers and the "Charming" sentiment came from my craft stash both originally came from Home Bargains.

 

 

It's Been a While . . .

In fact it's over three years since I last posted but better late than never I suppose!

I've had a Grand Calibur for a couple of years now but have rarely used it as only a 4 sets of dies. I finally decided it was time to get it out of moth balls and treat myself to some embossing folders and a couple of new die sets, here are the results. Oh and I bought some ink pads, including set number 4 of the mini Tim Holtz ink pads to have a go at distress inking. Here are some of the results:

Embossing folder: Darice Argyle Background

Dies:

Spellbinders Radiant Rectangles

Joy! Crafts - Butterflies

Joy! Crafts - Daisy Flowers

Inks: 

Tim Holtz Mini Pads Set 4 and 

Tsukineko Brilliance 3 Colour Ink Pad, Aurora

Sentiment: Anita's Birthday Sentiments from Do-Craft. 

Embossing folder: Darice - Vine Background

Dies: Spellbinders Radiant Rectangles

Ink: Coral Pink from Tsukineko Brilliance Colour Aurora Ink Pad

Sentiment - Anita's Birthday Sentiments from Do-Craft

Embossing folders: 
Outer Layer: Dots from Darice Happy Birthday Folder, 
Inner Layer: Couture Creations Art Nouveau Swept Away

Dies:
Spellbinders Radiant Rectangles
Joy! Crafts - Flowers, Butterflies and Leaves

Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Minis Set 4
Sentiment: Anita's Birthday Sentiments from Do-Craft

Lilac Pearlised Card from PayPer Box

Embossing Folders:

Darice - Steampunk Cogs Background

Darice - Diamond Plate

Darice - Happy Birthday 

Grey Hammered Card - PayPer Box

Silver Mirror Foil Card (sanded down)- Home Bargains

Ink: Tsukineko Brilliance 3 Colour Ink Pad, Tiramisu 

used black over brown for a rusted appearance.

My son loves the texture of this card - says it's so "lifelike" he expected it to feel like metal.

So it's official, I've now got the embossing bug and have just ordered some bargains I found on offer at Amazon!

This was an experiment with Spellbinders Borderabilities Brackets. I was trying to make a card with a header ie the top section of the card was cut as an insert from the back of the card blank.

I used the 3 insert dies to create the design and the perforated edge die to cut it out from the card.

  

Here are the dies and shown with the "header", the bottom photo shows it in a bit more detail.