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

 

 

 

Good Luck!

The exam season has started here in Scotland and tomorrow my teenage son sits the first of his Nationals (they replaced Standard Grades/O Grades last year). 

Whilst he doesn't really need  any luck as he's been doing lots of studying I thought I would make him a Good Luck card.

He's really into Manga and Anime art work so when I saw that Lawn Fawn's Good Luck Charm set had the Maneki Neko (Chinese Good Luck Cat/Japanese Beckoning Cat) I decided to get it. On doing some research I found that green is used with the Maneki Neko to denote education and studies so decided to use that colour as a starting point and, eventually, came up with this:

 

I used some gold pearlised cardstock as card blank then added a light green card from a Trimcraft Serenity 6x6 pad to make the card front. I used more of the gold pearlised (coloured with ProMarkers) to mat and layer in order to create embellishments with the Lawn Fawn stamps/dies. A Creative Concepts Script embossing folder was used to create a panel for one of the layers.

You're Special - FMS Challenge 184

It's been quite grey here over the last few days but in between the rain, and occasional sleet, the sun has been shining so I thought I would go for some nice sunshine-y colours.

As soon as I saw this Freshly Made Sketches Challenge I knew what I would like to do. Originally it was to be a large tag with three largish flowers but once I got into playing around with that idea the more it morphed into this finished card.

I used the Couture Creations Exotic folder and teamed it up with a Sizzix foliage stamp & die as I thought they had a similar look about them.  The blooms are also from a Sizzix Framelits die and stamp set. As with FMS 183 I've used a Promarker to colour and to co-ordinate the cardstock and ribbons.

My son has decided that it's just right for his Aunty Anne's Birthday this weekend! 

 

Cardstock:

Image Supersmooth 300gsm

Dies:Tags from Sizzix Framelits Gift Card Holder

Foliage from  Sizzix Framelits "For The Record"

Flowers  from  Sizzix Framelits "Dragonflies"
Embossing Folder:

Couture Creations Exotic

 

 Stamps:

Foliage from  Sizzix Framelits "For The Record"

Flowers  from  Sizzix Framelits "Dragonflies"

You're Special from Sizzix Framelits Labels Fancy#2 

Inks:

Tim Holtz Distress Mini Pads

Promarkers 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

Spring has Sprung

Yes Spring has indeed Sprung, even here in Scotland! For the last week or so the sun, for the most part, has decided to shine and the weather has been lovely. The daffodils & the broom are in flower in the garden and other plants and shrubs in bud. Husband was in the garden pottering about before 6 am this morning and complaining it was cold and frosty (yes, he is bonkers) but once the sun was up the frost soon disappeared.

I've been rummaging about my crafty bits and pieces looking at what I could use for this weeks Freshly Made Sketches challenge and found a Sizzix sentiment stamp "Spring has Sprung" which seemed appropriate.

Card Stock:

Image Super Smooth White

Trim Craft "Kiss and Tell" 6x6" Pad

Embossing Folder:

Spellbinders Large (5"x7") Hearts

 

Die Cuts:

Die-Namics Medium Leafy Flourish

Joy Crafts Three Butterflies Embellishment
 

Stamp:

"Spring has Sprung" from Sizzix Framelits Dragonfly Die and Stamp Set
 

Ink:

Tim Holtz Spun Sugar Distress Ink

Tim Holtz Picked Raspberry Distress Ink
 

 Glitter:

Jones Tones Gold Highlighter Glitter

 

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge 181

It's been a while since my last post.  I've still been making bits and pieces, I've just not been putting them out on display.  My good camera decided to stop working and I've not been very happy with results from the one on my phone. I now have a new camera so hopefully will get around to posting more often.
 

Last week I came across the Freshly Made Sketches Blog and thought I would attempt making a card using the latest Sketch 181 as shown below.

 

 

I've never worked from a sketch before so thought it best if I kept it simple. I decide to limit the colour palette and just used an embossing folder to add interest to the white card. For the sentiment and embellishment I used Sizzix Framelits with Stamp Sets for the first time. Having a Grand Calibur I usually stick with Spellbinders and the occasional Marianne Dies but these Framelits were a bargain that was too good to miss and experiment with!

 

I'm very happy with the fresh and clean look of the card so hope you like it too.

 

Card stock:  

Image Super Smooth White,

Teal Card from PayPer Box.

Embossing Folder:
Ambrosia by Couture Creations

Stamps and Dies:

Sizzix Framelits - Flowers Doodle by Stephanie Barnard

Sizzix Framelits - Tags from Gift Card Holder Set by Karen Burniston

Ink:
Versa Colour Black

Ribbon:
Recycled from a T-Shirt's hanger loops!



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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birthday Cake for Nikki

I'm a bit late in posting this as Nikki's Birthday was in may but a lot has happened shortly afterwards and I forgot to post it.

Anyway here it is, the cake I made for her 30th Birthday.

So what sort of cake do you make for a party loving animal who likes pink and needs to feed over 100 people?

I opted for a 2 tier Genoese sponge cake with raspberry buttercream filling that looked like this:

 

Nikki has kept the elephant in the champagne glass as a memento!

There was also a single tier chocolate cake with a chocolate fudge frosting and filling but I forgot to take photos of it - must find out if anyone else took one!