Bad, Bad Blogger!

Thank you to everyone who continued to look at my blog since April. I will be much more frequent in my blogging now as the schools break up tomorrow and so I have 6 (yep 6!) weeks holiday.

So... lets cut to the chase, and here is a card! It was a commission from a colleague at work. It is 5x7. The grey font is computer generated and the pink is cut with my sizzix big shot. The cross is brushed silver, again a sizzix. This has been layered on vellum printed with silver leaves, then pink card, then pink handmade paper. (Is that what it is called? you know the stuff I mean!)

Next card!

This one was also a commission and also 5x7. The cue is made from a bamboo skewer and the beer mug is a Stampin Up stamp.

This one was for my Dad. My DS1 is always asking him to make robots with him and there is a family story regarding Dad 'mending' a lawnmower with a hammer, realising that we were all watching and calmly shutting the garage door so that he could continue to 'mend' without an audience. The man is an eat cake graphics stamp which I scanned in and tweaked a bit to make it look more like my Dad. The robot was just found on Google. I printed him twice on grey shiny card and then decoupaged him a bit. I added springs made by coiling wire round a cocktail stick.

Owls

This card was for my Auntie and Uncle as they recently lent us their cottage in Wales for a holiday. In one of the trees next to the cottage was a nesting box with baby owls in it - so I had to make an owl thank you card! I used the sketch from My Paper World but only used one flower as they are so big. The paper is from a new papermania retro stack and I love the colours. The owl was cut with a new sizzix die - i think he is my favourite. The leaf was cut with a very old sizzix die and I used antique linen distress ink to tone everything down a little. The thank you stamping was done with part of a circular stamp which came free with a magazine ages ago.

Punny Mood

I don't normally make 'funny' cards, but I seemed to be in the mood today! (And I use the word 'funny' in the loosest possible way!) The first card uses a Stampin Up stamp. I have stamped it on blue flowery card, cut it out and embellished it with punched flowers. I added some white details with a gelly roll pen. I was planning on making it a male card, but the flowers got the better of me! I did try a red version, but I didn't like it nearly as much.

The second card uses my new owl die. I have been inspired to make owls by Erin who makes lovely stamped cards. As I am not usually a stamper, I paper pieced mine. Each owl consists of 4 layers (plus face details) and so their heads are quite 'thick'. I thought about them having an egg to look after - perhaps that will happen next! They seem very happy together! I think the sentiment is funny - although I had a hard time explaining it to my boys - only bodily functions are funny at that age!

Pretty Flowers

I think these might be a reaction to the 70's vibe! The blue and purple card was stamped with my new Versa chalk inks. I've no idea what the stamps are. (The pc is not in my craft room and I am far to lazy to go and look - if you really need to know, I might be prepared to venture upstairs again!).

The pink and black card uses the last of my doodlebug paper and a lovely MM brad. The flower is a sizzix die (of course)


Daniel Eddie Mum Dad
(My 4½ year old is sat on my lap and he wanted to join in!)

70's Vibe

Not sure why, but I have been having a retro day today. I keep seeing birds made in patterned fabric and this inspired me to use patterned paper. All dies are sizzix and I think the paper is Rob and Bob, but as it is all cut up I can't now check. Hope you like them!

DCM Challenge

This card is for the DCM challenge for using white space. This is a card I made for an artist friend of my Mum's. Although you can't tell, the black square frames an aperture. The flower has been punched twice from turquoise card and once from acetate. the acetate has been embossed with the cuttlebug snowflakes folder and I have added glitter. I attached the acetate flower to the first blue flower with a brad, wrapped wire around the back of the brad, and then stuck a second blue flower on the back to hide the brad's legs. The wire has then been twisted to make a leaf and then around the black frame. Finally the black frame was stuck down. The flower is free to move.

More Butterflies

I really like this new cuttlebug butterfly die and embossing folders. This time I have cut the butterfly in white card and in parchment and then embossed them both. I have used a Versa chalk ink to colour the raised bits and stuck the two together in the middle. Although it does not show up in this scan, the parchment layer lifts up above the card layer giving a 3d effect. The paper is from a PM Colossal stack which was half price in Hobbycraft. The sentiment was stamped in the same blue ink and is a 99p Studio G stamp I bought yesterday in the range. Although it is quite faint, I like this as it has a cloudy / dreamy effect.

This next card is a combination of the above and the post below. I used the same papers / inks as for the retirement card but also added a parchment layer behind the butterflies to give them extra depth and give them a little more white so that the sentiment is not overpowered. I cut the butterflies in parchment and then cut them into 4. This meant that I could stick them behind the wings to give a shadow effect. The sentiment is straight - it is just my poor scanning!

Spread Your Wings

This card was made for a colleague taking early retirement. She plans to spend a lot of time travelling in the US, and so the sentiment 'time to spread your wings' seemed appropriate. This then made me think of butterflies. The card is 5x7 inches. The brown patterned paper is Stampin Up, the butterflies were cut and embossed in blue card with my new Cuttlebug dies and i then sponged some ink over them. The blue card has a slight shine to it. The sentiment was generated on the PC, but looked a little 'clean' so I sponged some ink over that too. I may have overdone the ink! Eyelets and some ribbon finished it off. I may make this one again, altering the sentiment so it is for a birthday.

My Paperworld Challenge

These are my two attempts at the challenge on My Paper World. I love the cards on this blog - but I don't know the name of the blogger! Both of these cards have stretched the sketch slightly as I don't tend to use a square base (I haven't got any square envelopes!)

Anyway, the first card is a 5x7 size and was made with a Christmas paper stack from papermania from a year or 2 ago. I don't think I made any Christmas cards with it but I love the colours. The flowers were punched with an EK success punch and the white panel has been cuttlebug embossed with the happy birthday folder.

The second card is 4x6 and uses a stamped image that I have. I don't have the stamp, so don't know what make it is, but the dog looks really happy. I have had the image for ages and then when I got this footprints paper I knew just what to put it with! I used my watercolour paints to colour him in and a gelly roll on his eyes and nose to make them shine. I used an ink pad to make the bottom layer look 'muddy' and then again to stamp the congratulations.

Stamping isn't usually my thing, but at the next session of the craft club I help run we are doing stamping and so I have had to do some more to practice.

Happy Birthday Mum

This is the birthday card I have made for my Mum (her birthday is Friday, but she doesn't read this and so I can post it now!) Last year I made her a really elaborate star card because she was having a really hard time - my 34 year old sister had just be diagnosed with breast cancer. This year things are much better as my sister has a clean bill of health now. However, I still needed a really good card for Mum. She buys a lot of cards from me and so knows most of my favourite layouts.

My friend Su got a really good deal on a set of the Sizzix Bigz serif letters and had offered to lend them to me sometime. I borrowed M and U and using the partial cutting technique (letting part of the die hang out between the plates - thank you Jay!) cut strips of very thick card in chocolate with an M or U at the end. This gave me a long strip of card with a shaped end. I put them together and trimmed 2 of them so that the letters were spaced correctly. I then used my bind it all to turn it into a book. I cut out more Ms and a U from Stampin Up paper which Su had kindly delivered with the letters and stuck these on to give more definition to the letters. The Stampin Up paper is gorgeous by the way, really thick and double sided too. best of all you get 2 of each sheet in the pack so I could safely cut into a sheet without having a panic attack! I used more of this paper to cut a sizzix Happy Birthday and also a daisy. I added a diamante and some ribbon to the spine.

I have been itching to use my bind it all and I was really pleased with the results. A smaller coil may have been better, but I only had the brown version in the ½ inch size. Now I just hope I can find an envelope to fit the card and that my Mum likes it!

I have added an embellished rectangle on the final M page for the message, but am not showing you a photo as I have already written on it!

Scrapbook Baby

I thought I would show you one of the pages of my scrapbook today. This is a photo of my DS2 taken when he was about a month old. He had just come out of the bath. I didn't take up scrapbooking until he was about 2 (he is now 4½) and so this photo had languished in a box as it looked rubbish against a white background and so did not make it into the photo album.

I mounted the photo on white paper and used blue vellum to soften the edges. The words are a MM rub on and the large hearts were embossed with a sizzix folder and then hand cut. (Why that folder is not an exact fit for the primitive hearts die is a mystery to me!) I used more vellum and rub ons to add to the little heart frame tag at the bottom.


Now I am going to stop looking at this or I will want to have another baby!

Mother's Day Cards

As you can see I am all behind with posting! The pink version s was the Mother's day card I made for my MIL. (By the way where do you put the apostrophe in 'Mothers' - does the day belong to one mother or all of them?) I made a few cards of this type using these lovely spotty Making Memories brads. I also like the foam these brads come packages with as I cut bits off and use it when I am inking edges etc. I find that it does not soak up too much ink and so it does not get wasted.

The blue version was bought by someone my DH works with.

The flower is a new Bigz die - I got fed up of the other daisy! The swirl is another Sizzix die and has to be my most used die ever! I generated the sentiment on the PC.

I made my own Mum an exploding box card and I forgot to take a photo, so that one can't be shown on here.

Easter Cards

These were the only 2 Easter cards I made this year. The chocolate themed one was made with an Ellison die (eggs) a Cuttlebug embossing folder (Paisley - white circle) and a stamp. The white circle and pink frame were cut with a Cuttlebug die. This turned out to be a really good match in size for my Giga Scallop punch.

The Cross card was made by embossing 2 pieces of white card (one oblong, one round) with the Cuttlebug floral frenzy folder. I cut a cross from the middle of the circle with an Ellison die. I mounted the circle on foam pads to lift it up. The 'black' bits are actually mirror card, it always scans as black. I was very careful to match the patterns of the circle and base. I think it would also have worked with a mirror card circle, but I wanted something really simple.

More Easter Goodies

These jars started life as Gold Blend coffee jars. They are quite small and when they were empty and washed I thought they would look lovey filled with mini eggs. The paper was in my large collection of patterned paper that never gets used, but I thought I would push the boat out this once! The 'ribbon' around the jar and lid is actually strips of chocolate velvet paper. I don't know where I got it from, but I wish I had bought more than 1 sheet! I cut out a flower from the paper and stuck it to a nestabilities circle for the top of the lid. For added texture I punched out small circles of the velvet and stuck these over the dots on the flower. The tags were cut with a sizzix die and stamped with some java chalk ink. I had some iridescent elastic pink string which came free with a magazine last year and it was just the thing to attach the label to the jar. After Easter the tags can be removed and the jars reused for storage.

Easter Bunnies

These were my Easter gifts for people this year. I got the pattern from Crafts Beautiful and then changed it slightly adding tabs which interlocked underneath the bunny so that each bunny held a cream egg inside. (My older niece and nephew also go a crisp £5 tucked in there as well!).

I loved the colours of this gingham card which I got from the Payper Box stand at the Cheltenham Craft show. I always buy a selection from these stands and then wish that I had bough more of a certain pattern or colour. This time it was the gingham as I have used almost all of it up.

Su has got another challenge, and again I am too late. This time it was the fault of the norovirus! The challenge is to make a valentine card using a heart and a Stampin' Up stamp but no pink or red. Here is my belated take on this challenge. I have cuttlebugged the background and then made a heart stencil to sponge Antique Linen ink through. (Actually I think I sponged then embossed). The birds are a new sizzix die and the branch is an old one. The flower is an SU stamp and I have punched it out (inaccurately). I then added glossy accents as that is another new toy. I corner punched and added dots and a faux stitched border. I think it would also have been nice with a darker background and lighter birds and the heart as a moon, I might try that later.

Stampin Up!

My good friend (and enabler!) Su gave me a beautiful birthday card yesterday which can be seen at http://sustampinstudio.blogspot.com/. She also gave me some lovely Stampin' Up stamps. So, I just had to have a play! I'm not sure if this qualifies for her challenge on http://stampinupchallengeuk.blogspot.com/, as my ribbon goes the wrong way - but I don't stamp often (I didn't own many stamps before!) and I had a bit under the knotted ribbon which was way too pale. The stamps are lovely quality and even as a novice stamper, I found them really easy to use. The set is called office accoutrement's. I have used brush markers to colour them and stamped off on scrap card to get a subtler effect. I then added glamour dust glitter for a bit of sparkle around the edges of the big flower and the centres of the little ones. I can really see the Original stamp on a male card and am going to play further with that idea. There is also a calender stamp in the set and I think that will be great for birthdays etc as well as scrapbook pages. Su, you may finally have got me hooked on stamps!

Green and pink extravaganza!

I was recently asked to make a baby girl card and also a big sister card. I had just come back from a trip to the Papermill Shop and this green and pink were calling to me from the box. I liked the idea of the baby flower coming from the joined two hearts - a bit sentimental and yeucky I know but new baby time is a good time for sentimental! The feet were embossed with a cuttlebug folder on a circle cut with my nestabilities. The flower, baby and hearts are all sizzix dies.

The big sister card uses the same colours and (of course) the marvelous swirls die. Everything was cur with sizzix except the flowers which are an x-cut punch. I am not sure how old the big sister is but I thought all little girls like bling so added some gems to make the dots on the 'i's.

This is my final (for now) pink and green card. The flower is stampendous. Stamped onto pink and green card and paper pieced. I went over the lines on the flower with a pink / glitter gelly roll pen (although it doesn't really show here). The stamens are raised using a black gelly roll. I drew the stems in using a green felt tip and a black fineliner and added knotted ribbon with a brad to tie it down. I did think about having the knot the other side and a sentiment on the right, but decided that it didn't need one. I gave this to my sister in law for her birthday. this card is a 5x7 and the others are A6. I just realised that they all look the same size on the blog.

Poppies and Swirls

Two more cards to show today. The red and green card was for a colleague who left yesterday. Although I have only been working there a few months, it was very sad when she left. The poppy is a Stampendous stamp which I have stamped on red and green paper. The centre was paper-pieced from the green version. I went over the stamens (?) of the flower and the black bits in the centre with a black gelly roll pen. The back ground is a cuttlebug embossing folder and the sentiment is a rub-off.

The blue and cholocate 50th card was a comission. I love this swirls sizzix die and the big daisy goes so well with it. It needed something to balance it in the top right corner so I added 2 little paper dots cut with my crop-a-dile. The numbers were cut with an Ellison thick cut die. There is a brown brad in the centre of the flower, not sure if you can tell from the picture.

The next card was actually sort of the first version of the above. I made this and then decided that I liked the idea and so would use it for the 50th card but with a bit of tweaking. I think they both work, but i prefer the 50th version. The sentiment is printed and then cut (and embossed, and mounted) with my new nestabilities dies. These were my Christmas present to myself. The only problem with them is that they are easy to lose - especially in the mess that is my craft room. I might have matted this sentiment with a plain rectangle except I have already lost that size!

I'm Back!

Well, it has been a while, but I thought I should start blogging again. I started a 'proper' job in September, together with looking after 2 boys and a husband, helping to run a card making club and making my own cards (of course). I am enjoying my new job, but it does eat into card making time!

As this is my first one for ages, I am just going to show a load of cards and you can work out how they were made (feel free to ask questions!)