Maybe back?

Ha, well that didn't work did it! I said I would post more often and then didn't post for a year. Thank you to those of you who were kind enough to visit during the year.

I have made loads of cards, unfortunately most of them were last minute and I didn't take pictures. Here are a few of the ones I did manage to get!

This one uses a Sizzix die cut. I didn't actually buy this die (don't all pass out), I figured that I wouldn't use this much to cut anything other than white card and so I just bought a pack of die cuts from Ebay. I thought that this was a good teenage card - my niece may get it in a couple of weeks.

The background paper is the very last scrap I have of this. I think it was doodlebug and I used loads of it. The sentiment was printed on the computer.

This was a quick new home card and uses one of my all time favourite colour combinations, blue, chocolate and white. The key, letters, tag and ring were all cut using my big shot. I cut the ring and key twice, once on the right side and once on the 'wrong' and stuck them together, even though you can't see the back - I guess I am a little too fussy!

The white layer has been embossed using a paisley cuttlebug folder. I love these, although wish they were slightly bigger so that they would cover the front of an A6 card. I got all excited about the sizzix folders but they are too big - there is no happy medium! (Please insert your own jokes about Yvette Fielding etc)

I was really pleased with this card and plan to make a few more for my stash.

Alison

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.

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!

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!

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!)

Fabulous 40

This card was made for a very stylish 40 year old friend. The flowers are from the ellison thick cut daisy with doodledot number negatives in silver on top of circles in brown for the centres. The sentiment is a sizzix embossing folder. The wire stems are held down by the flowers and the ribbon.

Di Hickman Sketch

This is my take on Di's sketch for this week. My sentiment has been moved across, but I think it still qualifies. The flower is an Ellison thick cut 3 d flower which I have cut in pink vellum. I love the way vellum holds its shape when it is curled. The bow is from an Ellison thick cut present. I have only ever used this die as a bow, never as a whole present! I didn't stick this down completely as I like my cards to be 3d. The green background paper and rub-on came free with my Quick and Crafty this month. To make the little pink dots easier to stick, I put double sided tape on the back of a bit of vellum and then punched this. That way the tape is the same size as the vellum and so doesn't show.

Quick & Easy Cupcakes

This is one of my simpler cards - but sometimes I like simple best! I saw this sentiment on a sheet of rub-ons and printed it on a side fold a6 card. The cakes are a sizzix sizzlit which I bought individually on ebay so I don't know which set. I cut the cake from thick chocolate card, white, red and green to make 2 whole cakes and then in red and green to make the cherry. I used scalloped scissors to cut the bite mark. Tied the ribbon round to finish (with a bit of double sided tape underneath so it didn't move). Nice and simple!

For you, Sue!

This is another of the Z cards I made last week, but I had to wait until the recipient (Sue) had opened it before I could post it here! I water coloured the cosmobella with my cheap and cheerful 89p watercolour paints from Tesco. I used clear glitter gelly roll on her hair to add touches of sparkle and also used gelly rolls for the red cherry and her silver belt buckle. I inked the edges of the white panel with a brown felt tip and then scratched them with my nails to get the distressed look. The faux stitching on the brown panel was also a gelly roll (what did I do before I found these???). The sentiment was printed on the pc and distressed as before. I added eyelets with my cropadile and mounted the piece on foam tape so it is the same height as the main panel when the card is shut. The only tricky bit was remembering to make sure that the join in the ribbon was under the bit of panel which is stuck to the card so that it doesn't show when the card is open.

Red and Black

Although I love all things girly, I am also strangely drawn to red, black and white.
This background was embossed with a sizzix texture plate, having spritzed the card first with water - it embosses better this way. The flowers are my EK retro flower punch and they have been embossed with an Ellison spots embossing folder. I then curled the petals over my trusty scalpel handle. This grosgrain ribbon is fab and I use it all the time. The greeting was printed on the pc an then I went round the edges with a black Sakura gelly roll to give a bit of shine.


This card was made with the off cut of the embossed red card (the texture plates are quite big). It seemed a shame to waste it so I cut 3 apertures in it with my sizzix alphabars doodledots numbers (the dies each have 3 circles on them with numbers inside - the idea is that you can use the numbers or the negative, but it is also really useful for apertures!) The present and cake are made using an Ellison cut and emboss folder called 'birthday seals', in mirror card. They are flat on the card blank and the red has been raised up on foam tape to give some depth to the windows. The happy birthday is my favourite Sizzix die. It is supposed to be all sort of piled up on top of itself, but if you cut it twice you can make it look like this.

The dress card was made using a Sizzix dress die. I cut it from thin wood, black card and red. I punched the flowers and name tag and added red centres and the name with Sakura gelly rolls. I have lots of this fab angel hair ribbon which gives a lovely touch of texture and then some more gingham to finish.

I think that that is enough red and black for now (I do have more!)

Back to pink next time!

First Challenge

The Daring Cardmakers challenge this week is to use checks and as I needed to make a card for someone I thought I would try to include this. The flower, number and heart are in mirror card and the checks are in the gingham paper and ribbon. Shapes are cut with a sizzix or by hand and I have added bling as what 7 year old girl can resist pink bling!!

Hello

This is my first post! (Obviously!)

I made this card for my friend Tracy because she loves her bath (and I love this sizzix die!)

I used Brooke in the Bath by Sizzix, a scallop punch and some glitter for the bubbles. The hair is highlighted with a clear Sakura pen to give her some curls - although I'm not sure if they show up on here. The greeting is printed on my hubby's printer. (I bought it for him 2 years ago and he has yet to use it - I use it every day!!)

I tried to make her left arm and leg 'nearer' than her right by adding extra layers - I think it worked.

Baths have been a bit of a rarity round here recently as I live in Gloucester and we have had no running water for 9 days (well, not in the taps!). It finally came back on at 6pm yesterday and so I can wash again. We are not supposed to drink the water or wash up with it, but it is ok to wash ourselves in it - figure that one out if you can!