As I continue to make cards for the charity at my place of work – Neurocare – I made a whole bunch yesterday. Why so many at one time? Well, I have just been away for a couple of weeks to beautiful Quebec City – and wasn’t able to do much crafting. The sights in that city are amazing, the food is superb – and the people very friendly, but not time for crafting as enjoying getting out and about there.

So on my return, I had a lot of card making mojo to express. You may have noticed a change in the style of cards from my previous blog posts – I have become better at my stamping! In part to the quality of products I use now, also by enjoying playing with my ‘MISTI’ stamping tool – and wanting to make quicker and more simpler cards for the charity.

I have put one of my recent cards which has a lot of die cutting on there, using the Sue Wilson/Creative Expressions dies with glitter, but the others are using a lot of stamping, trying out a variety of colours and images, using a masking technique on the tulip cards, and generally playing around with the stamps I have accrued over the past few months.

Most of the Stamp sets are from Altenew – love those stamps, especially the layering stamps, and their ink pads are ideal as they tend to come in a set of four for the mini inks – which all tone together and create the ideal colour and tone for the layering stamps.

As you can also see, there are a couple of stamp sets from Altenew all about coffee, and I thought they make ideal quick cards for saying hello to someone, for sending a card just because you can, almost like sending a little note.

There are also cards made form stamps and inks from ‘Stampin up’. This company has many, many stamps and inks and cards which are of good quality, and makes it quite difficult to choose what you want. I did have a day at my house with some friends and a ‘Stampin up’ demonstrator, playing with several stamp and die cutting sets. Even the none crafters enjoyed their time.

One other card – the wreath card – is made from a box I ordered from Stamp Nation. Though the postage and customs from the USA added an extra £15.00 (!!) the collection is fabulous to play with.

So – a very crafty day yesterday. Highly enjoyable, peaceful, and I think I created a good bunch for the charity to sell.

This card was to provide something a little different. I had a great time playing with my dies, and a great time making the matching stick pins.

The base layer is a white 8” x 8” card stock, with a close fitting blue layer. I die cut the Sue Wilson/Creative Expressions Noble ornate pierced design for the white accent, including die cutting the ornate inner segment. On top of that I placed the embossed middle section in blue, and die cut the Happy Birthday sentiment with white foam. The foam I backed back and front with a double adhesive sheet, enabling me to glitter the sentiment, and also to stick the sentiment straight down on the front of the card.

The die cut butterflies had double sided sticky sheet attached to the front, so I could add glitter to them both, but only attached the middle of the butterflies to the card, so they could have some movement. The flowers were made and doubled-up – two layers – before sticking them to the card, and the two flourishes were then added to add further detail.

The three stick pins were made to match the colour of the blue, and to reflect and cause some added sparkle, and stuck into the backing foam underneath the blue middle section. I always like to add dimension with foam, and the foam also provides a good sticking point for any stick pins I add – also securing with glue.

I have entered this card into the ‘crafty calendar challenge’ with the theme of ‘things with wings’, and ‘crazy 4 challenges’ with the theme of white flowers, and the ‘allsorts challenge’ with the theme of Happy Birthday.

For my entry into another card making challenge, it took a little thinking about. The theme was for a Christmas card incorporating the colour pink. As the Crafty Hazelnut’s challenge blog says – not usually a colour associated with Christmas, but why not?

I started with a white base card, and layered a Blackberry Bliss card stock layer, which I embossed with a ‘Heart Lattice’ embossing folder. I then added a sheet of silver vellum which had Christmas trees and Merry Christmas on it, and stuck that down with glue dots.

At the top of the vellum, I covered the glue dots with sparkly dazzlers, and at the bottom I covered the glue dots with a length of pink ribbon I layered with a sparkly ribbon. I wanted a two level effect and the ribbon separated the layers.

The three Christmas trees were embossed onto pink card with pink ‘Wow’ embossing glitter, and cut out using the matching punch. The snowman was from the Tim Holtz/Sizzix ‘Snowman Blueprint’ – stamped and embossed in white embossing powder, and cut out using the matching die. The sentiment was stamped with white embossing powder, and cut out using a scalloped circle punch. All these were added to the card with foam pads, to add some shadow and dimension.

I found incorporating the colour pink into a Christmas card was quite easy – once I had got over thinking that Christmas cards only needed to be the usual Christmas colours of red, green, gold etc.

Stampin up: ‘Festival of Trees’ stamps and matching punch, scalloped circle punch, Blackberry Bliss card stock; Sizzix/Tim Holtz: Snowman Blueprint stamp and die set; Wow: embossing powder; Creative Expressions/Sue Wilson: ‘Heart Lattice’ A4 embossing folder; Dazzlers, white embossing powder, Christmas vellum from my stock – unknown maker

It’s been a few weeks since I posted, but I now seem to have recovered from my card making block. I joined Stamp Nation, an on-line community where there are literally thousands of videos and ideas to encourage and support you. I have been going through the site slowly, but seeing all the ideas, and the people has stirred by crafting senses again – all good!

I enjoy card making challenges, as it gives me a topic or a reason to make a card, as I make them for personal use, and have also started to make quick cards for charity. A valuable web site for me is Paper Playful. The web site is a group of volunteers who trawl the web for card/craft challenges, and post them. So – I only have to look in one place for a fabulous list to encourage me.

The card above is for one such challenge – My Time To Craft Challenge Blog – and the sketch for the current challenge reminded me I had a bag of ‘Twinchies’. Twinchies are 2 inch square , and ideal for this particular challenge. These particular ones are from Stamps Away and are white paper lined board – ideal for a mosaic effect.

I used a 5 x 5 inch square Kraft card base, and placed a layer  Blackberry Bliss card stock. On 4 of the Twinchies, I stamped third generation flowers, to give a faded and muted look. For the middle Twinchie, I masked an area the general size of the sentiment I was going to use, stamped around and over the masking, and then stamped the sentiment.

I had some ribbon from a Jane Means gift wrapping course I attended last year, which I wrapped around the base card, On top of the ribbon I added an Indigo Blu mount board rose which I coloured the same colour as my stamping, and added some Decadent Wine PVA dots. Maybe I should have used pink dots – but I thought they would have added too much brightness for what I was trying to achieve.

I don’t usually make flowery and pretty cards, but I really enjoyed putting this together.

products:

Stampin Up: Blackberry Bliss cards stock , Blackberry Bliss ink, Elegant Eggplant ink (sentiment), Old Olive ink, ‘Botanicals’ For You stamp set; Cosmic Shimmer: Decadent Wine PVA, from Phill Martin; Jane Means: chocolate and pink ribbon; Indigo Blu: Alter Ego Florals

As you can see, this Christmas card is a combination of gold, green, and red. It has many elements on the card, many layers, and quite a bit of embossing.

The base card is 8” x 8”, with a slightly smaller layer, which I embossed with Creative Expressions ‘Swirling Holly’ embossing folder. Another layer of a brushed gold card, and further layer of the same embossing folder. The central oval tag is from Creative Expressions/Sue Wilson ‘Lattice Snowflake’, using the oval itself, then a further oval in green of the main element from that die set. The snowflake used from another Creative Expressions/Sue Wilson set Festive snowflakes.

The added elements were the ‘x-cut’ poinsettia die, cut out several times, layered up, with the top layer having Glossy accents for the shine. The central dazzler added for a little glitter.The holly die cuts were again from Creative Expressions/Sue Wilson ‘Holly Sprays’, adding red glitter glue to the berries.

The ‘Deer family’ from Creative Expressions/Sue Wilson were cut out of red card, embossed to make their detail stand out more, and I also rubbed gold gilding wax over the top, to bring their colour in-line more with the rest of the card.

Over-all, quite a few layers, but I think the gold, green, and red are definitely a colourful Christmas.

I will be putting this card into the following challenge blogs:

52 Christmas Card Throwdown

Crafty hazelnuts Christmas challenge extra

Creative Expression/Sue Wilson: ‘Swirling Holly’ embossing folder EF-023; ‘Deer Family’ die set CED3042; ‘Holly Sprays’ CED3013; ‘Lattice Snowflake’ CED3021;

X-Cut Poinsettia die set

I have been thinking of making a card with the ‘Tiger Tiger’ stamp from Sheena Douglass, for a while, and had the opportunity today, and also the opportunity to enter it into a challenge – the Alphabet Challenge Blog.

The card is also not what I would usually make, as it involves making a background, and water-colouring, and using lots of colours, but I wanted to give it a go and see what I ended up with.

The first thing I did was to stamp the tiger onto water colour paper, and colour him with Spectrum Aqua pens. I used two colours, then water-brushed, then dried, then applied more colour from a different pen.

For the background, I used an acetate sheet, and scribbled three different colours onto it, sprayed liberally with water, and just ‘plonked’ my card onto it. I made sure the card stayed for a few seconds, to pick up all the colour, before I lifted it up, and dried it with my heat tool.

I stamped the tiger again on the background, for positioning purposes (I was cutting him out of the previous sheet and sticking him on when I had completed the background), and stamped the leaves from the same ‘Tiger Tiger’ stamp set. The leaves were stamped using the Spectrum Aqua pens, to give a more distressed look. I wanted to create a sort of camouflage area for him, a canopy almost. I also distressed the edge of the main background card.

After I cut the stamped tiger out, I stuck him to the main background with Crafters Companion ‘stick and stay’, and drew around him with a black Spectrum Aqua pen for more definition. The sentiment is from the same stamp set – they all work very well together.

I then chose a couple of backing coloured card which reflected some of the tones in the main background and tiger himself. I rounded the corners of the layers for effect, and to create and interest in the backing cards which doesn’t detract from the tiger himself.

I am quite pleased with the end result, it is quite rich and colourful, and it makes me think I should probably keep playing with colours……….!

Sheena Douglass stamps – A taste of India – ‘Tiger Tiger’

Crafters Companion – Spectrum Aqua pens  – Topaz, Fawn, Gold, Yellow, Crimson, and Black for the Tiger; Leaf Green for the leaves; Sepia, Chocolate, Teal, Aquamarine, Moss for the background; ‘Stick and Stay’;

Tonic textured card for the background card

Be Creative double-sided sticky tape

Black Archival ink for the sentiment

We R Memory Keepers – Envelope punch board

I have mentioned on a previous post that I like to get ideas to make cards, and I do tend to concentrate on that topic. I have another card here which I will be adding to another challenge – Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas challenge – with the theme being ‘green’.

I made this card by matting a green layer onto an 8” x 8” card base. The next layer is a sheet of acetate, covered with a double sided sticky sheet, and applied gilding flakes. I then turned this upside down, the smooth side of the acetate to the top, as I liked the way the gilding flakes glittered through the acetate. I adhered that to the green matt with double sided tape.

The focus is the Creative Expressions/Sue Wilson Noble Ornate Pierced design die, taking out the inner part as I wanted as much of the gilding flakes to show through as possible. The middle oval I stamped and embossed a Christmas greeting in silver, which I thought would tie-in with the gilding flakes.

I added a poinsettia from the X-Cut die set, cut out of red card, three layers to the flower, and added Glossy Accents to the leaves for extra shine. I shaped each of the leaves of the flower for added dimension. The middle of the poinsettia is a shiny dazzler.

I then die cut several of the Creative Expressions/ Sue Wilson festive Holly Sprays, and added a red Stickles dot to where I thought the red berries would be, and inserted the die cuts beneath the oval, only sticking them down underneath the oval, so there would be some movement of the holly sprays. I added some die cut holly, again adding red to the berries.

I also made the two stick pins with colours to match the card, as a bit more sparkle.

I enjoyed making this card, and it did take longer than I usually spend, as it involves quite a few different techniques, but I’m happy with the result. I may have to make more using similar techniques as I enjoyed it so much.

I have recently also entered this card into CHNC challenge extra for April, as per recent comment from the challenge organiser.

As I tend to make cards for personal use only, I have found a good way to get ideas, and a reason to make cards, is by using ideas and themes from card challenge blogs. This card was inspired by the 52 Card Christmas Throwdown – and what a good idea to make Christmas cards throughout the year, ensuring there are plenty for giving away when the time comes.

This entry into the challenge is an 8” x 8” white base card. I then used a smaller layer, and edged it in ‘Be Creative’ double sided sticky tape, added Cosmic Shimmer Detail Embossing Powder ‘Bright Gold’ to the tape – and heat set it. The sticky tape is amazing, and doesn’t burn when using a heat tool, so it is easy to add embossing to the edges of cards. I like to heat emboss from above, as I like the uneven look of it. I edged a couple of layers in this way, to give the focus elements a bit of a lift.

The main white of the card was embossed with Creative Expressions ‘Twinkle Twinkle’ embossing folder. I also used the image from Creative Expressions Sue Wilson Stamps to Die For ‘Christmas Night Bauble’, stamped in Perfect Medium, and heat embossed it with the same Cosmic Shimmer  embossing powder, and die cut it with the matching set of dies ‘Festive Collection – Sentimental Bauble’. I added that to another matt and layer, raising both elements with foam pads.

The sentiment I used was from Sentimentally Yours by Phill Martin, a set a bought last year, also stamped and embossed, and layered with another edge of the bright gold embossing powder.

The poinsettias are from an X-Cut die set, and I used the second size down, two layers on each, slightly curved the leaves with my pricking tool, and cut from the card I also embossed with the ‘Twinkle Twinkle’ embossing folder for a little more interest. The finishing touch is a couple of white flat back pearls to the centre.

close-up of the sparkle

This card was inspired by the Allsorts Challenge blog for week 38 – Purple Passion. I love anything purple, and love wine – so thought I would combine the two!

The base card is a substantial cream card, with a purple card layered on top. I then had another piece of cream card, over which I placed a double sided sticky sheet. I placed some purple netting, usually used as gift wrap, over the top. The hardest part was actually trying to ensure the netting was straight on my card – I think I achieved it! The spaces in between the netting is Creative Expressions glitter jewels, which stuck to the double sided sticky sheet, and gave a little bling to my card – another passion….a blingy card.

The main top piece was layered with foam pads. The stamps I used were from a selection from Honey Doo Crafts – A Bottle of Vine, and Just The One – stamped simply with black archival ink, but edged with purple ink to give some tone and colour to the otherwise simple top part.

For me this was a fairly simple card, with only a couple of layers – but I think the stamps speak for themselves – with an added bit of bling.

I hope you all like it.

I was given the idea for a card by a work colleague. She has a 60th wedding anniversary to go to in a few months, and as this is the diamond anniversary, I began to think about doing a shiny and sparkly card.

I used an 8” square white card base, and cut a square just under 7.5 inches for the first layer. The black layer is a baroque embossed card from my stash, and was stuck flat to the base card. I covered a piece of coconut white card with a double sided sticky sheet, added Cosmic Shimmer Glitter Jewels for the sparkly effect, then cut a square to layer out of that sheet leaving a fairly wide black border underneath it. I added dimension by using foam tape.

The lattice effect is by using Spellbinders ‘Labels One Card Front’ on a piece of Creative Expressions black card. I stuck the edges and centre down, but not the lattice pieces, as I like the shadow effect this gives. The centre sparkly tag is from Spellbinders ‘Labels 47 Decorative Elements’ which has been raised with foam tape.

The sentiment is by Sue Wilson and Creative expressions, cut from black foam. I tried to cut and layer the sentiment several times from card – I wanted a dimensional sentiment – but I couldn’t quite get the layers to line up right. I remembered I had bought some colours of foam – and it cut beautifully with the sentiment and my electronic Big Shot – no problem at all.

The embellishments are Spellbinders ‘Tiered Multiloop Bows’ cut out of another piece of card I had stuck the Glitter Jewels to. I wanted a solid bow, as it was sparkly, and put the layers together with a Hobby House rhinestone brad.

The two stick pins/hat pins are hand made by me to add further sparkle.

Items:

Creative Expressions black card

Creative Expressions coconut white card

Creative Expressions double sided sticky sheet

Creative Expressions/Sue Wilson Noble Dies – Double Pierced Squares – CED5509

Creative expressions/Sue Wilson – Expressions – Congratulations – CED5418

Cosmic Shimmer Glitter Jewels

Spellbinders Labels One Card Front – S6-023

Spellbinders ‘Labels 47 Decorative Elements’

Spellbinders Tiered Multiloop Bows – S6-048

Hobby House – Rhinestone Brads