Bauble & Wreath

Hello again. The Holly & Ivy Christmas Challenge has started a new ‘anything goes Christmas’ Challenge – here is my card:

I started by creating the background panel – a dark blue piece of card – and embossed using a Spellbinders embossing folder, then a white pigment ink pad swiped over the top to highlight the dimension.

Whilst this pigment ink was drying, I stamped and glitter silver heat embossed the bauble image from Pinkfresh Studio, and used the matching stencils to ink blend the one central detail. I juts wanted the bauble to stand out from all the surrounding colour. This was then die cut with the matching dies, and set to one side.

The leaves were die cut with a piece of previously created panel which I had used a green mica spray, and also die cut with some silver glitter card stock. This die set is also from Pinkfresh Studio – ‘Tied With Cheer’. There are three wreath layers in this die set, and I think I cut them all, and maybe a few extra.

The blue panel was adhered to a white card base, the wreath leaves layered and attached, then the bauble added.

I hope you can come and join us in our challenge – remember – Christmas cards only….. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

CYHTPembossing folder, option of pumpkins or orange not taken

Tic Tac Toe top left to bottom right diagonal – leaves – free – die cuts

Peace On Earth – Christmas anything goes

A Perfect Time To Craft anything goes

12 Months of Christmas Link-Up Christmas – option of sleigh it like you mean it not taken

Merry Little Christmas Challengeanything goes Christmas

Floral Hello

Hello everyone. The Alphabet Challenge is starting a new challenge. We have reached the letter ‘O’, and Helen has chosen the theme of:

O is for Oval and One word sentiment’

Here is my card:

For this card I chose to use the Press Plate from Pinkfresh Studio ‘Oval Blossom‘. I first used orange ink for the press plate, which colours the outside of the blossom image, then used the oval die and scalloped die which comes from the same set.

The sentiment is also a Press Plate from Spellbinders, inked with the same orange die cut with a stitched rectangle die which would leave a white edge to match the scallop on the floral image.

The background navy panel was cut slightly smaller than an A2 card size, and dry embossed using a very, very old embossing folder, which I believe is from Darice.

The final touch was to add some pearl gems to some of the background flower centres.

I hope you can come and join us with your creations following our theme. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge add some texture

Beautiful Blossoms florals

Ally’s Angelsanything goes

Thanks For Everything

Hallo. Cardz 4 Galz has started a new challenge. Pamela is the host, and she has chosen the theme of ‘colouring‘. Here is my card:

For the floral images, I decided to colour them using ink blending. This die and embossing set is from Altenew, and I think it was part of a virtual event. I must have ‘filed’ it somewhere safe, because I cannot find it again at this point….

I first used the die set to cut the images out, but taped them back into the card it had been cut from to make ink blending easier. I then used the matching stencils to colour each of the images, using some shading and certain places for added dimension.

I then placed the die cut in the matching embossing folder and ran it through my machine – this certainly adds even more dimension and detail.

The background panel is using Spellbinders ‘sage’ card stock and also ran through an embossing folder.

The final touches were to add the gems for the centre of the flowers, then a gold foiled sentiment.

I hope you can come and join us with your creations following our theme – there is a lot of scope to be able to include colouring on your projects. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Stencil Funuse stencils – option of Halloween related not taken

CYHTPembossing folder – option of pumpkins or orange not taken

Ellibelle’s Corner Garden Party anything in or from the garden

Beautiful Blossoms florals

Harvest Thanks

This card was firstly inspired by the current challenge at Inspiration Station. I was looking at the colours with the basket full of harvest goodies.

I took the opportunity to raid my stash of pre-prepared papers and card from ink smooshing and spraying and spritzing, using Brushos – generally from one of my play sessions.

I found the orange piece and die cut some pumpkins using a die set from The Greetery. I also found a piece of yellow card from playing with some mica sprays – the smaller pumpkins were die cut from that. The sheaves of wheat were die cut from more mellow orange and yellow pieces.

The basket is also from The Greetery – ever used – and that was just from some plain light brown/Kraft card stock – letting the other elements shine.

The background panel was created using a piece of paper I had gel printed on – I was obviously playing with some light green or lime inks and paints, and that piece was cut down to an A2 size panel, then a Spellbinders pumpkin embossing folder used on it, after which I took some bright ink and lightly blended over the top – catching the details subtly in some areas.

Now all my elements were ready, I glued the background panel onto the card base, played around with the layout, then added some 3D foam pieces to the back of the basket, inserted the sheaves of wheat, then stuck down.

The pumpkins were added with a mixture of 3D foam and glue.

The sentiment is gold foiled – again from a previous crafting and foiling session – black strip to make it stand out amongst all that colour.

I had fun creating this card – so many mediums I have previously played with, creating a stash I forget to turn to – but I was also inspired by one of my Design Team buddies who had recently produced a card using stuff in her ‘bit box’ – and so reminded me I had a stash of papers and pieces of card from all my sessions playing with inks and paints and gel plates etc… I really must remember I have them….

I shall be entering the following challenges:

We Love 2 Create anything goes mixed media

Inspiration Stationphoto inspiration

Creative Artiste Mixed Mediaanything goes mixed media

Tic Tac Toemiddle row – thanks sentiment – free – Kraft card stock

Ellibelle’s Corner Garden Partyanything in or from the garden

Let The Games Begin

I have a card to share inspired by the current colours for the Color Hues challenge – and I took the opportunity to add other elements for some other challenges:

I have this die set from Spellbinders for quite a while, though I did have to wait for the re-stock initially, and have been waiting for the chance to use this fun set.

The colours for Color Hues are ‘orange and purple’, which I thought would be perfect colours for this joker.

I die cut the elements required for him from Concord & 9th card stock – minus the stick thingy he holds – and started gluing each of the layers together, body part by body part. I then assembled him, adding some small 3D foam in certain places for more dimension – the legs, the head for instance.

I then though about what to do for the background……I tried a couple of ways first – which didn’t work and were too busy for this chap – and whilst searching through my stash came across this fun embossing folder – just some subtle starts and bubbles – and thought it would work.

I used a different colour C9 card stock:

The sentiment is from Spellbinders and is a Letter Press plate which was with the same release, picking the sentiment I thought was fun, used my letterpress for it, then die cut it out.

This same letter press set came with the banner die – it took me a while to figure that out (!!) – but I managed – only one small piece of card to throw away when I did it wrong…

I glued the background embossed panel to the card base, added the joker with a mixture of 3D foam and glue – he was all different levels due to my use of 3D foam when assembling him, then added the sentiment.

As a final touch – you know I like my gems – I added some small purple ones to each of the parts of his outfit where I thought bells would be if he was a proper joker or court jester.

All-in-all – having fun with the die set, a couple of oops moments, but smiles mostly…

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Cut It Updie cuts and add embellishments

Die Cut Divas – anything goes with die cuts

Color Hues orange and purple (neutrals allowed)

Cup Cake Inspirationswhat makes your smile – card making, even making some errors, playing around generally to create a card – and the card itself has made me smile)

CYHTPembossing folder – option pumpkins or orange

Beyond Happy For You

Hello. I had time to craft and create the following card today:

I was intrigued by the current recipe for the As You See It Challenge and decided to see what I could come up with – flowers, frame, happy sentiment, punch/die, shades of orange.

I began with choosing some flower die cuts from The Greetery ‘Embroidered Blooms‘ – and cut the elements from tones of orange, some green, grey, and yellow for added interest.

I then chose a frame die set from Pinkfresh Studio, and used ‘Cayenne‘ card stock from Concord & 9th, adding a couple of white layers beneath for dimension, rather than using 3D foam.

Arranging on a 5×5 inch card base to align with the square frame, I felt the background was a little too plain, so I used an Altenew embossing folder ‘Daisy Bed 3D‘.

This embossed panel was glued down to the card base, the frame added, then the florals arranged.

The sentiment is from Pinkfresh Studio, stamped and die cut with the matching die. I chose black for a little more drama, and even added three little black Spellbinder gems – I do like to use gems….

A smaller card and a different size than my usual, but I think it is quite cute – if I do say so myself…..

I shall be entering the following challenges:

A Cut Aboveanything goes with a die cut

As You See It recipe – flowers, orange, frame, happy sentiment, punch/die

Ellibelle’s Corner anything in or from the garden

Beautiful Blossomsflorals

A Tree and Stockings

Hello once again. It is time for the new challenge at ABC Christmas Challenge. Helen is hosting this time round, and having reached the letters ‘S‘ and ‘T‘, we have the themes of:

S is for Stockings’ and T is for Tree’

I created a card for each of the themes:

S is for Stockings

This first card was created using dies from The Greetery – the stockings and the foliage. Once these die cut, and the stockings layered together, I created a background white panel using a Spellbinders embossing folder, and added the elements by creating a swag of greenery, hanging the stockings from that swag, then also adding ombre gems.

The sentiments is gold foiled.

T is for Tree

For this second card, I used this fabulously fun die set from A Pocket Full Of Happiness – ‘Happy Rexmas’. There is certainly a lot of die cutting for this image, and I also used an embossing folder on the tree to create the added details – the same embossing folder I used for the background, from Spellbinders.

On the die set, the words came directly from the dinosaur mouth, but I didn’t want to create a larger than A2 card, so I added them above.

I hope you can come and join us by sharing your Christmas creations following one or both of our themes. If it isn’t clear which theme has been followed – then please let us know. There seems to have been a few entries to our challenge which do not match our themes and had to be deleted……

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Die Cut Divas anything goes with die cuts

A Cut Above anything goes with die cuts

12 Months Of Christmas Link-Up anything goes Christmas – option of circles & squares not taken

Merry Little Christmas Challengeanything goes Christmas

Teal Poinsettia

Hello once again. The Holly & Ivy Christmas Challenge has started a new challenge. The theme is always ‘anything goes Christmas’. Here is my card:

To create this card, I used the Waffle Flower Crafts ‘Sketched Poinsettia‘ stamp, die and stencil set. I first gold heat embossed the image with Altenew gold embossing powder, used the matching stencils to ink blend and colour the image in, then used the matching die to cut it out.

I used Pinkfresh Studio inks for the main floarl element.

For the background, I wanted a bold back-drop to the flower, so I used a dark blue card stock, and a Spellbinders embossing folder. This panel was cut slightly down to create a white edge.

The Spellbinders sentiment is gold foiled and die cut.

the elements were added as you see, and some dew drops added around and about.

I hope you can come and join, and I look forward to seeing you in our gallery. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Die Cut Divasanything goes with die cuts

A Cut Aboveanything goes with die cuts

Stencil Funuse stencils – option of nature taken

Merry Little Christmas Challenge anything goes Christmas

Stitched Armchair

Hello everyone. It seems the more time I have, the less time I spend crafting…..it seems I have been getting out and about more than usual, so I am glad I manage to keep well ahead in my DT duties.

The new challenge has started at Cardz 4 Galz. Billie A has chosen the theme of ‘stitching – real or faux‘. Here is my card:

I wonder how many of you are like me and have some stitching dies, and yet rarely use them. This challenge theme gave me the opportunity to grab one from Spellbinders and have a go at it.

I first die cut the chair from Kraft card, then stitched with a darker brown thread. I wanted a more vintage look to the chair. I did try a red chair, and a darker brown chair – but once I started to stitch them, I didn’t like it.

The cat is also from the same die set, and die cut very simply from white card stock. This cat has certainly got that nose-in-the-air look, hasn’t it?

This is one colour of cat I have never had. Our first cats were two black brothers, and now we have two old black and white cats, one tabby, and one torty….but never a white cat….

The background panel was created using a Spellbinders embossing folder, the gold frame was die cut from a Pinkfresh die set, and the sentiment is gold foiled.

I hope you can come and join us with your creations following our theme. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Lil Patch Of Crafty Friends anything goes

Everybody Artanything goes

Addicted To Stamps & More die cuts and/or stencils

CYHTPembossing folder – option of balloons not taken

Crafty Animalsanything goes with an animal

Die Cut Divasanything goes with die cuts


Hugs Leafy Frame

Hello everyone. There is a new challenge at Cardz 4 Galz. Johanna is hosting, and she has chosen the theme of ‘Use Vellum’. Here is my card:

I started by ink blending the leafy frame from The Greetery, using all of the layers from the stencil set and Pinkfresh Studio inks, adding some darker ink towards the bottom of each leaf, then die cut using the matching die.

The background panel was created using an embossing folder, onto which I attached the frame using small pieces of 3D foam.

I then took the vellum and die cut some extra foliage to place around and about to create more subtle details.

The sentiment was created by swiping one of the ink pads I had used for the ink blending, and using a Time 4 Tea Designs die, with the shadow layer also in vellum.

I hope you can come and join us with your projects using vellum. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Ellibelle’s Corner anything goes

A Cut Aboveanything goes with die cuts

Crafts Galore anything goes

Stencil Funuse stencils – option of trees or leaves taken

Triple Bbirds and/or butterflies and/or blooms

Creative Fingers – anything goes