Patterned Paper

Christmas Sparkle Bauble

Hello everyone. Cardz 4 Galz has started a new challenge, Dawn is hosting, and she has chosen the theme of ‘Christmas Sparkle’. Here is my card:

I used some patterned paper from Simple Stories, I believe I received it as part of a class, and used a panel of the tartan for the background.

The snowflake panel is heat foiled using a toner sheet, silver foil, and the Gina K Designs Fuse foiling system. I haven’t played with this very much, so I had to check out one of her YouTube videos – but it foils like a dream…

This foiled panel was then die cut with Hero Arts besting bauble dies – a couple of times for dimension – then all elements added.

The deer is also part of the ephemera I received for this kit, and glued directly onto the foiled bauble.

I hope you can come and join us with your ‘Christmas’ Sparkle’ creations. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Peace On Earth – anything goes Christmas

Lil Patch Of Crafty Friends – anything goes

2 Crafty Critter Crazies – anything goes with a critter

Die Cut Divas – die cuts and Christmas/Winter

12 Months Of Christmas Link-up – anything goes Christmas

Autumn Wishes

Hello. I want to share a card created using a Simon Hurley stamp and stencil set, obtained for a virtual event recently, and to enter the current challenge at The Four Seasons Challenge. The current theme is ‘fall’:

The first job was to stamp the bare trees, which I inked with brown, then stamped in different positions. The leaves are added with a matching stencil, so I actually used Nuvo drops for the so-called leaves.

I squeezed some of the purple out, scraped through the stencil with my palette knife – then had to wait for that to dry before moving on to the blue, and then the red – something I generally don’t like to do – wait for things to dry. I am very impatient when creating….

Once the three colours were dry, I cut the panel down slightly, then layered it with a patterned paper onto a white card base.

The sentiment was stamped, then the banner die cut and attached.

As mentioned, I shall be entering the Four Season Challenge – them of ‘fall’

Hello Friend

The Alphabet Challenge has started a new challenge and theme. Melanie is the host, and she has chosen:

J is for Jump – anything which jumps

Here is my card:

I chose to use a new die, and one from a company I haven’t used before. They now have their products on one of our UK stores, and I took the opportunity to buy several – this peekaboo die really sang to me.

I used a white card base, and die cut the peekaboo die from another panel of white card stock, and simply laid down a rainbow striped paper behind it….really clean and simple – for me at least…..!

I added the foiled sentiment – no gems, no other embellishments – again a rarity for me – but I really do like the simplicity of it.

I hope you can come and join us with your creations featuring anything that jumps. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Ellibelle’s Corner – anything goes

Craft Rocket – animals

Crafty Animals – anything goes with an animal

A Cut Above – anything goes with die cuts

Colorful Options – Neutrals colour board or rainbow

Lil Patch Of Crafty Friends – anything goes

Believe In Yourself

Hello again. I have created a card for one of my friends going through some tough stuff at the moment, and decided to use patterned paper from my stash:

I wanted to create a Z fold card for the current challenge at Die Cut Divas, together with the theme of ‘bees’ from Double D challenge.

I knew I had some honeycomb/bee papers from 49 & Market somewhere, and I hunted them out, picked several of the papers and decided which ones I wanted.

I created the Z fold using an A2 card base, matted one piece on the inside, and another piece to the front narrower panel, also covering the rear of that folded piece.

I used the ‘Honey Bees’ die set from The Greetery to create the three bees – all coming from the same die set. The yellow part of the bees is from a previously created panel – ink smooshing, acrylic paint splattering, and I think there was even some water droplets thrown in for good measure. I liked the almost honey-like colour on the panel.

The black stripes of the main bee were cut at the same time, from the same yellow piece, and coloured with a W9 Copic marker – not black – as I wanted the legs and antennae to look a little warmer, and stand out from the black hexagon.

The black hexagon piece is from the same patterned paper pack, but onto that I also used some Distress paste – the translucent paste – and a Simon says Stamp honeycomb stencil to create a little more detail and interest behind the bee, scraped through quite haphazardly.

The wings for all three bees were die cut from vellum, and all the layers attached. I had to wait until the following day for the paste to dry, but then it was putting everything together to make the card you see.

I added the sentiment strip, layered with a piece of black for stability.

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Double D Challenge – use bees and/or the word happy

We Love 2 Create – anything goes mixed media

Crafty Animals – anything goes with an animal

Die Cut Divas – die cutting and Z fold card

Crafts Galore – anything goes

Love Those Patterned Papers – patterned papers option of summertime

Hope Your Day Is Purrfect

Hello there. I have had a busy few days out and about, but managed to find time to play with some products from my stash bought from a UK Facebook live sale they have every month:

The theme for this card is from the current challenge at As You Like It. They want to know if you are a cat or dog person – and why……. As most of you know, I am currently owned by four cats. We have never had dogs – both working full time for forty years – and therefore cats are what we started to homing 18 years or so ago.

These products from AALL & Create were an impulse buy, purely because they are cats, and the colours in this creative box sang to me.

I used one of the background cards which came in the box, and die cut the black layer from another AALL & Create die set. To get everything on the background I wanted, I die cut the black twice as it wasn’t quite long enough and just layered it behind. I then used a piece of paper from my stash to put behind the black, and then added to a 5 x 7 inch off-white card base.

The sentiment was stamped onto a piece of the background paper, then I used a smaller die from the frame set and angled it around to get the same edging.

I added the sentiment first, then arranged four of the cats as you see. I chose cats which would stand out a little from the gorgeous background, added the word ‘LOVE’ as well as the heart – ephemera from the same creative box.

I am not one for using lots of ephemera, but I have quite a lot from previous crafty events which I may just have to play with.

I shall be entering the following challenges:

As You Like It – cats or dogs and why

Ally’s Angels – anything goes

Lil Patch Of Crafty Friends – anything goes

Crafty Animals – anything goes with an animal

Cardz 4 Galz – Fun Fold

Hello everyone. I have had a short break with hubby – travelling around Italy with a short stop in Switzerland. Hubby drove and we covered 1000kms in four days, through several mountain passes and lots and lots of hair-pin bends – they look like amazing zig-zags on the maps we followed.

Now back and hopefully crafting more, though I must my mojo seems to be having a longer break than me.

Here is the card I made for the new challenge at Cardz 4 Galz. Sue J is hosting, and she has chosen the theme of ‘Fun Fold’.

The design team has been a little more adventurous with their fun folds than me, but I actually enjoyed the process of creating this card.

I chose the gatefold layout, using patterned paper with a woodgrain effect as a backdrop to the vibrant flowers I was going to add.

The middle panel was another piece of paper from the same collection, the bamboo trellis is from Spellbinders, which I cut and assembled twice so I could make it a little longer.

The flowers and leaves are also from Spellbinders, using a few of their floral sets, assembling and arranging to cover the join in the trellis, and just generally whatever suited my eye.

The panel was then attached to the left side of the gate-fold card, and the foiled sentiment added – a bold black strip with gold foiling to make it stand out. Gems were added to the centre of the flowers – and a few around and about.

I hope you can come and join us with your creations featuring fun folds – I look forward to seeing which folds you use. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Die Cut Divas – die cuts – birthday

A Cut Above – anything goes with die cuts

Ellibelle’s Corner – anything goes

Crafts Galore – anything goes

Love Those Pretty Papers – anything goes with patterned paper

Inkspirational – word prompt – birthday

Have A Cool Summer

Hello everyone. Cardz 4 Galz is starting a new challenge. Pamela is hosting and has chosen the theme of:

‘Welcome to summer – anything summer related’

Here is my card:

To create this card, I used some die sets from Spellbinders, and an embossing folder -also from Spellbinders.

The background panel is a piece of light blue card stock for the sky, with a darker blue card for the sea, which I used the embossing folder for – looking like waves.

The hippo and the beach scene were all die cut and attached together, and I added some patterned paper for the ring and umbrella to add some pops of colour.

The clouds are die cut from white card stock, and the sentiment was attached as the final addition.

I hope you can come and join us with your creations related to summer. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Crafty Animals – anything goes with an animal

Crafts Galore – anything goes

A Cut Above – anything goes with die cuts

Aud Sentiments – fun fold and/or summer and a sentiment

D is for Dogs

Hello once again. The Alphabet Challenge has reached the letter ‘D’, and Caz has chosen the theme of ‘DOGS’. Here is my card:

Now most of you know I have cats, currently four of them, and have never owned dogs. However, it appears I have quite a few dog-themed crafty products in my stash. For this challenge I used a Spellbinders die for the dogs, die cutting in varying tones of brown and grey. Some black was used for the eyes and noses.

This die was part of the Spellbinders Advent Calendar 2024, and comes with additional elements to make this cute little guy into a Frenchie – a little beret, a little scarf, and stripes for his jacket. As you can see, I kept him quite simple – if die cutting and layering all those pieces can be called simple.

Once he was put together three times, I decided to use a slimline sized card to get them all on comfortably. The slimline scalloped circle die is from Pinkfresh Studio, and the patterned paper behind the three holes is from Time 4 tea Designs.

I added a gold foiled sentiment.

I hope you can come and join us for this new challenge with projects celebrating dogs. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Crafters Café – anything goes – option of no squares taken

Ally’s Angels – anything goes

Love To Craft – anything goes

Happy Spring

Hello everyone. I have a card to share for the new challenge at Cardz 4 Galz. Sue J is hosting this time round and she has chosen the theme of ‘Springtime’. Here is my card:

I chose to make use of products from a previous crafty event. The products are from ‘Stamps Of Life’ and the die set creates this stepper card, with added dies for the layers.

I started by creating the card base using the main die, then added layers of patterned paper for the background. Some bright and colourful dotty paper.

I added the two die cut words – also using dies from the same die set.

The two crocus flowers are from The Greetery layered as per instructions, and adding more green leaves for a fuller look.

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

I shall be entering the following challenges:

The Four Seasons Challenge – Spring

Tic Tac Toe – middle column – flowers – Spring – 3D or add dimension

Crafty Calendar – more than one fold

2 Sisters On The Blog – Spring and/or Easter

Creative Creases – anything goes with a fancy fold

Mix It Up – anything goes – option of layers taken

Love To Craft – anything goes

V is for Vintage

Hello again. The Alphabet Challenge has reached the letter ‘V‘, and Caz has chosen the theme of ‘Vintage‘. Here is my card:

I really struggle with the vintage feel of projects, they aren’t my usual style, but I embraced the challenge and created this.

I started by using a 5×7 card base, and onto that I layered some patterned papers from my stash. These were given a torn edge with my scissors, then some brown ink blended around the edges.

The bottom two were adhered direct to the card base, then I found this vintage lady in my stash so I used her to be the focus in the bottom left corner.

I then used some flowers which had a vintage feel – to me anyway – and framed here, also adding some brown die cut wreaths and leaves which were laying on my table.

This quite a dimensional project but hopefully it works.