Autumn Fairy

This morning I thought I would have a bit of a tidy of all the bits I'd left laying on my worktop, and I came across this background. It was one that I had made with the leftover ink from the card I made a couple of weeks ago using the baby wipe ink pad. It had a splodge across the middle that looked just like a tree trunk (well I thought it looked like a tree trunk), and decided it was just what I needed to use this stamp called Shaylee from Lavinia Stamps. I started by stamping, and then embossing with WOW black glint embossing powder, the wings on this fairy are optional, I decided to use them. I added the butterfly next, again embossing with black glint. Then with various shades of Distress Ink pads and leaf branch from the Silhouette Garden set of stamps, by Sheena Douglas, I went around the page. I wanted to give the feel of Autumn with this card so the colours I've picked are reds, oranges, and browns. I blended around the edge of the card with some ink from the tea dye ink pad, then added glitter to the wings. I mounted it onto some gold mirri card and then a 6x6 cream card base.

Thank you for taking the time to look, and your kind comments that are always appreciated.

Sue

Christmas Card Batch

A few weeks ago I bought the new Traditional Snow globe CD from Flowersoft, and this week I decided it was time to start making some Christmas cards. I have made some already which I have entered into various challenges, but as Christmas  has  habit of creeping up on me all of a sudden, I thought I would get a bit of a head start. The first batch of cards I've made were using the snow globe cards and domes that came with the CD. The images were cut out and decoupaged, put together using glue gel, and when dry I added some glitter. Before putting the globe into the cards I put some Polar White flowersoft inside. I added the sentiment, which was also from Flowersoft, but this time from the Magic of Christmas stamps, these I embossed with silver embossing powder. After putting the globes into the cards I added some peel offs around the edge, and added some die cut holly leaves with a small red bow.

As the globes and cards tend to be on the expensive side I had a little play with the next batch, and cut some frames with the Elegant Edges cricut cartridge. These I cut in white card and coloured with distress inks and a blending tool. The corners on the cards were stamped using the holly corner that is on the stamp sheet with the sentiments used on the last batch, I stamped them with Pine Needles distress ink and then added the holly berries with a promarker. The sentiment comes from a discontinued stamp set from Chocolate Baroque. The card that has the snowflakes on was stamped using a snowflake stamp from the new Christmas stamps from Chocolate Baroque, these gorgeous stamps are on special offer at the moment do go and check them out. I added a gem into the centre of the snowflake. I think that the second batch looks just as good even though they are not in the globes.

Thank you for taking the time to look, and your kind comments which are always appreciated.

Sue

CD Sunday - Game On

This weeks challenge over on the CD Sunday blog is Game On. I had a look on My Craft Studio for inspiration for this one and came up with this, The Queen of Hearts and her Croquet Game, from A Very Important Date CD. I started this card with an A5 card blank, then printed one of the backing papers, I mounted this onto some red mirri card, and added some die cut corners from Cherry Lynn also cut from red mirri card. I printed one of the toppers from the CD along with three of the playing cards, the Jack, Queen and King. The topper was mounted onto some silver and then red mirri card, I've placed it onto the card at an angle, then arranged the playing cards down the side. I've not added a sentiment at this stage, I will wait until I know who the card will go to.

Thank you for taking the time to look, and your kind comments which are always appreciated.

Sue

Call Of The Wild

Well I'm back with my second post today, this time with a card for the For Your Inspiration challenge, this gorgeous photo below was the photo given for our inspiration this time. The ladies on the FYI blog are taking a break until next year after this challenge, I know I for one will miss you, but look forward to your return in the New Year. I shall also enter this card into the Craft A Scene challenge which this month is Anything In The Great Outdoors, it will be my third entry into this challenge.

All the stamps that I've used are from Stampscapes except for the Wolf which I picked up at a show earlier this year, I think I bought it from Aly's Inky Finger's but I'm not sure. First I stamped my images onto white card stock, then added the colour with Pan Pastels and added a little promarkers on the trees, grasses and the wolf. The image was then layered onto silver mirri card, and then put onto an A5 deep green card. The sentiment is also from Stampscapes.

Thank you for taking the time to look, and your kind comments which are always appreciated.

Sue

Candytuft Flower Fairy

This week I was asked to make this flower fairy, The Candytuft Fairy, I had great fun revisiting the Flower Fairy CDs and made more than just this one. However this one fits perfectly for two challenges, first, Pan Pastels which this week is Decoupage, and this has several layers. Second is In The Pink which this time is Things With Wings. The card is an 8x8 inch white card base, with the backing paper mounted onto gold mirri card. The corners are from a Marianne die, also cut from gold mirri card. Before placing the backing paper onto the card base I added some pink organza ribbon and a bow. The Fairy image has been mounted onto gold mirri card and put together with glue gel.

Thank you for taking the time to look, and your kind comments which are always appreciated.

Sue

Twichies - Add A Flower

This time the challenge over at the Show Us Your Twinchies blog, is Add A Flower. I decided to use this small flower stamp that comes from a stamp sheet from Chocolate Baroque, unfortunately this stamp sheet is now discontinued. I stamped the flower onto my 2 inch x 2 inch (5 cms x 5 cms) piece of card using Picked Raspberry Distress Ink, and then with a water brush pulled the colour out to shade the flowers. Then I ran the edges of the card across the ink pad to finish.

I have decided that if I am going to make these twinchies I need to finish them in some way, rather than just leave a tiny pieces of art. So after making the first twinchie, I made 2 more the same and mounted them onto some black card. I then cut a piece of card 14.5 cms x 14.5 cms in white and blended the Picked Raspberry Distress Ink across the card. I the took a Crafters Workshop mask (available from Chocolate Baroque) and again with the Picked Raspberry went over the top making sure the inking was darker than the base. I added the word art from the Artistic Expressions stamp sheet, from Chocolate Baroque again, in black ink and added some black organza ribbon across the middle of the card. I then added the background to a 15 cm x 15 cm black card base, and place the twinchies onto this.

Thank you for taking the time to look, and you kind comments that are always appreciated.

Sue

CD Sunday - Cute Christmas

It's time again for another challenge over on the CD Sunday blog, and this week it's Cute Christmas. This comes after stating in a post last week that I did not really do "Cute", and I now find myself making my third Cute card in a row. As I already had the  SWALK Christmas collection of stamps, and the CD out, I decided to use these to make my card.

First I stamped and embossed one of the images, then coloured in with Spectrum Noir pens. I then cut out the image with an oval spellbinders die, and while still in the die I blended a little tumbled glass distress ink around the edges. I then mounted the image onto another spellbinders die cut in blue mirri card. I used blue mirri card though out for the matting, and also blue backing papers. The sentiment is from Lili Of The Valley, again edged with distress ink and mounted onto blue mirri card. Finally I've added some blue gems to the corners.

Thank you ofr taking the time to look. Your kind comments are always appreciated.

Sue

Perfect Gift

In my last post, I said that I didn't normally do Pink, or Cute. However I have a large box full of cute stamps, that I just have to buy, because I fall in love with them when I see them. So I thought it was about time I used some of them. With this card I've managed to cover four challenges, the first has to be Forgotten Friday, as this stamp has never been inked before it more than qualifies. Next is My Time To Craft, the challenge is Christmas in August, then My Craft Creations, which this challenge is being sponsored by Crafters Companion, and called Two's Company, use stuff either from Crafters Companion or Beaders Companion. And finally as I've used pink in this it will qualify for In The Pink, this will be my second entry.

I stamped the image from the Crafters Companion Winter Swalk range with Versafine black onyx, and then embossed with clear embossing powder. It was coloured with Spectrum Noir pens, then cut out with a spellbinders die, I also used a scalloped edge die to mat with. The background papers are from the Swalk Winter Collection, matted onto silver mirri card. The poinsettias are cut from a Marianne die, as well as the swills that I've used. The sentiment is the one that comes with the stamp, this was again stamped with Versafine black onyx and embossed with clear embossing powder, then just cut out by hand and placed around the image. Finally I added some card candi to three of the corners.

Thank you for taking the time to look. Your kind comments are always appreciated.

Sue x

In The Pink

There's a new challenge blog called In The Pink, which is run by two lovely ladies call Christine (AKA Posh Priscilla) and Sylvia (AKA Pretty Patricia). I guess by the tittle of the blog that it going to be all about pink. I'm not normally a pink person, I don't very often do cute either but managed to pull both out of the bag for their first challenge, which is Fifty Shades Of Pink.

I started my card by stamping this lovely image from Lili Of The Valley called It's My Party, and coloured using Spectrum Noir pens, I then blended  some Angel Pink Memento ink around the edge of the image, and mounted onto some silver mirri card. The backing papers are some off cuts that I've had in my bits box, ribbon and flowers are from my stash. The leaves are die cut from a Marianne die, and the sentiment (also from Lili Of The Valley) is mounted onto a spellbinders die cut. Finally all is mounted onto a 6x6 pink card base.

Thank you for taking the time to look. Your kind comments are always appreciated.

Sue

Pan Pastels - Create A Scene

It's time for another challenge on the Pan Pastels blog, and this week they are asking for us to Create A Scene. My card that I've made also cover the challenge on the Craft A Scene blog this month, which is Anything In The Great Outdoors (this will be my second entry this month). This week I actually used my Pan Pastels, I read the article in the Papercrafts Inspirations magazine this month, and had a play. I really liked the effects that I've got. I started with an A5 piece of white card and added the Pan Pastels, blending slightly between the different colours. Then with Stampscape stamps added my scene with black Memento ink, I took the ink off of the stamp where it looked as though it reflected in water. Next with a rubber I removed a little of the blue in the sky to try and get the look of wispy clouds, and also took the pan pastels from the rocks and the log cabin. I then coloured the rocks and the cabin with promarkers. The deer are from a set that I bought from Flower soft. I then trimmed the scene and popped it onto a green A5 card base. To finish I added a sentiment from Stampscapes. Finally I gave everything a light spray with some hair spray to seal it.

Thank you for taking the time to look. Your kind comments are always appreciated.

Sue

CD Sunday - Exotic Birds And Blooms

The theme this week on the CD Sunday blog is Exotic Birds and Blooms. For my card this week I have made an Anniversary card for my Mother-in-law to give to my Sister-in law and her hubby next month, they both like birds, so I have used this image of a pair of budgerigars from Jayne Netley Mayhew's second collection by Joanna Sheen. The flowers also come from the same disc. I've used an 8x8 card base, and added the backing paper from the CD that goes with the image. The birds are from the decoupage section, and are put together using glue gel. I printed the flowers 4 times and then cut out layers to decoupage, shaping with a ball tool. The sentiment was made on the PC and I changed the colour to match the image.

Thank you for taking the time to look. Your kind comments are always appreciated.

Sue

Forgotten And New

I've called this post Forgotten and New, as it covers two challenges - Forgotten Friday and Technique Tuesday. You know what it's like when you see something , and think to yourself, I'll have a go at that, Well some time ago I saw a technique (I think it was in a magazine) which involved you making your own ink pad, using baby wipes and re inkers. It sat in the back of my head and somehow got forgotten, that is until I saw the challenge on the Technique Tuesday blog (for instructions on how to do this, pop over to the blog and take a look).

First I set up an acrylic block and my baby wipes, then added my re inkers, for this I used distress inks in Fired Brick, Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade. Next using some stamps from Chocolate Baroque that I've had for some time and until today remained uninked, so qualifying for Forgotten Friday, I stamped onto some white card stock two of the flowers both the same design but different sizes. When they were dry I cut them out. While I was waiting for them to dry, I used the baby wipes which were now soaked with the reinkers, and tapped them onto my glass cutting mat, spritzed with some water and made some backgrounds. Once I'd cut the flowers out I added some gems, from a sheet of different sized gems, in slightly different shades of golds and browns, to the centres. From one of the backgrounds I'd made, I punched a couple of Martha Stewart butterflies, and added some gems to these as well. I had a background left over from the other day which I though went quite well with the flowers and I stamped the foliage stamp from the same set of floral stamps around the edge in Peeled Paint distress ink. Then I went around the edge with Blue Sapphire and Fired Brick distress inks. I then put the background onto a cream card base, I added a sentiment and attached the flowers, and butterflies.

Thank you for taking the time to look. Your kind comments are always appreciated.

Sue

CD Sunday - Bingo

The challenge this week over on the CD Sunday blog is Bingo, and I must admit to having to think really hard about this, but then remembered that I  had a 1st Birthday card to make where I could incorporate one of the lines. I used Crafter Companion Flower Fairies, and the Sweet Pea fairy for this card. First I printed the decoupage, cut it out, and put together with silicone gel, then left to one side to dry. I then printed off 2 of the backing sheets, I mounted 1 onto silver mirri card and place onto the 8x8 base card, to this I added die cut corners from a Marianne die, and placed some pearls onto the corners. Next I placed a strip of backing paper onto mirri card and placed across the middle of the card, I place some lace under the edge of this, which I coloured to match with a promarker. After placing the decoupaged topper onto the card I dusted off my Cricut and cut the sentiment for the card using the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge.

Thank you for taking the time to look. Your kind comments are always appreciated.

Sue

Twinchie And A Card

It's time for challenge 3 over on the Show Us Your Twinchies blog, and this time they are asking that you use bright colours. When I got out my stamps for the peacock card that's in my last post, I discovered that it had a nice square 2x2 inch (5x5 cm) stamp with a peacock's feather on it, just the right size for the twinchies challenge.

I stamped onto white card, and embossed with Wow black embossing powder. It is coloured using both promarkers and spectrum noir pens, then I just cut around the outside.

It seemed such a shame to leave this twinchie all alone, so I made another 3 exactly the same as the first. While making my background for yesterdays card I made 3 with the ink that was on my mat, so using another of these, I stamped a small feather in scattered straw distress ink all over the background. I added some ribbon across the middle of the card before sticking the background down onto a dark green card blank, and then added the 4 twinchies to finish.

Thank you for taking the time to look. Your kind comments are always appreciated.

Sue x

FYI - Peacock

It's time again for another challenge over on the For Your Inspiration blog, and another beautiful photo to help us along. The first thing that I thought of when I saw this photo, was Peacocks. I knew that I had some stamps with Peacocks somewhere in amongst my huge stash of stamps. It's taken me a few days to find them, but I got there in the end.

I started with a piece of card 14 x 14 cms, and got out my Sprinky sprays from Inkylicious, and sprayed directly onto my glass cutting mat, then picked the colour up onto the card. I left it to dry overnight and then today I have over stamped with a small peacock feather stamp, using Distress ink pads. Next I stamped the peacock with Versafine Black and embossed with Wow black embossing powder. Next I coloured the image with Spectrum Noir pens, then cut around the image. I mounted  the background onto some textured gold card that I found in my cupboard, and then onto a 15 x15 cm green card base. With the same gold and green card I placed a strip along the middle, as a base to put the Peacock onto. Finally I added some flowers that matched, and a couple of swirls, cut from a Marianne die. I'll add a sentiment at a later date.

 Thank you for taking the time to look. Your kind comments are always appreciated.

Sue

Adorables On The Beach

I got up this morning and the sun was shinning, so after putting some washing on the line I picked these stamps out of the cupboard to use today. By the time I came to put the card together the heavens had opened and it was raining cats and dogs, and it didn't feel anything like summer. However with this card, I have managed to cover three challenges. The first challenge, and the reason that I picked these stamps above any others is Pan Pastels and Summer Fun. The second is Craft A Scene and Anything In The Great Outdoors, and finally as this is the first time I've used these stamps since buying them last year, they will qualify for Judith's Forgotten Friday challenge.

I started by stamping the images onto some white card stock with Memento black ink, and then coloured them in with promarkers. I then printed off one of the scenes from the Adorables Summer collection CD, I did re size this as the original size was 8x8 inches, this one is 5 1/2 x 5 1/2. I've used an 8x8x card base, made from centura pearl card, and matted the scene onto the same coloured centura card. Next I added my images, which were all cut out, and ready to be placed. Now if only the rest of the summer (in the UK) could be this nice, I'd  be a very happy. It can't hurt to dream I suppose!!

Thank you for taking the time to look. Your kind comments are always appreciated.

Sue

Dreaming Of A White Christmas

I knew when I saw the latest stamps from Sheena Douglas, that I had to have them. As it was my Birthday last weekend my Son brought them for me, so once cut out I had to use them. I loved the cards on the recent show, on C and C, that were stamped onto blue backgrounds and embossed with white embossing powder, this was my first attempt at recreating something similar. First I made a background by using Chipped Sapphire, Broken China and Tumbled Glass distress stains onto my glass cutting board and spritzing with plenty of water, I placed the card face down onto the ink and moved around a little to make sure it was all covered. I dried with a heat gun and then over sprayed with some tattered angel spray to give it a bit of a shimmer. I left it to dry overnight and then this morning I stamped with the new stamps, using perfect medium and WOW bright white embossing powder. I then mounted onto some Silver mirri card, and a 6x6 navy blue card base. The sentiment is from Chocolate Baroque from an old sheet of Christmas sentiments, which I think have been discontinued, but there are plenty more available form the website. I think the combination of the blue and white are perfect for Christmas cards.

Thank you for taking the time to look. Your kind comments are always appreciated.

Sue

Schools Out

The challenge over at the Pan Pastel blog this week is Schools Out or Buttons and Bows. As I had this stamp sitting in my cupboard just begging to be used I went with Schools Out. I stamped it out onto white card and coloured with pro markers, then cut out with an x-cut shape, while it was still in the frame I used some tumbled glass distress ink around the edge. I then place the die onto the matting card and drew around the outside, to give it a mat that was the right size. The backing papers are from Bearly Mine Designs, mounted onto the same card as the image. I added some ribbon and then a bow across the middle of the card, then all of this was then mounted onto a 6x6 white card base. Finally I added some matching card candi to the corners. I've not added a sentiment at the moment, I'll add it later when I know who the card will be sent to.

Thank you for taking the time to look. Your kind comments are always appreciated.

Sue