Another goodbye...

i've been struck with the minimal colour combo's recently.

And nothing looks better (for white on white) than the use of die cuts.

I won an auction on Ebay for the lucky clover die (so cheap at £2.99 plust P*P) and I used a printed green backing paper .

I stamped a good luck sentiment onto the same paper and embossed with white embossing powder and then mounted it onto a die cut shape.

All the die cuts were cut from the same cardstock as I used for the base card.  The frame circle and sentiment were attached using foam pad, the butterfly using pinflair gel, and the swirl  and the clover leaf was stuck down with a quickie glue pen.

A thank you card

This week I had to do my refresher course to renew my first aid at work certificate.  The course was going to be held very close to my friend S in work, and she invited me round to her house for dinner on the first day.  (A very nice pork dish!)

As a thank you, I thought I should send a card and as my new bargain purchase from create and craft had just arrived, I thought I should use that!!

The images come from the Debbi Moore Glitter and Glitz Art Deco Rome cd.  I used a quick card sheet, where everything you could want to use and which is already matched is available.  There was also a matching envelope, but unfortunately, I forgot to photograph that.

I used a cream card base, and made a standard 5 inch square easel card with it.  All the embellishments came from the design sheet. I mounted the circular topper onto card to stiffen it, and mounted the sentiment onto gold mirri card to ping it out.  Both were attached with foam pads, to raise them up.

A Jubilee memory maze book

 At the Craft class I am taking in August, we are going to make a Jubilee memory book.  I have mentioned it before, but I have just finished the sample for the class and thought I would share it here....

The book pages was made from one 12x12 sheet of paper, and the decorations came from the Docrafts Best of British and Portobello Road cds.  I added the extras (like the flowers, corner edges, ribbon etc from my stash.



Some pics of the inside...

Missed the wedding...

Recently a colleague asked me to make a card for her to send to a couple who had just got married.  She hadn't gone to the wedding, so a wedding card wasn't appropriate, but wanted to wish them well in their new life together (second time round for both).

I didn't really know what to do for the card, but took inspiration from one of the entries made by a very talented crafter called Alison to the latest Challenge (71 - make your own flowers) at Crafty Cardmakers

This is my effort with white on white.

For this one I used white ribbon, a creative expressions embossing folder, a memory box butterfly and another die set whose maker has escaped my memory.  (Oops...).

I finished it off with a small oval sentiment stamped with congratulations and to which I attached two small gold jump rings to stand in for wedding rings and the happy couple's initials which were diecut. 

All my friends are turning 50....

Purple easel card

Just lately it seems like I have been making lots of cards for friends (or friends of friends) who are hitting the big 5- 0.

I found a really cool stamp sentiment that says "Still sassy and nifty, now that you're fifty!!!" and boy, has that had a work out.

This card is a 6" square easel card, and I was asked to include purple, silver, lots of bling and a picture of the birthday girl.

I used plain white card for the base, and then layered the flat part of the card with silver mirri and purple glitter card.

I covered the two triangular elements of the easel with silver mirri and a lilac embossed paper (from hunkydory or kanban - not sure which!).

View of card laying flat

Onto that I layered some diecut shapes with feathers placed underneath so they stood up.  A photograph of the birthday girl was included as the main topper, layered over the top of a floral square diecut from memory box.

Other embellishments included  a butterfly from memory box (my new favourite thing) and a fanciful flourish by cheery lyn.  I used some diamante flower gems to set off the flourish, which was stuck to the base of the card.

A simple peeloff was used for the birthday greeting on the stopper plate.

Leaving...

I always findthe making of good luck/leaving cards to be a bit of a nightmare, to be honest.  People ask for cards and tell me what they want to have included,  things like "she's going to be a nurse and likes whiskey".

It's not easy to fulfill those requirements!

For my latest leaving card, I didn't have much time, so I cheated and instead of stamping up the background myself, I used a sheet from a Debbi Moore cd.  Sadly, I now forget which one it was (possibly The Shabby Chic compendium, which was the best freebie EVER with a magazine).

All of the elements on this card were on that sheet (apart from the gold diecut butterfly and the stamped greeting at the bottom and on the round sentiment.

It was very simple to pull together, and the only thing I did apart from cut the items out was mount the topper and sentiments onto gold mirri card and highlight the stems with a clear gelly roll stardust pen.  (no 800).

Finally, just to finish it off, I put a gold border peeloff all around the base paper to provide definition.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 71 Make Your Own Flowers

This challenge is hosted by AJ .   She would like to see projects featuring flowers made by you, these can be ribbon, paper, fabric, die cuts, tissue, embroidered, anything you choose so long as it is hand made and not store purchased

My card is one that I made for a colleague who was leaving us at the end of her contract. 

I knew she liked pinks and purples, feathers and bling, so utilised all of those things in this easel card.  The lettering was cut out using a spellbinders die and attached with a quickie glue pen.  The base card was plain and I used a butterfly stamp and some distress inks to make the background.

The sentiment was a stamp - it may have been a hobbyarts one, but I have been particularly bad at removing stamps from the packaging, so I am not sure if it is! 

The flowers were made using punches and different types of paper.  The big rose was made using acetate that was tinted with distress inks and then sprayed with Crafters Companion spray and sparkle (silver).  I put gems in the centre of the flowers.

Leaves were also made using punches.

All the floral decorations were stuck to the card using pinflair gel - I find that to be most satisfactory, as ordinary silicone can sometimes be a bit greasy.

The lilac feather came from my stash - a big bag of assorted colours I have collected over the years.

Finally, the fan was stamped onto acetate using Stazon and then the small butterflies were coloured with a fine glue and glamour dust.  Some tinting of the base of the fan was done with promarkers, just to make it stand out, and hide the glue gel that was holding it on. 

We are sponsored today by ONE STOP CARD CRAFTS who are offering a £10 voucher for their store as a prize.

At One Stop Card Crafts we have a big range of ever changing discount making and card making craft supplies.

We are always adding to our range of craft supplies which are ideal for making handmade greeting cards, do-it-yourself invitations scrapbook pages, altered items and much more.Our card making craft supplies include free UK postage, our popular discount scheme and quick service means our customers keep coming back for more.

Our prices are very competitive and this & makes us an ideal place to buy your card making supplies online. Some of our new products include Petaloo flower layers, Ranger Glitter Glue and Martha Stewart Punches. We also host a regular challenge at http://onestopcraftchallenge.blogspot.com/

and

DIGI DOODLE SHOP

$10 Gift Certificate for the Store

Digi Doodle Shop is the results of a mother and daughter’s love for the arts and crafts. It was started a little over 3 years ago with a little more than 100 stamps, and has since then grown to almost 500 stamps. Joy (the mother of this team) designs realistic images, while Judy (aka/daughter) loves the “fun side of life”, and create images with a cartoon flair. Having these two complimenting styles have enabledDigi Doodle Shop to offer a wide variety of stamps.

It is a real honor and pleasure to sponsor this challenge, and we look forward to seeing all the amazing creations. We thank the design team for their incredible creations, and wish all the participants the very best of luck in this challenge.

Thank you so much for having us, and again the very best of luck to all of you.

Sincerely,

Judy and Joy

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 70 - no cards, tags or ATCs

The challenge this week at Crafty Cardmakers is by Carole, and she has asked us to make anything except a card, tag or ATC.

Now, I like making projects that are slightly different, and one that I really enjoyed was a mini memory book made from just one sheet of 12" by 12" paper.

This one was for a friend who had experienced several rotten pieces of luck - and I wanted to cheer her up. I made a small box to put it in and it turned out to be a really nice little gift.

At some point, I will put up a tutorial on how to make this little book - it's not as hard as it looks and it is great fun to do.

In memory

I've been missing in action for a while as very unexpectedly, my mother died.

I've not felt very creative since and am struggling a bit to make cards.  But I did want to make a tribute to her, so I used my My Memories software to make this page. 

Crafty Cardmakers challenge 69 - distress it

This week at Crafty Cardmakers, the challenge has been set by Feebsy .  She would like you to distress something.  You can use inks, chalks, distressing tools - anything that creates a distressed/shabby chic look to your project.

Unfortunately, due to a family bereavement I am not participating in the challenge this time, but please go over and have a look at the lovely examples provided by the Design Team, and join in with us.  We are sponsored this time by

DIGI DOODLE SHOP

$10 Gift Certificate for the Store

and
We are also sponsored by
HOBBY ART 

We have two gorgeous stamps sets to give away from Hobby Art

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 68 - Balloon images

It's another Crafty Cardmakers challenge, and our Hostess this week is Mynnette

She says 'My birthday is May 13th, so I'd like to see some projects with balloon images!!! :) Any type of balloon will do - hot air balloon, heliumballoon, balloon animal.  And anything birthday will do, but I want a balloon on it :)

Now, I don't often do decoupage, but on this occasion I couldn't resist the teddy bearing balloons for a child's first birthday card.

The base card was a 7 x 5 inch plain white portrait folded card.  I layered it with the balloon backing paper, which was from a Sharon Duncan cd, Country Kids.

The blue "1" was hand drawn (!) and cut out, and I distressed the edges with tumbled glass distress ink.

The teddy bearing balloons came from a diecut sheet I got in a create and craft goody bag, and I layered him up using pinflair gel.  

Finally, the greeting and name was added using peel off stickers - sometimes, they come in very handy!!

We are sponsored this time by

THE STAMPMAN

We are kindly sponsored for this challenge by The Stampman (and Lady of course!) who are offering the winner a £10 voucher for their store, you can spend this online, in the shop or if you're lucky enough to see them at a show! They have a ton of items in store, enough to tickle any crafty taste bud.

and

DI'S DIGI DOWNLOADS

$10 Gift Voucher

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 67 - for the boys...

This week at Crafty Cardmakers we have a new challenge and our Hostess this time is Sally

 

She would like a male themed project.  This could be for a big boy, a little boy or a baby boy, so long as it's male themed.

My card was made for a friends 10 year old nephew.  She was very specific - he liked Jonny Wilkinson and England.

So,  I utilised my pc to print the grass background and used a picture of the rugby player cut from a magazine, mounted onto a card base as the topper.  The card itself was a plain white A4 piece of card folded in half  and then in half again to form an easel.  The rugby ball was stuck on first, and then the rugby player.

A silver piece of card was used as a stopper, and a peel off greeting was placed in the centre.  Finally, I added the child's name and age using peel off letters and the England logo.

End result - an easel card for a rugby mad 10 year old.

We are sponsored for this challenge by

ONE STOP CARD CRAFTS

who are offering a £10 voucher for their store as a prize.

At One Stop Card Crafts we have a big range of ever changing discount making and card making craft supplies.

We are always adding to our range of craft supplies which are ideal for making handmade greeting cards, do-it-yourself invitations scrapbook pages, altered items and much more.

Our card making craft supplies include free UK postage, our popular discount scheme and quick service means our customers keep coming back for more.

Our prices are very competitive and this & makes us an ideal place to buy your card making supplies online. Some of our new products include Petaloo flower layers, Ranger Glitter Glue and Martha Stewart Punches. We also host a regular challenge at http://onestopcraftchallenge.blogspot.com/

and

DIGI DOODLE SHOP

$10 Gift Certificate for the Store

Digi Doodle Shop is the results of a mother and daughter’s love for the arts and crafts. It was started a little over 3 years ago with a little more than 100 stamps, and has since then grown to almost 500 stamps. Joy (the mother of this team) designs realistic images, while Judy (aka/daughter) loves the “fun side of life”, and create images with a cartoon flair. Having these two complimenting styles have enabled Digi Doodle Shop to offer a wide variety of stamps.

 It is a real honor and pleasure to sponsor this challenge, and we look forward to seeing all the amazing creations. We thank the design team for their incredible creations, and wish all the participants the very best of luck in this challenge.

Thank you so much for having us, and again the very best of luck to all of you.

Sincerely,

Judy and Joy

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 66 - Fantasy

Lin is the host this week for the challenge at Crafty Cardmakers and her chosen theme is Fantasy.  Real Life has hit back at me this week, and I haven't managed to make my card for this challenge, but why not pop over and have a go yourself?  We have two fab sponsors -  firstly

CROP STOP

$15 Gift Certificate to the Crop Stop Store

If you’re passionate about paper-crafting whether it be scrapbooking your memories, making cards or altered art, CropStop is your one-stop solution. We offer an extensive selection of dies, embossing folders, inks, stamps and punches by all the popular manufacturers and the CropStop die and embossing folder storage solutions Pocketz Pages™ to keep everything organized. Our selection of embellishments and adhesives is continually expanding and we are excited to be the home of the colorful Ribbon Candy™.

In need of inspiration? Visit the CropStop Gallery, Blog or Message Board and participate in a competition or class. If you have questions concerning your machine, we have a team of experts waiting to help you.

• Message Board - come and meet like minded paper-crafters.
• Blog - we have prizes and giveaways every week.
• Gallery - lots of inspiration from all over the world.
• YouTube - demonstrations, how-to’s, projects and much more.
• FaceBook page - be the first to know of new arrivals in the store.
• Twitter - we always find something worth Twittering!

CropStop ships internationally as well as domestic. Our personalized customer service is only one of our strengths. Call or come visit us at www.CropStop.com and see what’s new in the world of paper-crafting.

and our second sponsor is

DI'S DIGI DOWNLOADS

$10 Gift Voucher

I have been drawing since a child and studied graphics at College many years ago, I now work as a Medical photographer part time but my love was always drawing. I started cardmaking about 4yrs ago when I bought my daughter a cardmaking kit which we did together, but I’m afraid I got the bug! My daughter preferred scrapbooking. I then started looking online at other blogs and this then became my passion and I loved sharing my cards with likeminded people.

I love stamping and loved finding images, but sometimes I could not find what I wanted so I started to draw myself. This then has become my second addiction and I have never looked back, I love thinking of new images, and its just fabulous to see others take them and make them into beautiful works of art. Long may it continue!

Joanna Sheen has blog candy...

Joanna Sheen has some spiffing blog candy on offer on her challenge blog - this fab 7 Gypsies 8x8 conservatory paperstack. 

Why not pop on over there and have a look?