Cardmaking Workshop

A group of non-crafty friends asked if I would run a cardmaking workshop for them.  Here are the cards I designed for them as inspiration.  I kept the designs fairly simple so they could all complete all four cards during the evening.  Although I tried to encourage them to add some of their ideas in their designs, they were much more comfortable copying mine.  I had to smile watching the excitement of one of my friends when she used a corner rounder for the first time! 

The penguin is made with the SU owl punch with a little creative cutting.  The embossing was done with a Cuttlebug 'Tiny Bubbles' embossing folder. 

I used a Marianne 'Sunflower Rosette cArt-Us Lacé'  die for this card.  The flower is made with two punches. 

The embossing folder for this card was done with a Couture Creations 'Replacements' e/f and the cogs are Sizzix 'Gadget Gears' die cuts.

The last card has a punched paw print border.  The Sizzix dog die cut is attached to a corner rounded rectangle, embossed with a Sue Wilson 'Pawprint Lattice' e/f.  Three gold Card Candi finished off this card.

I am joining in the following challenges with the penguin card:

Fab 'n' Funky Challenge #409 ~ All Creatures Great and Small

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge ~ Anything Goes

Alphabet Challenge ~ N is for Nature

Masculine Get Well Card

A masculine card Get Well card today for someone who is having an operation next week.  As he lives in the country and has so many different birds visiting his garden, I thought this might be an appropriate design. 

The birds on a wire is a strip of washi tape which has a clear background, so the mottled blue background paper shows through.   The birdhouse is a die cut from the Memory Box 'Birdhouse Village' set of die and the bird is from the Memory Box 'Finnegan Fronds' set.  The sentiment is computer generated. 

I am joining in the following challenges:
Memory Box Challenge #41 ~ Tape Too

Allsorts Challenge Week 486 ~ Water or the colour blue

Fab'n'Funky Challenge #409 ~ All Creatures Great and Small

HLS September Anything Goes with Dies Challenge

Christmas Day is 3 months away!!

The Rudolph Days September Challenge begins to day and is open until the end of the month.  I was so behind with my Christmas cards for this year,  I decided to do some batch making.  I made 32 of this design over the last few days, so I'm nearly back on track.

I inked the sky with blue Distress Ink and an Ink duster, using a circle of card as a mask for the moon.  The scen is a Memory Box 'Quiet Cabin Landscape' die cut, add a snippet of yellow card behind the windows.  I used a stamp platform to stamp the Inkylicious sleigh image and sentiment with Versafine 'Onyx Black', before attaching to a black card blank.

I am joining in the following challenges:

Rudolph Days September Challenge

Addicted to Stamps Challenge #166 ~ Christmas Comes Early

Allsorts Challenge - Week 486 ~ Water or the colour blue (Blue sky)
Sweet Stamping Challenge ~ Dies/punches

CraftyCatz Challenge #430 ~ ATG/Option Twist - Christmas

HLS September Christmas Challenge ~ A/G - Optional Twist - Tree

HLS September Anything Goes with Dies Challenge

ABC Christmas Challenge ~ 'S is for Snow'

44 Years!... where have the years gone???

My hubby and I celebrated our wedding anniversary last weekend and this is the card I made for him.  Blue and white are his favourite colours, I think it's to do with the football team he supports 😉, so I often make cards for him in these colours.   

The blue card I used is pearlised and has a lovely sheen.  The background is embossed with a Creative Expressions 'Heart Lattice' embossing folder.  I bought the heart panel die on eBay, after seeing it on Janice's beautiful card HERE.  The large heart is made up with two Spellbinders Nestabilities die cuts, embossing the white one with an Xcut 'Small Polka Hearts' embossing folder.  The sentiment is computer generated.

I am joining in the following challenges:

HLS September Anything Goes with Dies Challenge

Tuesday Throwdown Challenge #410 ~ Add Some Texture

Monochrome Magic Challenge #15 ~ Monochrome

Sparkles Challenge #108 ~ Dies or Punches

Crafty Gals Challenge #174 ~ 3+ Layers

Allsorts Challenge Week 486 ~ Water or the colour blue

....and here's a photo taken 44 years ago with my Brownies who formed the guard of honour.

Just For You

A card today to join in with a few challenges.  The Butterfly Challenge this fortnight is 'Spin The Butterfly Wheel with the Letter A'.  For my card I decided to included all seven elements - Apricot/Azure/Amethyst/Add layers/ Add buttons/Add ribbon /Butterfly.


The doily is die cut with a Memory Box 'Astrid Circle' die in white.  I die cut the doily in apricot, azure and amethyst card and used 'waste' to inlay into the white doily.  The butterfly is a Memory Box 'Pippi Butterfly', cut in black.  I used a Memory Box 'Isabella Butterfly' die, which is a solid butterfly shape, with a piece of a double sided adhesive sheet and attached the black die cut over the top.  This left all the apertures in the black butterfly sticky.  I used the 'Pippi Butterfly' die again in the three other colours and inlaid the waste into the black butterfly outline.  This was really easy with fine tweezers as the apertures were already sticky.  I attached a piece of ribbon to a scalloped strip of white card and added three buttons.  A computer generated sentiment finished of my card.  

I am joining in the following challenges:
Butterfly Challenge #107 Spin The Butterfly Wheel with the Letter A (all seven elements)
Moving Along with the Times Challenge #80 ~ Use Ribbons
HLS September Anything Goes with Dies Challenge
Sparkles Challenge #108 ~ Dies or Punches
Crafty Gals Corner Challenge #174 ~ 3+ Layers
Inkspirational Challenge #169 ~ Use a Doily

One Layer - Floral

For any of my visitors planning to joining in the Crafty Calendar Challenge this month with the theme 'Unusual Folds', please note that the challenge closing date has been brought forward to tomorrow, 20th September at 8pm (UK time).  As LOTV are this month's sponsor this will give the randomly chosen winner time to chose their digi stamps before the end of September, after which the LOTV digi stamps will no longer be available.

The Less is More Challenge is back to the dreaded One Layer with the theme of  'Florals'.

I made an embossed frame in the card front by using a die from the Sue Wilson 'Innsbruck' set of dies, using the die to just emboss.  It's a dull day today and under electric light it's hard to get a clear photo of the complete embossed oval, but it looks fine IRL. Using a stamp platform, I positioned a flower and sentiment stamp from the Happy Little Stampers 'Especially For you' set of stamps inside the oval.  I used a  Memento 'London Fog' ink pad for stamping to give a softer finish than black and coloured the flower with Promarkers.

I am joining in the following challenges:

1. Less is More Challenge #380 ~ ONE layer Florals

2. Penny Black and More! September Challenge ~ Make it Feminine
3. Happy Little Stampers September Anything Goes with Dies Challenge
4. Anything Goes with Happy Little Stampers stamps
5. Crafty Friends Challenge #92 ~ Embossing (Wet or Dry)

Twofer - Leaves

The Twofer Card Challenge this month is 'Leaves'.

I chose the Poppystamps 'Stitch Wreath' die to use on both my cards.

I am joining in the Twofer Card Challenge with this pair of card.

For my first card, I die cut the wreath in white card, used a MB 'Stitched Circle' die to cut it into a circle and added pastel green card behind.  This was layered onto a pink MB 'Stitched Scalloped Circle' die cut and some punched flowers added to the wreath of leaves.  The panel across the middle was made with a MB 'Stitched Country Border' die.

I am joining in the following challenges with this card:

Poppystamps Challenge #48 ~ Anything Goes!

HLS September Anything Goes with Dies Challenge

Simply Create Too Challenge #142 ~ Use Stitching (real or faux) 

My second card has the same Poppystamp 'Stitch Wreath' die, but using two MB 'Stitched Circle' dies to make a circle frame.  I had a snippet of alcohol inked card which I used behind the frame and as a mat for the sentiment.   The circle was layered on a a MB 'Stitched Square' die cut.  The two punched butterflies were layered and the top one it attached just by the body to leave the wings free.  Three tiny, clear gems on the body added a little sparkle.

I am joining in the following challenges with this card:

Butterfly Challenge #107 ~ Butterfly and Added Layers

Pixie's Snippets Playground Challenge #335 ~ Used Snippets 

Sparkles Monthly Challenge #108 ~ Dies or Punches

Never too old for a cocktail!

I made this card recently for a friend I met online playing Scrabble.  Someone who started out as a stranger nearly seven or eight years ago, living round the other side of the world, is now a very good friend.  We were lucky enough to meet in the UK in 2012 and again last year when my hubby and I went to New Zealand.

As the card had a long way to travel, I made a card which folded flat for posting and just embossed the panels to add detail, rather than add bulky embellishments.  The card blank was made with Presscut step card die.  The image is a pre-coloured digi stamp from Pink Gems Designs, 'Cocktail Molly'.  I used a Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots' embossing folder with deep red cardstock to match the colour in the image.

I am joining in the following challenges:

A Gem of a Challenge #227 ~ One for the Girls/Ladies

Crafty Friends Challenge #92 ~ Embossing

HLS September Anything Goes with Dies Challenge

Cards in Envy Challenge ~ The FRUITS of Your Labor 
House of Cards September Challenge ~ Birthday Theme

Heading for Scotland!

I made this CAS card recently for a card swap and can post it on my blog now I know it's been received.  When I discovered the recipient lives in Scotland, I decided to make a card with a Scottish flavour.

The thistle (the national floral emblem of Scotland) is a Woodware stamp. It's stamped with Memento 'Tuxedo Black' and coloured with Promarkers.   The sentiment stamp is from the Happy Little Stampers 'Whimsical Friends' set of stamps.  I layered the image on a green mat, leaving just a thin border.  To keep the Scottish theme, I used an Xcut tartan embossing folder for the background. 

I am joining in the following challenges:

Penny Black and More September Challenge ~ Make it Feminine

A Gem of a Challenge #227 ~ One for the Girls/Ladies

Crafty Friends Challenge #92 ~ Embossing

I Love Promarkers Challenge #367 ~ A/G  - option of No Patterned Papers

The Flower Challenge #24 ~ Anything Goes

Poppies

Welcome to my two latest followers, Donna of Duncan Street Designs and Bagpus.  I can't seem to find a link to your blog Bagpus.  Can you leave me a comment please and I'll add a link in my next post.

Two similar CAS cards today, using one of my favourite combination of black, white and red.

I die cut the background with a Poppystamps 'Atessa Collage' die in white card. After matting and layering on red, then black card,  I added a black Memory Box 'Prim Poppy' die cut.  A sentiment finished off my card.

The second card is the same design, just swapping the red and black colours and adding a different sentiment.

I am joining in the following challenges:
1. Less is More Challenge #379 - Black & White + ONE other colour
2. Poppystamps Challenge #48 ~ Anything Goes!
3. HLS September Anything Goes with Dies Challenge
4. CAS on Friday Challenge #141 ~ Flowers
5. Addicted to Stamps and More! Challenge #309 ~ Clean and Simple



As promised in my last post, here are just a few photos taken around Lake Garda, Italy last week.

Cocktails and ice creams by the lake - it had to be done!

 As we crossed the lake towards the castle.....

..... we realised there was a bride and groom on the balcony.  What a fabulous place to have a wedding!

Wedding Day

I'm back from a lovely holiday with my daughter,  enjoying the sunshine and Italian culture.  When my daughter asked me two weeks ago if I fancied a last minute holiday with her as she'd found a really good deal which was too good to miss, it didn't take me long to make up my mind!  A week later, we were flying off to Lake Garda.  I'll include a few photos in a later post. 

My friend's daughter was married on September 1st and this is the card I made for the happy couple.  My friend Lynne was sat next to me making wedding stationery for the big day a while ago, so I was able to discover that all the stationery was kraft card, with pink, lilac and sage green stamping and embellishments.  My card is based on these colours, with just cream added, keeping the design fairly CAS.

I used the Sue Wilson 'Classic Adorned Octagon ' set of dies, computer generating the text in green.  The flower and leaves are Sue Wilson 'Faux Quilled Blooms' die cuts, with a green Nuvo Crystal Drop for the centre of the flower. I added a few tiny pink punched hearts around the card.

I made a second card in the same colours for Lynne and her hubby, after all it's a special day for the parents of the bride too!   My friend LOVES butterflies, so I wanted to include one on her card. The butterfly is from a Sue Wilson set of dies 'Industrial Chic Butterfly & Dragonfly', cut in kraft card.  The panel is a Memory Box 'Ringo Tile' die cut, with green Nuvo Crystal Drops added down the panel, as well as for the flight of the butterfly.  I decided not to put a sentiment on the front of the card, but just write a personal message inside the card.

I am joining in the following challenges:
Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge #334 ~ Use snippets (all pink, lilac and green card)
HLS September Anything Goes with Dies Challenge
Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #217 ~ All Creatures Great and Small

Joy Fold Card

The September Crafty Calendar Challenge  begins today with the theme 'Unusual Folds'.  For my DT card I decided to use make a Joy Fold card using one of the digi stamps from our generous sponsor this month, Lili of the Valley.

The lovely image is called 'Under the Weather' and is coloured with Promarkers.  The patterned paper is from a Papermania paper pad and the card is kept closed with a little brown brad.

This photo shows the card open, revealing the space to write the message.  I added a little punched flower and leaf for added interest. 

The Crafty Calendar Challenge  closes on the 28th August and the prize for the random winner is 3 digi stamps of their choice (£2.99 ones) from 

Lili of the Valley

Please pop over the Crafty Calendar Challenge to see all the beautiful cards the DT have made this month using Lili of the Valley digi stamps. 

I am joining on the following challenges:
Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge #307 ~ Make Your Mark
That's Crafty Animal Magic Challenge
Crafty Friends Challenge #91 ~ Animals/Birds
Allsorts Challenge - Week 483 ~ Things with Wings