Owl Folk

DoCrafts are always bringing out products that I love and their newest range 'Owl Folk' is no exception. Create & Craft had 2 kits last week that together comprised of the entire Owl Folk range. I did a bit of a price comparison and it seemed like a good deal so I got both sets. They arrived on Saturday so the long bank holiday weekend meant that I got to play with them today- I wish every weekend had 3 days! I'd get lots more crafting done- possibly!

Here is my first Owl Folk card-

I started by layering up the decoupage tag and putting together the pocket, both from the Ultimate Die-Cut & Paper pack. I added a short piece of ribbon to the end of the tag so that it can be removed from the pocket if wished. I then chose a backing paper that incorporated the orange colour of the tag and pocket. Once I had chosen my backing paper, I felt that the tag didn't stand out enough so I mounted it onto some navy blue paper from the 6x6 paper pack. I threaded the owl charm onto a length of the same ribbon that I used on the tag and attached it to the spine of my backing paper, securing the ribbon on the back of the paper with double sided tape.

I then folded a sheet of A4 white card to make an A5 card blank and mounted all of my items onto it using tape.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Crafty Boots 'things with wings' 10.5
Penny's paper-crafty challenges 'not a square' 5.5
Creative Inspirations 'cute critters' 5.5
CRAFT 'use a charm/metal' 6.5
Crafty Calendar 'things with wings' 2.6
Crafty Catz 'colour challenge' 7.5
Crafts Galore 'anything goes' 30.5
Catch the Bug 'anything goes' 9.5
Craft Your Passion 'anything goes' 10.5

You should read this book!

A few weeks ago, I made a Dr. Seuss inspired canvas for my school library. This week, I've been making a pin board that will also go in the library and be somewhere for the children to recommend books that they've enjoyed to everyone else. It took ages as the Cricut was playing up a bit but I'm pleased with the final result- now it's done!

I started with a £2 cork pin board from QD which I painted bright yellow using the remains of an emulsion tester pot. All of the letters and images that I have used are from the Cricut Design Space subscription and I made them using the print and cut feature so that I didn't have to layer up lots of different pieces of card. I simply attached the letters and the images around the board with pva glue and then used some DoCrafts Gorjuss baker's twine to make the hanging string.

I am entering this project into the following challenges:-
Crafty Catz 'song title to match image' 12.3 (Paperback Writer by the Beatles)
Crafty Boots 'not a card' 15.3
Clear it out 'anything goes' 10.3
Papertake Weekly 'anything goes' 10.3
Catch the Bug 'anything goes' 14.3

Christmas in March

Here is my Christmas card for March-

Can't quite believe I'm still managing this- though I suppose 3 months isn't many is it?

It's another really quick and simple card which is great for me when I do need to make 20 Christmas cards in one night- hopefully not this year though!

Both the backing paper and topper came from a Papermania 12x12 paper pack that I had completely forgotten I had! The topper was from a sheet that had 9 different squares on it so 9 cards in an instant!

I started with a 6x6 card blank, added the cut down backing paper, mounted the topper onto red mirror card and added that to the opposite corner to the corner detail on the backing paper. Done!

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
The Pink Elephant 'anything goes' 2.3
Crafty Cardmakers 'stripes' 8.3
Craft your Passion 'anything goes' 1.3
Clear it out 'animals and stripes' 3.3
Cute Card Thursday 'fancy corners' 4.3
Crafty Hazlenut's Extra 'anything goes' 31.3
Crafty Hazlenut's Xmas 'cut it up' 6.3
That Craft Place 'anything goes' 14.3
Crafts Galore Encore 'anything goes' 31.3
Christmas Card Challenges 'winter hues' 7.3

Flower Power

I haven't managed to make many cards this weekend as I've finally got back into my Kit & Clowder colouring class and have managed to complete the first lesson on colouring skin. I can already see an improvement in what I'm doing and strangely seem to have found the advanced technique easier than the basic one- I never have done things the easy way!

After practising my skin technique, I decided to colour up one of my Polkadoodles Work & Play 2 images (florist) to have a try. I'm not overly happy with the hair but I haven't got to this part of the class yet!

Here it is made up onto a card

I started by colouring up the image using a whole host of Spectrum Noir pens. I hand cut the digi into the shape using a Kanban mat as a template and then used a slightly larger version to cut a mat from a 12x12 DCWV 'timeless textures stack' paper. I chose 2 different 'rose' patterned papers to pick out the roses in the digi. The dark one came from a 6x6 Papermania paper pack (freebie with the DoCrafts Creativity magazine) and the larger one is from a Creata A5 paper pack. I trimmed the papers slightly to fit onto the 8x8 card.

I tried out lots of different layouts before settling on this one- I liked the idea of making the smaller darker paper sit at an angle but my brain couldn't deal with it- it was much happier with a nice straight line!

The ticket sentiments also came from the Work & Play 2 collection so I simply cut them out, inked them with 'worn lipstick' distress ink and attached them to the card with a small piece of double sided tape. the top right hand corner looked a little bare so I added the 3 pale pink gems just to finish it off.

It's a bit more fussy than my usual style but still fairly CAS considering it's got 3 different papers on it!

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
The Paper Shelter '3+ layers of paper' 3.2
Creative Inspirations 'roses' 3.2
Cute Card Thursday 'stamping mad' 4.2
Polkadoodles 'flower power' 13.2
Crafts Galore Encore 'stamp/digi' 28.2
Crafty Hazlenut Patterned Paper Challenge 'anything goes' 28.2
The Pink Elephant 'photo inspiration' 9.2
Craft Your Passion 'anything goes' 8.2
That Craft Place 'anything goes' 14.2

Christmas in January

Last year, I had a plan to make at least 1 Christmas card each month so I didn't have a mad December rush. I think I managed about 3 months before it went pear shaped! Maybe this year will work better!

Here is my January Christmas card-

This card was really simple to make and uses some old stash and some new goodies too. I started with a 6x6 white blank card and added a Dovecraft patterned paper to the bottom half. The paper is from a monochrome set that included papers, ribbons buttons etc. from The Range and was a great deal. The snowflake dies are also new but the mirror card I used to cut them out of has been in my stash for years(no exaggeration!)

Before attaching the die cut snowflakes, I used double sided tape and glitter to add an extra sparkle to the join between the card base and the paper. I attached the snowflakes and then used a fine black pen to draw on the strings. I finished the card with a really simple peel-off greeting.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Crafty Hazlenut's Extra 'xmas'- 31.1
Country View 'use something new'- 31.1
Crafty Cardmakers 'old and new'- 25.1
Love to Create 'snowflakes'- 18.1
Papertake Weekly 'all new'- 20.1
Penny's 'anything goes'- 20.1
Paper Shelter 'punches and/or dies'- 20.1
Creative Inspirations 'anything goes'- 20.1
CRAFT 'Xmas'- 21.1
Creatalicious 'winter'- 14.2
Crafty Catz 'new beginnings'- 22.1

art deco- black & gold

Ages ago, I made an Art Deco style card using a red & black colour scheme. I've just made another, but this time it's black & gold.

As with the red & black card, I started with an A4 sheet of black card that I folded into an A5 card blank. I added a backing paper from the Papermania 'Art Deco' ultimate die-cut paper pack. The decoupage topper came from the same pack, so I just matted it onto some gold mirror card to help it stand out. I finished the card with another of the Craftwork Cards paper bows- this time I added some gilding wax to it to give it a shine.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Crafts Galore Encore 'anything goes' 31.1
Graph'It 'shiny & new' 16.1
The Pink Elephant 'colour combo- black & gold' 12.1
Love to Create 'anything goes' 11.1
Papertake Weekly 'anything goes' 13.1
Clear it Out 'anything goes' 13.1
Penny's Papercrafting Challenges 'anything goes' 13.1
Creative Inspirations 'use a bow' 13.1

Let's Celebrate

Another new card today- again using some new products!

I love most of the DoCrafts/Papermania range and always look forward to their new releases every 2 months (new GORJUSS stuff in March!) and this recent update to the Art Deco range is no exception. The new silver, black & pale green colour scheme is beautiful. I picked up the 'Ultimate Die-Cut & Paper pack' which is always such a bargain as it contains toppers, decoupage, backing papers, messages- everything you could need. This is the first card I've made from the kit and all I've added to it is the 8x8 base card and 3 feathers in co-ordinating colours.

It was a really quick & simple card too...

I started with the 8x8 card blank and 2 backing papers from the kit (the middle layer one is black with silver foil so it didn't photograph well but is stunning in real life). I chose my topper that I wanted to use and then used a fancy edge corner punch on all 4 layers. I layered the card together using double sided tape apart from the main topper which I used 3d foam on. Because I wanted to secure the feathers behind the topper, I didn't put a foam pad in the top left corner so that I could place the feathers after the topper was in place. I attached the feathers by putting a small amount of pva glue onto the end of each one and then carefully placing it behind the topper.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Creative Inspirations 'celebrate' 7/1
Crafty Calendar 'celebrate' 31/1

on top of the world...

I just had to make the most of the sunny weather this weekend to get some cross stitch done as I'm desperate to finish my Hogwarts crest that I started back in July but it's so detailed, I can only do it in perfect daylight and that's hard to come by most of the time right now! That means that I've only had time for 1 card, but I think it's a goodie...

It's another really simple card made using 'Gorjuss' products from DoCrafts that I've had for ages. I started with an 8x8 white card blank onto which I matted some striped 'gorjuss' paper. I took a sheet of blue 6x6 paper (also from the gorjuss range) and stamped the image using just a black memento ink. I also stamped the message which is from the same stamp set. I used a stencil to trace the stars onto double sided adhesive sheet and then cut them out with non-stick scissors! I added these stars to the card and then used gilding flakes over the top of them. When I went to mount the topper onto the stripe paper, it needed something to make it stand out so I added a layer of black mirror card which I distressed the edges of using sandpaper. I rubbed in a circular motion giving the loopy edge to the distressing.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Papertake Weekly 'anything goes'
Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenges 'anything goes'
Crafty Catz 'anything goes'
Totally Gorjuss 'stars'
Catch the Bug 'anything goes'

Spot & Stripe Christmas

The second card I made this weekend was a Christmas one using Papermania 'festive spots & stripes' and a pre-coloured 'Lili of the Valley' topper.

I started with a 6x6 white card blank, to which I attached a pre-cut patterned paper shape from the 'spots & stripes' range. I then took a Lili of the Valley topper and mounted it onto red mirror card. I then added stitching detail to both the topper and the patterned paper shape using a black promarker. I mounted the topper onto the card with double sided tape. The topper had a bow design on the 'tree' so I decided to add a real ribbon to it instead and then added the buttons to the right edge of the card.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
The Pink Elephant 'dots & stripes'
The Paper Shelter 'stitching'
Cute Card Thursday 'ribbons'
Totally Gorjuss 'traditional christmas colours'

Krafty Christmas

I went to my local 'The Range' store last weekend to look at (and buy obviously) the new ranges from DoCrafts- I always know that I'm going to love their stuff. This is the first card I've made using my purchases from the 'Forever Friends Kraft Christmas' range.

This card took minutes to make in reality but I'm really happy with it. I started with a 6x6 white card blank which I mounted a dark blue stripe paper from the 'Ultimate Paper & Die-Cut Pack' onto. I then cut a piece of kraft card to a 12cm square and embossed it with a snowflake design. The embossing didn't come out as much as I would have liked so I carefully sanded it back and then rubbed it with a white ink to make the snowflakes stand out more. The topper came straight from the die-cut pack and I mounted that onto the card too. I finished the card by adding the 'Midnight Blue' Stickles dots into the opposite corners. This isn't a colour combo I've really used before but I'm loving it and can see I'll be using it more often.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-

Crafty Cardmakers 'snow & ice'

Here Come the Boys 'Blue Christmas in September'

Cutie Pie Challenge Blog 'Cute Christmas in September'

Creative Inspirations 'favourite colour combo'

Urban Stamp Owl bag

I am always looking for new ideas for crafting and for the past 6 months have been making & decorating bags as well as my usual cards. As soon as I got the new DoCrafts Urban Stamps Owl the other week, I could see it on a cotton bag as a really simple but very cute design.

The bag base came from Hobbycraft and I started by using my cricut to cut a template for the branch (I'm not very good at drawing freehand!). I used Dylon fabric paints to paint the branch directly onto the bag. For the owl, I used a load of scraps of fabric that I have lying around- you can get lots of freebies from various internet companies as long as you don't mind getting a ton of emails! I stamped the owl twice onto copy paper and then cut one into pieces and the other just around the outline. I used these as templates to cut the fabric pieces. I used bondaweb on the back of each piece to prevent fraying and make it really easy to attach to the bag. I also used some black thread to hand sew the detail onto the body, beak and wings.

The finishing touch was the 2 large black buttons for eyes.

I am entering this projects into the following challenges:-

Stampin' for the Weekend- 'anything but a card'

Bon Voyage Kraft card

I bought the DoCrafts goodie bag for the first time this month and even though I've always looked at the great value of them I've never actually bought one- but this time it had both Forever Friends & All Aboard items in it as well as a beautiful butterfly stamp- well worth the £15. This is the first card I've made using the all aboard items.

I started by inking the edges of a 6x6 card with both Walnut Stain & Tea Dye distress inks. I then mounted a piece if kraft 6x6 all aboard paper onto the card and then ripped the edges of one of the map papers and also atatched this to the card. I then used the air-mail print & word patterned craft tape (washi tape) to work as toppers.

I am entering this card into the following challenges-
Papertake Weekly 'anything goes- option of kraft'
Creative Inspirations 'kraft'

Gorjuss 'Up in the Clouds'

I absolutely love the Gorjuss range of products recently bought out by DoCrafts. I treated myself to quite a few of them as soon as they came out and have finally had chance to make another card using them.

This was a really simple card to make although any time I rubber stamp onto a patterned paper I do get heart failure but these stamps are so detailed and beautiful I shouldn't have worried. I chose 2 papers from the 6x6 Gorjuss paper pack both with tones of blue. The distress style paper reminded me of the clouds in a grey sky (not that we've seen many of those recently! ;-D) so I chose to stamp the image of the Girjuss girl sitting with the birds directly onto it. I cut the paper down to 12cm square and then stamped directly with a black Versafine ink pad. I then stamped the sentiment using the same ink. I used my new scallop corner punch to add detail to the edges and then mounted it onto a small silver mirror card mat. I cut the stripe paper as a slightly larger mat, again punching the corners and then attached it all to a 6x6 card base that I also punched the corners of.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Totally Gorjuss 'something blue'
Creative Card Crew 'clouds'

New Gorjuss girls stamps, papers, buttons, twine... ;-)

Yesterday, I went to The Range to go and have a look at the new DoCrafts goodies because I was super excited about the launch of the new Gorjuss range. I have to say a huge thank you to the really helpful staff at The Range in Kings Lynn as they hadn't been able to put some of the new products out yet but they went to the warehouse and bought out a pallet of boxes and let me find what I wanted! I ended up with 8 fabulous stamp sets, papers, ribbons, decoupage, bakers twine & buttons (that came free with the Creativity magazine) as well as the new goodie bag and new animal urban stamps. The stamps inparticular are brilliant because they are really deep cut rubber and while that does mean they are not see-through, they stamp perfectly with excellent clarity (even though I'm not a great stamper). Here's my first card I've made using my new goodies-

This card was inspired by the packaging of the Gorjuss products (which can also be used) as it shows the stamped images left as black & white, giving a drawn look. I really liked how it looked so thought I'd use it on my card. I started with a dark purple A4 piece of card that I've had in my stash for ages which I folded into an A5 card blank. I then used 2 papers from the 8x8 and 6x6 paper packs as mats. I made the topper by stamping using a black memento ink onto one of the 6x6 papers that has a distressed lined effect. I mounted this onto the purple mat and then added the buttons (free with magazine) and a mini black bow from my crafty stash. I finished the card by wrapping the purple & cream bakers twine 3 times around the edge of the card and then knotting it before fraying the hanging part.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Love to Create 'wrap it up' (bakers twine)
Cute Card Thursday 'something old' (A4 base card)
Creative Inspirations 'buttons and bows'
Paper Shelter 'animal magic' (cute pussy cat)
The Pink Elephant 'anything goes'
Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenges 'favourite colours' (purple & black)

Knight Bus

I love most things fantasy based but particularly LOVE Harry Potter (especially Ron!)- so I make lots of HP themed cards. I was lucky enough to go to the Studio Tour not long ago and took about a million photos that I thought I might use in some of my cards. I've not got round to that yet but when I was lucky enough to win the new XCut 'Create A Scene' dies in the Daring Cardmakers challenge, I chose the London set so that I could hopefully use it to make some HP cards. I particularly wanted to make a triple decker purple Knight Bus. I have tried to do this with stamps in the past but, even with masking, it didn't work very well. I was hoping that the double decker die would be a better bet. It did take me a couple of attempts but I'm pretty happy with the results. So much so that I found myself jumping up and down (literally) with a huge grin on my face!

Here is my completed card

I started by choosing 3 different shades of grey card and used the xcut dies and my grand calibur to cut the 3 different layers of London skyline. I attached them together with 3d foam pads and then used my trimmer to even up the edges. I then cut a thin piece of black card (for the road) and used double sided tape to attach it to the base of the design. I then used a thinner origami paper to cut the buses, taxi, lamp-posts, post box & telephone box. It took me a few attempts to arrange them where I wanted them so I did not glue them straight away. When I was happy with the composition, I attached everything with my quickie glue pen which can be used on really detailed elements. I then got a piece of A4 dark blue card which I folded into an A5 card blank using my ScorPal score board. The card was slightly wider than my London scene so I trimmed the base card down as it would have looked strange if the scene did not go right to the edge of the card. I finished the card by stamping the dragon in the sky using black Memento ink and then used my Stardust Stickles to create some stars- being a proper geek for things like that I even did proper constellations (Orion, the Plough and Cassiopeia).

In case anyone else wants to make a Knight Bus, all you need to do is cut 2 of the double deckers in a nice purple paper and then cut one of them just below the bottom windows. You can then layer the 2 pieces together, overlapping the central windows- you will need to cut out part of the door barrier too.

I am entering this card into the Polkadoodles 'fantasy' challenge.

Practically Perfect

Here is my latest card for the Card Makin Mamas Design Team. The main topper comes from the brilliant Sassy Studio Designs and the theme is 'Happy Birthday'.

I am also entering this card into the following challenges:-
The Pink Elephant 'Love is in the Air'- as I love Mary Poppins and she is, of course, in the air with her umbrella! Love to Create 'Feelin the Love' and Digital Tuesday Challenge 'Up, Up & Away'.

As soon as I saw the fabulous Mary Poppins image, this card was in my head. It is my most favourite film of all time & I knew that I had lots of things in my crafty stash that would match the theme.

I started with a 6x6 scalloped edge card blank (not sure what I used before these came out!) and a 6x6 sheet of DCWV cloud patterned paper. I used my cricut 'Elegant Edges' cartridge to cut the paper with a cloud style edge. I inked the edge of the paper with 'Chipped Sapphire' distress ink and stamped Big Ben (Kanban stamps) using 'London Fog' memento ink, before attaching to the base card with double sided tape. I then printed the digi stamp onto white card and coloured it using a mixture of Spectrum Noirs & Promarkers. I carefully cut around the image leaving a small white border and then used foam pads to put it onto the card. I used the DoCrafts Digital Designer software & the Portobello Road design disk to make the message topper, again attaching with 3d foam pads.