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'

Autumnal Oak

This weekend there don't seem to have been enough daylight hours for me to do everything I want to! I love winter and the dark nights but there are lots of jobs I want to do that require daylight and it's just gone too soon at the minute. My Hogwarts crest cross stitch is not going to be finished any time soon!

Anyway, no cross stitch but plenty of card making. Here's my first card made this weekend

I've been busy on Pinterest looking for some winter themed art for an activity with the kids at work and that partly led to the inspiration for this card. It combines lots of different techniques and products.

I started with a 6x6 white card blank. I inked the edges with 'spiced marmalade' distress ink and then added 'gathered twigs' to some edges. I trimmed a piece of DCWV autumn leaf paper to fit the card and then mounted it with double sided tape. I stamped my Sheena Douglass 'majestic oak' stamp with a brown memento ink onto some plain white cardstock. I then brayered the background using 'squeezed lemonade', 'spiced marmalade' & 'barn door' distress inks. The stamp is simply the branches of the tree so I used a mix of promarkers (named) and spectrum noirs (numbered) to add the leaves. I worked on a small area at a time as I wanted the alcohol inks to blend. I put down my lightest colour GB1 down first and then added dots of GB6, GB10, OR2, Crimson & Burnt Orange. I used the GB1 ink to blend the colours in. It looked a little odd at the beginning but after sitting for a while, blended well. I then mounted my tree onto some brown mirror card and added it to the card.

Here's a close up of the tree so that you can see the blending now it has settled

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Love to Create 'autumn colours'
Creative Inspirations 'favourite stamp brand' (Sheena Douglass)
Crafty Little Fairies 'autumn colours'
Graph'It 'autumn colours'

Footie Fan

I only managed to make 2 cards this weekend and as my first one took quite a while (find it here) this one was super quick.

I started by inking the edges of an 8x8 white card blank using 'mown grass/lawn' distress ink. I then chose the main topper, which is a pre-coloured image from Lili of the Valley. The topper measured 12cm and the card was 20cm so I cut the grass paper (DCWV boyhood stack) to 15cm sqaure and the football paper (SMIRK 'for him') to 18cm square. I mounted the papers onto the card using double sided tape and then attached the topper with 3d foam.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Cutie Pie 'cute boys card'
Penny's Paper Crafty Challenges '2 or more patterned papers'

Truly, Madly, Deeply- Songbird Challenge Blog DT call

When I saw that the Songbird Challenge Blog was looking for some new DT members, I knew that I had to give it a go. I love music and I love crafting so it's a blog I love! Here's the card that I've made for the DT call... (I've even managed to sneak a song title into it)

This card reflects my crafting style in many different ways. It has a broadly CAS style, includes stamping & colouring, has a little bit of sparkle and isn't your run of the mill design. It also has a technique that I'd not tried before today. I love to try out new things & always have a wide range of crafting projects on the go (at the moment it's cards, scrapbooking, cross stitch (picture & phone cover), wax crayon melting & shoe decoration)!

I started with a square of black card that I had cut from an A4 sheet to 19cm. I used my Inkadinkado circle stamping gear and my new 'Halloween' stamps to create the skull design around the card. I stamped using Indigo Blu 'Flitterglu' so that I could use my gilding flakes on them. This is the first time I've used the Flitterglu even though I've had it for a while. It worked brilliantly.



I then stamped the goblet (from Sheena Douglass' 'a little bit magical' stamps) onto card using a memento ink (so I could Promarker it) and onto acetate using stazon. I used 3 green promarkers to create the liquid inside the glass on the card version and then painted silver stencil paint onto the back of the acetate goblet so that when I layered them together, it looked more like a realistic glass. I stamped the potions bottles onto card and again coloured them with a range of promarkers before adding glossy accents to the glass areas. I attached the goblet & bottles to the black card with double sided tape and then stamped the 3 word sets to look as if they were coming out of the goblet. I stamped them in a Versamark ink and then used silver & green mica powders to colour them.

I am entering this card into the following challenges (as well as the DT call):-
Songbird Challenge Blog 'DT call'
Challenges 4 Everybody 'anything goes'
Love to Create 'Clean & Simple'
Creative Inspirations 'Clean & Simple'
Graph' It 'no characters'

Quoth the Raven

I always love to buy Halloween themed papers (esp. DCWV) but here in the UK we rarely give cards for Halloween. This means that I have lots of beautiful papers I rarely use and only one friend that would really appreciate a card of a gothic style. When I saw the Graph'It challenge for this week, it gave me a great excuse to use them.

I again started with an 8x8 white card blank. I cut down a piece of DCWV 'Midnight Spell' 8x8 paper to fit the card and then stamped around the edge of it with my Imkadinkado gears system and a new branch stamp from a set called 'Halloween'. I stamped with a versamark ink and then embossed it with a black glitter embossing powder. It is difficult to see in the photograph but in real life adds an extra dimension because the printed paper is flat black. I chose a Saturated Canary digi stamp and coloured it using my promarkers. I trimmed it leaving a small white border and mounted this onto the card. I used a star punch with some black glitter paper to make the embellishments for the card and then wrapped some black & white bakers twine around the edge of the card, adding the skull bead.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Smudgy Antics 'embellishments'
Creative Inspirations 'anything goes'
Paper Shelter 'sun, moon or stars'
Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenges 'anything goes'
Cute Card Thursday 'hip to be square'
Graph'It 'Halloween colours'
Daring Cardmakers 'signature style' (8x8 square card, CAS, stars)

Abbey Road

A while ago I bought a bargain My Minds Eye kit valued at £20 for just a fiver! This is the first card I've made using the kit which contained 12x12 papers, die-cuts, brads, chipboard embellishments & ribbon. I've used a few of the elements to make this card perfect for a little boy.

It was a very quick card to make, starting with an 8x8 white card blank. I cut a square of My Minds Eye 'Abbey Road' patterned paper, removing the zig-zag edge and attached this onto the card. I chose 2 tree die-cuts from the kit and attached these to the card with 3d foam. The car, van & traffic lights are all self-adhesive chipboard embellishments but they were not very sticky so I added my own double sided tape to attach them securely. I chose 3 brads to add an extra decorative element but did not want the backs to be seen on the inside of my card so I cut off the 'legs' and attached the brad tops with 3d foam pads.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Papertake Weekly 'child's play'
Crafty Catz 'men/boys'
Stampin' for the Weekend 'back to school' (this card would be perfect for a vehicle loving boy I have in my new class)
Polkadoodles 'one for the boys'

Inspired by Pinterest

Over the Summer, I may not have been doing much crafting but I have discovered the fabulous world of Pinterest. I've spent hours finding all manner of both school and crafting ideas that I'm hoping to use soon. This card is inspired by one of the first ideas I saw using a page from a book and some tippex. I tried printing a digi image straight onto the book page which worked well but when I wanted to blank out the skin colours, I didn't really have anything that would work so I've kind of cheated to make my card below...

I bought a cheap copy of Twilight from a car boot (30p) as I knew I could use it when I finally get the Visible Image 'Edward' & 'Isabella' stamps (hopefully when I go to the NEC in November), but it came in handy for this card too. I said that I'd cheated slightly and that's because I printed my digi stamp onto plain card and onto a page from the book and then I paper pieced the skirt rather than working directly onto the book page. After I had coloured my image (using promarkers & spectrum noirs), I carefully cut around it and then drew around the image on another page from the book. I then used the tippex to highlight the edge so that my image would stand out when I stuck it on top. This meant that I didn't have to be too careful with the tippex as my image would cover any mess I made. I used a ruler to create a neat torn edge on the book page and then mounted this onto some dark red glitter card and then mounted that onto a dark red base card made from an A4 sheet. I finished the card by making some paper roses from 3 circles cut from 2 other pages of the book, cutting and spiral and then twisting it around my pokey tool. I secured each flower with some glue and added a dark red gem to the centre. I then dipped each flower into some glue and then dark red glitter to give them a glittery edge.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-

Catch the Bug 'anything goes'

Papertake Weekly 'anything goes'

Totally Gorjuss 'anything goes'

and

The Paper Shelter 'DT Call' (to see other examples of my colouring, click on either the 'digi stamps' or 'colouring' labels)

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'

Don't Blink...

I've been waiting patiently (or not) for the Melt Pot I ordered to arrive all the way from America since the start of August, and it's finally here. I've tried melting normal embossing powders in it but it doesn't seem to be working for me (anyone got any tips) and I've only got 1 colour of UTEE, so I've only been able to make one more Doctor Who card to add to my collection. The 'Weeping Angels' are my favourite Doctor Who monster though so I've been dying to make this card...

I made the angels first by melting Platinum UTEE in my Melt Pot and then pouring it into my Weeping Angel silicone mould (from Lakeland- meant to be for baking). When they were cool, I removed them from the mould and rubbed the top with a little gilding wax. The background of the card is made on an 8x8 white card blank and the scene is die-cut using an x-cut die set. I stamped the message 'Don't Blink' in a mixed font to match the Tardis & Dalek card I had made previously. The UTEE toppers are very light so I simply attached them to the card with red super sticky tape.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Creative Card Crew 'things with wings'
Challenges 4 Everybody 'anything goes'

Work in Progress

It's amazing how 6 weeks off work seems to mean less crafting than when I'm at work 5 days a week and only have Sundays to play! But, I'm back at work now and so today has been a crafty day. Yesterday I decided to tidy my craft room (normally that ends in disaster but this time it worked out quite well) and I now have a 'Work in Progress' box for storing my printed digis that need colouring (rather than a table covered in things and no room to work!). I'm trying to colour at least 1 image per week and this is today's. As you'll see from the last photo, it's ridiculous how many colours I need to finish an image (+ flock & puffy white paint for snow!)