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

hop hop hooray!

Here's another of my SWALK cards, this time using a topper that could be suitable for a whole range of occasions- new baby, exams, driving test, child's birthday, thank you etc.

I started with the topper which is printed from the SWALK cd and created my own message topper using the verse writer facility. I inked both of these pieces with 'salty ocean' distress ink and then mounted them onto a star print holographic mirror board. I then got a 6x6 white card blank and topped it with a Kanban star print paper. I then added the toppers and finished the card with 3 star gems.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Creatalicious 'new beginnings' 14.1
Quirky Crafts 'clean & simple' 17.1
Creative Card Crew 'for a child' 18.1
Digi Choosday 'thanks' 20.1
Crafters Cafe 'new' 14.1
Crafty Catz 'polka dots' 15.1
Cute Card Thursday 'what's new?' 14.1

Quad bike

I haven't had much time for crafting this weekend as I've been selling a few goodies at a local Vintage Rally. I made some tractor, train and car themed cards and they went down really well. I did manage to get in the craft room for a few minutes though and make this card.

It's a continuation on my plan to make at least 1card from each of my topper boxes (I think I've managed about 5 boxes now!)

I started with the circle Kanban topper of the quad bike, mounting it onto a mat I die-cut from a tread plate pattern DCWV paper. I wanted a background that reflected the muddyness of the topper but I didn't have anything suitable in my stash so I made my own. I cut a square of green card to just smaller than the 8x8 base card and then put some Walnut Stain distress ink onto my blending mat. I sprayed the ink with water and then laid the green card onto it to pick up the splattered ink. The damp ink caused the card to warp so I let it dry and then sprayed my table with a small amount of water and placed the back of my green card into the water. When it was slightly damp, I moved it to a dry spot and weighted it down with some paper pads. After a couple of minutes, it was flat again.

I attached everything to my base card, finishing with the speedo topper.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Crafty Cardmakers 'circles' 22/6
Digi Choosday '2 papers' 24/6
Papertake Weekly 'boys' 17/6
Cute Card Thursday 'so macho' 18/6
Penny's Paper Crafty Challenges 'anything goes' 17/6
Totally Gorjuss 'dad' 21/6
Love to Create 'anything goes' 22/6

and also the Creatalicious CT call which closes on July 15th- check it out here.

All aboard...

Over Father's Day weekend, I am going to a local 'Town & Country Fayre' with my cards, bags etc., hoping to make a few pennies to buy some more crafty goodies with! With that in mind, I've been busy making some cards that I think will suit the kind of people that would attend that sort of event. There are going to be people displaying their vintage cars and tractors so I've dug out the 'men' box and gone a bit mad.

This is one of the cards I've made-

I didn't want to make anything too simple but the obvious rules of chucking glitter at a card can't really work here, so I had to think outside the box.

I started with the pyramaged train topper which is from a Kanban set and then chose the other elements to go with it. The topper is quite large so I went for an 8x8 square card that I covered with a piece of kraft cardstock. Before attaching the kraft card to the base, I stamped 2 corners with a Kanban gear stamp in Walnut Stain distress ink. I took a piece of Papermania vintage travel inspired map paper (from a set I believe is called All Aboard) and ripped the edge to give it a vintage look. I then also inked the edge of the map paper using the Walnut Stain ink. I attached my various items to the card, completing it with an old cigarette card and a piece of Anita's sticky ribbon.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Crafts Galore 'stamp/digi' 30/6
Craft Your Passion 'rip it' 9/6
Digi Choosday 'men' 17/6
Crafting Musketeers 'stamp/digi' 30/6
Crafters Cafe 'masculine' 11/6
CRAFT 'male' 11/6
Stampin' for the Weekend 'anything goes' 19/6

Kanban 'so feminine' toppers- Tea for Two

I have a huge selection of old Kanban kits that I don't use very often at the moment but I dipped back into one, of the many, boxes and found this lovely topper. It's called 'Tea for Two'. I also used a 6x6 scalloped card blank, Basic Grey 'sultry' papers and my new (ish) cricut Elegant Edges cartridge.

I started with a 6x6 craftwork cards scalloped card blank and used my new Elegant Edges cricut cartridge to cut an almost 6x6 decorative circle from a patterned 'sultry' paper. I then cut a matching shadow from a plain pale pink paper from the same 'sultry' pad. These were mounted onto the card with double sided tape.

I used 'spun sugar' distress ink to add a pale pink edge to the topper and message before mounting onto the card with 3d foam. I then made my own large card candi style decorations for the corners of the card.

   

I did this by punching 4 circles from the patterned paper and moulding them into a curved circle with my fingers. I placed 3d foam squares onto the back of each piece and then used this to help me hold the circle as I triple embossed it with clear embossing powder to make it shine. They were then ready to attach to the card.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-

Paper Shelter 'punches & dies' (punched circles to make card candi, cricut die cutting) 25/2

Penny's paper crafty challenges 'lots of layers' 25/2

Catch the Bug 'colour challenge'1/3

Daring Cardmakers 'something old' (toppers) 28/2

Polkadoodles 'sugar and spice' 7/3

Crafty Catz 'cream, green +1' 27/2

Graph' It 'florals' 28/2

Craft Room challenges 'colour challenge' 3/3

Angelica giggles

Just this morning, I had a delivery of the beautiful new Crafters Companion 'Angelica & Adam' double cd-rom that I ordered from C&C on Monday morning. It has some brilliant boy friendly images and cute girly ones too. This is the first card I've made using the digi stamps that are on cd 2. I'm really pleased with how it turned out although I'm not sure if I used enough pink! :-)

I started by printing the digi stamp from the cd to roughly half a sheet of A4 (the option that puts 2 photos on one sheet but slightly smaller because of not fitting to frame). I then coloured the image using my Spectrum Noirs but (for me) using a very limited selection. I tried not to blend the colours too much, particularly on the skirt, as after watching Leann from Crafters Companion doing her demos, I think I probably blend my colours together a little too much and lose the shading- I like how this has turned out anyway.

When I had finished colouring the image, I used an old Kanban mat as a stencil to mark out and hand cut the image to the finished shape. I did the same with a slightly larger mat onto some Kanban pink dot embossed card which I matted my topper onto. I then chose a piece of pink A4 card stock and folded it in half to make an A5 card blank. I wanted to add an extra something to the background but not too much to take away from the main image. In the end, I decided on some stamping. I used my Inkadinkado rectangle stamping gear and simple heart stamp to create the simple background design.

I mounted my topper up onto the base card and then added 4 small pink buttons in the corners. The final touch was to add some 'crystal' Stickles glitter glue to the girls dress and bows. You can't have a pink girly card without glitter on it somewhere, can you?

Close up of the new colouring style...

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Catch the Bug 'bingo challenge' buttons, pink/red, embossing
Craft your Passion 'girly' 24/2
Cutie Pie challenge blog 'spots' 1/3
Creative Inspirations 'buttons' 25/2
Crafters Companion 'Clean & Simple'

Crafters Companion are also having a DT call. I've entered, if you want more info there's a link here.

one in a million

Another SWALK card today using toppers from the cd and a message I've created myself using the verse writer. I'm really loving the designs from this cd at the moment- I've been colouring my own images and using the pre-coloured ones from the 'Pawfect Pals' cd.

For this card, I inked the edge of the topper & the message with 'picked raspberry' distress ink and then mounted them onto silver mirror board. I chose a piece of A4 pink card, and folded it to make an A5 card blank and then used a piece of Kanban patterned card as the background. I added my toppers and then placed some small holographic circle stickers into the centre of the flowers to add extra sparkle.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Totally Gorjuss 'furry friends' 31/1
Cute Card Thursday 'so sweet' 29/1
Paper Shelter 'digit image & sentiment' 28/1
Crafting for all Seasons 'for the girls' 3/2
The Pink Elephant 'pink &/or red' 27/1

Pretty Grunge!

Today's card is one that I absolutely love- this normally happens with my newest cards being my favourite, but this one more than ever. It's a mix of old & new stuff and uses some ideas that I've never done before.

Here it is..

I haven't done any colouring for quite a while so I went back to one of my favourite Saturated Canary digi stamps and coloured her using a mix of Promarkers & Spectrum Noirs. I stuck to a pallette of pinks & greys but glittered the boots with some doodlebug glitter (to make them like a pair I'm lucky enough to have!)

I used a Kanban die-cut mat to draw a template for the shape of the topper which I cut out by hand, inked gently with Black Soot distress ink, and then matted it onto a co-ordinating die-cut layer. It was originally black & white so I used my Picked Raspberry distress ink to tie the colour in with the digi image.

I wanted to go for a slightly grungy/distressed look, so for the background, I took a piece of grey & white striped cardstock (new 'Mambi'  (Me & My Big Ideas) cardstock pad- bargain from TK Maxx) and cut it as a mat for the topper. I then took an offcut and attached it to the bottom of the original piece of card with the stripes going in the opposite direction. I then inked around the edges with the same Picked Raspberry distress ink that I used on the topper mat. To add to the 'grunge' look, I used my ScorPal scoreboard to score & fold some lines across different parts of the card.

I then took a piece of A4 pink cardstock and again inked the edges with Black Soot distress ink before adding the cardstock & topper. I folded some of the lines I had scored on the striped cardstock so that they stood out and only put the double sided tape in the centre. I used 2 layers of 3d foam to attach the topper so that it didn't squash the edges of the cardstock.

Here's a photo to show how it stands out...

I'm really pleased with how the grungy/pretty look has worked and I think that I'll try the folded distressed background thing again!

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-

Crafting Musketeers 'grunge' 29/1

Graph' It 'anything goes' 12/1

Cards Galore 'anything goes' 28/1

Polkadoodles 'anything goes' 12/1

Crafty Catz 'pretty in pink' 16/1

Polkadoodles 'girly, girly, girly' 19/1
Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenges 'anything goes' 14/1

Crafters Cafe 'anything goes' 14/1

Papertake weekly 'anything goes' 14/1

Challenges 4 Everybody 'anything goes' 31/1

the cats miaow

I'm back! It's been an absolutely manic few weeks at work and with a load of craft shows (where I've bought lits of new things) & craft fairs (where I've managed to sell a few bits too) I've not been making as much as I'd like! BUT, I've finally made another SWALK card today and have also managed to use up a bit of some Kanban papers that have been in my stash for years (no exaggeration!). Not sure what's wrong with me- I don't tend to do actually using stuff!!!

This was a really quick card to make- I started with a sheet of A4 white card that I folded into an A5 card blank. I then added the metallic Kanban paper, leaving just a small white border. The main image topper was a pre-coloured one from the SWALK cd and I again created the message myself using the verse writer function. I inked the edges of the toppers using 'dusty concord' distress ink and then mounted them onto a dull gold mirror board.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenges 'feminine with a sentiment'
Cutie Pie Challenge Blog 'cute card for a special friend'

New Grandparents

A friend of mine at work, has just become a grandma/nan for the first time so I've made a card for her this weekend that we can all sign for her and her husband. Her daughter had a little girl, so I've gone a little pink mad!

I started with an 8x8 white square card as I wanted it to be large enough for 15 people to sign. I then chose the topper (from a Lili of the Valley pre-coloured topper set) and the word/message topper (from Kanban). As the word topper had the scalloped edge, I decided to make each corner of the other aspects all different so I used a scallop corner on the other topper before mounting it onto silver mirror card to match the Kanban topper. I then chose 2 pink patterned papers from the Papermania pastel spots & stripes 6x6 paper pack and again, gave them 2 slightly different size of rounded corner. I layered the papers on to the base card, and then added the toppers using double sided tape for the word one and foam pads for the image. I then chose 2 heart buttons for the white spaces and added the peel-off message.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Love to Create 'pink'
Papertake Weekly '2 by 2' (2 toppers, 2 papers, 2 buttons)
Stampin' for the Weekend 'anything goes'
Catch the Bug 'think pink'
Challenges 4 Everybody 'anything goes'
Totally Gorjuss 'wings & things' (the word topper talks about angels- hope this is enough to fit the theme)

T'wit T'woo

We've got a new challenge over at Card Makin Mamas for August and it's a nice simple one (I think)! All you need to do is make a card using just 3 colours- BLACK, WHITE + 1 OTHER and link it up to our challenge here. The prize is a mystery box of goodies from head mama Jess so come and take a look. Here's my DT card using BLACK, WHITE & BRONZE.

It's a really simple card starting with a sheet of A4 white card that I folded to make an A5 base card. I used different sized feather stamps from Sheena Douglass to stamp the base card to create my own design. I used a black VersaFine inkpad, double stamping to get the grey tone as well as the pure black, and a bronze VersaColour inkpad. The main owl image is a beautiful Indigo Blu stamp that I got at a show recently- it has amazing detail and stamps beautifully. I stamped it and embossed with black embossing powder and then coloured the image with 3 different shades of bronze Cosmic Shimmer iridescent watercolour paints. I cut out my Owl image as close to the embossing as I could and then used 3d foam to mount it onto a double layered Kanban mat.

This card shows that with a beautiful stamp, it's easy to make a fantastic card. Now show us what you can do!

Ooo Wee Ooo #2

I am super excited about this card for many different reasons! #1- I LOVE Doctor Who, #2- rumours are that the new Doctor will be announced in a tv special on Sunday night! & #3- the dalek & tardis on this card are my own hand-made embellishments (I tried a new idea and it worked really well!)

At the moment, Lakeland stores have a new range of Doctor Who baking supplies e.g. cake toppers, cake cases and the most awesome cake pan for making a 3d Dalek cake (is it ok to have that as a cake for your 30th birthday???). They also have dusting stencils, ice cube moulds & chocolate moulds (these are the 3 things I've bought for crafting with). The moulds are all made of silicone so are great for a wide range of crafting products. The chocolate moulds are shallow and the ice cube ones quite deep. For the toppers on this card, I've used the shallow chocolate moulds. I don't have a melt pot (yet!) but I still wanted to have a go at using my embossing powders in the moulds so I did it layer by layer with a versamark pen! The silicone mould can happily take the heat of the heat gun and actually stays warm for enough time to be able to re-powder without re-inking every time. Because this method took quite a long time, my toppers are very thin (paper thin) but this does mean that they are very lightweight and easy to attach with 3d foam pads. Once I had made them, I rubbed them with a little gilding wax as the back of the embossing powders are always dull and then arranged them onto my backing card (pearlescent design from Kanban kit). I then used some typography style clear stamps that have been in more stash for years (maybe decades) to stamp the 'ooo wee ooo' message in a pearlescent platinum brilliance ink so it isn't too obvious but is definitely there. I then mounted it all onto a 6x6 white card blank.

I sense a whole set coming on as the mould also has K-9, a cyberman head, a sontaran head and (my favourite) weeping angel! Looking to get a bargain melt pot first though so it's a bit quicker to do- anyone know where I can get a bargain???

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-

Songbird 'favourite things'

Creative Inspirations 'anything goes'

Cute Card Thursday 'anything goes'

anything you can do...

Here's another Harry Potter themed card using the Bugaboo 'Har Repotter' digi images. I've now used them for both cards and bags but this is one of my favourites.

This card started with an 8x8 card blank which I attached the grass & cloud print papers onto. The Harry, Draco & golden snitch digi stamps all came from the Bugaboo website and I coloured them with a mix of promarkers & spectrum noirs. I trimmed the images leaving a small white border & then attached them to the card with 3d foam.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-

Stampin' for the Weekend 'anything goes'

Cute Card Thursday 'fly like a bird'

Here Come the Boys 'use a digi stamp'

Graph'It Markers 'new beginnings' (this part of the film was a new beginning for Harry- finding out he was a great flyer and leading to him becoming the new Seeker for Gryffindor!)

Baby x2

I always try to have cards for every occasion when I go to a craft fair so that I can pretty much cater for anything anyone asks for (it still doesn't happen though!). I was really pleased to get some lovely 'twins' themed toppers in a recent Kanban blockbuster from C&C. I like this toppers slightly funny take on the twins theme- baby x2!

The backing paper comes from the same kit as the toppers and I simply mounted it onto an 8x8 square card. I decoupaged the main circle topper and attached this over the join of the 2 colours on the backing paper. I then addded the 2 other toppers in the corners to complete this CAS card.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-

Totally Gorjuss 'baby'

wedding book

As I mentioned in a previous post, I recently got 2 new templates from the 'House of Zandra' stand at the Sincerely Yours show in Lincoln. This is the first thing I've made using the book card template and I can see that there will be lots more to come.

From the front it almost looks like a normal card-

But actually it's a 3d book card-

When you open up the front, there is a deep recess inside creating various opportunities for creativity!

Here's a close up view of the insides-

I started with 2 pieces of black A4 card, using the templates to cut the shapes required. I made up the box element using super sticky tape to attach it. I then used my ScorPal scoring board to emboss the detail on the book cover and then used some gilding wax to add extra detail. I cut some 'gorjuss' backing paper to fit inside the box and to cover the sides. I then added the 3 black paper flowers with card candi centres. I stamped the bunting using white ink onto black card and attached across the front of the box on some cream coloured string. I then decorated the front of the book with the 2 cream hearts (Kanban) with peel-off letters. This is quite a simple box compared to what can be achieved but for my first go, I'm really happy with it.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Crafting Musketeers 'use a stamped image'
Cute Card Thursday 'ebony & ivory'
Catch the Bug 'going to the chapel'
Challenges 4 Everybody 'anything goes'

Call me...

I REALLY REALLY REALLY love DCWV papers and have even recently contemplated a trip specially to the U.S. just to get my hands on some as they are really hard to get hold of here in the U.K. This card uses a mix of DCWV papers and a Kanban topper to make a card perfect for a teenage girl (or a trendy mum) obsessed with her mobile phone!

I've used 3 different papers from the 'Generation Tech' stack, 2 as the backing papers and then another cut up for the 'text speak' toppers. The central 'Call Me' topper is from the Kanban 'so feminine' blockbuster- one of the last Kanban kits to be made! I cut the backing papers into triangles and mounted onto an 8x8 card blank leaving a white border around the edge and down the centre of the card. I layered the various toppers with different levels of tape & foam pads to add further interest.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Love to Create 'for a special lady'
Pink Elephant 'mother's day'
Clear it Out 'anything goes with 2+ patterned papers'

beautiful birds

My second card of the weekend uses one of my newest Saturated Canary images- I absolutely love Krista's designs and find them surprisingly easy to colour even as a relative newbie!

I folded a sheet of mint green A4 card in half to make an A5 card blank and then layered this with the backing paper which is from a Creata A5 paper pad. I then inked the edges of a Kanban 'cameo' die-cut with Tumbled Glass distress ink and then touched the real edges of it with a gold metallic brilliance ink pad. I coloured the topper with promarkers (except the skin which was my spectrum noirs) and then cut around the image carefully leaving a small white edge. I used 3d foam pads to attach my image to the 'cameo' die-cut and then attached that to the base card. I also punched 4 gold mirror hearts which I added to each of the corners to echo the scalloped corner punch I had used on the card & paper.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-

Saturated Canary 'all things bright & beautiful'

Stampin' for the Weekend 'punches &/or die-cuts'

Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenges 'animals'

Cute Card Thursday 'come fly with me'

Crafting Musketeers 'anything goes'

Crafty Catz 'inspired by a song' (Flying Without Wings- Westlife)

Daring Cardmakers 'mint green, pale pink & gold'

Totally Gorjuss 'swirls' (backing paper has swirls on it but difficult to see)

pac-man

I always pride myself on my ability to make cards for the awkward groups- teenagers & men! Here's one of my newest cards that would be suitable for either of those groups of people- kids or the big ones!

This card fully utilises 2 papers from the DCWV 'generation tech' stack- the first I have used for the background, and the second has provided the 3 toppers on the left of the card. I have simply cut the backing paper to size and attached it to an 8x8 card blank and then attached the 3 toppers pyramid style. The sentiment topper is a simple white circle with a slightly larger silver mirror mat. I inked the topper with 'black soot' distress ink and then added the peel-off message.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Paper Shelter 'for the boys'

naming day

This is another new card from a topper sheet that I haven't used before that is also from a Kanban blockbuster. It is an alternative on the traditional christening card, being for a 'naming day' instead.

The backing paper, topper & tag are all from the Kanban kit and I simply added a creamy yellow A4 card (folded to make an A5 base card), pale yellow grosgrain ribbon & 3 cream buttons.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Clear it Out 'anything goes & 2+ buttons'

purple bird

I've been busy trying to make as many cards as possible ready for a craft fair next weekend. I'm trying to use some toppers that haven't yet seen the light of day so I've got as wide a range of cards as possible. This card is made using a topper from a Kanban blockbuster from C&C (suppose we won't be getting any more of those!). Anyways... (apologies for the dodgy photo)

I started by choosing the bird topper which uses lots of vintage colours but with a purple focus & silver foiling. I chose a lilac A5 card base and topped it with some purplish grey patterned paper and then the topper. I added a grosgrain lilac ribbon, purple gem swirl & 'happy birthday' peel-off sentiment.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Love to Create 'bingo' (sentiment, ribbon & bling)
Creative Inspirations 'ribbons & pearls' (pearl aspect is on topper but difficult to see in pic)
Penny's Papercrafting Challenges 'anything goes'
Polka Doodles 'birthday & bling'
Crafty Catz 'purple'
Totally Gorjuss 'ribbons & pearls' (pearl aspect is on topper but difficult to see in pic)
Challenges 4 Everybody 'anything goes'