Winged Heart

I recently bought some glitter reduced to clear, and had to have a play. I was originally thinking of something "shabby-chic" when I glittered the chipboard heart, but ended up with this card, nothing like what I set out to do. That tends to happen a lot, when I just go with the flow.

The papers are from Kaisercraft (the background, and the butterfly wings behind the heart), and the stamps are Prima.

Four more for Christmas

Here are four more Christmas cards, a bit different to the others I've done :)

This one uses the cuttlebug Holly embossing folder, which I cut some leaves from, painted silver, and gave a pewter effect with black paint over that. The greeting is from Stamp-It.


Simple patchwork effect using Basic Grey papers, and some machine stitching.


That cute House Mouse stamp again :)


And I think this is my favourite, 12 squares of card, all covered in foil, carefully placed in the Holly embossing folder, embossed, and then black paint used on each square for a pewter effect. It was like assembling a puzzle, putting it on the card. The greeting was done on my computer then embossed in Platinum embossing powder, and coloured in with black pen.

Christmas Mice

Another Christmas card, using a House Mouse stamp and Basic Grey papers. Those little mice are so, so cute! :)

Christmas is coming...

...and I am getting my cards done! Here are a few:

Using the Cuttlebug Argyle embossing folder. I sprayed the embossed white card with pink glimmer mist and then brayered over with white ink. Trees are cut from Basic Grey Two Scoops paper.


Another cuttlebug embossed background. Stamp is from Sugar Nellie and coloured with colour pencils.


More embossing, and a bit of sponging on the leaves. :)


Stamp is from Sugar Nellie, yet more Cuttlebug embossing.


And finally, one without embossing! The background is Basic Grey papers. This time the image is done with watercolour.

Something Brown

Here is a card I made for the Stamp Something Challenge, which this week is Brown Plus Something. I coloured the stamped image with brown ink and a water brush pen using various strengths for the different shades. The card is rather country-ish I think. Something a bit different for me. Very simple layout, but I like simple. :)

Happy Birthday Mum x x

I made this card for Mum, whose birthday it is today. It went through many incarnations, and this final one is totally different to what I started out with in my head. I'm pleased with it though. I stamped the Inkadinkado bird in white on brown card, then coloured over with colour pencils. The background border is a Prima Stamp. A stitched border and a Happy Birthday rubon, and it's done. Sounds like it should be quick, but boy did it take me a long time. I just kept making mistakes with the stamped border. Got there in the end though. :)

Bear Hugs

Gosh, it's been a while since I posted anything here! Well, here is a brand new card. I made this on Friday as soon as I received this cute stamp (called Sweetheart Teddy from Stamp-It) from Scrapsidaisy. Simple, but I like the way it has turned out. I used watercolour pencils and a water brush pen to colour the image, and foam Thickers by American Crafts for the greeting. I can see this little bear being used for a whole range of cards.

Colour Challenge

I made this card for the Scrapmaster's Paradise Color Combo Challenge #12. These are the colours we had to use:


The bird stamp is from Inkadinkado, and the flowers in the background from the Boho Blossoms set by My Favourite Things.

There is also some great blog candy up at the SPCC blog, celebrating 10,000 hits. The candy post is here.

Scrapsidaisy 4th Birthday Card

I thought I would post the card I made for Scrapsidaisy's 4th birthday. The paper is all Two Scoops by Basic Grey, which I figured was appropriate as it was the first thing I ever purchased from Scrapsidaisy. Rather difficult to see is the Happy birthday rub-on on the crochet lace - which is also from Scrapsidaisy.

I was in a quilting frame of mind at the time, so the card is full of piecing and stitching, even the inside (which I forgot to photograph). I think before I try this sort of thing again, I will invest in a square punch. Maybe. :)

Ooh La La

At copycatcards over at the Scrapsidaisy Forum, there is a challenge to use food as inspiration for a card. I used little musk lollies for my inspiration, and here is the card I ended up with:


The poodle and sentiment stamps are from a set by My Favourite Things, and the background behind the poodle a stamp by Fiskars. I stamped the sentiment straight onto ribbon with Opera Pink VersaColor ink.

:)

Berry Happy Birthday

Here is a card I made Martin for his birthday - simple, but he liked it. Just a chipboard frame inked blue with a photo of strawberries behind it, a few Kaiser rhinestones, and a Happy Birthday rub-on from FTI.

Cute Little Dolls

My present for Christmas in July was a couple of stamp sets from Hero Arts. They are such cute images.

This little tag to the left uses the Dolls set, and some Basic Grey Urban Prairie paper. Front and back are shown. The whole tag is only 5cm across. So cute.

I coloured the doll and the message with watercolour pencils, but didn't wet them.

Next up I used the Four Dolls set, which has four cute Japanese doll images, to create the card below.

I coloured her with my watercolour brush and the ink from a couple of stabilo pens scribbled onto some plastic, then used some Pearl Ex over the top to give her clothes a silky sheen. You can see it pretty well in the photo up top.

The background she is on is paper I bought in Japan. So, so pretty. Behind that is some wool paper (don't know why it's called that) I've had in my drawer for ages. The gold flowers stamped across the top and bottom are also from the doll stamp set.

Christmas in July

Every 25th July, Martin and I celebrate Christmas in July. It means we can do all the traditional things he grew up with, and then in December do the things I grew up with. We have presents at both of course!

In keeping with the festive spirit, I made a couple of Christmas cards. Here they are:

I actually coloured this image last Christmas, specifically to match the background paper, but have only just got to putting it on a card. I am honestly not sure who makes the stamp - the image was a gift at the time - will have to check that out. Try to ignore the places I went out of the lines :)

10/8/09 - The stamp is called Pip with Presents by Sugar Nellie - Thanks Bec for that :)


This next one uses Basic Grey paper, cut from behind a photo on a scrapbook layout. I couldn't bear to cover any of the gorgeous paper, so thought a card was the perfect solution. Very simple, but the paper is enough decoration on its own really.

Friend

I am rather pleased with this card. I had fun using scraps from a scrapbook layout for this one - the calico and twine. Also, the little tag is cut from the plastic I used to mix some texture paste and paint in for some branches on the layout, and the leaf charms also featured.

I made the background for the stamped image a while ago with walnut inks and some silver calligraphy ink. I sprayed them on my glass desk and pressed my card into it and dried it. At some angles the whole thing sparkles.

Here is a shot to show the dimension :)


The bird stamp is from Inkadinkado and the 'friend' stamp from the Boho Blossoms set by MFT.

Porcelain 50th Birthday

I made this card for one of my favourite aunts. I didn't think I was at it that long, but after starting it around 12.30 I was putting the finishing touches on at 3pm. Eek! Well, I like the result. I hope my aunt does too. I don't see her very often, but I think she was the only aunt (out of 5 altogether) who sent me a birthday card every year as a kid, so I am pleased to put the effort in for her. I have no idea if she is a card keeper or not, but I hope she keeps it for a little while at least.

The paper is all Basic Grey Porcelain, and the flower is from Prima. Happy Birthday rub-on is from FTI. The numbers are Heidi Swapp and the pearls from Kaiser.

Cute as a button

I had another play with my Christina Re baby stamps yesterday, and made the card above. The paper is Basic Grey Urban Prairie. I love how these stamps look stamped directly onto patterned paper.


I also received some new goodies from Scrapsidaisy yesterday, some Nestabilities and the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder. So, I had a play. These 2 little cards (8.5cm tall) were inspired by some that Chris Millar made, which you can see here.


That's all for now. I'm sure there will be more soon :)

Some Drawings

I was looking through my files and came across these drawings. I have watermarked them with my name and year they were drawn, so I obviously meant to put them up on here at some point. Well, here they are :)

This little canary I drew for a card for Mum. It's done in watercolour pencils on pastel paper.


This goldfinch I drew for Dad. Watercolour on pastel paper again.


And finally a foal I drew for Stephen. I used a photo as reference. It's just HB pencil on plain copier paper.

I am not sure why, buy my birds always end up looking fluffed up. I say always, as these are the only two I've drawn. I might get sleeker ones drawn with practice.

Baby Cards

After posting a random baby card last, I thought I'd post the cards I made for my niece and nephew when they were born, 2 years apart.

The first one was for my niece, and uses a stamp from Stamp-It and a hand written sentiment. I rather like the bow I ended up with :) If memory serves, I think I cheated and tied the bow on it's own and stuck it on top of another piece of ribbon. I used some cotton to gather up the ribbon under it to make it look like it was all one piece.


For the second one I drew the dragon and coloured him in watercolour pencils and a water pen, and used Basic Grey chipboard letters for the name. The background paper is also Basic Grey.

Bye bye for now x

It's a Girl

I got some new stamps on sale a couple of days ago and had a play last night. This is a very simple card, but I like it. The stamps are Christina Re Paper Chic by Grant Archival. They were super cheap, but they are beautiful. The paper in the background is Basic Grey Two Scoops, and the little butterfly is cut from some Kaiser Flutterby paper.

I made this quite quickly, which is unusual for me. I normally play with layout quite a bit, but this just all happened without playing at all. I'm kind of wishing I'd stitched around the edges of the patterned paper though. I did some dashed lines in white pen, but they're not really noticeable. You can see them better if you click the image for a larger version though.

(When did dashed lines become 'faux stitching'? I've been doing it since I was at school as extra decoration on the edge of things, and never thought of it as stitching. I think lots of simple things are given fancy names in the world of art and craft)

4th Birthday Celebration Card Competition

Scrapsidaisy are turning 4 and celebrating with a card competition. Here are the details, found on the Scrapsidaisy Blog:

Part of our celebrations will be a "Make us a Birthday Card" competition! All you have to do is make and send us a 4th birthday card. We will choose 2 cards we like the best and the creators will receive a prize pack of scrap goodies worth $50 each! One entry per person please.

Just send your card to us at 107 Isabella Street, Wingham NSW 2429 AND if you mention this competition and link us on your blog (let us know you have done it in the comments section so we can visit) we will put you in the draw to win a special blog candy pack worth $30!

Happy!

I made this card with some goodies I bought from Scrapsidaisy. I might never have got those goodies if it weren't for the wonderful, flawless customer service offered by Leisa and her team. If you want a great shopping experience, I definitely recommend heading to the website to have a look.

The goodies in question are the chipboard 'Happy' and the cute little bird, which is from the 'grow a garden' stamp set by Basic Grey. The background and the paper I used to cover the "happy" are both Berry Sweet by K&Co. I wanted the Happy to stand out, but also wanted the fabulous pattern of the background to be visible so I used a bit of vellum sewed to the background to achieve that.

Marrakech - For Ray

I made this card last night with a couple of papers from the Marrakech range by Kaiser. The layout is based on Laura's Sketch 26 at 2 Sketches 4 You. I flipped and rotated it, and it is slightly different.

The ribbon I used was very nice on the front, with leaves and red, yellow and blue flowers on light blue, but the back looked wonderful too, and I decided it better suited the look I was after.

Thanks for looking x

Berry Sweet Willow

24/5 - Here is another attempt at a photo. Another dull day, but at least you can see that the pearls are white in this one, and the pink is not quite as extreme as parts of the photo below.



I made this card for the challenge on Bizzy Bec's blog to use a Whiff of Joy stamp and lace on a card. I hope I've done it on time. The challenge ends today.

The pink paper is Berry Sweet by K&Co, not sure of the lace or the green paper. There are white pearls on the corners by Kaiser, and in the centre of the flower from BluEye Dezines.

This is a really poor photo. I had to use the flash as it's very dull here today, and it washed out the colours. My editing fixed it a little, but it could be better. I will hopefully get a better photo on a sunny day :)

Bon Voyage!

I made this card for a friend who is off to France soon. I love the little house mice. They are the cutest little things.

I am pleased with myself for completing a double page scrapbooking layout this morning - only my 5th layout ever. I may show a photo on here at a later date. We'll see. Anyhow, it was such fun, but a lot of work cutting out and matting 8 photos.

What a long time...

...since I posted anything on here. We went to England and had a good time, even some sunshine. Didn't get a lot of sight seeing done, but the main point was to visit family, and that we did. It was just a shame they're spread out all over the place. Maybe next time we'll settle in one spot for the duration and let people come visit US.

Anyhow, here are a couple of cards I have made, both for copycatcards challenges. First, a gift card holder. Pull the ribbon and the gift card and message come out. The paper is from K&Co Berry Sweet and the letters are by Basic Grey.


Next up is a card made for a 'green' challenge, to use the colour green, or something recycled. I used cardboard packaging to stiffen the butter foil embossed panels. Two recycled items, yay! The foil I painted red and let dry slightly before rubbing off roughly. I used two embossing folders in the Cuttlebug - Bird Call and You.


Thanks for looking . Hopefully I will have more to show soon. I am working on quilting a queensize patchwork quilt top I made about 4 years ago. Better late than never!
x

Long Time No See

So much has been going on I haven't made anything for a while, until quite recently that is. No home so no craft products so no cards.

Here are two that I have made recently though, for copycatcards challenges. The first one I did a couple of weeks ago at Mum and Dad's house, the other only yesterday in our new home in my very own craft room :)

This one above was for the challenge to use green and a heart. The paper is Berry Sweet by K&Co and the chipboard letters are by Basic Grey.



This second card was for the latest challenge, to use a stamp, doodling and blue. I used denim blue and patina glimmer mists, and walnut ink spray, and the stamps are from Autumn Leaves and Prima. Below is a closeup showing some sparkliness and more clearly showing the blue.

You may need to click on it for the larger version to see it properly.

Anyhow, that will be it again for a while. I'm off to England for 3 weeks from Saturday! Yay! Though I'm not sure I'm all that happy about the weather they've been having....