Best Wishes

Made at SU class

Thanks

I'd been looking for a bird-cage die for ages and finally found one I liked enough to buy.
Some of the others I'd seen were too big or too chunky-looking or I just didn't like the shape so I was quite excited to spot the perfect die.

This one is by Memory Box and is called Carousel Bird Cage. Here's why I like it:

From the one die I can get at least four different sizes of cage (maybe another one if I chop that little loop off the top). I've just trimmed the cage down each time, the last one shown on the right I've turned it upside down too. So for me this wasn't just the best cage die in regards of size but also the most versatile.

Here I've used a SU punch but it felt cruel putting the bird inside the cage so he's sitting on it instead!
The paper is Echo Park 'Candy Shoppe' and the sentiment is a Cuttlebug die.

Birthday Wishes

Made at SU class, matching box coming up next time.

Golden Wedding

My mum and dad recently celebrated fifty years of marriage.
This was the card I made for them to match the colours of their party invitations and favours etc.
The bottom half of the card has a vellum overlay and you can't tell from the pic but it's a large card (front is the size of A4 card which made making a box to fit a bit tricky!)

The flowers are a combination of SU punches and Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die, finished off with Papermania brads.

Box

Our SU demo is a lovely lady who is so patient with me and my mum at class. We are always the last to leave!
It's her birthday this week so I wanted to give her a little gift to say 'thank you'.

I used, mostly, SU products. The only non-SU is the die for the box which is Sizzix Takeout Box.

The roses were made with Fancy Flower punch, a great tutorial here.
I tried holding the petals together with paperclips but some of them left little grey marks on the petals, hence the glitter to try and cover up the marks :)

After I'd put the box together I thought it looked too plain but had already glued everything.

It has something inside but I'll keep quiet as she might see this before her birthday.

Notably Ornate

Kraft card blanks are Papermania. The sentiment is Stampin' Up as is the main stamped image (Notably Ornate stamp set) and the leaves are from SU bird punch.

I highlighted some parts of the image with Glamour Dust and added faux stitching and distressing.

I liked the look of the card so, rare for me, decided to replicate it in different colours.

By the time I got to the blue one I gave up making my own flowers and used Prima!

The flowers are very simple to make using Tim Holtz Tattered Florals Sizzix die.
Not my idea, I saw them in a cardmaking magazine recently.
You need to cut four of the smallest flowers on the die and three of the next size.

 I tend to cut a strip of card the approx width of the flower I need and fold it concertina-like into four before running through the Big Shot so I'm only running it through the once but get four pieces cut. That sounds obvious unless you don't know it, someone I was chatting to recently thought you had to use four whole die sized pieces of card and run each one through individually.

Basically you fold one of the smallest pieces up very tight, next one not quite as tight etc etc and just layer them up, bending the petals a bit as you go.

Gift Bag

Gift bag made at SU class to match the card shown on previous post.
All materials Stampin' Up.

Birthday Wishes

Made at class, all products Stampin' Up.

Stampin' Up

Number four of five from SU class

Bird Houses

I saw this fab tutorial on Jo's blog.
Normally I struggle with measuring and cutting but these were easy to make because the instructions were nice and clear and simple.
The only change I made was to use ultra-sticky double sided tape instead of glue. If I use glue I tend to get it everywhere and normal ds tape will result in everything dropping to bits a day or so later!

 The 'hole' in the bird house is covered with acetate so these are suitable for putting small chocolates in. I made one in pastel colours and then tried a more Christmassy one, maybe use these for table favours on Christmas Day.

The small bulldog clips are by Making Memories but you can bulk buy unbranded ones on Ebay.

Best Wishes

Quite often, when I am making cards, I feel the need to add something extra.
I tend to go for plain and simple stuff so the 'extra' is usually just a couple of gems or a scrap of ribbon.
If I have trouble deciding whether to add or not then I find the best thing is to leave the card and go back to it later - either an hour later or the next day. By then I can see it clearer (otherwise I would sit there for hours trying to decide!).

A good tip I discovered was to cut individual gems from their acetate backing sheet and lay them in position on the card. This way if the card doesn't require them they are not wasted (ie don't lose their sticky) and also they don't get accidentally stuck to the card.

I ended up going back to this card three days running because I couldn't get it right. I had stuck the three birds down but then the bottom half of the card looked very bare. I was going to add some red but it didn't look how I expected....

Anyway I ended up using this 'Best Wishes' stamp from a Personal Impressions set (excellent value and designed by the very talented Paula Pascual, love her blog).

Cardstock is DCWV and bird punch is Stampin' Up.

Bird Thankyou

I needed to make a 'thank you' card in a hurry, made this one, and then realised I didn't need it after all. Still it will come in sometime.

Kraft cardblank is by Woodware (Crafts U Love sell them) and the white background has been embossed with a Cuttlebug folder - "Welcome Baby" combo.

The berry coloured card, ink, and bird punch are all by Stampin' Up. I like that their products are available in exactly matched colours so I am not searching for a matching ribbon or whatever.

Sentiment stamp is Jane's Script by Woodware.