Good Luck

Papers are by Lemon Craft, stamp is LOTV

Stamperia

Last year I'd been playing around with spray inks trying to make some background paper suitable for a man's card.

I didn't like the finished results, I thought they looked dirty and miserable, and was going to throw them away, but instead put them in my bag of scraps.

Fast-forward to February, the last real-life stash shopping I did before lockdown, and I bought some Stamperia paper.

I had been sorting through my bag of scraps, pulled out the spray inked backgrounds intending to finally get rid, then noticed the green matched my Stamperia papers.

All I needed to do was add some pink ink to the edges.
The dirty miserable looking backgrounds were now the perfect partners to the toppers.
I added some fine glitter, gold mats, and a piece of ribbon.

UTEC

I bought a cheap pot of Ultra Thick Embossing Crystals from Craft Clearance.
I've added three layers to a piece of thick card, then pushed a script rubber stamp in while the top layer was still hot.

Embossing folder is by Crafters Companion and I've added Nuvo drops.
Sentiment die from AliExpress.

Back To School

8 x 8 inch card, I've folded the front back on itself.

I made this for a Back To School challenge on Craft World website.

All of the patterned elements are from a single sheet of Graphic 45 that I've chopped up.
I've just added a scrap of linen ribbon and some plain card-stock.

Stash

I haven't been buying much craft stash lately. With my club being shut since March, and having no idea when we can re-open, I've had to be strict with myself.

I get regular emails from my favourite shops so it's been difficult to resist temptation, I've only succumbed if there's been something absolutely unmissable.

Now and again I check out Craft Clearance website. I don't like the website itself, I find it quite clunky, but the bargains are fab.

This week I managed to time my order perfectly. I had been looking at the wide sheer ribbon shown above, having already bought the pink and gold versions. The reel has been £6 something for 30 yards which is good value for the quality. This week I noticed it was £2!
I would have bought more but it was the very last one.

So then I looked at the other ribbons, just in case there were any more special prices. The emerald ribbon above, also £2, for 100 yards, wow!
Again, it was the last one available.

There is actually a quirk on the site that, if you try to add multiples of the same item, it will show you exactly how many they have in stock. I wish I'd paid more attention to that when I last ordered because I would have bought a DCWV pad they had for £4 and I didn't, now completely sold out.

They did have alternative pads, this one is called Coastal. It's really pretty, several of the papers have a pearlescent foil effect, two of the sheets are these cute panels which are perfect for toppers. Well worth the £5 price tag.

I'd already bought some of these gem swirls and ribbon roses last time but couldn't resist more, 50p per pack.

Guipure lace is £1 for 3 yards. I'd previously ordered some for one of my ladies and it looked lovely so that fell into my basket too.

Ornate die £3.50

Another bargain reel of ribbon, £2 for 30 yards. This one is green and ivory so I'm thinking handy for Christmas projects (please, please let my club be open by then)

The bargain of the day, a reel of seam binding in pale blue.
100 yards for £1, amazing value.

It's worth having a really good browse but items aren't always shown in the appropriate category. Example being if you search by product type, embossing folders, yes there are embossing folders. But if you then search by brand, then sub-category embossing folders, you will see more embossing folders that weren't visible in the product type search. Frustrating but the prices make up for it.

Delivery is free over £25. I ordered late on Thursday and it arrived via DPD courier on Saturday morning.

Sunshine

Not keen on this one to be honest, it was for my great-niece's recent birthday.

I've used freebie stamps from an old craft magazine. 

The box was made using a set of Simply Made dies and was going to be a treasure box with a curved lid. I guess I wasn't really in the mood for crafting at all this particular day!

Love

A quick card just using scraps from my desk.
Butterfly dies are by Memory Box
Tag die is Sue Wilson

Love

Patterned papers are by Graphic 45
The heart die-cut is by Docrafts, I cut it in two and stamped and heat embossed a script stamp, then added a little gilding wax.

The vellum quote is an old one I found in my stash, I secured it with a die-cut button.
Finished card is 7 x 7 inches.

Large Butterfly

To try and keep my card club ladies motivated during lockdown I decided to set a challenge every week.
This was easier said than done because I had no idea just what sort of craft stash and equipment they have at home.

One week I drew a quick sketch so the challenge was to make a card matching my layout idea. After I'd sketched it out I made a sample card myself. It was at this point that I realised I didn't like the placement of the two strips (top left) and should have dropped them down to the next square, never mind!

I used patterned paper and a large butterfly die set, both by Crafter's Companion. To give an idea of scale the card is 8 x 8 inches so the butterfly really is quite big.

Art Deco

I made this for one of my club ladies, Pat, who loves Art Deco.

I bought a set of Art Deco ladies toppers from eBay.

I've used a Tonic die for the sentiment and the scallop border punch is by Martha Stewart.

Envelope Card

Envelope card made for one of my lovely card club ladies. 

I’ve used patterned paper by Crafters Companion, stamp by JustRite.

Flowers are a mix from my stash. 

Daisy Mae

I've used Daisy Mae stamp, dies, and embossing folder.
The strawberry charms are from eBay.

The finished card is 8 x 8 inches.
I've decorated a small notebook from Amazon to match the card.

Love

Stamps are by Papermania.

I stamped and heat embossed on to plain white card, using white embossing powder.
I then sponged Colour Cloud ink over the top for a resist effect.

Envelope Card

I've seen a few of these style cards recently and wanted to have a go. I watched two different tutorials, one uses an envelope punch board, but this one doesn't.

It's also an 'open' style at the bottom which means that, if you didn't use 3-D flowers, then the card would fold down reasonably flat. Not flat enough for a normal postage stamp but you could fit it in a standard envelope instead of having to make a box.

The patterned paper is from my scrap box, flowers are cheapies from The Range.
I used a paper straw also from The Range to support the stamped sentiment, the stamp is by JustRite.

Happy Birthday

Card is 7 x 7 inches

I've used patterned paper from my scrap bag. I stamped over it with a 'bubble wrap' stamp (Kaisercraft) using glue instead of ink, then added gilding flakes. I've used the same technique round the edges of the patterned paper too.

I've torn a strip of vellum to lay across the middle of the patterned paper, before adding the die cut sentiment (Sue Wilson dies).

Other dies are a butterfly by Memory Box, and the thin bow across the bottom is by Tattered Lace.

Mini Album

I made this mini album for my crafty friend Maria, for her birthday last month.

I've used various stamps and dies but tried to keep to a friendship theme.