Celebrate

Magnolia image coloured with Copics and highlighted with Glamour Dust.
Sentiment is a Sizzlit die and gems have been dotted about on the cardstock. Butterfly is a Martha Stewart punch.

Anniversary

Papers used are from a Forever Friends pad by Docrafts, mounted on plain black card.

The sentiment stamp is by Debbi Moore (I was going to print something on the computer but am out of ink so used this instead).

The image is a Paper Nation stamp, coloured with Copics.

Butterfly + Paper Chains

I spotted these cute paper chains the other day and thought I might be able to use them on cards. They had different ones; birthday, wedding, union flags, congratulations etc.
I only bought one pack to see if they were any good and of course as soon as I got home I wished I had bought more. They were £2.99 and you get quite a few in the pack (too lazy to count but a quick Google tells me 3 metres worth).

Here's a quick card I made using one chain. The butterfly is a Quickutz Revolution die and the spotty paper is by American Crafts. The solid part of the butterfly is DCWV metallic card and the dark grey is a pearly card from one of the fill-a-wallet places.

I've tracked down more paper chains via Google so expect to see them on more cards.

I'm thinking it would be easy enough to chalk them for a different colour too.

Birthday Wishes

Another Magnolia image that I was sent (but don't like!).

Coloured with Copics, some Glamour Dust added to the wings.

Sentiment is a peel-off by Anita's, paper is by Imaginisce.

Robin Hood

I don't actually like this card! Someone sent me a few Magnolia images that I would not normally use but waste not want not.

I think because I did not care for the images I couldn't get motivated with them.

Anyway coloured with Copics, patterned paper is Forever Friends by Docrafts.

Sentiment is Craftwork Cards layered using Stampin Up punches.

Best Wishes

House Mouse stamped image coloured with Copics.

I have added some Glamour Dust to the wings.

The scallop punch is by Stampin' Up and I used some cheap gems from eBay along the edge.

The sentiment stamp is by Personal Impressions, layered on punched circles.

New Stash

I don't buy new stash very often so thought I would mark the occasion by showing it here (and if you believe that....)
A few weeks ago I had to drive Graham to King's Lynn and on the way back we broke up the journey by stopping at a place called Horncastle.
Imagine my excitement, sitting having a drink and a snack in a lovely little cafe, to spy a craft shop right next door!
I love the Prima 'E' line flowers and gems, such good value, have bought a few packs of those lately.
It was such a nice shop I wangled a return trip this week :)

Just For You

This was for a challenge set by Lynn at my card club.

Lynn is a lovely lady and we have a good laugh (plus she watches the same sort of telly as me so we chat about that).

Anyway the challenge was to use one of Lynn's own rubber stamps so she would get some fresh ideas how to use it.

I stamped it with Stampin' Up ink and mounted it on matching cardstock. I used the same ink with a swirl stamp to create the patterned paper. Three gems for a bit of interest (I do tend to do that on a lot of cards I know).

Deco Lady

Another Clintons lady.

The lilac card is paler in real life and is pearlescent. The central image is mounted on 3-d foam for a bit of dimension and I added some black gemstones (eBay).

The black glittery strips on the top left are by Anita's and I just cut them to size.

Deco Lady

Very simple card.

Deco lady from Clintons, I've just mounted on some silver mirror card and added a scrap of ribbon.

I treated myself to the Cuttlebug Asian collection of embossing folders and used one of them on the lilac DCWV cardstock.

I think it needs a sentiment but can't find a suitable one at the moment!

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.

House Mouse

Another House Mouse coloured with Copics. This one is called "Sweet Success".

I have added some Glossy Accents to the lollipops for a bit of shine and also used a white gel pen for some highlights. I'm not 100% happy with the colours but never mind :)

The 'Celebrate' is a Sizzlits die and I made the background paper spotty just using a small circle punch and then turning the pieces over (the card is textured on one side so turning it over means the spots stand out a bit more).

House Mouse

Another House Mouse ("Mouse Bounce") image and again coloured with Copics.

I've added some glitter and also some Glossy Accents to the thimbles and the pins but you can't see this on the pic.

The patterned paper is by Papermania and the buttons are just from my big button jar.

Bookatrix

I have to admit I'm not a huge fan of these cards and I have to be in the right mood to make one!
This was a special request for a customer.

The reason I am not keen on making them is because I don't like to see uneven edges on things and even if I really take my time I am never happy with my cutting out. Now I know why nearly all the samples I have seen have peel-offs around each layer. I don't have any peel-offs though so made do with a bit of glitter glue instead, it does help hide the edge a bit.

You can't tell from the photo but the white card is pearlised and I embossed a subtle swirl pattern over it using white ink and embossing powder, just takes the plain-ness off without being in your face.
The finished card does look nicer in real life I have to say, from the pic you can't see the dimension or the details very well.

This was the matching box (I think I like the box better than the card LOL).

All writing was computer printed and the butterflies are a Martha Stewart punch.

Acetate Christmas Card

Another old acetate card from 2006!

Made in the same way as the last one. I still love this rubber stamp (but can't remember who it's by, will try and search it out).

Acetate Card

This is a real 'blast from the past'.

I've been sorting through old images and found this one from November 2006!

I made the card for my friend Caroline's birthday and chose the theme because a few weeks after we went to New York on holiday.

Thick acetate folded in half to make the card itself and then I stamped the image (a PSX stamp) and mounted it on the front. The layers you can see around the stamped image are attached inside the acetate - this hides the glue used and also gives a surface to write the message on inside.

House Mouse

Please ignore my awful colouring in! I love these House Mouse stamps but there is a lot of fine detail and my Copic nibs are a touch too big to be totally accurate (plus I'm always rushing).

In fact because my colouring in was so bad I ended up having to cut around the image so I could re-mount it on another piece of card. That was a bit of a mistake because all the fiddly bits were a nightmare to trim round, oh well we live and learn!

So I used Copics to colour the image which is House Mouse "Berried Strawberries". A white gel pen was dotted on the berries and then I added some Glossy Accents just as a highlight on each berry (next time I might try covering the whole berry with gloss but I quite like the highlight effect).

The red card is Core'dinations, I ran it through the Cuttlebug using the Swiss Dots folder and then sanded the tops off the dots so the white core shows through (just used an emery board to do this). I tend to forget I can sand after embossing but love the way it looks especially on this card, kind of matches the berries. I had to add the green band across the middle to hide the join of the red card - too wide to go through the Cuttlebug in one piece. Sentiment is Jane's Script by Woodware.

Buzzy Friends

This is a House Mouse stamped image "Buzzy Friends".

I've coloured it with Copics and then added some Glamour Dust to their wings.

The flowers and gems are by Prima.

Deco Lady

I've been too busy to make cards lately so quick ones are the order of the day.

This is a very simple card using an image from Clinton Cards (my friend Gill gave me the idea, basically it's a pack of notecards cut up and re-mounted on larger cards.)

Mounted on DCWV textured cardstock, layered with some shiny silver card, and then added a sentiment from Lakeland and an oddment of ribbon.