A Different Corner

It's thursday again (already) so we have a new challenge starting over on the Cute Card Thursday blog today.  Challenge #254 has the theme of "A Different Corner" and this week's prize sponsor is Alota Rubber Stamps.

Now you can interpret this theme in many ways, I decided to make my 'different corner' by leaving it completely empty and rounding it off, whilst leaving all the other corners with sharp angles.

I needed to create a 60th birthday card for a male friend and opted to use the yummy set of Dylusions stamps - which is my current favourite. 

I stamped the large birdie onto a piece of white card, then used one of the flower/leaf stamps which I think looks like it could be balloons (yeah, maybe it's only ME who can see this eh ? just humour me !). 

The bird was coloured with my Copics and I stamped the fun sentiment from a set of stamps by Hampton Arts, using SU! Cherry Cobbler ink.  I cut out small ovals from SU! So Saffron cardstock using a set of nesties, then added peel off numbers in gold before attaching them using foam pads.

The image layer was then matted over more Lucky Limeade card before attaching to the card.  I used a Spellbinders pennant die to cut two pieces from LL and one from the SS card and attached them to the bottom right corner.  I used a tiny dotty circle stamp from a freebie set of stamps and Cherry Cobbler ink to add a spot of colour on each one.  I lined them up 'by eye' and think I managed to get them in a straight line !

Thanks for dropping by to check out my project today, if you get the chance do pop over and take a look at the rest of the DT's awesome creations on the CCT blog and get full details for this week's challenge.

From our Home to Yours at Christmas

Happy wednesday dear blogging friends, the sun is shining here in my part of Cornwall today and that makes me happy !  I see I'm lucky enough to have gained a few more lovely Followers, welcome dear friends, I do hope you call back from time to time to see what I'm getting up to in my crafting space. 

Today's project is my entry for a challenge over on the 'Craft Mad and Loving It' group on Craftbubble.  This is a new set of month-long challenges started for 2013 and every 25th of the month throughout the year a new theme is published.  Some members of the group were rushing to get sufficient cards made in time for last Christmas(me being one of them !) and we thought it would be a great idea to make at least one a month throughout the year so we would have a minimum of  12 cards finished. 

 

My pal Kathy set this first challenge and she gave us a sketch and a recipe to work with and we can use all elements or choose anything from the list. 

 

The recipe included lots of glitter, a button, stamped image and patterned paper.  I followed the sketch and the recipe, with the exception of the button as this card will most likely need to go through the post and adding buttons can often make the card too thick to be within the lowest price band for postage.

 

The stamped image of the room is by Magnolia and the lovely gift boxes are from a set of stamps by Recollections sold by Michaels Stores in the USA.  I coloured the images using Copics and added Glossy Accents on the door to give the glass panels a realistic look, on the lamp beside the door and on the gift box ribbons to give them dimension.  

 

The main image was cut out using a set of nestie dies then attached over a layer cut with a slightly larger die from the same set.  I added a fancy frame over the top cut using another set of Spellbinders dies, which matches the shape of the nesties exactly.

 

The tree was cut using a Marianne's die and the holly spray using a Cheery Lynn's die.  For the snow I used Glamour Dust over Glossy Accents, which is my favourite combination as IRL it is very sparkly.  Finally some Star Dust Stickles added liberally over the design and my card was done.  

That's at least one Christmas card in my stock for this year, so I have made a start.

It's great to have you stop by to check out today's project, thanks so much for taking the time to visit.

Create, Inspire, Dream

 

 

The project I'm sharing with you today is a card I've created to enter this week's challenge over on the Simply Less is More blog. 

 

We have this sketch to work with and, of course, it must be in the  CAS style. 

 

 

For my design I've used a couple of stamps from a recently acquired set of  Stampers' Anonymous Tim Holtz stamps.  I stamped the images using SU! Crumb Cake ink then overstamped the words from a set of  stamps from The Artistic Stamper using Memento Paris Dusk ink.

 

Not much more I can tell you about my card really, I am happy with the finished design and love the contrast between the colours of the Crumb Cake and Paris Dusk inks.  .

 

Thanks for dropping by today, have a great day whatever you have planned.





4 Crafty Chicks

Today's project is an entry for a challenge I haven't come across before, but a couple of my crafting pals had links on their blogs to 4 Crafty Chicks and I just had to check it out.  This week their challenge #126 has Buttons as the theme and here's the card I'm entering.

When I went to the Crafts4Crafters show at Exeter Westpoint last thursday, there were a number of exhibitors selling materials and tools for Needle Felting.  Now this is one craft I haven't tried (yes there are still some !) and despite being attracted by the gorgeous colours of woolly fleece on offer, I studiously ignored them all as I need to get hooked on another new craft like I need a hole in the head ! 

All was well during the day but when I met up with my pals for a coffee towards the end of our stay, I noticed there was one exhibitor (New Forest Mohair) who was offering free Needle Felting taster sessions.  Again, I was able to resist temptation....... right up to the moment a couple of my pals went over to the stand and sat down to have a 'play'. 

Well, you can guess the rest right ?  Yes, of course I HAD to have a go myself and OF COURSE I wanted to do some more after I'd finished my taster session.  You've guessed it, I ended up buying a starter kit, which was actually quite a reasonable price at just £4.50.   I'm such a 'pushover' for anything new...ha..ha..

Here's a pic of my handiwork from the taster session - can you see the picture I created ?  Well, in my world it is a seascape, sand at the bottom, waves, horizon, sky with clouds and the sun shining brightly as you move to the top.  Can't see it ? - just humour me !

 

Here's the starter kit I purchased, see what a bargain it was ?  After all if I'd booked on any of the workshops running throughout the day it would have cost £6 or more and this taster session was FREE (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it)

 

 

OK, back to my card and how I created it.  I cut a small square of the pre-felt (the base fabric you needle felt the fleece on to) and added the dyed fleece in stripes diagonally using all the colours from the starter pack.  I sewed a purple button in the centre then glued it to a square of cardstock with two of the corners rounded.  Finally I added a sentiment, using stamps from a Kaiser Craft set of words and definitions which I also bought at Westpoint, using Memento Sweet Plum ink. 

 

WARNING !  it's going to get a bit 'deep' from here on folks. 

 

I selected this particular word and definition for my sentiment as I felt it perfectly describes the creative process of designing my card and I love the shape of the word on the stamp - yeah I have been told I'm weird on more than one occasion.  Do I care ?  I took it as a compliment ! 

 

JOURNEY

travelling from one place to another; 

passage or progress from one stage to another;

the journey to success.

 

In creating the needle felted square the base materials travelled/progressed from one form/stage to another before emerging as the finished item.  Let's hope my challenge entry is on a journey to success !

 

Hope you've enjoyed seeing something a little different today and thanks for taking the time to visit.



The Perfect Blend

Happy Saturday Blogging pals, hope you have a nice weekend in prospect.  I'm hoping to fit in crafting time around the dreaded chores myself as I need to catch up and get some birthday cards made and I have a couple of quilting/sewing projects on the go.  Wish me luck !

Today's project is a CAS style card which I'm entering for the current CAS-ology challenge.  The Cue Card for this week is DRINK and one of my favourite drinks is Coffee.

I used a set of stamps and matching dies from Lil' Inkers to create the coffee cup and wrap, stamping the wrap image onto some SU! Lucky Limeade cardstock before cutting out with the die.  I stamped the lid a second time on a scrap of the LL card then cut out part of the image by hand to add a band of colour on the lid.

There's a touch of Glossy Accents on the heart for dimension.  I rounded the cup and lid slightly with my fingers and attached using Pinflair Glue, putting more down the centre to raise it up and give a 3D effect, rather than adding the flat image.

Using a set of Framelits from SU!  I cut a layer from Early Espresso and a smaller layer from Crumb Cake cardstock and stacked them up under the coffee cup image.

On the basecard I stamped the coffee stain image from Queen Kat Designs using Memento Rich Cocoa ink.  I love this stamp as I think it's so realistic looking.  Finally I stamped the lovely sentiment from the Lil' Inkers set in the bottom righthand corner using the Rich Cocoa ink.

That's it, clean and simples !

Thanks for visiting and checking out today's project.

Sugar Block Club - January BoM

Happy Friday folks, hope you're having a great day.

Today I'm sharing a quilting project with you, it's a 12x12 inch block and I'll be making a different one each month throughout the year following the patterns I receive and may stitch them all together to form a quilt when I've finished all twelve.

 

I enrolled in the Stitchery Dickory Dock's Sugar Block Club BOM (block of the month) for 2013 at the end of last year and finished the block for January a couple of days after receiving the pattern.  I have ordered the fabric bundle suggested from Sam, but so far it hasn't arrived so I used fabrics I already had in my stash.

I did enjoy making this block but after I'd finished I thought it would have looked better if I'd chosen to use more contrasting fabrics which would have revealed the design a little more clearly.  I will make this block again using the Sugar Block Club fabrics when they arrive, although I do love the overall colour scheme of this first block.

My pal Linda, her pal Karen and myself all joined the SB Club and we decided we would share our monthly blocks on our blogs on the last friday of each month, hence my post today.  I'm sure that, despite working with the same pattern, all our blocks will look completely different.

Thanks for dropping by to check out my project today, hope you've enjoyed your visit. 

Out of This World

Happy thursday folks, hope you're coping OK in the wintery weather most of us in the UK seem to be enduring.  Stay warm and safe.

As it's thursday it means we have a new challenge starting over on Cute Card Thursday today.  Our prize sponsor for Challenge #253 is Rick St Dennis who's digi images are well worth checking out if you're looking for something a bit different.  The theme for this week's challenge is 'Out of This World'.

For my DT card I selected 'Euro Payasos' by Rick for my image, as soon as I saw it the design for my card popped into my head.  I wanted to create a Valentine card that wasn't the typical black/red hearts and kisses style and this image was perfect.

Firstly I created a background using white cardstock and Dylusions inks which I spritzed and splashed over the A4 sized card.  Once dry I selected a part of the page I liked best and cut it to fit the front of a 6x6 scalloped square base card, with room to add a layer of bright pink card under it to create a narrow border.  I rounded the corners on the pink layer and inked layer to reflect the shape of the scalloped card.

I overstamped the stars image - which was a freebie stamp with Craft Stamper Magazine recently -across the top of the inked background using black Versafine ink.  Using a fancy heart die from X-cut and my Cuttlebug, I debossed the heart into the centre of the background (although this isn't showing up too well in the pic, it is easily seen IRL. 

The image was coloured with Promarkers and Fleximarkers, then fussy cut out before adding over the inked background.  I added touches of Stardust Stickles over various parts of the design creating sparkly highlights.   I haven't used feathers on my designs for such a long time, I thought I'd dig them out and they look just right set behind the image, don't you think ? 

The sentiment was created on my computer and cut out using a Nellie's Choice heart die then distressed with Picked Raspberry DI.  Their pom-poms were made with a Waco Pearlmaker Pen

Do hop over to the CCT blog to check out all the 'out of this world' creations from the rest of the DT and you'll find full details of the challenge there too. 

Thanks for dropping by today, hope you enjoyed your visit - let me know what you think of my out of this world card. 

A Long Tall Birdie Told Me......

Good day dear bloggers, are you managing to stay warm and safe during this wintery weather ?  I do hope so.

Today's project is a 'just a note to say' card created in the clean and simple style I love so much.  As I write, this one is winging it's way to a lovely crafting pal, along with a couple of fabric digi camera cases I've made for her.  I'll share a pic of the cases once I know they've arrived safely.

I used the set of stamps by Dylusions which includes this fabulous birdie, the whole set is just so gorgeous and versatile, I love it and it has to be one of my favourites at the moment.  I stamped this fine chap directly on to the base card and added a little colour using my Copics.  Stamped the sentiment bottom right and the design was complete - perfick ! 

I hope my pal likes it when it arrives.  I used the same set of stamps to create a 60th birthday card I needed to make, I'll be sharing that one with you next thursday as I used next week's theme for the Cute Card Thursday challenge for my design which will be my DT card for next week. 

Challenge #86 over on the CAS-ual Fridays blog has the theme 'Long and Short', so as my card has a long side and a short side and has a long image (bird) and a short image (sentiment) I'm entering my card for their challenge - wish me luck !

I'm looking forward to a grand day out tomorrow at the Craft4Crafters show at Exeter Westpoint with three crafting pals, if any of you are planning to be there, let me know, it would be cool to meet any of my Readers/Followers.  So tomorrow there is likely to be just new stash acquisition and very little actual crafting done I think !  Although I don't have much on my shopping/wish list at the moment - some inks, a couple of 12x12 storage boxes and I may be tempted into buying another set of Dylusions stamps perhaps - I'm sure once I get there I'll find all sorts of things I never knew I needed but just HAVE to have !

A short and sweet post from me today, I'm busy finishing off a knitting project for another pal which I'd like to get posted out in the next couple of days.  I've also got a growing list of patchwork/quilting projects and another knitting project I've been asked to make for friends - no rest for the wicked I guess.

Take care and keep on crafting !

May Your Day Run Like Clockwork

Good morning Bloggers, how's the weather with you?  If you are in parts of the UK suffering from lots of snowfall and freezing temperatures I do hope you are managing to stay warm and safe.  So far we've avoided all the 'white stuff' here in my part of Cornwall, but today's forecast indicates we might get a little some time today. 

Today's project is a card I've made for a male friend who has a birthday coming up soon. 

 



I bought the latest Do Crafts magazine last week which had a set of steampunk style stamps as a freebie plus a CD containing matching papers and other elements.  Now I do believe the CD may be an extra gift with the magazine if purchased in Sainsbury's as when I saw the mag elsewhere it had just the free stamps and no CD. 

For the card I created a background layer by combining some of the elements on the CD, printed it off then added Antique Photo DI to distress the whole sheet.  Everything on the card except the brads was added into the design created from the CD, I then printed the two toppers again so I could add them over the base layer for more dimension.  I distressed the toppers with the same DI before matting them over some SU! Early Espresso cardstock.  After printing the matching 'brads' I punched them out and distressed them with the DI before covering with Glossy Accents and adding to the card.

In the pic it looks as if I've been a little too enthusiastic with the DI on the sentiment topper as the text is barely legible !  However IRL it is much clearer and says "May Your Day Run Like Clock Work".   As it's a card for a man I haven't added any 'fripperies' as I believe many of our menfolk prefer not to have ribbons, flowers etc on their cards ! 

I rarely create a card with no stamped elements as stamping and colouring is my favourite method of cardmaking, but the images on this freebie CD are great and I'm pleased with the finished card.  I do hope our friend likes his card when he receives it. 

Thanks for dropping in to check out my project today, let me know what you think of today's card.

Simply For You

The weather here in my part of Cornwall is cold, but luckily we have missed the worst of the snowy weather that many parts of the UK are suffering right now.  Watching the weather forecast earlier this evening I see that we are to have one of the coldest temperatures in the UK overnight, so no doubt we'll have icy and slippy roads here tonight and early tomorrow.  I hope that any of you who are suffering the worst of the weather are managing to stay warm and safe indoors and don't have to venture out into the cold.

Now for today's project I have a little card to share with you.

All of us, I think, need a little stock of those 'just because' cards and in my book the CAS (Clean and Simple) style is perfect for this type of card.  I've made this little square card to send to a friend I used to meet up with regularly for lunch but who moved to another part of the UK just before christmas.   Just want to say "Hi ! thinking of you and hoping you're settled into your new home". 

Last week a lovely friend gave me a set of Stampin Up! stamps she'd somehow managed to 'accidentally' buy twice - how lucky am I ?  It's a set of stamps that has been retired so is no longer available, which is a shame as the images are very sweet and will work for many occasions.

I have a little stock of 4x4 inch cards and envelopes which is a great size for this type of card.  I first stamped the image onto a piece of white cardstock which I cut out using a nestie die then attached this over a layer cut from 'Not Quite Navy' SU! cardstock with the next size up die from the set.  I attached this 'topper' to the base card and stamped the sentiment just underneath.  Simples !

As I used a Stampin' Up! set of stamps which is new to me and a set of nestie dies which I hadn't used before, my card fits the current challenge #62 over on the SUO (Stampin'Up! Only) blog I think as the theme is "New Toys".  SU! don't sell dies the same shape as those I used and the SU! dies I've bought so far aren't the right shape, so I'm hoping the card will still meet their criteria. 

Wish me luck with my entry !