Kool Kitty Musings

A head start on next year's cards

Well, it's time for the last Daring Cardmakers dare of 2017!

It's more of an anything goes challenge with the last-minute push to Christmas. :)

I made some more winter background panels ready to affix on card blanks for 2018:

I'll share all the product details once they're fully assembled as cards - but in the meantime you'll see that my masking paper pack was out again, along with some great wintry house dies and the ever-faithful Distress Inks of course. :)

Here's wishing you a peaceful and hopefully crafty week ahead. xx

A special festive card

The Christmas countdown continues over on the Daring Cardmakers blog this week as we turn our attention now to those extra special cards we make. :)

And of course who should be receiving my special card, but my darling little niece. :)

So here is her festive bear card:

Paper and ephemera: Crate Paper - Snow & Cocoa
Dies: Mama Elephant - Madison Avenue, Sizzix - Animal Portraits, Simon Says Stamp - Christmas Blessings, Lil' Inker Designs - Holly Jolly
Other: 3D foam tape, wink of stella pen, Copics

I cut the bear from white cardstock but didn't realise it was Bristol Smooth and well, when it came to colouring in the bits and pieces, the ink just kept seeping all over the place, so it's not looking that even on the photo but in real life it was just about ok.

I added a little ephemera from the matching die-cuts for this collection in the form of those snow-peaked mountains and the sentiment and holly dies combined with the scalloped frame bring everything together.

I hope little miss likes it. :D

In the meantime, remember to check out all the wonderful projects from the design team and play along if you can!

Happy crafting!

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Lil' Inker Designs - Holly Jolly dies Shop at: SHC	Mama Elephant - Framed Tags - Madison Avenue Shop at: EH | SHC | SSS	Simon Says Stamp - Christmas Blessings dies Shop at: SSS	Sizzix - Animal Portraits dies Shop at: AZ | MISC
Strathmore Bristol cardstock Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Crate Paper - Snow & Cocoa - 6x6 paper pad (r) Shop at: SBC	Crate Paper - Snow & Cocoa - Ephemera (r) Shop at: SBC	Zig - Wink of Stella glitter brush pen - Clear Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SHC
3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: AZ | EH | SSS	Sakura - Quickie Glue pen Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS

December elemental inspiration

This week over on the Daring Cardmakers blog, it's time for our last elemental inspiration challenge of 2017!

Yikes!

Here's the photo we're working with:

Here's what I came up with: 
Paper: Lawn Fawn - Knit Picky, Basic Grey - Juniper Berry (r)
Stamps: WPlus9 - Holiday Hugs, Lil' Inker Designs - All the Christmas You'll Ever Need
Dies: WPlus9 - Holiday Hugs, PTI - In the Meadow Silhouettes, Mama Elephant - Landscape Trio
Other: 3D foam tape, Copic pens, MISTI 

I couldn't let the festive season pass without getting the oh so sweet WPlus9 Holiday Hugs stamp and die set out. It's one of my favourite sets for colouring and I am not a massive colouring fan due to my lack of skills in blending, but I love this set too much to worry about that. :)

My elements were the Nordic print in white and red, the tree and the presents.

Make sure you check out the fab interpretations from the rest of the Design Team over on the Daring Cardmakers blog.

Happy crafting! 

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Lil' Inker Designs - All The Christmas You'll Ever Need stamps Shop at: MISC | SHC	WPlus9 - Holiday Hugs stamps Shop at: EH | SHC | SSS	PTI - In the Meadow Silhouettes dies Shop at: MISC	WPlus9 - Holiday Hugs dies Shop at: EH | SHC | SSS
Mama Elephant - Landscape Trio border dies Shop at: SHC	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Marshmallow Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: EH | SSS	Lawn Fawn - Knit Picky 6x6 paper pad Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC | SSS
3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: AZ | EH | SSS	Sakura - Quickie Glue pen Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Tombow - Mono-Multi liquid glue Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	MISTI precision stamping tool Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS
Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS

 

Masked magic

A few weekends ago I was experimenting with something I have had in my stash a while, but needed to be deployed with the right inks!

A pack of masking paper from Simon Says Stamp.

I've used this paper for the odd stamp masking project but actually bought it in order to be able to use it with dies for background blending projects - but I was still missing some Distress Ink shades and I wanted to get them as individual cubes.

Well several months past but it's only recently that I've got into making these sky backgrounds and well, I'm kind of in love with how they work with masked die-cuts.

Here are the results from the first round:

Dies: Concord & 9th - JOY, Lawn Fawn - Forest border, Memory Box - Country Landscape, MFT - Wonky Stitched Squares
Other: Masking paper, Molotow pen, white gel pen, Distress Inks

So I had a little stack of small square envelopes going spare and decided to make some miniature Christmas cards with some die masking. I definitely wanted to use the fab Concord & 9th JOY die as my sentiment and mix it up with some wintry border dies.

I also used my Molotow pen on one of the cards before starting to blend the background, but I need a bit more practice with that pen to make sure the "snow" dots end up being round.

But there is nothing quite as cool as peeling back that masking paper to reveal the clean lines of the die-cut elements.

I used a white gel pen to add in snow to the background for the perfect finishing touch.

The night sky colours I love using are Picked Raspberry, Seedless Preserves and Black Soot and a touch of lighter blue like Mermaid Lagoon really works nicely. I also used a bit of Chipped Sapphire on these cards.

Anyway, there we have it - a really cool way to create dimension on cards without making them bulky to send.

Until next time! 

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Concord & 9th - Joy die Shop at: EH | MISC | SBC | SHC | SSS	Lawn Fawn - Forest border die Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC	Lil' Inker Designs - Christmas Words Tree die Shop at: MISC | SHC	Memory Box - Country Landscape border die (r) Shop at: SSS
MFT - Wonky Stitched Square STAX dies Shop at: EH | SHC | SSS	Distress ink pad - Black Soot Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Distress ink pad - Chipped Sapphire Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Distress ink pad - Mermaid Lagoon Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS
Distress ink pad - Picked Raspberry Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Distress ink pad - Seedless Preserves Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Marshmallow Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Pentel 1.0 mm white gel pen Shop at: AZ
Molotow fine masking pen - 2 mm Shop at: AZ | EH	Simon Says Stamp - Masking Paper Shop at: SSS	Ranger - Mini round ink blending tools Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC
Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS

Trim the tree

This week over on the Daring Cardmakers blog the Christmas tree is in the spotlight!

Naturally I had to once again deploy my Christmas Words Tree die from Lil' Inker Designs for this occasion:

Paper: Basic Grey
Dies: Lil' Inker Designs - Christmas Words Tree, Lawn Fawn - Forest border
Other: silver glitter paper
It's a very simple design but I think it's made all the more effective with the forest of trees on the hillside contrasting against the black background. And yes, I am still not firing on full brain power this week as I managed to stick the black paper on upside down - d'oh!

And didn't notice until after I'd finished card - double d'oh!

But never mind, I don't think it's glaringly obvious and I can't do a re-do as that is the last of this lovely pattern I had in my stash from that fab Basic Grey Christmas release - one of my all time favourite Basic Grey releases.

Don't forget to check out the fab projects on the Daring Cardmakers blog!

Happy crafting! 

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Lawn Fawn - Forest border die Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC	Lil' Inker Designs - Christmas Words Tree die Shop at: MISC | SHC	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Marshmallow Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Sakura - Quickie Glue pen Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS
Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS

 

Another festive tree idea

The Christmas Words Tree die from Lil' Inkers is getting put to good use this week - here's another take on how to use this die for a simple card idea.

I'm not totally happy with the end result as I think I should have used watercolour paper for the background to the die, but I thought a nice alternative way to showcase the die-cuts would be to layer them on a watercolour background:

Paper: Crate Paper
Dies: Lil' Inker Designs - Christmas Words Tree, Lawn Fawn - Large Cross-Stitched Square Stackables
Other: Nuvo Glitter drops, watercolour paints
Once again I layered up a few die-cuts cut from white cardstock to create added dimension against the background but not real bulk to make the card still flat-ish for posting. I used a couple of shades of paint from my Gansai Tambi watercolour set for the tree and star to depict a Christmas tree and for added sparkle the Silver Moondust Nuvo Glitter Drops were deployed.

It's certainly a different take, not my favourite of the cards I've made recently but I will make a few changes next time so that the watercolour background looks better. :) 

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Lawn Fawn - Large cross-stitched square stackables Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC | SSS	Lil' Inker Designs - Christmas Words Tree die Shop at: MISC | SHC	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Marshmallow Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Kuretake Gansai Tambi 36-pan watercolour set Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC
Sakura - Quickie Glue pen Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Tonic Studios Nuvo Glitter Drops - Silver Moondust Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Ranger - Artist brush set Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC
Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS

Hang a shining star...

I'm back with another card idea featuring the lovely Christmas Words Tree die from Lil' Inker Designs.

This time I've paired it with some nice festive papers from my stash left over from Christmases past:

Paper: Elle's Studio, Studio Calico
Die: Lil' Inker Designs - Christmas Words Tree
Other: glitter paper, Green pen

Rather than use 3D foam tape for dimension, I cut the word die from 4 pieces of white cardstock. I coloured one of the die cuts with a green Promarker pen and also cut a star from gold glitter paper with the die to attach at the very top of the tree.

I then assembled all 4 layers and used a glue pen to stick them all together. 

PRO TIP: I love the Sakura Quickie glue pen that I received in a cardmaking kit from Simon Says Stamp some time ago. It had been sat in a drawer waiting to be used once another glue pen finally dried up. But I wondered whether it would be faster to use this glue pen than applying Multi Matte medium and it was oh so quick to use in comparison. I think this glue pen might be my favourite for sticking dies together and attaching word die-cuts to projects. Glad to see you can also get them in packs of 3 on amazon. :D

Anyway, a very simple card project but I think it really pops without being too bulky for posting either. :) Think I'm also going to use this layout for more square cards with this die as well. 

Until next time, happy crafting!

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Lil' Inker Designs - Christmas Words Tree die Shop at: MISC | SHC

Bazzill Cardshoppe - Marshmallow Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS

Sakura - Quickie Glue pen Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS

Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC

 

What's in the box?

Well, I can't tell you as it would spoil the surprise!

But over on the Daring Cardmakers blog this week the challenge is to make or decorate a gift bag or box.

I had to mull this over a little as I'm not usually one to make anything from paper that isn't a card or album...

But thankfully my We R Memory Keepers envelope punch board includes instructions for making gift boxes from 12x12 paper.

The biggest box you can make is 4" cubed and here's the result having delved into what's left of my ancient festive-related stash:

Paper: Basic Grey
Ribbon and tag: American Crafts

Very simple I know, but sometimes less is more and at this time of the year it's nice to make something that's quick, simple and uses up old neglected items in your craft stockpile. :)

Make sure you check out the much more elaborate projects from the rest of the design team over on the blog. :D

Happy crafting!

Santa! I know him!

So today's post is in part my response to a couple of the colour picks for this year's Pantone card challenge. One is Greenery (our April colour) and the other is Grenadine (our November colour) and both shades are wonderfully festive and brought to mind two figures I could easily incorporate on my Christmas cards.

Buddy the Elf and Santa!

So first up, my Buddy the Elf cards.

I must admit to finally getting my hands on the Waffle Flower Surface Tag die set and Santa Add-on as I have been coveting it for a while and now that I have some Buddy-related sentiments in my collection thanks to Lil' Inker Designs and the All the Christmas You'll Ever Need 2 stamp set well the time was right.

Paper: Lawn Fawn - Knit Picky
Stamps: Lil' Inker Designs - All the Christmas You'll Ever Need, Lawn Fawn - Deck the Halls
Dies: Waffle Flower - Surface Tag and Santa Add-on, PTI - Sending You dies
Other: 3D foam tape, Distress Ink

I used a mix of sentiments from different stamp sets for these cards, they can all be found at the very end of this blog post. But the main attraction is of course the Elf tag. Candy Apple Bazzill cardshoppe is a great match for the Buddy shade of green, and I used Peeled Paint Distress Ink to add a little dimension to the placket down the front. The collar is actually cut from two "leaves" from a die set by PTI and those Knit Picky papers really do offset the tags nicely.

Inside I stamped the following quote from Elf:

The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear

So, four Buddy cards added to the Christmas card tin, and next up Buddy's friend Santa:

Paper: Lawn Fawn - Knit Picky
Stamps: Lil' Inker Designs - All the Christmas You'll Ever Need, Lawn Fawn - Deck the Halls
Dies: Waffle Flower - Surface Tag and Santa Add-on
Other: 3D foam tape
I did two different designs for the tags this time. This one has a longer beard and a different sentiment from Lawn Fawn's Deck the Halls stamp set.

Then the other has the Lil' Inker Designs sentiment I also used for the fronts, plus the shorter beard to fit in the buttons:

Really easy to put together and again my Bazzill Cardshoppe cardstock offered up the perfect festive shade for the suit.

The sentiment inside the Santa cards reads:

It's all fun and games 'til Santa checks the naughty list!

Most appropriate for a few people on my Christmas card list. :D

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Lawn Fawn - Deck the Halls stamps Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SHC | SSS	Lil' Inker Designs - All The Christmas You'll Ever Need 2 stamps Shop at: MISC | SHC	Lil' Inker Designs - All The Christmas You'll Ever Need stamps Shop at: MISC | SHC	PTI - Stylish Sentiments: Holiday stamps Shop at: MISC
WPlus9 - Merry & Bright stamps (r) Shop at: MISC	PTI - Sending You dies Shop at: MISC	Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Mats: Rectangles dies Shop at: MISC | SHC	Waffle Flower - Surface Tag Die: Santa Add-on Shop at: AZ | SBC | SHC
Waffle Flower - Surface Tag Die: Starter Set Shop at: AZ | SBC | SHC	Distress ink pad - Peeled Paint Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Lawn Fawn - Chili Pepper ink pad Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SHC | SSS	Lawn Fawn - Jalapeño ink pad Shop at: EH | SHC | SSS
Lawn Fawn - Noble Fir ink pad Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC | SSS	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ | EH | SSS	Lawn Fawn - Knit Picky 6x6 paper pad Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC | SSS	Ranger - Multi-Medium Matte adhesive Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS
3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: AZ | EH | SSS	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SHC | SSS	MISTI precision stamping tool Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Ranger - Mini round ink blending tools Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS
Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS

 

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Deck the Halls

My next selection of festive cards includes my favourite ever tree die and the way I always love to use it - creating a 3D die-cut:

Paper: Lawn Fawn - Knit Picky
Dies: Lil' Inker Designs - Holly Jolly, Lawn Fawn - Forest border, Lil' Inker Designs - Silly Stitched dies
Stamps: Lawn Fawn - Deck the Halls
Stencil: Simon Says Stamp - Falling Snow
Other: MISTI, embossing paste
So once again I took a mini production line approach to this project. If I was going to be using embossing paste I needed to make more than 1 card for it to be worth the clean-up and prep, etc. So I got as many panels cut from a 12x12 sheet of the grey cardstock, stencilled all the backgrounds and left them to dry while I cut and assembled my trees.

I love how quickly just one piece of paper from the Knit Picky paper pad from Lawn Fawn creates the perfect background for anything festive. This may be the first 6x6 paper pad that I ever use up in full! I especially love the multi-coloured knit print.

The Forest border die is also so effective and goes well with the Lil' Inker Christmas tree.

The MISTI also made stamping the greetings and accents very easy as you can do multiple cards in succession with everything aligned uniformly.

Until next time, happy crafting!

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Lawn Fawn - Deck the Halls stamps Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SHC | SSS	Lawn Fawn - Forest border die Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC	Lil' Inker Designs - Holly Jolly dies Shop at: SHC	Lil' Inker Designs - Silly Stitched dies Shop at: MISC | SHC
Simon Says Stamp - Falling Snow stencil Shop at: SSS	Lawn Fawn - Black Licorice ink pad Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC | SSS	Lawn Fawn - Chili Pepper ink pad Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SHC | SSS	Lawn Fawn - Freshly Cut Grass ink pad Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC | SSS
Bazzill Cardshoppe - Marshmallow Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Lawn Fawn - Knit Picky 6x6 paper pad Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC | SSS	Wendy Vecchi Embossing Paste - White Shop at: EH | SSS	MISTI precision stamping tool Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS
Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS

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Warm Woolen Mittens

This week over on the Daring Cardmakers blog, our festive countdown continues.

Our theme this week is to feature winter clothing on your card, so warm woollen mittens, a scarf, boots, even ice skates and a funky Christmas sweater would do the job. In fact I might need to revisit this challenge to incorporate some ice skate stickers I've had in my stash for a while!

That is, if I can locate them!

But my first outing this week includes the winter essentials, warm mittens, a scarf and a bobble hat: 

Dies: Essentials by Ellen - Stitches cover plate, Memory Box - Landscape Country Landscape border (r), Mama Elephant - Landscape Trio border dies
Stamp: Lil' Inker Designs - All the Christmas You'll Ever Need
Stickers: Pebbles - Winter Wonderland
Other: twine, button, glitter paper, Frosted Lace Stickles, MISTI

I definitely wanted to incorporate some texture into this card, so even though it was rather flat originally, there would still be a bit of interest in the design - so the Stitches cover plate was ideal for adding those different stitch patterns to the sky background and my trusty Memory Box landscape die had to feature, of course, as did one of Mama Elephant's stitched landscape dies which are just perfect for adding snow drifts.

But my card looked just too flat and boring, so I added a pop of colour and bling at the top with the scalloped silver glitter border and the warm woollen mittens button and twine.

I think the snowman looked a bit more jolly once that was done. ;)

Head on over to the Daring Cardmakers blog to see the other wonderful card projects inspired by this theme, and have a go yourself!

Happy crafting!

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Lil' Inker Designs - All The Christmas You'll Ever Need stamps Shop at: MISC | SHC	Essentials by Ellen - Stitches Cover Plate Shop at: EH	Mama Elephant - Landscape Trio border dies Shop at: SHC	Memory Box - Country Landscape border die (r) Shop at: SSS
PTI - Small scallop border die Shop at: MISC	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ | EH | SSS	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Marshmallow Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: AZ | EH | SSS
MISTI precision stamping tool Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS

New home card

Sometimes clean and simple is the best way to go. :)

I recently needed to make a new home card and naturally relied on the trusty card design that has never failed me yet.

Paper: Pebbles
Stamp: PTI - Mat Stack 4 Collection
Dies: Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Woodgrain cover-up die, MFT - Sentiment Strips 2
Chipboard element: Crate Paper
Other: 3D foam tape

I really wanted the Stitched Woodgrain cover-up die to do most of the work. It's a lovely die for adding interest to a plain background and the little stitched hearts woven into the grain are a lovely detail. I paired my grey background with a lovely floral print from Pebbles that is from a rather old collection and a chipboard house from Crate Paper's Wonder collection. The sentiment is my favourite for new home cars and comes from and old stamp release by PTI.

It'll no doubt be back to the Christmas crafting for my next project.

Until then, happy crafting! 

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PTI - Mat Stack 4 stamps (r) Shop at: MISC	Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Woodgrain cover-up die Shop at: MISC | SHC	MFT - Sentiment Strips 2 dies (r) Shop at: MISC	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ | EH | SSS
Bazzill Cardshoppe - Marshmallow Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	PTI - Soft Stone cardstock Shop at: MISC	3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: AZ | EH | SSS	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC
Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS

More blended backgrounds

So a week or so ago you may remember that I challenged the DCM team and blog readers to create some blended backgrounds, well I was slightly addicted to the process and rather enjoyed the results of mixing my Distress Oxides together for some wintry scenes.

Today I have some more Distress Oxide experiments to share using the lovely Christmas Words Tree die from Lil' Inker Designs as my greeting:

Dies: Lil' Inker Designs - Christmas Tree Word die, Lawn Fawn - Large cross-stitched square stackables
Other: Distress Oxides, Wink of Stellar pen, white mist spray

For the most part I stuck to the above colour scheme featuring Cracked Pistachio, Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean, Faded Jeans, Black Soot and a touch of Fossilize Amber behind the star.

The greeting was cut from cardstock twice and layered up for a little dimension without the need for 3D foam adhesive.

For one of the cards in my little bundle of 4 (multi-tasking is the name of the game in November!) I added more colours into the mix, bringing in Broken China and Jeans and Seedless Preserves.

Dies: Lil' Inker Designs - Christmas Tree Word die, Lawn Fawn - Large cross-stitched square stackables
Other: Distress Oxides, Wink of Stellar pen, white mist spray

I couldn't find the right papers to go with any of these finished backgrounds, so in the end I cut some navy blue American Crafts cardstock from the winter pack that has been in my stash for 5 plus years now, blended the edges with Faded Jeans to harmonise the colours a bit better, and applied clear Wink of Stella around the edges for a little sparkle to finish the assembled cards off.

I really like the combination of this fab sentiment die with the various blended backgrounds you can create with your ink stash.

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Lawn Fawn - Large cross-stitched square stackables Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC | SSS	Lil' Inker Designs - Christmas Words Tree die Shop at: MISC | SHC	Distress Oxide ink pad - Black Soot Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Distress Oxide ink pad - Broken China Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS
Distress Oxide ink pad - Cracked Pistachio Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Distress Oxide ink pad - Faded Jeans Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Distress Oxide ink pad - Fossilized Amber Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Distress Oxide ink pad - Peacock Feathers Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS
Distress Oxide ink pad - Salty Ocean Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Distress Oxide ink pad - Seedless Preserves Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Marshmallow Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Strathmore Bristol cardstock Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC
Studio Calico - Mister Huey's color mist - Opaque White (r) Shop at: SBC	Zig - Wink of Stella glitter brush pen - Clear Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SHC	Ranger - Mini round ink blending tools Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC
Tim Holtz - Distress Sprayer Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS

 

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Wham! Bam! You got this!

Time for a brief interlude from the Christmas card crafting to share a special card I made a few weeks ago by special request.

Paper: Pink Paislee - Fancy Free
Stamps: Mama Elephant - Tiny Heroes
Dies: Mama Elephant - Rainbow High, Mama Elephant - Cityscape, Lawn Fawn - Spring Showers, Lawn Fawn - A Birdie Told Me
Other: Sequins, 3D foam tape, Promarkers

Those Rainbow High dies have been such a great purchase - I love the rainbow die itself because it is so easy to colour and you don't have to assemble it as it is cut so that you can slip a piece of card under the relevant segment to colour it.

I like pairing it with the clouds in the same set, but my all time favourite clouds and sun come from the Lawn Fawn Spring Showers set. Those stitched clouds are just so perfect for adding extra detail against plain backgrounds.

And of course that Tiny Heroes stamp set always comes into its own when paired with the Cityscape die. I don't have the Tiny Heroes matching die set, so a bit of fussy cutting needed. I get so reliant on matching dies that I hardly ever cut things out these days, until I realise I don't have the matching dies!

Not sure I'll have the opportunity to craft anything non-Christmas related for a while... so it's back to festive projects!

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Mama Elephant - Tiny Heroes stamps Shop at: EH | SSS	Lawn Fawn - A Birdie Told Me dies Shop at: AZ | EH | SHC	Lawn Fawn - Spring Showers dies Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SHC | SSS	Mama Elephant - Cityscape dies Shop at: EH | SHC | SSS
Mama Elephant - Rainbow High dies Shop at: EH | SHC	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ | EH | SSS	Neenah Classic Crest 80 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: AZ | EH | SSS	Pretty Pink Posh - Sparkling Clear Confetti Mix sequins Shop at: EH | SSS
Ranger - Multi-Medium Matte adhesive Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: AZ | EH | SSS	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS

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November elemental inspiration

Can you believe we're already in November??

Well, as the first Friday of a new month it's time for a brand new elemental inspiration challenge over on the Daring Cardmakers blog.

Here's our photo for this month:

 

You need to pick three separate elements to interpret on your card project.

I was inspired by the woodgrain texture contrasting with the dark background. I also thought those large glass domes and candle holders could be interpreted as a snow globe, and of course I had to include festive berries and foliage!

Paper and chipboard accents: MME - Comfort and Joy (r)
Stamps and dies: WPlus9 - Merry & Bright (r)
Other: Stickles, Distress Stickles, 3D foam tape

Any excuse to get out the lovely Merry & Bright stamp and die set from WPlus9, it's one of my favourites as it includes these 2 and 3-step sprigs of pine and berries. They add so much detail in such an easy way. For extra pop I added Stickles to the berries in red, plus Stickles on the Marquee light "bulbs", and what may be the last of my Distress Stickles around the aperture. Hadn't realised most of the bottle was used up!

I do like the contrast in texture and look Distress Stickles can provide, it's just difficult to get them these days without having to place a largeish order to get inexpensive postage. I will have to add replacements to my shopping list.

Anyway, I hope you head on over to the Daring Cardmakers blog to check out the other wonderful takes on our inspiration pick, and join in if you can!

Happy crafting!

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WPlus9 - Merry & Bright stamps (r) Shop at: MISC	WPlus9 - Merry & Bright dies (r) Shop at: EH | SHC | SSS	Distress ink pad - Festive Berries Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Distress ink pad - Gathered Twigs Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS
Distress ink pad - Peeled Paint Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Distress ink pad - Pine Needles Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Lawn Fawn - Black Licorice ink pad Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC | SSS	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Marshmallow Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS
3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: AZ | EH | SSS	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SHC | SSS	MISTI precision stamping tool Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC
Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS

 

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WPlus9 Sourthern Summer Florals

Today's card is a bit of a break from the Christmas card production line. :)

I finally had opportunity to properly sit down and stamp out the gorgeous blooms from WPlus9's Southern Summer Florals 2 set with my MISTI and some of the new inks I bought back in the summer.

Paper: Simple Stories, American Crafts
Stamps: WPlus9 - Southern Summer Florals 2, Winnie & Walter - Wishing you
Dies: WPlus9 - Southern Summer Florals 2, PTI - By the Numbers, Lil' Inker Designs
Other: gold glitter paper, 3D foam tape, MISTI

The sentiment stamp set is also a relatively new addition as well - just lovely the font! And without a my MISTI I never would have managed to get that smaller text stamped straight right at the bottom of the card. Not what you want when it's the last element to go on your project!

Right, I'd best get back to Christmas card production....

Happy crafting!

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Winnie & Walter - Wishing You stamps Shop at: SHC | SSS	WPlus9 - Southern Summer Florals 2 stamps Shop at: EH | SHC | SSS	PTI - By the Numbers dies Shop at: MISC	WPlus9 - Southern Summer Florals 2 dies Shop at: EH | SHC | SSS
Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Mats: Circles dies Shop at: MISC | SHC	Altenew - Coral Berry dye ink Shop at: EH | SSS	Altenew - Cotton Candy dye ink Shop at: SSS	Altenew - Frosty Pink dye ink Shop at: EH | SSS
Lawn Fawn - Black Licorice ink pad Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC | SSS	Lawn Fawn - Celery stick ink pad Shop at: EH | SHC | SSS	Lawn Fawn - Freshly Cut Grass ink pad Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC | SSS	Lawn Fawn - Guava ink pad Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC | SSS
Lawn Fawn - Jalapeño ink pad Shop at: EH | SHC | SSS	Lawn Fawn - Plastic flamingo ink pad Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC | SSS	PTI - Sweet Blush ink pad Shop at: MISC	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ | EH | SSS
Altenew - Four Scoops ink cube set Shop at: EH | SHC | SSS	Altenew - Red Cosmos ink cube set Shop at: EH | SHC | SSS	Neenah Classic Crest 80 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: AZ | EH | SSS	Ranger - Multi-Medium Matte adhesive Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS
3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: AZ | EH | SSS	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SHC | SSS	MISTI precision stamping tool Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC
Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS

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Blended backgrounds with a wintry touch!

This week over on the Daring Cardmakers blog it was my turn to set the challenge, and well I wanted to go with something that would also inspire me to make some progress with my rather lacking Christmas card production!

I needed the perfect excuse to use the lovely Distress Oxide releases I've invested in this year so blended backgrounds were the theme!

I wanted to keep things simple, but also make a few cards at the same time:

They all needed to be flat for posting but still interesting.

Dies: Concord & 9th - Christmas Cottage
Stamp: Lil' Inker Designs - All the Christmas You'll Ever Need
Other: Distress Oxides, white glitter paper, MISTI, white acrylic paint

I used a mix of Distress Oxides blended onto Bristol smooth cardstock - the inks blend so nicely on this cardstock and it has become my favourite for ink blending techniques, as I find Distress Ink in general dries too quickly into Neenah cardstock so you just can't blend it out that well, whereas the Bristol cardstock has a nice smooth coating that lets you move that ink around more.

All I needed to add were some flicks of white acrylic paint with a toothbrush for snow.

I paired the backgrounds I'd made with the fab Christmas Cottage dies from Concord & 9th - you just need white cardstock and the dies do all the magic for you. For a bit of extra bling, I cut the snowy roof from white glitter paper.

And of course my MISTI was deployed to get that large sentiment from Lil' Inker Designs perfectly aligned and stamped.

So, four more cards added to the tin!

Please check out the challenge on the blog and see the wonderful inspiration from the rest of the design team and come play along with us! :)

Happy crafting!

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Lil' Inker Designs - All The Christmas You'll Ever Need stamps Shop at: MISC | SHC	Concord & 9th - Christmas Cottage dies Shop at: EH | MISC | SBC | SHC | SSS	Distress Oxide ink pad - Black Soot Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Distress Oxide ink pad - Cracked Pistachio Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS
Distress Oxide ink pad - Faded Jeans Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Distress Oxide ink pad - Fossilized Amber Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Distress Oxide ink pad - Iced Spruce Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Distress Oxide ink pad - Lucky Clover Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS
Distress Oxide ink pad - Peacock Feathers Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Distress Oxide ink pad - Picked Raspberry Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Distress Oxide ink pad - Salty Ocean Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Distress Oxide ink pad - Seedless Preserves Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS
Distress Oxide ink pad - Wilted Violet Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Distress Oxide ink pad - Worn Lipstick Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Lawn Fawn - Black Licorice ink pad Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC | SSS	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Marshmallow Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS
Neenah Classic Crest 80 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: AZ | EH | SSS	Strathmore Bristol cardstock Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	MISTI precision stamping tool Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Ranger - Mini round ink blending tools Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS
Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS

 

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Are you a town mouse or a country mouse?

Well, I'm a bit of both - I'm definitely not a City mouse though! ;)

Miri has a lovely dare up on the Daring Cardmakers blog this week asking just that question. I don't like being in remotely isolated spots, but I'm not one who could survive in really crowded and noisy cities. I like the comfort of living near a town and with views of the countryside just around the corner. Yes, the perfect spot to enjoy a happy medium!

Paper: Pink Fresh Studio
Sequins: Jillibean Soup

In an attempt to make a little headway with my Christmas card production backlog, I've gone for a very simple make using some great papers from Pink Fresh Studio that are a couple of years old now. These papers have some great little scenes on them plus other prints that are really bold, so just the addition of a sequin here and there provides the final finishing touch. At last a flat-ish card for sending in the post. I may need to do some more 1-layer cards this year as postage is just so expensive once the 3D foam tape comes out!

Don't forget to check out the wonderful makes over on the Daring Cardmakers blog this week!

Happy crafting!

Pastel rainbows

This week's Daring Cardmakers challenge combines two of my favourite things to feature on cards.

Rainbows and pastel colours!

I had to of course deploy the most recent rainbow addition to my craft stash - the lovely Rainbow High dies from Mama Elephant.

Paper: Dear Lizzy - Fine & Dandy
Stamp: PTI - Movers & Shakers Sentiments
Dies: Mama Elephant - Rainbow High
Other: glitter tape, sequins, 3D foam tape, Promarker pens

One of my favourite ways to create rainbow die cuts is to colour in the stripes with Promarker pens - it's so much easier and quicker when you just cut the rainbow from white cardstock and then fill it in. :)

As always the design team has come up with some lovely card ideas, so make sure to check them out and play along too!

Happy crafting! 

 

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PTI - Movers & Shakers Sentiments stamps Shop at: MISC	Mama Elephant - Rainbow High dies Shop at: EH | SHC	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ | EH | SSS	Neenah Classic Crest 80 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: AZ | EH | SSS
American Crafts - Dear Lizzy Fine & Dandy - 12x12 paper pad (r) Shop at: SBC	Darice Sparkle Tape - Silver Shop at: AZ | SSS	Pretty Pink Posh - Sparkling Clear Confetti Mix sequins Shop at: EH | SSS	Ranger - Multi-Medium Matte adhesive Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS
Zig - Wink of Stella glitter brush pen - Clear Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SHC	3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: AZ | EH | SSS	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SHC | SSS	MISTI precision stamping tool Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS
Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS

 

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Tidings of comfort and joy

In an effort to get a few cards made at the same time while I have the same dies/stamp sets on my desk, I've two takes on the lovely Avery Elle Comfort & Joy stamp set I purchased last year but didn't manage to deploy before Christmas!

First up, I used some cute papers and stickers I got in a wintry Simon Says Stamp card kit last year:

Paper and stickers: Doodlebug
Stamps: Avery Elle - Comfort & Joy
Die: Lil' Inker Designs
Other: 3D foam tape, white embossing powder

I finally got my hands on some Hero Arts white embossing powder after hearing so many people rave about it. It's definitely a nice strong white, a bit of a difference from the Personal Impressions white embossing powder I've had in my stash and used since 2003 (still on that first ever pot!). The EK Success powder tool is definitely an essential item when embossing onto black cardstock. Also it adds a nice chalkboard look behind the sentiment.

And here's a more traditional colour scheme for the same sentiment:

Paper: Elle's Studio
Stamps: Avery Elle - Comfort & Joy
Dies: Lil' Inker Designs, Lawn Fawn
Other: 3D foam tape, white embossing powder, tinsel twine

Yep, the Tim Holtz tinsel twine is back out! Really love how it adds that Christmas sparkle without adding too much bulk to your card. :)

Right, I had best get these cards added to the Christmas tin - which is still rather empty. Eek! 

 

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Avery Elle - Comfort & Joy stamps Shop at: EH | SHC | SSS	Lawn Fawn - Large cross-stitched square stackables Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC | SSS	Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Mats: Circles dies Shop at: MISC | SHC	Versamark ink pad Shop at: AZ | EH | SHC | SSS
PTI - True Black cardstock Shop at: MISC	Tim Holtz - Silver tinsel twine Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Hero Arts - White embossing powder Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SHC | SSS	3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: AZ | EH | SSS
EK Success powder tool Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	MISTI precision stamping tool Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS

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October elements

Well it's been a looong few months since I have been able to play along with the rest of my lovely teammates over on the Daring Cardmakers blog.

But I'm back this week to share my take on Leo's fab elements dare:

I currently need all the help I can get making Christmas cards, so that's where I've gone with the inspiration in the image:

Paper and ephemera: Crate Paper
Die: Concord and 9th - Christmas Cottage
Other: Distress inks, 3D foam tape

October is also the return of naff lighting - either the light is directly through the window and creates shadows on what you want to photograph or it's a tad blue! Sigh...

But anyway, I had a fun time creating a night sky backdrop for this little critter using Picked Raspberry, Seedless Preserves, Chipped Sapphire and Black Soot regular Distress ink. I used the Bristol Strathmore cardstock for this as regular Distress inks blend so much better on it than on Neenah (the ink dries right into it and you just end up with blobs from your blending tool). My other elements are the cute creature (hello wintry Mr Fox) and the pink sign. :)

Until next time - happy crafting!

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Concord & 9th - Christmas Cottage dies Shop at: EH | MISC | SBC | SHC | SSS	Distress ink pad - Black Soot Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Distress ink pad - Chipped Sapphire Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Distress ink pad - Picked Raspberry Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS
Distress ink pad - Seedless Preserves Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Strathmore Bristol cardstock Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Crate Paper - Snow & Cocoa - 6x6 paper pad (r) Shop at: SBC	Crate Paper - Snow & Cocoa - Ephemera (r) Shop at: SBC
Tombow - Mono-Multi liquid glue Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: AZ | EH | SSS	Ranger - Mini round ink blending tools Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC
Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS

September was the birthday month!

My lovely God Daughter turned five in September, so that called for a special card to celebrate the milestone!

Paper: My Mind's Eye - Hooray
Stamp: Avery Elle - Cake & Candles
Die: MFT - Wonky Stitched Square
Other: paper straw, enamel dots, twine, cardstock, 3D foam tape

Paper straws are such a fun thing to craft with - they come in all sorts of bright colours and patterns now, plus they double up as great birthday candles on card projects! One straw made five candles - just the right amount for this year's birthday. :)

Better late than never! August Pantone challenge card

I'm trying to catch up a little with the projects I've shared on Instagram but not yet blogged.

Back in early August I actually managed to make a card for the August Pantone pick of Navy Peony.

Stamps: Altenew - Vintage Flowers, PTI - Graceful Greetings
Dies: Altenew - Vintage Flowers, PTI - Graceful Greetings, Lawn Fawn - Put a Bow on It
Other: Tonic Nuvo Crystal Drops, 3D foam tape

I had a fun time combining my various Distress inks in blues and grey inks to try out an alternative colour palette for this rather beloved stamp set! Makes a change from the usual green leaves, eh?

I paired the stamps and dies with some Pebbles spotty grey paper I had in my stash and the tag die-cut that I cut at a crop earlier in the year when borrowing a friend's dies. As always those PTI Graceful Greetings stamps and dies are just the perfect font, size and style to add a pretty sentiment that doesn't cover up all your hard work of stamping those flowers.

I really love the finishing touch the oyster Nuvo drops provide. So subtle.

 

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Altenew - Vintage Flowers stamps Shop at: EH | SHC | SSS	PTI - Graceful Greetings stamps Shop at: MISC	Altenew - Vintage Flowers dies Shop at: EH | SHC | SSS	PTI - Graceful Greetings dies Shop at: MISC
Lawn Fawn - Put a Bow on It dies Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SHC | SSS	Distress ink pad - Chipped Sapphire Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Distress ink pad - Faded Jeans Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Distress ink pad - Stormy Sky Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS
Hero Arts - Charcoal ink pad Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SHC | SSS	Hero Arts - Soft Granite ink pad Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SHC | SSS	Lawn Fawn - Black Licorice ink pad Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC | SSS	Simon Says Stamp - Slate ink pad Shop at: SSS
Versamark ink pad Shop at: AZ | EH | SHC | SSS	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Marshmallow Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	PTI - Enchanted Evening cardstock Shop at: MISC	Tombow - Mono-Multi liquid glue Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS
Tonic Studios Nuvo Crystal Drops - Oyster Grey Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SHC | SSS	3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: AZ | EH | SSS	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SHC | SSS	MISTI precision stamping tool Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS
Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS

 

A very speical birthday indeed

As you can probably tell from the lack of updates over the past few months, I've not really been in a very creative head space and I've just not been able to enjoy sitting down and making something. So rather than force it, I've taken a bit of a step back in the hopes creativity and inspiration will return so I can enjoy making handmade projects once more!

However, this week marked a very special celebration indeed - my niece turned one!

So there had to be a handmade card for the occasion. :D

Paper: My Mind's Eye - Hooray, American Crafts - Shimelle
Journaling card and tag: My Mind's Eye - Hooray
Stamps: PTI - Big Birthday Wishes, Lawn Fawn - Milo's ABCs, WPlus9 - Whimsy Alpha
Dies: MFT - 1st Place Ribbon, Lawn Fawn - Stitched Journaling card (small flag tail), Neat & Tangled - Scored Shapes
Other: sequins, twine, button, 3D foam tape

Lots of little elements went into this - I started off with picking some papers and accents from My Mind's Eye's Hooray line and found a great background paper in that cream on aqua dot pattern from Shimelle's first collection for American Crafts. One of the foiled decorative tags was just the right size for personalising the card and my collection of flag-tail dies proved most handy for adding the stamped "ONE" and coordinating narrow tails cut from cardstock.

The birthday girl had quite a day and enjoyed her party too. :D 

 

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Lawn Fawn - Milo's ABCs stamps Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC | SSS	Papertrey Ink - Big Birthday Wishes stamps Shop at: MISC	WPlus9 - Whimsy Alpha stamps Shop at: EH | SHC | SSS	Lawn Fawn - Stitched Journaling Card Shop at: EH | SBC | SSS
MFT - First Place Award Ribbon dies (r) Shop at: MISC	Neat & Tangled - Scored Shapes dies Shop at: SBC | SHC | SSS	Lawn Fawn - Black Licorice ink pad Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC | SSS	Lawn Fawn - Merman ink pad Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC | SSS
Lawn Fawn - Sunflower ink pad Shop at: EH | SBC | SSS	MFT - Bubblegum ink pad Shop at: SHC	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Marshmallow Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	My Mind's Eye - Hooray - 6x6 paper pad (r) Shop at: SBC
My Mind's Eye - Hooray - Collection Kit (r) Shop at: SBC	My Mind's Eye - Hooray - Decorative tags (r) Shop at: SBC	My Mind's Eye - Hooray - Journal Cards (r) Shop at: SBC	Pretty Pink Posh - Sparkling Clear Confetti Mix sequins Shop at: EH | SSS
Ranger - Multi-Medium Matte adhesive Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: AZ | EH | SSS	Fiskars 12" reinforced paper trimmer Shop at: AZ | EH | SSS	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SHC | SSS
MISTI precision stamping tool Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SSS

 

For the Bride and Groom

I've currently got some building work happening at home so haven't been able to access my office/craft space easily to share the card I made for my cousin's wedding in Warsaw almost a week ago.

I had to of course use some of my favourite wedding stamps, which happen to be by Waltzing Mouse Stamps and sadly are no longer available - but if you have these in your stash count yourself lucky! :)

Paper: MME - Fancy That
Stamps: Waltzing Mouse - Big Day Additions and Cameo Creations
Dies: Lawn Fawn, MFT, Spellbinders
Other: MISTI, vellum, Nuvo Drops, 3D foam tape, resin flower and crown, heart gem

So I really went to town with those grey, blush and gold tones for this card. I'm also including it as my entry for the May Pantone challenge which was for Pale Dogwood. Here's a reminder of the prompt:

Not only did the colour fit, but I also included some of those 1920s style geometrical prints.

Anyway, the wedding was a wonderful event by all accounts and I hope the happy couple liked their card. :)

Not sure if I will have any crafting spirit left in me this weekend as the upstairs is a bit chaotic to say the least right now, but if I do, I guess I'd best start on the Christmas cards - especially with the weather being as cold and grey as it is right now! ;)

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Waltzing Mouse - Big Day Additions stamps (r) Shop at: AZ	Waltzing Mouse - Cameo Creations stamps (r) Shop at: AZ	Lawn Fawn - Large cross-stitched square stackables Shop at: SHC | SSS | EH | SBC	MFT - Fishtail Flags Layers STAX dies Shop at: SSS
MFT - High Tea Doily die (r) Shop at: AZ	Spellbinders - Nestabilities - Classic ovals large Shop at: AZ	Lawn Fawn - Freshly Cut Grass ink pad Shop at: SHC | SSS | EH | SBC	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: SSS | EH | AZ
Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: SSS | EH	Tonic Studios Nuvo Crystal Drops - Bubblegum Blush Shop at: SHC | SSS | EH | AZ | SBC	3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: SSS | EH | AZ	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: SHC | SSS | EH | AZ | SBC
MISTI precision stamping tool Shop at: SSS | EH | AZ | SBC	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer Shop at: SSS | EH | AZ | SBC

 

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Pink Yarrow inspired

It's hard to believe I originally drafted this post on July 4th, but have only just managed to take a photo of the actual project!

Back in early July I tried to do a little catch up with the 2017 Pantone colour challenge.

June's colour was Pink Yarrow - a lovely hot pink shade!

Here's a reminder of the prompt.

{Pinterest pin}

I really liked the idea of the navy stripes in the background and using the pink for a burst of colour with floral stamps.

Here's what I made:

 

Stamps: Mama Elephant - Brush Strokes, WPlus9 - Spring Blooms, PTI - Graceful Greetings
Dies: Mama Elephant - Sew Fancy, WPlus9 - Spring Blooms, PTI - Graceful Greetings
Other: MISTI, 3D foam tape

Plastic Flamingo from Lawn Fawn is a great shade of pink for this challenge. I paired it with Fresh Cut Grass green ink and that lovely aqua tone that is Peacock. This was also the first outing for my Brush Strokes stamp set from Mama Elephant - I used the two longest stamps in the set and my MISTI to stamp the background so that it was roughly straight and even but not perfect! :)

I toyed with adding some enamel dots or sequins but thought it was nicest left as is in the end to make the greeting and flowers really stand out.

Here's hoping I'll be much quicker to take photos on my next project. ;)

 

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Mama Elephant - Brush Strokes stamp set Shop at: SHC | SSS	PTI - Graceful Greetings stamp set Shop at: PTI	WPlus9 - Spring Blooms stamps Shop at: SHC | SSS | EH	Mama Elephant - Sew Fancy die set Shop at: SHC | SSS
PTI - Graceful Greetings die set Shop at: PTI	WPlus9 - Spring Blooms dies Shop at: SHC | SSS | EH	Altenew - Desert Night dye ink Shop at: SHC | SSS	Lawn Fawn - Freshly Cut Grass ink pad Shop at: SHC | SSS | EH | SBC
Lawn Fawn - Peacock ink pad Shop at: SHC | SSS | EH	Lawn Fawn - Plastic flamingo ink pad Shop at: SHC | SSS | EH | SBC	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: SSS | EH	Ranger - Multi-Medium Matte adhesive Shop at: SSS | EH | AZ | SBC
3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: SSS | EH | AZ	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: SHC | SSS | EH | AZ | SBC	MISTI precision stamping tool Shop at: SSS | EH | AZ | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer Shop at: SSS | EH | AZ | SBC

 

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Floral birthday wishes

So I'm starting off the week with another floral card - this time with much more muted tones and using some old papers in my collection that I really love.

In fact I've not bought any new patterned paper at all this year, I'm using what I have for now.

Shocking isn't it! lol

There's about £15 of paper sat in my basket over at Hey Little Magpie but I keep adding the odd sheet here or there and holding out for more to come in that will tempt me.

In the meantime I'm rediscovering what I've had for a while and seeing how I can best use it other than putting it to use with my WRMK envelope punch!

Paper: MME - Find Your Wings & Fly
Stamps: MFT - Fall Florals
Dies: MFT - Fall Florals, MFT - Cause for Celebration
Other: Sequins, 3D foam tape

I really love this combo of pale yellow and greys - I don't have many yellow papers in my stash as so many paper designs have really specific shades of yellow that don't work with anything else other than the papers in the rest of the collection. This yellow is just so versatile and I really like the simplicity of the chevron print. It's a good job I snapped up several sheets of it when it went on sale way back when.

As a contrast to the yellow I used Wild Rose Lawn Fawn ink teamed up with MFT Cement Gray and Grout Gray ink pads.

And of course there had to be some clear sequins - so handy!

The edger die was borrowed from a crafty friend at a crop - it's by MFT and is currently sitting on my wishlist. ;)

 

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MFT - Fall Florals stamps Shop at: SHC | SSS | EH	MFT - Cause for Celebration dies Shop at: SHC | SSS | EH	MFT - Fall Florals dies Shop at: SHC | SSS | EH	Lawn Fawn - Wild Rose ink pad Shop at: SHC | SSS | EH | SBC
MFT - Cement Gray ink pad Shop at: SHC	MFT - Grout Gray ink pad Shop at: SHC	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Alpaca Shop at: SSS | EH | AZ | SBC	My Mind's Eye - Find your Wings & Fly - Sky's the Limit - Tiled paper (r) Shop at: SBC
My Mind's Eye - Find Your Wings & Fly - Sky's the Limit - Zig Zag paper (r) Shop at: SBC	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: SSS | EH	Pretty Pink Posh - Sparkling Clear Confetti Mix sequins Shop at: SSS | EH	Ranger - Multi-Medium Matte adhesive Shop at: SSS | EH | AZ | SBC
3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: SSS | EH | AZ	Fiskars 12" reinforced paper trimmer Shop at: SSS | EH | AZ	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: SHC | SSS | EH | AZ | SBC	MISTI precision stamping tool Shop at: SSS | EH | AZ | SBC
Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer Shop at: SSS | EH | AZ | SBC

 

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Sending you birthday wishes

Here's my card for July's Pantone colour challenge inspired by Ballet Slipper pink!

Happily Lawn Fawn has some great ink colours that fit this challenge - the aptly named Ballet Slippers and Minty Fresh along with the other shades I've used...

Stamps: WPlus9 - Freehand Florals, Winnie & Walter - Sending You, PTI - Phrase Play #6
Die: Avery Elle - Custom Panels
Other: MISTI, post-it tape, sparkle tape, enamel dots

So my plan was to use an alternative colour palette for the lovely Freehand Floral stamps from WPlus9 - rather than a traditional green for the leaves I wanted to use mint and aqua tones to contrast against the pink florals. For a contrasting neutral tone I used two shades of grey for the flower spray stamps and peach tones for some of the larger blooms.

This was my first go at using post-it tape to mask out the area where you want to add a sentiment - it did do OK, but as the inks being stamped over the top were stamped multiple times it got a little wet and the ink did seep through a little in places but it is hardly noticeable. I think next time I mask off an area like this for stamping I will use blue painter's tape or a second layer of post-it tape. :)

I really like the end result for separating the white space and stamped background.

I paired the Sending You stamp from Winnie & Walter with the "birthday wishes" sentiment from PTI. That Phrase Play #6 set is a really handy one for mixing with this Winnie & Walter set.

Finally when mounting my stamped background on a card I used some Sparkle Tape from Darice to add a little pop of glitter and the ballet pink enamel dots from Crate Paper's Little You Girl line bring it all together.

Here's a reminder of the original prompt for this challenge:

{Pinterest pin}

 Now I just need to start on the backlog of cards from previous months!

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PTI - Phrase Play #6 stamp set Shop at: PTI	Winnie & Walter - Sending You stamps Shop at: SHC | SSS | EH	WPlus9 - Freehand Florals stamps Shop at: SHC | SSS | EH	Avery Elle - Custom Panels dies Shop at: SHC | SSS | EH | AZ
Hero Arts - Orange Soda ink pad Shop at: SHC | SSS | EH | AZ | SBC	Lawn Fawn - Ballet Slippers ink pad Shop at: SHC | SSS | EH | SBC	Lawn Fawn - Black Licorice ink pad Shop at: SHC | SSS | EH | SBC	Lawn Fawn - Hippo ink pad Shop at: SHC | SSS | EH | SBC
Lawn Fawn - Manatee ink pad Shop at: SHC | SSS | EH | SBC	Lawn Fawn - Merman ink pad Shop at: SHC | SSS | EH | SBC	Lawn Fawn - Minty Fresh ink pad Shop at: SHC | SSS | EH | SBC	Lawn Fawn - Peachy Keen ink pad Shop at: SHC | SSS | EH | SBC
Lawn Fawn - Wild Rose ink pad Shop at: SHC | SSS | EH | SBC	MFT - Coral Crush ink pad Shop at: SHC | SSS	MFT - Peach Bellini ink pad Shop at: SHC | SSS	Neenah Classic Crest 80 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: SSS | EH | AZ
Crate Paper - Little You - Mixed embellishments - Girl (r) Shop at: AZ | SBC	Darice Sparkle Tape - Silver Shop at: SSS | AZ	3M Post-It tape White Shop at: SSS | EH | AZ	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: SHC | SSS | EH | AZ | SBC
MISTI precision stamping tool Shop at: SSS | EH | AZ | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer Shop at: SSS | EH | AZ | SBC

 

Out of this world

I'm back in the land of cardmaking today to share my project for this week's "Welcome yo my Galaxy!" challenge over on the Daring Cardmakers blog.

The challenge is to create a galaxy background or to use galaxy elements and well, I've really been wanting to have a go at creating a space background using some of the more recent additions to my Distress Ink collection.

I finally have Black Soot in my collection, which is a real essential for this look!

Here's my project:

Paper: Distress Watercolour paper
Stamps: My Cute Stamps - Spaceships & Robots, Avery Elle - Cake & Candles
Die: MFT
Other: sequins, Distress inks, blending products, 3D foam tape, white embossing powder, white misting spray

I started off by blending Picked Raspberry and Seedless Preserves in opposite corners of the watercolour base. Then I brought them together with Mermaid Lagoon and Broken China adding in more of the pink and purple tones as necessary and then finally I went to town with Black Soot over most of the colour base. Once dry I sprayed a fine mist of water over as well as sprinkling water for bigger droplets. Then for a final starry look I used some white Mister Huey's spray mist.

The Rocket is from an old My Cute Stamps set that is my one space-related stamp set in my collection. It comes in handy when needed! Mermaid Lawn Fawn and Hippo inks look lovely stamped on the Neenah 80 lb cardstock.

The sentiment is heat embossed on black cardstock then cut with my ever faithful Fishtail Flags die set from My Favorite Things.

And naturally there needed to be some stellar sparkle in the form of sparkly clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh.

Don't forget to check out the fantastic galaxies from the rest of the design team over on the Daring Cardmakers blog - we hope you can play along!

Happy crafting! 

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Avery Elle - Cake & Candles stamps Shop at: SHC | SSS	My Cute Stamps - Spaceships & Robots (r) Shop at: SSS	MFT - Fishtail Flags STAX dies Shop at: SSS	Distress ink pad - Black Soot Shop at: SSS | SBC
Distress ink pad - Broken China Shop at: SSS | SBC	Distress ink pad - Mermaid Lagoon Shop at: SSS | SBC	Distress ink pad - Picked Raspberry Shop at: SSS | SBC	Distress ink pad - Seedless Preserves Shop at: SSS | SBC
Lawn Fawn - Manatee ink pad Shop at: SHC | SSS | SBC	Lawn Fawn - Mermaid ink pad Shop at: SHC | SSS | SBC	Versamark ink pad Shop at: SHC | SSS | AZ	Neenah Classic Crest 80 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: SSS | AZ
PTI - True Black cardstock Shop at: PTI	Tim Holtz - 4.25 x 5.5 Distress Watercolor Cardstock Shop at: SSS | AZ	Pretty Pink Posh - Sparkling Clear Confetti Mix sequins Shop at: SSS	Ranger - Multi-Medium Matte adhesive Shop at: SSS | AZ | SBC
Studio Calico - Mister Huey's color mist - Opaque White (r) Shop at: SBC	3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: SSS | AZ	EK Success powder tool Shop at: SSS | AZ | SBC	MISTI precision stamping tool Shop at: SSS | SBC
Ranger - Mini round ink blending tools Shop at: SSS | AZ | SBC	Tim Holtz - Distress Sprayer Shop at: SSS | AZ | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer Shop at: SSS | AZ | SBC

 

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Fathers new and old

So it's only a week late, but I'm just popping in to share the projects I made in the run up to Father's Day last Sunday.

Here's the card for my own Daddy-O!

Paper: Basic Grey
Stamps: Avery Elle - The Man
Dies: Avery Elle - The Man, PTI - Headline alphabet, PTI - Limitless Layers Hearts, Mama Elephant - Sew Fancy
Other: 3D foam tape, enamel dots

This design is probably the fastest thing that has come together on my craft desk in a while!

I had a phone call from a crafty friend who received some IOU slips as part of her Christmas present from me this year, for calling in 5 handmade custom cards. Well, this call came before we were due to have our crop that evening, while I was stood in the Asda car park an hour away from packing for said crop. lol

When I got home I realised it would make much more sense for me to get this card made before the crop so I wouldn't need to lug a whole load of supplies to try and come up with something fitting for a Grandpa card.

Inspiration struck, and after a hurried message to check whether a giant heart would be acceptable on this card I made this card within 20 minutes much to my friend's surprise. She wasn't expecting anything immediate! But when the idea is there, you have to run with it:

It came complete with a handmade envelope too. :D I am happy to report it was a hit!

So as I had the product out on my desk still the next day I made a similar one for my own dad - that stamp and die set from Avery Elle is retired now, but I have to get the most out of it once a year right?

Also I fully used up that sheet of paper from Basic Grey - the two designs are the A and B sides of the same sheet.

So a point scored on the stash usage front!

Below you'll find a full list of the supplies used for these cards - please note products marked (r) mean they have been retired but you may still have them at home or find them for sale or better yet on clearance! ;)

As per my post yesterday I am not an affiliate member of any stores - supply lists are simply provided to show what has been used and potential stores you can purchase it from. I hope this will be a useful feature. :)

Happy crafting!

 

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Avery Elle - The Man stamp set (r) Shop at: SSS	Avery Elle - The Man die set (r) Shop at: SSS | SBC	Mama Elephant - Sew Fancy die set Shop at: SHC | SSS	PTI - Headline alphabet die set Shop at: PTI
PTI - Limitless layers: 2 1/4" heart die collection Shop at: PTI	Altenew - Desert Night dye ink Shop at: SHC | SSS	Lawn Fawn - Black Licorice ink pad Shop at: SHC | SSS | SBC	Basic Grey - Saturday Morning - Fly a Kite paper (r) Shop at: SBC
Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: SSS	PTI - Enchanted Evening cardstock Shop at: PTI	PTI - Soft Stone cardstock Shop at: PTI	Ranger - Multi-Medium Matte adhesive Shop at: SSS | AZ
3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: SSS | AZ	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: SHC | SSS | SBC	MISTI precision stamping tool Shop at: SSS | SBC

 

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The last straw

Well, actually I used some new straws for this week's Daring Cardmakers challenge from Dawn which sees us featuring bought or homemade paper straws on a card.

When I saw some lovely bright and cheerful paper straws in TK Maxx that would be nice for mojitos and this challenge I snapped them up. :)

Paper: Pink Paislee
Stamp: PTI - Stylish Sentiments: Birthday
Die: Lawn Fawn
Other: enamel dots, paper straws, twine, MISTI

I managed to find the perfect matching sentiment in my stamp stash - I don't think I've used this particular stamp from the set before. Obviously saving it for the perfect occasion. ;)

I made the candles by trimming the straws to the right length and cutting little flames from cardstock that are attached to twine. To stop the "candles" rolling about on my card when trying to stick them down, I flattened them a little so they wouldn't move. It also makes the card a little less bulky.

And hurrah once more for stamp positioning tools and quilting templates - the only way I'll ever have sentiments that are stamped straight and centred properly!

Don't forget to check out the other wonderful creations over on the Daring Cardmakers blog!

Happy crafting!

Pink Paislee - Birthday Bash - Paper #09	Papertrey Ink - Stylish sentiments: Birthday stamp set	Lawn Fawn - Large cross-stitched square stackables	My Mind's Eye - Kate & Co - Cambridge Court - Enamel Dots
Hemptique natural hemp cord	Versafine ink pad - Onyx black	MISTI precision stamping tool

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