Tuesday 3 August 2021

Celebration Cake

Hello there!

I'm back with another card to share with you. This one is a fun cake card done in lovely summer sorbet shades.

I found that I didn't have any colours of card stock in the shades I had in mind. I solved this by creating my own with Promarkers. I haven't used my Promarkers for a while, so I thought I would dust them off and get them used.

Even though I have the full range of Copic markers, I find that sometimes they don't have the exact colour I'm looking for. This is where Promarkers come in, they have some beautiful colours, especially the pastel and sorbet shades. So why not mix the two brands?

This is a simple stamped image on a large white banner. I made the coloured background by die cutting strips of white card, shading them in and then arranging them onto some copy paper and sticking down. This was then cut in a panel.


What you need...

Stamps:
Birthday Bash - Paper Smooches

Dies:
Horizontal Stripes - Waffle Flower
A2 Layers
Scalloped Banner Set - Avery Elle

Ink pads:
Tuxedo Black - Memento

Alcohol markers:
Pink Carnation - Promarkers
Peach
Lime Green
Pastel Green

Embellishments:
Crystal Collection-Glass - Little Thing's from Lucy's Cards

Card stock:
White

Extras:
Adhesives
Crystal Clear Shimmer Pen

Tools:
Big Shot - Sizzix

What you do...

1 Die cut the horizontal stripes in white card. Use Promarkers to colour the stripes in the four colours that you want to arrange them.

2 Add double sided adhesive to a piece of white copy/scrap paper and stick down the stripes. Die cut into a panel using the 3¾" x 5" die from the A2 Layers set. 

3 Stamp the cake onto white card with the sentiment lined up underneath. Colour in using Promarkers.

4 Use the pinpoint border banner to cut out the cake image. 

5 Create a 4¼" x 5½" white blank. Mat the striped panel onto it. Add the banner with foam tape. Embellish with some of the Glass gems and highlight the icing on the cake with shimmer pen.

I used one of my old Paper Smooches stamp sets here, but there are so many cute cake stamps on the market along with some adorable sentiments. Use what ever you have in your stash.

This card layout would look good for a lot of occasions. Done in masculine colours with a male oriented image/motif/sentiment would be great. I think I might do a Christmas version.

Sadly I didn't get round to starting my Christmas cards in July. Magazine work always gets hectic at this time of year as deadlines are tighter to get in the extra issue. Hopefully I should be able to get going with the Christmas cards soon. Watch this space as they say.

Just before I go, I just want to mention that as Feedburner no longer supports email subscriptions, I have changed over to follow.it. This means your notification email will look slightly different, but it still does the same job of notifying you when I upload a new post.

If you have a blog that used Feedburner and haven't changed over to a new email subscription service I can highly recommend follow.it. They had reached out to me, but I had already considered using them anyway. It was so easy to set up and the support is great. Click here to find out more.

Thank you for stopping by, I do appreciate it. See you soon!


Tuesday 13 July 2021

You Slay Me

Good afternoon!

I know, it's been a while again, but sometimes life just seems to get in the way.

Well, I'm back and I have an adorable card to share with you today. It's fun, quirky and full of sass. The image is taken from a fab stamp set called Mythical Grumplings by Taylored Expressions. It's packed with mythical creatures with attitude and sassy sayings.

I decided to use the cute dragon and here he is in all his glory...



What you need...

Stamps:
Mythical Grumplings (#TEMD179) - Taylored Expressions

Dies:
Mythical Grumplings (#TE1422) - Taylored Expressions
Small stars

Embossing folder:
Multi Circles - Darice

Ink pads:
Black Soot Distress Ink - Tim Holtz
Carved Pumpkin
Squeezed Lemonade
Twisted Citron
Onyx Black - Versafine

Card stock:
White

Extras:
Adhesives
Masking paper - Altenew
Sparkle Sheer Shimmer Craft Spray - Imagine Crafts

Tools:
Big Shot - Sizzix

What you do...

1 Cut a piece of white card stock 2¼" x 4¼" (5.5cm x 11cm). Stamp the dragon towards the right hand side with Onyx Black ink.

2 Die cut the dragon from masking paper and mat over the stamped image. Die cut three small stars from masking paper and place around the dragon.

3 Starting from the left hand side, blend the Carved Pumpkin, then the Squeezed Lemonade followed by the Twisted Citron inks.

4 Smooch some Black Soot ink onto a surface, such as an acrylic block. Add a drop of water and use a paint brush to add spatters of ink over the blended surface. 

5 Stamp the sentiment at the lower left. Spritz shimmer spray over the surface, allow to dry and carefully remove the masks.

6 Emboss the circles onto white card, trim to 4¼" x 5½" (11cm x 14cm) and mat onto a white top fold blank the same size. Add the dragon panel across the blank, just below half way down.

I have had this embossing folder for many years, but you can use any you have in your stash. A star or spotty themed background would look good.

There are a few stamp sets in the Grumplings range and they are all as sassy! Why not pop on over to Dies to Die For and have a look? Click here to take you to this wonderful site.

I am now thinking of starting my Christmas cards. I have so many stamps and dies that I haven't played with yet, some of which I've had for quite a while (even years). I do promise myself every year that I'm going to start around July/August, but I never seem to get round to it. This year I am determined.

As always, thank you so much for stopping by. I'll hopefully be back soon with a Christmas card, if not it will be a normal card from my stash of recent makes.

Take care! 


Tuesday 22 June 2021

Kitty Hug

Hi there!

It's been a few weeks since I last posted, but I'm back.

I have a friend, Lindsay who is a big cat fan and we met up a couple of weeks ago after not seeing each other for a couple of years. She had bought me the most adorable Winnie the Pooh mug and I wanted to make her a cat themed card to say how nice it as to catch up and thank her again for the mug.

I had recently purchased a cute cat stamp by Impression Obsession and decided it would be perfect for her card.



What you need...

Stamps:
Kitty Hug (D21359) - Impression Obsession
Dainty Swiss Dots - Altenew

Ink pads:
Onyx Black - Versafine

Patterned paper:
Into the Woods Remix 6x6 Petite Paper Pack - Lawn Fawn

Card stock:
Paradise - Hero Arts
Passionate Pink - Gina K Designs
White

Embellishments:
Black hemp cord

Extras:
Adhesives

Tools:
Big Shot - Sizzix

What you do...

1 Stamp the kitty three times, once onto Passionate Pink card, once onto white card and again onto the orange grid patterned paper.

2 Fussy cut the cat from the orange grid paper and the sign from white card. Layer onto the Passionate Pink layer. Fussy cut this out.

3 Stamp the Dainty Swiss Dots onto Paradise card. Trim to it measures 3¾" x 5½" (9.5cm x 14cm) and adhere centrally down a white blank 4¼" x 5½" (11cm x 14cm).

4 Wrap black hemp cord several times around the blank (under the kitty) and tie in a bow. 

I was trying to go for the pop art look with the style and colours on this one. I ended up snipping through the loops of the bow as I thought these looked a lot like whiskers. My cat Zuzu must have approved as she tried to rearrange them!

I really enjoyed playing with this cute stamp and the fussy cutting wasn't too difficult. This would look great coloured in with alcohol markers or watercolours to represent the colour of the recipients cat. Lindsay's cats aren't ginger, I just loved the patterned paper and thought it would work well the pop art look I was going for.

Lindsay loved it (as did her cats).

I am entering this card into the Anything Goes Challenge #422 over at Crafty Creations and the Creative Fingers Challenge #210 over at Creative Fingers.

Got to sign off, magazine projects to get on with. I'll be back soon with another card to share. Take care and thanks for popping by!


Wednesday 2 June 2021

Celebrate!

Hello again!

I'm back with another colourful card. This one features candles....and lots of them! I came across a gorgeous die by Sizzix and well, I had to have it. 

The die set is so versatile and there are a few ways that you can use it. I made two cards using two very different techniques, I will share the other card with you in my next post.



What you need...

Stamps:
Sentiment Sampler - Paper Smooches

Dies:
Birthday Candles (665071) by Kath Breen - Sizzix

Ink pads:
Dried Marigold Distress Oxide - Tim Holtz
Kitsch Flamingo
Squeezed Lemonade
Twisted Citron
Onyx Black - Versafine

Embellishments:
Over the Rainbow Crystal Collection - Little Things from Lucy's Cards

Card stock:
White

Extras:
Adhesives

Tools:
Big Shot - Sizzix
Blending tools

What you do...

1 Cut a panel of white card to 2⅞" x 6" (7.5cm x 15.5cm). Die cut the candles centrally within the panel.

2 On a slightly smaller piece of white card, blend the inks starting with Kitsch Flamingo followed by Dried Marigold, Squeezed Lemonade and Twisted Citron.

3 Mat the die cut panel onto the inked panel. 

4 Stamp the sentiment onto white card with the Onyx Black, trim and adhere to the centre of the candle panel.

5 Create a white blank 3⅛" x 6¼"  (8cm x 16cm). Add the candle panel with foam tape.

6 Add some gems to some of the candles, matching with the colour of each candle.

I kept all the cut pieces of the candles, these could be inked for a future card. I think this is such a fun card and would be ideal for any recipient, young or old.

As I mentioned before, I made another card with this die and I will be back soon to share it with you. Until then, please take care and happy crafting!


Tuesday 25 May 2021

Cute Elephants

Hello there!

I'm back again with another card...well four actually. I have a cute elephant die set by Sizzix/Craft Asylum in my stash. It's a few years old now and I thought it was about time I played with it again.

I wanted to make a thank you card using the die with four colours. I love the Concord & 9th card stock and inks so I put them to use. I wanted the main card to be a light grey elephant with pale pink, dark pink and dark grey details. I used the Ballet Slipper, Honeysuckle, Dove and Mushroom shades of card. Rather than waste the extra pieces or put them in a baggy to forget about, I decided to make another three additional cards.

For the speech bubble, I used the Ballet Slipper ink, which matched perfectly with the pale pink detailing.




What you need...

Dies:
Elephant Duo (660496) - Craft Asylum/Sizzix

Stamps:
Sketchy Thoughts - Winnie & Walter

Ink Pads:
Ballet Slipper - Concord & 9th
Onyx Black - VersaFine

Card stock:
Ballet Slipper - Concord & 9th
Honeysuckle
Mushroom
Dove
White

Extras:
Adhesives

Tools:
Big Shot - Sizzix

What you do...

1 Die cut the large elephant in Ballet Slipper, Honeysuckle, Mushroom and Dove.

2 Back the detail apertures of the elephant with low tack tape and infill the apertures with Ballet Slipper, Honeysuckle and Mushroom.

3 Mat the elephant onto a white 4¼" x 5½"  (11cm x 14cm) blank.

Stamp the speech bubble above the elephants trunk in Ballet Slipper. Stamp the sentiment within the speech bubble with Onyx Black ink.

These would make a great little gift set if you teamed them up with some matching envelopes and either tied them up with pretty ribbon or placed in a gift box. You can never have too many thank you cards.

Before I go, a wonderful store based in London reached out to me the other day. They are called Joel & Son Fabrics and they sell high end, designer and luxury fabrics. 

I've visited their website and there are truly some gorgeous fabrics to choose from. Perfect if you are making a special gown, outfit or wedding dress. Maybe you want to make some luxury soft furnishings to spice up your home decor. 

They sell everything from good quality cottons to luxurious designer silks. As someone who does sew occasionally and collects fat quarters 'just in case', I did ooh and aah over some of the fabrics.

Joel & Son Fabrics also carry the Royal Warrant from H.M. Queen Elizabeth. 

Why not pop on over and have a look ? Click here to take you to their store. I will also have a link in the Craft & Digi Stamp Shops page.

Thank you for popping by and I'll be back soon. Take care!


Thursday 20 May 2021

Balloon Celebration

Good afternoon!

I hope you are all well. Sorry I haven't posted sooner, but I have quite a few magazine projects to get in before the deadlines. Can you believe I am designing for Halloween and Christmas? Yipes!

Moving away from halloween and Christmas, I have a lovely, bright card to share with you today perfect for a celebration or birthday and it features balloons!

I've used a lovely rainbow palette and the techniques used are ink blending, stamping, die cutting and layering.

Here it is...



What you need...

Stamps:
Birthday Bash - Paper Smooches
You Said It - Doodlebug Designs

Dies:
A2 Layers - Waffle Flower
Say Cheese, Again - Lawn Fawn

Ink pads:
It's a Girl - Catherine Pooler
Garden Party
Pixie Dust
Cantaloupe - Memento
Buttercup Make Art - Wendy Vecchi
Garden Patina
Onyx Black - Versafine

Embellishments:
Pearls Glossy Porcelain Mix - Little Things from Lucy's Cards

Card stock:
White

Extras:
Sparkle Crystal Clear Shimmer Pen
Adhesives

Tools:
Big Shot - Sizzix
Blending tools

What you do...

1 Die cut the large photo frame from white card. Cut a panel of white card slightly smaller than the frame.

2 Blend Garden Patina ink at the bottom of the card panel fading to white.

3 Use the aperture of the frame as a guide and stamp the trio of  balloons twice. Use the solid balloon stamp to fill in the colours. Stamp dots above each balloon in the same colours.

4 Die cut the 3¾" x 5" layer in white card and blend the six colours in rainbow order.

5 Mat the rainbow panel onto a card blank 4¼" x 5½". Attach the balloon panel centrally at the top.

6 Stamp the 'Celebration' in black ink across the base of the photo frame and attach to the blank with foam tape, making sure it lines up over the balloon panel. 

7 Add some shimmer to each of the balloons and add some pearls to the blank.

Even though I do use some new products, I am trying to use some of my older stash too, hence the Paper Smooches and Doodlebug stamp sets. Of course you can use any balloon themed stamps in your stash to re-create this card. 

Top tip: If you don't have any balloon stamps, but you have solid balloon dies, cut balloons from foam sheets. Attach to an acrylic block/stamp platform with glue stick or double sided tape, apply ink and stamp!

I have used the A2 Layers die set which is measured in inches. The metric equivalent of the rainbow panel is approximately 9.5cm x 12.5cm and the blank is 11cm x 14cm.

I hope you like this pretty, cheerful card. You can of course change the colours for a card suited to a male recipient.

Thank you for popping by and I'll be back soon.


Tuesday 11 May 2021

Cactus Trio

Hello there, me again!

I'm back with another cactus card. This one is the last of three that I created with the Silhouette Cameo. It is an unusual card in that it has a top and bottom flap that opens rather than the standard side or top fold card. I chose bright colours and added a touch of sparkle to the flower and added a few gems.



What you need...

Digital image: 
Cactus Card by Daniela Moscone (#197812) - Silhouette

Card stock:
Pool
Dark Pool
Mid Green
Dark Green
Pink
White

Vinyl:
Midnight - Cricut

Embellishments:
Dewdrops - Little Things from Lucy's Cards

Extras:
Adhesives
Sparkle Crystal Clear Shimmer Pen

Tools:
Silhouette Cameo

What you do...

1 Load the image onto the Design Studio and re-size so the width of the main card is 14.5cm wide. Lock the aspect ratio so that everything keeps in proportion.

2 Type out the wording, change to your desired font. Re-size so it fits across the top section of the card.

3 Send the images to the Cameo, adjust the blade if necessary and cut out in the relevant colours.

Cut the font in Midnight vinyl.

Assemble the card using the image photo as a guide. Add the wording to the top section. Use the shimmer pen to add some shimmer to the flower. Finish with some Dewdrops to the left of the cactus pot.

I have a confession, I can't remember what font I used for the wording. I found the wording already cut out in my stash from some previous projects. I did go through all the fonts within the Silhouette. I think it was a font I used with my Cricut. The nearest font I could find is one called Paprika which is available through the Silhouette Design Store.

This is a lovely, bold and colourful card and I had fun assembling it. I might have to make it again in a different colour scheme. I think it's a good card to make if you are in a rush or want to make a batch as everything is already thought out for you.

Right then, that's me for now. Thank you as always for stopping by, take care and I'll be back soon.


Thursday 6 May 2021

miss YOU

Hi there!

As promised I'm back with another make. I decided not to share the remaining cactus card with you today, I will share it at a later date. I wanted to show you another card instead.

I purchased the You Confetti Cuts die set by Reverse Confetti some time ago and thought it was about time I used it.

As it is a large word die with a shadow background, I wanted it to be the main focus of the card and team it up with some other lettering/wording. The good thing about this die is that it can be used with many other words for different themes/occasions.



What you need...

Dies:
You Confetti Cuts - Reverse Confetti
Bee Bold Lowercase Honey Cuts - Honey Bee Stamps
A2 Layers Die Rectangles - Waffle Flower

Stencil:
Splash (TESN28) - Taylored Expressions

Stamps:
Chit Chat - Paper Smooches

Ink Pads:
Turquoise Gem  - VersaMagic
Onyx Black - VersaFine

Card stock:
Black - Concord & 9th
Grapefruit
White

Extras:
Adhesives

Tools:
Big Shot - Sizzix
Blending brushes

What you do...

1 Lightly blend the Turquoise Gem ink over white card. Secure the stencil over the inked card and blend the Turquoise Gem over the stencil creating a heavier tone. Remove the stencil and allow the inked card to dry.

2 Die cut the 'you' in black card along with letters form the Bee Bold set to spell 'miss'. Die cut the 'you' shadow in white and the little heart in Grapefruit. Assemble the 'you' dies and add the heart with foam pads.

3 Use the second largest die from the A2 Layers set to cut a rectangle from the inked/stencilled card.

4 Line up the letters/wording onto the stencilled panel and using these as a guide, stamp the 'so much' in Onyx Black.

Create a 4¼"x 5½" white blank and mat the stencilled panel onto it. Attach the 'you' with foam pads and stick the 'miss' directly onto the panel above the 'you'.

There we have it. The photo of the card doesn't really show the true colour of the ink, it is certainly more of a greener turquoise hue in real life.

I am so pleased with the way this turned out. I am planning to keep on using older items (such as the stamp set) along with newer items in future projects. I have recently discovered some really old stamp sets/dies in my stash that I would like to use again. Watch this space!

As usual, thank you so much for popping by, I really appreciate it. Take care and I'll be back soon.



Tuesday 4 May 2021

Cactus Hugs

Hi there!

I'm back with another cute make. This is another cactus design created with the Silhouette, this time I used the self adhesive card stock by Silhouette. It comes in a wide range of colours and means you don't have to worry about messy glues when assembling the image.

I went a bit mad and purchased several adorable cactus images and plan to do more cards in the future. I don't know what it is but I'm obsessed with cacti at the moment, especially cute ones with faces!



What you need...

Digital image: 
Cute Cactus 3 by Wild Pilot (#311631) - Silhouette

Font:
Baimbo

Card stock:
Black - Silhouette
Key Lime
Leaf Green
Mint
Pink
Sea Mist
White

Extras:
Adhesives
Sparkle Crystal Clear Shimmer Pen

Tools:
Silhouette Cameo

What you do...

1 Load the image onto the Design Studio and re-size to approximately 3"x 4" (7.5cm x 10cm).

2 Type out the wording, change the font to Baimbo and re-size to 50pt. 

3 Send the image and the wording to the Cameo, adjust the blade if necessary and cut out in the relevant colours.

Create a 4¼"x 5½" white blank and mat a 3¾" x 5" piece of the Sea Mist onto it. Add the cactus and the wording.

Add shimmer to the pot and highlights.

Isn't it just adorable? As with the cactus in my last post, there are several of these available.

The card stock is available in the UK from Graphtec Craftstore (click here to take you to their site).

The Baimbo font is a free font for personal use and can be downloaded from several free font sites. If you want to use it on anything you wish to sell, then a commercial licence will have to be purchased.

The one thing I love about digital die cutting is that you can re-size the images to suit your card/project size.

As you can also save your projects to your library, it means that if you want to make a quick card, you can log on, select the project, cut out and assemble. 

Well, I'll shall go for now. I will try and post the next project on Thursday. It may be the next cactus card or something else I've been working on.

Thank you for stopping by. Take care!


Thursday 29 April 2021

Love Ya!

Hello there!

I'm back with another cute cactus card. I had a lovely time looking through the Silhouette store and came across some images of adorable cacti. I picked some that had lovely bold outlines, perfect for painting in. Rather than cut the outline from black card, I cut it from black vinyl and attached it to a piece of mixed media card. I used Catherine Pooler dye inks to paint the design.



What you need...

Digital image: 
Cactus with Hearts by Angele Kamp (#270153) - Silhouette

Font:
Funtasia by RVST (#313670)

Card stock:
Mixed Media Pad (A4) - Faber-Castell
White

Ink pads:
Aquatini - Catherine Pooler
Lime Rickey
Party Dress

Vinyl:
Midnight - Cricut

Patterned paper:
Sn@p Teal Chevron/Mini Dot - Simple Stories

Extras:
Adhesives

Tools:
Silhouette Cameo

What you do...

1 Load the image onto the Design Studio and re-size to approximately 2⅛"x 4" (6.5cm x 10cm).

2 Type out the wording, change the font to Funtasia and re-size to 66.42pt. 

3 Place the vinyl onto the cutting mat, send the image to the Silhouette, set the material to Vinyl,Matte and adjust the blade if necessary and cut.

4 Remove the image and stick onto a piece of multi media card and fussy cut out. Smoosh some inks onto a multi media mat and with a wet brush paint the cactus, hearts and pot. Allow to dry.

5 Create a mini slimline blank 3⅛"x 6¼" (8cm x 15.5cm). Mat a 1⅝" (4cm) deep piece of chevron paper across the bottom and add a narrow strip of vinyl along the top edge. 

6 Stick the lettering to the chevron paper and the cactus above.

These inks were a joy to paint with. I was debating whether to do the cactus in watercolours, but I thought I would try inks for a change. I'm glad I did play around with the inks.

There are a few cacti in this set and they are all adorable, so I think I will have to make a few more cards like this and play with some more inks/mediums.

I love the crisp, clean look that vinyl gives to images and as it is plastic it's great for painting within the lines. Wording also works well with vinyl, again for the crisp lines and you don't have to worry about applying glue and making a mess. I would think that you can cut vinyl with a manual die cutting machine, I might have to experiment.

Well, I am going to sign off now. I do have another couple of cactus themed cards to share,so I'll be back soon. Take care and thanks for stopping by.