Twenty-one today

These two cards were for the daughter of one of my friends who turned twenty-one on the 26th of this month.  Where have the years gone.  The first one is a Tatty Teddy card based on the card I made for our daughter but made into a 21cm x 21cm large easel card.  The materials used for this card are the same as those listed in my first post with the addition of an Ornare pricking template, pricking pen and blue thread for the embroidered "21" on the base of the easel.

Top Tip for this card would be to prick the numbers onto acetate first and then use the acetate as the stencil so that you know where to position the numbers centrally on the label.

Eilidh is an Audrey Hepburn fan so I decided to make her a card on this theme for our son and daughter to give her.  The images of Audrey Hepburn were taken from the Joanna Sheen Hollywood Vintage CD.  The embellishments were made from two sizzix dies and a selection of stamps.  Unfortunately the sparkle from the Disco Black embossing powder has been lost in the scanning. This was a fun card to do and hopefully the recipient enjoyed it as much as I did making it.

The base cards are white 21cm square cards 

Papers used

Black, grey and white cardstock

Spotted papers from Seraphina and Friends, backing papers and inserts CD - shades of black
Happy Birthday paper from a Cuddly Buddly download, A Patchwork of Papers - Blue, printed on greyscale

Tools used
Sizzix die 38-0140 Filmstrip
Sizzix die 38-1198 Dress and Accessories
Stamp - Personal Impressions 147F - 21
Stamp - Stampendous, Montage Collection H167 - Audrey's Hat
Stamp - Her Arts C2523 - Style is Eternal
Staz-on Black ink
Versamark clear ink
Stampendous Disco Black embossing powder
Joanna Sheen Hollywood Vintage CD

Embellishments
Bling Bling crystal gems
Woodware silver round brad
Selection of star peel-offs
Silver champagne glass confetti
Black ribbon
Silver elastic cord

Top Tip for this card would have to be to cut a piece of card the full size of the sizzix filmstrip die so that after removing the die cut,  the aperture left in the remaining card can be trimmed and used to make the frame for the main image. 

Thanks for reading
Liz x

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Fussy and Fancy

 

This is my entry for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge, Fussy and Fancy.  The stamped image is 4065K -  Bountiful and it was coloured with a mixture of shimmer watercolours from The Works, gel pens and Promarkers.  This card is for one of my crafting friends whose birthday it is on the 28th of this month and members of the little craft group we both belong to are heading to the Papeterie, Aberdeen for a day of "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" crafting on the day.  Kath from the Penny Black Saturday Challenge team, is one of the tutors along with her friends Debbi  and Anne.  A brilliant way to spend a birthday.

The base card is a white 21cm square card.

Papers used

Red vellum and red and black cardstock from The Papeterie, Aberdeen

Green card from W Enterprises, Aberdeen

Mirri-card from Create and Craft

Happy Birthday paper from Cuddly Buddly download, A Patchwork of Papers - Blue, printed on greyscale

Spotted paper from Seraphina and Friends CD, background papers and inserts - blue hues, printed on greyscale

Scraps of white and yellow card for the daisies

Tools used

Small and medium Woodware daisy punches

Compass cutter

X-cut botanical embossing leaf punch

X-cut embossing silhouette flower punch

X-cut small tag punch

Ringbinder hole punch

Sakura white souffle pen

Embellishments

Stampin' Up Real Red grosgrain ribbon

Woodware round silver brads

Red flower sequins and black beads

Silver wavy peel-offs

Silver Happy Birthday peel-off

Top Tips for this project would be to highlight the edges of the daisies, poppies and stamped image with a clear Sakura glitter pen to add some sparkle and to highlight the hedgehog's cheek with the white souffle pen.

Thanks for reading

Liz x

Silhouette Flower Number 2

This is card number two in the silhouette flower collection and uses a resist technique.  The base card is made from a sheet of A4 white cardstock cut down and creased to make a 14.85 x 14.85 square card.  This time the stamp was inked with versamark ink, stamped onto white gloss card and embossed with clear embossing powder.  When the image had cooled, blue ink was rubbed over the image and around it's edge.  It was then buffed with a tissue to remove the excess ink. This left the silhouette flower image highlighted in blue with a white background and a blue border.  The excess card was then trimmed off to leave the blue inked border in view.  This was then matted onto a layers of silver mirri-card, patterned papers and dark blue cardstock.  A length of ribbon was wrapped around the final layer before it was attached to the card base.  The same ribbon was used underneath the sentiment which is stamped from a Stampin' Up set, Sincere Salutations, and die cut and layered using nestabilities dies.  The daisies are punched from the same background papers and circle embellishments were punched from "practice" stamping pieces.

The base card is a white 14.85cm square card 

Papers used
White gloss cardstock from eBay seller
White and dark blue cardstock - Papeterie, Aberdeen
Patterned papers were from a Cuddly Buddly download,  A Patchwork of Papers - Blue
Silver mirri-card from Create and Craft

Tools used
Hero Arts Cling Stamp - Silhouette Flower CG105
Stampin' Up stamp set - Sincere Salutations
Stampendous clear embossing powder
Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Chipped Sapphire
Woodware small and medium daisy punches
Woodware 1/2 inch circle punch
Ringbinder hole punch
Spellbinders Nestabilities - Petitie Oval Large dies

Embellishments used
Stampin' Up ribbon - Night of Navy
Woodware silver brad

Top tip for this card is don't throw away stamping pieces which go wrong but salvage what's good to make embellishments.  I stamped and embossed this image a few times before I got one where the surface of the gloss card did not bubble.  The circle embellishments are punched from these "practice" pieces.

Thanks for reading

Liz x

Silhouette Flower Number 1

I belong to a little group of cardmakers, who meet once a month, and we usually set ourselves a theme or project for each meeting.  During one session we had a Stampin Up class taken by Kara Milne.

Kara's class was based around the Stampin Up set of stamps Just Believe and we made four different cards using different techniques, colourways and cardstock but with the same set of stamps.  Following the class we decided that we would set ourselves the challenge to choose one of our own stamps and see what we could create with it, using Kara's class as inspiration.  I really enjoyed this challenge and I hope you will enjoy looking at some of theposts of cards I made using the Hero Arts Clings Stamp - Silhouette Flower CG105.

The first one is really simple.  The base card is made from a sheet of pale blue A4 cardstock cut down and creased to make a 14.85mm x 14.85mm card.  The stamp was inked with versamark ink and stamped onto the same light blue cardstock as the base card.  When the image was dry it was trimmed, still leaving a border of the light blue card around it. It was then matted and layered alternately onto dark and light blue cardstock, wrapping a length of ribbon around it before it was attached to the final dark blue layer and then finally onto the base card.  Some of the daisy centres are highlighted with self adhesive pearls and a bow is attached to the ribbon.  The sentiment is stamped from a Stampin' Up set, Sincere Salutations, and die cut and layered using nestabilities dies.

The base card is a blue 14.85cm square card.

Papers used

Pale and dark blue card from Papeterie, Aberdeen

Tools used
Hero Arts Cling Stamp - Silhouette Flower CG105
Stampin' Up stamp set - Sincere Salutations
Versamark ink
Versafine ink - Majestic Blue
Spellbinders Nestabilities - Petite Ovals large

Embellishments used
Bling Bling self adhesive pearls
Fizzy Moon ribbon

Thanks for reading
Liz x

Taylor's Two

This card is for a grand-niece who is two today.  Happy Birthday Taylor.  Can't believe where the years have gone as it seems no time since her Mum was this age.  That's what happens when you become the oldest generation in the family.

The front of the card is made by building up layers of different card underneath each other.  The first layer is the card base with the front cut down and then punched with a decorative border punch.  The final dark pink layer is A5 in size and is attached behind all the layers to support them.  I've used a digital download manipulated in a graphics programme for the main images.

The base card is a white A5 card

Papers used
White and dark pink textured card from The Papeterie, Aberdeen
Pale pink card from W Enterprises, Aberdeen
Happy Birthday backing paper is a download from Cuddly Buddly, A Patchwork of Papers - Pink, printed onto pink card
Teddy Bear alphabet characters are from a Cuddly Buddly download, Teddy Bears Alphabet - Pink, taken into the My Craft Studio Professional Programme to spell out the appropriate name and age and then printed out again so that the name can be decoupaged and small circles can be punched out of the remaining images.

Tools used
Sizzix  red original die - Scalloped Frame
Martha Stewart Border Punch - Doily Lace
Ringbinder paper punch
Spellbinders Nestabilities - Petite Ovals Large
Spellbinders Nestabilities - Scalloped Petite Ovals Large
Woodware Corner Rounder Punch
Cuttlebug embossing folder - Swiss Dots

Embellishments used
Bling Bling self adhesive pearls
Fizzy Moon pink Happy Birthday ribbon

Thanks for reading
Liz x

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Clean and Simple

This is a card I've made for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge 14th May, Clean and Simple.  Being new to blogging I'm hoping I can post a link to this page before the next challenge gets posted tomorrow.  This is a treble challenge for me as I tend to do cluttered and complicated most of the time but hopefully I've met the challenge half way.  I also don't do colouring very well.  The stamped image I've used is from the Penny Black Margaret Sherry Collection 1664J - Squeeze 'til I Squeak and it was stamped using Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured using Promarkers.

The base card is a white 14.85cm square card.

Papers used
Blue card from W Enterprises, Aberdeen
Yellow card from stash plus bright yellow scraps for daisy centres
White card from The Papeterie,Aberdeen plus scraps of white card for the daisies
Happy Birthday paper from a Cuddly Buddly download, A Patchwork of Papers - Blue

Tools used
Stampin' Up stamp from Sincere Salutations
Stampin' Up ink - Bashful Blue 
Small and medium Woodware daisy punches
Spellbinders Nestabilities - Petite Scalloped Circles Large
Spellbinders Nestabilities - Standard Circles Large
Spellbinders Nestabilities.- Classic Ovals Large
Ringbinder Paper Punch (daisy centres)
Cuttlebug embossing folder - Daisy Pattern 

Embellishments used
Yellow Ribbon - John Lewis, Aberdeen
Bling Bling self adhesive pearls

Top Tips for this card would be

Emboss your card before you cut it to size for layering as embossing causes the card to stretch.

Daisies can be customised to match your project by sponging ink over the tips.  If you like a bit of sparkle then go around the edges afterwards with a Sakura clear glitter pen.

Thanks for reading
Liz x

Birthdays Rock

This card is for the son of a friend who shares his birthday with our daughter.  I decided to go on a rock theme as he plays drums.  It's an extra special day for him as he also gets his degree grade so we've all got our fingers and toes crossed for him.  Could be a lot of celebrating done tomorrow night.

This is a square easel card scanned open and flat.  I've not mastered the wonders of the digital camera so, for now, most of my images will be scanned ones.  The easel part is made from building up layers of squares with the centre one turned to fit over the inner corners of the other four.  The blue reflection is from silver mirri-card. The easel stops are punched out pieces from the drumkit image.

The base card is a white 14.85cm square card

Papers used
Black card from W Enterprises, Aberdeen
Pearlised white card from the Papeterie, Aberdeen
Gingham backing paper is from a Cuddly Buddly download, A Patchwork of Papers - Blue, printed using the greyscale feature of the printer.
Silver mirri-card from stash

Tools used
Spellbinders Nestabilities - circle die for easel stops
Spellbinders Nestabilities - square die for You Rock message
Inkadinkado  98693  Rock Star set (9stamps)
Hero Arts F1189  Happy Birthday Notes
Stampendous Disco Black embossing powder
Versamark Ink

Embellishments used
Black and white gingham ribbon
Silver and crystal dot peel-offs

Top Tips for this card are using the square nestabilities die to get the You Rock message in the correct position and also the swirl decoration on the same message.  This was done using the strings from the end of the guitar stamp, stamped onto it after cutting it out.

Thanks for reading.
Liz x

First Post and Tatty Ted x

Having set this up over a week ago I think it's time to dip a toe in the water and leave an actual post.  The first card I'm going to post a picture of is the one I've made for our daughter's birthday using the free Tatty Ted stamp from the docrafts magazine as the main image.  It has been coloured using Promarkers.  I'm afraid I don't do less is more and my cards usually end up being more is more with a variety of papers and craft tools being used and embellishments of all sorts.

The base card is a white 21cm square card

Papers used
Striped papers and Polky Dotty flowers are downloads from Fred She Said
Dotty paper from Seraphina and Friends background papers CD
Happy Birthday paper from a Cuddly Buddly download, A Patchwork of Papers - Blue
Blue card from W Enterprises, Aberdeen

Tools used
Spellbinders Nestabilities - Labels 10 dies
X-cut small flower punch
Marianne Creatables Corner die #1

Embellishments used
Bling Bling pearls
Silver wavy border peel-offs
Fizzy Moon blue ribbon
Silver and crystal peel-off dots
Silver elastic cord

Top tip for this card would have to be the home made candy dots.  I made these with scraps of blue card punched with a half inch circle punch.  I placed the circles front side down onto a soft mat and used my Glitter Girl's embossing tool to make circular movements over the back working from the inside to the outside.  Applying presssure to the circle should shape it into a candy dot.

Thanks for reading this rambling and hopefully I'll get around to more regular postings in the future.

Liz x