Penny Black Saturday Challenge - 159 Christmas in July

 

This is my entry for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge this week.  Running at the last minutes as usual but both my son and his girlfriend had their birthdays on Wednesday and that took priority.  I'd also hoped to make a card using a Penny Black tree stamp instead of cute characters but couldn't find it.  Most of my Christmas stash is tucked up safely in the attic still.  Christmas card making doesn't usually start until the panic sets in near the end of November.  Perhaps I should keep going now that I've started and avoid the panic this year.

I'd also like to enter this in the
I Love ProMarkers Challenge #75 - Christmas in July
Simply Create Challenge #48 - Christmas in July
Creative Inspirations Challenge Blog - Challenge 64
Polka Doodles Week 29 Challenge - Christmas in July 

Thanks for reading
Liz x

Penny Black Saturday Challenge Week 158 - Desert Island Stamps

This is my entry to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge this week.  We were asked to choose our all time favourite  Penny Black stamp or the one which we could not do without.  I chose this one and have shown it in the two different colour ways I have used it for baby cards.  Two years ago there were four new additions to my husbands side of the family, the daughters of two friends had babies and I was given two orders for baby cards so this stamp was well used.

Thanks for reading
Liz x

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Week 157 - Stitch It Up

 

This is my entry for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge this week.  The challenge was to include stitching, faux, real, hand or machined, in the project.  I must admit I love pricking and stitching on cards and tend to go through phases of using it.  It's something I can pick up and set down without making the usual mess of creativity around me.  Well that's what I like to call it but my son has been heard to say that "the dining room looks as though a grenade has been thrown in it". The stitching on this card is meant to represent a picture sconce.  The inspiration came from the packaging of the pricking stencil used which was one of the Marianne design Suzy's Stencils - Suzy 008.

This card was an order for an art student's 21st birthday so I took art as the theme .  The Penny Black stamped image is Portraiture - 3202K and was stamped with Stazon and coloured with watercolours and Promarkers.  The paint splodges were made using a Quickutz die.

When making 21st and 18th birthday cards I like to include a little key somewhere and whilst writing this blog entry I realised that the tradition of giving a key, in some form, doesn't happen to the same extent anymore. Somewhere in the attic I know I have a box of boxed keys, number plates and cards which I received on my twenty first birthday.   I then wondered what the tradition behind giving the key was about and this is what I found.

"This tradition dates back to the times when children lived at home until they married, and were very much under the control of their parents. The voting age was twenty-one, when 'adult status' was officially conferred and a front door key was issued for independent access to the family home. As an adult, you were considered free to come and go as you pleased rather than according to your parents' wishes. Thus, you were now entitled to "the key of the door". (It's a British tradition.)"

I guess the more liberal age we live in nowadays has reduced the significance of this tradition.

Thanks for reading
Liz x

Happy Birthday Kathleen

Not only is it my friend's Pearl Anniversary on the second of July but it's also her birthday on the first and she and her husband are off to Bruge to celebrate both.  Such a lot of celebrations in this family this year with a twenty-first birthday, a graduation and an anniversary to celebrate.  These two cards are for my friend's birthday, one from me and one from the family.  The pansy one uses images from a Fred She Said download which also includes the co-ordinating backing papers.  This set also comes in purple tones which is equally pretty.  The pansy edging was made using Martha Stewart's pansy punch around the page corner and border punches.

The patchwork card was an idea taken from one of the Splitcoaststampers Weekly Tutorials.  The one inch squares were either punched from card stamped with the Hero Arts Silhouette Flower cling stamp, stamped pieces using the french script stamp from Stampin' up, embossed pieces using a daisy flower embossing folder and dark blue card sprayed with glimmer mist which was also used for the flower centres..

Pearl Anniversary

This was the second big project I completed this week.  These cards, box and tag are destined for my friend and her husband who celebrate their 30th Wedding Anniversary on Saturday the 2nd of July.  My friend and I went through secondary school and teacher training college together and even have children born on the same date.  On their special day thirty years ago I was honoured to be one of their bridesmaids.

If you read the previous post you'll find out what was used to make the shoe card, box and gift tag.  The card stock used this time was smooth and linen effect cream pearlescent card and a patterned pearlised cream card.  All embellishments were chosen to match the cream theme and self adhesive pearls were used to decorate the shoe and box to represent the special anniversary.

The card in the final picture is one for my family to give the happy couple.  This one resulted from one of our group crafting sessions when we tried out different ways to use our embossing folders and also use different types of cardstock.  I decided to play around with vellum and cream card and cut these flowers using the Tim Holtz tattered floral sizzix die and then emboss them with the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder.  The flowers were put together by alternating the card and vellum layers and varying the number of layers used.

The card base was a 14.85cm square cream card

Papers used
Thick cream vellum from The Papeterie, Aberdeen
Cream card in various finishes, textures and shades of cream also from The Papeterie, Aberdeen

Tools used
Tim Holtz Sizzix die - Tattered Floral
Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder
Spellbinders Nestabilities Classic Squares Large
Woodware half inch circle punch
Embossing mat and Glitter Girls embossing tool
Dawn Bibby Stamp - Warm Wishes from the set Warm Wishes DB010
Stampendous Detail Gold embossing powder


Embellishments used
Bling Bling self adhesive pearls
Crystal dot peel-off stickers

Top tip for this card would be to make the flower centres using a half inch circle, punched from card to match the project, and then laying it on an embossing mat and running a Glitter Girls embossing tool over it in circular movements until the card circle cups up at the edges.  The cupped circle can be stuck on using a foam pad.  The advantage of making your own cup shapes is that you can use the same card stock as used in your project and it's a great way of using up those little pieces of left over card.

Thanks for reading
 Liz

Silver Wedding Anniversary

This has been another intense week of crafting but for special happy occassions.  The first project is for the silver wedding anniversary of my crafting friend Janet and her husband Nick who are celebrating their silver wedding anniversary on the 28th.  At least once a month a group of us meet together at Janet's and craft, chat and indulge in her home baking.  Her chocolate cake is absolutely scrummy.

I have made this card layout several times in the past, for anniversaries and weddings and in various colour combinations, but never tire of putting together this "elegant shoe" from a template designed by Coppernob.  Pictures of some of them are in the Toe Tapper section of Coppernob's gallery.  Although time consuming to make, the end result is really effective.  The flower embellishments are made using a quilling pattern I found in a Craft Creations project for a rose basket.  I use a one inch and a half inch punch to make them.

As time has gone on this project has expanded from a card in a box, to a card in a decorated box and finally to a card in a decorated box with a gift tag.  Lots of different techniques are used to make this one including one of the first ones I used when starting to make cards - paper pricking.

The base card is A5 in size

The sizes for the layering panels are

Layer one - 14.5cm x 21cm

Layer two, before embossing and trimming, 15cm x 21cm

Layer three, before embossing and trimming, 12cm x 21cm

Centre panel - 6.5cm x 21cm

Papers used

White pearlescent card

Pink heart paper is from a Cuddly Buddly download - Cuddly Buddly Cottage Collection - Rose, printed on pearlescent card

Pink paper is a canvas background paper from the Secret Garden CD by Joanna Sheen, printed on pearlescent card

Silver mirri-card from Create and Craft

Tools used

Romance embossing board from the Glitter Girls

Elegant Shoe Template by Coppernob

Ornare Pricking Template

Pricking pen and mat

Woodware 1 inch circle punch

Woodware 1/2 inch circle punch

Woodware small heart punch

Quilling tool

Spellbinders Nestabilities Classic Squares Large

Spellbinders Nestabilities Classic Scalloped Squares Large

Spellbinders Nestabilities Classic Circles Large

Spellbinders Nestabilities Classic Scalloped Circles Large

Spellbinders Nestabilities Classic Hearts

Spellbinders Nestabilities Classic Scalloped Hearts

Quickutz Single Die - RS0156 - Scalloped Tag

PSX Stamp - F-270 - Happy Anniversary

Versamark Ink

Stampendous Detail Silver embossing powder

VersaMagic Dew Drop Chalk Ink - Pink Petunia

Embellishments used

Silver wavy line peel-offs

Silver hearts peel-offs

Silver double hearts peel-offs

Silver alphabet and number peel-offs

Bling Bling self adhesive crystals

Flower sequins, silver metallic embroidery thread and white pearl beads

Pink Paper Roses

Pink Satin Ribbon

Silver Elastic Cord

Top tips for this card would be

1. Sponge the petal edges and flower centres with an ink colour to match the backing papers of the project.  Pearlescent ink gives a lovely shimmery effect and if you go over it with a clear Sakura glitter gel pen afterwards it sparkles even more.

2.  When embossing layers from the Romance board butt one side of each layer to the top of the board and when embossing the other side butt it to the bottom of the board.  For some strange reason the panels layer on top of each other better if you do this.

3.  I cut another sole for the shoe slightly smaller than than the decorated one and attach underneath with the really sticky double sided tape.  This gives the shoe more body and holds the wrapped over peel-off ends in place.  I also use the really sticky red tape to attach the shoe to the card.

Thanks for reading

Liz x

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Birthday Blog Hop

This is my entry for this weeks Penny Black Saturday Challenge.  This was a birthday card for one of my crafty friends who really loves cats and her one means the world to her.  The image was stamped with black Stazon ink and coloured using water colours and shimmer paints.  The card layout was from a challenge set by Linda on the Cuddly Buddly forum.  The sentiment is from a Hero Arts stamp stamped onto white card with black Stazon and then chopped into three sections.

The base card is a 21cm square card made from two pieces of A4 card 

Papers used
Black and blue card from W Enterprises, Aberdeen
Yellow card from W H Smith
Gingham paper from a Cuddly Buddly download printed on greyscale setting - A Patchwork of Papers  - Blue
White card for stamping

Tools used
Penny Black Stamp - 2243K Bee Costume 
Hero Arts Stamp -  1494E Purr-fect Day...
Spellbinders Nestabilities - Classic Ovals Large
Spellbinders Nestabilities - Classic Squares Large
Shimmer paints from The Works
Watercolour paints - Winsor and Newton Cotman Water Colours

Embellishments used
Blue ribbon from John Lewis
Crystal dot peel-off stickers
Woodware brads - pastel and bright
Paper flowers, sequins and beads from stash
Silver wavy line peel-offs

Thanks for reading
Liz x