LiM challenge

Hi fellow bloggers - hope you are having a good weekend. Another LiM challenge has been set by the team this week and it is Jingle all the way and the challenge is to incorporate xmas images. I have chosen one of my favourite snowman stamp stamped with blue brilliance inkpad. Layered on to some backing papers from Kanban and embossed the base card with a sizzix snowflake embossing folder which has some glitter glue added to look as though the snow is glistening. The sentiment is from crafters companion - free with their latest magazine. I have used promarkers to add a touch of colour to the image

  happy crafting :)

Xcut butterfly die - a free gift with docrafts magazine - November 2014

hi fellow bloggers
I thought I would show another card with this die - I also used it in the last blog post. It is really pretty and not a bad size about 2" I think as I have used it on a 7" x5" card. This time I have gone for  pink colour scheme and apart from the die everything else is from my stash,
I have used a martha stewart punch pansy edger and topped it with a piece of patterned paper. The butterfly dies are layered and then given a brush of glitter glue [docrafts]. The senitment is a free stamp from craft stamper nthat was stamped with a petal point inkpad and cut out with a spellies nested scalloped circle.and the bow is made from waxed cord. The little butterflies on the envelope are made froma dovecraft punch.

I am entering it in the following challenge
In the Pink  - keep it simple

It's an orange day

hi again fellow bloggers
I have made a thankyou card in a monochrome again using orange - not a colour I often think to use but it is a warm colour and the weather here has been so wet and grey a bit of colour is always welcome. No stamping at all on this card,

I used the waste from a die cut and inked through it with rusty hinge distress ink, then with an xcut butterfly die that came free with the recent docrafts magazine  I cut one from orange light card and attached on to the inked butterfly. Using a woodware butterfly punch I punched out 6 butterflies from the same card, coloured the thorax and attached them behind the larger butterfly. The sentiment is a sizzix embossing folder and I finished it off with a toning piece of waxed thread for the bow trim.

I am entering it in the following challenges:

Scrappers Delight - anything goes or paper piercing

LiM - more than one tree

Hi fellow bloggers
The LiM challenge this week is to make a card featuring trees in the plural. As I couldn't find the stamp I planned to use I went with this which I think was one from an old copy of craft stamper mag.

 I have stamped it in 'pretty colour' green pigment ink and coloured the trunks with a sakura gel pen. The image is cut out using a spellbinders label 1 scalloped edge and the edge was inked with the same colour. The frame was made by glueing together 3 frames from a sizzix bigz die for a bit of dimension and the cord is waxed cord rather than bakers twine as it was a better colour match - fusion of two crafts macrame and card making without the knots:) Lol!
Happy crafting

Starry, starry night

Hi fellow blogger - hope you sre enjoying your weekend and having time for crafting. The title is the theme for this weeks LiM challenge and I was tempted to add in something to do with Vincent Van Gogh after the song by Don Vncent [ showing my age Lol!]. But in the end conformed to a more traditional interpretation.

The sky is made using a sponge and Ranger distress ink - stormy sky. The stars are a docraft stamp from a xmas set stamped using silver brilliance ink - they look much better in real lfe as the silver sparkle - heyho doubt I will ever be picked for my photography skills :(. The sentiment is one by Barbara Grey and using the same ink as the sky. And the scorit was used to outline the sentiment.
Happy crafting.

LiM challenge

Hi fellow bloggers
Doesn't seem a week since I last posted but everything seems so hectic just now. Anyway this weeks LiM challenge is to make a christmas card in non traditional colours - no red and no green allowed! I have decided on a one layer card.

I used an old docrafts stamp and coloured with some kuretake pens I have had in my stash for over 6 years and hardly used but can certainly say that the quality of the ink is excellent as they were not dry at all and the colour flowed well. They are a mixture of art & graphic twin pens and brushables and both water based. The colours used are light/dark purple [in same pen], teal, orange and skin colour [although it looks like pale orange in the photo]. The sentiment is a rub on again from my stash. Still so much to use as I don't seem to be making much of a dent in it!!!
Happy crafting :)

LiM challenge

Hi again fellow bloggers - around comes another Saturday and a new challenge from the folks at Less is More. I hope you are enjoying your Saturday?

The theme this week is Layers and to include newsprint. I have used a die this week from Tim Holtz - although as I am still on stash busting it is not a new one from Sizzix. I have also used a newsprint backing sheet along with some plain blue as an added layer. The heart shape is on dimensional pads. To add another effect I have used a gold gilding wax especilly on the blue as it reminds of some of the colours in old paintings I saw when I was last in Rome. However unfortunately the photogaph doesn't pick up the gilding too well. The sentiment is hand written.

Happy crafting :)

CAS card

hi fellow bloggers - I hope you are not too affected by the storm on the way - don't see much evidence of it here yet.

This card is a CAS birthday card and I have used the swiss dots folder on the base card. The stamp is a free one from a past edition of crafty stamper with only the flame coloured. The ink pad used again is the black brilliance pad. Then to add a splash of colour I have used both red organza and red satin ribbon in a 2 strand plait with a bow at the top.

I am entering in the Allsorts challenge  - embossing

Monochrome

hi fellow bloggers
This card is a birthday card - for a friend -  I have kept to a monochrome colour scheme as these are the colours she favours.

I have used swiss dots embossing folder on the base card and my Scorit. I used a Paper Artsy stamp for the image which I cut out with a Spellbinders label die and layered on silver mirri card cut with another spellies die and used the holding hands technique to tuck the image under. The large back black and white  mat is one from a Kanban kit I bought when qvc used to have craft days! I trimmed it to fit and used my Sizzix embosslit alphabet dies and silver mirri card for the sentiment. The inside sentiment was using a free stamp from a recent Crafty Stamper magazine ad a spellies edge die to fnish. The stamping was done with a black brilliance ink pad and the edges done with the same ink pad.

I am entering this card in
The Cutting Edge Challenge 
Scrappers Delights Challenge - anything goes or monochrome
Seize the day - birthday

Baby card for a new gran

hi fellow bloggers spoke to soon about the sunny weather as the sun has now disappeared|:(

This card is for a friend who has become a new granny to a little girl. So as I thought to be safe and traditional I would go with a pink colour scheme. I used a sizzix embossing folder as the base matted on to toning paper,  Also  the mum's name is Rosie so fits. The cord is metallic rose and the sentiment is stamped in victorian velvet distress ink which matched it very well. I used a spellbinders banner die for that and another anonymous stamp! The charm is one from my stash and the amber chip was added because the new baby's name is Amber - I will also be adding a pair of Amber earrings for the new granny. Tried hard to keep it very personal.

Entering in the following challenge: -
Through the CraftRoom Door- Anything goes
Allsortschallenge - embossing
Hiding in my craftroom - embossing
Happy crafting

LiM Challenge

Hi fellow crafters
Hope you are all having a good weekend - it is quie sunny here in Dundee so a nice change after 2 days of rain!

The LiM challenge this week is asking for small creatures and I have chosen to use a really small dragon fly stamp from my stash - not sure of its origin! I used a multi colour brilliance ink pad to stamp out a line of dragonflies and added a row of sakura pen dots. I then used my Scorit to emboss some lines round the image and used an anonymous [no brand name] stamp for the sentiment.

It is all one layer and the card edge is inked wth the brilliance pad. I do like some of the brilliance pads as they dry quickly and have a soft sheen..

LiM entry - One Layer

Hi fellow bloggers
wasn't sure if I would manage any crafting this week as things a bit hectic. Still didn't want to miss the LiM challenge!

This week the theme is one level with 2 - so went for 2 of the sentiments as well as 2 of the images which is a stamp from All Night Media that I have had in my stash for years - so still keeping to using my stash resolution :)

The other stamp I have used is one from clarity stamps and I really like the design of these from Barbara Gray. I have added a touch of colour with a sakura gel pen and lightly coloured the olive and stem.

happy crafting

Sizzix heart & locket die again

Hi fellow bloggers - just a card today as treated myself to an overlocker and ned to clear some sapce in the craft room to play with it !! I should learn to clear as I go but it never happens. Anyway as I like this die and it is a good size to not need a lot of additional embellishments I have tried the reverse of the colours I used before with the locket cut in red foam and the heart in /black card. This time I have also used the largest of the heart circles by spellbinders as a mat in black then cutting several pieces from the foam wasted and piecing them together to give the impression of another mat for dimension. The background on the base card is another made bit dabbing the hero arts grey shadow stamp . I have also used the tiny hearts from the circle die for confetti inside the card.

I am enterng this card in the  http://cateredcrop.com challenge  - seeing red

Christmas card with my free dies from Crafters Companion

Hi again fellow bloggers - I got tempted last week to buy the new Crafters Companion magazine as it had so many extras with it it seemed rude not to Lol! It arrived yesterday and this morning I had a look at what I had received and tried out the two free dies to see how they cut. Well I can confirm that they cut a treat and no need for wax paper to extract the die cut.

I used a sizzix snoflake embossing folder to make the background and matted it on to a piece of blue card,

The die cuts were coloured using promarkers to just define some features and also cut out a spellbinders iron fence dlite to ground the figures a bit,

The sentiment was a stamp from crafters companion - again one of the free gifts  -samped with black brialliance ink and cut out with a Spellbinders circle die.

I have entered this in the DiecuttinDivas - anything goes challenge
and  My Perfect Life  - always any christmas card

LiM entry - colour challenge

Hi fellow bloggers
Another Saturday and another LiM challenge! This week the coloiur challenge has a theme of autumn bounty. After a bit of a panic as to what I could do for that I decided on a card that could be given to a teacher instead of the real apple!

 I found this embossing folder that I think I got as a free gift about 4 years ago and wasn't sure how it would turn out but seems to have come out ok.

I embossed the apple design on centura pearl card, and used 5 distress ink pads to colour it in with the help of a little water on a brush.  - Aged mahogany, tea dye, peeled paint, pine needles, forest moss and fired brick.

2 of the same ink pads,, fired brick and peeled paint were then used to stamp out the sentiment which was done with single alphabet stamps,

 

LiM entry

hi fellow bloggers - a bit late but her is my LiM entry for this week. The theme is 'mostly words' and I have used a die cut from a die I have recently purchased from Joanna Sheen, that Sue Wilson demoed on Create & Craft.  I cut out the die in dark blue and layered - slightly offset -  onto a  mat that was dry embossed and coloured with a silver brilliance inkpad and then onto a white 5 X 7 card. Didn't have time to show the stages - sorry. Although still stash bustng unfortunately still get tempted with new things sometimes Lol!

I am also entering this in the Diecutting  Divas challengehttp://diecuttindivas.blogspot.co.uk/ - Anything goes.

mixing & matching with Sizzix

hi again fellow bloggers - I am finding dies from sizzix/embossing folders that I have bought ages ago and not used and mixed them together with a new die I bought from creative expressions - tied together - and a die cut I got from a crafty friend that she bought from tattered lace.
This a feminine card and I have not put a sentiment on it until I use it.
I have used a 6 x 6 square card again - as I quite like this size as I m not one for large cards -and used my grey hero arts shadow stamp to randomly swipe across for the background. Here is a section -

 I then used the creative expressions die to cut out a dark grey heavyweight paper and trimmed it down to fit my purpose  and put them together with a piece of ribbon to cover the join-








Then I cut out a tag using a Sizzix bigz tags die and embossed it with a Tim Holtz [for sizzix] textured fades folder of bricks as I thought it fitted the shoe - could be a cobbled street! Added a piece of ribbon and then adhered the shoe die cut

 Here is the finished card and envelope - flap embossed to match the tag~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am entering it in 

•  http://clearitoutchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ - use grey   

Back from hols with a card using my sizzix stash

hi fellow bloggers
I am now back from my hols in sunny espana -wish I was still there really!!:) Still back to my craft room and onward with the stash attack. This card is made using a sizzix bigz die and one of their valentine embossing folders and I am showing the stages rather than just the finished card. I am not sure if I will do this for each card but thought I would try it out.
The die and embossing folder used are: -

I cut out the heart locket in black card and red craft foam

The card is a 6" square card and I embossed the right hand side with the hearts from the embossing folder and used a heart shape template to ink a heart background with a hero arts shadow stamp in pale grey as it gives a very subtle tint. The envelope flap was also embossed.

The key was cut out from black card and embossed using versamark ink and silver embossing folder to resemble a metal charm and the ribbons are red and white organza to die in with the colour scheme

The red heart is the waste from the heart when cut out.

The final card~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am entering it into the following challenges: -

• http://everybody-art-challenge.blogspot.co.uk/ - keys
•  http://clearitoutchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ - use grey   
• http://www.ttcrd.blogspot.co.uk/  - anything goes

graduation card

Hi fellow bloggers
This is a card I made for my grandson who made us all so proud when he graduated with a 1st class degree  in Law this year.

I have used a sizzix die which I cut in two colours so that I had a frame and a background to stamp on. The stamps are from a set by Joanna Sheen which focus's on life events as I also have a set for passing yur driving test too. I have cut out the additional embellishments after colouring with promarkers and placed them around the frame om sticky pads for some dimension. The first class embellishment is made using a small embossing folder by docrafts from one of their sets[I think].

Enjoy your crafty day.

Sizzix embossing folder

Hi fellow bloggers
I bought a couple of sizzix lacy/doily embossing folders ages ago from qvc and have found them again - my crafting is very haphazard and my storage solutions are never very efficient Lol!
This card has had one of the sizzix folders embossed onto centura pearl as it really shows off embossing well. I then used some rose pink ribbon on the top third of the card and decorated with punched ginko leaves and toning pearl gems.         I think I will use this embossing folder much more as it really embosses well and is so pretty.

sizzix thin die

 Hi again  fellow bloggers -   Still managing to keep up my stash attack!!
For this card I used a sizzix frame die, cutting out of black spotted glitter card, but only used the inner which I offset with a silver version. The back ground is stamped using a La Blanche panel stamp twice. Thes stamps are so detailed and very light to use although you sometimes need to be careful not to catch the stamp edges. The die cuts were layered on the stamped background. I then made a floral topper using a part of my anna griffin die  - I layered two together using a dimensional pad and then added a black gem,
I think I may have set the die cut a little low on the base card - what do you think?

Sizzix embossing folder

hi fellow bloggers
This card is using one of the half size embossing folders from sizzix. I think it is a very elegant image. I am tryng to make a real effort to use more of my stash rather than keep adding to it - or that's the theory!! For this card I used centura pearl a a base card - it really embosses beautifully.

I embossed a line above the sizzix image with my scor it and added 3 pearl gems. Then adhered Mei craft toning ribbon [to the gems] across the top and added an elongated ribbon coil to one side

2nd repurposed container [lid]

hi again fellow bloggers
here is my second  one of these boxes again only the lid is decorated as I like the original box and they are for craft room use This is a more simple design and I have only used a spellbinders d=lites die for this one.
This time I have used a red coloured base that I stamped with versamark ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. and cut out the background die in black and rather than stick the decorated part in full on the background I used the waste that rmained in the die - dotted cosmic shimmer glue on the waste areas and then poked out those bits while the die was held in contact with the black base to make sure all the bits ended up in the right pattern This technique is similar to the one we used with peeloffs where we could burnish the waste onto a card for decoration.
Rather than wooden beads this time I fixed the die cuts and the organza ribbon with a decorative brad that I inked and embossed with embossing enamel to colour it glittered black to match the colour scheme of the lid. The organza ribbon was inked in part with worn lipstick distress ink.The lid was then treated with coats of watered down pva glue. I think this one has an Asian look about it.
One more to do!

The 1st lid can be seen here