Christmas Furry Things

Sorry I haven't been posting much over the last couple of weeks but things have been a little bit hectic......... our friends Bob & Val invited us up to Southwold in Suffolk to spend a few days with them which was brilliant, then we've been busy decorating and installing new furniture in one of our bedrooms and I've also been doing some more glass work (more of which in a couple of days time).

The challenge over at Die Cut Dreams this week is Christmas Furry Things and it's being sponsored by Prairie Fairy Digital Stamps who have some gorgeous images.  I have decided to use their lovely polar bears digital stamp which is so cute.  I printed out the image and used Nesties to mat and layer onto silver mirri.  I started off by using flock powder but it didn't look very "furry" so then went on to use Polar White Flower Soft which was much better.  I then inked the top of the card to simulate a night sky and used Glamour Dust for the snow.  Last week at the craft show in Exeter I bought some Go Kreate dies (XL Frames Frilly #2) which are much larger than the equivalent Nesties.  I used the medium die to cut a 5"x7" card blank which was covered with a sheet of Papermania Contemporary Christmas paper.  A dotty ribbon across the top of the card (tent folded) and a fabric flower were added.  The sentiment is from a free stamp set given away with Creativity magazine and I added a tab of the same ribbon at the side of the card along with some blue gems.

Thanks for stopping by.

Bah Humbug - Stars Challenge

The challenge this week over at Bah Humbug is "Stars".  Couldn't get much inspiration for this as I don't have any star stamps etc but then I remembered the parchment star card I made a while ago so I decided to do another one in a different colourway.

I took a pink 8" square card blank and embossed the sides of the card using a scoreboard.  I have copied a pattern for the main star and pricked out the shape and embossed where needed.  The main fairy image who is holding a star is from Pergamano and i coloured her on the back using ProMarkers.  I have added gems and a ribbon and corner peel-offs which were also coloured using ProMarkers.  The sentiment is a clear stamp which has been embossed.  Sorry the image isn't too clear - I think I need to change my camera settings!!

Thanks for stopping by.

Another Ruby Wedding card

This is obviously the year for Ruby Wedding anniversaries as three couples we know are celebrating theirs within a couple of months of each other.

I had some red rose decoupage which fitted the bill so I matted it onto some red card which I had gold embossed with a swirl and edged in gold.  I then created an aperture using nesties and I also gold embossed this piece with the same swirl.  I placed the decoupage on the front of a red card blank and placed the aperture over the top having first scored about 1cm in from each long edge so it would give me a domed effect.  I added a ribbon (of course!) at the side and used Pinflair glue gel to add a little posy of flowers and leaves at the bottom of the aperture.  I found a charm brad in my stash which was the right colour and placed it on the right of the aperture.  The sentiment is computer generated matted onto nesties.  I had a piece of the decoupage image left and so matted it onto gold mirri and placed it on the back of the card.

Thanks for looking.

Text

Over at Bah Humbug this week the challenge is text.  Luckily the stamps that I recently bought after watching Barbara Grey from Clarity had arrived and I'd been dying to play with them.

I have chosen the word Peace and stamped it onto coated cardstock with VersaMark and embossed in gold.  I then created a mask by stamping the word onto copy paper and cutting out the inside of the "C".   I then stamped the star inside the "C" with Versamark and then using my brayer I picked up some Adirondack ink in Denim.  I took a lot of the ink off the brayer and then did a "wheelie" and brayered through the mask which showed up the star previously stamped.  I then added the conifer trees and Santa's sleigh.  When it was dry I used another mask (Barbara uses Post-It notes but I didn't have any the correct size) from Frisket Film to cover the image.  I then brayered the borders with Denim but I realised as soon as I started that I hadn't got rid of enough ink - it should look quite faded and pale - but having started I had to finish!!!  I then took the conifer stamp again and stamped round the border.  The final touch was a thin line of gold ink around the main image which should make it look like a postcard - which it would have if it wasn't so dark.  Still, I really enjoyed playing with these stamps and looking forward to trying out the other one which is "Noel".

Thanks for stopping by.

Lazy Afternoon

It's been a really busy week and after I finished this card I realised I had missed the Lili of the Valley Challenge deadline.............. doh!!!  Still it's another card to add to my stash so nothing's wasted.

I chose my LOTV stamp "Lazy Afternoon" and stamped in black Memento ink so I could colour in with ProMarkers.  Before colouring in I stamped the image again (with Stazon this time) onto Frisket Film and cut out to make a mask.  Frisket Film is brilliant as it's see through and you can use it again and again.  I placed the mask over the image and then took a background stamp which I had in my stash (it's a clear stamp with no name on it and I can't remember where I got it from) and stamped the background in Memento Bamboo Leaves.  I then removed the mask and coloured in the stamped image with ProMarkers.  I used the same method as yesterday when using my labels nestie - the top part of the image was too high for the die so I cut that part out with scissors.  I then matted onto matching cardstock.  The background paper is from Essence of Nature by Artylicious.  The central border is punched using Martha Stewart deep edger and the sentiment is from a Stampin Up set.  A ribbon, some flowers and a pin finished the card.

Thanks for looking.

Sweet Little Girl

This week's challenge at Die Cut Dreams is "Sweet Little Girl" and your card must be created with a digital image.

I popped over to Digital Delights by Louby Loo and got Briley & Balloons.  I printed her out onto super smooth inkjet card and coloured with ProMarkers.   Then came up against a slight problem............. isn't it annoying when you've gone to all the trouble of colouring in an image only to find it's too large for the nestie you want to use?  Well, a fairly easy way out of this is to place your nestie over the image and just draw lighly with pencil on the inside and outside of the card where your image would be chopped off.  Take a sharp pair of scissors and cut around the part of the image outside your frame and then place your nestie back on the image (cutting side down) but slip the part you have cut out over the top of the flat side of the nestie.  Put through your die cutting machine and voila - you will find that the nestie has cut out your image but the part outside is still intact.  Hope all this makes sense!!!  lol

I then matted and layered onto red and silver mirri.  The backing paper is double sided from a Stampin Up pack which I cut to fit the card blank and then cut in half - so I had the daisies on one side and the stripes on the other.  I then cut a strip of the paper and used a Martha Stewart punch and put a piece of red lace down the length of it.  I didn't have any flowers that matched so took some off white paper flowers and inked them and used a brad (this was coloured with ProMarkers as I again didn't have the right colour).  The sentiment and punches are from Stampin Up.  I added some red gems and then some Diamond Glaze on the balloons and Briley's eyes.

Thanks for stopping by.

Children's Christmas

The challenge this week over at Die Cut Dreams is children's Christmas.

I have used a snowman digistamp from Inger Harding which was a freebie.  Printed out onto super smooth printer card and coloured using ProMarkers.  I printed out three images and stacked using nesties.  They are then mounted onto blue mirri.  I have made an easel card using a square card blank, covered with 12x12" paper I bought from Lidl's a few weeks ago - it's amazing what you can find there!!  With the help of some silicone glue and Diamond Sparkles he (hopefully) looks like he's sitting on snow.  I added some ribbon and a snowman charm and finished off with a sentiment that was computer generated.

Thanks for looking.

Bah Humbug - Favourite Medium

This week's challenge over at Bah Humbug is using your favourite medium.  What a challenge to set us - how could you possibly choose your favourite thing; whether it be stamping, embossing, die cutting etc etc - the list is endless and it's just an impossible task.

I suppose when it comes down to the nitty gritty my favourite medium is stamping and so I have made a very simple card using the Papermania holly & berries which I stamped onto white card and coloured using AquaMarkers.  I then used a VersaMark pen over the berries and embossed with Red Tinsel powder.  The image was cut and matted using nesties.  I have used a square white linen card as the base and it's a tent fold.  I have stamped Clarity clever corners on the base card.  The sentiment is from the free set of stamps in the Creativity magazine which has been stamped and embossed and then layered using my SU punches.  I have used a pin from Posh Pins & Charms and added some ribbon and three gems.

Thanks for stopping by.

Bevs Fabulous Sketches

Over at Lilli of the Valley Thursday Challenge they have asked you to follow a sketch plan set by Bev.

I have taken a square navy card blank and matted and layered silver mirri and some card from a Stampin Up Pattern Pack.  I have used a lovely LOTV die cut as my central image.  It was originally square but with a little work with some nesties and my Big Shot we turned them into circles.  The border at the bottom has been punched with a Martha Stewart edger and a strip of paper laid down the centre.  The sentiment is from a Stampin Up set.  A final touch was adding three flowers with buttons in the centre.

Thanks for looking.

Pearls & Pins

Die Cut Dreams challenge this week is Pearls and Pins. 

I have used a square white card blank and folded back the front half and taking some cardstock from the DCWV Luxury Stack covered both sides of the card.  The image is another one from Lilli of the Valley which has been die cut with nesties and mounted on silver mirri and pink card.  I have added some Prima flowers held together with brads and topped with a pearl, some ribbon and a flower from my stash on the right hand side with some pearl pins.  The DCWV card has been punched using a Martha Stewart corner punch.  The sentiment is a peel off matted onto card using my SU punches.  A small amount of Stickles was added to the main image.

Thanks for looking.

Rustic Beauty

The September challenge over at Flourishes is:  Rustic Beauty: As the leaves start to change colors to usher in fall, we want to see your rustic beauty! Interpret this challenge however you like – want to use a little distressing? Want to use shades of rust? Want to use things that look aged or antiqued? You choose!  


I have just made a card which is the homework card, the theme of which was Autumn, for our club night on Wednesday and it seems to fit the bill.  On a square cream card blank I used some backing paper from the new Artylicious Essence of Nature CD 

This is in lovely autumnal colours.  I then die cut some leaves, using my Spellbinders leaf dies, in varying colours and, leaving the die still on the card, inked each one with chalk inks.  I then stamped the pheasant (from SU Autumn Days set) using Big & Juicy Spice and clear embossed.  I also stamped the sentiment which is from the SU Sincere Salutations using the same recipe as above.  I then cut this out using my nesties Lacy Circles and mounted it on co-ordinating card which had been stamped and embossed using SU Large Medallion stamp.  A ribbon down the side of the card, some gems and Stickles copper glitter glue completed the card.

Thanks for stopping by.

Tilda in Pink

The challenge over at Die Cut Dreams is Tilda in Pink.  Luckily after their recent challenge of Tilda in Red I still had an image that my friend Anne over at Stamps & Paper had stamped for me so was able to join in this challenge.

The image has been coloured in using ProMarkers and die cut using my new beaded ovals nesties.  The backing paper is from a Peerless Designs CD matted onto pink Bazzill card.  The border has been punched with a Martha Stewart Snowflake edge punch with Bazzill card underneath and a strip of white lace over the top.  The sentiment has been stamped and embossed in silver and matted and layered using my SU punches.  The snowflakes and stars are die cuts using silver mirri and then I added some flowers and a ribbon.

Thanks for stopping by.

Angels, From the Realms of Glory

Bah Humbug's challenge this week is Christmas Carols.  On a cream square card blank I mat and layered some sheet music paper (which was downloaded free from the internet) onto black card.  I have taken the first verse from Angels, From the Realms of Glory, which I suppose is more of a Christmas Hymn than a Carol, and printed it out onto pearlised cream card.  If you are quick you can then emboss it with clear embossing powder (printer ink doesn't dry so quickly on coated card) which I did.  I then cut it out with my nesties and matted it onto a larger gold mirri die cut.  I then used a stamp from Stamps Away called Large Angel of Peace and embossed it in gold onto cream pearlescent card.  I then stamped and embossed a second image onto vellum.  I cut out the original image and just the wings from the vellum which were added using Pinflair Gel.  I then added a small ribbon bow and some pearls.

Thanks for looking.

Elf challenge

The challenge this week over at Die Cut Dreams is ELF............ not sure how common it is to have an elf stamp etc but I hunted around and found this cute image of an elf holding a present (mind you he doesn't look at all pleased to be giving it away........ lol).  It's from Little Scraps of Heaven Designs and it's a paper piecing design. 

I covered a 6" square card blank with paper from Papermania Silent Night and then got to work with my new nesties............... these are beautiful and the set I've used here is the Beaded Ovals.  I think you will be able to see from the photo that you can actually use an embossing tool and emboss the design from the back of the die which gives an additional element to them.  I have threaded some red ribbon through the main oval - all the papers used are from the Silent Night collection.  I have used a Martha Stewart punch for the central border, added some red lace, gems and photo corners which were cut with my EK Success punch.  The sentiment is computer generated - a bit cheesy but gave me a giggle!!  I added some cotton wool on the elf's hat and Stickles and ribbon on the parcel.  The final touch was some Diamond Glaze on his boots and eyes.

Thanks for stopping by.