Using Stencils

The folk over at Bah! Humbug! have set us a challenge card this week using stencils.

For this card I started off with a brass stencil with the word NOEL - I thought I'd using it slightly differently so got out my gold embossing paste which was spread evenly over the stencil.  I've often found that the stencils are slightly warped/bent so you tend to get paste under the stencil; but this time I used some Crafters' Companion Stick & Spray as a temporary adhesive on the back and it worked very well, keeping the stencil very flat to the card.  Removed the stencil immediately so I could wash it and let the paste dry.  I then trimmed the image and matted onto gold linen card.  I then took another stencil (Imagination Crafts) and laid it down on card and spritzed over the top with  Moon Glow.  This was matted onto white pearl card.  I took an 8x8" blank card and cut some gold linen card to size and used my Martha Stewart punch to cut out the snowflake border; these were attached to the base card.  I attached two pieces of gold ribbon to the spritzed background, used foam squares to attach the NOEL panel and then cut out some more snowflakes using a nesties die.  When the card was assembled I added some gems for that extra bit of "bling".

Thanks for looking.

Punch out your sentiment

This week's challenge over at Die Cut Dreams is "Punch our your Sentiment".  I was lucky to be in their Top 3 for last week's challenge so would like to take this opportunity to thank them very much.

Close up of pyramage

For this easel card I have used a stamp from the Elusive Images "Christmas Tweetings" stamp plate.  This was coloured using ProMarkers and then I put the image through my die cutter using three nesties to create my own style pyramage.  The first (largest) layer was put on a red mat using d/s tape; the second layer was added using foam tape and for the third and final layer I used a double layer of foam tape to raise it up.  The backing paper was from my stash and came, I think, from a Papermania set.  The sentiment is from a calendar set of stamps from Lili of the Valley and punched out using a Stampin Up circle punch and then layered onto red and gold mirri mats.  I then added some ribbon, gems and a variety of flowers which were punched out with SU punches.


Thanks for looking.

House Mouse card

It's my friend Janet's birthday today and I'd like to wish her a very Happy Birthday.  Hopefully we will be seeing her tonight at our craft club meeting.

I've made a card using my House Mouse Autumn Berry stamps which were coloured with ProMarkers and Diamond Glaze added to the berries.  The base card is pearl white A5 which I have put through my Joy die cutting machine with a Cuttlebug embossing folder.  I was able to lay the entire card out flat (A4 size) so I didn't get any impressions on the back of the card and then put it through twice - once for each side of the card.  It will be really nice when the manufacturers start making larger embossing folders!  The layers have been cut using my Go Kreate XL Frilly Labels and also Nesties labels dies.  The flourish is a Sizzix die and I have added some purple ribbon and gems.  The sentiment is from the House Mouse stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by.

Give away............

Ikki over at Ikki's Cuttlebug Cupboard is giving away a Diamond Cardcraft Eaziscore Board.  Just pop on over to her blog and leave a comment to be in with a chance of winning.

Just a quickie!

I don't know if you're like me but I collect all these freebie stamps that come with magazines but never seem to do anything with them!!!  They all pile up and I keep thinking "hmmm must do something with those"!!!!  lol

Well, today was the day.  I made use of a freebie set with came, I think, with the Creativity magazine.  Simply stamped the image and coloured with pencils, added the handbag stamp and the sentiment and then matted onto co-ordinating card using a labels die.  Not sure if you can see from the photo but I put the layers through my  Joy A4 machine in a new QuicKutz Diamond embossing folder.  Everything else used is from my stash.

Thanks for looking.

New Beginnings

The challenge over at Do It With Digi's is New Beginnings.  The lovely Lynne over at Sentiments 4 You is kindly giving away a sentiment for this challenge so if you fancy a go pop over and visit her.  The only rule for the challenge is that you must only use digi stamps.

I decided to use this digi stamp of a house in the woods and thought it could be a new home card.  Unfortunately I don't know where it came from........ it would be so much easier if people giving away free digi stamps would actually put their name/blog on it when you download so you could actually acknowledge them.  Anyway I printed it out on pearl photo paper and it is matted onto copper mirri and dark brown cardstock.  The backing paper is from my stash but I think it's from Graphicus.  I imported the sentiment into a graphics programme to allow me to change the text from black to brown/sepia to match the main image and printed it out, again on pearl photo paper, and matted it on the same card as the main image.  I added a border at the side using a SU edger punch.  I then added a flourish which is a Sizzix die cut, some flowers, gems and ribbon to finish off the card.

Thanks for looking.

Bah! Humbug! Holly and Fairies

Well folks - here we go again.......... only just taken the Christmas cards down and Bah! Humbug! has started up their challenges again!

The first one is Holly and Fairies and whilst I was clearing my table (!!!) I found this card that I had started last year and the white card had already been die cut using a Nellie Snellen frame die and mounted onto red card - so I thought that was a good place to start.  I decoupaged all the layers of the die cut up using Pinflair glue gel and then stamped this image of a Christmas fairy praying from Lili of the Valley which I coloured in with Promarkers.  The wings are made from Angelina Fibres although it doesn't show up very well in the photo.  I used Stickles on the holly berries in her hair and used glue gel to add her to the top of the decoupaged die cuts.  I then stamped a corner holly leaf image at each corner and added more Stickles to the berries.  It's a very simple card but hopefully will ease me into crafting for next Christmas!!  lol

Thanks for stopping by.

Definitely a man's card!!!

It's my nephew-in-law's (does that make sense......... my husband's nephew!) birthday soon - he lives in Sydney, Australia and it's been a while since we've seen him.  He is absolutely besotted by any kind of sport; especially cricket but we shouldn't really mention that at the moment!!!!  lol

So I decided to use My Craft Studio "The Finishing Line" to create this card.  As with most of the cards made with MCS you simply print out the elements you want and mat and layer as required, which is what I've done.  The sentiment has been printed out onto a hazy image of the front racer on the circuit but I totally forgot to add my words when I was in the MCS programme........ so I printed out the sentiment onto some copy paper to make sure it was the correct size/orientation and then used some repositionable glue tape to attach the oval over the sentiment on the copy paper and then sent it through the printer again.  This is a trick I use quite frequently and it works a treat if you want to print onto ribbon.  All I've added is some mirri card and black brads.

Thanks for looking.

Happy New Year to Everyone

Happy New Year to everyone.  I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and got lots of crafting presents!

One major present I had this year was the new Joy A4 die cutting machine.  Now I will agree with everyone that it's not the prettiest looking piece of equipment but it actually looks better in real life.  What I am so impressed with is that you can put an A4 sheet through to cut an aperture in the front of an A5 card............ you can emboss the entire front of your card and one bonus is that when you put your nesties through the machine it not only cuts but actually embosses at the same time!  I couldn't actually believe that but it's great and certainly that saves an awful lot of time.

I had to have a play with it when we got back from spending Christmas with my sister Val and the rest of the family.  I took an A5 card and placed a Go Kreate XL Frilly Labels die over the top to create a shaped card.  I had some left over backing paper and toppers from one of the cards I made from my Ooh La La Shoes in Bloom CD so thought I would utilise these to make a birthday card for a friend.  I used the smaller Go Kreate die to shape the backing paper and then used nesties labels to cut out the main image and it's mat.  A piece of ribbon, some flowers, a touch of Stickles and a SU sentiment completed the card.

Thanks for stopping by.

Lili of the Valley Challenge 77 – a sketch by Dena

The challenge over at Lili of the Valley is a sketch challenge.

I have used a LOTV stamp depicting a girl putting the star on top of the Christmas tree.  I embossed the image with a WOW copper glitter and then coloured with ProMarkers.  A little bling has been added using Diamond Sparkles.  The image was cut out using a nestie and matted onto a copper fabric card.  The backing paper is from my stash and I cut two pieces of copper mirri as borders and they were edged with copper peel offs.  The sentiment is also LOTV which was cut and mounted using Stampin Up punches.  I added some gems and a paper flower to finish.

As this will be my last posting for a few days I would like to wish everyone a very Happy Christmas and a peaceful and healthy New Year.

See you in 2011!

Thanks for stopping by.

Purple and orange!!!

This week's challenge over at Die Cut Dreams is purple and orange.......... not something I would normally think of doing!

Close up of flowers/beads

However, here goes............. my image is a digistamp called Gilly's Tree from Prairie Fairy Designs coloured with ProMarkers.  To make her fit inside the nestie I wanted to use I made a pencil mark on each side of where the cuts would normally be and then cut out that part of her head with scissors.  Then I positioned the nestie with the cut part of her head over the top of the die (eg so it wouldn't be cut).  This was then mat and layered onto purple and orange die cuts.  The backing paper was made in My Craft Studio to get the orange/purple mix.  The sentiment is a digistamp from Sentiments4You  and punched out using Stampin Up punches.  I then added a piece of purple ribbon, a beaded pin and paper flowers and some gems.

Thanks for stopping by.

A Christmas Carol

This week's challenge over at Die Cut Dreams is "A Christmas Carol".

The main image is Gilly singing from Prairie Fairy Designs and coloured in with ProMarkers with added Stickles and Diamond Glaze on her glasses.  I've mounted her onto a nestie which, in turn, is mounted on a doily and again a nestie.  The music background is from Printable Heaven and was a free download.  Both the ticket and sentiment are from Sentiments4You.  I've used a border punched with a Martha Stewart punch with a strip of ribbon down the centre.  The fern is a punch from L-Em.com and the flowers were in my stash.

We woke this morning to about 2" of snow but it has been snowing again and we now have about 4" - this is a photo showing what it was like first thing this morning........... they have said that the South West will bear the brunt of the snow so goodness knows what's going to happen!!!  lol

Thanks for looking.

Craft room

Hi everyone

Well, as promised I have taken some photos of my "new" craft room.  The part that has been altered is where you can see all my MS and SU punches on the wall.  There used to be a sofa bed and double wardrobe situated in this area of my room but we have removed them and my DOH installed new units and worktops, shelving, towel rails for the punches, extra electrics etc.  It has made such a difference as I now have somewhere that I can leave my sewing machine and embellisher out rather than having to squirrel everything away.  Mind you, it didn't take me long to fill up every available space!!!!  lol  At the moment I've still got all my goodies out for the next Christmas fair which is on Sunday and then I can pack it all away until next year.

Thanks for looking.

Batch card making.........

Sorry I haven't been posting very often over the last couple of weeks but things have been really hectic having attended two craft fairs - I don't think people (unless you do them yourselves) really understand the amount of work involved.  Anyway they were both really successful but I was amazed that I have sold nearly all my Christmas cards.  I know my friend Anne doesn't bother taking Christmas cards to fairs as she finds people don't buy them as they can be bought very cheaply now.  Anyway most people seemed to be buying them as "specials" which was very nice.  Only problem is that it has left me seriously short of cards for myself!!!!! lol

So today I decided I needed to do some batch card making which isn't really something I enjoy, but needs must...........

I have used my village stamp from Create-a-Scene, some metal embossing, a LOTV image, a digi stamp and completed a card after Jan gave me a template (for the Christmas Tree).  So I haven't been lazing about - but just pretty busy.   After a few requests from people to take some photos of my new craft room I was going to do it today until I realised it needs a serious tidy up before I take any photos (doesn't take long eh????) so hopefully tomorrow I will get that done and post the photos.

Thanks for stopping by.

Ooh La La - Shoes in Bloom cards

I've recently made a couple of birthday cards using decoupage from my Ooh La La Shoes in Bloom CD.  I think they are really pretty and a bit different.






Neither of them needed much more to finish them off - I've just added some ribbon and flowers.










Thanks for stopping by.