Knitted Cable Hat

I made this hat with one of my charity shop finds - 400g of Wendy Chunky wool for £3.50, banded and brand new.  It was definitely a bargain that was too good to miss and up to now I've made two cable hats but also have yarn that is still to be knit.

Although I enjoy cardmaking I find it easier to take knitting or sewing when we go away in our campervan.  I enjoyed knitting this pattern and thank goodness for YouTube so I could remind myself how to sew it up with mattress stitch to get a tidy seam at the back.

If you would like to share your views on printers and also have a chance to win a Clearly Besotted stamp and die set - please see my Questions about Printers and Giveaway post.

Kath x

Rockin' Robin

My final card today uses another Clearly Besotted stamp and die set to make a card for another teenager.  As it's for the sister of the person who will receive my 'Tis the Season to Prance card I've used the same layout.

I stamped the robins onto snippets of white card, coloured them with Promarkers and die cut them with the coordinating dies.  I put the card blank into my MISTI and laid the robins onto the card so I could see where to place the sentiment.  I removed the robins and stamped the sentiment a couple of times to get a dark image as I was stamping onto hammer card.  The robins were attached to the card with double sided tape and I attached the hat with foam tape to give some dimension.  I then added a Wink of Stella to the hat.

To make this card I used:
     6" x 4" white hammer card
     Clearly Besotted 'Rockin' Robin' stamps and dies
     Mememto Tuxedo Black ink (for the robins) and Versafine Onyx Black (for the sentiment)
     Promarkers
     Snippets of white card
     Wink of Stella

I am entering the following challenges:
     Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes
     I Love Promarkers - Anything Goes
     Merry Little Christmas Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes
     Pearly Sparkles Challenge - Christmas

If you would like to share your views on printers and also have a chance to win a Clearly Besotted stamp and die set - please see my Questions about Printers and Giveaway post.

Kath x

Zig Zag Happy Birthday

I made this card using the colours from this week's CAS Colours and Sketches Challenge.

To make this card I die cut the zig zag die in white card and set it aside.  I die cut it in lilac pearlescent card and removed the inlaid zig zags leaving the frame inside the die.  I then inlaid the white zig zags - this is what I was doing in my previous post.  I covered the back of the die with double sided tape and removed the whole piece from the die and laid it across my card blank, trimming the ends flush with the card blank.  I die cut 'Happy Birthday' once from the yellow card and twice from red card.  I layered the two red die cuts on top of each other and then offset this on the yellow die cut to give a shadow.

To make this card I used:
     6" x 6" white hammer card blank
     Creative Expressions 'Clean and Simple - Zig Zag Border' and Crafts Too 'Happy Birthday' dies
     Snippets of lilac, red and yellow pearlescent card, white hammer card

I am entering the following challenges:
     AAA Cards - Maximimum White Space + Optional: Geometric
     CAS Colours and Sketches - Colour Challenge
     Perfectly CAS - Birthday

If you would like to share your views on printers and also have a chance to win a Clearly Besotted stamp and die set - please see my Questions about Printers and Giveaway post.

Kath x

'Tis the Season to Prance

I love these Clearly Besotted coordinating stamp and die sets as they make lovely cute cards that aren't too twee - perfect to send to a teenager.

To make this card I stamped the reindeer onto snippets of white card, coloured them with Promarkers and die cut them with the coordinating dies.  I put the card blank into my MISTI and placed the reindeer onto the card so I could see where to position my sentiment.  I removed the reindeers and stamped the sentiment.  The reindeer were then attached to the card with double sided tape.

To make this card I used:

     6" x 4" white matt card blank

     Clearly Besotted 'Let's Prance' stamp and die set

     Memento Tuxedo Black ink (for the reindeer) and Versafine Onyx Black (for the sentiment)

     Promarkers

I am entering the following challenges:

     Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes

     Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge - 'Tis the Season

     Jingle Belles - Rudolph and Friends

     Merry Little Christmas Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes

     Pearly Sparkles Challenge - Christmas

If you would like to share your views on printers and also have a chance to win a Clearly Besotted stamp and die set - please see my Questions about Printers and Giveaway post.
  

Kath x

Questions about Printers and Giveaway

This month my questions are about Printers.  I need to buy a new printer as my current one has never been able to cope with printing on card, but it now won't print in colour either.  A couple of crafty friends have told me what they use, but I'm curious to know about other printers being used too.

  - What make and model printer do you have?
  - What thickness card is your printer able to print?
  - Do you print anything else other than card and paper?  If so, what do you print on?
  - Do you use your printer for printing digital stamps and/or papers?  If so, what weight paper/card do you use?
  - Do you have a favourite card/paper for printing?  If so, what is it?
  - What do you like/dislike about your printer?
  - If you were going to buy a new printer - would you buy the one you have now?
  - And, of course, any other advice you can give about buying a new printer.

All comments will be entered for the giveaway, unless you specifically say that you don't want to be included.  As this is going to be my last 'Questions' post I have two Clearly Besotted stamp and die sets to give away to two people - these are 'Jingle Bells' and 'Christmas Pudding'.

Please leave all comments by 08:00 BST on Tuesday 26 November.  I'll announce the winner of the giveaway the following day.

Kath x

Tinsel Christmas Trees

As well as my normal Wednesday cardmaking posts, I've decided to post on Sundays too.  These posts will all be non-cardmaking things I've made - most of which will be for sale on Folksy.

Today's post is three knitted tinsel Christmas trees.  A friend gave me a ball of tinsel yarn she had bought and then found she didn't have the patience to knit it.  I found the yarn easy to knit, but not so easy to sew around the polystyrene cones!  The trees were knit as triangles and then sewn around the cone with shirring elastic around the bottom edge to pull the knitting tight over the cone.

Kath x

P for Poppies

My final post today is a card I made for the Alphabet Challenge 'P for Poppies' and then found it also fit some of my other favourite challenges.

I die cut the poppy from white card and coloured it with red and green Promarkers, colouring on both sides of the card several times to give a good depth of colour.  I had already had a 'trial run' with a scrap of paper in my MISTI to line up the sentiment, so I placed the card blank into MISTI and stamped the sentiment a couple of times to get a lovely deep green.  I then attached the poppy with Stick & Stay glue.

To make this card I used:
     6" x 6" warm white hammer card blank
     Memory Box 'Prim Poppy' die
     Woodware 'Wheat' sentiment stamp
     Versafine Olympia Green ink
     Promarkers

I am entering the following challenges:
     AAA Cards - Maximum White Space     
     Alphabet Challenge - P for Poppies
     Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes With Dies - October Challenge
   

Kath x

Season's Greetings

I love the simplicity of this card and whilst I had the dies and stamps on my desk I've made a few for my Christmas card box.  They're also a great way of using some more small snippets of paper and card.

To make the card I attached dark blue and pale blue snowflake paper to white card and die cut a medium and small triangle tree.  I placed the triangles onto the card front and using my MISTI I added the sentiment to the lower edge.  I removed the triangles and stamped the sentiment a couple of times to get a deep shade of blue to match the largest tree.  The dark blue tree was attached directly onto the card and the smaller one was attached with Pinflair glue to give some dimension.

To make this card I used:
     6" x 6" white matt card blank
     Sizzix 'Leafy Trees' dies
     Clearly Besotted 'Cheerful Christmas' stamps
     Versafine Majestic blue ink
     Snippets of dark blue and pale blue paper, white card

I am entering the following challenges:
     AAA Cards - Maximum White Space & Optional Twist Geometric
     Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes With Dies - October Challenge
     Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge 364

Kath x

Winter Wonderland

I was so pleased to have found an old Lili of the Valley 'Winter Wonderland' Art Pad for sale as this was one of my Christmas favourites!  I've used one of the cute images to make my sister's Christmas card.

I covered the front of the card blank with holly paper, leaving a white border around the edge.  I trimmed the precoloured image into a square and die cut 'Sister' from the top corner before attaching it to the centre of the card.  I die cut 'Sister' from a snippet of brown textured card and inlaid it into the image.  To finish I highlighted the girl and holly with a Wink of Stella.

To make this card I used:
     7" x 5" white matt tent fold card blank
     Lili of the Valley 'Winter Wonderland' Art Pad
     Creative Expressions 'From The Heart - Female Relations' die
     Wild Rose Studio ' Annabelle's Christmas' paper
     Snippet of brown textured card
     Wink of Stella
    
I am entering the following challenges:
     Christmas with the Cuties - Personalise It
     Cutie Pie Challenge - Anything Goes As Long As It's Cute
     Fab 'n' Funky Challenges - Christmas

Kath x

October Rudolph Day

My first post today is my Christmas tree card for Rudolph Day.  I bought this Woodware tree stamp preloved many years ago and still love using it.

To make this card I covered the front of the card blank with black, orange and yellow paper leaving a border around the edge.  I trimmed a piece of white card and used my MISTI to stamp both the tree and sentiment, before heat embossing the image.  I coloured the baubles with various shades of orange, gold and yellow Promarkers to match the backing paper.  I stamped the tree trunk onto black pearlescent paper, fussy cut it and attached it to the tree.  The panel was attached to the card and I added Glossy Accents to the baubles.

To make this card I used:
     6" x 6" white matt tent fold card
     Woodware 'Christmas Bubble Tree' and Clearly Besotted 'Cheerful Christmas' stamps
     Versafine Onyx Black ink
     Orange, gold and yellow Promarkers
     Snippet of black pearlescent paper
     Glossy Accents

I am entering the following challenges:
     I Love Promarkers - Anything Goes     
     Rudolph Day - October Challenge
     Winter Wonderland - Merry and Bright (I used the word Merry and some bright colours)
   
Kath x

Opulent Baubles

My final post today uses an Opulent Baubles embossing folder and dies that had been a cover gift with a magazine.

To make this card I embossed a piece of white card - the folder also die cut the bauble.  I trimmed the panel around the embossed edge so it was slightly smaller than my card blank and attached it to the front of the card.  I used the die inside the embossing folder to die cut a bright pink bauble and inlaid it.  I attached pink floral paper to a piece of white card and die cut the intricate bauble before attaching it over the bright pink backing.  I didn't like the bauble top that came with the set so I die cut a the top of a tag using gold mirri and attached the circle to the top of the bauble.  To finish I attached a small gold bow (upcycled from one of last year's Christmas cards) to the card.

To make this card I used:
     6" x 4" white matt card blank
     Practical Publishing 'Opulent Baubles' embossing folder and dies
     Creative Expressions 'Pierced Tags' die
     Snippets of bright pink and gold mirri card, white matt card, pink floral paper
     Upcycled small gold bow

I am entering the following challenges:
     Jingle Belles - Pink Christmas
     Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes With Dies - October Challenge
     Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes
     Merry Little Christmas Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes

Kath x

Have a Wonderful Day

I love these large Woodware flower and sentiment stamps and have several different ones.  This card used the flower from one set and the sentiment from another set.

I put a square of white card into my MISTI and placed the flower and sentiment stamps on top.  When I was happy with the layout I stamped them several times with dark brown ink and then embossed them with clear embossing powder.  I layered the panel onto green paper before attaching it to the card.  I stamped the leaves onto a snippet of the same green paper and paper pieced them.  The large dots are pink card candi, the medium ones are silver nailheads and the small ones have been coloured with a pale pink Promarker with Glossy Accents on the top.

To make this card I used:
     6" x 6" white hammer card blank
     Woodware 'Bubble Bloom - Judith' and 'Bubble Bloom - Felicity' stamps
     Versafine Vintage Sepia ink
     Stampendous clear embossing powder
     Lili of the Valley 'Heartfelt' paper
     Pink Card Candi
     Silver nailheads
     Promarker
     Glossy Accents

I am entering the following challenges:
     Allsorts - Use Something Gold and/or Silver (my card has silver nailheads)
     The Flower Challenge - CAS

Kath x