Fabulous Fuchsias

I made this gift tag for my sister's birthday present using lots of snippets and a set of new to me 'pre-loved' stamps.

I covered a piece of white card with a snippet of cream paper and die cut the tag. I put the tag into my MISTI and stamped 'sister' in the lower corner -stamping a couple of times to get a good deep colour before embossing it with clear embossing powder. I stamped the flower with purple ink and the leaves with green ink before embossing them with clear embossing powder and cutting them with the coordinating dies.  I attached the leaves across the tag and trimmed the stem on the right side so it was flush with the side of the tag.  The flower was attached with a foam pad.  To finish I threaded a snippet of white ribbon through the top.

To make this card I used:
     Clearly Besotted 'Fabulous Fuchsias' stamps and coordinating dies
     Clearly Besotted 'Happy Birthday All' stamps
     Versafine Imperial Purple and Olympia Green ink
     Cosmic Shimmer clear detail embossing powder
     Snippets of white card, cream paper and white ribbon

I am entering the following challengs:
     Allsorts - Feminine/For a Lady
     Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes With Dies - July Challenge
     NBUS - Challenge 28 (my fuchsia stamps and dies)
     Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge 408

Kath x

Teddy with Present

I always take some cross stitching away in our campervan and this is one of the pieces I completed on our last 'adventure'.  This was an old magazine cover gift that was amongst a bundle of kits I bought earlier in the year.

The frame was made with a piece of Lili of the Valley paper that I attached to card before trimming it, rounding the corners and die cutting a circle from the centre.  I attached the teddy behind the aperture and layered it on the card.

Kath x

Chocolate Box Christmas Tree

I missed last month's Rudolph Day as we were away in our campervan, but have made a quick upcycled card (upcycling is my theme this year) for this month's challenge.  This card is made with the patterned card from the top of a box of Waitrose chocolates.

I trimmed the purple and gold card so it was slightly smaller than the card blank and attached it to the front.  I trimmed a piece of white hammer card and die cut the Christmas tree from the centre - setting it aside as I wanted to use the leaves.  The panel was trimmed and attached to the card.  I die cut the Christmas tree from the purple and gold card before inlaying both the tree and white leaves.

To make this card I used:
     6" x 4" white hammer card blank
     Sizzix 'Trees, Leafy' die
     Upcycled Waitrose chocolate box
     White hammer card

I am entering the following challenges:
     Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes
     Merry Little Christmas Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes
     Rudolph Day - July challenge

Kath x

Birthday Wishes Just For You

Before heading off on our last campervan 'adventure' I bought a pack of Hunkydory Deco-Large 'Flourishing Florals' to take with me.  We don't have much room to take many crafting items, but these fit into a small box together with my Pinflair glue and a few tools.  I made all the decoupage toppers whilst away and now have a drawer full of pretty floral images to make into cards.

I trimmed a piece of the co-ordinating card, layered it onto silver mirri and attached it to the card front.  The floral decoupage topper was attached to the centre of the card and a small sentiment topper attached to the lower corner with Pinflair glue.

To make this card I used:
     6" x 6" white matt card blank
     Hunkydory 'Flourishing Florals Deco-Large - Purple Petals' card, base layer, decoupage flowers and sentiment topper
     Silver mirri

I am entering the following challenge:
     Love to Craft - Anything Goes

Kath x

Happy Birthday

I made this card for my youngest great-nephew's forthcoming birthday.  As I haven't made any cards for a while it took my longer to find everything than it did to make the card!

I trimmed a piece of pale blue paper and layered it onto brown paper before die cutting an oval from the left side and placing it into my MISTI.  I stamped the sentiment with dark brown ink and then attached the paper to the card front.  I die cut the precoloured LOTV Art Pad image with an oval die and then die cut a number '5' on one of the sails before inlaying the topper into the card front.  I attached a small snippet of brown paper to a piece of card before die cutting '5' and inlaying it into the card.

To make this card I used:
     6" x 6" white matt card blank
     Lili of the Valley 'Action Time' Art Pad
     My Favorite Things 'Inside & Out Stitched Oval STAX Die-namics' and Memory Box 'Classic Numbers' dies
     Hobby Art 'General Greetings' stamps
     Versafine Vintage Sepia ink
     Lili of the Valley 'Bear Necessities' and 'Enchantment' papers

I am entering the following challenges:
     Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes With Dies - July Challenge
     Love to Craft - Anything Goes
     Seize the Birthday - Anything Goes

Kath x

The Harbourside

We're back from the first of our adventures in Zebedee following Steve's retirement, although we have plenty more trips planned for the rest of the year.  This is the card I made for Steve's 60th birthday using a Hunkydory Deco-Large card kit.  He loves visiting seaside harbours so I thought the image would be perfect for him.

I trimmed a piece of the backing card, layered it onto gold mirri and attached it to the front of the card blank.  I removed the decoupage layers from the backing sheet and layered them with Pinflair glue.  After the glue had dried I attached the topper to the centre of the card.  To finish I die cut 60 from gold mirri and attached the numbers to the lower corner of the card.

To make this card I used:
     7" x 5" cream matt card
     Hunkydory Deco-Large 'The Harbourside' backing card and decoupage
     Memory Box 'Classic Numbers' die
     Gold mirri

I am entering the following challenges:
     Allsorts - Masculine
     Love to Craft - Anything Goes
     Seize the Birthday - Anything Goes

Kath x

Life Begins at Retirement

Although Steve's actual retirement date is his birthday next month, today is his final working day so I've made this card for him.  Hopefully he will have lots of 'me time' in his retirement as well as many adventures in Zebedee.  

I attached dark blue paper to a piece of white paper and trimmed it so it was slightly smaller than the card blank.  I die cut a stitched circle from the centre and rounded the corners before attaching it to the front of the card blank.  I put the precoloured image into my MISTI and lay the circle die on top so I could see where to stamp the sentiment.  I removed the die and stamped the sentiment before die cutting the image.  The circle was then inlaid into the aperture.

To make this card I used:
     6" x 6" white matt card blank
     Lili of the Valley 'Vintage Boys' Art Pad
     My Favorite Things 'Inside & Out Stitched Circle STAX Die-namics die
     Practical Publishing 'Stamps for All Occasions' stamp
     Versafine Vintage Sepia ink
     Lili of the Valley 'Father Knows Best' paper
     Woodware Corner Rounder punch

Our first adventure in Zeb starts on Monday and we're going to be away for several weeks so I won't making any new posts until mid July.  I'm not sure how much commenting I'll be able to do either - that all depends on the weather and the wifi signals on our campsites.

Kath x

May Rudolph Day

It's time for another Rudolph Day - I can't believe that another month has flown by.  My Rudolph Day theme this year is 'Upcycling' so this is another card with an upcycled image from a Christmas card I received last year and a gold frame made from an old birthday card.

The Christmas card had got three angels on the front and I used a stitched rectangle die to cut this angel from the left side (I also cut the angel from the right of the card to make another Christmas card). The gold die cut stitched frame was from an old birthday card.  The frame was attached to the card and the angel topper inlaid into it.

To make this card I used:
     5.5" x 4.25" white hammer card blank
     My Favorite Things 'Inside & Out Stitched Rectangle STAX Die-namics' dies
     Upcycled Christmas card and birthday card

I am entering the following challenges:
     Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes
     Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes
     Merry Little Christmas Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes
     Rudolph Day - May Challenge

Kath x

Christmas Choir

This card is made with another Hunkydory Deco-Large topper which was amongst some preloved cardmaking items I've recently bought.

To make this quick card I layered the main image onto silver mirri and then onto red patterned paper before attaching it to the front of the card blank.  The images in the Deco Large kits are die cut so I removed them from the backing sheet and trimmed any small 'pips' around the edge before using Pinflair glue to add the decoupage layers to the card.  There were some small sentiments with the toppers pack but I chose to leave the card without a sentiment.

To make this card I used:
     7" x 5" white matt ard blank
     Hunkydory 'Christmas Choir Deco-Large' topper
     Snippets of red patterned card and silver mirri

I am entering the following challenges:
     Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Use Some Silver
     Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes
     Love to Craft - Anything Goes
     Merry Little Christmas Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes

Kath x

Whale Cross Stitch Keyring

I made this keyring with a mini 'Whale' cross stitch kit that I've recently purchased as part of a preloved selection of cross stitch items.  The design is by Graphworks.

After completing the stitching, I trimmed around the whale and inserted the fabric into an acrylic keyring.  I cut a small piece of white textured card to fit behind the stitching before clicking the two part of the keyring together.

Kath x

Thank You

I've recently bought some Hunkydory 'Flourishng Florals' Deco-Large images to put in my crafting box when we go away in our campervan.  Most of the designs are quite delicate but I love this vibrant design which is perfect for Allsorts '12th Birthday - Anything with Bright and Sunny Colours' challenge.

I trimmed the gold from around the edge of the main image and layered it onto gold mirri as I wanted to add an extra layer.  I then removed the decoupage layers from the backing sheet and used Pinflair glue gel to build the image.  I trimmed one of the sentiments to cut out 'Thank You' before layering it onto a tiny piece of gold mirri and attaching it to the corner of the topper with a small piece of foam tape.  Once the glue gel had dried I attached the topper to the card blank.

To make this card I used:
     7" x 5" cream hammer card blank
     Hunkydory 'Flourishing Florals - Retro Radiance' Deco Large
     Gold mirri

I am entering the following challenges:
     Allsorts - 12th Birthday - Anything with Bright and Sunny Colours
     Love to Craft - Anything Goes

Kath x

Enjoy your Special Day

I've recently been very fortunate to win two Chocolate Baroque stamps from the Allsorts Challenge - they're both lovely but this one is my favourite.  The stamps have lovely fine etched details which stamp beautifully.

I placed a piece of white hammer card into my MISTI and stamped both the floral panel and the sentiment in brown ink.  As I was stamping onto hammer card I stamped several times to get a good depth of colour.  I coloured the shaded parts of the roses with an orange pencil and then the rest of the flowers with a yellow pencil.  The leaves were coloured with two shaded of green.  I then gently rubbed the side of the tip of a pale pink pencil across the netting to give a slight colour behind the flowers.  I used a corner rounder punch to round the corners of the panel before attaching it to the card blank.

To make this card I used:
     6" x 6" white hammer card blank
     Chocolate Baroque 'Floribunda Net' and Hobby Art 'General Greetings' stamps
     Versafine Vintage Sepia ink
     Faber Castell Colour Grip coloured pencils
     Woodware Corner Rounder punch
     Snippet of white hammer card

I am entering the following challenges:
     AAA Birthday Card Challenge - Happy Birthday
     AAA Cards Challenge - Happy Birthday
     Allsorts - Anything Goes
     NBUS - Challenge 26 (using my new Chocolate Baroque stamp)
     Seize the Birthday - Make it a Bouquet
     We Love Chocolate Baroque - Bright Sunny Colours

Kath x

Pretty Girl

I made this card following the Less is More sketch and used the image from the cover of an old Lili of the Valley Art Pad.

I die cut the girl from the front of the Art Pad.  The first cut was down the right side of the image to remove the Art Pad number.  I then lined up the die along the stitched outline ensuring the frame from the Art Pad cover was removed down the left side.  The topper was layered onto the reverse side of a snippet of card from my 69th and Market Art Pad (the reverse side of the papers are a more solid colour than the patterned fronts).  The panel was then attached to the upper edge of the card blank.  I stamped the sentiment onto another snippet of the same pink card and die cut it with a circular die.  The sentiment was attached to the lower corner of the topper with a foam pad.

To make this card I used:
     7" x 6" white matt card blank
     Lili of the Valley 'Pretty Girls' Art Pad (the image from the front cover)
     My Favorite Things 'Inside & Out Stitched Rectangle STAX Die-namics' and 'Inside & Out Circle STAX Die-namics' dies
     Practical Publishing 'Stamps for All Occasions' sentiment stamp
     Versafine Onyx Black ink
     Snippets of 49th and Market 'Vintage Artistry in Blush' paper

I am entering the following challenges:
     AAA Birthday Card Challenge - Happy Birthday
     AAA Cards Challenge - Birthday
     Allsorts - Anything Goes
     Less is More - Sketch 26

Kath x

Cross Stitch Bow Card

Last week I posted a cross stitch heart card - this bow is from the same pattern and uses the same colours and fabric as the heart.

After stitching the bow I frayed the edges of the fabric before layering it onto red mirri card and attaching it to the centre of the card blank.

Kath x

Happy Birthday to You

I made this card following the new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches although I chose to rotate the sketch for my card.

I die cut a snippet of white card to make a fishtail flag, cutting it from each end to elongate the shape. I placed the flag into my MISTI and used black ink to stamp the sentiment along the lower edge before embossing it with clear embossing powder.  The flag was then attached along the lower edge of the card.  I used black ink to stamp the flowers onto gold textured card and the leaves onto green textured card.  These were embossed before being cut with the coordinating dies.  I coloured the decoration on the flower with a green Promarker and green sparkle pen.  The leaves were attached directly onto the flag and the flower was attached with a foam pad.

To make this card I used:
     8.25" x 4" white matt card blank
     Lil'inker Designs 'Modern Mehndi' stamps and coordinating dies
     My Favorite Things 'Fishtail Flags' dies
     Hobby Art 'General Greetings' stamps
     Versafine Onyx Black ink
     Lush Green Promarker
     Spectrum Noir Soft Jade Sparkle pen
     Cosmic Shimmer clear embossing powder
     Snippets of gold and green textured card and white matt card

I am entering the following challenges:
     AAA Birthday Card Challenges - Happy Birthday
     AAA Cards - Up to One Third
     Freshly Made Sketches - Sketch 485
     Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge 402I

Kath x