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

Answers about Die Cutting and Winner of Giveaway

I'm a little late with my 'Answers' post today as we away in our campervan until yesterday afternoon and I forgot to choose the winner last night.  But better late than never, so here is my post!

Thank you everyone who left comments on my Questions about Die Cutting post.  It's interesting to find out what other crafters use so thanks for taking the time to comment.  There are also a lot of very good tips too, so it's well worth having a read through everyone's answers if you haven't already done so.

The other important thing to announce is the winner of the Clearly Besotted 'Rockin' Robin' stamp and die set.  There were 15 comments and I've used Random.Org to choose the winner

The winner is Glennis F of Creating Cards.  Congratulations Glennis!  Please email me at kmbuckell@btinternet.com with your full name and postal address so I can get the stamps and dies sent out to you.

There will be more questions and another giveaway on the first Wednesday in November.

Kath x

Gold Heart of Hearts

I made this card for a Golden Wedding Anniversary using one of my favourite dies to inlay the hearts.

To make the card I die cut a stitched gold mirri frame and attached it to the card blank.  I die cut a stitched square from white hammer card and then die cut the 'Heart of Hearts' from the centre of the square.  I put the small hearts to one side before inlaying the square into the frame.  I die cut the heart from gold mirri and inlaid the gold and white hearts into the card.

To make this card I used:
     6" x 6" white hammer card blank
     Impression Obsession 'Heart of Hearts' die
     Gold mirri and white hammer card

I am entering the following challenges:
     Allsorts - Add Some Gold and/or Silver (I've obviously chosen the gold option!)
     Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes With Dies - October Challenge

Kath x

Rainbow Birthday

I love rainbows so when I saw this week's prompt at Less Is More is 'Rainbow' I knew I had to get all of my snippets out to find some bright rainbow colours. 

To make this card I cut my snippets of card to 1/8" width.  I placed the strips across the corner of my card blank and made a pencil mark by the top strip.  I placed the card blank into my MISTI and lined up the 'Happy' stamp so it was just above my pencil line and then stamped it in black ink.  I removed the pencil line and attached the rainbow strips across the card using wet glue to give some 'wriggle room' so I could make sure there were no gaps between the strips.  I then trimmed the ends of the strips level with my card blank.  I stamped 'birthday' onto white card, die cut it with the coordinating die and attached it along the top strip.

To make this card I used:
     5" x 5" white matt card blank
     Clearly Besotted 'Modern Calligraphy' stamps and coordinating die
     Versafine Onyx Black ink
     Snippets of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet textured card, white matt card

I am entering the following challenges:
     AAA Cards - One Corner   
     Allsorts  Spots and/or Stripes (I've obviously gone for the stripes option!)
     Less is More - Rainbow
     Perfectly CAS - Birthday
     Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge 363

If you would like to share your views on die cutting  and also have a chance to a Clearly Besotted stamp and die sets - please see my Questions about Die Cutting and Giveaway post.

Kath x

Love

A friend sent me this lovely glittery sentiment die cut a while ago.  It's such a lovely die cut (I don't know the name of the die) that I've not wanted to use it, however it's perfect for this month's Alphabet Challenge.

To make this card I attached a piece of pink floral paper onto white card before die cutting and embossing a heart. The heart was attached to the centre of the card blank.  I then attached the sentiment with wet glue to give me some 'wriggle room' so I could line it up along the embossed edge of the heart.

To make this card I used:

     5" x 5" white hammer card blank

     Spellbinders Nestabilities 'Classic Heart' die

     Kars tan embossing mat

     Lili of the Valley 'Heartfelt' paper

     'Love' die cut - make unknown

I am entering the following challenges:

     Alphabet Challenge - O for One Word Sentiment

     Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes With Dies - October Challenge

If you would like to share your views on die cutting  and also have a chance to a Clearly Besotted stamp and die sets - please see my Questions about Die Cutting and Giveaway post.

Kath x

Joy

I'm posting a bit late today as I've been waiting for the day to brighten up so I can take some photos.  This is a simple CAS card using one of my favourite dies.

To make this card I cut a piece of white card slightly smaller than the card blank and rounded the corners.  I die cut 'JOY' from the centre of the panel before attaching it to the card blank.  I die cut 'JOY' from pale blue card and inlaid it before die cutting the fancy 'JOY' from brown card and attaching it over the top.

To make this card I used:
     6" x 4" white pearlescent card blank
     Creative Expressions 'Festive Collection - Joy' die
     Woodware 'Round Corner' punch
     Snippets of pale blue, pale brown and white pearlescent card

I'm entering the following challenges:
     Alphabet Challenge - O for One Word Sentiment     
     52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Colour Challenge (White, Blue & Brown)
     Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes With Dies - October Challenge

If you would like to share your views on die cutting  and also have a chance to a Clearly Besotted stamp and die sets - please see my Questions about Die Cutting and Giveaway post.

Kath x

Happy Birthday

My final card today is a birthday card.  I have a few male birthdays during the autumn and thought these Clearly Besotted leaves would make some CAS birthday cards (I actually made a few cards whilst I had stamps and ink on my desk).

To make this card I used my MISTI to stamp the outline of the leaves with Vintage Sepia ink and then the solid stamp with a mix of Toffee and Habanero inks to give a lovely autumnal colour.  I also used some Spanish Moss on the rounded leaves.  I then used the coordinating dies to die cut the leaves.  I placed my card blank into MISTI and then laid the leaves onto the card so I could place my sentiment.  I removed the leaves and stamped the sentiment a couple of times with Vintage Sepia ink to give a lovely depth of colour.  The large leaf and rounded leaf were attached directly onto the card blank and I used foam pads to attach the smaller leaf.

To make this card I used:
     6" x 4" off white hammer tent fold card
     Clearly Besotted 'Fall Flowers' stamps & coordinating dies and 'Fancy Sayings' stamps
     Versafine Habanero, Spanish Moss, Toffee and Vintage Sepia ink

I am entering the following challenges:
     Die Cut Divas - Fall or Fall Colours
     The Male Room - Stay CAS

If you would like to share your views on die cutting  and also have a chance to a Clearly Besotted stamp and die sets - please see my Questions about Die Cutting and Giveaway post.

Kath x

Merry and Bright

This card also uses another image from a LOTV Art Sheet - this is the last one from the North Pole sheet to make another quick and simple card.

I die cut the image and placed it into my MISTI so I could ensure the sentiment was in the middle of the card.  I stamped the sentiment in Satin Red ink, stamping a couple of times to get a lovely deep red sentiment.  The panel was then layered onto dark red card and then attached to the centre of the card blank.

To make this card I used:
     5.5" x 4.25" white hammer card blank
     Lili of the Valley 'North Pole Christmas Art Sheet'
     My Favourite Things 'Inside & Out Stitched Rectangle STAX Die-namics' die
     Snippet of dark red card

I am entering the following challenges:
     Winter Wonderland - Merry and Bright

If you would like to share your views on die cutting  and also have a chance to a Clearly Besotted stamp and die sets - please see my Questions about Die Cutting and Giveaway post.

Kath x

Peace on Earth

This is one of the last images from my LOTV Art Sheets - I wish I had bought more before they stopped selling them.  I know they still sell their coloured images but I can't print them on my ancient printer (I may have to ask Santa for a new printer!).

I lay the precoloured image on my MISTI and placed the die around it so I could see where to position the sentiment.  I removed the die and stamped the sentiment a couple of times to get a deeper colour to match the kraft card blank.  I then die cut the image and attached it to the centre of the card.

To make this card I used:

     5.5" x 4.25" kraft tent fold card blank

     Lili of the Valley 'Girlie Christmas' Christmas Art Sheet

     My Favourite Things 'Inside & Out Stitched Rectangle STAX Die-namics' die

     Versafine Toffee ink

I am entering the following challenges:

     Christmas Crafts All Year Round - Nativity

     Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes

     Merry Little Christmas Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes

If you would like to share your views on die cutting  and also have a chance to a Clearly Besotted stamp and die sets - please see my Questions about Die Cutting and Giveaway post.

Kath x

Santa's On His Way

As part of my craft clearout I've emptied my box of upcycled cards to see which ones I will really use.  I've been a bit ruthless and those that I've decided I won't use have gone into the recycling bin, I've made cards from some and a few have gone back into the box.

To make this card I used a lovely Santa and soldier card.  I've kept the card quite simple as there's so much detail in the picture.  The soldiers and Santa are highlighted with gold so I trimmed a strip of gold glitter paper and attached it across the lower part of a red card blank.  I them trimmed the Santa card and then attached it across the centre of the glitter strip.

To make this card I used:
     7" x 5" red embossed tent fold card blank
     Upcycled Christmas card
     Gold adhesive glitter sheet

I am entering the following challenges:
     ABC Christmas Challenge - U for Upcycle
     Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge - Twinkle

If you would like to share your views on die cutting  and also have a chance to a Clearly Besotted stamp and die sets - please see my Questions about Die Cutting and Giveaway post.

Kath x

Lots of snippets

I've spent several enjoyable hours this afternoon making gift tags out of snippets of white card, papers and ribbon - a total of 65 tags!

To make the tags I glued various snippets of paper onto snippets of white card.  I cut and embossed as many tags as I could with the largest die, then moved on to the middle size and finally made some with the small die.  I then added snippets of ribbon to the tags - most of them don't have ribbon yet as I've run out of small snippets and don't want to cut into my longer lengths or ribbon at the moment.

To make these tags I used:
     Creative Expressions 'Pierced Tags' dies
     Kars tan embossing mat
     Snippets of white card, various patterned papers and ribbon

I am entering the following challenges:
     Dies R Us - Anything Goes  
     Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge 362

If you would like to share your views on die cutting  and also have a chance to a Clearly Besotted stamp and die sets - please see my Questions about Die Cutting and Giveaway post.

Kath x

Santa, Rudolph and Gifts

I love this cute Lili of the Valley image and it's a perfect card for one of the younger members of our family.  Sadly it's also one of the last images left from this lovely LOTV Christmas Art Pad.

To make this card I die cut the precoloured image and inlaid it into a die cut and embossed red frame - it doesn't get much quicker and easier than that!

To make this card I used:
     5.5" x 4.25" white matt card blank
     Lili of the Valley 'Winter Wonderland' Art Pad
     My Favourite Things 'Inside & Out Stitched Rectangle STAX Die-namics' dies
     Dark red embossed card

I am entering the following challenges:
     Christmas Kickstart Challenge - It's a Gift
     Merry Little Christmas Challenge - Amything Christmas Goes

If you would like to share your views on die cutting  and also have a chance to a Clearly Besotted stamp and die sets - please see my Questions about Die Cutting and Giveaway post.

Kath x

Questions about Die Cutting and Giveaway

This month my questions are about die cutting and there is also another Giveaway.

Here are a few questions to start you off:

  - Do you use a manual, electronic or computerised die cutting machine?
  - What to you like (or not like) about the machine you use?
  - As well as card and paper - do you cut anything else?
  - Do you have a favourite manufacturer of dies?  If so, what do you like about them?
  - Do you like coordinating stamp and die sets?  (If so, you may like this month's prize!)
  - Do you have any favourite techniques with dies?
  - And, of course, any other information you would like to share about die cutting.

All comments will be entered for the giveaway, unless you specifically say that you don't want to be included.  This month I'm giving away a Clearly Besotted 'Rockin' Robin' stamp set and coordinating dies.

Please leave all comments by 08:00 BST on Tuesday 22 October - I'll announce the winner the following day.

Kath x