Christmas Designs Preview 2011

I have decided to create a separate blog post for Christmas cards...hope you like them! 
Some, made with Spellbinders Dies or House Mouse stamps, were also featured on my July blog...so if you wish to see how they were made, please refer back. These are just a few of the designs, there are others in July!!!
 I have now given them titles for easy reference:
White Christmas

The Holly & The Snowflake! 

Eaten too much! 

Merry Berry Mouse

close up from above card

Golden Globes

Windy Winter Day: This card in reality is large (A4), but it could be made to any size. The girl is an image from Polkadoodles Paper Boutique, Creative Christmas CD and I covered each part of her clothing with felt. It's a really 'touchy-feely' card. She is set on a white glitter background and finished off with polkadot ribbon. A fun card, especially for a little girl.

More to follow later....soon

October 30th 2011

For my main blog today, please see the October page, but here are a few more Christmas cards..

The first one was made by first of all embossing the front of the card, using a snowflake die and using my Cuttlebug, using the debossed side. I made 2 poinsettias using Spellbinders dies and the Grand Calibur (I love these dies) and finished it off with a greeting and some deep red sheer ribbon.

 I have made quite a few Christmas cards using the Me to You cd... I printed this one and they cut it out with the Picot Edge Circle Spellbinders die, which is ideal for feeding ribbon through! The card was backed with paper from the cd.

This one is a bit of fun for a dog lover! I covered the 8x8 card with red card from stash; matted and layered the photo (from Joanna Sheen's Furry Friends cd) on silver metallic card, leaving just a narrow edge and finished it off with a swirly shapeabilities die, from the 'Fancilful Holidays' set and the 2010 Spellbinders ornaments set. I added a plain satin ribbon, polka dot ribbon and a button...cute!

That's all for now folks x

November 13th 

I have been so busy making Christmas cards for orders, that I haven't even started my own yet..which is very worrying! But I wanted to share a few cards with you from my library, and these are cards are made using my own art, which because I am so busy making the cards, I don't get much chance to do lately.. 

 I am not good at drawing from imagination - I need a photo or some other inspiration and I think this was a Christmas ornament that I sketched. I did this is the days before using Promarkers was the preferred colouring medium, so I used watercolours.

This was sketched from a  Primitive folk art picture (I love Prim art) and again watercoloured. I did several paintings similar to this one.
























                                                                         


Finally, this is a photo I took at Batsford Arboretum in the Cotswolds, on a spring day a few years ago. He was a very willing little fellow and I took quite a few photos, so decided to put them on my Christmas cards that year... I think next year may be time to bring him out again.


I haven't explained how I made these cards as they are all 6x6 and very simple makes...even made before I got my Calibur and Cricut!

August 2011

Hi all, I have been busy these last few weeks trying to get some cards made for my cousin to try and sell at her fundraiser for Cancer Research in a few weeks and it's also been a busy time with family birthdays...and I'm also still determined to get my Christmas cards made!
 I am quite excited to read on her blog that my  'crafting idol' Sue Wilson is soon to bring out her first crafting DVD...oh wow! 

You know how much of a Promarker fan I am? Well Nikky Hall and Martyn Parker simply talked me into trying Letraset's new FlexMarkers on Create and Craft last week...can't wait for them to arrive and share with you my thoughts on them!


Here are a few of my cards to share with you so far...


The first one is my 'grunge bag'! I cut the shape for the bag using my Cricut Storybook cartridge, first on plain white card and then on Tim Holz/coredinations card (antique linen), I sanded it and then stamped the birds. I used brown polka dot paper from stash to cover the bottom of the bag. The 'thank you' was stamped on to a die from the Spellbinders Parisien accents set and the flowers were made from the anemone spellbinders die and flowers/leaves from cricut cartridges. They were curled, sanded and I added a hint of glitter. The card is finished off with a rusty wire handle. This card took a while but it was a joy to make!

This was a simple card made from acetate. I have to confess the paper was from my stash, but it was printed from one of my CDs...I will revisit when and add which one when I have found it!
The flowers and tags were made using punches and the card was finished off with a brad and some ribbon.

I am very fond of Tatty Button and how different colourways work so well. This was made using a deep fucshia coredinations card. I used a Martha Stewart punch for the border and threaded matching silk ribbon through. Tatty was coloured with Promarkers (of course) and the flower was again made by stamping, colouring and cutting out several umberellas from Tatty's 'worker' stamp set.

A new House Mouse stamp to play with! They are just irresistible! Need I say he was coloured with Promarkers, after being stamped in to a deckled oval spellbinders die? The edges were accented with tea rose distress ink.I used a hole punch to make the circle for the easel card to rest on and decorated with polka dot ribbon and buttons from stash. 

This is Tatty Button's little mouse pal, Pip. Again stamped on a deckled oval die, which is inked very subtley at the edges with Spun Sugar distrss ink. I used paper from stash and polka dot ribbon in translucent brown finish it off, together with punched flowers and brads

One last card for now...my first from the Tatty Teddy, Me to You CD I just bought. I decided to buy this one for two reasons...I do like this little bear and I hope he will sell well at fairs, but its the first CD that has been made available that works properly on a MAC!!! You can access the files on most of the others, but I usually revert to my laptop for interaction...this one interacts all the way on my Mac..wonderful! This is one of the digistamp images, which I coloured...the image was printed on to Nenah white card and cut with the deckled oval die...just a simple, fun ca




Friday 26th August
More cards will be added in September; we've been on holiday - a 'staycation' which was absolutely fabulous.. London, Alfie Boe in Les Mis, Tracey Emin exhibition, followed by a host of other arty type trips closer to home: Oxford and the Ashmolean, Bath and the Holbourne (Peter Blake's Museum for Me exhibition was superb) and just exploring our Cotswold countryside. It's sometimes nice just to spend time in the beautiful surroundings on your 'doorstep' so to speak.

I have already started to think about some scrapbook pages from the holiday and will post them eventually! I came home to a lot of orders for cards, so that has put a temporary halt to my Christmas cards, just as I was getting into the swing of it. We have a holiday again in a few weeks, this time off to Italy, so I had better get moving!


It's going to be a card making day today as no work, but I am very excited about the POTW on Create and Craft, because it's Spellbinders! My Christmas present sorted! I am also excited about receiving Sue Wilson's DVD...can't wait!