'Steampunk' dreams - 29th February

Morning,


As I've said before, I'm intrigued by the world of Steampunk, especially the models and art, but I haven't real ventured into the world of Steampunk cards. My main reason for this is because most of my cards are either commissions or for sale in my husband's office or craft fairs...and I just know that unfortunately Steampunk won't sell to the general public.Of course there is the other consideration: I'm very 'girly' in my card making! It is very  out of my 'comfort' zone, as I do love girly florals...but I have to say, ask me to make Steampunk over a male sports/car related card any day :D


I have two attempts at breaking into this new world of art for me this week..the first one is quite girly and I'm not sure if it should be classed as  Steampunk really. I guess it's Vintage Grunge with a twist (!) ....and the next one (tomorrow) is for the men... 

This is again 8x8...I love square, as if you are a regular visitor, you have probably noticed!


My base layer is silver mirror card sanded quite roughly. This type of card will only give a scratched surface, but that's ok, I wanted a rough and ready look. I matted and layered this with black card and then embossed a smaller rectangle  of silver card with  a floral mask through the Grand Calibur. I had enough left of the dress forms card I had printed from my MCS Fab 50's  for an earlier project, so I used this as  a base layer for the pink vellum that I had embossed with the Couture Creations Vintage Dressmaker Embossing Folder (the new addition to my craft room for this card!). I think it is gorgeous. Once I'd put it through the Cuttlebug, I sanded it to bring out the texture even more.


To finish off the card I used Spellbinder dies, brads, embellishments and lace from stash and my ribbon box. One thing I am discovering about Steampunk is that it's a good way to find uses for little embellishments that have been hiding at the bottom of a box for a long time.


The black layer looked a little bare, so I finished off with faux pearls using Cosmic Shimmer Silver Lustre.  


Carole X


Used for this project;


8x8 card blank
black card
pink vellum
Couture Creations Vintage Dressmaker Embossing Folder
Spellbinders: Cuckoo Clock, Fanciful Flight
Creative Expressions mint bolts brads
That Special Touch of...Mask
Cosmic Shimmer Silver Lustre PVA
lace, embellishments from stash

Vintage Hollywood - 28th February

Good Morning!


The cards I am going to share over the next few days are all as a result of using some tools/stash I haven't used in a while, mixing them with some new additions and sitting down to experiment with a blank canvas!


My first one is a Hollywood inspired card..I probably should have posted this yesterday to coincide with the Oscars! Instead of all the usual glitz and sparkle, I tried a muted, worn, distressed vintage feel and this is the result...

I started with an 8x8 piece of cream card. Last week when Sue Wilson was on Create and Craft, she brought with her the card that she always uses for stamping and die cutting and as I had been anxious to try it, I ordered some. It arrived on Friday and I have to say I love it.

First of all I roughly distressed the whole card with Vintage Photo distress ink. Amongst my stash I had a sheet of 12x12 'admit one' ticket paper, so I added them to the spine of the card on the left side..it's weird because on the actual card, they look really neat compared to the photo! I printed the papers and topper from Debbi Moore's Diamonds and Lace CD. The two die cuts are made using Spellbinders Grand Scalloped Rectangles. One thing I need to do is invest in a few more 'Grand' dies, as I only have a few. I could have cut a better shape for this card with the Cricut, but I really wanted the embossed edges. I again used Vintage Photo on the script die-cut, but on the film die-cut, I used a little black soot. I did use a little of my Cosmic Twinkles around the edges. I think that even a vintage Hollywood card needs a little glitz!


The 'Happy Birthday' ticket is stamped on some of the left over cream card, using Sam Poole's  Celebration Tickets stamp set, distressed with Vintage Photo.


I finished off with some gorgeous coffee creme coloured crushed satin ribbon, a little diamante pin from my button box, a few peel off starts and 2 Creative Expressions hat pins...


But....the whole card was really made because before Christmas I had bought a little tin of Tim Holz movie reel ribbon and I had been itching to use it. I attached it across the topper with tiny brads and let it rise up to give it a 3D effect. It will easily fold flat and then bounces back. I love it, but will use it wisely from now on!


Carole X


For this project I used: 8x8 Card blank
                                  Cream card
                                  Debbi Moore's Diamond and Lace CD
                                  Vintage crushed satin ribbon
                                  Tickets from My Mind's Eye Kraft Fun 12x12 Kraft card
                                  Sam Poole Celebrations stamp
                                  Vintage Photo, Black Soot distress ink
                                  Cosmic Shimmer PVA glue and Cosmic Twinkles
                                  Tim Holz Film reel ribbon
                                  items from stash

Bluebelle Hen - 27th February

Morning Bloggers!

I have posted cards using this little hen stamp before, but I made this one recently for a friend's birthday. Some of you will know that we keep pet hens; our 'old girl', Buffy is 5 years old and a big, beautiful Bluebelle. Her colours vary through her plumage from a soft grey to a deep lavender blue and the reason I tried to emulate the colours in my card is that my friend also keeps a couple of Bluebelles....

This is a 6x6 card and for the base layer I used some pretty vintage 'country style' paper from my stash box. I distressed the edges with Milled Lavender distress ink. I stamped the image on Neneh White card and coloured the hen with a both Promarkers and Flexmarkers. It actually took a while to get the colours and shading as I wanted, despite the image being quite small, but I was very pleased with the end result!


This little stamp was a free gift with Craft Stamper magazine a few months ago and I really like using it. I cut the image using Spellbinders Teardrop Circles and again shaded the edges with Milled Lavender.


I finished off with a little edge of lace to follow through the Vintage theme and made a flower using pages from an old Thomas Hardy novel made with very thin paper, that I picked up for pence in a charity shop. I used the three smallest layers from the Spellbinders Anemone die, held together with a small brad and scrunched together to make a crumpled flower.

Carole X

Birthday Blues! 26th February

Hello!


I hope you are enjoying your weekend..thank you for dropping by my blog. I hope you like what you see and will come back...follow me and leave comments!


Following on from yesterday, today's card is the second part of a commission for two cards for the same person.

As I said yesterday, the hardest part is making the cards 'different'. Yesterdays was heavily floral and pink, so for the second card I chose shades of blue and this is the result.


The base layer is a rich blue textured card and I matted and layered this with white Centura Pearl card that I had embossed with  Spellbinders Grand Impressabilities, Flower Delights. I then cut three nesties in different sizes using the Grand Ovals die and the same blue card as the first layer, pale blue glitter card and white card distressed around the edges with Weathered Wood distress ink (I printed the greeting on the top layer). The little flowers and the birds were cut using the  Spellbinders Cuckoo Clock die.


The finishing touches to this card are a large double bow, tied using  beautiful Vintage Ribbon and some little faux pearls.


Carole X

Pretty in Pink - 25th February

Good Morning bloggers,


I'm back today with the first of two cards made for commissions...I have also been working on a few new cards to upload in the next few days....

It's very difficult when I get asked to make two cards for the same person, whatever happens they are going to have my 'stamp' on them and my challenge is for them to be different. 


For this card, which is 8x8, I started with a base layer of card from my Desert Flowers pad. I bought this on a whim and goodness it has been very useful! I shaded the edges with Spun Sugar distress ink, just to lift it a little and then I went for a letterpress effect for the next stage: I took the Spellbinders Heart Squares die and inked it with Perfect Medium. I then placed white card over it and embossed it as normal through the Grand Calibur. The result is the the embossed card can then be cut ut by hand, sprinkled with embossing powder (in this case Cosmic Shimmer Aurora Crystal and heat embossed. Unfortunately, it doesn't really show up in the photo.


I typed the greeting before cutting and embossing it with a smaller die from the same set.For the shading I used Worn Lipstick distress ink. I made the flowers using felt and the Flower Creations and Spiral Blossom One Spellbinders. I just love making these flowers from felt! The age greeting is cut from the Lacey Ovals die, shaded with Worn Lipstick ink and I finished the card with wide, sheer ribbon in a nice bright pink...a rather cheery card I think!


Carole X

Plain & Simple - 23rd February

Hello Bloggers!


Today's card is a simple design, which I think would work for birthdays or 'just because' days! I just started with some yellow coredinations card stock adhered to a 6x6  blank. I sanded it lightly, but it doesn't show in the photo. I matted and layered this with some card from stash (desert blooms pad) and then cut the two largest dies from the Spellbinders Heart Squares set. The flower was cut using the Anemone die, out of wool felt, which is really soft and easy to cut. The card is completed with a button from my button box and  tied with bakers twine. A nice simple card for those times we are all in a hurry.

I'm not going to be posting on Friday, we have some family staying over night  and I haven't had time to schedule any more posts...so hope to be back on Saturday!

Thanks for stopping by,

Carole X

Birthday Owl - 22nd February

 Hello!


I'm late today...no work, but quite a few orders to get cracking on and Sue Wilson has the Pick of the Day on Ideal World/Create and Craft, so it's been quite a perfect day really! I will be sharing today's creations over the next few weeks...and yes, I was tempted by some Spellbinders last night. Fortunately it's my birthday next month!!!!


Today's card is a 6x6  card that was made for a friend's birthday. I started by running some dusky pink coredinations card through my Grand Calibur using the Floral Delight Grand Impressabilities embossing die and then sanded it to raise the image.


I printed an owl from my Polkadoodles Sugar Babies CD and cut it out. I then cut and embossed a Spellbinders Lacey Ovals die. This is one of the dies I have always had problems releasing the card from - no matter how careful I am it breaks. Today on TV Sue Wilson suggested using some greaseproof paper over the die and I have been trying it with todays cards and baking parchment  - it works! I have had 100% success rate with my more intricate dies today.

I shaded the outer edge of the die cut with Spun Sugar distress ink and then cut the flowers from Spellbinders Floral Creations, put layered them to make just one flower, the card is white, finished off with Spun Sugar.

Finally I  taped brown and pink polkadot ribbon across the centre of the card and matted and layered the card with the die-cut, image and flower. A few pieces of card candi finished the card. 

Bye for now,

Carole X

Teen boys - 21st February

Morning all,


This card was a commission and one of those that was out of my comfort zone, primarily because it was for a teen and a male!!! However, I will not be defeated and was actually pleased with the final card...

Firstly I covered an 8x8 card with paper from a pad of quite funky papers aimed at mens' cards, that I was given for Christmas. The images are digi-decoupage and apologies, but at this moment I can't remember the site I bought it from..when I find out I will amend this post. I liked the images - Techie Teens and decided it would be  a useful one to buy. I printed the two standing boys on card and cut them out into the Grand Scalloped Nesties die, which I shaded with Weathered Wood distress ink. I then cut another, the same shape in silver mirror card. The seated lad was cut out separately and added to the front using sticky pads to give some lift. The greeting was cut with my cricut and I glittered it up by using some Spray and Sparkle over it. The final card had another tag with the boy's name on it as well, but I photographed before adding it.


This was a fun card and I will be using these images on cards to sell at craft fairs as well.


Carole X

Too Much Cake! - 20th February

Morning Bloggers and Crafters!


So here we are, another Monday morning and the start of a working week, when I really want to be in my craft room making cards! Todays card is another one of those cards, that took quite a while and was made 'just because'....

First of all, apologies for photography, not one of my best efforts! This card is 6x6, covered with paper from stash. I just wanted something pale pink, but not completely blank and as I had already planned on adding the little roses, this paper seemed to fit the need exactly. I then added a smaller square of polkadot card from stash, but I think it was originally printed from one of my Polkadoodles CDs and left over from another project. I made tiny holes around the edge with my trusty pokey tool and Tim Holz ruler and made faux stitches with a white jelly roll pen.


The little mouse, who has undoubtedly eaten too much cake, is of course, a stamp from the House Mouse range, which I coloured with Promarkers and cut out using a Spellbinders Grand Nestie Ovals die. I shaded the edges with a Spun Sugar distress ink and then added Cosmic Sparkle to the icing. I mounted the  Oval on the card using sticky pads to give it a bit of height. Using a scrap of card from my odd bits stash box, I cut a scalloped circle using a punch and tucked it behind the oval. There were still some odd bits of the glitter card left, so I cut out the two flowers.


For the greeting, I cut the base polkadot circle from  the Spellbinders Teardrop Circles set and printed the greeting from a Polkadoodles CD, cut out the circle and mounted it on the base circle. The final touches were the roses and ribbons, all from stash.


Hope you like it - happy Monday!
Carole Z

Birthday Bubbles - 19th February

Good Morning Bloggers!


It's a gorgeous Sunday morning here...I was up early to let our hens out into the garden and they've been clucking happily (and quietly) to themselves ever since! Normally, I try and schedule a week's worth of posts and just revisit to 'tweak'. It's really the only way when I have to go to work and have time to actually make the cards.


Yesterday we went into Bristol for a meander in the lovely Clifton area (it was wet and dreary yesterday- shame) and one of the shops we went into was a sic-fi comic store. I used to be a bit of a nerd about sci-fi (I know it's hard to believe) and I still like it, but less. But I am envious of all these people who make a living from comic art, because from Manga to Marvel, I think it's amazing. Anyway, I digress! This store actually now has an art and crafts section, I kid you not. It consists of books for knitting and crocheting monsters and robots, but I was taken with a little book called 'Steampunk Softies' with patterns and instructions to created little Steampunk miniatures. I bought it....so watch this space, especially as I have yet to create a proper steampunk card!


Today's card is far from Steampunk...it's fun and cute, I made it for a commission and I was really pleased with it!

I began with an 8x8 card blank which I covered with blue and white dotty paper printed from do crafts digital designer  and slightly distressed the edges with the merest hint of weathered wood distress ink.


I then embossed a smaller square of coredinations card with a floral mat from 'That Special Touch' and lightly sanded it. I printed the images from digital designer Tulip and Friends (Tulip and Hot Diggity Dog) and die cut it with Spellbinders Grand Scalloped Rectangles. Again I shaded the edges with Weathered Wood distress ink. I made the rosette from the same base paper and cut the birds and flower with Spellbinders dies from the Cuckoo Clock set. The greeting was printed and cut with Spellbinders  Lacey Ovals die. The border circles were made using a Martha Stewart punch. I then finished it off with a little touch of Cosmic Twinkles and my favourite  final touch, ribbons and buttons!


Have a great Sunday and see you tomorrow,
Carole X

Mouse Magic! 18th February

Morning!


I like making cards that take a long time to make, where I can really fill the space..but I don't often get the chance because most of the time I am creating a card with a remit from a customer and I am working to against the clock! But first and foremost I love to craft and every now and then have to take time just to put a  card together that is just for the enjoyment of it...and this is exactly how I would describe this card: I hope you like it!

I started with a 6x6 card blank, so it's a smallish card with a lot of dimension. The base blue card with raised polkadots is from my stash box, the paler blue is coredinations, which I embossed by putting a 'That Special Touch...' floral mask through my Grand Calibur. I gently sanded the card to raise the image, but there isn't much of the card showing. I then printed some backing paper (on to card) using docrafts 'Tulip and Friends' cd, cut the card into a square and distressed the edges with worn lipstick distress ink and sewed all around the edge by hand. The little mouse fairy is so sweet! I printed her from the same cd and then cut it out with the Spellbinders heart squares die, The edges were also shaded with  worn lipstick, but very lightly. My first choice would have been spun sugar, but I have used that one right up!


The heart is from Spellbinders classic hearts dies and the deckled circle was cut with my Cricut and tucked behind the heart square, which was added at an angle. The flowers, butterfly and ribbons were all from stash; the cupcake is from the cd and the bird, blue tag and blue flower were cut from the Spellbinders bird sanctuary die.


Finally I finished off with some lace and cosmic shimmer sparkle on the wings and wand.


This card was satisfying to make for several reasons...although I made a sketch of the layout, it came to life as I worked, I used all my favourite craft tools - Spellbinders, Grand Calibur, Cricut, distress inks, ribbons, stamps and cd, so it is a very eclectic finished card, that was a lot of fun to make!


Bye for now,
Carole Z

Birthday Wishes - 17th February

Hello!

I made this card last Summer before I started blogging, but it's one that I haven't shared with you before... so here it is for today's card!

I started with a white scallop edged 8x8 card, then added a smaller cream woven silk card. This was matted and layered with a peach colour card from the same card pad, but which I ran through the Grand Calibur using an embossing mask. I stitched around the edge of the cream card. I cut the black edger using Spellbinders Parisian Accents  and cut the two central designs using Parisian Motifs. In retrospect, I probably should have lightly distressed the white die cut.


The ribbon was a rich wide green vintage,which I absolutely adore; I always think that a ribbon such as this deserves 'centre stage', so I ruched it and tied a huge double bow, adding a button in the centre and finishing off the card with three little buttons at the top.


Carole X

Cuckoo! 16th February

Morning!


Today's card was a bit of fun with a vintage 'Country' Style. I bought this  Spellbinders die from Polkadoodles at the NEC last year and I confess, I had had my eyes on it for a while. It is fun to use and very effective, besides it's effect can change dramatically depending on the type of effect you want and the colours you choose.


With this card I was going for a kind of whimsical 'homespun' look....

I constructed the clock using Coredinations papers in blue and brown, which I then sanded to bring out the embossing. I started with a 6x6 card, layered with some card from stash. It's quite a deep blue with raised polka dots.


The clock was placed to one side and I printed the greeting on white card-stock, die cut using a die for the Spellbinders Ironworks Accents set and shaded with weathered wood distress ink. The card was edged with lace and the two butterfly buttons were the final touch.
What do you think?
Carole X

Simple Rose - 15th February

Hello!


Today's card is a very simple, any occasion card but I hope you like it!
I started with a 6x6 blank, which I covered with some green heavyweight scrapbooking paper (from stash) with a vintage floral design. Although the paper was 'pre-distressed' I added some Shabby Shutters distress ink around the edges.

The greeting was printed on white card, which was again edged with Shabby Shutters. Again apologies for the photo..I promise you that it's on the card straight! I made the rose from some thin card from my scrapbooking stash using the Spiral Blossom One die and used leaves from Creative Expressions, to which I sewed a few green bugle beads.


Carole X

Happy Valentine's Day! 14th February

Happy St Valentine's and lets hope you are all feeling loved today! Of course today's card has to be themed...so hope you like it! It's the one I made for my husband...

Apologies for the photography! I started with a linen effect gold base layer. I love this particular type of mirror card as it has an elegance about it. I cut the heart on white card from the Spellbinders Classic Hearts die set and then needed a slightly larger heart in gold, so created a faux die. I used a piece of red embossed paper for the next layer and cut it with the Grand Scalloped Rectangles die. The black card was cut with the same die and stamped it using the beautiful Indigo Blu, 'Love is' stamp. I've only just discovered them and this was my first use of the stamp. I stamped it with Perfect Medium and then embossed it in gold. The actual card looks so much better than the picture, which because if the light, doesn't really show up the gorgeous detail in this stamp - but it will be getting lots of use in different ways...so watch this space!


Finally I  shaded the edges of the heart with Worn Lipstick (of course!) distress ink and dotted gold 'pearls' around the edge using Cosmic Shimmer. Finally I added red organza ribbon. The sentiment was typed on to the card before die cutting.


Love to you all, Carole X

Pink Butterfly - 13th February

Morning,


We're all in the pink today..and loving it! This was one of those cards that I made for me..because I wanted to...and am saving for a special birthday or to sell at a craft fair!

I made the tiny dots around the base white layer with my wonderful Tim Holz ruler and then layered this with a deep pink linen effect card from stash. Before fixing the card to the blank I tied an organza ribbon and bow along the side. The sentiment was printed on white card and then cut on the Grand Calibur using a die from the Spellbinders Parisian Motifs set, coloured around the edges with Spun Sugar distress ink. I cut and embossed the butterfly from my favourite 'Fanciful Flight' Spellbinders set, in both white and pink to give it 'flight'. I added the flourish freehand with Creative Expressions Cosmic Shimmer Pearl PVA and the final touch is the pretty zipper rose, again from Creative Expressions.


That's all for now!


Carole X

Pip n' Cheese - 12th February

Hi there Bloggers,


Remember I made a few twisted easels recently? Well this is the last of them for now...Tatty Button's little friend Pip: cute!

I covered the top and base with paper from stash and followed through with the green theme, edging the card with Shabby Shutters distress ink (very lightly)  and adding green vintage ribbon and sone buttons from my button jar. I stamped and coloured Pip and his parcel with Promarkers and covered the ball of string with bakers twine to make it 'pop'.


The flower was cut with the Spellbinders Flower Creations die and fixed with a brad. I cut it on white card but coloured it with Spun Sugar distress ink, which I also used on the greeting/stopper(cut from labels 4 small). Just out of the photo in the right corner is a little flower with a mini stamped Pip on it.


Carole X


Materials used: Promarkers, distress inks, Spellbinders, Bakers Twine

Glitzy Gal - 11th February

Morning Bloggers!


Today's card is another one using CD craft: I love to craft in different ways and using different mediums..I like rubber stamping and I like using CDs. I probably find the CDs most useful for commissions, especially when I am stumped for an idea and if I am making cards for myself, or to post I would choose stamping, colouring and Spellbinders every time.

For this easel card with a glam and gold theme, I layered the base, the front and the panel with lace and then used the Debbi Moore Diamonds and Lace CD to print the image, which is decoupaged. The dark red card used to mat and layer the base and panel are from stash and I apologise here because I have mixed all my card and paper that I have had a while and whilst I am sure it is from a Debbi Moore collection, it could be Hunky Dory...I finished by using my Cricut to cut the '50' and added some organza ribbon and diamond sparkles.


Carole Z

Anemone - 10th February

Morning,


I made this card a few weeks ago and it was based on an design shared by Sue Wilson on her blog. I liked it so much that I had been itching to try it! Firstly, I typed the greeting on white card and then embossed the card top and botton using the a Creative Expressions mask with my Grand Calibur. I started with a white card blank and matted and layered alternately with white and gold mirror card, finishing with the white embossed card.

I  made gold pearl dots on the embossed card with Cosmic Shimmer Olympic Gold.  made the flower using the Spellbinder Anemone die with paper from stash and layed this on top of a bow tied around the top layer with a pretty edged sheer ribbon.


Hope you like it!
Carole Z


An extra note from me....due to having to do a 'proper' job, I usually schedule my posts a week ahead. I had forgotten this card was being posted today and it is very poignant for me to see it...I made it for my 98 year old aunt's birthday a month ago. There was an error made by the post office (I won't bore you) and in the end my cousin (her grandaughter)had to collect it, so it was late. By then aunty had been taken poorly and was in a nursing home. Sadly she passed away yesterday. It was peaceful and she had told me when we visited Sunday that she was ready to 'leave'. She thanked me for my cards, which she always loved to open. So my oldest aunty, the last surviving connection for me to the past is now reunited with her daughter, husband, my Mum and all their other brothers and sisters...sleep peacefully aunty Mabel X

Rock On! 9th February

Morning! 


Hope you are all keeping warm out there! If you are reading this and like me, take commissions for cards, you may get asked to make cards that are way out of your 'comfort zone'. I do, often. But the thing about making cards as commissions is that it not only keeps you on you toes with different techniques and styles, but you learn to work to a deadline. Over the years I have discovered that I am some times at my best when I have a specific and small amount of time to create a card.

The remit for this one was anything to do with Elvis and for my ability to create it, I have to thank My Craft Studio (MCS) for the art work.


I started with a of teal card on an 8x8 blank.I cut the rectangular shapes using the deckle edged blade on my cutter (I use a Purple Cow guillotine/ cutter - have had it years). The image of the Elvis figure was printed on to card and then cut and the greeting also came from the same MCS programme. I added all the elements at angles to give the card movement. The 'rock on' boots, guitar and name were all cut using my Cricut. For a final touch I added small amounts of Cosmic Twinkles glitter over the starbursts.


This card took a long time to get going, but like with most projects, once I got the idea I found I was on a roll!
Carole X

Pretty Sweet Girl - 8th February

Morning,


Another twisted easel...I made a few at at the same time...sometimes you are in the mood aren't you?


The image of the little girl is from the Polkadoodles 'Pretty Sweet' cd. I printed her and coloured her with a mixture of promarkers and flexmarkers, adding a tiny bit of Cosmic Shimmer twinkles to the roses.


I had the pink polkadot paper in my stash box, but I think it was originally printed from a Polkadoodles cd, the card behind the girl is again from the desert blooms pad. I die cut the girl using a Spellbinders Grand Ovals die and shaded the edge with Spun Sugar distress ink. The greeting is another from my stash, but originally from a Polkadoodles cd.


The ribbon is from my ribbon box and is really pretty with a vintage look to it. For some reason I am going through a phase where I like to let ribbon hang off the edge of the card, just like the look of it!
Thanks for visiting!
Carole X

Little Bird - 7th February

Morning!

This is a Spellinders die - Bird Sanctuary - that I got late last year and have hardly had a chance to 'play with' - but I love it and I can see that it is one I will use more and more. I have a bird and cage with the Cricut, but whilst my little machine is something I use almost every time I craft, my Grand Calibur gets used every time and the difference is..you can emboss and it makes a big difference!

This is a 6x6 twisted easel: I used like paper with a faded floral pattern to cover the base and another lilac paper, this time with an embossed glittery floral design to the side. This was from my much used Desert Blooms pad and was just what I needed to make the background 'pop'. I cut and embossed the cage and small bird on to plum coredinations paper, which instead of sanding I sprayed lightly with Crafters Companion 'Spray and Sparkle' multicolour. I typed and printed the greeting and cut it using Labels Four Small. I also cut a faux die around it in the plum card. The greeting label and the edges of the whole card were coloured with a mixture of Spun Sugar and Milled Lavender distress inks.

The ribbon is gorgeous...its one of those double-sided silk ribbons, a dark and light colour. I got it locally in Out of the Blue, Chipping Sodbury

I really enjoyed making this card...hope you like it!

Carole Z

Peachy - 6th February

 This is probably a little 'Spring like' for February, but we need to brighten things up a bit, don't we?

This 8x8 card was made using  peach coloured card from stash as a base layer. It has a lovely silk sheen and feel to it. I then added a layer of card from my desert blooms pad which was itself matted and layered with another piece from the same pad. The photo doesn't do the colours of that particular card justice; in reality it is just a shade lighter than the one beneath it. I pin-pricked the edge of the second layer and used a white jelly roll pen to add faux stitches. I intended to go around the edges of the next layer with tea dye distress ink, but sometimes a small distraction will cause mistakes and that's what happened here. By the time I noticed, it was too late to change it. Not the end of the world though.

Felt has become a real like for me when using my Spellbinder floral dies...these are made from Spiral Blossom one and Flower Creations. I just added a  crafty pearl to the centre of each and tied a peach coloured ribbon.


Hope you like and thanks for visiting!
Carole X

Valentine Door Wreath - 5th February

Hand decorated
St Valentine
door wreath

Morning!

I think it must be from my American family and the times I have spent with them, that quite a few of the American craft and traditional home decor styles have 'rubbed' off on me. I subscribe to their "Papercrafts' and 'Country Sampler' magazines and have done so for many years.

Many Americans love to decorate their houses with a year round door wreath, which changes with the season or for a 'Holiday' /festival and I have also done this for as long as I can remember.  Over here, there is a tradition of lovely Christmas door wreaths building up, but I would really like to see us embrace this all year! I see door wreaths as very welcoming and I get lots of compliments about my door, so come on...join me!

My January wreath was really just my Christmas one ( a large willow ring decorated with winter berries), with a change of ribbon from Christmas red to winter white..so I'll save that to share with you next Christmas. This year I am going to refresh my wreaths and intend to create a series of new ones...starting with St Valentine's for February!

Close up of roses and ribbons

I already had the basic twiggy heart, which I bought at a craft fair some years ago. I made the ribbon roses, following instructions from Sue Wilson (see Creative Expressions site or Particraft blog). They aren't perfect, the ribbon was a bit wide, but they still look quite  effective. I then sewed the roses on to the wreath and added two lengths of voile ribbon tied in a double bow. This is probably the simplest of my wreaths, I don'y think St Valentines should be fussy and have aimed to keep it that way. The 'Live, Love, Laugh' ribbon is from stock; it's one of those ribbons I love to keep and use a little when required...in other words, can't bear to part with it!

This wreath will stay on the door through February, when it will be time to welcome in the Spring months....

Full view of heart on our door

Floral Acetate Card - February 4th

Afternoon Bloggers!


I'm still having problems with Blogger finding photos I upload to iPhoto, so for today I'm sharing a card I made some time ago....hopefully will get it sorted tomorrow and be able to schedule daily blogs for next week. Hope you are all keeping warm! We've been having some snow this afternoon - on the local radio today, the presenter was asking what we would put in room 101...I don't have to think very hard: snow!


This is actually a really simple card, but still quite effective (I think!). I used the heavy card quality acetate as the'blank', A4 folded in half. Everything else was from stash: the flowered card was from an old scrapbook paper pad that featured a 'rainforest' theme, with lots huge floral images. I cut the shape/greeting in background by hand, having printed it out from one of my Polkadoodles cds (I have all of them, but it must have been an earlier one, Paper Boutique methinks). I printed the polkadot paper from the same cd and made the flower in the foreground by hand, using circle punches. The brad in the centre is from my brad box. I finished it off with co-ordinating silk ribbon. I only ever made one card in this style and sold it last year...so maybe it's time for a re-visit.


Notice anything about this card? Not a Spellbinder in sight! Reason? I made it pre-Grand Calibur :)


Thanks for visiting, please leave a comment as I love to read them and if your not already following, please do!


Bye for now,
Carole X

Floral Bouquet - 2nd February

Morning!


I don't know what to call today's project...it's not a card, just a collection of little flowers I made last week and decided to make into a picture. There was no real thought behind it, but it is now on a shelf in my craft room and is rather pleasing to look at...it has certainly given me some inspiration in the type of flowers I am making for cards and other projects!

Where to start with the description? The leaves were all cut from my Matchmakers Brights pad and for most of them I used Spellbinders dies from various leaf sets...however...some were cut with the Cricut Storybook cartridge, which was very naughty of me because it is white core. It was hard to cut, because I couldn't get the pressure etc right and it tore the paper..and didn't do the blade any good either. But I needed the  flourishes and at present none of my Spellbinders dies are big enough.


All the flowers were made with Spellbinders dies: the big pink flower is the Peony die ...I just cut several different sized layers, secured them together with a brad and then crumpled it up. An easy flower. If I had wanted to I could have added inks or micas, but for this project I wanted to keep it simple (and I wasn't in a messy mood!).


Two of the felt flowers, the orange flower and the pink flower were all variations of  a rose, made with the Spiral Blossom One die and the white flower is created with a mix of blossoms from Flower Creations.The large red felt flower was a little more complex....
I cut three layers from the lovely Anemone Flower Topper and then added the centre by just rolling a strip of red felt. For all the felt flowers I used Cosmic Shimmer acrylic glue. It grabs the materials for glueing really quickly and dries absolutely clear. This glue and Pinflair are the only glues I use.


When I look at this particular flower now, I think that in yellow, with orange for the bugle, it would make a gorgeous daffodil, so I'm going to give this a try.


I think I will just call this an exercise.. would be a good one for a workshop, I will keep that in mind!
All the best,
Carole X

House Mouse Gift Tag - 1st February

Morning!


More of my 'makes' from last week, but this time not cards...just lately I have rediscovered gift tags..elaborate ones..and am trying to make some in between cards...they can take a while to create and something I would like to try, but haven't had the time yet is ATC cards..who knows what this year will bring!


Today, I am sharing with you a House Mouse Tag  I made...hope you like it!

The tag was die cut using the two largest dies from Spellbinders Labels Four Small; the smaller die was coloured with tattered rose distress ink; I stamped a little mouse element from the Birthdays stamp set, coloured with Promarkers and cut him out. He is fixed to the tag with Pinflair glue to give a bit of dimension. The ribbon is vintage red and the roses I made thanks to a splendid Sue Wilson tutorial, which you can find on her Particraft Blog (see my link) or creativeexpressionsdesigns.wordpress.com where it has been uploaded as a workshop tutorial..these were my first attempt using this particular method and I was pretty pleased with them..more practice needed!

I have also made a little box for later in the week,

Bye for now,

Carole X