Workshop photos - 9th August

Hello Friends,

Thank you for visiting my little corner of blogland and for leaving your comments..please do if you have time,  I love to read them.

Thanks for your best wishes for our big bundle of feathers, Penny....she is doing well and currently out in the garden with our other girls. We (or rather Tom and his brother) had to dust off and clean out our old coop last night so we could attach the temporary run to it and keep her separate in case they started pecking  at her wound. I've washed and dried her this morning and they aren't bothering her at all..more to the point the other three have a fascination with the temporary run and coop and are all inside rearranging it

I am still annoyed by the what the girl at the surgery said to me on the phone..you know I have spent my whole life around animals; during my childhood and teenage years you would most likely find me at the local stables mucking out in exchange for rides or volunteering with Riding for the Disabled and had I had one iota of scientific 'talent' I would have trained as a vet..but all the sciences, including maths may as well be ancient Greek to me and I was always destined along the arty path (not that I'm complaining). so fortunately I have learned quite a lot about chickens and their potential health problems, so I knew there was a chance of helping her..but what if I hadn't had a clue? Well I would still never condemn an animal without the vet looking at her first!

Anyway, Penny thanks you for your concern :) X

Now on to last night's workshop... we had to use a smaller room because there was a town meeting in ours, so it was a bit cramped...fortunately because of holidays and that we are running the same class twice, there were  fewer members, but we still all had a super time..it was a busy night, so I only have a few photos but as usual the ladies did a brilliant job with their cards, although some of them didn't get them finished and took them home for 'homework' !

Thanks for visiting!

Love,

Carole X

Sunday Stampers Week 263 - Writing - Thursday 27th June

Good Morning Friends,

First of all a big welcome - or indeed 'Wilkommen' to my new follower, Rosie. Thank you so much for choosing to follow me! I hope you will like what you see!

It's Sunday Stampers time again! This week Hels Sheridan set the theme of including writing in our card/project and this is my card for this time...

I used some matt Clarity card and first of all punched a circle in a strip of card and laid it across the top of the card so I could use some masking fluid to paint inside the circle. Doing this stops any paint of ink adhering to the card once the fluid is dry. I wanted to created a moon and it would not be completely clear,especially in the rain(!) so I left a few gaps for the inks to seep through.

Whilst it was drying, I stamped the umberella  and and quote - both Tim Holz stamps in black archival and heat embossed using clear embossing powder.

Once the masked circle was completely dry, I got out my brayer and a mixture of distress inks: broken china, dusty concord, chipped sapphire, plus butterscotch adirondack and then using the brayer I created the background.

To finish off I took a little of the butterscotch and a piece of cut n' dry and inked inside the white circle ti create a more 'creamy' moon effect. Finally I spritzed over the entire card with Cosmic Shimmer Pearl Mist to create some 'rain' splatter and added some brads.

Thanks for stopping by!

Love and hugs,

Carole X

Art House Bag - Tuesday 16th April

Good Morning Friends,


Today's post is another bag, which I made last week just before we went away. I've got to say that I'm finding these bags a lot of fun to decorate and they really don't take too long.

  I used TAP paper (Artist's Transfer) to stamp the images on to using black stazon ink. The stamps are Art Houses by Sam Poole and flowers and butterflies  from Steampunk Dreams, also by Sam Poole. I wanted to create and 'arty' effect with some feminine steampunk, so it's all pinks and purples!

Once I'd stamped the images, I coloured them with distress inks and then using the TAP ironed them on to the back with a hot iron. I made extra butterflies and flowers to I could layer some of the to create movement. 

Once all the images had been transferred I used a harlequin stamp from Crafty Individuals and a script stamp by Creative Expressions (from Vintage Labels set) to stamp all over. I masked off the images that had already been transferred to the bag, by using the 'ghost' images left on the TAP.

I transferred the additional butterflies and flowers to some spare material, cut them out and sewed them to the bag and to finish off I added some buttons, beads, lace, a little key and ribbon..and although it doesn't show much here I used some Cosmic Twinkles to the butterflies for a hint of sparkle. If you would like to see the tutorial I posted for a little Easter gift bag using the same technique , click here or my previous bag is here

Thanks for visiting and for all your comments, which are very much appreciated!

Love,
Carole X

Butterfly Tag - Saturday 11th August

Good Morning Blog Friends!

A very big welcome to my new followers and thank you for stopping by and deciding to follow me! When I first started my journey into 'blog land' about a year ago, I had no idea what to expect...one thing I wanted to do was share my work (good and bad!) and to visit and learn from fellow crafters....so far I have met some lovely crafty people on here, who have amazing blogs of their own and whom it has been such a pleasure to interact with. I really love to visit all your blogs, post a comment and I do read all your posts (but please forgive me if I don't respond to them all), so if you have a blog and I've not picked up on it, please let me know. I'm almost half way to my 50 followers first milestone, when I'll be sending out some Craft Candi, so please spread the word!

I try and post most days, it depends on how busy I am really...I work three days a week and I also undertake commissions, so sometimes I can't post those particular cards for quite a while. I also try and 'mix things up'. My crafting passions are stamping and getting 'inky', Promarkers and Spellbinders. My main love is paper crafting, but not just cards. I really enjoy scrapbooking and trying out new techniques, some of them experimental, by creating canvases and other pieces of 'art'. So when you stop my, you will mostly, but not always see cards. My tastes? Hmm..well I love 'girly' but equally I really like Steampunk! I will try anything...as I say, I like to mix it up!

This year I embarked on something I had been hoping for the chance to do for some time, when my friend Amy, who co-owns a beautiful local gift and craft shop with her Mum, invited me to start teaching paper craft classes with her. We have been doing one a month since April, looking at different inking techniques and with some die-cutting as well and have had full classes so far. I can't tell you how much I have been enjoying this experience and next year we are also intending to start some scrapping workshops.

The workshops have been really exciting for me and long may they continue and lately I have been very excited to join the Emergency Crafters Design team and have just been chosen for one of the new DT members for Fantastic Ribbons. All of this has meant so much to someone who has been passionate about all things 'arty' since helping her dad mix paints in his little garden studio as a child, I wish he was still here now that I have finally found the perfect work/art balance and am able to devote more time to my passion.

Yesterday I spent almost a whole day on a special canvas project: yes I know I should have been out in the sun, but I was able to work on part of it out in our summerhouse/craft space and have our hens for  company as they basked in the shade of the doorway! It was way too hot to sleep last night,so I stayed up really late, with my Promarkers colouring in stamped images for Christmas cards, it did the trick, I was so tired when I finally crawled into bed I didn't care how hot it was!

Butterfly Tag

Today's tag is a piece a created a few weeks ago in preparation for our last workshop, a little tag.

The tag itself is just a parcel tag and I started off stamping a script across one side and 'off the page', just very faintly, enough to show through, Then I placed a floral mask (That Special Touch) over the tag and spritzed through it on to the card using Eqyptian Blue and Raspberry Cosmic Shimmer mists. 

I had also stamped two butterflies, one from a Kanban stamp set and the other an Indigo Blu stamp, which was free with Craft Stamper magazine a few months back, these were spritzed at the same time.

These dry pretty quickly, but I used a heat tool to speed it up and then inked around the edges of the tag, slightly heavier on the opposite side to the script, using Shabby Shutters distress ink. I was aiming for a 'shabby' vintage effect.

My final piece of stamping was a leaf from a Wendy Vecchi Studo 490 stamp set which I stamped twice, the second time just for the shadow effect.

I finished off by inking some seam binding with shabby shutters and then stamping the script over it and using this, some ribbon and bakers twine for the final touch.

I'll be back later to visit the blogs of my blog pals out there,we've got quite a busy day today as we are collecting two more hens for our little brood...so excited!

Thanks for stopping by,

Carole X

Spring Corner Bookmark- Wednesday 16th May

Hello Blog Friends!


First of welcome to my new followers! Thank you for following me, I hope you like what you see and please leave a comment, I love to read them. I've been blogging less than a year, but I am so pleased that I started because it is putting me in touch with so many lovely crafty people every day! If you have a blog and I'm not following you, please let me know the address in the comment box and I'll be sure to stop by.

Today I am posting the first of two bookmarks I made after reading  Lindyloo's very inspiring post - see http://creativeharmony.blogspot.co.uk  - and then taking part in her challenge last week. These corner bookmarks are a lot of fun to make and very practical. I am already using the one I made for the challenge. I'd like to make some more complex ones in the coming weeks, but meanwhile I wanted to stick to ones that could be very easily used. I think that they would make a lovely little present for anyone who likes reading and what a great way to give a handmade card that is also a gift.

Here is today's offering:

After the black and white of my earlier design, I decided to go for lots of colour. The little bird stamp is from Stampavie. I like this stamp because it's adaptable for all seasons, even Christmas. I coloured the image with Promarkers and die cut it on Labels 24, cutting a larger coredinations card with the same die and sanding it back to raise the polkas dots. I used some pretty vintage paper that was free with Cardmaking and Papercraft recently and cut the flower border with a Martha Stewart punch. I finished off with a navy satin bow, vintage bakers twine and a lightly distressed wooden button.


Thanks for taking a look!
Carole X

Rule Britannia! 3rd March

Good Morning!


This card was made for a commission, but in this instance, from one of my family to another, so in view of the fact that we have a year ahead where we are all celebrating how fab it is to be British and I'm always stuck with mens' cards, I thought I'd give it a go!

One of my Christmas presents was a Hobbycraft voucher and I used some of it to buy the Portobello Road 12x12 paper pack from Docrafts/Papermania, as well as some of their embossing folders & ribbons -  and this was the basis for this card. The card is 8x8 and is first of all layered with some vintage newspaper print paper from the pack. 


The die-cut Union Jack was also in the pack, so I centred this on the front of the card. I then die-cut three of the images and used Vintage Photo again to distress the die-cuts and the card.


The bunting and cupcakes were printed from Serif Craft Artist "British Street Party'. I downloaded this last year when we war having a Royal Wedding party, so I can see it's going to be useful again!


The Keep Calm and Carry On, I admit I have seen presented in this way on items in shops, the internet - all over the place, but I typed this one out using the Serif Program and added the crown from my clipart. I then die cut it in using Spellbinders Labels Four Small. Finally I added a little Cosmic Sparkle and the ribbon.


Have a super Saturday and thanks for dropping by!
Carole X


For this card I used:


Papermania Portobello Road 12x12 paper pack, embossing folders and ribbon
Serif Craftartist British Street Party
Vintage Photo distress ink
Cosmic Sparkle

Thingamajig! - 1st March

Good Morning to you...and we are in March already!


As promised, my second foray into the world of Steampunk and this is the real thing. I said that this week's cards are all projects made so that I could use new additions to my craft room and today's is extra special.


Just after Christmas I was lucky enough to be a Card Candi winner on Sue Wilsons blog. As Sue was just about to leave for the US, she asked me to choose a stamp and she would post it on her return. I love Sam Poole's stamps and saw this as a good excuse to try the Vintage Inventor Stamp set, so this was my choice and it arrived a few weeks ago...so here is  my first project using it!

The base layer is cream card which is distressed with Antique Linen distress ink. I stamped the inventor, 'Thingamajig' and the three cogs on to some Kraft card and from the remainder of the cream card I cut two dies from Spellbinders Edgeabilities Classic Postage stamp. These fit together nicely down the spine side and the edger at the top of the card is the 'waste' from the other die-cuts. I distressed all the edgers with Vintage Photo, quite deeply and roughly to emphasise the worn, industrial look.

I had some screw style brads in my box (I think they are Tim Holz) and I added three of these to the bottom of the card and one to the centre of the flowers. The little cogs are from a bag of watch parts I got really cheaply rummaging in a shop somewhere! I made the flowers using pages from my charity shop book and using the flower creations and peony Spellbinders dies, which I distressed slightly with Vintage Photo. The leaf is cut with my Cricut.

Although this is a male card, the flower and ribbon soften it a little. My final touch was adding  Olympic Gold Cosmic Shimmer to the holes created by the die to complete the industrial theme.

Carole X

For this card I used:

8x8 base card, cream card stock and Kraft card

Vintage Inventor stamp - Sam Poole 

Cosmic Shimmer PCA

Screw effect brads

Spellbinders: Edgeabilities Postage Stamp; Peony, Flower Creations

Distress inks" Antique Linen and Vintage Photo

Ribbons and brads from stash

'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

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

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