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

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

Jumping for Joy! 30th January 2012

Today's card is one of my favourite stamping 'treats' - the House Mouse! I love these stamps and am building up quite a collection. I got these from Joanna Sheen's site a few weeks ago and wanted to use them to make a couple of cards for friends birthdays coming up..they are so cute!!! The stamp is from the 'Mice & Crafty' set.

This card was made on 6x6 card stock, which I covered with paper printed from the House Mouse inserts and backing papers cd-rom. I chose this one because it gives the feeling of material/sewing. 
   Using a die from the Spellbinders Edgeabilities Classic Postage Stamp set I cut the front of the card just over half-way up. I pierced around the outside of the card and across the front using my Tim Holz ruler, and created faux stitches with a white jelly roll pen - but across the front I actually stitched using pink embroidery thread.
The images were stamped and coloured with Promarkers and I cut away the jumping mouse. When Jo Channon was demonstrating these cards on Create and Craft, I briefly caught her showing a card where the mouse was jumping up and down. I only briefly saw it, thought it was a good idea and stored it in my head to decide how I was going to create a similar effect!


I attached the pin cushion to the front of the card with sticky pads so give it some depth, stamped the greeting and cut it with shaped scissors (I thought this would also add the the theme of sewing - my mum had some scissors that cut like this in her sewing box!)
I added a narrow ribbon across the front and  let it run off each side - just because I liked it that way - and added the sentiment, again with sticky pads. I also added Spun Sugar distress ink to the edges of the card, but it doesn't show in the photo at all.


The jumping mouse was created by sticking a narrow strip of thick acetate to the back.
The inside of the card is covered in exactly the same paper as the outside, so I die cut an inner to match the front and stuck it down leaving a channel to feed the acetate into- so that the mouse can be moved up and down at will!


I also photographed the inside of the card to show you the greeting. I typed this and cut it with the Spellbinders Lacey Ovals die...I really like this die, but it's one of the hardest to remove the paper/card from without tearing! Finally I added one more little mouse in a thimble and three little buttons from stash in the top corner.


Love these little guys!
Carole X