Nautical Journey - 2nd March

Morning!


This is the last of my \mixing old with new\ set of cards: I was recently tempted by Sam Poole's latest set of stamps with a sea-faring theme. Like the Vintage Inventor, it was once again a step in a different direction for me, but I do like to add a mixture of images to my crafty arsenal and I view good stamps as an investment, which will give me years of value if treated well. 


The 'new' on this card is a Spellbinders die! Last week when  Sue Wilson was demo-ing on Create and Craft, I bought one of the offers as my birthday present from my husband (it's okay my birthday is in March!). I have dispensation to carry on and use them as well! I was really tempted by Sue Wilson's own design. I think they are lovely and they are on my wish list, but this time I went for the bundle that included flowers,  romantic rectangles, antique frames, buckles and M-bossibilites. I have them now and have used the first one on this card...

Again this is an 8x8 layout, starting with a layer of black card. I then used the Debbi Moore's Shabby Chique Vintage Travel CD to print off a faded map backing paper on to cream card and I distressed this quite heavily with Vintage Photo ink. It almost looks burnt  and is the base layer for the ship's journey.


I matted and layered this over the black card, cutting it slightly smaller and added the other elements.


The map, ship, steering wheel and small compass were all stamped from Sam Poole's  Nautical Journey stamp set and given the same treatment. I mostly distressed the edges of the map, just enough to give it an old parchment look and then I curled the edges inward. The ship was layered over the map and I wanted it to stand out, so I gave that a more intense colouring. I also fixed both of them to the card with Pinflair to give them more 'lift' and curl.


The sentiment oval and larger compass were both printed from the CD and again distressed and I added vintage brown ribbon to the bottom with a die-cut buckle (which distressed in this way I think actually looks like a piece of coral or something you would find beneath the ocean). The little pearl dots at the top are Cosmic Shimmer Olympic Gold


There is one bit of 'colour' on this card. I found it when I was rummaging through my stash box -  it's a piece of stampbord that I had  stamped a compass on some time ago. It was already complete as a topper; I'd added the rope and the colour. So I tried it on the card, thinking I wasn't going to like it -but I think it works, so it has stayed!


Looking at the photo and the actual card, I noticed something quite odd..all to do with angles and bad photography I guess..on the card the little compass & wheel do not look like they are encroaching on the sentiment...honest!


Thanks for checking out my blog!


Carole X


For this card I used:


8x8 card blank; black card, cream card
Ddebbi Moore's Shabby Chic Vintage Travel CD
Sam Poole's Nautical Journey stamp set
Spellbinders Ribbon Buckles Shapeability die
Vintage Photo distress ink
Stampbord stamped with compass stamp
Cosmic Shimmer Olympic Gold
Pinflair Glue

Spring time door wreath - 1st March

Hello and here I am with a second post today!


Last month I explained that mainly due to having American relatives and spending quite a bit of time visiting over the years, one or two of their traditions have rubbed off on me...I love Halloween for example. The other tradition I really like is having welcome wreaths adorn a front door. You usually change them with a Season and/or Holiday. I decorate my own wreaths and this year have decided to change all or most of them, starting with the heart wreath I had up all through February and shared here on my blog.


As it is now Spring, the time has come to share my Spring/Summer creation with you! It's simple a plain circular wreath to which I have added a flower garland, floristry roses and ribbon...it's that easy! I hope you like it, Carole X

Materials used:
Plain Willow wreath (I already had this but they are widely available from hobby stores, some florists, basketry makers etc
Ribbons
Floristry roses: Hobbycraft
Floral Garland: www.calicocrafts.co.uk 

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

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