Love is in the air part 2

Hello my crafty friends this is the second commissioned sample wedding invitation card I have made using the Peter Rabbit theme as requested by the bride and groom. Again I have kept the construction simple as I will be making 35 or so of which ever design is chosen so I didn't want to get bogged down with complicated techniques. There has been an update on this order so please tune in for part 3 when all will be revealed.

 

what I used:

Crafters Companion Peter Rabbit CD ROM

NitWit Lovestruck Too paper download

white linen base card 12cm x 17cm

circle die

eyelet circle die

pearl heart and blue satin bow

 

I use Craft Artist when I am printing and I find it really easy to map out designs on the computer

screen before I ever print them which is a good way to minimise wasted ink and paper.

 

Open up the NitWit papers needed in Craft Artist and trim them to just a bit lager than the size required. Open the Peter Rabbit image and re sized it to 6.75cm from top to bottom. Write the words Wedding (and again separately) Invitation in Piranesi It BT 36.4pt font, arrange the words as in the picture and group the words together. Arrange the images to fit onto the page as best you can (you may need to carry some images over onto another page as they may not all fit onto a A4 sheet of paper) and print the page onto good quality mat photo paper.

The rest of the card construction is simple die cutting and mat and layering from here on...

 

 

........................................................................................................

 

 

I have been lad low this week with a wretched cold so nothing much has been done in the house or craft wise and I feel quite guilty. It looks like the weather has finally turned more Autumney and I do love Autumn its my favourite time of the year, its the colours, the smells of fires burning and less biting things in the garden. Yesterday I mowed the lawn hopefully for the last time this year and today I must get out and tidy up the planters and divide some plants in the garden ready for next year. I wanted to do a bit of crafting today but at this time of the year you have to make the most of any dry days and then tomorrow I`m back at work. So as the days are getting shorter I feel that the weeks are too, I just don't know where the time goes. Whatever you are doing with your day I hope you have a good one.

 

 

and on a personal note

Hello crafty friends, I am bursting with excitement and wanted to let you all know that I have been asked to be a member of the Crafters Companion design team. There are 11 of us new DT ladies who will join experienced DT already working for Crafters Companion and 3 new clever Spectrum Noir ladies who will be doing magic with their pens. This means that you will be seeing me using their fabulous products much more on this blog as I will be making samples for their TV shows. I will still be working for LC Designs when they require samples but I think the majority of my DT work will be with Crafters Companion. I am just waiting for them to give me my first project and then I think I will be in crafty heaven. It`s true what they say you don't get any where if you don't take that first step and I`m so glad I did.

Crafters Companion have begun celebrating their 11th birthday which is in October and will be having fantastic competitions and give aways between then and now so keep a look out for the celebrations on their Facebook page and on Hochanda TV.

Love is in the air - part 1

Today I am sharing with you the first in a commissioned set of cards that I have been asked to make for a friend who I used to live next door to. Alan is getting married in April and asked if I could do some sample cards with a Peter Rabbit theme as his marriage to Barbie is taking place in the Lake District so my first thought was that Peter Rabbit would be under copyright, it is but fortunately Crafters Companion do a CD ROM which I used to print off the image. I have kept the card simple as I may have to make 35 of them and I didn't want it to be like the painting of the Cysteine Chapel.

 

what I used:

Crafters Companion Peter Rabbit CD ROM

NitWit Lovestruck Too paper download

cream linen base card 12cm x 17cm

fancy edged die about 8.25cm x 6cm

Tim Holtz Faded Jeans distress ink

blue satin ribbon

ring binder hole punch

 

I use Craft Artist when I am printing and I find it really easy to map out designs on the computer

screen before I ever print them which is a good way to minimise wasted ink and paper.

 

I opened up the NitWit papers that I needed in Craft Artist and trimmed them down to just a bit lager than the final design so for the hearts paper I made it 6.5cm x 18cm and the blue paper is just big enough to punch the two dots - say 2cm square.

I then opened the Peter Rabbit image in Craft Artist and re-sized it to 6.75cm from top to bottom.

Finally I wrote the "Wedding Invitation" script in Palazzo Werk at 26.38pt and drew a black line box around the wording.

I arranged the images as best I could to fit onto the A4 paper sheet and printed them off.

The rest of the card is simple, I just die cut the Peter Rabbit image and shaded around the edge with Tim Holtz Faded Jeans distress ink, then attach the satin ribbon to the cut to size printed paper panel, punch out two holes from the blue printed paper, cut around the sentiment box making sure to keep the black line and then simply stick everything in place onto the base card.

 

I will show you the other two designs over the next few days, I have my favourite and also one that was a complete pig to make so I hope he doesn't chose that one. Alan has said he definitely wants to use one of the designs but hasn't decided which one yet so fingers crossed that he doesn't chose the difficult to make one.

 

 

Sisters are the best gift your parents can leave you

Hello crafty friends, I`m sorry its been a few weeks since I posted on here but I have had my sister come to stay with me (which was fantastic) and then it was back to work as the school holidays ended (not so fantastic). I have been making a few commissioned cards which I will share with you later on but for now here is a Birthday card I made for my sister a few years ago after we had a fantastic day shopping at a craft show in Harrogate and she had said she liked this stamp. I do love trips out with both of my sisters and I think myself very lucky that we are so close and share the same interests.

 

 

what I used:

Woodware Leaf Quartet stamps

Woodware sentiment stamps

Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Broken China & Picked Raspberry

ink dusters

clear embossing stamp pad

black embossing powder

Glossy Accents

pink and black papers from my stash

 

The image panel on this card is so easy to make and I did it by first stamping and embossing the leafs onto white card which I then cut to size and coloured using the Tim Holtz Distress inks and ink dusters (it was the first time I had used ink dusters and they are really good for seamless blending of big areas like in this card). Finally I spritzed the topper with water to make tiny water spots.

The sentiment is stamped and embossed onto the pink paper and then the whole thing is mat and layered onto the base card.

Finally I used the Glossy Accents to make a feature of the swirly circles on the hearts.

 

Pauline was thrilled with the card and we went on to have a few more shopping trips at craft fairs but as I have moved away from her I have missed out this last year. Fortunately for me she is coming to live near me here in Lincolnshire soon so we can pick up where we let off and we have lost shopping time to make up.

 

 

 

Manchester United snow men!

Well I`m not sure if they are off to see Manchester United play but they are certainly wrapped up warm with their scarves and hats. This is an quick little card that I have made using another of the LC Designs Dinkies which are still on offer at the moment and being snow men they are really easy to colour in. I love the little snow ball at the centre of the bow, I have had them for ages and keep forgetting about them but luckily this time I remembered. I was really lucky with the clouds as I bought them not thinking about their size but they are quite small and just right for this little card.

 

what I used:

LC Designs Dinkies Row of Snowmen stamp - £2 or on offer 4 for £6

LC Designs Christmas Jewels paper pad - £4.99

LC Designs Dinkies white scalloped cards - £1.99 for 20 includes envelopes

Memory Box Stitched Cloud Trio  99506

ribbon and snowball embellishments from my craft stash

 

....................................................................

I keep thinking its Saturday and as I am working in the refreshments tent at the Lincolnshire Trust for Cats open day on Saturday I`m really confused. I have to bake some cakes to take to the open day so I`m glad in a way that its raining as I wont be distracted by the nice weather and end up pottering about in the garden. Whatever you decide to do I hope you have a good day.