Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Hello, long time no see. I`m sorry I haven't ben blogging much these past few weeks but I`ve been busy doing crafty things that I cant really talk about right now but when Crafters Companion launch the product I have been working on I will be blogging a lot.
LC Designs released a new stamp this week and is a Butterfly stamp (you know how I feel about Butterflies) and this is a card that I have made to help them promote it.

what was used:

LC Designs Dinkies 3D Butterfly stamp

LC Designs green splodge paper

Lili of the Valley sentiment tags

blue, light blue and green inks

craft card

white card

small clear faceted gems

beige embroidery thread

small butterfly punch

Tim Holts distress inks - Tumbled Glass & Vintage Photo

Glamour Dust glitter

 

This is such an easy card to make as it is all about the coordinating coloured Butterflies and once that is done its simple construction but even the stamping of the Butterflies is pain free because there is no colouring in just shading with the same ink pad and a fine paint brush.

To finish the card I added Glamour dust to the Butterfly and gems.

 

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Today the weather is still and dull, the trees all around are losing their leaves and looking more skeletal every day. Yesterday it was really warm and sunny and I managed to get out into the garden and cut the grass (hopefully for the last time this year). I love Autumn but the garden does always look sad and tatty and after tomorrow nights Halloween it will be full steam ahead to Christmas. I am going to a material sale on Tuesday and as fabric is my other crafty passion I cant wait. A lady in the next village is giving up sewing and selling off her lifetimes collection of patchwork fabric, I cant wait to meet her and perhaps pick up some crafty sewing tips not to mention a bargain or two (although I don't know that I have room to store any more fabric). Enjoy your weekend my friends and don't forget to put your clocks back tonight and enjoy an extra hour in bed.

 

 

 



 

A card I never wanted to make

Hello crafty friends, today I am sharing a card that I said I never would make - a bereavement card. I always thought it would be depressing to spend time thinking about and making a bereavement card but a good friend lost her husband last weekend and as she knows I make cards I thought it would be disrespectful to her husband if I bought one. I had to do the thing I said I never would and I didn't know where to start as it has to be respectful but not morbid. I bought the angel wings by mistake a month or so ago and they were just the right image for this card as it turns out. I hope you never need to make this kind of card but if you do then this one is really quick and easy to do.

what I used:

Tattered Lace Angel Wings die

Tonic heart punch

small hole punch

dull gold card

mink pearl card

red card

dark cream parchement card

Thinking of you gold peel off sentiment

5mm red satin ribbon

The card is really just mat and layering and very easy to construct. My finished card measures 15.1cm x 9.6cm but as I make my cards to fit the image it is not a standard size and I have made the envelope myself from brown paper.

The angel wings are cut from the gold card, I cut the wings apart to make a better space to place the red heart.

The red heart is punched from the red card and then shaped with a ball tool to give it dimension, I stuck the heart on to the card using hot glue to fill the void and give it stability.

The small red dots which I made with the small hole punch have also been worked with a ball tool to make them look more like brads and again give them dimension.

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I don't know if its the fact that the weather has been a bit grey and wet lately but I have been feeling a bit lost as far as my crafty mojo is conscerned. I have done the usual of looking on Pinterest and watching the various craft channels to pep me up and in the process I have ordered a Brother scan n cut (naughty me). I have wanted a scan n cut for about two years now but could never justify the cost however I saw a fantastic deal on Create and Craft and couldn't resist, so now I am eagerly awaiting the delivery van. Yesterday a white van came up and down the little road I live on about five times, he was obviously lost and I kept thinking to myself he`s looking for my house. Eventually he revearsed down the drive and I ran out with a big grin on my face and quite startled the poor man who was lost and looking for someone else two houses away. I`m still awaiting my white van man but when he does deliver my scan n cut I am going to lock myself away in my craft room for the rest of the year making fantastic things. Well that's how it plays out in my head but I think the reality will involve a big bag of things that didn't quite work out, still it will be great fun - can`t wait.

Little girls grow up so fast

Hello, today I am sharing with you a card my friend asked me to make for her daughters 18th birthday. Her daughter loves horses and so this sweet little art pad image from Lili of the Valley was the first one I thought of. The brief was must say "happy 18th", must be horsey themed, must be larger than 6" x 6" and this card is 8" x 8" so I think I covered the brief.

 

what I used:

Lili of the Valley set 26 Here Comes Annabel art pad

8" x 8" white base card

NitWit Lovestruck Too downloaded paper pad

red paper to mat and layer

pink/red, green & teal paper/card scraps

good quality mat print paper

Crafters Companion Signature Collection Pretty Petals dies

Marianne Designs LR0271 leaf swirl die

2 x small flower punches

ring binder hole punch

Glamour Dust glitter

heavy lace & pink gingham ribbon

pearl embellishments and small pearl heart

 

This is a fairly straight forward mat and layered card but I made the sentiment in my Craft Artist graphics programme, the happy is Hudson 48.26pt and the 18th is Hudson 68.97pt, which were positioned together and coloured blue.

The swirly leaf die cuts were made of green card and covered with Glamour Dust glitter and left to dry before attaching to the card.

The lace is a heavy lace and I doubled it up to get the depth I needed.

The pink gingham bow is a slightly thinner ribbon than the gingham used across the lace but this is only because the bow was already made and in my scrap box.

 

My friend`s daughter was 18 last Friday and she said that she loved the card and had a really good birthday weekend. I think all birthdays should be on a Friday and last all weekend.

 

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I had a parcel delivered yesterday, it was from LC Designs and had a new butterfly stamp in it so I went straight to my craft room and made a card with it. I have loads of ideas how to use it and I want to do another make with it today. So I hope the stamp goes on sale soon so that I can share my makes with you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love is in the air 3

Hello lovely crafty friends and here I am with the 3rd and final wedding invitation sample that I made for a friends wedding. As you already know the couple wanted a Peter Rabbit theme and I made this card to give them a more traditional look. I love how the card turned out but it was fiddly to make and I prayed that they didn't chose this one as I didn't want to make it another 35 times.

 

what I used:

Crafters Companion Peter Rabbit CD ROM

circle dies - one slightly lager than the other

Spellbinders fancy edge dies

blue base card 17cm x 12cm

white pearl card

blue satin bow

 

I cut the blue base card with the plain shaped edge die to cut the fancy shape to the front of the card (these dies come as a set of fancy and not so fancy dies) .

I then used the fancy cut away die on the white pearl card to make the lacy effect and then trimmed and stuck this down to mat and layer onto the base card.

I opened the Peter Rabbit image in my graphics programme (Craft Artist) and re sized it to  6.75cm from top to bottom. I always like to try to get as much of my printing done on the same piece of paper so I wrote the words Wedding Invitation in Zelda 28.14pt and left enough room between the words for the topper to be placed. I printed out the designs onto good quality mat print paper.

The wording was mat and layered onto blue card and stuck into place.

I cut the Peter Rabbit image out using the smaller of the dies and mat and layered it onto a s slightly lager circle of blue card and then stuck it onto the base card.

Finally I attached the blue bow.

 

I am happy to say that the card they finally decided to have is card No 1 and so I will be getting busy over the next few days making up the order.

 

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I am loving the way Autumn is turning out so far with sunny days and clear cold nights. Rosie was being naughty the other night and sneaked out after dark so I decided to sit outside and wait for her as we haven't got a cat flap. It was a cold but clear night so I got wrapped up in a quilt and set about to do some sky watching and I`m so glad I did because I managed to see two really bright meteors, so clear in fact that the first one made me jump. Rosie came home eventually after her night time adventure and we were both glad to get back into the warmth of the house.