Do people do this when it`s frosty?

Hello again, its that funny time in between Christmas and New Year when people who are not working find themselves at a lose end. I am sharing a card which I have made as part of a DT project and although I don't know any golfers I just love the bright colours on the background paper and I put it in because it reminded me of the old fashioned plus 4s and Argyle sweaters that golfers used to wear.

what I used:

Crafters Companion, Die`sire Edge`ables, Hole in One die

Serif Craft Artist, Eye Candy, materials printed paper

Serif Craft Artist, Banner Lite for sentiment

red & black card scraps from stash

good quality white card to print onto and use with dies

Tim Holtz distress ink pads to use as paints - Bundled Sage, Shabby Shutters, Cracked Pistachio,

Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Vintage Photo

blue pastel chalk for sky

Pebeo silver gilding wax for golf clubs

red and yellow pens for colouring in flag and bunker

13mm & 5mm red satin ribbon

black pen or ink pad to mark around flag

 

A really easy card to make and colour in and well worth a go if you have a golfer with a special occasion.

 

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Its a really frosty start this morning and this was the view from my craft room an hour or so ago, I just love the crisp winter days. This time in between Christmas and the New Year is a bit boring (Im`m not complaining as I am lucky enough to be on holiday), I usually throw myself into some crafting but as I`m waiting for a die cutting machine to be delivered (hopefully today) I am at a bit of a lose end. I have 3 birthday cards to make for friends before 16th January and I have 3 projects to make for Crafters Companion before 9th January so I am really hoping that my Cuttlebug arrives today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roll on New Years Eve

I`m sorry I haven't been posting here lately but I had a problem with Blogger (I couldn't find my blog  dashboard for a while) and then it was full steam ahead to Christmas. The next big event on the calendar is New Years Eve so here is a card I made as a DT project for Crafters Companion and if you are having a party this could be a perfect invitation card.

 

what you need:

Crafters Companion Die`sire Edgeables Cocktail Club dies

Serif Craft Artist, Evening Sky backing paper

Serif Craft Artist Troutkings BTF font for sentiment

6" x 6" white base card

plum card

good quality 210gsm white mat paper to print onto

white card to use with die and as mat and layer for sentiment

Sakura silver glitter pen

Stickles - Crystal & Xmas Red

glitzy lilac organza ribbon 4cm wide

pink satin ribbon 7mm wide

assorted lilac sequins

pens to colour the cocktail and lemon

 

This card is a bit tricky as you really need to plan where the little flying umbrellas need to go. The sentiment was written in white and overlaid onto the background in the graphics program and then printed out. Having said that I think it is quite eye catching and well worth a go.

 

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Its been a bit traumatic here on the crafting front as I couldn't access my blog for a while and then my die cutting machine broke on 23/12 and I had been given 6 dies to make samples with before 29/12. I ordered a new machine but it won`t be delivered till 29/12 so I will have to send the dies back and apologise for failing with a commission. I was very upset at first but then realised that I would be free to enjoy my Christmas as I would have time on my hands. So that's what I`m doing having a little rest and enjoying my free time. I hope you all have had a fabulous Christmas and now that its all over for another year you can enjoy the rest of your holiday if you are lucky enough to get time off work.

 

I am not going to a party on New Years Eve (my friends back in Bradford call it Old Years Night) but I will be staying up for the "first footing", a tradition associated with Scotland but my Mother although not Scottish was deeply superstitious and always made my Dad do it and I carry it on now. If you`re not familiar with this tradition a dark haired man must cross the threshold of the house with a piece of coal and a piece of silver after midnight to ensure wealth and warmth for the future year. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A very thankful little Hedgehog

Hello crafty people on this frosty winters day, I am sharing a sunny looking card with you. It is a sample card I made a while ago for LC Designs and this week they have released for sale this cutie little Hedgehog stamp which has changeable words that make up his prickles. I chose to use the THANKS word as I find it`s always useful to have a few "thank you" cards on stand by especially after Christmas.

 

 

what I used:

LC Designs Hedgehog greetings stamp set - £6.00 for the set

Diesire create a card dies

Crafters Companion, Floral Delight embossing folder

Crafters Companion, English Country Garden, Grad Floral dies

Memory Box stitched cloud (style 99506)

Tattered Lace, essentials circles dies

small hole punch

Tonic small flower boot punch

paper leaves

6" x 6" base card

yellow floral paper from stash

white card to stamp onto and emboss onto

pink paper

 

This card has a lot of elements to it but it is fun to make. I had my first real play with my Brother Scan n Cut machine to make the leaves on this card, I am really pleased with them but if I hadn't been using that I would have made them with a die.

As always I coloured my card using water based paints and Tim Hotz distress inks.

 

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I read a post on FB the other day saying only 3 more Mondays till Christmas and this put me in a bit of a spin as 3 weeks is far too soon for all the things I have to do, but then Christmas Day is on a Sunday so it is really 4 weeks (phew that one week makes all the difference). Today I will be making my Christmas cake as its a cold day and a good time to have the oven on for a couple of hours, its a bit late in the day as I usually make mine in October but better late than never. I am feeling really festive this year and as we are finally into December I will indulge my Christmassy feelings with a bit of seasonal music whilst making my cake. I have seen a funny video on FB showing naughty cats climbing Christmas trees and I dread to think how my two little kittie live wires will react to ours when it goes up, I think we will be shouting timber a lot.

Whatever you are doing today I hope you have fun and stay warm.

 

 

 

 

 

A bit of therapy

Hello crafty friends, I hope you are all well and managed to survive the storm of the past couple of days. It was such a wet and dark day yesterday that the only thing to do was to lock myself away in my craft room and this card is what happened. I have never done any "adult colouring in" before and a miserable day was a good day to start because it is so relaxing and therapeutic to do. I used all my Spectrum Aqua pens, all my Tim Holtz distress inks (as paints using a water brush) and a few pens I had forgotten about and they were strewn all over my desk like a riot of colour, how could the weather get me down when I had my own rainbow right on my work desk.

what I used:

Craftters Companion Crafters Inspiration issue 12 free CD

every Spectrum Aqua, Tim Holts distress ink and any other colours you can get hold of

black card

purple card

Craft Artist Crazy Girl Blond - for the sentiments

1cm burgundy organza ribbon

1cm AB dazzler

stickles crystal glitter glue

The image is on the CD and I edited it to exclude some flowers that I didn't want and generally made it more of a shape that would fit my card and just printed it out onto Hobbycraft white card.

OK this card is easy peasy to make, the colouring in took a while but it was so relaxing to do I didn't notice the time going by and I kept leaving it and then coming back to it as life doesn't always stop for crafting. I used all water based ink on this card as its what I`m used to and I would suggest that whatever you use make sure that it`s all the same format throughout the colouring in process. Having said that I did  I use a black alcohol pen to colour the background in once the colours were completely dry.

The sentiment was made in my Craft Artist graphics program and I typed the words, made them a suitable size, set the wording inside a lilac box and printed them out.

The rest of the card is just mat and layering and general jazzing up with glitter and ribbon.

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This card is for my sister who has a Birthday in December and she does adult colouring in all the time but never makes anything with her artwork so I thought I would show her via this card that she could be sharing her art with her friends (I have gotten her a sweary colouring in book for Christmas but I don't think she will be making cards with that).

and now for something completely different - I have wanted a camera tripod ever since I first started taking pictures of my cards but I wasn't sure if the screw on the tripod would fit my camera as my camera is tiny. Last week when I was doing my afternoon in the Lincolnshire Trust For Cats shop they had a tripod for sale for £5 so I bought it and hay presto it fits my little camera. I feel so much more professional now that I am not balancing the camera on a box, on a piece of polystyrene, on a fold away table and it saves me time setting up a shoot. So I just have to make more cards so that I can play with my new tripod toy, such a good investment I should have bought one years ago.

Whatever you decide to do with your day I hope you stay safe and dry and happy (I`m off to do some house work now so not much happiness there until its over).

Famous for 15 seconds

Good morning Crafty friends, today I am sharing another card which I made to launch the Crafters Companion Catitudes collection as it is still showing on Hochanda as a "one day special". I watched the show last night when they began the launch and I had my 15 seconds of fame because this card was at the front of the main display and got quite a lot of air time. I have to say that I didn't know the prices for any of the things I used when I was making the cards but after seeing the show I think everything is good value for money but especially the stamps (I haven't got the stamps so I may have purchase them today but don't tell hubby).

  

what I used:

Catitude CD (topper 73) 

Catitudes Heart Balloons die

Catitudes Delicate Florals embossing folder

Catitudes paper pad

6" x 6" base card

good quality 210gsm mat print paper

blue pearl card with white core

red card & black card

ring binder punch

Glossy Accents

5mm red satin ribbon

red embroidery thread

This card is quite simple as it is just printing off the image, a bit of embossing and then mat and layering.

The fancy pattern at the bottom of the card is made by embossing the blue pearl card and cutting out both ends of the design, then rub the design with a sanding block to reveal the inner white core (this is a lovely technique as the card feels like velvet flock after the core is exposed). Stick the two pieces of card together on the reverse with tape and cut to size.

The heart balloons were cut from red card, I used the embroidery thread to make the strings and when the balloons were stuck onto the card I covered them with Glossy Accents.

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Well after an exciting night watching my cards (and the rest of the teams fabulous cards) on TV I then watched a film so it was a late night for me and as the weather man had predicted snow over night I wasn't sure what I would wake up to this morning. The snow didn't arrive here in Lincolnshire but I have seen some pictures from my family in Yorkshire and they have had a bit of the white stuff and a scary trip into work this morning. I hope you are safe and snug today and keeping warm.

My dream job

Hello crafty friends, today I am so excited to be able to share with you my first Crafters Companion project. This is 1 of 9 cards that I have made using the Catitude crafting suite which consists of dies, embossing folders, stamps and digi stamps, a super fantastic CD ROM and a book of top quality backing papers. The Catitudes collection is launched today on Hochanda as a "one day special" and I can tell you now that this project was a dream job for me to work on because as you know I love cats, fashion/style (although I lack it personally) and crafting and it is all rolled up in this amazing set. I do hope my cards get an airing on the TV but I have seen the other projects made by my DT buddies and they are amazing and well worth a look at on the Crafters Companion Pinterest page.

what I used:

Crafters Companion Catitudes CD - topper 83 & sentiment 15 (re sized with graphics program)

Catitudes Perfect Patterns embossing folder

Catitudes paper pad (for flowers)

Crafters Companion Signature Collection, English Country Garden, Grand Floral dies

6" x 6" white base card

circle dies to make the hoop frame

green card & white pearl card

good quality 210gsm mat print paper

blue & green bakers twine and jute twine

pearl embellishment, small cotton bobbin & blue satin bow

This card is all about the finishing touches and the image is so lovely you couldn't really go wrong. The only bit that you have to think about is making sure that the printed image fits inside the smallest circle die that you will be using to make the frame.

The frame is made using the pearl card and two circle dies  and then wrapping the twines around it once it is cut out.

The pattern on the embossing folder is so classy and really pops when used on the pearl card.

Yes I would definitely send this card to myself, it ticks all my boxes.

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I have been waiting what seems like such a long time to share this Catitudes collection with you and it has been a real test for me because I love it so much and had such a fantastic crafty time making all the samples. I am eagerly awaiting my next project which I think will be with me this week but it will take a lot to beat Catitudes.

I have to go into work tomorrow for an allergen training course and snow is forecast here in Lincolnshire so I hope it waits till I`m safe home or even better doesn't snow at all. I hate driving in snow ever since I got stuck on an icy hill a few years ago and had to watch whilst lots of cars skidded into each other all around me, that was the year when they ran out of grit and didn't grit the roads. I hope you all keep safe and warm and snow free (unless you like snow and then you can have mine).

You don`t see many of these in November

Hello, it`s frosty out this morning and as we get further on into Autumn I think the only Butterflies to be seen will be on cards like this one. This is another card I have made using the new LC Designs Dinkie 3D Butterfly stamp. I love the bright colours of Butterflies and so I decided to paint this one in rainbow colours.

what I used:

LC Designs Dinkies 3D Butterfly stamp

small butterfly stamp

small sentiment stamp

VersaMark ink pad

5 1/4" base card

yellow & craft card & small piece of gold card from stash

open weave hessian type fabric

watercolour paper

gold embossing powder

gold Liquid Pearls

2 x brass brads

 

Stamp the 3D Butterfly and heat emboss using the gold embossing powder on water colour paper, then colour it using watercolours and a water brush (Spectrum Aqua).

The background layer of Butterflies is also made by heat embossing the gold embossing powder onto craft card.

Cut the embossed pieces to size and add gold Liquid Pearls to the edges.

Mat and layer the various components to create the card.

Finally add the sentiment which has been heat embossed onto gold card and brass brads added.

 

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The quilting fabric sale that I went to earlier on this week was a lovely day out with my friend but I only managed to spend £2, mind you I did seem to get quite a lot for my money but I felt a bit of a failure as it was to raise funds for the Lincolnshire Cat Trust. Today I have a free day and I am hoping to get some Christmas cards made to send out this year as it always seems to be a last minute push with my personal Christmas cards. My craft table is right under a big window and although its lovely to look out from its quite chilly now that the weather has turned frosty and I find my fingers get quite cold so I have invested in some fingerless gloves but I have no doubt that when I start gluing things they may have to come off. I hope you have a productive day today and manage to stay warm.