Thursday, 24 September 2020

Happy Anniversary

 


It is my 49th birthday on the 28th and also our 19th wedding anniversary. I was dreading turning 30 so my husband married me so I could count 30 birthdays and however many wedding anniversaries. As I have got older I can't believe I felt that way so many years ago.... I think looking back it was to do with other things that weren't quite right in my life and I transferred it to a big birthday. Silly really.... I am much happier being my age now than when I was younger. Thankfully me and Paul have been together 31 years through lots of ups and downs and we are still very happy with one another.


The starting point for this card was the Heart Confetti Edge'able die from Crafter's Companion. I had seen this on several projects when it first came out and bought it specifically to make a card for my hubby.

I have some large sheets of card from Aldi that are 24cm x 34cm wide. This die is 15cm high so I cut the red card to 15x34cm. I cut the edge'able die from a scrap of black card and then folded the card to suit the placement of the black section so the red from the inside came through. This is then adhered to the front section and the finished card is like an A5 size on it's side.

I have used some heart paper in pink and added some of the black hearts that are leftover from the die cut edge. The heart holographic 'ribbon' is a scrap of paper that has been cut so the heart was placed in the centre.

Stamper's Delights do a Progressive Freebie challenge on Facebook. If you have made a project using one of their images then the following month you get a free digital set, sometimes two.

The image is Cupid 3 from Stamper's Delights. It comes with and without wings and there is a really good value Cupid Honey Bundle which has loads of variations of Cupid images on sale for only £5 at the moment. I have coloured using a combination of Promarkers & Spectrum Noir pens and a very fine black Sharpie pen for fine details. On the wings I have used a grey pencil to add details to the feathers and then lots of glitter to make the wings really sparkle. A gold gel pen has been added to the swirls in the hair. The image has been fussy cut and mounted onto foam squares.

The circle sentiment is also from Stamper's Delights. I think it may have been an old blog freebie as it doesn't seem to be available any longer. I used the same markers and glitter as the image and added some bling to cover some little stars. The sentiment is from Imagine That Digi Stamps and is from an older set called Sweet Tea.

I added some little heart shaped gems to the black hearts and the sentiment and faux stitching in a silver gel pen to the black edge of the die cut.

Card Details -

Size - A5 Landscape
Digital Image - Cupid 3 by Stamper's Delights
Digital Sentiments - Stamper's Delights & Imagine That Digistamp (both retired stamps)
Dies - Heart Confetti Edge'able by Crafter's Companion
Colouring Medium - Promarkers, Spectrum Noir, Silver & Gold Gel pens, Sharpie
Embellishments - Iridescent loose glitter, Papermania heart shaped & round gems

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges (in Alphabetical Order)
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Tuesday, 22 September 2020

Deacon Elf Presents

 


It is time for another challenge for Team B at Through The Craft Room Door


The sponsor for this challenge is Bugaboo Stamps
There is a prize of $12 to spend in the store for the lucky winner.


I absolutely adore Bugaboo Stamps images and over the years have built up quite a collection. I chose to use Deacon Elf Presents to make a Christmas card.

The image has been coloured with Promarkers. I added a little smile to the face as I am not overly keen on expressionless faces. I used lots of Stickles glitter glue in red and gold and added some gems to the spotty gift and stars onto the hat. I went round the outside of the image with a light grey Flexmarker and fussy cut. This is then mounted onto some thin 3d foam squares.

I used the latest card sketch from Stick It Down for the layout.



The base of the card is a sheet of white A4 cardstock. I have used scraps of patterned papers and cards for the patterned papers, adding a strip of candy cane stripe washi tape to the centre gold panel. The gold strip, red paper and sentiment have been recycled from shop bought Christmas cards I have received.

I used a Nestabilities die to cut the mats for the image. I used the largest one to cut the spotty paper layer and then used the inside edge of the template for the gold layer and the outside edge for the green. These were drawn with a pencil and cut by hand. I think they can quite often make a nicer size layer than using the next size up or down die.

On a previous card I had used some ribbon 3d stickers that were shaped like gift boxes and decided to have a go at making my own. I used some scraps of card and wrapped some ribbons round them with a contrast on the box 'lid' and a small piece of ribbon for a bow. I am really pleased with how they came out and they add a lovely texture to the card.

Our challenges at Through the Craft Room Door are always Anything Goes so easy to enter. I hope you will join us.

Card Details -

 

Size - A5

Digital Image - Deacon Elf Presents by Bugaboo Stamps

Dies - Nestabilities Labels 25 by Spellbinders

Colouring Medium - Promarkers, White gel pen

Embellishments - Ribbons, adhesive gems, Stickles glitter glue, washi tape


I would like to enter this card into the following challenges (in Alphabetical Order)
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Sunday, 20 September 2020

Signs of Autumn

 


Over at the Outlawz Challenge there is a monthly Progressive Freebie Challenge. If you have taken part in the previous month you get a new image to play with. This month we have an image and 2 sentiments from the Signs of Autumn set by Jan's Digi Stamps.

Autumn is my favourite season. I love the slight crispness that you get in the air, the sun is not so hot and burny and the leaves start to turn into the most magical of colours. Also at the end of the month it is my birthday and also my wedding anniversary so lots of good things to look forward to.

This image was an absolute delight to work with. I coloured the image using a combination of Promarker and Spectrum Noir pens. I wanted to use lots of colours to emulate the leaves in yellows, oranges, reds, greens & browns. The jar is coloured a very pale grey with a darker seal. I added some silver gel pen to the metal clasp. The jar has a layers os subtle sparkle from a Spectrum Noir clear glitter pen. This really doesn't show up on photos well at all but I promise it is there in real life.

The base of the card is brown card stock from Aldi cut into a 6" square. This gives a nice strip of scrap card stock so this was used to mat the image.

I used sketch 475 from Try Stamping on Tuesday for the layout


The glittery leaves patterned paper is from a Dovecraft Pack Neighbourwood which has lots of leafy patterned papers in it, perfect for autumn projects.  The 'ribbon' is an offcut of paper from the Papermania Birdsong pad. 

Following the prompt on the sketch I added 3 square brown gems and a little sentiment tag from a HOTP Earthtones Creative Pack. When I first started making cards 20 years ago I bought a few of those pads and still have loads of tags and papers left. I mounted this onto a scrap of gold card and added a gold self adhesive puffy dot. The tag and image are mounted onto 3d foam for added dimension.

Card Details -

Size - 6" Square
Image - Signs of Autumn by Jan's Digi Stamps.
Colouring Medium - Promarker, Spectrum Noir, Silver gel pen, Spectrum Noir Clear glitter overlay 
Embellishments - gold puffy dome sticker, square gems

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges (in Alphabetical Order)



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Tuesday, 15 September 2020

Say It With a Sentiment


Over at The 12 Months of Christmas Link Up it is the Merry Maidens turn to showcase some fabulous Christmas cards.


The optional Twist for this challenge is to ' Say It With A Sentiment' A sentiment or word art is to be a big part of the focus on the card.

The paper pack Sentimentally Christmas designed by Decosse's Dynamite Doodles is up for grabs to the lucky winner who follows the twist.




If you want the chance to win this month's featured paper pack, be sure to create a card that features the twist.

The Sponsor for this challenge is Decosse's Dynamite Doodles who is offering a selection of Christmas Sentiments to the lucky winner.

As I don't have access to a colour printer at the moment I have made a fully digital card.

For my card I really wanted to use Snowy Scene from the Nature of Christmas Kit.


I laid this on a background of Cranberrry Plaid paper which is a freebie still available here from Decosse's Dynamite Doodles. It is a subtle pop of colour around the edge without being too bold.

 The sentiment is from the White Christmas Sentiment set 


I wanted it to be a large focal area on the white snowbank foreground. I love the font that has been used on this one.

I added some red glitter snowflakes from Snow Much Fun onto the background and made them a 70% opacity to make them less bold and blend into the snowflakes already on the background.


Finally I added a little snowman which was a vector graphic I bought years ago for the grand total of 99p. This was in the days before digital stamps really became popular (can you imagine there was such a time?)

I do hope you will take part in our challenge and look forward to seeing your creations.


Digital Supplies Used :  

Image -  Vector Graphic (no longer available)
Papers - Cranberry Plaid freebie & Nature of Christmas by Decosse's Dynamite Doodles.
Sentiment - White Christmas set by Decosse's Dynamite Doodles.
Embellishments - Snow Much Fun Glitter Snowflakes  by Decosse's Dynamite Doodles

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges (in Alphabetical Order)


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Tuesday, 8 September 2020

Creepy Cute Cafe Crow

 


It is time for another challenge for Team B at Through The Craft Room Door


The sponsor for this challenge is Oddball Art Co.
There is a prize of $10 to spend in the store for the lucky winner.



We were given this set to use Creepy Cute Cafe Img 523.  I don't really make halloween projects so I chose to use the crow from the set.


I had an idea to position the birdies like a Mommy Bird giving some advice to a baby bird so positioned the digital stamp to suit this. 

I coloured the image using Promarkers in greens as it looked like my Grandad's budgie when I was growing up. I added some detail to the feathers with coloured pencils. I thought I had a die I could make a branch from but the couple I have wouldn't sit right in the circle so I decided I would draw my own. Not sure I will get any artistry awards for it though LOL. The background is coloured with a very pale blue which I have given a mottled texture to with a blending pen. The camera hasn't picked that up very well as it is so subtle.

I decided to make it into an easel card as it is a long while since I made one of those.

On the front the bottom paper has such a lovely dainty design in the corner. The squares of green are a double sided paper so I have turned one over and added faux stitching with a fine line pen. I have added ink to the edge of the paper. The Image I have cut out using a Fiskars circle shapecutter template then a circle of green card. I used a new set of dies Crea-Nest-Lies XXL to cut the scalloped circle. These are brilliant dies as they are a decent size and lots of nesting shapes in one set. Considering how fine the scallops are they cut really well and this was quite thick black card. I have added 3 iridescent sequin flowers and green gems.

The bottom section has used more of the same papers and I trimmed the floral one using a Martha Stewart border punch. The sentiment is an old one from AI Factory who have now retired. As there are so many layers the easel sits behind this sentiment section without any need to put any other raised item to hold it up. Finally for a bit of whimsy I added some googly eyes to both the birdies. 

Our challenges at Through the Craft Room Door are always Anything Goes so easy to enter. I hope you will join us.

Card Details -

 

Size – 6’ Square Easel

Digital Image – Crow from Creepy Cute Café Image 523 by Oddball Art Co.

Digital Sentiment – This Little Birdie Set 1 by AI Factory (retired)

Dies – Crea-Nest-Lies XXL 69 Circle Open Scallop

Punch – Scallop Polka Dot Border by Martha Stewart Crafts

Colouring Medium – Promarkers, Coloured Pencils

Embellishments – Flower sequins, gems, googly eyes

 

 

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges (in Alphabetical Order)


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Monday, 7 September 2020

Round of Golf


Today is my Father In Law's birthday and inspired by a pop up snowman card I had seen online I thought I would make a pop up golf ball. Little did I realise what I was letting myself in for though.....

I started off making the golf ball. I found a template online to make the ball and made it out of white card. I used 200 gsm and it seemed too thin so I did a slightly smaller version in thicker card. This still seemed too thin. I tried to use an elastic band to do the pop up bit but it ripped the card so I used some elastic instead and this seemed to hold up better.

To emulate the texture of the golf ball I used an embossing folder and cut the panels slightly smaller than the template, then taped them on with strong red liner double sided tape. After some manipulation I realised the joints would not hold very well especially where the sides were held together with the elastic so I ended up having to do some more strengthening. I was losing the will to live by this stage and seriously considered binning the blooming thing! I decided it was as good as I was going to be able to get it and stop messing with it.


I was lucky to win a challenge recently and the prize was a gift certificate for DRS Designs. They had some lovely rubber stamps and I chose this fabulous Golf Is…… image. I really liked the frame of golfing terms and thought it would be nice for Dad as he is golfing crazy.


I coloured the image with a combination of Promarkers and Spectrum Noir pens. I mounted this onto silver card and added some ribbon and a plaid glittery patterned paper in green.  I added some peel off stickers for the sentiment and some foam alphabet stickers that have silver glitter on them for Dad. This is the inside left hand side of card.

The pop up ball is on the right hand side of the inside. I added some handmade green paper which has a lovely texture for the 'grass' and a silver cardboard hole that the ball goes into. This is the side profile of it. It doesn't completely spring into a round shape. If I pulled the elastic tighter then it made the ball go a weird shape so I had to compromise.


This is what the inside looks like with both sides in view.


To keep the card closed in the envelope I realised that I needed to add a belly band to it. I used a cupcake die that I received in a mystery clearance bag from Crafter’s Companion. I cut it from black card and then added a layer of silver underneath it so it made it stronger and added contrast. Where the band is die cut was quite weak when the golf ball was pushing against it. I added some silver gel pen and clear glitter to the embossed detail in the cupcake.

The patterned paper has been cut using a die from Julie Hickey Designs.

I was quite pleased with it once I had finished with it. I'm not sure what I was doing wrong or why I couldn't get a good balance with making it springy and tearing the card but I managed it in the end with some perseverance and a lot of swearing...... I just hope he likes it :)

Card Details -

 

Size – 6” x 6"

Rubber Stamp – Golf Is…… by DRS Designs

Dies – Sweet Treat by Crafter’s Companion, Square Layers, Frames & Banners by Julie Hickey Designs

Embossing Folder – Tiny Bubbles by Cuttlebug

Colouring Medium – Promarkers & Spectrum Noir, silver gel pen and sakura clear glitter pen

Embellishments - Ribbons, Peel off stickers, Foam glitter stickers

 

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges (in Alphabetical Order)

 





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