Monday 27 April 2020

Hope Butterfly Red & Green


This is another card in my series of Hope Butterflies. I have been making these for friends and neighbours using the same Statement Butterfly and sentiment. They have been well received by the recipients so far. It is bringing me joy making them as each one is different. I am using papers from my scrap drawers for the most part. The butterflies were all cut over the same 2 day period. As I am making the cards I am putting together a sketch and pretty papers and voila.

The base layer of the butterfly is a red dotty cardstock that has been recycled from the inside of a card I have received. The middle layer is a scrap of green paper. The top layer is white hammered card which has been inked with a pearlescent pink ink pad. Black gems were added to the body.


I have used the latest sketch from Outlawz for the layout of this card. The base layer is the same card as the butterfly which I have distressed the edges with a black ink pad.

The frame is a die cut Rococo Frames from Crafter's Companion. This was cut from a green paper which is from a magazine freebie. I used a scrap of pink card for the diamond shape edged with the black ink.

Following the layout of the sketch I added a length of black ribbon to the card and embellished with some diamante gems.

I used a digital sentiment from McMahon Five Designs who retired some years ago from designing stamps. I coloured the hearts with and red glitter gel pen. This was cut using a Baroque Frame die from Crafter's Companion.

Card Details -

Size - A5
Digital Sentiment - McMahon Five Designs (retired)
Colouring Medium - Sakura Glitter Gel Pen & Brilliance Pearlescent Ink Pad
Embellishments - Gemstones & Ribbon

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

Sunday 26 April 2020

Red String


Over at The Outlawz Progressive Freebie Challenge the image we have been given this month is

I have coloured the image using the colours from the front cover of the book The Girl on The Train. I love the colours scheme of black, red, grey and white and this was actually the colours I had in my bedroom when I was a teenager. I had a really typical 80's wallpaper with a geometric design in those colours and MFI furniture which was black with red edge details on it. I loved that room although my Mum wasn't so keen as it wasn't girly (I was never a girly girl, much more of a tomboy)

  

I have used the latest sketch 365 from Atlantic Hearts. It was perfect for using some scraps of card. I have just colour sorted my scraps and it was very easy to gather together some co-ordinating scraps. I also made sure to incorporate some dots or stripes for the AAA Birthday challenge.


The card base is a sheet of A4 dark red card. The top and bottom pieces of patterned paper have been recycled from packaging. The striped piece is DCWV and the spotty is from Papermania. The pieces have been edged with a black Promarker to stop any white core edge from showing through.

The image has been coloured with Promarkers and the hair I added some grey pencil to create line details. I added a sentiment peel off sticker. The image has been matted onto circles of black and red card.

I used some Crafter's Companion dies to create a leaf and flower ensemble and added some gems to the centres.

Card Details -

Size - A5
Image - Red String by Star Stampz
Papers - Some recycled, DCWV & Papermania
Colouring Medium - Promarkers
Embellishments - Diamante Gems

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



Friday 24 April 2020

Hope Butterfly Pink & Green


This is another card in my series of Hope Butterflies. I have been making these for friends and neighbours using the same Statement Butterfly and sentiment. They have been well received by the recipients so far. It is bringing me joy making them as each one is different. I am using papers from my scrap drawers for the most part. The butterflies were all cut over the same 2 day period. As I am making the cards I am putting together a sketch and pretty papers and voila.

The butterfly was made from gold card as the base layer, dotty green paper for the middle and then cream linen textured card for the top. The top layer has been inked with a pearlescent pink ink pad and I have added pink gems to the centre body.

On the Outlawz Crash Your Stash challenge they were encouraging you to pull out your forgotten doilies. I have some heart shaped ones and there are flowers and hearts on it. I used pink and green Promarkers and coloured certain parts of it.

I used the current sketch 808 from Stella Says Sketch for the layout. I rotated it to put a landscape card together.




The base of the card has been covered with a paper that was a magazine freebie. I used a Martha Stewart punch to create a green trellis and then added the doily and butterfly on top.

I used a digital sentiment from McMahon Five Designs who retired some years ago from designing stamps. I coloured the hearts with and pink glitter gel pen and matted it onto gold card.

This card has been given to my Mother in Law to cheer her up and she said she loved it as it is so pretty. 

Card Details -

Size - A5
Digital Sentiment - McMahon Five Designs (retired)
Punch - Garden Trellis Border by Martha Stewart
Colouring Medium - Sakura Glitter Gel Pen & Brilliance Pearlescent Ink Pad
Embellishments - Gemstones

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



Wednesday 22 April 2020

Hope Butterfly Autumn


Another card in my series of Hope Butterflies. I have been making these for friends and neighbours using the same Statement Butterfly and sentiment. They have been well received by the recipients so far. It is bringing me joy making them as each one is different. I am using papers from my scrap drawers for the most part. The butterflies were all cut over the same 2 day period. As I am making the cards I am putting together a sketch and pretty papers and voila.

I love the colours on this one. I adore warm colours like orange and like to marry it with brown....very 70's but I love the happy colours together.

The butterfly was made from brown card as the base layer, plain orange paper for the middle and then cream linen textured card for the top. The orange layer didn't die cut quite right as the tape slipped and the die cut funny in a couple of places. I managed to save it though by snipping some pieces away with my tiny Fiskars scissors so it opened it up a bit. I think this worked quite well as you can see the brown poking through more. Every cloud has a silver lining......

The top layer of butterfly has been inked with a Tim Holtz distress ink pad. On the Outlawz Crash Your Stash challenge they were encouraging you to pull out your forgotten doilies. I used one as a base layer to mat the butterfly on and also inked around the edges. I think it makes it look softer and more antique.

I used the current sketch 808 from Stella Says Sketch for the layout.


The base of the card has been covered with a Papermania paper to match the colours in the wings. I used a die from Crafter's Companion called Intricate Floral Border and cut this from brown card. It amazes me how well these cut out with how intricate they are. I am however very glad I have the bristle roller tool to get the bits out with as they are a bit fiddly. One of the best things I have bought from HunkyDory I can tell you.

I used a digital sentiment from McMahon Five Designs who retired some years ago from designing stamps. I coloured the hearts with an orange glitter gel pen. This was matted onto offcuts of orange and brown left over from the butterfly. The finishing touch was some golden yellow gems for the body.

I have given this to a lovely elderly couple that live 2 doors away. They absolutely love my cards and as they are self isolating they do not have an awful lot to look forward to at the moment. Hopefully it will have brightened their day.

I hope everyone who visits my blog is safe and well wherever you are. It is a weird time but we can all play our part by following the rules that have been set out by our governments. The UK death toll is over 17,000 at the moment which is a huge number. 

I am incredibly sad for people that have been lost to this virus. I know a person who has passed. She is not a government statistic, she has a big family and it will have a devastating impact on them especially her mother. I am sure there are a lot of families who are in the same boat. Life as we we know it has been cancelled. This year has been cancelled. We have had Sports events and musicals cancelled until next year. I cannot even begin to fathom how upsetting it must be for people whose weddings have been cancelled. 

My sister and niece are frontline workers at a care home. A very good friend is a Sister in a hospital in a very nigh risk area. They are scared witless at the moment as they are put at so much risk every day. The stress is immeasurable, damaging their own healths as well as doing a difficult job anyway.  I am incredibly proud of them. When we clap on a Thursday at 8pm I am clapping for them especially, but also for every frontline worker.

I miss my friends and family but we are all keeping in touch, in some cases probably more than you would normally. I am creating beauty in my home and being crafty. The circumstances are not the best but lockdown isn't all bad. It is teaching us to slow down our busy lives. I had been unknowingly preparing for this since leaving my job at the end of October. I needed to de-stress and slow down, sort my head out and get into a much happier place. With meditation and being calm I have found peace. I am truly grateful I did that as I would have been going stir crazy by now. I am in a good place, probably the best I have been for many years which is crazy when you think what we are at the moment.


At times like this it is important to be positive and look on the bright side of life. I love how much quieter it is. I live on a major flightpath to Birmingham International airport and it is amazing how much quieter it is without so many planes. You can hear the birds twittering, the skies are so much clearer without as much pollution. Animal life is thriving and we even had a visit from a Sparrowhawk in our garden which we have never had before. 

My sister in Law saw an otter in the river in Stratford-upon-Avon yesterday, leatherback turtles hatching in high numbers on Thailand as the beaches are closed. I saw pictures yesterday of clear skies in Delhi without pollution, it is the same all over the world. Even the canals are clear in Venice as there are no gondolas stirring up the sediment.

Today is Earth Day which seems very apt as nature is thriving while humans are in lockdown. Maybe, just maybe when we get out of lockdown things will change for the better. Maybe we don't all want to go back to what normal was before.......

Card Details -

Size - A5
Digital Sentiment - McMahon Five Designs (retired)
Paper - Sunshine Capsule Collection by Papermania 
Colouring Medium - Sakura Glitter Gel Pen & Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad
Embellishments - gemstones

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





Sunday 19 April 2020

Hope Butterfly Brown


For the last few weeks I have been decorating our bedroom. I finished the painting on Friday and the next stage is getting a new carpet and bed. However the Government has now said it will be at least a further 3 weeks of lockdown so no new carpet for the time being. We are currently sleeping in the spare bedroom which is a lot smaller so I will be moving furniture back into our room tomorrow.

Between decorating I have been making cards for friends and neighbours using the Statement Butterfly from Crafter's Companion and the same digital sentiment. All cards are being made using different colour combinations, papers and sketches as I don't like to make 2 cards the same.

For this card I used the current sketch from Atlantic Hearts for the layout.


The base card has an offcut of paper from Clare Curds paper pack by Papermania which I have had for many years. I used a Martha Stewart punch to create 2 strips that have been distressed by inking with an almost dry mini inkpad I keep just for that purpose.

I used a digital sentiment from McMahon Five Designs who retired some years ago from designing stamps. The sentiment has been trimmed and I have used a corner punch to round it off. The little hearts are coloured with a Sakura bronze metallic ink pad.The sentiment has been matted onto a piece of metallic paper that has been die cut using the Intricate Trellis metal die from Crafter's Companion.

Finally the butterfly is made using 3 layers. The base layer is plain brown card. The middle layer an offcut of paper from Craftwork Cards and the top layer is plain cream hammered texture card. This has been partially inked with a Tim Holtz Distressing Ink Pad and finished off with some clear diamante gems.

Card Details -

Size - A5
Digital Sentiment - McMahon Five Designs (retired)
Papers - Scraps from Craftwork Cards & Papermania
Punches - Garden Trellis Border by Martha Stewart & Woodware Corner Rounder 
Colouring Medium - Sakura Metallic Gel Pen, Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad
Embellishments - gemstones

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