Sunday, 29 August 2021

Dragon & Cupcake

 



Kinda Cute by Patricia Alvarez has a Progressive Freebie challenge on Facebook. If you use any of her images and submit a card by the end of that month then you get a free image the following month. 

This card has been made with Dragon & Cupcake which I thought would be a great image for a birthday card for a male.

I used a kraft card blank and added some patterned paper which has been re-used / recycled from a Nespresso boutique paper carry bag. I loved the wonky stripe and the colours and it was too nice to throw away. This has a fairly large 'Nespresso' word on the bag which is concealed underneath the brown mat layer. Quite often you can easily cover these things up and still be left with a good area of the design to work with. I would always suggest to people to look at everyday items and packaging as there are so many things you can use in your crafting. If it saves a small proportion of items going to landfill we are doing our part :)

The image has been coloured using Promarkers and Arteza pencils. The background has little dots of Spectrum Noir Glitter Markers and Promarkers in blues and greens. The glitter markers are water soluble so I use a water brush and scribble a small amount of ink on a palette. A little goes a long way when using them in this way. It adds a small amount of twinkle thus making it more suited to a male oriented card.

The sentiment is an old Craftwork Cards one. I coloured the white wording with a marker to match with the colour scheme.

Card Details -


Size - 5” x 7” 

Digital Image - Dragon & Cupcake (Kinda Cute by Patricia Alvarez)

Paper - Recycled from a Nespresso paper bag

Colouring Medium - Promarkers, Arteza Expert Pencils, Spectrum Noir Glitter Markers (Crafter’s Companion)




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









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Monday, 23 August 2021

Holiday Hoopla Ornaments

 


Kate Hadfield Designs has a Subscriber area the Doodle Den where members get access to loads of extra freebies. By subscribing to the newsletter you get a code that gives you VIP access to this area.




This card has been made using 4 of the fabulous pre-coloured Doodles from this amazing freebie set Holiday Hoopla, just perfect for your Christmas makes.


I particularly wanted to make a card in non-traditional Christmas colours as this is something I very rarely do.

I chose 3 of the ornaments from this set as they are perfect for this very reason. I placed them in a way that allowed me to make a long and thin centrepiece to suit an A5 card. I used the long hanger with the bow for the centre bauble and simply drew lines with a very thin marker for the other 2.

The image has a sentimeng that has been added to it by simply typing the words before printing onto matte photo paper. This makes the colours more vibrant than using 

The image is matted onto a dark teal shimmer card. The zig zag paper is from Craftwork Cards and is the perfect compliment in the pink and teal and matches the base cardstock which is Adorable Scorable from Hunky Dory. I do love the thickness of this card for large cards as it is so strong and comes in lots of colours.

I added some silver ribbon and highlighted the circles in the baubles with some self adhesive gems from Kanban.

At Kate Hadfield Designs there are so many fabulous sets it is really easy to get inspired to use them. There are digital stamps which you can colour, coloured versions you can scrapbook or make into digital layouts. Papers, patterned overlays and doodles galore. No matter what your skill level there are so many goodies to play with.


Over at Kate Hadfield Designs there is lots going on. Kate is really generous with her freebies which are readily available. If you sign up to the newsletter you get access to an extra subscriber area the Doodle Den where there are loads more freebies. There is a gallery full of projects by the Creative Team and customers and so much inspiration for crafters and teachers. I would highly recommend you pop over there and join in the fun.


Card Details -


Size - A5

Digital Image - Holiday Hoopla Freebie (Kate Hadfield Designs)

Paper - Craftwork Cards

Embellishments - Ribbon, self adhesive gems



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



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Friday, 20 August 2021

Sunflower Floral Frame

 


Recently I was a featured creator at Scrapping4fun Challenges with a birthday card I made. 


I am delighted to be a guest designer for the new challenge 199 which starts today. 

The theme for this challenge is to use more than 2 Layers. I am not known for having a CAS style so layers is definitely fine by me :)


My card has been made using one of my all time favourite sunflower images Floral Frame 8 by Floppy Latter Designs (store now retired)

It has been coloured with Promarkers and a second layer of the flowers has been decoupaged with accent beads embedded in Glossy Accents in the centre. There is so much texture in the flower centres and I love using this technique for sunflowers especially. 

I had been going through my Happy Birthday sentiments and had found this large one from Craftwork Cards so the rest of the card was built around it.

I have used an 8' scalloped edge card base. The brown paper is from a HOTP earthtones pad and the yellow stripe is from the Tim Coffey daisy collection at K & Co. I fell in love with this range many years ago and find it very hard to actually USE it. I have the most gorgeous glittered daisy vellum I simply cannot cut into ( I know many of you have papers in your collection the same.....)

I recently bought a big ball of jute string for in the garden so used some to add a little bow and some more texture. I really like how this card turned out. It has an Autumn feel to it and that is my fave season plus beautiful bold Happy Flowers (mine have still not opened up yet!)

Thank you to Scrapping4fun Challenges for the opportunity to be a Guest DT on this challenge. Head on over there yourself to take part with your layered creations.

Card Details -


Size - 8” Square

Digital Image - Floral Frame 8 (Floppy Latte Designs Retired)

Colouring Medium - Promarkers

Papers - Cardmakers Earth Tones Creative Pack (HOTP) & Tim Coffey Super K (K & Company)

Sentiment - Craftwork Cards

Embellishments - Sisal Twine, Accent Beads, Glossy Accents 



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






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Wednesday, 18 August 2021

Pretty Calf

 


Imagine That Digistamp has given us this great set to play with the Pretty Calf set as the Digi of the Month for August. It is a progressive image challenge and as long as you take part with the image for that month you will automatically get the following one.



Kris designed this set with her daughter in mind. Carly is going to be 21, time really has flown by as she was a teenager when I used to be on Kris' DT many moons ago!

I must admit I was racking my brain how to use this set as I am trying not to make cards for the sake of it as I have done in the past. When you are on Design Teams quite often there is a specific theme to follow and you make a lovely card without an outlet for it so I am trying to make cards with a specific person or event in mind. I saw a Facebook post from the lady who was maid of honour at my Sister's wedding and she is CRAZY about cows so made this with her in mind. She will LOVE it.

I wanted to use the pre-coloured heart motif and designed the card around that. The cow print paper is a background for a computer desktop. I wasn't sure if it would print okay but as you can see it has come out perfectly.

The image, paper and sentiment have been printed onto matte photo paper. I distressed the edge of the image with a small blank inkpad.

The glittery green ribbon is from B&M which is a great store for picking up crafty bits and pieces at a bargain price but you often have to get it when you see it as they don't have it back again. This was 8 rolls of glittery ribbon in different colours for £4. I added some red line double side tape to the back and wrapped it round the paper so the edges are securely held underneath. I find this a great method to hide the edges of the ribbon and neaten the finish.

The sentiment and image have been popped up on some thin foam pads to add a bit of dimension but not too much bulk so I can send it in the post.

Finally on the flowers I used some glitter markers to add a little bit of sparkle not very evident in the photo but definitely in real life.

There are so many fabulous images and sentiments this is a really versatile set. Kris really does design some fabulous kits and the Digi of the Month challenges are a great way to build up your collection. If you don't take part I would highly recommend you get involved.

Card Details -


Size - 11.5 x 16.5cm

Digital Image & Sentiment - Pretty Calf (Imagine That Digistamp)

Digital Paper - Cow Print Background (Kolpaper Wallpaper)

Colouring Medium - Spectrum Noir Glitter Markers (Crafter’s Companion)

Embellishments - Glitter Ribbon (B&M)



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


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Sunday, 15 August 2021

Christmas Couple in Warm Winter Wear




Over at The 12 Months of Christmas Link Up it is the midway point of our challenge. That means it is the turn of the Merry Maidens to share some more fabulous Christmas cards



This paper pack Knitted Textures 1 designed by Decosse's Dynamite Doodles is up for grabs to the lucky winner who follows the optional twist to feature Warm Winter Wear on your card.





The Sponsor for this challenge is All Dressed Up Stamps who is offering the fabulous prize of 2 digital images from their store.


For my card I have used this super image Christmas Couple. I have particular friends in mind for this card and I know they will love it.

The image has been coloured with Promarkers and some added gold & red gel pens. I added some stickles glitter glue to the furry hat trim. The image has been trimmed and edged with a gold marker.

The card background layers have been created digitally and then printed out onto matte photo paper.

The back layer is the light green from the Knitted Textures pack. This is my favourite sort of green and I tried to match up my Promarkers as best as I could to it.



The next layer is the Ho Ho Ho paper from Sentimentally Christmas. I of course had to use the classic red and green colour combination so chose this paper accordingly.


The plaid 'ribbon' was created using the paper from Holiday Hoopla. I made the paper smaller so the check was closer and placed several 'pages' alongside one another to make a strip as wide as I needed being careful to match up the design for continuity. This was cut out as a separate piece and then I added a gold peel off sticker border for definition.

The sentiment was created using a font purchased from Serif who are the designers of the Affinity software I use. I die cut this using a Spellbinders die.

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

Card Details -


Size - 6” Square

Digital Image - Christmas Couple (All Dressed Up Stamps)

Digital Papers - Knitted Textures 1, Sentimentally Christmas, Holiday Hoopla Patterned Papers 1 (Decosse’s Dynamite Doodles)

Dies - Petite Labels 1 (Spellbinders)

Colouring Medium - Promarkers, Gel Pens

Embellishments - Stickles Glitter Glue, Gold peel off border (Lakeland Limited)



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


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Thursday, 12 August 2021

Trio of Poinsettias

 


I was so taken with the current sketch at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown I decided to have another go using some poinsettia dies.


I ransacked my scraps and used layers of various red papers and cardstock to cut poinsettia flowers in various sizes from a new to me set of dies by The Paper Boutique. There are 4 sizes of flowers and 2 centres so I basically just played with lots of layers.

I decided to go plain and used a sheet of green A4 card for the base and added a layer of gold glittery car. It is VERY sparkly. I then added a foiled sentiment and some gems to the centre of the 2 largest flowers.

As there is no patterned paper I am not sure if this looks okay as it is such a plain card for me. It is hard for me to leave so much plain 'white space' but it does let the flowers shine which is what they are supposed to do really.

I love making cards, and love the teams and projects I make but it has been really nice to be so inspired by a sketch to make not one but 2 cards using it.


Card Details -


Size - A5

Dies - Poinsettias (The Paper Boutique)

Papers - Assorted scraps of red and red papers & Gold glitter card

Embellishments - Assorted gems



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






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Tuesday, 10 August 2021

Snowflake Trio

 


Over at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown the challenge this week is a sketch. As soon as I saw it my mind immediately went to Snowflakes


The hardest part was which of my lovely snowflake dies to choose. Recently I was very, very lucky to have been given 2 boxes of brand new dies and papers including loads of new Christmas goodies. I loved the larger ornate snowflake which is from The Paper Boutique. This came as a set of 4 snowflakes and then the outline to cut the contrast mat. It is so pretty that this sketch really makes a lovely feature of it.

The 2 smaller snowflakes are from an old Sheena Douglass set that came in a mystery bag from Crafter's Companion. They are both really intricate. In both cases none of these sets of dies have been used before and I am on a mission to actually USE my die sets and not stick to the same favourites all the time. I have all my supplies catalogued in Evernote and pop a photo in there when I make something using a particular die or stamp. It's good to keep track of what you have and also what you have not used before.

The paper is one of the new pads I have been given which is by Craft Sensations. I liked the subtle colour changes in the background. This is quite a CAS style of card for me but of course with a Mandy twist with added twinkle from some gems.

Card Details -


Size - 12.5 x 17cm

Dies - Softly Softly Snowflakes (The Paper Boutique) & Splendid Snowflakes (Sheena Douglass/Crafter’s Companion)

Paper - Merry Christmas (Craft Sensations)

Embellishments - Gems


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


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Monday, 9 August 2021

We All Scream For Ice Cream Stamps

 


If you are already a subscriber at the Doodle Den at Kate Hadfield Designs you would have had an email on Friday with a free download link to a brand new set of coloured images for We All Scream For Ice Cream as a special treat before it went into the store.


There is a coloured set of images and also these stamps that I have used to make this card.



I created an image in Affinity Designer by combining the waffle cone, 2 of the ice cream scoops, sauce and a wafer. This was printed out and coloured with Promarkers.

I covered the card front with a paper from a DCWV drawer set that I had from QVC a million years ago. There were 3 themed two drawer sets they brought out and one of them was all Summer papers brads, stickers etc. This is part of a 12" sheet which has a huge ice cream on it (not as yummy as this one though)

The ribbon is from a Summer themed kit I had from Crafty Ribbons. I was lucky to win a £10 voucher from there last year and they have so many lovely ribbons. It is an exclusive design and available to buy in metre increments. I feel so lucky to have the perfect ribbon to compliment these stamps.

Throughout I have used kraft card to layer the image, ribbon and sentiment on. This is actually recycled from the inside of a cereal box. The sentiment was printed off my computer using a font from Affinity.

At Kate Hadfield Designs there are so many fabulous sets it is really easy to get inspired to use them. There are digital stamps which you can colour, coloured versions you can scrapbook or make into digital layouts. Papers, patterned overlays and doodles galore. No matter what your skill level there are so many goodies to play with.

Kate is really generous with her freebies which are readily available. If you sign up to the newsletter you get access to an extra subscriber area the Doodle Den where there are loads more freebies. There is a gallery full of projects by the Creative Team and customers and so much inspiration for crafters and teachers. I would highly recommend you pop over there and join in the fun.


Card Details -


Size - 6” Square

Image - We All Scream For Ice Cream Stamps (Kate Hadfield Designs)

Paper - Summer Themed drawer set from QVC (DCWV)

Colouring Medium - Promarkers

Embellishments - Summer Festival Ice Cream Ribbon (Crafty Ribbons)



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




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