Taking Part // PTI August Blog Hop

I felt quite inspired when I saw the details of PTI's August Blog Hop and immediately started digging through my supplies. I had quite a clear picture in my head of what I wanted it to be, and here it is, it just feels a little 'off' and I'm not sure why (I can take constructive criticism in the comments)

(and I know, it's a terrible, terrible picture!) :) I stamped Stitches and Swirls on to a piece of felt using a light coloured permanent ink pad and then spent a couple of hours in front of a movie over stitching the stamp. I mounted it on to some raspberry fizz card and then on to a square of burlap. I stamped the sentiment and mounted it on foam pads. Thanks for looking!

Supplies: Stamps; Think Big Favourites 12, Stitches and Swirls (Papertrey Ink), Other; Felt and Burlap (Etsy)

Update: Here is a *marginally* better picture :)

On a roll...

I've really been enjoying my crafting time over the past few days, I think trying to enter different challenges is great to help kick start your creativeness.

Here is another entry for the Hero Arts challenge (I promise you it's the last one)

Supplies used:Stamp; Antique Engravings, Sky's the Limit (Hero Arts). Die Cut; Antique Engravings (Hero Arts/Silhouette America) Cardstock; Pool (Hero Arts)

and this one is for the Papercrafts Connection August Gallery Challenge,

Supplies used: Die Cut; Borders (Silhouette America/Jamie Koay) Tag (Papertrey Ink) Paper; Stella and Rose Hazel 6x6 (My Mind's Eye), Stamp; Tiny Tags 2 (Papertrey Ink) Other; Heart Button (Etsy)

Well, it's a Bank Holiday weekend here so I am off to make some more cards :) Hope you have a super weekend!

Make A Wish - Clean and Simple?

Here is another card that I am entering in to the Hero Arts monthly challenge. I have been playing around with my silhouette and saw this shape by Jenni Bowlin silhouette of a little girl holding a star. I initially wanted it to take the positive die cut and incorporate it into a card but found that I much preferred the negative. I am entering this as 'clean and simple' which doesn't seem to be my style, I just look at it and wonder if it's CAS enough?

This is the end result:

Supplies: Stamp; Classic Fabric Design Cling, Sky's the Limit Clear (Hero Arts). Ink; Picked Raspberry, Shaded Lilac and Salty Ocean, Squeezed Lemonade Distress Inks (Ranger). Die Cut; Whimsy Silhouette (Jenni Bowlin/Silhouette America).

It wasn't my first try, I made this card first,

I used the Envelope Pattern Background and black pen around the edges but i felt the pattern wasn't bold enough, but i'm happy i have 2 to use as i just love the die cut. Now I need to see what i can do with the positive image :)

Well, Hello there!

Is is hot where you are? It's 30 degrees in my garden and I am melting in the heat! Not the best time to be crafting, however I seem to have recovered a tiny sliver of my mojo (I cannot believe that the last time I created something was in March) and when the mood strikes, you just have to go with it!

I decided to enter a challenge as it's the best way to get the creative juices flowing. I chose to enter this month's challenge over on the Hero Arts Blog which is Clean and Simple style stamping, a sketch challenge or make your own embellishment.

I decided to go the 'make your own embellishment' route. I have had a pack of fimo sitting on my desk for ages, I had such grand plans for it, I was going to make my own cabochons, cameos and frames, all of which fell by the wayside and I'm left looking at this squidgy lump feeling completely uninspired. As the weather is balmy and where I would really rather be is at the beach I pulled out my 6x6 pack of Pink Paislee Nantucket papers and ephemera, my Hero Arts Antique Engraving stamps and came up with this:

As you can see i'm still a beginner when it comes to stamping into clay, here are a couple of LFMF (learn from my fail's)

1. Make sure your work surface is really clean. I run my finger along my craft mat, hmmm, seems clean, errr.....NOT. Always use a wet wipe
2. If it's hot where you are or you have really hot hands and the clay is sticky, let it rest and cool before stamping
3. ALWAYS protect the stamp by inking it up with your chosen colour or a versamark watermark pad....Why?
4. If you don't you will spend ages scraping clay out of all the tiny grooves and scrubbing it to within an inch of it's life. Like I said, LFMF ;)

I rubbed the shell over using a peach coloured Faber Castell Gelato and dusted it with Cosmic Shimmer Mango mica powder. I attached it to my prepared card base with a squidge of silicone glue.

Give me links to your favourite stamped clay embellishments in the comments?

Happy Father's Day Giftset

This post was first published on 15th May 2010.

This month's Crafty Templates kit 'Bee Creative' is filled with lots of yummy Pink Paislee loveliness! As soon as I saw the watering can template I knew that I had to use it on a Father's Day card. Both my Dad and Father-In-Law are avid gardeners and love to grow their own veg so it didn't take long for the 'seed' of an idea to form (see what I did there? ok, ok, no more puns!)

The card uses paper from the kit liberally doused with some distress ink, stamped with a vintage text stamp and chalk ink. I cut the watering can from one of the sheets and accented it with a complimentary pattern and highlighted the edges with black pen and white sakura pen. The plant pot is an Art Impressions stamp and coloured with pro-markers and the little seed was drawn by hand with a dash of glossy accents. I mounted them all on the card and added 'fig 1.' etc like you would see in an old diagram and wrote planting instructions on the side edge. I finished it all off by mounting some of the letter stickers from the kit on a seed stick for the greeting. I love how it turned out, like really love it, I have mentioned before how I struggle with cards for men but I think I managed to pull it off this time!

As the card went so well I pulled out a notebook from my stash, painted it brown and decorated it to match. I also used my McGill tab punch to add tabs for the months.

I also die cut some paper and folded them over some seed packets finished with twine and another watering can.

I now have a lovely little giftset to give for Father's Day, I just need to make another one for my Father in Law!

Make It Monday - Creating Large Frames...

from smaller stamps is the challenge over on the Papertrey Ink blog this week. I took Tag It's 5 masked off a circle with paper and stamped around the edge to create a scalloped frame for my sentiment.

Supplies used:
Stamps:Tag-It's 5 - Papertrey Ink
Patterned Paper - Doodlebug, My Minds Eye
Felt - Dainty Paperie
Button - Papertrey Ink
Dies - Papertrey Ink
Ink - Papertrey Ink, Memento

I stamped the background using the same stamp set, layered some pretty co-ordinating patterned paper, created the felt embellishment and mounted it all with foam tape to add dimension. I like the 'It's your day' sentiment as it can be used for a number of occasions.

Happy Thursday :)

Make It Monday - Glittered Buttons

Just popping in quickly to share my Papertrey Ink Make It Monday card. The challenge was to use glittered buttons. Hang on, glitter? buttons? how could I not enter as I just adore both :)

Supplies used:
Stamps: Mega Mehndi Medallions, Mehndi Medallions, Button Boutique, Tiny Tags and Tiny Tags 2 - PTI
Die: Button Boutique - PTI
Buttons - PTI
Embellishments: Flowers and Lace - Dainty Paperie, Seam Binding - Hug Snug, Gems - Papermania
Other - Stickles and Distress Stickles - Ranger, Prisma Glitter - Hero Arts, Patterned Paper - Pink Paislee, Doily - Wilton, Ink - PTI, Tsukineko.

Thanks for looking and have a wonderful day!

Mini Matryoshka Notecards

I have been enchanted with matryoshka dolls since I was a child, I remember having a basic set of 5 dolls and would spend hours creating stories and little worlds for them but inevitably over the years they disappeared, never to be found again. My lovely father in law purchased me a set when he visited Russia a number of years ago and after playing with them for a little while they have been stored safely in my keepsake box, but that doesn't stop me from taking them out and having a little play every now and again!

I have had my eye on a set of matryoshka doll stamps for quite a while and decided to take advantage of My Cute Stamps* 50% off sale to snag a set (if you are quick the sale is still on here) I created a mini notecard gift set for my 10 year old niece, I'm sure she'll like writing little notes to her friends on these, I might have to make a set for myself!

I layered Pink Paislee Vintage Vogue papers and added the stamped and coloured matryoshka's. I am still learning to use my promarkers so please don't laugh!

I used my silhouette to cut out a box, stamped the border from the doll stamp set around the front, affixed some acetate to the inside and finished the outside with some matching chipboard shapes. I'm not sure why the top of the box has come out that icky khaki colour in the photo!

Hope you are having a relaxing Sunday!

*I am not affiliated with My Cute Stamps in any way.

A reasonable start to the year!

Craft-wise, that is! I have been in quite a craft slump for the past couple of months but since the start of this new year I have started to pick up the pace, I have even managed a couple of scrapbook pages which I hope to share!

I have really been enjoying using the Papertrey Ink Daydreamer set after entering MIM. After making this card I decided to use the die cut shape on a second card.

Confession: I am trying the whole '-if I make something, I should use up all the scraps before I can start another project-thing' which, if I know myself well enough, I will do for the next 3 projects, then I'll start saving the aforementioned scraps intending on using them up later but will inevitably end up throwing them in the scrap drawer and forget about them!

It all started well enough, until I got to the very end and had the lightbulb moment where I decided to stamp the sentiment on felt, I tested it on a piece of scrap felt and it all seemed ok so I went ahead and stamped it on the felt on the card. Let's just say that I should have left my test piece to develop a bit longer before stamping, as, this happened......

Yup, I clearly didn't think that one through. I stamped the sentiment on a matching piece of card and stuck over the mess!

Not as nice as when the sentiment was first stamped on the felt, but it rescued it so I am happy! Have you had any crafting mishaps that you have had to rescue recently?

Supplies: Note card-Hero Arts, Patterened paper - Making Memories, Felt - Dainty Paperie, Stampset - Papertrey Ink.

Happy saturday!

Make it Monday Challenge

For the first time I thought I would have a bash at entering Papertrey Ink's Make It Monday Challenge. All you have to do it pick a technique that has been featured on a previous MIM and get creating!

For my first card I chose MIM #35 Custom Stamped Washi Tape.

I used the Daydreamer stamp set to make each strip of tape which I then adhered on some white card stock. I embellished it with co-ordinating stamped tags from the Tiny Tags set and matching twine.

For this card I chose MIM #1 Go-To Sentiment Card

Lots of various thank you related sentiment stamps from different PTI sets.

And for this one I chose MIM #2 Vellum Sentiment Strip

For this I chose one of my favourite stamp sets, Year of Flowers Gladiolus and Think Big Favourites #1. I stamped the sentiment on vellum with Fresh Snow ink and embossed with white embossing powder to make sure it stood out.

I think I'm going to take a little nap now :)

Post Holiday Round Up

I hope that this year finds you all happy, healthy and you had a wonderful festive period? I managed a few projects over christmas and I thought I would share a few.

Here is this year's christmas card to our immediate family, this is the final version.

Tim Holtz Reindeer Die cut from silver glitter card stock, Bo Bunny Double Dot cardstock, some simple stamping and frosty coarse cut glitter makes for a snowy scene, you can't forget the red noses! Here is the first one I made..

I like the final one better! The background on the second took quite a bit longer, I used Tim Holtz Stormy Sky distress ink and Ranger Perfect Pearls Turquoise Spray but it just didn't feel quite right.

I dressed up a gift card envelope for gift giving

The envelope and snowman were cut using my silhouette and I just 'gussied' it up a bit! This is the outer envelope, in the next picture you can see the actual gift card holder. I hope the recipient liked it!

I did spend quite a bit of time making 7 magnetic fridge notepads using the lovely Crate Paper Farmhouse papers but plum forgot to take a picture, I am going to try and snaffle a pic of one when I visit my mum next.

That's all for today, see you soon :)

Holiday Lists Notebooks

After having a wander through various blogs I saw some adorable notebooks on Michelle Wooderson's blog and had to make my own!

Mish has good instructions on her blog so I won't give you all the details here. I used Papertrey Ink's Friendship Jar and Holiday Fillers on the cover along with some yummy Basic Grey Nordic Holiday paper and some Waltzing Mouse Stamps Seasonal Remedies on the tag and inside the cover.

I can't wait to give these to family and friends in the next few days! They are super easy to make and look so pretty, I am looking forward to creating different non-holiday versions!

A Cute Christmas Gift

I am not usually an organised christmas crafter, I tend to start things at the beginning of December and find myself frantically trying to finish various projects just a couple of days before christmas! This year I have decided to try and start things a little earlier.

I love anything sewing related and seem to have amassed a number of various supplies that I need to put to good use instead of admiring and putting back in the drawer. It all started with a set of small glass jars with cork tops that I bought on sale from Habitat. I had no idea what I was going to do with but an idea slowly morphed after looking at various bits and bobs on the net and via pinterest.

Without further ado, i give you...

{the project with no name} I'm not sure what to call it, it's a pin cushion jar filled with single use button shaped soaps for your guest bathroom, once the soaps are gone you can reuse the jar to store actual buttons. Any ideas on what to call it?

I took a circle of Cath Kidston fabric, sewed a basting stitch around the edge and stuffed it as full as I could with fibre fill, drew the ends of the stitch together and sewed shut. I added some decorative stitched and a button in the middle and hot glued it onto the cork lid, adding some ribbon on the edge to finish it off. I added some decorative pins, wound some bakers twine on a mini wooden spool and a pretty mini pastel safety pin to attach the tag.

The tag is stamped with Papertrey Ink's Button Boutique stamps, I loved that they included the washable word stamp because it fits in so nicely with the contents.

I purchased the soaps on Etsy and the most tedious part of the whole project was placing the soaps one at a time using a pair of tweezers so they all faced outwards.

By the time I was finished I didn't want to give it away (I eventually managed it!) but plan on making a few more as cute gifts!

Supplies used:
Stamps: Button Boutique - Papertrey Ink
Fabric - Cath Kidston
Soaps - The Charming Frog
Twine - Divine Twine
Ink - Memento Rich Cocoa
Ribbon - Maya Road
Lace, Pins, Wooden Spool, Buttons - Dainty Paperie*

*In interest of full disclosure, Dainty Paperie is my Etsy store.

A Tall Order

I like to try different card sizes now and then, I usually like to use 5x7 or 5x5 and when reaching for a packet I came up with some DL cards. I don't usually use DL cards as they are a bit too long for my liking, I always end up with some negative space that doesn't quite flow.

I bought some 8x8 paper pads recently and found that quite a few of the sheets have designs that only cover one side of the paper and sometimes it can leave me a little lost! However, when paired with a DL size card I love how simple and elegant they can look, and with very little work!

This paper is from DCWV Garden Party stack, sentiment and label is from Papertrey Ink and the ribbon was in a bag of scraps. I was quite sad to give this one away as I'd grown quite attached to it!

This paper came from the DCWV Citrus Stack, as with the other card it has pretty much all the same elements, all bar the button. The one thing I like about these papers is the heavier weight cardstock and the thermographic glitter they use in the patterns, guaranteed no shed!

What card size do you usually use? Is there a cards size that you avoid and why?

Re-run of an old favourite

Over the past few years I have created quite a number of cards, but I do have a handful of favourites and this is one of them.

I made this for my Mum's birthday. The card was created using a piece of Papermania acetate, I handcut a bracket shape from K&Co paper and attached on the inside. All that was left to do was to go to town decorating it! I added a dangling charm, which, if I had thought about it I should have made it detachable so it could have been used as a handbag charm!

I like to do commissions for family and friends and this is the most requested one. I thought that I would share a different version that I created recently.

In essence it's the same card with a small change to the embellishments.

Sometimes I have a little bit of a mental block when I am creating something in a short time frame and often find that it is helpful to refer back to previous cards that I have made and either make a direct copy or take some elements or the basic sketch and twist it slightly to make a new card. A good idea when you are in a pinch for an idea!

Is there a card that you have made that you like to remake? Do you use your own cards when feeling a bit low on mojo?

Hello

I hope this bank holiday finds you all well? I have a few Crafty Templates creations to share today!
These two are from the pretty July kit which has unfortunately sold out! I just love the first one, so cute and easily adaptable for that special man in your life

'He' is quite easy to cut by hand and all materials used were from the kit apart from the woodgrain and silver tone paper which were from my stash.

I was a little bit daunted when I saw the 8x8 card blank as I have never worked with such a large size before but once I got going I liked the 'space' that it gave me. Here I used the balloon template which I duplicated 2 further times to create the bunch and adhered using different heights of foam pads and sewed the hearts to the page and 'fluffed' them out for more dimension.

These cards were made using the August kit from Crafty Templates called Sweet Summer which is currently still available and features gorgeous papers and embellishments.

This is made using the bottle template which is kawaii cute! I simply added some letter stickers and gems!

A cute little mushroom which would be great to use on a male card 'For A Funghi'!

I like this one so much, again it's a great base to use for a male card, bon voyage or replace the plane with birds or the balloons for any occasion!

Until next time when I have some exciting news to share :)

A Teeny Toot!

A couple of months ago Leo at Crafty Templates sent the DT some fabulous ice cream templates to use as part of a project in conjunction with Papercraft Inspirations, and to my surprise my card is featured in the magazine! I was so excited, I've never had a card published before :)

Here is the card in the magazine

and here is the card!

I took the scoops and cut them from Bo Bunny double dot cardstock and highlighted the edges with chalks, I cut the cones from yellow cardstock and stamped in rich cocoa Memento ink with my Hero Arts Envelope Pattern stamp to add a grid texture. I layered this all up with foam pads and topped with a coordinating pearl. A nice summery but cool card! Thanks for letting me share :)

Just a quick one..

I know, I said I was a bad blogger last month and it seems to continue :( Before I forget I just wanted to share the cards I made from the Crafty Templates Vintage Indie cardmaking kit and templates, if you pop over now you can still pick one up, a lovely mix of papers and embellishments for a fantastic price!

This one has to be my favourite, dress form? check. polka dots? check. I just love it!

This one didn't use the kit but did use the templates. I love anything owl related.

I would love to own a pair of fancy shoes like this!

Cute vintage radio.

I have got a couple of exciting things to share over the next few days, so I hope you'll come back soon :)



Crafty Templates - One for the Guys

I am a bad blogger! I completely forgot that I had not shown my Crafty Templates 'One for the Guys' cards that I made for May. Lots of lovely American Crafts Campy Trails and Cosmo Cricket Social Club, it is still in stock in the Crafty Templates store so I urge you to check it out :)

If you are looking for the 52 cards challenge you can now find it at the lovely and talented Nat's blog Kool Kitty Musings, please do drop on by!