Friday, September 08, 2017

The Wisdom of Winnie the Pooh

Hello
Happy Friday - I hope you've had a great week.  I'm actually not too sure where the week went, because I seem to have achieved very little, I blinked and pretty much missed it!
Congratulations to Sylvia who won the Spellbinders Gilded Ornaments die set  I was offering as Blog Candy earlier in the week. I hope it arrives through her letterbox in the next day or two - I'm hoping to have another give-away soon.

It's Joanne's turn to set the challenge for the Daring Cardmakers this week
According to UNESCO. today is International Literacy Day a I've always been a reader and can't imagine life without a book on the go.  So, let's celebrate the joy of the written word - your card could feature images of books, a favourite literary character or quotation, a portrait of an author, you could acknowledge a special teacher... where will your imagination take you?
Click HERE to be inspired by what the design team came up with!
I thought about this one most of the week, watching as the rest of the team came up with god idea after good idea and still without a clue for my own card.
I quite liked the idea of using some kind of literary quotation.... then i got to   thinking about one of my own favourite literary characters....and I remembered the perfect quotation. from the brilliant, clever, astute and inspirational Winnie the Pooh, of course!


It pleases me that a character from a book comes up with a quotation about words, and the picture that goes with it is Pooh in the action of writing.
Oh, Mr Milne and Mr Shepard, what wonderful books you created!  Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Info
I made a new template in Paint Shop Pro for cutting on the Silhouette Cameo. This one has several layers, which once cut out were inked and adhered to the base Pooh shape.  My drawing and colouring skills are non existent, but I can  ink around the edges of different shapes and get definition and dimension that way! 
Once I'd made the bear, and worked out where he'd fit on the card, I created the quotation panel also in Paint Shop Pro, printed it out and matted onto turquoise card
On the card blank I stencilled a background of clouds (there was too much white space) before adding the quotation panel, then glued a piece of chipboard to the back of the bear before gluing him in place too.
The lower edge looked a bit bare so I added the grass and flowers cut using Flower Field by Spellbinders


That's it for today, Thank you for visiting!
Have a great weekend

 


Tuesday, September 05, 2017

Blog Candy Winner

Hello!
The Blog Candy Giveaway ended at midnight last night and I now have the winner to announce.  Everyone who left a comment on any of the three Gilded Ornaments (Spellbinders) posts I made last week was entered into the draw.  Those who commented on more than one had an entry for each comment.  All the comments were given their own number and then I used a random Number Generator to pick the winner.

I'm thrilled to announce that the winner is

Sylvia, if you contact me at the email address in my sidebar with your postal info, I will get this fabulous Spellbinders die set into the post for you asap! 

Congratulations!
I can't wait to see what you make

Thanks to all who joined in - watch out for more Giveaways coming soon :)
happy Crafting

Monday, September 04, 2017

Gilded Ornaments - my favourite card, and an extra!



Hello there! 
Thanks for popping by for another Spellblogger for
Spellbinders post
I have some Blog Candy up for grabs at the minute and there's still time to 
 be in with a chance of winning it


I've already posted two very different examples of cards made using the Gilded Ornaments die set which is my Blog Candy prize.  Today I actually have two cards to share, because yesterday morning I had one of those "hmmm I wonder....." moments which actually worked when I tried it out!
Anyway, this first Gilded Ornaments card is probably the simplest of all and also my favourite


Info
White square card blank
One of the Gided Ornament filigree dies lined up in the centre and taped in place for cutting and embossing
Sentiment stamped below the ornament
Square of glitter card adhered to the inside of the card
Ribbon bow and punched stars to decorate

This beautiful Spellbinders die set

Gilded Ornaments Holiday 2017 Shapeabilities  Etched Dies


Merry Christmas Set Holiday Stamps



How to win the  Gilded Ornaments die set
So, how would you like to own this lovely brand new
Gilded Ornaments Holiday 2017 Die set for free?

I have one set to give away and the winner will be randomly drawn from those who keep to the following rules
1. You must leave a comment on at least one of the three posts I will be making this week using this die set.  If you comment on all three, you have 3 chances to win.
2. Closing date is midnight Monday 4th September 2017 (UK time)
3. Please note: on this occasion, I will only send this prize to UK addresses - it's not available here in the UK yet though it is on sale in the US, so this is your special chance to have it before your friends!




The extra idea I had yesterday was to check through my old Christmas Nesties die sets to see if these lovely new filigrees would fit into any of the older ones.  Well, I don't think you can buy this one any more but there's a fair chance you've got one of the old 'Heirloom Ornaments' sets in your die collection, and its always worth checking to see if you can marry something new with something old for a different 'look' 
I also used the filigree circles to emboss the purple backing panel
Here's what I made 



My teenage bedroom was decorated in these colours and I still think they look fab together!  
The filligree die fitted perfectly in the 2nd largest of the Nesties ornament
I cut the shape in silver and then embossed them
I cut a piece of Turquoise glitter card and adhered to the reverse.
The purple panel was embossed using the 3 filigree circles and the embossing mat.

NOEL is from this lovely new die set:
 Ho Ho Ho Holiday 2017  Die D Lites Etched Dies

Well, thank youso much for visiting and for sticking with this rather long post!
 if you click on This Link  you'll find yourself at the Spellbinders store where you will find so many lovely things to tempt you, including the dies and stamps I've been using lately.


Happy Crafting

Saturday, September 02, 2017

Red and Gold Gilded Ornaments


Hello there! 


Thank you for joining me for the second of my Gilded Ornaments Blog Candy posts for Spellbinders
I wanted to show this lovely die set in different colours and different ways, so have three posts to share with you


Info
Large Cream card blank
Gold sheen card, with inset embossed rectangle of cherry red card
The same red card, soft creamy-white and green card used to make the Poinsettias
Glitter card for the Ornament
So, how would you like to own this lovely brand new
Gilded Ornaments Holiday 2017 Die set for free?
I have one set to give away and the winner will be randomly drawn from those who keep to the following rules
1. You must leave a comment on at least one of the three posts I will be making this week using this die set.  If you comment on all three, you have 3 chances to win.
2. Closing date is midnight Monday 4th September 2017 (UK time)
3. Please note: on this occasion, I will only send this prize to UK addresses - it's not available here in the UK yet though it is on sale in the US, so this is your special chance to have it before your friends!




Thank you for visiting, if you click on This Link  you'll find yourself at the Spellbinders store where you will be tempted by lots of lovely dies, stamps and much much more!


Happy Crafting

Friday, September 01, 2017

Happy September!

 Hello, and White Rabbits to you all!
Wow, September already, how on earth did that happen?  I'm hoping for a sunny and warm September to ward off thoughts of what's just around the corner.
I have absolutely no idea where the tradition of  'White Rabbits' being the first thing you say on the first day of a new month comes from.....

Anyway, the first Friday of the month is Elemental Inspiration Challenge day over on The Daring Cardmakers and this time it was my turn to choose the picture.  I hope you like the mood board I found, its so darned pretty, and every time I look I see things I didn't notice last time.  
It was probably that beautiful old doorway that attracted me to this picture.  I do love a beautiful, run down old doorway or gateway and have zillions of photos to prove it as I can't go past without taking a picture!  
To make the doorway
I started by making a template for the door shape, so that I got the right shape and size to use on my card, and to draw around for the doorway
Next I used lots of inks to build up the colours on another piece of card.  I chose the bit I liked best and embossed this part before cutting out the door shape using the template, but leaving a bit of a margin all around..

To make the stonework for the doorway I used some hammered white card, adding just a little cream, beige-brown and pale grey inks wiped over with pieces of old baby wipe to make a mottled effect, then I just hand cut all the stones from this  I drew around the door template on another piece of card to use as a guide for sticking the stones down.  I cut around the doorway shape, inked around the whole piece in black, then added a layer of chipboard to the back.
Before sticking the door itself to the back, I sliced up the middle and cut a wiggly, broken wood sort of effect to the lower edge and again inked the edges with black
 I made the background using Gelatos, water-colour style, then then  cut a rectangle from the middle of a piece of card and used that to stencil a tiled pattern in the corner with ink.  I thought I had a herringbone kind of stencil in my collection, but apparently I don't so I had to improvise!
I inked around the card blank using deeper shades of the same colours as the background square. I added a square of blue-grey card, then my Gelatos piece

At this point I glued my doorway in place and realised that there was something missing, it looked unfinished.  So I used another element from the picture and added some handmade flowers.  Which are made from tiny die cuts and took flipping ages!.  The pots are just hand cut from pale grey card and inked with a couple of shades of blue ink
The sentiment was pc generated and double-matted before glueing in place.
Info:
Smooth White card, Hammered White card, Thin white card for flowers, 2 shades of grey card, scraps of green card
Lots of Ink
Gelatos
Distressed Stripes Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug)
Smaller flower shapes from Cherry Blossoms Shapeabilities Etched Dies
(Spellbinders)

That's it for me today, I hope you'll pop over and see what the team have made this week - the BLOG looks so lovely - and we have a fabulous new Guest Designer on board this month, so you can find out who that is while you're there!  
I would love to hear what you think of this card, so please leave a comment....Oh, and don't forget I've blog candy to give away - check the post above for more info

 

Monday, August 28, 2017

Gilded Ornaments Blog Candy - Spellblogging for Spellbinders






Hello there! 

Thank you for joining me for another Spellblogging post for Spellbinders
 and this time I've some gorgeous Blog Candy to give away



Info
Large White card blank
Various types and shades of aqua and white card, including pearlescent and glitter card
Stencilled background using inks and glitter paste
Silver card
Silver cord. Satin RibbonSmall Snowflake punchies and tiny silver gems


This beautiful Spellbinders die set
Gilded Ornaments Holiday 2017 Shapeabilities  Etched Dies



This fab Spellbinders stamp

 Most Wonderful Time Holiday Stamp

So, how would you like to own this lovely brand new
Gilded Ornaments Holiday 2017 Die set for free? 
I have one set to give away and the winner will be randomly drawn from those who keep to the following rules

1. You must leave a comment on at least one of the three posts I will be making this week using this die set.  If you comment on all three, you have 3 chances to win.
2. Closing date is midnight Monday 4th September 2017 (UK time)
3. I will only send this prize to UK addresses



Thank you for visiting, if you click on This Link  you'll find yourself at the Spellbinders store where you will be tempted by lots of lovely dies, stamps and much much more!


Happy Crafting

Friday, August 25, 2017

Cheeseburger!

Morning All!

Sunny here today, I wonder if it will manage to stay that way......for a Bank Today is one of OH's Work-from-home days, and he's just brought me a coffee ☕- I was hoping a biscuit would arrive too, but I'm out of luck there, it would seem.  I've needed my coffee this week to keep me going.  You know those phases when you're awake half the night, or it seems so?  I'm having one of those.  I hope it goes away soon!
Anyway, that's my excuse for lack of productivity of any sort this week.
I finally got round to making my Daring Cardmkers' card yesterday but it was a close-run thing!
Fast Food and Coffee To Go!
 
We're heading to the Take Away or the Fast Food Outlet for this one.
 Burgers, fish and chips, pizza, noodles and stir fries, maybe Fajitas or a sneaky takeaway curry.  And don't forget those takeaway coffees, teas, colas etc
Click Here to see this week's ideas from our fab team 
My instincts said Coffee, Coffee....and lots of it! I have a lovely takeaway coffee cup digi (Funky Hand fans will know the ones I mean) but I felt that would be taking the easy way out.  Instead I decided to make a new cutting template and have the Silhouette Cameo work for its keep 
 Info
First I created the template for the various parts of the burger using Paint Shop Pro, then popped them all onto a Silhouette page using the 'merge' tool.  
I put all the outlined pieces on top of each other a bit like a jigsaw, then pulled a box around the whole lot to resize for my card.
Next I created the various coloured card I needed.  
I inked up white card for the bun, the tomatoes and the radicchio
Brown card with darker brow inking for the burger
Green with more shades of green ink for the lettuce
I think I get a better and more naturally random colour effect doing it this way
I used yellow card to cut the cheese  
Once all my pieces were cut out I added some deeper yellow ink to the edges of the cheese pieces, and a bit of extra inking to the other pieces where required
That done I could glue all the pieces together to complete the burger,
The paper cup was just hand cut from scraps
The background is a square of grey card and the paper is from a Studio Light Happy Birthday' is a die cut - I don't have a note of the manufacturer, but I think it's from CraftStashUK

I'm quite excited because I have some beautiful blog candy to give away - I'll tell you all about it in my next post, but first I have to finish something to show at the same time. 
Hope to see you then, but for now, thank you for popping by!

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

A Few of My Favourite Things! Spellblogger for Spellbinders





Hello there! 
Thank you for joining me for another Spellblogging post for Spellbinders
This time I've been playing with some of my most favourite things, a beautiful background, some lovely flowers, some ribbon and even some beads - oh my! what fun I had!

I've made this pretty card using dies from a few different sets, but the one I started off with was 'Isabella Frame' - a stunning Becca Feeken Designed set from the Venise Lace Collection



Info
White card blank
Pink & White textured card 
White Foamiran for large flower, coloured with inks
Satin and Organza Ribbon
Pearl Spray, Silver cord
Glass Beads
2x smaller flowers from my stash 

Here are the dies I used this time, they are all from
Spellbinders
 
 Isabella Frame 
 Venise Lace Collection by Becca Feeken 
Shapeabilities Etched Dies


 I trimmed down the small die to get the heart shaped motifs that are trimmed with silver cord
I used some of the flower sizes and the beautiful flourishes from
 Cinch and Go Flowers set one 
Amazing Paper Grace  Shapeabilities Etched Dies

'Celebrate'  Die D-Lites  Etched Dies
The word was cut once in white and four times in pink, then layered up, with the white layer very slightly odd-set

I had a lot of fun making this one, I love putting the different dies together to make something like this.  The isabella set is an absolute delight and the elements of the Cinch Flowers 1 set are going to get sooooo much use!  I love pretty flourishes almost as much as I love flowers!



 That's all for this time - but come back soon because on my next Spellblogger post I'll have some Beautiful blog candy to give away!
Thank you for visiting, if you click on This Link  you'll find yourself at the Spellbinders store where you will be tempted by lots of lovely dies, stamps and much much more!


Happy Crafting