Oh, the Romance!

Hello!

I hope you've enjoyed your week.  

I'm definitely looking forward to the weekend though, that's for sure!

It's my turn to set the challenge this week at the Daring Cardmakers and I saved something I made a few weeks ago for this one!

 

Oh, the Romance!

At the end of July,  a year later than originally planned (thanks to Covid), my eldest nephew married his beautiful bride at a lovely countryside barn venue.  After such a difficult year it was an absolute joy to be there to see them wed. 

 

I would just love to see cards celebrating and sharing the 'Lurve' 

(or Love, if you prefer!)
Love comes in all shapes and sizes, doesn't it?  So, although your card could be for a Wedding, Engagement or Anniversary but it doesn't have to be, feel free to celebrate the love you feel for your friends, family, pets...., chocolate? gin? 😀

How about a beautiful card for your best friend, for no other reason than to let them know how much having them in your life means to you.

See what our fab team created HERE

 

A special occasion deserved a special card, and because its a very 'lumpy' card, I made a box to put it in.  It wasn't going through the post so it could be as ornate as I wanted to make it!

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 I actually made the box first, then cut the card to fit inside.  I have a bad habit of making a card then finding it too big for any box-making card that I have!

I used a digital paper design to cover the front of the card, plus another for the front of the die cut heart, and more for making the roses

I used a large Spellbinders stamp and a burgundy ink-pad to stamp the 'love' background.

As well as cutting the heart in patterned paper I also cut it a few times in card, glueing the layers all together before adhering the piece in place. I then added a few random specks of glue, and when that was nearly dry put some gold leaf over them.  Once completely dry, the excess was brushed away. Next I made the paper roses, I made them in a few shade of the peachy pink papers for a bit of interest and printed the message card to tuck under them.  I die cut some leaf shapes to add behind the roses

To finish the card I twisted the stems of some tiny rosebuds and added them with a gold bow to the corner of the sentiment card, and a few gold hearts and gems sprinkled around..

I made the box from white card and then printed more of the digital paper to cover the two parts. I made a tag, and another rose to decorate the top of the box and added a little ribbon bow and some hearts to finish.

 

Thank you so much for coming by, please don't go without leaving a little message as I do love to hear from you.  Otherwise I think I'm just talking to myself!

 

 Happy Crafting, Stay Safe,

 

 

Bright Background Squares

 Hello!

 For this week's catch-up post I'm sharing this colourful birthday card.  I needed it to stand a chance of travelling safely as it had a long journey ahead of it. So I kept it fairly flat,and tried to make impact with the colours and simple layout

 

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I've used washi tape to mask the rough rectangle shapes, then layers of ink and then Nuvo Embellishing mousse to get the bright, deep colours for the background.  

The black Scribbled Squares are cut with dies by Tonic Studios and the flower petals, stamens and stems are cut using dies from various die sets.

The sentiment piece is another of my White on Black printed ones, matted onto a tiny piece of dotty patterned paper made the same way.

 

 That's it for this time, Thank You so much for coming by, please don't go without leaving a little message as I do love to know what you think.

 

 Happy Crafting, Stay Safe, 

 

September Inspiration

 

 

Hello!

How's your week been?  I hope its been a good one.  Usual quiet kind for us!

This week at the Daring Cardmakers Svenja is in the hot seat for the 

September Elemental Inspiration challenge

 
I put together a mood-board for our monthly picture inspiration challenge.

September Inspiration

 Please choose at least 3 elements from our picture to use when you create your card (colours only count as one element - sorry! ;-D  )

So, here it comes:

I hope you'll find plenty to choose from! 

Need some more inspiration to get you started? Just take a look at the fab creations the Design Team have created for you

Well, I must admit to having a bit of a struggle with this one.  I knew which elements I wanted to use (Wood-grain, Beads and the Seed Head image from rubber stamp in the top right)

I planned to use a gorgeous digital paper with a wood-grain pattern as the background, but that didn't work out at all, so it was time to simplify!

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White square card, with about 1cm sliced from the side to get a fat rectangle.  The front of the card was then embossed with a wood-grain effect embossing folder.

The dandelion seed head paper is a lovely digital paper, resized from its original 12x12, printed onto white Bazzill, trimmed and matted onto white and black Bazzill

The flower is created using white Bazzill card, an EK Success craft punch and some ready made stamen, which I coloured with Nuvo Embellishing mousse to match the paper. To finish it I put a blob of Glossy Accents in the centre and added some silver micro beads.

The frond and seed head shapes are die cut from a textured silver card.

I threaded a pastel colour mix of beads onto silver thread and made holes to tie the ends of the thread through.

To complete this card I added one of the white on black sentiments from a bunch I made a while ago.

Thank you so much for coming by, please don't go without leaving a little message as I do love to hear from you.  Otherwise I think I'm just talking to myself!

 

 Happy Crafting, Stay Safe,

Play that Funky Music

Hello!

Another catch-up post today, this time a music themed card made for my guitar-playing cousin's birthday back in March  - yes, I really am that far behind!

 

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I used a digital image for the music notes background

 which I printed directly onto the front to a square white card blank/

 I added strips of various black and white papers across the card, plus the happy birthday sentiment

The guitars are from a really useful DoCrafts XCut die set which has lots of musical instruments in it. I cut one in black card and the other in silver to stand out against the monochrome background

  That's it for this time, Thank You so much for coming by, please don't go without leaving a little message as I do love to know what you think.

 

 Happy Crafting, Stay Safe, 

 

 

Hot Air Ballooning

 Hello!

I wonder how you  feel about travelling around atm?

I'm not keen on the idea, and for now any escapes to the sun will be in my imagination only!

This week at the Daring Cardmakers Rizwana is in the hot seat and she's sending us on our travels, even if its just in our dreams!

 

BON VOYAGE
Holidays seem to have a whole new meaning and experience now.
Is there a favourite place you'd like to travel to or revisit?
This week's challenge is all about travel so I would love to see maps, directions, tickets, planes, trains or automobiles.
Anything travel related you could even use your best holiday destination.Here are some ideas from our fabulous design team
to help inspire you.
Have fun!!

You can see how and where we're 'travelling' to over on our blog HERE

 

Once upon a time I was given a balloon ride as a Christmas gift.  It was to take place in Bath, which is a bit of a trek from where we live, but we booked the ride, and a few days there and set off.  The weather was wrong all through our visit, so I didn't fly.  We booked again a few weeks later and the same thing happened.  Despite a few more trips over to Bath in the next few months I never did get that balloon ride.  In the end we just gave up and pretended the whole idea had never existed! 

So if you fancy the idea, take my advice and book it near where you live, or somewhere where the weather is more forgiving!

Anyway, I decided to go with a hot air balloon for my card this week

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White square card, the central section masked off with torn washi tape for a wobbly edge and inked with several shades of light blue ink.

The balloon die cut is by DoCrafts XCut, cut in a dull gold card.  I cut another layer in black and glued them together onto a base layer of a plain black card circle,

Next I coloured pieces of scrap card in green, pink and blue Nuvo mousse and die cut them to fill in the coloured sections of the balloon

I damped the top layer of brown paper from a small box and removed it to reveal the narrow corrugated inner layer(small boxes have smaller wrinkles!).  I then cut

a panel to fit the balloon die cut and glued the balloon in place.

Before adhering the balloon section in place, I glued some loops of gold thread across the blue panel to add some extra interest to the card.

 

 
I've left this card without a sentiment for the moment - its the sort of card that will work for various reasons and occasions so I'll add a sentiment when I want to use it.

 

Thank you so much for coming by, please don't go without leaving a little message as I do love to hear from you.  Otherwise I think I'm just talking to myself (again)

 

 Happy Crafting, Stay Safe,

On the Tiles Birthday

Hello!

I've a tiled card to share today on my catch-up campaign! 

Its actually made using the 'waste' from cutting out a trellis patterned background die.  I'd coloured a piece of card and used it to make the trellis pattern for something else, but was left with all these pretty intricate shapes that fell out once it was cut. Far too pretty to just throw away, so I used the die to help me arrange them onto my card

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Square card blank with a narrow strip cut off to make a 'fat rectangle'

The original piece of card was inked with various lemons through to orange and some reddish shades. The die used is a large Spellbinders background trellis design.  

Once the tiles were in place I added the white and orange strip across the front and cut some 'HAPPY' letters and 'birthday' word to match the shades of the tiles.

To complete the card I made an orange and yellow flower and a green leaf to the sentiment panel.

Short and sweet today!  Hope you like this idea for making use of the bits you might otherwise throw away when cutting this kind of die.

  That's it for this time, Thank You so much for coming by, please don't go without leaving a little message as I do love to know what you think.

 

 Happy Crafting, Stay Safe, 

 

Cheers!

 

 Hello!

My blogging over the last few months has been very hit and miss, so I've decided that trying to keep them shorter and not go off on my waffly tangents might help!

In reality, it won't make a ha'peth (how do you spell that, anyway?) of difference to my being organised and up to date with my blog, but I can at least try to fool myself....

 

This week Ruth is in the hot seat over at the Daring Cardmakers

 

10 Green Bottles
It's Ruth - your hostess for this week's challenge and I'd like to see anything to do with a bottle - or maybe even 10 green bottles.  Wine bottles, Beer bottles, Perfume bottles, Small ones, big ones, full ones, empty ones...

We've got some great ideas over on the blog, you can see check them out HERE

 

I thought this challenge would be brilliant for a 'get ahead' project as I have a few men's cards to make for the next  few weeks.  I really wanted wine bottles, but I don't have a die for those and I couldn't be bothered doing them on my Silhouette.  That's one of the things that doesn't get so much use with OH working from home.  Too noisy!

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The bottles are cut using a Joanna Sheen die.  I cut them in a variety of blue, green and brown card scraps, then I used various dies and punches to make the labels. I again used bits and pieces from my scraps boxes plus some shiny gold shapes to add some colour and pattern to the labels. To finish each bottle I added a gold cap to each. Before gluing them onto the card I added a piece of chipboard to the backs to give some dimension.

Next I used my favourite Spellbinders alphabet set (the one with the lost 'A' - but no 'A' needed for this  - hah!) to create the lettering. 

 Each letter is four layers of brown card, topped with one layer cut from a piece of wood patterned digital paper I found in my scrap box (Never throw anything away 😜)

Once I'd worked out a layout I was happy with I glued everything down.

 

It turned out a bit more time-consuming than I'd planned, but I like it - what do you think?

Thank you so much for coming by, please don't go without leaving a little message as I do love to hear from you.  Otherwise I think I'm just talking to myself (again)

 

 Happy Crafting, Stay Safe,

A Little Bit of Love

Hello!

Once again on my catch-up campaign today I've a little love heart gift card to share.  It was made in a hurry and the photos also taken in a hurry, which is why they are so rubbish - sorry!

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12x12 square card blank 

Aqua card for hearts and sentiment

White textured and Aqua mirror card for backing square

The two sizes of heart are die cut and embossed using a Tonic die set. a small piece of chipboard was placed between the layers for extra dimension

'Love' is from a Spellbinders set

The card was completed with some small metallic gems

Short and sweet today!  Hope you like this simple little card idea

  That's it for this time, Thank You so much for coming by, please don't go without leaving a little message as I do love to know what you think.

 

 Happy Crafting, Stay Safe, 

 

How Superstitious are You?

 

 Hello!

Trying to keep this one quick and short today.  That'll make a change eh>

 

This week Joanne has set an opportune challenge (it being Friday 13th today) over at the Daring Cardmakers

 

Superstition

How superstitious are you? Is Friday 13th unlucky in your book? Today's challenge is to be inspired by a superstition! Here are a few examples to get you thinking:
Throw a pinch of spilled salt over your left shoulder to blind the devil - you might feature an image of a little devil or a salt pot. Or use actual salt in your project (e.g. make a salted watercolour background).
Knock on wood for luck - use woodgrain pattern or something made of actual wood on your project. 
Breaking a mirror is seven years’ bad luck - use mirror card, a mirror image or a shattered pattern.

Many superstitions are specific to a culture so tell us about the superstition you’ve used in case it’s one we don’t know!

 

You can see what my lovely teamies made HERE - they are all so much cleverer than mine!

 

It's unlucky to put an umbrella up indoors, or so they say.  I'm not sure how you get it dry if you don't put it up over the bath, but there you go.

 

I decided to make a rocker card using an upturned umbrella

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I used a Tonic circle die to cut the Basic circle shape and then cut away the extra to leave the handle.  A part circle was cut to use for the umbrella, the curved sections were marked out and cut using a circle punch. Next I used a few Summery shades of ink to colour it.

The back was coloured with light blue ink and white die cut clouds added.  The green grassy stalks are a Spellbinders die and the butterflies are some pretty stickers a crafty friend popped into my birthday card last year - so it was good to use a few of them at last.

  I inked another piece of card and cut the umbrella handle, making it long enough to fold over the top and add some extra support as that part is rather narrow. Another piece was added to form the end of the handle and some ribbon to decorate it.  This was glued in place over the cut away section, then the umbrella section added over the top to conceal all the ends.

 

Thank you so much for coming by, please don't go without leaving a little message as I do love to know what you think.

 

 Happy Crafting, Stay Safe,

 

Hearts and Flowers

 

  Hello!

Once again playing catch-up. today I'm sharing a tag which I made for Dawn's Daring Cardmakers' challenge a couple of weeks ago but failed to blog.

I'm not the greatest fan of making tags - I do like to see what other people make, but I'm [retty much always disappointed in those I make myself!  You can Click here to see what our fab Design Team made for this challenge

As it happened I had a rose I'd made a while ago sitting on my desk along with some other bits and pieces I was using for another project, so I was able to cobble a tag together without too much stress!

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Red card cut into a tag shape

White card stamped with a Spellbinders large 'Love' stamp

Red glitter paper heart was leftover from another project as was the rose (made with red Bazzill card) 

The sentiment and entwined hearts were die cut using a very old Cuttlebug plate

The tag was completed using some lovely red satin ribbon

  That's it for this time, Thank You so much for coming by, please don't go without leaving a little message as I do love to know what you think.

 

 Happy Crafting, Stay Safe,

Minty Fresh

 

Hello!

I'm back after taking a short break away form blogging. Hubby took some days off work and we've had a bit of a 'holiday at home'.  We had my aunt and uncle to stay for a week, which was just lovely!  Its been so long since we've been able to have them here, and it was extra special as we were all able to go to a wedding! A year later than planned due to Covid, my nephew (my aunt's great nephew) Charlie married his sweetheart Annabelle and it was just a beautiful day.

The weather was so hot that week - apart from going to the wedding, which was mainly held outdoors, we hardly moved from the garden!

Then the Olympics started and OH and I have been pretty much glued to the tv throughout.  This may sound a poor way to spend your holiday, but by the end of last week we were both thoroughly relaxed and de-stressed, so it can't have been so bad!

 

This week its my dear friend Shabneez who's in charge over at the Daring Cardmakers

August Elemental Challenge

As it's the first Friday in August it's the elemental challenge and for those of you that need a refresher you simply need to pick any 3 elements or more from the picture below (colours count as one).

You can see what my lovely teamies made HERE - they are all absolutely stunning

 

Using the minty colour was just too tempting to miss out on, so that was my first choice of element, the others I used were the typewriter keys (I made some vintage style ones), the paint pot circles and the 'sprinkles' from the ice cream sundaes

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I started by covering a piece of card with minty shades of ink, trying to get a mix of pale and darker shades and a bit of texture into it.  Once dry I used a punch to cut the 5 large circles and a couple of others to punch the small ones for the upper section

The letters for the typewriter key sentiment were stamped onto white car then cut out with a small circle die.  

These were matted onto slightly larger silver circles

A piece of narrow ribbon was added between the large circles and the sentiment,

Next I added the small card circles and filled in the gaps with whatever matching pearls and jewels I could find in my stash

To finish I tied a double bow to add to the end of the ribbon strip

 

Thank you so much for coming by, please don't go without leaving a little message as I do love to know what you think.

 

 Happy Crafting, Stay Safe,