Inkadinkado Bird Feeder Card

Hello everyone, hope this post finds you all well. Popping in with something a little different, suitable for lots of occasions and for lots of ages, masculine or feminine.

I bought this stamp in an EK success web sale last Christmas and only got to use it now. when I tried to add a link I got a lot of conflicting information on google searches, so if you want to source the stamp, its either of these numbers... I think!  Stamp #860491 or #60-00499... you will recognise it when you see it and it is available on eBay. I will make a spring like bright and summery card with it next year too, I am sure, maybe using Grey Flannel memento ink instead of the Espresso truffle I used here.

So that embossing folder is one of the first cuttlebug folders I ever bought, along with my cuttlebug machine (my first ever die cutting and embossing machine!) and had used the folder seldom, but it was perfect for this project. the blue strip has an old cuttlebug folder as well.

The tag die was from Go Kreate and is just so like a parcel tag shape, I love the inked stenciled effect on this one. Hope you liked this card, and will be back soon. I have developed Carpal Tunnel Syndrome so my crafting is a little limited at the moment, but I will pop in now and again :) New wrist splints ordered to help things a little.

Different inking on an old Christening card design..

Popping in to share a slight variation on a favourite older card design.

Yes a lot of you like the design and I get asked to make it time and again, so I can't do much else other than change it completely but I like it the way it is, with the arched window shapes.

That being said, adding a sprinkle of pink gives it a delicate touch of everything girly without being too pink.. I did use a soft brown and sublte grey colour scheme to achieve the layering but this time I ommitted the grey and used the palest pink hammered card from Craft Creations instead.

For stenciling the arch shapes inside the die, I used worn lipstick and a little pumice stone shades - from Tim Holtz distress inks. I find I am mixing them more and more now for projects, and the shade results are endless shades - love that!

Also, after finding cutrite wax paper from CraftyAngels in Newbridge, I have pulled out old dies - those I had stopped using because of how difficult some are to retrieve the cuts from the dies themselves - delighted I can use these tags again!!

Some closeups of inking and colouring - yes still using pencils..... 

That's all for today, have a few more orders to finish and things to do outside ;)

All Things Christmas

Before it's too late and the year is over, I am going to post a few of my Christmas projects from the last few weeks, as well as other bits and bobs.  Please be patient while I do this, the blog was neglected again, but that was so I could keep up with work and card orders. Hope you enjoy the selection of cards, there are some recognizable dies used and some a little different than my usual ones ;)

First up is my favourite Christmas card of 2014, and surprisingly it's not a stamped one! Yep it's decoupage and foiled as well, so just a bit of sparkle and not to OTT.

I love what the angel means at Christmas time and this image says it all.

This card is an easel shape, but with the fold at the short side of the card, making it a tall easel.

The decoupage isn't in the arched window shape, I used Go Kreate window dies for that.

Love this Sizzix embossing folder, but can't remember what it's called.

A memory box frosty border and scallop border die from spellbinders was used.

You can see the gorgeous foiled detail on the image from the photo above. And below, a close up of the embossing and the sentiment - stamp found on eBay

Here's a great example of the partial embossing and how effective and useful it is when you have a crisp embossed design.

If you like this angel image, it's a 2014 design from Craft Creations - I have used it a lot already and it's going to be a firm favourite in years to come!

It seems like everyone has been so sick with flu symptoms and bugs, so the frosty week we are having this week is good for killing those little nasties. I didn't escape it either this year, twice in 6 weeks and it seemed to last longer than ever - bleuh :( Anyway if you have been sick or are sick at the moment, hang in there xx

It's going to be a bright and shiny new year soon, too, and that means the days are getting shorter already and warm weather will be on the way, so snuggle up for just a while longer and hope we get through the rest of the winter with not too much bad weather.

Hugs to all who visit, and remember you can leave a comment or ask anything even if you don't have a blog - use the Anonymous option when posting your comment and remember to type your name in the message box. All comments are moderated by me to prevent spammers posting nonsense, so if you don't want you comment published, just tell me in the message.

Another wedding card, with more colour

Hi everyone, am a little later posting this than planned, but was caught with an icky bug and felt rough over the last couple of days :(.  Hopefully this summer cold is heading away to someone else now!

this wedding card is different to my other boxed ones and a little more traditional, with a romantic, traditional feel - I used Fleur de Lis dies and accents from spellbinders dies for this effect.

Lots of pearls and swirly things!

The die shape for the aperture is a Go Kreate die..

The inside of the card also decorated with the same Papers from Nitwit Collections and those spellbinder dies again. The Nitwit Papers are from the Truly Madly Deeply range which I printed on cream card to get a deeper yellowish hue.

Some closeup photos of the mulberry flower arrangement, the Rose septa are also die cuts from Marianne Designs

and a side view of the card...

the bright red pearls were too bright so I 'coloured' them with a deep red promarker - handy tip for your own custom coloured pearls!

Wow that's a few posts and I am not neglecting the blog as much as before woohoo.

Will be popping back with another three new makes over the next few days, using some long neglected stash and punches LOL.

 Keep checking back for more or subscribe to my blog email notifications by using the email subscription box at the top right of my blog home page.

A Keepsake Easel Drawer Box with lots of photos

Hi everyone, its a lovely sunny day in my part of the world and hope its shining where you are too..! I think spring has finally arrived but don't want to jinx it, as I am so over the cooler weather!

So, just to alert you, there are lots of photos on this post - its a keepsake easel drawer box thingy which I made for a special birthday request.

Here is a view of the box in the 'closed' position - I want to keep the recipients photo personal, hence I have blurred them,  hop everyone understands that. The papers I used are from the DO CRAFTS V&A Hanoverian range (I am only using them for special stuff as they are so precious!)

The colour scheme I chose and have used before and love is olive green and pale pink, mixed with a touch of mink/ecru kind of colour, finished off with wild orchid roses and pale pink satin ribbon and embellished with pearls from Cottage Crafts' Jeans range.

The front of the box (the sentiment is hidden behind the easel),

 and a view from the top so you can see the layers...

Finally the drawer inside - I made a double walled drawer so it was nice and strong, and pulling the ribbon doesn't bend the front panel.

Easel Card Drawer Box

Hi everyone, am popping in with something I hope will get EVERYONE in the Christmas spirit!

 

I made this box for Meljen's last month and will be adding a tutorial over the next few weeks, but wee bit busy at the moment with my own Christmas things, so will pop up a link when I have this and some other tutorials all posted to the tutorials page, so please be patient... thank you!

This is the image I used - Bundled little snowboy - the added bonus is if you like coloured prints and don't want to colour him in yourself, then he is available in B&W and pre coloured here.

A close up of the box and chocolates coming from the drawer and the yummy card candi from craftwork cards with silver polka dots!

And here is the same box this time made with a house mouse stamp - i love those little mice!

A side on view of the easel and those go kreate dies with the rounded corners. 

Love the green gingham paper - you are likely to see it on some more cards this year!

will pop back tomorrow with something more to share.

Nativity Decoupage Cards

Am back with a couple of decoupage cards, made using die cut decoupage from Craft Creations, one with background stamping and the other with patterned papers.

The snowflake corners were stamped using Inkadinkadoo stamps called snowflakes a plenty, and memento Paris Dusk coloured ink. You can find the decoupage sheet here

I finished the card with a beige memory box die cut called Leafy Branch

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This next card is made using another die cut sheet you can find here.  The colours in the image complement the papers and that gorgeous midnight colour ribbon (it's a blue and lilac mix, quite different), so happy with the result, which was finished with pewter coloured pearls from Cottage Crafts,

... and here are the layers and close up of that yummy ribbon:

Will be back with some more photos tomorrow!

Halloween at Di's Digi Challenge Blog

Hello from me, yes I have been a stranger for a while LOL. Been busy crafting and doing other things as well, so blog was neglected again, oops!

Its that time of year ALREADY when the clocks have gone back and the autumn colours are out and of course Halloween is upon us! I love the crisp bright days though when it doesn't rain and I do love autumn as much as spring.

Onto my card for this week's challenge at Di's Digi Challenge Blog, using Di's Magic Spell image - how cute is this little witch....... he he he he...........

I did some paper piecing which you can just about tell from the photo (sorry it was getting dark when I took it earlier) and although its time consuming I am happy with the result and want to use this technique more - flat stamped images just seem ordinary now!

...and here is the full easel card - in  8 x 8 size with all its gems and flowers etc,

The papers are from Bearly Mine Designs which you can find here, its called Happy Hauntings.

The dies used for this card are a mixture of Spellbinders, Go Kreate, Marianne D and a Martha Stewart punch, and the image was coloured with Faber Castell polychromos pencil crayons (only sansador added to the face).

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

Bearly Mine Challenges - Flowers Galore

Mojo Monday 265 - Round or Square sketch

Cute Card Thursday - Something Scary

Fussy and Fancy - Anything Goes

Sweet Stampin' Challenge Blog - What's Cookin

Stamptacular Sunday Challenge - Not just an ORDINARY card - mine is an easel

will be popping back with another Halloween card tomorrow

July cards

As promised, back with a few more projects to share from last couple of weeks.

The first one is a flip flop / sandal card for which I drew my own template (took a few attempts to get it right LOL as the toe tapper template shape wasn't right for the shoe i wanted to make). 

To keep it fresh, young and fashionable as well as bold, I used black, white and cerise colours, and Laura Ashley stamps to give it some style, without being too vintagey, if that makes sense!

The stitching on the shoe is faux stitching - a pokey tool and thin black felt tip marker used for that.

The punch is from Martha Stewart

... and finally a view of the finished card.

the gorgeous hot pink pearls can be obtained from www.cottagecrafts.ie - they aren't up on the website yet but if you email the shop, they can get back to you.

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The next card is equally girly one in the form of the Thistledown fairy from Lili of the Valley and using papers from Bearly Mine Designs pack called Floral Fantasy available here.

The delicate larger leaf dies are from Memory Box and the smaller one of the sentiment is from a punch which has no name! 

The card was coloured with twinkling H2O's

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The following card is a Christening one - am long overdue some new Christening designs and this time challenged myself to stay away from pink or blue! So these are all muted earthy tones, which go well with the church window in the image - another one from Lili of the Valley which you can find here

 And some close up photos:

That gorgeous neutral colour used along with the window die to create the stenciling is called Pumice Stone from Tim Holtz Distress Inks range.

the card was coloured with pro markers.

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While we are on the subject of distressing, the card below has lots of it - distressed paper edges and inked distressing, and the bunting and string to add to the summer feel - decided to colour the image with pencil strokes and nothing too 'blended' adds to the rustic carefree feel of this one - if you click on the picture you might see the texture on the shells created with inks and dots.

and a view from the top edge so you can see the bunting - the letters were added by using the craftwork cards candi alphabet stamps - soooo handy these little stamps, but easy to lose as they are so tiny.

this stamp is a Faye Whittaker / Joanne Sheen one called Washroom Teddy

***

the last card share is a purely floral Lilac and white one,one of my favourite floral colour combinations, and you will have seen on the blog before. This time I used the nestability die to stencil again, as the image is much larger than this and so its a snippet of the stamp and a fabulous technique - I used it on the fairy above too!

this one was coloured with these promarker colours and a blender - 

Lilac, Lavender, Amethyst and Purple

Meadow Green Flex marker, Apple Green, Forest

a luxurious 'chocolate box' bow to finish!