Wednesday 27 May 2015

Merry little Christmas

The challenge this week at 52CCT is to use Ribbon.

                                                            
 I often use ribbon but usually it's very thin and just as a decoration. For this I decided to make the ribbon the star. I had this lovely red ribbon which came off a Christmas present last year so, of course, I saved it.


I stamped the panel using Inky Doodles stamps and layered it up with the dotty background. A bit of fiddling with the ribbon and a printed topper and it's done. Oh and a gold line along the top. I wanted a red layer but didn't have the right shade. I would rather have done that but too late now.
I'm pleased with the simplicity of it and think I may make a few more similar. I still have some ribbon. 

I'm signing off for a few weeks now. We are moving house next week and I have had to pack up my ink pads (sigh). I'm not sure how long it will be before I get a new crafty corner set up. I've made a few cards for unexpected birthdays but I think I'll miss it before long. I hope I'll get a few minutes to follow a few blogs so as not to be completely out of touch.  More likely I'll be lying down in a darkened room. 

I'm linking here to 52 Christmas Card Throwdown and 
Pixies Snippets Playground - snippets of card and ribbon. 
See you all soon. 

Saturday 23 May 2015

Cider can flowers

Today I've been cutting up bits of a metal drinks can to make a card and I managed not to cut myself. 
One reason I chose the cutting machine I did (Big Shot) was because it was able to cut various things apart from card. 
When I saw that the challenge at Less is More was to use metal, I knew it was time to try it out. I searched the house for a can and my son managed to produce one from his room! He was 18 last week so I suppose he is allowed to have Strongbow in his room now. 
For anyone who doesn't know the can is gold and black and this is what I managed to cut. 

The die cut with no trouble at all. I ran it through and back again but the metal is quite thin so it was easy.There is some embossing in on the petals which has not come out. Perhaps if I used a different sandwich it might. I'll have to have a play. I am new to all this.
I matched each centre with a different flower for some contrast. There was a bit of writing on part of it but that adds a bit of interest.


This is a flower die from a set by Elizabeth Crafts - Tags and More 3. Sentiment is Paper Smooches embossed in black.
It did make some tiny shards of metal, which I will probably find in my foot later, but the edges of the can were not really sharp or you would have seen blood on the card too.
I wasn't able to find a can of another colour in the house but I can imagine I'll be choosing drinks in the supermarket by the colour of the can now! I like the idea of using the tiny circles as accents on cards.

Thursday 14 May 2015

Congratulations

I've made this card for my daughter's friend who is getting married very soon. She didn't want a pastel theme so has chosen blue and yellow for her wedding colours. I wanted to make a wreath card but decided to try and use her colours. I didn't manage to get much blue into it so it is more green and yellow with touches of blue.

I stamped the wreath with Card-io Majestix stamps in greens and yellow adding little blue swirls. In hindsight, I wish I'd made them slightly darker.
Now, I may have mentioned that I have a new die cutting machine, I don't have many dies as yet so am choosing carefully which ones I buy. I wanted a flower die of course and when I saw this card in the Snippet's Playground, I knew this was the die to start me off. I've even bought some crepe paper as this effect is so pretty.
It is Spellbinders - Create a Dogwood. I doubled up here and made 8 petals instead of 4. I cut them from super smooth paper and inked the bases with Sunshine leaving the tips white.  
I'd planned to add a blue bow but it didn't really fit so I came up with this way of twiddling it round under the flower. I stapled the ribbon to hold the shape before fixing it all down with glue and foam pads. Then I edged the card in silver and mounted the whole thing on blue. The sentiment went on and off about 8 times but was finally straight and centred.
I even remembered to decorate the inside. 



So I am now able to enter the Cuttlebug Mania Challenge. This time the challenge is to use a ribbon and it just so happens I have one here. 
The machine I finally bought is not a Cuttlebug. These were the first ones I saw on Create and Craft a few years ago. I was dazzled and knew it was only a matter of time before I talked myself into getting one. But after quite a lot of research, I bought a Big Shot. (Please don't tell me I should have got something else!). So far I love it, and it is so pretty. I've used it almost every day. Nothing is safe now from being cut or embossed. 
So I hope the bride likes it, how could she not?


Tuesday 5 May 2015

Purple and yellow

A bit of a departure here from my usual colours and style. 
Less is More this week has a colour challenge. Use opposite colours the wheel:

                                                         



I decided that purple and yellow were my colours.


 I would never have thought of putting them together like this but it makes a lovely dramatic card. I coloured the Candi dots with a yellow pro-market and then stamped tiny flowers on them as centres and to emphasise the sunshine part  of the rhyme. (It's currently lashing down with rain and blowing a gale!)


I hope this is not too busy for Less is More. Having been schooled to leave lots of white space, I then couldn't resist mounting it on purple. I resisted adding a bow, though!
As well as Less is More, I'm popping in to the Snippets Playground as I was lucky enough to win this Woodware stamp set and the Candi a couple of weeks ago, so need to show it off. 
I've used snippets of card and ribbon. I must have had the purple card (which is embossed with a kind of fan pattern) for at least 4 years. I think I got it at one of those fill-a-box stands or shops where you say 'I'll have one of those and two of those and some of these' without really having any idea of what you might do with them. So I am glad I have used it at last. 
I'm planning a few more in different colour ways. 


Saturday 2 May 2015

White butterfly and lace

I've made a card I'm happy with. Regular visitors and members of my family know this rarely happens. 
It is quite a busy card for me but I still think it looks fairly simple as it is all one colour.

I stamped the lacy border and glued it round the centre embossed square. I confess I tried to stamp the square all in one go, masking and fitting the border together at the corners. It was way too complicated for me though. Precision is not my strong point. So I stamped each side and cut them out. The mitre corners are actually very good even though you can't see as I have covered most of them up. I had to fix the ribbon on as I glued down the two sides. That was very fiddly to say the least! The last piece came off and on several times. I had a lacy handkerchief in mind for some reason.
The butterfly is stamped twice on some vellum type of paper I had lying around and layered. 


Looks lovely even though it bears a striking resemblance to the white butterflies which plague my garden in summer.
I needed some flowers so I stamped these out on a piece of marbled paper which I found in a heap. I used to do marbling with my children, we used to love it until the inks dried up and were useless. We never knew what to do with the sheets though and still find them hidden in drawers sometimes. I added a little black Stickles in the centres. 
I've used:
Sentiment - Hobby Art stamp
Flower - inky doodles
Lacy border - CASual Fridays
Butterfly - nameless. I bought the set in a charity shop, of all places, but it had no label.  
I'm linking this to the Butterfly Challenge - L is for Lace.
I hope you like it. 
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