Friday 28 March 2008

All for now!

I won't be adding any new posts to my blog for the next week, as I'm off to Spain for a break and hopefully some sunshine. I'd just like to say thanks to everyone who has taken the time to look at my cards. I'd be really grateful for any comments from viewers - please do let me know if you like my work or if you have any constructive suggestions about how I can improve them.

Thanks again!

No stamping here!

For a quick(ish) birthday card I used Basic Grey paper, a sentiment from a HOTP kit, which I coloured with chalk, and a few Prima flowers, all topped off with a white satin ribbon.

And another one


This card is made using another of the Mackintosh-inspired stamps from Tanda, this time stamped in plain black onto a background that I created with Startburst Stains. Text is a Hero Arts stamp on a scrap of Basic Grey paper, with faux stitching drawn in using a Sakura Gelly Roll pen. The pale yellow vellum panel is held in place with pastel brads.

More Mackintosh

As a long-time admirer of the works of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, I couldn't resist getting both sets of Mackintosh-inspired stamps by Tanda Stamps, and I have used them here to make a birthday card for a fellow fan. The background and sentiment have been stamped in Versamark and coloured with Moonglow mica powders, while the main image is heat embossed in silver.

Another Christmas Card

As I have a backlog of recent cards which I have completed but not yet had time to scan, today I will feature a card that I made for last Christmas. The background is from the Artylicious Seasons Greetings CD, and the main image is from embossing paste used with a brass stencil and covered with glitter while the paste was still wet. I added a bow of matching satin ribbon and a bauble sentiment from Craftwork Cards.

Tuesday 25 March 2008

Damask Delights


For this card I combined papers from the Artylicious Damask Delights CD with one of the complementary stamps from Elusive Images, which is embossed in silver onto blue vellum. I mounted the vellum using tiny eyelets, and once again used the really versatile Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder.

Black and White Criss Cross Card

Made this one for my father-in-law's birthday, using card from the DCWV glitter stack, HOTP clear sentiment stamp and letters die cut on the Cuttlebug. Very simple card really.

Monday 24 March 2008

Pearly Butterfly


Sadly my scanner doesn't cope very well with cards that have much dimension, so this picture is not very good, but I couldn't resist sharing this card with you. Backing paper is from the Butterfly Bliss CD by Artylicious, and the butterfly is from a Wendie Rhodes stamp. In real life, it's much more shimmery as I used Perfect Pearls on the large butterfly.

Thanks for looking.

Pink and Fluffy


Some time ago, when I was at a show, I had a rush of blood to the head and bought loads of brightly coloured feathers, which I have never known how to put to good use. So, when I got the Wizard fan die, I thought I could use it in conjunction with the feathers, and this is the result. It's a very busy time of year, as most of OH's family have birthdays in March and April, not to mention Mother's Day, etc., so I used this one for my SIL. I love the bright colour, but it is probably not to everyone's taste.

Saturday 22 March 2008

Two Wedding Cards

A very good friend of mine is getting married in May, so I have been trying out some ideas for a card for the occasion.


The first card features stamped images by Paper Artsy, embossed in gold. I cut out the windows from the square and stuck gold vellum behind it, before attaching the hearts on foam squares to raise them a little bit. I stamped Autumn Leaves swirls in gold Brilliance ink onto the base card, and then printed the computer-generated greeting. Tied a ribbon bow to finish.



For the second card, I used gold embossing again on an image by Michael Powell for the English Stamp Company. Another computer-generated greeting and a strip of different gold ribbon complete this one.

Of the two cards, I think I prefer the first one. Though I adore the Michael Powell image, I feel that I haven't yet found a use for it that does it justice. Still, there's still plenty of time before the wedding fo me to continue experimenting.

Thanks for looking.

Friday 21 March 2008

Stylish Lady


I rencently bought a few of the lovely Erte stamps from Clarity stamps and this is my first card made with them. I have used K&Co printed papers to piece the image and for background pieces, and yet another piece embossed on the Cuttlebug, inked to highlight the relief.

Thursday 20 March 2008

Thinking about Christmas

Every November I make myself a promise that I really will start earlier with my Christmas cards for next year, and that I will try to complete at least ten cards every month so that I don't reach the end of the year in a state of panic again. Well here we are in March and these are my first two Christmas cards for 2008, so I'm only 28 cards behind so far.
Both cards are made from Pink Petticoat downloads, with just a touch of colouring and simply embellished with Zoomz from StampGalaxy.
I did some other images with more colouring, but I thought that the more monochrome look was more effective. I hope you like them.

Wednesday 19 March 2008

Funky Fairy


This fairy is from A Christmas set of stamps by Wendie Rhodes, but I couldn't resist using her on a non-seasonal card. I coloured her in with Tombow markers and she's sitting on backing papers from Blonde Moments.

Mackintosh Thank You


I adore the Mackintosh bauble stamps from Elusive Images, and I was especially pleased to discover that the size of this one coincides nicely with one of my Nestabilities dies. Coloured with Prismacolor pencils and mounted simply onto another Cuttlebug embossed background. The text stamp is from a HOTP clear set, embossed in silver which doesn't show very well on the scan.

Thanks for looking.

Mothers Day


This is the card I made for my mother-in-law this year. I used stamps from Elusive Images, heat embossed in gold, and some rose printed vellum that I have been hoarding for ages. The text is foil over some double-sided stickers by Making Memories. The scan doesn't show it very well but the front of the card is folded back, and the heart is not attached to the vellum.

Thanks

I'd just like to say a big thank you to all the lovely Sheenies who have taken the time to look at my blog and to post kind words of encouragement. I'm always really nervous about showing my work to other crafters, and it's so nice to hear that other people like what I'm doing. Thank you all so much.

Dreamy Fairy


When I started this card it was with the intention of taking part in a challenge to use the direct to paper technique, but as usually happens when I try to do challenges, I didn't manage to complete it in time. Anyway, the fairy by Lavinia is stamped onto a backing card made with DTP. Then mounted it onto a Cuttlebug embossed piece and a strip of black vellum, onto which I stamped some silver stars with Brilliance ink. Die Cut letters and a loop of ribbon with a single gem provide the finishing embellishments.

Tuesday 18 March 2008

Fashion Boutique

This is my first attempt using the fabulous Fashion Boutique CDs from Joanna Sheen. I just love the colours in this image, so I chose to team it with similar colours for the base card, which is glossy, and the backing panel, on which I used a harlequin stamp by Tim Holtz. The extra large brad is from HOTP. Because I couldn't find the peel-offs that go with the brads, I had to stamp it with the message. Completed with a rub-on.


Now it's not very often that OH will come out with unsolicited praise for my cards. Usually, his remarks are just a 'very nice', you know that sort of response you get when you ask if you look alright to go out. Anyway, having been into my completed card box to find something else, he felt prompted to point out to me that he thought this was an ideal card for a man. It's really simple, just another great image from the Fashion Boutique, printed onto some great watercolour inkjet paper. This was mounted onto a backing plate embossed in the Cuttlebug and a finished off with few eyelets.

Sometimes I wonder why I can spend hours on just one card when the simpler ones can be just as effective.

Tuesday 11 March 2008

Valentine


For my Valentine card to OH this year I decided to try a criss-cross card. I had been saving some pretty foiled card from the DCWV Rockstar stack for this occasion. Sadly, the pink foil doesn't show up very well on the scan, and the colours are brighter in real life. I stamped two hearts by Blonde Moments onto acetate and glittered them. Romantic embellishments are by Queen & Co.

Lost Coast Cat


The stunning cat image is a stamp by Lost Coast. It's quite a large stamp, and very detailed, looking just like a hand drawn image, so it doesn't leave a lot of room for a great deal more on an A5 card. I added some colouring with Prismacolor pencils, shaded the background with distress ink and a simple sentiment from a Hero Arts stamp. A little bit of bling finished off the card.

Monday 10 March 2008

More on the New Baby Theme


While I was making New Baby cards for boys, I thought I should do some girl ones too, just in case anyone needed one at short notice. Once again, I used Basic Grey paper, but this time I used a clear stamp by Inkwell Designs and added a die cut 'Baby' and a bow made of organza ribbon.

Using the same stamp and different papers, I made a second:


This time the bow is made from satin ribbon and the little stamped images are from the Dovecraft clear stamp set.

Finally, I used a gorgeous fairy stamp from Joanna Sheen and more Basic Grey:



I stamped some flourishes with clear stamps by Rhonna Farrer and a Hero Arts text stamp. Finished with a curly clip and satin ribbon. I think this is my favourite, as I love the paper and the fairy stamp is so adorable.

Thanks for looking.

It's been a while

So, after a long hiatus I've decided to try again with this blogging business, starting with some New Baby cards that I made recently.






The main image is from a stamp by Lavinia Stamps, coloured with Prismacolor pencils and then mounted onto Basic Grey paper from the Lily Kate range. The text stamp is from a clear set by Dovecraft. I made another attempt using the same stamps and paper,


This time I added a strip of ribbon.

For the third card that I made, I used a stamp by Inkwell Designs:


The text stamp is by Hero Arts, and I used a small Cuttlebug embossing folder on the strip of pearlescent paper then added a die cut 'Baby Boy' and little star to match.

I made all three cards because my sister needed one to send to a colleague at work. Can you guess which one she chose? Which is your favourite?