Sunday 31 January 2010

Coffee and Cream Fleur de Lis

As a brief departure from doing things in threes, because I haven't posted for a while and I still haven't done number three of the next set, here is a card that came together fairly quickly.



I made this using the Fleur de Lis pendant die set by Spellbinders, layering the pieces like a medallion and mounted onto panels cut with dies by Go Kreate. I used some flat back pearls by Basic Grey to embellish.
A fairly simple card - the dies did all the work really.

Sunday 10 January 2010

Inspired by Craft Stamper and doing things in threes

I have some questions for any fellow crafters reading this? Do you buy much more stash then you ever use? Do you hoard pretty papers and find yourself reluctant to cut them up and use them? Do you ever wonder if the shopping for craft products has taken over from the actual creating? Do you forget how much stuff you really have and then find yourself buying duplicates?

At some point last year I found that I was still going to lots of crafting shows, but I was coming home with fewer purchases. There seemed to be less 'stuff' that I needed. I have a tiny home and my limited storage space was already overstretched beyond belief. With craft products taking up valuable space in three rooms, I was finding it difficult to get past thinking "if I buy this, where on earth will I put it?". It was then that I took the drastic decision to actually use all of those papers and embellishments, if only so that I could make some room for more. That in itself was unbelievably liberating. If you've read this far and understand what I'm talking about, do give it a try - you really won't regret it. Why spend a fortune on stuff that you don't want to use? Even if you can't find exactly the same thing to replace it with, there are always new products coming along on which to spend your crafting pennies.

Now don't get the wrong impression, there are still many, many things in my crafting stash that I haven't used yet, including various punches, umpteen Cuttlebug embossing folders and cutting dies, and let's not talk about the microwave glass fusing kiln that my OH bought me for Christmas in 2008......Worst of all are the stamps - rubber and clear, mounted and unmounted - that I just had to have, but which have never seen even a sniff of an inkpad. Now I'm not really one for making New Year's resolutions, but this year I have resolved to use those stamps, and not only to use them once but to make at least 3 projects with each of them.

This is a long preamble to explain why I'm starting to do things in threes and to adopt as a theme for this blog my very own version of stamping contrasts.

For this trio I was inspired by a project in the very latest edition of Craft Stamper, which featured stamps from Stampin' Up. I wouldn't want to violate any copyright by posting a picture of the card on here, but if you have the magazine, you can see it on page 47.


Stamps from Harlequin Daisy themeplate by Elusive Images. The three panels are all coloured with Distress Inks. Backing paper from the Graphicus Guild Members' collection. Embellished with zoomz.



Stamps from Musical Jester themeplate by Elusive Images. Backing paper is another one from the Graphicus Guild Members' collection. Embossed panel uses Cuttlebug Devine Swirls embossing folder. EK success border punch and a Creative Acrylics text panel coloured with gold Krylon.


Once again Elusive Images Harlequin Daisy stamps, this time with a backing plate made from Coredinations whitewash card and the Cuttlebug Diamonds in the Rough embossing folder. Contrast strip was punched with Martha Stewart Lattice Arch border punch. Zoomz and ribbon to finish.

If you like the cards or have anything to say about hoarding your stash, then please do leave a comment. Or just leave a comment anyway to let me know that someone is reading :)


A New Start

Well it's been a while since I posted on this blog, but I've decided to give it another go. It's unlikely that I'll ever manage to post every day, or even every week, but I've started off 2010 with renewed inspiration and motivation to create more cards (and possibly other projects), and more motivation to photograph my work and show it on this blog. So there you go.