Cheers Anniversary

Hi everybody.  I needed an anniversary card and I recently got hold of a copy of a Sheena Douglass Magazine, the first she has done, which comes with stamps, a stencil, a corner and layered sentiment dies and also some pretty papers.  I happened to spot it when I was food shopping and it just happened to fall into my basket...lol.   I decided to use one of the five large florals stamps which come with it...there are also a set of sentiment stamps,  and I also used the stencil in the background both being used for the first time.

I stamped the image using Dried Marigold Distress Ink, as I wanted the lines to be soft, but to be honest the outlines did end up darker than I intended, but I went along with it.  I coloured it using more Distress Inks taken from my glass mat using a waterbrush.  I then fussy cut it out.  I decided to use a DL card and I cut a piece of white card a little smaller and dry embossed the stencil which is a nice large square one, but I had to extend it to cover the DL card.  I then ink blended with a brush using Dried Marigold DI and then I laid the stencil back over and used Picked Raspberry DI, the same as I used on the flowers, through the stencil in two corners.  I added the sentiment stamped with Versafine Smokey Gray Ink, and luckily even though it was stamped over embossing it came out well  There were just a couple of places where I used a grey fine liner to fill in a little gap, and lastly adhered the layer onto the card and added the glass and flowers image to finish the card.

Thank you for coming to visit me here today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

 
NBUS Challenge - No. 49 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.

Can You Handle The Pressure? Challenge - Anything Goes with Embossing/Baby.
Happy Little Stampers April Watercolour Challenge - Anything Goes/Die Cuts.
Happy Little Stampers April Stencil Challenge - Anything Goes.
Triple B Challenge - Birds, Butterflies and Blooms including at least one of the these three.
Crazy is our fame - Stencils are our game! Challenge- April - Anything Goes using a Stencil/Patterns.
We Love Stamping April Challenge - Anything Stamped Goes/Birds and Animals (real).`

Stamping Sensations  April Challenge - Anything Stamped Goes/CAS.
Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge No. 444 Any Occasion.

Corner Fold Pop Up

Hi everybody.  I decided to give another shaped card a go and another which I happened to see on line and thought didn't look too difficult...you will find it here.  I needed to have it ready by last Saturday and this was Friday evening and I suppose put myself under pressure and everything that could go wrong did go wrong.  I used a Hearts and Kisses Embossing Folder by Xcut, a Sweet Dixie set of heart dies which I have had for ages, a set of stamps which came free with the Creative Stamping Issue 109 called Versa-Tiles, and a set of frames by Clarity which I have used a couple of times recently, and also a set of stitched square dies from The Works.

I started with the shaped base card for which I used a white 6"square card with the fold at the top.  I decided on how large I wanted the angle to be and I used my scoreboard and when creased you fold the whole corner piece inwards.  I then decided on what to put on the card, and as it is an anniversary card I decided to cut three hearts to sit across the diagonal fold at the top of the card.  I used the Versa-Tiles set picking out three designs which were big enough to allow me to cut a small heart from each, and I stamped them using Versafine Satin Red ink, in fact I used this one red ink throughout, and used some snippets of white card to stamp on to.

I then used the embossing folder and a snippet of white card and in order for it to cover the front of the card I had to run it through twice.  I made a mess of the first one by getting a crease from the edge of the folder which showed up when I ran it through again..I have a new die cutting machine and I am still getting used to it..well that's my excuse..lol.  I did it again embossing it correctly then I had to cut the corner out to fit the front of the card and I cut it completely wrong.  Did it all again and this time it was correct!!  I did think about adding colour but decided against it and glued it to the front of the card and added the three hearts being careful that they didn't protrude too far above the card otherwise it would not have fitted in the envelope. 

I had an experiment with one of the Frame-It die cuts, the largest which has heart cut outs, and cut it it in half along each side and glued it together overlapping to match the pattern so it ended up approximately 3" square and it does look OK, and then decided to use the Satin Red ink rubbed over it and after it dried I added it to the card on end to form a diamond shape which fitted on it more neatly, and luckily the stitched square from the set, the second smallest, fitted inside it with just a little space all round, and I then added the sentiment stamped using the red ink.

As you can see there is the space inside to add something which pops up when it is opened up, and I found a set of crocheted lacy butterfly embellishments which I bought at The Works ages ago and I used one of these cutting a backing shape from a snippet of white card to fit behind it, and I coloured this on both sides with the red ink, and when dry I added it onto the card.  It can overlap the edge of the card as when it is shut it folds down inside.  I finished by adding an insert and cut the corner off of it so that it fitted around the 'v' shaped crease in the corner, a bit fiddly but I got there in the end.  I took a photo of the card prior to adding this.

Sorry this was rather a lengthy post and I quite understand if you decided to skip my ramblings, and maybe you may have seen this shape of card before and know how it works.  Anyhow I have left a link to where I saw this and all will become clear when you watch this.

Thank you for visiting my blog today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Snippets Playground Challenge - No. 452 where we use our snippets of card and paper etc.
Allsorts Challenge - Week 724 Anything Goes/Create your own background.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Shaped Card.
Creative Creases Challenge - No. 55 Anything Goes with a Fun Fold.
Crafty Calendar Challenge - April  - Die Cuts.
Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies Challenge.

Birch Trees Birthday

Hi everybody.  A masculine card for a recent birthday and I decided to use a NBUS Birch Trees stencil from Dutch Doobadoo, and also a stencil by Lavinia called Laurel and one of the Acetate Hill Masks from a set by Lavinia,  and also a die by Sue Wilson called Trailing Ivy, bought a very long time ago and not sure if it is still available.

I started by blending ink through the Birch Trees stencil using a couple of Distress Inks called Broken China and Mowed Lawn, and I also used some pencils to accentuate the colours in the background and also to add some colour to the trees, very sparingly, and using a lead pencil I added a few lines on the trunks and also outlined them to make them stand out.  I did make the hills a bit darker with some more ink using a little Dusty Concord DI through the stencil, and added a bit of yellow behind and above the hills for a bit of sunshine.  After I had finished this I got a piece of kraft card just a little smaller than the white 7" x 5" card and ran it through my machine to embossed the Laurel onto it..I ended up using the debossed side and accentuated the stencilling with some copper wax from Pebeo.  I then die cut the ivy and a birthday sentiment backed with Stick It adhesive and added some of the wax over these too.  I then put the card together adding the ivy down each side of the birch tree topper, and the sentiment in the little bit of space underneath. 

Thank you for visiting me here today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

NBUS Challenge - Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.
The Male Room Challenge - No. 173 Stencil and/or Dies.
AAA Birthday Challenge - No. 48 Layer it Up.
Happy Little Stampers April Birthday Challenge - Anything Goes.
Happy Little Stampers April Stencil Challenge - Anything Goes.
Stencil Fun Challenge - Anything Goes/Patterns.

Butterfly Lattice

Hi all.  Another birthday card today, but this time a CAS card for the Less is More Challenge where they are asking for the colours aquamarine and black.  I used a NBUS embossing folder called Tied Together by Couture Creations, a folder I have always wanted but could never seem to get hold of but I suddenly spotted it and managed to get it but not available now.  I was also lucky enough to win over at the Allsorts Challenge and part of the prize was this pretty stamp called Large Butterfly Border from Stamps by Chloe, and this is also its first outing.

I decided to ink the EF and do a print from it by rubbing the ink over one side of the folder, spritzing with a little water and pressing it down onto my strip of white card for which I used Broken China Distress Ink.  I then stamped the border overlapping this lattice pattern using Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink and then stamped the sentiment just beneath using the same ink.  I finished by adding it to a piece of black card before mounting it on to my base white card.

Thank you for visiting me here today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

NBUS Challenge - No. 49 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.
Less is More Challenge - No. 480 - Colours.
Stamping Sensations April Challenge - Anything Stamped/CAS.
Triple B April Challenge - Anything Goes using Birds, Butterflies and Blooms (at least one of the three).
Creative Moments April Challenge - Wings and Things.

Trailing Time Gilding and Embossing

Hi everybody.  After seeing the fun the Group of Seven Cardmakers had with gilding flakes, it encouraged me to resurrect mine from the depths of my crafting cupboard and give it a go.  I used the remains of some very old Indigoblu flakes bought such a long time ago and transferred to a plastic container that I have no idea what the name is, and I used a Sheena Douglas 3D Embossing Folder called Trailing Time.

I  backed a snippet of white card with some sticky adhesive sheet and then covered it with the gilding flakes.  I then ran it through the embossing folder to emboss it and I added some Deep Crimson Versafine Ink to the raised areas to highlight them as I thought it would be less harsh than black.  It looked quite good but it was not keen to dry even with my heat tool, so I rubbed it with a piece of kitchen towel which took most of the ink off but it was still coming off on my fingers, so I covered it with some Versamark ink using a very old rather dirty pad so I didn't make a mess of a decent one, and then heat embossed the whole piece with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder to seal it.  I then backed it with a snippet of black card and added it to a 7" x 5" white card.  I finished by die cutting a sentiment from another snippet of black card backed with adhesive, and I decided to add a small butterfly using a die bought from The Range some time ago, and  I cut the top layer from a gold tag which came off a recently received parcel and I kept it as I thought the gold was the perfect colour, and the back layer from another small black snippet, and added these to the card.

 
I think it was successful in as much as the embossing is quite deep and the gilding flakes are bright and pretty, and a little of the red ink remains but that part did not work so well.  It isn't a challenge as such but I will link it up to the Group of Seven's blog as they are interested to see the results if anyone gives the technique a go.  Thank you for dropping by today and I hope you'll come back soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Group of Seven Cardmakers.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.
Creative Moments March Challenge - For a Special Lady.
Crafty Catz Challenge - No. 631 Anything Goes/Easter.
Crafty Calendar Challenge - April - Die Cuts.
Allsorts Challenge - Wks 722/723 - Anything Goes/In the Spring Garden.
Happy Little Stampers April Birthday Challenge - Anything Goes.