Red and Gold Embroidered Anniversary

Hi all.  It has just occurred to me looking at the date that I have just passed the two year mark on my blog.  I can't believe it as it seems like no time at all since I started and I would just like to say how many wonderfully creative people I have met through their blogs and how much I love being part of this crafting community.

I have another anniversary card for you today.  The summer months are the busiest so not many more before the end of the year, just three I think, then none until April although I may find one or two to blog that haven't been aired.  Anyway, this is it.

I was prompted by Mrs A and her  Butterfly Challenge which has the theme of a butterfly of course but the letter Y for yarn, though it seems this can be interpreted more loosely as a thread of some sort so I have chosen embroidery thread, specifically a gold sparkly thread as you can see I have used it on the background and on the two red hearts.

I started with the background which was embossed with the Kimmy-Luvs folder from Cuttlebug which sadly is not available any more but does come out quite often for an anniversary card.  I used a piece of a blank card which I managed to ruin with atrociously bad stamping but was ideal for this.  I decided where I would place my embroidery threads and I just pushed them through the card with the needle itself.  There are four elongated 'v's' but they give the appearance of the thread being pulled together behind each of the hearts. To make the threads stand out I used the full thickness, all six threads and stuck on the reverse of the card with double sided tape. 

I cut the hearts using my Nellie Snellen heart dies using snippets of red card, and then I had originally thought I would leave the hearts as is but decided to go for the embroidery in a bigger way so took my needle and thread and just went for it.  I put the holes in mainly as I went along and pierced with the needle, but with hindsight should have used a pokey tool and made them a bit more regularly spaced.  I decided to make a pattern up and so looking at the heart I thought that top to bottom one way would look quite nice and then the same in the other direction but weaved in and out.  On one heart the threads go nearer to the edge than the other but it took me quite a time to do it so was not too keen on redoing any of it, but I think the finished result was maybe not as neat as it might have been but acceptable.  Here I only used two threads thickness and anchored them at the back again with double sided tape.

I then cut a bigger heart from the Nellie Snellen set of dies and as I love the script used the sentiment from the Verve set Poppy Birthday which is one of those all purpose sentiments, and I embossed it using Versamark and WOW Gold EP.  I used another snippet of the white card and stamped and cut out the butterfly which was part of a magazine freebie set.  This was also embossed with the Versamark and Gold EP.

Lastly it was matted on to a snippet of gold mirri card and mounted on to a cream square card.

Thank you for visiting my blog today.

Pat  x

I would also like to enter the following challenges:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Use a Stamp.
Cuttlebug Mania - Anything Goes.
Pixie's Crafty Workshop - Week 194 where we use our leftover snippets/ pieces of paper and card etc.
Stamping Sensations - Sew Special.

Stylised Poppy Birthday

Hi everyone.  I needed a birthday card this week and so decided to combine this with NBUS Challenge No. 5 which our friend Darnell of DJKardkreations is running, where we use anything in our stash which we haven't used before.  There are a lot of prizes on offer from really well known sponsors as well as some donated by her personally, so 'thank you' Darnell.  I used green and gold to tie in with the colour challenge which I am just in time to enter over at Less is More.

I was lucky enough to win a gift token over at Verve Stamps and I bought some stamps and dies and these are my NBUS items.

The central sentiment plate is a Spellbinder die set Labels Thirty Three which has been used before and I cut two different sizes using snippets of gold mirri and white card, and layered them up and stamped the sentiment from the NBUS sets of stamps from Verve called Poppy Birthday.  I then used the Build a Poppy die set to cut the three base pieces of the flower from snippets of gold mirri card and then using the stamps in two different sizes I stamped on more snippets of white card using Versamark and WOW Gold EP and then cut the flowers with the dies and layered these up too.  I finished the flowers with little pearls in the centres.

I finished by cutting leaves in two different sizes from snippets of green card using another Verve set of dies called Sprightly Sprigs which co-ordinates with some other stamp sets which I don't have, but I consider this is a leaf shape which can be cut from plain card as seen here without the matching stamps.

The gold dots are actually the waste pieces from the poppy stamp co-ordinating die set.  I think the idea is that you use the holes made by the projections on the dies to help line the die when using the negative piece left from cutting the die as a template, and in order to line up the die when cutting out the stamped images you use the template over the stamped image and then fix the die into the negative space and this then keeps the die in place whilst cutting the image out.

Thank you for stopping by here today.

Pat  x

I am also entering the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - Week 193 where we use up our snippets.  The whole card was made from snippets.
Simon Says Monday Challenge - Stamp and Punch/Die Cut.                          
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Use a Stamp and Blog Hop.

Tag and Envelope Birthday Wishes

Hi there everybody.  I have been mulling over what I might do for three of the clean and simple challenges this week and eventually came up with this.

It combines Addicted to CAS has asked for blue, Casology which has given the word 'write', and Less is More is a lucky dip week using Sprays/Mists.  I have a mask from That Special Touch  called Splats which I used in the background combined with a spray which I made up using watercolour paint, and then when dry blended distress inks through the mask using Tumbled Glass, Peacock Feathers and Faded Jeans.  I was a bit fussy about exactly where I wanted the splats so just cherry picked which bits I used from the stencil, and used a piece of Clarity stencil card to do it on.  

I managed to find a free template for the small envelope and tag and after downloading these and cutting them out I transferred them to some snippets of good quality white paper and after sticking the envelope together I inked that and the tag with a little of the distress ink left on the blending foam to take the whiteness off and then stamped the sentiment on the tag using Memento Nautical Blue ink.  I finished the tag with a bit of blue baker's twine.

Lastly before I finish I have a new follower called Gail whose Blog you will find here.  She is on the HLS Design Team and does some fabulous work and I'm sure she would appreciate your visiting her.

Thank you for dropping by and I do so appreciate your interest.

Pat  x

I am also entering the following challenge:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - where we use up our snippets.  I used snippets of paper for the envelope and tag.
Simon Says Monday Challenge - Trio of Colours.  I used three colours of blue distress ink.

Mistletoe Christmas

Hi there.  Well it's that time in the month when Rudolph Day over Scraps of Life by Scrappy Mo is here again, and continues until the end of the month.  I have made a card using a Penny Black Mistletoe stencil and a new/NBUS Spellbinders Borderabilities - Curved Borders 1 die  in the background.

I started by dry embossing the stencil using a snippet of white card, and then coloured through the stencil with some inks and blending foam starting with a lighter colour green, Adirondack Lettuce I think, and then some darker ink to add shading which was Mowed Lawn Distress Ink, and finally some Pine Needles DI, and the berries I left alone.  When dry I put the stencil back over and added some Cosmic Shimmer Translucent Texture Paste using an old plastic card to apply it, and then left this to dry for an hour or two.  I then finished by blending some blues into the background using Adirondack Stonewashed ink and darkened with Stormy Sky DI around the edges and then a little Peacock Feathers towards the centre to lighten.  I also darkened around the leaves with a darkish blue Spectrum Noir pencil and added a few highlights with a lilac.  I found when I came to use my Cosmic Shimmer Pearl Glue Gel on the berries that it had dried out so I used a dot of the ordinary CS glue on each berry which did give a raised effect, and when dry I added a black dot on each berry with a Micron pen.  I layered this topper on to a snippet of dark blue, then light blue and finished with a snippet of gold mirri card.

For the background I used another snippet of white card edged with one of the curved borders and then dry embossed with the mistletoe stencil which I used twice to make a nice pattern.  Unfortunately it doesn't show up very well on the photo.  I then used a snippet of blue using another of the edges, and finished with a snippet of gold mirri card and another of the edges.  I stamped the sentiment on the base card using Versamark ink and WOW Gold Sparkle embossing powder and then finished by layering everything up.

I have never used the texture paste before and it did bleed under the stencil a little so I used my Promarkers to cover up some of these blemishes, and I also added a little extra colour to the leaves with a darkish green one too as I felt the leaves needed just a little extra shading as these do work on a shiny surface.

Thank you to everyone who visits my blog as I really appreciate all your interest.

Pat  x

I am also entering the following challenges:

Happy Little Stampers August Christmas Challenge - Sparkle.  I hope the gold mirri and the gold sparkle embossing powder fits the challenge ok.
Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge - Use Some Gold.
Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challeng Extra - Anything Goes every month.
Pixie's Crafty Workshop - Week 191 where we use up our snippets.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.
   

Acetate Golden Wedding

Hi all.  From never having made one I have now made my second Golden Wedding card in four months.  Both the recipients are cousins of mine whose weddings I went to and for this particular one I was a bridesmaid.  When you are fourteen you don't think you are ever going to be looking back to a wedding that happened fifty years ago ..lol.  On one of my Pinterest visits I remembered seeing a card which used acetate and had decorative panels vertically down the front and then a sentiment mat in the centre which I thought was quite attractive and has sparked my recent enthusiasm for acetate. As you can see my panels go horizontally instead of vertically.  These sorts of cards do require a nice heavy weight of acetate.

Using an A4 piece of pearlescent card I folded it in half to make a card blank and cut down to make it square with the fold at the top. I decided the width of the top border which I think was about 3/4" and cut the rest of the front of the card away.  I then cut three strips one to go at the back of the top border, just a little narrower, because if at the back it butts up to the crease the card will not close properly, and then two more strips, both of the same width as the top border, to go at the bottom. I then cut a piece of acetate the same width but just very slightly shorter than the original card front, again for easy card closure.  I cut the decorative borders using my Sue Wilson Configuration Dies and snippets of pearlescent card from the card front. I cut one length and two corners for the top and the same for the bottom.
                                                                             

I then stuck the decorative border to the underside of the top of the card using double sided tape, then the acetate, lining it up with the bottom of the card, then the white strip to neaten the back, all stuck with double sided tape. This was obviously repeated with the bottom strips.  I then cut two hearts using my Nellie Snellen Hearts die set and more snippets of pearlescent card, one for the front, and after attaching, one to neaten the back.  I then cut a decorative heart from a snippet of gold mirri card and finally another smaller plain heart using another snippet of white pearlescent card.  I then cut two Nellie Snellen Multi Frame Borders 3 dies to go top and bottom using snippets of gold mirri card.  This particular design has little pointed bits on the edge which I didn't particularly like on this card so I cut them off before adhering to the borders.

I  used gold numbers and a gold sentiment to finish the front and I ran a greeting off the computer and cut it out using a large Nellie Snellen die from the same set which I stuck to the back of the card.

I was very pleased with how this turned out as it was a complicated card to make which I had to think about very carefully before starting and whilst assembling, and I think the back looks just as neat and tidy as the front which I feel is essential with acetate as whatever you use to glue it, in this case double sided tape, can look messy from the back.  This is definitely a one off as a special card for a special occasion.  

I hope you have found this description of some use but if totally bored and nearly dozing off I hope you liked looking at the photos anyway .lol ..haha. (I have just seen on another blog post, Darnell for the many that know her, that lol is now out of favour and haha is now back in again, so not to be considered uncool I have changed my text .haha/lol ..or whatever (laugh)).

Thanks for visiting my blog today.

Pat  x

I am entering the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - Week 190 where we us up our snippets of card, paper ribbon etc.
Simply Create Too - No. 92 Anything Goes.
Vintage Stamping Challenge - No. 35 Anything Goes.  Although they have vintage in their title they do say that your cards do not have to be vintage in design.

Fun Fish

Hi all.  I have a collection of fish, carp actually, to show you today.  I needed a card and I wanted to enter a few CAS challenges.  I have used the current sketch over at CAS(E) this Sketch and here it is .....

..... and here is the card I made:

I used a carp from a set of stamps by Sheena Douglass called A Little Bit Oriental - Koi and Waterlilies, it's the smaller of the two fish.  I stamped the central fish on a snippet of white card using Memento Tuxedo Black, and then I made a mask and covered that one up so I could stamp a few others around it.  I then used my Distress Inks to watercolour in shades of blue including Tumbled Glass, Peacock Feathers and Stormy Sky.  I then coloured the fish using Spiced Marmalade and Mustard Seed.  I think I must have been half a sleep or something because I intended to use Archival Black but it wasn't until I had finished and coloured it that I realised I had used Memento which really should not be used when using water because it can run and blur the outline, but I was lucky that didn't happen.   Some of the fish do look fainter anyway because they are second generation ink. I did add a little extra red to the orange on the fish and also a bit of darker blue around some of the fish using my Spectrum Noir pencils.

I finished by adding a snippet of black card as a mat before mounting on to my square white card and added a sentiment.

I have another new follower today who is Eve, and I think many of you will know her as last week she helped Di with the challenge over at Pixie's Playground and she is a very talented lady, so if you haven't seen her blog you will find it here.

Thank you for dropping by today and thank you also for your continued interest in my little corner of blogland.  This community is the  best!

 Pat  x

I am entering the following challenges:

Addicted to CAS - School.
Less is More - Congratulations.
Casology - Aquatic.
Happy Little Stampers - Masking.

Heart on Acetate Anniversary

Hi there.  Yet another anniversary card for friends whose anniversary was a week ago, and I also wanted to enter the challenge at  Addicted to CAS which is 'Banners'.  This card has only one banner but hopefully it will be alright for the challenge.

I decided on the cut out idea which I used on my chevron card last week, so I used my Stitched Circle die from Simon Says Stamp and then cut a frame from a snippet of white card, using the two larger dies, and this goes on the inside to neaten it up.   The acetate was cut with a plain Xcut circle die which was a little large so I cut  1/4" off  it so the frame would cover over it when glued into place on the back of the cut out.

I cut two of my Nellie Snellen hearts, one for the outside of the acetate and one to cover it on the inside, using a snippet of red card, and cut the banner sentiment also using a snippet of white card, which I tucked under the heart on top of the acetate and finished it with a silver sentiment.  The inside of the card was covered with a piece of Papermania paper from a pad which I won over at Pixie's Playground quite a while ago.  I placed a die cut heart on the back of the card too to write the message on.

I have one new follower to introduce who is Sid and you will find his blog here.   He seems to enjoy anything which includes stamps and inkiness and I'm sure he would love you to go and take a look.

That's all for now.

Pat  x

I would also like to enter the following challenge:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - Week 189 where we use up our snippets including paper and card.