Selection of Hybrid Cards

Hi there.  Here are the 'hybrid' cards I was talking about on my last post.  I found a bag full of card fronts and some focal images off some cards which I think one of my friends gave to me and which I had put at the back of the cupboard.  I was in need of some quick cards and so I picked out some of these and added some bits of my own to embellish and was pleased that at least I have recycled some bits which would otherwise have been thrown away.

This first robin caught my eye straight away so I added the stamped NBUS Phill Martin Snowflakes Large Rectangle Frame using Versamark Ink and WOW Metallic Gold Embossing Powder on to some red card and then mounted it on to a green base card, some leftovers from ages ago.  I finished with the gold embossed sentiment.

This dove was extremely simple, I just mounted it on to a white 6" square base card and added the two die cut snowflakes which I cut from a piece of white card which I had heat embossed with WOW Sparkling Snow EP.  The smaller snowflake, bottom left consists of two snowflakes.

The robin I matted on to red card and then embossed using a Cuttlebug folder I got many years ago which I managed to run through again and make square, on to some gold mirri, and then before mounting on to the green base card I cut a strip of vellum and gold heat embossed the sentiment then wrapped it round the topper.

This last one I didn't mount on to anything as it already had a gold edge.  I cut the blue card using a Crealies Pierced Rectangle die and stamped the sentiment using Versafine Majestic Blue ink which I then heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss EP.  This gold base card had become a bit chewed up on the edges as it had been laying in the cupboard for some time so I used a corner rounder punch.

Thank you for looking at my blog today and I hope to see you again soon.

Happy Christmas To All

Hi there everybody.  I know the Christmas celebrations are well on their way by now, and due to my business before Christmas I am late in showing the last few cards which haven't appeared here.  Apart from this card for my DH, there are just a few hybrid cards and one I sent overseas which haven't been shown, and hopefully as the week progresses these will make an appearance.  In case you are wondering what the hybrid cards are all about, they were some which I made with toppers from cards which were sent to us, and I thought might be good to use with some things of my own making, to recycle rather than waste.  This card though is new from beginning to end.

I did ponder a bit before making this card, as having been so busy this month this was quite last minute and the mojo has been suffering a bit, but I have this Sweet Dixie die which I got from The Range and I thought it deserved an outing, so I cut if from a snippet of white card and coloured it with my Distress Inks, and mixed the black for the base with silver Perfect Pearls, and for the candle and flame colours, Mustard Seed and Festive Berries with Gold Perfect Pearls.  This doesn't really show in the photo but has given it a lovely shimmer.  I also used Festive Berries for the poinsettia, and Mowed Lawn and Pine Needles for the foliage.   I backed both the poinsettia and the candle with a piece of card so I could fill them in with the colour.

I then found another snippet of white card and cut it with a stitched die from The Works and embossed with a Marianne Snowflakes Embossing Folder, and I then edged it with Mustard Seed DI applied with a blending tool, and also added some of the Gold Perfect Pearls.

For the background I used a Cuttlebug Holly Ribbons EF and inked up the inside of the front with Pine Needles DI using a roller, and then spritzed it with a little water and pressed the card on to it with the folder open flat and rubbed the back over for about ten seconds before lifting, this gives the ink time to sink in well, and when dry I blended some more of the same ink on to it using a blending tool.

I decided that I would use a white 7" x 5" base card and I used some gold mirri as the first layer, die cut with a pierced edge rectangle die from Crealies, unfortunately this doesn't seem to be available at the moment, and I then cut the inked layer with the next size of die and adhered these to the base card.  I then mounted the topper and added the coloured image using Pinflair Glue Gel for a bit of dimension, and then the gold sentiment to finish.

I was hoping that DH would not think the image too feminine, and he did say he liked it, but I wasn't totally convinced..lol, but in his defence it is a bit different from the type of card I usually make for him.

Anyway, thank you for taking a look and I hope that all of you are having a good Christmas and my thoughts are also with those who are not having the best of times at the moment for whatever reason.  I also look forward to visiting all my blogging friends throughout 2018, and seeing all the wonderful creativity there is to be had in this great community of ours, and long may it last. 

I am entering the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - Weeks 313/314 where we use our snippets of card and paper etc.
Happy Little Stampers December Watercolour Challenge - Anything Goes, but using the twist which is Christmas.
Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge - No. 365 Anything Goes as long as it's Christmas.
Happy Little Stampers December Anything Goes with Dies Challenge.

Winter Pine Branches and Berries

Hi all.  I'm sorry I haven't been around much lately but have been so busy with other things this past two or three weeks that posting has had to take a back seat.  I have managed to keep visiting though and looking at all your beautiful Christmas cards.  Everything has calmed down now and we went out yesterday to get the last food shopping so today we will be able to relax.

This was the card I made and sent to our DS in Australia.  He has received it now so thought I would show it.  Last year I was sad that for some reason he didn't get it until after Christmas but so pleased it arrived on time this year.

This was created using a card I found over here as my inspiration, made by Heather Telford, and as I don't have the stamp I decided to just paint it as a more or less direct CASEing of it.  For those that don't know Heather she does do the most amazing work and is just so talented at watercolouring,  and if you visit her using the link above you will see what I mean.  I used very few lines and just went for it, and I was fairly pleased with the result but wish I had made the sky a stronger blue to give more contrast.  I was having trouble coming up with something and time was pressing as I new the last dates for posting were imminent, and thought that the foliage and berries would work, though I did wonder if the finished piece might look a bit plain and uninteresting.

I used my watercolour paints and I also did some spattering with white acrylic paint and added some white gel pen snow on the branches and in amongst the foliage.  I heat embossed the sentiment with WOW Silver Metallic Embossing Powder.  I then mounted it on to dark green card and added it to a 6" square white base card  on which I embossed some snow using a SSS Snowfall stencil.  It doesn't show up much in the photo unfortunately.

Thank you for visiting and I hope you are all prepared and looking forward to the festivities.

Embossed Parchment

Hi everybody.  This is another card using the 3D Pretty Poinsettia Embossing folder which I got recently, but this time using parchment to emboss with.  I decided to make three more cards with snippets of red, blue and green using this embossing folder, but then thought I would try parchment.  I decided after embossing the snippet of parchment that the flowers needed to be emphasised a bit more so I used a ball tool to go round them to give a whiter edge, and then I used the red embossed snippet underneath which gave it a soft pink colour.

In order not to have any glue showing on the front I embossed it with a border on two of the sides which would wrap round the red card before being adhered to the base card.  

I then decided to cut a sentiment mat from a snippet of white pearlised card and secured this across the card  mounted on to two pieces of ribbon.  I found my Spellbinder Nestibilities die called Floral Oval which has little star shaped holes when die cut, and the sheer sparkly ribbon fitted through the holes on either side of the sentiment plate and secured to the underside of it, and I then cut each piece long enough to wrap over the card and secured it at the back.  Before sticking the ribbon to the mat I stamped a sentiment with Versamark Ink and heat embossed with WOW Silver Glitter Embossing Powder.

I cut  the white base card down so the embossed piece would fit with just a narrow border and then added the parchment topper to it.  I thought perhaps it needed something else so I cut four parchment snowflakes from snippets I found, two small and two medium, and added some silver gilding wax to highlight them, and after mounting a medium one with a small one on top I put one of these each side of the sentiment.  I also decided as an afterthought to add some of the silver gilding wax on to the parchment which I did very carefully as I didn't want to get any on to the base card.  Luckily it worked.

I am entering the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - Weeks 311/12 where we use our snippets of card paper etc.
Happy Little Stampers December Christmas Challenge - no optional twist.

Here is the second card with the embossing also highlighted with silver gilding wax.  I cut some leaves with a pair of dies by Sue Wilson called Delicate Fronds using some more snippets of parchment and cut them into pieces, highlighted them with the silver gilding wax and made the wreath shape, after which I added the sentiment using a snippet of silver mirri card.

I am entering the following challenge:

Country View Challenge December - No Optional Twist.
Uniko Challenge - No 44 Christmas.
 

For this last card I used copper gilding wax to highlight, and cut a bauble using a freebie Crafters Companion die which I got with a magazine several years ago.  I cut it from another snippet of green card and removed the pieces.  I used the same gilding wax to colour the edge of the bauble and all the pieces.  I should have adhered it to a piece of Stick It adhesive and then die cut it but I managed to remove the top protective layer and laid the bauble down onto it and cut round the edge.  A bit fiddly but I managed it.  I then fitted all the pieces back into the bauble, removed the backing and mounted it on to the embossed background.  I finished by adding a die cut sentiment cut from another snippet of green card which I then coloured with the gilding wax so that it would all match in.  For the hanger I coloured another small snippet of green card with the gilding wax and cut a very thin sliver long enough to hang down from the holly above.

Before I finish I would like to introduce a new follower called Sylvia whose blog you will find here and who makes some really beautiful cards, and I'm sure she would love you to go and take a look.

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

I am entering the following challenge:

Christmas Card Throwdown December Challenge - Pick a previous challenge from 2012/13 - I have chosen December 2013 No. 18 Christmas Ornaments.

Gold Poinsettias

Hi all.  This is a very quick Christmas card I made to enter into the Rudolph Days Challenge run by Mo over at Scraps of Life by Scrappymo.  This is the last monthly challenge of the year which I am only just in time for but didn't want to miss.  It sounds as though there will be something going on over there in December so watch this space.

I bought this 3D Pretty Poinsettia Embossing Folder just recently, which is made by Crafters Companion, and I think you'll agree that the embossing really is beautifully three dimensional.  This is the first use so a NBUS item, and I think I will be making some more cards with it to get the card numbers up as it only needs a sentiment added as I have done here, plus after looking at it I decided to add the little flowers. You can of course do lots more interesting things but for speed of production this is probably how I will make some more, maybe using different colours of card and adding some gilding wax or ink.  

I embossed it using a snippet of gold mirri card, and besides the card I had decided to mount it on I had another left from the same pack which I have had for years and which was a bit dog eared, so not suitable to us as is, so I cut the card apart and used part of it to make three little poinsettia flowers using a NBUS die by Sue Wilson which I got recently called Poinsettia Cluster.  I used my versamark pen to add the ink round the edges of the flowers and then heat embossed using WOW Gold Glitter Embossing Powder and added a gold sequin to the midde of each flower. 

I completed the card by adding the embossed layer to the 7" x 5" gold pearlised base card, and cut a double sentiment mat using two of the dies from a set I bought from The Works with some more of the gold pearlised card.  I die cut the sentiment from another snippet of gold mirri backed with Stick It adhesive and added it to the card.  Lastly I added the three little flowers to the corner of the sentiment mat.  I am not totally sure that the flowers are quite right but they were stuck with glossy accents and once dry there is no going back so I'm stuck with them...lol, sorry for the pun.  For some reason the gold pearlised card looks white in the photo but in real life it is a soft gold colour.  The daylight was beginning to go so we'll put it down to that.

Thanks for stopping by the blog today and I hope to be back soon.  

I am entering the following challenges:

Rudolph Days November Challenge - Anything Goes.
Pixie's Crafty Workshop - Week 309/10 where we use snippets of card and paper etc.
Christmas at Sweet Stampin' - Anything Christmas Goes.
Muse: Christmas Visions 90 - Anything Goes.

Midnight Garden

Hi all.  I have been busier with outside things recently and my mojo has been harder to summon up.  I did intend to show a card this time which I made for another male birthday but stupidly I forgot to take a photo before posting it.  It was a scenic one with silhouette lions from a set by Sheena Douglass, and I am gutted that I can't show it.  November is a heavy cardmaking month for me, and then of course there are still Christmas cards to make!

This masculine card is using a Michael Powell stamp I got a while ago from a local shop that was closing so thought I would christen it with this card.  I did more or less follow the suggested colours on the stamp itself.

I found a snippet of smooth white card and stamped using my Versafine Smokey Gray ink.  I did stamp it several times using my Misti so the ink looks darker.  I coloured it with my Lyra Waterbrush Pens using my glass mat and picking it up with  a waterbrush.  I only have twelve colours, and this way you can mix the colours together and get a lighter coloured finish.  These Michael Powell stamps are quite busy so I thought the lighter finish would look better.

When I had finished colouring it I cut it using one of the Crealies Pierced Rectangle dies but the stamp is quite long and thin and I didn't have one narrow enough so I used a technique I saw a little while ago, not sure where now, but you cut it with a wider die and then place it back into the die overlapping the edge with the amount you wish to lose making sure you line it up so the pattern matches, you can usually feel if the paper is pushed in to the grooves, but obviously easier using a plain edged die, and then just run it through your machine again.  Luckily it worked well, I did hold my breath and hope for the best because I would have had to start again which wouldn't have pleased me much.

I wanted a background for the topper so using some Distress Inks in Mowed Lawn, Spiced Marmalade and Faded Jeans I laid the colours down on my glass mat and spritzed and flapped the snippet of card through it with the intention that the colour would be more random with white areas, but I think I added too much water so it spread and the colours merged giving a rather muddy look.

After making sure it was dry I then got out my Brushos and added some more green, orange and a little purple separately, spritzing with water and drying in between.   I left this overnight and when I looked the next day and put the topper over it I decided the colours did  complement one another better.

I then put the card together mounting the background on to my usual 6" square base card and added an XCut die cut sentiment using a snippet of gold mirri card.

Thank you for dropping by today and I'll see you again soon. 

I am entering the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - Weeks 307/8 where we use up our snippets of paper, card etc.
Happy Little Stampers November Watercolour Challenge - Anything Goes (no optional twist).
613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes (no optional twist).

Triple Embossed Heart Anniversary

Hi there.  I needed an anniversary card for some good friends and decided to try the triple embossing technique.  I have to say I haven't tried this technique before and I did OK I think, the finish was a bit rough and ready but I will just call it distressed...lol.  I had originally intended it for the WOW Embossing Challenge but unfortunately missed the deadline.

I started with the heart which I die cut from white card using a Sweet Dixie set of nesting hearts and  I triple embossed it using my Versamark ink and then covered in the UTE crystals and heat set, and repeated this twice more.  The third time I had my rubber stamp ready to give it a pattern.  I used one from a set by Chocolate Baroque called Fluttering Hearts, and whilst still hot I pressed it down into the embossed heart and kept the pressure on for about ten seconds, by which time it had cooled.  I then applied some Pebeo Silver Gilding Wax all over to give it a silver finish, but because the crystals have mica in them their is a slight green interference colour which the light obviously caught in the photo.

For the background I found another piece of white card and used a Leonie Pujol Embossing Folder called Dotty Heart, and ran it through twice to extend the pattern.  I then blended some Peacock Feather Distress Ink over the top using a blending tool.  I also highlighted the pattern with some of the Pebeo Silver Gilding Wax.  

For the mat I used some Turquoise Brusho powder on to my glass mat and added quite a bit of water to lighten the colour and then laid the piece of card over to cover it with the ink and when dry die cut it with a stitched circle die from The Works.

I decided it perhaps needed some more embellishment so I cut several lacy borders, about three I think, using a die from the Marianne Craftables range called Twine Border, and used it round the edge of the heart and also the circular mat.  It required quite a lot of patience and some snipping to get it to bend around sufficiently but I got there in the end.  I cut nicks out of the edge and backed the heart and the circle with double sided tape, and by pleating the edge of the border a bit as I went, and obviously making joins in several places, I did get there in the end.  I think it needs fairly light weight card to do this and perhaps the card I used was a little thick which didn't help.

I finished by layering the background and then attached the heart to the circular mat before adding it to the card.  I then made a fishtail banner for my sentiment using some more white card and stamped and heat embossed it using WOW Metallic Silver Embossing Powder before adding it to the card.

Thank you for taking a look today and I hope to see you again soon.

I am also entering the following challenges:

Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge - No. 266 Anything Goes.
Just Add Ink Challenge - No. 384 - Photo Inspiration (I used just the colour blue).
Challenge Up Your Life - No. 78 Die Cuts.
613 Avenue Create Challenge - Anything Goes.