First Christmas Card for 2025

Hi all.  I decided to make a Christmas card this week inspired by the GO7 theme this month of pastes, and for the background I used some DecoArt white paste coloured with Brushos and added through a Crafter's Companion stencil which came with Box Set No. 6.  I also used a die set from Spellbinders called Winter Evergreen Foliage and Lady Bugs, and also a set of Creative Craft Products Torn Edge Stars both being used for the first time.

I coloured the paste with Turquoise and a little Ost. Blue Brusho and used it through the stencil.  I then went on to die cut three pieces of foliage using some snippets of white card and two of the dies from the set cutting two of the die which had little spaces on the stems to add the berries.  I decided to colour them in a bluey purple more like juniper, and I found a die which came as part of another set of Spellbinder dies called Balloons & Birthday Wishes which was a small round centre for one of the flowers and seemed to be the perfect size for a berry, so I cut lots of those from more snippets of white card and shaped them on a foam mat with a ball tool before colouring them with my alcohol pens and then added them to the already inked branches...again various greens and a brown used to give a more varied look to them...mind you I don't think the brown stems are very visible.  I finished by glossing the berries using Glossy Accents.

I decided to make a bunch of the foliage and cut a star again using a snippet of white card and my newly acquired set of the Torn Edge dies and inked the edges using Broken China Distress Ink and then added the foliage on top.  I then found a piece of silver embroidery thread using all the layers and formed a bow which I stuck at the top of the bunch of foliage.  I finished by adding the snowflake background and then used some very thin foam on the back of the star and also the sentiment strip placed across the star, cut from another snippet of white card, and which I had heat embossed using WOW Metallic Silver Embossing Powder. 

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

I am entering the following challenges:

Snippets Playground Challenge - No. 503 Where we use our snippets of card and paper etc.

Merry Little Christmas Challenge - No. 61 Anything Christmas Goes.

Allsorts Challenge - No. 820 Spring Flowers/Anything Goes.

Stencil Fun Challenge - April '25 Anything Goes/Patterns.

NBUS Challenge - No. 73 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.

I.D.E.A.S. Challenge - Week 1 - Ink/Colour Mediums.
Group of Seven Cardmakers - March Technique - Using Embossing Paste.

Group of Seven - Embossing Paste Product Focus

Hi everyone.  Another month has rushed by and this month over at the Group of Seven we are looking at embossing paste and what you can do with it.  This is not something that I have used very much before but it does add an extra something to your stencilling, adding texture and with lots of different finished looks using pastes with shimmer in them, or adding glitter or embossing powder or things like fibres or micro beads, and waiting until it's dry to heat emboss the powder, or whilst wet to give a more puffed up look to it.  You can also add colour to white paste using any water based medium for endlessly different looks, mixing it in or adding it after it is dry.  For my card I chose a shimmery relief paste with a titanium coloured finish to it, and I used a Crafter's Companion heart stencil which came as part of a set of three different designs and called Love Hearts and being used for the first time.  I also incorporated a few die cuts from a Spellbinders set called Bold Blooms the rest of which I have yet to use, and ditto another Spellbinders set called Balloons and Birthday Wishes.

I cut a piece of card to fit a 6" square base card and then added the paste through the taped down stencil masking off the rest of the card.  I used a small palette knife to spread it, and it worked quite well, though I do think that I found it easier the few times I have tried this before by using an old plastic store card at a slight angle to pull the paste across. When dry I decided to add the extra hearts placed on the ends of some flower stems and balloon strings.  I cut off the branches on the flower stems to give one long stem, and they were a bit shorter, and I also used the balloon strings from the other set but as they were rather thin and seemed a bit flimsy I glued two back to back on three of them..not the easiest thing, but they look OK I think.  I also used the stencil and pencil marked around one of the larger hearts cutting two with my small decoupage scissors which I doubled up for more dimension.  I then found various little die cut hearts which I keep in a pot and used some in three different sizes and I coloured them with a couple of pink alcohol pens.  I used a lighter pink then decided to darken them a bit so added another colour over the top of each.  I then added a heart to each of the stems, and I decided at this point to add some Glossy Accents to all of them for a bit of pretty shine.  I also used some of the Glossy Accents as a glue over the right hand heart and stuck the heart stems down to it before adding the double layer pink heart over the top and used it behind each of the hearts to stick them down to the card..it is good for something like this as it sticks extremely firmly.  I didn't like the look of the stems beneath the heart so I cut them off so that they emerge from under the heart, and I also added the sentiment heat embossing with WOW Metallic Silver Embossing Powder, and added the five tiny hearts around it.  The titanium colour of the paste does look more silver in reality than it does in the photo which has given it a more beige tone for some reason, so the silver embossed sentiment does look a better match than it appears here.

I hope that if you haven't tried this you will be encouraged to give these pastes a go as they do give the card a bit of a 'wow' factor, and I think mine could have been smoother but not too bad considering I haven't done this technique much before.  I have seen some pastes used over an open embossing folder and left to dry, and I did give this a try with a normal folder using one that I got years ago and which if ruined would not be the end of the world.  This paste didn't release from the folder very well, but I may not have spread it quite thick enough I think, but I have another paste which has a thicker consistency which is a modelling paste made by DecoArt and this did work better and released well..again would have looked better if it had been applied a bit thicker, and I will perhaps give it a proper go during the month and put the card up on the GO7 post.

If you do give this a try do come and add your card to the Linky which you will find at the bottom of the post so we can all enjoy them, and you will also find some wonderful cards made with this technique there from the other ladies, and explanations of how they made them over on their own blogs.  

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

I am entering the following challenges:

Stencil Fun Challenge - Anything Goes/Splatters.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.

N.B.U.S. Challenge - No. 72 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.
Darnell's I.D.E.A.S. - Week 4 - A = Anything Goes.
Simply Clean & Simple Challenge - March'25 Anything Goes/Shades of Green.

Birthday Squirrel

Hi everybody.  This is a masculine card featuring the same squirrel stamp used on my last card here, and this was supposed to be on the card but I decided this darker shade of blue didn't look right so it was left sitting on my table.  I also used the set of Torn Edge Squares..I'm a bit obsessed with these at the moment..lol, and also a Lavinia stencil called Laurel.  I'm still keeping it simple at the moment.

I began by die cutting the piece of card with the squirrel on using a smaller Torn Edge Die and then added the sentiment using the same Versafine Majestic Blue Ink..both the squirrel image and the sentiment have been heat embossed using WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.  I then die cut a larger one from the set, about 5" square and then dry embossed the leaves onto it.  I accidentally did it wrong and got the raised leaves on the reverse of the die cut but decided that I would leave it like this and I ink blended using several green Distress Inks to highlight the stencilling, namely Twisted Citron, Lucky Clover and Pine Needles.  I gradually darkened the look until I was happy as I wanted to make sure that the leaf shapes showed up sufficiently which I think they now do, but without making it too dark wanting to keep the fresh spring colours.  I put the 6" square card together and raised up the central mat with some craft foam for added dimension. 

Just before I finish I have noticed that over the last few weeks my follower numbers have dropped, only by a few and maybe they have just decided to leave, but then within the last day they dropped by two more which does seem a bit odd.  I wondered if others have notice that suddenly the number of followers has changed.  Maybe this is down to blogger so I had a look at a few of the ones I follow to compare and all seemed OK, so it is a bit of a conundrum.    

Anyway thank you for visiting me today and I'll see you again soon.

We Love Stamping Challenge - March'25 Hello Spring/Anything Goes.
Stamping Sensations Challenge - March '25 Hello Spring/Anything Goes.
Allsorts Challenge - No. 819 Feminine/Anything Goes.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Have Fun With Stencils.
Stencil Fun Challenge - Anything Goes/Splatters.
Try it on Tuesday Challenge - Spring Fling.
Darnell's I.D.EA.S. - Week 3 Embossing.

Spring Flowers

Hi all.  I was lucky enough to be a randomly picked winner of a couple of Aall & Create stamps and this card today features one of them. The title of the stamp is The Best You Ever Had, not sure why this title, but to me they look like crocuses so hence my title of Spring Flowers..I did though use a bit of artistic licence as I don't think that crocuses are every coral pink, but was one of the colours on the package which I thought looked quite pretty.  I decided to keep it simple as my hand is still not back to full strength, but is a lot better than it was, and I just added the double mat using a recent purchase of these Oval Torn Edge Dies from Creative Craft Products which were in a recent sale and I do love the look of these so they inevitably slipped into my basket..lol, and this is their first outing.

I did find that stamping this very detailed stamp came out a bit dark with black ink so I tried again with Versafine Smokey Gray which was better.  I then coloured using my alcohol pens, but perhaps should have chosen lighter colours or maybe watercolour or coloured pencils, though my hand is still not keen on using pencils, but which may have made the finished effect a bit lighter and brighter.  I did also add a bit of blue grey to shade a few of bits of the dotty grid in the background, but I don't think it shows up very well.  I also used a black fine micron pen to add in the stamens and then used a white gel pen for the stamens themselves which worked OK.  I just finished it with a birthday sentiment  and added it to a 6" square card. 

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

I am entering the following challenges:

We Love Stamping Challenge - March '25 Hello Spring/Anything Goes.

Stamping Sensations Challenge - March '25 Hello Spring/Anything Goes.

Allsorts Challenge - No.  818 CAS/Anything Goes.

NBUS Challenge - No. 72 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.

Try it on Tuesday Challenge - For A Lady.

Triple B Challenge - March '25 Using Birds, Butterflies or Blooms (one, two or all three).

Beautiful Blossoms Challenge - Anything Floral Goes/Optional Mood Board No. 26.

Darnell's I.D.E.A.S.  - Week 2 - Dies.

AAA Cards Challenge - No. 285 Anything Goes.

Group of Seven - Floating Frames

Hi everybody.  I'm back with this month's technique over at the Group of Seven Cardmakers and have made a card using a new lower case alphabet set from Card Making Magic and also a squirrel stamp from a set called Christmas Animals by the RSPB both being used for the first time.  This set of stamps is very versatile as the animals are woodland creatures so not merely something to use on winter/seasonal cards.

The floating frame gives lots of dimension and I merely cut the letters for 'happy birthday' out twice and coloured one set using Salty Ocean Distress Ink blending with a brush, and added these randomly over the frame which I had cut using two sizes of a set of Torn Edge Squares which I've used on a couple of fairly recent cards.  It is also useful to have some Press-n-Seal so that when you have laid out the images on the card you can place a piece of this over the top and it holds everything down in place whilst you die cut the frame, but I decided that my card is 300gsm and with the extra pieces of alphabet also cut from the same card my machine would not handle that thickness well, so I decided to cut the frame and then add the letters onto the frame keeping them in place with the Press-n-Seal so that I could then turn the letters over still stuck to that whilst I then stuck the dimensionals to the letters and then placed that down onto the frame all in one go to stick it all down at once when I had it in the correct postion, lifting it away from the letters when stuck firmly down on the card frame.  I then infilled around the letters with bits of the white alphabet just to fill in some gaps.  In fact there weren't that many gaps as the letters I used were quite large and close together, and with hindsight perhaps slightly smaller letters might have worked better, and unfortunately I had to cut most of the tails off the two 'ys' so they do look rather like 'vs', but would have been much more fiddly to stick, as even this size of letters took quite a time to fix in place.  I did make it more difficult for myself with partial letters which I had to cut to fit the torn edge, and in future I think I would stick to using a straight edge to line up with.  I finished by adding the sweet little squirrel onto a separate piece of card stamping with a coordinating blue ink and then heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder, and I then glued this in place behind the aperture.

This technique is quite effective and you can of course stamp and colour some images and then cut them out with a corresponding die, or fussy cut by hand which would be more time consuming, but at present I am still hampered by my sore hand and wrist which is improving but still aches when I'm using it a lot, and I did add a bit of extra darker colour to the squirrel using a pencil as I decided the inked outline was a little pale, but having to press down when colouring is still not comfortable so kept that to a minimum.

There are a couple of videos to watch over at the Group of Seven and also the other ladies have made some wonderful cards to take a look at and you can find out more from their own blogs too, and there is a link so any cards you make using this technique can be added for us all to enjoy.  

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

I am entering the following challenges:

The Male Room Challenge - No. 195 Monochrome.

NBUS Challenge - Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.

CAS Valentine

Hi everyone.  With my present wrist and hand problems I had not thought I would manage to make a card for hubby, but last night I did think that maybe a fairly straightforward card would be OK, so I set to.  I used a medium sized heart die from a set by Sweet Dixie, and some papers from The Works which I bought back in the summer but this is the first time I have used any of them, and I also used a 'love' die which I got at The Range a long time ago.

I started with a piece of white card cut to 51/2" square, and then decided where to place the heart taking into account that I wanted to place the 'love' over part of it, so put it over to the left a bit.  After cutting the aperture I then cut the heart from one of the papers which had tones of red and grey and I attached this to the white heart which came out of the aperture in the white card, just to give it more substance and to keep it level with the surrounding card when placed back in.  I then cut the 'love' out of the white layer with the heart kept in the aperture, and as it was quite thick it did take a few goes twisting the piece and running it back and forward to cut through, but eventually I got there, and I made sure to keep the spare pieces of the paper as well as the white piece to fill in the 'e'.  I decided that I would mat the white piece onto a piece of black card and after doing that I stuck the heart in the aperture and put the black 'love' into place, adding in the little pieces to finish the design...done!

I was pleased that I gave it a go as it is the first time that I have made anything since I fell over, and although my hand did ache a bit I managed it, so onwards and upwards as they say.

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

I am entering the following challenges:

Love Those Pretty Papers Challenge - Feb. '25 Anything Goes/The Color Red.

CAS on Friday Challenge - No. 302 Valentine.

Simply Clean and Simple Challenge - Feb. '25 Anything Goes/Love and/or Hearts.

Try it on Tuesday Challenge - Romance.

NBUS Challenge - No. 71 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.

Daisy Bouquet and Beautiful Bee

Hi everybody.  I recently had a bit of a tumble when I tripped and fell whilst out on a walk around the village where we live as I have been a bit of a couch potato and thought it was time for me to try and get fitter..lol.  I pitched forward and my glasses pressed into my nose and above my right eye so I don't look too good at the moment, and unfortunately also hurt my right hand which was very swollen and bruised and although it is a lot better than it was I still don't have the full use back, so doing any cardmaking has been a no no...such a pity it was on tarmac and not grass as I would probably have faired better.  

I have been looking back through my drafts and I have come across this birthday card using Tattered Lace freebie dies from several years back, and also this pretty die cut frame of flowers and birds which doesn't seem to be available now.  Not sure why I never got around to showing it but thought now might be a good time.

I started by cutting the frame from white card and it did take a bit of cutting as it is quite intricate.  I then die cut two of the flower stems and one of the bee and coloured them with my blending tool using some Distress Inks - Mowed Lawn, Wilted Violet and Scattered Straw.  I decided to make them symmetrical so obviously one is coloured on the back and they don't look quite the same but I decided this was OK.  I then blended some Mustard Seed on to a small piece of white card and cut it to fit behind the main piece of the bee for the stripes.  I did use my waterbrush and a black Inktense Pencil for the body of the bee as I definitely didn't want to get any black on the wings which I made sparkle using a Clear Wink of Stella Pen, and I added some Glossy Accents to the body of the bee.

To finish I found a piece of paper from a 6" square pad by Craft Consortium called Grunge - Light Tones to which I added background hills using a mask and some Stormy Sky Distress Ink, and I also blended a little Mowed Lawn underneath.  I then added this to my 7" square card (a bit larger as I didn't have to post it) and placed the white frame over the top and glued the two flower stems just under the edge of the frame and used some Pinflair Glue Gel under the flower heads and the body of the bee, and the white wings have some added Wink of Stella   I then stamped and clear heat embossed the sentiment using Versafine Deep Lagoon Ink and WOW Clear Gloss EP.

I am going to try to finish a card I started before I got into my present state and hopefully I will then put that up...wish me luck.

Thank you for visiting me here today and I hope to see you again soon.                                                                          

I am entering the following chalenges:

Allsorts Challenge - No. 816 Romance and/or Music/Anything Goes.

Triple B Challenge - Feb. '25 Birds, Butterflies and Blooms (using any one, two or all three).

Love Those Pretty Papers Challenge - Feb. '25 Anything Goes/Red using your papers,