Super Snowflakes.

One of my new purchases to make this years Christmas cards is this fabulous Snowflake Die Set from Hero Arts.  As soon as it arrived I couldn't wait to get started, I love the layering effect the dies create.

Here is a close up, and so pretty.    For my card base I layered up a die cut square that I had stamped and embossed with white, the stamp is a really old Hero Arts cling "Flourish Background"I then used Peacock Distress ink.  Layered onto Glitter card I then added my snowflakes and the sentiment is from the new "Holiday Messages and Frames" set from Hero Arts.

I am adding this card to two challenges Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Totally Resistable" and the Hero Arts "Holiday Cardmaking" challenge.

A Card and a Quilt!!

I have had time to make a card for the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge before it gets busy for Easter!!  The challenge this week is "Come Rain or Shine".  I have made this birthday card using the Hero Arts Clouds stamp and some dies, it was quite a quick card to make but I am pleased with the effect.

I have also been busy making my first baby cot quilt for my cousins daughter who is expecting her first baby in April,  it took me a long time to choose the colours I wanted.  I knew I wanted bright fun colours but didn't want to stick to blue or pink!  After choosing the elephant fabric as my base it was easier to find what I wanted.

This is only my second attempt at a quilt, the first was made with scraps so not so critical!!

I am pleased with how it turned out and Rachel was thrilled with it!!

I hope you all have a good Easter break , it looks as though its going to be raining most of the time here, typical holiday weather lol.

Sketch Card Challenge

I decided to play along again with the challenge over at the "Make the day Special Blog" again, this month its a sketch challenge.

This is my card, I have used an older Hero Arts Snowflakes stamp for the background, stamping and embossing it with "White Pearls"  I have used this Avery Elle "Double Pierced Rectangle die" to create the background and the smaller rectangular tag.  The tag I have stamped with another older Hero Arts stamp called Winter Town.  I have added lots of shimmer with my Wink of Stella pen although you cant see this in the photograph.

A little close up to show some of the shimmer.

Just sharing some good news, my son Tristan has just got engaged to his girlfriend Katie, I am really excited as they have said I can help with making things for the wedding, including all the invitations!!  Its not for a while yet but my creative juices are already flowing!!!!

More Gift Boxes

Here are a couple more of the gift boxes I have made for Christmas.  They are very simple to make but look so pretty.

For the fisrt box I have dry embossed half the box with snowflakes then wrapped a silver ribbon round.  The snowflake is made up of  embossed die cuts.

Here is a close up I used gold embossing, clear sparkle and white pearly embossing powder.

The second box is also dry embossed then wrapped with a ribbon and twine, I then added die cut baubles and the tag.  I am adding these to the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Wrap it Up."

Have a great weekend.

Autumnal card!!

Its been another beautiful day here and not really very Autumnal yet, but I went again with the challenge at The Simon Says flickr group and made this card with a SS die that I have.

I used distress inks to colour the die cuts, the longest die cut is set into the card while the others have just been adhered to the front.  I seem to be going through a CAS phase at the moment!

Scraplings

 I have made this scrapling for challenge 4 set by Virginia over at the Virginia's View Blog  I have been really busy and hopefully have sneaked this in just before the challenge closes.  A Scrapling is basically the scraps that you end up with after you cut from your 11x14 card stock (when you make a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card). You can easily fold the rectangular paper into a a small tall card .  

My card is much brighter in real life, it wasn't the easiest to photograph , my recycled item on the card is the die cut background which is cut from a paint sample great for an ombre effect.

Just a quick post again as I am about to watch some football with DH.  Have a great evening!!

A new challenge!

Over at the Hero Arts group Jacqueline has set a little challenge to get our card making kick started after the Christmas break.  The challenge is to case a card that you have been wanting to case and never got round to it!!  This is my card and its a CASE of this stunner by Iwona! I decided to go with blues as I have some new blue inks that I wanted to try, not really a summer colour as I would normally go with warm colours such as red, pink or orange. I am pleased with the finished effect though.

Lily Pad Sketch Challenge.

I decided to make another card for the Lily Pad sketch challenge , I had the idea to create a window where the circle is on the sketch.

Sorry this will have to be a short post as my computer is still running at a snails pace and this is taken ages to load.

 A close up of the window, I am going to enter this in the current Hero Arts Challenge for window cards as well.

I couldn't resist playing with that cute snowman again, he is so easy to colour!!

Lily Pad Sketch Challenge.

 I made a quick card for the sketch challenge over at The Lily Pad Blog today, its sponsored by Hero Arts and the prize is $50  to spend on HA products.  What a fabulous prize, I wouldn't have any trouble choosing $50 worth!!! The DT have all followed a Christmas theme  and all the cards are amazing so it wasn't hard to be inspired. 

My card is really simple, I have used the HA snow globe stamp and masked out the globe so I could just use the snowman image.  After stamping I have coloured with copics, adding some Glaze pen to his hat for shine.  The snow is a flowersoft like substance that I got at a local craft shop.  The PP is from My Minds Eye and it actually was a free gift with a craft magazine!!  Wow love free gifts like this!!

Just thought I would show another card, I was totally taken with this card that Vicky made and just had to get that snowman stamp, such a cute image.  The background is made using the HA snowflake circle and my new pot of Distress stain.  I have only got one to try it out but I think I will be getting more soon, totally love the effect.

My computer is playing up and the bottom of the photo is a little distorted.  Hope I can fix the problem soon.

Hope you have had a good weekend.

Wow I am on Tiffany's DT!!!

I am really excited to announce that Tiffany has asked me to join the Tiffany Doodles Design Team and I am thrilled, Tiffany's digital images are not only her own original drawings, she also creates fabulous digi's based on her beautiful nature photography. The joy of using digital images is that you can re size and manipulate them to suit your own cards designs.  I have to admit that I am fairly new to using digital images but I really enjoyed learning a new technique and am looking forward to experimenting over the next few months.

It's June 7th and that means it's the start of a new challenge at Tiffany Doodles and this month's theme is "Steppin' Into Summer", I have made two cards for the challenge.  The first uses this Flip Flop image, I love flip flops and have a few pairs, I am sure that if I lived in a hotter climate I would live in them and have lots of bright, beautiful pairs preferably with lots of bling!
For this card I have reversed the center image and then just paper pieced adding some gems and the button and twine.

This second card uses the Dancing Dress digi, it is also paper pieced I have actually cut two dress skirts and layered one over the other to give more depth.



This card is more suited to a British summer (that's if it doesn't rain!!!) the height of chic would be going to a Garden Party in a pretty flowing summer dress!! ( Well I can dream)LOL!

I hope you get chance to join in the challenge!

Have a great week!



Joy's and Linda's Challenges

 I have long been an admirer of Jacqueline's cards, she has her own shabby chic style and I love it, so when Joy set her first challenge "Create a project that honours someone in the crafty world that has inspired you", I had to choose Jacqueline.

The card I have chosen is this one, made by using up scraps of stamped paper that would otherwise be thrown in the bin.

 I also know that Jacqueline  loves to use butterflies cut from pretty patterned paper and she loves this Hydrangea stamp.  So a perfect tribute to a crafter with a unique style.

This second card was my entry in the 90minute challenge set by Linda yesterday in the Hero Arts flickr group, I followed Linda's sketch and created this card in the 90 minute time deadline.  Such fun, I was lucky enough to have my sewing machine already set up, as I had been sewing all afternoon. it meant I was able to add the zig zag very quickly to my card.  The background was really simple, I just stamped the classic fabric design with Bundled Sage Distress ink and spritzed with water, followed by the envelope pattern also in Bundled Sage.  The butterflies were stamped onto a piece of shimmery green paper from my scraps box.

I have had a really crafty weekend and  have had time to do a little gardening as well, so a productive time, always a bonus!!


Supplies for top card. Hero Arts Stamps CG187 Floral Brocade. CG 245 Classic Fabric. K5376 Hydrangea stamp.CL383 Antique Engravings. Artistic Outpost stamp. Bloom and Grow. Distress inks.
Bottom Card. CL383 Antique Engravings. CG245 Classic Fabric. SS507 Envelope pattern. Bundled sage Distress ink.