Docrafts Birdhouse

I had a lovely day demonstrating for Docrafts last Saturday and met some wonderful crafters. One of the new Docrafts collections is called "Home to Nest" and is full of bird houses and gardening related images and papers. This inspired me to make my own bird house from card. It generated quite a bit of interest at the demo and I thought I'd show it here.

I took four 5"x 7" Papermania Kraft Card blanks and glued them together in a line so each side is a double thickness. I then trimmed two of the sides to 4.5" and cut the other two to make the apexes. I die- cut the circles and glued the two ends together to make the box.

I used another Kraft Card blank to make the roof. I painted the bird house with acrylic paint and made a small box as a perch and then tied lace around the house.

I die-cut flowers using Xcut Petal Posy large dies and two of the papers from the "Home to Nest" collection. I also used the new Palm Punches to create the small flowers and butterflies. 

I hope you like my bird house and that you check out this new Docrafts collection. The artwork is wonderful and suitable for all those men and women you know who love their gardens.

Kraftyhands June Challenge Reminder

You still have 9 days left to enter the "Floral Frenzy" challenge at Kraftyhands. If you use a Kraftyhands product on your entry you could win a £20 voucher to spend in the Kraftyhands webshop so pop over there to see what fabulous goodies you can pick up.
I made this 8"x 8" card using the lovely Edwardian Rose Garden CD. It's full of pyramaged images of the most wonderful roses. There are matching papers, sentiments, ribbons, shaped toppers and inserts too.

I matted and layered the pale yellow and the fresh green textured card with a cream paper from the CD. I added large paper roses, a double bow, a charm and some pearls.

The topper is one of the rectangular pyramage sets, so there is no fussy cutting involved. After mounting  the layers I sprinkled some glitter on the highlighted areas ~ although it doesn't show in the photo.

The "Thinking Of You" sentiment is from the new Summer of 59 CD which will launch on Create and Craft on May 30th at 12 noon and 4pm. It's also available to pre-order from the Kraftyhands webshop. 

It would be lovely if you could join in with this challenge and we look forward to seeing your "Flower Frenzy" creations. A full list of the challenge rules can be found on the Kraftyhands Challenge blog. There is a £20 voucher to spend on the Kraftyhands website for the lucky winner if they have used a Kraftyhands product, and blinkies for the top three entries.

Docrafts May Demo

Today I'm demonstrating  again, nothing political, just Docrafts stuff. I'll be at The Range in Carmarthen from 10am till 4pm. I have been working with three fabulous new collections from this loop, plus some new X-Cut Punches. Here are two cards from each range.

This range is called "Home to Nest" and contains the most gorgeous birds and bird house images and some lovely gardening related artwork. The collection is suitable for male and female cards and a must for anyone who loves their garden.

All the papers and images work fabulously with Kraft card and twine. The range includes papers, decoupage, seed packets  and stamps.

The next collection is called "Ahoy There!" and, as the name suggests, is seaside related. There is everything from ships and lighthouses to shells and beach huts.

This range will add some much needed sunshine to your craft with decoupage, papers, tags, ribbon, stamps and buttons.

The last is the Capsule Collection "Spots and Stripes". A brightly coloured range which has some wonderful coordinating elements for the other two ranges. I love the Big Blooms, buttons and bows.

The 12"x 12" Designstax papers are double sided and perfect for any paper folding techniques. The Capsule Collection also includes Fat Quarters and a Felt Bundle, Fabric Flowers and Craft Tape.

Check out the Docrafts website for the latest news and to find your local stockists. I'll be back soon with some more samples and a special project.

Another 18th Birthday Card

This is a birthday card I made for my best friend to give to Cathy for her birthday. Both of them  love shoes so I knew they'd be pleased with this card.

I used the Shoes in Bloom CD from Ooh La La Creations to create this 8"x 8" card. I used Adorable Scorable card as the base and matted and layered black card and a faux weave paper from the CD.

There are so many fabulous shoe images and papers to choose from, but I thought this pink rose one was perfect.  I printed it a few times and decoupaged the roses. I matted and layered the topper with pink and black card and added glitter to the petals.

I printed the 18, punched it out and covered it in glitter. The roses are from Wild Orchid Crafts and the leaf flourishes are a Cheery Lynn die. 

Needless to say, both ladies were thrilled with the card. I hope you like it too.

Cathy and Holly's Birthdays

Today is a big day in my youngest daughter's life. Not only is it Cathy's 18th birthday but,  by a fabulous coincidence, it's her horse Holly's birthday too. Holly is a year younger though, but they are both beautiful and very clever. Unfortunately, it's also the first day of Cathy's A2 exams ~ Good Luck Cathy ~  so the boozy celebrations have been put on hold for now.

I created a wrap for Cathy's card by cutting out the number 18 from Adorable Scorable card and decorating it with a Whimsy corner die, some flowers and gems.

I used a paper and a champagne glass image from an MCS CD. The digi image is one of my favourites, Emma, from Simply Betty. I wanted to keep the colours of the card vintage and after having watched Sarah Hurley's sepia demo, I thought the colouring would suit this image perfectly.

I made a card for Cathy to give to Holly using the Jem's Designs CD Free Spirits. I added glitter to the image, some lace and punched horseshoes. 

As you can see, the image on the card isn't a bad match to Holly herself, apart from her white blaze.

Cathy ~ on the left ~ with her older sister Elisha during the family celebrations at the weekend. I can't believe how quickly my little girls have grown up. 

Happy 18th Birthday Cathy!

Emma's Crafty Challenge #16

Welcome to Challenge # 16 at Emma's Crafty Challenge. Thank you to everyone who took part in Challenge # 15 - Butterflies. It proved a very popular theme and we had so many fabulous entries. Voting is currently taking place and the winner and runners up will be announced in a few days time. 

Our theme this month is "Pink and Blue"

 and our sponsors are Foil Play who are offering a £15 gift voucher to the lucky winner.

I have used an 8"x 8" card blank and matted and layered blue and pink Papermania textured card, wrapping with blue ribbon before sticking down.  The next layer is one of the beautiful papers from Kraftyhands CD Kew Floral Collection. I printed another of the papers and cut out the roses and mounted on foam pads.

The stamped image is Elizabeth Bennet by IndigoBlu. I shaded the edges with Pan Pastels and coloured it with Promarkers. I then cut it out and created a mat with pink card. 

I die cut the butterfly twice for dimension and coloured it with Promarkers. I finished the card with a blue bow and some pearls.

Please come and join in with this challenge, we love seeing all the wonderful entries. We accept any new crafty creation as long as it follows the challenge theme. And don't forget the wonderful prize on offer from Foil Play.

To enter the challenge and for a full set of rules please visit the Emma's Cards UK blog. While you're there check out the fantastic creations from my fellow DT members.

Kraftyhands May Challenge

It's the first Saturday of the month, so, that means a new challenge on the Kraftyhands Challenge Blog.
Thank you to everyone who entered our challenge last month. We really enjoyed looking through all the fabulous entries. A list of the lucky winner and Top Three is on the Kraftyhands Challenge Blog.

The theme this month is

"Flower Frenzy"

If you use a Kraftyhands product on your entry you could win a £20 voucher to spend in the Kraftyhands webshop so pop over there to see what fabulous goodies you can pick up.

I used the beautiful Kew Floral Collection CD for my DT card. There are wonderful Stepper Card sets on the disc, just ready for you to print out and assemble. 

The sets all come with a decoupaged image, a coordinating mat and sentiments. The printed base and  the mats for all the panels are also included.

On the CD there are some very pretty, flowery, vintage papers. Using MCS, I printed a section of one of these out a few times, plus the mirror image. I then cut them out and made my own decoupage for the side panels. I finished the card with a big bow and some small buds.

We hope you can join in with this challenge and look forward to seeing your "Flower Frenzy" creations. A full list of the challenge rules can be found on the Kraftyhands Challenge blog. There is a £20 voucher to spend on the Kraftyhands website for the lucky winner if they have used a Kraftyhands product, and blinkies for the top three entries.  Please pop over to the blog to see the wonderful cards the other DT members have created for your inspiration.

Kraftyhands on Create & Craft

 I have fabulous news - Kraftyhands  are on Create & Craft tomorrow, Tuesday 30th April at 10 am. The show will feature  three of  their fabulous CDs: Man About Town, Kew Floral Collection and Miranda and Mo. 

I thought I'd show a card I made with the Miranda and Mo CD.

I used an A5 card blank and covered the front in one of the gorgeous funky backing papers. I made the matching insert smaller and printed that out. Then I cut it down and wrapped ribbon around it. The peachy polka dot paper is also from the CD. I matted it onto plain card.

The image is actually half of one of the fun shaped cards that are on the CD. I printed it twice and cut out Miranda and Mo to decoupage it.

I finished the card by adding the sentiment and three buttons to the front and creating an insert for the inside.
I hope you can tune in to watch Mike and Ian at 10am in the morning, there will be lots of lovely crafty items to choose from.

Crafting Cafe Blog Hop

Good Morning hoppers. Welcome to the 2nd Crafting Cafe Blog Hop, you should have arrived here from Debbi. If you've only just found the hop and want to start at the beginning then please visit the lovely Nikki. 
The Crafting Cafe is a friendly, eclectic group of crafters on Facebook who like to share their crafting journey. Please feel free to come and join us. You can share your projects, ask crafty questions or just enjoy a coffee while you hang out.

The theme of this hop is "Celebration".

It was chosen by Nikki Smith as she has recently celebrated a "BIG" birthday. We've had quite a few reasons to celebrate in our family recently, including three engagements. Here is the card I made for the latest couple to announce their intentions.

I used papers from MCS Quintessential Country Garden and distressed the edges with scissors. I soaked the panel of lace in cold tea to age it. 

The images are two digis from Simply Betty. I used Emma and Mercius and merged them in MCS before printing and colouring with Promarkers. I cut them out freehand and used Antique Linen Distress Ink to colour the background.

I printed the sentiment on the computer, punched it out and mounted it onto a Spellbinder die that I'd inked lightly in brown and rubbed with  metallic gilding wax. 

I made the embellishments with tags, ribbons, buttons, a peg, a metal charm and more gilding wax.

To those of you blog hopping, your journey is now complete. Thank you for joining in and I hope you enjoyed your hopping. Don't forget to come and visit the Crafting Cafe to make some new friends and catch up with old. We look forward to seeing you soon.

Flowerbed Fred

I have made this card for the latest challenge at Lacy Sunshine where the theme is Spring Fever. I just couldn't resist the wonderful freebie digi by Heather Valentin and it would be so rude not to use it to enter the challenge.

I chose a blue and yellow colourway for this card and covered an 8"x 8" card blank with a paper from MCS Quintessential Country Garden.

The adorable image is called Flowerbed Fred and I coloured it with Promarkers before cutting it out and mounting on a couple of die-cuts.

I created the sentiment on the computer and used my favourite Cheery Lynn leaf flourish die and flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts to embellish.

Remember to visit the Lacy Sunshine shop to purchase any of Heather's wonderful digis, it's the only place to legally buy them.

Kraftyhands April Challenge Reminder

Today I want to remind you about this month's challenge on the Kraftyhands Challenge Blog. There are 8 days left to enter. If you use a Kraftyhands product on your entry you could win a £20 voucher to spend in the Kraftyhands webshop so pop over there to see what fabulous goodies you can pick up.

The theme is:
"April Showers - Shades of Blue"

For a mid-inspiration card I have used the fantastic new Kraftyhands CD, Man About Town. It contains a wealth of fabulous papers and toppers especially designed to make male cards. It also has wonderful layouts to make Gatefold and Stepper cards.

I printed out one of the Stepper Card sets and assembled the base. I inked the edges of the panels and pyramage in Salty Ocean Distress Ink, added two Spellbinder triangle dies as an extra mat and mounted the pyramage on foam pads.

The sentiment is from the CD and I added the Cheery Lynn leaf flourishes.

A full list of the challenge rules can be found on the Kraftyhands Challenge blog. There is a £20 voucher to spend on the Kraftyhands website for the lucky winner if they have used a Kraftyhands product, and blinkies for the top three entries.  Please pop over to the blog to see the wonderful cards the other DT members have created for your inspiration.

Emma's Crafty Challenge #15 Reminder

I'd just like to remind everyone about Emma's Crafty Challenge  this month. It's proving a popular challenge and we're really enjoying seeing all the lovely creations. 

The theme is:

"Butterflies"

Our sponsor for this challenge is Stix2 and they are generously providing a goody bag of their products for the lucky winner. There is a picture of the prize at the bottom of this post.

Both the image and matching paper are from the Joanna Sheen CD Enchanted Dreams which features the amazing artwork from Josephine Wall. I used plain card coloured with Blossom Promarker for the mats. The beige cotton lace is from my stash.

There are several pages of embellishments on the CD and I cut out one of the butterfly sets to add to the topper.

Also on the CD are bookmarks. I took one of the blank sides of the coordinating bookmark and added a verse in MCS.

These are the goodies from Stix2 you could be lucky enough to win.

You have another 7 days in which to enter. Why not pop over to the Challenge blog to see more DT cards for your inspiration.

Man About Town City Retreat Papers

I hope you managed to see at least one of the shows yesterday on Ideal World and Create & Craft featuring the fantastic new CD, "Man About Town", from Kraftyhands. Unfortunately, due to last minute re-scheduling, the shows were not on at the advertised times and channel.
If you did miss the shows you can still see inspirational samples from the talented DT in the Gallery at the Kraftyhands Webshop and on the Kraftyhands Blog. The CD is now available to purchase from the Kraftyhands Webshop along with papers, postcards and the die-cut Stepper card set.
I have the last of my current samples to show you today.

I layered an 8"x 8" card blank with pale blue Papermania Textured Card and matted with one of the fabulous City Retreat papers from the CD. I tucked brown ribbon across the top right corner before fixing. I mounted the gorgeous Top Topper image on a Creata die-cut and cut a mat for it freehand. I printed one of the Ribbon Threaders and threaded the brown ribbon through before attaching to the card. The sentiment is from a Gatefold Card set.

I printed one of the embellishments from a Gatefold Card set twice and stuck them back to back. I coated both sides with Craft Glaze and attached with jump rings to the corner ribbon.

The inside was created by layering another one of the beautiful City Retreat papers onto gold card and adding one of the sentiments.
I really hope you treat yourself to this CD, you won't be disappointed. Not only is it perfect for male cards, but the papers are wonderful enough to be used for so many other projects.

Man About Town Papers

Today is the day! Mike and Ian will be on Create & Craft at 12 noon and again at 3pm with the latest Kraftyhands CD, "Man About Town". There is so much on this CD. Besides the two card making sets there are two folders of beautiful vintage papers, three more sets of fabulous backing papers, ribbon threaders, sentiments, alphabets, toppers and matting layers. Everything coordinates so well, it's perfect for mixing and matching and creating wonderful male cards for any occasion.

This card uses one of the Bonus Distressed Papers. I edged the layers of a pyramaged topper from an Easel Card set with red ink and attached a fob watch embellishment with jump rings to the sentiment. Items not on the CD are the red backing card, the lattice die and the Kraftyhands Eazy Bow.

 

 

For the inside I used a paper from the coordinating Gatefold Card set and added the sentiment before printing.

 

 

For this card I used another of the fabulous Distressed Papers, one of the Top Toppers and a Base Topper. The sentiment and corner embellishments are also on the CD. I simply added a silver backing card and a few lengths of grey ribbon.

 

 

The inside is again a paper from the matching Gatefold Card set. I added the sentiment on my computer before printing.

 

It's so easy to create fully coordinating cards with the CD. Make sure you don't miss the shows today. There are lots of fabulous goodies available at the Kraftyhands Webshop and you can view the Gallery for more inspiration while you're there.