National Pride

This is my make for the card challenge on the Merly Impressions blog. There is a fabulous Kaisercraft paper pad up for grabs for the winner. I can highly recommend their fantastic online shop for cardmaking and scrapbooking supplies. They are specialists in Kaisercraft products, including stamps, four of which I have used for my card.
The theme is based on "National Pride ". So it's a nice and simple colour theme of just Red, White and Blue. This is actually the second card I made for the challenge as when I went to enter the first one I'd made, I realised it was a bit too similar to the DT sample. So I had a re-think and came up with this one.

I started with an 8"x8" blank which I coloured with Distress Ink Tumbled Glass. I was aiming for a "blue sky" look which doesn't show too well in the photo. I used Memento Paris Dusk to stamp the Postmarks directly onto the card in the top right corner and one of the Life Sentiments in the bottom right. I then used Distress Ink Barn Door to stamp the flower border from The Lake House.

I created a tag by stamping my Vintage - Cherish stamp in Paris Dusk onto card and cutting the shape freehand. This was placed, slightly raised, onto a doily coloured with a Poppy Promarker and embellished with a faux silk ribbon, a button and thread and a few red gems.

I die-cut some letters to spell CHERISH, matching the tag, and placed them above the flower border. The leaf flourish is a Cheery Lynn die and I coloured and layered some Foundation flowers and finished them with gems and a Cosmic Shimmer pearl.

Lucy Cromwell Watering Can

I have made this card to enter into the Sketch Challenge #3 at Emma's Cards. This challenge is sponsored by the lovely Nikki Smith. She is offering 5 fantastic Boofle stamps. I have used the Lucy Cromwell die-cut pack from Papermania to make this card. I chose this as part of my prize from Gemma at Gems Creative Crafts for winning a previous challenge.

I started with an A5 blank in landscape format. I covered it with silver mirri and layered on green paper from the pack. I wrapped coloured lace and thread around it before attaching. I rounded all the corners with a punch. I created a panel with matching pink paper and mirri card and tucked that under the lace and thread.

I made up the watering can decoupage and matted that onto mirri. There are so many beautiful images in this pack that it was hard to choose which one to use.

I punched holes in the tags and tied with more thread, finishing with a bow and a flower from my stash. I added the silver Candi as per the sketch for the finishing touch.

This is the sketch I was working from. Thanks for popping by, let me know what you think x

Sympathy

A close friend of mine died recently and this is the card I made for her family. It's one of the saddest cards I've ever made. Sympathy cards are often awkward to make but I find this image with a verse works well.

All the graphics were done in MCS. The image of the lily is from an MCS No Stamp Required CD. I stylised it before giving it a black border and printing. It has been matted onto silver mirri card and attached with foam tape for dimension.

The verse is from a collection I have on my computer and just seemed to fit perfectly. Again, I gave it a black border, matted it onto silver mirri and raised it on foam tape.

For the insert I reused the lily and added another simple verse from my collection. I left enough room to write a personal message.

I find the straight lines, monochrome colourway and the layout of this card give it a dignified and elegant look.

Motherhood Mermaid

I have made a card for the Crafty Challenge #6 at Emma's Cards. The sponsor for this challenge is the fantastic  Kanban who are offering a £15 voucher to the winner. The theme this month is "The Sea", which seeing as it was my suggestion, I thought I'd better come up with a card.

I love mermaids and I love Selina Fenech so I knew I wanted to use one of her designs. I downloaded the decoupage sheet and writing paper from Selina's shop. The image is called "Motherhood". I wanted to stay with the shell-like colours in the image, so I started by colouring my 8"x8" card blank with Distress Inks: Antique Linen, Milled Lavender and Spun Sugar. I edged it with Dusty Concord.

I stamped the music sheet with a La Blanche stamp and Dusty Concord ink onto a piece of card I'd coloured with a mixture of Distress Inks. The mat behind the sentiment was given the same treatment before being die-cut with a Spellbinder and edged with Dusty Concord. The sentiment was created in MCS.

I flipped the stationery paper in MCS before printing it and inking the edges. I tied ribbon around it and attached a double bow. I tried not to cover the paper too much so as not to cover the ghosted image on it.

I made up the decoupage and matted it onto card edged with Dusty Concord. I do think this is one of the most beautiful mermaid images. I took a Cheery Lynn leaf die and cut off the leaves, then chopped it into sections. I finished off with some shell die-cuts from Marianne and used the Distress Inks to colour them.
The challenge doesn't finish until the end of the month, so you've still got time to join in.

Anything but Square

 
I've made this easel card for the group challenge #4 at Emma's Hints, Tips and Crafty Inspiration. This challenge is only open to group members so come and find us here on Facebook and ask to join. The theme is "Anything but Square" and the prize is a collection of crafty stash kindly donated by group member Lynne Brierley.

I started by cutting an 8"x8" card blank with a Spellbinder scalloped circle die, scoring and folding the front, to create my easel card base. I then cut a smaller scalloped circle from silver mirri for the front panel of the easel. I coloured the edges of the base card with Distress Ink Spun Sugar.

I used the Flutterbye Wishes kit from Hunkydory for the decorative elements and the pink card is Adorable Scorable. I even die cut one of the Flutterbye card blanks to make one of the layers. I used a scalloped oval Spellbinder die to cut a mat for the Flutterbye pyrimage, mounted that off-centre and decorated the edge with pearls.

For the finishing touches I used a peel-off sentiment, a Marianne leaf die and trimmed a Cheery Lynn die-cut.
This challenge runs until the end of July, so you still have time to join us and enter.

Back to Peel-offs

I'm so pleased to announce the very first challenge for Dawn's Crafty Cards and Friends. It's a challenge based website for the friendly Facebook group Dawn's Card Swap where we have monthly swaps. Please ask to join the group on our Facebook page if you would like to become a member.
The theme for this challenge is "Anything Goes" and it runs until midday on 14th August. The sponsor for this challenge is That Craft Place  and there is a lovely crafty goody bag of stash for the winner.
There is also a Treasure Hunt to join in with where you will have to collect a series of letters to be in with a chance of winning a crafty prize. All the rules for the Treasure Hunt are on our challenge website  DCC and Friends Challenges.

This is my DT card for the challenge. Instead of trying something new, I decided to go back to my roots. Like most crafters, I started with peel-offs. I have boxes full of them and rarely use them now that I have discovered stamping and CDs, except for the odd sentiment. I thought I'd add some lovely up-to-date embellishments and give them a new lease of life.

I used this fabulous Anita's medallion outline sticker. I placed the layers onto acetate and cut round each one then layered them up with Pinflair. There are 3 layers in this medallion. I then mounted that onto pink card and matted with silver mirri.

For the base I covered a 6"x6" card with silver mirri and added a mat of the pink card. I took a length of white lace and, with a running stitch, gathered it into a circle. I then glued the lace behind my medallion topper and mounted them onto my card with foam tape.

I added a couple of buttons with pink thread and I curled a few lengths of ribbons to give the card a contemporary look. To finish off I added a couple of peel-off corners and a sentiment.
Don't forget to join in the challenge yourselves, remember it's "Anything Goes". Good luck to you all.

Clock in a Box

This is a "clock in a box" that I made using card and toppers from the Mackenzie kit by Kanban. It actually came about because I had made a gift box from A3 Centura Pearl card that was 8 1/2" x 8 1/2" by 1 1/2" deep and then found I didn't need it. Instead of wasting it, I decided to turn it into something decorative. I would like to enter this in the challenge at That Craft Place, the theme is "Anything Goes" and it's being sponsored by Indigo Blu.

On the inside of the lid I measured a border of 1 1/2" all around and cut an X to diagonal corners from this line. I measured another 1 1/2" in on each section and scored the lines. I then folded them all to create the frame shape. I cut a piece of Centura Pearl card to fit on top of the folded sections and glued it to hold them in place. I then layered on gold mirri card and blue polka dot Kanban card from the kit.

I cut lengths of gold mirri slightly narrower than the frame border and mitred them. I used 3mm thick foam tape to raise the middle of these pieces and curved them slightly before attaching them to the frame to give a bevelled appearance.

I used three elements to make the clock.The first was stuck directly onto the base and I used acetate "blocks" to raise the others making the large ring higher than the clock face. I placed the frame over the box base and secured in place. It now sits very nicely on my sideboard.

I was so pleased with this that I made a similar box frame and decorated it with butterflies and roses, also from the Mackenzie kit, but my friend claimed that. I'll just have to make another one for myself.

Vintage Tricycle

I have made this card to enter in the Sketch Challenge #2 at  Emma's Cards.  The sponsor for this challenge  is Christine Grey. Christine designs and sells her own wonderful digis and the winner of this challenge can choose 3 digis from Christine's shop. To visit her shop click here. The sketch for this challenge can be seen below.
I would also like to enter this card in the challenge at Desmet Designs. The theme is "Things with Wheels". The prize for this challenge is 2 lovely digis. Visit the shop here.

I started with a scalloped 8"x8" card blank and coloured it with Distress Inks; Tumbled Glass, Antique Linen and Spun Sugar. I then stamped it randomly with a La Blanche text stamp in Memento Rich Cocoa. I made the backing paper in MCS by using a paper from Debbi Moore's Shabby Chic Compendium and a rose image from MCS Quintessential Country Garden. I reprinted the  roses several times and used them for decoupage and one for the top corner.

I found the free vintage image of the girl on a tricycle on this fantastic website,  under images of children. I made two mats, one pink and one blue, to match the colours in the photo. I coloured white twill with  a Promarker and used Stazon Ink to stamp a flower border with a Kaiser Craft stamp and inserted it in between the mats.

I fashioned a bow from coloured seam binding and attached a vintage tricycle charm. I used  ticket tags from Kanban and the word Journey from Kaiser Craft's Life Sentiments stamp set for the sentiment. I finished off the card with some Candi as per the sketch.

This is the current sketch. The challenge runs until Sunday 15th July, so you still have time to enter, if you haven't already.

It's All Green

I've been playing with my lovely Kaiser Craft stamp from their Lake House collection again. This time I've made a card I'd like to enter into a challenge at That Craft Place, the theme is "It's all green".

I started by edging an 8"x8" card blank with Marsh Promarker. I then designed a green backing paper in MCS using elements from The Quintessential Country Garden. I layered a paper from Wild Rose Studio and coloured Guipure lace to form a strip across the middle of the card.

I stamped the image with Memento Ink London Fog and coloured it with Promarkers. I shaded the background with Distress Inks Antique Linen and Bundled Sage. I cut a small doily in half, coloured and pleated it and tucked it behind the topper.

I stamped the Kaiser Craft sentiment onto a circle, shaded it with Distress Inks and mounted it onto a Spellbinder die cut. For the finishing touches I used Crealies leaf and Marianne ivy die cuts and coloured them with Promarkers.
Thank you for taking the time to visit.

Queen for a Day

This card is for the group challenge #3 on Emma's Hints, Tips and Crafty Inspiration blog. The challenge is only open to group members, so, if you're not already a member, why don't you come and join our lovely group? There are regular challenges with prizes. You can find us on Facebook here.
I recently won this Sheena Douglass stamp in one of the group's challenges and thought it was perfect for a fun entry in this challenge as the theme is "Queen for a Day".

I started by inking the edges of an A5 card blank with Bundled Sage Distress Ink. I inked a panel of plain white card with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink and matted it onto gold mirri. I wrapped some twill ribbon, coloured with Bundled Sage, around them before fixing onto the card. The image was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento Ink. I stamped the cow with the crown twice and decoupaged the front part of her.

I used gold acrylic paint and Ruby Promarker on the crown, and coloured the background with Distress Inks. I then mounted the image onto gold mirri and placed it at an angle on the card.

The bunting and the Queen for the Day sentiment were stamped with some freebies from Quick Cards and coloured with Promarkers and acrylic paint. I tucked some raffia behind the sentiment and added some Candi as the finishing touches.

Boofle Birthday

Welcome to the first ever Crafting Cafe blog hop - the Crafting Cafe is a friendly group of crafters  on Facebook who share their crafting journey together. Click on the Crafting Cafe badge on my sidebar and come on over and join us.
If you have started from the beginning of the hop you will have got to me from Lindsay's blog. If you found this hop by accident - Welcome! To go to the beginning of the hop, pop on over to Nikki's blog, it's only a few hops back, and then you will get to see the wonderful creations from everyone! There is some lovely candy on offer along the way for those who participate.
The theme for this blog hop is "Friendship" and I thought this cute Boofle image fitted the bill.

I started by soaking a length of (unused) bandage in tea to stain it. I thought the texture and new colour matched Boofle perfectly.  I wrapped a piece of the bandage around a trimmed sheet of Hunkydory card from an old kit then covered an 8"x8" card blank. The Boofle image was part of a topper sheet which I cut out and layered onto an oval of spotty paper from my stash. I inked a small doily with Antique Linen Distress Ink and tied a bow with the remaining bandage.

The flowers were made by die-cutting more spotty paper and layering. I drew dots on the Candi to make them look like buttons. The "friendship" sentiment was created in MCS and die-cut. I added a bow from wired gold thread to the bigger bandage bow and another to the sentiment. Some Cosmic Shimmer pearls round part of the topper were the finishing touch.

Thank you for hopping over to see me and I hope you've enjoyed your visit. Now it's time to hop on over to the next blog. Your next stop is Lynne's blog. Happy hopping! x