A Spring Make - Snowdrops and Butterflies!

Good morning all! I have a card over on the Lisa B. Designs Blog today, with a step-by-step guide showing how to make it. Please pop along and see what you think - whilst you're there check out Lisa's shop for some amazing bargains and her NEW WORKSHOPS!!!

Love

Martina

xxx

A Spring Scene Hiding Amongst the Trees...

Good morning all!

I have a post over on the Lisa B. Designs Blog today explaining step-by-step how I have created the card below! Please join me and take a peek!

Love

Martina

xxx

LOTV friends at Christmas

Nearly there! I had a few special cards left to make, here is one I made for my Mother-in-Law. There are lots of layers to this one; apologies I was engrossed and totally forgot to take photos along the way!

I started with some pale blue Christmas paper from my stash and attached some raffia ribbon across the lower half. I stamped and heat embossed some Indigoblu snowflakes onto some plain card, shaded with some Distress Ink and cut out each one before sticking across the top of the card. The image is a LOTV stamp which I coloured with Distress Markers onto watercolour card. This was cut out and matted using Spellbinders Dies, before adding some sparkle to the snowy areas with Imagination Crafts Diamond Sparkle Medium. Around the image I have arranged some Tattered Lace star embellishment springs, some Sue Wilson holly sprigs, wired flowers and dried flowers. The finishing touch was some die-cut layered snowflakes with blue pearls in the centres and a sentiment from LOTV.

I wasn't sure at first, but I like it now. A bit fussy, one of those you need to step away from... I do love those cuddly friends though!

A Winter's Scene - Frosted!

A quick post from me today, a card that I had a picture of in my head, but it was not the same picture as what I eventually created!! I started with some very plain background paper (it had a blue wash) and then stamped some of the snowflakes from the Hobby Art Winter's Snowflakes set. I stamped in Tumbled Glass, Denim and Vintage Photo Distress ink, using the first and second generations of ink. I also stamped some snowflakes in Versamark and heat embossed with white detail powder to add some variation and texture. Using the same ink colours, I distressed the outside edges of the paper to bring the eye in. To create the 'land' area at the front of the card, I tore a piece of the same backing paper as before and distressed the top torn edge to make it stand out. I also added a few snowflakes and stamped a sentiment from the Hobby Art Christmas Frosting Set.

Next came the scene arrangement. I die-cut some trees from craft card and added some Vintage Photo highlights. Using the waste as a stencil, I added some trees to the background of my scene giving some depth. The sleigh and the deer are both Sue Wilson dies, both cut using craft card once again with added highlights (I added some cream card on the reverse of the deer).

To add some 'frosting' to my card as my sentiment says, I used my finger to apply some Diamond Sparkle Medium onto the sleigh, trees, ground and deer. There are also a few tiny pearls in the centre of some snowflakes.

Voila!

Back from a Crafty Blogging Break!

It has been a while since I have blogged, I know! There are two reasons for this really: I had my 4th baby in March and prior to that I have been posting each week on the Lisa B. Design's Blog! So, I have been busy, really! Along with all this I have managed to retreat into the crafty nook (otherwise known as my study) occasionally, and have made cards as often as I can! Here are a few things I have played with...

Sheena Douglass Perfect Partners dies and stamps, Distress Inks, Imagination Crafts stencil...

A card with an acetate front, Imagination Crafts Sparkle Medium, Tattered Lace Dies, Just Rite stamps, Spellbinders Dies and a Sue Wilson Border

Various Card-io Stamps, Versafine Inks

Polkadoodles stamps, watercolours, Distress Ink, Card-io stamps

Inkylicious stamps, Memento Inks, Clarity Stamps

I am still part of the Lisa B. Design's Design Team, so I will be posting a new project each week over there, each time explaining the products and methods used. Click HERE to see the blog and regular posts from the team!

Love is...

This card was made for a friend's wedding. The wedding was to be a clean and simple affair, with lemon and grey as the colours. I have tried to echo that in this card.
The base is an 8x8 scalloped card blank, I have matted and layered with silver/grey card, yellow centura pearl and also white centura pearl. It is difficult to see from the image here, but the sentiment is sat behind the large white embossed layer. To create this effect I have measured the white card top panel, cut the aperture out (Spellbinders Vintage Labels 2) and then embossed the whole panel with an Embossilicious  folder (Regency Swirls). This has been mounted with large decoupage pads onto the lemon layer. I have used the Justrite Grateful Heart Vintage Label 2 Stamp Set to stamp the inside shape and chosen a sentiment from the same set for the centre. All stamped elements were heat embossed with detail powder. I have used the same dies again to cut a border for around the aperture. The flowers have been cut from Sue Wilson's Quilled Blooms set and the bow is from Sue Wilson's Filigree Bow set. I have used the same 3 colours throughout the card, bows and pearls for continuity. The faux stitching has been drawn by hand.

Card-io Tapestry Style Flower Cards

 Another of Lisa Baker's classes, this time focusing on Card-io stamps. These stamps come in selection packs which can be used alone or interchangeable with others. I haven't really used this style of stamp for some years, and back then they were all called 'Tapestry' stamps. These cards were made using colours from the small square Versa Color pads. The stamp sets used were 'Sketchy Spring Floral' and another with hydrangea style flowers. The bow to the left has been created using the new Sue Wilson Classic 3D Bows die just in white which is really effective. The card below showcases a large Sizzix Bigz die and gives an interesting open front to the card.