Dragons by Lavinia

This is a card back to my roots...I have been accused recently of concentrating too much on myth, magic and fairies. What can I say? I love them! Their world is much more interesting than ours...Anyway a friend of mine took 50 cards for people to look at and the overwhelming reply was that my cards are not generic enough. The most popular seemed to be those which are simple ones.  I can't help it though, the card opposite is the kind of card I love doing. I have used Lavinia stamps for the dragons and the wording behind. There is a script stamp on the vertical panel from Rubbernecker stamps and the sentiment is from Crafter's Companion Fairyopolis!! The paper is from a stack from DCWV which is rather magical and fairylike; the kind of paper you like to stroke... I have also used Distress Inks (Vintage Photo and Scattered Straw) as well as a gold Dewdrop ink pad. I am sure there are others out there who will love it...or so I tell myself!!

Hunkydory First!

Ok, here is my first attempt at 'kit crafting!'. I purchased the Hunkydory Compendium which came with a papercraft kit and had a go... I have to say there is something pleasing about making cards so quickly! The quality of the cardstock is also good so I may be tempted to get some more in the future. Always good to have some 'quickies' to run up I suppose!

This one, also from the same kit, was perfect for a lady who always makes cakes for my husband at work! (He is a nurse and she is a volunteer at the hospice he works at!). Very sweet of her and i'm not complaining!!

Best Friends

I made this card for my friend's birthday; I think these Humphrey girls are so cute! I have had a play with colours and think these work for spring. I have even attempted to venture into the world of shaped cards here with my simple easel! The girls have been coloured with Promarkers and cut out using Spellbinders Standard Circles Large and Scalloped Circles. The papers are from a pad called 'Love Letters' I think!

Lili of the Valley Girlies...

This card has been made as I love this little girl! She reminds me of my daughter! I have used some gorgeous paper from a pad called Dreamcatcher which is full of lovely purples and spring colours. She was actually coloured whilst my family was on holiday and I took some stamps and Promarkers with me! She has been cut out using a Spellbinders Standard Circles Large die and the accompanying Scalloped circle size. I have then layered with Dreamcatcher papers and cut some swirls using my Cricut Essentials cartridge. There are also some lace, pearls and flowers from my stash!

 Variation on a theme....slightly more simple though.

Another one of the LOTV girls and coloured at the same time as the one above! These were actually done in November, but it has taken me this long to get them onto cards! Never mind. Same principle as above; have also used a LOTV sentiment stamp on this one though. No lace on this one but larger flowers! I love using flowers, but am going for the flatter ones at the moment; I hate making boxes for all the raised ones...they never seem to look quite right to me. I do realise that this is user error though...

Lili of the Valley Christmas Cuties!

This card was made from one of the LOTV new stamps, I love this dancing girly, she is full of the joys! The sentiment is also one of their lovely circles and I have used Spellbinders to layer. Embellishments are from my stash: a wooden snowflake and some raffia. I have used some red ink to distress, but think I may have overdone this slightly? Still, we all need to experiment, don't we?

This is another of the LOTV images that I couldn't resist buying! I love these cats and decided to colour them to match the other things I had (actually did it the right way way round this time; normally I colour and then have no papers etc!). The colours are Promarkers and Flexmarkers, flowers from my stash and I have experimented with some of the baker's twine that seems to be everywhere at the moment!

A slightly different version; my first easel card! Thought I would try some frosty colours and I quite like them! Spellbinders used to layer, Cricut Paper Doll cartridge for the snowflakes and the sentiment is a Humphrey's corner one from Crafter's Companion.

Humphrey's Corner Christmas Decoupage

Ok, I know this is a very late Christmas post; let's just say that Xmas was a little mad this year! I purchased some die-cut decoupage from Crafter's Companion this year, in the hope that I would be able to run-up some cards quickly this year! Here are a few samples, the images are so cute and I have to say the quality of the die-cuts are fab! Hope you like them x

I also purchased some most of the Humphrey's Christmas stamps and the CDs, so the sentiments have been stamped and the papers are a mix from my stash, the CD- roms and a lovely paper stack I purchased.

Monkeying Around!

I made this card for my son's 3rd birthday this year. He particularly likes monkeys at the moment so I experimented with some Rubbernecker /Creative Expressions stamps. The images have been coloured using Promarkers and the middle is a Creative Expressions embossing folder used on Core-dinations paper and sanded. The number 3 has been cut and mounted using the Cricut Storybook cartridge.

Lavina Fairy Magical Door

Ok, last post for today! Life has been a little busy of late...I seem to have made toppers but never actually finished the cards! On this one I experimented with the lovely gate from Lavina. It needed to be the correct perspective in relation to the fairy, but I think I have got it...finally! I have added glitter detail and edged with peeled paint coloured Distress Ink. The papers are from the Laura Ashley collection and the flowers and gems are from the depths of my stash! I wonder what she is thinking...

Peter Rabbit

 Once again I feel I may be avoiding the Christmas cards...not sure why! I have been experimenting with Aquamarkers and different watercolour papers for these cards. I have now come to the conclusion that you get what you pay for! I have used Dayler Rowney papers here, cold pressed with that lovely texture. I have used the Cricut Storybook cartridge to cut the shapes and borders used. I think I am getting better with the Aquamarkers now, but it does take practise! The papers have come from Crafter's Companion Cute Companion CD roms (original collection and Summer Stories I think!).
I have kept them simple I know, but I suppose the feature is really meant to be Peter!

This one is a slighty larger version and I have added some Card Candi and also some paper stamped both sides with an edger punch.

Hope you like them...any ideas let me know!

Magical Birthdays

These are two cards I have made purely because I can't seem to get in the mood for making Christmas cards yet! I have used Papermania fantasy backing papers, a sentiment stamp from Lili of the Valley and stamps from Lavina to create the scene - yes even fairies do washing! The shaps have been cut using the Cricut storybook cartridge and the tiny silver flowers using a Pinflair multi-punch. There is glitter all around the fairies and unicorn, but the camera has not picked this up very well! Hope you like them xx