Beautiful Belles!

This stepper card was made using the Creative Expressions 'Belle of the Ball' plate. The dress images are so detailed that I did not want to fiddle with them too much, so I decided to simply emboss them. All the stamps used here are from the plate, including the corners and sentiments! I was asked to make some prom cards this year; I think this is a great plate to use!

Card Candi Flowers

 I recently saw some Card Candi stamps that I thought were really simple but effective, so I thought I just had to give them a go! I also just happened to have acquired (!) a few Embossalicious folders which I thought might frame the main image nicely. I like these Crafter's Companion Diesire folders, they are the perfect size for my Big Shot and my usual 6x6 card size! This folder called 'Elegant Frame' gives a great feature to focus the eye. Both these cards are both made using the one of the Woodware Bubble Bloom Card Candi stamps, which also come with the sentiment I have used here. I have stamped them both twice, the second time just cutting out the leaves to coordinate with the main colour I chose. I have tried to go tone in tone with all the embellishments as well, as I thought the main image would look a bit busy otherwise! The ink has been added just to highlight the folders (Tumbled Glass Distress Ink). The card below also utilises one of the Spellbinders D'lites dies to accent the sentiment.

Cosy Friendship Cuddles

Sometimes I think we underestimate the pure value of sending a card just to put a smile on someone's face, so I thought  I would make one to do just that! Feeling in a pinky mood, (can you tell..?) I chose an adorable LOTV image (Milly Cuddle Time) that can make anyone smile! The main image has been coloured with Promarkers, lightly edged with Spun Sugar Distress Ink and cut with basic Spellbinders circle dies. This main topper has then been layered onto a piece of dark red paper cut into a square shape with a border on the side (the fancy border section is a Tim Holtz On the Edge die - Scrollwork); Matching background paper has been matted on top, along with pink lace and thin satin ribbon to edge the work. The large red swirl is a Tim Holtz Bigz die - Elegant Flourishes. The sentiment is another LOTV stamp from a fantastic sentiment set that has a brilliant range to choose from. Again, I have used Spellbinder dies to layer. Finally the flowers have been cut from coordinating plain cardstock using the Heartfelt Creations Sun Kissed Fleur die. I have added little 'stitch' like lines to accent the flowers and papers, along with more Spun Sugar Distress Ink to bring in the edges. The flower centres have been done using Liquid Pearls Rouge. The background papers are from the First Edition Sweet Owl pad.

Fairy Birthday Magic!

This is actually a huge 8x8 card made for my daughter's 9th birthday! The background paper is from a huge DCWV stack called 'Once Upon a Time' which features an ethereal theme (it is hard to use it as I love it so much!) I have mounted onto some dark red paper, picking out the red as my main colour to compliment the vintage browns. The topper has been torn from Neenah card, distressed with Vintage Photo ink and stamped using some beautiful Lavinia fairy, scenery and flower silhouette images. The words are from Katy Sue designs, torn and distressed in the same way. I have cut the flowers using my Cricut Flower Shoppe cartridge, laying up several times with one layer being glittered. The ribbon and gems are from my stash. She loved it! I will be entering this in September's Lavinia blog challenge called 'Add a Flower'.

Style Divas!

 These two cards were made for two friends of mine who are very stylish and chic. They also love vintage things, so I thought I would have a play with some Creative Expressions stamps that jumped into my basket at the last craft show...
The dress form and sentiment stamps are all from the same collection. They have been stamped using brown archival (black in the card below) and then embossed with clear powder to give a lovely sheen. I have used Cosmic Shimmer dark Bronze PVA glue to add the dots to the sides of the image. The top card features 2 embossed panels separated with sparkly brown ribbon and a cameo I made using UTEE, coloured embossing powders and a mould. The feather has been die cut using Spellbinders Jewel Fantasies and the pins are from Creative Expressions as well. The card below features some Kanban Mackensie cardstock with an embossed panel to the top. The black buttons have been tied with raffia and some black lace has been threaded with plain ribbon.

Layering Spellbinders

This card was inspired by Julia Watts from Creative Expressions. I do not often use lots of Spellbinders shapes layered together, but seeing Julia do it, I thought I would give it a go! The main colour was chosen as it was for a lady who loves purple. I started with white card stock and distressed using Milled Lavender and Dusty Concord Distress Inks. I then randomly stamped a flourish stamp I have from Hunkydory. The darker purple panel has been embossed using a Couture Creations embossing folder and edged with lace. The die cut flourishes have been cut using a Tim Holtz Sizzix Bigz die (elegant flourish) and coloured using the same inks as before. The main sentiment is from LOTV and has been layered several times with Persian Spellbinder's dies, Lacey Circles and Basic Circles. The flowers are from my stash. I have used decoupage pads to add some height, so it is quite a fat card!

Thank You Teacher

At the end of another school year it's time to say thank you to those amazing teachers who inspire our little rugrats each day, so I thought I would use Crafter's Companion Popcorn the Bear to help me! I have coloured him using Tim Holtz Distress Markers on watercolour paper and cut out. This topper has then been layered onto a Spellbinder's circle shape to make it pop. The sentiment is a LOTV one. The doily in the background has been coloured using Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink and layered onto some Hunkydory card with a strip of some orange paper I had in my bits box. The butterflies are actually the waste elements cut out when cutting a Spellbinder's Butterfly Circle die!                                                                                

I wonder what she is wishing?

Here is one of those lovely LOTV girlies again (Summer Lovely Lillies)! I have changed colours this time, choosing turquoise as my main focus colour. The background paper is from DCWV and I have added some white embossing. The main image has been stamped onto Neenah card and coloured using Promarkers. I have added some tiny gems to the centre of the flowers to make them pop a little. The base topper shape is a basic shape cut using the Cricut Storybook cartridge, as are the corner embellishments. The raffia, gems and skeleton leaves are from my stash, and the 'Wish' ticket is from Tim Holtz Adage Tickets.

Imagination is the key...

This is a 6x6 card made as a result of me playing with a few techniques. I started with plain white cardstock and lightly distressed all over with some Tim Holtz ink. I then stamped on this randomly using an Indigoblu Flouish stamp in a second generation of the same ink. Finally, I stamped again using the same flourish, this time embossing with Stampendous Frantage powder (amazing stuff!). The powder has white, blue and gold in which gives lovely texture and interest. The brown swirls are a Tim Holtz Sizzix Bigz die and the flowers have been cut using my Cricut Flower Shoppe cartridge. The fairy and mushrooms (Lavinia) were stamped into an image cut from a Cricut Storybook shape. Again I have used 2nd and 3rd generations of ink here, with the fairy being embossed with glittery powder. The text is from Tim Holtz mounted on a Spellbinders D-Lites shape.

First Prom

 These cards were made as I was asked to make a card for an 11 year-old to celebrate her first prom! It needed to be cream and black with a dress on... the perfect excuse to order some more Spellbinders' dies! These are shapes from the dress forms dies and have been layered on some fantastic Kanban cardstock (I think the collection was called Mackensie).  I have also used neutral cardstock from my stash to make the die cuts pop. The layering shapes are Spellbinders shapes (petals, jewelled fantasies) with some small punched flowers from matching card. The ribbon is from Creative Expressions and the gems from my ever-growing stash!