Winter Snowflake Wishes

In my stash I found some cut, tuck, fold Spellbinder's snowflake dies, so I decided to have a play with them! I used an 8x8 card blank and used centura pearl, pale blue and teal cardstock to matt and layer. To create the cut-out circles I used my Spellbinder's Standard Circle dies in 2 sizes randomly on the pale blue card. Once the circles were cut I then ran the paper though the machine using the Embossilicious Regency Swirls folder. The sentiment is from Tattered Lace. To create the snowflakes I cut them from centura pearl, then inked through the dies with the paper still inside. I also inked the back of the snowflakes so that when they are folded there is more of an interest to them. Silver ribbon was then put on the tops of the circles to create a 'bauble' type of effect.

Skating Penguins

I rather fell in love with the new Penguins stamp set from Hobby Art this year, so had to start playing! I decided to use the skating penguin as a central feature here, using one of the Stamps Away patchwork design stencils to plan the layout. I wanted to use cool blue colours for the card, so have reflected this in my paper choice and Promarker colours. I chose to paper piece the penguin's scarf with the dotty card and had to add some glitter! The background of the penguin has been lightly shaded with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink to take some of the harsh white away. A sentiment was taken from a Spellbinder's sentiment collection and the snowflakes were made using Spellbinder's Create a Flake 3, cut using the same papers and inked through with the same Distress Ink.

 

Sparkle Medium Snowflakes

Amazingly, I made my first Christmas card! Again, I was playing with my Sparkle Medium! I have used a small square card base, and added some acetate on top. The acetate has been secured on the left front of the card using a Memory Box die cut with some glue behind. The die cut has also been covered in some Stampendous! Stamp 'n' Bond powder, then I have added some pearl mica powder on top. I have used a Sweet Poppy metal stencil  to add the snowflakes using Turquoise Sparkle Medium. The sentiment is from the Just Rite Noel Christmas Ornaments Set.

Thoughtful Fairies

 This card was made in an attempt to try and use a 'less is more' theory. I have chosen a large A5 size funky card blank from Hunkydory and cut an aperture from the centre with a Spellbinders Long Classic Rectangles Large die. The sentiment stamp, and indeed all the stamps, are from Lavinia.
I wanted to create a centre panel with a subtle background in my favourite colours. At my last craft class I went a little mad with my purchases and decided to add some Imagination Crafts Silkies paints to my basket. I have used them here to create my graduated background, and am really impressed with the seamless blending and sparkly finish you get. I used the colours called Pearl Satin, Turquoise Satin and Purple Lace. All the colours were put in large blobs on the top of a craft mat, dragged downwards with a brayer and then applied to the card in firm downward stripes. There are no lines, brush marks or streaks anywhere! Once the Silkies were dry I have then used Versafine ink to stamp the fairies and thistles. The ink soaked in really well, leaving a really subtle black behind which I have then embossed with clear detail powder. I have used Jones Tones iridescent glitter to add some fairy magic (you can't have fairies without some glitter!) The zen butterfly has been stamped onto white card, embossed and then coloured with the same colour Silkies as before. The antennae have been made from purple jewellery wire twisted into coils (I was defeated with whilst trying to 'fussy cut' them out!). Hope you like it, it's a bit of a different style for me! I am going to enter it in 2 challenges this month: Lisa Baker's Butterflies and Flowers and Lavinia's Add Some Glitter.

A New Baby Boy!

Ok, so it's not hard to guess the theme here! There seems to be a trend for lots of babies where I work at the moment...
Anyway, I wanted to make something for my friend, so here was the prefect excuse to make a bag charm again! I ordered some baby charms and had fun choosing blue and clear beads to make the charm.





 The card has been made using a Lili of the Valley image coloured with Promarkers as well as one of their funky sentiments. The elements were layered onto Spellbinders Circles Large and Scalloped Circles, as well as a Decorative Labels One die. The stars were cut using my Cricut machine and the Essentials cartridge. A small piece of lace and some buttons were used to bring it all together.

Butterflies and Florals

Here are two more cards made in another of Lisa's classes. The first, to my left, uses a die cut butterfly for the main feature. If you look closely you will also see that the white section to the left has been embossed and then cut around. The white script in the top right has been stamped and embossed with white powder. The card is from Anne Marie Designs and comes in lots of pastel shades.
The same dotty card is used on the card below to create a square frame for a large Woodware floral stamp. The stamp has been stamped and embossed with black powder, then coloured with Promarkers, Certain flowers have also 
                                                                                    been picked out to paper piece and coloured
                                                                                    to match.

Funky Inky Stencils!

Changing the style now, and back to some more craft class makes with Lisa Baker!
These cards were both made using the Imagination Crafts Diamonds stencil and various Distress Ink colours. The card to my left was made by using the stencil on top of a piece of plain card and applying the inks liberally all over. Unbelievably, the large Woodware flowers were then stamped on top of the design and then embossed. At this point we took some household bleach and an old paintbrush and bleached all the areas inside the flowers. Once the bleach was dry the ink in the flowers became very pale. We then used similar Promarker colours to put the colour back into the petals. The sentiment is from Indigoblu's Live, Laugh, Love plate and has been stamped and embossed onto a piece of card coloured lightly with the same colours of ink used previously. To do this I replaced my stencil over the card to align it and find where I wanted to place it. I then placed a piece of card underneath, inked it, removed it and cut it out at funny angles before matting it onto the card. Funky and fun I think!

The card to my right uses the same stencil, but only covers a section of the card.  We then added some random black gesso drips for a modern twist. The flowers are from Indigoblu again and have been stamped, inked using the same colours again, and then 'fussy cut' out. The flowers have then been arranged along the border of the stencil in a flowing motion. We got to keep the stencil, so no doubt it will feature again...!

A Birthday Fairy Shaker Card

This was an 8x8 card made for my daughter's 10th birthday. She had previously said how much she liked shaker cards and she is mad about fairies, (can't think where that comes from!) so here it is!
The main die set is the Tonic Moonglade Wish set. I have used a sheet from the First Edition Dreamcatcher pad for the background paper and layered lilac paper on top of this. The main centre panel was a large square cut in purple paper, with the inner die sections only used to cut the shape and 'leave it in' the card. A piece of acetate was used behind the cut section to seal it. This centre panel was then mounted on foam to raise it up and create a space for the shaker glitter and sparkles to be added. The sentiment is from Lili of the Valley and has been cut and mounted onto a Spellbinders Lacey Circles die. The butterflies have been cut using a die from the Tonic Butterfly Purse corners set and some ink has been used through the die to highlight the embossing. Pearls to finish and done!

A Box of Friendship

This project came about after I was asked to make a box to hold a present for someone. My brief was to make a box with some friendship quotes on it. The cogs starting whirring and I decided I might have a go with my new Cricut Mini Books cartridge on my Expression machine. Whilst looking through I noticed an exploding box and the rest is history!














I chose purple colours and papers from the First Edition pad 'Dreamcatcher'. The Cricut worked out all the layer sizes for each part and all I had to do score and cut the right bits with the right colours! Each inner tab had a flower on it with several layers behind it. Although not obvious here, each layer then had a friendship 'quote' on it. There were different quotes for each layer. The quote theme continued on the outside of the box, with matching flowers on the lid. All the flowers were stamped using Versafine and were from the Heartfelt Creations Sunkissed Fleur plate. The matching die was then used to cut them out and purple Distress Inks were applied for some shading. The green foliage was cut using the Tattered Lace Ornate Leaves die and the pearls were from a Hobby House pinwheel set. Once all finished the gift was added to the centre all ready for the box to explode with quotes! I am glad to say the recipient liked it.

Friendship with Elizabeth Bennett

I love Jane Austen's works and sometimes it is lovely to get lost in novel such as Pride and Prejudice, no matter how many times you have read it! IndigoBlu made this beautiful portrait stamp of Elizabeth, and it is a pleasure to work with. I decided that I wanted to work with only one 'colour' and shade parts of images with lighter and darker tones. I have stamped and embossed Elizabeth with detail powder and then used Spellbinder Opulent Ovals to cut her out and to provide a background shape behind her. The floral panel has been made using a Creata stamp, again embossed with detail powder. The paint is a Cosmic Shimmer H2O colour. The sentiment is also from IndigoBlu and is part of the 'Enjoy Life' plate. The pearl swirls are from Creative Expressions.