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Sunday 30 October 2011

Birthday Card and Wine Bottle Tag

























Oh dear I meant to schedule this post for tomorrow but hit the wrong button, so that's 2 posts today and none tomorrow! (scroll down to see today's earlier post) So here is another simple card made for a work friend's birthday along with a matching wine bottle tag. The card uses the Faith in Nature set which can only be purchased with Hostess pounds and the leaf was stamped in Chocolate Chip, onto Very Vanilla, before being coloured with autumn colours using a blender pen and matted onto a piece of Crumb Cake cardstock. A strip of Very Vanilla was stamped using the Sandy Speckles wheel and positioned across a Chocolate Chip card blank before adding the topper. The sentiment is from another Hostess pounds set called Happiest Birthday Wishes. The matching tag was made by cutting a piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock with the Two Tags die and punching a hole with the one & three eighths inch punch to go over the bottle neck. The leaf was stamped onto a piece of Very Vanilla (again cut with the same die and trimmed down to fit) but left uncoloured and a small sentiment added.
The Hostess benefits have changed with this year's catalogue and you now have far more choice as to what to spend your money on - you can choose from a selection of stamp sets reserved for Hostesses but at a greatly reduced price or just spend all the money on items from the catalogue or, if you earn enough, a mixture of both - the choice is yours. If you would like to earn yourself some freebies why not get together a few friends and host a workshop (or simply collect orders from the catalogue to the value of at least £150) and you could be choosing some lovely new crafting products all for free. Contact me if you would like to know more.

Saturday 29 October 2011

Wish upon a Star




















Yes another go at the Less is More challenge 'Stars' using Polar Pals again but, this time, a side-step card. I made the card blank with some white card and sponged the sky with Night of Navy ink before adding some torn White Whisper card for the snow, then it was just a case of making up the story. Mr Polar Bear bringing presents for the little penguins who are 'wishing on a star' that they get what they want!! (are you ready for bed yet??) I used a snowflake stamp from Serene Snowflakes for the stars in the sky, the star the penguins are holding and sentiment are both from Pennant Parade - all silver embossed. The sentiment was punched with the Modern Label punch and layered onto a Decorative Label with copious amounts of Dazzling Diamonds sprinkled around the card. I'm not too sure that this card can be considered 'Less' but I'm hoping that, as a lot of is white, Chrissie & Mandi will let me get away just this once!



The Polar Pals set is a fabulous set and absolutely perfect if you have to make children's cards (or even for some big kids) You get 9 stamps all for the incredible price of £22.95 for wood mount (or £17.95 for clear mount) so that works out to £2.55 per stamp (£1.99 for clear mount) - such incredible value for a set of stamps which can be used together or individually.
If you would like to order this, or any other products from the catalogue then please do not hesitate to contact me and I'll be happy to help.
(Individual orders carry a p&p charge of £4.95)

Stars


This LIM challenge is getting worryingly obsessive with me as I am going out this morning but still had to have a quick go at the Stars challenge before I go!! So it is by no means perfect (please don't look closely at the embossing!) I used a Night of Navy card blank with a strip of torn Whisper White across the bottom then silver embossed some stars across the top. The bear is from Polar Pals and I stamped him in Basic Gray then coloured him in using my markers before cutting him out and placing him 'in the snow'. The sentiment is from Contempo Christmas and after stamping I used a glue pen to squiggle some lines and added Dazzling Diamonds.
Oh and congratulations to the lovely, and very talented, Vicky who is the LIM guest designer this week!

Sunday 23 October 2011

Touch of Sophistication?

There is a new Speciality Designer Paper out in the current SU catalogue which is just so beautiful it was very hard to put my scissors anywhere near it! It is called Mocha Morning and has 2 single sided designs which have luscious black flocking and 4 double sided designs some of which include metallic ink. (You get 2 sheets of each design giving 12 sheets in all)
The one I have used here is a satin finish gold pattern and I have matted it onto some of the equally gorgeous Brushed Gold cardstock (I'm afraid it doesn't show up too well on the photograph but is marginally easier to see on the close up below) I stamped a bauble from Tree Trimmings and the sentiment from Season of Joy in Versamark and heat embossed them with Gold Embossing powder. The bauble was punched with the Oval Punch and matted onto a Scallop Oval punched from the Brushed Gold cardstock. A small piece of Basic Black satin ribbon was knotted around before mounting onto a Basic Black card blank. The things that look like white spots are actually Basic Pearls!!

Friday 21 October 2011

Christmas Medallion

 
 A while ago, whilst blog hopping, I remember seeing that someone had used the large Medallion stamp to make a Christmas card and thought what a good idea it was. Unfortunately I can't find it now and don't remember what it looked like, or who made it, but thank you for the idea whoever it was. I stamped the Medallion in Old Olive onto a square of Whisper White and added some berries (more on those later), the sentiment is from Perfect Punches stamped in Real Red, cut out with a circle punch and placed in the centre of the main image with dimensionals. A bow of narrow Real Red Taffeta ribbon added at the bottom, a sprinkling of Dazzling Diamonds, matted and layered onto Real Red and a white card blank and job done!
Now for a bit more on those berries - I had a Vicky* moment (sadly I don't get these too often!) and used my crpo-a-dile to punch out three of the larger circles from a piece of scrap rubber that you get left over from the stamp sets, and mounted them onto the end of a thin wood mount and, hey presto, ready made holly berries. I simply highlighted them with a white gel pen to give them some depth.
* Click on 'Vicky' to visit her blog and see some truly stunning creations

Thursday 20 October 2011

Polar Pals






Why is it that I always get inspiration for a card when I really should be doing something else? Well here it is. After taking delivery of my new goodies from the catalogue (and once I'd got round to mounting all the stamp sets) I had to have a play with these two sets, Varsity alphabet and the really cute Polar Pals. Apologies if I cause anyone offence by using 'XMAS' rather than 'Christmas' however I would have needed a very large card to fit the proper spelling on! It looks quite complicated but believe me it is easy with a few strategically placed post-it notes and a stamp-a-ma-jig. All the images are from Polar Pals (and these aren't all the stamps in the set) the 'xmas' is the varsity alphabet and the 'merry' is from another current set whose name escapes me at the moment -sorry. I started by stamping the large letters in a new In-Colour, Lucky Limeade, then after cutting some letters from post-it notes to use as a mask I stamped the penguins, stockings and candy canes and finally the trees which are all on one stamp. All the images were coloured using a blender pen and some Dazzling Diamonds were added around the card for some sparkle. This idea could also be used for a personalised card with 'Merry Christmas' on the banner and a name in place of the large lettering. I am going to enter this card for the St.Luke's Charity Card Challenge, whose theme this month is 'Masculine' as I think it would make a great card for a "Little Man".
The Varsity alphabet is a considered purchase but did you know that, with the new Hostess Benefits, if you place an order for £300 you can purchase ANY item in the catalogue at a 50% reduction as well as £50 Hostess Pounds to spend on whatever you like in any current catalogue*? So why not host a workshop or, if you prefer, collect orders from friends and place the order with me. What have you got to lose?
(* Hostess Pounds cannot be used to purchase your 50% item and 50% item does not count towards your Workshop total)

Saturday 15 October 2011

Cocktail??

Now what on earth has this got to do with a cocktail I hear you cry!! Well the ladies at Less is More asked us to be imaginative with the theme this week, which is 'Cocktails' and that is exactly what I've done. Not knowing the first thing about cocktails I did a search and was surprised to find out that there are thousands of them. As another fellow Limette has already said, some far too rude too mention let alone ask for!! Well there is one called 'Crazy Frog' and, apparently, it's made by mixing equal parts of a red alcopop, a blue alcopop and ******** Ice (sounds disgusting to me but was a good recipe for my card). I'm not too sure how you make a frog look crazy but here is my punch art version of one, he's sitting on what are supposed to be ice cubes and I added a cocktail umbrella (made with the Pennant Punch and a circle punch) in red, white & blue to represent the colours of the drink and a couple of cherries - just because. The sentiment was done with an alphabet stamp set and a sentiment stamp. I have no idea when you would use this card, and if you did I'm sure the recipient would think you were crazy, but I had fun making it. Sorry ladies not very CAS or much white space but, having made it, I thought I would share :0)

(Fruit ) Cocktail












Less is More Challenge
'COCKTAIL'


  


Well for the Less is More challenge this week the ladies have asked that we use our imaginations with the theme 'Cocktail' and this is my 'Fruit Cocktail'. A long time ago, for a previous challenge, I was looking around the net for punch art fruit ideas and I came across hundreds so I cannot take any credit at all for these and I don't think I would ever be able to track down who came up with the idea first as so many crafters 'case' the brilliance of others - so to any originators of these fab fruits a big thank you for sharing your ideas. Anyway this is my effort to create a fruit basket - lots of punches, lots of different coloured cardstock and far too many to list here but you get the idea. The basket was textured with the new embossing folder 'Stripes' I ran it through one way and then turned it round and ran it through again to give the effect of weaving and the handle was put through the Crimper to add dimension. I wasn't sure what sentiment to add to the card but decided to make it a Get Well card as it could maybe accompany some real fruit.
Once again I would like to thank Chrissie & Mandi for showCASing one of my cards this week, I was thrilled :0)
Have a good weekend and Happy Crafting!
We

Tuesday 11 October 2011

Faux Crocodile Gift Card Wallet


This is a gift card wallet using a technique which I saw at our team's training event in the summer. It is an easy technique which is good for lots of projects but particularly for a man's wallet style holder.

I used Soft Suede for this project and the faux crocodile effect is done by covering a piece of cardstock in Versamark and then liberally sprinkling with clear embossing powder. Do not shake off excess powder at this stage. Taking a bone folder or embossing tool draw a pattern all over the cardstock, this removes the embossing powder which will later give the crocodile skin effect. Now tap gently to remove any excess powder before heating with a heat gun.
On this wallet I made a strap to go around the wallet and attached a small piece of cardstock to push the end through to keep the wallet closed. On the inside I used a piece of cardstock which was glued on three sides to make the pocket which holds the gift card and on the other side is a piece of Whisper White cut to size and inked around the edges to write a greeting.

Monday 10 October 2011

Gift set

It is my daughter's birthday and this is the set I have made for her. Bit of a butterfly theme going on here and this is not because she has any affinity with them, but purely because she wanted a memo board like the ones I have made previously! (middle right)
All made in Cherry Cobbler because she particularly likes red and I have used the Jolly Holiday DSP, which is now retired, for some of the embellishments.
The box (bottom left and bottom right) was made with the brand new Petal Cone die with the bottom points cut off, scored and made into a flat bottom box. I used the, also new, Scallop Dotted Ribbon punch to make a belly band and finished it off with butterflies cut with the Beautiful Wings Embosslits die and some Tiny Tags, cut with the Jewelry Tag punch. The money wallet is made with the Scallop Envelope die and  the embossed stripes on the birthday card was done with the new Stripes Embossing Folder and stamped with a sentiment from Perfect Pairs. I had great fun playing with all my new goodies and I'm sure you'll see much more of the gorgeous Petal Cone die - I love it!!!

Saturday 8 October 2011

Christmas Hearts


Just been having another go at this week's Less is More challenge, One Layer-Heart(s), and yes I know I should be in bed but when I get crafting I seem to lose all track of time!! This was a bit of an experiment but I was quite pleased with how it turned out and I hope the ladies will forgive me for not having an awful lot of white space on this particular card, but when I tried it on a larger card it just didn't look right somehow.
I started by drawing a triangle in pencil and, using my stamp-a-ma-jig, I positioned the heart stamp from Tiny Tags and the star from the brand new Petite Pennants stamp set to form the Christmas tree shape. The tub was stamped with a pennant stamp (again from Petite Pennants) which had been masked with a post-it note so the point was cut off and the trunk drawn in with an Early Espresso marker. I chose the sentiment from Heard from the Heart because it fitted in with the heart theme.

One Layer Hearts











One Layer 
Heart(s)





The Week 36 Challenge is Heart(s) but it must be a one layer card and, although I have a very busy weekend, I do hate missing the challenge that the lovely ladies set each week so here is my super quick and easy card. I masked off a card blank to leave a border down the left side and used a stamp from the Confetti set to fill the space with tiny Cherry Cobbler hearts. This is one of the few clear mount sets I have but it makes it so easy to position the hearts to 'fill the spaces' (although in my hurry I'm not too sure I did a brilliant job on this one!). The card is finished with a fitting sentiment for the challenge which comes from Heard from the Heart.
Whatever you are doing this weekend I hope it's a good one - back soon x

Tuesday 4 October 2011

Matching Gift Set




















It was a friend, and work colleague's, birthday yesterday and I have spruced up the gifts I have bought her with a matching card, box and bottle tag shown here.
I used Wild Wasabi and Very Vanilla as the base colours, a stamp from the Growing Green set and teamed it up with some matching retired DSP. I make no apology for this as I really do have to start using my retired papers rather than just looking at them and not wanting to cut into them!! The flowers were punched with the Boho Blossoms punch and the rest is self-explanatory I think. Sorry there is no template (or even explanation) for the box - I made it up as I went along and, more by luck than judgement, it turned out ok - and the gift fitted :0)

Sunday 2 October 2011

Another Gift Card/Money Holder



Here is another gift card/money holder that we made at our monthly class last week, this time using Night of Navy and Serene Snowflakes stamp set. A length of A4 card is scored, folded, glued and punched with the Word Window punch to give the central pocket which holds the gift. The front is decorated with the large snowflake and the background is another of the stamps, which is stamped off to give a lighter shade (can you spot the one which I forgot to do before stamping?). The bottom section is a piece of DSP from the colour family stack and stamped down one side, finished off with a piece of retired ribbon (Night of Navy grosgrain ribbon is still available though). The inside of the card has a Top Note die cut in Whisper White to add a greeting.
I put my order in from the brand new catalogue yesterday and it was much bigger than it should have been (gasp!) so over the next few weeks I am hoping to show you many more samples using both the carried over products and the brand new ones, so do keep popping back - and if you have the time to leave a comment (good or bad) then please do as I love reading them all. 
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