Wednesday 17 September 2014

Tag Cards



These cards are all made along the same lines using a sheet of Hunkydory tags.  I used some mixed ribbon and fibres and mounted them onto co-ordinating background paper.  These cards are a mixture of birthday and general and were made to top up my dwindling pile!

Hunkydory Christmas - only 99 more sleeps!



These cards were made using the same topper sheet from a Hunkydory Christmas bumper set.  I think it was from 2012, although knowing me it could well have been 2011!  Both cards were embossed using my new A4 snowflake embossing folder (Embossalicious) although you can't quite pick it up from the photos.  The top card has a decoupaged image with one of the sentiments from the sheet.  The bottom card just uses the smaller topper sheet and sentiment.  I used the really sweet Lili of the Valley mini tag stamps in the corner with a blue bow as it looked just a little bit plain.  This card is 'soft touch', it feels almost velvety in texture and embossed really well.

Barkley


This card was from a Crafter's Companion kit and was so easy and quick to assemble - perfect for when my daughter mentions in passing that it's someone's birthday "tomorrow" and have I got a card please!  Fortunately this isn't too cute for a 13 year old girl apparently!

Tuesday 16 September 2014

Something Different


It was recently back to school and with that comes the usual fight with sticky back plastic as my daughter and I cover her school books.  We went to town on her English book though and this is the finished result.  We used Roald Dahl papers from Docrafts - the front was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the back was BFG.  The pack included die cuts of some famous quotes from the books which we placed randomly.  Fortunately her English teacher appreciated the effort!

Another Hunkydory Card


This 8x8 card was sent to my friend's son for his 11th birthday (happy birthday Nathan!).  I think this topper sheet has to be one of the most used at the moment - this is the 3rd card on the same theme and it's perfect for boys who are too old for cute but not old enough for much else.

I used gold mirri card as the base layer and then used some backing paper and co-ordinating green card all matted onto gold.  The wide gold border looked a bit plain so I used some gold peel off stars to break it up.

Anniversary


 I rarely remember my own wedding anniversary, let alone make Mr Looby a card, but I always remember my friend's anniversary (and she always remembers ours so at least there's one card on the mantelpiece!).  This was made using a kit from Hunkydory called Beary Nice.  The background paper is also Hunkydory but from All The Girls paper pad.  I also used some wide pink velvet ribbon(it hurt to use it!) and added a narrow purple velvet ribbon too.  The sentiment is by Craftwork Cards.

Sunday 7 September 2014

Football birthday


This card was for my friend's 9 year old son.  I believe the image from Lili of the Valley but I've had the stamp for years and do not have the original packaging!  The ball was stamped twice so that it could be decoupaged.  The circle sentiment is definitely Lili of the Valley and echoed the football.  I used the lattice embossing folder as it had an air of a goal net to it! it was mounted on a 6" x 6" kraft card blank.  Four black card candi in the corners finished it off. 

Kraft and Cream Christmas


Over on the Christmas Cards All Year Round blog this month's challenge is to make a Christmas card using kraft card and cream as the predominant colours, but you can add an accent of another colour. Some of the DT team have used red which looks so effective but I chose gold..

My card was made for a specific person and is a hard one for me to make.  It's for my niece's husband.  We lost my niece very suddenly and tragically in June 2013; she was just 31 years old.   This is the second Christmas that our family faces without Alison who was one of those people who was first on the dance floor, first to see what the children had on their Christmas lists (she's Godmother to youngest) and first at any family gathering and her loss leaves a gaping hole in all our lives. 

So this card is for her husband.  He doesn't celebrate Christmas in the same way as he did with Alison but I like to let him know that he's in our thoughts at this particular time of year where Alison's loss is felt so deeply.  There is no sentiment on this card (although if it were to have one it would go top right) as wishing him a Merry or Happy Christmas doesn't feel right.

So, onto this card.  I used a 7" x 5" landscape card blank and used X Cut rectangular parenthesis dies to make the layers.  The base layer is gold mirri which I embossed with an Embossalicious snowflake embossing folder.  I stamped Stampin' Up's Silent Night image onto kraft card and heat embossed it with Wow Seafoam White powder.  The snowflake was cut using  Die'sire dies and a white glittered brad was pushed though the centre to hold them together.  I used the sentiment stamp from the Silent Night set inside the card (it says "May a peaceful spirit fill your heart and bless your live this season and all year long") - I felt this was just the right wording in these circumstances.

Friday 5 September 2014

Decoupage Birthday

Another card made using the decoupage pad that was free with a magazine.  The image was mounted onto navy card and some cloud paper used for the background.  The lace bunting broke up the background.

Ray's Birthday





 I made this card for my brother in law's birthday.  He runs a gardening business so his cards usually have a garden related theme.  The image is a decoupage that was free in a magazine.  I embossed some green card with a diamond pattern (for some reason I associate it with fencing??) to mount the finished topper on and then some green gingham check paper  I inked the edges, another technique that I don't do often but really should.  A Craftwork Cards sentiment in a teal foil complemented the colours used.


Father's Day Card 2014 number 2


The main image on this card is from a pack of pre-coloured Wild Rose Studio toppers.  I thought the papers from a Dovecraft paper pad (For Men) matched the colours fairly well and I simply layered the tie patterned paper onto a kraft card blank and added strips of stipe paper in the corners.  I used some card candi in the corners to help the image stand out.  The image isn't layered but I did use foam pads to lift it from the base.  I used a different patterned paper to line the inside of the card although I kept the same colour family.  I think I initially couldn't make my mind up between the ties and the worded paper so decided to incorporate both!  The sentiment inside was a stamp that came free with a Docrafts magazine and was stamped onto white card, die cut using a Go Kreate die and edged with blue ink so that it didn't get lost on the wordy paper.

Thursday 4 September 2014

Twins!

This is one of my favourite ways to make cards, especially when colouring.  The image is by Wild Rose Studio and I stamped it twice and coloured using Promarkers.  I like to colour 2 at a time so that I can at least end up with one image that I'm happy with, although in this case both turned out fine.  It had been a long time since I had got my Promarkers out so I was surprised to end up with 2 usable images.  I used a Die'sire die (Classical Frame) to cut the coloured image and then mounted it onto a rectangle of red card.  I rounded the edges to keep the image close to the edge.  The papers are also Wild Rose Studio and were simply cut to size and mounted onto white card blanks.  The card on the left had a birthday circular sentiment and the one on the right has a Father's Day circular sentiment.  The sentiments were stamped onto the same red card used to back the image and were cut out using a circle punch.

Happy 50th

This card was made for a friend's 50th birthday.  The stamp is one that I've had since my early days of card making but I love the humour and it paired up well with the Aged to Perfection sentiment (I think that was from a Stampin' Up set).  I used a Nestability to cut the red, black and stamped image layers and mounted them simply onto a white card blank.

Hunkydory Owls

This card was made for my daughter's 13th birthday from her younger brother.  My daughter has a real owl fetish and thinks they are 'just adorable'.  This topper is by Hunydory 'What a Hoot' collection which I believe came free with one of their magazines.  The topper was simply layered onto some patterned paper which was layered onto silver mirri card.  I used an inverse corner punch to echo the shape of the topper.  The sentiments are also from the topper sheet.  I used a Hunkydory shaped card blank and found this most gorgeous ribbon in my stash which I simply wrapped round and tied in a bow - for once I was happy with a bow that I tied first time!

Wednesday 3 September 2014

Craftsuprint Animal Cards



I bought these images from Craftsuprint as I thought they would make quick and fun cards for my children to give to their friends for birthdays. They are by one of my favourite designers on the site, Carol Clarke and are the shell edged corner side stacker design.  I printed the images onto water colour card which I think suits these characters and simply cut the pieces out and made up the topper and put onto a kraft card blank.  The meerkat is probably my favourite and I added some Glossy Accents on his glasses!