Black and White - Monochrome Christmas Card 2011

Here's the card(s) I made for my Dad to send out. I decided to have a go with black and white...

The image and sentiment on the front of the card are rubber stamps by Serendipity. The paper on the front was embossed with Impressabilities Snowflakes. I used two of them (cutting off the border of the dies) so as I could cover the whole of the paper and I used my Grand Caliber. The inside sentiments are computer generated, the snowflake border was a free silicone stamp I got off a "Craft Stamper" magazine.

Hope you all had a great Christmas. Take care & keep smiling :o)

Vintage style Christmas cards

Hello :o)

Should have posted these a while back, but when I came to assemble them I'd ran out of card and had to reorder anyway here they are now.

Supplies used -

1. Stardream pearlescent Antique gold card

2. Backing paper (front and insert )curtosy of Altered Bits. The snowflake border, bird, sentiment and snowflake are stamps by Inkadinkado all stamped with Versafine Sepia ink and dotted with Stickles gold glitter and Shimmerz Choc-o-lot paint.

3. Main image is mounted onto gold hessian paper, the ovals and snowflakes where made with Nestabilities and Shapeabilies dies.

4. Insert sentiment is computer generated and initial letters coloured with Atyou Gold glitter pen(doesn't show ) and the bird and holly stamps are again by Inkadinkado.

5. My little "calling card" on the back was cut with deckle edge megabilities. The web address is computer generated and the witch and other wording are stamped. Again mounted onto gold hessian paper same but larger die and then run through the cuttlebug with the snowflake impressabilites.

I made 20 of these for my Dad to send out, now I've just got to make my own :o/

Hope you're all keeping well and thank you for still popping by.

Take care & keep smiling from the worst blogger and slowest card maker in the world

Winter Wonderland Week 15 - Frosty the Snowman

As I've been away from blogging for a while I thought I'd get myself back on the map by entering a challenge, and as I've been following the Winter Wonderland Challenge blog for a while but never entered I thought this would be a good place to start. And lets face it WHO can resist a snowman :o) ...

I do have a snowman stamp but didn't want to use it, so I went scouting round the Internet to see what I could find, and found this lovely snowman on a children's colouring page. Do you think I can find that page again ???? No, argghhhh I hate it when that happens. Anyway I've changed it slightly from the original picture, and so as I could colour it in without the ink smudging, I printed it in a pale grey colour and then went over it with a waterproof ink pen and then coloured it with Derwent coloursoft pencils and Sansodor, and the band on his hat was gone over with Atyou Spica clear glitter pen. The owl and birds are Magnolia stamps coloured the same as the snowman and on their beaks and their eyes I went over SEVERAL times with Sakura clear Gelly roll glaze pen. The snowman's nose was gone over again several times with Sakura Gelly roll Christmas red glaze pen. The sprig in his hat is the top part of Martha Stewart's branch punch and the berries were made with Stickles Christmas red glitter glue.

The arched backing paper is one I made on the computer, and the snowflakes where then painted over with Shimmerz Angel Wings paint (not that you can see on the photo's).This was then mounted onto silver Mirri silk card that had been run though the Cuttlebug with Impressabilities Snowflake embossing plate. Because the card is bigger than the embossing plate I first cut away the frame that surrounds the plate so as to get a nice continuous pattern. oh and by the way the arches were both cut by hand. The backing paper is from Bearly Mine Designes Designer Extreme Vol. 1 CD. The icicles are from a Christmas tree garland I got in the sales, and the snow at the bottom of the snowman's feet is Flowersoft Polar White, I was expecting it to be white but as you can see it's transparent :o( Oh well. I think I covered everything. As I can't find the site I got the snowman picture from here he is... But remember this is NOT my art work and I take NO credit for it...

And here's my altered version.

PS. I did a waistcoat for him, but me and my Dad thought he looked on this occasion better without it, but I think I may well do another with his waistcoat as this was such a fun card to make.

Take care & keep smiling

PS. The bottom photo may look like a blank but when you print it it comes out a pale grey. That's so as you can go over it with what ever colouring medium you chose :o)

Vintage Wedding Card Box

Hello :o)
Won't bore you with details for this, but it's the box I made for the Vintage Wedding card to go into. Sorry for the photo's but the card has to be given to Mary tomorrow in time for her daughters wedding, and there won't be time in the morning for me to take any decent daylight photo's, so here it is...

























1. Nestabilities
2. Impressabilities
3. Inkadinkado Gemstone Flourish clear stamps
4. Tim Holtz Distress Ink pads - Antique Linen and Frayed Burlap
5. Martha Stewart Border Punch

Thank you for looking.
Take care & keep smiling

Just Magnolia Challenge 12 - Tilda Gift Set Card

I didn't think I was going to get this card finished today, but I did and I'm very pleased with the result. This card is to go with the Pack a Picnic gift box and Tea bag gift box I made for my friend Michelle's birthday and is also my entry for the Just Magnolia week 12 Challenge - So Charming...

Card size - A5 - 21cm x 14.8cm

1. Stardream pearlescent pink card (base)
2. Heart swirl DP from Bearly Mine Designs Designer Extreme Vol. 1 CD Rom. The hearts were painted with Shimmerz Blingz Poinsettia Pink.
3. The ovals were cut with Nestabilities and the embossing was done with Impressabilities Flowers. To get the nice smooth edge (no embossing) on the dark pink card, I first cut the oval but left it in the oval die, then using this stack - A plate, B plate, Tan mat, card with nestabilitie (Nestie on top), Impressabilites plate, B Plate and then two pieces of card and then run it through my Cuttlebug twice. Found that little tip on the Wizard website, though it wasn't for the Cuttlebug, but I though I'd give it a go to see if it worked.
4. Tools used for the flowers can be found on my Pack a Picnic post. The leaves however on this card were made with L-Em Ash branch punch. I had to stand on this punch to get it to work !!!
5. The Magnolia Tilda stamp is coloured with Derwent Coloursoft pencils and Sansodor, and her shoes were painted with Smooch Siren. When I stamped Tilda I used Versafine Onyx black Cube so as to miss the little cross stitch heart on her apron, then after cleaning the stamp I inked just the heart with Versafine Crimson red and using a stamp postioner then stamped the heart onto the apron.
6. The charms and chain I got off eBay except the little handbag which was in the parcel that Lotti sent me (photo's of which will follow soon).
If I've missed anything it's because those details are on the Pack a Picnic post, so here's a photo of the whole Tilda gift set, just got to add chocolates and little prezzies :o) ...

Take care & keep smiling

Pack a Picnic Gift Box Template

NB. The Pack a Picnic template is NOT free, it costs $5, and worth every penny... or cent :o) Also the small side panels do not come with the template, I made those myself.

OK, hold on to your hats, I've actually made something that ISN'T a card !!! I made this after visiting Raisa's Blog and seeing her lovely little handbags she made and decided it was about time I had a go at doing something other than a card, which for me was a rather scary prospect. I found a lovely template by Paper Tray Ink - My Timeless Templates - Pack a Picnic and decided to go for it and make a gift box from it...

Sorry about all the photo's but I couldn't decide which one I liked best.

The size of the box is 13.5 cm high (from base to top of lid) x 14 cm wide. There are two templates in the pack, this is the larger size. Right here goes with a list of stuff used to make the box.

1. Stardream pearlescent pink card for the main structure of the box.

2. Double sided ( dark pink one side, pale pink on the other) pearlescent thin card for the ovals, mount and flowers.

3. Heart Swirl DP is from Bearly Mine Designs Designer Extreme Vol. 1 CD ROM printed on to white hessian card. Who are looking for DT members, click HERE if you're interested.

4. Taffeta watermark paper used for the lip of the box ans punched with Martha Stewart's Doily Lace Punch.

5. The ovals were cut with Nestabilities Petite Large ovals and embossed with Spellbinders Impressabilities Flowers template.

6. Flowers on large side were made with Woodware 1 1/2", 1" and 3/4" Daisy punches, and the little nicks in the top of the petals was done with Woodware Teardrop punch and the leaves were made with Martha Stewart's' branch punch and Bazzill card.

7. Side flowers were made with Woodware 3/4" Daisy punch, Bosscut Flourish die and the leaves were made with Woodware 1 1/2" daisy punch and Bazzill card. The centers have Stampendous Raspberry Tart Fun Flock in them.

8. Butterflies are made with Martha Stewart Monarch Butterfly punch, Stardream pearlescent card and heat embossed with Versamark pen and Heat It Up Pink EP.

9. Bow, handles and sides of box lid - Vanilla 1cm Grosgrain ribbon

10. Flat back pearls, 1mm rhinestones/gems and pearl brads for the finishing touches.

Well this took me a week to make, most of my time was spent making flowers. I did four different types before I decided which style I liked best. I could have saved a lot of time if I had used flowers I had already bought, but being a glutton for punishment I went for the handmade option :o) I did make a couple of mistakes but hopefully there's that much going on they're not that noticeable, and it's all good experience for my next one ... which won't be for a while yet. I hope you like it and have a wonderful Sunday.

Take care & keep smiling