Guitar Hero

Just finished this one, for a boys 18th birthday (just seem to be making mens cards lately).  Made with DCWV rockstar stack, background stamped with green pigment ink and embossed with Debbi Moore Print Magic (its an embossing powder with glitter) with photo corners and DCVW ribbon.

Topper made with fancy chipboard letters stuck with silicone glue to Coredinations Chocolate Box card, embossed and sanded, then stuck onto Docrafts scalloped edge card, edges inked and holes punched through the scallops.

guitar stamped onto die-cut scalloped rectangle, embossed with print magic, edges distressed and photo corners added.  number topper with coredinations chocolate box card die cut and sanded with lime green card stock stickers.

the chipboard letters were quite large so I've used a 10x7 card

Chalk Ink

These arrived in the post today, sets of lovely chalk inks (from ebay, that reminds me, i must leave some feedback for the speedy delivery) in such fabulous colours!!

So from now on, just about everything with an edge has the potential to be inked, so watch out

Technique with Alcohol Markers

I've just discovered another way with alcohol markers.  I've had a set of Marvy Le Plume alcohol pens that I bought from a TV shopping channel a while back, but as they are brush tipped, I've struggled to find much use for them, as think I may be better suited to using them for colouring big areas rather than for fine work.

I needed some letters in navy blue, but only had the font i liked in pink (I think they are American Crafts Thickers foam stickers, someone gave them to me so I'm not sure), so I removed them from their sheet, placed them on a sheet of cellophane wrap and coloured them in.  What I would advise is to "blot" the foam after applying the ink, then wait for them to fully dry before applying to your card, otherwise it gets messy.

I then applied them to the circles topper (3x concentric circles made with spellbinders nesting circles dies).  The edges of the circles were inked, and the moped stamp was stamped onto 'Happy Days' Cardstock and embossed with cosmic shimmer embossing powder.

lovely new stamping goodies

This arrived today, courtesy of the better half.  It was the last copy in WHSmith, which cheered me up as I've been stuck in the house for a few days as I haven't been very well; I looked all over for it online but the only place i could find it was on ebay where someone wanted to charge £10.99 for it, scandalous i tell ya!!  so I think its about time I saved myself a few pennies and subscribed to it.

I can't wait to start using the oriental style stamps in this set, i really like the orchid branch, cute panda, and the 'zentangle' style butterfly and lotus flower

Bella Coffee Shop

This card is made from a Kanban kit, called Bella Coffee Shop.  I absolutely fell in love with this kit when I first saw it, I've still got some of it left and i still love it. The toppers and papers are such lovely chocolate and coffee colours, decorated with gold foiling.  The rectangular toppers fit perfectly onto spellbinders scalloped rectangle die cuts, and the adhesive backed pearls finish it off perfectly

Retro Vehicle

Here is a masculine style card made with toppers and papers from a Kanban kit, which had loads of fab images of retro vehicles.  its been decorated with velvet ribbon and card candi

Special Birthday

This Year there are a few special birthdays coming up in the family, both my parents and my partners parents turn 60, so that's going to keep me busy making big special cards with big numbers on!

So far, I've only made this one (not sure yet whether to send it to my dad, or his dad, they even share the same birth date). It's on 8x8 paper, decorated with paper from the new 'flying high' collection by Craftwork Cards (I love this kit and had to order it straight away from C&C when it was launched)

The card has been decorated with chipboard letters stuck onto Core'dinations card, which has been die cut and the edges inked with chalk ink.  The record and sleeve were assembled from Kanban's So Masculine 

Thank You

I've had a few thank you cards to make recently.  I must have got about a thousand of these die cut layering flowers in many different colours and sizes.  The first ones I bought years ago from a TV craft show, then everytime I see them in shops, I buy more!!

Papemania do them as part of their capsule collections, they are glittery, 'Blitters' i think they are called.  I pick them up when I see them in 'the works' or the pound shop, at a quid a pack for loads, you can't go wrong! so then I bring them home and wonder where ill store them as ive already got boxes bursting with them.  

I think they are lovely for adding embellishments onto cards and use them quite a bit in my card making. 

Valentine Card: Fallen Angel

I really enjoyed making this card for Valentines day.  I stuck some craftwork cards backing paper onto an 8x8 card.  down the left side is a strip of black paper with a subtle shimmer which has been punched down the side, and decorated with burgundy and black ribbon. 

the middle topper was made with card die cut with a labels tag and distressed, and the heart, wings and dagger were also die cut and assembled.  I die cut a label for the bottom right corner and decorated it with black brads and the 'valentine' letters come from the new Papermania Madame Payraud collection.

the corners are decorated with craftwork cards flowers layered up, die cut swirls and jewels

With Sympathy

A simple card this time.  Sympathy cards are ones that im not especially keen on making (who is?), however as cardmakers know, sometimes unfortunately its necessary to have to make one. 

As i dont have a 'with sympathy' stamp, I had a go at designing my own.  We recently finally got round to buying a printer, so i made a word document, with 3 columns, and wrote 'with deepest sympathy', and repeated this to fill the page with 3 columns.  I then chose a different font for each column.  it took a bit of playing around until i was happy with the result, then i printed them out in black ink onto pearl silver card and pearl cream card.  i then cut them out and passed them through the cuttlebug using a spellbinders label die.

The card itself was made with a tree topper from the Kanban: Spring Woodland Kit, matted onto a die cut scallop circle, made from a piece of fabric effect paper.  this, along with the sentiment was adhered onto some patterned card i bought from a craft fair, and a strip of ribbon added on top

Doorstop Owl

Last year I made a doorstop owl that was in a kit that came free with a magazine.  A friend asked if i made them to sell, so I had a go at designing my own for her.  

The back is made of pink felt, and the front made with patterned fabric and felt for the wings, eyes, and feet.  It has been embellished with ric-rac ribbon, buttons and ribbon 'hanger' and side tag, all hand stictched, with blanket stitch when sewing the front anc back together.  

Themes I Love: Art Deco

Art deco is one of my favourite card making themes; among others! This card was commissioned by a friend who wanted a card for her parents anniversary. 

The card is made with papers and toppers from a papermania kit, I love the gold foiling, and the large toppers are best suited to larger cards, this one is 7x10.  

I've decorated them with layered glittered flowers, ribbon and jewels

Get Well

A "get well soon" card I made. I stamped the sentiment onto a die cut oval made from hammered white card, then inked the edges with chalk ink in 2 shades of green, to give a subtle effect.  

I made the apple topper by stamping the apple image onto a square of pearl card using a Perfect Medium pad, then brushing over the image with green mica powder, (the mica sticks to where the image has been stamped).  The edges of the square were then rounded off with a WRMK corner chopper tool, then this was matted onto a die cut scalloped square made with textured cardctock.

The toppers were adhered to a 6x6 piece of card, from a K & Co pad (I think) and decorated with jewels and ribbon

Key To My Heart

I made this for Valentines Day for my other half, a tad wonky heart, think i need some more practice on my sewing machine!!

Retro Men's Card

Twisted easel card, made with Papermania 'Happy Days' papers and bottle tops, Kanban toppers from the 'So Masculine' kit, ribbon and Craftwork Cards Card Candi

Rockin' Birthday

Easel card made with Kanban card, toppers and borer strip from the 'So Feminine' kit, zebra print ribbon and candi, and bakers twine.  The backing card on the bottom is from DCWV 'Rockstar' Stack, I love this stack, the lips are actually PINK FOILING!!!

Winged Crown

Last year I submitted several cards to the Create and Craft Magazine, some of which were published.  Here are some of them, including one that didnt get published in the magazine.  

Its been made with a Kanban Steampunk wings stamp decorated with Stickles, Papermania Portobello Road papers, Craftwork Cards Card Candi and Sentiment coloured with alcohol markers, pearls, ribbon and a die cut elegant square

Craftwork Cards

A recent birthday card I made with the Craftwork Cards "Vogue" kit.  I really love the mannequins and the flowers, and the Art Deco themed backing papers

Welcome

Hi and welcome to my blog, it will be mostly about making cards.  

I mostly make cards for friends and family (I cant remember the last time I bought a card from a shop) and spend way too much money on stuff from the Create And Craft channel.  

 I also do cross stitching and make up finished projects into cushions (as they are the easiest thing I can make on the sewing machine!).  I've also recently made a couple of doorstop owls. 

 My favourite brands are Craftwork Cards, Hot Off The Press, Docrafts/Papermania (including Gorjuss, Madame Payraud, Sew Sweet, Happy days and Art Deco) and the newly returned Kanban.  My favourite Kanban collections are Bella Coffee Shop, Luxury Reflections, Spring Wooland, so Masculine and So Feminine and Glamorous ladies.  Many of my projects contain elements from these kits.