Pearly forest

Hi all,
 I don't know about you but Christmas card making is now well underway in my house. I was inspired this week by paper artsy's pearly theme. I like to go all out with shimmer and sparkle for Christmas cards and this was no exception. I chose a monochrome colour scheme so there was still some restraint in spite of all the sparkle!

Here is the card

I used stamps from paper artsy's hot picks Christmas collection. I started with a piece of pearly grey paper (unfortunately the shimmer from it doesn't really show up in the picture) Having masked of the bottom I stamped the trees a few times in black ink before embossing in clear sparkle powder. I added pearly white brilliance ink to create the snowy forest floor and finished with some liquid pearls for good measure!

I'd like to enter this card in to the paper artsy challenge and also Simon says stamps monochrome challenge.

Ttfn, Lou x

World card making day

Hi everyone!

I'm starting Christmas card making in earnest this week since I have a week off. It feels a little late to get going but I'm using some card-io stamps which I love as they are so easy to make quick but creative cards with. 

For this card I used a new set 'tiny Christmas' for the floral arrangement alongside stamps from a couple of older sets. 

I absolutely love these stamps, they hold so many possibilities, you are likely to see a fair few more cards made with them over the next few weeks!

I'd like to link this in to sss world card making day celebration. Head over there for loads of lovely ideas from around the world. I was fortunate enough to head up in to the Scottish mountains yesterday and see a heard of deer including a stag so this is my contribution representing the uk. Lou x

Acetate and Enamel

Hi there!

Having been tasked by the Craft Barn with creating something using acetate and enamel I decided clean and simple would work really well .  I selected a fairly basic set of resources to create three different clean and simple cards, suitable for lots of occasions.

Materials List;Sizzix die - bright bubblesSizzix die - Delicate lettersDistress inks - scattered straw, abandoned coral, wilted violet, lucky clover, mermaid lagoon.Acetate Enamel Acents - Grape soda, Forget-me-not, Lemon TwistCraft knifeSteel edge rulerBirthday stamp (by Craft work cards, similar one here)
For card number one I used a square white card and die cut 'bright bubbles' from it. 

Using a steel ruler and a craft knife I sliced about an inch off the edge of the card. 

I then added a piece of acetate the same size of the original card front and added the die cut bubbles back in.

I blended a few bright distress inks on to white card and die cut the bright bubbles die again.

I used the coloured die cut pieces to fill in some of the holes on the card.

I blended a little more ink on to white card, and cut out some lettering using another sizzix die.

I stuck these on to the edge of the acetate.

Finally, I finished the card with some dots of enamel.

For the next card I used the sizzix alphabet dies to cut out the word 'celebrate'

I backed them with a piece of acetate

I used some bright distress inks to create a rainbow effect panel.

With the rainbow panel cut out, I edged it with 3D foam mount tape and filled it with sequins and seed beads.

    

I stuck this to the back of the card to create a shaker. To finish the front of the card I dotted some enamel accents around the lettering.

 Using the point of my craft knife, I dragged out the enamel dots to create a splat effect.

 
And the finished card...

 For the final card in the set I sliced the edge off a square white card.

Using more of my rainbow inked card I cut out the letters 'happy'

I replaced the missing card with acetate and added a strip of white card back on to the very edge.

I stuck the lettering on to the acetate and stamped a birthday sentiment below.

Finally, the card is finished off with some more lovely dots of enamel accents.

I'd like to link this post to Simon says stamps clean and simple challenge. 

Holiday album

I fell totally in love with the new Graphic 45 papers and was looking for a way to show them off - ideally, both sides of each one! The upcycled holiday album was perfect and as we had a rural holiday in Shropshire this year, the Nature Sketchbook ones were ideal.

I started with a couple of notepad backs - these were to form the basis of my book. Each one was cut to a rectangle, and then scored down one edge to make the spine.

 I marked points on the spine where I hole punched so that I could thread twine through to hold the pages in place.

 Then, with the holes punched, I covered the card in some of the G45 papers.I painted the insides of the covers with fresco paint in green apple.

I added a little stamping and some other G45 papers to the front cover, along with die cuts from paper sprayed in dylusions ink sprays. The gold edge is created with alchemy wax.

I stuck the two covers together, overlapping the punched holes

They tied some coloured thread through to hold the pages in place.

For the pages I made two wadges of papers. Those with the highly patterned designs I tried to use for the double spreads so that they could be fully seen.

Then the decorating began!

I haven't completed the album yet, but here are a few samples of the pages that are underway.

I've used lots of different papers from the nature sketchbook range to tie the look together. 

I made the most of the notebook style paper to add my own handwritten notes about the holiday. 

I also used stamps from paper artsy to embellish some pages.

Most of the pages have pockets such as the one below, or loops of paper to thread things through and to tuck in bits and pieces.

The butterfly stamp is from a Bo Bunny set, embossed in white to make it stand out from the highly patterned paper. 

Thats all for now, although the pages will have more added to them in time!

Materials list;

Graphic 45 papers - Nature Sketchbook

Fresco paint - Apple Green

Bo Bunny stamps - flutter

Woodware stamps

Paper artsy stamp set - Lin Brown 29

Sizzix die - wildflowers

Dylusions ink sprays

Mini archival inkpads

White embossing powder

Challenges;
Simon Monday stamp it
Simon Wednesday stamp it

Lawn fawn birthday

Hello!

Just a short post tonight as all my tech is throwing a wobbly and I'm limited to typing on my phone.
I wanted to share the card I made for my nephew's birthday.

I used lawn fawn stamps and papers from my minds eye. 

Told you the post would be short!!

Challenges;

Lawn fawn- for a child

Simon says stamp Wednesday - anything goes

Wonderful!

This week I've been creating an end of term project for the craft barn using Woodware stamps.

Lots of the new Woodware stamps have got a patchwork style to them making them ideal for paper piecing. I stamped these lovely owls several times on different papers to give me plenty of choice.

Lots of cutting out then followed!

Using a square die I cut an aperture from a square card. I mounted the cut out square on another card to get two cards for the price of one. I stamped a Woodware sentiment on both using cobalt archival ink.

Then all that remained was to stick together all the paper pieces and finalise the layouts.

I chose the owls as I thought they were perfect for an end of term teacher card, but the cards could be used for lots of other occasions too.

Materials;

Woodware stamp;owls

Woodware stamp; Celebrating You

Kaiser craft paper pad; wildflowers

Square die

Archival ink, cobalt

Square white card

Challenges;
Craft stamper - anything goes
Stamping sensations-anything goes
Penny black at allsorts- all creatures great and small
Simon says stamp Wednesday- add a sentiment

Pawsome!

Hey there!

Following on from the little star cards last week, I made these 'Pawsome' cards for the work star box. I used the lawn fawnatics colour inspiration to get me going. The stamps are from LF Happy Howlidays and Miaow you doin'.

I used distress inks and promarkers, and finished with some punched daisies with liquid pearl centres.