Butterflies and Petite Petals

Good morning, it is a lovely bright & sunny morning her in Lincolnshire (even if I had to scrap the ice from the car this morning LOL).

I received my second order from Stampin' Up! last week and have been having a good play with all of my new card/stamps and other stuff...  another order went in today and I cant wait for it to arrive at the end of the week - I have another list of thinks I want to try.

However in the mean time here is a card I made yesterday evening for a friend, it features both Butterflies (from the Papillon Potpourri  stamp set) and Petite Petals.  This was my first totally 'Stampin' Up!' card, and after a quick look at the colour coach for ideas, I love the way it looks.

The card base was Crumb Cake (1/2 sheet of A4, cut length ways). The images were stamped using Black Stazon onto Very Vanilla card stock and coloured using Tempting Turquoise, Tangerine Tango & Daffodil Delight, I used the Aqua Painter to colour each of the images before cutting out with the Elegant Butterfly, Bitty Butterfly and Petite Petals punches.  I do like the way the butterflies have curled their wings... I think this is due to me punching them out when the card was still slightly damp from using the Aqua Painter :)

The sentiment was from Teeny Tiny Wishes and was cut out using the Word Window punch, the edges were then sponged with Daffodil Delight.

The card was finished with a insert of Very Vanilla, also sponged round the edges with Daffodil Delight.

Happy Crafting :)

LIM - Shades of Grey

It has been a while since I took part in a Less Is More challenge, but here goes...

On to this months colour challenge. This week we want to see...

Now you don't need to use fifty shades but we would like to see a minimum of two shades on your creations this week. Don't forget that all important white (or grey space).

For this card I used a Woodware image of an owl, coloured with 3 shades of grey ProMarkers (Warm Grey 1, 2 & 3).  The mat was cut from white card stock and shaded with 'Pumice Stone' Distress Ink.

As this little guy looks a bit sad & under the weather I want to find a 'Get Well Soon' sentiment to add.

LiM - Dogs

This week for Less is More the topic is...

This week is theme week at Less Is More and we hope you enjoy the choice.  We know you will come up with some fabulous creations.  We want to see cards with

 

Cats and/or Dogs 

 

We want to see cards with your favourite pet or both. We know you will all use your imagination.  Here are our cards for this week.

 

I ended up creating 2 cards, 1 with a Cat and the other with a Dog.  So here is the 2nd post featuring the Dog...

 

Using a Little Claire Design topper and red/white bakers twine.  The Hello sentiment is from Lily of the Valley stamp set.

 

LiM - Cats

This week for Less is More the topic is...

This week is theme week at Less Is More and we hope you enjoy the choice.  We know you will come up with some fabulous creations.  We want to see cards with

 

Cats and/or Dogs 

 

We want to see cards with your favourite pet or both. We know you will all use your imagination.  Here are our cards for this week.

 

I ended up creating 2 cards, 1 with a Cat and the other with a Dog.  So here is the Cat first...

 

The image was from a paper stack free with a magazine, coloured with my ProMarkers.

 

1 Stamp, but 2 very different cards

I was given this Owl stamp from Crafty Individuals by a friend and just could not wait to use it.

To see how it came out I stamped 2 images, the first in Black and the second in Brown.  I then used each image to create a card.

Birthday Cards

A friend recently had her 40th Birthday and I wanted to make a special card. In the end I used a stamp from  Imagination Crafts.

I stamped the image onto white tissue paper and then scrunched it up (this did not feel like a good thing to be doing - but I did it).  I then flattened out the image and cut a piece of white paper to go behind the image.  I covered the paper with photo clue and added my tissue paper, after drying with my heat gun I inked the edges with the 'Dusty Concord' distress inks.

The card was finished off with a Happy Birthday sentiment (from Stampin Up) cut with the Window Punch.  I also used the Stampin Up Butterfly punch and added a bit of bling & the number 40.

While I had this stamp out I decided to use it again to create a second card...

This time I used gold embossing powder, the edge of the image was inked with 'Rusty Hinge' distressing ink and each of the butterflies was given a hint of colour using 'Stormy Sky' and 'Fired Brick'.

I was really pleased with both cards, and really must remember to use this stamp again.

On a card making roll...

On Saturday I felt like creating some cards, so I sat down and before I knew it I had made the grand total of 8!!!

2 of them were for the 'Less is More' challenge, you can see them HERE.

Here are the other 6...

Created with some paper from a free magazine paper pack, Stampin Up Butterfly & sentiment.  very quick and simple but I do like it.

This one was also using the Stampin up Butterfly and punch (I stamped the image then used the whole from  the butterfly stamp to sponge through), the sentiment was from the Bitty Banners set.

Guess what.... more butterflies :)

A change from butterflies, this time one of the Tree stamps from the 'Lovely as a Tree' set.  

More butterflies, this time I stamped the sentiment onto card and then used the butterfly punch to frame it.

The only Stampin up items on this layout is the sentiment, it is one of my favorites at the moment..."Everything will be okay in the end, If it isn't okay, it isn't the end." (from the 'Pursuit of Happiness' stamp set).

As you can see I had a bit of a Stampin Up session (I do just Love their foam dimensionals!!) I was feeling guilty that I had brought a number of stamp sets & the butterfly punch but had not used them.  Now I am really glad that I decided to buy them, as I think they will get used quite a bit :)

Less is More - Sketch

I has been a long while since I entered a card into the Less is More challenge, and today I have 2!!

As soon as I looked at the sketch for this weeks challenge I knew that I wanted to do something, but did not really know what.

This week we have a sketch for you drawn by Jen.
It's simplicity itself, so to add a little constraint, we ask that the card stays in this orientation.  Remember we still want to see plenty of white space.

So with a couple of hours to spare I sat down at my craft table and set to work...

Created with a scrap of patterned paper left on the desk, the Stampin Up Butterfly Punch (with stamp from the Papillon Potpourri set) & sentiment from the Itty Bitty Banners set (cut with the Bitty Banners framelits)

Also created with a scrap of patterned paper left on the desk, the Stampin Up Butterfly Punch (with stamp from the Papillon Potpourri set) the ribbon was a small piece from my Ribbon bag.

I have decided that I LOVE this butterfly stamp set & punch!!!! In total I end up making 8 cards in one go, I will add these to my blog tomorrow.

Badger Theatre Card

I have fallen in love with the Theatre Card style (taken from one of the Hougie Board books).

This time I created a Thank You card using the Badgers from the Meadows Edge CD from Design House. 

The 'Thanks so Much' sentiment stamp has come out funny on the photo as I went over the text with my glitter pen.

Birthday Card

It was a friends birthday today, and I decided to make a special card. I found instructions for a 'Theatre Card' in one of the Hougie Board books and decided to give it a go. When the card was finished I was pleased with the way it looked.

Due to the thickness of the finished card I had to make a box for the card to go in, again I found instructions for a 'Jewellery Box'.

I have attached 3 pictures, one of the card in the box, followed by the open box and finally the card on its own.

Christmas Cards

A few weeks ago I showed a sheet of images (featuring a pair of Christmas Owls) that were to be used as Christmas Cards.

Over the last couple of weeks I have been trying to play catch-up in making the cards for friends/family, and I think I am winning :)

Here are a couple of examples...

Featuring an Owl stamp (coloured with ProMarkers)  from Little Claire Designs

Featuring the Christmas Stamp from Imagination Crafts (coloured with ProMarkers) and free papers that were with various magazines

Featuring the Polar Bear (free with a magazine last Christmas; also coloured with ProMarkers) & a Little Claire Designs sentiment

Spiderman Birthday Card

This card was created using a Kanban Spiderman - Wall Crawler kit (ref No CON9043), I can't remember where I found it but I just HAD to have one for my Nephew's birthday card.

It was very easy to make, with Spiderman being made up of 4 layers.

Also with the card was a 2nd sheet of Spiderman elements, these will be used to create Table Place Holders on the day of his party (I hope to add photos later) and will complement the Spiderman Plates, Cups & Napkins... well it just had to be done!

Happy Birthday "L"

Non-Challenge Cards - October 2012

Once again this month I have been concentrating on creating any cards that take my fancy, and not for a specific Challenge.   The cards have been created with anything I had on my desk (usually something I was meant to be putting away!) or just because I felt like it!

So be warned this is a long photo heavy post...

Peacock printed from one of my CDs & decoupaged to give depth.

Owl peel-off and hearts from the 'Build a Owl' punch (Stampin' Up).

Decoupage stamp, butterflies coloured using Brilliance ink pads.

A5 card using embossing folder & image free with one of the card magazines.

Little Clare Die Cut & peel-off.

Embossing folder & peel-offs.

This is my favourite card this month... created with an image which came free with one of the card magazines & peel-off letters for the sentiment.

A very basic card created with a pre-made topper.

Woodware butterfly stamp with 'bling' & card candy mounted on some mirror card stock.

Another version of the Woodware butterfly stamp, this time on a red mirror card stock.

Image printed from the 'Heart of the Garden' CD.

Circles cut from an embossing folder and mounted (2 flush & 2 raised).

The same image as before, just mounted differently.

WOYWW - 31 October 2012

Happy Halloween to all reading this post.

As today is also a Wednesday, Happy Whats On Your Workdesk Wednesday to everyone to :)

Today I am working on my Christmas cards, well on the toppers to be more acurate.  I tend to create two types of Christmas Card for my friends & Family.  The ones that look good, but are quick & simple to make & those that also look good, but take longer to make are are more detailed.

The more detailed cards will go to those who I know will appreicate a great look hand made Christmas Card.

I decided that I would use one of the stamp sets I brought a couple of weekends ago and that the main image will be the card toppers...

I am using a corner of table with a piece of craft sheet under my images as I colour them just to make sure that no colour reaches the tablecloth.

 

Here is a closeup of the image, at the moment I have 7 images on the go (production style), the owls will be in shades of Brown or Grey. I have finsihed a couple and are really pleased with the results.  As soon as I have a picture of a finished card I will add it to my blog.

Non Challenge Cards - September 2012

This month has been a bit crazy, so I have not really had the chance to sit and do any crafting.  But I have been able to snatch a few spare moments occasionally.  Rather than concentrating on cards for Challenges this month, I have been creating cards with anything that is to hand. So here they are...

I had these flowers on my desk from a previous card & decided to use them up, rather than adding them to my stash.  I even used a piece of Boarder created using the Woodware Edging System which was lying around.

This card was created using a left over piece of patterned paper & a topper I found in my stash

Using a Stampin' Up Owl & one of Delta's feathers I created this simple card.

Cards using the Cheetah Photo

For my Less is More challenge this week I created a card using a photo taken by DH during our African Adventure a few weeks ago.  I printed the image out 3 times at different sizes as I did not know which would be best, this left me with 2 copies to play with...

I used dies to cut each of the photos into shape and then started to think about what type of cards I wanted to create. I decided to use the Less is More idea and create cards that the focal point was the photo. So here they are...

I was pleased with the way in which both cards turned out and I think I will be printing more photos out to use in a similar way.

Happy Anniversary Cards

A work colleague asked me to create a Wedding Anniversary card, she though it was for a Golden Anniversary (but was not sure).  She is now on holiday and will need the card for next week when she returns to work.

I created 2 cards that featured Gold, just in case it was a golden anniversary, but if it was not it would not matter too much.  Both cards were created using bits from my stash & odd bits of paper/card stock.

The question now, is which will she choose? I think my favourite is the bottom one (with the green ribbon) :)

Hunkydory topper & peel-off sentiment

Image from one of my CDs (I can't remember which), sentiment from Stampin' Up (Teeny Tiny Wishes)

Zentangle Cards

Following my workshop at LLinda's Card & Craft shop yesterday afternoon I can now say that I have attempted Zentangle drawing...  as to if I am any good, well I will leave you to decided what you think.

We started with a flower shape and practiced different designs on each section.

Next we moved onto using a Peel-Off as the basis of the design.  The flower & leaves were coloured and then the background filled with Zentangle designs.

Our next attempt was using a Stencil for the outline (I then divided mine into 4 smaller sections), the designs on this card were created using a white gel pen on black card.

Things then started to get complicated... using a Woodware Stamp for the image, I used both Red & Green pens to create the Zentangle designs.

The creation of these 3 cards and flower sample did take time and a lot of concentration.  I did find that if I did not take regular breaks to look away from the paper I did get 'cross eyed' LOL. 

At the time I was not too keen on any of the cards, however looking back at them today I do like the Flower Sample and the Vase.

I guess that at all times we are our own worst critique.  I do think I will give Zentangle designs another go, but I don't think that they will be big projects.