Brilliant!

I think Sam's theme over on Lots to Do is absolutely Brilliant!  She gives a link to some well known chocolate bars and you choose one of them and use those colours in your work.  Obviously you have to use the colours of green and black but then you have the fun of putting another colour with them.

Not really my favourite, if I am being honest, but my first card is "cherry".  For this one I stamped with Ranger's Perfect Medium and then went over with Perfect Pearls 'Forever Green'.  I just don't use my PP's enough, apart from on my claywork, and I am going to make it a resolution to use them more as they are lovely especially when they catch the light.  It's a shame it doesn't show up in the scan.  The  background was run through my Cuttlebug and then I swiped over it with a Moss Green Mica Pad.

Got a bit carried away with this Challenge this morning and produced this next card for the Butterscotch flavour.  Again not my favourite but an ideal opportunity to use my Alcohol Inks.  This time I used Lettuce and Butterscotch (obviously) for my background.  I do love this stamp but cannot for the life in me think who it is by.

My third and final card actually does use my favourite type of chocolate - White.  Definitely a Milky Bar Kid.  I remember using this image a couple of years ago and one of my friends, Anne, liked it so much she went and bought some of the American Art stamps over the internet.  She never told me how many she bought though.
I used my Twinkling H2o's to colour the olives in and then decided to give her an emerald necklace and a greeny-yellow flower in her hair (Lemongrass).

Oh, sorry Cath - another PO at the top!

Blue and White Non Christmas Challenge

I made this card for a challenge on one of my Yahoo Groups, the parameters were to make a Christmas card in Blue and White using a non-Christmas stamp.

I used this image (not sure who it is by) which was stamped and embossed in Blue and then painted in various shades of Blue Twinkling H2o's.  I decided it looked a bit dull so I put some Stickles Icicle on the trees where the snow had fallen.  Sadly this does not show on the scan.

I used one of my Spellbinders Label dies and a couple of brads to put the sentiment on.

Left Overs

This is one of the cards I made with what was left over from my Alcohol Ink session the day before yesterday.  The images used are from a plate by Paperartsy.

This is the other one.

I also made a small one using the holly image.

Yes, Cath - the "Merry Christmas" is a Peel off.

I have been meaning to say that I got a Glue Glider Pro the other day and I love it.  It is so easy to handle and will be ideal for taking to the club - much better to take than my big ATG Gun.  It came with two refills so not sure how it will work out expense wise.  A good tip they give on the video at the above link is to put the cartridge in backwards for travelling - that way you don't get any sticky on your other things - and boy oh boy is that stuff sticky.

Orange, Blue and Green

Was going great guns with this when suddenly realised I had an appointment at Podiatry at 1 pm so had to stop at 12.30 to get ready - and all I had to do was upload the card!

This is my entry for the Play Date Cafe challenge this week, set by my friend Sarah. At first I thought it would be difficult to include the colours she had chosen, I love blue and orange, love blues and greens - but thought "all three!" I love Sarah's journal page where she got the idea from, but then I love all of Sarah's journalling.

Anyway, with the bauble from Elusive Images I managed to get all of the colours in and I stamped and embossed it in a dark blue. You would not believe all the shades of orange I used with my Twinkling H2o's. Eight of them, and in case you wonder what they were here is the list: Persimmon, Gold Dust, Ginger Peach, Mandarin Blush, Yellow Rose, Deep Coral, Dreamsicle and Orange Peel.

Mounted on two different shades of blue with a background created with blues and greens, a thin mount of silver and finally on a dark green main card, (I managed to get my squares cut perfectly because I used my Spellbinders dies) and it was complete. Had to guess the fine silver mount as they don't "step" so finely. For once my cutting with a scalpel went well.

One more card for sending - must get those envelopes done as I got my first two Christmas cards when I came back from Podiatry ... and only one was from overseas!

Another Christmas Card

I couldn't sleep so I got up in the early hours and did some 'playing' about in my craft room. First I got my Alcohol Inks out and made a couple of backgrounds with Butterscotch, Caramel and Terra Cotta. Then I used this Tim Holtz stamp with Black Archival Ink - one of my favourite stamps - and used the 'Merry Christmas' stamp as well.

I am hopeless at putting colours together and never seem to have papers that can be used (how I envy all those crafters who make those delightful cards like the ones you see with, say, Magnolia stamps) anyway, I spent far too much time looking for papers to go with my AI background. This is what I came up with in the end. The brown stripe is a satin ribbon and the stars are punched out of the same gold cardstock as is behind the main image.

I had lots of my AI background glossy left over so am making some cards using it - perhaps they will get posted tomorrow.

Following on from Last Posting - more instructions

This makes a slightly larger card - still the same width but longer. The "RED" is the tablecloth and nothing to do with the card, it is the same shape as the red one below.

The diagram below shows that you need a piece of cardstock 12" x 4" (or thick scrapbook paper which is what I used because I don't have any 12 x 12 cardstock)

• You make your cut this time 1 1/4" (one and a quarter inches) from the left hand side and 3" from the right hand side 1 1/2" (one and a half inches) from the top.
• Putting your ruler across the cardstock mark folds as shown at 1 1/4" (one and a quarter inches), 2 3/8" (two and three eighth inches), 4 1/8" (four and one eighth inches), 6" and 9" which leaves you with 3" at the right hand side.
• Make Mountain and Valley folds as indicated.
• Decorate.

Hope you can follow this and you enjoy making some cards this way.

By the way, I have written some measurements out because I found them rather confusing with the blog not changing them to fractions.

Fancy Folds

This is a slightly different folded card to the one I put up yesterday. This one is a 4" x 4" step card with a longer side. To decorate it I used my Spellbinders Fancy Tag for the word stamp which is embossed in Gold and I used a small Flourish (again Spellbinders) on the base of the card because it is only 3/4" deep and I did not want any more words on.

One or two of my friends have asked me to put instructions on my blog to make these so I hope you can follow them. It is easier to make one with me at one of my workshops but they are all booked up at the moment.

• The cardstock you need is 4" x 8". (If you fold your cardstock in half (to make two 4" x 4" sections) you will get your first fold. I find this the easiest way to do it but you may prefer to just follow the diagram)
• You need to mark a slit 1 1/2" (one and a half inches) down from the top edge and 3/4" (three quarters of an inch) from the left hand side and 2" from the right as shown on the diagram below. Cut this slit very carefully.
• Now score vertically, from the cut downwards, at 3/4" (three quarters of an inch), 1 1/2" (one and a half inches), 2 3/4" (two and three quarters of an inch), 4" (unless you folded already - you will see from the diagram this is the only fold which goes along the top bit above the cut) and 6"
• Fold with mountain and valley folds as shown on diagram below.
• Decorate.

I find, when doing these cards that the most difficult bit is selecting the images to go on them. I try not to have them a mixture of styles.

TIP: Try it out on a piece of scrap paper first.

This is only a very small card and I have worked out sizes to make one which fits in the normal envelope but so you don't get confused I will post this one later. Try this small one first to get the hang of it.

My next card I call the Double Diamond Fold. A bit more fiddly when folding than the one above but well worth it - if you have cardstock that is 12" wide. I used some thick scrapbook paper that I have and as these cards are going abroad it will save on postage because of the weight anyway.

Cut your cardstock to 12" x 5"

Score in half horizontally (across long side)

Score vertically 2 1/2" (two and a half inches) from both left and right hand sides.

At the top and bottom edges make a mark 4 3/16" (four and three sixteenth inches) from the left and right edges.

Mark the centre scored line at 3 1/8" (three and one eighth inches) from the left and right edges.

Score between these points as shown on the diagram.

Carefully fold into Mountain or Valley folds as shown on the diagram.

Decorate.

It can be a bit awkward the first time you do it to get it to fold but if you make sure your folds are well creased as below you will find it pops into the correct shape.

I hope you can follow these diagrams and have success with your cards. Hope I have not made any boobs with my instructions either - no doubt someone will tell me if I have.

I am entering these two cards (or one if Hilda just wants to put one up) in the Lots to Do Challenge this week which is a free choice.

Photos - Bah Humbug!

A bad workman blames his tools, or so they say, but honestly I cannot take a decent closeup photograph of any of my cards. Sorry for this being slightly blurred.

This is one of those step cards (if that is what they are called) similar to the ones I made in America for my friend Mary to use in her workshop. I was especially pleased to hear from her that my cream and gold one had been "the hit of the day - everyone loved it". Don't have a photograph of it to put on here so I made one today in the colours "Purple, Blue, White and Silver" which just happen to be the colours for the challenge on Play Date Cafe at the moment.

Just in case (doubtful) someone has not seen how it is here is a side view.

First of all I used Purple cardstock to make the base of the card, I think it may have looked better in Lilac but Purple was the colour required for this challenge. The cardstock was cut at 26 cm x 14 1/2 cm and folds were made at 3, 6, 10, 15 and 20 cm along the long side. These were then made into mountain and valley folds as shown below.

The images were stamped in Brilliance Pearlescent Sky Blue and I used Spellbinders Labels Seven to cut out the shapes. For this image (a PSX stamp) I used the largest die to cut out the blue mount and the next one down for the image.

The next image (again PSX) was cut out and mounted on the next size die down.

Finally the book. I used the next to the smallest die and cut three pieces out of paper, not cardstock. These were edged with a Silver Dabber and the words "Merry Christmas" were stamped in the same Brilliance ink. Only the right hand pages were stuck to one another and the 'book' was then stuck, again only the right side, to the main card. A blue gem was added to the top left hand corner for a bit of interest.

To finish off I put some silver stars on the main card and added a white, edged with silver, ribbon and bow.

I now need to do a red and gold one for my son and his partner. Andy loved my original card but Sam has definite views on what she wants and didn't want this shape of card as it won't hang up. I thought if I did one in her chosen colours for this year she might display it on the mantlepiece or something. We'll have to see.

Going to the Wire

A last minute third entry for the Lots to Do Challenge. How I wished I had some molds that were not hollow. I wanted to run one through my Cuttlebug.

Not to be deterred I used a Cuttlebug Folder instead - Rough Diamonds (one of my favourites). I put some copper on a chipboard tag and ran it through my folder and then played around with some of the tools on the side.

Next I tried various images in frames, slide mounts etc but none of them looked right so I put some watch pieces on. All of this was done between watching Pudsey on the tv so probably what I will do tomorrow is cut some lettering and put that on - probably "TIME" or something similar. Would like to put "tick, tock, tick" on but I don't think it will fit.

Ah well, Sam, I made it before midnight. But you certainly got me playing around with metal embossing - watch out for more ...

Just in Time

I wanted to do another entry for the Lots to Do Challenge but this time use some metal embossing. So I got my Ten Second Studio molds out and had a play. Had not done any for quite a while and so I had forgotten how it made my hand ache pressing so hard with my paper stump.

Anyway, I did this panel and made it into a bookmark - put some Alcohol Inks on and then when the inks had dried I rubbed it down with a buffer. The card is using images from Non Sequitur and the masking technique. I decided to leave the main image white and used chalks to colour the background.

This shows the bookmark before it was rubbed down - the inks I used were Lettuce, Butterscotch and Rust.
This is after I rubbed it with the buffer.
It is going to be a birthday card for one of my friends who loves Egypt and missed out on a visit last year. I am sure she will be going in 2010. Hope she likes it.

If I get some time later in the day I think I might do a bit more metalwork and this time use some of the wheels to pattern the sides. Watch this space!

Amended

I had interpreted "Kraft Paper" wrongly and it should have been what I call "brown wrapping paper" so I have now peeled my sentiment off and redone it on Kraft Paper as below. I was not asked to redo it but I felt I should as I want my complete banner to be following all the correct ingredients.

More for the Banner

Second part of the banner Challenge on Ready Steady Stamp came up this morning but as I had to go to see Andy I couldn't start it straight away. I didn't believe it when I looked through my Christmas stamps and found that this is the only Christmas Tree stamp I have - well only non-cute one. Don't know where the cute one came from as I will never use it.

Anyway the ingredients for this one are: Christmas tree, eyelets, Kraft paper, Cut n'Dry stamping. The only problem I had was interpreting "Kraft paper" and I have used what I call Scrapbook paper and hope this is what is meant.

I've stayed with my colour scheme, stamped and embossed the tree (in keeping with the last pennant - and painted it with Ginger to match in), used a piece of Kraft Paper (?) cut in an oval behind the tree and put eyelets in the fancy tag (Spellbinders) which houses my script for this one. The background was done with my gold chain pressed into heated Cut N'Dry using Gold Encore.

I've used the little stars again randomly over the cream cardstock and put three, again, on the bottom. Hope it does not matter that these are additions that were not in the list.

Lots to Do Challenge

The Challenge on Lots to Do this week is "embossing". I would have loved to do something with some metal and my Ten Second Studio tools, or even some Cuttlebug stuff but have so much catching up to do that I really had not the time. So here is my entry - just simple gold embossing.

My daughter in law, Sam, had me make eight of these for her birthday table last year when she was having some friends over. Obviously she did not keep them because she asked me to make two more for Christmas for her and Andy to have on their table this year. "Sam - you had better keep these".

She only wanted "swirls" on her pyramids so I made another one for someone - probably fill it with sweets or something for Chas' aunt - with Christmas Angels on. Sorry these do not show up in the photograph but my camera could not perform any better and so I lost patience after downloading three attempts.

Some of you may remember seeing these when I had an article published in Craft Stamper but it was 2005 when it was submitted (can't remember when it was published) so maybe you don't remember. I do have the magazine somewhere as I saved all the ones with my work in.

Anyway, sorry my entry is nothing more exciting. Who knows, might get around to doing something else another day.

Fleur De Lis

Two posts in one day - a bit like waiting for a bus.

Sorry this scan is not a particularly good one - there is a border on the right hand side in real life. I just could not face scanning again as the first two scans had been wonky on account of the dies being layered on foam. They just kept on twisting when the lid went down on the scanner.

This is the Fleur De Lis die from Spellbinders and it is gorgeous. Not at all difficult to cut as I had been led to believe. I used my Cuttlebug to cut it as I don't have any plates for the Raspberry Wizard because someone told me to use a magnetic plate at one time and it has buckled my cutting and embossing plates.

Not sure there are square snowflakes but in "art" anything goes, well in my book it does. I first cut two shapes out and then used the small centre one. These are all layered up on foam and there is a large gem in the centre and four smaller ones on each point of the base diecut.

It was gong to be a bit hit and miss if I cut out a square from the centre so I just cut a square, again using Nestabilities, and adhered that to the top large one before adding the small shape.

If you go to Amazing Paper Grace blogsite (see right) you will see some gorgeous examples of how Becca Feeken used this die.

Beginning a Banner

The Challenge this week on RSS is to create a banner over the next eight weeks. The ingredients are as above. Size of the pennant was left to us as were the colours used - mine is 8 1/2" long x 5 1/4" wide at the top and the colours I will use throughout the challenge are Cream, Gold and Ginger. These are the colours we have on our Christmas Tree so I wanted it to coordinate with that.



To begin with I cut a pennant shape in Ginger cardstock and then a smaller one in Cream so that I could have a border on the sides. I wanted to use my new Angel stamp (PSX) and so I stamped and embossed it in Gold, colouring it with Twinkling H2o's in Ginger Peach. Once cut out it was to be adhered to the pennant with foam. Then the fun began!

I stamped Music Script as a background in Terra Cotta (Adirondacks) but it was too busy when I put the Angel on so I tried French Script in Gold but again that was too busy. Eventually I tried the Florentine Scroll Background (Hero Arts) with Encore Metallic Gold and that was fine.

I had some small metallic Stars in Silver but I wanted Gold so I had to colour them with my Krylon pen. These were then randomly placed over the background. Next a Sentiment (unknown) that had tiny stars on it was stamped and embossed in Gold on Cream and cut out with my Nestabilities with a slightly larger one in Ginger to form a backing.

Finally three tiny stars were cut out (again Nestabilities) in Gold Metallic cardstock and added to the bottom of the pennant with a Gold thread. Oops! No jewels! Three jewels were then placed on the stars and it was complete. All ingredients finally in place.

Now what will the next Challenge bring?

American Eye Candy

Whilst in America I should have gone on a full day workshop making 20 (yes, twenty) Christmas cards. Unfortunately I was too ill to go but my friend Mary went along and came back with the kits (in a beautifully decorated bag with my name on) for me to complete. Where Mary did not have the stamps at home she had stamped the images ready for me. Isn't she an angel!

Some of the cards I did do in America and some I brought home to finish - and I still have some to complete.

I love how the Americans use ribbons on their cards, something I all too often omit from my cards - promise to myself - will start using ribbons on cards.

I especially love this big green bow on this one.

This was one of my favourite stamps that they had used. I just love this tree and think I might have to buy the set next time I am over. I love the sentiment stamp as well but that is from a different set. By the way - they are all Stamping Up, as is the cardstock which is why it is in such yummy colours.
This one I made a bit of a mess of by folding the scalloped circle in the wrong place - perhaps I can redo it with one of my own stamps.

This is another tree that I like and I am now the proud owner of this stamp. I love the tiny sentiment used on this card - so handy for so many tiny shapes.

Now, I do not do cute but I do like this card, notice the two different ribbons used on it.

Another cute one and an easy way of using a circle on a card, I am sure you could easily cut the base shape out.

I seem to have used my tree again on this card and am now wondering what was on the original one.

This one is a kind of trifold card and something I am going to use again when making some more Christmas cards over the next few weeks.

Another stamp which I brought home (thank you so much Mary) which is very popular over there. Not sure if SU do it in the UK but you will see it popping up on more of my Christmas cards shortly.

Finally a bright and cheerful card which I can almost repeat as I stamped some of these images before I left.

Hope you have enjoyed looking at these cards - my taste of America for you - thanks to Mary!

Lots to Do Challenge

This is my entry for the Lots to Do Challenge this week. This week Sam chose "Distressing" and as I love my Distress Inks and like to make a mess I decided to do just that. Also am so behind with my Christmas cards that I thought I should use that topic so that at least it will be one more Christmas card ready.

I hope it looks "distressed" enough.

I first of all tore some paper up and stuck it on a piece of cardstock, then I went over it in parts with some Gesso. Dried it off and then used three of my favourite colours of Distress Inks for Christmas things - Worn Lipstick, Peeled Paint and Spiced Marmalade. Dried it off again and put a bit more Gesso on before drying off yet once more. Then I went around the edges with Fired Brick and finally stamped the Tim Holtz stamp using Versafine Black.

Somehow the paper I stuck on where his head landed has kind of puffed up a bit so it looks good, gives him a sort of roundness to his face.

Then it was just a case of mounting up, tearing the cardstock at the bottom a bit and assembling the card.

Right, am feeling quite tired now so I will leave it there. Hope to do another Challenge tomorrow or the day after. Need to think!

Thank You Liz and Zoe

Well, I returned from my trip to America to find two packages waiting for me. Apologies to both Liz and Zoe for not thanking them earlier but if you remember I was ill whilst in America and have been so since. Today is the first day I have felt like doing anything and I have just scanned them in and uploaded them here.

If you click on their names above it will take you to their blogs - well worth a visit.

This is a tag from Liz (above). A real beauty which I commented on on her blog. it really is gorgeous so a great BIG thank you to Liz for allowing me to have one of her stunning pieces of work. I love how she has used the lace, feathers and pearls - and the image is beautiful and glossy. Wonder where she gets these from?

Zoe sent a card with her tags and she has used this Beethoven collage stamp in a most unusual way which does not show in the scan. It is stamped and embossed in a blueish silver on white cardstock and then the musical instrument is stamped again on acetate and placed over the image below.

Not one, but five tags from Zoe, she certainly intends me filling my tag house up. The first one is stamped and embossed in silver with a gorgeous material butterfly on it which has beads sewn down the centre. A tiny embossed tag is also attached and there are jewels all over. The centre tag is done on acetate and when you hold it against a light it looks like a stained glass window. The third tag has grungeboard crowns on it and I am intrigued by the lettering she has used. I cannot fathom how she has done it at all.

The first of the final two tags from Zoe also has me intrigued. I would love to know how she has got the surface of this tag done as it is a technique I would like to try myself. The last tag is in silver with tiny bands going across it with wording stamped on and some shrink plastic stars dangle from a beaded hanger.

Now aren't I the lucky one! Thank you so much for sending me samples of your artwork to fill my tag house. I can assure you both it is well full now.

Holiday Over

It certainly does not feel as if we have been in America for a whole month but tomorrow we fly back home to wet and windy (and very cold) England. Hard to understand that, as we bask in sunshine here in LA in shorts and t-shirt, that tomorrow we will be setting off with sweaters and jackets in our hand luggage ready to wear on our arrival in Manchester on Wednesday afternoon.

Today we fulfilled one of Mary's desires, to have a hot turkey sandwich down at Al Reads for lunch - yes, she took her tin of Cranberry Jelly - good job - they did not have any. Now Mary and the waitress thought we English were a slate loose of a shilling because we wanted fries with our hot turkey sandwich and not mashed potatoes. When asked if we wanted "gravy" we really did not know what to say so we chose one with and one without. I drew the short straw and had the one without. Now we understand the concept of the mashed potato with the turkey sandwich WITH gravy.

Some of you may know that I entered a competition at Blade Rubber before I left, only because they had only had one entry and were appealing for more. Well, this is my journal page - and it came in second place.

The subject was "where I spent my summer holidays" so this is about Happy Valley in Llandudno.

Next time I write it will be back in England - snuggling up with central heating and woolly jumpers no doubt. Roll on next January!

Stamping Day

Seeing that I had missed both the classes I had been booked into whilst staying with Mary because of being ill she kindly invited Carol (have spent many a happy time with Carol at CHA in the past) and a new friend for me, Mari, over for a day of stamping.

Each one of us was to do our own thing so I continued with these cards which I had started a couple of days ago. This was a workshop the girls had been to with Gayle (Smith) which I particularly liked and used a Stamping Up set.

Now, if some of these cards look a bit wonky it is because they are waiting for pale blue brads to be put in so the elements are only placed on with a teeny bit of sticky tape. A temporary measure - but I wanted to upload something as my blog has been so neglected whilst I have been away.

Oops! They look more than a "bit" wonky. Positively drunk!

At lunchtime we all went down to Al Reads which is just a short distance along the road that Mary lives on but when we got there Sunday lunch is not served until 4 pm! Drat! Mary had so been looking forward to a hot turkey sandwich (she'd taken her own tin of redcurrant jelly just in case ...). Decisions, decisions, decisions ... we decided to go to Coco's.

What a darlin' waitress we had there. Turned out she knew Mary from years ago - they used to go square dancing together. So after a treat from Mari we all came back and continued with our play day - well, I chickened out and went and sat on a recliner, and fell asleep!

Now, when we come back in January I have promised I will do a workshop for them ... thinking cap on ... what can I do to impress these ladies?