Cards

 I've made a few cards this week, all for reasons you'd prefer not to have for making cards.

First, a card I made for a friend who's due to go into hospital for surgery:

I used a Sizzix die set for the owl, and an Elizabeth Craft set for the oval. The papers are from a magazine. I cut an aperture out of the paper-covered front of the card and placed the mounted owl into the space.

And the inside of the card. Paper is the reverse of the piece I used on the front of the card. Excuse my fingers in the top photo. I couldn't get it to lie flat enough!

And then, a couple of sympathy cards.

In both cards, the focal image is from Lavinia and the sentiment is Woodware. I've also used a couple of Aall and Create stencils, and in the top card, also a Woodware background text stamp. I masked the sentiment panel with removeable tape before adding Distress Ink. The top image was stamped in Versamark and embossed with clear powder. The lower card has the image stamped in Versafine Clair, as were the sentiments in both cards.

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 The challenge for this fortnight was set by my team mate Maggie, and she wants us to post something with a Fancy Fold.

I spotted instructions for an Infinity card on Craftworld recently. I tried one of these years ago, and it was horribly difficult with having to separate out sections using a craft knife. I wasn't impressed. This version just uses four separate pieces of card, and was so much easier! You can see the instructions here.

Then, I saw somewhere, I think it was a Lavinia Facebook group, where someone had filled the various panels with different pictures and decided to try something similar. The basic card started with four pieces of card, each 8in by 4in, and the end result is 8 by 8in. This is what I came up with!

This is the front. I created the picture as a whole and then cut it to fit the panels. Anywhere there is an opening or a fold, I treated as a separate panel. The stamps here are a mix of Lavinia and Inkylicious, and the background inks are Distress while the stamping ink was Versafine Clair.

When you open as if the card is a gatefold, you get this:

Mainly Lavinia with one Inkylicious stamp as well as some Tapestry stamps in the lower, large image. When you open this along the line between the cat and the sprite, you get this:

The poppy images are the same as in the last photo - visible on two 'sides' of the card. Again Lavinia, Inkylicious and also some Clarity stamps along with stencils from a set I got at The Range. And finally, opening along the central vertical line, you get this:

Stamps this time are from Inkylicious, Artemio, Woodware, and Personal Impressions.. I left a panel without an image so I can add a message.

Throughout, I've added detail to the stamped images using Posca pens, and on this face, I added a little glitter. Opening this along the horizontal centre returns you to the front of the card.

I do hope you can join us this time.

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 The challenge for this fortnight was set by my team mate CG and she wants us to use mainly yellow and orange. That seemed like an ideal opportunity to make something bright and cheerful, and this is what I came up with:

First, the background is stencilled using Crafter's Companion layering stencils and Distress Ink. The main image was stamped in Versafine Clair ink using a Woodware stamp. I coloured the image with Promarkers, added layering as shown. I used a corner rounder on the image and mat - with a wider corner on the bottom than the top, as I thought that worked for the image. The metallic orange band is an offcut I've had for many years - I originally had a few sheets in a 'Payperbox' selection I bought, I think, at Olympia when there used to be an annual craft show there, before it became just for knitting/and sewing. So, a long time! The flowers are from a length of floral lace I bought, also many years ago.

I do hope you can join us this time.

A Christmas Card

This project should have been for a Crafty Cardmakers challenge. That blog has ceased to exist, but I had posts scheduled and decided to continue to post my projects on the scheduled dates..

I made a Christmas card using an stamp from Woodware that I coloured with Promarkers. I added a stitched frame. I pierced the holes using a template I recently got which is actually intended for pricking holes in leather. There are some basic frames and a grid of holes too, although because it's intended for robustness, it's about 5mm thick and therefore quite hard to hold in place. Having said that, it worked fine for this frame. I completed with a layer of mirror card and I embossed the base card with snowflakes to add a little more texture.

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The challenge for this fortnight is to include an animal in your project. I decided to add to my collection of Christmas cards. I know it's summer, but I like to have my cards finished by the end of November so that I can post abroad without a last minute rush, so I start making them in the spring.

In fact, I made two cards for this challenge and they both feature a Woodware stamp as the central element.

Having decided that that Christmas jumper had to be coloured in bright, Christmassy hues, I couldn't decide whether to do mainly red or mainly green, so I did both. Both images were coloured with Promarkers and both backgrounds are stencilled.

I do hope you can join us this time.