Scrappy Happy Weekend

Over the weekend I continued with the plan to use up more of my card and fabric scraps to make some more cards. I got a bit carried away and made the following four cards plus blocks to go on future cards.

I forgot to take photos of my scraps before I started and I've completely used up some of the patterned paper scraps but I had a little bundle like this put together at the start of the weekend with fabric, card and even envelopes from bills.

My favourite die from WPlus9's Quilt Cuts 2 set is the star die and I used it and the inlaid die cut technique for all of my cards. For the first two cards I used some rainbow coloured fabric which I had left over from a quilt I made years ago.

Dies - Quilt Cuts 2 (WPlus9), Scalloped Squares (Spellbinders), Tags & Bookplates (Docrafts)
Stamp - Everyday Sayings (Hero Arts)

Die - Quilt Cuts 2 (WPlus9)
Stamp - It's Your Day (Hero Arts)

I love greens and blues so I have loads of scraps in these colours left over from other projects. In my stash of plain card scraps I have lots of kraft and white so used a combination of patterned and plain scraps to make the following cards.

Dies - Quilt Cuts 2 (WPlus9), Scalloped Squares (Spellbinders) and Thanks Stamp & Cut (Hero Arts)

Dies - Quilt Cuts 2 (WPlus9), Bundle of Stitched Shapes (Simon Says Stamp) and Tags & Bookplates (Docrafts)
Stamp - Everyday Sayings (Hero Arts)

Whenever I can I like to use recycled materials on my cards and now, thanks to the blue and white patterned insides of envelopes which came with bills, I have some blocks lined up for another card. At least there's some upside to bills;)

Love Quilt Block

My piles of scraps, both card and fabric, are getting out of hand so I'm going to make a few sets of quilt cards to try to make at least a little dent in these scrap piles. It will be fun sorting through the scraps and picking out the card/fabric that will go together.

For this card I die cut the quilt block from some scraps of patterned and black card. Then using a piece of label as an adhesive backer I inlaid the die cut pieces to make the mini quilt block.

Dies - Quilt Cuts 2 (WPlus9) and Bundle of Stitched Shapes (Simon Says Stamp)
Embossing folder - Quilted (Tim Holtz)

The block was framed with a die cut scalloped square and I added a wood button to finish the block. The block was mounted on an embossed background which my friend Linda sent me - thanks again, Linda:)

This in turn was layered on kraft card which had been die cut using a die from Simon Says Stamp's Bundle of Stitched Shapes.

I'm submitting this card into the Die Cut Diva's Love Marriage and Anniversaries Challenge.

Oh Christmas Trees

No doubt like lots of you I'm fairly busy in the run up to Christmas but am enjoying all the preparations. Maybe one of these years I'll start my Christmas preparations a bit earlier than usual! Anyway I think I'm nearly there with the cards I want to make this year but took a little break away from card making to join in on Hero Arts' Deck the Halls Challenge.

I love little felt decorations so decided to make some to pop on my tree using dies from Hero Arts Merry Christmas Tree stamp and die set. To start with I die cut felt Christmas trees and then die cut green felt circles (from the same Hero Arts set) and a red heart.

Dies - Merry Christmas Tree (Hero Arts) & Bundle of Stitched Shapes (Simon Says Stamp)

Then I decorated the trees with buttons, stitching, sequins and gems. After the trees were complete I added either ribbon or baker's twine between the tree front and back then stitched the outlines and added wadding before finishing the stitching.

As I had the Christmas tree die out I decided to make another card with a removable decoration.

This time I used up lots of green scraps by putting them in rows of strips, cutting and then cutting again to make a patchy background. After die cutting the tree twice I sandwiched ribbon between the two trees and added buttons to finish. Then I added the tree to the embossed background with glue dots so that the ornament can be removed and used.

I was determined to use up every bit of the scrap background I had left over from making the tree so ended up die cutting shamrocks to put aside for next St Patrick's Day using a sweet die my friend Linda gave me. I've definitely never been this far ahead of myself before for a celebration!

Die - Shamrock (Impression Obsession)

Quilted Thanks and Bookmark

I knew it wouldn't be long before I'd want to play again with the Quilt Cuts 2 dies from WPlus9 and this morning used them to make a card and matching bookmark.

Die - Quilt Cuts 2 (WPlus9), Stamp - Making the World a Better Place (Hero Arts), Papers - Snippets (Studio Calico) & Basics (Pebbles)

After die cutting and assembling the quilt blocks, I layered them on a strip of paper which I had punched with Fiskars threading water punch. The sentiment was stamped with faded denim distress ink. To finish I added a wooden button threaded with twine.

Then I made a little bookmark with another block. I layered the block on a scallop square die cut and sandwiched a large paper clip between this and another scallop square die cut.

I'm submitting these into Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes Challenge. Hope you're enjoying the weekend:)

Enjoy

Until today I hadn't blogged in nearly a month and now I end up with two posts in the one day - I certainly enjoyed some stampy time today! So this time I wanted to play along with Hero Arts’ new Stamp Your Story contest. The challenge is to stamp your story through a card, layout, journal page, mini booklet etc using at least one product from the fab new catalogue. To start with I thought I’d stick with something I make most often – a card.

Part of the story behind this card is my love of fabrics, lace and buttons. If I have a chance, I love to incorporate any or all of these into my cards.


Stamps (Hero Arts) - Number Pattern & Picnic

I usually don’t talk about feelings here on my blog (lol I’m sure you’re glad of that!) but I presume none of us has a perfect day every day. If I’m having a not so great day, I’ll always try to make sure to enjoy something from that day. It could be a walk, fun times with family/friends, the beautiful scenery, chatting with friends/family near or far away, a good book or even savouring a little bit of chocolate or a cuppa! So I tried to pull these aspects into my card – hope my story isn’t too much of a jumble!

I picked the Number Pattern from the new catalogue to represent dates and time. The panel was embossed and dried marigold distress ink applied. Then I used a bit of fabric to make the bottom part of the panel and flower. The lace on the flower and one of the lace layers on the main panel is Hero Arts lace ribbon – love that stuff! Big thanks has to go to my good friend Linda for the yummy buttons and rhinestone:) The buttons set Linda sent me triggered the colour scheme for the card.

Hope you'll play along with Hero Arts and stamp your story!

Autumn Birthday

I wanted to make a card and wrap a gift for a friend using autumn colours and some natural elements.


Stamps (Hero Arts) – Antique Engravings, Maple Leaf & It’s a Day for a Cupcake.

To make the wrapping paper and background for the card, I stamped the butterflies on a piece of parcel paper and kraft card, using walnut stain distress ink. I used a variety of distress inks (spiced marmalade, mustard seed, rusty hinge and barn door) on the leaves.



The maple leaf image was inked up and lightly spritzed with water before stamping. Then I cut out the leaves and applied some more ink as needed. Walnut stain was used again to stamp the sentiment on the card. To finish I just added raffia, wooden buttons and some twigs from the garden.



I’m submitting the card into the Focal Point Challenge in the Moxie Fab World, and the projects into the Paper Crafts September Gallery Challenge and the current Hero Arts Challenge (Fall Feast).

Sack and Cereal Box Valentine

I wanted to make another card for the Around the House Challenge in the Moxie Fab World and ended up picking things I never thought I would use on a card - a sack which had spring flowering bulbs in it (lol can you tell I'm a hoarder?!) and a cereal box.


Stamps (Hero Arts) - Buttons & Celebrate Everyday

With these materials I thought I'd make a masculine Valentine. To start with I adhered the sacking to white card and die cut circles using my Cuttlebug and Nestabilities. I applied barn door distress ink to the inside part of a piece cut from a cereal box. Then using the same ink, I stamped the heart button on this and two other pieces of cereal box. These were all cut out and adhered together. I added some more distress ink around the edges and poked holes through the "button" with a needle. The sentiment is also stamped with barn door distress ink.



I'm also submitting this card into the Die Cutting Challenge in the Moxie Fab World and the current Hero Arts Challenge, Love and Hugs and Kisses.

Shades of Autumn

I really love the glorious range of colours on trees in autumn. This week on the way to work, I've been enjoying the beautiful displays nature has on offer, glowing in the early morning sunlight. So with these colours in mind, I made this card for the current Hero Arts Challenge and the Lily Pad Cards Resist Challenge.

Stamp - Flower Text (Hero Arts)

To start with I embossed the image in white on white card and applied spiced marmalade and rusty hinge distress inks. I embossed the image again in white on white card and applied distress inks (walnut stain, barn door, mustard seed and shabby shutters) to the flowers and leaves. Now I really have inky multicoloured hands! I pieced the flowers and leaves and added gems and buttons to finish.

Hope you are all having a great weekend:)

Sending U Warm Fuzzies

Today I wanted to make a card with a mix of textures and materials. It started out because I was doing a sort out of my kids’ clothes and saved pieces of worn out jeans. Bits and pieces of these will probably end up on a patchwork bag but I took a little bit of denim for the card below.


Stamps (Hero Arts) - Everyday Sayings & Envelope Pattern

For the denim card base I adhered a piece of denim to a piece of card and die cut a scallop circle. The flowers were die cut from the denim and some pink felt. A “u” was also die cut from a little scrap of the felt. I had only one button with a check pattern on it, so for the smaller button I used a plain blue button and white embossed the envelope pattern on it. Appropriately enough, the sentiment was stamped using faded jeans distress ink.

I'm submitting the card into the following challenges:

Moxie Fab World - Fabulous Felt Challenge
Lily Pad Cards – Felt\Fabric Challenge
Creative Card Crew - Hand Made Flowers
Paper Creations Ink - Show Us Your Flowers

Fabric Flowers for Friends

I love making fabric flowers and over the weekend spent time making them for some friends. Instead of just putting the flowers in an envelope, I make a holder for them and also a little card with a tiny fabric flower to match.


Stamps (Hero Arts) – Be Happy, Clouds Background, Antique Engravings & Sew Artsy

A tutorial for the fabric flowers can be found here. I applied tumbled glass distress ink to the Clouds Background, lightly spritzed with water and stamped on white card.



The butterflies were stamped on scraps of white card which had barn door distress ink applied. I used some patterned paper for the grass\leaves and a little piece of baker’s twine for the flower stem.


Just to show the size of the tiny flower on the card.

I'm submitting these projects into the Fabric\Felt Challenge at Lily Pad Cards, Creative Card Crew's Hand Made Flowers Challenge, Paper Creations Ink's Show Us Your Flowers Challenge and also the current Hero Arts Challenge.

Inspired by Anita - Hero Hostess Inspired By Challenge

As this is our last week as Hero Arts Hostesses (the time went by way to quickly:(), we have planned one final challenge – “Inspired By”.

I’ve been so inspired by all my hosti sisters and everyone in the Hero Arts Flickr group. So for our challenge each of the current Hostesses has made a card inspired another Hostess, in order of the Hostess announcements. That means I’ve made a card inspired by the super talented, super fun and super sweet Anita and my good friend Linda has made this amazing card inspired by me. For my card inspired by Anita I tried to make a masculine card for this month's Hero Arts Challenge.


Stamps (Hero Arts) - Silhouette Grass, Large Canvas Stripes, Flower Text and Birthday Messages.

I’ve noticed from Anita’s photostream that she seems to love a blue, green & brown colour combination, buttons and stripes so I tried to incorporate all of these into my card. For the top portion of the card I applied faded jeans distress ink to white card and spritzed with water. Then I applied shabby shutter distress ink to the Silhouette Grass stamp, spritzed lightly with water, stamped on the background and then over stamped with a brown chalk ink. I stamped the green patterned paper at the bottom of the card with the Large Canvas Stripe using shabby shutters distress ink. The butterflies were punched from a scrap left over from another project (the Flower Text stamp had been embossed on white card with shabby shutters applied). The sentiment is embossed and I just added some buttons, a crimped brown strip and some twine to finish.

Anyone who would like to take part in the challenge can create a card\project inspired by any member of the Hero Arts Flickr group - there are 3,627 members to choose from! Full details of the challenge are here. I hope you'll join in on the fun:)

I am submitting this card into the Simon Says Emboss It Challenge.

My Fuzzy Valentine

I thought it might be fun to have a soft and fuzzy heart on a Valentine and the tutorial further down in the post explains how I made this faux chenille one.


Stamps (Hero Arts) - Old Letter Writing & Tree Birds and Messages

For the top part of the panel I embossed the Old Letter Writing in white. I spotted a heart in a scrap of patterned paper (sorry it was only a scrap so I don’t have the name of it) and thought it would be nice for the bottom part of the panel. Then I added lots of buttons which had been recycled off old blouses\shirts. The buttons had been threaded with twine or white yarn (coloured with antique linen distress ink). Hopefully the yarn “x”s on some of the buttons look like little kiss signs! The sentiment is stamped with barn door distress ink.

I'm submitting the card into -

Double Dutch Challenge #61 - Love is in the Air.
Tuesday Throwdown Challenge #35 - Buttons
Fab'n'Funky Challenge #59 - Tempting Texture

So here’s a tutorial for the heart. Cut 5 assorted pieces of red\pink cotton fabric to the desired size.


Stack the fabrics and tack together (I skipped the tacking bit!) to prevent them shifting while sewing. Then stitch a diagonal line across the middle. I didn’t bother marking lines but you can do so if you wish.


Stitch lines 3/8 inch apart on the diagonal across the whole surface.


Cut through the top 4 layers in the middle of the channels between the stitching.


To fluff up the fabric you can either wash the panel or if you’re keen to go like me fray the raw edges by scraping along them with your fingernails.


Pin one of the heart templates by Shari Carroll from Hero Arts to the fabric and machine stitch around the heart with a very small stitch.


Cut the heart out by snipping as close as possible to the stitched outline without cutting through it.


I was able to cut out two large hearts and two small hearts from the panel I made. I’ve order this Hero Arts sentiment set and will probably use the other hearts with the “sending warm fuzzies” sentiment.

Surrounded by Love

As soon as I saw Lisa’s post on the Hero Arts blog this morning I wanted to make a card. Lisa created an adorable card inspired by her super cute card on page 74 of the catalogue. I love these cards and decided to use them to come up with an idea for my hubby’s Valentine.

Lucy is sharing a sketch and card every day this week on her blog so I decided to use her sketch from Day 2. I may have strayed a bit too far off the sketch though!


Stamps (Hero Arts) – Heart Owls, Designer Woodgrain, Buttons, Flourish Background, Tree Birds & Messages.

The card came together pretty quickly. Most of the pieces on the card were in my pile of scraps - I really have to use more of them! The owls were coloured with watercolour pencils and I perched them on a twig which came from an old Christmas decoration. I made the heart wreath using the cute little heart shaped button from the Buttons set. The buttons were covered with a layer of Glossy Accents and some yarn threaded through the buttonholes. Thanks to Sue for the brown twine I used for the loop on the wreath. One of the scraps I used for the background had been clear embossed with the woodgrain stamp. On the other one I had applied walnut stain distress ink to white card and stamped, spritzed and spattered with water.

Butterflies, flowers and a teabag.

I keep seeing Lin creating wonderful cards like this and these for The Shabby Tea Room Challenges and keep thinking I must try the challenge. Although I love shabby chic style cards I find them very hard to make and never know if I’ve added too much or too little on my cards – maybe too much on this one! So here's is my first attempt at the challenge.

Butterflies, flowers and a teabag., originally uploaded by heather maria.

Stamps used (Hero Arts):- Antique Engravings & Silhouette Grass

The current Shabby Tea Room challenge is to use something old and something new. Since I only started making cards less than two years ago, I don’t have anything very old in my stash. So the things on the card that qualify as being old are the buttons which I’ve cut off old clothes over the years and the copper and diamond stickles which I bought when I first started making cards. The new things are the rhinestone flourishes, a technique which is new to me, the lace and a new teabag! Because of the faded flowers and the wheat in the background, I'm also submitting the card to the Everything Autumn Challenge at Hero Arts.



I just came across this brilliant video for making paper flowers and had to try it out. It’s great fun and I’ll definitely make lots of these in different colours and shapes. I made the two bigger flowers using this technique and the smaller flower is made up of two layers of Hero Arts flowers – thanks so much Vanessa and Linda for these!

I clear embossed the Silhouette Grass on a piece of silk and dyed the lace (originally white) with tea. The butterflies are stamped on paper which is cream and has green and copper swirls – thanks Paula and Dawn, I’m enjoying using the goodies you sent me. Sue (Stampersuzz) sent me these gorgeous rhinestone flourishes - thanks again Sue. I'm delighted to have used so many items on this card from blogging and non blogging (you need to start a blog Linda!) buddies in the U.S., Germany, Australia and New Zealand!



To finish I just added machine stitching, thread for the antennae, stickles and lots of buttons and beads.