Cute Wedding

Hi there

Apologies for the radio silence.  I've completely lost my creative mojo lately, I'm hoping to sit down and have a proper look for it later!

In the meantime, I thought I'd pop on and share a card I made last month.  I was commissioned to create a card for a friend for her son's wedding, I was waiting until after the day to share it here then it completely slipped my mind.

Here it is, the brief was an A5 wedding card with a cute theme featuring owls...

As a CAS cardmaker I really struggle with larger sizes such as A5, as I find it difficult to fill such a large area whilst maintaining my usual style.  As I opted for the textured frame I was really happy with how this turned out.

I began by cutting the upper panel, from a sheet of embossed stripe cardstock, and die cutting the stitched aperture.  This way I could be sure that the focal point was positioned correctly on the card base behind.  I roughly marked the focal area with a pencil and then stamped the branch, owls, leaves, hearts, top hat and flower, before then roughly masking and creating the clouds with a stencil and Distress Ink.  Before adhering the panel, I wrapped some decorative ribbon around the panel and topped with a bow.  The panel was then adhered on 3D foam strips.

I printed the wording onto some white cardstock (using a font called dearJoe 5 CASUAL) and cut the two hearts out with a stitched heart die to tie in with the stitched aperture.  I adhered these, popping some 3D foam squares behind the parts that overlapped the aperture, and to finish added some Glossy Accents to the owls' eyes...

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Paired Up (branch/hearts/leaves), Woodland Pals (owls); Mama Elephant - Three Amigos (hat); Penny Black - Salutations (flower)
• Ink: Altenew - Lava Rock, Mocha, Morning Frost; Versa Color - Olive, Pink, Rose Red; Distress Ink - Tumbled Glass; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stencil: MFT - Cloud
• Dies: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles; MFT Die-namics - Stitched Heart Stax
• Accents: Glossy Accents

Challenge entries:

Fab 'n' Funky - Challenge #440 - Wedding

Thanks so much for visiting, hopefully I'll find some crafty inspiration soon and be able to share more with you.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! :)

Wonderful Mum

Hi there

Today I'm sharing the card I recently made to send to my wonderful mum for her birthday.

After making this card recently, I still had the pot of texture paste on my desk so thought I'd make another using texture paste, ink and a stencil.

Here it is...

I placed the mandala stencil onto a white cardstock panel and then squished three shades of Distress Ink onto my blending matt and mixed each, one by one, with matte texture paste and spread it through the stencil.  I absolutely love how the white paste completely changes the colours of Distress Inks.  The pink in the centre is in fact Wilted Violet, the lavender shade is Blueprint Sketch and the minty green in Lucky Clover!

Once dry I die cut the panel with a stitched rectangle die.  I was worried the paste would flatten going through the Big Shot but the die must have taken the majority of the pressure so there is plenty of texture left on the surface.

I embossed the sentiment in white onto a vellum panel which I wrapped around the panel and secured on the reverse.  The 'wonderful' was die cut three times and stacked up, the top layer being white fine glitter cardstock.  I then finished by popping up the panel on fun foam.

Materials used:

• Stencil: Studio Katia - Mandala
• Embossing Paste: Dreamweaver
• Ink: Distress Ink - Wilted Violet, Blueprint Sketch, Lucky Clover; VersaMark
• Stamp: Papermania - Relations (serif)
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Opaque Bright White
• Dies: Reverse Confetti - You're So; Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles
• Vellum and cardstock from stash

Challenge entries:

Time Out - Challenge #120 - Colourful (pastels can still be colourful, right?)

Seize the Birthday - Anything Goes

Thank you for visiting, I may be back later today with another make.  And hopefully I'll be sharing more soon as I really need to get a wriggle on and make some Christmas cards!

Unicorn Sparkles

Hi there

I'm popping back today to share this card I recently made for an order, for a little girl's birthday, the niece of a work colleague.

As well as being from her auntie it needed to include pink, glitter, her name and her age too.

Here's what I came up with...

I started by stamping the unicorn and colouring it with a mix of ProMarkers and FlexMarkers.  I used a cloud die to cut some pink and white glitter cardstock which I positioned and adhered along the top of the panel.  I die cut the letters for Izzy's name from the same pink glitter card and the number 9 from the white.  I die cut the balloon from some purple glitter polka dot card and drew the balloon string with a silver pen before adhering down the die cuts.  I stamped the sentiment in black before popping the panel up on 3D foam.  To finish I added some sparkle to the unicorn's horn and and hooves.  The sparkle can be seen much clearer below...

Materials used:

• Stamps: Azeeda - Proud Unicorn; Clearly Besotted - Sweet Little Family
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Coloured with ProMarkers and FlexMarkers
• Dies: MFT - Bottlecap Letters; PTI - Modern Numbers; Lawn Fawn - Puffy Cloud Borders; Clearly Besotted - Let's Party Die
• Accents: Spectrum Noir - Clear Sparkle pen; Signo Uniball pen - Silver

Thanks so much for popping by, I appreciate all my followers and visitors so much :)

Frosty Snowflake Panel

Hi guys

I'm writing this post surrounded by cold and flu tablets, cough medicine, tissues, honey and lemon, and I've been in my PJs all day feeling sorry for myself.

But I wanted to come back and share another of this year's Christmas cards before the year is out!  And this is another that was made to order.

On a panel of white cardstock I masked a vertical strip and began by stamping and heat embossing a few snowflakes in white.  I then used the emboss resist technique and blended three colours of Distress Ink over the top.  I then stamped a few more snowflakes in pigment inks and splattered some shimmer using a mix of mica powder and water.  The shimmery splatters can be seen better below.

I removed the masks and stamped the 'Merry Christmas', and then heat embossed 'Sister' in silver and die cut with it's co-ordinating die.  The panel was then popped up on fun foam.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Uniko - Stunning Snowflakes; Clearly Besotted - Many Mini Messages, Sugar and Spice (and co-ordinating die)
• Ink: VersaMark; Distress Ink - Spun Sugar, Tumbled Glass, Dusty Concord; Versa Color - Lilac, Lavender, Grape; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Opaque Bright White, Metallic Silver
• Mica Powder: Honey Doo Crafts - White Opal

Challenge entries:

AAA Cards - CAS Game #105 - Sparkle
Happy Little Stampers - December Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes
Creative Inspirations - Challenge #284 - Winter/Christmas




You'll be glad to know, I think I only have one more Christmas card to share.  Back soon x

Winter Foliage

Hi guys

Back this time with a card I made for an order.  For this one I went with some traditional winter foliage stamps.

I stamped all the foliage first, directly on the card base with a little masking for the pine cone.  I then stamped the Merry Christmas and embossed in gold, and did the same with the die cut sentiment strip, embossed in gold on red cardstock.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Uniko - Winter Foliage, Jingle Bells, Fontiments Birthday (ampersand!); Clearly Besotted - Scrumptious Script, For Everyone
• Ink: Altenew - Forest Glades, Evergreen, Moss, Ruby Red, Mocha, Espresso; VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Metallic Gold Rich
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Stitched Sentiment Strips

Challenge entries:

Uniko - Challenge #44 - Christmas

Happy Little Stampers - December Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes

STAMPlorations - December Challenge - Theme and Sketch - Stamps and Gold

Creative Inspirations - Challenge #284 - Winter/Christmas

Thanks for visiting, I'll be back soon with more Christmas makes!

First Birthday Unicorn

Hi there

Today I'm sharing a card I recently made for an order.  The brief was to make a personalised first birthday card featuring a unicorn and it had to be pink and sparkly.  The request was for the card to be fairly large which was a challenge in itself as, being a CAS card maker, I'm used to making standard A6 cards and often struggle to fill larger designs.  This one was A5.

Here it is, a lot busier than my regular designs but I was pleased with the result and I think I fulfilled the brief...

I started on the card base and used a stencil to create the pink and lilac clouds for the background.  Two panels were cut with stitched cloud border dies and set aside until I was ready to adhere them.  Next I stamped the unicorn, coloured with ProMarkers and fussy cut it out.  I die cut the stitched rainbow from a selection of cardstock scraps (and now have lots of bits remaining to make another five rainbows!)  Lots of die cutting was involved for this card!  Next I die cut the balloon from some textured lilac cardstock, then cut the lettering and number 1 from glitter cardstock, some in white for the balloon, and some in pink for the name.  It was then just a case of putting it all together and adhering in place.  I stamped the sentiment onto the front cloud panel before popping that one up on fun foam for some dimension, as well as popping up the unicorn.  And of course, no unicorn is complete without some sparkle so I added some clear Wink of Stella to finish the card.  The photo below picks up the sparkle a little better.

Materials used:

• Stencil: MFT - Mini Cloud Edges
• Ink: Distress Ink - Spun Sugar, Milled Lavender, Shaded Lilac; Versa Color - Heliotrope
• Stamps: Woodware - Unicorn
• Dies: Lawn Fawn - Puffy Cloud Borders; MFT Die-namics - Bottlecap Letters, Blueprints 26 (balloon), Stitched Rainbow; Papertrey Ink - Modern Numbers
• Coloured with ProMarkers
• Accents: Wink of Stella - clear

Challenge entries:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

Alphabet Challenge - M for Make Your Mark

Moving Along with the Times - Challenge #53 - Add a Number

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #257 - Make Your Mark

Thanks so much for popping by.  I'll be back in the morning with details of the next challenge over at Less is More.

Less is More Week #333

Good morning

At Less is More this week it's the turn of our Theme challenge.  I'll get straight to the details...

We have the lovely Lucie of Lucie G Cards joining us as a Guest Designer this week following her recent win for May so I'm sure she'd love a visit from you if you have the time.


I was a bit stumped by the 'personalise it' theme as there aren't any specific cards I need for individuals right now so I decided to go with a relative for my personalisation and made a sister card for my stash.  I also recently purchased a new floral stamp set and wanted to ink that one up so here's my card...

I took a panel of cardstock cut slightly smaller than my card base and stamped the leaves and flower heads using two tones of each colour for a little depth, using my MISTI so I could restamp the darker areas.  I then stamped 'Sister' and used the co-ordinating die to cut this out, stacked some more die cuts behind it and popped it back in place with added dimension (sorry, you can't really see the dimension in this photo).  I finished by stamping 'the best' and then popped the panel up on fun foam.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Mama Elephant - Brushed Florals; Clearly Besotted - Sugar and Spice (and co-ordinating die)
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black; Altenew - Frayed Leaf, Forest Glades, Puffy Heart, Purple Wine, Soft Lilac, Lavender Fields, Sea Glass, Ocean Waves

Challenge entries:

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #246 - Anything Goes

The Flower Challenge - Challenge #9 - Anything Goes

Apologies for just one card this week, I've had a crazy few days and a serious lack of crafty time.  My teamies have made some brilliant cards this week so please do follow the LIM link at the top of this post to visit the main challenge blog, where you will also find links to their personal blogs and perhaps even more inspiration.

Thanks so much for visiting, I read and appreciate each and every one of your comments.  Wishing you a lovely weekend whatever you're up to.

Vintage Rose Wedding

Hi guys

Back in November last year I shared some Save the Date cards I made for a friend's forthcoming wedding.  You can find the post here.

I've been meaning to share the invitations with you which I made a couple of months ago so here they are.  I'm a bit disappointed with the photos but these are the best results I could get before delivering them to the happy couple.

Although only 20 invitations were required, they actually took a fair amount of time to create due to the rose and leaves being three step stamping.  So each of the horizontal panels required 12 individual stamped images...the rose, and three separate leaves.

The wording was printed using the same fonts as the Save the Date cards, EcuyerDAX and Elegant Typewriter.  For the ampersand I used another font but can't recall the name.  I then continued with the tag theme and also the jute twine to echo the Save the Date cards.

The wedding is taking place over an entire weekend so inside, as well as the venue details I also included an itinerary for the day.  I also then included a menu for pre-selection and RSVP cards together with return envelopes.

Materials used:

• Cardstock: Paper Mill Direct - Smooth Ivory, Neenah - Desert Storm
• Stamps: Altenew - Vintage Roses
• Ink: Versa Color - Vanilla, Sand Beige, Umber
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Stitched Tags
• 2 ply jute twine

Challenge entries:

613 Avenue Create - Challenge #179 - Anything goes (Wedding Stationery)

Crafty Cardmakers - Challenge #165 - Monochrome

I will also be making some Order of Service stationery for the bride and groom which will be very slightly different.  I'll share these with you once created.

Thanks so much for visiting today, your visits and comments are so appreciated :)

Vintage Rose Save the Date Tags

Hi guys

I've got something a little different to share with you today.

I was recently asked by a friend to make some Save the Date cards for her wedding next year.  They had seen some online that they liked that were in the form of a luggage tag so they wanted to go with that design.  Based on the colour scheme she gave me I made some mock-ups with different fonts and images for them to choose from.

This was the final design...

I printed the wording onto some cream cardstock before die cutting with the stitched tag die.  The fonts I used were called EcuyerDAX, Elegant Typewriter and Typewriter Condensed.  I think these work really well with the rose design.  Then came the time consuming part.  When I showed them the vintage rose design I didn't imagine how much time these would take.  Of course, the roses and the leaves are separate stamps and it is also a three-step stamping set, so each tag has twelve separate stamped images on it! Unfortunately, my printer won't take very thick card so the card I used was fairly thin, so I die cut more tags and adhered them back to back (my poor Big Shot was very tired, as was my arm!).  This also covered up the rough side of the die cuts and gave a better finish.  I then punched the holes with a single hole punch and tied some jute twine to each one.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Altenew - Vintage Roses
• Ink: Versa Color - Vanilla, Sand Beige, Umber
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Stitched Tags
• 2-ply jute twine

I would like to link these up at the following challenges:

The Challenge - Challenge #48 - Weddings

Sweet Stampin' Challenge - Dies and/or Punches (used both here)

The Friday Mashup - Challenge #232 - Leaves

Crafty Catz - Challenge #299 - Let's Tag It

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

I'm now putting together some ideas for the wedding invitations using the same theme and will share these at a later date.  

Thanks so much for visiting today.  Have a great day whatever you're up to.

Natural Wedding

Hi guys

Today, I'd like to share a commission card I've made for a friend.  The big day she wanted the card for isn't until Monday but I'm sure the happy couple don't follow my blog and will be far too busy to see it!  The brief was a fairly modern and simple design using neutral, champagne and gold colours.

I started by using a card base which I've had in my stash for years, and it had an already debossed central square panel.  I die cut a smaller square from some cream hammered cardstock and cut a notch on either side for the jute twine to be tied around, without shifting.  The names and date were computer generated and printed on the same cream cardstock before die cutting with a tag die.  The tag die I used was wider than I wanted so I cut down the edges before attaching with the twine.  Next, using some natural pearlescent cardstock I stamped some dots and a stitched heart with VersaMark before heat embossing in white and then used the corresponding heart die to cut these out.  Next I die cut the 'love' word from gold cardstock and adhered this over the hearts.  Once the cream square panel had been popped up on 3D foam I secured the two tags also with 3D foam to stop them shifting around.  The final touch was to add a few pearls.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Love Hearts and Building Blocks
• Ink: VersaMark
• Dies: Clearly Besotted - Love Hearts, Love Word Die and Tag Along
• Embossing Powder: Stampin' Up - White
• Cardstock, twine and pearls from stash

Challenge entries:

Let's Craft and Create - Challenge #95 - Ribbon or Twine
STAMPlorations - August Challenge - Stamps and Die Cuts
Dream Valley - Challenge #88 - Wedding
Creative Card Crew - Challenge #68 - Embossing
Love to Create - Challenge #129 - Polka Dots & Pearls
Papertake Weekly Challenge - To Die For
The Crafter's Cafe - Challenge #77 - Square Cards only

That's all for now folks.  I hope to have more to share with you before the weekend is over :)  I hope you're enjoying the weekend so far, and looking foward to the bank holiday (those of you in the UK!).

Peachy Wedding Day

Hi there

I'm back again this evening to share a commission wedding card I made a few weeks ago.

The brief was to use the wedding colours which were peach, pale pink, navy and gold and it needed to be personalised too.  I found it quite difficult to incorporate all these elements as it made the card a lot busier than the cards I normally make, but I got there in the end!

I started by cutting a navy cardstock panel and a slightly smaller pearlescent peach panel which I then ran through my Big Shot with an embossing folder.  Next I used a die to cut a tag and stamped the sentiment with VersaMark ink before heat embossing with gold powder.  I stamped and die cut the roses and leaves and arranged these on the tag, some of which were popped up on 3D foam.  The personalisation was printed from MS Word and then cut out using a heart die.  I then tied two pieces of slim ribbon together in a bow around the tag.  The most difficult part was arranging the elements on the card.  I wasn't particularly happy with the placement of the heart but I was faffing around for ages so just had to go with it in the end, although I still think it looks a little lost!

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Love Blossoms and Bridal Bouquet
• Ink: VersaMark; Versa Color
• Embossing Powder: Rubber Stampede - Gold
• Dies: Clearly Besotted - Bridal Bouquet, Scalloped Tag Die, Love Hearts
• Embossing Folder: Stampin' Up - Elegant Lines
• Cardstock from stash

Challenge entries:

Let's Craft and Create - Challenge #95 - Ribbon or Twine

STAMPlorations - August Challenge - Stamps and Die Cuts

Dream Valley - Challenge #88 - Wedding

Creative Card Crew - Challenge #68 - Embossing

Crafty Catz - Challenge #244 - Recycle It! (the navy ribbons started their lives hanging from the shoulders of one of my tops!)

That's all for today, I hope you've had a lovely weekend.  I hope to see you again very soon.

Horseshoe Congrats

Hi there

Tonight I'm sharing a commission card I made recently.  The brief was to make a wedding card, nothing too fussy, and showing the couple's names and the date of the big day.

So here's what I created...

I used a horseshoes wood mounted stamp I've owned for years and cut out the impression using a decorative mat die.  I coloured the image with ProMarkers and accented with Wink of Stella and Glossy Accents.  I printed the names and the date from MS Word onto the same white cardstock and cut these out using a heart die.  I then die cut the 'congrats' from pale blue/grey cardstock.  All that was then needed was a bit of arranging and some 3D foam to pop up the die cuts.

Materials used:

• Stamp: Inca Stamp - Horseshoes
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black
• Dies: Clearly Besotted - Decorative Mat Die, Congrats Word Die and Love Hearts
• Cardstock from stash
• Coloured with ProMarkers
• Accented with Wink of Stella (clear) and Glossy Accents

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Daring Cardmakers - No Scissors, please!

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #101 - Anything Goes

Creative Inspirations - Challenge 271 - Clean and Simple

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

Crafty Catz - Challenge 237 - Anything Goes

Thanks as always for popping by, it brightens my day to know that you've visited and to read your comments.

Bye for now

Personalised Stamp

Hi guys

I was going to post this a while ago but completely forgot.

For years I've placed little labels on the back of my cards but thanks to a blog post from Michelle at The Card Grotto last year, she led me to a wonderful website, Stamping All Day, where I was able to order this stamp (acrylic block not included) to personalise my cards :)

The service I received from Nicky at Stamping All Day was outstanding.  She sent me a proof by email almost immediately, allowed me to make a few changes to the layout/font, etc. and I received my stamp within two days of ordering!

The stamps are great value and I think mine adds a really nice touch to my cards, I'm really pleased with the result. 

(Stamping All Day is currently closed - it will re-open on 1 July 2013)


Thanks for visiting and I hope this has given you some inspiration.