What a hoot

Good morning folks

Happy Wednesday - Hump day, struggle up the hill in the morning and then downhill in the afternoon, all the way to the weekend. Hooray!!

The challenge at Crafter's Companion is Autumn and the challenge at the Spectrum Noir page is friendship so this is the card for both challenges -

I began by covering a 6 inch square card blank with some plum coloured core-dinations. I embossed a piece of ivory centura pearl with an Embossalicious cloud embossing folder, wrapped some ribbon (from my stash) around the card and then attached it to the card base.

The image is from the Rachelle Anne Miller range at Crafter's Companion and is called Wise words. It has been coloured with the following Spectrum Noir pans and pencils -

• big owl - EB1, GB1, GB3, GB8, GB10, EB5, 104 and 090
• small owl - TN1, TN2, TN7, TN8 and 095
• tree - EB2, EB3, EB4 and 090
• leaves - CG1, DG2, DG4 and 058
• sky - IB1, TB1 and IB2
• caterpillars - CG2 and CG4

I made a frame using Die'sire Elegance stamping frame and a piece of core-dinations and attached it to the image. I then attached the whole thing to the card with foam pads.

I added a small ribbon bow to the base of the die cut. Then to finish I added some leaves (cut using Spellbinder's Jewel flowers and flourishes) and some flowers and pine cones all from the Ribbon Girl.

I am going to enter this card into the Crafter's Companion and the Spectrum Noir September facebook challenges.

Thank you for stopping by

Lesley

Seeds and greetings

Good morning

A Christmas card for a change today - 

I began by covering a 8 inch square card blank with a paper from LOTV's Frosty Christmas paper pad. I then cut a strip of another of the papers from the pad, cut and embossed it with Spellbinder's Classic petal border (I omitted the outer cutting edge) and attached it to the card base. I attached a piece of lace (from the Ribbon Girl) along the top of the card and then cut another of the papers with the outer edge of the Spellbinder's Classic petal border. I inked the edge of the paper with tumbled glass distress ink and then attached it to the card base.

The stamp is from LOTV and is called Seeds and greetings (ST530) which has been coloured with the following Promarkers -

• snowman - icicle, burnt sienna, mandarin and heatwave
• robins - saddle brown, praline, berry red and ruby
• hat and scarf - denim blue, arctic blue and sky blue
• birdfeeder - cool grey 3, cool grey 4, praline, saddle brown and walnut

I cut the image out with a Spellbinder's rectangle nestie, inked whilst still in the die with tumbled glass distress ink and then matted it onto a Spellbinder's Fleur de Lis rectangle. I attached it to the card with foam pads and then added some Stickles to the snow and the hat.

I cut several snowflakes from some glitter card (using Spellbinder's Create a flake 4), attached them to the card as shown with foam pads and then added some blue gems (from the Ribbon Girl) to the centres.

To finish I stamped a sentiment from LOTV's Christmas Wishes stamp set (set 75), cut it out with Spellbinder's Reflective moments die set, inked out of the die with tumbled glass distress ink and then attached to the card with foam pads.

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

http://craftylittlefairieschallenge.blogspot.co.uk - September - Sparkle and bling

http://ribbongirls.blogspot.co.uk - September colour challenge - Pastel

http://ideastoinspire.blogspot.co.uk/p/challenge - Pretty papers

Thank you for stopping by and reading my blog

Lesley

More anniversary wishes

Hello everyone

Happy Monday.

Yes it's another anniversary card. I am trying to spread them out a little although it is all I seem to be making at the moment.

I began by cutting a rectangle from white centura pearl using Spellbinder's matting basics A, embossing it with Spellbinder's hearts embossing folder and matting it onto some teal centura pearl. I then attached it to a 5 x 7 inch card blank.

I cut 2 Spellbinder's Sprigs from teal card and attached them diagonally onto the card base.

I then cut a Tonic Floral frame from white and teal centura pearl, matted it and attached it to the card with foam pads.

I cut a Tonic Dragonfly delight insert from teal and white card, matted it and attached it to the card with foam pads making sure that the dragonfly wings were kept free.

To finish I stamped the sentiment with black memento ink.

A nice simple card which was quick and easy to make. Dies are so brilliant for giving simple ideas the wow factor. These Tonic frame and insert dies are so useful and they all mix and match - a wonderful idea.

Thank you for stopping by

Lesley

Autumn flowers

Hello everyone

The challenge this month at Penny Black Allsorts challenge is Autumn colours and here is my card for the challenge -

This is a small card which I really enjoyed making. I usually make larger cards, 6 inch square being the smallest but this card is 4 inch square.

I began by matting and layering papers from a Docrafts Woodland folk paper pad onto a 4 inch square card blank. I also used Tonic's layering squares.

The image is from Penny Black's bouquets stamp set which I have coloured with the following Spectrum Noir pens and pencils -

• CT4, GB5, OR1, GB10 and 017
• FS2, FS3, TN3 and 004
• GB6, GB7, GB8, EB5 and 087
• IB1

I stamped the image 4 times, coloured and decoupaged it.

I cut the whole think out with scissors and then matted it onto a square of brown paper from the pad cut using Tonic's layering squares. I attached the whole thing to the card base with foam pads.

To finish I added some Glossy Accents to the centre of some of the flowers.

And that's it - a small, simple card.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenge - 

http://pennyblackatallsorts.blogspot.co.uk - September challenge - Autumn colours 

Thank you for stopping by

Lesley

A relaxing day

Good morning folks

Something a little different today - not Christmas or anniversary for a change.

I began by covering a 6 inch square card blank with turquoise centura pearl. I then cut the largest Tonic layering square from a paper from LOTV's Up, up and away paper pad, cut a strip of another of the papers, matted that onto turquoise centura pearl and attached it to the square. I cut a narrow strip of another paper from the pad and punched one edge with an EK success punch. I attached this to the square and then attached the whols thing to the card base.  

The image is from LOTV and is called Lazy Afternoon (ST005). I have coloured the image with the following Promarkers - 

• hat, socks and shirt - oasis, rock pool and island lagoon
• shorts and shoes - tan, cinnamon and cocoa
• skin - satin, blush, dusky pink and coral
• hair - saddle brown
• tree and grass - moss, marsh green, olive green, burnt sienna and walnut
• newspaper - ivory and pastel beige
• sky - pastel blue

I cut the image out with a Spellbinder's oval nestie, inked whilst still in the die with tumbled glass distress ink and matted onto another oval of turquoise centura pearl. I attached it onto the card base with foam pads.

To finish I added a sentiment from LOTV's sentiments to fit a scroll stamp set which I cut out with a Die-namics mini tabs die.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenge - 

http://ideastoinspire.blogspot.co.uk/p/challenge - pretty papers

Thank you for stopping by.

Lesley

Lilac anniversary

Hello folks

September is a very busy time in my family for anniversaries. I have made several this month, some I have shown to you and some I have had to send asap due to crafting by the seat of my pants. I must see if I can get the recipients to take a couple of photos of the cards so I can share them with you. Today's card is one I made for my sister in law and her husband.

I began by cutting a rectangle using Spellbinder's matting basics A from white centura pearl and embossing it with Spellbinder's hearts embossing folder. I then matted it onto a piece of lilac centura pearl and attached it to a 5 x 7 inch card blank.

I then cut a Tonic Royal frame from white and lilac centura pearl and attaching it to the card base with foam pads. I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment and cut it out with the rectangle from Tonic's Fanciful flutter die set. I then attached the sentiment to the card base with foam pads.

I cut several flowers using the card stock and Spellbinder's Blooms 1 and 3, layered them up and attached them to the card as shown using foam pads.

To finish I added pearls to the centre of a couple of the flowers.

Thank you for stopping by.

Lesley

A white Christmas

Hello Folks

Today's card began as a "What if" moment and another attempt to keep postage costs down. Although it started as a small card it ended up being a 8 inch square which is not cheap to post. Never mind I'll just have to keep on trying.

I began by embossing a piece of white centura pearl with an Embossalicious snowflake embossing folder and matting it onto a piece of silver mirriboard.

I punched another strip of silver mirriboard with Tonic's rose border punch and attached it to the centre of the card.

I then I cut a Tonic Dragonfly delights from white centura pearl and silver mirriboard and the outer 2 dies in the set. I cut a Christmas insert ( a holly one) from white centura pearl and mounted it onto silver mirriboard. I attached it to the dragonfly delights die cut with foam pads and then attached the whole thing to the card with foam pads.

To finish I attached a sentiment cut using silver mirriboard and a Tattered Lace die. 

Thank you for stopping by

Lesley

Its been a while

Good morning everyone

Well it has been a while hasn't it. I have scheduled a couple of posts but have done no crafting for a long time. On Sunday we took our eldest son to University for the first time and the last few weeks have been spent getting him ready for the big event. It has been a very emotional time, especially the weekend, with lots of time being spent saying goodbye to various friends and family members. The house feels very strange at the moment and his room resembles a bombsite which I need to clean. I am going to need time and a strong stomach for that job!! My other children are filling the void though as all their activities and sports have started again after the long summer break. I also have my crafting too - where would we be without paper, stamps, pens and glue?

Today's card is a bit of an experiment. This year, after getting stung for the cost of postage last Christmas, I am trying to make some slightly more cost effective cards (as far as postage is concerned) and this is one of them. 

I am not sure if it a little washed out and maybe the silver is a little too bright but it is a start. Apologies for the dodgy photos too - my son took his camera and photographic expertise to Uni too ;o(

I began by scoring and folding a piece of A4 cenutra pearl card in half , cutting it with a Die'sire create a card Christmas Eve and then I inked with tumbled glass distress ink whilst still in the die. I trimmed the card stock to a 6 inch square and placed a piece of paper from Bo Bunny's Elf magic paper pad.

I cut the sentiment from silver mirriboard using a Tattered lace die and attached it to the centre of the card and then attached the inner square from the Create a card die to the inside of the card.

To finish I added some small silver gems.

Thank you for stopping by and reading my ramblings.

Lesley

Happy Anniversary

Good morning everyone

Another Anniversary card for you today -

I began by covering a 6 inch square card blank with a paper from First Edition's J'adore paper pad. I then cut Tonic's Affections square base using another paper from the pad (the outer 2 dies only) and attached it to the card with foam pads. Then I cut the next 2 dies in the set and another paper from the pad and attached them to the centre of the card with foam pads. Next I cut the outer 2 dies in the Tonic's affections all my love set and attached that to the card with foam pads.

I then heat embossed the sentiment and cut that out with a heart die, inked whilst still in the die with antique linen distress ink and attached to the card with foam pads.

To finish I made 3 flowers using Tonic's petal pairs punches and scraps of the papers. I added a pearl to the centre of each flower.

Many thanks for stopping by

Lesley

A little bird

Hello everyone

Today's card features a stamp which made me laugh when I saw it so I had to buy it and here it is - 

I began by covering a 5 x 7 inch with a paper from LOTV's Father knows best paper pad and then layering another paper from the pad.

The stamp is Penny Black's A little bird which I coloured with the following Spectrum Noir pens and pencils -

• cat - IG1, IG4, IG7, BP1 and 119
• cage - GB4, GB6, GB7 and 107
• ladders - TB5, TB6, TB9 and 073
• feathers - LG3 and LG5
• shadow - BG1
• sky - IB1, TB1 and TB2

(I now have 2 tins of the Spectrum Noir pencils so all the colours i use are from either the essentials tin or the primaries one).

I cut the image out with Spellbinder's matting basics A, inked whilst still in the die with tumbled glass distress ink and then matted and layered it onto the golden brown and blue papers from the paper pad. I attached it onto the card base with foam pads.

Both the sentiments are from the stamp set. I cut one out with Spellbinder's labels 11 and the other with Spellbinder's 5 x 7 Reflective moments. I inked both whilst still in the die with tumbled glass distress ink and attached them to the card as shown with Pinflair.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenge - 
http://pennybfriendssaturdaychallenge.blogspot.co.uk - brown, blue and white

Many thanks for stopping by today.

Lesley

20 years and still going strong

Hello folks

Today is my hubby and my 20th wedding anniversary. I am not quite sure where the last 20 years have gone. I decided to have a play with his card this year and made one of the popular exploding cards. I found the instructions on the internet by just putting exploding card into the search engine. After viewing lots of different sites and you tube videos I used the instructions from www.splitcoaststampers.com. And here is my exploding card - 

I used the following products - 

• ivory centura pearl cardstock
• First Edition's J'adore paper pad
• Tonic's All my Love Affections insert die set
• Xcut hearts dies
• Die'sire Heart doilies die set
• Ultimate Pro score board

Thanks for stopping by and reading my ramblings

Lesley 

Silver Rudolph

Good evening folks

Today's card uses a free card making pack which came with this months Cardmaking and papercrafting magazine. The free gift includes 3 clear stamps, an embossing folder and some papers.

I began by embossing a 5 and a half inch square piece of core'dinations with the free embossing folder and sanding it back to reveal the core. I then cut an oval in the centre of the card with a Spellbinder's oval nestie and attached a piece of one of the free papers to the back of the aperture.

I stamped and heat embossed (with silver tinsel embossing powder) the reindeer stamp, cut it out with a Spellbinder's oval nestie and inked whilst still in the die with tumbled glass distress ink. I then attached it to the pattern paper with foam pads.

I matted the core'dinations card onto silver mirriboard and trimmed to leave 1/16th of an inch border. I then attached the whole thing to a 6 inch square linen effect card blank.

To finish I added 2 snowflakes cut from silver mirriboard and Spellbinder's create a flake 4, attached them to the card base with foam pads and added a silver gem to the centre of each flake.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenge - 

http://allsortschallenge.blogspot.co.uk - week 274 - early Christmas makes

Thank you for stopping by

Lesley