Stencil cards....

 Hey there, crafty friends! I've been MIA as the weather here in North Wales has been too good to be sat inside at my crafty table, but we're back to the usual wet, Welsh weather, so I thought I would have a play...

I decided to get out some stencils from my stash and just colour them up to see what I liked. This pretty Lou Collins Art Style Flowers Stencil made the cut and I began with my favourite pastel colour palette - Tattered Rose, Abandoned Coral, Squeezed Lemonade, Wild Honey, Cracked Pistachio, Peeled Paint and a touch of Ripe Persimmon to create this simple panel card...

 I then tried to push myself out of my pastel comfort zone and used a bolder colour combination - Wilted Violet, Seedless Preserves, Chipped Sapphire, Abandoned Coral, Squeezed Lemonade, Wild Honey, Speckled Egg, Spruced Pine...

It doesn't seem to matter how hard I try, but I never manage to get a true bold colour scheme - I always seem to chicken out and end up with something a little darker than my usual...but I tried!

I added a torn, vellum strip with a polka dot band over the top and used my absolute favourite sentiment dies - Yana's Layered Script Sentiments with a combination of other sentiment stamps from my stash. I finished with some gem and enamel dot sprinkles...et voila!

Hope you like my floral stenciled creations and I'll be back with some more crafty inspiration over the weekend as I have been a busy bee at my crafty table!

Crafty hugs,

 

Bloom cards...

 Good morning, crafty friends! Yes, it's me again! All I can think is that this spell of brighter weather and the lengthening days has given me the motivation to play in my craft room!...

Today's make was inspired by an extremely talented crafter, Mindy Farmer, who I found through the Share Handmade Kindness Facebook group and THIS was the card that inspired to create these pretty floral cards...

 And this is what I came up with...

 I picked out a combination of dies to create the flower spray and used one of my favourite sentiment stamps which is from Crafters Companion May Your Day Bloom stamp and die set...

 I started with the same blue and pink combination that Mindy used and mounted everything onto one of the last note cards that I got from The Works at a silly price. I have to say, I love the way this card turned out, so much so that I had to make it up in another colour way...

 And I have a feeling there may be more?!...

 I hope you like my die cut floral cards and if you do, can you please take a look at Mindy's Facebook and Instagram accounts @mindycraftscards - if nothing else, her pretty creations will make you smile!

Thanks for dropping by! Crafty hugs,

 Card Making Magic - Christina Griffiths Layered Florals, Sweet Dixie Christmas Rose SDD202, Sweet Dixie Daisy (think it may be discontinued), Sweet Dixie SDD102 Delicate Blossoms, Sizzix #665898 Teacups, Sizzix #663322 Rain Boot Planter, Crafter's Companion May Your Day Bloom

 

Pocket Pals - Part Three!...

 It's me again! Wow! Can't quite believe how much crafting I have been doing lately...I mean, the housework isn't getting done, but what the heck?!...

Before I could put away my Sizzix Pocket Pals die set, I though it would be rude not to make an Easter card with the cute little bunny (not that I normally make Easter cards) being that it's getting near to that time of year!...

 I made up the bunny in mainly white card and coloured the ears, nose and eyes with alcohol markers. I don't have an egg die (seeing as I don't make Easter cards?!) but used a Spellbinders nesting oval set and then used another oval die to create the curve for the pink ribbon. The bow was a mix of die sets that I have in my stash and the grass (which would have been my icicle/grass die, but I can't find it anywhere) was the large cloud die from Sizzix - Emily Tootle's Build a Landscape die set and I drew in some grass with three different green marker pens...

 I used Sizzix Hand Drawn Alphabet to cut out the Easter word and added a small stamped 'wishes' to finish the sentiment. I embellished with some handmade blossoms and leaves and clouds (of course!) to give an outdoor feel...

I quite like the way this card turned out, if a little cutsie..but don't think I'll be making more Easter cards in a hurry...

Thanks for dropping by and I'm sure I'll be back soon with more creativity...

Crafty hugs,

Sizzix #665813 Pocket Pals, Sizzix 665182 Jennar Hand Drawn Alphabet, Sizzix #662839 Emily Tootle Build a Landscape, Sweet Dixie SDD102 Delicate Blossoms

 

Simple floral cards...

Good morning, my crafty buddies! I'm back to share a couple of simple floral cards that I created for my sending box. I often dither over sending out cards that I have spent a long time creating, especially if I feel that the recipient 'isn't bothered about cards'...there are some people that appreciate and cherish a handmade card (be it for a week or years) and then there are others that you know will put it up for a day or two and then it's going in the bin! I know that we can't expect everyone to keep our creations forever, so decided to create some more simple cards that still have the same handmade feel but without the long creation time...

I stamped some of the flowers from Christina Griffiths Spring - Summer stamp and die set and coloured them with  Distress Inks and Oxides, using stencils that I cut by hand (as the dies cut out leaving a white border). I used Carved Pumpkin, Abandoned Coral and a hint of Festive Berries on the California poppy style flower and Tattered Rose, Abandoned Coral and Festive Berries on the gerbera style flower, colouring the stems with a couple of different green alcohol markers. For the leaf I used Peeled Paint and Forest Moss...

I lightly inked the card front in an area where the flower would sit, then randomly stamped portions of script and added a hand doodled border. I tore a strip of patterned paper and attached across the bottom third of the card, placing the flowers and attaching with glue/foam pads. I used my favourite Yana Smakula sentiment dies and added a second stamped part to the sentiment, mat onto black to tie everything together. I finished off with some gem/enamel dot sprinkles and a touch of gold glitter on the poppy...

I really liked the way they turned out and need to come up with some more simple designs to send - my first one has been sent out to it's recipient already! Hope you like them too...

Crafty hugs,

 

Pocket Pals part Two...

 It's me again! I'm rather enjoying playing at my crafty table at the moment (and long may it last) so decided to create another card, this time using the fox from the Sizzix Pocket Pals by Olivia Rose die set...

 

Now I have to admit that I don't know how fox-like my fox looks, but he's cute anyway! (I think these type of dies can look very different depending on the eye and ear placement)...

 

I went completely different with this make and created a fun, collage style card using scraps of patterned paper from my scrap drawers and photo themed dies that I got in a set from Amazon (another set that has maybe been used once!) I added some paint splatters and a hand drawn doodle border, to keep the card quite modern and finished with some diamante stars, gems and pearls...

Hope you like my cute card and thanks for popping by to see me...

Crafty hugs,

 

Pocket Pals...

 Hey there! I'm back with another Sizzix creation today and I must confess to having had this die set in my drawer for well over 12 months now and not done anything with it! (Bad crafter!) But thanks to a little shove from a lady in the Cardmaking with Sizzix Facebook group, who was looking for inspiration using this cute Pocket Pals set ( #665813), I decided it was about time to see the light of day, never mind the Big Shot!...

 I went with the pocket theme for this card and created a 5x7" gatefold card as a pair of jeans/trousers. I originally made the front of the card in the plain blue, but it was a bit much, so decided to add the pretty patterned paper for a bit of interest. I made belt loops with a 4x1cm strip of card, scored at 1cm on each end and attached to the top of the blue panels. I then cut two 1.7cm strips of brown for the belt, creating the point on one end and punching holes...

...I made up the bear and rabbit pockets and attached these to the front of my panels, adding the "happy" sentiment to one side and the "birthday" part to the other. I used the flowers from the set to decorate the bunny pocket and found a couple of fun dies in the speech bubble, belt hanger and hearts. All edges were inked with Distress Inks/Oxides and I finished with my signature pearls...

Hope you find inspiration in my cute make and thanks for dropping by...

Crafty hugs,

 

Sizzix You've Got Mail...

 Hey there, crafty friends! I've been playing around with the Sizzix 'You've got Mail' die set that I picked up in my January sale haul and made a pretty 'whatever' card...because the sentiment is "Just a note", I figure that it could be used for any occasion by adding "to say" and whatever the event inside...

 I started by die cutting the typewrite in a grey pearl cardstock, then added a black strip behind the keys and some gold details by cutting the top of the typewriter a second time in gold cardstock and snipping off the details that I wanted. I printed off some vintage postcard and label ephemera from The Art Scavenger (via Pinterest) and fussy cut them out, inking the edges and adding some stamped marks and paint spatters...

 The stamp set that I used for the postage stamps and typewriter message was an Amazon find (when I was still doing workshops) and I used a Memory box die to cut out the stamp shapes. The little envelope, flowers and leaves all belong to the 'You've Got Mail' die set and I layered everything onto a white panel embossed with Cuttlebug Script Textures folder, lightly inked with Salty Ocean and Vintage Photo Distress Inks. I added the "Just a Note" sentiment onto a piece of vellum and finished with some small, grey pearls...

 I hope you like my collage style card and thanks for popping by for a closer look!

Crafty hugs,