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,

 

Josh Griffiths Forest Animals...

Hey there, crafty friends! I'm back to share a couple of cards made with the Josh Griffiths Forest Animal dies that I got in my recent Sizzix haul...

First up is the Valentine's card I made for hubby using the ever so sweet Bear die - he is so easy to layer up and turns out SO CUTE!...

Then I decided to make up the deer die and create a card...

The little rocks came from another Josh Griffiths set that I got in the sale called Twilight Animals...

And then, because you have to cut multiple layers for each animal, I couldn't waste the other layers, so ended up with a whole menagerie of animals!...

 

I have to say, that cute bear has to be my favourite and I can see me using him for quite a few Christmas cards this year! I still have the little raccoon to play with, but that's for another day...

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you like my die cut creations...

Crafty hugs, 

Tiddly Dogs...

 Hey there, crafty buddies! So it seems that I forgot to post the card that I made for my eldest son's birthday earlier this year and thought it would be good to play along with Lorraine's 'Use Red and/or Pink' challenge over at Passion for Markers...

 I made this sweet A6 card (not a size I make very often but should try and do more of, if only for storage space?!) using Tiddly Inks Flying high stamp set - which is now available as a digital download from their Etsy store HERE...

 I kept my card clean and simple, just stenciling a cloud background with some simple mats and layers, a few cloud die cuts and my favourite script sentiment dies....

 I finished with a few gem sprinkles and decorated the inside to match with one of the balloon stamps fussy cut with a white border...

Colour List :

Dogs - Cappuccino, Umber

Balloons - Pale Pink, Cocktail Pink, watermelon, Red, Berry, Burgundy, Dolphin Blue, Cornflower, Storm Cloud, Tea Green, Pebble Blue, Blender 

I'd like to enter my card into the Passion for Markers #775 Use Red and/or Pink challenge 

and I Love Promarkers challenge #576 Anything goes with optional Down on the Farm

 

Thanks for dropping by and I may be back soon with some creations from my crafty Sizzix haul....

 

Coloured embossing...

 Good evening, crafty friends...I'm back to share a simple card that I created for my sister's birthday this weekend and thought i would tie it in with playing along with what should have been my challenge over at Passion for Markers...

 

I want to try and use some of my older crafty products, mainly to justify keeping them, but also to hopefully find new ideas with them and decided to go through my number of embossing folders. I embossed some white cardstock with this pretty floral folder and then coloured the pattern up with my Promarkers -

Apple, Forest Green, Baby Pink, Dusky Rose, Buttercup, Tulip Yellow, Soft Peach, Honeycomb, Lilac, Amethyst, Blue Pearl and China Blue

I mat the panel onto a black mat, added a dusky pink strip and my favourite script dies, before finishing off with a touch of glitter and some small enamel dots...

I would like to enter my card into the 'Birthdays' challenge over at Passion for Markers this week...

Crafty hugs,

Guess who's back?!...

 Hi there, crafty friends! I'm back again!...

I have quite a few birthdays and other occasions happening this month and I need to try and create some quick and easy cards to send. I find that when I have spent a couple of hours on a card, I am reluctant to give it to anyone unless I think that they will a) appreciate it and b) not throw it in the bin after a day...I know that inevitably this is what happens to a lot of our creations but also know that some people appreciate handmade cards more than others!

Anyway, I created this simple embossed card using an embossing folder from my stash (think I picked it up from Amazon but not sure)...I am also trying to justify the huge amount of craft products I have by revisiting things that may have fallen out of favour and using them again...

I used another of the 'Thank You' cards from The Works as my base card and inked the embossing with Tattered Rose, Abandoned Coral, Squeezed Lemonade, Peeled Paint and Pistachio Distress Oxides before matting onto a soft brown cardstock...

 

I used a Pastel Blue Promarker to colour the tiny flowers and added small pearl for the centres. I finished off with a pretty sentiment and acetate line butterfly which was gifted in a pack of ephemera from a crafty friend...

Hope you like my simple card. It's similar to these anniversary makes I did for our local village shop...

Thanks for popping by and I hope you find inspiration in my card...

Crafty hugs,

First card of 2025!...

 Hey there, crafty friends...well isn't this a turn up for the books?! I have actually sat at my crafty table (a couple of times now!) and made a few cards...I can't say that it came naturally or whether I completely enjoyed it or not but I've found that breaking things down into pieces helps. So I sat one afternoon and coloured some images, then I stamped and cut some sentiments, then made up some cards...I found it much easier to do like this and didn't feel that I was taking a whole afternoon or evening creating...

So for my first card of 2025, I have used a Tiddly Ink stamp called "Flying High" (which is now available as a digital image in Christy's Etsy store HERE) and coloured the girl and balloons image up with my Pro/Flexmarkers :

Skin - Blush, Dusky Pink, Sunkissed Pink, Coral

Hair - Pastel Yellow, Cappuccino, Umber

Yellow - Buttercup, Tulip Yellow, Gold

Truquoise - Cool Aqua, Duck Egg, Surf Blue

Pinks - Pale pink, Baby Pink, Cocktail Pink, Watermelon

 I used a printed thank you card that I picked up in The Works for a bargain price in the sale last year as my card base and added a simple white panel for the image to sit on. I added a strip of candy stripe paper matted onto dusky pink and then some of my favourite dies - clouds (of course!) and my Yana Smakula sentiment dies - I think I could add these to most of my creations (and have recently!)  I finished off with some crystal stars and pink enamel dots (courtesy of the lovely Marianne)...

I would like to enter my card into the Passion for Markers Week 771 Challenge - For the Girls

I hope you like my pretty, girly card and will be back soon to share some more creations...long may the craft/life balance continue! 

Hugs,