2 firsts on one card!

Hi everyone!  Well, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...why?....because I have so many things to do and so little time to do it in!  My time has been taken up creating for other people, making and wrapping stocking filler gifts for both our village school and church fair, finishing off cards to sell, making cards for our workshop and fufilling card orders, hence the shortage of blog posts!  Our school fair went okay, not as many people as usual, but still managed to raise a good amount for our little village school and our church fete was a huge success - the snowman soup mugs, sweetie jars and whisks went down a storm and will help towards our huge village quota for this year!  I still have Christmas presents to make and wrap, although most of my pressie shopping is done...thank goodness!

So anyway, today's card has been a working progress for over a week now, since I stamped and coloured my Captain Edwin - and this is where the firsts came in...

...the first 'first' on my card is that I coloured Edwin in with the 'No lines' technique, stamping him with Antique Linen Distress Inks, before colouring with my Promarkers...boy did my head hurt when I'd finished, but it gives the image a completely different look!  So, then onto my second 'first'...

...this is the first shaker card I have made!  I know, where have I been?!!  I used nesties to create the frame and embossed the acetate with Divine Swirls Cuttlebug folder, to look like waves and added little blue seed beads as the shaker bits.  The papers are from the Boys2Men pirate design set and all the edges have been inked with Distress Inks - Vintage Photo, Walnut tain and Stormy Sky.   I added a big buckle and filigree key charm, as I thought it went with the theme and decorated the inside to coordinate...

...and a sideways view...

I thought I would also show you one of the cards we made at our workshop today...

...I just fancied making a New Year card and clocks and timepieces are so en vogue at the moment, so this is waht I came up with.  I love the fancy corner that I used to decorate the clock - think it's a Nellie Snellen one - I used a whole one for the top of the clock and cut a second to decorate the bottom and sentiment...

...the lovely embossing is Cuttlebug folder Clockworks, inked with Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain.  I really liked the finished result and think it could be adapted for so many occasions.

Thanks so much for popping by and viewing my creations, hope you like them and that with any luck, I'll be able to post again soon!  Lisa x

Samples

Hi guys!  Well, it's almost a fortnight since my last post - I know, I'm a bad Blogger!  To be honest, I just haven't had anything to post as I've been busy with design work, not to mention that I spent half of last week fitting a kitchen at MIL's house with my hubbie's cousin!  I have to say, we did a pretty good job between the two of us, though I'd been praying that it would all fit, as I'd planned and ordered everything!!  So it's back to crafting this week and I've spent today making Plush Pals samples for a demo day that we're hoping to do up at Craft Land-udno next month (I'll let you know when I have a definite date).

It's amazing how much my cardmaking has changed over the last year - after being introduced to Nestabilities and Distress Inks, I wonder how I did without them!  The first cards I made were using the lion decoupage (no surprise there?!)...

 ...you may recognise the layout on this one, seems to be a favourite at the moment!  I used blue star glitter card (that I'd picked up from Craft land-udno), Cuttlebug Divine Swirls embossing folder, inked with Walnut Stain Distress Ink, Labels Seventeen Nesties and my Nellie Snellen fancy corner die...of course!  Ribbons were just from my stash.

Next, I used the Dovecraft Masculine 8x8 Paper Pack with the pyramage topper and added some paper letters to spell the word 'dad' - inside, the message reads 'Happy Father's Day...you big pussycat!'

I printed off the lilac rabbit decoupage sheet and created a simple Easter basket, trimmed with lace and gingham ribbon, then created an 8x13cm card using the lilac plaid backing paper, over printed with the pink polka dot, Cuttlebug Argyle folder inked with Walnut, Beaded Oval Nesties inked in the die with Worn Lipstick, then out of the die with Walnut.  I finished off with a Sweet Lilac tea rose, pink daisies, small cream rose and lilac feather, oh and pearls of course!

Finally, I printed off the lemon cat decoupage sheet (yellow is not really one of 'my' colours), lemon patchwork backing paper and used some of the left over panels from one of the Dovecraft Masculine papers.  I added buttons and light brown grosgrain ribbon...the ribbon loops hide the fact that I dropped my Versafine ink pad onto my finished card, leaving a nice balck stain!

Have to dash to pick youngest up from school, so that's all for now - Happy crafting!

Spring has sprung!

Hi there everyone!  Isn't it wonderful?!  The days are getting longer and warmer, and there's colour in the garden at last!  It may only be in the form of daffodils and primroses, but it's a welcome sign that summer's on it's way!
 My days, when not being filled with design work for the next disc, are busy making card orders for local people - it seems everyone is having a birthday or something at the moment!  So, as I haven't had any chance to 'play', I thought I'd let you see what I've been making...


The first three cards follow the same sketch - I find it much easier if I can design a card and then use the same sketch for others I have to make...

 

...I love using the Nellie Snellen fancy corners die, especially as corners are 'in' at the moment, plus my nesties, Distress Inks and Budding vine embossing folder have made appearances again...you do get favourites!  I then made a vintage car card for a male birthday...

...the images were a free vector I found ages ago and coloured with chalks to give a vintage feel.  The papers are all just scrap bits from my many scrap drawers.  And finally, a house mouse card for someone who's into photography...

...the sentiment reads 'Say cheese...' then inside, '...it's your birthday!'.  So, altogether, today was quite productive - if only every day could be like it!  My craft room now looks like a very large bomb has gone off and exploded everything across the room, so I know what I'll be doing for the next hour or so!  Happy crafting!

A love affair with Distress Inks!

It's official, I'm hooked!!  I can't even look at a piece of card at the moment, without getting my Distress Inks out and having a play!  I bought a couple of embossing folders up at Crafts4U and they were just crying out to be inked and used in conjunction with some of the Boys2Men images...

The first I made using a Cuttlebug folder called Distress Stripes and the pirate treasure map decoupage - I inked the background with Rusty Hinge and Walnut...

Next, I made a golf card using the golf decoupage and the Cuttlebug Argyle folder inked with Peeled Paint and Weathered Wood...

 The third card was using one of the robot toppers and the large Cuttlebug folder Clockworks, which I inked using Weathered Wood and Walnut, I cut the aperture in the panel before embossing and used the oval that was left to emboss the clock and cut around it...

 Then to finish off, this holly folder has been in my embossing folders box for years (literally) and I've just never known what to do with it, as it seemed a bit boring just in white...so out came the Distress Inks again, and just look at the result...

I used Peeled Paint over the embossed panel first, then went around the edges with Rusty Hinge, the lace I coloured with Rusty Hinge and all edges were distressed with either Peeled Paint or Rusty Hinge...I'm at the stage where, if it stays still, it's likely to get inked!!  Wonder what my next obsession will be?!  I thought that the finished result was more subtle than your traditional red and green and as always, the picture does not do it justice...maybe one day I'll get to be a half decent photgrapher (though I doubt it!?!)

Raise the Bar Challenge

I seem to be on a roll! I found these stunning images at Arthur's Free Clipart and have been tied to my craft table ever since!! I'd seen the Raise the Bar Challenge this week, which is asking for a specific colour theme of yellow, grey and white - not really colours i would normlly use, but when I found this image, I thought it would be just perfect, so decided to enter!

The only downfall to spending a Sunday crafting is that none of my housework got done, and I am now playing catch up with the washing, have a huge basket of ironing and need to clean the bathroom, kitchen and living room before I even look at a piece of card! So my speed of production will probably have to slow! Happy crafting!

Monochromatic

Just a quick Hi to all the girls who went along to Dianne's Plush Pals Workshop on Saturday, at Crafts4U2Do - hope you had a wonderful day and liked the cards you went away with (though I'm sure you did!) I just wish I lived a bit nearer and I could have come along too!!

So, what's new today? I've been quite productive in my craft room this weekend, and decided to make a card for the Mami Doodles Challenge this week, which is a monochromatic card. I'm really quite pleased with the way this one has turned out, it's a real 'me' card - pink and girly! I love the colour pink, although don't have any pink rooms in my house, no pink car, and not very many pink clothes, but if you asked what my favourite colour was, I think it would have to be pink?!!


The wedding cake is yet another way to use up all those strips of white card left over from cutting A4 sheets, to make square cards, and the strings of pearls between each layer have been hanging around my ribbon bits tin for possibly years! It's amazing what you find when you're just 'playing'. I seem to be going through a phase of using up all the bits and bobs that have been forgotten about and gathering dust on the numerous shelves of stuff, that I'm sure we all hoard! My next venture is to find some co-ordinating papers in my patterned paper drawer and use them, though I have to admit that it's something I'm still learning at yet - I can spend hours shuffling bits of patterned paper around a card blank and still end up with a blank card staring back at me at the end of it!! I'll post back and let you know how I get on!?!

Spring is here!

To celebrate the fantastic weather we are having, I decided to have a play with some fresh colours - I don't normally do yellow, but gave myself a challenge. The tulips nestie has been sat in my box now for a couple of months (scandalous, I know!) though I never knew what to do with it and ended up with a drawer full of them , so it was time to persevere, and this was the result.

I'm quite pleased with it, though I did sit for almost an hour trying different things on the topper...who says card making is easy?! In the end, I chose another product which has been sat on a shelf since my big sister bought them for me - the Wild Asparagus stamp set from My Mind's Eye. I'm not really a stamper, though I would like to use them more, I just seem to forget about them lurking underneath everything else, not to mention the fact that you need a little bit more than a 2 inch square to work on! (yes, the space on my table is shrinking!) I'm going to have to sacrifice a couple of hours of crafting, to get this room to some sort of order - things are now 5 deep and starting to slide off the back of my craft table at an alarming rate!

My favourite product at the moment is cut and dry foam, to use for inking the edges of your card and embossing , and anywhere else I can think of...which tends to include myself! Plus with the state of my table, I think everything will have a yellow glow when I come to tidy up! Oh well, you know what they say - housework never killed anyone, but why take the risk?! On that note, I'd better go and put my washing out and make the most of this fabulous weather. Happy crafting!

Lovebirds

I was asked to make a 'funny' engagement card...quite a challenge...then I found this lovely lovebirds digi stamp which was a freebie on pollycraftdesigns.co.uk

The wording says - "It's obvious you two will be deliriously happy...", then inside, "...you're already half way there!"

I coloured 2 of the image with watercolour pencils, so I could add some decoupage, and embossed the background with one of the Sissix textures plates. Love the red and white polka dot ribbon, heck, I love all polka dot ribbon!!

Cuttlebug bear card

Where has this last week gone?! Been busy doing nothing, it seems! So, I thought I'd post a pic of one of the sample cards I made - it's a great way of using up all those strips of card that you cut off an A4 sheet when you're making square cards (I'm a bit of a hoarder...Scrooge my family would say...that's why I'm up to 6 scrap boxes!) The bear image was the first layer of the A4 bear decoupage sheet, though you could use the lamb or lion, or even the cat if you changed the orientation to landscape, heck I suppose any of the characters would work!

Been doing a bit of design work on the computer and making yet more sample cards...here's one of the predesigned elephant card with little strips of acetate to look like the hearts are showering from his trunk...
And so the next countdown begins, to the launch of Plush Pals in Ireland, this weekend!