Spring chicken...

 Hey there crafty buddies! Today's make is another little scene card...yep, not bored of them yet!?!...

This one uses the chicken from Spellbinders Spring Chicken as she is, along with the nest, eggs and little chicks...

Dies used -

Spellbinders Spring Chicken SDS-197

Sizzix Build a Landscape 662839 by Emily Tootle

Sizzix Script Sentiments 665089

Hero Arts You Lift Me Up Frame cuts DI789

Generic Postage Stamp dies

Thanks for dropping by to see me and I'll hopefully be back with some more crafty inspiration soon...

Crafty hugs,

 

Is it Autumn already?...

 Good evening, crafty friends! Today's make is rather Autumnal and a bit maximalist too - I feel like I have chucked the kitchen sink at this one!...

 I have used the barrel from Spellbinders Rustic Garden (I knew that this die set would be a firm favourite!) and teamed it up with a collection of Autumnal flowers and foliage that I made up last year and have been sat in a box waiting to be used...because of which, this card actually came together quite quickly (for a change!)...and I even finished the inside!...

Dies used - 

Spellbinders Rustic Garden S5-578

Spellbinders Fall Label Motifs S5-519 

Sweet Dixie Stylised Daisy SDD103 (for the sunflowers)

Sizzix Rain Boot Planter 663322 (for the sunflower centre) 

Sweet Dixie Delicate Blossoms SDD102

Generic postage stamp dies 

We seem to be having an early Autumn here in the UK after such dry weather over the Summer period - it's as if the trees have all gone into shock and are in shut down mode already, losing their vibrant green hues... 

Thanks for dropping by and I hope you like my seasonal creation - I'm hoping that Summer hasn't completely finished with us yet, although the rain has been very welcome after months of drought!...

Crafty hugs,

 

Happy Bear-thday...

 Good morning, crafty friends! I'm back to share my final background make using the ever so sweet bear from Sizzix Forest Animals...

 I use the leaf background that I created, but felt it needed a little more contrast so swept over the panel with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and inked the edges with Black. I inked a cloud panel for behind the bear, mat onto woodgrain paper and then a dark brown cardstock. I stamped the happy sentiment, then inked up the birthday, removing the ink from all but the letters that I wanted and hand drew the hyphen with a black liner. I cut out the letters 'BEAR' in brown cardstock and then assembled everything onto a black card base. I added a couple of tabs with small hearts and some gold flat backed pearls...

Dies used -

Sizzix Forest Animals 666241

Sizzix Hand Drawn Alphabet 665182

  Thanks for dropping by and I hope you've enjoyed seeing my embossed background makes...

 Crafty hugs,

 

Busy bees...

 I'm back again with another of my background makes and this one uses the yellow chevron, acrylic paint background that I shared in my last post...

 I cut my background into strips and added 3 panels to the front of my 5x7 card blank. I added a strip of dusty blue across the centre and then snipped away the bee from the main focal die, leaving the honeycomb and flower border, which I inked with Distress Oxides and small blending brushes. I mat this onto gold pearl paper and attached to the centre of my card.

I cut two of the bees, cutting the wings off one so that I could ink the bodies with Wild Honey and black ink, then layered on top. I splattered my card with Broken China Distress and some white acrylic, then added the sentiment plus some shaped blossoms for a touch of dimension...

Dies used - 

 Darice Chevron embossing folder

Sizzix Honeybee #662545

Paper Discovery Bountiful Leaves

Sweet Dixie Delicate Blossoms

Gemini Enjoy your Special Day

Thanks for popping in to my little crafty corner of Blogland and I'll be back tomorrow with another background make...

Crafty hugs,

 

Blackout technique...

 Hey there, crafty buddies! Today's make is so far out of my comfort zone that I might as well be on another continent!! I have seen and wanted to try the blackout embossing technique for a while, so as I had an hour to play at my crafty desk, I decided to have a go...

 ...I'm not sure if the results turned out a little psychedelic or whether it's just me shying away from the bright and bold?! I struggled to find a folder that would compliment the technique and plumped for this Cuttlebug Floral Fantasy one in the hopes that it would turn out okay...

I splattered the background with some white acrylic, then added some pretty butterfly dies in white with an inked background and my favourite Yana Smakula sentiment die.

Dies used - 

 Sizzix Detailed Butterflies 661802

Spellbinders Yana's Layered Script Sentiments S5-496

Cuttlebug Floral Fantasy embossing folder 

The jury's out on this card, but I'll definitely be trying this technique again and am even wondering if it would work with white acrylic on a brayer to get a softer look and ease me back into my pastel comfort zone! 

Thanks for dropping by and I hope to see you soon with some more crafty inspiration...

Crafty hugs,

 

A little busy...

 Good afternoon, dear crafty friends! I tidied my craft room! Now, this normally means that I don't make anything for a while as I don't want to mess it up, but to break with tradition, I thought I would sit at my new crafty table and play with another couple of dies that haven't even been cut yet! (Bad crafter!)...

I started with the Sizzix embroidery hoop die and layered up some pretty papers on my background. Whilst looking through my ever increasing stash of dies, I came across this pretty birdcage set and cut one of the cages out in antique gold card - these dies are REALLY delicate, so I cut another in kraft card and layered them up for extra rigidity. I played around with different elements until I was happy with the composition, then splattered everything with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and some white acrylic...

I added in some pops of blue as the colour tones were getting a little...meh...and although the overall effect is a little on the busy side, it turned out pretty enough!

Dies used -

 Sizzix Tim Holtz Wildflower Stems #1 664163

 Sizzix Embroidery 664396

Sizzix Birdcages 665036

Flower centre from Sizzix Floral Cluster 666118

Hearts from Sizzix Tea Cups 665898 

Generic postage stamp die 

Thanks for dropping by and I hope you find inspiration in my (surprise, surprise!) pretty, pastel make...

Crafty hugs,

 

Say cheese!...

 Well, it seems like I'm on a roll! I'm back today to share another collage style card but this time using the fun Spellbinders Say Cheese camera die. I love these layering dies from both Spellbinders and Sizzix as they give so much detail to your die cuts...

 I layered my card with some paper scraps, a doodled border, ink splatters and a generic photo strip die that I picked up from Amazon. I created a polaroid type picture using the letter die from Sizzix You've Got Mail to cut out the aperture and used the mountain from Hero Arts You Lift Me Up framecuts, along with the treescape die from Clearly Besotted. I added a bulldog clip die cut and some sprinkles and a couple of sentiments...

  I decided to do two cards at once and added Welsh sentiments to the second...

Dies used -

 Spellbinders Say Cheese S4-1383

Sizzix You've Got Mail 665820

Generic Film frame strip die and bulldog clip 

Thanks for dropping by and who knows, I may even be back soon with some more inspiration...or I could fall off the face of the earth and it could be months before posting again!

Crafty hugs,

 

Sky's the Limit...

 How about this? Back so soon?!...

Today's make uses the Sky's the Limit #2 die set from Sizzx and Catherine Pooler Designs...

I've have to admit that I've made these kites up a couple of times and not been sure of them...and am still not! I don't know if it's that the black is too heavy or what, but I'm just not feeling it! I wanted to try and make a more masculine card instead of the rainbow tones that I have seen on the internet but am not 100% how it turned out...oh, well, it'll go in the box!

Dies used - 

Sizzix Catherine Pooler Designs Sky's the Limit #2 666832

 Spellbinders On Cloud Nine S3-432

Spellbinders Happy Birthday Wishes S3-514

Spellbinders Fall Label Motifs S5-519 

Thanks for dropping by and I hope you like my card more than I do!

Crafty hugs,

 

Spellbinders Pretty Birds...

 Hi again, crafty friends! I'm back to share another paper creation with you all...

 I treated myself to this Spellbinders Pretty Birds die set a couple of months ago and they have been sat patiently waiting to be used on a project, so I decided to cut them out and ink them up...

I have to say, I love the way these sweet birds came out, but am not 100% sure on the over all card...I liked it when it was finished, but then I always do the mantel piece test - I sit the card on the windowsill or sideboard and just look at it when I'm passing - I didn't know then if it was a little too sugary??! (That'll teach me for just using the first paper that came to hand as it was on my desk!) I'm going to make another one and try using a blue or yellow tone paper (something which I need to get more of) and see how I feel about it then, but in the words of Gina K, it's "better than horrible"...

Dies used :

 Sizzix Script Sentiments 665089

Spellbinders Pretty Birds S4-1406 

 Thanks for popping by to have a look at my sugary sweet card and I may be back soon with some more crafty inspiration...who knows?!...the sun is shining, so anything can happen! 

Crafty hugs,

 

Just a note...

Hey there, crafty friends! As it's my day off and hubby is off delivering, I decided to sit and play at my crafty desk and see what I could come up with...

 I started with the Sizzix Snail Mail by Eileen Hull postage die (I would have really liked the Waffle Flower version of this type of die but it wasn't in stock in the UK at the time and  I find the 'windows' of the panels on this one are a touch on the small size, but I persevered!)...

I added some some patterned paper panels to the postage collage die and randomly stamped with some postage style stamps from my stash. I then backed this onto cream paper with 2mm foam tape and matted onto a pretty ditsy floral paper. I cut out all of the elements and arranged how I thought I would like them before attaching to my card...

 Dies used :

Sizzix Snail Mail by Eileen Hull #665869

Spellbinders Happy Birthday Wishes #S3-514

Spellbinders Sealed Blooming Stems #S4-1296 

Sizzix You've Got mail #665820 

The just a note sentiment was computer generated and the Birthday part came from Wow! Happy sentiments.

Thanks for dropping by and I'll hopefully be back with some more craftiness soon,

 

And another one...

 It's me again! Whilst the beef is in the pressure cooker, I decided to pop up to my crafty space and make up the balloon card in coffee and cream colour tones, as I suggested...

 These cards make up so quickly - 40 minutes start to finish, that's not bad!...

Crafty hugs,

 

Floating Fancy...

 Hey there, crafty friends! I'm back!...

I have been playing at my crafty desk as hubby was out on delivery with work and decided to cut out (one of!) my latest  Sizzix die sets...they are definitely enabling me with their sales just now!

This one is called Floating Fancy by Catherine Pooler Designs and I thought that it would make a lovely new baby card... 

 I have to say that I was rather pleased with how it turned out, so this morning, I cut it out in blue as well...

 I have been doing a lot of die cutting lately, just making up elements, maybe with the idea of selling, but maybe just for making quick cards in the future...but this set really sparked my want to create a card with it!...

 They came together surprisingly quickly and I'm thinking of doing another one in coffee and cream colour tones...I don't know what I'm going to do with all of these cards I'm making as there aren't many craft fairs in my area, but we'll see!...

 Supplies used :

Balloon die - Sizzix Floating Fancy by Catherine Pooler Designs #666834

Clouds - Spellbinders Cloud Nine # S3-432

Envelope - Sizzix You've Got Mail #665820 

Sentiment - Sizzix Daily Sentiments by Lisa Jones #666519

Embossing folder - Cuttlebug D'Vine Swirls

Hanging heart - Memory Box Precious Hearts #98474

Bow - Spellbinders Skating into the Holidays #DOM-JUL24 

 

 Thanks for dropping by today and I hope you find inspiration in my pretty makes...

Crafty Hugs,

 

Floral Heart...

 

 And just like that, I'm back again! This time to share a pretty floral creation which was inspired by the cards I made case-ing Mindy Farmer's creations...

 I started by inking up this pretty Waffle Flower layered stencil using Tattered Rose, Abandoned Coral, Speckled Egg, Iced Spruce and Broken China Distress Oxides. I decided to go with a heart shaped aperture and cut this before attaching the panel using foam tape for dimension. I added a narrow strip of green pinstripe to ground the floral elements, then layered up my flowers and foliage dies in a corsage...

 

 I love the tulip style flowers that are from the Sizzix Tea Cups die set and think I will be turning to these quite a lot. The little flower sprays are a berry sprig with flowers cut from the hydrangea style flower of Tim Holtz Funky Florals #2. I finished with some small enamel dots (my latest obsession thanks to Marianne) and a few pearls...

Hope you like my floral creation and I may even be back with another masculine make tomorrow?!...

Crafty hugs,

 

 

Masculine and Feminine...

 Good morning, Blogger buddies! I'm back to share a couple of makes using one of my latest and fast becoming favourite die sets - Sizzix Tea Cups by Jennifer Ogborn...

 I started with a 5x7 inch card base and randomly stamped some script text in Tuxedo Black Memento. I then added a book page fishtail flag, mat onto a pale blue paper and a couple of strips of coordinating patterned paper from my scrap stash. I cut out the book template and embossed the top layer with Cuttlebug Script embossing folder and inking the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink, before assembling using glue along the centre spine and foam pads behind the pages. I used one of the cup dies and the little tea bag tag, creating a collage group including a glasses die, backed with vellum, small tag die as a bookmark and flower and foliage dies.

I found the sentiment in a set from a magazine which I thought was just perfect for the theme and then added my Yana Smakula Script sentiment die and a stamped 'Happy'...

 I then decided to have a go at making the same card but with a masculine theme...

 ...I don't know if it's just me, but I felt this card turned out a little Harry Potter-esque?! I mean, the pastel one is still my favourite because it's...well, pastel!?! 

And there we have it, two cards, same design, different colour schemes...

I hope I've inspired you to have a go at changing up your colour schemes to completely change the look of your creation...

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