Masquerade

Hello
I cannot believe that it has been that long since I posted on my blog!

Life really is so full of busy things and good intentions.  I have been crafting all year with my crafty friends and enjoying lots of new products and trying out different techniques.  I cannot promise to bring you everything that we have done, but here is our project for tomorrow.  It was created after going to a demo day earlier in the year at IndigoBlu.
The delightful masquerade mask was on show, created by the talented Mike Deakin.

I fell in love with this and thought that this is the right time of year to complete one for myself.... for the crafty showcase:)

You start off with a plain brown paper mache mask that you can buy from most craft shops, and mix with a box of trinkets, buttons and stash, black gesso, metallic acrylic paints and here you are.

For exact instructions pop along to the site of Mike Deakin.

I have included pictures here of the before and after for you to see how mine turned out. Can you spot the word 'MAGIC'?  I thought I would add this for fun.



 As you can see almost anything can be used for decoration, I have used some metal charms and also created some little embellishments using the modelling clay 'hearty soft' used by Katy Sue.

Once all your decorations are firmly stuck down, it is advised that you use a hot glue gun for this.  Do be really careful with the metal and heat combination - health and safety!
You should then give it all a really good coat of black gesso to cover all the shiny surfaces and to allow the paint to adhere properly. This can be heat dried.

I have used the english cottage range of metallic paints from IndigoBlu.  - Blue - sleeping beauty, Green - emerald city and Purple - aladdin.
Once this was dry I brushed gold and sliver highlights over the final mask and embellishments to make them 'pop'.

I couldn't call it finished until I had added the 'girlie' touches of lace and feathers.  I hope you like this, I am really quite proud at my first attempt.
Thank you for having a read... I hope to be back soon X x

A couple of close up pictures would be lovely too.

'Yummy' shaker card

Moving on from Christmas cards it is nice to celebrate birthdays... and what better way of doing that than with a cupcake.  I love this paper, it goes so well with the house mouse picture provided on Joanna Sheen's project book CD volume one.

The card has been decorated very simply with wooden words from dovecraft "yummy", these have been covered in versamark and then dipped into embossing powder to give them that lovely turquoise colour.  I have used card candy, swirls cut with sizzix die and pearls.  The shakers are balloon table confetti.

To make the actual shaker card prepare the card with your pink card and stick your chosed picture to this.  then you need to cut out the cake paper frame with a spellbinders die then stuck acetate on the back using double sided tape covering the aperture. Then on top of the acetate use double sided foam tape all the way the frame on the inside without leaving any gaps, this will enclose the table confetti when stuck to the front of your picture and give it the depth to move.  Place the table confetti on the centre of the picture then hover over this with your frame and lower down and stick.

I hope that you have as much fun making your card as we did ours.

Till next time, thank you for popping by, X x

New Home Embriodery Hoop

Hi
As promised I am back with another embriodery hoop project.
This time the occasion was a new home. The stamps that I have used are from lavina.  I have cut around the mushroom houses and put one in the background and stuck the other to the front of the hoop to create dimension.

Again I have followed the same recipe as before with a sentiment and stamping in the background, lavinia's fairy washing line, then decorated the ring with butterflies using glitter card and the die beautiful wings from Stampin up.
As the family have two little dogs, one a black pentland terrier and the other a dauchund I thought it appropriate to add the puppies from Richard Addams.  I loved the 'together' die from sizzix.

Flowers and a ribbon finsh this perfectly, with a small key charm just hanaging in the centre.

I have shown you the back view too as I think the little verse from lavina stamps is perfect.

I hope you love this as much as I do.

 Thank you for popping by, I will be back with a couple of shaker cards I have made soon X x 

New baby embroidery hoop

Hi to you on a wet and rainy Monday morning.  But here to make you smile is a new baby project that I have recently completed for our friends who have become very proud grandparents of a little baby girl.

I got the idea from crafty Lou when I was at sir stampalot in Peterborough for our crafty get together before Christmas.

Instead of using a card blank as the base for your stamps and embellishments we have used an embroidery hoop.

You start with a 4 inch hoop, I have used a spellbinders scalloped circle die to cut the right size of background paper and card.
Then stick the embroidery hoop on top of the paper - really sticky white glue will hold this firm.
I have used many different embellishments to decorate, tiny alphabet beads spell out 'baby girl' the pink teddies were braid left over in my stash.

I made the rosette from the same background paper using a sizzix die  - the kind that you cut out straight then concertina and stick into a circle. The wooden embellishments I have covered with versamark and then embossed them with sparkly wow embossing powders.  The baby, washing line and words were from a lily of the valley stamp coloured using pro markers.                                                              
A little bit of ribbon and a sliver charm finish the project.

This is the back of the ring, as I said the pink card is just the right size to cover the edges of the embroidery hoop nicely.

I hope that you have enjoyed looking at my photos and that this might give you an idea to use for your next project.

I will be back soon with another hoop idea..... this time it is for a new home :)
Enjoy your week and thank you for popping by.

Stampin up party

Hi ladies
I just wanted to show you the pretty little makes that I created at Tracey's Stampin up party last night.
I met some lovely ladies, made new friends and shared cake and a natter... it really was a lovely evening.

We all came away with some really pretty little projects.

The first I would like to show you is a card and tag.  The bow was made using a bow builder punch, this is absolutely fab - I think I might have to buy one of these myself, it was so easy!  What do you think?

I think this is so clean and simple.  You could add all sort of decorative embellishments if you would like to have something more fancy.

 

The other two little projects were a tiny post note holder and a small card.  The stamp on the card is called lotus blossom.  It is a two step stamp.  Meaning that you stamp the lines with the textured stamp of the flower with a dark colour ink first and then stamp over the top of this with a lighter colour using the solid stamp.  It really is not difficult and gives a wonderful 3d effect to your flower.  I do hope that you like the projects as much as we enjoyed making them. If you are interested in knowing more about Stampin up then please follow the link to my friend Tracey's blog.

 

Thank you for stopping by on this nearly dark Saturday afternoon :)

 

 

 

Alternative agapanthus

I have seen that the previous post has been so popular, using the sweet poppy stencil and paste that I decided to post another that I have made.



This time I have used white paste on a slate gray background cardstock.

I have also used a matching agapanthus stamp to give the white border a little interest.  Black gems in the shape of a butterfly and small dots add the final touches.

I really hope that you like this card as much as the first.

I will be back soon, enjoy the rest of your week end X x

How to create the flag book christmas album

I thought that you might like to know how to make the flag book in the previous post.

It really is very easy to make this.  I have used 4 inside pages for this album.

The front and back pages (red sheets in the photo) are 14.5 cm by 15cm as are the inside pages (white card in the photo).  The back spine (chocolate card in the photo) is 14.5 cm by 5inches wide.  This is scored at 1/2 inch intervals and folded concertina like.  The gold ribbon is added for decorative purposes.

Once you have scored and folded the spine, this needs to be really crisp folds to make a good book, all you have to do is to stick the outer covers and then the inside pages.

I actually used red double sided tape to put mine together as this is much more sturdy.  But for the purposes of this post I have used white tape so that you can see which side of the folds to stick your pages.

This is a closer view, I stuck the covers in first then the inside pages, I have used a little piece of tape to show that you need to stick your inside page all the way down to the bottom on this side of the fold.

The following photo shows you a birds eye view of the completed book.

I have finished off the outside by adding the ribbon, sticking down on the outside of the front and back covers.

I do hope that you manage to follow the simple instructions and enjoy making your mini scrapbook albums as much as we did ours.

Thank you for passing by.. Elizabeth X x

Christmas Memories mini album

Hello... and Happy New Year

I cannot believe how quickly time has gone, so many things have happened since I last posted, but I am hoping that I will be able to post again on a regular basis.

 

This week end I have had the most wonderful Saturday crafting with friends.  We created a Christmas Memories mini album, we had lots of fun tea, cake, lunch and more crafting.

 

I have posted below pictures for you to see.  The album was a flag book, made from scratch using paper from papermania called fun and frolics , we have also used contrasting plain paper and card to break up the many patterns going on!

 

This is the back cover on the left and the front cover on the right.  You can just see the concertina spine in the centre.  The tree is cut from glitter card using a Marianne die.  The envelope was made using a woodware envelope punch, vellum and then embossing it with a dotty embossing folder.

 

 

The next two pages include a vintage recipe found by googling 'vintage Christmas' and a spellbinders film strip die.  The snowflakes were made using a Martha Stewart punch. 

 

 

The pink mittens were die cut using a Marianne die and then embossed and gently smudged with white ink over the raised areas to pick out the detail.  They go really well with the little red and pink outfits of the robins I think you will agree.

We have stamped and smudged the edges of the lined paper ready for journaling to accompany the photos to be added to the chocolate die cut shapes later.

The stamps were many from my stamping up stash of Christmas's past :)

 

Again Marianne dies have been used to cut the sleigh and the fir branch from glitter card.  You can just make out the embossing on the plain pages here to add more interest.

 

I have cut up a Christmas card, winter wonderland to put behind the film strip die, the circle with snowflakes also came from the same Christmas card.

Many of the additional embellishments that you see came from a  papermania scrapbooking pack.

The stocking, sweet and parcel were die cut from mirror card using a cuttlebug die, one of the first ones I ever bought many years ago.  They have been coloured using permanent marker pens.

 

The 'let it snow' sentiment came from a set by Katy Sue and the poinsettia a spellbinders die.

 

 

I really hope that you have enjoyed looking at the photos and that it might have given you some inspiration to try something like this for yourself.

 

I will post some simple instructions later in the week, however I think you will find that there are many tutorials on the internet that will give you good advice.

 

Thank you for reading my post today.  I hope that you have a fantastic week and can drop by again soon. X x

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Agapanthus

 This is a second card made with sweet poppy stencils.  I have used white paste and sprinkled it with silver glitter whilst it is still wet giving the darker appearance.  The 'Happy Birthday' die is one from pink frog and really very useful.The card is really lovely and I think that my photo does not do it justice, I really need to take some lessons!!

 

Have a wonderful day, thank you for popping by and leaving your comments. x x

Wedding Day

This card was made for a very special couple for their wedding day.  My friend Claire and I created this from the scraps left over from the wedding favour's ... it will just match everything beautifully.

 

The  photo itself has come out a little dark, in real life the colours just look so natural.  The base card is 8 x8 and made using cream pearl card.  We have added another base of pearly white paper.  On top of this there is a base of hessian the leftovers from the favour bags, together with the lace and the gorgeous green ribbon which is the colour of the bridesmaid dresses.

 

  The cake has been made using the stencil from sweet poppy and white paste coloured with lettuce green alcohol ink, a sprinkling of fine glitter makes it extra special.  The tag from magnolia, a do hickey die has been stamped with "on your wedding day" from clarity stamps.

All finished off with pearly swirls and paper flowers.  A beautiful card  we hope you would agree X x

A Man's World

Hi to everyone who has popped by today, it is a beautiful sunny Saturday morning as I blog at my kitchen table.  Finally I have a few moments to do this.  Time has just simply flown by and been full of family being poorly and busy days at work.  Perhaps this sounds like your life too!

This morning I bring cards that I have created just recently for the men in my life! 

The theme for my grandson's birthday was a jungle one and this card is just right.  The letters are stamped out using an alphabet from penny black, I have had it for a very long time, but is so useful as the focus point of a card.  The little 'hugs' label is one from a collection by Little Claire. 

I was in one of those well known stationary shops and saw the jungle toppers, I couldn't resist them ... Lion, Zebra and palm tree, there was also a Monkey he is inside :) and they just added the finishing touches.The stamps are from Stamping up.

These cards I really like.  They are neat, clean and simple.  The same but different!  I have made them with a stamp that came free on the front of a magazine that you might have found in a craft shop a month or two ago. 

The globe has been stamped with clear versa mark and embossed with a rust coloured embossing powder.  I have cut it out and mounted it on sticky pads in front of a circular topper from Kanban.  Happy Birthday has been die cut from dies that are available from Pink Frog.  I think that they are very useful and come in a range of words ready for you to add to your cards.  The cards have then nee finished off with raffia, safety pins, buttons and cogs from Tim Holtz.

I hope that I have inspired you to do some crafting this week end.... have a wonderful time.

Easter Sunday

Hello, and Happy Easter to all of you out there celebrating with the Easter Bunny.  I have two cards to post today.  The first is another flip top card, using a stamp set from papermania and is very appropriate as I had a hot cross bun for my breakfast this morning!

Instead of using pens or water colours to colour in my Easter characters I have dabbed a sponge lightly onto the ink pad and then stippled this on to the card after stamping, just to give a hint of colour.  I think they have turned out rather well and is a happy alternative to colouring in.

The second card I have made also uses the the Easter characters but this time I have decoupaged them and placed them as though they were looking over a wall.  I am not sure that the ears, chick and egg have come out very well in the photo but I have coloured them in using fluffy paint. and sponged in the same way as the first card.  The edge punch is from Martha Stewart.
Have a wonderful Easter week end and I will be back again soon.  Elizabeth X x

beautiful butterflies

With all the offers on the television for spellbinder dies I thought I would share this card that I made a while ago with you.
Thanks must go to my friend Gill as they were her dies that I used.

I have used spellbinders border motif die together with their beautiful butterflies circle die.
The sentiment comes from Lily of the Valley.  Just a short post but I hope you are inspired by the card.

A bag to go with the card.

Hello on this beautifully snowy morning!
As my friend said she feels more like making Christmas cards rather than spring birthday cards.. it is so picturesque.
I thought that you might like to see the matching bag in a box that goes with the sewing cards.  It is made from a card base 4 1/2 inches square, scored at 1 inch on all sides.  You simply snip the corners and make into a box base. 

Using a sheet of strong pretty paper 5 1/2 inches by 11 inches put red double sided tape on one short edge and one long edge.  Tape the long edge around the outside of the box and then tape the sort sides together to complete the bag shape.  I have used a round tab punch threading spotty ribbon through for the handles.  Finishing off with a sentiment using the curly label extra large punch.
The flower is made using a  quilling die from X cut.  Inspiration can also be seen earlier within my blog in the post Just believe.
Have a wonderful day whether you are enjoying the outdoors or tucked up warm inside. X x

Sew really lovely to be back

Hello :)

It is really lovely to be back.  Sometimes life gets a little too busy and things go by the wayside and that is what has happened to my blog.

I do hope that you will like the cards that I am posting today, they are especially dedicated to my friends who I shared a wonderful week end with stamping and colouring, cutting and sticking!

I have used the most wonderful papers from Tilda called Sewingbird.  The die cut is on the edge sewing edge from Tim Holtz, the embossing folder is also from Tim Holtz.  There are lots of small embellishments that go to decorate the cards too.  This first card has been decorated with a scallop flower, made by punching out, spritzing with water and then scrunching it up a little.  I have put a brad in the centre and left it to dry.   The leaves are cut from a long border spellbinders die called vine leaves, this makes a wonderful border too.

This second card is a little more special, I have made it as a flip top card. so the tab you see on the left hand side can be pulled to reveal a hidden message!  You will notice that I have actually cut off about 1" of the front of the card on the right hand side just to give the card a bit of interest. The little dressmakers dummy has been paper pieced.  That is I have stamped it out once on the card and a second time on the sewing bird paper, cut it out and stuck this over the first stamped image.  The stamps I have used are all freebies from the front of magazines.  The little charm is from hobby house.

I do hope that you have a lovely week end and I will post again soon X x

Come rain or shine

Just thought I would share these quick and easy cards with you.  Yes, they are using the toppers and stamps from the recent seaside collection designed by Michael Powell.   I think even if it does rain you can still enjoy the fun fair and harbour views of the sea side.  

To create the cards I have matt and layered the toppers onto navy cardstock.  Then taken a separate strip of card and embossed it using my big shot and embossing folder, the dotty one!  To create the little squares I have first inked up the stamp using my versamark (the clear sticky one) and heated gold embossing powder to make the picture stand out.  I did this to the whole picture then just cut out the squares I wanted with my scallop punch, and layered them onto the card.  A gem inbetween gives added interest.  I do hope you like them... this layout will work well with whatevertoppers or stamped images you have.  Thank you for stopping by X x

A viary 'Appy Birthday

Good morning, I hope that you have had a wonderful week end whatever you did.  I had a really super time crafting at Hobbycraft in Tamworth with some lovely ladies.  These are the cards that we made during the morning, we have used the Aviary stamp set by stampin up. Don't you just loove the toppling birdcages - an idea from Jo at stampin n stuff... thank you Xx.  The embossing folder used was owl flourish from cuttlebug inked over with daffodil and old olive, the cages were stamped using soft suede.  The paper is stampin up, nursery nest.

For the second card the leaves were cut out using a die, sizzlets little leaves then inked over with soft suede to give the speckled look. Embossing folder was elegant boquet. We have stamped all in one colour using marina mist and added a matching ribbon. The sentiment is from Katy Sue.. really big and bold!

Brilliant ideas for Father's Day or even as Sarah did for a Wedding Anniversary card.  I hope you like them as much as we do. If you would like to make your own cards like these I am repeating the class at The Old Post on Monday 25th June... to book your place or order the stamp set please call me on 07968630827 thank you for stopping by X x.

Sunny day in the garden

Hello on a lovely sunny day,only downside we are all at work! But it is wonderful to have the opportunity to come home and sit in the garden in the evening with that favourite glass, enjoying the evening sun and I have just the card to put you in the mood.
This is a double pocket card, there are tutorials out there that will tell you how to put this together! This one is an example that Kay Rutter demonstrates when showing you what you can do with the Hougie board, it uses an A4 sheet of thicker paper or even thinner card.
The stamp used was Flynn in the garden Sarah Kay. Hope you feel inspired, and enjoy your time in the sunshine.
Thank you for popping by and for the lovely comments, it really is nice to know you are out there X x

A potter in the garden

What a beautiful sunny day it is today... I hope it is wherever you are too.  I have spent a very successul morning in the garden, trimming, weeding and generally tidying. ... on a day like today I really thought it appropriate to post this pretty card on my blog.
I do hope you like her too, she is a Sarah Kay stamp.  I have stamped her hat twice and decoupaged it.  The whole image was stamped using a dye based ink so that I could faintly colour in the bow on the hat,  pockets and her summer top.  I have covered the flowers in her hand with flowersoft.
The pealised paper used to matt and layer was first embossed using my big shot.  The delicate corners were die cuts from cheery lynn.  A double bow, tied with my bowmaker completes the card.
Thank you for passing by to have a look... Happy crafting X x

HAPPY BIRTHDAY... on a drizzly day in May

This really is a very pretty card, one we have made during the workshops.  I love the simplicity of the colours, they work so well together!  The stamp I have used is one from Sarah Kay, the butterflies are the little embosslit dies beautiful wings, the corner stamp is from clarity.  The little ferns have been punched out using pearlised paper.
To make the flowers you need three scallop circles, I used the stampin up punch to punch them out of  navy cardstock. Then pass them through a crimper (also available from stampin up), this is to break the fibres of the cardstock.  Then carefully flick the edge of the scallop and tease each scallop apart so that you have six shapes.  Place three together and attach with a brad in the centre.  Then dampen slightly with a water spritzer and screw gently in one hand.  By screwing up the card and rearranging the petals you can get the desired effect of real flowers.
I hope this doesn't sound too complex and that you will have a go as the results really add something to this card!
Happy crafting.....and thank you for stopping by.