Saturday, 28 June 2014

Charmed Wreath Merriest Wishes Card - 52 {C}CT June Stash Challenge

It's Louise's last challenge of the month and she's going out in style by asking us to use a charm or charms on our cards for the 52 {C}CT Stash Challenge this week.

 

It's rare for me to use charms and when I checked my stash I had a pitiful lack which was a great opportunity to go shopping!  I bought some Marianne Design charms which come in a pack of eight - two each of four designs, the designs being deer, scarves, sleighs and snowflakes.  I decided I'd go mad and use one of each design so I've used four charms on this one card - yeah, look at me actually using embellishments rather than hoarding them LOL! 

A wreath came to mind whilst I was mulling over what card I'd make for this challenge and so I started by stamping and fussy cutting the wreath.  I cut a panel of Real Red CS, punched the corners and glued it to the front of a Pear Pizzazz 5 1/4" square card base.  I die cut a white circle, stamped the sentiment, dry embossed it with a snowflakes folder and glued the circle to the card front. To attach each charm to the wreath I pierced two small holes, threaded the charm onto silver thread, fed the thread through the holes and tied a knot in the back.  Once I'd attached all four charms I added the bow and popped up the wreath.  I then placed a sparkly silver domed circle at each corner of the card front and blinged up my wreath with some red gems. 


Here's the inside and the envelope.  


So now it's over to you, I hope you'll play along with our stash challenge at 52 {C}CT, I'm looking forward to seeing your charming creations!

Supplies:
Stamps: IndigoBlu 'Wreathed in Smiles' set, sentiments from Hero Arts 'Very Merry Christmas' clear set
CS: SU! Pear Pizzazz, Real Red & Whisper White, IndigoBlu White Perfect Stamping Card
Ink: SU! Pear Pizzazz & Real Red
Tools: Cuttlebug Snowflakes folder, Woodware Inverted Corner Rounder punch, circle Nestabilities die, 1 3/4" & 2" circle punches
Embellishments & accessories: Marianne Design 'Winter' charms, SU! Real Red stitched ribbon, PaperMania silver shimmer dome stickers, PaperMania red gems, 3D foam tape




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Friday, 27 June 2014

SU! Owl Thank You Cards

The SU! Spring and Summer catalogue is coming to an end soon and two friends placed orders to get the goodies they wanted while they were still available.  That meant I needed to make a couple of extra thank you cards this month.  I decided to use my neglected owl punch for these two cards and originally planned on making a very simple and fast design - but I got carried away LOL!  Hubby was ensconced on the sofa watching World Cup football so I escaped to my craft room for some creative play and I was happy to let the card design develop as I went along.  It ended up more fancy than I'd originally intended - but I enjoyed making the cards immensely and my friends loved them so happy days all round!    

The cards measure a tad over 4" square and were made using the gorgeous new Lost Lagoon CS.  I added in Soft Sky, Early Espresso and white and I love how these colours look together!  I embossed the Soft Sky squares with the Woodgrain folder and lightly brayered over the top and sponged the edges using Lost Lagoon ink.  I punched and assembled the owls and stamped, inked and die cut the sentiment labels.  I applied Crystal Effects to the hearts and to the Early Espresso dots on the labels so they're lovely and shiny.  I also added white gel pen dots to highlight the eyes.  I punched the banners, layered them and added a rhinestone to the banner at the top.  The owls and labels are popped up with Dimensionals.


I always have to decorate the insides and envelopes of my cards, I just can't NOT do it now, it doesn't feel finished if I don't!  I was at a loss as to what to use until I remembered the beautiful swirl from the Everything Eleanor set.  I also used the Four Frames set and the Decorative Label punch to make  name labels for the envelope fronts.


Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Sassy Salutations', 'Everything Eleanor' & 'Four Frames' sets
CS: SU! Lost Lagoon, Soft Sky, Early Espresso & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Lost Lagoon & Early Espresso, white gel pen
Tools: SU! Owl Builder, Banner & Decorative Label punches, Woodgrain embossing folder, Apothecary Accents Framelits dies, brayer, sponge dauber
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Crystal Effects, rhinestone jewels, Dimensionals




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Wednesday, 25 June 2014

Wheat Easel Card

At card group last time we made this easel card using the gorgeous 'Going to Seed' silhouette stamp.  


As I had a few easel cards left I decided to use them for when Angela and Janet next came to my place for a crafty afternoon.  Janet and Angela both love blue and Angela loves using Distress Inks so both parties were catered for nicely LOL! 

The design and colour combo are similar to the card group version, I just tweaked a few things here and there.  The circle was inked with Tumbled Glass, Broken China and Faded Jeans Distress Inks, all applied with ink duster brushes, and the wheat was stamped over the top in Night of Navy ink.  To make the stop for the easel I embossed Tumbled Glass Core'dinations CS with a border embossing folder, scuffed the embossing with sandpaper and popped the strip up.  I stamped the large birthday sentiment and added the cluster of three flowers.  To complete the card I added a trio of butterflies, placing rhinestones onto the punched shapes.   


Here's the envelope with the lovely wheat silhouette stamped in one corner. 


This card ticks a lot of boxes for me - an easel card, a silhouette stamp, an inky background, scuffed embossing, flowers and butterflies - quite a few of my favourite crafty card making things!  I'm happy to say both ladies loved making this card!  They're coming again tomorrow afternoon but I've stipulated the card will definitely NOT feature blue or Distress Inks.  We've done quite a few of those and it's time I started encouraging my pupils out of their comfort zone!

Supplies:
Stamps: Woodware 'Wheat' & 'Double Birthdays' clear stamp sets, SU! 'Papillon Potpourri' & 'Petite Petals' sets
CS: Craftwork Cards Scallop Circle Easel Frame card blank, SU! Night of Navy, Core'dinations Tumbled Glass CS
Ink: SU! Night of Navy, Tim Holtz Tumbled Glass, Broken China & Faded Jeans Distress Inks
Tools: circle Nestabilities dies, circle punches, SU! 'Elegant Butterfly', 'Bitty Butterfly' & Petite Petals punches, border embossing folder from Cuttlebug 'Acanthus' folder set, Inkylicious ink duster brushes
Embellishments & accessories: SU! rhinestone jewels, Dimensionals, fine sandpaper




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Monday, 23 June 2014

Flower Spray SU! Thank You Cards

These are the thank you cards I made to slip inside my SU! customers bags along with their goodies this month.  The cards measure just a tad over 4" square and I used Pear Pizzazz, Blackberry Bliss and Whisper White as my colour combo.

I dry embossed the Top Note shape with the Decorative Dots folder before wrapping that around the card front.  I stamped the flower spray in Pear Pizzazz, cut it out with the Decorative Label punch, stamped the image again in Blackberry Bliss, fussy cut the small flowers, glued them on and added rhinestones to the centres.  If you had the markers you could ink the stamp directly with the two colours - but then I actually quite enjoy a bit of fussy cutting, even when it's fiddly!  I punched Blackberry Bliss labels, snipped them into two pieces and glued the pieces at the top and bottom to make a mat layer for the white labels.  I stamped the sentiment, punched it out with the Word Window punch and glued that to a strip of Blackberry Bliss CS.  I used the Banner punch to cut a flag end and added a rhinestone.  I glued the strip flat at one end but popped up the flagged end.  The flower spray labels are also popped up.



Just simply stamped Pear Pizzazz images decorate the insides and the envelopes.


Here's the set all together.  


Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Embellished Events' set
CS: SU! Pear Pizzazz, Blackberry Bliss & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Pear Pizzazz & Blackberry Bliss
Tools: SU! 'Top Note' Bigz die, 'Decorative Dots' embossing folder, 'Decorative Label', 'Word Window' & 'Banner' punches
Embellishments & accessories: SU! rhinestone jewels, Dimensionals



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Saturday, 21 June 2014

Rudolph & Robin Merry Christmas Easel Card - 52 {C}CT June Theme Challenge

Louise has chosen a wonderful theme for us this week at 52 {C}CT - Rudolph/Reindeer.  Great fun!

 

I made a 5 1/4" square easel card using Soft Sky, Real Red, Old Olive and white CS.  The white strip stamped with snowflakes and the sentiment is popped up to act as the stop for the easel.  I die cut the fancy border and glued that beneath the strip.  I stamped Rudolph on watercolour paper, added an ornament dangling from his antlers, coloured him with inks and a water brush and fussy cut him.  I then stamped my wintry scene onto watercolour paper, colouring the sky, trees, fence and log and adding some blue highlights to the snow.  I stamped, coloured and fussy cut the robin and popped him up.  I placed Rudolph into the scene, mounting the image on a wobble spring, so he's very dimensional and jiggles beautifully!


Here's a close up view of the main image.  Just in case the red shiny nose (courtesy of Crystal Effects) wasn't enough to identify him, I also gave Rudolph a sign with his name on!  I fussy cut the sign, cut a slit in the scarf,  poked the top of the sign through the slit and taped it at the back.


I cut a panel of white CS for the bottom of the card and stamped snowflakes and a sentiment.  I love how the red and soft blue look together!


Because Rudolph is on a wobble spring the card is quite dimensional so I made an envelope from  patterned paper.  The card is 5 1/4" square but I made the envelope 5 3/4" square and the card slides in and out very smoothly, I'm not happy if the fit is a bit too snug!  I stamped and die cut the flag banners and popped up a snowflake circle element.  This card will definitely be hand delivered and I'll write the recipient's name on the white banner.


I made an office style envelope closure using snowflake brads, punched circles and baker's twine.  I dressed up the snowflakes with a bit of bling to finish off!


Huge thanks to my lovely friend Lesley who loaned me her fab reindeer stamp set to play with - I enjoyed making this card immensely!

Whether you use reindeer or a red nosed Rudolph I hope you'll play along with us at 52 {C}CT for this week's theme challenge - I hope you have as much fun making your cards as I did! 

Supplies:
Stamps: Hobby Art 'Santa's Reindeer' clear set, My Cute Stamps 'Let It Snow' clear set, SU! 'Sassy Salutations' & 'Snowflakes' sets, Penny Black 'Joyous Season', Sizzix 'Banners' stamp & die combo set
CS: SU! Soft Sky, Real Red, Old Olive & Whisper White, watercolour paper

Patterned paper Bo Bunny 'Clover' Double Dot
Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black, SU! Soft Sky, Marina Mist, Real Red, Old Olive, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Smoky Slate & Basic Black
Tools: 'Lace Edger 2' Joanna Sheen Signature die, banner dies from Sizzix 'Banners' stamp & die combo set, circle punches, SU! Envelope Punch Board, heat tool, paper piercer, water brush
Embellishments & accessories: clear embossing powder, Woodware Action Wobble Spring, snowflake brads from stash, SU! white baker's twine, Crystal Effects, rhinestone jewels, Dimensionals, 3D foam tape 



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