Chemistry Themed Shaker Cards :D

I got loads of lovely crafty goodies for Christmas, and I could not wait to start making cards with them :D This trio will be for friends on my Chemistry course at Uni :) I've seen the trend of shaker cards coming back in, and I couldn't resist making some of these flask dies into them :) I used the Paper Smooches Chemistry Bottles dies, and the Simply Said sentiment stamp set. I also used Simon Says Stamp stitched circle dies, and the Scripty Thanks and Stitched Journalling Card dies sets from Lawn Fawn :D For the die cut thanks, I used white card, then coloured it with a lime green promarker, I then heat embossed it with 2 layers of clear embossing powder, and then I turned it over and coloured the back with a medium blue promarker to give a mottled effect, and I did the same with the little stars too :D I really love the way these cards turned out, and I can't wait to make lots more cards with these dies :D 

I am entering these cards into the Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes Wednesday Challenge Blog http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/

Cute Christmas Gift Tags :D

I placed my first couple of orders with Simon Says Stamp a few weeks ago, and two of the die sets I got were the Waffle Flower Santa add on set, and the SSS stitched circles (deffinetly the best die set I own by far!!) I've seen people use the Santa add on set with the rectangular tag die which coordinates, however I don't have that and I wanted to try something different, so I made them circular with the lovely stitched edge!! I made a few traditional red versions for my presents, and then the Christmas tree theme is purple and silver, so I made a few of that colour way to hang on the tree :D

I tried making them 2 different ways, the second works best:
1st - I drew round the outside edge of the circle die I was going to use onto the red or purple card, then I cut the beard edge and buckle out of some white card and the belt out of black, I then assembled this how I wanted it and then die cut it with the stitched cirlce, however this was now really thick and was very tricky to cut.... so I tried this....
2nd - I cut the red and purple circles first, then cut the belt, buckle and beard, then to get the stitched edges on the beard and belt, I used some maksing tape to hold them inplace to the cirlce die where I wanted them and then ran than through my grand calibur and then assembled it :D this was far easier!

For the buckles I used a silver and gold metallic markers :D

I'm entering these tags into the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday blog Challenge http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/

and the SSS Monday blog Challenge
http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge/

I only just discovered these challenge blogs, and I just had to enter!! Can't wait to make so many more things with the stuff I ordered from SSS :D

Mixed Media Style :D

I started with green and orange acrylic paint and 2 sizes of punchanella, and I dotted this around randomly on a white piece of card, I then let this dry. I then coloured the background using distress stains (aged mahogany, pine needles, rusty hinge, walnut stain and vintage photo) and when this was applied and had dried, the acrylic had acted as a resist. I then added some stamping in walnut stain with some texture stamps, but it was a bit too prominent, so i added some more water and it blended out a bit. I then stamped the main image onto the dry background in stazon and onto a spare piece of card which i also coloured with distress stains, I then cut this out and layered it on top. I added the dymo sentiment and a black line around the perimeter of the background piece, but it seemed too flat hence all the white signo uni ball detail :D I also made this card in duplicate, as i knew i was going to give this one away straight away and i wanted one on my shelf as inspiration :D

Hexagon Card :D

The background was made using a damask stencil (love this stencil!!) and a new technique i hadn't tried before. I used the mini distress ink pads, mustard seed, peacock feathers and picked raspberry, and i inked up the mask, you then lightly mist over the surface with water and then you flip over the mask and use it as a stamp, and this was the second generation version :) The bird is another one of the Dina Wakley set (i think this ones my favorite)... I'm not really sure about the buttons and ribbon at the top, but it looked to empty without it...

Two Kites :D

A simple card, with an inked cloudy background, some rolling hills out of a couple of patterned papers and a piece I had inked... and then 2 kites made from scraps. I used bakers twine for the strings and added the little double triangle things as 'bows'. And then to finish it all off I added some running stitch doodles and some swirly doodles (similar to the bakers twine string swirls) as a border :D

Roald Dahl :D

I used a Roald Dahl decoupage pack and one of the postcard packs to make this card. It was for the competition Docrafts were running on their facebook page :D And to my complete surprise I just saw that I was one of the runner ups :D https://www.docrafts.com/Features/roald-dahl-crafting-competition-winners/100. I started with an 8x8 card blank, but wanted to do something different, so I did a fold back panel and then used the scalloped wave die from the nautical build a scene dies, I'd been meaning to use this as a scallop for ages :) I then decorated the base of the card with the papers from the pack, and some of the packaging too (the colourful spots) I love that design so much! I then made up some of the decoupage, but wanted it to hang over the fold back, so I mounted it on one of the postcards and added a few extra elements from the two pages of decoupage in that set :) I made up the little book, and decorated the front cover with a layer of decoupage and a couple of other elements... and I even added a little bakers twine bookmark in the middle... I loved the finished result so much that my initial idea of sticking it to the front went out the window... and I added an extra strip of golden ticket paper to act as a place to hold the book to the card, but so that it was still removable :D I added a few buttons, some red and white bakers twine, some of the spinners from the pack, some pompom trim I had and some red spotty patterned craft tape :D

Staple Butterflies :D

Again the same process, however I used Aged Mahogany, Fired Brick, Rusty Hinge and Vintage Photo distress stains... I did a couple of versions in this colour way as well as a couple in the greeney colour way....

Staple Butterlies :D

This card is a different colour way to the previous one I posted, I've also done an orangey version which I'll upload next :) For this version the process is the same as the greeney version, except I used Dusty Concord, Pine Needles and Vintage Photo distress stains... as well as metallic silver Artiste acrylic paint.

Staple Butterflies :D

I was inspired for this card from a youtube video I saw by Shari Caroll (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jQeUiuVa2o&list=UUirlgMtCw6OSlWcW3H1ZSDA) I thought I'd add the link in case you're interested :D I had a few products which she had used, but I put my own spin on it.... and I now have my new favorite thing, stapling butterfly's onto a card :D I used Chipped Sapphire, Pine Needles, Peeled Paint and Weathered Wood distress stains for the background... Pine Needles and Vintage Photo distress stains for the butterfly's.... I used watercolour card, whereas I usually work on smooth white card, but I really like watercolour card now lol :) for the damask stamping I used the Tim Holtz distressed damask stamps and the Metallic Silver Artiste Acrylic paint to stamp with, it works brilliantly.... I then used my dymo labeller for the sentiment, a piece of Madame Payraud patterned craft tape, a piece of brown spotty ribbon, and an arrow paperclip, which I actually got in IKEA :D I've done a few more colour ways of this too as I liked it so much and I might post them at some point too :D

Toadstool Pin-Cushions :D

I had the idea for this back in June when I had just finished my exams, and I've just gotten round to making it... I was going to make everything from scratch, however the other day in my local garden center, they had reduced a pack of those Wendy Vecchi art parts, and so I got the one for a cupcake stand for £1... and so that's what made me finally make it... the 2 paper board circles I used for the bottoms of the toadstool tops should have been the bottom of the cupcake stand, and the square with the 4 separate scalloped edges should have been the top part for the cupcake to stand on... I was quite pleased that the pack happened to have the perfect pieces in it :D Then for the 'stalks' I used a few of my mums old wooden cotton reels and I had a pack of smaller ones which I used too :D For the tops (the pin-cushion part) I cut a polystyrene ball in half (and by luck the diameter of the paperboard circle was the same as a polystyrene ball I had brought to make a bauble from) I then used super strong tape around the perimeter of the bottom edge and stretched over a piece of red and white spotty fabric :D To neaten up the edges I then used super strong tape again to stick a length of ribbon around the seam and finished the join with a bow (the stripy red and spotty green ribbon was from a spots and stripes ribbon pack, the red bow was from the portobello road range, and the green bow was from the winter me to you bow pack :D Then I just added some pearl headed pins and a little bit of red and white stripy bakers twine :D

Zentangle Holly :D

I'm not that great at Zentangle, I think I'm a bit too impatient, however I saw Mel on Create and Craft show this Holly Zentangle using a grid, so I thought I'd give it a try and use it as a background... I changed it slightly by drawing the grid in pencil so I could rub it out later, however I'm not sure it was the right choice as when I showed it to a friend all she could see was circles in the background and not the holly lol, but anyway it was worth a try... I love this scribbly bird by Dina Wakely, and when I saw this pose, I knew it had to be a robin, so I water coloured it using Walnut Stain, Vintage Photo, Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge, Fired Brick and Aged Mahogany distress stains. Once I'd assembled the card, I thought it looked a bit empty, hence the black splashes in the background :) and then to finish it off I just added a bit of red glitter glue to the holly berries and a Happy Christmas sentiment :D

Simple Snowflake :D

I made this card as a thank you to one of my mums friends who gave me this snowflake die that she'd gotten free on a magazine... however after I'd made it I thought that I could do a similar version with the free x-cut die that was on an issue of creativity recently :) I really love the way this turned out... I started with a piece of white card which I covered with Waterfall green and Galactic blue Daley Rowney Pearlescent inks (I don't think the shimmer comes across in the photos...) and then I wasn't sure what to do to begin with so I just cut a few snowflakes out and arranged them on a square card blank... I'm not very good at leaving a card simple, and thought it looked a little plain with just the snowflakes so I decided to use an embossing folder, and this lead to the shorter front than the back, because the folder was 5x7 and so didn't completely cover the front and I didn't want a join, but I actually think that this makes the card better and so I'll probably do this again in the future :D I then just added the sentiment which is from a stamp set that was free on Creativity ages ago and I used a small labels 20 Spellbinders die and then just added some white faux stitching :D :D

Butterfly Trio :D

This is very similar to the previous card, but I tried a different colour way.... It'll probably be a Birthday card for my sister whose favorite colours are blue and grey :) I used Calypso Teal, Slate Grey and little After Midnight dylusions ink sprays for the background, and this time I used Faded Jeans and Weathered Wood distress ink for the stamping :) Again I stamped the butterflies onto the background and onto a spare piece of background so that they're 3D on the card, also stapling them on, makes the card fold a lot flatter when in the envelope :D

Floral Congratulations :D

I used a selection of Happy Days papers, Me to you Spring time papers and some pre-made PM flowers. I also used the xcut petal posy dies and the daisy palm punches in 2 different sizes. I love this effect of a mis-match of flowers, I did it on an up-cycled photo frame for another friends 21st, but I'm not sure where the photos are... The little scrunched flower toward the middle at the bottom is made from 5 punched circles scrunched up, its the palm punch that fits around the bigger typewriter key letter stamps :D The congratulations is one of my favorites from a free stamps set from a creativity mag the one with the globey thing on. and the pink behind the sentiment is a piece of bias binding that i had pre-dyed for another card ages ago...

Butterfly Trio :D

This is a variation on the big butterfly Happy Birthday card that I've made before.... I started off making an inky background using tangerine dream and funky fushia dylusions ink sprays. I then used mustard seed, spiced marmalade and picked raspberry distress inks to add some stamped detail to the background. I stamped the same butterfly 3 times onto the background first and then onto a spare piece of the background... I cut them out, inked the edges and then stapled them directly over the top of the stamped image... I added a doodle line border and then raised the panel with 3D foam tape, and stuck this to a 5x7 card blank... on another spare piece of background I then stamped the sentiment and cut this into a banner shape, and also added this with 3D foam :D To finish it off I then added butterfly trails and a few dots in a white gel pen :D

Butterfly Cards :D

 These are all pretty similar and are made by the same process. I usually make a load of backgrounds on a day when I can't think of many ideas, also its good to do them all at once because spray inks are a bit messy, so i use a washing up bowl and cut my card to A5 size, and it means you only have to wash the bowl out once if you do them all in one go :D also an A5 piece is perfect to make a whole card, and A6 piece for the back ground, stamp the butterfly and use the left over as the pennant for the sentiment :D oh and I also spray one A5 piece then sandwich another on top so you actually get 2 card worth out of one lot of ink spray. Once the backgrounds are dry I do a bit of ghosting or extra spraying with a stencil and then add texture with various stamps, i think this batch was mainly Tim Holtz stamps, but previous versions similar to these I used the PM hamstead heath stamps and some basic spots and stars :D

Woodland Themed Cake

A two-tiered wonky double chocolate cake with a woodland theme... for my Nans 80th Birthday :D I had great fun decorating this cake, I seem to be slightly obsessed with toadstools at the moment... I made them out of fondant icing and I even made a couple of them so that the candle was hidden inside :D The main brown icing was a lot less stressful than usual, as I wanted it to look imperfect and have a bark like texture :D The finishing touches were then chocolate raisins, nuts and smarties stuck on with chocolate icing and then for the soil I used crumbled up bourbons :D I loved making this so much! 

MUM

3D cardboard letters decorated for my mum for Mother's day... they were slightly late, but at least I finished them :D

I started off by drawing, in pencil, outlines of patches, I then used 2 tester pots from Wickes to paint it, it was Fushia and lime green (just like my CS) but I did add a bit of white acrylic in to tone them down slightly... It needed a couple of coats to give a good colour. I then used some of the docrafts tissue paper with music and script on to add detail, I also used the matt varnish to stick this on as I didn't want a shiny finish! it works really well as a glue :) and then I added a few partially stamped images in pink and green too and varnished the whole thing:) Then I used some docrafts bloomers, some tatty teddy springtime papers to make flowers and I used my favorite little butterfly again as it was the perfect size :D I used some docrafts glimmer dots in the middle of some flowers, I'd had them for ages, from a goody bag and didn't realize how amazing they look!! I also added some odd buttons and gems... and then the micro-beads which were from a nail art set from poundland, I did this by doubling over a piece of double sided and using a hole punch to get a circle and then stuck it on, pulled the backing off and tipped some beads on... these letters were very experimental with things I'd wanted to try for a while, and mum loved them :D 

Two Globe Cards

 A simple circular easel card up-cycling an old encyclopaedia

I found a really old World atlas encyclopaedia which I didn’t particularly want any more, and I turned to a few pages in and saw these small circular maps of the world showing both sides. They were showing different things such as population etc… And I thought they would look perfect as a circular easel card, and just by luck, the largest Xcut nesting die fitted perfectly :D So firstly to get the base easel card I placed my largest circle die on a pre-folded A6 card blank, hanging the edge of the die off the card so that a spine would be left attaching the two sides. I then used the same size circle to cut out the globes from the pages of the atlas, and then cut another circle out of a further A6 card blank to stick to the back of the map for the top globe so that it was sturdier as the upright part of the card. I also inked the edges of the globes just to get rid of the harsh edge (on one card I used green ink and on the other card I used blue). I scored across the middle of the top circle of the card parallel to the spine to create the easel, and then I attached the strengthened globe to the folded circle and the second globe to the base of the easel card. Then I spelt out my sentiment ‘Enjoy your Trip’ curving the letters on an acrylic block and stamped it onto a scrap piece of some happy days paper and I cut around the letters in a curved forked tail banner shape. I then used another scrap of paper for a butterfly, which is from one of the bookprint stamp sets (it has to be my favourite butterfly ever!) Then I finished it off with a few gems for the body of the butterfly, a single tiny gem to prop up the easel and a trio of tiny gems to balance the top right of the circle :D I really love the final look of these cards, I just need to find someone to give them to :D Also on one of them, it looked a bit empty, so I used a couple of the docrafts all abroad stamps :D