Warmest Christmas Wishes

I love making Christmas cards after I don't actually need any more because then I can just enjoy the process with no pressure.  This card uses pretty Christmas papers I bought last year from Create and Craft and they were an amazing bargain price.  They are gorgeous colours and the set includes printed vellum and die cuts, plus they are still available in their sale.
I used a Craftwork Cards 6 x 6 blank and distressed the edges of the papers using my distressing tool from Making Memories, but you can just use scissors.  I added a piece of translucent vellum from my stash and sewed it on with my sewing machine using a zig zag stitch .  I also sewed the stripy strip using a straight stitch.

The image is a Pink Petticoat digi from last year coloured with pencils.  I used distress ink around the edge whilst it was still in the spellbinders die.  This is mounted onto a nestie scalloped circle in one of the background papers.  The snowflake is a Marianne die and the buttons were clear ones that I coloured to match using copics.  The ribbon is from a local haberdashers and is tied along with the buttons with crochet cotton.  I added some fluffy stuff on the main image to finish it off.

Thanks for coming by and any comments very welcome and appreciated :).

Autumn Easel Card

I made this card for a swap, my first one, and couldn't post this until now as the recipient has received it.  I used the dreamweaver stencil and black embossing paste.  When that was dry I used the crackle paste on top and when that was dry I used a stencil brush and brilliance ink pads to colour it. After rounding the edges I used distress ink to tone down the white. The background paper is some gorgeous Japanese style paper, it's really lush.  As I went to stamp the acorn I dropped the stamp and couldn't find it amongst my debris laden floor!  so I drew one and used copics to colour it and then embossed it in UTEE.  In case it sounds like I'm a slob, I usually make a big mess when crafting but I do clear up at the end!

The little sentiment is a clear stamp but as usual, can't remember where it is from. It's on a nestie with distress ink on the edge.  I have added amber and brown rhinestones on the corners throughout.

The leaves are handmade paper coloured with distress inks and stuck on with pinfair glue gel to give a bit of dimension.  As usual, not 100% confident with this effort.  I thought I would try doing some swaps as I dont usually do challenges and it's a way to connect more personally with another crafter.  As soon as I know I am doing one my confidence goes out of the window and my mojo takes a holiday! Still, can't take it too seriously, it's only a card!!!!

Thanks for looking and any comments very much appreciated .

Anne :)

Autumn Dreamweaver Forest

Although it's been ages since my last post, it isn't because I haven't made any cards, but because I have made cards that I couldn't post until after the were given to the recipients. These 2 were made for a friend and I have used the Dreamweaver Forest stencil again, it is one of my favourite stencils of all time.

I used the embossing paste and when dry used the glue pad followed by Easy Metal sheet.  The background card pieces have been stamped with various leaf stamps in versamark ink.  The leaves on the front are made from handmade paper and coloured using distress inks.  The sentiment is stamped onto a nestie edged in distress ink whilst in the die, and has a little bling on the 'i'.  These are all  mounted onto an A4 dark brown cardstock folded in half, and with a insert (which I forgot to photograph) with 2 rounded corners and 2 leaf punched corners.

The next one also uses the embossing paste but then it has cosmic shimmer embossing powder in various shades applied onto it.  This is an awful photo and doesn't do it any justice - please take my word for it!  I was in a rush to post them and didn't have time to redo the photos.  I used kraft cardstock for the stencil and used a lovely wooden emblie from Crafty Emblies which I rubbed with metallic rub-ons.  The background pieces are again stamped with leaf stamps in versamark (you can only see this in reality).  The sentiment is stamped onto a nestie, again edged with distress ink whilst still in the die, and again with a bling 'i'. This is then mounted onto a gold miri nestie.  All of this mounted onto a dark green A4 card folded in half and with an insert inside, decorated as before.

I have replaced the original photo with a better one.  Anyway - thanks for looking, and as always, thanks for any comments :)

K&Co more Susan Winget

 I got totally absorbed making this bunch of cards.  I love these papers from K&Co and also used the accessories/die cuts etc to complete the set.

This first one also has a string of pearls and doily coloured with  glimmer mist & cosmic shimmer spray. My favourite grosgrain ribbon, stickles and nesties are in there too.  The glare and the glitter make it hard to see inside the dome.

After watching the videos about using intricate dies on the Cheery Lynn website I finally got the hang of it. I used glimmer mist and cosmic shimmer spray to get the right shade of purple to match the paper.  The sentiment is from Craftwork Cards cut out with a nestie.

 The papers are so pretty just by themselves, of course that doesn't stop me from adding more stuff!

I love the birdies!  The little ones I cut out of the packaging - can't waste them, too cute!  Some card candy, stickles, a nestie and a sentiment stamp finish this one.

I cut out the flower and butterfly from the paper to give more dimension.  The picket fence die is one of my favourites.  Stickles around the edge of the paper a la Julie Hickey.

My first love is stamping but playing with these gorgeous papers is such fun.  Thanks for looking.  I really appreciate any comments :)