Mechanical Fantasy Elephant

Fresh today! Made for my brother-in-law's birthday next week. He's a big elephant lover (like me), so when I saw this from Stamperia, I knew what I'd do with it! It is from their Mechanical Fantasy paper pad (steam punk animals), but there is a stamp to match! I decided against using the stamp as well, because of time issues (and accessibility to craft stash.. the builders are here, and drilling up a storm!)  I edged the image with Dark Brown Chalkeyes ink, raised it on 3D pads on top of one of my Scrapman dies from Russia (Geometry-1, ref: DR-256), cut out of kraft card. Scroll down for more..

I drew, cut and coloured a daisy by hand, glittered the petals with Yellow Stickles, curled a large gold jump ring with wire tools, stuck it to the centre of the daisy with a Didi glue dot, raied the daisy on a mini 3D pad and stuck it over the eye of the elephant. The sentiment is computer-generated.

Funky Hand Daisies

This was made over 10 years ago, when I was in the Funky Hand Design Team, showcasing their digital papers from a fab range of CD-roms. Sadly, they're no longer in business.

You can't really tell from the pic, but the top layer is apertured, with another aperture underneath, slightly smaller, so the focal point was kind of 'sunk' into the card, if that makes any sense. The central script panel is raised on pads in the middle. There may well be a name for this technique, but if there is, I don't know what it is! 

The papers (and paper ribbon) used are from the 'Now That's Funky' CD from Funky Hand. (By the way, I learned recently that the word 'funky' may translate as meaning something less than pleasant in the USA, but it doesn't have that meaning in the UK.)

60th Birthday commission

From the archives, around 2010: I've never been very happy with this one, but it has its redeeming features, and my mum seemed happy with it, and as she commissioned it, who am I to argue? It was for her next door neighbour's 60th, and apparently it was a perfect match for the party invitation, so 'twas obviously meant to be!

The brief was black & silver, so I ran the Cuttlebug Divine Swirls embossing folder through my Big Shot with a piece of black card, distressed the edges a bit, and roughly rubbed an Encore metallic silver inkpad over the surface to pick out the swirls and add to the distressed appearance. I used an Inkadinkado flourish stamp underneath the panel (which I raised on black foam), and I think it's that part that I don't like... the flourishes, I mean. It was done in a hurry, and it shows. Not much thought or design gone into it. Ah well.

I used an embossed silver punched heart in the middle of the black flower, a couple of pearl sprays and some pinched ribbon bows tucked in behind. A crackled-glass heart bead is suspended from the flower. The spiral clip and the silver foiled sentiment (Craftwork Cards) were from a lucky blog candy win.
The numbers are silver peel-offs.

Becoming a Family

Made for friends who were planning to have their wedding last summer to coincide with their daughter's naming ceremony. They didn't in the end, but that's a different story! I cut decorative paper into banner shapes in an attempt to create subtle rainbow shades, and used Quickutz Elise alphabet dies to apply the names. '.. becoming a family' is computer-generated and decorated with crystals and a waxed cord wrap.

Black Beauty

This is an A5 card (5" x 7"), heat embossed in clear using Rhonna Farrer's 'Elegant Flourishes' stamp set. The panel across the middle was created by heat embossing in clear on a piece of black card for the glossy edges. The dotty part in the centre is black card embossed with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder and dabbed lightly on the raised points with a white pigment ink (Sugar Candy by Elzybells.. sadly, no longer in business). A panel of black lace has been fixed to the edge of the card for a touch of glamour, and a big red gerbera daisy opposite for a touch of drama. The centre of the daisy is glittered black card, decorated with a silver pin beaded with Swarovski crystals and faux pearls. Finally, three diamantés on the central panel complete the look.

Snowy House

From the archives: 6" square card, using an image and sentiment from an old card, I set it on a first layer of kraft card to co-ordinate with the house, then onto gold mirror card and blue Bazzill cardstock. Just finished with a Kaleidopunch snowflake and a red faux gem to reflect the red in the card image.

Wimbledon

A card for any occasion for any tennis fan. Size: A6 (4" x 6"). Green sticky-back felt, marked with white pencil and layered onto a silver mat. Silver peel-off tennis racquet and balls, mounted on card and fussy-cut, a piece of silver mesh with a border of white paper representing the tape.

Butterfly Birthday

This is a 6" square card and co-ordinating box.

The card: I used a stripey border stamp by Elzybells, stamped in dark brown Chalkeyes ink, with panels of dotty and tiny hearts decorative paper, layered onto olive green Bazzill cardstock. I stamped the 'Friendship' word onto the bottom mat, and found a lovely sentiment to go on the corrugated card panel on top, and decorated with faux gems. The butterfly is a gorgeous die-cut, and I've used my signature rosebud for its body. Can't remember how I made the antennae, but they have tiny faux gems on the ends.

The box: I used a pre-cut and scored flat-packed box from Craft Creations (just recently closed down, sadly), folded and secured into shape. So simple. Same mats and layers as with the card, some faux gems, and I picked up the corrugated card as well, to go under the pretty punched butterfly. I've used two rosebuds and a punched sprig of leaves.

When my building work is finished and I have restored my craft room and found these materials again, I'll let you know who the stamps, dies and punches are from!

Shadow Stamp Rosebuds

Two ridiculously simple A6 size (4" x 6") cards here.. both using a Hero Arts shadow stamp and Picked Raspberry Distress Oxide ink. The leaf is a Crealies die-cut from an inky green background scrap and smeared with a touch of Craft Planet glitter glue. Oh, and there's a white rosebud.

Same shadow stamp, same die (has several leaves on it), same glitter and a freebie sentiment stamp from last month's Simply Cards & Papercraft magazine, #189, stamped in Black Onyx Versafine.

Easter Twice

These are fresh from my crafty little fingers! The paint is still wet. ;-) Made for family Easter cards, they are 6" x 6", using recycled wrapping paper for the background. I've chosen to layer it onto a white card mat for a bit of body, but the colourful floral background presents lots of options. 

The white panel that the daffodils are sitting on has been embossed with a Darice folder.. Peonies, I think.. and raised on low profile 3D foam pads.

For the daffodils, I used the Altenew freebies that came with Issue #188 of the Simply Cards & Papercraft magazine. It has taken me a long time to get around to it, but I've seen so many stunning creations with them that I couldn't not use them! I printed the free digital papers onto cardstock, and then used the die to cut them out. However....

It's a die of several parts, and after the first couple, I lost the will to continue! But even flat and unlayered, I still think they're beautiful. Much respect to those of you who persevered and produced some amazing, detailed 3D daffs! 

Finally, the sentiment is computer-generated using text boxes in Word.

Christmas Window

This is a 6" x 6" card, using a recycled image and sentiment from old cards, inked around the edges and layered onto a blue Bazzill cardstock mat, and decorated with holly leaves punched from old sheet music and snowflakes made with a Kaleidopunch. A button and string and some glitter complete the card.

Blue Brocade Rosebud

This is one I made a couple of days ago. It is A5 size (5" x 7"), and I've used a sheet from the Crafty Individuals Background Papers series, Book 8: 'A Weekend in Seville'. I don't know the origin of the beautiful gold brocade design card I used for the focal panel, as it was given to me in a little RAK package from a friend in the States. (Thank you, Cleo!) It is only a single small piece of card, that I have been hoarding and stroking lovingly since it arrived, and this is just a piece of it. What, you thought I'd let you have it all at once? Pah! Not a chance! So with a white rosebud and some mini gold brads, I'm done.

Music Rosebud

 

This one is new! Made yesterday. A6 size (4" x 6"). The background stamp is Reverse Sheet Music from Impression Obsession, ref: E4110, stamped in Momento London Fog ink and the Treble Clef is a Marianne Designs Creatables die, ref: LR0167. (There are two in the pack.. one large, one small.. this is the larger die.) I added a trimmed red rosebud for colour, tied with glittery silver thread.

Spiral Heart

Another very early card.. you can tell.. I hadn't moved into my rosebud period by then! Ha! Very simple, again, as so many of my cards are. I threaded silver craft wire with beads and pearls and curved both ends into spirals. Pretty sure I used two pieces of wire here, but you could of course use a continuous wire. The heart is covered with glue and dipped into purple microbeads, then stuck onto the centre of the wire on 3D pads. More glue under the beaded part of the wire, but the ends are free for a little bit more dimension. The positioning is a bit off centre, which doesn't quite work, but I like it anyway, even after all these years.

John 3:16

Funky Hand Merry Christmas

This was made using digital papers from Funky Hand's 'Funky Little Christmas' CDs. I like the barely discernible snowflakes in the pattern. Not sure I would use this colour again, if I were remaking it now, and using Bazzill cardstock for the main greeting has made the heat embossing look bumpy because of the texture (which I love, normally, but it doesn't work here). The two punched snowflakes are made with a Kaleidopunch. The scalloped edging on the paper was achieved with fancy-edged scissors. Mini-brads complete the design. Possibly good for a male card?

Spiral Daisies

Another very early card for me, made for my mum's birthday. I wouldn't make a card like this any more.. far too labour intensive! Pretty, though, I think. I can't remember how I made the daisies with blue centres. I may have bought them that way! Mounted over a panel layered onto embossed silver card, and wrapped some glittery silver thread around the card and placed sparkly faux gems inside the spiral.

Funky Christmas Candle

This one was made using Funky Hand digital papers, some gold peel-off borders, a red satin bow, panel of embossed gold card, a fussy-cut stamped, painted and glittered candle, some curled gold wire flourishes, glittered holly leaves and metal floral embellishments. Aaand breathe.

Archive Beach

This is a very old card from my earliest cardmaking days, when Sizzix 'dolls' were all the rage! Just sharing this one for fun! It's not very good at all, but I still feel affectionately about it. Probably the nostalgia value! If I were making it now, I would:

• Mount it directly onto the card instead of on a raised panel, so the sides wouldn't show through the mulberry paper
• Give her a bit of a tan
• Paper-piece her bikini
• Use my Gulls Memory Box die to put some birds in the sky
• Throw it away!

Raffia Heart

Super simple.. Using corrugated card and corrugated packaging, die-cut with a primitive-style heart. I've wrapped raffia around the corners, made a bow to mount on the heart, decorated with a cream paper rose. (You didn't really need me to tell you all that, did you?) ;-)

Baseball Kitty

This was commissioned by my daughter some years ago for her then boyfriend. They were going (or had been.. can't remember) to New York, including going to a baseball game at Shea Stadium (NY Mets former baseball park, up to 2008). I'm a big fan of baseball, personally, and love Penny Black's kitty stamps. I had to colour him Mets, and fussy-cut him out and raised him up slightly. The stars are silver brads, by the way.. not black as they look on here! 

Mother's Day 2008

Lots going on with this one! 'Mum' is computer-generated, using Wordart. The light green in the layers is vellum, and the silver is my all-time favourite embossed cardstock. There is a dark green satin ribbon down the centre of the panel and border punched vellum at top and bottom. The panel is raised slightly from the background on low profile foam pads. The background is a decorative paper, with a little stamping; the 'Love' word is stamped, for example. I have cut flowers and foliage from more paper and stuck it randomly to the panel and painted it with slightly diluted Craft Planet glitter glue. The green organza ribbon has a sparkly quality, too, and there's a touch of sparkle on the rosebuds. There is also a little metal dragonfly on the tail of the bow.

Birthday Bee-ing

This was a cheapie foam-backed stamp, but I love it! I stamped it (first and second generation) in gold Encore metallic ink to create the background, then in black as the main image. The sentiment is computer-generated. You can barely see it, which is a shame, but there is a fine border of gold card as the base layer, and of course, the finishing touch is the black organza ribbon. If I were making this one now, I would show more gold, and would deliberately fray the ends of the ribbon.

Anniversary Hearts

Another early card from me... a bit of an experiment when I was still learning basic techniques. (I still am!)

The panel is cut from a watercolour background, with hearts hand-drawn with a Versamark pen and heat-embossed in silver, then mounted on 3D foam pads for dimension. The greeting is computer-generated.

Anniversary Commission

This A5 (5" x 7") hammered card was made some years ago for my friend, Pat, to give to her husband, Alan, featuring a photo from their wedding. Her wedding flowers were freesias, so I made a background paper using freesia images, and used a fussy-cut photo of a freesia flower for the front. I printed wedding vows onto vellum and overlaid it on top of the background paper, securing it with heart-shaped silver mini brads. The metal 'dream' word is from Making Memories. Some sparkly thread on the side, some punched silver hearts, a silver spiral clip and a handcut number complete the design.

Sleepy Christmas Kitties

Super simple recycling.. using a cute image from an old card, layered up and embellished with a punched (Kaleidopunch) snowflake and a red gem. (The fur trim on the hat was already glittered.)

Penny Black Birthday

Quite a lot to talk about on this one... I've used decorative papers as the base, purple Bazzill cardstock at the top and a strip across the lower part, and a purple organza ribbon. The stamps I've used are from Penny Black, with some (deliberately) fairly rough colouring for texture, including a purply watercolour background and grounding. There are a couple of mauve rosebuds in there, too, which have been painted with diluted glitter glue for a subtle sparkle. The K&Company dragonfly and butterfly are also slightly sparkled, and I've added some curly wire antennae. The 'Celebrate' word is a plastic embellishment, 'Happy' is a peel-off and 'Birthday' is rub-on lettering. Finally, quite a lot of black and white doodling and some green brads complete the picture.

Green Golf Birthday

This is one of my earliest cards, made around 17 years ago, and can't you tell?! I stopped using peel-offs many years ago. Mainly because I prefer using rub-ons, or stamps or creating my own on the computer, using text boxes or Wordart. Although I prefer other methods, I still think that - used well - peel-offs or stickers can look very effective. The other tell-tale sign, I think, is that I hadn't learned at this point about smoothing down the raw edges of cut mirror card. Making cards with mirror card now, I place the cut card onto a surface like a glass mat, or my Rotatrim which has a metal surface, and then run an embossing tool around the edges. This smooths down the roughness of the raw edges, which makes a difference, in my opinion.

Christmas Party

I used a small image that made me smile, and layered it on burgundy card and then gold mirror card. All three layers were deckled with fancy-edged scissors, and then mounted on low profile 3D foam pads for a little dimension. The words are stamped, but I'm afraid I don't recall the details. The whole card is 6" square.

Winter Fairy Sister

Lots of different stamps in grey ink and dabbed with glitter glue to make background.. fairies, lilacs and other flowers and foliage, cobweb, snowflakes.. a glittery silver thread wrap, punched snowflakes and silver snowflake embellishments. The verse is computer-generated and mounted on embossed silver card.

Umpteenth Recycled Xmas Card

The focal image on this card is recycled from a handstamped card that I received. I inked the edges and mounted it on a 6" square card that is embossed with a holly spray folder.. Cuttlebug, most probably, which has been lightly stroked with green Stickles and a touch of red. I've tied some string around it, and decorated it with some red tinsel miniature pom-poms and punched holly leaves using my large Woodware punch and some old music sheets, inked around the edges with dark brown Chalk Eyes ink.