Missing You ...

My sweet daughter is away at University this year, studying Creative Arts for Theatre and Film. She has an aptitude for anything artistic and is really enjoying her course but, although she has made lots of new friends there, she confessed to feeling a little homesick the other week.

To cheer her up I sent her a parcel containing lots of nice fabrics for her Costume Designs and some of her favourite biscuits and chocolate. I also enclosed a hand made card, to let her know that we are missing her too. Now that she has received everything I can show you the card that I made for her.

I started with an A5 card blank and added a layer of "Springtime" patterned paper from Graphic 45's Secret Garden collection. I thought that a sewing theme would be appropriate so I opted to use the Grandma's Attic background stamp from JustRite Stampers http://justritepapercraft.com/search?type=product&q=grandma%27s+attic which I stamped onto cream card using Memento Rich Cocoa ink. I used coloured pencils to add colour to the dressmaker's dummy, cotton reel labels and buttons then I distressed the edges and used a foam blending tool to add a little Antique Linen distress ink around the edges.  The stamping and colouring was repeated twice, before fussy cutting out all the coloured elements and layering them up on foam pads to give a more dimensional look. You can see what a difference the extra layers made in the photo below.

A strip of brown floral washi tape from We R Memory Keepers was added across the bottom of the card, together with some "Wild Saffron" adhesive paper ribbon from K&Company. Then I added a row of "Sugar and Spice"  pink pearls from the Hobby House, alternating between the 3mm and 5mm sizes, to highlight the "lace".  I tied some button twine through a pink button from my stash and added it to the bottom right corner of the stamped image.

I needed to add a sentiment and wanted to balance the layout, so I decided to die cut a label from cream card using one of the smaller dies from the lovely Spellbinders Labels Six set http://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/s4-230-spellbinders-nestabilities-labels-six---6-dies-3647-p.asp . Leaving the die in place I sponged Antique Linen distress ink over the label, leaving it paler in the middle. When the die was removed it left a lovely crisp cream border which looked really effective. I used Memento Rich Cocoa ink again to stamp the "Miss You" sentiment and two small flourishes (which reminded me a little of flowers) from the JustRite Stampers Large Fancy Sentiments stamp set http://justritepapercraft.com/products/large-fancy-sentiments-cr-03815 . I added a couple of 3mm pink pearls to the centre of the flourishes, stuck the label to the card using foam pads - and Voila! 

I am really pleased with the finished card and I'm very happy that my daughter loved it too!

London Themed Birthday Card

Earlier this week it was our cousin Roy's birthday and I wanted to make him a special card. As he used to live in London when he was younger I decided to use the London Background Stamp from JustRite Stampers http://justritepapercraft.com/collections/cling-stamps/products/london-background-stamp-cl-03765 .

I used a cream A5 card blank and cut a background layer using Botanica patterned paper from the Tropical Travelogue Collection by Graphic 45 and a Spellbinders die from the Grand Labels Twenty-three set http://www.spellbinderspaperarts.com/products/p-343-grand-labels-twenty-three.aspx .

I stamped the London Background stamp onto cream card using Memento Rich Cocoa ink and matted and layered onto a piece of chocolate bronze coloured card stock. The images of Westminster (where Big Ben is), the heart, and the postage stamp were coloured with Distress Markers (Antique Linen, Pumice Stone, Worn Lipstick and Tumbled Glass). I stamped an extra two images, coloured the clock tower and the postage stamp as before, then fussy cut them out and layered them up on foam pads to give a more dimensional look. Finally I used glossy accents to highlight the clock face.

 

 

I was really pleased with the finished result as I think it's quite hard to get masculine cards just right sometimes. I'm pleased to say that Roy liked it too!

 

Here in the UK we are due to have a severe storm tonight, so I hope that you all stay safe and warm indoors.

It's been a long time in the pipeline ...

I have been intending to start a blog for a while now and never got around to it, but I have dallied for quite long enough and need to do battle with technology to make it happen!

By way of a test, I thought I'd start by showing you a couple of birthday cards that I made for friends last year.

This one was made for a friend who kept chickens. The main stamped image of the knitting hens was a Penny Black stamp and all the other stamps used were from Waltzingmouse Stamps. I used Memento dye inkpads and embellished the card with some red seam binding and a vintage cockerel tie pin that I found on Ebay.

 

My second card was made for a French friend. Again I used Memento dye inkpads (love these). The large rectangular background stamp is by JustRite Stampers and I used coloured pencils to highlight a few of the elements. All other stamps used were from the Waltzingmouse Stamps Paris Nouveau set. You can see the full set here http://www.waltzingmousestamps.com/products/paris-nouveau  . The lovely label stamp fitted perfectly onto a Spellbinders labels 25 die cut - I love stamps that match dies! The Eiffel tower was cut out by hand and raised up on foam pads to give it a bit of dimension. I was really pleased with how this turned out and I think my friend liked it too.

 

 

Thanks for taking the time to read this far! I hope that you liked what you saw and will come back and visit again soon.