A First Birthday

Today is our youngest grandson's first birthday, although it hardly seems 12 months since he arrived! Of course I wanted to make him a card and thought that bright and cheerful was the way to go.

I selected a cute stamp from Lili of the Valley for the main image and added the perfect sentiment with an old PSX stamp, Versamark ink and Denim Zing embossing powder. The design paper is from the "Candles and Cake" NitWit collection by Mary Fran for Lili of the Valley. I coloured the stamped image to co-ordinate with the patterned paper using Copic Ciao markers (R000, R00, Y11, B93, B95, YG03, RV29, R37, B99, C0, C1, C3, C7 & B12). The scalloped rectangle die that I used was from a really useful set by Waltzingmouse Stamps and the finishing touch was a number 1 cut using a Memory Box die.

Here is the birthday boy Lucas - looking a little bewildered as he had just woken up from his nap when I took this photo this morning. The photo below was taken earlier on when he was playing in his new birthday gift from his Mummy and Daddy. I think he likes his new house!

Thanks for looking,

Lynn.

Cure for the Monday blues # 46 - Rise & Shine!

Hello there! I have been having trouble with our internet connection this week and haven't been able to post on my blog for what seems like ages! I've made a card for the Cure for the Monday Blues challenge # 46 - Rise & Shine! You can find all the details on Taheerah's blog here . The inspiration photo this week has a monochrome palette with a pop of yellow here and there.

I decided to focus on the yellow pillow with clouds and the sweet little bird - and here's what I came up with.

I started with a white card blank and added a layer of Papertrey's Soft Stone card followed by a layer of Lemon Tart card. Then I diecut several white clouds using my Memory Box Marshmallow Clouds dies, stuck them to the yellow card and trimmed the edges. The cute bird and sentiment are both from Waltzingmouse Stamps Sewing Box Hugs stamp set. I used Memento Tuxedo Black dye ink to stamp the bird three times onto Soft Stone and Lemon Tart bitty dots papers, cut them out and layered them up with clear foam tape. That's it - so CAS for me, LOL!

Thanks for reading and for your kind comments,

Lynn

Catching up!

It is such a long time since I last blogged - so sorry that I've been AWOL for so long! December saw me frantically making several birthday and thank you cards, together with over 100 Christmas cards - which then had to be written and posted, so there was no time to write blog posts at all. Over the Christmas and New Year period we were busy entertaining our family and friends, then we came down with the dreaded lurgey and were forced to retreat to bed to hibernate until we felt better.

Anyway, now that things are getting back to normal, I thought that I would share a few photos of some of the cards that I made over the last couple of months.

The first one is a thank you card made with a Lili of the Valley cute image stamp and papers, Spellbinders dies and sentiments by Waltzingmouse Stamps. We took this to the Stroke Unit at Fairfield Hospital, Bury to thank the staff there for looking after my husband David when he first had his stroke last year.

My second card was for my Brother-in-law Les' 80th birthday. He loves the countryside and there are squirrels in the trees behind their house, so I decided to go with a woodland themed card. I used a Spellbinders embossing folder for the green background panel which I added to a 5" x 7" white card blank. I embossed the Papertrey Ink tree cover plate onto Bockingford watercolour paper, watercoloured the tree trunk and leaves, then stamped the trunk with the co-ordinating PTI stamp to get the bark effect. The tree panel was matted onto chocolate brown card, which I also used to cut some branches and an assortment of small birds with a selection of Memory Box and Poppystamps dies. The squirrels and acorns were cut with Impression Obsession dies, then I highlighted the acorns and the squirrels' eyes with a tiny amount of glossy accents. I was really pleased with how this turned out.

The next card was made for my Sister-in-law Alison for her birthday. I used a similar technique to the previous card, this time using a Papertrey floral coverplate and watercolouring as before. The small stitched flag was cut using a Li'l Inker die and stamped with a Waltzingmouse stamps sentiment. Lime green and pink card layers and some co-ordinating ribbons were all that were needed to complete my design.

Below you can see a similar version of the card above, this time using Papertrey Bitty Dot background paper and matching ribbon, with an orange and lime green colour scheme.

My next card was designed to be produced en mass and was based upon a card that had been featured on the Less is More challenge blog. The stitched rectangle die is from a set of Lawn Fawn dies, the sentiment is a Magenta stamp, the snowflakes are by Waltzingmouse stamps and the legs are part of a Prima Valentine doll stamp. I used Memento dye inks and Copic Ciao markers to colour the legs and shoes, adding a touch of clear Wink of Stella pen to the shoes to make them sparkle. The snowflakes were stamped with Versamark ink and heat embossed with WOW sparkling embossing powder. I made a total of 65 of these C6 sized cards - which took me ages!

Finally we have my other batch Christmas card for 2014. I made about 35 of these 6" square green cards and stamped the backgrounds using red Memento dye ink and a candy stamp from Waltzingmouse. Then came a red linen card layer and a square of mottled green card embossed with a Cuttlebug candy cane embossing folder. The striped candy canes, bow and gingerbread man were all Waltzingmouse stamps, cut with their matching dies and coloured with Copic Ciao markers. A touch of red and white bakers twine completed the look.

Apologies for the long post and thanks for reading this far!

Lynn

An Aviation Birthday

Today our eldest grandson Max has his third birthday, so I needed to make him a special card. He is fascinated by all sorts of aircraft and is very knowledgeable for such a tender age. I was admonished by him when I showed him a photo of a helicopter in one of his books - "it's not a helicopter Grandma - it's a Sea King"! Similarly he can tell a Spitfire from a Hurricane etc, whereas I just see a 'plane! We think he might end up being a pilot when he grows up.

So clearly an aircraft card was called for and Clearly Besotted's Take Flight stamps and matching dies were just perfect for the job.

I used a 6" square white card blank and layered some Core'dinations card from the Tim Holtz Kraft Core Nostalgic collection. This was topped with some pretty cloud patterned paper from the "Up, Up & Away" NitWit collection by Lili of the Valley. The letters were cut from the Core'dinations card using the Memory Box Classic Alphabet Upper Case dies and adhered to the card with a dab of Ranger's Studio multi-medium matte.

The aircraft, banners and sentiments were stamped onto smooth white card with Memento dye inks (Love Letter, Tuxedo Black, Tangelo, Dandelion and London Fog). I tried to match the aircraft colours to some of the characters from Disney's Planes (Blade Ranger, Dusty and Leadbottom) as Max is very fond of those too. The coordinating Take Flight dies made it really easy to cut everything out and there is even a little separate stamp for the banner strings, which I stamped directly onto the patterned paper. Everything was stuck onto the card with double sided tape and clear foam pads in selected areas, to add dimension and make it look like the planes were banking round.

I was really pleased with how this turned out and I hope that little Max liked it too.

Here is the birthday boy, modelling the cute aviator hat that his Auntie Jess bought him for his birthday.

We bought Max the matching aviator jacket to match and he looked so cute in his new outfit. Here he is with his Daddy trying to salute. I love the photo below - he looks so pleased with himself!

Thanks for looking.

Lynn

Remember, Remember the 5th of November

Today would have been my Dad's birthday, so for the last few years I have felt sad on 5th November and always think of him when the fireworks are going off. However, last year our second grandson Joshua was born on 5th November - which was really lovely - so now it's a happy day again. 

Of course I had to make Joshua a birthday card to mark the occasion! I used an 8" square white card blank and added a layer of Core'dinations Tim Holtz Kraft-Core card from the nostalgic collection and some lovely script effect paper (from Kaisercraft's Pitter Patter collection). 

I chose the cute Baby Boy stamp from Lili of the Valley (ST 020) for the main focal point and stamped it onto smooth white card using Memento Tuxedo Black dye ink. I cut the panel using a Spellbinders label die and coloured the image using Copic Ciao markers. The panel was then matted onto another Spellbinders decorative label diecut which was adhered to the card using foam tape. 

The "Happy Birthday" sentiment was cut from the same Core'dinations card using a Simon Says Stamp die and this was adhered to the card with a small amount of Ranger's Studio matte multi-medium. The letters were cut using the Memory Box Classic Upper Case alphabet dies, as was the number 1, which I cut seven times and then stuck them all together to add more dimension to the number. The final touch was some aqua and white bakers twine and a matching button. The photo below shows the image and number in more detail. 

The birthday boy had a party on Sunday and was suitably spoilt by the whole family! Here he is opening the present that we bought him ( a huge activity cube that is bigger than he is)!

This photo was taken as Joshua was about to blow the candles out on his birthday cake. He was a little unsure of this as after all he's never had to do it before!

Joshua was still grinning from ear to ear when we left, so I think he enjoyed his first party (we certainly did)!

Thanks for looking,

Lynn

Couture Birthday Card

I have just realised that I didn't share the twenty - first card that I made for my daughter back in the summer, so it's time to put that right! Jess is studying Costume as part of her University course - so what better papers to use than the wonderful Graphic 45 Couture collection?

A word of warning though - if you are a fan of clean and simple (CAS) cards please look away now! Clean and simple this is not! In fact I would go as far as to say that this is one of the most elaborate cards that I have ever made and it took me several days to complete. To give you some idea, there were a total of twenty - two different dies used on this card - some of them more than once!

I started off with an A5 card blank, portrait style, with a top fold. I added fleur-de-lis borders to the longer sides, which I had cut from black glitter card using a Spellbinders die. Then came a layer of turquoise pearlescent card, followed by several panels of the Couture papers by Graphic 45. The ric-rac border at the bottom of the card was cut using a Papertrey die and I used a white gel pen to add the faux stitching.

The next two photos show the top of the card, where I wanted to hang bunting to create a party feel. I used three of the dies from JustRite's Buntings and Button dies set with more of the lovely Couture papers to make the pennants and scalloped bunting. These were layered using clear foam tape then tied together with narrow black polka dot ribbon, forming six tiny bows. 

The top pelmet of turquoise hearts was cut from a Memory Box die and topped with a Spellbinders Fleur-de-lis in black glitter card. The photo below shows how I used several black foam dots to raise the centre of the pelmet to give it a curved shape. Two small ribbon bows were added to the ends to make it look like the ribbon had been used to tie up the bunting.

The main stamped image is one of the Prima doll stamps by Julie Nutting, which I stamped, coloured with Copic Markers, paper pieced and decoupaged. I heat embossed the dress portion of the stamp four times onto another of the Couture papers, fussy cut them and decoupaged the layers with clear foam pads at the bust and hemline. I also added some tulle netting gathered at the hemline to make it a real party frock! The party hat, bow belt and shoes were also decoupaged and I painted them with some Tattered Angels Tide Pool Glimmer Glam Glitter paint for added sparkle. Three turquoise gems completed the party crown and some narrow gold beaded trim made the perfect necklace and bracelet - every party girl needs a bit of bling!

The photo below shows the dimension achieved from all the layering on the skirt of the dress (sorry it's a bit out of focus).

The panel for the sentiment was cut from two more Couture papers using Spellbinders labels dies. I added a larger Fleur-de-lis to the top and bottom of the panel and mounted it onto the card with foam tape. The "happy" die cut is from a Simon Says Stamp die and the numbers and letters are all cut using Memory Box Classic number and alphabet dies (both upper and lower case).

The bottom right of the card was finished off with a bouquet of co-ordinating flowers. The white gypsophila, turquoise blossoms and variegated leaves were from Wild Orchid. I made the six other flowers myself using Spellbinders Bitty Blossoms dies and more of the Couture papers. I used a cocktail stick to curl all the petals before securing with glue, then I added either a tiny turquoise pearl or a gem to the centre of each flower. A couple of diecut flourishes completed the arrangement.

The photo below gives you some idea of the dimension added (sorry it's a bit out of focus again).

A final look at the finished card. I was so happy with how this turned out and my daughter loved it too!

Thanks for looking.

Lynn

Welcome Baby Lucas

Allow me to introduce our newest grandson, Lucas James. The photo below was taken when he was just one day old and was still in hospital. As you can see I am a very proud Grandma!

                            

I wanted to make a card as a keepsake for his parents, so I started with an 8" square white card blank and added a layer of Core'dinations Tim Holtz Kraft-Core card from the nostalgic collection and some lovely patchwork effect paper (Little One from Kaisercraft's Pitter Patter collection). 

I chose the lovely Starry Bunny stamp from Lili of the Valley (ST 374) for the main focal point and stamped it onto smooth white card using Memento Tuxedo Black dye ink. I cut the panel using a Spellbinders label one die and coloured the image using Copic Ciao markers. The panel was then matted onto another Spellbinders decorative label one diecut and additional layers were coloured, fussy cut and decoupaged with clear foam pads to add lots of dimension. 

The photo below is a close up of the partially concealed tag which I cut from Kaisercraft paper for the front and Core'dinations card for the back, using the largest of the Waltzingmouse stitched tags dies. I left enough space on the tag for details of Lucas' birth to be recorded. 

The Starry Bunny panel was adhered to the card on three sides with foam tape, leaving space for the tag to be inserted. Although the photo below is a little out of focus, you can see the extra decoupaged layers which really make the bunny and teddy stand out.

The Special Day stamp is also by Lili of the Valley. Here it was cut with a Spellbinders circle die and layered onto another Spellbinders scalloped circle diecut. I used a co-ordinating Copic marker to highlight baby's date of birth. The ivy leaf corners were cut with Signature dies and the flowers (all from Wild Orchid) were arranged around the date details.

Finally I added Lucas' name with letters cut with Memory Box classic alphabet dies. Although the card was very time consuming to make, I am very pleased with the finished result and it was well received. 

I am entering this card in the Lili of the Valley October challenge, which you can find here .

The photo below was taken earlier today when Lucas was enjoying his play mat. He is three and a half weeks old now and is as cute as a button! Of course I may just be slightly biased!

Thanks for looking.

Lynn

Pink Roses and Sequins

This week I have been busy card making as I need quite a few cards for various occasions over the next few weeks and I wanted to make a start on them before I begin making Christmas cards. I decided to make a batch of similar cards and started by cutting shaped card blanks from pearlised linen textured card using a Spellbinders Card Creator die.

I chose the triple rose three step stamps from Papertrey Ink's "The Sweet Life" stamp set for my focal point. The roses were stamped first with Memento Angel Pink ink, then Papertrey Sweet Blush ink, with the final layer being Memento Rose Bud ink. I used the matching dies to cut out the blooms, which I adhered to my cards using foam pads. The gold leaves were cut from mirror card using the three smallest dies from the Memory Box Tender Leaves set. The "Happy Birthday" sentiment was cut from the same mirror card using a Simon Says Stamp die and these were adhered with a small amount of Ranger's Studio matte multi-medium, as were the pink and gold sequins. 

The "Thanks" sentiment on the card below is also cut from a Simon Says Stamp die - I love the font used!

I ended up with a batch of two birthday cards and six thank you cards, so I'm very happy with the results!

I am hoping to be back later on today with another card. My blog posts are becoming a little like buses - you wait for ages for one then two come along at once - LOL! Thanks for looking.

Lynn

Soft Watercolour Wash Background (with Stencils) - part 3

 

My fourth card in this series is a slightly larger one - this time using The Crafters Workshop Mini Cherry Blossoms stencil. I wanted to see if I could watercolour a background which wasn't quite so abstract, so I chose this stencil of birds sitting in a cherry tree and used pale blues, green, brown and pink paints. The pooling of the watercolour paint in the spaces left by the stencil gave a lovely edge to the flowers but the birds weren't very clear, so I decided to die cut a flock of them using Memory Box dies instead. I mounted each bird onto my card with tiny foam pads, so that they look like they are perching on the branches or flying.

Please click on the photo above for a better view.

 

The sentiment is another from the useful Clearly Besotted "Many Thanks" set. I stamped it straight onto the background using Potting Soil Archival Ink. I really like the subtle, dreamy quality to this card!

Cure for the Monday Blues #15 : Guilded Flora

This week Taheerah has chosen another bright and cheerful inspiration photo for her Cure for the Monday Blues challenge no 15. You can check out all the details on her blog here http://littlemisst-papercraft.blogspot.com/2014/04/cure-for-monday-blues-challenge-15.html .

Source: Pinterest

 

I started with a 5" x 7" white card blank and used two of the smallest stamps from the Waltzingmouse Stamps "Funky Feathers" set to imitate the petals on the acrylic chairs and paper plates. I used Papertrey Ink Melon Berry and Berry Sorbet inks, stamping them onto scrap paper first so that I could use the second generation of ink on my card front. Then I added the sentiment, from Waltzingmouse Stamps "Vintage Garden Seed Packet", using Versamark ink and heat embossing with gold embossing powder.

Please click on the photo for an enlarged view.

I stamped the carnation from the same stamp set three times onto different coloured card and another three times onto green card, fussy cut them out and paper pieced them to make my three carnation flowers. The vases were cut from Memory Box dies, Candy Jar and Vintage Apothecary Jar, the lids were discarded and the bases of the round ones were cut down to size and paper pieced together to match the vases in the inspiration photo. I used narrow heat proof tape (the red lined sort) to define the gold areas on the vases, which I then heat embossed with gold embossing powder. Finally I used foam pads to stick my flowers and vases to the card front, following a diagonal layout, similar to the display on the table in the photo.

I really enjoyed making this card, although it was more time consuming than I expected! Thanks for looking.

Happy Mother's Day and Cure for the Monday Blues Challenge #10

This is my second post today, please scroll down to see my Sunday Stamper #300 card.

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mums and Grandmothers out there! I think that this is the first year that my daughter has been away from home for Mother's Day and I am missing her a lot! She is away at University in Kent, but was sweet enough to send me a beautiful card, a copy of "The Great British Sewing Bee" book and a pretty bunch of roses - I am a lucky Mum! We will probably Skype later on and catch up with all the news and I am very much looking forward to her coming home for Easter.

 

Over on Taheerah Atchia's blog http://littlemisst-papercraft.blogspot.com/2014/03/cure-for-monday-blues-challenge-10.html the current Cure for the Monday Blues challenge #10 is running. The inspiration photo this week is of a gorgeous blue and white bedroom with pops of bright pink and orange colours.

 

 

Source Pinterest.

 

I decided to make a card using some of my beloved Chocolate Baroque stamps, Papertrey Ink coloured card and ink and Memory Box dies. I probably have more Chocolate Baroque and Elusive Images stamps than any other brand, as I used to be on the Design Team for Elusive Images, before they became Chocolate Baroque. I love their designs and the grey rubber stamps are always really deeply etched and are wonderful to work with.

 

I loved the flowered wallpaper, the bright quilt and the textured rug in the inspiration photo, so that's what I went with.

 

 

Here is my finished card. As usual, you may click on any of the photos to enlarge them for a better view. This blog post is photo heavy, as I actually remembered to take step by step photos this time!

 

 

This is the gorgeous big stamp which I chose to use for the wallpaper background. I masked off the top of a white card blank and stamped directly onto the card using Papertrey Spring Rain ink.

 

Then I used an acrylic block as a palette, stamping the inkpad onto it and using a fine waterbush to pick up the colour and watercolour the flowers and leaves. I tried to shade the underside of the petals and leaves so that they would look a bit darker.

 

 

This was painstaking, but I was thrilled with the finished result! The photo below shows the background after I had finished watercolouring it.

 

 

The photo below shows the selection of bright Papertrey Ink card that I picked out (Spring Rain, Orange Zest and Hibiscus Burst), together with matching Zing embossing powders (Grapefruit and Apricot), Versamark ink, a Memory Box Tessatina border die and a small elephant stamp from a larger A4 Chocolate Baroque stamp set (UA4GW0157 - originally released in 2007 by Elusive Images).  

 

 

I used the Versamark ink to stamp two of the elephant images onto the Orange Zest card and very carefully applied the Grapefruit pink embossing powder to the decorative blankets on each of the elephants' backs. I then added the Apricot embossing powder to the remaining areas and heat set them.

 

 

Each elephant was then fussy cut out - I used a craft knife and cutting mat to cut out the area around the trunks.

 

 

 

I used my Grand Calibur to cut out the Tessatina dies twice - once from Spring Rain card and once from the same white card as my card blank base. I pushed out all of the small inner pieces from the white die cut, then added a strip of strong, red lined tape at the rear. Then I took the small inner pieces from the blue die cut and inserted them into the spaces on the white one, using tweezers. You can just see the red tape underneath in the above photo.

 

 

 

I cut a strip of Hibiscus Burst card (to represent the bright quilt in the inspiration photo), mounted it towards the bottom of my card blank, then added the embossed elephants using foam pads for added dimension. The Tessatina border die cut was added beneath this to mimic the rug - I think it looks like the elephants are strolling along a decorative path!  

 

 

 

I needed a sentiment and decided to use the same Hibiscus Burst card to cut some letters from a Memory Box alphabet die set, to spell out the word "hello". I adhered these letters to the top right of my card using small dabs of Ranger Glossy Accents. As there are some large letters hanging over the wallpaper in the inspiration photo I thought that these would be ideal.

 

 

 

Finally I used some more of the Glossy Accents to highlight each letter and give it a nice glossy, dimensional finish.

 

 

I must say that I am very pleased with how this turned out! Although it was very time consuming, I am looking forward to doing the same watercolouring technique on some more of the big background stamps as I think it looks really effective. Thanks for reading this far!