2015 Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop.

Hello and welcome! Today is National Coffee Day in the USA and the Coffee Loving Papercrafters are having a Blog Hop to celebrate. Although I'm usually a tea drinking Brit, I couldn't resist joining in with the fun! There are an amazing 42 sponsors for this hop, with lots of lovely prizes, so you may like to start at the Coffee Loving Cardmakers blog here. You will also find full details of how to take part and links to all of the inspiring artwork there.

Here is my first card for the hop. As always you can click on the photos to get a clearer view. I got carried away and actually made two similar easel cards in different colourways, but I think that this blue one is my favourite. My second card (below) uses the same supplies, but with a khaki coloured card base and I adhered the image and sentiment at a jaunty angle.

The pretty autumnal backing papers are from the "Enchantment" NitWit collection by Mary Fran for Lili of the Valley. The main image is stamped with "Monster Morning" by Whipper Snapper Designs Inc and was coloured with Copic Ciao markers. The sentiment and cute coffee beans are from the "Coffee Set" stamps by Waltzingmouse Stamps and I used Memento Rich Cocoa dye ink. Spellbinders "Leafy Squares" dies were used to mount the image and sentiment blocks. Finally I added a strip of white card inside so that there is space to write a message and I finished off with a couple of Fall Leaves Wood Veneer ornaments by Lawn Fawn, to act as stoppers for my easels (see below).

Both cards fold flat for mailing but I think that the easel style adds a little something extra! I have used quite masculine colours here, but it would be very easy to switch out the colours to make a more feminine version.

Thanks for visiting and enjoy the rest of the hop!

You're Sew Special.

Hello again! I'm sorry about the sporadic blogging, but my daughter Jessica is at home for the summer and I have been enjoying some family time before she goes back to University in Kent. 

I have recently made a couple of cards though - this time using the lovely "Sew Special" stamps from Clearly Besotted. 

I started by making a patchwork panel for the background, using several different colours of Core'dinations card stock from the Whitewash collection which I die cut with Papertrey Ink's "Happy Hexagons" coverplate, then embossed with a variety of embossing folders, before sanding. If you're interested you can see how I did this by referring to my earlier post here: http://thehardystamper.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/coordinations-hard-core-crop-challenges.html 

The sentiment was stamped onto a Stitched Fishtail Flag (cut with a Die-namics die) using Memento Teal Zeal dye ink. I also used the same ink and card to stamp the dress form and tape measure, which I then fussy cut and added with foam pads. The buttons, needle and cotton reel were cut from scraps of Core'dinations card using Spellbinders dies and a little bakers twine and a charm were all I needed to finish off. 

The photo below is a close - up showing the details and texture. I love that cute little Clearly Besotted tape measure stamp!

My second card was made the same way, but in different colours and with a slightly different sentiment.

Again the close - up below shows much more detail. These are really tactile cards in real life - I wish you could all stroke them!

The first card has already made it's way to it's new home with a friend in Surrey and I think that the second one is still en route to another friend in the USA. Thanks for looking.

Lynn

Cure For The Monday Blues # 44

I decided to play along with Taheerah's Cure for the Monday Blues again this week as I liked the inspiration photo and had an idea for my own interpretation of it. You can find all the details on Taheerah's blog here.

The inspiration photo is an eclectic pinboard collection, but my eyes were drawn to the "notes" pinned at the top right. So here is my offering for this week. Sorry about all the dots before your eyes, but I decided to photograph my card against my lovely new polka dot tablecloth!

I started with a 6" square white card blank and some Core'dinations Whitewash card that had a black core. I embossed this with a Spellbinders embossing folder and sanded it back to reveal the black core "holes" for my faux pinboard, then I set about making my "notices". The small notepaper stamp is by Mama Elephant from their "Type It" set - thanks to my good friend Penny for the loan of these lovely stamps! I used Memento Dandelion dye ink and a small scalloped border stamp from a set called "Always Time For Tea" by Die-namics to make my yellow patterned paper. All other stamps used are from Waltzingmouse stamps. I found that the small "bars" type stamp from "Free Spirit Boy" was perfect to make the marks on the top note and the middle sized heart from "Sweethearts" was just right for the one in the centre. A couple of colourful brads were ideal for the pins (and I have loads of neglected brads just waiting to be used up)!

The bottom note was a bit more problematical as I couldn't find a tiny horse stamp anywhere - so I adapted the little reindeer from "Nordic Winter" and just didn't ink up his antlers. The lovely scripty hello sentiment from the "Happy Hello Thanks" set was just the job though. I used a resist technique, stamping it in Versamark ink and clear embossing it, then I used a Tuxedo Black Memento marker pen to draw the speech bubble and colour it in, before ironing off the embossing between two sheets of copy paper. A little pink washi tape was used to mimic that in the top photo. The final touch was a bow tied from thick black thread - I liked the effect of the loops as there were also several in the inspiration photo. I'm really pleased with the finished result!

Thanks for looking,

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

Text Me!

I treated myself to a set of the Clearly Besotted Text Me stamps recently as I thought they would be ideal for making cards for young people and would be suitable for male cards too. I needed a couple of birthday cards so I made a batch of six cards, using C6 black card blanks and a variety of Spellbinders and Cuttlebug embossing folders for the yellow backgrounds. 

I stamped the phone and headphones onto black card with Versamark ink and heat embossed them using clear embossing powder. There are actually a matching set of dies for these stamps, but since I don't have them yet I fussy cut everything out by hand. I put some double sided tape onto the back of the stamped headphones before I cut them out, which made it much easier to stick them to the cards afterwards! I used Memento Tuxedo Black dye ink to stamp the various text messages and icons onto lemon yellow card, cut them out and stuck them to the phones with strong double sided tape. The phones were then added to the cards with foam pads for dimension.  

Below you can see all six of my cards, with their different embossed backgrounds. As usual you can click on any of the photos to get a clearer view.

I am really pleased with the finished results, even though the headphones took me ages to cut out! Each card also has a white insert inside, for ease of use. 

I am entering one of these cards into the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - you can find all the details here . 

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

Waltzingmouse September Pajama Party - Challenge 1. Doodle Do.

Firstly I must apologise for my long absence from blogging. I haven't been able to create anything recently as my husband unfortunately suffered a stoke at the beginning of August and our lives were turned upside down for a while. Things could have been so much worse though, so we are very thankful for the wonderful treatment he received and that he is continuing to get a little better each week. Given the circumstances, I thought that it would be appropriate to make a thanksgiving card!

I am joining in with the Waltzingmouse September Pajama Party today - you can check out all the details here http://waltzingmouse.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/welcome-to-september-pajama-party.html . Challenge 1 was to create a card and add some doodling. My offering is not so much Cock-a-Doodle-Do but more Turkey-a-Doodle-Do!

I decided that I'd like to create my own Thanksgiving turkey by using the Funky Feather stamps. I also used the small pair of wings from the Fine Feathers stamp set. I chose the lovely oak and maple leaf stamps from the Peace and Plenty stamp set to stamp my background with Memento Espresso Truffle dye ink and the sentiment also came from the same stamp set.

I started with an eight inch square white card blank and added a layer of khaki coloured card which I had stamped with the two leaves. I used the fine tipped end of a Memento Espresso Truffle marker pen to add doodling - trios of small dots, veins on the maple leaves and dots around the frilly edges of the oak leaves. 

I used a grand scalloped Spellbinders die to cut a large scalloped circle from smooth white card. Then I inked up one of the long feather stamps with Desert Sand ink at the top, a stripe of Espresso Truffle ink and Toffee Crunch ink towards the bottom. The feather was stamped repeatedly around two thirds of the circle to form the turkey's tail feathers. I used each scallop as a guide for the first layer and overlapped the feathers towards the centre of the circle (see below).

The photo below shows the detail of the tail feathers, once I'd stamped more feathers in between each of the the first ones.

I used a similar technique (with the addition of Potter's Clay ink) to stamp the next layer of smaller feathers onto a separate piece of white card. This was fussy cut out, doodled with extra markings and added to the card with clear foam tape to add dimension. Then I took another piece of card and stamped the short plump feather to form the turkey's body. I added the wings (from the Fine Feathers set), doodled his legs and feet, cut it all out and added it with clear foam tape. The final layer was the plump feather body again - this time with the addition of a doodled turkey head! Details were added with Memento marker pens and I used more clear foam tape to assemble the turkey. Finally I added a few turkey footprints, some more doodles around the scalloped edging and the stamped sentiment. The photo below shows this in more detail.

My Thanksgiving Turkey was so much fun to make! Thanks for looking!

Cure For The Monday Blues Challenge # 20 - Love's Young Dream

Challenge number 20 for the Cure for the Monday Blues (see full details here
http://littlemisst-papercraft.blogspot.com/2014/06/cure-for-monday-blues-challenge-20.html )
was to make a card using this lovely photograph as inspiration.

Source: Pinterest

 

The photograph shows a pretty bedroom that was designed for a young girl, using pinks, pale aqua, touches of gold and splashes of bright, vibrant colours. Further information about the design can be found here http://honeyandfitz.com/2013/12/19/chloes-mermaid-inspired-big-girl-room/ where you can see all the attention to detail and some before and after photos.

 

I decided that I'd like to try to replicate the pretty floral rug on my card. Here is a close up of the actual rug design which can be found here http://www.pbteen.com/products/martina-rug/ .

 

 

I started by making an A5 card base from some sturdy pale pink pearlised card, then I used an A4 Spellbinders embossing folder to emboss a strip of darker pink card with a polka dot pattern. I highlighted some of the dots with a Distress marker to mimic the bedspread and adhered the polka dot strip to the left of my card blank. I cut a smaller rectangle of Papertrey Ink pale aqua pearlised card for the floral panel then used Versamark ink and gold embossing powder to heat emboss the sentiment (from Hobby Art's clear Sentiments stamp set - CS026D). I also heat embossed the chandelier from the Elusive Images UDLSP0329 Bella stamp set (now Chocolate Baroque) onto pale pink card and fussy cut it out. I used Memento Teal Zeal dye ink to stamp some of the doodled swirls from Elusive Images stamp sets UDLHC0131 and UDLHC0132 and one of the small flowers from the Fantasy Floral set (UA4SP0185).

 

For the brightly coloured flowers I used a selection of coloured card and dye inkpads, together with a white pigment inkpad. Some of the leaves were from the Chocolate Baroque Tangled Garden stamp set (UA4SP0400) and some of the flowers were from the Fantasy Floral set (UA4SP0185). The rest of the leaves and flowers came from set UDLHC0100 FunkyDoodles - Fresh and set UDLCH0101 FunkyDoodles - Retro. After I had stamped everything I fussy cut it all out and then edged each one with a broad black Faber-Castell Pitt artist pen. I made sure that I covered up all the cut edges with the black ink so that I'd have a crisp outline. I further embellished some of the flowers and leaves with an Inkssentials white pen and a fine black Pitt pen.

 

Please click on the photos for a clearer view.

 

I then began the labourious task of layering everything onto the aqua panel using double sided tape and foam pads. Where leaves and flowers were overhanging the edges I trimmed them off flush. Some of the flowers and leaves were partially raised on foam pads and those in the foreground were raised completely. I stuck the panel to my card base using some strong red lined tape then finally I shaped the chandelier and adhered it with tape on the outer edges and foam strips in the middle.

 

 

This close-up photo gives you some idea of the dimension of the floral panel. The colours are much brighter in real life - unfortunately it was dark when I took my photographs and they appear more subdued.

 

Although I had started making my card early on Sunday afternoon, it took me much longer than I anticipated to complete it (over eleven hours in total), so I wasn't able to enter it into the challenge in the end. However, I enjoyed revisiting some of my older stamps and CASEing the rug photo and I shall be sending my card to a friend who has a birthday later this week. Thank you for looking!