Cute Elephants

Hello there!

I'm back again with another card...well four actually. I have a cute elephant die set by Sizzix/Craft Asylum in my stash. It's a few years old now and I thought it was about time I played with it again.

I wanted to make a thank you card using the die with four colours. I love the Concord & 9th card stock and inks so I put them to use. I wanted the main card to be a light grey elephant with pale pink, dark pink and dark grey details. I used the Ballet Slipper, Honeysuckle, Dove and Mushroom shades of card. Rather than waste the extra pieces or put them in a baggy to forget about, I decided to make another three additional cards.

For the speech bubble, I used the Ballet Slipper ink, which matched perfectly with the pale pink detailing.

What you need...

Dies:

Elephant Duo (660496) - Craft Asylum/Sizzix

Stamps:

Sketchy Thoughts - Winnie & Walter

Ink Pads:

Ballet Slipper - Concord & 9th

Onyx Black - VersaFine

Card stock:

Ballet Slipper - Concord & 9th

Honeysuckle

Mushroom

Dove

White

Extras:

Adhesives

Tools:

Big Shot - Sizzix

What you do...

1 Die cut the large elephant in Ballet Slipper, Honeysuckle, Mushroom and Dove.

2 Back the detail apertures of the elephant with low tack tape and infill the apertures with Ballet Slipper, Honeysuckle and Mushroom.

3 Mat the elephant onto a white 4¼" x 5½"  (11cm x 14cm) blank.

4 Stamp the speech bubble above the elephants trunk in Ballet Slipper. Stamp the sentiment within the speech bubble with Onyx Black ink.

These would make a great little gift set if you teamed them up with some matching envelopes and either tied them up with pretty ribbon or placed in a gift box. You can never have too many thank you cards.

Before I go, a wonderful store based in London reached out to me the other day. They are called Joel & Son Fabrics and they sell high end, designer and luxury fabrics. 

I've visited their website and there are truly some gorgeous fabrics to choose from. Perfect if you are making a special gown, outfit or wedding dress. Maybe you want to make some luxury soft furnishings to spice up your home decor. 

They sell everything from good quality cottons to luxurious designer silks. As someone who does sew occasionally and collects fat quarters 'just in case', I did ooh and aah over some of the fabrics.

Joel & Son Fabrics also carry the Royal Warrant from H.M. Queen Elizabeth. 

Why not pop on over and have a look ? Click here to take you to their store. I will also have a link in the Craft & Digi Stamp Shops page.

Thank you for popping by and I'll be back soon. Take care!

Balloon Celebration

Good afternoon!

I hope you are all well. Sorry I haven't posted sooner, but I have quite a few magazine projects to get in before the deadlines. Can you believe I am designing for Halloween and Christmas? Yipes!

Moving away from halloween and Christmas, I have a lovely, bright card to share with you today perfect for a celebration or birthday and it features balloons!

I've used a lovely rainbow palette and the techniques used are ink blending, stamping, die cutting and layering.

Here it is...

What you need...

Stamps:

Birthday Bash - Paper Smooches

You Said It - Doodlebug Designs

Dies:

A2 Layers - Waffle Flower

Say Cheese, Again - Lawn Fawn

Ink pads:

It's a Girl - Catherine Pooler

Garden Party

Pixie Dust

Cantaloupe - Memento

Buttercup Make Art - Wendy Vecchi

Garden Patina

Onyx Black - Versafine

Embellishments:

Pearls Glossy Porcelain Mix - Little Things from Lucy's Cards

Card stock:

White

Extras:

Sparkle Crystal Clear Shimmer Pen

Adhesives

Tools:

Big Shot - Sizzix

Blending tools

What you do...

1 Die cut the large photo frame from white card. Cut a panel of white card slightly smaller than the frame.

2 Blend Garden Patina ink at the bottom of the card panel fading to white.

3 Use the aperture of the frame as a guide and stamp the trio of  balloons twice. Use the solid balloon stamp to fill in the colours. Stamp dots above each balloon in the same colours.

4 Die cut the 3¾" x 5" layer in white card and blend the six colours in rainbow order.

5 Mat the rainbow panel onto a card blank 4¼" x 5½". Attach the balloon panel centrally at the top.

6 Stamp the 'Celebration' in black ink across the base of the photo frame and attach to the blank with foam tape, making sure it lines up over the balloon panel. 

7 Add some shimmer to each of the balloons and add some pearls to the blank.

Even though I do use some new products, I am trying to use some of my older stash too, hence the Paper Smooches and Doodlebug stamp sets. Of course you can use any balloon themed stamps in your stash to re-create this card. 

Top tip: If you don't have any balloon stamps, but you have solid balloon dies, cut balloons from foam sheets. Attach to an acrylic block/stamp platform with glue stick or double sided tape, apply ink and stamp!

I have used the A2 Layers die set which is measured in inches. The metric equivalent of the rainbow panel is approximately 9.5cm x 12.5cm and the blank is 11cm x 14cm.

I hope you like this pretty, cheerful card. You can of course change the colours for a card suited to a male recipient.

Thank you for popping by and I'll be back soon.

Cactus Trio

Hello there, me again!

I'm back with another cactus card. This one is the last of three that I created with the Silhouette Cameo. It is an unusual card in that it has a top and bottom flap that opens rather than the standard side or top fold card. I chose bright colours and added a touch of sparkle to the flower and added a few gems.

What you need...

Digital image: 

Cactus Card by Daniela Moscone (#197812) - Silhouette

Card stock:

Pool

Dark Pool

Mid Green

Dark Green

Pink

White

Vinyl:

Midnight - Cricut

Embellishments:

Dewdrops - Little Things from Lucy's Cards

Extras:

Adhesives

Sparkle Crystal Clear Shimmer Pen

Tools:

Silhouette Cameo

What you do...

1 Load the image onto the Design Studio and re-size so the width of the main card is 14.5cm wide. Lock the aspect ratio so that everything keeps in proportion.

2 Type out the wording, change to your desired font. Re-size so it fits across the top section of the card.

3 Send the images to the Cameo, adjust the blade if necessary and cut out in the relevant colours.

4 Cut the font in Midnight vinyl.

5 Assemble the card using the image photo as a guide. Add the wording to the top section. Use the shimmer pen to add some shimmer to the flower. Finish with some Dewdrops to the left of the cactus pot.

I have a confession, I can't remember what font I used for the wording. I found the wording already cut out in my stash from some previous projects. I did go through all the fonts within the Silhouette. I think it was a font I used with my Cricut. The nearest font I could find is one called Paprika which is available through the Silhouette Design Store.

This is a lovely, bold and colourful card and I had fun assembling it. I might have to make it again in a different colour scheme. I think it's a good card to make if you are in a rush or want to make a batch as everything is already thought out for you.

Right then, that's me for now. Thank you as always for stopping by, take care and I'll be back soon.

miss YOU

Hi there!

As promised I'm back with another make. I decided not to share the remaining cactus card with you today, I will share it at a later date. I wanted to show you another card instead.

I purchased the You Confetti Cuts die set by Reverse Confetti some time ago and thought it was about time I used it.

As it is a large word die with a shadow background, I wanted it to be the main focus of the card and team it up with some other lettering/wording. The good thing about this die is that it can be used with many other words for different themes/occasions.

What you need...

Dies:

You Confetti Cuts - Reverse Confetti

Bee Bold Lowercase Honey Cuts - Honey Bee Stamps

A2 Layers Die Rectangles - Waffle Flower

Stencil:

Splash (TESN28) - Taylored Expressions

Stamps:

Chit Chat - Paper Smooches

Ink Pads:

Turquoise Gem  - VersaMagic

Onyx Black - VersaFine

Card stock:

Black - Concord & 9th

Grapefruit

White

Extras:

Adhesives

Tools:

Big Shot - Sizzix

Blending brushes

What you do...

1 Lightly blend the Turquoise Gem ink over white card. Secure the stencil over the inked card and blend the Turquoise Gem over the stencil creating a heavier tone. Remove the stencil and allow the inked card to dry.

2 Die cut the 'you' in black card along with letters form the Bee Bold set to spell 'miss'. Die cut the 'you' shadow in white and the little heart in Grapefruit. Assemble the 'you' dies and add the heart with foam pads.

3 Use the second largest die from the A2 Layers set to cut a rectangle from the inked/stencilled card.

4 Line up the letters/wording onto the stencilled panel and using these as a guide, stamp the 'so much' in Onyx Black.

5 Create a 4¼"x 5½" white blank and mat the stencilled panel onto it. Attach the 'you' with foam pads and stick the 'miss' directly onto the panel above the 'you'.

There we have it. The photo of the card doesn't really show the true colour of the ink, it is certainly more of a greener turquoise hue in real life.

I am so pleased with the way this turned out. I am planning to keep on using older items (such as the stamp set) along with newer items in future projects. I have recently discovered some really old stamp sets/dies in my stash that I would like to use again. Watch this space!

As usual, thank you so much for popping by, I really appreciate it. Take care and I'll be back soon.

Cactus Hugs

Hi there!

I'm back with another cute make. This is another cactus design created with the Silhouette, this time I used the self adhesive card stock by Silhouette. It comes in a wide range of colours and means you don't have to worry about messy glues when assembling the image.

I went a bit mad and purchased several adorable cactus images and plan to do more cards in the future. I don't know what it is but I'm obsessed with cacti at the moment, especially cute ones with faces!

What you need...

Digital image: 

Cute Cactus 3 by Wild Pilot (#311631) - Silhouette

Font:

Baimbo

Card stock:

Black - Silhouette

Key Lime

Leaf Green

Mint

Pink

Sea Mist

White

Extras:

Adhesives

Sparkle Crystal Clear Shimmer Pen

Tools:

Silhouette Cameo

What you do...

1 Load the image onto the Design Studio and re-size to approximately 3"x 4" (7.5cm x 10cm).

2 Type out the wording, change the font to Baimbo and re-size to 50pt. 

3 Send the image and the wording to the Cameo, adjust the blade if necessary and cut out in the relevant colours.

4 Create a 4¼"x 5½" white blank and mat a 3¾" x 5" piece of the Sea Mist onto it. Add the cactus and the wording.

5 Add shimmer to the pot and highlights.

Isn't it just adorable? As with the cactus in my last post, there are several of these available.

The card stock is available in the UK from Graphtec Craftstore (click here to take you to their site).

The Baimbo font is a free font for personal use and can be downloaded from several free font sites. If you want to use it on anything you wish to sell, then a commercial licence will have to be purchased.

The one thing I love about digital die cutting is that you can re-size the images to suit your card/project size.

As you can also save your projects to your library, it means that if you want to make a quick card, you can log on, select the project, cut out and assemble. 

Well, I'll shall go for now. I will try and post the next project on Thursday. It may be the next cactus card or something else I've been working on.

Thank you for stopping by. Take care!