You Slay Me

Good afternoon!

I know, it's been a while again, but sometimes life just seems to get in the way.

Well, I'm back and I have an adorable card to share with you today. It's fun, quirky and full of sass. The image is taken from a fab stamp set called Mythical Grumplings by Taylored Expressions. It's packed with mythical creatures with attitude and sassy sayings.

I decided to use the cute dragon and here he is in all his glory...

What you need...

Stamps:

Mythical Grumplings (#TEMD179) - Taylored Expressions

Dies:

Mythical Grumplings (#TE1422) - Taylored Expressions

Small stars

Embossing folder:

Multi Circles - Darice

Ink pads:

Black Soot Distress Ink - Tim Holtz

Carved Pumpkin

Squeezed Lemonade

Twisted Citron

Onyx Black - Versafine

Card stock:

White

Extras:

Adhesives

Masking paper - Altenew

Sparkle Sheer Shimmer Craft Spray - Imagine Crafts

Tools:

Big Shot - Sizzix

What you do...

1 Cut a piece of white card stock 2¼" x 4¼" (5.5cm x 11cm). Stamp the dragon towards the right hand side with Onyx Black ink.

2 Die cut the dragon from masking paper and mat over the stamped image. Die cut three small stars from masking paper and place around the dragon.

3 Starting from the left hand side, blend the Carved Pumpkin, then the Squeezed Lemonade followed by the Twisted Citron inks.

4 Smooch some Black Soot ink onto a surface, such as an acrylic block. Add a drop of water and use a paint brush to add spatters of ink over the blended surface. 

5 Stamp the sentiment at the lower left. Spritz shimmer spray over the surface, allow to dry and carefully remove the masks.

6 Emboss the circles onto white card, trim to 4¼" x 5½" (11cm x 14cm) and mat onto a white top fold blank the same size. Add the dragon panel across the blank, just below half way down.

I have had this embossing folder for many years, but you can use any you have in your stash. A star or spotty themed background would look good.

There are a few stamp sets in the Grumplings range and they are all as sassy! Why not pop on over to Dies to Die For and have a look? Click here to take you to this wonderful site.

I am now thinking of starting my Christmas cards. I have so many stamps and dies that I haven't played with yet, some of which I've had for quite a while (even years). I do promise myself every year that I'm going to start around July/August, but I never seem to get round to it. This year I am determined.

As always, thank you so much for stopping by. I'll hopefully be back soon with a Christmas card, if not it will be a normal card from my stash of recent makes.

Take care! 

Winter Christmas Trees

Hello friends!

I'm back with another card to share with you, this one being Christmas. This is a card I did for my Mum and was inspired by one that Jennifer McGuire created. It is a trifold card where the sides open outwards and uses a beautiful die set by Hero Arts.

What you need...

Dies: 

Winter Pine Fancy Dies - Hero Arts

Stamps:

Silent Night - Concord & 9th

Ink pads:

Chipped Sapphire - Tim Holtz Distress Oxide

Blueprint Sketch

Salty Ocean

Onyx Black - Versafine

Embellishments:

Glass Crystal Collection - Little Things from Lucy's Cards

Extras:

Sparkle Sheer Shimmer Craft Spray - Imagine Crafts

Crystal Clear Sparkle - Spectrum Noir

Titanium White Acrylic Ink - Amsterdam

Adhesives

What you do...

1 To make the trifold section, click here to see the project by Jennifer along with the instructions and measurements - she can explain it better than I ever could!

2 Set the assembled trifold section aside. Cut a piece of card 4¼" x 5½" and blend the three blue inks over the surface. Spritz with the Sparkle spray and use a paintbrush to flick white ink over the surface. Allow to dry.

3 Fix the inked panel to the back of the trifold section. 

4 Add some Crystal sparkle around the edges of the trees and add plenty of the Glass crystals. Stamp the sentiment on the back panel between the trees.

I'm so sorry that the photo doesn't do the card justice, plus it was difficult to position due to the nature of the blank. The best thing is my Mum loved it.

Jennifer did her card with a pink/red/purple background which looked stunning, but I thought I would stick to the traditional blue night sky.

I hope you like my little make and thank you so much for popping by. I'll be back soon with another, until then take care and keep safe.

Cold Outside

Good afternoon!

I know I promised another Halloween card, but I got busy and too much time has passed now, so I will share it with you next year...maybe. So, I have a lovely Christmas card instead.

This elegant card uses some simple die cut snowflakes with some Distress Oxide ink a printed die cut sentiment and a touch of sparkle.

What you need...

Dies:

Large Snowflakes - Paper Smooches

Ink pads:

Salty Ocean Tim Holtz Distress Oxide - Ranger

Printed die cut:

Wish Season Ephemera Pack - Fancy Pants Designs

Shimmer Spray:

Sparkle Sheer Shimmer Spray - Imagine Crafts

Embellishments:

Blue Lagoon Lucky Dip - Little Things from Lucy's Cards

Cardstock:

White

Extras:

Foam sheet

Adhesives

What you do...

1 Cut a piece of white card 3⅝" x 4⅞" and apply Salty Ocean ink in the centre with a blending brush or foam pad blending out the edges.

2 Spray Sparkle shimmer over the surface allowing some larger droplets to fall. Allow to dry.

3 Die cut two large snowflakes in white card and three small snowflakes. Arrange onto the inked panel.

4 Mat the inked panel onto a smaller piece of foam sheet. Create a 4¼" x 5½" white blank and mat the panel centrally onto it.

5 Add some gems and sequins to the centre of the snowflakes and add the sentiment with foam pads.

I'm afraid my photo doesn't really do the card justice. I can't seem to get the right settings on my camera for good close up work. The exposure is never spot on. I tend to take the photos in the conservatory with good daylight, but I can't get it right. Any tips would be highly appreciated.

This card would be great using any snowflake dies that you have in your stash along with any printed die cut sentiments you may have or stamp your own. For a different look it would be lovely with a red inked background.

Well, thank you for popping by and I'll be back soon with another Christmas card soon.

Keep safe and take care! x

Sending Sunshine & Rainbows

Happy Saturday all!

I hope you are all well. 

I don't think I've ever been so pleased to see a rainy day. We haven't had rain for weeks here in Norfolk and our poor gardens are desperate. The grass in my garden at the back isn't the best most times, I can't even blame the chickens because it never really did well before I got them. It seems to go through phases where one year it's fab and the next pathetic. This year so far is pathetic and I think it's mostly down to no rain. Fingers crossed a day of rain will help.

I have a lovely card to share with you to counteract the dull, rainy day. This is one with a rainbow colour theme teamed up with a simple flower and sentiment. I then gave it a spritz of sparkle for that extra bit of zing. The background was created using dye inks by Wendy Vecchi, Tim Holtz and My Favorite Things.

What you need...

Ink pads:

Bluebird, Buttercup, Cactus Flower, Tiger Lily - Wendy Vecchi Make Art Blendable Dye Inks

Picked Raspberry Distress Ink - Tim Holtz (Ranger)

Sour Apple Hybrid Ink - My Favorite Things 

Onyx Black - Versafine

Stamps:

Small Striped Flower Cling Stamp (CG256) - Hero Arts 

Rainbow Greetings (CS124) - My Favorite Things

Copic:

Sky B24, Cerise RV04, Acid Yellow Y08, Celadon Green YG25, Apricot YR16, Lilac V04

Glitter spray:

Sparkle Sheer Shimmer Craft Spray - Imagine Crafts

Dimensional medium:

Glossy Accents - Ranger

Card stock: 

White

What you do...

1 On a piece of card stock approximately 10cm x 15cm start blending the inks from the top of the card.

2 Trim to 10cm x 14.5cm and spritz with the Sparkle spray allowing some heavy droplets form. When dry, mat centrally onto a 10.5cm x 14.5cm white blank.

3 Stamp the flower with the Onyx Black ink and heat set. Colour in the centre of the flower with the Copics. 

4 Cut out the flower and mat near the top of the blank with foam pads.

5 Stamp the sentiment under the flower with Onyx Black.

6 Apply Glossy Accents to the centre of the flower and add some dots around it on the blank. Allow to dry.

Even though I'm a Goth and my fave colour is black, I don't make dark or grungy cards. I love bright colours in my card making. Next to black my two other favourite colours are pool/aqua blue and lime green.

This card is so appropriate at the moment with the rainbow colour scheme, I think rainbows at the moment show a sign of optimism, hope, support and friendship. 

I do have some more rainbow cards that I have made and I will be posting these soon. 

I don't the photo does the 'sparkle' justice, you can see where some of the heavy drops are. It looks stunning in real life.

Thank you so much for stopping by, I do appreciate it. Take care and I will see you soon.