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.

Carrot Bunny

Hello and Happy Easter!

I'm back with another cute bunny card. This one uses quite a lot of die cuts and features the Carrot Bunny die set by Sizzix as part of their new 2021 Chapter 1  release. I decided to cut a Polaroid frame using an old die from Paper Smooches to make it look like a cute photo.

The background of the photo is a piece of pale pool card with some subtle blending at the top and the main background of the card is stamped in black ink using the Dainty Swiss Dots stamp by Altenew.

What you need...

Dies:

Carrot Bunny by Tim Holtz (665213) - Sizzix Thinlits

Heartfelt by Tim Holtz (660233) - Sizzix Bigz

Polaroid - Paper Smooches

Stamps:

Dainty Swiss Dots - Altenew

Happy Happy Happy - Lawn Fawn

Happy Happy Happy Add-on 

Ink:

Garden Patina Make Art - Wendy Vecchi

Obsidian Amalgam - Gina K

Card stock:

Black

Burnt Orange

Green

Lime

Orange

Pale Pink

Pool

White

Embellishments:

Black cord

Extras:

Adhesives

What you do...

1 Die cut the bunny from white card, his eyes/nose/mouth from black and his cheeks/ears from pale pink. Cut the main carrot from burnt orange and orange card and the foliage from green and lime. Assemble the bunny and the carrot.

2 Die cut the Polaroid frame from black, white and pool card. Blend the Garden Patina ink across the top of the pool section.

3 Attach the bunny to the pool panel at an angle so it overlaps the bottom edge. Trim away the excess. Layer the black frame onto the white one and stick onto a piece of white card, trim away any excess. Attach the bunny panel into the frame.

4 Stamp the Dainty Swiss Dots onto white card with the Obsidian ink and trim to 4" x 5¼" (10cm x 13cm) and mat onto a 4¼"x 5½" (11cm x 14cm) blank covered with pool card.

5 Adhere the bunny panel centrally to the top of the blank. Add the carrot, tucking it under the bunny's arms. Die cut three small hearts in pale pink card and fix to the panel. Wrap and tie black cord around the base of the blank and tie in a bow at the right.

As Paper Smooches is sadly no longer trading, the Polaroid die is now unavailable, however there are some cute die sets by companies such as Sweet Pea Designs, Mama Elephant and Lawn Fawn. You could easily make your own by die cutting a square from a rectangle of card.

The Carrot Buuny die set also comes with a larger carrot so you can have two bunnies side by side holding it. So cute.

I am going to enter this card into the Creative Fingers Challenge #205. Click here to take you to the challenge.

Well thank you as always for stopping by, I really appreciate it. I will be back soon with another card made using the Nuvo Glimmer paste. It is similar to the one I recently posted, but has different wording and colour scheme.

Enjoy the rest of your Easter!

Rainbow Heart

Hello there!

Sorry I haven't been around for a while. I recently went away for a few days with some friends to a remote cottage up in the Lake District. We did lots of walking and laughing! After getting home, I had to get a few projects done for the magazines, so sadly the blog had to wait.

Well I'm back now! I have a lovely little heart/rainbow themed card to share with you. I hope you like!

What you need...

Stamps:

Positive Strokes - Paper Smooches

Dies:

Hello Love - Paper Smooches

Ink pads:

Bluebird - Wendy Vecchi

Buttercup

Tiger Lily

Peony Purple - Impress

Sour Apple - My Favorite Things

Melon Mambo - Stampin' Up!

Gems:

Black

Card stock:

Black

White

What you do...

1 Trim a piece of white card 10cm square. Stamp the brush strokes vertically down the left hand side in rainbow colours.

2 Cover a 10.5cm square blank with black card and mat the rainbow panel onto it.

3 Die cut the heart several times in black card (I did five) and stack together with wet adhesive.

4 Attach the heart towards the right of the blank. Add some gems to decorate.

I love the bright rainbow brush strokes against the white background and the black just makes the whole thing pop.

Stacking several die cuts really makes the image pop. You can get the same effect by cutting the image once in your chosen card and then once in craft foam. A great technique.

Well, that is all for now. Thank you so much for stopping by and I'll be back soon with another make. It won't be long now before I start posting Christmas makes up - yikes!

Take care!

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. 

What?

Good afternoon!

I hope you are all well.

I've got a great card to share with you today. If you own or ever have owned a cat then you know that at any moment (especially when you have company) it will sit slap bang in the middle of the room, raise its leg and start washing its butt.

A while ago I came across a brilliant stamp that showcased just that activity. I made it into a simple card using masking and blending.

What you need...

Stamps: Jasper Les Gros Chats (Mini 081) - KatzelKraft; Checkered Texture Stamp (DDTS013) - Darkroom Door; Alphadot - Paper Smooches

Ink pads: Onyx Black - Versafine; Prickly Pear Blendable Dye Ink - Wendy Vecchi; Clear Ultra Slow Drying Embossing Ink - WOW!

Embossing powder: Opaque Bright White Super Fine (WL01SF-O) - WOW!

Card stock: white, black

Masking paper: Inkadinkado

Pearls: black

Adhesives

What you do...

1 Create a 10.5cm x 14.5cm white top fold portrait blank. Stamp the cat with black ink near to the lower right corner.

2 Stamp the cat onto masking paper and cut out. Fix over the original image.

3 Stamp the checkered background to the left of the cat. Heat dry.

4 Blend Prickly Pear ink around the cat. Remove the mask.

5 Use the Alphadot stamps to create the 'What?' onto black card with embossing ink. Apply the white embossing powder and heat set. 

6 Trim the sentiment and attach to the top right of the blank. Add a few black pearls to decorate.

I decided to go with 'What?' because that is what cats seem to say by looking at you when washing their nether regions.

This card would be perfect to send to a cat loving friend or it would also suit a male recipient.

Hope you like this little make and thank you for stopping by. Keep safe and well and I'll be back soon.