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.

Easter Bird (Silhouette)

Hello! I do hope that you are all enjoying your Easter. 

I've just spent three full days in the garden doing all those jobs that really needed doing. Things like sorting out the patio and getting the table and chairs out doing the fish pond and pumps, jet washing the conservatory and doing a thorough spring clean inside the conservatory and then doing all the windows. Yes, I did all that and more, this all included help from the chickens and the cat!

This card today is a simple bird card. Perfect to send to those who don't really like religious cards. I used my faithful Silhouette again for this one.

What you need...

Silhouette image file: Doodle Bird #55822 - Miss Kate Cuttables

Silhouette font: PN Popsicle Day Bold

Card stock: dark brown, pale blue, pale green pink, yellow, white

Adhesives

What you do...

1 Purchase and download the image. Open the design page and add the image.

2 Re-size the bird image to suit. I sized it to fit a 6" square blank.

3 Send to cut in your chosen colours.

4 Use the text function to create the sentiment in the PN Popsicle Day Bold font and cut in dark brown card.

5 Create a 10.5cm x 14.5cm top fold white blank. Assemble the bird and fix to the top. 

6 Add the wording underneath.

I just think that this design is adorable. I decided to keep the colour scheme the same as the sample on the Silhouette as I think they look so good together.

I hope you like this little make and thank you for popping by. I'll be back soon with another card to share with you. Keep well and safe!

P.S. Just a quick note to Faith (Daffodil Cards). I didn't receive the email for the image request. Could to send me another one and I'll get the images sent straight back to you xxx

Hello Birdie (Silhouette)

Good afternoon!

I hope you are all still keeping well and safe. I've just finished another project for Papercrafter (one for my step by step pages) and before I type everything up and get it ready for posting I thought I would share another make with you.

This is a card I made for all the staff and residents at the care home where my mum lives. It was just to say hello and that I really appreciate what they do and how they look after mum so well. 

Mum and I have been face timing each other at lot lately. She does have a land line in her room but she's never in it! As she takes her lap top up to the communal area it means she can speak to me whenever she wants. The staff have been really good setting her up so she can log on to Facebook and get in touch. She says it is like I am just sitting in front of her!

Anyhoo, onto the card. This is another one created using the Silhouette.

What you need...

Silhouette image file: Bird on Branch #174334 - Miss Kate Cuttables

Font: Script MT Bold

Card stock: brown, pale blue, pale pink, red, yellow white

Self adhesive vinyl: black - Cricut

Gems: clear

Adhesives

What you do...

1 Purchase and download the image. Open the design page and add the image.

2 Re-size the bird image to suit. I sized it to fit a 6" square blank.

3 Send to cut in your chosen colours.

4 Use the text function to create the sentiment in the Script MT Bold font and cut in black vinyl.

5 Assemble the bird, branch and bird box and fix to the blank so the branch comes in from the right hand side edge.

6 Apply the vinyl wording with the help of transfer tape.

7 Add some gems to decorate.

The image used is £0.75 which isn't bad for how detailed it is. The font is free that you can use through Microsoft Word. I think if you have this on your PC then it will automatically shows on the Silhouette. 

Check out my 'Free Fonts' page to link you to a few websites that offer free fonts, there are hundreds to choose from. Please be aware that some fonts are only free for domestic use,  however there are still lots of free fonts available if you are planning to sell your makes. It is always best to check.

If you would like the pear/sentiments digi stamps from my last post, then please email through the 'Contact Me' page and I will send them to you. They are only available for a limited time.

Thank you for popping by and I hope you have a lovely Easter (as best as we can at the moment). At least this virus doesn't affect chocolate!

Pear-fect Couple of Pears! (Own illustration)

Hello blog friends!

For the last few years I really lost my creative mojo. I managed to still create for my magazine projects, but it has been a struggle. This meant creating for myself and my blog suffered a lot. At one point I didn't think I would experience being creative again. Well now I'm back with a vengeance!

This last few days I have been going crazy mad making cards and having so much fun. 

I have some dear friends John & Peter. They are celebrating their wedding anniversary this coming Wednesday. I decided to design and illustrate a special card for them with a cute Kawaii theme.

What you need...

Free pear digi stamp and sentiment - Cosmic Strawberry

Card stock: white

Patterned paper: green spotty

Copic: Yellow Green YG03, Celadon Green YG25, Pea Green YG63, Moss YG67, Light Walnut E57, Walnut E59, Sugared Almond Pink RV02

Glossy Accents - Ranger

Adhesives

What you do...

1 Download the image and sentiment. Open up a suitable program and import. Place the sentiment where desired. Re-size to suit. Print out onto white card stock.

2 Colour in the image.

3 Trim the image to 12cm square.

4 Cover a 15cm square blank with the spotty paper and mat the image centrally onto it. Finish with some glossy accent dots around the image.

If you would like a free copy of the image along with three sentiments, it will be available for a limited time until 23:55 BST,  31st May 2020. Just send me an email (my address is listed in the Contact Me page) and I will email the images back to you. The image and sentiments come both in PNG and JPEG formats.

The sentiments are 'To the most pear-fect couple!', 'We're pear-fect together!' and ' You're pear-fect together!'. Of course if you do get the image you can add your own sentiment if you wish.

I had such fun designing these. You could add little embellishments such as a little bow tie or hair bow cut from a scrap of card.

I'm going to sign off now. Stay safe and well and I'll be back soon with another cute make.

Warp Speed

Good afternoon blog friends!

I hope you are all still keeping well, safe and not going too stir crazy.

Before I show you my card, I just want to say that for some reason Blogger has messed up the reply function to comments, this has been going on for quite a while with no real fixes. Apparently this is a big problem for lots of blogs, especially older ones. A suggestion was made that you could completely change the theme of your blog to overcome the problem. I am sure that I am not the only one who spent a lot of time and energy into creating their blog, so I don't really want to go down that route. 

I have got round it by not embedding the comment box and changing it so that it opens in a different window. As I can't reply I will leave a separate comment myself. Aaargh!

Righto, on to the important stuff. I do have a couple of more cards made using the Silhouette, but I did this one the other day and I am so excited to share it with you.

What you need...

Card stock: white
Stamp: Space Cadet - Paper Smooches
Ink pads: Sapphire - Avery Elle; Extreme Black - My Favorite Things
Copic: Pinkish White R00, Cherry White R000, Vermillion R08, New Leaf YG23, Nile Blue BG45, Cool Grey #1 C-1, Acacia Y04, Apricot YR16
Gel pen: Gelly Roll Stardust Clear #700 - Sakura; Signo Broad White UM-153 - Uni-ball
Masking paper: Stamp Masking Paper - Inkadinkado
Adhesives

What you do...

1 Hand cut a rough edged semi-circle of masking paper and attach to the bottom of white card 10cm x 14cm.

2 Stamp the images onto the card, stamp again onto masking paper, cut out and apply over each image.

3 Use the Sapphire ink and blend over the piece of card, leaving areas a little bit lighter.

4 Remove the masking paper and colour in the images.

5 Use the white gel pen to add stars and planets. 

6 Stamp the sentiment at the base in the semi-circle. Highlight the sentiment with the Stardust gel pen and some of the stars/planets.

7 Mat onto a 10.5cm x 14.5cm white blank.

I haven't made this card for anyone in particular. I am trying to do my makes using old supplies from my stash rather than keep purchasing new ones. This stamp set hasn't been used in a while and I thought the sentiment was perfect.

A thoroughly good time was had making this card and I'm really pleased with the way it turned out. 

The thing I love about Paper Smooches stamp sets is that they always have unusual, quirky and different wording/sentiments.

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

Happy Mother's Day - Silhouette Cameo

Good afternoon blog friends!

My it's cold and windy out there today - brrr! Poor chickens are getting blown around the garden.

This post I would like to show you the card I made for my mum for Mother's Day. Sadly I couldn't visit her as she lives in a care home in the North Yorkshire Dales and with the restrictions in place it meant it was a no go. I did send her a little goodie box to enjoy as well.

I am having a run with the Silhouette at the moment, there are just too many cute designs!

It seems that Zuzu the cat keeps getting in on the picture at the moment. She does like to be in all and everything.

What you need...

Silhouette image file: Heart with Flowers #314131 - Little Luxuries Loft

Silhouette font: PN Popsicle Day Bold #305510 - ScrapNfonts

Self adhesive vinyl: black - Cricut

Card stock: pink, pale pink, red, dark green, red, white

Transfer tape: Cricut

Adhesives

What you do...

1 Purchase and download the image. Open the design page and add the image.

2 Re-size the heart image to suit. I sized it to fit a 6" square blank.

3 Send to cut in your chosen colours.

4 Use the text function to create the sentiment in the Popsicle Bold Font and cut in black vinyl.

5 Assemble the heart and flowers and fix to the top of the blank.

6 Apply the vinyl wording with the help of transfer tape.

I chose to keep the colours in the sample by Silhouette as I thought they were adorable, but of course you can use any colours you want.

At the moment the font is reduced to £1.13 instead of the usual £2.25 and the Heart with Flowers is £0.37 instead of £0.75. The sale ends on 31st March, so get in quick! There are hundreds of images with 50% off in their Thank You Event. Even without an event on, I think the prices of images are very reasonable. There are just so many!

Even if you don't have a Silhouette, I think you could easily replicate this make using simple heart and flowers dies in your stash.

My mum loved the card and the goodies even more! Hope you like the card too, I'm really pleased with the way it turned out.

I'm going to go now, but I have some more cards coming up also using the Silhouette Cameo. Thank you for popping by! 

St. Patrick's Day - Lucky Friend - Silhouette Cameo

Hello blog friends!

I hope that you are all keeping well and safe in these difficult times.

I have two dear friends June & Stephen that I truly love and adore. Stephen is Irish (June is Irish by proxy!) and it's tradition that I send a St. Patrick's Day card every year. 

This year I wanted to do something a little different just to let them know how much they mean to me. I had to wait a couple of days to post this up until I knew they received the card as I know they read my blog.

Great fun was had going through the Silhouette Design Store looking for images, there are literally 100's of St. Patrick's Day images and wording. Most of the images are £0.75 but leading up to St. Patrick's Day they had an offer on and images were reduced by 50%. So £0.37 - bargain! 

Then I came across the design which I thought was perfect.

When I photographed the card, Zuzu was in the background and I had to have her in the photo - supervising!

What you need...

Silhouette image file: Good Friend - Four Leaf Clover #315626 - Jamie Lane Designs 

Self adhesive vinyl: black, green - Cricut

Transfer tape: Cricut

Cardstock: white

What you do...

1 Purchase and download the image. Open the design page and add the image.

2 Re-size to suit.

3 Cut the wording in black vinyl and the clover leaves in the green vinyl. Weed away the excess.

4 Use transfer tape to pick up the image from the backing paper.

5 Create a 15cm square blank and carefully line up the image and rub across the transfer tape to distribute the image. Make sure the image is flat with no air bubbles.

I found it easier to do the lettering first and then add the clover leaves after. Transfer is a God send if you are doing lettering on a project.

I love to use vinyl when doing a card with a lot of wording, it cuts very cleanly and you don't have any fiddly gluing to contend with.

Needless to say June & Stephen loved the card :)

Thank you for popping by, please take care, keep safe and look out for those that need a bit of extra help at the moment.

Feel Better Soon

Hello blog friends!

I'm back with another cute little make. A friend of mine isn't too good at the moment and is feeling pretty lousy, so I thought I would make him a little card.

I am a big, big fan of Paper Smooches and have quite a collection of their stamps, so I delved through them all to find the wonderful Healthy Vibes set.

What you need...

Stamps: Healthy Vibes - Paper Smooches

Embossing ink: Clear Ultra Slow Drying Embossing Pad - WOW!

Embossing powder: Detail Clear - Stampendous

Copic markers: E50 Egg Shell, E51 Milky White, RV00 Water Lily, RV02 Sugared Almond Pink

Card stock: aqua

Ink pad: Extreme Black - My Favorite Things

Masking paper: Stamping Mask Paper - Inkadinkado

Adhesives

What you do...

1 Cut a 9.5cm square of aqua card. Mask off an area near the bottom of the card where you want the sentiment to be.

2 Stamp the plaster randomly over the card with the clear embossing ink. Cover with the embossing powder and heat set.

3 Remove the mask and stamp the sentiment with black ink.

4 Stamp the plaster and colour in. Cut out and attach above the sentiment with foam pads.

5 Mat the panel onto a white 10cm square blank.

I find that when heating the embossing powder, it is best to do it from the back of the card. This gives you a bit more control and stops the powder over heating. 

I did use this stamp set years ago for some fun makes in Crafts Beautiful. I managed to find a photo showing one of the cards I made.

Image Copyright Crafts Beautiful

I have just finished making a couple of cards using the Silhouette, so I will be back soon with those. One is a St Patrick's Day card (June if you are reading this you know that is for you and Stephen and will be winging it's way to you soon). The other is a Mother's Day card as here in the UK Mother's Day falls on the 22nd March.

Well, I'm going to sign off for now. Thank you for stopping by. TTFN!

Rainbow Thanks - Silhouette Cameo

Hello blog friends!

I'm back with the rainbow card I promised. I made this for a friend who had bought me cute little Jack Sparrow key ring (she knows I love Pirates of the Caribbean and Johnny Depp). 

It is a simple, yet cute card using Doodlebug Designs available on the Silhouette Cameo.

What you need...

Silhouette image file: Rainbow with Clouds #185512 (Fairy Tales Collection) - Doodlebug Designs

Card stock: pink, dark pink, orange, yellow, lime, blue, white

Stamps: Many Thanks - Paper Smooches

Ink pad: Onyx Black - Versafine

Gems: clear

Adhesives

What you do...

1 Purchase and download the image design. Place on the design screen and re-size to suit.

2 Send the design to cut in the relevant shades of card stock.

3 Assemble the rainbow and clouds and stamp a sentiment on the right hand cloud.

4 Position the design onto an A6 top fold white landscape blank and secure in place. Finish with some gems on the clouds.

This was quite and easy one to assemble, so it didn't take too long to make. After all the lousy weather we've had lately, I thought this was a perfect cheery card.

If you love cute Kawaii designs, then Doodlebug Design is perfect. What is so good about their designs and papercraft items is that they stick to the same colour palette throughout, so it easy to mix and match their products.

I hope you like this cute little make and I'll be back with another cute card, this one being a feel better soon card.

Thanks for stopping by!