Dude, ...Chill - Snoopy

Hello peeps!

I hope you are all well! I thought I would do a quick post before I start a new commission.

Okay, so my crafty mojo is definitely back. I was on such a roll at the weekend that I actually got a few Christmas cards made.

As I mentioned in my last post, I have been looking through my wood mounted stamps and I came across my Snoopy ones. This card features Snoopy chilling on top of his Christmas light covered dog house. So cute.

What you need...

Stamps: Snoopy Decorated Dog House I1017 - Stampabilities; Freezy Fellas - Paper Smooches

Copic: BG0000 Snow Green, BG02 New Blue, R29 Lipstick Red, R35 Coral, RV06 Cerise, YG23 New Leaf

Ink pad: Onyx Black - Versafine

Patterned paper: Happy Holiday Trees #SW2604 12"x12" - Echo Park

Card stock: white

Ribbon: red

Stickers: snowflakes

Adhesives

What you do...

1 Stamp the image onto white card and colour in.

2 Mat onto the top of a 10.5cm x 14.5cm blank.

3 Cover the bottom of the blank with the patterned paper.

4 Stamp the Christmas phrase at the top left, tie a red ribbon around the top of the patterned paper and decorate with some snowflakes.

Isn't he adorable and of course totally cool and chilled? I have a few of these Stampabilities stamps, they are quite rare now, but with a bit of shopping around you can still pick them up.

This is another card that you can do quite quickly, perfect for churning out those Christmas cards!

I'm going to sigh off for now, thank you for stopping by and I'll see you soon :o)

Merry & Bright

H'afternoon my lovelies!

Hope you are enjoying this glorious weather! I have been going through some of my Christmas wooden stamps and I came across a beautiful retro reindeer and a 'Merry & Bright' phrase stamp that I have had for a few years.

I have some gorgeous wooden stamps, but because they are more bulky to store and you tend to use the polymer stamps more, you forget all about them. 

This card is based on one I did a few years ago using the same reindeer stamp. I have some papers by Brenda Walton with a retro theme that go perfectly with this style of stamp.

What you need...

Stamp: Rudolph (2808G) - Judikins; Merry & Bright (60-01160) - Inkadinkado

Patterned paper: Brenda Walton Merry & Bright (651160) 6" x 12" Double Sided Paper Pad - Sizzix

Card stock: red, white

Ink pad: Onyx Black - Versafine

Punch: snowflake - Kars

Gems: clear

Pearls: red

Adhesives

What you do...

1 Cut a 10cm x 14cm piece of the presents paper, slice the bottom at an angle and fix to the top of a 14cm square blank.

2 Cut a 1cm deep strip of the striped side of the paper and fix under the angled piece.

3 Stamp the reindeer and the Merry & Bright onto white card and cut into angled shapes. Mat onto red card and trim. Attach to the blank at angles.

4 Punch some snowflakes in red card, adhere to the blank and add a clear gem to the centre of each. Add a red pearl to the reindeer's nose.

I know that the Judikins stamp is no longer available, but any simple reindeer stamp would do. The Merry & Bright stamp is available from Craftie Charlie for £6.95, click here to take you to the page.

I'm going to browse through past Christmas card makes and see if there are any that I would like to update, so watch this space.

Have a lovely weekend all and I'll be back soon!

Blizzard

Hello peeps!

I've had a very creative weekend illustrating designs for one of the magazines and have even had time to come up with what has to be the quickest Christmas card ever. I challenge any one not to smile at this one.

What you need...

Card stock: white, orange

Googly eyes

Computer and printer

Adhesives

What you do...

1 Create a 10cm x 14cm rectangle in Word and add a text box. Enter the Christmas phrase in your chosen font and move it to the bottom of the rectangle and print out.

2 Trim the rectangle and attach centrally to the front of a 10.5cm x 14.5cm top fold white blank.

3 Snip a small triangle in orange card and stick near the top of the blank with a couple of googly eyes and you're done!

How quick and simple was that? This is going to be such a cool (excuse the pun) card to make for last minute Christmas cards. 

The font is called Flower Child by Marty Bee and is a shareware font. You can download it from dafont.com (click here to take you to the font page). There are also tons of free fonts to choose from. If you download any fonts and you sell your creations, make sure that it is for commercial use.

I'm going to say ta-ta for now, back to illustrating! Thank you for stopping by :o)

Smelly Snowman

Hey there lovelies!

I haven't been around for a while as we were on holiday in the Algarve for a couple of weeks and then since returning I have been mad busy catching up with magazine commissions (still got lots to do).

One of my upcoming projects for one of the magazines is a Christmas set using the Silhouette Curio. As I was browsing the library for images, I came across a cute snowman image. I had to purchase it and use it on a card, so here it is.

What you need...

Digital die cut: Snowman I Smell Carrots (#234001) - Silhouette

Card stock: light green, mid green, aqua, pale aqua, orange, red, light red, black, white

Ribbon: orange

Adhesives

What you do...

1 Purchase and download the snowman image.

2 Use the Silhouette Curio to cut out the pieces of the image in the coloured card stock.

3 Following the image photo, assemble and stick the snowman to a 12.5cm square blank.

4 Wrap and tie orange ribbon around the bottom of the card.

I think I will be doing a few more cards with images that I have fallen in love with. This one was £0.65 to purchase. A lot of the images are around £0.65, some are cheaper and some more expensive, depending on the size and intricacy. Once you have purchased them they are yours to keep :o) 

The good thing is you can re-size and flip the images if you want and also cut out in your own chosen colour theme.

Hope you like this fun little card, thank you for stopping by!

Mr & Mrs

Hi there chums!

My gorgeous and beautiful Zumba instructor Sally got married to Jib (nickname - everyone calls him Jib) yesterday. As I'm not into overdone or mushy cards I wanted to illustrate one for them.

I came up with a simple, yet cute chapel that only used three colours, pale pink, pale green and pale grey.

What you need...

Card stock: white 

Digi stamp: chapel (I used my own)

Promarkers: Pink Carnation, Meadow Green, Ice Grey 1

Gems: clear

Adhesives

What you do...

1 Print the chapel onto white digital card.

2 Colour in the stained glass windows, the door and the trees with the pink and green. Use the grey to colour in the windowsills and add shadows.

3 Hand cut the image out following the line of the border and stick to a 10.5cm x 14.5cm blank. Add some gems to decorate.

And there you have it! I was really pleased with the way this turned out. It's quirky and simple. 

If you would like a free copy of this illustration drop me a line using the 'Contact Me' page and I can email it to you - this will be for a limited time only. The illustration is in PNG format.

Thank you for popping by, see you soon x

Floral Thank You

Hello lovelies!

I needed a simple and quick thank you card, so I decided to raid my stash and I came across a cling stamp that I've had for some time and not used (yes, I know, I'm naughty for doing that). 

I wanted to keep the card really simple with a Kraft blank and delicate white inking. I also decided to make the envelope too.

What you need...

Card stock: Kraft

Patterned paper: Darks Color Basics Paper Pad 12" x 12" - K&Company

Stamps: Small Striped Flower (CG256) - Hero Arts; Many Thanks - Paper Smooches

Dies: Labels Fancy #2 (with stamps - 657582) - Sizzix

Ink pad: Pure White Pigment Ink Pad - Avery Elle 

Envelope maker: Envelope Punch Board - WRMK

Gel pen: bright pink

Adhesives

What you do...

1 Create a top fold blank in Kraft card 8.5cm x 12.5cm.

2 Stamp the flower at the lower left corner making sure it goes off the edges. Stamp the sentiment in the top right corner. 

3 When the ink is dry, colour in the centre of the the flower with the gel pen.

4 Following the guide on the Envelope Punch Board, cut a piece of tan patterned paper, score, fold and stick to form the envelope.

5 Stamp the label in white ink onto Kraft card, use the coordinating die to cut it out. Stick centrally to the front of the envelope.

I think making your own envelopes is a great way to use up those papers that you like, but wouldn't use as a scrapbook page or add to a card. The Envelope Punch Board makes it so easy as it has practically every size you could want printed on the maker, plus it has the punch to cut out the indents where the score lines meet and one to round off the flap.

I really enjoyed making this little card, one tip I will give you is that the white pigment ink can smudge. I give a light squirt of hairspray to help fix it in place - it also makes the card smell nice!

Thank you for popping in and I'll be back soon - ta ta for now!

365 Day Trip

Well hello there peeps!

Today I would like to show you a lovely card I made for my dear friend June. It's a cute mix of stamping and die-cutting.

What you need...

Card: white, pale blue, pale yellow

Stamps: 365 Days (3944H) - Penny Black

Dies: Hello Sunshine - Lawn Fawn

Ink pad: Onyx Black - Versafine

Gems: clear

Fine liner: black

Adhesives

What you do...

1 Trim a piece of pale blue card to 9.5cm x 13.5cm and stamp the sentiment centrally.

2 Die cut the sun in pale yellow and the cloud in white card. Place the sun and cloud above and to the left of the sentiment. Use foam tape for the cloud.

3 Mat the pale blue panel onto a top fold 10.5cm  x 14.5cm blank. Draw a face on the sun and add a few gems to decorate.

I love this little card and it's so cute, it's a subtle way of telling someone that they are a year older! I'm not sure how available the stamp is now, you may be able to grab one on Ebay. The die set is still available, there is also a stamp set that goes with the dies - it's adorable.

I'm going to sign off for now, hope you like my little make and thank you for stopping by!

Crab Thanks

Hello lovelies!

I want to share with you today a simple little thank you card adorned with a cute crab.

What you need...

Card: white digital

Stamps: Chubby Chum Pals - Paper Smooches; Sketchy Thoughts - Winnie & Walter

Ink pads: Chateau Gray #83 - Versacolor; Onyx Black - Versafine

Copic: R05 Salmon Red, R27 Cadmium Red

Promarker: Ice Grey 1, blender

Punch: corner rounder

Adhesives

What you do...

1 Cover a 10.5cm x 14.5cm top fold blank with white digital card and round off the bottom two corners.

2 Stamp the crab in Onyx Black near the lower left corner and the speech bubble in Chateau Gray near the top right corner.

3 Colour the legs and the top of the crab in Cadmium Red, stipple with the blender pen to add texture. Shade in the bottom of the crab in Salmon Red. Add some shadow around the eyeballs, mouth and underneath the crab with Ice Grey 1.

5 Stamp the sentiment with Onyx Black over the speech bubble.

I adore this cute little fella. Stippling an area with the blender pen gives the look of a 'rough' surface because the blender lifts out the colour. This is perfect for the texture of a crab shell.

The crab is part of a fab set from Paper Smooches which also includes a bear, bird and moose with some little accessories and words.

Hope you like this little card and thanks so much for popping by. See you soon!

Funniest Bird

Good afternoon!

I'm back with a funny card I made for my wonderful and gorgeous friend Chris. I purchased a cling mounted rubber stamp set from IndigiBlu called Funny Bird. It was because of this particular stamp that I had (yes had) to buy it, you know me and my chickens.

Sorry for the poor quality of the photo - the lighting wasn't brilliant and I'm no photographer ;o)

What you need...

Stamps: Funny Bird (IND0156PC) - IndigoBlu

White card - digital smooth

Coloured pencils: Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Olive Green Yellowish, Burnt Carmine, Indian Red, Sanguine, Light Yellow Ochre, Brown Ochre, Pale Geranium Lake, Scarlet Red - Faber-Castell Polychromos

Ink pad: Onyx Black - Versafine

Garden twine - brown

Button - brown

Adhesives

What you do...

1 Stamp the image onto white card, when dry colour in the chicken using the colours to blend and highlight.

2 Trim the image to 10.5cm x 14.5cm making sure the image is near the top.

3 Mat onto a 10.5cm x 14.5cm blank.

4 Separate the twine, wrap around the blank, tie in a bow and add the button.

I coloured this image to look like one of my Rhode Island Reds - Babs. She is the most beautiful deep red brown. It's a shame that the photo doesn't really do the colouring and shading justice, as the finished card looked exactly like her.

This stamp set is great value for money as it is quite a large set - you get a cling mounted A5 sheet that you cut out the individual stamps. Make sure you use some non-cling scissors, this will make life much easier.

Visit IndigoBlu to see their wide range of products. You can find the Funny Bird stamp set here. Prices start from £17.99 for the uncut stamp set.

I am pleased that Chris loved the card, the sentiment suits her to the ground and she knows Babs quite well. 

Thank you so much for dropping by. See you soon!

Magnificent Magnolia

Hi there lovely people!

I'm back with an elegant card featuring a beautiful magnolia. Our tree in the garden is clinging onto the last few flowers, it's a shame the flowers don't last longer. I'm still enjoying going through my craft stash and using stamps that I haven't used yet or haven't used in a long time.

This magnolia stamp I've had for a while, I think I grabbed it in a sale online.

What you need...

Stamps: Outline Magnolia (CG193) - Hero Arts; Sentiments Stamp (#10105761) - Bo Bunny

Card stock: white, pale pink

Embossing powder: Detail Clear - Stampendous

Ink pad: Onyx Black - Versafine

Copic: Begonia Pink (RV14), Macadamia Nut (YR30)

Promarker: Pale Pink

Gems: clear

Adhesives

What you do...

1 Cover a 12.5cm square blank with a 12cm square of pale pink card.

2 Stamp the magnolia onto white card and cover with the embossing powder, heat to melt.

3 Shade in the magnolia.

4 Cut out the magnolia and stick to the lower right of the blank, overlapping the bottom and right edges. Trim away the excess.

5 Stamp the sentiment in the top left corner. Add a few gems to finish.

I know that the magnolia stamp is no longer available, but this card would look lovely with any large outline flower stamp. I've got a few of these floral outline stamps from Hero Arts in various sizes. They make a beautiful simple and elegant card that is quick to make.

I'm going to say ta ta for now, thank you for stopping by!