25 November 2010

Christmas cards 3

Oh guys and gals I'm on a roll this week, so here's yet another creation out of the box:

Card - Dustin Pike Mistle Toad




Now these little toads just make me giggle - they get up to all sorts of festive mischief!  This particular one got a tad too curious about the inner workings of a snowglobe & sort of got stuck (don't worry I'll let him out - when I stop laughing)

Joking aside I guess you'll want to know the techy (haha) side........

Image is from the amazing Dustin Pike & as usual coloured with Copics & glazed the globe with Inkssentials Glossy Accents.

The scrumptious background papers are "Plum Pudding" from Crafts House, ribbon is American Crafts & the tag is Quickutz.






Finally, faux stitching (black marker) and peel offs to finish - not quite a "speedy" card like yesterday, but guaranteed to make its recipient smile!

Whilst I remember, may I wish all my American friends a
 Pilgrim 
Love, hugs & happy crafting!

24 November 2010

Christmas cards 2...............

Day 2:  I'm trying to get myself organised when it comes to blogging - so here's my second blog post of the week!!!



Todays card is pretty simple to make - an embossing folder (Cuttlebug me thinks) always makes a quick, yet effective background.  Great for showcasing one of Dustin Pike's cool images - if you like this and other DP images I've used go check out his website - he's having an amazing Black Friday Sale!


As always it's been coloured using Copics, then cut out and attached with thin foam pads - 3D cards are great, but make sure you don't go too mad with the depth or the Post Office will want lots of pennies to post it!!!!


Image: Dustin Pike digi image
Paper: Plain white cardstock
Colouring: Copics
Additional: Cuttlebug embossing folder



OK peeps, that's it for now but keep your eyes peeled for another card shortly - thanks as always for popping by the box.

Happy Crafting

23 November 2010

Christmas cards..............

Oh the chill winds are beginning to blow here in England, my husband's gritting teams are going on their second call out of the season tonight, so wrap up warm & if you have to venture out tonight, take care as the roads will be icy!
Shiver   

Some of you know I have been pretty busy over the last couple of months creating Christmas cards & I've just finished taking piccies of some of my favourites.  Here's the first........

Card - Christmas Santa Hat


This is one of the simple designs I came up with using JustRite stamps - have you tried these? This image is from the 1 5/8 Merry Little Christmas set, one of the great thing about these stamps is that they are made specifically to fit your Nestabilities!!!

I stamped the image onto my usual cardstock using Memento ink then coloured it with my Copic Sketch. The background was created using Prismacolor pencils blended with Zest-it. I can't recommend this pencil blending solution highly enough. I am asthmatic & struggle with strong smelling solutions, Zest-it has a lovely citrus smell & blends the Prismacolor beautifully (and its made in the UK woo hoo!)

A little plain stitching and a strip of ribbon all mounted onto some Papermania Christmas paper finished it off...................





Image: JustRite - A Merry Little Christmas (1 5/8)
Paper: Papermania Christmas
Colouring: Copic Sketch, Prismacolor pencils
Additional: Nestabilities, ribbon from stash, sewing machine

Well, that's me done for now, off to get a cup of coffee - wrap up warm & get those crafty juices flowing!!

18 November 2010

Feeling lucky?

My mojo is returning slowly, and I'm hoping in future my son is a little less generous and keeps his germs to himself!!

So here is one of my latest projects using Magnolia's Tilda with Clover - as soon as I saw her I knew she'd be joining my ever expanding collection,  I remember as a child searching for the elusive 4 leafed kind - never did find one!


Card - Magnolia with charm

As you can see I had fun "playing" with shrink plastic.  Just in case you've not tried it yourself yet - I merely stamped the image onto the plastic with Stazon, then coloured it with Prismacolor pencils, remembering to include a hanging loop when cutting out the image so I could easily attach the little charm to the card.  All I had to do then was blast it with my heat gun & watch the image shrink before my eyes (remember to protect your work surface - those guns get very hot!!) - I always have an acrylic stamp block on hand to flatten the shrunken shape whilst still warm (not sure if you're supposed to do it, but it works for me)

As always, I've coloured the image with Copic Sketch on Personal Impressions Premier Quality Smooth White card and added small highlights with a Gelly Roll white pen.  The image, with assistance from Rachel's tutorial (see below) was mounted on Spellbinders Nestabilities, cut on my trusty Pink Cuttlebug.

I'd like to thank Rachel Jakes for a great tutorial on how to create an "out of the frame nestie" - her work is amazing & her website is well worth a visit. 

Image: Magnolia - Tilda with Clover
Paper: BasicGrey Olivia
Colouring: Copics, Chalk ink
Additional: Caption (Word Art World), ribbon from stash, sewing machine, shrink plastic, brad.

Thanks for dropping by and until next time............

Happy Crafting

15 November 2010

Ooh did someone say cake!!

Well girls and boys I clocked up another year yesterday, but hey its a good excuse for something sweet and scrummy!!

I don't know about you but I am all for tradition, and a birthday just wouldn't be complete without a cake - yesterday was no exception.  Its not quite up to the standard of Duff Goldman at Charm City Cakes (love that show - totally hooked) but even though I say so myself, it tasted pretty good. 

What do you think?  Marks out of 10?
 Giant Cupcake
OK, I confess, I didn't carve it by hand, I used a really cool cake pan from Lakeland then covered it in fondant icing.  What you can't see is that the base of the cake is chocolate marble cake whilst the top is made of strawberry cake. I was really nervous making it as it was the first time I'd used this pan - but with the addition of a little Cake Release my worries were unfounded & once cooked the cakes popped out of the pan without a hitch woo hoo!

Before I use it next time I'm going to invest in some brown colouring so I can make the cupcake base look a little more like cake and less like an icecream (but that's just me being picky)

I had a really great day yesterday & am now the proud owner of an airbrush kit & compressor for my Copic Sketch - so watch this space for the results over the next few weeks............ once I stop playing with shrink plastic that is.  I never tire of watching that stuff curl up and shrink, producing a minature version of a stamped image - its so cool!!

Happy crafting folks and I'll be back with some of my latest projects very soon.

5 November 2010

Remember remember the 5th of November........

Hope everyone planning a Bonfire Night celebration this weekend has a fun (and safe) time!

..............and please make sure you've checked that one of these prickly little friends hasn't made a home in the bonfire before you light it!!

Card : Hedgehog

Image: Dustin Pike Marshmallow Toasting Hedgehog
Paper: From stash
Colouring: Copics
Additional: Quickutz dies & ribbon


Sadly I've not posted as much as I'd planned, unfortunately our son was feeling generous this week and shared his cold with the rest of the family! So the only paper product I've been playing with has been a box of tissues!!!

Thanks for looking & happy crafting