Christmas money/voucher holders

My OH has a few young rellies with offspring and we always send gift vouchers or cheques for birthdays and Christmas. This isn't laziness - it's quite apparent that they do like having something to spend after all the excitement is over and they also all write to tell us what they bought, which is really cute of them!

This year I've made these - I looked at some ready made ones and thought I could just as good - for about half the price - plus have the fun of making them!

I started off with some tall narrow ivory pearlised cards from my stash - and I did take the trouble to ensure that a cheque would fit nicely into the finished product. The money holders were made by lining the inside of the card (not the whole lot, just the back part to about two thirds of the way along) with paper and cutting the corner off theright hand corner of the front part with Fiskars rounder scissors so that the paper shows - and the all important cheque or gift voucher can be seen peeking out. Then the card was sealed using double sided tape at the left hand end. The holders for 'the boys' (top one) are lined with paper from a Dovecraft Noel paper pad, and I used the same paper behind the gold triple square die cut. I got these die cuts from 'Dies to die for' years ago and have used them in endless ways. Then all I added was some little wooden embellies from my stash and a few gold Anita's Dimensions trees and stars.

The 'girlie' penguin ones were made in a similar fashion - the paper is from a Daisy and Dandelion Christmas themed A5 paper pack (Penelope and Percy) and it's already glittered too. Then all that was needed was to add the penguins (Anita's 3D laser stickers from whence I know not where) - plus a few Anita's Glitterations snowflakes.

I need to add a little rhyme to the back of each one - when inspiration strikes me :)

Di
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1st Wedding anniversary

I made this card for our friends - Julie and Steve - who celebrate their 1st wedding anniversary on Sunday. I posted their wedding card on this blog when I first started off and had a lot of fun making this card for them!

Shame the sentiment reflected the light - it's a silver Dufex one and just says 'Best Wishes', although the insert does say Happy 1st Anniversary!. The card is an 8" x 8" square white one with an embossed dots pattern. Then a silver layer of textured card, cut out round the edges using my only Martha Stewart Deep Edging Punch - no fancy 'Punch Around The Corner' ones as yet but I'm working on it! To hide the oddly matched corners I used a mix of the sentiment, 3-D butterflies ( these are lush!) and a selection of Prima flowers/pearl brads. Then my trademark organza bow down the left....and not forgetting the soooo cute House Mouse decoupage in the middle, which was the whole point of the card! As Julie and Steve are such a 'close knit' pair it seemed very appropriate! :)

Thanks for looking, and even if you don't comment it's nice that you called by!

Di
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Christmas panic mode - part 2

My previous post was about the Papermania Christmas paper pack coming to my rescue. At the same time as I started making those cards with my right hand I was making these ones with my left hand....well, you know what I mean :)

After the class Karen and I went to last week I also bought some reindeer and snowflakes 'sparkle' stickers made by Classic Art. These were so simple to make and I have a second pack still to use so that will be another eight cards to add to the box!

 This one is on a pure white card I promise! Perhaps the pink is my face reflected after all the exertion? I used some white cards edged with silver bought ages ago - quite Christmassy I think! This one is A5 size and the ribbon bow is made using some organza ribbon from my stash. It's wired but it's also very easy to remove the wire with a pair of tweezers. The sentiments are from a set I bought from QVC a while back. The other cards are 4" x 4" square ones. Another simple and quick make!

Of course I also have quite a few 'specials' under way for closer friends and family which are more involved to make but at least some cards are getting done! Phew :)

Di
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Panic mode - how many sleeps until Christmas?!

Last week I went to a card making class and we concentrated on Christmas cards in which sent me into a spin when I got home and realised how many cards I have yet to make for Christmas. Luckily I'd bought what I thought was just a paper pack in the shop after our class - but it turned out to have matching 'toppers' as well - perfect for some quickie makes. The paper pack is Papermania's Classic Christmas by Stephanie Dyment and for once I've launched straight into using it rather than admiring it for a while. It's gorgeous I must say and has certainly come to my rescue - I've worked out I can make at least 22 cards like the first six I've rattled off  (four shown below) and still have some paper and bits and bobs left over.

So, all I've done is to match a topper with the relevant paper - although they really are so complimentary to one another it would be good to mix them too. The cards I've made so far have patterned paper edged with the Floral Vine Martha Stewart edging punch which has then been layered onto a contrasting/toning card. These photos show red card stock but some of the papers will look good on cream or white. Then the topper has been added after being layered onto a slightly larger piece of mirri card - and an organza bow added as the finishing touch. Simples - and a little sigh of relief here that I might be able to speed things up a bit :)

Hope you're better organised than I am!

Di
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'A little bird told me........' birthday card

I made this card for a friend's birthday - which is today so it's safe to post this :)

I really wanted to distress the background myself but time wasn't on my side to have a real 'play' - mental note to self to plan ahead more! I used a cream card and layered Papermania double sided paper onto it. This paper is great as it has a bit of a vintage look to it, pink and cream on one side and distressed brown on the other. The bottom of the paper has been edged using a Martha Stewart 'Floral Vine' deep edge punch. This is the first Martha Stewart punch I've bought and am now a total convert!

I used a Woodware clear set stamp set called 'Bird Song' and paper pieced the little bird onto the reverse side of the paper (ie. brown) and stuck him onto the card before stamping over the top with his rather splendid cage - using a Brilliance 'Pearlescent Chocolate' ink pad. I also paper pieced a wing so that it looks as if it's on the outside of the cage to give more dimension. Some of this detail has been lost though as the ink is almost the same colour as the brown distressed paper - little lesson there I think :) The birdie's little pink eye was just a teensy bit of the 'confetti' made when I punched the bottom of the pink and cream paper! And even the little musical notes come in the stamp set!

The sentiment was stamped onto plain cream card using 'Pearlescent Chocolate', punched into a circle with my SU punch then layered onto a larger scalloped SU punched circle in the distressed brown.

The flowers were fun too - they're creamy coloured embossed Prima flowers which I swished over with Pearlescent Orchid and Pearlescent Chocolate on a blending sponge, and their centres are card candy (I deepened the pink card candy with some more 'swishing with a blending sponge'). I'll be using more of these flowers - you get loads in a packet and they are made so that you can totally colour match them to your project. Yummy!

Then, before attaching the flowers I added a piece of really gorgeous lacy cream ribbon. I got some of this, also in white, ages ago in Hobbycraft and it's so soft and silky - up until now I've just stroked it and looked at it, as I'm sure many people do with crafty goodies before they realise it really should be used!!

Thanks for calling by!

Di
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New baby cards

The other day, in Mothercare, there was a young Mum with the most adorable newborn twins. It reminded me of a stamping set I bought from Elzybells before Elizabeth shut up shop.These clear stamps are so cute, you can make a few variations by mixing them. This is what I came up with:

The cards were made using a white scalloped edged card from Craftwork Cards, a background layer of Dovecraft Back to Basics patterned paper then a small paper doily, topped with a scalloped circle made using my Wooodware punch. The scalloped circle had already been stamped, paper pieced using toning paper to the background layer and some colouring (using Aquamarkers natch!). The pram and hood are seperate so you can assemble it how you want, as are the teddy and the little face peeking out........just a curl of hair for the boy and a sweet little bow for the girl. Elizabeth really did think of lots of small details! The wheels were paper pieced too using plain paper.  Then I got to use a couple of new SU punches - with the scalloped circle to match the pram body and the plain one using white card with the sentiment stamped in toning ink. Semi-sparkly gems were then added to the centre of the wheels and the point where the hood is attached to the pram just to highlight a little bit more. 

They were such fun to make and the best bit came next - the ribbon bow! I love bows and ribbons and whilst rootling through my punches I came across a 'long reach' ribbon slot punch that I've had for years! The idea is to punch a row of slots to thread ribbbon through but try as I might, despite careful measuring and all the rest, I could never get it right so this poor punch was abandoned.

Now it's high up on my list of useful things! It was so easy to thread organza ribbon through and make a decent bow just where I wanted and even if the ribbon shows on the other side of the card it looks so professional ........I love it!

And in case you thought I'd forgotten the twins who sparked off this little session of cardmaking:

So that you could see the twinnies I had to cut the hood in half so that it looks as if it's down. The stamps even include triplets sentiments............maybe teddy would have to be ejected from the pram or moved somewhere else if a third little face was added :)

Di
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Gorjuss girls bookmarks

A couple of weeks ago I met up with some old school friends way up in Liverpool - sadly for one of our ex-teacher's funeral. The Late Betty was certainly the life and soul of our school reunions and we'll miss her loads.

Moira, one of my oldest (sorry Moira - that week between our ages makes all the difference!) friends, and I stayed overnight with me in the Adelphi Hotel (that hotel is a bit like stepping back in time!). We got chatting about this blog and she was saying how much she likes the Gorjuss girls. She lives in Kilmarnock and they have a shop up there which sells Gorjuss girls stuff - much more than card making stuff too! They do have a website, but up to now it hasn't been updated to show the goodies - ranging from shopping bags to emery boards. How do I know about the emery boards? - lookee here:

These are just TOO cute to use aren't they :) Moira whizzed out to treat me to some when she got home!

Anyhow, knowing her new found love of all things Gorjuss, set me thinking. She's a real bookworm - has been since we met on our first incarceration term at boarding school. The world could be tumbling down but give her a good book and she's a happy bunny! Lying in bed the other night, instead of chasing/counting sheep, I came up with this idea.

I already had some Gorjuss girls tags - die cut decoupage ones...and the wee girlie perched on the pile of books is just so appropriate! I layered them onto folded card stock cut to size and added some magnetic paired pieces.  It isn't my first venture into magnetic bookmarks, I've made a few for charity in my time, first came across the idea in New York and they are much less likely to be lost. You just flip the bookmark over your page (and store it flipped over the book cover when you've got your nose stuck into whatever you're reading - I haven't tried it on hardback covers I must confess but in theory it's 'simples'!!).

Here they are open, sorry about the rubbish photo!!

Then all that was left was to flip the three over a piece of card stock and embellish a little bit - like so:

Into a cello bag and popped into the post to Kilmarnock. And, the lovely thing is that Moira loved them - that made my day!

Di
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Olivia's Ist Birthday card

Today Mia's baby sister, our other Grand daughter Olivia ( known as Livi) is one! I followed very much in the same line as Mia's 3rd birthday card made recently.

This is Tinkerbell, in a bit of a 'minx' pose, from the same Disney set (QVC) as a few others I've used recently. The card is from the same set that I made Mia's card from but this one has an aperture as I wanted it mainly for the lovely green to match Tinkerbell's dress :). The lettering and ribbon were from my stash. It was made in a trice but still with lots of love for a very special little lady. Here's the inside of the card just so you know I didn't clip Tinkerbell's wings and feet!

See what I mean about the saucy pose?! The backing paper on the inside of the card came from my stash - no idea where I got it from, sorry.

And finally, here's the Birthday Girl herself - Happy Birthday Livi! From Grandad and GranDi XXX


Di
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