Ink pad colour swatch

A 'simples' idea which I came across a while back on someone's Blog - and once done it saves time wasted on scrabbling/testing for ink pad colours. It's self-explanatory really - just cut squares of white card about 1.5" - 2.0" square, punch holes in one corner, dab some of each inkpad on the front of each square and write (I printed labels) onto the back - name of brand/colour of inkpad. Then use a round ring of any sort but it should unclip so you can add future colours - I bought my slightly oval ones in Hobbycraft. Easy and it does save precious moments, which all add up!

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Birthday card - meeces party!

On a brighter note following my previous post - I recently made this card for my step-mum and it's being posted today in time for her birthday on Monday....she loves cute cards. I know I'm safe posting this on the Blog BTW!

It's an easel card - a style I love making. The image is Penny Black's 'Cheesecake Party' and the stamped sentiment is by Hero Arts - stamped using a Dewdrops Brilliance inkpad in Pearlescent Orchid. I stamped the images onto die-cut backgrounds which were cut using my 'Nesties' - and I used watercolour pencils to colour the meece etc with a little bit of Anita's glaze to highlight the candle wax. The background card is by KanBan from QVC and the button and spotty ribbon, plus the lace, self adhesive pink ribbon and litle pink gems are from my stash.

It's her birthday on Monday and as she lives over 300 miles away I hope she has a lovely day and that M&S deliver her flowers in good time :)

Di
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Brick wall card - salvaged!

Saw this idea in a tutorial on the Web and had to give it a try! Great fun - so long as you don't lose track of the cut out pieces :( - and so long as you don't do as I did and think you've got the image centred on a card, without taking into account the fact that the 'gaps in the brickwork' will mean that the image ends up not quite where you expected!

However, all was not lost (thankfully after all the fiddling around with little pieces of card) - I trimmed the end result and then layered it up a bit.

I used background card for the brick wall from a pack of Papermania's Capsule Collection - Sunshine is the name of the pack designed by Tina Higgins, the image was stamped in black using a clear acrylic stamp by Habico from their Chinese Flowers set...I think it might have looked better if I'd then embossed it but my heat gun isn't playing ball right now. This one is peonies - my favourite flower, and I spied fresh bunches of them last week in Sainsburys! Time for a little treat I think :)

The rescue of the botched attempt used ordinary black card and Core'dinations orange card and some orange card candy to try to pull it all together....and to make it less sombre (OH's observation when I was fiddling round trying to decide how to salvage things!).

Di
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Shop Window card

Before I say anything else, a confession! I got this idea from a great Blog that I follow - which belongs to another Di! She has some great ideas and is thankfully happy for others to use them so long as they acknowledge the fact. So here's the Blog (go see!) http://onthecards.blogspot.com/ - and a big thank you to Di for the idea.

These cards were great fun to make and my first try at 'paper piecing' - I used a clear stamp set by My Favourite Things from Dies to Die For http://www.diestodiefor.com/




The dresses, boots and backing layers are on paper from a Daisy and Dandelion paper pack - 'Candyfloss and Marshmallow Some bunny loves you'... from Hobbycraft. The plain backing card is by Core'dinations from QVC...loads of yummy colours and I always seem to find what I need from this set of four packs of card. The flowers and brads are from my stash and the bit of colouring I did was a mix of watercolour pencils and Whispers pens.

Next time I think I'll try using smaller card stock just with a toning card layer behind the image and miss out using the spotty paper as a background - am I mean or what? :)

Remember, I got this idea from another Di's Blog!!

Di
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New baby cards

These cards were so quick and easy to make - a real cheat. I bought the lovely tactile felted teddy embellishments in Germany - not cheap at about £1 per card, but too cute to resist. I used scalloped edged cards from Craftwork cards, and the background papers are (again!) wrapping paper. The sentiments are from my peeloff stash, the ribbon is also from my stash - and I resisted the urge to stick little pearls round the edges for fear of overdoing things :)

Di
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Christening card

I made this card for a very special little girl (my OH's grand daughter) who was baptised in Germany a week ago. She hardly whimpered when the water was poured over her head - I however did whimper in sympathy! Olivia, or Livvy as we know her, is a delightful little girl - aged 6 months, and her older sister Mia (aged two and a half) is my little best friend :)

For the card I used one of my current favourites - a kenetic design.  Much cautious waving of craft knife here I should add. Apparently there's a new cutting tool about called 'The Slice' which has a safe ceramic blade. Available from Joanna Sheen - http://www.joannasheen.co.uk/ - it's £5.99 with free postage. It's out of stock right now but on my 'must have' list!

I used bright shiny silver mirri card with DCWV Luxury Stack baby pink to layer oblongs and cover the base card. The pearl flowers are by Craft Creatives from The Works, mulberry paper Bible from Craftsite and I embossed in silver the 'Christening' word using an Inca stamp from Hobbycraft. All other lettering was done by hand using peeloffs - and all other embellies are also peeloffs from my stash.

Of course Livvy is too young to really notice - but her Mum and Dad liked it!!

Di
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Butterflies card

Butterflies seem to be a popular theme right now and this card was so 'simples' to make. A little while ago I bought a butterfly punch and was longing to use it! I tried it on card first - no go! But, on paper it works like a dream, and paper is probably what you need anyhow to keep it delicate.

The card is an A5 aperture card, with already foiled 'Best Wishes' - from CraftCreations. I used my new 'Large Xcut Dimensions ButterflyPunch - 3.6cm wide - it came from Crafts U Love - http://www.craftsulove.co.uk/. They have some really nice goodies - including loads of different punches, diecutting templates and embossing folders.

The paper I used to punch the butterflies out of was in a pack of pastel shades I bought from Hobbycraft. The backing paper is....you guessed it, Hallmark wrapping paper..... with little pink, deep lilac and silver holographic butterflies on a lilac background and the pink of the punched butterflies is exactly the same shade as the pink butterflies on the background paper.

To finish off I tied a pink organza bow (ribbon from my stash) and added some bling to a couple of corners and teeny clear and lilac gems down the spine of the 'flutterbys' - from my stash.

Easy, peasy.

Thanks for calling by!

Di
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Get well card

I made this card in a bit of a rush for a friend who has just had a total hip replacement. She's doing well and I can empathise as I've also been there and got the T-shirt - four and a half years ago now! It gave me my active life back and I'm so grateful.

I used the 'Hoot The Owl' Get Well Stamp by Joanna Sheen http://joannasheen.com/.
I like the fact that Joanna's on-line shop doesn't charge for P & P - I think the minimum order is £5 - plus their service is very quick.

The image was coloured the image using watercolour pencils - def. need more practise with shading etc, and more shades of brown.....poor Hoot does have a bit of an orange tinge :( but then he is meant to be a bit off-colour, lol!.

The background paper is from my stash, peachy orange Card Candy from Craftwork Cards and the peachy organza ribbon came from Joanna Sheen's online shop. They have everchanging special offers, just a few things at a time, and this reel of 15mm x 5m Organza Ribbon was reduced from £1.99 to 99p. Not bad huh when you can pay 39p upwards for just a metre in one well known craft store I go to.

Thanks for stopping by!

Di
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Quick and easy frog card

This is so simple to make. The card is very small (4" x 3"). I used an acrylic stamp (bull-rushes) and stamped the image three times using a Pearlescent Thyme Brilliance Dewdrop inkpad - then added a little wooden frog embellishment from my stash, bought in my local haberdashery store. They're branching even more into a small selection of cardmaking stuff - yippee! The sentiment is a peeloff from my stash - I know, must branch out too:)

Di
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Slowly does it!

Here's a card (above) that I made for a newborn baby girl recently. Hard to believe that her Mum (Sam) used to come over on Saturdays to 'play' at anything crafty when she was little herself.

The card is an easel card - one of my current favourites. Background papers are by Making Memories, scalloped ovals from Craftwork Cards, pram embellishment (which I stuck some gems on to sparkle up the wheels) from Craftsite. Prima flowers, ribbon and lace are from my stash (it's much cheaper to toddle into a local haberdashery shop and buy their pre-cut cheap bundles of lace BTW). Charms, spacer and brad are from The Hobby House - the sentiment is stamped. The easel is propped up on a pink 'card candy' (how did I survive without Card Candy?!) - from Craftwork Cards. I often use buttons instead with organza ribon knotted through the holes - just use a doubled piece of thread to feed the ribbon through.

If I can, I'll try to include just what I've used on cards and where it came from. Some of my favourite blogs do this and it does cut out ages searching for things....all time which could be spent on cardmaking instead huh?!

Di
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Taking a while!

Other things have conspired against me - so progress is slow and I need to set my profile properly etc. etc.. But, here's my first posting with a sample of what I've been doing lately.

It's a Wedding Card I was asked to make when my neighbour's work colleague was shown the card I'd made for their 20th Anniversary - so I had to juggle things a bit to make it more to her taste. She had her heart set on the kenetic style (heart in mouth when wielding craft knife here as I'm so accident prone!).

I need to find a suitable way to photograph things - all this will come to pass!

I used a tri-fold white linen card (CraftCreations)which folds to A6 size, and from my stash - silver textured card and a couple of Dufex A6 image sheets (which I chopped into suitable-sized sections). Then added silver lettering from my peeloff stash - haven't ventured into fancy fonts as yet, besides which I wanted silver!

Last I heard, Dufex had gone into administration - I really hope not as they are a UK company and their images are lovely.

Di
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Just starting up!

After months of entertainment spent browsing many lovely blogs - it's time to venture into this magical world! Please bear with me, I'll be learning as I go along and will try to share some of my ideas and creations with you - just so long as you don't look too closely :)


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