Little Drummer Boy

What a day! I assume it will be noisy here tonight considering that the Scottish cup final is turning into an Edinburgh derby in Glasgow. Football fans will probably party everywhere - especially as this is the first cup final between both Edinburgh clubs since 1896.

Unfortunately I am nursing a very sick QuicKutz Epic Six that suddenly only wants to work with Cuttlebug plates (and that only with the stick and carrot approach) and seems to be allergic to QuicKutz plates. Something is telling me that I will need to think about replacing it at some point. But at least I managed to convince it to produce the die-cuts for today's card.



I used Marianne Designs button dies and the Tim Holtz Alterations washer border die, which I combined with textured cardstock in three colours, tartan paper as well as black and white baker's twine.

The image is created with the Scottish Drummer stamp by Crafty Stamps. I coloured it in using ProMarkers in Almond, Satin, Sandstone, Umber, Burnt Sienna, Burgundy, Black, Cool Grey 5, Ice Grey 2, Warm Grey 3 and Warm Grey 4 plus Spectrum Noir pens in DG4 and IG1 (the last one for the shadow around the drummer). For the kilt I stamped the relevant section of the image onto tartan paper, cut out the kilt and added it to the stamped drummer.

And another week is nearly over ...

Gosh, what happened to this week? It has just been flying by.

But now is thankfully the weekend, i.e. I have a bit more crafting time again. And that is just the best part of the week. And my five weekly sessions at the gym are also lying behind me, so more crafting opportunities are coming my way for tomorrow.



Here is now the first card of the weekend. I created it around the Celtic Corner stamp (CT172F) from the brand-new Crafty Stamps collection. Further products and tools I used are white and brown textured cardstock, patterned paper, a sentiment stamp, a black VersaFine ink pad, paper flowers, two baby spray stems, brads, a piece of lace, white thread, a Darice border embossing folder, adhesive and toolbox essentials. When I pierced the holes for the stitching my Tim Holtz ruler came in very handy.

If you are interested in any products by Crafty Stamps, you can also order over the phone by calling their shop Stampers Grove. Emma and James are very nice and extremely helpful and would process card payments for you. And next Saturday (21 April 2012) they will also by at the Sincerely Yours show in Edinburgh.

I Do ...

As mentioned yesterday, I have spent a bit more time on wedding themed cards. And I could not resist the temptation to get a bit experimental.


What about a wedding card in the distress look? For this card I paired the small wedding couple stamp by Crafty Stamps with Tim Holtz Kraft-Core cardstock by Core-dinations. The image is stamped onto Crafter's Companion parchment paper using a Memento ink pad in Rich Cocoa and the coloured in Spectrum Noir pens as well as a ProMarker pen in Almond for the skin tone.

But the stamp is also brilliant for more traditional wedding cards like the next one. The image is again coloured in using Spectrum Noir pens and a ProMarker in Almond, but this time I added highlights with a Sakura Gelly Roll Pen in Clear Star. For the matting and layering I used pink parchment card that I found as special offer at Southfield Stationers a while back and pink pearlescent card.


Crafty Stamps also have an image that would be perfect for engagement cards. It is called 'wedding ring (heart)'. For the card below I stamped in image using a Memento ink pad in London Fog and coloured in the image with Spectrum Noir pens before adding accents with a clear Sakura Glaze pen and a Sakura Gelly Roll pen in Clear Star. I teamed up the image with textured pearlescent paper and pleated tissue tape. I opted for an embossed background and flower embellishments created with Crealies dies.

Celtic Heart

This weekend I intend to work on some love and wedding themed card. And here is now the first one.

The image is the Celtic Knotted Heart by Crafty Stamps. It is coloured in using a ProMarker pen in Crimson and matted onto a decorative frame created with a nesting die by Xcut. Further materials and tools are:

• White linen textured card
• Moondust card in Mars
• Small pieces of red and grey textured cardstock
• Glass-smooth white cardstock from Southfield
  
• Darice embossing folder for borders
  
• Marianne Design dies
  
• Adhesive gems
• 0.4mm silver-coloured wire
• Red seed beads
• Decorative heart pin
• Ribbon roses
• White paper flower
• Liquid Pearls
• Adhesive (incl. silicone glue and 3D foam pads)
• Die-cutting machine
  
• Toolbox esentials
  
• Tonic Studios Petal Pairs punches

I hope you like this card and are looking forward to further projects, which will follow over the Easter weekend.

Celtic Cross

I like Celtic crosses on cards for many occasions - weddings, christenings, Easter, Christmas, birthday cards for religious people and sympathy cards to name just a few.

For this card I experimented with the now so popular white on white scheme and carefully added colour to selected areas. I created the card around the brand-new large Celtic Heart Cross stamp by Crafty Stamps. The image is coloured in using ProMarkers in Warm Grey 1 and Warm Grey 3. To make the cross stand out I added a light grey outline around the cross with a Spectrum Noir pen in IG1 (old number: CG0.5). I added accents with a Sakura Gelly Roll pen in Clear Star.

For the floral embellishments and lace background I used stamps and dies by Heartfelt Creations. I added colour to the lilies with the help of ProMarkers in Gold, Soft Peach and Peach and again a Sakura Gelly Roll pen in Clear Star.

By the way, Crafty Stamps/Stampers Grove will also be at the Sincerely Yours show at the Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh on 21 April 2012.

Homage to Ireland

The new Celtic Harp stamp by Crafty Stamps (CT180HF) just cries out for Ireland inspired projects. And two weeks after we got such a rugby lesson courtesy of the Irish guys every supporter of the SRU team (and I am one of those myself) will hopefully forgive me for honouring our lovely neighbours in such a way ;).

I teamed up the harp stamp with clover 2x2 dies by QuicKutz, paper flowers that I bunched up and secured with small brads to create fuller flowers and adhesive pearls by Meiflower. ProMarkers in Cinnamon and Walnut provided the colouring for the harp. For the background I used apart from light green and brown cardstock a dotted Darice embossing folder.

I hope you like this first project of the weekend. Further cards will follow soon.

Edinburgh Castle

This weekend I had a play with the Edinburgh Castle stamp by Crafty Stamps, which is also available from their shop Stampers Grove. I just love this image of this important Scottish landmark, which is so full of history.

For the card above I stamped the image with Tim Holtz distress ink in 'walnut stain' onto parchment paper and give it a light colour wash with Tim Holtz distress markers in 'frayed burlap', 'antique linen' and 'walnut stain' as well as with a bit of ink from an 'antique linen' distress ink pad that I applied with a damp paint brush in the area of the buildings.

For the background I used textured cardstock from the Tim Holtz & Ranger Distress Collection by Core'dinations in combination with a Darice plaid embossing folder and a fleur-de-lys corner punch by Tonic Studios.

The card is embellished with paper flowers that I ran around a distress ink pad in 'walnut stain', Adirondack Dimension Pearls in 'Espresso, a Tim Holtz adage ticket and leaf die-cuts, which I created with Crealies dies.



For the second card I used parchment paper, textured cardstock in two brown tones and kraft cardstock. I stamped the castle image in 'walnut stain' distress ink and highlighted parts of the walls with a distress marker in 'walnut stain'.

Embellishments are Celtic borders created with a Tonic Studios geared punch and card candi from a 'Choc-a-Mocha' pack.