I am still alive ...

I am conscious that it has been far too long since my last blog post. In December there has been a sudden and unexpected decision to do up a house and to rent out our flat (a very long and complicated story ...). Ever since we seem to have been working pretty much 24/7 - and it is still not over.

At least I have now managed to find a bit of time to get my craft stuff out in between job, work at home, building site, trips to DIY stores, etc. And I am so glad that I could have just a few moments of calm, as Crafty Stamps have just released such great new stamps. Are you up for a few tasters from the just released Domestic Goddess range?

DIY Woman

For this card I used the stamp DG104M by Crafty Stamps and coloured in the image using Spectrum Noir pens. Embellishments are wooden elements from the Riverbank Revels collection by Trimcraft and die-cut flowers created with Joy! Crafts dies. A 6" x 6" Die'sire embossing folder took care of the background.

Hostess

This stamp DG106M by Crafty Stamps can be interpreted in two ways. The items on the tray could be a glass of beer or similar and a sandwich. But why not - like I did it here - colour them in such a way that they become a mug and a piece of cake?

The doily on the embossed background (created with a 6" x 6" Die'sire embossing folder) comes from the Riverbank Revels collection by Trimcraft. The paper flowers are by Wild Orchid Crafts whilst the leaves are created with the Joy! Crafts die set that I already used for the card above. A Cottage Cutz die took care of the cake embellishments.

Cleaning

For this card I worked with the stamp DG101M. The image is again coloured in Spectrum Noir pens. Further materials and tools used are textured cardstock, black adhesive gems, a Darice crackle embossing folder and a mesh border die by Cheery Lynn Designs.

Further projects with the new images by Crafty Stamps will follow over the next days.

Desktop Calendars

As 2012 is slowly coming to an end, I am currently working on some desktop calendars for 2013. Main ingredients are heavyweight A4 card (I am opting for at least 300gsm), calendar tabs, patterned paper, stamped and coloured in images and embellishments.

The cardstock is getting folded in half and scored horizontally half-way down the back of the calendar base. The top halves of the front and the back are then glued together, which gives the finished calendar stability and makes it possible to fold back the bottom section which is the mechanism that makes the calendar stand upright.

The desktop calendar  at the top features a mermaid image by Lili of the Valley and die-cuts created with a die by Joy! Crafts.

A few more examples:

 

These two desktop calendars are created using dog stamps by Art Impressions and Trimcraft papers from a Laura Ashley collection and a First Edition paper pad. The paper flowers are by Wild Orchid Crafts.

All images are coloured in using Spectrum Noir pens.

And One for the Boys ...

Not long ago I was so lucky to win the double CD-ROM 'Vintage Motors' by Kraftyhands in a Making Cards prize draw. And the images are just so useful for male cards.

Here is now a birthday card that I made by using the following elements:

* 15cm square card blank in ivory by Southfield
* Textured cardstock in black, brown and ochre
* White glass-smooth cardstock by Southfield for the printouts from the CD-ROM
* Tim Holtz washer border decorative strip die
* Tim Holtz Texture Fades diamond plate and riveted metal set
* Adhesive including large 3D foam squares by Dovecraft

I hope you like this vintage style card.

Celtic Delight in Mandarin and Peach

No, I am not starting to talk about deserts. But on this freezing cold and grey day I could not resist to use some really yummy colours for a Celtic card.

The card is designed around the Celtic Knot Set (CT190M) by Crafty Stamps.

I stamped the large Celtic Circle in black Memento ink, cut it out and coloured it in using ProMarkers in Soft Peach, Peach and Mandarin. For the stamped border I used the triangular stamp and always turned it by 180 degrees to create the border. This was an experiment, but the stamps are so well cut and so great to work with that the first attempt to create the border was already successful. I then coloured in the border using the same three ProMarker pens.

And here are the other elements, which I used for the card:

* 15cm square white card blank with linen texture from Southfield
* Black textured cardstock
* Core'dinations cardstock
* Glass-smooth white cardstock from Southfield
* Square and round Celtic dies by Tonic Studios
* Round nesting dies
* Adhesive pearls in 'charcoal' by Mark Richards (these are distributed by Woodware)
* Die-cutting machine
* Crop-a-dile corner rounder
* Adhesive
* Toolbox essentials

18th Birthday Celebrations

 Obviously not mine ...

I thought the Toread nymph 'Comge' from a stamp set by Crafter's Companion would be quite nice for a card for a lovely young lady. 'Comge' just has such a cute and slightly cheeky facial impression. I decided on a lilac/purple colour scheme and coloured her in using Spectrum Noir pens. Other 'ingredients' for this card are:

* Shaped card blank by Crafter's Companion
* White glass-smooth cardstock by Southfield
* Coloured textured cardstock
* Round and decorative round cutting dies
* Leaf die by Marianne Designs
* Britannia dies
* Cherry blossoms by Wild Orchid Crafts
* Paper rosebuds
* Adhesive gems

Have a good weekend everybody!

Party Weekend

What a month! It seems to be full of celebrations of one kind or another.

First of all we needed a 40th birthday card. I opted for a white, pink and silver colour scheme and a Strawberry Kisses image. White linen cardstock by Southfield, Hunkydory cardstock, silver mirri card and white glass-smooth cardstock by Southfield are the basics of this project. Sepllbinders dies, Britannia sentiment and number dies and a Marianne leaf die as well as flowers by Wild Orchid Crafts and some tulle are contributing to the design.

I also needed to make a wedding card. I built this up around one of my trusted images by Crafty Stamps - the large wedding cake stamp WD160KI. I combined it with white Centura Pearl cardstock, gold mirri card, paper flowers and rosebuds, organza ribbon and heart pins. The 8" x 8" embossing folder used for this card and the decorative frame are by Die'sire, the sentiment is created using a Britannia die.

Poppy Time

The Poppy Appeal and wearing a poppy at this time of the year is something that is very close to our hearts. But when I picked up my poppy the other day I began to wonder, if it could not look a bit prettier. And yesterday morning I just started to customise it.

I applied Clear Accents to both sides of the poppy and distributed it with a paint brush. I then attached three fabric leaves with silicone glue and brushed on Clear Accents on the front of the leaves. The black centre is covered in Clear Accents (it was my all round helper for this project) and added black adhesive gems. Clear Accents just helps to secure the gems a bit better. Stickles glitter glue in' Frosted Lace' provides a bit of sparkle and a slight wintery touch. The final step was then to attach a brooch bar to the back of the poppy using silicone glue.

The only problem is now that I am hooked and need to organise more brooch bars urgently, so that I can customise some more poppies. But I think I should be able to cope with that ... ;)