A Pair of Mixed Media Cards for Dad

Yesterday I spent some time making cards for my dad, with two special dates coming up very close together. Father’s Day is on 6 September, and his birthday follows just a few days later on 10 September. Because I need to post both cards—and NZ Post can be a little slow these days—I’m trying to be organised and get them sent early.

I decided to go with a mixed media theme for both cards, beginning with the Father’s Day design. 

I started with a piece of ombré patterned paper from Uniti in shades of blue and purple, then cut it using Gina K Master Layout 1.

To build up the background, I used the Circle Disruption stencil from AALL & Create and added areas of blue and purple ink with my blending brushes. I also brought in Memento Toffee Crunch, along with Altenew Cloudy Night and Cloudy White inks, to add extra depth and contrast.

For the embellishments, I die-cut several black cogs using Paper Rose Studio cog dies. I randomly dabbed them with embossing ink, then heat embossed them with WOW Metallic Copper Sparkle powder for a worn, metallic effect. A few dots from a gold Posca pen added the final touches of shine.

I finished the card with a pre-printed sentiment from a Uniquely Creative digital kit, then matted the panel onto black card before attaching it to a white card base.

I carried the mixed media look through to Dad’s birthday card as well, this time creating a bold blue-and-gold panel. I ink-smooshed the background using Catherine Pooler Juniper Mist and Distress Oxide Chipped Sapphire, which gave the piece a rich, layered feel.

Next, I used a Craft Giraffe splatter stencil with Versamark ink, then added Ranger Gold embossing powder for texture and shimmer. Once the panel was ready, I punched out a pile of 1-inch squares and arranged them diagonally across a die-cut panel.

To complete the card, I backed the panel with dark blue card, attached it to a white base, and added a sentiment cut from gold mirror card. 

Both cards have the same mixed media feel, but each one has its own personality. Now I just need to get them safely into the post and hope they arrive in plenty of time!

Crafting with a friend- fun afternoon of creating.

One of the best things about paper crafting is sharing it with a fellow crafter, and yesterday I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon with my friend Suna at her home in Orewa. It's about a 30-minute drive from my place, and it was well worth the trip.

I arrived around midday and we got straight into crafting. After about an hour of creating (and chatting!), we took a break and walked to a local café just five minutes from her apartment for lunch. After a delicious lunch, we headed back for more crafting before I left for home at 4.20 pm.

Despite spending over three and a bit hours together, I only managed to complete two cards. Then again, there may have been a little too much chatting happening!

My first project was a Christmas card featuring some recently purchased poinsettia-themed sticker tape.

I placed a strip of the tape across the centre of my card panel and then used two dies from the Spellbinders A2 Curved Borders One set to divide the panel into two sections. I chose a stitched border for the top section and a plain border for the bottom, adhering both pieces back onto the panel while leaving the decorative tape visible in the centre.

The sentiment is from Rosie’s Studio Hearth & Home and was stamped onto the lower panel using Nocturne Versafine Clair ink.

To finish the design, I created a poinsettia using a new die set. Although the set includes three layers, I felt the largest layer was too big for this card. Instead, I cut two of the smallest layers from red cardstock and layered them together, then cut the middle layer from green cardstock. For the flower centre, I used white cardstock coloured with a yellow Posca Glitter pen. The set also includes foliage dies, which I cut from green cardstock.

I'm really pleased with how this card came together.

My second card also showcases a new die set featuring an arched panel and a flowering branch.

I cut the branch twice from white cardstock. For the base layer, I coloured the branch using a grey-green Spectrum Noir marker (thanks to Suna and her pens). On the second die-cut, I coloured the flowers with pink Altenew ink and then carefully fussy-cut them out. The die design makes this process surprisingly easy, with cut lines that clearly define the flowers and buds.

Once everything was layered together, I adhered the floral branch to the white arched panel. For the background, I added a piece of blue watercolour paper from a Scrapbook.com paper pack to the card base. The die set also included a couple of extra floral elements, so I created a small cluster in the top corner. After that, I decided the card didn't need anything else. Sometimes the simplest finishing touch is no extra embellishment at all.

The cards were fun to make, but the real highlight of the day was spending time crafting with a friend. We shared stamps, dies, ideas, and plenty of conversation. There's something special about being able to bounce creative ideas off one another while working on projects side by side.

I'm entering my second into Darnell's NBUS challenge.  All the dies used from the one set are having their first outing.  

Christmas Cardmaking: Silver Sparkle and a Festive Poinsettia

Over the weekend I managed to create a couple of Christmas cards. The first one started out as an entry for a Time Out Challenge, but I soon realised I had not read the theme quite correctly. The challenge was to choose two items from a list, and I had only chosen one: monochromatic. Even though it did not quite fit the brief, I was still really pleased with how elegant the card turned out.

I was inspired by a YouTube video I watched on the Altenew channel, where Erica created cards in white and silver. I loved the elegance of that colour combination and decided to try something similar.

I had recently purchased a Christmas die from my local stationery store, which included a snowflake edge die and an ornament. Using Altenew Stirling Glitter cardstock, I die cut both pieces, then added the snowflake edge down the left side of the panel and placed the ornament on the right.

For the sentiment, I used one from Rosie’s Studio Home & Hearth set and embossed it with Altenew Antique Silver powder.  I used some holographic card to mat the panel.  To finish the card, I used some of the tiny stars left over from the snowflake edge die cut as embellishments. They were perfect little details and tied the whole design together beautifully.

My second card was a quick one I made on Saturday. I am still trying to find my missing Poinsettia die set, but while searching I came across my Hero Arts Woodblock Antique Poinsettia stamp and the matching dies, so I decided to put them to use.

I stamped the poinsettia twice on red card and once on green shimmer card. The coordinating dies include three pieces, which made it easy to cut the layers and build up the flower. Once assembled, I added a gold gem to the centre for a little festive shine.

For the background, I embossed a white panel with a Christmas folder and added a scrap of music paper that I had used on another recent project. I matted the white layer onto red card, and in the end, I decided the design did not need a sentiment.

It was lovely to get a little festive crafting done over the weekend, even if the first card did not quite work for the original challenge. I now have two more Christmas cards ready to go, and both have a very different feel: one elegant and sparkly, the other traditional and warm.

A Crafty Weekend of Watercolour, Florals and Sweet Little Wings

It’s been a wonderfully crafty weekend here. On Saturday afternoon, Grace, Florence and Kieran came round, and naturally Grace wanted to head straight to the craft room. We played with watercolour powders and each made a background before Grace spotted a panel I’d created with Altenew’s Dreamy Daylilies.

I embossed a panel for her with the folder, then she set off with the stencilling. She did such a beautiful job of ink blending, using pinks with three colours on each petal. And lovely soft greens for the leaves. I only wish I had taken a photo of her finished project! I did find a frame for her panel, which made it feel extra special. After she left, I managed to make one Christmas card too, but I’ll share that another day.

Today I headed back into the craft room and decided to join a few challenges. My first card was intended for Time Out Challenge #391, which asked us to use two ideas from a list. Somehow, I misread the theme and only used one, so that card will have to wait for another post!

Once I realised my mistake, I changed track and chose three ideas from the list instead: monochromatic, stitching — faux stitching in my case — and floral.

The pink background is part of the watercolour panel I made yesterday. I die cut it with Gina K Master Layouts 2 to create the stitched panel, then die cut Simon Says Stamp Iceland Poppies from white card.

For the colouring, I used the leftover ink on my blender brushes in shades of pink, with just the tiniest touch of green — hopefully that still counts! I arranged the flowers on the panel and finished the card with pre-printed sentiment strips.

This second card is for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge for August: “Anything Goes” with the optional theme of "Things with Wings" 

I have a few older Penny Black stamps from when I first started card making, so I pulled out Hedgie Friends, a stamp set from 2012.

I stamped one of the images — Hedgie with a butterfly — along with two of the sweet little dragonflies, then used my Scan’N’Cut to cut them out. The colouring was done with Altenew Woodless Watercolour Pencils. For the background, I chose a pretty teal patterned paper, then added a white strip across the card with the sentiment from the stamp set.

To finish, I layered the circle panel over the strip, added the little dragonflies, and included a few white dot embellishments. It was such a lovely weekend of simply playing, experimenting and enjoying time in the craft room.

A Festive Tattered Poinsettia Christmas Card

I can’t believe it has been 11 days since I last posted! I have still been crafting away behind the scenes, getting cards finished for upcoming design team work, but today gave me the perfect chance to sit down and make something festive just for the joy of it.

This afternoon I came home early from work because some rough weather was on the way, and I managed to beat the heavy rain home. With a little unexpected time on my hands, I decided to make another Christmas card using poinsettia dies. Last week I used my Spellbinders poinsettia die set, but do you think I can find where I put it? Of course not!

While hunting through the craft room, I came across a very old Sizzix/Tim Holtz Alterations BIGZ die called Tattered Poinsettia. I haven’t used it for a long time, so it felt like the perfect opportunity to bring it back out.

I started by die cutting the BIGZ die from kraft paper, and it cut beautifully in my Spellbinders Platinum 6. To add colour to the three layers, I used Distress Inks in Mowed Lawn, Rusty Hinge, and Gathered Twigs. The combination gave the poinsettia a warm, rustic look that worked perfectly with the kraft base.

For extra texture, I ran the die-cut pieces through the Gina K Tapestry embossing folder, and the result looked incredible. I then used a ball stylus to shape the leaves before layering everything together. A few pearls in the centre finished off the poinsettia beautifully.

For the background, I chose a digital Christmas music sheet image and printed it onto more kraft paper. I trimmed it to a 4 ¾-inch square, matted it with brushed gold card, and added it to the card base.

To finish the card, I added a hot-foiled sentiment from Spellbinders Yana’s Christmas Sentiments that I already had in my stash. It had been silver foiled onto white card, so I rubbed black ink over it to create a silver-on-black effect. It was a simple change, but it tied in beautifully with the rest of the design.

I’m really pleased with how this card turned out, especially considering it started with a search for a completely different die set. Sometimes the best makes come from rediscovering something tucked away in the craft room. Sad to say, I still haven’t found the other poinsettia dies… they must be in there somewhere!

Sweet Stampin’ Challenge: Stripes or Chevrons

Hi there! Can you believe it’s already the 1st of August? This year is absolutely flying by. Today I’m sharing my latest card for the Sweet Stampin’ Challenge, where this month’s theme is “Stripes or Chevrons.”

I started by looking through my patterned paper stash for something that would suit the theme, and I found a chevron paper that immediately sparked the idea for this card.

To build the design, I trimmed a panel of the chevron paper and placed it across the centre of the card front. From there, I chose the focal image and sentiment. Lucy from Peanuts was the perfect fit, and the sentiment from the Peanuts stamp set finished everything off beautifully.

I stamped Lucy onto white card, die cut her with an oval shape, and coloured the image with alcohol markers. I added a black lacy mat for contrast, then white embossed the sentiment directly onto the patterned paper. I love how the bold chevrons work with the classic character image to create a fun, cheerful card.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you’ll join us at Sweet Stampin’ and share your own striped or chevron-inspired creation!

Waffle Flower Christmas in July at Die Cut Divas

It’s the final day of the Die Cut Divas Christmas in July challenge, and I’m back with a couple of festive cards featuring our wonderful sponsor, Waffle Flower.

For my first card, I used one of my favourite Waffle Flower dies: the Postage Collage Die.

I die cut three of the top “stamp” shapes so they would all be the same size, then used the poinsettia from the Christmas stencil to add colour with Distress Inks.

To create the centre panel, I found a free Christmas sweater pattern image online, printed it out, and trimmed it to fit. Once the panel was ready, I added the three die-cut “stamps” on top. I finished the card with a Scrapbook.com die-cut sentiment, cut from red card that I had spritzed with Sparkle Spray. It came together quickly and has such a fun Christmas feel.

For the second card, I had a little “oops” moment. I originally cut the “stamps” slightly larger than the stencil, which meant they didn’t fit quite as planned — but I decided to make it work.

To give myself more room, I chose a mini slimline card base. I made the base in red, then added a dark green panel embossed with a Cuttlebug folder for texture. After arranging the three die cuts across the card, I finished everything with a Spellbinders foiled sentiment.

I love when a creative mishap turns into another finished card. It’s a good reminder that sometimes the best projects come from simply adjusting the plan and carrying on.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope these cards inspire you to join in with the Die Cut Divas Christmas in July challenge and have some festive fun with your dies, stencils, and favourite holiday supplies.

A Fun 3-2-1 Card Challenge

Over at my local swap group, Carol set us a great challenge: 3-2-1. That meant using three different patterned papers, a two-word sentiment, and one focal image. I had such fun with this one, and it was a lovely way to play with colour, pattern, and a few favourite supplies.

For the three patterned papers, I chose a selection from a Uniti paper pack and cut them into ¾-inch strips. I angled one end of each strip and laid them side by side to create the background. For the two-word sentiment, I used a new Waffle Flower sentiment die, cutting the words from black card and the shadow from vellum. The focal image is a lovely flower from the Altenew Peony Bouquet layering stamp set, inked with Altenew Dried Petals inks.  Finished with some tiny die cut gold hearts. 

Even though I’ve had the Peony Bouquet set for a long time, I still can’t seem to get the layers quite right — but I’m happy with how it turned out, and the flower still looks great. My card made its way slowly to Maxine in the end. NZ Post is very slow these days, but I’m glad it arrived safely.

I'm entering this into Darnell's NBUS challenge as my sentiment was used for the first time on this card. This month's NBUS challenge is a thank you to all the wonderful companies out there that ensure we can make great cards.