Catching up!

I’ve still been finding time to craft, but blogging has definitely taken a back seat lately. Today, though, on my non-work day, I finally found some time after lunch to head into the craft room, get creative, and catch up on sharing what I’ve been making. I have three cards to show you today, each with its own little story.

The first card is what I’d call a “Mesk” card — made from the bits and pieces that were sitting on my messy desk waiting to be turned into something useful.

I had a 3.75-inch strip of 12x12 patterned paper left over from making an envelope, so I trimmed it down to fit a white panel and rounded one side for a softer look. I added another scrap of patterned paper along the side, then went digging through my container of saved bits and found a sentiment I’d pre-cut awhile ago. A scrap of vellum became the circle tag, and I finished everything off with a few little gold hearts from my die-cut embellishments. This one actually came together earlier in the week, and I love how it made good use of leftovers.

The next card is a Christmas card, also made earlier this week. Back in March, I picked up some non-branded Christmas dies from my local stationery store, and they turned out to be such a great buy.

For this card, I die cut the pieces from green and red cardstock, then used scraps of gold and dark brown for the star and trunk. After that, it was simply a matter of piecing everything together to create the tree. To give the design a focal area, I used an old embossing folder to create a border around the panel and softly ink blended around the edges. A few gold dots on and around the tree finished it off nicely.

And finally, today’s make — another Christmas card.

This one came about while I was putting some of my stash back where it belonged. As I tidied up my Tim Holtz Bigz dies, I came across the Christmas Cardinal die and knew it would be perfect for the Christmas Kickstart Challenge — Season’s Tweetings.

I die cut the design — it’s an all-in-one die — and then used Tri-Blends alcohol markers to colour each section. For a snowy touch, I added White Nuvo Crystal Drops to the branch. To really let the die-cut image shine, I mounted it on a 5-inch square panel embossed with a Cuttlebug folder. The sentiment is from an LDRS Creative stamp set and was die cut with the coordinating Sentiment Stack II die.

And card #2 is being entered into Darnell's NBUS May Challenge 

Thank you so much for sticking with me to the end. I really do appreciate every one of my readers and commenters.

Happy crafting!

Embrace the simple joys of Nature

 Well… it’s Friday again! It feels like one of those weeks where I’ve been busy creating, but nothing has quite been ready to share publicly—until now.

My latest card for my local swap group has safely arrived with Maxine, so I can finally show it to you all. This month’s challenge was set by Carol, with the theme “Animals Framed.”

I chose to work with some sweet little birdies—because birds definitely count as animals in my book! For the framed element, I used my Tim Holtz diffuser with a Swiss Dot embossing folder to create a soft oval window. I really love how this technique adds interest while still keeping the focus on the centre of the card.

The birds were stamped using a Mangocraft set, then die‑cut and coloured with Prismacolor pencils. A sentiment from another Mangocraft stamp set tied everything together, and I added a touch of soft ink blending around the centre to give the design a little extra depth.

To finish, I popped the die‑cut birds up on 3D tape for some subtle dimension—simple, but effective.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope your creative week has treated you kindly. 

More Stress Free Cardmaking Summit projects.

 I had some fun on Friday and Saturday playing with inspiration from the summit.  I really love getting the VIP classes.. so I can take my time to watch the classes and play along.

First card I did was inspired by Erin Reed's mixed media class. 

Erin provided a sheet with butterflies and sentiments to print out.  The butterflies are stunning and I chose this one.  I used some paints for my background - Dina Wakely, Reeves and Tim Holtz Distress Paint and a variety of stencils.    Did some pen scribbling on the background as well and added some splatters of the black paint.  Fussy cut the butterfly and trimmed the sentiment.  Just loved the results and will definitely be trying the background again. 

Next up are some cards I made inspired by Therese Calvid's embossing technique.   It's one I've tried before but it's an awesome one.   

 This was my first try but, I chose a patterned paper that was just a bit pale.   I embossed with a Christmas 3D folder and used Hero Arts Unicorn ink to blend over the top.   Added some sparkle pen on the flowers.   I wasn't sure about it, but made it into a card.   Sentiment was stamped in Catherine Pooler Icing on the Cake ink with a Kaisercraft sentiment.  

Card two turned out much better -

This time my patterned paper that was darker and the white ink really made the embossing pop.  I added a preprinted banner I had in my stash and added some off white homemade enamel dots.

And while I was playing finished off a green card I had embossed with the free folder I got when I was away.  It's a normal embossing folder and I wondered what it would look like if I inked it with the white.  Turns out it looks great. 

I decided to make it into a Christmas card.  I had some printed sentiments from last years summit and I die cut one and matted with some of the dark green card. I used a Sizzix die set to cut the leaves and red flowers.

Today didn't get any time to play but hopefully tomorrow - as it's a public holiday here in New Zealand.   A few more sessions to check out and try. 

Two more Floral cards.

 Two more new embossing folders and dies and stencil and die sets.    It was a wet rainy weekend so had some play time with some new stash. 

Used Alinacutle Layered Blooming Flower stencil and die set with some Altenew inks.  Decided that a square card would let me highlight more of the flowers.   The sentiment is a Spellbinders Hot Foil - one of the first I bought.   Drew a frame around the edges. 

This one is a embossing folder with two dies.   I embossed the folder with some white card which I lightly ink blended in some pinks and greens.  I die cut one of the flowers and then embossed it before adding a darker layer of the inks.   Added to the background and then added a foiled sentiment from my "magic mug"   Matted with some pink card and added some of my homemade enamel dots.  

Purple flowers

 I recently got a new embossing folder and die set -  and had some fun die cutting it from purple card before embossing it. 

I used inks to blend over the die cut.  A darker purple over the flower and a dark green for the leaves.  I embossed a subtle background to put the floral die cut on.  Added some die cut sentiments from a pre-printed Creative Expressions Wordies sentiment sheet.  Really happy how this one turned.  

Embossed Christmas for Christmas Kickstart.

 I saw the reminder post from Christmas Kickstart challenge - this month's challenge is Embossing Folder Fun. 

I have a design I've made a few cards with and thought it would good to use for a card for the challenge. 

I die cut the arch out of the middle of some white card and then put both pieces in the embossing folder.  I then used some Delicata Golden Glitz ink and rubbed it over the arched panel.  I then used the die I used and one a little smaller to cut the arched frame, which I layered over the panel.  Love how it really lets the inked portion shine.  I die cut a little dove from white card - adding green marker to the branch before adding it to the frame.    Another Christmas card done and dusted. 

Merry Christmas Poinsettia

I finished up the card I was working on yesterday, later in the evening.  I took me ages to do... but I love the way it turned out. 

This card was quite the labour of love!   The beautiful sentiment - from Carta Bella, was cut with some green Mirri card.  Each letter was cut separately apart from the "AS".. which meant trying to get them added to the embossed layer was a bit difficult.   I die cut one from white card to use as a template to stick them through.    I started by trimming a white panel for the background - embossed it with an unnamed folder which had the embossing around the edges.  Think it may have come from a magazine.  Next up was to print the patterned paper.   I pop the download onto Word and was then able to recolour the red to green before printing it out.   I used a Hero Arts Infinity Arch die set to cut it out.  I used a smaller die from the Arch set to cut the centre panel which was embossed with a snowflake folder.  The poinsettia is by Spellbinders - Layered Poinsettia, cut from white card for the three smaller layers and lightly ink blended with green ink from the brush I used.  The last layer was cut from some textured green card which I also used to die cut some of the Pinkfresh Curvy leaves dies.  The entire panel was then layered onto some of the green Mirri card before adding to the white base.   I have to say the Mirri card is hard to get a good photo of.    Well worth the time it took.                                                   

Crafting with a friend.

 Hi there.   Today I had a crafty day with my friend, Kim.  Kim lives around an hour south of where my daughter lives in a town called Mandurah.  I caught the train from the nearest station to Emma's and got off at the station 5 mins walk from Kim's house.   Kim and I "meet" each other online and then 7 years ago we meet in real life here in Perth and went to a craft fair together.  Since them we have meet several times here and in Auckland.  Today was the first time I visited her at her home. 

Here we are in Kim's amazing crafty space.   We spend a good part of the day crafting together.   And then had a lovely lunch out at a local pub. 

Kim shared all her goodies with me and I've got a number of stamped and die cut images to take home with me and I had fun trying out her Gina K inks and stamps.   Kim also gifted me a stamp set and an embossing folder and dies.   I got four cards made.  I had taken a John Next Door magazine with free stamps, die and embossing folder with me and made a card with using some Gina K dies.

I used some cheap watercolour pencils I'd picked up to colour the roses and then die cut them.  I used a postage stamp die from Gina K as a mat to my central panel.   I used an embossing folder with Gina K Soft Stone ink for a bit of a background. The sentiment is from the free set- it's an open stamp that I added a fine liner pen to colour.  

Next I did a card using a Pinkfresh Studio stamp, stencil and die set of Kim's.  

I stamped the images - they are all joined together and then I used Gina K inks - must say I really liked how creamy they are! - and then used the matching die, that cuts all the elements out.  I used embossed the background and used an oval from a Gina K Master Layout to add the sentiment and added the elements around the edge.  Such a fun card to make. 

I'll share the other cards in another post.  One is for my NZ swap group - so as I won't get it sent to Jude till after I get back, it will be blogged later in the month.  

I had an awesome time and so much fun.  Kim and I realised we both like the same sort of books, music and TV programs so had lots of chatting as we crafted.