The Birds and the Bees

A lot of my inspiration comes from nature and especially the wild nature of our garden that I can see through the window when I'm crafting. I've tried to capture some of the chaos of late Summer in this card, hope you like it!

"The Birds and the Bees"

There is a real mixture of stamps on this card from different manufacturers - I've put all the details in the ingredients list at the end for anyone who's interested. The background is done with lots of masking, stamping and sponging & colouring with distress inks. The bird is stamped in black archival and then given the colourings of a bullfinch using distress markers before cutting out and adhering to the background with Pinflair for dimension. The sentiment is stamped in archival and diecut before sponging the edges with distress ink. The flowers & lace are coloured with distress inks to match the rest of the project.

Ingredients:

Martha Stewart stamp set: Birds (thanks Lee!)

Chocolate Baroque stamp set: HoneyBee

IndigoBlu stamp set: Poppy Meadow

Artemio stamp set: Scrolls and Birds

Distress Markers: various

Distress Inks: various

Archival ink: jet black, olive

Stampendous clear embossing powder

Spellbinders labels one

lace

flower trim

adhesives: PVA, pinflair

Entered for the following challenge:
The Stamp Man - birds, bees & butterflies

Quick and Easy Hallowe'en Card

This one is quick and easy if you have a few last minute Hallowe'en cards to make.

"Quick and easy Hallowe'en card"

It's just a piece of black card, folded in half. One half is dry-embossed with a Tim Holtz folder, then the raised surface wiped over with a clear ink pad and various colours of Perfect Pearls brushed on to give some glimmer. Afterwards, the crow and bats are gone over in black promarker to help them stand out more. If you have some scary diecuts, you can add them over the top. I didn't have any, so stamped a couple of scary images onto card using black archival ink, gave them the Perfect Pearl treatment, and cut out with scissors before sticking on the bottom of the card using Pinflair for added dimension.

Ingredients:

Sizzix Tim Holtz Embossing folder: Hallowe'en Night

Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz stamp set: Hallowe'en Silhouettes

Versamark clear ink pad

Archival jet black ink pad

Perfect Pearls set: patina

adhesive: Pinflair

cardstock: black 300gsm

Entered for the following challenges:
Craft Us Crazy - use the colour black as your dominant colour
Top Tip Tuesday - Hallowe'en
Loves Rubber Stamps - Get your spook on!
Try it On Tuesday - Hallowe'en

A Thank You Card with a Cat

This is a different type of easel card, another idea I "borrowed" from Sue Wilson who is a wizz with Spellbinders dies. Basically, you make a card front using a good, stiff piece of card as a backing, then make a little stand for the back so it stands up. Sue has a fab tutorial on her blog. The great thing about this method is that it frees you up completely to make whatever size card you like, as long as you can find or make an envelope to fit.

"Can you see little kitty?"

Two pieces of identical 6x6" backing paper are used, with the door cut out of one and that piece positioned on top of the complete paper using foam tape so the door appears inset. The whole section is matted onto a slightly larger piece of thick black card and the "easel" stand glued to the back. I diecut an extra label and stick on the back over the easel for somewhere to write a greeting.

"Here he is!"

This is one of my favourite little charms. He has an oriental look about him don't you think? He's waiting in the doorway for me to let him in and feed him :-)

"Sentiment"

The Justrite label is heat-embossed in gold onto dark patterned paper and fixed to the card with foam tape over some diecut flourishes. The "Thank You" sentiment is heat-embossed onto spotty paper and diecut into a circle shape, then fixed over the label with more foam tape for plenty of dimension. Tiny diecut cherry blossom flowers are added, with some little self-adhesive gems in their centres.

Ingredients:

BoBunny 6"x6" paper pad: Timepiece

Justrite stamp set: Thank You Labels Twenty

Spellbinders: Labels 20, Cheery Blossom

Sizzix Bigz Elegant Flourishes

Cat charm

Small yellow self-adhesive gems

Cardstock: 300gsm, black

Versamark clear ink pad

Stampendous embossing powder: Pirate Gold

Adhesives: foam tape, Glossy Accents, Pinflair, PVA

Entered for the following challenge:
Justrite Inspiration Friday Challenge 84 - Flower Power

My favourites - a Birdie Book Card

Simon Says Stamp and Show... Your Favourite this week, and you must all know by know that my favourites are 3d cards, vintage & nature. This card combines all three! First a little tease, just showing you the plain outside...

"Plain Outside"

This view shows off the 3-dimensional book, but the shadows make it hard to see all the embossed detail. The edges of brown card are all decorated with gold aquamarker.

"Front of book card"

The stamping is all done in clear versamark and embossed in gold, which shows up beautifully against the dark brown background. Some scrap cardboard diecuts into a great birdhouse, dry embossed with Tim Holtz' wood folder and inked with various brown distress inks to help bring out the detail. The lace closure is coloured with distress ink to match the rest of the card. OK, enough teasing, on to the inside...

"Inside of book card"

I like to make the outside of my book cards plain to contrast with the colour on the inside and give the recipient more of a wow factor when they open the card. It's been a while since I showed you a card made with Graphics Fairy images, so anyone new to my blog might like to check out her site for fabulous FREE vintage graphics.

"Left inside panel"

Some more of my favourites are here: making my own background papers and this gorgeous sentiment stamp from Chocolate Baroque. I chose the background distress ink colours to match the main image in the opposite panel, then overstamped with grass & swirl stamps from the Artemio set. The sentiment is stamped in black archival and heat-embossed in clear, then edged with distress inks and mounted using foam tape.

"Right inside panel"

The aperture in a book card makes a great space for decoupage. This graphic was printed four times and various pieces cut out, shaped, then layered using Pinflair. The frame is decorated in a similar way as the background panel for the opposite page.

Ingredients:

Sizzix Bigz Die - Birdhouse

Sizzix Framelits - Circles

Spellbinders - Labels 4, Carnation Creations

Artemio stamp sets - Bird Flourishes, Silhouette Foliage

Justrite stamp set - Large Fancy Sentiments

Chocolate Baroque stamp sets - Live Out Loud, Fly Away With Me

Papermania V&A background stamp

distress inks - various

archival ink - jet black

gold aquamarker

Stampendous embossing powders - clear, pirate gold

vintage image from the Graphics Fairy

cardstock - brown 300gsm, white 300gsm, 200gsm, 160gsm

Well, if you've read this far all I can say is well done! It's a gorgeous, sunny day here in Northern Ireland, and I hope the sun is shining on you wherever you are. xx

Entered for the following challenge:
Simon Says Stamp and Show... Your Favourite

Just Because... Easel Card

Birthday and Christmas cards are lovely, but sometimes you want to send a card "just because". The colour scheme for this one is a bit unusual for me so I hope you like it.

"Just Because... Easel Card"

The papers and chipboards are from one of those magazine free gifts, and I coloured the little wooden shapes, diecut flowers and paper edges with distress inks to match. A small chipboard with a wooden shape mounted on top makes an ideal stopper for the top part of the card to rest on.

"Sentiment"

I used crimson archival to stamp the sentiment onto a diecut label and embossed in clear. This was matted onto a second label which was actually cut to the same size, but cut in half horizontally and split apart before gluing to make a shadow effect. This is a trick I learnt from Sue Wilson - if you haven't checked out her blog then be sure and do so some time (but please leave me a comment before you go! :-)

"Cherry Blossom"

I can't get enough of my new Spellbinders Cherry Blossom die, it adds a great oriental feel! The branches are diecut from the same red card used for the base, the flowers from white card sponged with distress inks and tiny pale pink gems added to the centres. The larger flowers on the base of the card are diecut and layered from similarly coloured card.

Ingredients

Spellbinders: Cherry Blossom, Carnation Creations, Labels 20

Justrite stamp set: Large Fancy Sentiments

Prima Botanicals paper & chipboards from Simply Cards and Papercraft magazine

cardstock: red 300gsm, white 160gsm

distress inks

pale pink gems

wooden embellishments from Kars

lace

Entered for the following challenge:
JustRite Inspiration - Flower Power

Fall

Here in the UK we call this season Autumn, but the US word for it, Fall, is very evocative of all the falling leaves from our deciduous trees. This last couple of weeks has seen the weather turn much colder and our leaves are coming down in barrow loads at the moment, so I thought this card was quite apt.

"Fall"

The bricks on the main stamped panel are coloured by sponging the whole panel with pumice stone distress ink, then the mortar lightened with a Picket Fence distress marker pen. The door is sponged with distress ink, then lines added using the fine ends of various brown and green distress markers to make a realistic looking wood. The hinges and knobs are coloured with gold aquamarker.

"Doors open"

The insert panel is stamped in archival ink and coloured by painting with distress inks diluted with a little water. The main panel is mounted over the inset panel with foam tape for depth and the diecut leaves are individually coloured by sponging with distress inks then fixed around the main panel with Pinflair to add some dimension.

More distress ink is sponged around the outside of the card to soften the edges and provide a "frame".

Ingredients:

Heartfelt Creations / Spellbinders die: Chateau Gate

Tim Holtz / Sizzix Decorative Strip Die: Autumn Gatherings

Heartfelt Creations stamps: Chateau Gateway

Papermania stamp set: Cottage Garden

Distress ink Pads & markers, various

Gold Aquamarker

foam tape

adhesives: PVA, Pinflair

cardstock: white 300gsm

Entered for the following challenge:
Joanna Sheen - Autumn Breeze

Vintage Christmas Card

Playing around with some of the new Spellbinders dies, I cut some shapes from Graphic45 papers and came up with this Christmas card:

"Vintage Christmas Card"

The cut edges of all the papers are coloured with distress inks to cover up any "white bits", and the edges are distressed in the usual way. The diecut poinsettias are made using the three smallest of the Spellbinders Poinsettia die set, shaped with an embossing tool and layered using a dab of PVA in the centre to hold each layer in place, then some tiny yellow seed beads glued in the centres. Both the centre strip and the bauble are mounted with foam tape for some extra dimension.

"Justrite Bauble"

You'll be seeing a lot of this JustRite stamp set over the next few weeks, it's my favourite for this year's Christmas cards. The bauble is stamped in black archival onto thick white card, heat-embossed in clear and cut out using the matching Spellbinders die. A gold aquamarker and Aged Mahogany distress marker are used to colour sections and distress ink sponged around the outside for an aged look. The matching lace bow is adhered with a dab of Pinflair.

Ingredients:

JustRite stamp set: Merry and Bright

Graphic45 8" x 8" paper pad: Christmas Emporium

Spellbinders dies: Holiday Ornaments 2010, Venetian Accents, Layered Poinsettia

Distress inks & Markers

Gold Aquamarker

Archival ink: Jet Black

Stampendous embossing powder: Clear

tiny yellow seed beads

lace

foam tape

adhesives: PVA, Pinflair

cardstock: white 300gsm, black 200gsm

Entered for the following challenge:
JustRite Inspiration - Three's Company