Mother's Day 2010

Today I am showing you the Mother's Day card I made. The colours look much brighter in reality but I still need to work on my photographic skills. The papers I used are from the very first Making Memories paper pads I ever bought, so it was nice to go back to them and make something fresh.

Materials:

Lizzie, Funky Vintage paper pads by Making Memories (MM)

From the Garden by Fancy Pants

Zing White Embossing Powder

Watermark by Top Boss ( Clear Pigment Ink)

Anita's Ribbons - Teal (ANT X36712A08)

Rhinestones

Big Board Chipboard - Phrases, Frames and Tags

Love and hearts by Inkadinkadoo

Tools:

Sizzix die cutting machine

Trixie Girl Alphabeth

X cut corner punch

How to:

1. Temporarily cover the lower part of the card and stamp the flowers with clear ink. This will create a nice effect without the need of embossing.
2. Cut three hearts from the MM papers using the chip board template from Fancy Pants.
3. Stick a length of ribbon and attach hearts using 3D foam pads.
4. Stamp and emboss the sentiment. Put a rhinestone at 1.5 cm intervals on the ribbon.
5. Die cut the word mum and stick with glue pen.
6. Finish by punching the corners.

Friday Sketcher's 51

It's been a lovely day here. Sun shining all day long and the sea calling passers by to take a nice cool dip. Dining al fresco is just what it takes on such a hot day like today.

But who and what can keep me away from my craft room, even if the licking hot sun call outside, especially when I still have two cards to make - and yes they are for tomorrow's Mother's Day. The ones I made where all taken at school, so here I am finishing the last two. This is the one I made following the sketch on Friday Sketcher's 51.

Material:

Funky Retro papers -Papermania

Cuddly Buddly Stamp

Faber Castell Water Colours

Prima Flowers

Rhinestones

Brown Card

Silver Glitter

White Gel Pen

Tools:

Big Shot

Decorative Accents

Papertake Weekly and Friday Sketchers

I made this card both for Papertake Weekly and Friday Sketchers Challenge, however, silly me, once again ( yes I did this mistake more often than you can think of), I realized the Papertake Weekly's Challenge was last weeks. Well, no matter, I still enjoyed making it.

Materials:

Rich reds paper - Papermania

Brown and white cardstock

Blue glitter

Prima flower

Faber castell colours

Mini brads - brown - Doodlebug Designs

White gel pen

Tools:

Sizzix Big Shot

Trixie Alphabeth

Decorative Accents

Edging Scissors

How to:

1. Cut the cardstock and to follow the sketch. Stamp the image and colour in. Decorate with blue glitter to add accent.
2. Die cut the letters and stick to smallest panel.
3. Die cut the swirl, add glue and sprinkle glitter.
4. Cut the panel with the decorative edge by first hand drawing a curved line on the patterned paper. Use the same curve as a template to draw the curve on brown cardstock. Cut the curve using edging scissors. Finish with white dots on each scallop.
5. Fix everything as shown in picture

Mojo Monday 80 & PaperTake Weekly - Another Mother's Day Card

A while ago I said that it didn't take me as long to choose the papers and finish off a card - well, it seems like I am back to square one. It really took me ages to bring this card together nearly 5 hours, even though I am happy with the result. I followed the great sketch on MojoMonday and really enjoyed working with it. This card also fits the Papertake Weekly challenge this week of using 2 ribbons (the ribbon I used are actually two tied in a knot - hope that counts!), 3 stamps and a circle.

Materials:

Paper Kit - Retr0 - Papermania

Anita's Stickers - Mother's Day Flowers - Silver

Black Permanent Marker

White Gel Pen

Pink Card stock - 2 tones
Papermania Fuchsia gem stones
Brown ribbon
Whispers Border Stamp
From the Garden - Fancy Pants
Black Ink

Tools:

Die Cut Machine
Circle Frames - Sizzix

Read on to see how I tried to gave a new life to the stamp below :



How to:

1. Stamp the image twice, colour the flowers and the leaves with watercolours and cut out.
2. Use foam pads to create a 3-D effect and add rhinestones to embellish.Take the swirls from the Fancy Pants stamp set to use as stems. Stamp on a white panel and fix the flowers and leaves as shown.

Do not forget my blog candy! Ends 3rd April.

Friday Sketchers

Here is the card I made following Murmur's sketch on Friday Sketcher's.

Scroll down to see my other creation which I made today. Love it more than this one and would love to hear what you think!

And don't forget my blog candy which you can find at the top of the blog!

Cup Cake Challenge - DT CALL

The sun is shining and the birds are chirping out of my window. The first summer fly has come through the window and is buzzing around the room. After investigating around my room and sniffing for anything edible, it decided that the Adirondack paint dabbers are not worth the hassle. With its six legs dabbed in gold ink, it slipped out of the slightly opened window, leaving the sweet taste of summer echoing in my mind.

Sorry people, I am feeling a bit poetic, if a lady may. I was inspired by the picture challenge for the Cupcake Craft DT Call. The colours, here, came much brighter than they actually are although I would have liked it to be a bit lighter.

Materials:

Tim Coffey - K& Co Papers

Green and white cardstock>

Flower Punch

Gold Rhinestone

Adirondack Gold Acrylic Paint Dabber

Chipboard

Snag' em Stamps - Flowers

Papermania - Happy Mother's Day

Faber Kastell Watercolours

Tools:

Die Cutting Machine Sizzix Decorative Accents

How to:

1. Trim a piece of green card stock to cover the card blank and a piece of patterned paper measuring 1/2 inch smaller. Distress the edges with gold dabbing paint.
2. Stamp and colour the image, matting it on green card stock. Do the same with the sentiment.
3. Die cut and paint the accents with gold paint. Trim to fit the card.
4. Punch three green flowers and six from co-ordinating paper. Paint the edges gold and curl them using a toothpick. Assemble using glue dots and embellish with gold rhinestons.
5. Attach everything as shown.

Mother's Day Card

Here is a card I made for Mother's Day. I used Bobunny papers and Velvet Flock for the lettering. Hope to have more time to write the details tomorrow. Good night

Materials:

Bobunny Papers Organic Jasmine
Light Greyish blue card stock
Stitched brown ribbon (from Hobbycraft)
Rhinestones
Scrapbook Adhesive from (Do Crafts at Binky Crafts)
Brown Velvet Coating

Tools:

Die Cutting Machine
Twang Alphabeth
Scalloped scissors

How to:

1. Cover the card with the greyish blue card stock.
2. Trim a piece of patterned paper slightly bigger than half of the card blank.
3. Draw a wavy line and cut. Use the other side of the paper to draw a similar line and cut a border using scalloped scissors.
4. Cover the pieces to be die cut with scrapbook adhesive and die cut.
5. Remove the covering sheet and cover with flock.
6. Attach everything as shown, stick the letters with glue pen.

This card was greatly inspired by iralamija's tutorial . Hope you like it!

Friday Sketchers

There is a lovelyh sketch at Friday Sketcher's this week and I had to give it a go. I think I am fast becoming a great fan of K&Co. Their papers are just stunnig and find it so difficult to tear and use up any of their papers - but then I say, they are stunning, let me try and create something as stunning. I hope I managed to create a card that lives up to these beautiful papers. Would be lovely to hear what you think!

Materials:

K&Co K-ology Papers

Making Memories black brads

Red Cardstock

Papermania Skipping Rope

Faber Castell water colours

Prima Flowers

Tools:

Die Cutting Machine

Sizzix Decorative Accents

How to:

1. Cut a panel from red card stock and smaller panels (by 1/2cm) from the striped paper and flowery paper. Cut the latter diagonally in half . Stick them to the panel and set the black brads
2. Stamp and colour the image and matt on red card stock.
3. Die cut the smaller swirl and cut to make two.
4. Stick everything as shown.

Production, production, production

I haven't been such a good blogger lately and the above picture shows why! I have been making "some" commissioned cards for my work colleagues! Today I thought I'd give some tips on mass producing cards. Here it goes:

1. Do not use complicated and time consuming designs! Try and keep them as simple as possible. Simple cards can still be eye catching.
2. Do not make one card at a time. Make a sample one and then make parts of it en masse. For example for the Heartfelt Card I first made a number of circles needed, then the hearts, then the die cut flowers and so on.
   
3. Money saving tip: Try to make your own toppers using things such as stamps, inks and pencils. With these items you can make toppers in quantity.
4. Time saving tip: Making toppers can be time consuming so if you prefer to create more cards in a shorter period ready made toppers are the solution.
5. If you do sign the cards on the back, do it before you start embellishing the card.
6. Attach everything only when you have all the parts of the cards ready.
   
7. Finally, enjoy it. If people commission your cards, it means your work is appreciated!

Do you have any tips you would like to share? Leave a comment on this post!

Mother's Day Card

Right now I am in the process of making some commissioned cards for Mother's Day. I tried to keep it simple and fresh. I also tried my very first real stitches, I am so proud of myself. My mother had been trying to coax me into sewing for a very long time. Still a long way to go Mum! Maybe we'll get there someday. For now I will post the material

Materials:

Pizzazz papers - Vintage from HOTP
White felt from Craft Planet
Anita's Outline stickers - Mother's Day Silver
Button and Thread - local haberdashery store.

Ink (have to check later on)

How To:

1. Cut a tall blank card and cut spotted paper to fit the front of the card.
2. Cut a square felt and flower from striped paper. Top off with a hand cut circle and button to match.
   
3. Draw a tag template and cut it out. Cut a patterned paper big enough to cover the edges of the tag as shown. Stick with PVA glue and then add stitches. Use ribbon to attach tag to card.
   
4. Attach everything as shown.

TIPS: Do not stretch felt and pass ribbon behind the spotted paper. I rarely attach it directly to the front as I feel it adds texture!

Would love to know what you think!

DCM - Shrink To Fit Challenge

Here is my DCM card. I decided to cut the top half so as to enhance the focal point - (hope this is not considered cheating, lol). So this is how I made it! (By the way the camera has arrived!)

Materials:

White cardstock
Red, Brown, Yellow and Green leftover cardstock
Inspiration thick mulberry paper
Anita's Outiline stickers Mothers Day Flowers


How To:

1. Cut a white blank cardstock to measure the same size of the envelope. Find the middle and draw a circle. Cut the upper half using a craft blad.
2. Stick co-ordinating cardstock to the sticker and then stick to the mulberry paper.
3. Use a black permanent marker to draw the sentiment and then stick to card.

I must say this was a difficult challenge for me as I do not like a lot of white spaces. Would love to hear what you think!

A bunch of Flowers for My Mum

Here is another creation of mine again with the theme of Mother's Day. For this project I mainly used plain coloured cardstock and HOTP papers. This is also ideal for the Papertake Weekly Challenge. So, here is how I made it:

Materials:

Blank White Card Blank
Brown, White and Mauve Cardstock
Vintage Papers from the Paper Pizzazz Collection by Hot Off The Press
PM 7591 Brad Tower Everyday Design by Papermania
Green glitter
Matching Buttons and Brown Thread
Double sided table and sticky foam pads

Tools

Compass
Hole Puncher
Big Shot Die Cutting Maching (Introductory Kit including Flower die)
Twang Alphabeth by Ellison Design
Edging scissors


How to:

1. Cut the mauve cardstock to fit the blank card leaving a white border showing. Stick panel to white cardstock.
   
2. Draw a circle on brown cardstock using a compass and cut it using scalloped scissors. Punch a whole on every scallop using the hole puncher.
3. Cut a heart from mauve cardstock and die cut 6 flowers using the die from the starter Kit. Glitter the edges in green and fix to the heart using a brad.
4. Cut a stripe paper from the HOTP Collection using the edging scissors on one side. Stick to mauve panel as shown.
5. Die cut the word 'M U M' using the Twang Alphabeth and stick to the HOTP paper.
6. Stick the circle and heart to the card as shown.
7. Add three buttons with brown thread to embellish the card. (The buttons were actually glued not stitched lol).

Have Fun and send any comments if you want. They are always appreciated!

Happy Mother's Day

So here is one of my Mother's Day Creations. Pinks and Browns are my favourites this season - they go so well together. Roses and Pinks are also ideal for Mother's Day. For this card I used some basic stamping techniques using water based markers. Have a look at the instructions:

Materials:

PMA 41752 8X8 Retro Floral Colossal Paper 40 Sheets
29001 Whispers Stroke Brush Marker 12 Pack - Basic Collection
PMA 7518 Ribbon Collection 6M - Garden Floral
OLS 68629 Sticker Mothers Day Flowers - SILVER (Not sure about the code)
50501 Springtime Swirls Kit by See-Ds

Blank Card, Pink and White Cardstock, double sided tape

How To:

1. Cover the base card with pink cardstock and cut a rectangle of the Papermania paper leaving a small pink border showing.
2. Stick a ribbon using double-sided tape an stick it on the panel hiding the edges behind the pink panel.
3. Stamp three roses as shown (separately) and then trim the edges and ink them with a pink Whispers brushmarker. Colour the roses in pink.
4. Paint the Sentiment with a permanent brushmarker and stick to a white panel, inking the edges.
5. Trim the panel and stick everything as shown in the picture.