Ladybirds

Good Morning everyone.

Today im sharing a fun childrens birthday card using ladybirds or to my followers elsewhere in the world ladybugs.  I think its actually suitable for adults too.

DL cardbase.  This card using alot of scraps and snippets.  The squares, ladybirds and sentiment were all cut from little pieces of card inked with brushos, pixies powders and oxide inks.  The flowers left over bits of white card.  

I first cut a panel of white card slightly smaller than the cardfront, i embossed this with a brick wall embossing folder and lightly brushed oxide inks in tumbled glass & pistachio over the top.  I added this panel to the card front. 

I didnt have enough of one colour of inked card for 3 squares, so the 2 outside ones are from brusho/pixie powder card and the middle one is oxide inks. The ladybirds were cut from black card and red brusho card and layered up.  The sentiment is cut from the same red brusho card.  I gently shaped my white flowers and added to the circles and then my 3 ladybirds added one top. 

Close up on the ladybirds.  We don't get an awful lot of them here in this part of Cornwall due to the damp atmosphere so its always a little exciting to see the odd one or two in the garden.  

Items Used:

Elizabeth Crafts die - 711 Ladybugs

Elizabeth crafts happy birthday die

MFT stitched square dies

Flower die

Crafters companion wall embossing folder

Oxide inks - tumbled glass, pistachio

Brushos

Pixie powders

Thank you all for stopping by, i hope you all have a good end to the week and weekend.  Emmax

Id like to enter the following:

movingalongwiththetime-bugs

pixiescraftyworkshop-challenge-348

Star Fold Cards

Good Morning everyone.

Today im sharing Star Fold cards i made for my mum and brother's birthdays.  First time id tried this fold, but with the help of pinterest and a trial run it was actually easier than i expected.  Of course i had to go with a floral theme for mum.  I have added a simple step by step at the end of the post. 

This post is very photo heavy so you may like to get a cup of tea or coffee and couple of biscuits😀

Please ignore my finger holding it flat for photos😄

After making the base fold (see bottom of post) from cream pearl cardstock, i cut and folded 2 pieces of 12x12 patterned paper the same way, i then cut it slightly smaller on each side so the panels would fit each piece with a small border.  I used the floral paper for the top and the pink paper for the bottom, so once folded into the star you get this two tone effect. 

I die cut my flower from co-ordinating papers and added a large glitter gem to the centre. Gems also added to the 3 pink panels as shown.  The papers were from B&M.

In the centre of the card once opened i added a die cut sentiment circle from the same card as the base card.  

Showing it mostly opened out and also showing how each point folds up

Showing it fully open.  

This shows it fully open on the underside.  I kept this paper quite plain so that I could write my greeting on it clearly.  Birthday sentiment stamped.  

Showing the underneath once all folded up. 

Being my first attempt i was very pleased with it, but they aren't so easy to display as mum found out, in the end she found something to sit the bottom point into so it would sit upright. 

*****

and onto the male version i made for my brother. 

For this one i used A4 papers so needed to cut 2 up for the top and 2 for underneath.  I used a very old steampunk set of toppers and papers by Kanban.  I added the foiled wings to the back of the circle topper.

For this one i turned it more into a kind of easel, so i added 3 screw top brads which hold the topper up so you can see it on display.  When you glue on your topper only glue it to one star point.

Showing it opened out. 

And the underneath, i added a die cut circle to the middle to write my greeting on. 

Showing the underneath when its all folded up into a star. 

On to a little step by step, hopefully it makes sense but if you look here at pinterest for more info - star fold card

Take a sheet of 12x12 cardstock. Measure the 6" mark on the top and bottom sides.  Line up these marks with a ruler and lightly draw a line down in pencil a couple of inches long (to be erased later).  Take your ruler and measure 12" from the bottom corners to the pencil line you just made. Cut away the excess. This will give you a triangle with 3 sides 12".  

Mark 6" on all 3 sides

Score a line along these 6" marks on all 3 sides, you end up with a triangle in the middle.

From this score line mark 2" outwards towards the points and score a line.  You can just do this on your score board if easier. 

Fold the score lines. Fold the inside lines mountain fold (so towards the middle), fold the outside lines valley fold (so back outwards).  You are then ready to decorate. 

Items used:

B&M Papers

Kanban papers

12x12 cardstock

MFT birthday circle die

Flower dies

Circle dies

Clearly besotted sentiment stamp

Screw top brads

Gems

Stickles diamond glitter glue

Thank you all for stopping by.  Hopefully we are in for a quieter week with the weather.  Happy Crafting. Emmax

Id love the enter the following challenges:

do-allkreatives.#27 -fancy-fold   - entering the first floral star card

simplycreatetoo -ch-147--for-male  - entering my second card for a male

Inky Typewriter

Good Morning everyone.

I often write to an elderly male family member who doesn't do technology so i keep in touch via the good old postal system, keeping him upto date with all the family gossip etc.  So I made this little card for him.  

6x6 Black cardbase. I first die cut my typewriter from black glossy cardstock snippet.  I then just dry embossed the typewriter die onto silver mirror card snippet, i then cut around the outside of this and glued behind the black version.  Embossing the die makes it easier to cut around the outside but also means the details like the 'keys' are more pronounced.  

I die cut a square of white linen card.  I used my much loved stampin up gorgeous grunge ink splat stamps with distress oxide inks, concentrating in the area i wanted the typewriter to be.  I then sponged on gold acrylic paint through a circle stencil.  Added some pale grey diamonds with a stencil and then using grey ink and alphabet stamps added some random letters. 

To my typewriter i added a little scrap of card to act as the paper and stamped a little sentiment. This photo shows the gold paint circles nicely, they help to draw the eye into the focal point.  

Could easily be turned into a card for any occasion, just add happy birthday or get well to the typewriter.  

Items Used:

Docrafts Xcut Vintage Icon die set (typewriter)

Stampin Up Gorgeous grunge stamps

Wooden alphabet peg stamps

Clearly besotted sentiment stamp

Stencils - circles, diamonds, 

Distress Oxide inks - salty ocean, evergreen

Gold Imagination craft Starlights paint

White linen card - craftUK ltd

Black card - payper box

Silver & black mirri card

Thank you for stopping by.  I hope you have a good end to the week and weekend, hopefully the weather will settle a bit.  On the plus side with the wild weather its good to stay in the dry and craft.  Emmax

Yummy Yellow

Good Morning everyone.  I hope you had a good weekend.  

You may remember last month i joined in with the rainbowcardchallenge with Orange Opulence?  Well i decided to join in again this month with Yummy Yellow.  I decided to use my new die - wonderful Echinacea or coneflowers. 

I used a sentiment stamp that says 'May flowers always line your path & Sunshine light your day. May songbirds Serenade your every step along the way'. 

Approx size 7x7".  I first took a sheet of A4 white card and squeezed lemonade (yummy😋) oxide ink, i added the ink to my non stick mat, spritzed with water and kept dipping my card in, then left it to dry.  

I stamped my sentiment in black onto white linen card.  I then die cut it into a hexagon.  I added some little dots stenciling to this background with the lemonade ink. I added this panel onto a larger white hexagon, then layered onto the yellow card i coloured and then onto white linen cardbase, cut to size.  As my dies dont go this big, i glue the topper onto the card, lining up with the straight edge of the spine of the cardblank, i then use my gulliotine and carefully cut alot each side, following the line of the die cut.  I die cut a white frame and added with foam tape.

From the lemonade inked card I die cut the flowers and centres, i shaped the petals and centres with a ball tool.  To add more colour to the centres i used yellow & gold promakers, keeping them darker on the right side.   I arranged them on my card and added glitter glue to the centres.  I then die cut the butterfly both the top and bottom layers.  To the bottom layer i added just a touch of twisted citron oxide ink and then glued the 2 layers together and added to the card, i added a yellow cat's eye stone to the butterfly body. 

From the little left over off cuts of the lemonade card i cut a few leaves and twirls, i added a very light touch of lime oxide ink and arranged around the flowers. 

My butterfly, one of my most used sets of butterfly dies by Sizzix, you get several sizes in the pack and several have the top lacy layer and a solid base layer.  Of course butterflies find flowers Yummy so its yummy yellow😁. 

Items Used:

Dee's Distinctively dies - secret garden 2

Sizzix butterfly dies - 'butterflies intricate' 659971

Inside & Out stitched Hexagon dies

Crafters companion signature foliage & swirl dies

Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks Squeezed lemonade & twisted citron

Justrite 'wishing you rainbows' sentiment stamps CR-02118

Ranger Stickles - diamond

Thank you all for stopping by and all your amazing comments on my wire suncatchers last week.  I hope you all have a wonderful week whatever you have planned.  Hugs Emmax

Id love to enter the following challenges:

rainbowcardchallenge-challenge-3-yummy-yellow

For some reason no link coming up at rainbow card challenge so i can enter😕 ...... Yeah finally today 13th the link is available to upload😀

crazy4challenges-c4c474 - add a flower/s

Wire Guardian Angels and Hearts

Good Morning everyone.

Today im sharing a few of the wire & bead suncatchers i made as Christmas gifts.

Bronze Angel with yellow, orange, gold beads.  Approx 6" tall.  The big bead in the middle is a true crystal prism so when the sun shines through it it gives out lots of rainbows on the walls.  The sun also catches on the mix of beads in different ways.

A close up showing the body/wings better.  I 'winged' it making these! lol  Totally made them up as i went, so it was trial and error, luckily this soft craft wire is very forgiving. 

Silver wire angle, with white beads, the ones on the body are main white faux pearls with a hint of colour on them, so adds some subtle colour.  The angel ended up with a leaner body and bigger wings.  They are definitely all unique! 

Heart suncatcher, approx 4" in size.  This one is in pinks, the little dangler in the middle is again crystal prisms to give rainbows to the recipient on sunny days. 

Gold & Red heart suncatcher

Blue heart suncatcher.  Some of these hearts are quite rustic in shape, but then they are totally handmade. 

This last one is silver wire and the faux pearl beads that are white with a splash of colour on them. I added one crystal prism bead and a little bi-cone bead inside the heart and from the bottom of the heart. 

Items used for all of them 1mm craft wire in various colours, various beads.

They seemed to be well received as Christmas presents. Im still in the practice and learning stage. 

Thank you for stopping by. Emmax

Poppies

Good Morning everyone.  

Where do the weeks go to? 

So today im sharing a birthday card i made for my sister in law.  She loves poppies. Ive coloured them with my wink of stella pens so very blingy for her. 

6x6 Kraft cardbase.  I die cut a square of kraft card smaller than the card front, i die cut one of the Tim Holtz dies into this panel.  I cut some gold glitter card to fit behind the cut out and glued that in place on the cardblank, i then mounted my top panel on top with foam tape.  

I die cut the poppy die twice from white cardstock and coloured the flowers with orange & red wink of stella pens, i coloured the stem green with a marker pen.  I decoupaged the flowers using the second die cut, first shaping the petals where the cut lines are and glued with glue gel. 

I splashed some of the wink of stella pens over the background to add some interest - they really shimmer when the light hits them.  Stamped greeting in black. A little butterfly - i cut 2 and layered up, a gold glitter one and then one coloured with the wink of stella's on top. 

A close up.  It doesn't really show the glittery effect of the wink of stella and the glitter card.

As i was rather happy with the outcome i made another couple for the box

Yellow poppies and pale green glitter card, i used a different die from the TH mixed media set this time.  The only poppies that really love it here are the little yellow welsh poppy, they line the paths and verges - so delicate and pretty.

I also added some white gel pen highlights just to the edge of the poppies.  Yellow and orange wink of stella pens used

Blue poppy and silver glitter card.

Im not really very good at colouring in - no patience😊, I did these with a wet into wet technique.  Wet the poppys with water using a brush, then added the pale blue ink first and then dab the dark blue in where it would naturally be darker. They then bleed into each other.  I tend to add some of the ink to a mat first and pick up with a paint brush for a bit more control than adding the pen straight on the cardstock. 

Items Used:

Pennyblack poppy die

Tim Holtz Mixed Media dies

Sizzix butterfly dies

Clearly besotted sentiment stamp

Kuratake Wink of stella pens

B&M glitter card

CraftUK ltd kraft card

Thank you all for stopping by, i had a lovely day last Monday for my little niece's birthday.  I hope you all have a good week. Hugs Emmax

Id love to enter the red poppy card 

pixies-snippets-playground-challenge-347  - the glitter card, poppies and butterflies all cut from snippets/off cuts of card

Happy 1st Birthday

Good Morning everyone, i hope you had a good weekend, wasn't it lovely to see some spring sunshine..

Well i can't believe that today my youngest niece turns 1, where did that year go to?  As she has such a unique name i just had to add it to the cards as you certainly wouldn't be able to buy a card with her name on it.  Yes Kitty-Bea is her birth cert name. As I do for all family birthdays i make 2 cards, one for my parents to give and one from me. I always try to make them 2 completely different cards, not always easy. 

I originally bought this lion die to make her new baby card but he went 'missing' so when he finally turned up I decided to use him on her birthday card. 

6x6 White cardbase.  I used all papers from the same paper pad, nice and bright and cheerful in red, yellow  & blue.  I first cut a panel of white card smaller than the card front and layered onto a sheet of pale blue paper from the pad and stuck to the card front. I die cut 3 panels of red paper and one of the diamond paper and layered onto the card front.  

I die cut the lion from a yellow polka dot paper, added him onto a white die cut circle which i mounted onto a larger white die cut circle with foam tape.  I computer printed the age and name in blue and die cut into circles. I added them to the card. 

Close up of Mr Lion, my die cut rectangle panels were actually shorter but as i knew i was going to be hiding the middle of them behind other die cuts, i cut them in half to extend to fit the card size.  This is a good way to make more of some die cuts if they are too small for your design. 

*****

And onto the second card, i just made the name the focal point, a design ive used several times for childrens cards.  Its a XL DL card, which is an A4 sheet folded in half lengthwise. 

The photos don't do the colours justice really, its green and purple.  My starting point was the scrap of brusho/pixie powder card i had in pale green and purple.  I first die cut enough circles to spell the name, making sure they were big enough for my alpha dies.  I then die cut the letters from the centre of each circle.  I mounted these circles onto purple mirri card with foam so that the purple really shines through the letter apertures. 

I mounted a panel of white linen card onto pale green glitter card and then to the card front. I stamped my birthday sentiment in black.  I die cut my bee from purple mirri card and lilac glitter card and added her to the card front to finish. 

This one shows the purple mirri card  & colours a bit better. 

Items Used:

My Minds Eye paper pad - On the Sunny Side

MFT stitched rectangle die

Stitched circle dies

Lion die

Memory box 'parker' alpha dies

Bee die

Clearly besotted sentiment stamp

Brusho's

Pixie Powders

Purple Mirri card

Pale green & lilac glitter card

Thank you all for stopping by and all your wonderful comments.  Im going up with my mum to see Kitty-Bea today so that will be fun, she isn't quite walking yet but is a real chatter box - of course not much of it yet makes sense.  I hope you all have a wonderful week. Emmax