Friday 21 October 2016

Star of Light at Coffee and Cards


Although I know I should, I haven't yet had opportunity to buy from the Autumn/Winter catalogue so when Susan of Craftyduckydoodah suggested we use Star of Light, I jumped at the chance. In fact we were lucky enough to use this set two weeks running and make completely different cards.


The first week we used Sweet Sugarplum and Very Vanilla, possibly not really thought of as Christmas colours, but the results were gorgeous.



As usual I added a little bling - well you have to for Christmas! The smaller star was die cut from Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer paper. A Wink of Stella in clear alongside a few jewels completed the look.

As usual we decorated the inside of the card and the envelope. I think it gives a "finished" look each time. This set is on one of my wish lists - yes, I have more than one! List one is for must haves - the sets I just can't live without. Sets and/or bundles that I know I will go to for numerous occasions, regarless of whether they get discontinued. Star of Light (and Jar of Love) fall into this category. The next list is the wanted list - sets that I know will be used but may not have such versatility.

The swirly stars are perfect for backgrounds throughout the year. I've been eying them up for the next Harry Potter card I make for my youngest daughter but more about that later.





And so onto week two. This time we made a shaker card in Night of Navy and Whisper White. They look as if they are quite complicated to make but really are so easy....


This time the star was cut using the plain die. The cutout was stamped and very carefully stuck onto the base card so it fitted the aperture. It's at this stage it helps to remember the acetate to hold the sequins in. It can be either glued or taped in place as long as there are no gaps for the sequins to escape, Stampin' Up now make foam adhesive strips which are a great depth and will mould around any shape.


Close up


Once again Wink of Stella added bling, this time to the swirls. Sorry it doesn't show up so well on the page. To make the shaker more interesting the star was stamped inside before adding sequins.

Is this where I admit there are actually more of the little stars on this card than I had intended? I'd just inked up the slightly larger of the 2 small stars when it fell put of my hand onto the paper, ink side down. Bit of an oops moment however by adding two more - one small and another larger, I think I've got away with it. And who knows, if I hadn't 'fessed up, no-one would be any the wiser.








Friday 14 October 2016

Pleats, Folds and More Pleats

Hello, this last week week I've been looking at ways to use DSP in my cards. I came across the idea of pleating it to create different effects and have to say, I really like the results.

For my first one I used 2 sheets of 6"x6" paper as I didn't have any 12" double sided. This really caused me headache trying to get the join hidden and I honestly wouldn't recommend it unless you have paper that you just can't not use.
































As the paper has such a busy pattern I tried to keep the decoration to a minimal, with just a sentiment and one butterfly. I love butterflies, so the end result, for me, justifies the headache caused matching the paper. The DSP used is the sadly retired Pretty Petals and the butterfly was stamped from Papillon Potpourri and punched with the matching Elegant Butterfly punch.


The next card I made was far easier courtesy of Susan  from Craftyduckydoodah who on hearing my plight kindly sorted through her 12"x12" DSP stock and brought some sheets for me to use when I attended her Coffee and Card group.


This time, the pleats weren't so close so more of the 2nd side could be seen. With the words facing, I thought it would be nice to add balloons.I didn't have any wide ribbon in either white or Night of Navy so used narrow navy on a strip of Whisper White cardstock. Balloons were punched from Whisper White, Night of Navy and the DSP.




So flushed with success I thought I'd try a collar fold for the third card. I combined  a sheet from Pretty Petals with my favourite bundle, Jar of Love to create this one. I think it might even be my favourite card of this group.



At the time of making this, a friend let me know that her son had been involved in an accident and was undergoing emergency surgery, hence the sentiment. Thankfully, he's making a good recovery and due to the skill of the maxillofacial surgeon will have minimal scarring.



And finally, getting right into folding, I chose to make a double pleated card. This one used Affectionately Yours DSP. I also used a Swirly Scribbles die and the tiny flowers from the Jar of Love bundle - could it have really been anything else!







I really hope you like this selection. Next on my to do list is to try a different for me ink technique. I'm going to attempt to recreate the Northern Lights and will report back once it's completed. I expect to have very inky fingers.

Friday 7 October 2016

Bella and Friends

The other day I made a card for a friends niece for her first birthday. I used a fabulous stamp set set by Penny Black called Zoophabet and stamped the tots name. Anyway, I really enjoyed doing the water colouring so that led me to dig out Bella and Friends. The dog is just like my daughter's dog, Dexter.


I love the colour Pool Party so decided that would be my starting point. Ages ago I bought some sheets of thin balsa wood and felt that would complement the blue perfectly, alongside a little silver for a bit of zing. I used blender pens with Write Markers to colour the image in. A little Kraft Rope trim unravelled and wrapped around the top just finished it off.





Tuesday 4 October 2016

Falling for.... Fall

A Coffee and Cards treat again. Now there is a chill in the air early morning and night time, thoughts turn to winter woollies, snuggling up in front of the fire, hot cocoa and crumpets, well mine do anyway. I love this time of year for the autumn leaves, the colours are so rich and combined looked stunning so I was delighted when it was suggested we made an Autumnal card.

Susan gave us a couple of options of design using the Vintage Leaves stamp set. She also incorporated the most gorgeous little Into the Woods embellishments and we were each able to choose the one we wanted. In fact I love them so much, they have been ordered for me today.
Into the Woods Elements by Stampin' Up!
Rather than me explain how we made the cards, I'll post the link to Susans blog so you can see for yourself. For me, the main difference is that I used the embossed rather than debossed side. While some demonstrators prefer you to slavishly copy, we are encouraged to go "off piste" and alter the design to suit which follows the Stampin' Up ethos "Inspire, Create, Share"

https://craftyduckydoodah.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/stampin-up-vintage-leaves-version-1.html