Mum's Birthday Card

This card is for my mums Birthday.

Having to be organised this yr and not leave it to the last minute as i usually do lol. My mum's birthday is the 3rd July and as Lucy goes to the orthapedic specialist vet on the 29th June to see about her sore leg i am half expecting to have a poorly Lucy by mum's bd as Lucy might need an op bless her.

Anyway back to the card.

Yes there are peel offs on this card, i have a hidden inner cardmaker and she has some shocking things hidden in my craft supplies haha.

I used a keepsake green board (i think it's the romance one) for the card. I used 2 sheets of silver mirri A4 card to make the card. I used the oval template. I embossed the D2 line the two C fancy lines and the two ovals on to both the sheets of card. I then sanded them both to distress the card and to emphasise the embossed lines. Do this before cutting to size especially if using mirri or other coated card as sanding can peel of bits of the coated top layer and that could spoil your card if you do it after cutting to size.

I then cut the fancy edge using the second embossed line as my guide.

I folded both sheets of card along the D2 line i scored. I then joined them together as they overlap on the back to line them up on the front i positioned them so that the top and bottom edges of the fancy lines touch. Once the glue had dried i cut about an inch off the top and bottom of the card so that i could make a box out of a 4 card to put it in. i then carefully sanded the edges of the card to complete the distressed look.

I then cut a strip of card to fit behind the fancy edges i used an irridescent material to cover the card and glued it behind the lefthand edge. I then embossed and cut out 2 of the smaller ovals in pearlescent white card and used foam tape to put them on the card.

Poppies and sunflowers are my mum's favourite flowers so i cheated and used die cut decoupage with lots of foam tape for the centrepieces. The sparkle is DecoArt's SoSoft glittering topcoat (it is a fabric product and it does take a week to fully dry on card but i love the effect and haven't found a paper product to match it yet so i put up with the drying time).

I coloured 4 metal flower embellishments to match and used a gold metallic marker to give an aged feel to the offending corner peel offs.

Really pleased with the finished card.

Whoops forgot to add that i cut an A4 sheet of card to fit inside to cover the join. Will probably matt and layer a poem on the inside to distract from the fact it doesn't have an insert as i don't have any A3 paper.

Vintage atcs

2 pretty vintage style atcs.

The top one is script cuttlebug folder inked with distress ink in walnut stain, over it put a stamped image which you can just see peeking through under a paper napkin which i inked with distress ink in vintage photo. Vintage mini postcard, fabric flowers with pearl brads and a chipboard topper complete the look.

The bottom one is paisley cuttlebug folder inked with a old make up sponge that i had used on other things and had a mix of blue and green inks on it, i then swiped over it with a blue brilliance inkpad. Vintage mini postcard and a cardboard saying plus an ugly bug complete the atc.

I'm not sure if i like the top atc or not, a bit girly for me no idea where the idea came from lol.

The bottom one i am much happier with.

Thank you all for looking.

Music Birthday Card

Finally found some inspiration to do this card.

Couldn't find a template for piano keys i liked so i made this up as i went along using white and black glossy card, and lots of foam tape. Not technically correct but recognizable as a keyboard/piano.

Die cut no18 after putting card through music cuttlebug folder. Treble clef is stamped in stazon. Stick on stars and music backing paper finish the card.

Card is A5 size.

Quite pleased with the result but then i do like the black/white theme.

Atcs again

I was meant to be doing a music themed card but lacked inspiration.

So i made some atcs instead lol.

Appologies for the poor scan on the top one.

Tried to do a collage style with the bottom 2, i like to stick to a theme and i feel that limits some of things i make so i really tried to have no theme, think i need to try harder lol.

Bits and Bobs Challenge ~ June

This atc is for a challenge on dc.

This month we were sent 3 washers, a black piece of acetate, 2 stamped images on white card, watch and butterfly.

I used alcohol inks in denim, stream and eggplant on the acetate then mounted it on metallic blue card.

The butteryfly i cut out and coloured with metallic pens but it wasn't sparkly enough so put on icicle stickles.

I had fun with the watch image, the centre i coloured using distress ink in antique linen applied with a make up sponge. The outside i used distress ink in walnut stain. I went over the outer circle and the small ring inside with an old bronze marker it is just about done so it gives you a faint colour which i find ideal for an aged look. The knob i coloured with a gold metallic pen. I then used versamark and clear embossing powder (2 coats) to give a glazed effect.

I finished by using brads over the washers in 3 of the corners and the butterfly in the 4th corner.

Not one of my best atcs but it's presentable.

Bottle Cap Charms

These are for an altered bottle cap swap hosted by the very talented Trudy aka Tish (Kent) on Do Crafts.

For the ones in the top pic i dusted off my art deco maiden mold (from once upon a stamp).

I tend to use air dry clay with this which i did for the middle one but i have found something else which i hadn't thought of before for the other 2. I used glitter glue sticks in a hot melt glue gun, i inherited it from my sister (she got me into crafting and created a monster lol), i am hopeless using a glue gun i end up looking like medusa with strands everywhere lol. I was using wax sticks in another glue gun in my mold and i thought hey i wonder if the glitter glue will work and as you can see from the other 2 charms in the top pic it worked really well. It does take a while to cool down before you can lift them out and yes i did ruin one by trying to get it out too soon lol, but i did discover you can remelt it using a heat gun so mistakes can be rectified. The wax head didn't work so i melted it into the bottle top on the right and put the big red head on it, i hate wasting things. The one on the left i used a dimensional glitter glue to fill in around the head.

The bottom 4 are stamps used on air dry clay, i will confess i did these a while back when i had a clay moment, and have been sitting in a drawer till i had the inspiration to use them. Amazingly they were perfect for using with bottle caps. More glitter glue on these ones but a pearl glitter glue this time. I use Amos pearl glitter glue and it is one of my fav products, don't be put off by the glitter glue label as in reality it is more like a flat crystal lacquer effect at a fraction of the price (5 tubes for £1.30) in fact i have pearl lacquers in the same colours and i prefer the glitter glue to the lacquers. The one on the left and 2nd from right also have liquid pearls in platinum.

I used 2 and 8mm jump rings and charms from my vast supply to finish.

Quite pleased with the way these turned out, found this very daunting after seeing the stunning work others have done for this swap, although mine won't be the best i think they should make the grade.

Poppy Slide Mailer

This is one of 2 poppy slide mailers i did. This one i gave to my mum, the other went to a very special lady. For both of them poppies have a great significance.

Background is a mix of acryllic paints in 4 shades of green. Poem i found on the net. I used 1 big and 2 small poppy stamps from beach bum stamps.

Really pleased with how these turned out.

More atcs

4 atcs using pearlescent brilliance inks in sky blue and something(yes i forgot in the time it took me to walk downstairs lol) jade.

Have adjusted the image bottom pic to show detail as top pic shows colours but not detail.

I used my fav large collage stamp for these the background were made by stamping on 2 sheets of glossy card without reinking inbetween to get 2 shades of colour.

With the green ones i matched up the images and cut them into 4 unequal parts them glued them onto backing card.

I stamped part of image onto jigsaw pieces using same inks.

Also did a piece of sea washed glass, great excuse for walking the dogs amazing what you find on the beach lol. Only did one piece of glass as i realised after i stuck it that i couldn't really post it hence using the jigsaw pieces.

Music Note Slide Mailer

This slide mailer was painted with white paint which i overpainted beige and somehow it ended up in shades of metallics lol, was meant to be a bit more girly but i have to be in the mood to do girly lol.

This slide mailer is for a friend's granddaughter who loves music and needs a confidence boost after doing great in school but thinking she failed because she didn't win an award.

Used some quote stamps and a music note stamp i have.

Acryllic paints used were white, light beige, bronze, gold and silver, first coat was applied with a brush rest with a make up sponge.

Inks were stazon in black and saddle brown.

Hoping friend's granddaughter likes it, 2 of 3 aint bad lol. Got the music and quotes bit but totally missed the girly part lol.

Gesso and sequin waste

I don't like to waste anything so after i had gessoed more text today my sponge/applicator was still full of gesso so i took some pastel coloured card and put sequin waste over it and applied gesso over it, then carefully removed the sequin waste.

For the top atc i used distress ink in broken china for the background, i like the way that the colour is deeper between the dots.

For the main image i took a bit of pearlescent card i had used to get ink of a stamp (brilliance~ pearlescent jade). I keep all these bits of card as i like to use them for stamping. I stamped the image using distress ink in weathered wood.

The bottom atc i made using the resist technique below over the gessoed paper. I used the waethered wood distress ink again. I really like the way the dots of the sequin waste show through.

June Rak Attack for Do Crafts

A simple atc for this months rak attack on dc.

Done using a split coast stampers technique http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ee/index.php/resources/tutorials/gessoresist/

Finally a use for my big tub of gesso lol.

Having fun with this technique and got new distress inks to play with so think i'll be doing more like this :)

Shell necklace

This necklace is for me :)

When i saw this shell pendant i knew what i wanted to do with it.

Very simple but i loves it :)

2 birthday cards

2 bright cards, i almost needed my sunglasses doing these lol, not used to such bright colours and out of practice where cards are concerned lol.

These are both A5. Very simple cards using papers , chipboard accents, gems, brads and a fabric sticker.