Cards in a Box

OK, I am hooked on challenges now - this one is for Creative Cottage and is called "No Cards Allowed".  It is Challenge #18.

Now, I was making a present for my friend whose birthday was on Tuesday, so I combined the two things.  Then, would you  believe it, splitcoaststamping sent me the weekly newsletter, and there was a tutorial for a box with a drawer!  So, it was meant to be. I used their template and made the box, and covered it with paper and embellishments taken from 'freebie'papers that came in a magazine.  Now, I have a habit of either throwing these into a drawer (if I think I will use them) or into a big brown bag (if I think I will not use them) and of giving the bag to various friends of mine who teach primary school, and who love to get fresh 'stash' for the classroom. What I don't do is record who or where I got them from, so I have no idea from where I got this paper or the embellishments, except I had to cut them out of one sheet, and the other sheet had some too on the back of the DP and I had to choose which one I wanted to use the most.  Would have liked to have had the use of both sides on both sheets, but 'thems the break'! The box is made from SU Tempting Turquoise and apart from 2 orange brads, and some sticky and some bling, that's all it was.

I added four cards - here are three that I made today for the box and the fourth was an old one, made several months ago. However, discovered after I made it that the envelopes wouldn't fit the box - yes, I measured for the card size but envelopes are slightly bigger - bugger! Here are the cards:

                                       

I used the Cuttlebug and embossed onto the cards using the folder called Edges. I then rubbed each edge with ink or in one case blue chalk, helped to raise their profile on the card. Some ribbon, DP scraps and stuff from the stash, and an added insert in each one completed the cards.

                                                    

This card used white gel pen also to highlight the flowers, and white ink, and the bird from  the SU Bird Punch provided the bird and branch.  I also stamped a sentiment from TJ Designs - Songbirds using Memento Black ink.  I used several images from this set also on the inset to decorate it a bit.

                                                       

This card used a rub-on and a Prima flower - isn't it lucious.  In addition, I used a bit of 7 Gypies gafer tape and was quite pleased with the effect. The ink pad I used here is a Splendour Pastel chalks - one of those with lots of colours - and I used the green end which had three different greens in it. Enough for now, cheers,

Another Birthday in July....

This month there are a lot of birthdays....and one special one is that of my friend Bev, who turns 70 on Friday.  This is the woman who introduced me to sailing, and to my husband.  So, you can see she is a special friend and someone who is full of positive energy. This birthday for her will be lowkey as her partner is going into hospital on Thursday to have a knee replacement done.  We had a celebration last night for her at my house with my family who all know her as an 'aunt'. It was fun.

Her card is simple and the charms are nautical for a reason. The card is from the Coredination's Whitewash collection, and the ribbon is from Joann's in the USA. The numbers are handcut.  The card went through the cuttlebug and was embossed with a Tim Holtz embossing folder.  The bottoms of the card and paper are punched with SU border punches. The base card is SU Elegant Eggplant and the whole is swiped with the ink in the same colour around the edges. The button is a heart one from a local craft shop with the back of the button cut off.  Simple and elegant, like my friend. Cheers. my dears.......

Another Day, another Challenge

This one is for the Little Paper Shop Design Sketch Challenge LPSC74.  And what a challenge this is - you had to stamp directly onto Designer Paper, so for me this was scary.  This is the result:

The paper is a DP from Stampin'Up called Tea Party - the background therefore is in Amost Amethyst.  I used SU inks Elegant Eggplant and Orchid Opulence for the flowers, and Wild Wasabi for the leaves. The base card is Certainly Celery.  The stamped  images are from WMS Big Blooms and the sentiment is from SU One of a Kind stamp set. I added some bling and some purple satin ribbon to complete.  The sentiment and the paper have Orchid Opulence swiped around the edges, and I masked the big bloom after inking it in and then placed the smaller flowers and leaves by stamping onto part of the mask. I wanted a softer look so did not worry that the ink pads were not too juicy. Inside has a birthday message stamped onto some Tea Party paper with the Orchid Opulence ink. Cheerio, I'm back to the craft table!

So, I then had another go at another Challenge - lots of energy this weekend! This one is another sketch challenge  - its for Annabelle Stamps - ABSC025

I really love quirky sentiments, so combined this one from There She Goes - LOL with one of the ladies from Shirley's2Girls - Housework.  I used both the Cuttlebug and a Nestability circle and then my SU Circle Scissor to get the circle cut out, so SU ribbon, and sponged everything with SU Apricot Appeal ink.  The papers are from the stash and the background paper is Kaiser - Little Man.  The image is coloured with the copics.  Inside, I made it into a birthday card with a somewhat cheeky greeting, for a girlfriend's birthday on Tuesday!

Guess that will do me for the moment - unless, there may be time for one more...........

Double trouble.....

Took all afternoon to complete this card - it is for Just Scraps Challenge #14 - Make Mine a Double.  Jean was in a mood to clean up!

This challenge was supposed to do two things - complete a piece of unfinished business on the craft desk and to double up  - either by making two or having two things. Well, I did the first - I have had the Stampin'Up Bird Punch for a while and apart from playing with the bird wings to make tulips (later...) I had not done a lot but had several birds and twigs punched out in different paper and card. So, decided to make these up and get rid of them from the desk.....several hours later I have several more birds and twigs and lots of paper scrap and only one card made, but it was fun. The birds are punched from some SU Whisper White that was oversprayed with Moonglows Shadow Mists - as a protective sheet against spraying everything on the desk.  I find that I use this sheet afterwards for so many things that I don't mind using a full sheet or two each time I have a mind to play with the misters.  This sheet had a bit of pink in the gold spray, so I used a black and pink Core'dinations card and put it through the Cuttlebug using an embossing folder from Sizzix called Woodgrain by Tim Holtz. I then sanded it lightly to bring out the pink core.  I had a chipboard rectange that came with a new pink top I purchased this morning, so recycled it to take the rubon, which is on more of the oversprayed card. The ribbon is one by Celebrate. I mounted the black card onto gold card and then both onto a deeper pink before making a card from lighter pink - SU Pretty in Pink and attaching the whole to that.  There is also a sheet of white paper glued inside with another bird attached on the bottom and a birthday message.

So, between listening to the footy and enjoying the fading afternoon, and listening to the birds singing outside (the one's who have decided to remain this winter so far)  I made just one card! BUT, I have a few extra birds for future use now and have used up some of the scrap stash at least. Cheers,

Heading towards Summer

Now, I know it is not summer! BUT, the days are getting longer and today is such a lovely winter blue day, with sunshine and blue skies and no wind - yes, I know it only got to about 9 degrees........anyway, I made a summer card because I wanted to go into Creative Cottage Team's Challenge #17 - Summer and then I really liked the sketch at Lord Have Mercy Sketch Challenge #80 (MTSC80), so I combined the two into this card!

I used an image from SU's Summer by the Sea stamp set and coloured it in with Copics.  I used my SU Circle Cutter to cut a half circle out and then sliced off the LHS.  I put a paper doily underneath, and sponged it first on the edging with SU Tempting Turquoise and then Apricot Appeal of both the circle and the doily.  The sentiment (from the same stamp set)  is also treated in the same way, after being stamped with Tempting Turquoise. I used a Martha Stewart edge punch - Doily Hearts, and also for the butterfly. These are done in red card (from the stash pack) and the sentiment is layered on the same. The whole is layered onto Gemstones gold card, SU Tempting Turquoise and then a card blank made from SU Riding Hood Red. The ribbon is one from Creation Station. I think it has a slightly 1950's summer feel to it - which is sort of suited really! Cheers,

Now, what was that made of?

Auld Sentiments Challenge #5 and chance to win some Blog Candy! I have also added the said candy pikki to my sidebar - and you can follow the link back to the blog to find out more!

Now, what is that last card made from? Well, I used a scrap of background paper from SandyLion which I have had for a while ( and love because of the pretty muted colours); I used white Prima flowers, coloured with Copic Pens to match the Jena Fairy digi colouring. Notice how strong that pink is!!!  Now know to knock the colour back a bit I think when doing that - too strong.  I used my Stampin'Up jewel brads in the centre of the flowers; stamped a swirl from SU Baroque Motives and the heart from SU A Happy Heart in SU Wild Wasabi ink; and added some green pearls from Kaiser, I think. Layered up the heart, the digi and then all of it onto pink card and then used yellow for my base card - I also added some more of the SandyLion paper inside the card to complete it. Oh, and I highlighted one LOVE on the heart in a dark green Copic. Thank you Pam, for the digi. Cheers, folks.

A fairy card

Here it is finally - must rush to an appointment.  Will detail how made and with what products later.

Entering in Auld Sentiments Challenge #5 - to put the word LOVE in a card.

and the winner is........

Me!  Thanks to the random selector thingy at Little Paper Shop, I got a lovely digi to add to my stash for my card made for the challenge yesterday. Thank you to all!  I have nearly completed a card containing the digi, so keep looking folks.  Cheers,

It's nice to feel well again..........

I have not been well - nothing earthshattering, just nasty. It is pleasing to be feeling human again.  I have not felt much like making anything, but did promise a get-well card (on commission) for a male who supports Essendon Football Club.  Also have a friend who is about to undergo a knee-replacement operation, so had to make him a card, and then decided I had a few hours left before the end of the day today, so made one card for a few challenges.

Challenges:

Just Scraps #13 - Schools Out

Little Paper Shop LPSC73 - bright and colourful

Mojo Monday Sketch 144  - MOJO144

The card is SU Brocade Blue.  The paper is a piece left over from a baby boy kit I had (unknown maker).  The sentiment stickers are old; the background square is from Prima Flowers packaging; the tags and frame are from my stash from years past; the image (stamped with black Memento ink and coloured with Copics) is from a stamp by Shirley's2Girls - Grace with balloons; and the letter stickers are also old from the stash.

This is the commissioned card.  The background was created using the thinner strip in WMS - Picnic Patterns and following the instructions in Claire's blog on how to make a plaid background. I used SU Riding Hood Red and Basic Grey for the Football team colours, and then used the sentiment from the WSM - Asian Gardens.  The image is a rubber stamp from that I collected free with my magazine subscription Craft Stamper and is about 12 - 18 months old. I used Memento black to ink it and coloured it with Copics to create the idea of the Essendon jumper.  The football is from the computer.  I layered up the image and the senitment with black and then red card to lift them off the page a bit, and used dimentionals under the football also. Here is a close-up of the injured person:

The next card uses a digi image from I Brake for Stamps, of a frog on a walker.  I thought it appropriate for my friend as he is going to be using a cane or walker for a few weeks after an operation to repair/replace his knee.  I printed it off on my old inkjet printer,  and used the Copics to colour it, and then assembled it using SU Green Galore card, and SU craft card, and my Fiskar's loop punch. A bit of green ribbon and the sentiment is from WSM - Asian Gardens, stamped in SU Handsome Hunter. Inside the card used the same image. I tried to be amusing but it falls a bit flat.

Holiday time - Queen's Birthday Long Weekend!

Funny we should have a holiday for the Queen's birthday when she is not even our Queen (well, only nominally) and it is not even her birthday!  It has been a lovely blue winter's day - sun shining and no wind.

Thought I would use up the two images I created at a Copic's class I went to last weekend for two hours, to learn how to use the pens properly.  I have neither stamp, as they are old one's belonging to the instructor - but they are cute and good for colouring.  So, they are done using only a few colours in Ciao's - I will try to remember which ones.  I made two cards.

This one will be entered in the Friends Having Fun Colour Challenge #3 and the Creative Cottage Challenge #14 - Going Pink!

I used SU card so my colours are the new Melon Mambo, and Green Galore, with Lovely Lilac.  The ribbon is from the stash, and the punch for the bottom is one of Martha Stewart's - Doily Hearts Edge.  I saved some of the punched out hearts and stuck one on the image and several inside on the inset. I added three bits of bling (big bits).  The sentiment is from WMS - Asian Garden. The Ciaos used were Dress -  BV00, BV02 (plus one I borrowed for the trim), Hair - W3, E43, E32, YR00, Skin - YR00, Flowers - RV04 (probably) and lots of white gel pen.  The whole lot was outlined with C1.

This card used only a few Ciao pens - YR00 and YR02, darkened down with E43, and outlined with C1.  The bow is done with BG01 and B05. The eyes and the star were coloured with B05.    The image is mounted on blue paper, and on a sheet from a pad of Adhesive Paper Prints by DCWV. The blue ribbon is Celebrate, and the sentiment is a sticker from a booklet purchased from Joann's in Denver, USA. The whole is then mounted onto a commercial card blank.

This one was inspired by a clothing label attached to a new vest in black and red colours (abstract flowers) - the label is Motto.  I really liked this image of the girl drawn from the back, and so used it in this card.  The image is attached to a piece of black patteren paper roughly torn and then sponged with SU Riding Hood Red. The Whisper White card piece it is attached to was stamped with the SU background stamp Sanded, in the same red ink.  The gaffer tape is from 7 gypsies, and the word and flower are from a collection of chipboard pieces I had collected some time ago in a kit.  I do not know the name of the collection. All was then mounted onto a commercial card blank. I think it looks fresh!