Anne's Christmas Day Birthday

I have tried to make this card

as non Christmas as possible

but I fell in love with these

Hero Arts Foam Animals

& knew I had to create something fun.

I came up with a Hot Chocolate

themed reveal wheel card.

I loved the blue cup (copics)

& the earth coloured foamie.

The heat embossing isn't perfect!

I was using words from several stamp sets

to make up the background.

The pictures show you what is revealed each

time the wheel is turned.

This ink blend I created has got to be

one of my favourites!!

Distress Oxide - Antique Linen,

Brushed Corduroy, with

Ground Espresso edges.

Water flicks add to the milky

coffee, chocolate colour.

Stamp sets used;

Newtons Nook / Darcies

My Favourite Things.

Plus a free magazine set.

Christmas 2018 Message

Day 9 - The final Christmas Card

At the top of our cul-de-sac live

a young couple who decorate their tree

each year with so many lights.

It makes Christmas for us when we see it.

Dad, Bill & Jenny & I love it so much.

So this year, we wanted to send a card to them,

to let them know that it is much apperciated.

After all, it is a pretty bitterly cold job!

So this is the card I created for

Gavin & Rebecca.

 

I made the card base from 230gsm card to ensure

it would stand up well with the frame.

I added a distressed square of paper (Silent Night - Trimcraft)

Marked out the centre of the frame & stencilled

Falling Stars & Script Christmas words (Tim Holtz)

I mixed the texture paste with a little Irridescent medium

& PaperArtsy Fresco Paint - Glacier Ice.

I chose that blue as it matched the paper perfectly.

(Not that you can really see now!)

While it dried, I die cut 4 frames using Presscut squares

& stacked them together.

I then die cut a fifth frame, covered it with some paper

& then applied gesso with a stippled brush to recreate

the look of snow.

I made the tree from corrugated cardboard.

Covered it in clear crackle paste (Prima Finnabair)

& added clear microbeads.

Once dry I brushed over PaperArtsy Fresco

in Snowflake & when that was dry I then applied

PaperArtsy Fresco White Fire.

This was also used to distress the paper square.

I adore that colour.

Shaker materials - Glitter fake snow, silver/white stars.

Acetate added to single paper frame and placed on top of

the layered frame. Snowflakes to finish.

Tiny snowflake - Sara Davies

other two are Concord & 9th 

Take A Bough

This is a 3D Christmas tree die bit

the top branches looked like snowflakes to me.

 

Christmas Cards - day 8

Today I am sharing cards that were

made for friends, old colleagues

and also an old employer.

This first batch are a mix of designs.

Three are ink blended snowy backgrounds.

Two with Trucks & trees,

One deer and one Yappy Woofmass.

Then we have two beds (Joanne Sheen Stocking Die)

One of the trucks has a mountain style snowy scene

created using the free embossing folder that came with 

Simply Cards & Papercraft issue 181.

The other truck features a scenic

stamp from Creative Stamping issue 58.

This is not a Christmas set of stamps but it works well.

This next batch are fun cards made using

Mama Elephant Holiday Bitties.

They were perfectly sized to place

into the negative space left after die cutting

 the baubles from the ink blended panels.

The panels were die cut from a scalloped 

rectangle (Presscut) then ink blended

stuck to fun foam & die cut the bauble twice

(Simply Cards & Papercraft free die)

 

I did not get co-ordinating dies

so after copic colouring the tiny images

I cut them all out and paired them up.

The heat embossing didn't work well 

so the Mama Elephant tiny sentiment

strips were place over the worst parts.

 

Christmas Cards - day 7

Almost at the end now,

thanks for sticking along this far.

 

This first card is for the office.

This is the very first Christmas I won't be

sharing the fun with them, so sent this card.

 

Tim Holtz mixed media die - holly

Gold mirror card & green backing card.

Free magazine cover, Merry Christmas die Sara Davies 

Vellum for the shadow.

 

Below are 4 Mama Elephant snowy scenes, 

using sets - Yappy Woofmas / Trim the Tree

Ink blended with Distress Oxides;

Tumbled Glass/ Salty Ocean

torn paper used to create the illusion of snow banks

The top two are for Kim & Lorraine,

two of my ex colleagues.

 The bottom two are for friends.

Images all copic coloured and die cut.

Snow marker added for dimension.

These are 4x4ins (soo cute)

Christmas Cards - day 6

Donna & Rod.

Rod was an ex train buddy and  I get on 

very well with his wife, Donna.

So here is another Pop Up Box.

I think you can tell that this year I 

truly love my interactive cards. 

 

Mama Elephant Yappy Woofmas,

with some bits from Santa sleigh too. 

I adore these snow balling pups, they are sooo cute!

Again, copic coloured. (us newbies need to practise)

 

Angled so you can see the decorated panels.

Seriously, I made this months ago & it

has been sat with yesterday's featured card, 

on my craft table, making me smile every day.

 

 I made the fake door, complete with tiny panels,

just so I could use the puppy wreath.

Had to put the odd snowball on acetate

so they "fly" in the air.

 

Christmas Cards - day 5

3 of my ex train buddies feature today.

First up is Claire.

Pop Up Box and Mama Elephant Santa Sleigh.

 

 All copic coloured and die cut.

Heat embossed - Ranger Copper sf powder.

  

Some of the gifts and the bottles

were from the Mama Elephant Holiday Bitty Set.

  

Angled to show the distress inked background

with snow marker pen detail.

'Twas the night before Christmas stamp,

a free magazine cover die.

Season's Greetings - free stamp & banner with Creative Stamping

Snowflake - Sara Davies

 

This next card, I made two of.

Sally & Joe.

However of the photos taken, this was the best.

It was silhouette Santa (Tim Holtz)

Houses, hills - free with Die-cutting Essentials 

(I have used those and the city buildings in every box card)

 

Christmas Cards - day 4

Two more Luminary Pop Up Boxes 

for today's show & tell.

The first one is for Hayley & her bees,

Katie, Laura & Liz.

Queen Bee Salon, Scunthorpe.

This is my quiet place to be pampered

and chill out with massages & also where they

deal with my unruly head of hair!

I kept all the designs of these similar,

but varied the patterned papers used.

This one also got a

Santa & reindeer sleigh

flying over the houses & the city.

This second one is for, Bill & Jenny. 

They are residence of the street,

but Bill went to school with my Dad.

 

 

Christmas Cards - day 3

First card is for my (step) sister, Allyson.

I die cut an oval from glitter red paper.

Added die cut branches & Owls.

Owls are Winnie & Walter Happy Owlidays.

Coloured with Copics.

(I'm new to copics so please don't judge too harshly)

Merry Christmas die cut by Sara Davies

free with Cardmaking & Papercraft.

(It came with the cute gingerbread man from day 1)

Second card, (step) sister, Tracy.

(Yes, two sister's called Tracy! and you wonder why I'm confused)

Made with all the same products, just 

a different image from stamp set.

 This final design for today, is for the

residents of the cul-de-sac i live on.

Not sure if I mentioned before,

but every one sends a card to each house.

Many of the residents are widowed, and several

are between 88 and 90.

This year I based my card on this design by

the amazing Jennifer Maguire.

 There are several differences between my design

and her original, but as you can see from the

photo, I have credited her on the card.

Too many people do not do so. 

While she is happy to share all her ideas,

to take them and call them your own

is theft and it is wrong.

In Jennifer's design she used a Poinsettia.

Mine is a free magazine cover stamp & die set

Altenew Christmas Rose.

I used the red card to form the front

of my design to enable it to stand.

Jennifer, attached her red piece to the back of the card.

Mine is embossed with WOW

pearl powder and inked with

Altenew; Evening Gray / 

Citrus Burst  & Minty Mint. 

Card - Stampin' Up - Cherry Cobbler

 

Christmas Cards - Day 2

Family

My Dad & Sister, Tracy.

First up is Dad.

A festive lantern, 

driving home for Christmas.

Lantern was cut from a hand made card base

using 230gsm card to ensure it would stand.

I used Camping Lantern from Sugar Pea Designs.

Truck & tree, free with issue 181,

Simply Cards & Papercrafts.

I think this set is one of my favourites.

Gold heat embossing with WOW

Metallic Gold Rich Pale (sf)

Gold mirror cardstock for details & base.

 

 Side view showing it stood.

Open view to show inside decoration.

Acetate front so truck is visible

& snow embossed onto it.

The card was made up of multi layers

of the lantern die cut.

The next two are Tracy's.

First, her card.

 Tim Holtz Poinsettia Mixed Media die

backed with red Christmas paper.

 Vellum piece wrapped around &

two layer Christmas word die cut

this is by Hero Arts.

 

Inside the card, I added the same paper.

I then die cut the oval to add interest.

The holly was negatives from another card.

 

Below is her handcrafted decoration for 2018.

I try to make one every Christmas

so she can use them every year.

This is my adapted Pop Up box card.

It has no flaps because the two sides

have die cut snowflakes & as

you can see, the front has deer.

 This is a Luminary.

It is designed to stand over a battery tea light.

The light shines through the vellum covered die cuts.

The top die cuts help diffuse the light

as my prototype was open and light

flooded straight up.

You will see two more of these

over the course of the week :)

Christmas card

Today sees the start of 9 scheduled posts.

Each post will showcase my 2018 designs

for my Christmas cards.

The 8th post will be on 22/12

then there will be a few days break.

My 9th post will be a card for

a Christmas Day birthday.

First up; Apron shaker card.

This was created from a single piece

of kraft cardstock, scored in the middle

to create the stand. It was attached

at the top to complete.

The armholes were cut using an oval die.

The front is a shaker pocket.

 Inside the pocket is a stamped scene.

It features baking stamps,

free with Creative Stamping magazine.

 The pocket also houses 54 minature gingerbread men.

I had one tiny die (Sara Davies) free

Cardmaking & Papercrafts.

So it was run through my Big Shot

multiple times. Then each man 

was held in tweezers while I coloured them

using Altenew Delectable Delights Inks ;

Almond Butter / Hazelnut / Milk Chocolate.

5 or 6 were given faces and glued down onto the scene.

The rest moved around freely in the pocket.

I included Vintage Platinum Glitter

by Tim Holtz for a brown sugar effect.

Finally I cut & strung some more

gingerbread men using an X-cut

mini die to decorate the side.

It was intended as a card, but the recipient

hung it on her tree and it looks great like that.

The completed card stands approx. 5 x 5ins 

Mixed Media Book Cover

I took time out from my Christmas card creations

to make a little something for me.

I needed a new notebook for my novel lists.

I bought this one from Home Bargains.

Nice but not me!

 So I turned it into this.

 Here are close ups of the Front & Back covers.

I used any old paper and it shrank from all

the water. Note to self - cut it larger next time.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

 What I should have done is make it

on watercolour paper.

Cut it larger than the cover and not the exact size.

But you know what? I don't care, I love it!

So it shrunk, no worries.

Cover was made by applying Distress Oxides,

Wrinkle free style on my glass mat.

Drying between colours to prevent Mud!

1st application: Dusty Concord / Picked Raspberry

2nd: Mustard seed / Salty Ocean

Once dry all edges blended Vintage photo.

Stamping in same oxide colours.

Stamps: Inkylicious / Rachel Kalbach

Stampotique / Darcies / Mama Elephant

Stampers Anonymous pattern on back

(original designer not Tim Holtz re-make)

Copper & White Gel Pen detail.

Mixed Media Frame

Love & Home.

These are the themes in my house.

From the various hearts hung around to the 

display on the mantlepiece.

Below is the Love

 Here is the Home

 So I purchased this frame from Aldi

and created two pieces of mixed media art.

 Below are two close up photos.

I can't find the book where I wrote my

design idea and materials.

But from the picture I can spot some.

 Tim Holtz paper - Wallflower

Tim Holtz Paper Dolls

Tim Holtz Clippings

House stamp was purchased from Etsy.

Tim Holtz stencils and Golden texture paste

were used on each.

I also used my Big Brush Pens

but I have no recollection of how I 

added the rest of the colour.

Happy Birthday, Will

Yesterday was also our friend & neighbour, Will's birthday.

Below are photos of my first ever Peek-a-Boo card.

Front depicts a motorcycle and sign post

both free with Creative Stamping issue 54

Will owns a trike & loves the open road.

Inside the theme turns nautical (hahaha)

Will & his wife have recently acquired a boat!

Everyone loves to pull his leg and I saw the perfect opportunity

with this style of card.

Free stamps from Creative Stamping issue 43

Happy Birthday, Kate

Today is my friends' birthday.

Here is a reveal wheel card I custom made.

First picture shows card side on to catch the light.

She is a huge Autumn fan so it just had to be

autumnal colours & rich gold embossing.

(Distress Oxides: Spiced Marmalade/ Rusty Hinge

Seedless Preserves/ Ripe Persimmon/ Ground Espresso)

WOW Metallic Gold Rich Pale Embossing powder SF.

 The next series of photos show the

pictures in the window.

I printed off photos of Skye

her beloved Black Labrador.

Lawn Fawn: Reveal Wheel Square Add On

Cardstock used: Bristol Smooth

Stamps: Free gift with Creative Stamping issue 60

Ranger Distress Oxide Inks in colours listed

American crafts red cardstock (wheel)