Some Old Artwork

This first card was a commission for Keeley who used to travel on my train each day. She wanted something suitable to give to her boyfriend, Josh to celebrate one year together. I wanted something masculine so went with the Papermania Urban stamps, keeping the colours limited to reds with some perfect pearals sprayed on mixed with Fired Brick distress reinker.

This piece was made for my colleague to give as a birthday gift to a friend after her original gift didn't work. (someone else bought the same thing!) It was a small canvas covered with some pretty paper & the butterflies were die cut using my Memory Box die.

Stamped quotes Tim Holtz.

This next card was made for my work colleague Lesley who gave birth to her second daughter Maisie, sister to Gemma.

Mum and baby are doing very well. Gemma adores her baby sister.

Papermania embossing folder Boofles Buttons, image Lili of the Valley.

This final card was made in March during the time I had no computer. It was a thank you card to the people who kindly took my ailing machine backwards & forwards to the repairers.

Xcut die fancy frames & paper Webster's Pages

All About Butterflies

 This first image is a card made for a forum friend, Joanne for her birthday. Her special day is the day after mine and as my computer system died on my birthday, I lost the last weeks work. Thankfully Joanne was able to email these shots so I had a record of my work.

I based my designs around our other forum friend, Jo Capper-Sandon's background technique featured in the December 2011 issue of craft Stamper. I made the mini canvas to match.

I used perfect pearls on the butterfly wings for shimmer.

This next butterfly item was made for Jo Capper-Sandon's birthday the following month. As she adores butterflies I made her an exhibit box. Sadly it did not work quite the way I wanted it to. The background looks far too dark in this photo.

These too, had perfect pearls dusted onto the bodies.

Materials I used;

Distress inks, Weathered Wood, Wild Honey, Iced Spruce, Rusty Hinge,Tumbled Glass,

Stormy Sky, Seedless Preserves, Chipped Sapphire and Brushed Corduroy.

Gesso, Chalk Emulsion Paint and Standard Emulsion Paint.

Torn newspaper, Tim Holtz stamps -Attic treasures.

Perfect Pearls, Mandarin, Gold, Mint and Plum.

Stampman Challenge - Favourite Technique

Warning: Photo heavy!!

This is my entry for the Stampman Challenge, Favourite Technique. I have three actual favourites, the main one making wrinkle free distress ink backgrounds, but these go hand in hand with stamping & bleaching. As my blog name suggests I am a minibook maker, although to be fair there are over 18 books that will never be seen on this blog because they were made many years ago before I even thought about running a blog & sadly, lost all the images when my computer died! Anyway this is the front cover of the mini & the following pages are the inside. Materials listed at the end.

Pages were made using thin card from an empty tea bag box.

Distress inks used: NEW Spring set; Dusty Concord; Tumbled Glass; Broken China;

Spun Sugar; Mustard Seed; Pine Needles; Shabby Shutters.

Stamps are a mixture of Tim Holtz sets & Studio G.

Computer generated words for front cover & pages 3, 4, 6, 7 & 10.

Secret Garden embossing folder, Heart die & fancy frames both Papermania/Xcut

Bleach. Bind it All. Scraps of ric rak & glitter paint.

Another Birthday & Commission

 This first card is for my train buddy, Claire who has a birthday today. She makes a lot of cupcakes for various engagements, weddings, baby showers & birthdays so I thought this LOTV stamp very apt. Paper was free Pink Paislee Spring Jubilee. Butterfly die, Memory Box.

This card was a commission I made for Claire for her mum's birthday last month. I used Prima Pixie Glen paper. TH Die cut bookplate. Memory Box Butterflies. Papermania XCut fancy frame dies, a white blossom, a pinked circle die cut using Xcut dies. The Chiffon was kindly donated by my forum friend Chris & I made a flower with a crystal for the centre.

The butterflies are embossed with Papermania Secret Garden folder (my absolute favourite)

I thought it quite fitting to show both birthday cards together.

A Commission & A Birthday

 This first card was made for my train buddy Claire, for her sister's birthday. The papers are Birdsong &Wild Asparagus. The photo was given to my & they are Claire's sister, two dogs enjoying a spell of sunshine in the garden.

The second card was made for my friend Kate. She used to travel on the train with me and was my reading buddy. We meet once a week for a catch up. It was her birthday the first week in April & she spent her birthday in Norway, with husband Alex. Paper is Birdsong,

image Lili of the Valley- Best Friend.

Shabby Chic/Distress Challenge

This week on the Stampman Challenge http://thestampmanchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/ we were asked to make something Shabby Chic/Distressed. I adore this theme as I use shabby distress a lot in my work. I obtained some free Pink Paislee paper - Spring Jubilee in a card making magazine & knew it would be just perfect for what I had in mind. I love to read & every now & then I decide I need a new bookmark.

I decided that today was the day & I would use this theme.

I took some of the paper & dry brushed is with gesso to tone down the colours & then I stamped a TH Stuff to Say journal stamp down one side before dry brushing some more gesso over the top to give it the apperance of the stamped image already being part of the paper design I smugged it slightly to give a distressed look. I then stamped my main quote & added a small chipboard butterfly. I made the button by gluing a small piece of the same patterened paper to the reverse of a clear button. The bird image is courtesy of The Graphic Fairyhttp://graphicsfairy.blogspot.co.uk/ The lace was from Ribbon girl. I cut the actual frame of the bookmark from Xcut fancy frames.

It was important to try & keep it quite flat as it does have to go in a book!!

Golden Wedding Card

I was asked by one of my travelling companions if i would create something for her parents who were celebrating their Golden Wedding Anniversary early April. I saw this Recessed Window card on a blog and one that my forum friend Carol had made & decided this was for me. Sadly when my computer died I lost a couple of the pictures but I have this front shot.

I also got these two shots of the inside of the card & the multiple pages I created. I'm having a few problems with this blog post, blogger won't let me select & edit the text! Looks like i will have to upgrade to the new version they have mentioned!!!! Papers are Prima Pixie Glen. Photo is of Claire's parents on their wedding day printed onto canvas.

Stampman Challenge "Bingo Card"

I am extremely late with this challenge but as you will see from my post below, my computer developed problems on my birthday (19th March) and after it being in for repairs it became obvious the damage was irreparable. I have lost a hold bunch of great software but all my files are entact! Phew, big sigh of relief because to lose 7 years of photos & artwork would be devestating.

The http://thestampmanchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/bingo card challenge was to pick a line from a set of choices & I chose Green, Flowers & Swirls. The swirl I inked with clear embossing ink & used table salt to give a distressed look (see craft Stamper February 2011). I kept the scheme clean by using just green & white & left off a greeting until i need a card & then I can add something suitable to it either computer generated or stamped.

Materials used, Secret Garden Embossing folder, Xcut Ornate square frame die, Birdsong paper, Chipboard swirl die, paper flowers.

MIA

Sorry I've been away so long. My home computer died on my birthday last week (how rude). It can't be repaired. I have got a new one but it will be a few days before I am up and running. Thankfully I'm a sensible pixie & all my work is backed up on an external hard drive. All I have lost is software, my address book, blog feeds & links to all my favourite places. The problem began when my Norton Internet Security malfunctioned & let in 5 trojans :-(:-(
I have lots of creations to share & I had completed The Stampman challenge.

Past Makes

This was a birthday card I made in January for Galina's birthday in February. Papers Birdsong, Stamp CI320. Stampin' Up Greeting and Xcut doily border punch. Below are 3 pictures of a set of mini drawers I purchased from The Range and decorated with my most favourite shade of blue paint. Lots of stamped images & some postage stamps. They started off life plain kraft brown but I stupidly forgot to take a "before" shot, so keen was I to get that blue paint out!! I keep all my Tim Holtz Ideaology bits 'n' pieces in them on my desktop.

I had great fun with them and wouldn't mind another set. They were priced at £2.99 so I thought they were a bargain. I just love that colour.....

The Stampman Challenge - Vintage

Here is my entry for this Vintage challenge at The Stampman. Below are two close up photos.

This was extremely hard to photograph. As you can see the red roses along the bottom are the wrong shade. I hope you can see the brown floral trim they are glued ontop of.

Materials used; TH Tag shape diecut twice, one with heart cut out. Both painted with chocolate emulsion paint & sprayed with Coffee Shop Glimmer Mist before embossing with Papermania Secret Garden & the back tag embossed with TH Notebook. Image is Stampsmith and stamped in Onyx Black Versafine. Felt leaf trim, large rose & ribbon all from my ex Scrapbook DT kits. Mini red roses, Papermania. Brown floral trim, Crafts U Love. Tim Holtz foliage. Gold Smooch & pink paint in cut out heart. I really enjoyed this challenge!!!

Happy Birthday, Dad!!!!

He is 70 years old today & still practically working full time!!!

Here is the card I made for him. I used Papermania Union Jack Emobossing folder for the background but before embossing I stamped the Papermania Portobello Road Urban Vintage "Big Ben" image. I then stamped the CI- 077 image onto white cardstock & cut out to layer over the top. The fantastic bunting stamps were from Stamposarus. I resisted the urge to colour them in because I wanted a black & white card.

We do not celebrate Dad's birthday until Easter when we celebrate along with mine when we go up and spend time with my sister, Tracy & BIL Martin.

Happy Birthday, Val

Today is one of my SSG Forum friends birthdays. So I made this.

My background is made using Distress inks; Victorian Velvet, Chipped Sapphire and edged with Stormy Sky. The image is Crafty Individuals.

Colours of Spring - Stampman challenge

This is my entry for The Stampman challenge - Colours of Spring/ Easter.

I got my inspiration for this piece from some paint I bought. I made a painted background using Green, Turquoise, Rose Pink and White paint & swirled them around the cardstock with a plastic store card. The colours remind me of bright blue sky, spring blossom and all the new fresh green growth. I overstamped the background with Stampers Anonymous Collage & a free HOTP stamp from the cover of a magazine. I silver emboss two leaves from PaperArtsy Wings Plate 2. I stamped the words from the same plate in black. On seperate card I stamped the bird in a manger & cut out. I glued dark blue & turquoise beads along the bottom for added texture.

"Thinking of You" Card

This card was made to send to one of my SSG forum friends, Ang who has been ill and had to spend a short time in hospital. She is home now & thankfully feeling better.

Materials used;

Blank Kraft card, die cut with X cut dies

Blue crepe paper

Memory Box die - Butterfly - Darla

Embossing folder Kassie's Brocade

Stamp- Prima - Documentary

Perfect Pearls; Biscotti & Cappuccino (not clear in this picture)

Happy Birthday, Chris!

Yesterday was the turn of Chris from the Chrysalis forum to have her birthday. I made this hanging canvas for her using some of my favourite images courtesy of Rein (top image) and Art-e-zine.

The background took me 2 days to complete as I did not have acrylic paint in my chosen colours and had to use several layers of distress ink re - inkers; Shabby Shutters, Broken China, Chipped Sapphire. Once I had the depth of colour I required, I set about stamping paint circles in white with a bottle top & through sequin waste. Gold highlights were added with Smooch. The stars (Jo Capper-Sandon image & free cover stamp with Craft Stamper October 2011) were stamped onto tissue & glued on with Golden matt gel medium. The vintage children were printed first onto copy paper. I then cut small squares of canvas from a roll & adhered over the images with double sided tape before running back through my printer. This eliminate wastage of the canvas & helped stop it curling in the printer. I had no sticky backed left! Once dry I cut them with a nestability die.

The ribbon charm was made folding 3 colours of 3mm ribbon & adding an end fastener. I made a bead dangle by threading co-ordinating beads onto a siver head pin. The words were found on the internet & computer generated onto white strips of copy paper. I used my Big Bite to punch holes through the canvas top and the hanging wired was bent round the holes.

I am very proud of this & it was hard to keep it quiet as I made it last month.

Hayley's Birthday/Stampman Challenge

I have made this card this weekend quite quickly because it is my beautician, Hayley's birthday tomorrow and I have been so busy at work I didn't realise it had got to that time already. We work 21 days in advance at work which helps matters even less! I also noticed that my design fitted the current theme of Texture at The Stampman so hope they like it too.

The papers are Birdsong & I have embossed using the new tri boss folder by Papermania Heart Attack. It looks much better in real life than the picture depicts giving subtle texture to a gorgeous piece of paper. The image is by PaperArtsy. Label is die cut using new Die-licious labels dies from Papermania. To give a touch more texture I punched black card with Xcut Flower Doily. I am slightly obsessed with texture at the moment & use embossing folders where ever I can!!! You might have noticed looking at all the designs I made this year so far!!! The image is cut with the Nestabilities Lacey circle die. Edges of paper inked with Victorian Velvet Distress ink.

New Job Card

As I said in my post on 27th January, Pauline has got herself a new job. So I made this card to send my Congratulations. It is just a kraft blank with script inked down the side. I inked some white card with Pumice Stone & Victorian Velvet distress inks which I mixed into bottles & sprayed. Once dry I stamped with various Urban stamps & punched out squares.

Another Birthday for January...

but this one was for Penny from 3 weeks ago. Given her love of all things Alice, I decided another card featuring him was required. (I made one last year using a postcard that I happened to pick up in my local HMV store)

This card was made with a distress inked background, which was first stamped & masked. I stamped the guitar & rockstar images (Inkadinkado, kindly given to me by Chrysalis friend Galina) I then maksed them both & overstamped with the Happy definition plate by Hero Arts.

I coloured the background with Scattered Straw, Rusty Hinge and then over coloured all the edges deeply in each corner with Seedless Preserves all TH Ranger Distress Inks. The Image was printed & mounted at an angle to look like a poster.

It's Raining Birthdays!!!

Today, it is the turn of another of my SSG forum friends' birthdays, Rachel (aka Taniwha). I made the same card as our mutual friend Pauline but with a bolder palette. Papers are all offcuts from Sassafrass Lass. Rachel is currently back home in New Zealand and I can't believe I posted this card to her on Monday & it arrived today or yesterday as it will be over there now!

I added texture to the front panel with Secret Garden Papermania embossing folder.

Huge shout out to Pauline, the birthday girl in the previous post because she got a really special birthday present of a new job :0) She can kiss goodbye to 70 mile round trips each day soon!!

Happy Birthday, Pauline!

Today it is my SSG Forum friend, Pauline's birthday!

Card was made based on a gorgeous idea by Jo Kill in a cardmaking magazine. Papers is Birdsong. Ledger paper is BG Basics.

Creating for the Sake of it

between two pieces of art I can't share yet and loving every minute of the creative process!!!

This piece was created using Parenthesis dies, free stamps from a magazine, a leaf die and patterened paper called Bird Song. I LOVE it!!!

A Birthday & A Thank You

First up I have a birthday card to show you which I made for Carol, my Chrysalis forum buddy.

First week of the year and Im already feeling fresh & ready so it was reflected in the colour scheme of this card. Papers are BG Sultry. I used Xcut shape cutters & Papermania Urban stamps teamed with zesty bright colours and naturally a clock image along with my favourite best friend the Secret Garden embossing folder to give a girly edge. Clcok is Heidi Swapp black embossed over the stamped image which was stamped in Bundled Sage distress ink.

Next is a Thank You card for my sister for all the lovely presents she gave me for Christmas.

This was made with the same girly theme but Stormy Sky distress ink for the big label. My sister is very fond of wildlife & feeds the birds so I thought this blue tit image perfect.
Other news, I am going back to France with my sister this year :0) :0)
Back to La Marchaderie, St Mathieu for a whole week in September! :0)

Happy Birthday, Colette!

Today is my friend, Colette's birthday. I have made this panel card for her in delicate shades. The photograph makes the card look more purple than it is IRL.

I white embossed the butterflies (Websters Pages) the inked with Spun Sugar & Dusty Concord Distress Inks. I cut part of the front from a square card, embossed the vine swirl down one side & Swiss Dot embossed the overall piece before punching the Papermania Butterfly border.

Happy New Year & Happy Birthday!

First things first, today is my Brother in Law, Martin's birthday! I was poorly, but determind the card would go in the post and I forgot to take a photo of it (oops!) Happy Birthday, Bro!!!xxxx

Hope you like the beer from High House Farm Brewery!

To my blog friends new and old, Happy Creative 2012. May we all find the time in our hectic lives to steal some precious "me" time & create something beautiful. Even if it is just to give to someone else.

This photo was taken by my sister while I was in France in September. It was the highlight of 2011! Fitting picture for toasting my BIL & for New Year, I thought!!

I had not been abroad since I was 5 years old nor had I ever flown, we went by Hovercraft back then. Pretty soon (March) I will be 45 so I'm glad I finally made it back there. It changed me greatly. I came back far more relaxed and very creative. Massive thanks go to our dear Dad for funding more than half the trip & to my darling sister, Tracy for helping me make the brave step.

A Christmas Birthday

On Christmas Day it was my SSG forum friend, Anne's birthday. This is the card I made for her. I wanted something simple against all the colour in her room from the Christmas cards and decorations.

I have been frantically creating last minute things for people and completely fogot to blog the card below, which I made for Karin back in November.

Hoping you all have peace & happiness over the Christmas holiday & you all get something nice from Santa to play with in 2012!

Penny's ATC Swap

If you can remember this post about the Swap hosted by Penny, well we all received our completed books this week and now it is time to share. Go here for a tutorial on how Penny made the book. I am so pleased with my finished collection.

Don't they look fabulous!

Happy Birthday, Audrey!

I made this for Audrey. She has not been around on the Chrysalis forum for a while, but I had to make this for her, after the success with Katie's card, which was really girly & pretty.

I used Papermania Exquisite Collection papers and matching patterened vellum for the background of this card. I like this set because they are really feminine & romantic & match perfectly. I ran the script vellum through the Big Shot with the Papermania Secret Garden Embossing folder. The image was a blog freebie and I can not remember who it came from but the name Nancy rings a few bells! I cut some wired Xmas ribbon (£ shop) in half & glued top & bottom to the image & then onto the WHSmith cream luggage tag. I punched a scalloped oval of white card & inked over a piece of waste wired ribbon using Victorian Velvet Distress ink to give a trellis look for my floral arrangement & greeting. Flowers are Prima. Foliage - Marianne Designs die. Stickles - Frosted Lace, was applied to flower centres & leaves as it is a Christmassy birthday. I attached the tag to the background using a Karen Fosters Jewelled Brad then glued the whole piece to a square card blank and inked the edges with Victorian Velvet DI. Greeting is also Papermania stamp.