Happy Anniversary!!

Morning! Hope today finds you well! Personally, I have caught a bug, and am currently still in bed. Yesterday all I wanted to do was sleep. I am more awake today, but am still coughing etc etc. But, I have decided that even though I am not up to going anywhere, I can still get a few things done like blogging!! 

So, this week saw the wedding anniversary of my lovely brother- and sister-in-law! The card I made for them was another one that I used as part of my application for Crafter's Companion DT. 

I used Hunkydory's Champagne Bubbles Topper. I loved the grey and peach tones as soon as I saw this set!  I mounted a piece of the matching patterned cardstock onto a 6x6 card, and then distressed the edges with a sanding block. This was then inked with Tea Dye DI. 

The topper came with 2 frames attached. Often I will just leave them attached - or even discard them, but I decided to make use of them this time. The largest was mounted onto Papermill Silver Buckram paper. For the smaller frame, I cut another piece from the patterned card, and embossed it with my Crafter's Companion Embossalicious 6x6 Floral Frenzy folder. I then carefully ran my Perfect Medium pad over the raised areas, and dusted Cosmic Shimmer Silver and Enchanted Gold mica powders over the top. The frame was then mounted onto the top of this. 

The sentiment is from the same sheet. I used an offcut of the card and trimmed it to echo the shape of the message. The finishing touches include the paper ribbon from the sheet, a crystal spray from my stash, Glossy Accents on the glasses, and a little bit of Cosmic Shimmer Aqua Twinkles on the flowers. 

I would like to enter this into:
Aud Sentiments Challenge Blog - Anything Goes 

Crafter's Cafe Challenge - Make a Square Card

Take care of yourselves,

Cxxx

Pretty in Pink

Ok - despite all the excitement that has been going on, you can't quite pull me away from my melt pot. For this gift set, I used quite a cocktail of colours to some clear UTEE - including Cosmic Shimmer Raspberry Blue and White, and some old Papermania red embossing powder. I added some mica powder too - Pearl and Enchanted Gold. 

For the card, I used a Craftwork Cards white base and some burgundy card from my stash. The pink flowery card is Kanban, and the white is Bazzill. The bottom right hand corner of the white has been cut with Spellbinders Medallion 2 (insert only) and the cream patterned card (DCWV Spring Stack) placed behind. I used Spellbinders Circle Bezels 3 to create the UTEE circles. The swirls are Floral Flourishes. The pink pearl beads and the paper flower are from my stash.

The wooden heart was painted with Eco-Green Orchid paint, and then coated with a mixture of Raspberry paint and Kroma Krackle. The whole thing was sealed with Indigo Blu Slap It On Matte. I decoupaged some Deco Mache paper onto parts of the heart with more Slap It On. The swirls were stamped with Flitter glu, and gilded with Variegated Red flakes. More UTEE circles, pearls and paper flowers were added along with the gold star and bead embellishments. The ribbon is from my stash.

This is a brooch made from another circle - this time I put more White in the UTEE mix. I added a brooch pin to the back, and sprayed the flower with Spray and Shine to make it more durable. 

The keyring and bag charm were also made from this whiter batch of UTEE, poured into and then stuck into the Circles bezels. The swirly charms are Cousins. 

I rather like the colours from this set - but it's unlikely I will ever be able to recreate them. So I'll just have to see what comes out next time!

Meanwhile, I have taken delivery of my brand new, complete set of Spectrum Noir pens!! I am still in the playing stage at the moment, but will hopefully be using them on some fabulous Crafter's Companion images soon!!

Don't forget, you can now 'like' my Facebook page - Papercraft By Carole, or follow me on Pinterest, as well as here on my blog.

Bye for now,  
Cxxx

CCM&M #112 - Paper Piercing/Pricking

Our host for this challenge is Josephine. She would like to see some decorative paper piercing or pricking. If you would like to then stitch the holes that you have pierced, then please do so - but no faux stitching.  Please note that this is NOT paper piecing - but paper piercing.

Our sponsor this time is Crafty Sentiments who are offering 3 images of the winner's choice.

For my card, I chose to use Benson Bear - Birthday digi image from our sponsor. I have never done any paper piercing before, so thought I would look it up to make sure I had all my facts correct. So, I have learned that it is also called Ornare - and that there are loads of templates out there. I found a lovely site called Gem's Cottage that has some great printable templates at very little cost. I have used one of the templates from the Oval Frames set. 

I also learnt that you pierce from the back to the front to give it more texture - and that the size of the piercing tool and the material underneath all affect the finished look. Not having any of the proper tools, I went for a large needle and a piece of foam that some large brads came embedded into. 

I coloured the image with my Promarkers:

Benson - Satin, Blush, Saffron, Tequila Sunrise, Tan, Cinammon and Peony

Parcel - Oatmeal, Starfish, Ginger, Tea Green, Frosted Jade, Marine, Cool Grey 1,2,3 and Black

This was then cut with a Spellbinders Oval, and inked while still in the die with Tea Dye DI. The blue scallop circle is Bazzill card, and I used more of this and some orange for the matting. A piece of grey grosgrain ribbon is the finishing touch.  

The paper piercing was done on a piece of white pearl card from my stash. I decided not to add any more embellishments as I wanted the paper piercing to really stand out as a feature of the card. 

I am really pleased with how this turned out, and am looking forward to seeing what you all can come up with! And don't forget that the Mixed Media challenge is running concurrently through the next two weeks. Check out all the inspiration on the Crafty Cardmakers and More Challenge Blog. 

Don't forget to leave a comment if you are following my blog for the first time. And for those of you on Facebook, I now have a page just for my crafting stuff - please feel free to 'like' my page - it's called (surprisingly) Papercraft By Carole. Am still finding my way with it - so bear with me!! 

I would like to enter this card into the following:
The Paper Players - Clean and Simple (hope this counts - sorry if it doesn't)
Crafty Calendar Challenges - Animal Antics

Back soon with more!!
Cxx

Ahoy there!!

Am still on a bit of a high over everything that's happening to me craft wise at the moment. There's lots to take in and loads of information to assimilate - but I'm getting there!! I decided to treat myself today and bought some new fabric fat quarters. Have a few little things in mind for it - if I have time.

On to today's card. Whenever I get commissioned to make a card, I always start with the basic questions - what's the occasion, what size, box or envelope, any specific colours, themes, words etc. And sometimes I do get asked for some interesting things. The brief for this one was a first wedding anniversary card for an elderly couple - he likes sailing - she likes flowers. Have to admit that I spent a lot of time pondering this one!! 

Then I remembered that I had a sailing ship topper from an old Kanban kit. There was a round topper and another ship to decoupage on top. As I normally make the top of the box the same as the card, I needed them to be identical, so cut out the ship from the topper.

The base of the 6x6 card was made from a large sheet of Centura Pearl card and embossed with my Grand MBossabilities folder. I created a 'wave' effect by cutting another piece of Centura Pearl with the Scalloped Spellbinders Edgeability and one of the inserts from the same set. The papers for the flowers and circles echo the colours on the sail, and are from my stash - some Brenda Pinnick and some Papermania (I think). The decorative green circle was cut with my Spellbinders Splendid Circle die.

I used the Bitty Blossoms die to make the flowers, and the swirls are from the Floral Flourishes set. I used a little wooden alphabet set to stamp the names in Walnut Stain DI. I edged most of the die cuts with the DI too. The brown ribbon and pearls are from my stash - and I added a little Cosmic Shimmer Aqua Twinkles to some parts of the ship's sails.

The box was scored using my Ultimate. The lid was decorated almost identically to the card. I like to decorate the inside too. This time I used an anchor charm (from The Range) and some little metal flowers I won in a challenge, along with more die cut circles. 

After my hesitant start with this card, I was really pleased how it turned out. And so was the lady who commissioned it. And the recipient - so much so that they have in turn have commissioned a 50th card from me!!

Anyway, I would like to enter this into:
Moving Along With The Times - Make a box and decorate it
Through the Craftroom Door - Anything Goes

Cxxx

SOME AMAZING NEWS - and a bit of Bunting!

OMG!!! OMG!!! OMG!!!! Can you tell I'm excited!!! I have been busting to tell people but wasn't allowed until now - that's why there was no post yesterday!!! 

Well, a few weeks ago during half term, I shut myself away to make a selection of creations. OK - nothing really new there! BUT there was a purpose to my work - one which I told no-one except my other half! Crafter's Companion were having a Design Team Call - and I decided to apply. I didn't let anyone else know, as that way I didn't have to do the whole thing of telling people I hadn't got in!! 

Well, imagine my total shock last week, when I received an email telling me that I had been accepted!! To be honest, my first reaction was that of being speechless - and feeling a little nauseous! I had convinced myself that I hadn't got in, and that was fine. When I found I had, I began to worry that I wouldn't be up to it!! BUT I've mostly got over the wobbles (am still feeling a little stressed about how I will cope) BUT am now part of the DT for the next 12 months!! It's so exciting!! And daunting!! And amazing!! And terrifying!!

Anyway, I thought I would share with you one of the projects that I made for my application.

This one is a sewing project. I made some bunting using images from Crafter's Companion's Bebunni range. These ones were from the freebie download on their website. I started by printing off the toppers onto t-shirt transfer material, and ironing them onto white cotton. I then placed them face down on some sewable interfacing, and stitched round the circle - I drew round a circle die so that I had a line to follow for accuracy. I then cut round very close to the stitching, and then into the centre of the interfacing so I could turn the circles in the right way.

I cut the bunting shapes out using the EZ Tri tool (from the Tri Recs set). I used white cotton onto which I machine appliqued the Bebunni images. In retrospect I should have done the applique before I cut the material, as it pulled the fabric in around the circle. I also used light grey cotton for the back of each bunting pennant, and some pretty white and grey patterned material with little strawberries on, for the rest of the fronts. 

Having stitched all the fronts to the backs, I attached them to grey bias binding. I used a decorative scallop stitch, and white thread as a contrast. I really liked making this - and was really pleased with how it all turned out!!

I would like to enter this into:

Craft My Life - All Crafts - Anything Goes but Cards
Love to Create - Anything Goes

For anyone new to my blog, please feel free to follow me - either by clicking on 'Join This Site' on the RHS of the blog. Or by email - the little box is there for you to type into - you will then be automatically emailed each time I post.  And PLEASE leave me a message to let me know you've joined up so I can make sure I thank you!! 

Well - after an emotionally exhausting day, I will be most definitely be back with more soon.

Cxxx

Butterfly blues ....

This is quite late for my second post of the week - so just a quick one today. This card was for my niece's 17th birthday.  I started with a white, square base card from Craftwork Cards (just smaller than 6x6). The brown card is from a DCWV 6x6 Naturals self adhesive Mat Stack and the Kraft colour card is Papermill (Buff). I embossed a piece of Creative Expressions Coconut White card with my Grand MBossabilities folder. 

The edge of the light blue Bazzill card was cut with a Spellbinders Classic Triple Scallop Edgeability die. The dark teal-coloured texture-effect card is from Create and Craft. The topper is Hunkydory, and the swirls were cut from the teal and Kraft cards with Spellbinders Floral Flourishes. The lettering is from my XCut Rome Alphabet Die - and the finishing touches are a little bit of thin, white satin ribbon, and a lovely old wooden button from my stash.

Before I sign off, I've had another little win! The little boy's card I made for my Man's World Challenge won me another challenge over at Send a Smile For Kids - so there's another little badge over there on the side!! Seems like I'm on a roll!! 

I would like to enter this into:
Creative Corner Challenges - Button Up

Fussy and Fancy Friday - Birthday

Be back after the weekend. Hope you all have a good one!! 
Cxxx

CCM&M #111 - Mixed Media - Winter and/or Slap It On!!

It's the first outing for our mixed media Elves this week. This is the definition of Mixed Media that we are working to - just so everyone knows where we are coming from:

The term 'Mixed Media' is a broad spectrum term covering many aspects of arts and crafts. It can include altering objects - books, boxes, frames, furniture - art journalling, book making, collage and many more.

The items used in the creation of a mixed media piece are plentiful, and can include buttons, broken jewellery pieces, all sorts of things that other things that other people throw away and consider to be rubbish, paint in all forms, texture pastes, scraps of metal, fibres, filaments, chipboard, old photos to add or alter, pen, pencil, markers, crayons, chalks, polymer clays etc etc etc.

Yvonne is the bravest of the Elves - and has stepped up to host the first of these challenges. The theme is Winter and/or Slap It On!! So based around wintry colours and/or an 'anything goes' type idea. We want to see your album covers, canvases, altered art, upcycled, recycled, re-purposed or brand-new from-scratch projects. But, PLEASE, we DO NOT want to see any cards for this challenge. 

Our sponsors are Woodware who are offering £12 to spend at either on-line or in-store at your favourite stockist.  

Well, for me, I could not resist the urge to 'Slap It On'. My mind just started going off in all different directions of what I could do. And I didn't really want to not do any of it. So, in the end, I decided to used it as an opportunity to have a go at combining loads of techniques and materials in one space. This is the final project - I have put this picture here for those who are not interested/don't have time to look through all the stages that went into producing it. Feel free to scroll quickly down to the bottom!! 

For those of you that do want to know, grab a coffee as this may take a while!! I started by sketching out on a piece of A4 paper, all the ideas I had and how I wanted to combine them. Details changed as I progressed, but essentially the overall plan stayed the same. I then set about collecting possible materials for each part of the project. I have to admit, that it became increasingly evident that I have a huge amount of stuff - and choices were a little difficult. Some of the things from the original selection didn't actually make it to the final project - and other things slipped in!! 

So. I started with the background. I used an A3 piece of mountboard, and painted it with Magnolia emulsion paint. In the top right corner, I used a stencil (from Lidl) and inked through with Forest Moss, Rusty Hinge, Bundled Sage and Victorian Velvet DI's. I then dabbed a little perfect medium through the stencil, and embossed with Mica Boss, before brushing over Autumn Bronze and Pear Green mica powders. 

For the dots at the bottom I used Pearlescent Texture Paste (Lidl) through That Special Touch Dotty Mask. It did get a bit messy, so to try to cover the worst up, I used my finger to smear some along the edges. I then dug out something I haven't used in years - glittered flocking powder!!! Yes, I have a range of colours - but chose pink this time. 

The top left square is Spring Green card (Papermill) embossed with XCut's Butterfly Pattern A4 embossing folder. I then highlighted the raised areas with Cosmic Shimmer Blush Gilding Wax. Pink striped Washi Tape was then wrapped around this, before mounting it onto a cork square - from a self adhesive roll. The bottom right square is canvas (from a roll), brushed with a sponge and Eco Green Acrylic Paints in Mulch, Pumpkin and Moss. 

Although I didn't take a photo of this stage, I then stamped over the edges of the whole thing with a La Blanche swirl stamp and Indigo Blue Flitterglu. The gilding flakes are a mixture of colours - but mostly Variegated Green.

For the next section, I started with a piece of old packaging, covered in Antique Pink Pebeo paint, and topped with Kroma Crackle mixed with Magnolia emulsion paint. I then used the tissue paper technique with indigo Blue Slap It On Matt, a textured serviette, Bundled Sage and Victorian DI's and a mixture of Papermania Chronology Stamps and Boofle Background stamps. The flowers are made from clear and white UTEE mixed with Cosmic Shimmer Melt Inks - Saffron Yellow, Azure Blue and Carmine Red. 

The 'Love' stamp is Sheena Douglass - but I don't know the name of the set! This was stamped in Victorian Velvet and cut with an XCut Nesting Scalloped heart die. The pearls are from my stash as is the paisley brad. I used Cosmic Shimmer Aqua Twinkles to mount the pearls in the flowers. This in turn was mounted on Papermill Kraft card, embossed with CC Embossalicious 8x8 Elegace folder, and inked with Walnut Stain DI. 

Another piece of packaging was painted with Mulch paint. I then stripped the top off of a piece of corrugated card, which I painted with Magnolia. Using a sponge, I swiped Pumpkin and Moss paints over the top. I used the tissue paper technique with Creative Expressions Mini Swirl stamps and Timber Brown Stazon. This was applied with wax from my Melt Pot. The flowers and leaves are cut from a DCWV Safari stack, with Spellbinders Bitty Blossoms and Foliage dies. They were dipped into clear UTEE for a faux porcelain look. The Faith stamp is another from Sheena Douglass, stamped with Walnut Stain, and cut with a Spellbinders Mega Scalloped Oval. The sticky gems are from my stash.

For the middle part, I used Deco Mache Papers - Peacock Feathers Orange and Boho Chic Leaves - and Decopatch Gloss to cover the card. The ribbons, cord, buttons, pearls and sticky gems are all from my stash. The backing card is Bazzill - and is embossed with CC Rose Garden folder and inked with DI's. The Joy stamp is another Sheena Douglass one, stamped with Forest Moss DI and cut with a Spellbinders Scalloped Circle die.

The final finishing touches include a UTEE owl, die cut shapes, more paisley brads, a heart charm tied with ribbon, ric rac, and pearls and gems from my stash. The whole thing was then mounted onto Dark Chocolate Centura Pearl card.

Well done if you've managed to make it to this point (or maybe you were sane and just scrolled quickly down). I do apologise for the long post, but I think it's the teacher in me that feels the need to explain what I have done.

Please pop over the Crafty Cardmakers and More blog to check out all the great inspiration from the Design Team. And we look forward to seeing your creations - just remember NO CARDS please.

I would like to enter this into:

That Craft Place - Anything Goes

Crafts 4 Eternity - Texture

Be back soon. 

Cxxx