Crafty Cardmakers' Challenge #83 - Belated Birthday!!

Happy New Year to you all - yes I know I'm over three weeks late, but better late than never eh? And that's the theme for our first Challenge of 2013 - Belatedness - in this case Belated Birthday!! 

The challenge to you comes from our lovely Kim, and it is to create a card for a belated birthday. You can use any image, Stamped or Digi, but your card MUST include a sentiment indicating that the card is for a belated Birthday, for example - Sorry I missed it, Have a very Happy Unbirthday, Better late than never, Your birthday came, your birthday went, here's the card I should have sent!! See what you can come up with to amuse us, or just a straightforward belated birthday wishes will do, but remember it does need a sentiment as outlined above to qualify. 

We are sponsored for this challenge by Milk, Coffee Digital Stamps

with 5 images for our winner

I have to admit that this is the first time I've crafted since the last challenge and am feeling both rusty, apprehensive and lacking in inspiration. However, I was determined to have a go to try to get myself motivated again!! I'm not sure how successful I have been, as I am not overly happy with the result. 

  

I decided to go with just stamping the message and making it the focal point. My original inspiration for the colours came from Craftwork Cards Bohemian Glitter selection. Sadly to say, none of it made it onto the card, as things did not go to plan. Anyway, I used Forest Moss DI with my Forever Friends Script Alphabet stamp set, and stamped onto Crafter's Companion Neenah card. This all went to plan!!

To cut out the sentiment, I use the largest die from Spellbinders Majestic Elements Marvellous Squares, with of the Grand Labels 1. I wanted to cut outside the square to create a border, as there are some gorgeous little details on that die that can only be seen if used as the inside of a frame.

Everything had gone fine up to this point, and then I decided to do some stencilling with DI through the dies. The border went well with Bundled Sage, and then I started with Victorian Velvet on the message area. I think that 'heavy handed' is the term I would use, and once I had started there was no going back. And when I had finished it was no longer a possibility to use the Bohemian Glitter card as the colours were just not right.  I suppose I could have started again, but I put it down and walked away. When I came back I decided that I should persevere to see if I could salvage the work as I didn't have the energy to try again. 

So, I sprayed it with Crafters Companion Iridescent Glitter Spray, and mounted the message part onto foam to raise it slightly. The border is cut with an old style X Cut Border Die called Rosa. The card is from my stash (Bazzill and DCWV), as are the white satin and organza ribbons, and the pearls.

I'm sure we all feel a bit ho-hum about our work sometimes, as I do today, but hopefully you will take some inspiration from it and have a go yourself!! Even if it seems somewhat daunting to start with. Take some time to visit the Crafty Cardmakers blog to look at the inspiration from other DT members - there are lots of different takes on this one - there's sure to be something to get your creative juices flowing!!  One thing we would respectfully ask is that you read the blog rules before entering, to avoid any disappointment. 

So, I will sign out and go have a look for some crafting inspiration - there's got to be some lurking around  here somewhere!!

Cxxx

Challenge 81 - Inspired by a Song

Sorry for the delay in publishing this post - but better late than never. Over at Crafty Cardmakers this time, we have a challenge that is inspired by a song. It has to be said that even some members of the Design Team were challenged by this. The song is called 'Time in a Bottle' - and for full details of this, the challenge itself and the prizes on offer, please pop over to the Crafty Cardmakers blog. This challenge will run until 7th January - so plenty of time to get your thinking caps on - and be creative.

We are sponsored by our very own Kim who is offering the selection of goodies shown below. And also by Milk Coffee Digital Stamps.

I chose to focus on two lines from the song:

If I had a box just for wishes

And dreams that had never come true

I love working with boxes, and used the larger of the three Papermania Bare Blanks Nesting Boxes for this project.

I have decoupaged boxes before - with a variety of materials - but this time decided to try out the Decopatch papers I had seen in The Range. Lots of them are animal prints as many of the blanks are of animals, but I found this gorgeously vibrant pink, orange and gold patterned paper and decided that was the one for this project.

In the past I have used watered down PVA glue but this time I used Decopatch Glossy Glue. The good thing about this medium is that it dries much quicker than PVA which allows you to work much more quickly as you are not having to wait for a side to dry before carrying on. I used the Decopatch paper on the outside of the box, and ordinary tissue paper on the inside. The advantage of the tissue paper is that, once it is wet, it will mould very easily into the corners of the box.

To decorate the top, I cut four small Romantic Rectangles from Bazzill cardstock using my Spellbinders dies. I then cut off the legs of some gold, pink and orange brads, and fixed them on with silicone glue. The finishing touch was the metal photo corners. All of these were from my stash. As I decant it all into plastic storage boxes, I have no idea where the brads or photo corners came from originally!!

The song continues:

The box would be empty

Except for the memory

Of how they were answered by you

I'm not really sure how I feel about that. I agree that many of mine were answered when I met my husband, but I think we all have wishes and dreams aside from the type that can be fulfilled by having another person in your life. And although we all go through tough times I like to hold on to the hope that, however low I feel at times, the wishes and dreams I still have, will one day come to something. Otherwise - what is the point? 

On that note, may I wish you all a very Merry Christmas both from myself and the Crafty Cardmakers team!! I look forward to seeing all your entries - pop over the Crafty Cardmakers blog for more inspiration. They are all fantastic projects - and go to show just how diverse a team we are!!

I would like to enter this into the following challenges:
Challenges 4 Everybody - Anything Goes

Glitter n Sparkle - Use Metal (Brads and Photo Corners)

Cxxx

Challenge #80 - Christmas Photo Inspiration

Our Challenge this fortnight, hosted by Fiona, is a photo inspiration challenge. Make a card or project inspired by the following photo. You can take inspiration from any part of it really, from the actual image or from the colours.

We are sponsored again by

DI'S DIGI DOWNLOADS

$10 GIFT VOUCHER

and also by

CROP STOP

$15 Gift Certificate to the Crop Stop Store 

I chose to take the colours of the photo for my inspiration. I love the turquoise - but what caught my eye was the gold on the chairs. So I used those two as my main colours whilst bringing in a little white too.

Whilst looking for new ornaments for my tree, I came upon this turquoise sparkly snowflake ornament - and I knew that I wanted it for this project. It is rather large so I used an 8" square card - but it is rather light and doesn't make the card 'front-heavy'

I kept the glittery feel with white glitter card. I have a tonne of glitter card - I used to love using it all the time - but haven't done so recently - so there was plenty there for me to get stuck into. I used it to cut two Spellbinders Lace Doily motifs. These were laid on top of each other - one as a square and the other as a diamond. This provided the background for the snowflake. I also used the white for the scalloped square.

The gold card is from my local market - it's fairly lightweight card, but I love the fact that it is matt instead of shiny. I cut the small square for the snowflake using a nestie, and the large square was edged with the Classic Scallop Edgeability, and an insert from Decorative Inserts 6. 

The turquoise card is from the Create & Craft Pastel Textured Cardstock pad - I have both the brights and pastel and love them both!!  It was edged with an insert from the Classic Ric Rac set.

The wide ribbon and matching bow are from my stash - bought in Lidl several years ago. And the pearls are from Diamond Occasion - I have all sorts of colours of pearls from them!!

Take a look over on the Crafty Cardmakers website as there is loads more inspiration there from the rest of the fabulous Design Team.

Take care

Cxxxx 

Challenge #79 - More Than One Punch or Die Cut

Our challenge this time is hosted by BettyC and she would like you to use more than 1 punch or die cut. You can have a combination such as 1 punch and 1 diecut as that equals two, or two punches, two diecuts. You can use more if you wish as long as there is at least two in combination or two of either on your creation.



We are sponsored by Hobby Art with this fabulous prize of two stamp sheets. And by Milk Coffee Digital Stamps who are offering 5 digital stamps.
                                                  


This week's challenge was right up my street as I love die cutting with my Spellbinders. I had thought my creation would be an elaborate affair. But when it came to it, I actually went for something much more simple and restrained.

The base card just under 6" square and is from Craftwork Cards. The two mats are My Mind's Eye Lost and Found Papers - the largest cut with a simple square die - and the smaller with a scalloped square die. The pattern in the scalloped square was cut using one of the inserts from the Classic Triple Scallop Edgeabilties set. 

The flowers are cut from red card using the two largest dies from the Bitty Blossom set, and the letters with the X Cut DieLicious Rome Alphabet die. 

The finishing touch was a little bit of sparkle in the border with Cosmic Shimmer Aqua Twinkles. Overall, a really rather restrained card for me!! 

Pop over to the Crafty Cardmakers blog for more inspiration!!

Take Care,

Cxxx

Challenge 77 - Autumn or Autumn Colours !!

This week's challenge is set by the lovely Josephine who says 'There are always so many Hallowe'en challenges around! So instead of creating a Hallowe'en card I would like to see something that depicts the Season of Autumn, or maybe Harvest Festival, Guy Fawkes, Diwali or some other festival that happens in the Autumn. If your theme is a lesser-known festival, please tell us about it in your post! But remember, this is not a Hallowe'en challenge!'

We are sponsored this week by Milk Coffee Digital Stamps.

Well, it's been a while since I've been here on Blogger - pretty much a whole month!! I would so love to have more crafting time, but planning and marking has pretty much taken over my life in my temporary teaching post!! Ofsted is looming - and an air of urgency has entered every aspect of school (and home) life!! 

So, it was nice to sit down on Sunday morning and craft. To be honest, it also meant I could get my husband's anniversary card made at the same time. We will have been married 8 years on Tuesday, and we had a beautifully sunny autumn day for our wedding - with all the leaves looking so vibrant. The colours of the card match the colour theme of our wedding - burgundys, yellows and oranges - so this challenge seemed a perfect way to create his card.

I started by creating a heart template on the computer, and printing it onto 300gsm card. I then cut it out, folded it and inked it using Antique Linen, Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge, Aged Mahogany, Brushed Corduroy and Vintage Photo DI's. I didn't want a blended look, so literally splodged the foam onto the card - both back and front.

I then gathered together all my foliage dies - they are all Spellbinders and from a variety of sets including Foliage 1, and Spiral Blossoms. I also rummaged through my scraps box to use up smaller pieces of card - rather than cutting into anything new. I embossed them all for texture, and inked some whilst still in the dies.

These were randomly stuck onto the card to create a 3D textured effect - just like piles of leaves on the floor!! 

The finishing touch was the little plaque (cut using Spellbinders scalloped long oval) which I printed on my computer, and inked with Aged Mahogany whilst still in the die. !!

I am pretty pleased with how this turned out.

I would like to enter this into the following challenges:

Challenge Up Your Life - Autumn/ Halloween

Sarah Hurley Challenge Blog - Autumn

Hopefully be back soon.

Cxxx

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 75 - Stitching & Lace

This week's host is our wonderful leader, Lin!! She would like to see stitching on your projects this time - hand, machine or faux, along with lace - this must be real NOT faux!!

We are sponsored by the wonderful Hobby Art stamps who are offering this wonderful set of stamps, and say: 
"As a family business we're a friendly, helpful, bunch at Hobby Art.  All our stamps are designed by us and manufactured in Britain. Look at the gallery on my blog - jennymayes.com - for lots of card ideas using the Hobby Art range. We're pleased to sponsor the Crafty Cardmakers Challenge and look forward to seeing the entries. Good luck everyone.  Jenny and all. X"

I have to admit that this one has been tough for me!! Not because of the subject - but because life seems to have just taken over. I have a teaching job for this term which came at short notice, along with all the planning and other things that come with it. I started on Monday having had a week's notice - and that week I was camping near Dartmoor so was not exactly conducive to planning and preparation for teaching. I literally came back on Sunday and went straight in on Monday. The picture is me on the zip wire over the Eden Project whilst on holiday - great fun!! My husband doesn't like heights so he took the photos from his vantage point safely on the ground. 

Anyway, all my plans for this challenge were put on hold whilst I frantically tried to get my head around what was happening. In the end I had to get up extra early on Saturday morning in order to find some time to do this. But, it did take my mind off everything else - and while it's not quite what I originally had in mind, I think it turned out OK.

At the end of my holiday, we did a slight detour to visit Crafty Devils in Barnstaple, and there I bought my new Sizzix Quilting dies. The 3" square (2.5" when finished), and the triangles which make a 3" square when sewn together. In this case, I didn't join them, just used them more like applique to make a background.

I sewed the two burgundy triangles onto a piece of the green floral quilting material (from a charm pack I bought - I think this one is from Pelenna Patchwork) using a decorative stitch on my machine. I used cream thread so that it showed up. I then stitched the square on top of this using burgundy thread (again so that it would show up). 

It was then stuck onto a piece of thick card to give it some rigidity. This, in turn, was mounted onto burgundy card, and green Bazzill. I covered an 8" card blank with burgundgy card, and stuck the mat onto it. I found the lace at a country fair craft stall - it came with the pearls already attached (probably why it caught my eye as I love pearls).

The glittery flowers have been in my box so long I cannot remember where I got them from, while the fabric one was from WH Smith (strange but true)!! 

Pop over the the Crafty Cardmakers blog to see what everyone else has been up to - and to welcome our new DT members! They have all created some stunning projects to inspire you!!

Will try to blog again soon - but won't promise anything.

Cxxx

CCM Challenge 74 - Winged Things

This week, our lovely host is Marie, who would like you to include something with wings!! It could be a fairy, angel, insect, bird - or anything else that has wings.

We are sponsored this week by Di's Digi Downloads, and also by The Stampman who are offering a £10 gift voucher for their store.

When this challenge was set, I was determined not to use butterflies - but have to admit that I couldn't really get inspired by anything else. In the end, I dug out my DCWV Safari Chic pad (the one that has been sitting around for 2 years waiting for me to scrapbook my Safari Holiday from 3 years ago!!) as I knew it had this gorgeous butterfly design!! 

I used the design to determine the colours for the rest of the card. The textured mats are all Bazzill, with the green patterned paper coming from a Brenda Pinnick pad I've had for years (so many sheets - I'm not sure I'll ever get through it!) 

I used the butterfly insert from the Spellbinders Edgeabilities Decorative Inserts Set 6 to cut the border on the light coloured mat. The leaves and flower are from the Carnation Creations set. I embossed them and inked through the die - Rusty Hinge DI for the flower, and Forest Moss DI for the foliage - to link with the orange and darker green of the design. 

The butterfly is from the Wings of Hope set. Because the butterfly paper is one sided, I stuck it back to back with the Brenda Pinnick paper, before cutting it as I didn't want the white showing. The other two layers of the butterfly are from the Bazzill card. 

I didn't want to use ribbon, so decided to colour some cream raffia with Rusty Hinge DI. Can't decide if I like it or not!! I filled the centre of the flower with gems from my Anita's Gemstone Wheel - both 2mm and 3mm. The little butterflies on the raffia and stem are the waste from the border. 

Don't forget to pop on over to Crafty Cardmakers to check out the great inspiration from the rest of the Design Team!! Then get your crafty stash out and link up your creation on the blog!! 

Cxxxx