Docrafts Wellington Bear card kit - masculine birthday card

Hi blogging friends

Gosh, it feels like FOREVER since I last posted!  My loved one has been home from hospital for a few weeks now and I have had very little "me" time because they are needing intense physiotherapy and occupational therapy to recover from spending so much time in hospital this year (aside from other health issues and medical appointments that need attending to) so it has been very full-on.  But we are on the "up" side of treatment now so we can view the world in a more positive way and move forward which is good!

I thought I would share a card I made for my husband's birthday and being a big fan of the Docrafts Wellington Bear Collection, I reached for one of the card decoupage (paper tole) kits that I bought a little while ago.  I think Wellington Bear is just PERFECT for masculine cards for any age group and having the images diecut so you don't have to do anything except pop them out is a great timesaver.

After I popped the images out, I cleaned up the edges where there were little bits of paper dags (just me being fussy).

The card kit came with virtually everything you need:  sentiments, designer papers, cardstock cut to size, envelope - you just need dimensionals and anything else you want to add to personalise your card.  I rarely do a card kit exactly as the instructions as I like to put my own spin on it even if it is only something small.  I love how the card opens with just the chair and the designer paper on the card inside - hope you see that here:

I did actually cut the cardstock down to size because when I put the sentiment on the bottom, the card looked unbalanced so cut a bit off the top of the card.

I corner-punched the card as well as the sentiment panel, added aged copper brads beside the sentiment then popped the sentiment up on dimensionals.  Easy peasy! 

Here is a closer look so you can see the dimensions on the card:

Challenges:

I would like to enter my card in the following challenge -

The ABC Challenge - Z is for Zoo - where you need to use an animal or animal print on your creation.  Mine is the bear of course!

I must admit that I have been really missing having more time to play in my Craft Room - but because I get constantly interrupted, it isn't very practical and the only time I can really play is on the weekends when my husband can give me a little break.  But, hopefully, I can get a little more free time in the lead up to Christmas as my situation improves.  I am itching to make some Christmas cards!  I have been working on another very special card for a very special person - here is a sneaky peak but that's all I am saying.......! 

Thanks everyone for sticking by me and my blog - and especially for your lovely comments that continue to encourage me.

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  None

Ink:  None

Designer paper:  Docrafts - included in card kit

Accessories:  Docrafts Wellington Bear A5 card kit, dimensionals, aged copper brads by Printblocks

Punches:  Stampin' Up! corner punch

Docrafts Wellington Bear - A Father's Day card

Hi blogging friends

It was Father's Day last Sunday and here is a card I made for my husband who is a great Dad to our daughter:

Whilst I have been staying at hospital helping to care for my loved one, I have taken along some diecut paper tole images and put a few of them together.  It is so much easier and quicker if they are diecut as I don't have to do all the time-consuming bit of cutting them out which is great because I have very little crafting time at the moment!  My Aussie blogging friend Merry from MerryMade Cards and Crafts does lots of gorgeous paper tole cards and has been a great supporter of my blog right from Day 1 (thanks Merry!) and Merry's cards are what inspired me to get back into some papertole which I haven't done for a couple of years now.

The image is by Docrafts and is called Wellington Bear and I thought he was just perfect for a masculine card.  I layered him up using dimensionals.

The designer paper has been in my stash for ages and is by Basic Grey - Granola; I was really pleased how well it matched the image and it was one of those cards where everything came together easily - I love that!  The navy blue button is also by Basic Grey from their Granola set.  I sewed the button holes with some string.

When I was at Riot Art and Craft a few weeks ago, I found some really cool new rolls of various colours of textured ribbon made by Birch and I have used one of them on my card.  This one has the rather odd name of Pizza Box - My Best Friend.  I added some Fray Stop to the ends as it does tend to fray alot after cutting.  I thought I would do something a bit different with my ribbon as you can see inspired by what I have seen around blogland. 

I used my favourite border punch for masculine cards - Fiskars Threading Water punch - for the bottom panel then added a line above it using my Scor-Pal so I had an edge to butt my designer paper up against (it's easier for me to get it straight that way).  Not sure if you can see, but I ran the navy blue cardstock through my Cuttlebug using my Crafts Too dots embossing folder.  You can always click on the photo for a bigger look.

I thought about adding a sentiment but couldn't really figure out where or what shape - and in the end, decided to leave it off.  I guess I figured that having the writing on the book that Wellington Bear is holding really said it all.

Here is a close-up so you can see the layering:

Challenges:

I am entering my card into the following challenges -

Simon Says Stamp Challenge - Anything goes - 29th August

*************************

Before I go, I thought I would share some photos of my garden now that Spring has sprung here in Australia!  I am so happy to see new bright green leaves on my Chinese Elm - they look so pretty against the blue sky.  How I have LONGED to see some blue sky; it's been a very long and very wet Winter!! 

My white violets have been delighting me with their fragrance and I love how beautiful their whiteness contrasts against their dark green leaves:  

My Spring bulbs have been bursting into life.  Here are some grape hyacinths that bring me so much joy each year with their beautiful purple colour (purple is my favourite colour!):  

My daphne has been resplendent this year and now almost finished flowering.  Their delightful fragrance fills the air as walk along our decking:

{happy sigh}......Spring makes me feel so happy!

Thanks so much for stopping by and thanks Merry for the inspiration behind my card!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  None

Ink:  None

Designer paper:  Basic Grey - Granola - Trail Mix

Accessories:  Scor-Pal, Docrafts Wellington Bear diecut sheet, button by Basic Grey - Granola, dimensionals, string, Cuttlebug, Crafts Too dots embossing folder, ribbon by Birch - Pizza Box - My Best friend, fray stop, cardstock - navy blue, American Crafts Kraft

Punches:  Fiskars Threading Water

Some more of my decorative painting.......

Hi blogging friends

Just thought I would share an item that I painted at a Decorative Painting Workshop a while ago.  I grew up in the country so we had plenty of chickens and fresh eggs.  I have fond memories of collecting fresh eggs on the weekends (I was at school during the week of course) and our family would often sit down to a lunch of freshly cooked eggs, a crusty loaf of bread and homemade butter, and I would always have a glass of rich, creamy milk from our Jersey cow.  If you don't know about Jersey cows, they give milk that is super-rich and creamy (not so great for your cholesterol but we didn't know what cholesterol WAS when I was growing up LOL.....) - ahh, sweet memories of farm-life.

So, when I saw the chicken workshop advertised at my local Decorative Painting store, I thought it would be fun plus I rather liked the Trompe l'oeil effect of the chicken's head.  If you don't know what Trompe l'oeil means, you can read about HERE at Wikipedia; in essence (quoting directly from Wikipedia) - "It is an art technique involving extremely realistic imagery in order to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects exist in three dimensions."  Now my painting doesn't have a patch on other artists, but it was my first attempt and I was happy enough with my painting that I put it up on our kitchen wall.  We are always our own hardest critics, don't you think?  But as I get older, I tend to be more relaxed about these things and don't worry so much:  there are other more important things to worry about!  

The item was painted onto Craftwood (medium density fibreboard) using JoSonja acrylic gouache.  Once the painting was left to cure (ie: dry completely) for several weeks, the painting was covered with water-based matt varnish to protect it. 

Thanks so much for stopping by  

Jocelyn

Memory Box Snowflake Ornament die - embossed Christmas card

Hi blogging friends,

Sorry I haven't been around much.  I have been in and out of hospital with my family member like a yo-yo these past 4 weeks and have only been home a couple of days in total.  They have wireless internet at the hospital and I can log into their network via my laptop but frustratingly you cannot view any photographs because the hospital network firewall won't allow you to which means I cannot see anyone's cards that they are blogging - there is just a red 'X' there instead - plus I can't even sign into Google and therefore can't do any blogging or leave comments on people's blogs, catch up on my Google Reader items and cannot access You-Tube. 

I am sure it has been set up that way for security/privacy reasons and I respect that - I guess I just feel a little cut off from the blogging world and it would be lovely to look at your blogs + leave some comments or watch some crafting videos on You-Tube to take my mind off all things medical.......  I have actually been doing some knitting instead as I like to keep my hands busy and have just finished a scarf.  It has been great to do something crafty that I can pick up and put down in a flash if I need to - and as hospital tends to be one giant waiting room, when we go for all our medical appointments, I take my knitting along - and it's amazing how much you can get done when you are waiting!  I have also found it very relaxing and helps me de-stress and often I will do a bit of knitting at all sort of odd hours when I am staying at the hospital.   I promise I will share some photos of my finished scarf soon......

June has now become July and of course, that brings to mind 'Christmas in July'.  Because it is winter here where I live, many of my fellow Aussies celebrate 'Christmas in July' and the thought of sitting down to a nice, hot roast at this time of year is far more appealing than when we celebrate Christmas in the middle of summer!  And, of course, it is the perfect excuse to make some Christmas cards.

After seeing Sue Nelson (from her website Heartprints) use Memory Box dies for embossing, I thought I would give the idea a whirl using one of my Memory Box dies and this is what I came up with:

You can see Sue's card sample at this link HERE.

I love how it looks and it has given me a whole new way of using these dies.  I used my Cuttlebug with the following sandwich (from bottom up):

A plate

B plate

1 piece of scrap cardstock (used as a shim)

Spellbinders Tan embossing mat

Memory Box die face up

white cardstock (that I was embossing)

B plate

which is the same sandwich I use for embossing with my Spellbinder Nestabilities.

Sue Nelson uses a totally different sandwich in her Cuttlebug and uses a Cuttlehug plate as well and I would recommend that if you are going to have a play, that you err on the side of caution with the size of the sandwich - and never, EVER try and force it through.  If the sandwich doesn't start to go through easily, then stop or you might break your Cuttlebug.  I played for about half an hour before I found the sandwich I was happy with - plus my machine is over 3 years old and seen ALOT of use and is quite "loose".  You may not need a shim for your Cuttlebug if it is new.

The die I used is called 'Snowflake Ornament' - so pretty - to which I added 3 silver rhinestones - gotta have some bling somewhere on my card LOL!   The silver cord was added in 2 separate elements, ie: I glued a piece down to the top of the ornament then tied a bow using a separate piece of cord and glued that on top.  I added some Fray Stop to the ends of the cord so it wouldn't fray.

I added a silver Merry Christmas Sticker (haven't used them for quite a few years!).  Just a tip to get the sticker on straight - draw a faint pencil line then align your sticker with it and don't forget to rub out the line afterwards!

I backed the main panel with silver Mirri card (bit hard to capture the silvery-ness with the camera) then onto the white cardstock base which was embossed using one of the snowflakes 5" x 7" folder from the Cuttlebug Winter Wonderland set.  Finished card size is metric 127mm x 127mm or imperial 5 inches x 5 inches.

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenge -

The Squirrel and the Fox Christmas card - Challenge #21 - Christmas in July

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps, Ink and Designer paper:  None!

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Memory Box Snowflake Ornament die, silver cord, Kaiser silver rhinestones, Snowflakes embossing folder from Cuttlebug Winter Wonderland set, silver Merry Christmas sticker, Perfect Layers tools, cardstock:  white, silver mirror

Aaahh, how good it is to be a cat!

Hi blogging friends,

Just had to stop by and share this photo of our cat Ruby lazing in front of the open fire yesterday afternoon.  Doesn't she just look soooooo relaxed? 

Aaah, how good it is to be a cat!!

Thanks so much for stopping by

Jocelyn

Penny Black Garden Friends birthday card

Hi blogging friends  

Long time no blog!   My loved one had another scheduled operation, was home for less than 24 hours and then became very sick with viral gastro so they were admitted to hospital and stayed for quite a while.  Thankfully, they were released yesterday and it is sooooo nice to be home:  there is nothing like your own food, bed and 'stuff'!  I guess it makes you appreciate those things even more when you are away!!  Anyway, it was nice to have a little bit of crafty time today..........

My daughter's 9th birthday isn't until July but the way the time is flying by and my general extra-busyness of running to and from medical appointments, I thought I had better make it whilst I had the opportunity.

I have seen a few cards around blogland that have the main image framed, and in particular, by a white frame so that is what inspired this card.  

I used 3 different Penny Black stamps to create my scene:  the bunny/bird are from the Garden Friends clear set, the butterfly is from the Critter Party clear set and the sentiment is from the Tiny Wishes clear set.  I did actually stamp the butterfly twice:  once on the cardstock base and again on a piece of scrap cardstock which I cut out and popped on top of the base image to give it a little dimension.  I drew in the dotted lines with a Zig Millenium .005 black pigment ink pen. 

All the images were coloured with Prismacolor + Derwent Coloursoft pencils plus Odourless Mineral Spirits using paper stumps.  I added Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue to the flowers and the butterfly's wings.

I lightly chalked around the image with blue chalk for the sky and green chalk for the grass.

I made my own pink glitter cardstock for the sparkly heart next to the sentiment by using the same colour pink cardstock layer and rubbing a small section of it with a Versamark pad then poured on some Polysparkle clear embossing powder then heat-set it.  Then all I had to do was punch 2 hearts (I have a double layer of hearts just to add a bit of extra-dimension) using a Martha Stewart Looped Hearts edge punch (they are the leftover punchies after using the punch).  To see my tutorial on making your own glitter cardstock, click HERE (just scroll down a little on the post).

Here is a wee close-up:

The white lacey frame was made using a Marianne Craftables die (I cut the inside square with a craft knife) and the large white square scallop frame was made using a Go Kreate Scallop Square die.

I ran the pink cardstock through my Big Shot using the Crafts Too Sweet Flowers embossing folder but by the time I cut it to just the size I wanted and corner-punched it, you could barely see the embossing!  Oh well......it adds a teeny-tiny bit of texture I guess.......

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges - 

Penny Black and more at Allsorts - June Challenge - open theme of using your favourite things (mine is my favourite brand of stamps - Penny Black - diecutting, pencils and dry embossing).

Papertake Weekly Challenge - Anything goes - with optional extra of making card for Father's Day or for a boy/man (obviously I didn't do that option).

Well, I think I might go and have a nap.  I didn't get much sleep in hospital with all the noise and now that I am home and relaxing, I feel totally exhausted.  It is cold and foggy today (so much for the predicted sunny afternoon) and we have the open fire going so I won't feel a bit guilty curling up on the couch with our cat!

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black clear stamp sets - Garden Friends 30-021, Tiny Wishes 30-026, Critter Party 30-013

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black, Versamark Versamagic

Accessories:  Big Shot, Go Kreate Scallop Square die, Marianne Craftables die CR1203, Polysparkle embossing powder, heat-gun, Prismacolor + Derwent Coloursoft pencils, OMS, paper stumps, Zig Millenium .005 black pigment pen, Perfect Layers Tools, Kaisercolour chalks, Kindyglitz Crystalina, cardstock - KW Doggett 'Knight' white, rose pink

Punches:  Stampin' Up! corner, Martha Stewart Looped Hearts edge

Penny Black: A Bunch of Love Stickeroos bookmark + card

Hi blogging friends

When I went to a Craft Show late last year, I picked up some gorgeous Penny Black Stickeroos which I have had sitting in my stash and then about a month ago, I picked up a copy of the February edition of the UK mag "Quick Cards made easy" at my local newsagent and was totally inspired by Katina Killey's article on using stickers to make cards.   Katina made 10 cards using the Helz Cuppleditch Neighbourwood sticker collection of foxes, mice, owls etc. Wow - they were so gorgeous! Katina has a blog too called "Katina's Cards and Chat" which I discovered last year and I just LOVE Katina's style of cards.   But the cards Katina does for the mag are not on her blog - you will have to get the mag to see them (not that I could see anyway - correct me if I am wrong).   

I am sure that many of you have stickers sitting in your stash unused but too good to throw away just like me - so go and dig them out and have a play!   I decided to make some quick and easy bookmarks (I will just share one now and the others on another post) and then made a matching card - a fun little gift set which you could use for lots of occasions such as birthday, Mother's Day, friendship, etc.  Once I worked out how to make a bookmark (I have never made one before), it was easy peasy to make a couple in one sitting and I just changed things up a bit with each bookmark by using a different border punch and embellies.   The Penny Black stickers are really great quality stickers and I love how the sticker edges just seem to blend into the cardstock. The sticker sheet that I used has around 17 stickers which is great value for only a few dollars.

I love, love, LOVE the designer paper I used on my projects.  It is by Echo Park:  A Country Drive (6 x 6 pad) and the colours on all the pages are right up my alley.  I will have to try and get a few more pads before they become too scarce!

Bookmark:

I lightly chalked underneath the hedgie sticker with green chalk so it looked like a bit of grass/ground and added Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue to the flowers. The pink glitter butterfly on the bottom of the bookmark was punched out of pink glitter cardstock using a Martha Stewart Butterfly punch and I added some green glitter cardstock underneath.  I used a 1/4" round hole punch to punch a hole at the top then threaded through some scrap threads from balls of yarn plus some Cotton Candy and Limeade twine.  I love the texture that the funky fibres added to the bookmark.  Finished bookmark size is 165mm long x 65mm wide OR imperial 6-1/2" long x 2-9/16" wide.

Card:

I again coloured the ground underneath the sticker with a bit of green chalk and around the sky with blue chalk (not that you can see it all that well - it is subtle) and stamped on the sentiment then added a Hero Arts pearl heart.  The panel was diecut using Spellbinder Square Nestabilities and my Cuttlebug.  I added Kindyglitz to the hedgie's cheek and all the flower petals.  The pink glitter butterfly was punched using a Carl Butterfly-A punch and pink glitter cardstock - I know it looks dark in the photo but it is really a pale pink that matches the pink cardstock.

I grabbed three pieces of twine - Cotton Candy, Lollipop and Limeade and very patiently plaited them together, tied a knot at each end then tied it around the bottom panel - something a bit different to do with twine but I really like how it looks.  The bottom and main image panel are up on dimensionals.  Finished card size is 120mm or 4-3/4" square.

Challenges:

I am entering my card / bookmark in the following challenges -

Papertake Weekly Challenge - In the Garden

Splitcoaststampers Inspiration Challenge IC334 - Rosenberry Rooms - I was struck by the gorgeous pink and green colours on THIS Duvet Cover which was why I chose the designer papers that I used.  I had forgotten how much I loved pink and green together!

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Week 201 - In the Garden

Thanks for stopping by!  And thanks especially to Katina for the inspiration!

Jocelyn


Bookmark and Card Recipe:

Stamps:  'For you' sentiment from Penny Black 'Tiny Wishes' 30-026 clear set

Ink:  Versafine Onyx black

Designer Paper:   Echo Park - A Country Drive 6" x 6" pad

Accessories:   Penny Black Stickeroos 'A Bunch of Love' #10-165, Kaisercolour green and blue chalk, Perfect Layers Tools, Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue, scraps of wool, Cotton Candy (pale pink) twine by The Twinery, Limeade (green/white twine) + Lollipop (dark pink/white twine) by We R Memory Keepers - Sew Easy Fancy Floss, dimensionals, Hero Arts CH173 Hearts Accent Pearls, cardstock: white, pink, green, pink glitter, green glitter

Punches: Carl CP-1 Butterfly-A, Martha Stewart Monarch butterfly, Martha Stewart Pinking Scallop edge punch