Cuttlebug: Birds and Swirls - my 2nd Sympathy Card

Hello everyone, thanks for dropping in :-)

Here's my second Sympathy card (see yesterday's post for my first one) which we sent to a close family friend.

There isn't much to explain about the card:  clean, simple and unfussy.  I really love white-on-white cards - they always seem to look so elegant.  I've seen some jaw-dropping stunners around Splitcoaststampers since I joined up just over a year ago and started doing the CAS Challenges.  I'm popping this card into the Splitcoaststampers 'Clean and Simple' CAS37 Challenge of 'Sympathy cards'.  

I'm also entering this card in the Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge #25 of "white plus one other colour (other than skintone)".   My only other colour, of course, is BLACK.

I used my Corner punch to round all the corners then ran the cardstock thru my Cuttlebug using the Birds & Swirls embossing folder.  The ribbon was attached in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy and attached with a glue dot.  The sentiment panel has been popped up on 1mm mounts (dimensionals) and I added 3 white pearls just for that extra 'something' that the card needed.

Thanks for having a peek at my card! 

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Stamp-It Australia siset014 sentiment set 

Ink: Stazon Jet Black

Accessories: Cuttlebug machine, Birds and Swirls embossing folder, Spellbinder Oval Nestabilities, 1mm mounts, Kaiser SB794 Snow self-adhesive pearls, Bow Easy, 24mm-7/8" wide organza ribbon, Carl CP6 corner punch, glue dot, Cardstock: white

Crafts Too: Leafy Tree - Sympathy Card #1

Hi everyone - 'Happy Monday' and thanks for stopping by :-)

We learnt of the passing of the brother of a close family friend yesterday, so I had to make several Sympathy Cards to pop in the post today.  Since I started doing the Clean and Simple Challenges on Splitcoaststampers (SCS), I have been learning how to do simple and unfussy cards - not that I find it easy - I really have to restrain myself from fussing over my cards.  I have put this in the SCS's Gallery: CAS37 Challenge of 'With Sympathy'.  I really admire those who can make unfussy cards - the less is more kind-of-thinking.

This card uses the beautiful Crafts Too (UK) 'Leafy Tree' embossing folder - I really love this folder and the best thing is that they fit in the Cuttlebug using the same sandwich as Cuttlebug embossing folders.  

There isn't much to explain about the card.  I corner-punched the white cardstock layers and the sentiment panel has been popped up on 1mm mounts (dimensionals).  I punched 2 hearts with my Carl CP-8 Heart duo punch and added some very fine white glitter to the hearts - you probably can't see the glitter in the photo, but the hearts aren't meant to stand out too much - just wanted to add a little 'extra but not-too-fussy something' to the card to draw your eye to the sentiment panel.

I wrapped the ribbon around the 2nd layer of cardstock, then made a bow with my Bow Easy and attached it to the ribbon with a glue dot.

I'll be back tomorrow with the 2nd Sympathy card I made.

Jocelyn

Card Recipe: 

Stamps: Sentiment from: Wendy Irving Expressions J6412.01 clear stamp set 

Ink: Stazon Jet Black 

Accessories: Cuttlebug, Crafts Too 'Leafy Tree' embossing folder, Punches: Carl CP6 corner, CP-8 heart duo, 1mm mounts, Spellbinder Oval Nestabilities, 3/8"-10mm wide white organza ribbon, Bow Easy, .008 fine white glitter, glue dots, Cardstock: white 

Penny Black: In a nutshell - it's a baby card

Hello there :-)  

One of my neighbours just had a baby girl so this is the card I made for her and her DH to welcome the new arrival.   It gave me the perfect excuse to use my new Cuttlebug Roses embossing folder - I REALLY love this folder - it's so pretty and feminine.

The card uses a similar layout to this GORGEOUS card by Sue Nelson (aka Susie B on Splitcoaststampers).  Sue is one amazing cardmaker who has taught me so much about cardmaking.

I also made it for the Splitcoaststampers: Ways to Use it Challenge WT119 of Scallops, and tried to get as many scallops on the card as I could.  Here is the link for the deets.   Count all the different scallops on my card - even my ribbon AND the button has scallops (do the Hedgie's toes count as scallops?!)  It was fun to challenge myself to get as many different scalloped elements on the card as I could.

This hedgehog stamp was one of the first Penny Black 'Margaret Sherry' stamps I ever bought - quite some years ago - but it is still adorable and doesn't seem to date.  That's what I like about PB stamps - they seem timeless and I feel like I really get the value out of them.  

The image was stamped with Memento ink and coloured with Gamsol and Prismacolor pencils.  I lightly added pink, blue and lemon I-Kan-dee pearlescent chalk around the image.  The sentiment on the tag was stamped with Stazon ink and the tag was diecut with my Cuttlebug and one of the dies from the Cuttlebug Tiny Tags die set - although I did cut the end off to make it smaller to fit the sentiment better.  I chalked around the tag and added some tiny lemon hearts which are the leftover punchies from my EK Success Arrows Border punch (they look like tiny hearts to me).  I think I use this border punch more for the leftover punchies than actually adding a border LOL!  I added some sparkle with Kindyglitz to the flower petals, the hedgie's cheeks and the hearts on the tag.

The ribbon was done in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy and attached with a glue dot. 

Thanks for stopping by my little Blog! 

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Image: Penny Black 'In a Nutshell' 1754F, Sentiment: from Crafter's Companion 'Popcorn the Bear' Someone Special set 

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black, Stazon Jet black

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Roses and Swiss dots embossing folders, Cuttlebug Tiny Tags dieset, Spellbinder Large and Small Oval Nestabilities, Spellbinder Large Scalloped Oval Nestabilities, Gamsol, Prismacolor pencils, paper stumps, Martha Stewart Lace Heart edge punch , EK Success Arrows border punch, flower button, pink sewing thread, pink ribbon, pink brad, Kindyglitz Crystalina, I-Kan-dee Pearlescent chalks, glue dot, Bow Easy, Cardstock: white, lemon, pink

Artsmart Craft Cottage: Rosie Bear Stitchery

Apart from cardmaking, I LOVE do Stitcheries and decorative painting.  Before I started cardmaking, I did decorative painting (ie: tole painting) for many years and had weekly lessons at my local Community Centre.   I made this Stitchery for my DD's bedroom a while ago and thought I would share it with you.  The Stitchery is called "Rosie Bear" by Australian designer - Libby Richardson from Artsmart Craft Cottage.   I have no connection to Artsmart Craft Cottage but have bought most of Libby's designs over the years - they are so adorable and I enjoy combining my love of painting with simple embroidery.    Plus I'm nuts about Teddy Bears!!   

The Rosie Bear kit came as a pre-printed panel on calico ready to paint plus you get the pattern for the roses and leaves and the instructions for painting, embroidery and how to attach the panels, but you use your own materials, embroidery threads and paints etc. to make up the kit.  Not sure if you can see in the photo, but there is a gorgeous ceramic rose button on the hat which came with the kit.

I painted the bear with JoSonja Acrylic Paints mixed with JoSonja Textile Medium and then embroidered around the outlines with stranded cotton.  I sewed on the various panels using my sewing machine then ironed on the roses and leaves using iron-on (fusible) applique, then embroidered the roses and leaves.  Once that was done, I added pellon to the back plus a calico backing, then machine-stitched around the panels and roses/leaves (much like quilting). 

I bought a nice frame from Target and removed the glass, then popped in the Stitchery - took a bit of fiddling to get it all straight - but it all worked out in the end.  Of course, you don't have to frame it - you can sew on a border (like you do with a quilt) and use a wire hanger instead.

Thanks for stopping by and hope you like my Rosie Bear!

P.S. If you want a close-up, click on the photo.

Jocelyn

Penny Black: For you! - Woof!

Hi!  Thanks for stopping by.  It's Friday night here where I live and the end of Term 1 at school for my DD.  Woo hoo!  It will be sooooo nice to have a break from the school-run for 2 weeks.  And we'll be able to have lots of fun crafting together.

I made this card for my nephew's birthday:  

This is also my card for the very first F4A1 Challenge on Splitcoaststampers of: 'Textures, Colors and Patterns'.  See this link for the deets:  F4A1 Challenge   My pattern is the designer paper and the checks on the ribbon; the texture is the glitter on the present; and the colour I don't use very often is orange (which is on the present bow and there are very thin orange stripes on the designer paper).

This is also for the 'Ways to use it Challenge' WT167 on Splitcoaststampers of 'Masculine Cards'.  See this link for the deets:  WT167 Masculine Challenge.

Masculine cards are certainly a challenge for me - but I'm pretty fortunate that most of the men/boys in my extended family like dogs so most of their cards have a dog on them (hope they don't get tired of them!).  I really love the Penny Black 'Margaret Sherry' dogs - they are just so cute and always bring a smile to my face.

The image has been coloured with Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol.  I stamped the image again and cut out just the present and popped it up on dimensionals (mounts).  I added some fine blue glitter to the present to add a bit of pizazz to the card.   I chalked around the image for the sky and ground with my Kaisercolour chalks.   The image panel has also been popped up on dimensionals.  Lastly, I used my paper piercer to punch holes for the 3 'The Paper Studio - brown dog's paws' brads.  Aren't they just the sweetest brads?! :-)

Have a great weekend and thanks for having a peek at my card!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Dog - Penny Black 3446E 'For you!'  Sentiment - from Crafter's Companion Popcorn the Bear 'Someone Special' unmounted set 

Designer Paper:  Bo Bunny Pet Shop Sweater

Accessories:  Very fine blue glitter, 1mm mounts (ie: dimensionals), Gamsol, Prismacolor pencils, paper stumps, paper piercer, Kaisercolour chalks, The Paper Studio: brown pawpad brads, brown grosgrain ribbon, blue gingham ribbon, Cardstock: white, blue, brown 

Our Daily Bread Designs: Blessed Christmas - Christmas will be here soon.....

Hi everyone,

Well, Christmas isn't here YET, but it seems to come around more quickly each year, doesn't it?

Each year I always say that I will make a few Christmas cards each month so I have a little stash by November, but I have never made one this early before!  Someone asked me to design some cards for their store, so I jumped at the opportunity (that was after picking myself up off the floor!).   I'll be sharing a few Christmas cards over the coming week using this set:  "Blessed Christmas" from Our Daily Bread Designs.

It's a very simple one-layer card.  The image has been coloured with Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol, and I added some red Kindyglitz to the darker/shaded areas of the red petals plus some green Kindyglitz to the darker/shaded areas of the large green petals around the flower.

My new Martha Stewart scoring board arrived in the mail last Friday, so I had to test it out and compare it to my Scor-Pal.  There is a scoring line below the ribbon and between the poinsettia and the sentiment.  The line is much finer than when you use the Scor-Pal and it isn't quite as deep, but I love it.   I think there is room for both boards and will definitely use both.  The Martha Stewart board has imperial measurements (not metric) but that doesn't matter to me as I work in both measurements and can easily swap from one to the other.

I lightly chalked around the image with my Kaiser chalks and then sprayed the card with Gold Glimmer Mist. The card really sparkles IRL, but I couldn't capture it with the camera without it looking gaudy so you will have to take my word for it :-)   I think I will be using Glimmer Mist alot on my Christmas cards this year - it's seriously good stuff.  I corner-punched the bottom edges and added a red pearl at each end of the sentiment.  The ribbon is very bright and sparkly but it came out a bit dark in the photo for some reason.  I tried to lighten it with my Photo Editor but then the image looked all washed out, so this was about as good as I could get it. 

Thanks for stopping by to have a peek at my card!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Our Daily Bread Designs - Blessed Christmas (unmounted set)

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories:  Martha Stewart Scoring Board, Kaiserscrapbook red pearls, Kaisercolour chalks, Prismacolor pencils, Gamsol, paper stumps, Kindyglitz red and green, 10mm - 3/8" wide ribbon, Glimmer Mist - Iridescent gold, Officeworks small corner punch, Cardstock: white

Dovecraft: Pepper and Friends - Hello my beautiful friend!

Hi everyone!  Happy Monday!

This is a "Thank-you" card which I made for my best friend who has really helped me a lot this past year or so.  She is the sweetest girl you could ever meet.

This is also for the Splitcoaststampers CAS54 Challenge of 'Wishing for Spring' - I just LOVE spring flowers especially daffodils - so cheery!  See this link for the deets.

I've had this Sizzix Textured Impressions embossing folder (from the Hello Kitty Spring Set #2) for quite a while now and only used it once - and then the other day I "re-discovered" it and have made about 6 cards with it so far.  I LOVE clean & simple one-layer cards and this folder fits the bill perfectly because the middle is blank for me to stamp my image & it fits LOTS of images I have in my stamp stash.  Plus it easily fits in my Cuttlebug and uses the same sandwich as Cuttlebug folders. 

This cute little image arrived in my mailbox the other day from the UK - isn't it just adorable?  It was stamped with Memento ink and coloured with Gamsol and Prismacolor pencils and I added Kindyglitz to the flowers, some of the leaves and the dog's cheeks. It didn't take long to colour because the flowers/leaves aren't too detailed - just a flick of colour with the pencil and "smudged" with the paper stump/Gamsol - just to give an impression of shading/highlighting.   I lightly chalked the background for the sky etc with my Kaisercolour chalks and used these same colours to lightly colour the dry embossing frame.
 

Thanks for having a peek at my card!

Jocelyn

 

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Dovecraft "Pepper & Friends" HCWS05 by Helz Cuppleditch, Sentiment: from Flourishes Strawberries clear set #57 

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Stazon Jet Black

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Sizzix Textured Impressions 'Hello Kitty #2' embossing folder set, Prismacolor pencils, Gamsol, paper stumps, Kindyglitz Crystalina, EK Success Arrows border punch, Cardstock: white, rose pink

Elzybells: Teddy Surprise!

Hi everyone,

I made this for my DD's schoolfriend for her 7th birthday.  I've been wanting to make a Gatefold card for ages - ah, so many techniques & so little time!!

All the images are from a clear stamp set by Elzybells, and were coloured with Gamsol and Prismascolor pencils.  Isn't the teddy just sooo cute?!  The blue that I coloured in the background REALLY shows up in the photos but it's not THAT blue in real life.  The ribbon was attached at the back of the card with glue dots.

The dry embossing on the front of the card was done by running a Sizzix Textured Impressions folder thru my Cuttlebug.  I use the same 'sandwich' that you use for Cuttlebug folders.

I really went to town with all the glitter which has been added to the present ribbon, spots on the present, and on the inside of the card: on the balloon, ribbon, spots on the present and the teddy's cheeks.  After all, it's for a girl and all little (& big) girls LOVE glitter!! :o)

Here is a close-up of the card inside:-

Don't forget you can click on any of my photos to get a REALLY close-up view.

Thanks for having peek at my card!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe: 

Stamps: Elzybells Art Stamps: Teddy Surprise 20-016-CC clear stamp set 

Ink: Memento Tuxedo black 

Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, paper stumps, ribbon, Kaiser Hot Pink pearls, Sizzix Textured Impressions - dots & flower set, Cuttlebug, glue dots, Stampin' Up ticket corner punch, glue dots, Kindyglitz Crystalina, Cardstock: white, bright pink

Well, here I am Blogging for the first time with my Penny Black stamps!

Hello everyone,

Welcome!!  And thanks so much for stopping by :-)  Thought I would add another card to my stash which could be used as a Thank-you card, Happy Birthday, Friendship - anything really.  I am a huge fan of Penny Black 'Margaret Sherry' stamps - can't get enough of their furry friends - they are so adorable and cute!

I also made this card for the Splitcoaststampers Clean and Simple Challenge #54 of Wishing for Spring.   Please see this link for the details.  I *LOVE* Spring flowers especially when the daffodils and jonquils start flowering in my garden. How amazing that you get these beautiful flowers from a bulb that looks nothing more than a brown onion!  And I am also entering it in the Penny Black Saturday Week 92 Challenge of:  Spring Flowers.  See this link for the details.
 
I have used this Sizzix Textured Impressions embossing folder (from the Hello Kitty Spring Set #2) alot lately because the middle is blank for me to stamp my image & it fits LOTS of images I have in my stamp stash.  Plus it easily fits in my Cuttlebug with the same sandwich as Cuttlebug folders. Makes for a quick and simple card because there is no layering. I made 3 similar cards in 1 day - just with different images but with the same ef - that's a record for me!   I lightly added some Kaisercolour chalks (pink, lemon and blue) to the dry embossing.

The image was stamped with Memento ink and coloured with Gamsol and Prismacolor pencils and I added Kindyglitz to the flowers. It didn't take long to colour because the flowers/leaves aren't too detailed - just a flick of colour with the pencil and "smudged" with the paper stump/Gamsol - just to give an impression of shading/highlighting. I lightly chalked the background for the sky etc with the same colours that I used for the dry embossing.
 
I stamped the sentiment with Stazon ink and the tiny punched hearts (2 next to the sentiment and 3 around the flowers) are the leftover punchies from my EK Success Arrows Border punch (they look like tiny hearts to me).
 
Thanks for having a peek at my card!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Mouse: Penny Black 'Hugs' clear set, Sentiment: Penny Black 'Tiny Wishes' clear set

Ink: Memento Tuxedo black, Stazon Jet black 

Accessories: Cuttlebug, Sizzix Textured Impressions 'Hello Kitty #2' embossing folder (set), Prismacolor pencils, Gamsol, paper stumps, Kindyglitz Crystalina, EK Success Arrows border punch, Kaisercolour chalks, Cardstock: white, rose coral