Penny Black: For you - soooo happy it's your birthday!

Hello Blogging friends!  

There are alot of masculine birthdays in my extended family over the next few months, so I thought I would try and get ahead and make a few.  As I still had this little Penny Black dog on my desk from my card the other day, I thought I would ink him up again - he is just so sweet :-)  You must be getting tired of him LOL.......

I stamped him with Versafine Vintage Sepia ink and heat-set the image with my heat-gun, then coloured him with my usual pencils and OMS.  I stamped the image again and cut out just the present, then cut little pieces of Best Creations Wine Red glitter cardstock and glued it to this present image and added some fine blue glitter to the bow/ribbon.  I lightly chalked around the image with blue chalk and drew in some little lines around his tail to make him look soooo happy.

For the sentiment panel, I diecut some blue cardstock with a Star Nestie, then to make the white cardstock fit nicely inside the blue star and not have too-big-a-border, I used the same Star Nestie and drew a line inside it (like using a stencil) then hand-cut it.  I wish Spellbinder would make Star Nesties with the in-between sizes like they do for Circle/Square etc. Nesties - {sigh}- it would be so handy!  To hide my slightly uneven hand-cutting, I ran my blue ink pad around the white cardstock.   I used my Martha Stewart Snow Flurry edge punch to punch tiny stars from the same Wine Red glitter cardstock (yes, really!).  When you use this punch, the little leftover punchies are snowflakes AND very cute, tiny little stars.  I often use my border/edge punches for the leftover punchies - is much cheaper than buying embellishments.  I popped this panel up on mounts (dimensionals).

Here is a little close-up of the glitteriness:

The Kraft cardstock was embossed using my Cuttlebug and Crafts Too Stars embossing folder.

The designer paper is digital by NitWit Collections.  I made a matching button using my 14mm Epiphany Button Tool with the same designer paper.  I really love this tool - it is just the handiest little thing!  I tied some brown/white twine through the button, then glued it to the blue ribbon.  Here is a close-up of the button:

Challenges:

I am entering this card into the Splitcoaststampers 'Free for All' F4A52 challenge of "Kinder Birthday" where you are to make a card for a special child in your life - and the other Challenges are:

Crazy 4 Challenges C4C75 Challenge of  'Use dies to create your card'

Before I go, I wanted to express my grief and sadness at the devastating earthquake which struck Christchurch in New Zealand at around 1 pm NZ time yesterday.   It is always hard to find the right words at a time like this - most words seem to sound so hollow or cliched, but to all my friends over the Tasman in New Zealand, please know that my thoughts are with you.

Thanks again for stopping by - hope to see you again soon!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black - For you 3446E, Sentiment from Crafter's Companion 'Popcorn the Bear' PST-CDL Birthday Cuddles set

Ink:  Versafine Vintage Sepia, Versacolor Sky Blue pigment

Designer paper:  Best Creations GCS023 Wine red glitter cardstock, NitWit Collections Kit "Bear Boys Too" ©2007 by Mary Fran of www.nitwitcollections.com

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Crafts Too Stars CTFD3002 embossing folder, Spellbinder Square and Star Nestabilities, Epiphany 14mm Button tool and 14mm blank button, blue grosgrain ribbon, brown/white twine, .5mm/1mm mounts, heat-gun, Kaisercolour blue chalk, Designer dries clear adhesive (for blue glitter), fine blue glitter, Derwent Coloursoft + Prismacolor pencils, Odourless Mineral Spirits (OMS), paper stumps, Cardstock:  Kraft (by American Crafts), KW Doggett "Knight" white, sky blue

Punches:  Martha Stewart Snow Flurry edge punch

Stampendous Happy Bee Day - birthday card

Hello blogging friends!

I made a quick little birthday card which I plan to send to my SIL in a week or so.

As you may have noticed, I'm still playing with my Kraft cardstock - oo, I do love the stuff.  I don't know why it took me so long to "discover" it when it has been really popular for ages. And to think that I threw out a whole pack of Kraft card blanks about a year ago thinking "I'll never use them....."!!  Isn't that always the way?!!  Anyhow, onto my card details......

This cute little bee and the sentiment is from a clear set by Stampendous called "Happy Bee Day".  Here is a little pic of the set:

All images copyright Stampendous

I coloured the bee with my usual pencils and OMS, then lightly chalked around the image with blue chalk.  I added some Kindyglitz to the bee's wings and the party hat.  I punched some tiny pink hearts using my EK Success Arrows border punch - you know how I love those tiny little hearts on my cards if you a regular visitor to my Blog LOL - and I added Kindyglitz to them too.

Here is a close-up photo of the bee:

The embossing on the Kraft cardstock is a Sizzix Textured Impressions Flowers embossing folder from the Dots and Flowers set which I ran through my Cuttlebug.  Then all I did was add the pink and white twine and do some corner-punching.  Easy peasy!

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Stampendous Cling SSC669 Happy Bee Day

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Sizzix Textured Impressions flowers embossing folder, Kindyglitz Crystalina, Odourless Mineral Spirits (OMS), Derwent Coloursoft + Prismacolor pencils, paper stumps, pink/white twine, Kaisercolour blue chalk, cardstock:  KW Doggett "Knight" white, rose pink, lemon, kraft (by American Crafts)

Punches:  EK Success Arrows border, SU corner punch

Stampendous Star Lilies easel birthday card

Hi and welcome to my Blog :-)

I haven't made an Easel card for ages - I guess I kind-of forgot about them - but I really love them and they are fun and easy to make.  If you have never made one before, here is a link to a tutorial on You-Tube by Splitcoaststampers.  There are lots of variations which people have done since the Easel Cards first became popular last year, eg: circle ones, twisted ones - just do a search on You-Tube and you will find lots of them.

The beautiful Star Lilies were stamped onto Watercolour paper with Stazon Jet black ink and watercoloured using Jo-Sonya Acrylic paints.  I love this stamp because you can use it for so many different occasions - very versatile!  

The side border was diecut with my Cuttlebug and one of the border dies from my Nellie Snellen Border-2 MFD023 die set - these are not on Fat Cat's website at the moment but keep an eye out - I'm sure they will be soon.  I added a Scor-Pal line just next to the border on the pink cardstock (which made it easier to line up my embossing folder so I knew it was straight - you butt the folder up against this line), then ran it through my Cuttlebug using the Flowers embossing folder from my Sizzix Dots and Flowers set.  

I attached the ribbon in 2 separate elements then attached the side panel to my cardstock base.  The bow itself was tied with my ever-reliable Bow Easy (I did add some Fray stop to the ribbon edges so they wouldn't fray).   I made a 14mm button using my Epiphany Button Studio tool and the designer paper, then sewed it to my bow with pink sewing thread.  Isn't it just so cool that you can match your buttons to your card using this button tool?!  Here is a close-up piccy of the button and here is link to the tutorial on You-Tube for using your Epiphany button tool:

The fancy corner on the RHS of the image was diecut using one of the dies from my Vintage die set.  The sentiment is from Lily of the Valley and I added two tiny pink gemstones to the flower centres on the sentiment, then popped the panel up on 1mm mounts (dimensionals).

For the bottom of the card, I again used my Epiphany Button Studio tool - except I used the larger size 20mm, to make the 3 buttons which hold the top panel in place.  I ran some pink sewing thread through the button holes just because I like my buttons to have thread through them (not sure why - I just like them with thread in them!).  I added 2mm mounts underneath the buttons so they would up a little higher to hold the top panel easily.  Here is a close-up view of them:

And here is a photo of the bottom panel without the top panel being held in place so you can see where the buttons go:

I decided to add a ribbon to this bottom panel as well and tied the bow with my Bow Easy.  I punched a heart from Best Creations Glitter cardstock using the largest heart from my Carl CP8 Heart duo punch and glued it to the centre of the bow:

And then just to "balance" the card, I added another fancy corner the same as the one on the top card panel.  I added a tiny pink gemstone to the 'i' on Birthday.  Oh, by the way, the designer paper is digital and is from Bearly Mine Designs - isn't just sooooo pretty!!  The size of the card square is 5-1/2" x 5-1/2" or 137mm.  And lastly, here is a side-view of the card:

Challenges

I'm popping this card into the following Challenge:   

Splitcoaststampers 'Ways to use it' Challenge WT309 of  'Happy Birthday'

Thanks again for stopping by!  Hope to see you again soon!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Stampendous Star Lily CRP115 cling rubber, Sentiment (round) Lili of the Valley - For you - Happy Birthday set, Sentiment on bottom panel - Stamp-It Australia siset014 sentiment set

Ink:  Stazon Jet black

Designer paper:  Bearly Mine designs - BM Flower Delight 027, Best Creations Glitter cardstock 'Canna'

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Sizzix Textured Impressions Flower from Dots and Flowers embossing folder set, Cuttlebug Vintage Dies, Spellbinder Nestabilities: Circle, Scalloped Circle, Oval, Scalloped Oval, pink gemstones - Basic Grey, 1mm/2mm mounts (dimensionals), Epiphany Button Studio Tools: 14mm + 20mm + matching buttons, Bow Easy, pink organza ribbon, Fray stop, Scor-Pal, Watercolour paper - 140lb/300gsm, Jo-Sonya acrylic paint, #2 round paint brush, Nellie Snellen MFD023 Border-2 die set, pink sewing thread, Cardstock: white (for card base), plum pink, pale pink

Punches:  Carl CP-8 heart duo

Penny Black: For you - boy's 8th birthday card

Hi blogging friends!  Thanks for stopping by :-)

I made a quick little card for my girlfriend's son's 8th birthday.  I was very inspired by Susan Raihala's children's cards on this post here on her blog:  Simplicity and really loved the layout.  Susan is the "Queen of CAS" IMHO (in my humble opinion) and I learn so much from following her Blog.  Susan's cards are always so well-balanced - something I struggle with at times.

Getting back to my card........I know that you have seen this little Penny Black dog before on my Blog, but I just love him because he is so easy to colour and is a fantastic stamp for masculine cards.  I love his happy little face and he makes me smile everytime I look at him :-)

I stamped both the image and sentiment with Vintage Sepia ink and heat-set it with my heat-gun to ensure the ink didn't run when I added OMS to it.  I coloured the image with my trusty pencils and OMS.  I wanted the present to have a little bit of dimension, so I cut out some little pieces of Olive Green Glitter cardstock and glued them on top of the present on the image.  I really love this range of glitter cardstock by Best Creations - you will get soooo tired of seeing it on my cards LOL!   I lightly chalked around the image with blue chalk (but you can't really see it in the photo - trust me - it's there). 

I then layered the image onto - yep, you guessed it - the same green glitter cardstock - then onto Kraft cardstock. The Kraft cardstock was embossed with one of the embossing folders from my Sizziz "Birthday set #3"; I ran it through my Cuttlebug using the same sandwich as for Cuttlebug folders, ie: A plate, B plate, folder with cardstock, B plate.

Well, that's my simple card - and I didn't even use any ribbon which was soooo hard as I kept thinking I should put one somewhere, but couldn't figure out where, so I left it off.  I guess I figured that if Susan didn't put one on her card, I didn't need one either; sometimes less is more (if you know what I mean!).

Challenges:

I am entering this card into the Splitcoaststampers 'Ways to use it' Challenge WT309 of 'Happy Birthday' where you have to use any sort of birthday products on your project, even if it's just a sentiment.

Thanks again for stopping by!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Dog - Penny Black 'For you' 3446E, Sentiment from Penny Black 'Make a wish' clear set 30-052

Ink:  Versafine Vintage Sepia

Designer paper:  Best Creations Olive green glitter cardstock

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Sizzix Textured Impressions #656504 Birthday set #3, heatgun, Kindyglitz red glitter glue, Kaisercolour blue chalk, Derwent Coloursoft and Prismacolor pencils, Odourless Mineral Spirits (OMS), paper stumps

Penny Black: Every which way - Love is in the air!

Hello and thanks for stopping by :-)

It's only 1 week to Valentine's Day - which will also mean that February will be half over!!  Boy, time sure does fly, doesn't it?  Anyway, onto my card.......I have still been playing with my new Penny Black: 'Every which way' stamp set - I love this set - it has such c-u-t-e images.  Please excuse the shadow from the ribbon on my photo - popping the card so the sun was right on the front of the card to avoid the ribbon-shadow washed out both the image and dry-embossing, so I went with this photo.

I grabbed my Crafts Too:  Happy Valentine embossing folder and popped it through my Cuttlebug.  I really like this folder as you can use it portrait or landscape with the way the pattern has been done - much more practical that way.  I cut out the centre panel just leaving the embossed line, then layered it onto some red cardstock, then cut the middle out of the red cardstock leaving a narrow red border.

I popped a small piece of white cardstock underneath the (now) blank centre panel, and drew a faint pencil line around the centre panel which gave me a guideline as to where I should stamp my image and sentiment to make sure they were in just the right spot.  As these stamps are clear, it also makes things much easier because you can see where to stamp.  I coloured the image with Derwent Coloursoft pencils and OMS, then lightly chalked the sky with Kaiser blue chalk, then added some pink I-Kan-dee pearlescent chalk here and there (alas, not captured by the camera).  I stamped the balloon part of the image again onto the back of some Red Glitter cardstock and cut out the balloon and glued it to the image.    Next, I attached the image panel underneath the blank centre panel, then attached the whole thing to a blank white cardstock front.  I find it easier to do it this way instead of trying to stamp the image on the cardstock front and trying to line everything up perfectly (rather than stamping the image on a separate piece of cardstock) - but that's just me - you might it easier the other way!

I tied a bow with my Bow Easy and glued it on with fabric glue.  One thing that I really love about my Bow Easy is that when I have a ribbon that is patterned and clearly has a wrong side and a right side, when I tie the bow with my Bow Easy, the pattern remains uppermost - something I find difficult to achieve otherwise and it becomes a real fiddle twisting and turning the ribbon to get it right-side up (I am so bow-challenged!).

And I even did the inside (keeping my New Year's resolution of doing the insides of my card before I move onto the next card):-

Whoops - one of my little punched hearts is a little crooked!  Oh well!  The scalloped heart was diecut using my Spellbinder Scalloped Heart Nesties and Red Glitter cardstock (LOVE this stuff - can't you tell?!!!) and the pink heart with my Heart Nesties.  For the white cardstock heart:  the next-size-down Heart Nestie is much smaller and when I diecut my white cardstock, it looked a little silly as it made the pink cardstock have a very wide border, so I placed the same Heart Nestie I used to diecut the pink cardstock and traced around the inside of it onto my white cardstock and simply handcut it.  I just use nail scissors (they have a curved blade) which make is easier for cutting the rounded parts.  Then I simply stamped the sentiment and punched a couple of red hearts from my Carl CP-8 Heart duo punch and glued them on.

Challenges:  

I'm popping this card into the following Challenges -

Allsorts Challenge Week 89 - Must be love, love, love

Splitcoaststampers 'Ways to use it' Challenge WT308 of 'i HEART you'

Well, that's about it from me - thanks again for stopping by!  Hope to see you again soon!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:  

Stamps:  Penny Black 'Every which way' 30-008 clear stamp set

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black

Designer paper:  Best Creations red glitter cardstock

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Crafts Too Happy Valentine embossing folder, Spellbinder Heart and Scalloped Heart Nestabilities, Derwent Coloursoft pencils, Odourless Mineral Spirits, paper stumps, Kaisercolour chalk, I-Kan-dee pearlescent chalk, ribbon, Bow Easy, Cardstock:  KW Doggett 'Knight' white (for image), regular white (for card base), candy pink, soft red

Punches:  Carl CP-8 heart duo

My EMail widget broke so you will need to re-subscribe if you want EMail updates

Hello blogging friends!

My old EMail subscription box broke :-( so I have had to remove the Widget from my Blog.   Instead, I have set up Feedburner (by Google) so that you can subscribe either via EMail - or if you prefer, via Google Reader or via your favourite Reader.  If you have previously subscribed via EMail and you are no longer getting updates (and I'm not 100% sure if you will or not???? if the Widget no longer works), you will have to re-subscribe.  But it's really easy...... read on.....

If you wish to subscribe via EMail, click on the link at the top LHS of my Blog:

Want to get an EMail when I update my Blog? 

Subscribe to: Instead of Ironing Blogspot by Email

And once you click on that link, a new page will open in your Browser which will have the Feedburner Logo at the top, and this is where you type in your EMail address as well as some text in a little box to prevent SPAM.  You should then receive an EMail from Feedburner which will contain a link which you must click on to activate your subscription.  Please check your SPAM EMail Inbox if you have trouble finding the email.  If you don't activate your subscription by clicking on the link, you will NOT receive email updates.  You will not receive SPAM from Feedburner by subscribing; it is merely a tool for Bloggers to connect with their viewers.

Alternatively, if you wish to subscribe to my Blog using your Google Reader, please click on the Google Reader box which is underneath the EMail subscription info.

Or if you want so subscribe in a different Reader (other than Google), you can click on the Subscribe now in a different Reader box and choose your preferred feeder eg: Yahoo, Netvibes etc. (although I did notice when I clicked on it that you can subscribe to Google in this selection anyway).

Note that I am still tweaking Feedburner as I have never used it before and still finding my feet with all the different options available.  There are options to have partial posts or full posts - I'm undecided as to which I will have (partial at the moment) so what you receive as far as updates go, may alter slightly in the future. 

Please let me know if you have any problems or are not receiving email updates by either leaving a comment here on this post, or alternatively emailing me at my EMail address which is located on the LHS of my Blog - the 6th major heading down.

I looked into Feedblitz, but it costs money after the first free month depending on how many subscribers you have , so that is why I have gone with Google Feedburner plus my Blog is Google-based and I figured it was easier to set up if they are made for each other!

Hopefully, if it stops raining, I will be able to photograph my card and upload it to my Blog tomorrow (Monday)!  Sheesh - I think Victoria has had enough rain for now.......

{{hugs}}

Jocelyn

Penny Black: Every which way - I will love you always, all ways

Hello blogging friends! 

My desk has been a little hive of activity since I started playing with my new Penny Black: 'Every which way' stamp set that the postie brought me the other day.  I love this little set - such cute images.  I have long been admiring other people's cards made with Kraft Cardstock and thought I would try my hand at using it.  This was a very quick and simple card to make - perfect for your last-minute Valentines Day cards:

The Kraft cardstock was embossed with my Cuttlebug and Kimmy-Luvs embossing folder.  The dog was stamped onto white cardstock and coloured with OMS, Derwent Coloursoft and Prismacolor pencils.  I stamped the balloon part of the image again onto the back of my Best Creation red glitter cardstock, then cut the balloon out and glued it to the image.  I love how sparkly it looks.  The dog is popped up on 2mm mounts.  It's a good idea to use LOTS of them when you are popping an image onto embossed cardstock so that your image doesn't come unstuck and fall off (ie: less surface area for them to stick to).  I had that happen recently when a sentiment panel came unstuck after a few days when I was very frugal with my foam pads.

Here is closeup pic of the balloon - don't you just love the "sparkle"?!!

By the way, the little hairs and marks on the close-up are part of the cardstock - kinda looks like my card or my camera lens got all dusty!

For the sentiment panels:  as this sentiment is just one stamp and I wanted 2 separate lines, I masked the bottom line of the words off and stamped, then masked the top line off and stamped.  Here is a pic of the stamp set if I am not making sense:

Stamp Set Copyright Penny Black Stamps

I diecut the sentiments using one of the dies from my Spellbinders Tags Trio and popped them up on 1mm mounts.

To finish off, I tied some red and white Twine and punched a heart from the same red glitter cardstock and glued it to the centre.  I did add some Fray Stop to the ends of the twine to stop it from unravelling.  I think you could use this card for a Wedding Anniversary as well as for Valentines Day - and I think it could be used for either a lady or a man.

Challenges:

I am popping this card into the Splitcoaststampers Ways to use it Challenge WT308 of "i HEART you" where you have to use a heart anywhere on your project.

Thanks for stopping by!  I have a couple of other Valentines/Love cards on the go - watch this space!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black - Every which way 30-008 clear set

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black

Designer paper:  Best Creation red glitter 12" x 12" cardstock

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Kimmy-Luvs embossing folder, Spellbinder Tags Trio S3-147, red and white twine, Fray Stop, Odourless Mineral Spirits (OMS), Prismacolor + Derwent Coloursoft pencils, paper stumps, Cardstock:  American Crafts Kraft, KW Doggett Knight white

Punches:  Carl CP-8 Heart duo, Stampin' Up corner