Penny Black Where's Dinner Masculine Card

 

Hi blogging friends,

My Craft Room has been a whirlwind of activity lately making cards for the Splitcoaststampers Dirty Dozen Design Team AND for family birthdays - but I am loving being more creative and spending LOTS of time in my Craft Room now that my husband and I are officially retired.  Woo hoo!  We both have lots of hobbies so it is great to be able to just have more time to read, relax and create and not have the constraints of doing that around a work schedule.  My husband's friends were already retired so it means they can catch up more often.

So onto the Birthday Card that I made for my brother-in-law:

This is also my card for the following Challenges - click on the underlined link to take you to the Challenge:

• Crafty Catz Challenge #706 - Anything Goes
• Penny Black Saturday Challenge - February - Anything Goes or Romance
• Critter Crazy Challenge #107 - Anything Goes with a Featured Critter Real or Fantasy

Of course, if you have been around my blog for a while, you will already know that I adore Penny Black Stamps, so I couldn't wait to ink up this super-cute (but puzzled) dog.  I have had this stamp forever and it is a wood-block one and was designed in the year 2000.  I find that the Margaret Sherry critter stamps just don't seem to date and I still love them as much as when I first bought them.

I stamped the image onto Ranger Watercolour Cardstock using Versafine Onyx Black Ink, and coloured him using a mix of Watercolour Pencils and Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers and my #2 Round Paintbrush. The sentiment is from a Penny Black Set - Make a Wish.

The image panel was diecut using my Big Shot and Lifestyle Nesting Rounded Squares Dies.  Note that I popped up the panel a little on scraps of white cardstock.

All the designer papers are old - Basic Grey - Max and Whiskers - which are from 2009.  I love Basic Grey Designer Papers and really miss them as they were really different to other brands.

The Mustard Cardstock and Dark Brown Cardstock on the card base were trimmed to 1/16" and 1/8" respectively using my WRMK Perfect Layers Guides.

The dry embossed panel across the middle was done using a Crafts Too Bone and Paw Print Embossing Folder.  I have had this folder for a long time so is no doubt retired.

I added some Uniquely Creative Clear Sparkle Pen to the candle flame and the glow around it.

The top RHS embellishments are 3 x Dark Brown Candi Dots with diecut stars glued on top.  Just having the Dark Brown Candi Dots seemed to disappear into the busy background - so I came up with the idea of adding the stars which were diecut from papers from the Max and Whiskers pad.  The stars are by Memory Box - Hearts and Stars.  The Candi Dots were popped up on 2mm Self-Adhesive Foam Pads.

I left the rest of the card unfussy - although I thought about adding a dark brown ribbon across the centre, however, I was in a rush and glued the main image down so it was too late.  I guess it looks OK without it (?).  I just love ribbons and find it hard to NOT put them on my cards!

Once I had finished my card front, I glued it to White Card Base using Tombow Mono Multi Glue.

Finished size is:  5-7/8" x 5-7/8" or 138mm x 138mm.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black Where's Dinner 1705J Wood-Mount, Sentiment - Penny Black Make a Wish 30-052 Clear Set

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black

Designer Paper:  Basic Grey Max and Whiskers 6" x 6" (2009) - retired

Accessories:  Big Shot, Crafts Too Bone and Paw Print Embossing Folder (retired), Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers, Lyra + Derwent Watercolour Pencils, #2 Round Paintbrush, Uniquely Creative Clear Sparkle Brush, Dark Brown Candi Dots - Choc-a-Mocha, We R Memory Keepers Perfect Layers Guides, Tombow Mono Multi Glue, Art Glitter Glue, 2mm Self-Adhesive Foam Pads, Cardstock - Mustard + Dark Brown + Scraps of White, Ranger Watercolor Cardstock

Dies:  Lifestyle Nesting Rounded Squares L-CC-002 (retired), Memory Box Hearts and Stars 98755 (2014) - retired

Christmas card No. 2 - Stampendous Candy Bear

Hi blogging friends

Whew, sure is hot here today - 42.7 deg C (that's just short of 109 deg F if you are imperial)!  Good for catching up on stuff indoors - like cleaning my Craft Room.  It never ceases to amaze me how much mess I can make just from making a few cards - although I am sure I am not alone, hee hee!   Today I am sharing another Christmas card which I made on Christmas Eve - and I gave this one to my daughter.

This is also my 2nd card for each of the following Challenges:

Holly Jolly Christmas Challenge - December - Anything Goes
Craftyhazelnut's Challenge Extra - December - Anything Goes

The image is by Stampendous and is retired but is just so adorable, don't you think?!  I stamped the image onto watercolour paper using Ranger Archival Jet Black ink and coloured it with Faber-Castell watercolour pencils using a #2 round paintbrush.

I added dots of white acrylic paint onto the bear's scarf using a very fine stylus as well and I painted a fine white line down the centre of the candy cane for a highlight using a Liner brush.   I lightly chalked around the image with Kaisercraft blue chalk and added snow using Stampendous Cotton White Fun Flock mixed with fine Crystalina glitter - which was also used to add fuzz to the hat.  Here is a close-up:

I popped the image panel up on 2mm dimensionals.

The green dry embossing is an embossing folder by Crafts Too - Christmas Holly Frame.  I layered the panel onto some red cardstock and trimmed the layers to 1/16" using my Perfect Layers Tools.  I added the red reindeer ribbon from my stash then attached the panel to a white cardstock base.

The sentiment is by Elzybells (sadly no longer in business but Penny Black has reissued some images over the past few years) - and was diecut using a Cuttlebug Tiny Tags die.  I added a tiny Couture Creations red rhinestone at each end of the sentiment panel.  I tied the tag on using Doodlebug Ladybug twine and added a dimensional to hold the tag firmly to the cardstock.  I added Fray Stop to the cut ends of the twine to stop it from fraying/unravelling.

Lastly, I adhered the glittery sparkly snowflake from my stash using Crafter's Pick Incredibly Tacky glue.

Thanks for stopping by.

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Stampendous Candy Bears E208 (retired), Sentiment: Elzybells Mini Messages - Christmas clear set 20-054  (retired)

Ink:  Ranger Archival Jet Black

Designer Paper:  None

Dies:  Cuttlebug Tiny Tags

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Crafts Too Christmas Holly Frame, Perfect Layers Tools, Doodlebug Ladybug twine, red/white reindeer ribbon (stash), Fray Stop, Couture Creations tiny red rhinestones, Stampendous Cotton White fun flock mixed with fine Crystalina glitter, Tombow Mono Aqua glue, Stampin' Up Fuse Fast adhesive, Crafter's Pick Incredibly Tacky glue, 2mm dimensionals, snowflake embellishment (stash), Jo Sonja white acrylic gouache, stylus, #2 round + liner paintbrush, Faber-Castell watercolour pencils, 140lb watercolour paper, Kaisercolour blue chalk, cardstock - red, green, white

Penny Black Acrocat Niece's 12th birthday card

Hi blogging friends

A special welcome to my newest Followers - thank you so much for taking an interest in my craft.

It is school holidays here in Victoria which is wonderful as I love spending time with my daughter as well as having more precious family time together and catching up with friends.  The first week of the holidays, we had 4 routine medical appointments for my loved one so that took out quite a few days - and I had to take our cat Ruby to the Vet as her gastro from a few weeks ago flared up again.  Thankfully, Ruby is OK and been on a special diet from the vet and probiotics to help restore the good bacteria in her tummy.  

This week, we are relaxing and enjoying the beautiful Autumn weather as well as doing plenty of crafty things.  We have been to see 2 movies so far:  The Lego Movie in 3D and The Muppets Most Wanted - both of which were fantastic and I highly recommend them!  I have also been knitting in the evenings which I am loving and hope to share those projects very soon.

It is my niece's 12th birthday shortly and this is the card that I made for her:

I wanted something that looked fresh and clean and not too young because at 12, my niece is very much a young lady and not so much a girl anymore - so I hope that is what I achieved.

The Penny Black image - Acrocat - is a recent purchase from PB Stamps in the USA (awesome service - highly recommended!).  I stamped the image onto watercolour paper and coloured the image with Tombow Pens:  oh, he is so CUTE and quick and easy to colour - I love him.  I coloured his cheeks with pink chalk and coloured around the image with blue chalk plus I went around the image with a very pale grey Tombow pen to give the image a bit more depth.   I also went around the image panel with I-Kan-dee pearlescent chalks in lemon and pink to add a bit of interest and sparkle (not that you can see it in the photo...sigh.....).  I use eye-shadow foam applicators for applying chalk to my images as I find these are very easy for me to use and cost very little.  

All the presents had the glitter treatment with Crystalina glitter glue - glitter isn't too "young" is it?

I added the teal and pink sequins using Glossy Accents and underlined the sentiment with a teal and pink pencil just to tie all the elements in together.  I really like how sequins are "in" at the moment.  I don't really follow trends much with my cardmaking but I do love the sequins and best of all, they don't cost much and are easily available.  I buy them from Riot Art and Craft or from $2 shops.

The designer paper came free in a pack with a Quick Cards Made Easy (UK) magazine in 2013 and are by Lilly Bimble who has a store on Etsy where she sells Digital papers.   I really love Lilly Bimble papers - great range and I could buy all of them!  Not sure if the paper I used is available in the store as there were so many to look through and I'm a little short on time.

I diecut the cardstock base using my Big Shot and one of my Lifestyle Nesting Scallop Square dies but just moved the die up on the centre fold so it didn't cut the top.  I then ran the cardstock base front through my Big Shot using a Crafts Too 5 inch x 5 inch square dots embossing folder.  The Duck Egg cardstock layer was trimmed to 1/8" using my Perfect Layers Tools and the main panel is up on dimensionals.

I am entering my card in the following challenges:

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - April - Cats and Dogs

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black Acrocat 3442F wood mount, Sentiment from Penny Black clear set - Sweet and Cute 30-153

Ink:  Ranger Archival Jet Black

Designer paper:  Lilly Bimble (freebie pack with Quick Cards Made Easy magazine in 2013)

Accessories:  Big Shot, 140lb watercolour paper, Tombow Pens, pink and teal pencils, Crafts Too 5" x 5" square dots embossing folder, Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue, dimensionals, Kaisercolour blue and pink chalks, I-Kan-dee Pearlescent chalks, Glossy Accents, teal and pink sequins (Riot Art and Craft), cardstock - Paper Mill white and Kaisercraft Duck Egg, Lifestyle dies - Nesting Scallop squares, Nesting Circles, Lacey Circles

Woodware Space Cadet - nephew's 8th birthday card

Hi blogging friends

It's been a busy couple of weeks since I last posted as it has been school holidays here where I live in Australia.  Inbetween medical appointments and various outings plus family over from interstate, there hasn't been a lot of crafting going on!  I was going to blog about my card yesterday but with the awful bombings at the Boston Marathon, it just didn't seem appropriate.   I shall never understand what goes on in the mind of someone wanting to plant bombs to injure or kill innocent people - it makes no logical sense.  My ♥ heart ♥ goes out to all those affected by this tragedy and I hope that those responsible will be brought to justice very quickly.

The card I am sharing today is for my nephew's 8th birthday - well, technically, he is my GREAT-nephew - but is a year younger than my own daughter!  There is a big generation gap in my husband's extended family and all my nephews and nieces are grown up and many are married with children.   And of course, that makes me a GREAT-Aunt which makes me feel like I am 150 years old - so I just sign my cards "Aunty Jocelyn" which I like a whole lot better!

My (great) nephew loves all things Star Wars which is why I went with the 'Space' theme for my card.   The rocket, stars and sentiment are from one of my favourite stamps sets:  Woodware Space Cadet.  I used this set last year for my nephew's 7th birthday which you can see HERE. 

The images/sentiment were stamped onto watercolour paper using Versafine Onyx Black ink and coloured with Derwent watercolour pencils and a small round #2 paintbrush.  I added Glossy Accents to the rocket and Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue to the rocket's flame and to the stars.  I lightly chalked around the image with blue chalk.  Here is a close-up - love the shiny effect on the rocket:

I cut the prongs off the 3 glitter star brads and then attached them to the card with Glossy Accents.  I read on the forum at Splitcoaststampers that you can use Glossy Accents for adhering things to your card so I tried it and it works super-well.  My star brads were definitely not going to fall off - yay!  I dislike poking holes into my card to push through the prongs of a brad and find it almost impossible to get several of them to line up perfectly with each other - too much of a fiddle and so frustrating!  I'll be using Glossy Accents from now on!

The middle green panel was embossed using my Big Shot and Crafts Too Stars embossing folder and then I attached some silver/green ric-rac which I found in my stash.  The blue border on this green panel was trimmed to 1/8" using my Perfect Layers Tools. 

I used my Paper Piercer to pierce holes in my blue scalloped circle card base.  Here is a side shot so you can see the layers:

I used one of my Lifestyle Nesting Circle dies to make a white cardstock circle card then attached my finished front panel to it.  You can see my tutorial on how to make a circle card HERE on my blog - just scroll down a little.

And here is pic of the inside.  Very simply done.  The sentiment is by My Memories which I bought from Riot Art and Craft and I used a star punch to punch 3 stars from glitter cardstock in matching colours to the star brads on the card front.

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges -

My Time to Craft - Challenge #217 'In the Sky' where you can use butterflies, birds, balloons, planes etc. but they must be the main image.

Splitcoaststampers Free for All Friday Challenge F4A163 Glittery Happy Birthday from earlier in April - where you need to make a birthday card with glitter.  I purposely chose this particular designer paper because it has lots of glitter on it but it is hard to see the sparkliness other than in the 2nd photo.  Oh well:  at least you can see where I used glitter glue!   Note there are no time limits for playing Splitcoaststampers challenges. 

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

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Woodware FRCL097 Space Cadet clear set, sentiment card inside - My Memories #141502 Happy Birthday Script MMSWHB wood mount (Riot Art and Craft)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black

Designer Paper:  Birch Haberdashery and Craft (Australian company) SP183 (no name on paper)

Accessories:  Big Shot, Lifestyle Scalloped Circle and Circle Nesting Dies, Crafts Too Stars embossing folder, blue Kaisercolour chalk, dimensionals, silver/green ric-rac, Perfect Layers Tools, Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue, Glossy Accents, Star brads by Making Memories - green from Mini Shimmer Star brads set - red and blue from Stars in Bloom Shimmer set, 140lb watercolour paper, small round #2 paintbrush, Derwent watercolour pencils, paper piercer, cardstock - white, grass green, dark sky blue, green glitter, blue glitter, red glitter

Punches:  Carl CP-1 Star

A Mini birthday card for my nephew

Hi blogging friends,

My nephew's birthday is next week and this is the card that I made for him.  Because he drives a Mini and is in a Car Club, I specifically chose this image from a Classic Cars A4 papertole (decoupage if you are in the UK) sheet which I bought on EBay Australia.  The Mini image is very reflective as it is coloured silver and metallic dark blue so was a bit hard to take a photo of; it was perhaps fortunate that it was cloudy...... 

The Mini pieces were diecut so I popped them out and because the pieces weren't diecut perfectly and there were some white bits showing, I used a Faber-Castell blue metallic texta to colour in the white bits to match the Mini.  All the pieces were put together with 1mm dimensionals. 

I wanted to layer the Mini onto an oval base but the largest die in my Spellbinder Large Oval set wasn't quite big enough so I traced around the outside of the die and hand-cut it.  I stamped the Happy Birthday Background onto the oval using Versamagic Night Sky ink.  Because the stamp image didn't completely cover the oval (because the stamp image is a rectangle), I re-stamped those parts that were missed and used a Stamp Positioner to line them up perfectly.  I inked around the oval with the Night Sky ink to hide any imperfections from handcutting the oval.  Here is a close-up of the dimension: 

 

The designer paper on the card base is by Basic Grey - Granola - and has been in my stash for ages.  I layered it onto navy blue then kraft cardstock.  The side panel was punched with my Fiskars Threading Water border punch (love this punch for masculine cards) and then I added a Scor-Pal line before attaching the dry embossed navy blue panel.

I added some navy blue Candi Dots from the 'Charming' pack to the bottom right-hand side using 2mm dimensionals.

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges -

The ABC Challenge - Just as you like - Anything Goes

Papertake Weekly Challenge - 1-2-3 - where you need to use 1 of one thing, 2 of another and 3 of another - I used 1 designer paper, 2 cardstock colours and 3 Card Candi dots

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As I type this, I am listening to the sound of pouring rain and it is COLD at long last - YAY!  After having weeks and weeks of unbearably hot weather including ridiculously warm and humid nights for sleeping, I am totally over summer (even though technically it's autumn).   We are having a roast dinner for tea tonight - yum - can't wait!   I am totally over salads as well and if I eat another salad, I'm sure I will turn into one LOL!  Probably the only one who isn't happy about the cold weather is our cat Ruby who is snuggled up against the edge of my laptop because the fan is blowing warm air!  Ruby can get quite grumpy when it is cold and I have no doubt she will be curled up on my bed tonight keeping my little tootsies warm which I don't mind one bit.  And I am sure I will sleep a whole lot better snuggled under my blanket.

Here's hoping we start getting "normal" March weather from now on when we should be having much cooler nights and autumn rains.........  

Thanks for stopping by - have a great weekend!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Stampabilities Happy Birthday Background JR1061 wood-mount

Ink:  Versamagic Night Sky

Designer Paper:  Basic Grey Granola

Accessories:  Spellbinder Large Oval Nestabilities, Big Shot, Scor-Pal, Crafts Too dots square embossing folder, Charming candi dots, 1mm/2mm dimensionals, gingham ribbon, Fray Stop, A4 Classic Cars decoupage/papertole sheet, stamp positioner, cardstock - kraft, navy blue

Punches:  Fiskars Threading Water border

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

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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

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

Hero Arts Bird in a circle - a thank you card

Hi blogging friends

Recently I bought some First Edition 6" x 6" designer papers on EBay from a UK seller and ohhhh, I just love them!!  I couldn't wait to make a card with them and today's card uses papers from the Boho Chic collection.  I went for a Vintage style of card - well, my style of vintage - not sure if the purists would call it truly Vintage with no torn bits etc.  I think I am just too much of a neat-freak to do all that although I really love vintage cards that other people make.  Guess it's OK to just "be me" with "my own style of vintage".

I made this card to suit the Splitcoaststampers "Free for All Friday" F4A113 of "Mix n Match" where you are to use at 2 or 3 types of patterned/designer paper.  See THIS link for the deets on the challenge.

This card is a "Thank you" card which I will be giving to my next-door neighbours who have always been so encouraging and enthusiastic about my cardmaking - and most recently, have been such a fantastic support with all that we are going through with caring for our family member.  Our neighbour will just turn up with a batch of fairy cakes or make a dessert, bring in our rubbish bins if we are caught up at hospital and not getting home until late, collect our mail, mow the lawns, feed the cat - they would give you the shirt off their back if you needed it - and we are so grateful for them.

I inked up my Hero Arts 'Bird in a Circle' stamp with Versafine Vintage Sepia ink and stamped it twice onto white cardstock so I could cut out an extra layer of the flower petals plus the bird to do some paper tole.   I coloured the image with Prismacolor + Derwent Coloursoft pencils and Odourless Mineral Spirits using paper stumps.  Then, very carefully, I cut out the inside circle of the main panel and discarded it.  It was very delicate work cutting around the flowers and the bird's legs! 

I then used my Blending Tool and Antique Linen Distress Ink around the edges of this panel - then again using Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  I did actually cut the image down a little to be a perfect square as well as being a smaller size to layer on my peach designer paper.

Before I attached the 2nd layer of flowers to the bottom layer, I used a stylus on the back of the petals to shape the petals to look more rounded and did the same with the bird's body.  I used an old mouse pad to press down on as it had some give and allowed me to shape the pieces just like I wanted.

I attached the flowers with dimensionals under each petal but not in the middle so I could press down the centre to help make the flowers look a little more realistic.  The bird was also attached with dimensionals.  Here is a close-up of the dimension and fussy-cutting I did on the card:

Using a Lemon Bliss Bic Mark-It texta, I coloured some tiny Prima peach pearls to make them look a bit more yellow (but not bright yellow) and popped them in the centre of the flowers. 

I glued on a narrow piece of peach ric-rac which just added a little 'something' at the bottom of the main panel but not over the top as I wanted the image to be the focal point - then popped this panel up on dimensionals on top of the gorgeous glittery brown designer paper layer. 

The peach base designer paper was diecut using my Big Shot and Go Kreate Scalloped Square die and to add a bit of texture, I ran the paper through my Cuttlebug using my Crafts Too Sweet Flowers embossing folder.  I really love the texture that it added to the card and made such a difference to the look of the card.

Note that I inked around the edges of the peach and brown papers with the same Distress Inks as the white cardstock.

Lastly, I punched a butterfly from the peach designer paper with a Carl Butterfly-A punch and coloured some more Prima pearls with the Lemon Bliss Bic Mark-it texta and popped them in the centre.  I attached just the butterfly's body with dimensionals and bent up the wings then added some Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue to the wings.

Now that the card front was finished, I simply attached it to a white card base.

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges -

Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge #30 of 'Anything Goes' 

One Stop Craft Challenge - Week #180 - Recipe Challenge - 1 image, 2 designer papers, 3 embellishments.  My card uses 2 dp's from the Boho Chic set, 1 stamp (image) and the 3 embellishments are my ric-rac, pearls and the butterfly.

Simons Says Stamp Challenge - 'Anything Goes'

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Hero Arts Bird in a Circle cling-mounted rubber CG181

Ink:  Versafine Vintage Sepia, Tim Holtz Distress inks - Vintage Photo and Antique Linen

Designer paper:  First Edition Boho Chic 6" x 6" pad

Accessories:  Big Shot, Cuttlebug, Go Kreate Scalloped Square die, dimensionals, Prismacolor pencils, odourless mineral spirits, paper stumps, Ranger Blending tool, Prima peach pearls coloured with Lemon Bliss Bic Mark-it, Crafts Too Sweet Flowers embossing folder, Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue, peach ric-rac, stylus and old mouse pad, Lemon Bliss Bic-Mark-it texta, Cardstock:  KW Doggett 'Knight' white

Punches:  Carl CP-1 Butterfly-A

Penny Black: Where's Dinner? - a birthday card for my Godfather

Hi blogging friends - and a very SPECIAL welcome to my new Followers - so lovely to have you

I made a birthday card for my Godfather who holds a very special place in my life.  He was my late father's lifelong best friend and has always been there for me and was a tower of support when my father passed away suddenly in 1996.  Even though my Godfather lives a couple of hours by plane away, we talk to each other often and he is the most gentle and kindest man you could ever meet and ALWAYS makes you feel like you are wrapped up in a warm blanket.  I am so blessed to have him in my life! And I love that I have that special connection to my father through him which I treasure.   So, onto my card......

Isn't this dog sweet?  I know I say that about all my Penny Black stamps, but I *love* the quizzical expression on the dog's face!  I stamped him onto watercolour paper and coloured him with Faber Castell and Derwent Inktense watercolour pencils. I tried to give him lots of texture by scribbling different coloured brown Inktense watercolour pencils on a scrap piece of watercolour paper, adding water with my paintbrush and "dabbing" the dog with little strokes.  Once that had dried, I then made a wash with a mustardy-coloured pencil on a scrap piece of watercolour paper and applied that over the strokes to tone them down and blend them into the dog's fur.  I added used my clear Sakura glaze pen to add some shine to his collar, but you can't tell that from the photo - oh well!  The sentiment is from my Penny Black clear set:  Make a Wish - which seemed the perfect choice for this image.  This main panel is also up on dimensionals.  Here is a wee close-up:

I diecut the image with my Square Nesties - but trimmed around the tail first so the tail wouldn't get cut off.  This technique is called "Out of the box with nestabilities" and you can find the step-by-step tutorial here on Splitcoaststampers.   I did the same with the mustard and black cardstock layers.  If you are not a member of Splitcoaststampers, you will not be able to see the step-by-step written tutorial on their website, however, here is their video tutorial for this technique from You Tube:

Please note:  if you are reading this post in a Reader (such as Google etc.) or have received an email and you just see a black screen, you will need to come to my Blog to view the video.

The black paw border on the side panel is an EK Success punch:  Paw Print - isn't it fab??!!  I attached the ribbon in two separate elements and glued the paw print button on - the button had a shank which I cut off with pliers.

Lastly, I added the 3 black brads.

Challenges:

I am entering my card into the following challenges -

Crazy 4 Challenges - C4C101 - Bingo - where you have to pick 3 items in a row/diagonal line from the choices on their bingo board.  I chose Square card, Embossing and Brads.

Penny Black at Allsorts - August Challenge of Free and Easy

Before I go, I wanted to share some happy news that the card below was one of the top 3 at the Craft your Days Away Challenge #25 so I have another little blinkie which I have added to my blog sidebar.   Woo hoo!

And that's not all!  This next card was picked as one of the Splitcoaststampers Clean and Simple Favourites for the week ending 31st July - that sure rocked my socks off!

If you want to leave a comment and you are in a hurry, scroll down to under the Card Recipe, and click on one of the Reactions.
Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great week!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black - Where's Dinner 1705J, Sentiment from Penny Black - Make a Wish 30-052 clear set

Ink: Versafine Onyx black

Designer paper:  Rusty Pickle - Cap'n Jack - Black Pearl RP718 (probably retired now - it's been kicking around my craft room for a couple of years).

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Spellbinder Square Nestabilities, Crafts Too Dots 5" x 5" embossing folder, black grosgrain ribbon, paw print button by Buttons Galore and more - Pet - Little Paws #4120, black brads by Basic Grey from Urban Prairie collection, Faber Castell and Derwent Inktense watercolour pencils, 140lb watercolour paper, small round #2 paintbrush, dimensionals, clear Sakura glaze pen, cardstock: mustard, black

Punches:  EK Success Paw Print edge

Penny Black: Fetching Slippers - a masculine card

Hi blogging friends    Long time no post!  I received a phone call from one of my closest friends late last week to let me know that their father had passed away.  I worked with my friend and their father for many years in their family business and although it wasn't unexpected, it is still a shock when it actually happens.   The funeral was last Wednesday (2 days ago) and the weather was really terrible:  wet, freezing cold and miserable - most of us still got wet under our umbrellas because the wind was blowing it under.   It was like the angels in heaven were crying along with the rest of us.

I started this card last week but only got as far as colouring the image before the phone call so I put it aside and only finished the remainder of the card in a bit of a rush last night as I had to pop it in the mail today.  Hopefully my BIL should get it in time for his birthday this coming Monday.

The adorable image is by Penny Black - a stamp which I bought very recently from PB Stamps in the USA.  When I saw this image on someone's card a few months ago, I just HAD to get it - I LOVE it and it makes me happy to look at it   Check out those cat slippers!!  Cute as a button!! 

I stamped the image onto watercolour paper and coloured it with a mix of Faber-Castell and Derwent Inktense watercolour pencils and a small #2 round paintbrush.  You can't see in the photo, but I added some clear Sakura glaze pen to the dog's collar.  Here is a wee close-up:-

I wish I knew who made the designer paper.  It is a fairly recent purchase but there is no name on the back which is rather unusual for designer papers these days.  If you know, please leave me a comment or drop me an email, and I will update this post.  Plus I would LOVE to know so I can get some more of it:  I do really like it as it is so perfect for masculine cards IMHO.

The sentiment is by Lili of the Valley (UK) and is from their circular sentiments set:  For you.  I stamped it with Indigo pigment ink, poured on some clear embossing powder and heat-set it  The sentiment originally had flowers where the sparkly red star brads are, but I couldn't have flowers on a man's card, so searched through my stash to find something I could pop over the top to hide them.  Here is a close-up so you can see:

Both the main panel and sentiment panel are up on dimensionals.

Challenges:

I am entering this card into the Stampin' for the Weekend Challenge #14 of Spots and Dots.  I tried to use as many dots and spots as I could:  my dp, embossed dot red cardstock panel across the centre and the dots on the border punched panels.

I am also popping this card into the Stampalot August Challenge of "Anything Goes".

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Hope you have a fab weekend!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black Fetching Slippers 2085F, Lili of the Valley (UK) Circular sentiments - For you (set of 7 stamps)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx black, Artnic Indigo pigment

Designer paper:  I haven't a clue!

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Crafts Too dots square 5" x 5" embossing folder, Spellbinder - rectangle, circle and scalloped circle nestabilities, 140lb Watercolour paper, #2 round paintbrush, Faber-Castell and Derwent Inktense watercolour pencils, red sparkly star brads by Making Memories - Stars in Bloom - shimmer, navy blue ribbon, Sakura clear glaze pen, heat-gun, clear embossing powder, cardstock: navy blue, red

Punches:  Fiskars threading water 

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