Stamperia Brocante Antiques Birthday Card

 

Hi everyone 😊

Today I am sharing a Birthday Card that I made for my daughter's birthday:

I am popping this card into the following Challenges:

Splitcoaststampers - Free for All Friday F4A727 - Feature something that begins with the letter B  (mine is the Bear of course)!

Crafty Catz - Challenge #675 - Anything Goes with Optional Twist of Embellishments (I used the flower and heart sparklets)

I LOVED making this card!  The images in the Stamperia Brocante Antiques release are just sooooo beautiful and when Stamperia recently released this range, I couldn't WAIT to get my hands on it.  I especially love all the teddy bear images because I knitted a teddy bear for my daughter's birthday and it just seemed like a match made in heaven.

The main image was diecut from one of the 12" x 12" papers using a Lifestyle Nesting Circle die and my Big Shot.  I layered the image onto pink and teal designer paper from the same Stamperia range.  The teal paper was diecut using a Lifestyle Nesting Scalloped Circle die.

I punched the bottom designer paper panel using a Martha Stewart Doily Lace Edge Punch then embossed the entire panel with a Cuttlebug Jamara embossing folder which added some lovely texture to the card.  I added the seam binding in two separate elements; the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.   I added some Fray Stop to the edges of the ribbon because it frays so easily.  I glued on a flower from my stash using Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive then brushed on some Wink of Stella Clear Glitter for some sparkle.  

I ink blended every panel on the card with Antique Linen Distress Ink and my ink blending tool.  I recently purchased some domed foam pads for ink blending and I have found them easier to ink blend than the flat circle pads.  I don't get any harsh lines like I used to.

Note that I added scraps of white cardstock underneath the layers on my card for dimension instead of using dimensionals or self-adhesive foam pads.

The sentiment is from a retired Kaisercraft Miss Betty paper pad which was originally released in February 2018 and is one of my all-time favourite releases.  All Kaisercraft pads have sentiments at the back of their pads which come in very handy.  I layered the sentiment onto some designer paper then added some Wink of Stella to the button.   

Kaisercraft don't have anywhere near the amount of releases or even the range of cardmaking/scrapbooking products like they used to.   I miss their Workshop Magazine, their blog, Design Team samples, co-ordinating products and Beyond the Page.   I used to love going to my nearest Kaisercraft store and immersing myself in the experience.  I knew the Manager and she personally did loads of samples and put together kits - it was wonderful because you felt really inspired and you wanted to buy their products.  I can't understand why they don't at least promote their scrapbooking/cardmaking products to encourage creativity which would generate sales.  It's like it's a forgotten part of their business whilst they are busy promoting handbags, soap and baby toys.  Makes me sad 😢😢  Anyway, I am digressing.......

The hearts on the top RHS are by Kaisercraft (another retired product line) which matched the card perfectly (LOVE it when that happens!).  I glued them on using Helmar 450 glue.  

Once I had finished the card front, I glued it onto a brown cardstock base.

I decorated the card inside:

The sentiment is by Stampin' Up from their Sweet Ice Cream set and was stamped using Versafine Vintage Sepia ink onto cream cardstock then diecut with my Lifestyle Nesting Circle and Scalloped Circle dies.  I added some tiny hearts which are the leftover punchies from my EK Success Arrows Border Punch (if you are a regular visitor to my blog, you know that I have been using these tiny leftover punchies as hearts for a VERY long time!)

All the panels were ink-blended with Antique Linen Distress Ink and all the layers on the card front and inside were trimmed to 1/8" using my We R Memory Keepers Layer Guides.

The '21' was diecut from rose gold metallic cardstock and Lawn Fawn Finley's 123 dies which I have had forever but are still available from Lawn Fawn.  I know the 21 looks a little dark but it is definitely rose gold metallic cardstock.

I made a tag as well:

I handcut a tag from the Stamperia Brocante Antiques designer paper then layered it onto some designer paper then handcut it and ink-blended the tag with Antique Linen Distress Ink.

On the back of the tag, I added a rub-on using the Stamperia Brocante Antiques Rub On set then ink-blended the tag with Antique Linen Distress Ink:

I punched a hole using a 1/4" hole punch then added some fibres from the yarn I used for the hand-knitted teddy bear that I made which you can see here:

The teddy bear is a pattern from a Family Circle Magazine dated June 2021.  I knitted the bear using King Cole Truffle DK yarn in the colour 'Cookie Dough'.  It was the hardest thing I have ever knitted but I am so pleased with how it turned it.  I knitted a scarf in Fisherman's Rib using Moda Vera Starlight 8 ply yarn which I bought from Spotlight.

I really struggled with trying to do the nose with black yarn.  I got it crooked and uneven twice and had to keep pulling it out and was worried I was going to damage the muzzle and maybe put a hole in it - and then I had a brainwave and diecut black felt with a Spellbinders Oval Nestabilities die and glued it on using Helmars Fabric Glue.   I was ever-so-pleased with how it looked.  I just love that you can use dies for more than just cardstock and paper!

Popped in two 8mm Black Safety Eyes and stuffed the bear with Polyester Fibrefill.

We had a lovely birthday celebration and went to a cafe for lunch and to a local RSL for the evening meal then a homemade chocolate cake with chocolate frosting at home. 

Phew!  That was a long blog post!  Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe - Front:

Stamps:  None

Ink:  Ranger Antique Linen Distress Ink

Designer Paper:  Stamperia Brocante Antiques 12" x 12" pad + Backgrounds 8" x 8" pad, Kaisercraft Miss Betty 6-1/2" x 6-1/2" pad (retired)

Accessories:  Big Shot, Cuttlebug Jamara Embossing Folder (retired), Ink Blending Tool and Domed Foam Pads, Paper Flower, Wink of Stella Clear Glitter Brush, Light Teal Seam Binding, Fray Stop, Bow Easy, WRMK Layer Guides, Kaisercraft Trimmer, Kaisercraft Sparklets - Hearts RS420 (retired), Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive + Fabric Glue, Tombow Mono Multi Glue, Cardstock: scraps of white, brown card base

Dies:  Lifestyle Nesting Circles + Nesting Scalloped Circles

 

Punches:  Martha Stewart Doily Lace Edge

Card Recipe - Inside:

Stamps:  Stampin' Up! Sweet Ice Cream #154456

Ink:  Versafine Vintage Sepia, Ranger Antique Linen Distress Ink

Designer Paper:  Stamperia Brocante Antiques 12" x 12" pad + Backgrounds 8" x 8" pad

Accessories:  Big Shot, Ink Blending Tool and Domed Foam Pads, WRMK Layer Guides, Cardstock - cream, rose gold metallic

Dies:  Lifestyle Nesting Circles + Nesting Scalloped Circles, Lawn Fawn Finley's 123s #LF770

Punches:  EK Success Arrows Border

Tag Recipe:

Stamps:  None

Ink:  Ranger Antique Linen Distress Ink

Designer Paper:  Stamperia Brocante Antiques 12" x 12" pad

Accessories:  Tombow Mono Multi Glue, Ink Blending Tool and Domed Foam Pads, 1/4" Hole Punch, Fibres from Knitted Bear, Stamperia Brocante Antiques Rub-On DFLRB76, Cardstock - Cream

Knitted Bear:

Pattern:  Family Circle Magazine - June 2021

Yarn:  King Cole Truffle DK - Cookie Dough, Cleckheaton 5 ply - black (for embroidery), Moda Vera Starlight 8 ply

Needles:  4mm

Accessories:  Sewing up needle, Polyester Fiberfill Stuffing, 8mm Black Safety Eyes, Big Shot, Black Felt

Dies:  Spellbinder Oval Nestabilities

Secret Garden Vintage-inspired birthday card

Hi blogging friends 
 
Sheesh, I don't know what is up with Blogger!  It has been publishing my posts  when I have saved it as a Draft (which it did with my last post as well as this one) - so if you subscribe by email, you might get 2 emails now that I have re-published this post as I hadn't finished it before (sorry about that!).  The first email will probably say that the "post doesn't exist" if you click on the link because I changed the post name.  Just click on the latest email and it should take you to the right post.  If you read my posts via a Reader, it may also say that the post doesn't exist until I re-publish this one.  So annoying 

I was doing some tidying up in my Craft Room and came across some gorgeous papers by Graphic45 from their Secret Garden Collection (2013) and thought I would make a Vintage-inspired birthday card.  If you are a regular follower of my blog, you will already know that I am "too neat" to tear and rip edges like other cardmakers who are experts at Vintage-style cards - and I just can't add a gazillion embellishments and tizz up my card too much:  I get brain-freeze!   And whilst I am a little intimidated by making these sorts of cards, I have become comfortable with my own interpretation of that style.  Maybe there is another name for my style of Vintage?  Maybe it's Shabby-Chic (?).  If you can enlighten me, please do so :-)

This is also my card for Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper January Challenge (see details and link below).

The main image is from the Springtime #4500650 sheet which already had the beige and green borders so all I had to do was cut it out and distress it using my Ranger round blending tool and Antique Linen Distress ink.  I added some Summer Flowersoft to some of the flower centres using tacky glue and once dry, added some Stampin' Up Dazzling Details glitter glue for a bit of sparkle.  This panel is attached to my card using 0.5mm dimensionals.  

Here is a close-up:

And another close-up where hopefully you might see a little bit of the Flowersoft and sparkle (?):

The designer paper on the card base and panel is also from Graphic45 from their Baby 2 Bride Collection which I have had for ages and is from 2007 (how's that for hoarding?!!).  I also distressed the paper using Antique Linen Distress ink.  The green cardstock was trimmed to 1/8" using my Perfect Layers tools.  

The bottom punched border is my all-time favourite:  Martha Stewart Doily Lace.

I dyed the seam binding myself using a mix of paint colours:  Skin Tone Base and Peach Cobbler plus Textile Medium in equal quantities.  The seam binding and bow were added in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made using my Bow Easy.  I added Fray Stop to the cut ends to stop them from fraying

The paper rose was originally cream but I added some watered-down paint to match the seam binding then added a some Dazzling Details for sparkle.  The green part underneath the ribbon was originally a bright green which didn't match the rest of my card so I trimmed it off then punched a star from the same green cardstock that I used on my card and glued it on.

I diecut 2 x Vintage Corners from green cardstock using my Cuttlebug, distressed them using Antique Linen Distress Ink then glued them to the top of the main image panel using Tombow Mono Multi glue.  I punched a butterfly from some matching peachy coloured Secret Garden designer paper using a Carl CP-1 Butterfly-A punch, added 2 tiny pearls from my stash then added a little bit of Dazzling Details glitter glue.

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenge -

Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper January Challenge - Anything Goes - but you must use patterned paper to cover your card base or project and Hazel must be able to see that you have used patterned paper for your project.   The whole idea behind the challenge is to encourage you to use your stash of papers (and let's face it, most of us have enough to last 10 lifetimes!). 

Thanks for visiting my blog today.

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  None

Ink:  Ranger Antique Linen Distress 

Designer Paper:  Graphic45 Secret Garden Collection (2013) + Baby 2 Bride Collection - Unchained Melody #450023 (2007)

Dies:  Provocraft Vintage set 37-1201

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Ranger round blending tool, Stampin' Up Dazzling Details glitter glue, Crafter's Pick Incredibly Tacky glue, Stampin' Up Fuse Fast adhesive, Tombow Mono Multi glue, cream seam binding, acrylic paints - JoSonja Skin Tone Base + Folk Art Peach Cobbler, JoSonja Textile Medium, Fray Stop, Bow Easy, Perfect Layers Tools, 0.5mm dimensionals, cream paper flower, cardstock - olive green, white cardstock base, tiny peach pearls from stash, Flowersoft Summer

Punches:  Carl CP-1 Butterfly-A + CP-1 Star, Martha Stewart Lace Doily edge

Vintage Dasher Christmas card

Hi blogging friends

I am almost over my wretched cold (thank goodness!) and I am really now just tired and lacking energy.  We had some wonderful visitors over the weekend:  on Saturday, my American sister-in-law and her grown-up son (they reside in Australia but in another State so we don't catch up very often and they were on a stopover in Melbourne on the way home from the USA). My sister-in-law has always been a HUGE supporter of my cardmaking and a couple of years ago suggested that I start a blog to showcase my cards.   

On Sunday, my gorgeous friend Y and her 12 year old son from Brisbane visited for a couple of hours after lunch.  Y is the one who first introduced me to lots of different crafts:  dried flower arranging, then decorative painting and then cardmaking.  I never had any confidence with my crafting abilities and in fact, I didn't think I had a creative bone in my body until I met Y - but she was so encouraging and enthusiastic that my confidence slowly grew.  Y is one of those people that even when you don't see each other often, when you catch up, you just pick up where you left off.

And of course, when you are with people whom you love dearly and get on so well with, the time always passes far too quickly - and when they leave, there seems to be a void

So what card am I sharing today?  It's another Christmas card!  Yep:  I have the Christmas-cardmaking-bug and there is nothing I love more than rifling through my Christmas stash finding things I have forgotten about - a great journey of discovery...fun...fun....fun :-)

One of my all-time favourite Stampin' Up Christmas stamps is:  Dasher.  I love Dasher because the image is so versatile and lends itself to many different styles of card whether clean and simple or layered - and today, I am sharing my vintage-inspired version.  I am a little crazy about Vintage Christmas images at the moment so I have a few projects on the go and lots of ideas running through my head and my Craft Room is in total chaos LOL!

I stamped Dasher onto cream cardstock using Stampin' Up Crumb Cake ink and then after diecutting and layering the image panel onto crimson cardstock, I heavily distressed the panel using Ranger Antique Linen Distress ink and my Ranger Blending Tool.  I added some Kaisercraft blue-grey rhinestones and Bo Bunny burgundy rhinestones to Dasher's antlers.

The designer paper is really old - Cosmo Cricket:  Oh Joy (I used both sides of the paper) which I bought quite a few years ago now when I was required to make some Vintage Christmas cards for Fat Cat's Card Corner (I was on their DT).  Thankfully, there are lots of Vintage Christmas papers around these days that you could substitute and Kaisercraft has had some gorgeous Vintage papers out the last couple of years eg: Just Believe  - and of course, Graphic 45 has some amazing papers too, just to name a few.  I heavily distressed the card base/papers using Antique Linen ink.

I dyed/aged the cream lace using a tea bag and then tied on some rusty bells (and they even jingle!) using some twine.  As is my usual practice, I added the lace in 2 separate elements and glued the knotted part on using Fabric glue (it's just neater that way for me!) - and I added Fray Stop to the cut ends to stop them from fraying.

I added an Imaginisce brad to the bottom right-hand side which is from their Snowy Joe Brad Collection.  I received this set of brads free with an order from an online store and I suspect they are l-o-n-g retired.  It was just pure luck that the colours on this brad matched really well with my card (LOVE it when that happens!).

Lastly, I attached my decorated card front to a cream cardstock base.

Finished size is:  5-3/4" x 4-1/8" or 146mm x 105mm.

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges -

Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - July - Anything Goes

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Stampin' Up Dasher (retired)

Ink:  Stampin' Up Crumb Cake, Ranger Antique Linen Distress Ink

Designer paper:  Cosmo Cricket Oh Joy - Frosty 12" x 12" (retired)

Accessories:  Hero Arts Lace Ribbon CH231 (tea dyed by me), fabric glue, Bo Bunny 'Father Christmas' jewels (burgundy rhinestones) JFC497, Kaisercraft rhinestones Blue-Grey RS406, Big Shot, Lifestyle Nesting Circle and Nesting Scallop Circle dies, Ranger Blending Tool, Pickadoll PT-1550 1cm rusty jingle bells, Darice hemp cord (to tie on bells), Imaginisce Snowball brads - Snowy Joe Collection (retired), Fray Stop, cardstock - Bazzill Basics Crimson, Paper Mill cream

Vintage-inspired Roses thank you card

Hi blogging friends,

Today I am sharing a Vintage-inspired Thank you card which I made for the owners of the holiday house where we stayed at Bright in March.  We have been staying there since my daughter was in a Port-a-cot (she is almost 11 now!) and they have been so kind to us over the years.   I specifically chose a rose for my card because the owners love roses plus they gave us a rose to plant in our garden when we left the holiday house - so it only seemed fitting to use a rose image:

The rose came already diecut but I did trim a few parts that weren't perfectly diecut and then used a matching green and red Tombow pen to go around the edges of the diecut pieces to eliminate any white showing.  This makes a huge difference to how a papertole (or decoupage if you are in the UK) image looks once you have finished layering it up and helps the edges blend in alot better.

Now I am not very good at Vintage cards or distressing:  I think I am too neat and maybe my style is a whole lot more simplistic compared to other seasoned cardmakers of that genre - but I do love what other people do with their cards.   I often look at that style and almost envy their ability to add this and that and then a whole lot more bits and pieces, and then tear the paper etc. and their card looks just perfect.  Yet, if I add bits and pieces, my cards look too busy!  So that is why I called my card "Vintage-inspired".  If you don't hear from me again, you know that the Vintage Card Police got me LOL!

Here is a close-up so you can see the dimension of the rose:

The designer paper is by Graphic 45 - Little Darling Collection - Precious Poesy (yes, that's how it's spelled!) and just seemed to match my image perfectly (I love it when that happens!).

Believe it or not, each layer has been roughed up a little with a distressing tool and then I used my Ranger Blending Tool to add Hero Arts Soft Sand Shadow ink to each layer around the the edges including the rose panel.

The sentiment is from a Stampin' Up! set called Simply Sketched and was stamped with Versamagic Tea Leaves chalk ink then I added 3 Split Pea Kaisercraft rhinestones.

The gorgeous silk ribbon is by May Arts and which I purchased a long time ago from Sharon Johnsons' online store Stamp Simply.  I am sorry that I can't remember the colour name:  it is either Moss or Olive and both are available at Sharon's store.  I added the ribbon in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy and was glued on using Fabric glue.  I added Fray Stop to the cut ends to stop them from fraying as silk frays terribly!

All the layers were trimmed to 1/8" using my Perfect Layers Tools.  The bottom panel was punched using a Martha Stewart Doiley Lace edge punch (my favourite all-time punch!) which I recently replaced because I wore my old one out!  There is a Scor-Pal line above the punched edge (a bit hard to see in the photo) which gave me a straight line to butt the designer paper up against.

Challenges

I am entering my card in the following challenges -

CraftyCatz - Challenge #228 - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by my blog today and for any comments that you care to leave.

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Sentiment from Stampin' Up! Simply Sketched set

Ink:  Versamagic Tea Leaves chalk, Hero Arts Soft Sand Shadow

Designer paper:  Graphic 45 Little Darlings Collection - Precious Poesy #4500451 12" x 12"

Accessories:  Image from Reddy Creative Cards diecut sheet Ar.83873, dimensionals, Perfect Layers Tools, Big Shot, Spellbinder Oval and Scallop Oval Nestabilities, Kaisercraft Split Pea rhinestones RS407, Ranger Blending Tool, We R Memory Keepers heart-shaped distresser tool, red + green Tombow pens, Bow Easy, May Arts silk ribbon 1"/2.5cm wide, Fray Stop, Fabric glue, Scor-Pal, cardstock - light olive green, dark olive green, cream

Punches:  Martha Stewart Doily Lace 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

Hero Arts + Sizzix Collage background Distress Inks card

Hi blogging friends

I have been very busy these past few weeks with 2 weeks of school holidays and then my DD was off school sick = almost no crafting or blogging time.  

I also celebrated my mother's birthday, my birthday  and watched the Bathurst 1000 V8 Supercar race (I love car racing!), visited the cinema and Melbourne Aquarium among other things.  Any wonder, I only managed to make 2 cards!  I must admit I been a feeling a little "dry" cardmaking-wise, however, I went to a Craft Show last weekend which is the first one I have been to for a few years and it was AWESOME!  Came away with loads of ideas (and loads of really cool stuff thanks to my birthday money) so I shall be diving headlong into my Christmas cardmaking.  Yep, Christmas displays are already in KMart and mince pies are in Woolworths.....{sigh} seems to get earlier and earlier every year.....anyway, I am waffling as usual.......

Whilst I was at the show, I did a fantastic free make-and-take workshop and made a vintagey tag using several different coloured Tim Holtz Distress Inks and was really happy with what I made.  So I pulled out a recent purchase of a Hero Arts Background Collage stamp/Sizzix embossing folder combination set and thought I would give it a whirl.  It took me a few try-outs to figure out what cardstock worked the best for me and what colour choices worked well together - so here is the final result:  

Now I have to say that this sort of cardmaking is totally out of my comfort zone and I am not about to throw my coloured pencils away, but it was really nice to try something different especially as I have been feeling so stale.

To get the background effect, I used 3 Distress ink colours and smooshed them across a non-stick craft sheet keeping the colours all separate, spritzed them with a bit of water using a Ranger Mini Mister till I saw little droplets, then wiped my cardstock through it and moved it around a little to mix the colours but not too much or you will get a browny-kind-of-mess.  I used 140 lb watercolour paper as my ordinary white cardstock couldn't handle the amount of water.  I used 3 different Distress ink pads:  Spun Sugar (pink), Bundled Sage (green) and Tumbled Glass (blue) .  I dried off the watercolour paper using my heat-gun.  I actually did 2 sheets of watercolour paper so I could stamp the butterfly again* (see below) and cut it out.

Using a Ranger Inkssentials foam tool and pad, I went around the edges with Antique Linen Distress ink, then did the same using the Spun Sugar Distress ink.   I inked up my stamp with Versafine Vintage Sepia ink and stamped it over the top.  Next I ran the watercolour paper through my Big Shot using the Sizzix Textured Impressions embossing folder that came with the stamp. The embossing doesn't show up super-well in the photo and looks heaps better in real life.   You can see it a bit of embossing around the sentiment and butterfly but that's about all.  The large flowers around the edges are also embossed but you can't tell from my photo.  I then sprayed the watercolour paper with Pearl Glimmer Mist to give it a bit of sparkle which again isn't visible from my photo but looks very yummy in real life.

I then inked up just the butterfly* and stamped it onto the 2nd sheet of watercolour paper and cut it out, inked around the edge with Antique Linen Distress ink then smothered it in Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue and popped the butterfly centre up on dimensionals and bent the wings up a little.

Using some Kraft cardstock, I rounded 2 of the corners and went around the edges with Spun Sugar + Antique Linen Distress ink.  I pulled out some pink seam binding which I dyed myself a while ago using Jo Sonja acrylic paint mixed with Jo Sonja Textile Medium and attached this to the watercolour paper in 2 separate elements (the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy), then layered the panel onto the Kraft cardstock.

I decided to add some Hero Arts heart pearls to the sentiment to make it stand out a little more.

Now it all sounds like a lot of steps and fiddling but now that I know how to actually do this type of card, ie: what colours look nice together, what cardstock works etc. etc., to make another card the same would probably take 1/10th of the time it took to make this one!  And I do love how it turned out and it was sooooo much fun to make a mess (which I am really good at doing!!) and make something totally different.  I am not sure where you would call this card Distressed, Shabby Chic or Vintage (or something from my compost bin??) - I am a bit clueless so I'll pop this card into all 3 categories on my blog sidebar. 

I found a video made by The Master himself (Tim Holtz) which shows how to do the inked background.  The type of background I did starts at 1 minute 56 seconds into the video.  Enjoy!

Challenges:

I am entering my card into the following challenge -

Splitcoaststampers - Free for all Friday F4A85 Make your own background

Thanks so much for stopping by my little corner of the world!  

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Hero Arts Collage background stamp #657766 (in set with emb.folder)

Ink:  Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Spun Sugar, Bundled Sage, Tumbled Glass, Antique Linen, Versafine Vintage Sepia

Accessories:  Big Shot, Sizzix Collage background Textured Impressions embossing folder #657766, Ranger Inkssentials Blending tool and foam pads, Ranger Mini Mister (filled with water), non-stick craft sheet, 140lb Watercolour paper, hand-dyed seam binding, Bow Easy, Tattered Angels Pearl Glimmer Mist, Hero Arts CH173 Heart Accent pearls, Kindygliz Crystalina, dimensionals, heat-gun, cardstock:  American Krafts

Punches:  Stampin' Up corner punch

Kaisercraft English Rose textured lady's card with hand-dyed seam binding

Hi and thanks for stopping by :-)

I have seen a few of this style of card in various places on the web and as the Splitcoaststampers Fan Club April theme is 'Oh so shapely', it give me the perfect excuse to have a go at one myself.  Plus I have been wanting to use some seam binding that I dyed myself to match the gorgeous Kaisercraft English Rose designer papers.  I used JoSonja acrylic goache mixed with JoSonja Textile Medium in the ratio of 1 : 1.  Super-simple and easy.

So, back to my card......it is pretty simple.  I ran the brown-burgundy cardstock through my Cuttlebug using the larger Jamara embossing folder then I lightly sanded the embossing to make it stand out more and sprayed on a little pearl Glimmer Mist.

I used my Martha Stewart Doily Lace punch to punch the borders on the designer paper (note I used the 6" x 6" pad of papers) then ran them through my Cuttlebug using the same Jamara embossing folder which "distressed" them a little.  I then adhered them together with doublesided tape but made sure that I didn't stick down the decorative border.  I bent them up slightly so they would stand out more.

I added 2 different sized Kaiser Blush pearls which have the slightest tinge of pink along the very bottom layer of the dp's.  I punched a butterfly with my Martha Stewart Monarch butterfly punch, ran it through the Cuttlebug too with the same folder, sprayed on some pearl Glimmer Mist and added some Blush pearls to the centre.  Here is a close-up of the butterfly - you can see the sheen from the Glimmer Mist on the cardstock a little better in this photo:-

Did you notice the rose + leaves in the centre of the ribbon bow?  Drum roll.......I made it myself!  Yep, all by myself with a piece of cream ribbon (and olive green for the leaves).  Yay me!!   Here is a wee close-up:-

I have wanted to make these roses forever and found a video on You Tube that I could actually understand.  It did take me an evening to practice/play around with it and eventually was able to get to grips with it (even if it isn't perfect).  I sewed the bottom of the rose as I went so it didn't unravel but I imagine in time, you would probably be able to do it right through and only sew it at the end.  The wider the ribbon, the easier it is and if you use wire-edged ribbon, it is heaps easier (mine is just regular ribbon though).    Here is the You Tube video I used and here is a visual  from the Craft Critique blog of how you actually start to fold the ribbon over - scroll down till you see the pink folded ribbon rose - you just keep folding the ribbon in the same way and keep going round and round till you are happy with the size of the rose.

The rose leaves were made by folding a small piece of olive green ribbon into a figure 8 then sewing it to the bottom of the rose so the ribbon ends are hidden in the centre.  I then glued it to the seam binding bow with Fabric glue.   Pretty cool, huh - even if I do say so myself?!!!

I attached the pink seam binding ribbon in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.  I kept thinking I should add a flourish somewhere on the card or add a sentiment - and actually spent longer trying to figure out if I should add anything extra than it took to make the rest of the card!!  In the end, I drew a blank and left the card as is.

Challenges:

Apart from the SCS Fan Club Challenge, I am entering my card into the following challenges -

Crop Stop Challenge #15 - Vintage Finish - where they want you to show them how you get inspired by "Vintage".  This is my own interpretation of Vintage - maybe not fitting the style that other people have.  One day I will get to grips with the whole torn and ripped edge and uneven stitching thingy..........hard 'cos I'm a neat-freak......!

Frosted Designs Fabulous Friday Challenge where this week they want you make a card, layout or a project using a homemade/handmade embellishment.  My handmade/homemade embellies are my hand-dyed seam binding ribbon and the folded ribbon rose.

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  None

Ink:  None

Designer paper:  Kaisercraft English Rose 6" x 6" paper pad

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Jamara embossing folder, cream seam binding (dyed pink) - 19mm or 9/16" wide, Pearl Glimmer Mist, Kaiser pearls - SB716 Blush, Fabric glue, sandpaper, Cardstock - brown/burgundy, Bow Easy, Folded ribbon rose - cream ribbon 3/8" or 10mm wide + cream sewing thread and sewing needle, olive green ribbon 1/4" or 7mm wide.

Punches:  Martha Stewart Doily Lace edge, Martha Stewart Monarch Butterfly

Stamp-It Australia Reindeer Text - Vintage-style Christmas card

Hi and thanks for stopping by :-)

I made another quick and simple Vintage-style Christmas card (well, my style of vintage anyway...) - no colouring on this one - and now that the recipient has it in her hot little hands, I can post it here on my Blog.  The image is a lovely stamp by Stamp-It Australia called "Reindeer Text", and was stamped with Versafine Vintage Sepia ink onto cream cardstock, then aged heavily using Antique Linen Distress ink and a seasponge.  I added a tiny red pearl to his nose.  Here is a little close-up so you can see:

The designer paper is by Cosmo Cricket which I have had in my stash for ages.  The paper actually has 4 different designs on each side of the one 12" x 12" sheet including some diecut embellishments which you are supposed to fold up into a Mini Album and then glue on the embellies as page dividers - in fact, it's called:  Cosmo Cricket - Itty Bitty Album - Winter Wonderland.  But I decided to use the small pieces of paper for my cards rather than making an album.  It seems to still be available at some on-line stores in Australia, but I imagine it won't be available for much longer.  I aged the edges of the designer paper as well as the burgundy and dark brown cardstock.

The ribbon was attached in 2 separate elements, and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy plus I glued on a burgundy button using Crafter's Pick glue.  I was tempted to add some flowers or some sort of embellishment, but I had nothing that matched, and in the end, decided to just leave the card "as is" - sometimes it's nice to just keep things simple.

Challenges:

I'm popping this card into the Splitcoaststampers 'Ways to use it' Challenge WT297 of Basically Brown.

Now that it is the Summer school holidays here in Australia for about 6 weeks, I won't be updating my Blog quite as often - but I'll update as often as I can.  Plus I will take the opportunity to do some overdue maintenance on the computer.

May I take this opportunity to say thank you so much for visiting my Blog, and for all your support, comments and encouragement since I started blogging in March - I feel very blessed and thankful for you all being a part of my world.   And lastly, I would like to wish you all a very happy and safe Christmas - and may all your dreams come true in 2011. 

(((hugs))) to you all :-)

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Stamp-It Australia Reindeer Text 3902E foam-mounted rubber

Ink:  Versafine Vintage Sepia, Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distress

Designer paper:  Cosmo Cricket - Itty Bitty Album - Winter Wonderland (retired)

Accessories:  Seasponge, Cuttlebug, Spellbinder Circle Nestabilities, Bow Easy, burgundy grosgrain ribbon, burgundy button, red pearl, Crafter's Pick Incredibly tacky glue, Cardstock: cream, burgundy, dark brown

Punches:  Stampin' Up corner punch

Stampin' Up Vintage Peaceful Wishes - Card #2

Hi and thanks for stopping by :-)

I thought I would CASE one of my own Christmas cards "Vintage Peaceful Wishes" (well, more like variations on a theme!) which I shared here about a week ago - but I changed things around quite a bit so it does look substantially different to my first one - and I like this one better.  It is such a quick and easy card to do that I am doing a bunch the same.

I stamped the foliage with Peeled Paint (green) Distress ink - sometimes I stamped without re-inking so that you have the foliage fading into the background - and did the same with the berries using Aged Mahogany Distress ink.  

Then I set to work with the sponging.  I always use a seasponge for sponging as I find I don't get "hard" edges.  I tear my seasponge into little pieces - don't cut them or you are more likely to get lines of sponging which doesn't look as nice.  Here in Australia, you can find seasponges at Chemists.  They are quite dear, but last for ages.

I sponged the same green and red as the image, and added Antique Linen Distress ink plus some Versacolor Gold pigment, then heat-set it with a heat-gun ready for the next step.  Using my gold pigment ink, I roughly went around all the edges of the cardstock, then dumped on some gold embossing powder and heat-set it.  If you don't heat-set the sponging before you run the gold ink around the edges, some of the gold embossing powder will catch on the rest of the card where you have sponged - which is OK if that's what you want - but I didn't - I only wanted the gold embossing around the edges.

Once I had done all that, then I added the sentiment (if you add the sentiment before the sponging, it doesn't stand out as well as it gets covered by all the sponging).

I added red Kindyglitz to all the berries and added the sparkly star brads either side of the sentiment.  Lastly, I added the burgundy bow. 

Challenges:

I am popping this card into the current Splitcoaststampers Clean and Simple CAS96 Challenge of "bows". 

Thanks again for stopping by!  I'll be back soon with another Christmas card to share.

Jocelyn

P.S.  If you don't know:  CASE means "copy and share with everyone" or "copy and selectively edit"- and there are some variations on that.

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Stampin' Up Peaceful Wishes (retired)

Ink:  Tim Holtz Distress Inks:  Peeled Paint, Aged Mahogany, Antique Linen, Versacolor gold pigment

Accessories:  Gold-dotted Burgundy ribbon, Bow Easy, red Kindyglitz, seasponge, gold embossing powder, Sparkly star brads by Making Memories, heat-gun, Cardstock: cream, dark olive, burgundy