Dasher - a couple of quick Christmas cards

Hi blogging friends

Sorry it's been a while since I last posted.  Time always seems to speed up once November hits; I am sure you know what I mean!  Good test results for my loved one has meant we can move forward although it is still very full-on at home helping them recover their strength and stamina.  Christmas will be an extra-special celebration this year as you can well imagine!  Thank you for staying with me and supporting my cardmaking/blog - and especially for your wonderful and caring comments and emails I have received from you over this difficult time - they have meant so much

Because I am so tired emotionally and physically and having trouble thinking after such a tumultuous year caring for my loved one, the cards I am sharing are similar to one I did last year.  Because I loved the simple layout, I thought I could play around with the basic elements to see what I could come up with to make them look a little different to each other.

I must admit, I have tried making a couple of other Christmas cards but got so frustrated in the process that I put them aside.  It was one of the those times where you stamp the sentiment crooked, smear the wet glitter glue and then drop the newly coloured image onto an open stamp pad!!  Grrr - I was so cheesed off - but then thought I should just start afresh and go with something that I know works and doesn't take too long.   I have had to buy (oh the horror!) many of my Christmas cards this year - fortunately people understand that I am very time-poor crafting-wise!  Anyway, without further adieu, here is my first card:

I stamped my favourite Stampin' Up! stamp "Dasher" with Versamark Watermark ink, poured on some silver embossing powder and heat-set it with my heat-gun.  I added a tiny red rhinestone to his nose so of course, now Dasher has become Rudolph.

I added a Scor-Pal line above and below the image and the bottom border was dry-embossed with my Cuttlebug using a border folder from the Sizzix Textured Impressions Christmas Set #6.  I love how the swirls in the embossing tie in with the swirly antlers of Rudolph.

The silver cardstock bottom border was punched using a Martha Stewart Arched Lattice punch.

I added some Fray Stop to the ends of the twine so they wouldn't unravel and look untidy (just me being a fuss-pot!). 

Now here is my 2nd card:

As you can see, I just made some minor changes.  Dasher is stamped with Colorbox Sapphire Silk pigment ink and heat-set using Satin Pearl embossing powder.  I used a different brand of red and white twine (it has more red than the 1st card) and the red cardstock bottom border was punched with my EK Success Scalloped Scallops edge punch.

Challenges:

I am entering my cards in the following challenges -

Splitcoaststampers - Clean and Simple 200th Challenge CAS200PARTYF - Inspired by a song - my card is inspired by Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer as that is one of my favourite Christmas songs

Splitcoaststampers - Ways to Use It Challenge WT404 - create a card or project using your favorite things - my favourite things are everything I used to make my card:  my Cuttlebug, embossing folder, Dasher stamp, twine, Scor-Pal, bling, edge punches.   I think I have made more cards using the Dasher stamp than probably any other stamp in my collection.

Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge #103 - Christmas Birthday or Anything Goes for Christmas - obviously I did the 'Anything Goes'.

Simon Says Stamp Challenge - What's your favourite?  Tool, Stamp, Product?  I have used all my favourite things as listed above in the SCS WT404 challenge.

ABC Christmas Challenge - Y is for your favourite punch/die.  I have used 2 of my favourite edge punches - the Arched Lattice which I love for elegant Christmas cards and the Scalloped Scallop which is an edge punch for any occasion and is suitable for any gender card.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  How are you going with your Christmas cardmaking? Only 8 days until.......



Wow - where does the time go?!!!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe -

Card #1:

Stamps:  Stampin' Up! Dasher

Ink:  Versamark watermark

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Sizzix Textured Impressions Christmas Set #6, Basic Grey red rhinestone, Scor-Pal, red/white twine, white cardstock - KW Doggett "Knight", scrap silver cardstock, heat gun, silver embossing powder, fray stop

Punches:  Martha Stewart Arched Lattice

Card #2:

Stamps:  Stampin' Up! Dasher

Ink:  Colorbox Sapphire Silk pigment

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Sizzix Textured Impressions Christmas Set #6, Basic Grey red rhinestone, Scor-Pal, red/white twine, white cardstock - KW Doggett "Knight", scrap red cardstock, heat-gun, satin pearl embossing powder, fray stop

Punches:  EK Success Scalloped Scallops

Elzybells Teddy and Tree - a Christmas card at last!

Hi blogging friends

At last, a CHRISTMAS card to share.....and it's another teddy bear card LOL!!  Just a very simple design/layout as I do feel a bit rusty having not made very many cards this year. 

This very sweeeet little teddy is a retired Elzybells stamp.  Elizabeth Bell who ran Elzybells Stamps UK is now a designer for Penny Black Stamps and they have brought out a number of Elizabeth's designs over the past year so I am really hoping that they will bring out some more Christmas ones as I always get asked where people can buy the Elzybells stamps.  Please note that I am unable to stamp images to share due to copyright.  Occasionally I see Elzybells stamps on EBay but not often!  Anyway, I am digressing as usual.......

The image was stamped on Watercolour paper with Versafine Onyx black ink and watercoloured with watercolour pencils and a small round paintbrush.  I lightly chalked around the image with blue chalk and added some brown/grey chalk along the bottom of the image.

I added some Glossy Accents to the red baubles (not that you can really see it) and some Gold FlowerSoft using Aleen's tacky glue to the tinsel on the tree.  I had quite forgotten I had bought gold and silver FlowerSoft and found it when I was tidying up my craft room.  Here is a wee close-up: 

The designer paper is by Kaisercraft and is very sparkly and glittery in real life; you can probably see a little of the sparkle in my photos.

The green satin ribbon was attached in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.   I also found some jingley bells when I was tidying up so added one with some gold cord just for a bit of fun as the card jingles when you shake it.  I added Fray Stop to the ribbon and cord ends to stop them from fraying.

I could have gone crazy with lots of embellies but wanted to hold back on them because I might give this card to my husband as he is the sort of guy who doesn't mind cute images like teddy bears and a bit of glitter or sparkle - but obviously I wouldn't tizz a card up too much for him.

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges -

Crafty Catz Challenge Blog Challenge #159 - Make it sparkle  I hope the glittery designer paper and the gold FlowerSoft is sparkley enough

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #99 - use something more than 6 months old   Everything on my card is more than 6 months old.

Winter Wonderland Challenge - Oh Baubles! - make any Christmas project with baubles.

My loved one has a swag of medical appointments this coming week so I probably won't be posting again for a week - plus we are waiting on some test results which we get this coming Monday.  Hopefully, all the results will be good as there is nothing to indicate otherwise yet it is hard not to be nervous about them. 

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a fab weekend!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Elzybells Teddy with tree (retired)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx black

Designer paper:  Kaisercraft Be Merry Collection

Accessories:  140lb watercolour paper, Faber-Castell and Lyra watercolour pencils, small round paintbrush, gold FlowerSoft, Aleen's tacky glue, gold bell, Cuttlebug, Spellbinder Circle and Scalloped Circle nestabilities, Glossy Accents, Bow Easy, Perfect Layers Tools, green satin ribbon, gold cord, Fray Stop (for the ribbon ends), cardstock - red and green

Christmas Stitchery

Hi blogging friends - and welcome to my newest followers who have joined me in the past month or so - thanks for following me

One of my other passions is embroidery and stitcheries so I thought I would share a little Christmas project that I finished a while ago:

I bought this little kit when I went to a Craft Show (and them promptly forgot about it.....!) so it has sat in my stitchery box for goodness knows how long!!  The original designer was Melissa Grant of Giggle Buttons.  Giggle Buttons has since been sold to another lady and the Giggle Buttons trading name no longer exists and is now called CheraBella Buttons.   Please note I have never bought from CheraBella Buttons so I am not recommending them - I am simply passing on the information in case you are interested. 

The Christmas Tree is a ceramic button which came with the kit and if you peer closely at the top, bottom, left and right sides of the burgundy diamond, you will see that I stitched on some tiny little gold and burgundy beads. 

I blanket-stitched around the burgundy hearts and the words were embroidered in burgundy stranded cotton using backstitch with a french knot at either end of the words.

The only things that didn't come with the kit were:  the border fabric, the fabric backing (I just used calico - from Spotlight), the batting (inbetween the top and bottom layers of fabric - from Spotlight), the wire hanger (from EBay), sewing threads for sewing the various pieces of material together (from Spotlight), and the mini green clothes pegs (from Riot Art and Craft - about $2 for an assorted pack of colours).

Finished size is 5-1/4" square or 13.2 centimetres/132 millimetres if you are metric.

Thanks for stopping by

Jocelyn

Wild Rose Studio Milton with card - a thank you card

Hi blogging friends 

On my last post, I gave you a sneaky peak of a card I had been working on and now that the recipient has it in their hot little hands, I can share it here on my blog:  

The recipient has been such an amazing support to our family whilst we have been going through some very tough times caring for our loved one since the beginning of February this year.  Words almost fail me to know how to thank someone so special who has sent tons of positive and caring thoughts and prayers our way; uplifted us when we were despairing; encouraged us and lovingly understood the emotional rollercoaster ride that you go through when a loved one has a life-threatening illness; and, now, at the end of our loved one's treatment and in the recovery phase which is very challenging and very full-on, continues to shower our family with love and ongoing emotional support.   We are so blessed to have this person as part of our lives!  

I LOVE this Milton Bear image by Wild Rose Studio - but that wouldn't come as a surprise to those of you who have been following my blog for a while as I am so crazy for teddy bear images LOL!!  I stamped Milton onto Watercolour paper and coloured him with Watercolour pencils and a paintbrush.  I used a white eraser to rub back some of the colouring to add a few highlights where I felt it was needed.   I added some Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue to the envelope and added some blue chalk around the image for the sky and brown plus green chalk for the ground.

The gorgeous designer papers are called 'Bella!' by Sarah-Jane Paperz (distributed by Fynmark Australia) have been in my stash for over a year and I originally bought them from Spotlight.  I have never seen any other dp's by this designer so I don't know if they were exclusive to Spotlight or not (??).   I really love the gorgeous, warm colours in the papers....happy sigh.....even my hubby thought they were beautiful!   The top left-hand fancy corner was diecut using one of the Cuttlebug Vintage tags dies and one of the dp's. 

The cotton lace on the side panel was originally white but I dyed it with a teabag to make it look 'old' and match the dp's.  I attached the lace in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.  I also added some Fray Stop to the cut edges of the bow so that they wouldn't fray.

I used my Perfect Layers Tools to matt all the layers with a 1/8" border.

Check out that gorgeous brad which is also by the same dp company!  Isn't it beautiful?!  The brad came in a set of 12 brads - some square and some round.  Here is a close-up piccy:

I still have the sentiment stamp (which is a clear stamp) on my stamping block but do you think I can remember what set it is from?  Nope - my brain has turned to mush....but I will update this post when I find out.  The sentiment panel was diecut with my Cuttlebug and Spellbinder Oval and Scalloped Oval Nestabilities.

I used my EK Success Arrows Border punch to punch some tiny hearts (they are the leftover punchies which look like tiny hearts to me) and glued them on around the sentiment then added a little bit of Kindyglitz to them.

I decorated the card inside to match the card front which should be self-explanatory.  I added a Scor-Pal line just above the mustard cardstock punched bottom border so that I had a straight line to butt my designer paper up against.

Challenges:

I am entering my card into the following challenges -

The ABC Challenge - A is for Appreciation - where they would like to you to make a thank you card or thank you gift for someone you appreciate, and

Papertake Weekly Challenge - Anything Goes - with the optional extra of making a card or project for Christmas (obviously I didn't do that part of the challenge!).

I have a couple of other thank you cards in the pipeline for a few other amazing people; hopefully, I will be able to share them soon.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Wild Rose Studio - Milton with card - CL058 - clear stamp, Sentiment on card front - to be advised, Sentiment on card inside - Darcies #11872 wood-mounted

Ink:  Versafine Onyx black

Designer paper:  Bella! by Sarah-Jane Paperz - Spotlight

Accessories:  Perfect Layers Tools, Bow Easy, Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Vintage corner die, dimensionals, Faber-Castell plus Lyra watercolour pencils, 140lb watercolour paper, small round paintbrush, Bella Bradz, Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue, fray stop, Scor-Pal, Spellbinder oval + scalloped oval dies, tea-dyed cotton lace, Kaisercolour chalks

Punches:  EK Success Arrows border (tiny hearts around sentiment), Martha Stewart Pinking Scallop edge (for card inside)

Docrafts Wellington Bear card kit - masculine birthday card

Hi blogging friends

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Challenges:

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

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

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

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

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  None

Ink:  None

Designer paper:  Docrafts - included in card kit

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

Punches:  Stampin' Up! corner punch

Docrafts Wellington Bear - A Father's Day card

Hi blogging friends

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Challenges:

I am entering my card into the following challenges -

Simon Says Stamp Challenge - Anything goes - 29th August

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  None

Ink:  None

Designer paper:  Basic Grey - Granola - Trail Mix

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

Punches:  Fiskars Threading Water

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

Hi blogging friends

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

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

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

Thanks so much for stopping by  

Jocelyn