Penny Black It's from you - Wedding Anniversary card

Hi blogging friends

The card I am sharing today was for my husband in celebration of our 24th Wedding Anniversary.  I am so fortunate that my husband loves cute and cuddly things and he just adores our cat Ruby - which is why I picked a Penny Black cat stamp for the card.

This is also my card for the My Time to Craft Challenge #227 of 'Spots and Stripes'.  My spots are obvious of course and the stripes are in the plaid designer paper.  I am also entering my card in the Penny Black June Saturday Challenge of Masculine.

I stamped the image onto watercolour paper using Versafine Vintage Sepia ink and coloured it with Derwent Inktense and Faber-Castell watercolour pencils and a paintbrush.   I lightly chalked around the image using blue chalk for the sky and grey, green and brown for the ground.  I stamped the image again and cut out just the envelope and popped it up to give it some dimension.  I added a tiny bit of Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue to the envelope as I can get away with a bit of glitter on my husband's cards!  I added some Glossy Accents to the hearts on the card then popped this main panel up on dimensionals.

All the designer papers are by Lili of the Valley from their Crab Apple Lane - Country Gent pad.  I punched some hearts using the plaid paper and my Looped Hearts edge punch (they are the leftover punchies) and popped them up on dimensionals to the top RHS of the card.

The sentiment panel has tiny hearts at each end of the sentiment and these were punched from the plaid paper using my Arrows border punch (again, they are the leftover punchies which look like tiny hearts to me) and I added a tiny bit of Kindyglitz to them.  The sentiment is from a retired Elzybells clear set:  Everyday Greetings.

The punched bottom border was made using my Scalloped Scallops border punch - again using the plaid designer paper.

All the card layers were trimmed to 1/8" using my Perfect Layers Tools.

Thanks for visiting my blog today.

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black 'It's from you!' 2859J wood mount, Sentiment from Elzybells 'Everyday Greetings' 20-006 clear set (retired)

Inks:  Versafine Vintage Sepia

Designer paper:  Lili of the Valley (UK) - Crab Apple Lane Country Gent 8" x 8" pad

Accessories:  Big Shot, Spellbinder Rectangle Nestabilities, Perfect Layers Tools, 140lb watercolour paper, Derwent Inktense + Faber-Castell watercolour pencils, paintbrush, Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue, Glossy Accents, Kaisercolour chalks, Fray Stop, brown grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals, cardstock - kraft

Punches:  EK Success Arrows border, EK Success Scalloped Scallops, Martha Stewart Looped Hearts edge

LOTV Teddy Topper birthday card with heart banner

Hi blogging friends

The card I am sharing today is for my great-niece's 8th birthday later in July and is my card for the Divas by Design Challenge of 'Happy Birthday'.  It is my first time playing their challenge and I love that you don't have to use a stamped/digi image and you can make anything you want.  I find it difficult to find challenges where it is OK to use a topper.  You can find more details on the challenge HERE.

The main image is a an adorable topper from Lili of the Valley but I just checked their website and they don't sell this particular topper anymore; in fact, none of the toppers that I have in my stash are there and it doesn't seem that long to me since they released their Mini Masterpieces (?) - oh well!   
 
I added Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue to the ribbon around the cake, the candle flames, the cheeks on the teddies plus all the confetti - not that you can see the glitter very well in the photo due to the gloomy weather.  I took the photo inbetween showers of rain - and boy, it sure has rained here ALOT these past 2 weeks which has been fantastic after such a dry autumn.  I love going to sleep with the sound of rain on the roof - so soothing.

When I was at the Picture to Page Scrapbooking Show in May, I bought a La-La Land Heart Banner die which I have wanted for ages but every time I went to buy it online, it was out-of stock:  it must be popular - and I am not surprised as it is so pretty, don't you think?!   I did fiddle around with the Heart Banner die a bit and originally had a white banner with pink hearts but it just seemed to disappear into the designer paper background so switched to pink with white hearts - plus the diecut had four flags and I cut one off because it fitted around my main panel better.  I added Kindyglitz to the white hearts and added a pink rhinestone to each end of the banner and popped the banner up on dimensionals so it would be the same height as the main image panel.
 
The pink cardstock is by Coredinations and is from the Gemstones range - Pink Diamond - and has a lovely metallic sheen - so PRETTY!
 
For the bottom panel, I diecut the pink cardstock using a Nellie Snellen Lace Edge border die and my Big Shot.  I added a Scor-Pal line above this border so I had a nice straight edge to butt the designer paper up against.  The pink ribbon was added in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.   I added Fray Stop to the cut ends to stop them from fraying.
 
The sentiment was stamped using Memento London Fog (grey) dye ink which looked 'softer' than stamping it in black and I think, looks nicer with the image.  I added 3 pink rhinestones underneath the sentiment then popped this panel up on dimensionals.  I can't for the life of me find the sentiment on the LOTV website which came in a set - perhaps it has been discontinued too (?).....sigh.....
 
All the borders were trimmed to 1/8" using my Perfect Layers Tools.
 
Finished size is 5-1/2" square or approximately 140mm if you are metric.
 
Thanks for visiting my blog today
 
Jocelyn


Card Recipe:
 
Stamps:  Sentiment by Lili of the Valley UK - possibly retired
 
Ink:  Memento London Fog dye
 
Designer Paper:  Best Creation - Once upon a dream
 
Accessories:  Perfect Layers Tools, Big Shot, Spellbinder Circle and Scalloped Circle Nestabilities, Nellie Snellen Lace Edge border die MFD023, La-La Lands Heart Banner die #8026, Scor-Pal, Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue, ribbon, Fray Stop, Bow Easy, Kaisercraft SB701 pink rhinestones, dimensionals, cardstock - white, Coredinations Gemstones pink diamond, Lili of the Valley teddy topper (retired)
 
Punches:  Stampin' Up corner

Thinking of you butterfly acetate card

Hi blogging friends

I am back at long last!  My loved one continues to improve each day which is great so I have had a little bit of time in my craft room this past week.  I was able to go to the Craft Show as planned and had an absolute ball!  It was a cold and wet day so it was perfect weather for craft shopping - and boy, was it packed!!  I did a couple of 'Make and Take' free workshops and learned how to use Perfect Pearls and Perfect Medium which was fun.  I stocked up on lots of Docrafts goodies - Tatty Teddy, Boofle, Forever Friends and Tulip paper tole (called Decoupage in the UK), toppers, designer papers and ribbons. And a couple of Penny Black stamps begged to be bought as well as a couple of Impression Obsession dies (I didn't know they made dies!):  in fact, there were a lot of die brands that I had never heard like Lin and Lene, Joy Craft Happy's and Double do just to name a few.  None of my friends make cards so I always go to shows by myself but there is always someone to talk to who shares the same passion and gets as excited as I do over buttons, ribbons or a piece of designer paper.  I came home utterly exhausted but happy and uber-keen to do some cardmaking - hence today's card - which is very much NOT my usual style but I hope you like it:

Now, I would LOVE to say that I brayered the background but sadly, I did not.  I am sure that my blogging friend Shaz from Calligraphy Cards - Shaz in Oz who is the brayering-queen would be able to make something this pretty but my brayer and I stopped speaking a while ago because he just wouldn't do as he was told - plus being as clumsy as I am, I just seemed to make more mess than anything else!  Bellbird Paperarts in Blackburn (Victoria) sell sheets of printed and coloured acetate and I bought various colours at the last Craft Show that I went to and have been itching to make a card with them ever since; sometimes, it just takes a while to get around to these things as you would understand.

All I had to do was cut the acetate design to the size I wanted and go from there.  I stamped the sentiment using Stazon Jet Black ink which dries on acetate very well.  The first time I stamped the sentiment, part of the image didn't come out and I thought the sheet was ruined so I was very cheesed off.  Then I had a brainwave and tried cleaning off the image with Stazon cleaner and hey presto:  it removed it perfectly!  Once the sentiment was dry, I attached some white cardstock behind the design with brads (obviously you can't glue it as the glue would show under the acetate).  That part of the card making process was a bit fiddly.  Then I simply layered that onto black cardstock, blue and then white.

Lastly, I added an acetate butterfly which I also bought from Bellbird Paperarts (came in a pack of 6 different sizes from memory and are printed on clear acetate) and popped it up using dimensionals under the butterfly's body and bent up the wings.  You can see the dimension in this next photo:

This card is for my stash but is intended for use as a Sympathy card or simply to send to someone to let them know I care or to show support.

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following 3 challenges -

Splitcoaststampers 'Ways to use it' WT427 May Flowers - where you are to use a flower or flowers on your project

Splitcoaststampers May Fan Club Challenge - Central Theme

Splitcoaststampers Inspiration Challenge IC390 - Jennspendants  - and I chose a pendant as my inspiration and the beautiful blue colours made me get out this acetate sheet and finally make a card with it - and obviously I echoed the squareness of the pendant in my card.

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

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Sentiment by Stamp-It Australia - siset014 sentiment set

Ink:  Stazon Jet Black

Accessories:  Printed acetate and butterfly - Bellbird Paperarts, dimensionals, aqua brads, cardstock - white, blue, black

I left my laptop open and now I can't find my mouse......

 Hi blogging friends,

Sorry I haven't been around for almost 2 weeks.  My loved one has been unwell so I haven't had time for crafting - and then on Sunday night, after having a lovely Mother's Day, something I ate didn't agree with me and I was sick all night and only just started eating properly again today.  Not quite what I needed when I was caring for my loved one at the same time!

Anyway, I thought I would share a little photo of Ruby I took a couple of weeks ago.  I had put my laptop down to do something and when I returned, this is what I saw:

I had a great deal of difficulty getting her off too because she didn't want to move - it was warm and that's where she wanted to be!  I am very careful now what website I leave open in case Ruby buys something on EBay LOL!

I am taking my loved one to hospital tomorrow (Friday) for some tests which are just routine and on Saturday, I will be going to the Picture to Page Scrapbook Show at East Burwood.  It will be wonderful to have some "me time" - a whole day to myself - which hasn't happened for ages:  I can't wait!!  Hopefully I will get some time in my craft room soon

Have a great weekend!

Jocelyn

Wild Rose Studio - Teddy Topper birthday card

Hi blogging friends

It's a chilly Saturday night here where I live in Australia and I am sitting in front of the slow-combustion fire whilst I type this and watching my AFL footy team Geelong Cats play Richmond on TV - and Geelong is winning so I am very happy!  We had a roast for dinner - yum - and now I am having a cup of tea.  Perhaps it doesn't sound very interesting - even boring - but compared to last year when I was spending much of my time at hospital with my loved one, it is bliss!   I didn't even notice the seasons last year because when you live at hospital, the seasons lose any meaning as it is always warm at the hospital and you are stuck inside.   Dealing with a life-threatening illness changes you and your outlook on life:  simple things bring so much joy to me and these days, I tend to live in the moment and don't worry about tomorrow.  It's been unseasonably warm this autumn and I am really hanging out for cold days and (hopefully) plenty of rain as I have had to water the garden alot recently because we haven't had the usual autumn rains.  Anyway, I shall stop chatting now and get on with my card........

Wild Rose Studio recently released some gorgeous stamps along with some pre-coloured toppers - and of course, being a lover of anything teddy bear, somehow a set of the Teddy Toppers found its way into my shopping basket....happy sigh..... 

The topper was square but I wanted it a bit more fancy so diecut it using my Lifestyle/Quickutz Nesting Frames dies and my Big Shot.

The side panel was embossed using my Crafter's Companion Embossalicious Die'sire 6" x 6" Floral Square embossing folder and my Big Shot.

The designer paper on the card base is by Prima - Meadow Lark - so pretty.  The side panel is from the other side of the designer paper.  I have been doing well using my stash of designer papers rather than buying new papers - one of my New Year resolutions for 2013.  Mind you, that may all change when I go to the Picture to Page Scrapbooking and Card Making Show at East Burwood on the weekend of the 18th/19th May, as I may be tempted by lots of pretty papers.......LOL!!    If you have never been to this show, I highly recommend it.  Parking is free and it is very well organised.  

Here is a close-up of the sweet image:

I added some Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue to the edges of the flower petals and the teddy's cheeks.  The glitteriness doesn't look as gaudy in real life. 

The pink organza ribbon was attached in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.  I added Fray Stop to the cut ends to stop them from fraying.  I sewed on a pink flower button to the bow then glued the bow on with fabric glue.  I really love the softness that the organza ribbon adds to the card.

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

Lastly, I added 3 pink self-adhesive Sparklets to the bottom right-hand side:

I couldn't figure out where to add a sentiment and whatever I tried just didn't look right so I (obviously) left it off - and really, the Teddy Topper says it all with the present.  This card is going to my niece who is turning 11.

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenge -

The ABC Challenge - M for Make It Sparkle

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a fab weekend!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  None

Ink:  None

Designer paper:  Prima Meadow Lark Windsong 12" x 12"

Accessories:  Pre-coloured Topper - Wild Rose Studio - Teddies, Lifestyle/Quickutz Nesting Frames 10, Big Shot, Perfect Layers Tools, Crafter's Companion Die-sire Embossalicious 6" x 6" EF6 Floral square embossing folder, Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue, pink organza ribbon, Fray Stop, pink flower button - Spotlight, pink sewing thread, fabric glue, Kaisercraft RS415 Princess sparklets, cardstock - pink, white

Sympathy card for an Auntie

Hi blogging friends

The card I am sharing today is a Sympathy card.  My husband's last remaining Auntie passed away aged 97.  I found the card quite difficult to make because we really don't know that side of the family - and we had no idea whether any of the children (my husband's cousins) have any sort of faith or not - and therefore wanted to be very respectful as I never push my beliefs on anyone nor preach - there's nothing worse!  I personally, had only seen the Auntie once at a funeral and have never met any of her children.  

It took ages to make the card which seems odd when the finished result is so simple - but I just seemed to faff around and couldn't make up my mind what colour ribbon I should use and then after putting a white ribbon on, I promptly took it off again because it just didn't look right - and then wondered whether I should add the hearts next to the sentiment - uggh - just didn't come together easily - one of those difficult cards!  I left it at my desk numerous times and kept going back to it with a 'fresh' mind and finally things came together and I settled on a soft lavender organza ribbon to contrast the white - and here is the result:

I had a hard time photographing my card - and no matter whether I photographed it in the sun or with a cloudy sky, the white card base still looks a bit lavendery (not sure if that's a word - if it isn't, it is now!) - and no amount of fiddling with my photo editing program made it look white.....sigh.....oh well!

The card is a Matchbook card but turned on its side.  You can see another Matchbook Sympathy card HERE on my blog which I made ages ago.  Note that I bought this card already made up as a Matchbook card in a pack of 10 from Riot Art and Craft and the scalloped edge was already done - but it is easy to make one yourself and if you look at the link for my previous Matchbook card, I have given some instructions - just scroll down.  Please note that at this link, I called the card a Matchbox card which is incorrect - however the instructions etc. are all correct - I just had the name wrong!

The right-hand side of the card was embossed using my Cuttlebug and Roses embossing folder.

I used my Scor-Pal to score two lines on the left-hand side of the card then added the ribbon in 2 separate elements.  The bow itself was made with my Bow Easy and I added some Fray Stop to the cut ends to stop them from fraying.  I glued this side panel down so it doesn't open and the embossed side just tucks into this flap - but made sure that I left enough of the flap unstuck so that the embossed side tucks in enough to hold it.

I stamped the sentiment using London Fog Memento ink, added two punched lavender hearts (I used an MS Looped Hearts edge punch - they are the leftover punchies) then popped this panel up on dimensionals.  This is my first time stamping using grey ink and I really love the softness it added to the card as opposed to using black ink.

For the card inside, I again stamped the sentiment with London Fog ink and added hearts to mirror the card front.

So simple - don't know why it took me so long!

Thanks for stopping by! 

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Stamp-It Australia siset014 sentiment set (both sentiments)

Ink:  Memento London Fog

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Roses embossing folder, Scor-Pal, lavender organza ribbon, Bow Easy, Fray Stop, Lifestyle Nesting Ovals die, dimensionals, Matchbook card - Riot Art and Craft, white cardstock scrap for sentiment panel, lavender cardstock

Punches:  Martha Stewart Looped Hearts edge (lavender hearts)

I have joined Bloglovin'

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Hi blogging friends,

Did you know that Google Reader is ending in July?   I am sure that most of you would know by now and many other Bloggers have recommended Bloglovin' to me - which is another type of 'Reader'.  I looked into it and only h'eard great things so thought I would give it a whirl.  It seems very user friendly and you can import all the blogs that you follow in Google Reader straight into Bloglovin' - all in one simple easy step:  only took me a few minutes and thankfully, there was nothing difficult or technical about it.

Of course, if you are new to my blog, I would love you to add my blog to Bloglovin' so that you can stay updated with my posts.

I have also provided a button at the top left-hand side of my sidebar which you can click on to follow me.

Any questions?  Please feel free to leave a comment below.

Jocelyn