LOTV - You are my sunshine birthday card

Hi blogging friends

Happy New Year!  Boy it sure is hot here where I live!  Today it was 39 deg C (102 deg F) and tomorrow it is meant to be 42 deg C (108 deg F) - uggh!  I am so glad we have air-conditioning and I tend to do more crafting in summer because I am inside the house alot more keeping out of the awful heat.  Plus we live in a bushfire-prone area so we need to stay home on really hot days to keep an eye on things. 

Today I am sharing a card that I made for my American sister-in-law's birthday:

My SIL is one of my biggest fans and a great encourager to my cardmaking - and one of the loveliest ladies you could ever meet:  so kind, caring and enthusiastic.

The image is from Lili of the Valley (UK) and was stamped onto watercolour cardstock using Ranger Archival Jet Black ink and coloured with Lyra + Faber-Castell watercolour pencils.  I lightly chalked around the image using blue chalk for the sky.  

My process for cardmaking is to choose the image then the papers so I can match up the colouring with my designer papers.  I couldn't get the pink shade quite right on my flowers nor the tealy-aqua - and I was getting very frustrated and the flowers ended up looking very ho-hum because you can't fiddle with watercolour paper too much or it starts to pill.  I almost threw the image out when I had a sudden flash of inspiration - paper-piecing!  Yep, that technique that I keep forgetting about!

So I re-stamped the image onto another sheet of matching pink paper and tealy-aqua paper and cut out the flowers.  They were VERY fiddly to cut out but I just took my time and used some of those super-magnifying glasses that you can buy from the shops so I could see what I was doing - and once I had cut them out, I went around the edges with a black pen to hide any imperfections with my cutting.  Yay - image saved and I was no longer grumpy!

I attached the flowers to my image using Tombow Mono Aqua glue which gave me a little bit of time to move the flowers into their exact position before pressing down firmly.  I added a bit of orange and yellow to the flower centres using Tombow pens plus a little bit of grey under the flower centres to give some depth to the flowers.  Here is a close-up:

The sentiment is also by Lili of the Valley from their set - General Greetings Small.

I used an EK Success Arrows Border punch to punch tiny little hearts (ie: they are the leftover punchies which look like tiny hearts) from the pink + tealy-aqua paper and glued them around the sentiment.  I added Stampin' Up Dazzling Details glitter glue to these hearts, the teddy's cheeks, all the flower centres and all over the butterfly.

The main image panel was attached to 2 sheets of designer paper and were trimmed to 1/8" and 1/16" respectively using my Perfect Layers Tools.

The pink and green on the card base is also designer paper and these were trimmed to 1/8".  I tied on some Blossom Iridescent twine and added Fray Stop to the cut ends to stop them from fraying.  I love this twine because it has a sparkly thread through it and it's so pretty. 

I glued on 3 pink Sparklets using Glossy Accents.  I kept the card very simple as I usually do plus I didn't want to cover up the pretty floral base paper.  Lastly, I added my card front to a white cardstock base using Stampin' Up Fuse Fast adhesive which is super-strong.

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges -

Splitcoaststampers - Technique Lover's Challenge TLC485 of Paper Piecing Revisited - which is from a while ago but there are no time limits on SCS Challenges

Cute Card Thursday - Challenge #354 - Anything Goes

Finished size is 4-5/8" x 4-5/8" or 117mm x 117mm.

Thanks for stopping by and for any comments that you care to leave - they are really appreciated :-)

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Lili of the Valley (UK) You are my Sunshine ST378 + General Greetings - Small ST063

Ink:  Ranger Archival Jet Black

Designer Paper:  First Edition Spring Drop 6" x 6" pad

Accessories:  Perfect Layers Tools, Ranger Distress Watercolour cardstock, Kaisercraft blue chalk, SU Fuse Fast adhesive, Tombow Mono Aqua glue, black pen, The Twinery Blossom Iridescent twine, Fray Stop, Lyra + Faber-Castell watercolour pencils, Tombow pens, #2 round paintbrush, Fiskars Stamp Press, Glossy Accents, pink Sparklets (EBay), SU Dazzling Details glitter glue, paper-tole scissors, white cardstock (card base)

Punches:  EK Success Arrows Border

The More the Merrier Shaker card

Hi blogging friends

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas.  We had Christmas Day at home for the first time in the 25 years that we have been married - which was absolutely wonderful!  We had my Mum, my brother plus his wife and their daughter over for lunch and it was such a lovely and relaxing day.  Boxing Day we always stay at home and just relax and play with our new toys.  You won't find me at the Boxing Day Sales - the last thing I want to do is drive to somewhere crowded, fight for a parking spot and go shopping - I just don't understand all the hype about it as the shops have sales throughout the year anyway!  Each to his own I suppose.......

Today I am sharing the Christmas card that I made for my 11 yo DD which I couldn't share here on my blog until it had been opened on Christmas Day:

I haven't made a Shaker card for ages but as I have seen alot of them around Blog-land recently, I thought I would make one as they are really fun.  I used a Large Round Shaker Card Pouch which comes in a pack of 10 by Impression Obsession.  You can get many different sizes and shapes of pouches but I only have the circles.  They are really cool because you just peel off the adhesive and stick it down - although I did actually add some Stampin' Up Fuse Fast adhesive which is super-strong as I was a little afraid the adhesive on the pouch wasn't really strong enough. The shadow at the top part of the pouch from taking the photo out in the sun looks a little odd but if you look at the IO website, you will get a better idea of what the pouch looks like.

The main image is from the Stampin' Up set - The More the Merrier - which I bought second-hand on EBay a few months ago as it is retired.  I fell in love with this image when I saw a card on Splitcoastampers made with these snowmen.  If you are a regular reader of my blog you will already know that I am crazy for any stamps that have a snowman on it!  It must be genetic because my DD is nuts for snowmen too!

I stamped the image onto Ranger Watercolour cardstock and coloured it with a variety of mediums:  Tombow pens plus Lyra and Faber-Castell watercolour pencils using a paintbrush.   I stamped a couple of snowflakes from the Stampendous set - Winter Warm above the snowmen using Soft Sky ink then chalked around the image with blue chalk for the sky.  I had meant to add glitter to the snowmen's hats and scarves but only remembered about 5 seconds after I attached the pouch to the image.....oops.....sigh...... :-( 

I added Cotton White Fun Flock mixed with fine Crystalina glitter to the ground for the snow and to the cuffs and pom-poms on the Snowmen's hats using Tombow Mono Aqua glue.  You can see a bit more detail in this close-up:

I added sequins, stars, glitter and gemstones from my stash in various colours for the Shaker contents and then diecut the burgundy and blue cardstock circles and attached them over the top of the Shaker pouch using Tombow Mono Multi glue.

The designer paper, twine, tag and large brad are from My Mind's Eye - Winter Wonderland which has been a favourite of mine this Christmas season.  The blue and burgundy cardstock layers on the card base were trimmed to 1/8" and 1/16" respectively using my Perfect Layers Tools.  I then popped this up on thick doublesided tape on my white cardstock base. 

The next card I am sharing is the amazing Christmas card that my 11 yo daughter made for me:

My daughter and I had a good laugh when we opened our cards because we both used the same image AND made a Shaker card!  This was my DD's first-ever Shaker card too.  Such a funny coincidence!  And this is the handmade felt snowman that my daughter gave me:

SQUEE!  Isn't my snowman just soooo adorable??!!  My DD didn't use a pattern and designed it all herself and it stands about 15cm - 6 inches high.  Oh my gosh, I ♥love♥ it so much!

And now here are some gorgeous handmade cards that we have received this Christmas season:

From my Stampin' Up Demonstrator

From my beautiful friend Y who first introduced me to cardmaking

From my SCS friend Sabrina in Ireland

From my blogging friend Shaz

An Easel card from our dearest friend C

In an era where alot of people use Social Media to send their Christmas greetings, we feel very blessed to receive such beautiful handmade cards in the mail.  

Lastly, as I haven't shared photos of Ruby for a while, I thought I would post some photos of her playing around her little carpeted scratching post and tunnel:

Of course, having the sun come through the window makes you sleepy so once Ruby had a bit of play, it was time to catch up on some zzzzzzzzzs!

Thanks for visiting my blog today!  Hope to see you again soon!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Stampin' Up The More the Merrier (retired), Stampendous Winter Warm SSC262 clear set

Ink:  Ranger Archival Jet Black, Stampin' Up Soft Sky dye

Dies:  Lifestyle Nesting Circles and Nesting Scalloped Circles

Designer Paper:  My Mind's Eye Winter Wonderland (2012) 6" x 6" pad

Accessories:  Big Shot, twine + tag + brad - MME Winter Wonderland set, Fray Stop, Stampendous Cotton White Fun Flock mixed with fine Crystalina glitter, Tombow Mono Multi + Mono Aqua glue, SU Fuse Fast adhesive, X-Press it thick doublesided tape, Impression Obsession Large Round Shaker Pouch SHP02, Kaisercraft blue chalk, #2 round paintbrush, Faber-Castell + Lyra watercolour pencils, Tombow Pens, Perfect Layers Tools, assorted sequins + gems, Ranger Distress Watercolour cardstock, other cardstock - burgundy, blue, white

Stampendous Snow Bears on Ice Circle card

Hi blogging friends 

Today I am sharing a Christmas card which I made for my dearest friend C who lives on the other side of Australia.  C is the kindest and most generous friend you could ever know - and has been an amazing support to our family since our loved one was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness in February 2012.  C is also a very talented cardmaker so I love our long chats on the phone about cardmaking.  Now that C has the card in her hot little hands, I can share it here:

The main image is by Stampendous - Snow Bears on Ice - which I have had forever and as far as I know, is retired - and was stamped using Ranger Archival Jet Black ink onto Ranger Distress watercolour cardstock and coloured with a variety of mediums:  Tombow pens, Ranger Distress Markers and Faber-Castell watercolour pencils.  I used a tiny round 5/0 paintbrush to dot white acrylic paint on the scarves.  I coloured around the image with blue chalk.

I went over the red hats using a Wink of Stella red glitter pen and added Stampin' Up Dazzling Details glitter glue underneath the skates.  I also added Cotton White Fun Flock mixed with Crystalina glitter to the cuff and pom-pom on the hat using Tombow Mono Aqua glue.  

Here is a close-up:

It is a bit hard to see the sparkle as the weather was very dreary on the day I took the photo.  An hour later, the card was in the post so I didn't have much choice!
 
The snowflakes are by My Favorite Things from their Snowflakes Trio die set.  I glued down just the centres and bent the snowflake arms (is that what they are called??) up a little to give them some dimension against the white cardstock, then added red rhinestones to the centres.

The sentiment is from Elzybells (who are no longer in business) and I added a green rhinestone to each end. 

The white cardstock base was originally a square pre-folded card and was diecut using a Lifestyle Nesting Circle die but I moved the die up a little so that I still had a small fold at the top.  I dry-embossed the circle cardstock base using my Big Shot and Cart-Us Snowflakes embossing folder, then all I had to do was layer the main image panel on.  All the circle/scalloped circle diecuts are from the Lifestyle Nesting Circle/Scalloped Circles sets.  I really love these sets because you get oodles of dies in them - from tiny circles to really large circles that are big enough to make a circle card:  great value in my opinion.  

I really should make more circle cards - they are a fun change from the regular square or rectangular cards.

Lastly, I used my Bow Easy to tie a double-bow out of my Doodlebug twine and glued it on using Glossy Accents.  I put some weight on it whilst it dried to hold it firmly.  As always, I added Fray Stop to the cut ends to stop them from fraying.

Challenges:

I am popping my card into the following Challenge - 

Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - December - Anything Goes

This will be my last post before Christmas.  I have one more Christmas card to share but as that person won't be opening it until Christmas Day, I can't share yet - plus they read my blog so sharing it beforehand would spoil the surprise. 

Merry Christmas and a happy 2015 to you all - and thanks so much for your support, comments and emails throughout this year.

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Stampendous Snow Bears on Ice D144 wood-mount (retired), sentiment from Elzybells Mini Messages 20-054 clear set (retired)

Ink:  Ranger Archival Jet Black

Dies:  Lifestyle Nesting Circles and Nesting Scalloped Circles, My Favorite Things Die-namics Snowflakes Trio

Accessories:  Big Shot, Tombow pens, Ranger Distress Markers, Faber-Castell watercolour pencils, #2 and 5/0 round paintbrush, Stampin' Up Dazzling Details glitter glue, Wink of Stella red glitter pen, JoSonja white acrylic paint, Stampendous Cotton White Fun flock mixed with fine Crystalina glitter, Tombow Mono Aqua and Mono Multi glue, Kaisercraft blue chalk, Bow Easy, Fray Stop, Doodlebug Ladybug twine, green and red rhinestones from stash, Ranger Distress watercolour cardstock, other cardstock - white, green, red

Memory Box Silver and Gold Deer

Hi blogging friends

The cards I am sharing today are quick and simple - and I made a silver and gold version.  I have almost finished my Christmas cards now - yay!  Whilst I am typing this, my cat Ruby is curled up beside me hugging the heat from the fan inside my laptop and it has turned cold and is pouring with rain outside - GREAT crafting weather!

I made a similar card last year and just changed things up a little plus the finished card size is smaller at 5" x 5" or 127mm x 127mm. The deer were diecut using silver glitter cardstock.  The sentiment is by Stampendous from their Christmas Wishes clear set (you can see the set HERE on the Stampendous website) and was stamped using Versamark Watermark ink and then heat-embossed using Ranger Fine Detail Silver embossing powder.  I trimmed the silver cardstock edges on the sides and bottom to 1/16" using my Perfect Layers Tools.

I added the 2 x silver sequins using Glossy Accents and corner punched the bottom. I tied on the silver cord and added Fray Stop to the cut ends to stop them from fraying.  I added some Glossy Accents underneath the bow centre and put something heavy on it while it dried.  This stops the bow from loosening and holds it very firmly in place for mailing.

And now here is the gold version - except that I reversed the gold glitter cardstock in the die to make the deer face the other direction:

The sentiment is by Flourishes from their Christmas Wreath set.  I just discovered that Flourishes are no longer around - not sure why or when :-(

I stamped the sentiment using Versamark Watermark ink and heat-set it using Ranger Fine Detail Gold embossing powder.  Again, I trimmed the gold glitter cardstock around the sentiment panel to 1/16" using my Perfect Layers Tools, added gold sequins and the gold cord.

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges -

Papertake Weekly Challenge - Last Christmas Card of the Year (although these cards won't be my last!)

Incy Wincy Designs - Christmas Anything Goes

Splitcoaststampers - Clean and Simple CAS303 Holiday Sparkle

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe - Silver Version:

Stamps:  Stampendous Christmas Wishes SSC1068 clear set

Ink:  Versamark Watermark

Designer Paper:  Silver glitter cardstock

Dies:  Memory Box Deer Trio #98166

Accessories:  Big Shot, silver 6mm sequins, Glossy Accents, Ranger Fine Detail Silver embossing powder, heat-gun, Paper Mill silver cord (Riot Art and Craft), white cardstock

Punches:  Stampin' Up corner


Card Recipe - Gold Version:

Stamps:  Flourishes Christmas Wreath Set #68 (retired)

Ink:  Versamark Watermark

Designer Paper:  Gold glitter cardstock

Dies:  Memory Box Deer Trio #98166

Accessories:  Big Shot, gold 6mm sequins, Glossy Accents, Ranger Fine Detail Gold embossing powder, heat-gun, Paper Mill gold cord (Riot Art and Craft), white cardstock

Punches:  Stampin' Up corner

Cottage Cutz Winter Wonderland Scene Christmas card

Hi blogging friends 

The card I am sharing today is another clean and simple card done in similar vein to my last two posts (see HERE and HERE).  Hope you aren't getting too bored?!?  I guess this is my way of kind-of speeding up the process when I need to make alot of cards in a short space of time but I get really bored if I make 2 or more of the same card so I love to change things up a little even if I might be using similar products and layouts.  I am trying to see how many of my die cut shapes fit inside the MFT Photo Card Frame dies and see it as a fun challenge to see what I can make.

The aqua glitter cardstock frame was diecut using a My Favorite Things - Merry Photo Card Frame die and I trimmed off the word 'Merry' because the word covered up my scene.  The dot embossing is a retired embossing folder by Cuttlebug - Kars Snowflakes.  You will most likely not be able to find this embossing folder anywhere online but if you check THIS post, I have several suggestions for alternative embossing folders that you can use.

The scene is a die by Cottage Cutz - Winterland Wonderland Scene.  Because I wanted to have a space to add a sentiment, I used one of the dies from the My Favorite Things Snow Drifts set and diecut some white cardstock and layered that over the bottom of the diecut scene.  

The snowflake on the bottom LHS is by My Favorite Things - Snowflakes Trio (I used the smallest snowflake in the set) and the snowflake on the RHS above the Church was punched using a Martha Stewart Snow Flurry edge punch ie: it is one of the leftover snowflake punchies from using the punch.  I glued the scene and snowflakes down using Tombow Mono Multi glue then attached the scene to my white cardstock base and trimmed the edges to 1/16" using my Perfect Layers Tools - apart from the top of the card which is where the card fold is. 

The 'Peace' is a die by Elizabeth Craft Designs and was diecut from the same aqua glitter cardstock and attached using Tombow Mono Multi glue.

Lastly, I added a Hero Arts rhinestone to each snowflake centre. 

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges -

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Bling it on 
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - December - Anything Goes 
Splitcoaststampers - Clean and Simple CAS301 - Lovely as a Tree

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps and Ink:  None

Designer Paper:  Aqua glitter cardstock

Dies:  My Favorite Things Die-namics Merry Photo Card Frame, Snow Drifts and Snowflake Trio, Cottage Cutz Winter Wonderland Scene CCE-050, Elizabeth Craft Designs Peace ECD-750

Punches:  Martha Stewart Snow Flurry edge

Accessories:  Big Shot, Perfect Layers Tools, Hero Arts rhinestones CH213 Sea Mixed Accents, Cuttlebug Kars Snowflakes embossing folder (retired), white cardstock, Tombow Mono Multi glue, doublesided tape

Memory Box Woodland Deer Christmas card

Hi blogging friends 

Well, it's full steam ahead in my Craft Room as I feverishly try and get as many Christmas cards done as I can!  It's not like I didn't know Christmas was coming - but sometimes even when I do have time to make cards, my mind is just not in cardmaking mode because I have been at hospital appointments with my loved one and I just can't think anymore.  I have learned not to craft when I am too tired emotionally because that's when nothing goes right and I get annoyed with myself.  Now that all of our medical appointments are finished for the year, I can finally concentrate wholly on Christmas preparations and on making Christmas cards.  Pieces from my diecutting are flying everywhere as my Big Shot is in overdrive - gosh, what a mess my room will be when I'm done!

The card I am sharing today is another clean and simple card done in similar vein to my last post (see HERE). 

The red glitter cardstock frame was diecut using my Big Shot and the My Favorite Things - Joy Photo Card Frame die.  The dot embossing is a retired embossing folder by Cuttlebug - Kars Snowflakes.  You are very unlikely to be able to find this embossing folder anywhere online but if you check my last post HERE, I have several suggestions for alternative embossing folders that you can use.

The deer is a die by Memory Box - Woodland Deer and the snowflake is by Impression Obsession.  I glued the deer and snowflake down using Tombow Mono Multi glue.  I attached the scene to my white cardstock base and trimmed the edges to 1/16" using my Perfect Layers Tools - apart from the LHS of the card which is where the card fold is. 

Lastly, I added a Kaisercraft red rhinestone to the snowflake centre. 

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges -

Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - December - Anything Goes 
Incy Wincy Designs - Snowy Days 
Splitcoaststampers - Clean and Simple CAS300 Winter Wildlife

We put up our Christmas tree last weekend which our cat Ruby is enjoying LOL!  Ruby loves to chew the pine needles for some odd reason and is enjoying batting the baubles and killing the tinsel.  I gave Ruby her OWN piece of tinsel so she could destroy it to her heart's content but she prefers the tinsel on the tree.  Of course, we did put it up 'just for her' didn't we?!!

 

Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog today.

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps and Ink:  None

Designer Paper:  Red glitter cardstock

Dies:  Impression Obsession Die100-F snowflake set, My Favorite Things Die-namics Joy Photo Card Frame, Memory Box Woodland Deer #98679

Accessories:  Big Shot, Perfect Layers Tools, Kaisercraft red rhinestone SB711, Cuttlebug Kars Snowflakes embossing folder (retired), white cardstock, Tombow Mono Multi glue, doublesided tape

Cottage Cutz Deer Snowflake Scene Christmas card

Hi blogging friends 

I can't believe how quickly Christmas is approaching - time seems to speed up at this time of year!

Today I am sharing a clean and simple Christmas card just using dies and an embossing folder.  This is also my entry for the following Challenges:

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes with the optional extra theme of make a decoration or gift for Christmas (which I obviously didn't do), and

Splitcoaststampers - Clean and Simple Challenge CAS301 of add a tree(s) to your card.

The Deer Snowflake scene is a gorgeous die by Cottage Cutz which I purchased at a Craft Show in August.  Isn't it a beautiful?

The dot embossing is a retired Cuttlebug folder - Kars snowflakes which is very difficult to find but there are two embossing folders that you can substitute:-

Taylored Expressions (new release) Snowfall TEEF09.  The dots are larger on this folder compared to the Kars Snowflake folder.  Taylored Expressions embossing folders plus their stamps/dies are now available in Australia from various retailers - just do a search online.

Image copyright Taylored Expressions

Or you can use the Sizzix Dots folder from the Merry Christmas Words and Dots set Item #658285.  These dots are closer in size to the Kars Snowflake folder.  I can't find this set on the Sizzix US website so it may be retired (?).  I have seen the set on various websites around the world so you might be able to pick it up somewhere.

Image copyright Sizzix

I used Tombow Mono Multi glue to attach the diecut Deer Snowflake scene to the embossed cardstock and cleaned up any little bits of glue that seeped out using a Xyron Adhesive remover.

The aqua glitter cardstock was diecut using a My Favorite Things Joy Photo Card Frame die.  I attached the scene to my white cardstock base and trimmed the edges to 1/16" using my Perfect Layers Tools - apart from the LHS of the card which is where the card fold is.

The smallest aqua glitter cardstock snowflake on the scene is from the Poppystamps Christmas Baubles die set (which includes 2 snowflakes - I used the smallest snowflake from the set) and the largest snowflake is from the My Favorite Things Snowflakes Trio set (I used the smallest snowflake in the set).  I added aqua rhinestones to the snowflake centres.

The card is very flat and will be going overseas to one of my cardmaking buddies.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps and Ink:  None

Designer paper:  Aqua glitter cardstock

Dies:  My Favorite Things Die-namics - Snowflakes Trio and Joy Photo Card Frame, Poppystamps Christmas Baubles, Cottage Cutz Deer Snowflake Scene CCE-169

Accessories:  Big Shot, Cuttlebug Kars Snowflake embossing folder (retired), Hero Arts rhinestones CH213 Sea Mixed Accents, Perfect Layers Tools, white cardstock, Tombow Mono Multi glue, doublesided tape