Stampin' Up Vintage Peaceful Wishes

Hi and thanks for visiting my little cyber-world!

Over at Splitcoaststampers, the Clean and Simple CAS94 Challenge is "sponging" so I just HAD to play; I LOVE sponging on cards.  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.

For my card, I used one of my all-time favourite Stampin' Up sets: Peaceful Wishes which I was lucky enough to win on EBay late last year.  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 sponged the same green and red as the image, and added Antique Linen Distress ink plus some Versacolor Gold pigment (which you can't really see in the photo, but it shimmers in the light and looks very pretty).  Once I had done all the sponging, 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 - my initial efforts were done that way, so I had to start all-over again........!!).

I added red Kindyglitz to all the berries and added the sparkly star brads either side of  the sentiment.  Lastly, I added the burgundy cord in 2 separate elements, ie: I glued the cord across the card, tied a separate piece of cord and glued that to the centre with Fabric glue.  I tried just tying it all in one go, but the knot wouldn't sit flat and looked too bulky which annoyed me! 

Challenges:

Apart from the SCS Challenge, I am entering this card into the ABC Christmas Challenge and this fortnight's challenge is "X is for Xmas" with the optional extra of flowers - which I didn't add to mine - I didn't think it needed it.

And the Christmas Stampin' all Year Round Challenge. This week Challenge 72 is "Anything goes - just create a Christmas card".  It is their last Challenge of the year.

Thanks for stopping by to have a peek at my card!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Stampin' Up Peaceful Wishes (retired)

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

Accessories:  Burgundy cord, fabric glue, red Kindyglitz, seasponge, Sparkly star brads by Making Memories, Cardstock: cream, khaki, burgundy

Punches:  Stampin' Up corner

Unity Silhouette Songbird Vintage Christmas card

Hello and welcome to my Blog :-)

I can't believe how quickly November has gone - the time just seems to speed up once it is the end of October - and I don't know about you, but I have LOTS of different Christmas cards on the go.  You wouldn't want to see my Craft Room - you could get lost forever in all the mess!  Anyway, I am digressing........

I made this card using my new Unity Silhouette Songbird stamp.  It was stamped with a mix of Tim Holtz Aged Mahogany and Versacolor Burgundy ink.  Once I layered the image panel onto the dark olive and burgundy cardstock, I "aged" the edges using a seasponge and Antique Linen ink, then popped the panel up on 1mm mounts (dimensionals).

For the side panel, I ran the dark olive cardstock through my Cuttlebug using the Holly Berries embossing folder (now essentially hidden by the ribbon.....doh!) and punched the burgundy cardstock with my Arches Lattice punch (I LOVE this punch for Christmas cards).

The holly and berries were diecut with my Cuttlebug and Bosskut Holly die, then embossed with my Textile embossing folder - they just kinda looked "naked" before I embossed them - like it needed "something".  I popped a couple of the berries up on mounts to give them a bit of dimension.

To do the sewing on the bottom panel, I pierced the holes with my paper piercer then hand-sewed it with burgundy sewing thread.  The ribbon was attached in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy (it wasn't the easiest of ribbon to tie a bow - in hindsight, I think I should have tied a knot 'cos I don't like my bow at all!!).  Lastly, I glued on the 3 tiny green buttons.

I'm popping this card into the two Challenges:

Papertake Weekly Challenge - and this week's theme is "Cut it out" and they want to see a punched shape or a die cut on your card using punches, border punches, nesties etc.

And the second challenge is the Splitcoaststampers Free for All Challenge of F4A38 Simply Silhouettes.

Thanks for visiting and thanks so much for all the lovely comments you have been leaving - they really brighten my day!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Unity Silhouette Songbird IB-34 Itty Bitty foam-mounted rubber

Ink:  Tim Holtz Aged Mahogany and Antique Linen Distress, Versacolor Burgundy pigment

Designer paper:  Cosmo Cricket Oh Joy "Wrapping Paper" (retired but still available at some stores)

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Holly Berries and Textile embossing folders, Bosskut Holly die #0604, seasponge, Twill ribbon (from Making Memories Fa La La set of 6 - retired), Bow Easy, mounts (dimensionals), paper piercer, burgundy sewing thread, buttons from Favorite Findings - Christmas Crafts, Cardstock: burgundy, dark olive, cream

Punches:  Martha Stewart Arch Lattice, Stampin' Up corner

Stamping Bella Monstah Bash boy's birthday card

Hi and thanks for stopping by :-) 

Hope you've got your sunglasses handy for my super-BRIGHT card!

It is my nephew's 7th birthday so this is the card I made for him.  Technically, he is my GREAT-nephew but is the same age as my DD - talk about a generation gap!  I don't really like saying GREAT nephew - it makes me feel like a dinosaur!

When I saw this designer paper at my local scrapbooking store, I HAD to have it - I just LOVE the little monsters on it and LOVED the colours - and thought it would go perfectly with this Monster image - I think they were "made for each other"!   I coloured the monsters with Prismacolor pencils, Derwent Coloursoft pencils and OMS, then added some white Liquid Applique to the bumps, feelers and teeth.  Once that dried overnight, I heated the Liquid Applique with my heat-gun to make it 'puff up', then used a paper stump that had blue colour on it, dipped it in OMS, then coloured the bumps on the orange monster, and used a paper stump with orange colour on the teeth on all the monsters plus the feelers on the green monster.  I added some blue glitter to the balloon with Designer Dries Clear adhesive. You can see a close-up of the liquid applique here - it's such cool stuff, isn't it?!

The green cardstock on the side panel was embossed using my Argyle embossing folder, and I ended up adding the orange cardstock underneath the blue/green panel because it looked a little "lost" on the background and the orange just seemed to add some brightness to it.  

The sentiment was stamped with Lime pigment ink and heat-embossed with clear embossing powder.  The sentiment has a blue Petite Scalloped Circle around it, but you can hardly see it!  When I bought my Scalloped Circle Nesties, I bought the Petite ones by mistake instead of the Large ones so the scallops are really tiny on the smaller dies in this set.

Both the image panel and the sentiment are up on 1mm mounts (dimensionals).  The ribbon was attached in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.

Because the designer paper has lines on it that are wavy, it kind of looks like my cardstock or the dp isn't cut straight, but trust me: it is - it's just an optical illusion!  Lastly, I added the 3 different coloured brads in the bottom RH corner - I put the colours in the same order as I coloured the monsters.

Thanks for have a peek at my Blog - hope to see you again soon :-)

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Monstah Bash cc183 - Stamping Bella, Sentiment: Stampin' Up Riveting set (retired)

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black, Versacolor Lime pigment

Designer paper:  Reminisce Monster Parade

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Argyle embossing folder, Spellbinder: Circle Nesties, Petite Scalloped Circle Nesties, Rectangle Nesties, Scalloped Rectangle Nesties, Bow Easy, orange polka-dot ribbon, 1mm mounts (dimensionals), clear embossing powder, heat-gun, white liquid applique, paper piercer, Art Institute fine blue glitter (from Shabby Chic set), Designer Dries Clear adhesive, brads: orange, green, blue, Cardstock: KW Doggett "Knight" white, Colormates Dark Belgium blue, Irish green, orange

Punches:  EK Success Arrows border

Vintage Christmas Gift bags using ATC images plus Unity 'A Beautiful Sight' stamp

Hello and thanks for visiting my Blog :-)

I made three more little gift bags - only this time I went for more of a Vintagey feel.  You can see my post here for my other Gift Bags which are just the right size for a little present such as a Gift Card Voucher eg: Coles/Myer or Target card, or something small for your child's teacher or just some lollies.   

I decided to make this first gift bag out of My Memories designer paper which I picked up at Riot Art and Craft a fortnight ago.  It is really pretty and has lots of glitter on it - you can see a little of it in the photo, but it is more sparkly IRL.

 

The gift bag above uses an image from the ATC Collection Christmas images pad - see pic below of the pad.  The pad is about 65mm wide x 90mm long (or 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" if you are imperial)  and there are 2 of each image.  The image above already came with the border so all I had to do was glue it on.

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And here is my 2nd gift bag using another image from the pad.  Note I rounded the corners of the image with my corner punch:

The ribbon came from a $2 shop.  I bought it last Christmas season as I thought it was unusual having brown satin ribbon with gold holly - it just appealed to me - and since then has sat in my stash looking for a use! Perhaps it was just waiting for a sepia Christmas image like this one!  The button is just a plain wooden one which came from a Folk Art/Tole Painting store - I simply painted it with several coats of a mix of Raw Umber and Brown Earth JoSonya acrylic paint, let the paint cure for 24 hours, sanded the edges with sandpaper to "distress" it and tied it with string I found in the garage.

My 3rd Gift bag uses the Unity stamp "A Beautiful Sight" and was stamped onto cream cardstock with a mix of Bamboo pigment ink and Tim Holtz Peeled Paint Distress Ink, then heat-set (otherwise the pigment ink will smudge as it takes ages to dry):

I layered the image onto burgundy and green cardstock then heavily aged the panel with Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distress Ink and a seasponge.  The bottom panel was also aged in the same way.  I added the button which is by Favorite Findings 'Christmas Crafts'.  I made the bag out of linen-weave textured cream cardstock - you can see the gorgeous texture in the photo - and the ribbon is from a set of ribbons by Making Memories called 'Fa La La'.

Directions for making these super-easy and simple bags are here.  The holes for the ribbon handles on all the bags were simply punched with a standard-sized hole punch.  It is best to punch the holes before you put the bags together - much easier that way.

Thanks for stopping by - I'll be back soon with something completely different....... :-)

Jocelyn

Gift Bag Recipes:

Gift Bag #1

Designer paper:  My Memories #143275 (Riot Art & Craft)

Accessories:  Scor-Pal, ATC Christmas Collection image, wire-edged silver/blue ribbon, hole punch

Gift Bag #2

Designer paper:  from K & Co. Glad Tidings 12" x 12" pad

Accessories:  Scor-Pal, ATC Christmas Collection image, brown/gold ribbon, hole punch, Stampin' Up corner punch, wooden button, JoSonya raw umber + brown earth acrylic paint, sandpaper, string

Gift Bag #3

Stamps:  Unity - A Beautiful Sight IB48 Itty Bitty foam-mounted rubber

Ink:  Versacolor Bamboo pigment, Tim Holtz Peeled Paint + Antique Linen Distress ink

Designer paper:  Cosmo Cricket Oh Joy - Merry and Bright

Accessories:  Scor-Pal, Ribbon - Making Memories Fa La La, Button - Favorite Findings 'Christmas Craft', seasponge, hole punch, heat-gun, Cardstock: cream textured (for bag), regular cream (for image), burgundy, dark olive

Penny Black Frosty the Snowman in his Cuttlebug Winter Wonderland

Hi and welcome to my Blog :-)

I made another CAS Christmas card for my stash.  Now I know it doesn't snow where I live at Christmas-time - but I just LOVE snowmen and snowflakes.  There's just something special about them that really floats my boat.  And I collect things that have snowmen or snowflakes on them - stamps, paper, ornaments - oh, I could just let my head go if my wallet would allow it!  And I just LOVE this Penny Black stamp - the snowman looks so joyous and I smile everytime I look at him.

I did actually colour him a little with a light blue and grey Derwent Coloursoft pencil plus OMS, but it doesn't show up all that much in the photo - but hope you can see it a little.  I added some orange pencil to his nose.  I added some Polar White FlowerSoft with Aleen's tacky glue along the bottom then used the end of a blunt sewing needle to add little dots of the glue to the snowflakes surrounding him, then added FlowerSoft.  I find it easier to use a sewing needle to make small dots than using the glue straight from the bottle and getting big, messy blobs.

Here is a little close-up of the FlowerSoft:

The embossing folder is one of the folders from the Cuttlebug Winter Wonderland set.   The blue snowflakes are the leftover punchies from using my Martha Stewart Snow Flurry edge punch.  I love how you get several different sized snowflakes from using it - so handy for embellishing a card.  I added blue rhinestones to the centres and popped all these snowflakes up on 2mm mounts (dimensionals).

The ribbon was attached in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.  I diecut a white snowflake using my Snowflake #2 die and added a blue rhinestone to the centre, then added some Frosted Lace Stickles.  Here is a close-up:

Thanks for stopping by.  I'll be back tomorrow with some Vintage-style gift bags.

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black Frosty PB-3248H, Sentiment (retired) from Elzybells

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, embossing folder from Winter Wonderland set, Cuttlebug Snowflake #2 die, FlowerSoft Polar White, Aleen's tacky glue, Derwent Coloursoft pencils, OMS, paper stumps, Frosted Lace stickles, Kaiser blue rhinestones, gingham ribbon, Bow Easy, 2mm mounts, Cardstock: white

Punches:  Martha Stewart Snow Flurry edge, Stampin' Up corner

House Mouse Sleepy Stocking: some treats for a birdie friend

Hello and thanks for stopping by :-)

I made another Christmas card using one of the images from my House Mouse 'Sleepy Stocking' set.  LOTS of colouring on this mage which I love - it did take a while though.  It was coloured with Prismacolor + Derwent Coloursoft pencils and OMS, and I added some Polar White FlowerSoft using Aleen's tacky glue to the cuff on the stocking.  Because there was so much going on in the image, I kept the rest of the card pretty low key so it didn't make the card look 'too busy' - plus I wanted the image to take centre stage.  Here is a little close-up of the FlowerSoft:

I haven't a clue who made the designer paper - it has been in my stash for years and there is no name on it.   If you do know, please drop me an email or a comment so I can edit my post.  In any case, I would imagine that it is long retired.

The ribbon was attached in 2 separate elements, and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.  Isn't the ribbon GORGEOUS?!  I picked it up at Coles Supermarket on Friday in amongst all their Christmas stuff.  I am a ribbon-aholic, so for me, it was like finding buried treasure!  They had some other beautiful rolls of ribbon too which somehow danced their way into my shopping basket.  I only went in to get milk, and came out with ribbon and NO milk - whoops.......!  Anyway, it was nice to have something good happen - I hadn't been having a good week and wasn't feeling well either + my mojo all but disappeared - and just before I went into Coles, I had been in Target doing some Christmas shopping and knocked over a snowglobe onto the floor which smashed into a zillion pieces.  And it sounded so LOUD - like I had dropped a truckload of them!   I never knew a snow globe had so much water in it - it looked like I had tipped a bucket of water onto the floor!  I called a staff member over to the mess - she was lovely and didn't make me feel bad - but I felt so stupid and embarrassed nonetheless.  I moved a large piece of glass that had scattered quite a way so no-one would walk on it and promptly cut my finger open.  Sheesh....... so finding the nice ribbon at Coles cheered me up!

I tied some gold cord through the sentiment tag hole then tied this around the red ribbon, and glued the bow on top of that.  Lastly, I added the 3 red pearls.

Challenges:

I am popping this card into two Challenges.  The first is the House Mouse and Friends Challenge #82 which is "You gotta have friends" - of course, the little mouse is sharing the stocking filled with food with his birdie-friend.  

The second Challenge is the Crazy 4 Challenges C4C63 Challenge of "A Christmas card or item".  Nice and easy.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  House Mouse 'Sleepy Stocking' JSHM006

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black

Designer paper:  K & Company Holly Vine embossed paper

Accessories:  FlowerSoft Polar White, Aleen's Tacky glue, Ribbon - Coles Supermarket, gold cord, Bow Easy, Fray Stop, Kaiser Pearls SB795 red, Cuttlebug, Spellbinder: Rectangle, Scalloped Rectangles, Circle, Petite Scalloped Circle Nestabilities, Cardstock:  Christmas red, Evergreen, KW Doggett "Knight" white, Odourless Mineral Spirits (OMS), Prismacolor pencils, Derwent Coloursoft pencils, paper stumps

Punches:  Carl CP-1 3/16" circle punch (for punching hole on tag)

Cuttlebug Season's Greetings - CAS Christmas cards

Hi and thanks for taking the time to visit my Blog :-)

I whipped up a couple of CAS (Clean and Simple) Christmas cards where I let the embossing folder do all the hard work and then simply embellished them.  

I used a new folder - Cuttlebug 'Season's Greetings'.  I corner-punched the cardstock BEFORE I ran it through the Cuttlebug - if you do it the other way, you will squash or mark your embossing.

I added some light blue rhinestones to the snowflake centres, then added the silver-edged sheer blue organza ribbon in 2 separate elements - the bow was made with my Bow Easy.  I threaded a Snowflake charm with silver cord then threaded the cord through the blue ribbon bow centre and tied a knot which is hidden underneath the bow centre.  I did add some Fray Stop to the edges of the silver cord and the blue ribbon - you can find Fray Stop at Spotlight, Riot Art and Craft or even you local supermarket. 

And here is the white version:

I decided to layer the white embossed panel onto Bazzill Bling Aqua cardstock (not sure of the actual cardstock colour name - that's just what I call it!) - which matched my sparkly aqua ribbon perfectly - then layered that onto more white cardstock.  The layer borders are very small - only because I kept trimming to make them even, then kept trimming because I trimmed one crooked, and had to make that straight which then made that border narrower than the others, so I kept trimming, trimming.........sheesh, don't let me prune your rose bushes or you will have no garden left LOL!!

The ribbon was again attached in 2 separate elements and the bow was made with my Bow Easy.   Because this ribbon frays terribly, I added Fray Stop to it first, let it dry, THEN cut it - that way, it doesn't fray at all.   I diecut a snowflake, added Opal fine glitter, then glued this to the bow centre, then added a Kaiser Lagoon rhinestone to this snowflake and rhinestones to the snowflake centres on the embossed panel.  Here is a wee close-up of the snowflake:

Easy peasy for mass producing and great to have on hand for those unexpected cards you always need at the last minute.  I don't know about you, but I always get a few cards from people I didn't expect - usually in the week before Christmas - so I always like to have a few "extras" on hand for those times.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great weekend!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Card #1 - blue

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Season's Greetings embossing folder, silver snowflake charm, Bow Easy, organza ribbon, silver cord, Fray Stop, Kaiser light blue rhinestones, Cardstock:  light blue

Punches:  Stampin' Up corner

Card #2 - white

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Season's Greetings embossing folder, Cuttlebug Snowflake #2 die, Bow Easy, metallic aqua ribbon, Fray Stop, Kaiser Lagoon rhinestones, Opal fine glitter, Designer Dries clear adhesive (for glitter), Cardstock: white, Bazill Bling Aqua

Punches:  Stampin' Up corner