Tag - you're it!

I was delighted to have a couple of projects accepted for the PaperCrafts Holiday Cards and More special issue and even more delighted to discover today that Cath (PaperCrafts Trends Editor) has picked one of them to show on the Moxie Fab blog to highlight the gift tag challenge!

Here it is! I haven't seen the issue yet but apparently it's on p.98. The lovely sentiment (it's from the Waltzingmouse Stamps Compliments of the Season set) makes a perfect centrepiece for a chalkboard style and this is a really quick and easy tag to make since it's a single stamp and no complicated colouring or cutting out!

If you're trying to get ahead with Christmas crafting, do check out the Moxie Fab blog this week for challenges and some inspiration from the publication. All the posts based on this Holiday Cards and More special issue are here. There are copies of the special issue to be won if you fancy playing along with the challenges.

Thanks for stopping by!

Household flower!

Papercrafts magazine is celebrating its Pratical Solutions for Papercrafters special issue this week with a whole bunch of challenges on Cath Edvalson's Moxie Fab blog.

I thought I'd play along in the "Household Items" challenge and made this card.

I've used two household items - a facial tissue and kitchen foil.

The foil was simply stuck to some cardstock and embossed with a Spellbinder folder. I scribbled over with a pink Copic marker and then sanded to give a sort of brushed metal look with a hint of pink in the low spots.

The sentiment is heat embossed in silver to go with the foil.

I remember making piles of flowers from coloured tissues when I was a kid to decorate a village carnival float. We must have been pretty sure it wasn't going to rain!

This is a smaller version of those flowers - I started by cutting strips about 2" wide from a tissue and then layered, concertina folded and wired in the middle of the strip. I rounded the petal ends, ran a marker around them and then carefully separated the layers to make a fluffy bloom. The centre is Glossy Accents with some nail art microbeads sprinkled on.

Stamps: Say it Loud (Waltzingmouse Stamps)

Paper: White, Bitter chocolate, Facial tissue

Ink: Versamark

Other:
Detail silver embossing powder
Memento marker (Angel Pink)
Nail art microbeads
Kitchen foil
Copic marker (Tender Pink)
Spellbinder M-bossabilities folder (So Trendy)
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by - why not check out the Moxie Fab blog for some great pratical challenges?! (Deadline is 9th April and you'll find all the challenges listed on the right hand side of the blog).

Crepe flower

The July/August issue of PaperCrafts magazine is available now and has a whole section dedicated to handmade embellishments which features this card of mine (the Asian Hello card on p.51). The flower is made from simple punched circles of crepe paper, finished with a glue dot and microbeads for the centre.

Crepe is lovely to work with for this kind of project as it shapes beautifully just with a little gentle stretching and if you sponge colour on the edges before you strech you get pretty, delicate "stripes" on the petals.

Stamps:
Wildflower (Clear Art Stamps by Crafty Secrets)

Paper:
Cryogen White
Heavyweight white crepe

Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineko (Spanish Moss)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Victorian Velvet)

Other:
Memento Maker by Tsukineko (New Sprout)
Glue dot
Micro beads (these are ones sold for nail art, any will do!)
Foam tape

There are lots of lovely ideas for handmade embellishments in the issue as well as other great projects, well worth checking out!

Thanks for stopping by!

Welcome Little One

The March/April issue of the American Paper Crafts magazine is available now. One of the featured sections is for baby cards in non traditional colours (no pink or blue!). I was delighted to have this card accepted for publication (it's on p.58).

This little chap is from a set called Journaling which also includes a little snippet of script style writing, the word Journal and an ink bottle but I think he makes a cute baby card and the little leaf motif is perfect as a design on a "quilt".

The sentiment is computer generated using Edwardian Script and Courier New fonts and changed to match the colour of the Espresso ink I used for the stamping (R:67 G:52 B:49 is a pretty good match if you're trying this).

Stamps: Journaling set (Crafty Secrets)

Paper:
Sugar Daddy (Bazzill Bling)
Cryogen white

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso)
Distress ink by Ranger (Antique Linen)

Other:
Sewing machine and thread
Computer generated sentiment
Scor-It
Silk ribbon

Thanks for stopping by!

Perfect Together

Paper Crafts magazines produces several special issues each year. Currently available is Stamp It! Techniques. Designers were asked to submit projects featuring one of several popular stamping techniques (paper piecing, heat embossing etc). This card was accepted for the masking section and features on p.56 of the magazine.

Masking was probably the first technique I encountered that made me squeal with excitement. I still get a childish thrill every time I peel away the mask and see the way objects are built up into little scenes! So here, I have a single shaker pot stamp - it was stamped first on the right, masked and stamped again on the left. Once the mask is peeled away, the object you stamped second appears to be behind the first one. The S and P are separate stamps so you can do those as finishing touches.

The instructions printed in the magazine are not quite what I wrote with my submission since they say to "mask with cardstock". Cardstock is not the best choice of material if you're making a mask - you want something thin (Post It notes are ideal) so that your stamp makes proper contact at the edge of the mask and you don't end up with a halo of white space around the image you stamped first. Of course there might be occasions where you want that slight blank space but if you want the effect shown here, choose something thin to make your mask.

I also stamped the lace edging directly onto the card base and just coloured underneath with a black marker - saves the fiddly cutting out!

Stamps:
Kitchen Classics (Clear Art Stamps by Crafty Secrets)

Paper:
Cryogen White
Radiant paper pad (Heartwarming Vintage by Crafty Secrets)

Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)
Time Holtz Distress Ink by Ranger (Antique Linen)

Other:
Memento markers by Tsukineko
Labels Eight Nestabilities by Spellbinder
Scor It!
Sewing machine and thread

Thanks for stopping by!

Wedded bliss

Card Creations Volume 8 (a special issue of PaperCrafts magazine) is currently on the shelves in the US and I'm delighted to have this card featured in the wedding section.

This is a really fast card to put together as the Scrapblock does most of the work and there's no colouring to do.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Love Scrapblock
Freesia flower
Wedding Centers (Mona Lisa Moments line)

Paper:
Simply Smooth

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Pool and Espresso)

Other:
Silk ribbon
Pearl by Kaisercraft (tinted with a Copic marker)
Fiskars Edge Punch (Threading Water/Scalloped Lace)

There are loads of lovely projects in this issue if you get chance to check it out - from Father's Day to Christmas and everything in between!

Thanks for stopping by!

Still counting...

Here's another card for the World Card Making Day count down - I'm not promising one a day all the way to October 3rd though!

I thought I'd go for a "winter" card rather than necessarily a Christmas one this time and the Evergreen Holiday set (designed by Becky Olsen for the All Things Considered line at CHF) seemed perfect.

I guess we all know people who don't really celebrate Christmas but appreciate a nice card anyway, just so they know they're in your thoughts. I think this design works either way - Christmas or just simply winter greetings!

This is a very simple card - just a small image to colour (five Copics: Brick Beige, Chamois, Dark Brown, Grayish Olive and Verdigris) and a little matting and layering with some thread and stitching to finish it off. I scuffed the DP and the textured cardstock a little to give it more interest. As ever, you can click through for a better view of the card if you'd like it.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Evergreen Holiday (All Things Considered line)

Paper:
Simply Smooth Vanilla (CHF)
Olive dark (Prism Papers)
DP from Earthy Paper pad (Heartwarming Vintage)
DCWV Neutrals Border Punch Strip

Ink:
Adirondack Dye ink by Ranger (Espresso)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Vintage Photo)

Other:
Copic markers
Linen thread
Sewing machine and thread
Sandpaper

The discount code for 25% off at the PaperCrafts/CK store and all the details about World Card Making Day and the WCMD blog tour are in the post right under this one if you'd like those.

Thanks for stopping by!

Countdown to World Card Making Day

The date for your papercrafting diary is October 3rd! I am very excited to have been invited by PaperCrafts magazine to take part in the World Card Making Day blog tour as one of their 25 featured blogs as we approach the day!

What does that mean? Well, it means I get to share a card created to celebrate WCMD and a coupon code that will get you a 25% discount at the PaperCrafts/CK store. It may also mean that you are new to my blog in which case - welcome!

Let's do the card first and then the coupon and some more info about World Card Making Day...

WCMD aims to give you a headstart on the busy Christmas season. I thought something warm and cosy would evoke that Christmas Eve feeling and what could be cosier than a favourite quilt?

I created my quilt squares by stamping the "Christmas is coming..." block and using the holly sprig stamp to create a random pattern to resemble quilting fabric. Sponging the edges of each square before piecing creates extra depth for your quilt and zig zag stitching completes the look - you can click through for a closer view of the pic.

Who's been eyeing up the great chipboard buttons that are around at the moment? Creating custom ones with patterned paper is fun but I stepped it up by using the same text stamp I used for the squares to create a button especially tailored to this project.

I stuck a stamped layer onto a piece of cereal packet board and cut the button with the smallest of the dies from the Classic Circles (large) Nestabilities set. I punched holes with a Crop-a-dile, sponged the edge with Distress Ink and then applied a fairly generous coat of Glossy Accents (don't forget to leave it alone until it's really dry before you do anything else and don't be tempted to speed it up with the application of heat otherwise you'll end up with a bubbly mess - ask me how I know!). A scrap of twill and a couple of vintage buttons finish it off.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Night Before Christmas set (Rummage Bin line)

Paper:
Simply Smooth Vanilla (CHF)
Kraft
Cereal packet

Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineko (Olympia Green and Crimson Red)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Vintage Photo)

Other:
Prismacolor pencil (Crimson - for holly berries)
Classic Circle Nestabilities by Spellbinder
Crop-a-Dile
Glossy Accents
Vintage buttons
Nail art gems
Krylon leafing pen (Pale Gold)
Fiskars border punch (Scalloped Lace/Threading Water)
Sewing machine and thread
Twill ribbon
Linen thread

Techniques:
Paper patchwork
Sponging

If you'd like to go shopping at the PaperCrafts/CK store, your discount code is 7YHZ-BMHR-NPTF (I'd copy and paste that, if I were you!). The coupon will be valid from midnight (MDT) on September 21 2009 through 23:59:59 (MDT) on 12 October 2009, and is good for 25% off your cart subtotal in the scrapbooking store.

To find out more about World Card Making Day and perhaps lay down some plans to join in the fun on October 3rd, check out the WCMD web site and the others on the blog tour for cardmaking inspiration!

Thanks for stopping by, your visit is much appreciated! It's a Christmassy kind of week this week what with Kinkade/Elvis yesterday and I have more festive fun to share later. That discount code will be here for your reference, too so I hope you'll drop by again sometime!

Leafy Hello!

This project is in the September/October edition of PaperCrafts magazine (I haven't seen it yet but Darlene tells me it's on p65 if you happen to have the mag to hand!). I loved the way this card turned out and was so pleased they picked it up!

The call was for projects with "fall texture" so I've included felt for something warm and snuggly as well as skeleton leaves and seedpods from an honesty plant (that's probably a silver dollar plant to my US friends).

The technique is "faux batik" - it works like a regular resist technique but then you use an iron and plain paper to remove the embossing powder after inking/spritzing so the embossed area is no longer shiny.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms)
Fiery Floral Scrapblock
Sentiment from Silhouette Blooms I

Paper:
Suede brown medium and Simply Smooth cardstock (Prism Papers)

Ink:
Versamark by Tsukineko
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Tea Dye and Vintage Photo)
Stazon by Tsukineko -(Timber Brown)

Other:
Clear embossing powder
Glimmer Mists by Tattered Angels (Red Maple and Coffee Shop)
Felt
Seed cases and skeleton leaves
Classic Oval Nestabilities (Spellbinder)
Sewing machine and thread
Linen thread

Thanks for stopping by - hope you enjoyed the card!

Wheee - I'm published!

The postie just arrived with a box for me from the US. It turned out to be the return of a project I'd submitted to PaperCrafts magazine along with a couple of copies of the magazine it features in! This is my second publication but the first time I've seen myself in print as I didn't receive a copy of the mag for the first one. I can show you the project now that it's in print and you can see the magazine here (it's a special issue of PaperCrafts called 225 Cards and Gifts and my project appears on p.62). The call for projects asked for ideas for recycling so my treat box is an empty box from a low-energy light bulb that has been stamped with a woodgrain stamp and had a tag added that is cut from a board-backed envelope. Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms) Woodgrain Backgrounder Winter Vintage Signage Ink: Various brown-toned Tim Holtz Distress by Ranger Other: Low energy light bulb box Board backed envelope Jute twine Extra large eyelet (We R Memory Keepers - antique brass) This is the pic I took before submission, it's featured in the magazine photographed alongside a gift bag of coffee. Thanks for dropping by and letting me share my excitement!