Lonely bauble

I'd like to enter this card into the Less is More challenge #253 : blue and green
and the Addicted to CAS challenge: joy

I started my card out, not by stamping my sentiment and I got punished for it ;-).
But I started with a circle die to make the bauble (ornament) by sponging in broken china, then overlaid a starry stencil (Heidi Swapp) and inked mermaid lagoon to give the bauble detail.

I used a gold pen to finish the bauble and then sponged shabby shutters and bundled sage at the top to give the illusion of a tree, I don't have a branch stamp so I drew in a few , very sorry, twigs, cheap Christmas tree, lol I used my black Sharpie for that.
Then proceeded to stamp my sentiment, messed it up, tried to overlay another layer of stamping, got worse, so I cut it off at an angle and stamped it on the card base.
I made a really thin strip of mermaid lagoon and attached it to the back of the panel and then mounted the panel with foam tape.
So it looks like it always should have been like this hahaha..ok I shouldn't have told you ;-)

Waiting for the Distress ink to dry out I'm wondering if I shouldn't start again and make it like I intended and leave to sorry twigs...hmmm I think I might! I should..oh I must!..I'll be back!

Ok so I've remade the card and I like it a whole lot better ;-)
I always try to fix oopsies, but sometimes they ruin my vision hahaha.
Anyway instead of the sorry twigs I shaded the Distress inks a bit more to give it more depth.
I also changed the little hook the bauble is hanging on to black, otherwise it's pretty much the same, but better lol. I will enter this one into the challenges.
The sentiment is from CAS-ual Fridays (lovely snowflake) and i used Versafine black to stamp it.

Tiniest Christmas treats box 1 and1/4" square

tinie, tiny, tiniest and cutest  little box.
Made from a sheet op cardstock measuring
5 1/2"x 4 1/8"
and yes it's inches weirdly enough for an European ;-)
BUT
my WRMK (we R memory keepers) scorboard, although it has centimeters on it, works best in inches.
So forgive me.

The box finished measures appr. 1 1/4" all around and fits three Christmas chocolate treats I found at Action today, but they might be available elsewhere.
they come in a net with about a dozen sweets in it from BeDo  imex b.v.
The cardstock I used are European A5 size paperblocks and these are from Wibra, but they're also available everywhere, although sizes vary slightly.

You can also use scraps the right size.
These paper block from Wibra are very cheap and you can tell, there wasn't a square edge on any sheet, but for this box is really didn't matter as you cut off a lot of the (wonky) sides.

Using paper with an all round pattern and not a specific direction will make your life easier!

I make two versions in my video to show you the process.

See the pattern, to learn more about which bits to cut off, notch, glue etc.

Dreaming of a white Christmas

Dreaming of a white Christmas

I'd like to enter this into the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: let it snow with Art Impressessions
and the Sparkle and Shine Challenge #19.

For my card I used the Art Impressions stamp: zoocrew feline set for the cat, Cas-ual Fridays stampset must love snowflakes for the sentiment and snowflakes.
I've used the dies from Craft emotions, snow crystal and (PPP) sequins in silver and purple.

From the inspiration photo: Bed=sleeping=dreaming+snowflakes=dreaming of a white Christmas...(little insight into how my brain works ;-) )

the embossing powder is from Papermania superfine silver and the  image is colored with my Spectrm Noir markers stamped on Neenah classic crest cardstock with Memento tuxedo black ink.

I Started by stamping the sentiment, get that over with and  have it safe, so it can't mess up my card afterwards ;-) 
Then I stamped the lazy cat, not really sleeping, but he could still be dreaming (of tuna).
Then I used Versamark for  some snowflakes and heat embossed them.
In the inspiration photo I see a a lot of layered snowflakes, a bed (hence the dreaming) and purple bedding, so I figured my cat is sleeping on my purple bed. Mine like to sleep upside down like that btw, yours too?


Anyway the other snowflakes were diecut from lilac, purple and white glitter paper and stuck on as if it were snowing, which is weird if the cat is on the bed....ah well...the size of these snowflakes would also crush him.. they're the  white snow he's dreaming of ;-)...yes that's my angle lol...

I mounted the panel on a cardbase with taperunner.

Virginia's View Challenge #21: glitter!

Virginia's View Challenge #21: glitter!

I love glitter! for breakfast, erhm I mean always.
It might be time for glittery Christmas cards but I made a special thank you card for the wonderful Virginia.
For running an amazing blog and hopefully she'll be back after an invigorating rest.
I loved taking part in the challenges and I'm sad to see it come to an end. Although nothing is set in stone.
I hope she'll find the energy and enthousiasm and time to continue, but for now a BIG kiss and a heartfelt thanks.
Just pretend you got this card for real instead of  a photo, and if you'd like to get it, send me your address...no really I will send it if you like!

Ok so I made a stencil, for the stripes, I inked them up with Distress inks (squeezed lemonade, spiced marmalade and worn lipstick, because of the name lol)
I then mixed Wendi Vecchi translucent embossing paste

with and iridescent fine glitter and applied it through the stencil. If you have that wonderful wide stripe stamp from Simon Says Stamp, please feel free to use that. I need to be creative in my solutions sometimes...
Let it dry.
In the meantime I stuck some Elizabeth Crafts double sided adhesive on black cardstock and die cut the thanks (Memory box, a little thanks)
the kiss is a sticker I found today whilst out shopping for, dare I say it...real handkerchiefs for my glasses...I can't

remember how many times I pulled out my shirt today to dry them...oof... it's been a wet few days haha.
So if you live close to a Wibra in the Netherlands or Belgium I urge you to have a look, they also have Christmassy glitter stickers..hint hint..

I stuck the panel down on a cardbase and adhered matching sequins, the pale yellow ones are from Neat and Tangled (buttercream satin) the rest probably also Wibra ;-) Dunno, don't label stuff....but i try to keep the original packaging.
I also recorded the whole process in a nice video if you'd like to see, link below.





Again a huge thank you to Virginia and her crew! we love you!
xxx


For more information on the Virginia's View Challenge #21: glitter!, see this

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: gentlemen

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: gentlemen


I made a steampunk notebook.
If you have gear dies or embelishments, feel free to use those, I don't so I used watch parts, but bigger die cuts would  work as well , looking more dramatic even.

I started by covering the notebook in black, I figured, saves on painting it. to adhere the black cardstock I've used really strong double sided adhesive



I've cut strips of foam in various sizes an adhered them with fast grab Tacky glue.
the watch elements I've adhered with Multi medium mat.

I used two layers of various "metal plates" and now they need "rivets" so I used black enamel accents from Ranger

After the rivets were dry I glued the gears in place.
I used metallic rub on theexposed edges of the metal plates, where there would be wear and tear and the black paint would come off or rub off and expose the silver metal color.

Before I used Inka gold, but honestly I couldn't find it. instead of steel it would make the underlying metal look like brass or something similar.


for the tophat I had used colored foam, like the came in the mixed bag, also for a phone cover, but putting it in your trousers made the foam deteriorate quickly and expose the inner cor, the thrue color, I also used self adhesive rhinestones i think blue, I thought the black paint would take care of that, but the paint chipped off quickly there as well, even with a few layers of varnish.

So this note book is all black and even if it wears in the corners it will still look black.
Maybe I should source some silver or gold foam? hmm idea...

For more information on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, see this

Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesdays November: holiday card

Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesdays November: holiday card.

I've been watercoloring all my Christmas cards this year. I mean the ones I'm sending out to my firends and family.

This is an image from Lili of the Valley (Teddy with penguin) and I colored it with myDistress inks.
the watercolor panel (hotpressed smooth 300grams) is slightly smaller than the cardbase, so I used a strip of  glittery washi tape to fill the gap and add interest to this CAS card. The setnitment is from Stampies.

 I'm sorry they're not available at SSS, I thought maybe I can link up my Wednesday Challenge to this one too, as it uses SSS purry Christmas, but yeah that's done and not what I'm working on right now! lol

For more information on the Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesdays November: holiday card, see this

Less is more challenge #252: fruit

Less is more challenge #252: fruit


Before I got into stamping and colouring,as a photographer, I made photocards. And when I got my allotment garden, my Christmas cards turned vegetable inspired.

As I don't have any fruit stamps, two very small ones like 1cm square, not really a focal point I went back to one of my old photos.

I'm not sure if that's allowed as it's not a stamp, but it's my own image and I printed it with my Canon Selphy. 
Couldn't find anything about photos in the guidelines and I thought it's pretty similar to a digital stamp.
I wanted to enter into the challenge, so I'm sorry if it's not allowed, but at least I came up with something lol.
I thought about doing paper piecing with a holly shape and red buttons, but they weren't as pretty as they looked in my head ;-)

Anyway I printed the photo, mounted it with 
foamtape and used glitter washi tape strips to help focus on the panel, draw your eye in.

The pepper and tomato (technically fruits, not veggies) I stuck on some gold snowflake decals, I used metal wire to hang them in the tree (just one branch). I thought the red and green were nice and Christmassy.

The sentiment is from Hero arts, classic Christmas borders and I heat embossed that with Papermania gold embossing powder.

As I was stamping the sentiment I noticed a border with pinecones, now..are those fruits? I don't know...

here's a few others I made in the past...
For more information on the Less is more challenge #252: fruit, see this