Tuesday 19 June 2012

Festive June?

Hello there,

I have a couple of Christmas cards to share today, I know its far too early in the year but they are my very favourite type of cards to make, and I want to try and keep up with the Waltzingmouse Christmas challenge this year. I am a bit behind at the moment but hopefully I will catch up in the next day or so as I have a bit of crafting time planned this week.

February's challenge used a photo to inspire us (I can't copy it for you to see but I chose to use the colours red and green from the photo for my card)



I decided on a simple design so that I could make a few of these at the same time, I also wanted to experiment on making flatter cards to keep postage costs down at Christmas as we have had such a huge increase in our Royal Mail prices here.

The stamps used on this card are Oval classic frames and the sentiment came from Very Vintage Christmas.

I used some old papers for this card, then added some natural twine and embellished with some red 3mm pearls. I'm not entirely happy with this card, it's very difficult to make a flat card using the type of products I like to craft with!



Stamps - Waltzingmouse
Twine and pearls - Pretty Little Ribbon Shop


My next card is made for May's challenge - incorporate some chipboard on your Christmas card. 
I have been crafting for a long time now and chipboard is one of those products that was so popular a few years ago so of course I have tons of it tucked away in my craftroom because I bought a ridiculous amount of it and then never used it!! It was actually fun to find my chipboard box in the craft cupboard and rummage through it to find some festive shapes.



  These snowflakes were plain grey chipboard so I heat embossed them first with white embossing powder and then again with sparkling snow powder.  They look lovely and sparkly now!



This card came together very quickly, I bought the gorgeous vellum last year, I always stitch it into place as I don't like any adhesives to show through. I then used the 'Let it Snow' sentiment from Compliments of the Season stamp set which was embossed in silver onto a Fancy Tags die cut. Finally I tied a triple bow using white seam binding and attached that to the corner of the card and adhered my chipboard snowflakes into place. 
I'm really pleased with how this card turned out.

Stamps - Waltzingmouse
embossing powders, seam binding and gems - Pretty Little Ribbon Shop


Thanks so much for visiting,
Sarah x 


Thursday 14 June 2012

I Made a Card!!

Hello there,

Ok so don't faint but I actually made a card! Actually I made a few but I will share the others on another day. 
I am so behind with my cards at the moment, but my daughter needed a few thank you cards for her teachers as she leaves 6th form college in a few days and will be starting University in September.  I made a few variations of this card in different colours, using up bits and pieces I had on my craft desk. ( Also had to make a male thank you card but I'm not sharing it as I wasn't happy with it.)



I love this stamp set from Waltzingmouse - Paris Nouveau, it has some lovely sentiments in it as well as some great Labels 25 compatible stamps too.  These scraps of aqua papers were already laying on my desk so I went with the colour and also added some aqua seam binding and lace as well as a few dew drops too.



  My husband recently made me a bow maker out of a piece of wood and some dowel so I am trying out different ways of tying my bows at the moment.




 Seam binding is still my preference for crafting as it is so flexible and versatile, and of course so cheap with so many gorgeous colours too. It works really well with the bow maker as it it so soft.

Stamps - Waltzingmouse
Seam Binding, lace and dew drops - Pretty Little Ribbon Shop

I'm entering this card into the following challenges;

Allsorts - Ice Cream Colours 
Penny Black and More - All my favourite things
My Mum's Craft Shop - Clean and Simple


Thanks for popping by!

Sarah x 

Monday 4 June 2012

New Challenge!

Hi there,

I hope you are all enjoying this wonderful sunshine we are having in the UK at the moment, long may it last!

It's time for June's challenge at the Pretty Little Ribbon Shop Blog and this month's is set by my lovely teamie Sasha

Lots of Layers

We'd love to see you all joining in with the challenge and you could win these lovely pearls!!


I am very behind with my cardmaking this year - we have a puppy here who takes up a lot of my spare time now.  I need a few Wedding Cards so I have at least got one crossed off the list now.



I can't remember where this paper came from but it is lovely for weddings teamed with silver and a touch of grey.  I layered up the papers and stitched them together and then stamped this Very Vintage Labels 18 from Waltzingmouse stamps. I embossed with WOW! silver embossing powder and then stamped a sentiment from Compact Sentiments (also Waltzingmouse). I added a bit of bling using 5mm rhinestones ( on special offer HERE).

 As this stamp is compatible with the largest Nesties die in the labels 18 set, I drew around the outside of the die and then cut it out by hand to get the grey layer underneath the label. This gives a perfect size mat for underneath.



Sorry the photo is not so good it's really hard to take pictures of silver embossing as the light reflects of it!!

Lastly I added some beautiful 25mm Sheer Elegance ribbon which I think is perfect for weddings. The button is from the Hobby House and is really pretty and sparkly.


I'm also entering this card into the following challenges;

Crafts and Me - Add a ribbon
Creative Inspirations - Diamond -Lots of Sparkle
Crafters Companion Monthly Challenge - Time to Embellish
An Oldie But a Goodie - Anything Goes

thanks so much for popping by my neglected blog, I hope to see you joining in with our challenge!

Lots of Love
Sarah x