Friday 30 January 2015

Papertrey Ink Valentine card



Hello everyone, and a very warm welcome to new friend Nat of Simply Sweet Stamping who is joining us as a new follower this week. Nat lives in Toronto and is a talented artist who started with working in stained glass before moving on to papercrafting. You will find lots of inspiration on her blog and be prepared to love her amazing colouring skills too! 

Simply Create Too

Today is the start of a new challenge over at Simply Create Too, and once again I was thrilled to see all the wonderful cards that were entered into the last challenge.This time the challenge is to make a Valentine's Day card or use hearts, and I came up with this card.


I used the cute bug image from Papertrey Ink 2010 Love Tags and all the sentiments are also from that set.I coloured the image with Copic markers using colours I pulled from the stripey paper which is from the PTI Sparkle and Shine Paper Collection. I expect many of you are sick of seeing me use the Canvas Impression plate on so many cards, but it is my go to plate for plain white panels just now! A tag with the sentiment embossed in white, a brad, and heart covered with WOS glitter pen finished it off. It's ages since I used a brad and whilst I was rooting around for the right colour, I realised that I have so many that I could probably use one every day for 5 years and not run out. And I thought I had purged all my supplies!

I'd like to enter this into

Addicted to Stamping - clean and simple

Simon Says Wednesday challenge - anything goes

Shopping our stash - Love Me Do

Before you go, why not pop over to see what our Design Team have for you this week at Simply Create Too,


Thanks for stopping by

Hugs
Carol x

Monday 26 January 2015

Papertrey Ink and Simon Says Stamps Valentine card

Hello everyone, and a very warm welcome to new friend Shannon of Stamp and Glitter who is joining us as a new follower this week. Shannon is a very versatile crafter and enjoys cardmaking, knitting, home decor projects, scrapbooking and jewelry making. Phew all of that and she still finds time to go to work too! Do pop over to say hello and I know you will be glad you did.

The inspiration photo over at the card concept is really pretty and I wanted to play along so I could try that pretty ombre technique.


I took a piece of Tim Holtz watercolour paper and painted an ombre pattern on it


I then die cut a heart shape from it with a PTI Limitless Layers heart die



I then experimented a bit and cut a PTI Notched heart tag out and used it as a stencil with some Veramark ink to emboss some tiny hearts on in white ink



This was only partially successful as a couple of the hearts came out as little blobs but I thought it was 'okay enough' to use. I matted it onto one of the larger heart dies and added some tiny die cut hearts to it to add some texture and dimension.






I stamped the sentiment onto the white panel and used my favorite PTI canvas impression plate to give some more texture and added a strip of patterned paper down the side. The 'sending' word is from a Simon Says Stamps die and you will see that it was strategically placed to hide some of the mushiness of the embossed hearts. I wonder if you would have noticed the mushiness if I hadn't spilled lol? A sprinkling of little red hearts finished it off.

I'd like to enter this into





Thanks for stopping by and have a great week.

Hugs
Carol x


Sunday 25 January 2015

Papertrey Ink Valentine or Anniversary card.

Blog-hop-logo

Hello everyone and I hope you are enjoying your weekend. If you are here for today's  Christmas Card Challenge, please scroll down to the next post along.

The 25th of the month always brings another Blog Hop from Papertrey Ink and this time 

January-2015-PTI-Blog-Hop

the theme is hearts.

I came up with a a card for my DH for Valentines day but it could just as easily fit the bill for an anniversary card.




I cut the focal panel out of white card and then fussy cut the mat for it in tropical teal card. I love mixing and matching sentiments from different sets so that they say just what I want and that's what I did here. I started off by stamping the scrolls from Boutique Borders: Birthday in Hawaiian Shores ink and then stamped the Love image from Heart 2 Heart 2. The words underneath came from With All My Heart and Boutique Borders: Love, which were stamped in tropical teal ink, and I then finished with another scroll. I used the Falling Hearts stencil from Simon Says Stamps, and some pure poppy ink to add the tiny hearts over the background along with some larger die cut hearts to add some texture.

All of this was placed on a background of paper from the  Sparkle and Shine Paper collection, and I finished it off with some baker's twine and another little heart.

Can't wait to see what everyone comes up with but before I go, I'd like to enter this into


Card Concept Love challenge - clean and layered

Wags n Whiskers - hearts

Addicted to Stamping - holiday

Winter Wonderland challenge - use one designer paper

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the hop.

Hugs
Carol x



Papertrey Ink Warm Winter Wishes card







Hello there, and welcome to another challenge over at Christmas Card Challenges. Congratulations to the winners of last week's challenge - we had some terrific entries. The challenge for this week couldn't be simpler because it is an Anything Goes week. Just make any kind of holday card and link it up to our challenge.

I came up with this card




I started with the background paper which is from Papertrey Ink Sparkle and Shine Paper Collection because I was drawn to those colourful spots. For the central panel I took a piece of white card and stamped the mittens from the PTI Snowfall set in Hawaiian Shores ink. I then over stamped the mittens with some snowflakes from the same set in Tropical Teal ink. I wanted to bring some of the spots from the background onto the focal panel so I stamped in the corners with some dots from one of the Polka Dot background stamp sets in coordinating colours. The sentiment was stamped on three banner strips and the top one was added to one of the Clip Tips dies. I cut the clip tip in white and red, and then took the waste from the red one and added it to the white one to highlight the sentiment. I'd love a pair of cosy mittens like these for these cold, wintry days.

Why not pop over to my talented Teamies for some more inspiration.
                       Alanna     Donna     Gail    Heather     Jessica     JoAnn     Lisa  
                                     Margo     Marsha     Monica     Shirley Anne     Tenia




I'd like to enter this into

Addicted to stamps and more challenge - holiday


Winter Wonderland - use one designer paper

The Kraft Journal - anything goes winter

Kraftyhands challenge - winter blues


Thanks for stopping by

Hugs
Carol x

Sunday 18 January 2015

Simon Says Stamps Christmas Card

Hello everyone



Welcome to our new challenge over at Christmas Card Challenges. This week we have the theme 'Santa's Hat, and I came up with this card



I used my new Simon Says Stamps Village Dies for the scene and I added some yellow paper behind the houses for the lights.  The snowy background was embossed in white and I added glitter to represent a frosty day. I die cut the Merry and the hat with a Sizzix die in scarlet jewel PTI card and the rest of the sentiment was a mix of PTI and Clearly Besotted stamps.

We had some great entries last week and it's wonderful that you are joining us to get started on next year's card stash. Why not stop off at my DT Buddies to check out their inspiration

                       Alanna     Donna     Gail    Heather     Jessica     JoAnn     Lisa  
                                     Margo     Marsha     Monica     Shirley Anne     Tenia






I'd like to enter this into




My Sheri Crafts - Let it Snow

Merry Monday - use houses
Thanks for stopping by

Hugs
Carol x

Friday 16 January 2015

Papertrey Ink and Clearly Besotted birthday card

Simply Create Too
Hello everyone, and a warm welcome to Susie from Fold in the Flour blog who is a recent new follower. Susie has the most scrumptious blog, sharing recipes and mouthwatering pictures of her cakes, and she is about to follow her dreams by opening a coffee and cake shop. Good luck Susie! A warm hello also to Jennifer who is a recent new follower but sadly I cannot find a link to a blog to introduce her to you. There have also been some new friends joining us via Bloglovin but I don't know how to link to them, so if anyone could point me in the right direction, I'd be very grateful.

Well it is time for a new challenge over at Simply Create Too and this time we are asking you to make a card or project with a Mother's Day theme, or indeed any card for a female.

As my Mum passed away when I was only 18, I have no need of a Mother's Day card, so I came up with this card


 I used a pretty flower from my new Clearly Besotted Winter Blooms stamp and die set, and coloured it with Copic markers.



The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink Birthday Bash and I love the mix of fonts on it. The tiny dots I added around the sentiment are little bits of waste from when I make die cuts. I pop them in a little baggie and bring them out when I think a card needs a little something other than sequins or pearls. I took my colours from the lovely striped paper which is also from PTI, as is the Canvas Impression plate that I used to give the panel some texture.

I hope you will join us with his challenge and pop over to the Simply Create Too Challenge  to see what my lovely team mates have come up with.

I'd like to enter this into the following challenges


CASOLOGY - use NBUS

and The Card Concept Challenge is having a 1st Anniversary - the perfect time for me to play for the first time under the CAS style.


Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs
Carol x




Sunday 11 January 2015

Poinsettia on kraft card Christmas card

 Hello everyone and welcome back to Christmas Card Challenges where we were asked to






CASE a Design Team member's card.

I chose to go back to March 2014 and saw Jennifer Meyer's lovely card. 





The challenge Jenn was creating for asked that she use chevrons, but I changed this to stripes, and I used kraft, red and white for my colour scheme.



I stamped the striped panel in white pigment ink and left it to dry while I cut the the scalloped circle and the poinsettia flower on my Silhouette Cameo from a NBUS cut file. I placed  a stitched circle die cut onto the scalloped circle and after shaping the flower, I arranged and glued it on.

The red banner was cut with a Papertrey Ink banner die and I fussy cut the white one to be a mat for it. The sentiment was stamped with Versamark ink and embossed in white.

If you would like to join in, you CASE ant past or present DT member, but don't worry if you don't want to try it because you can enter any Christmas card into the challenge.

I'd like to make this my final entry for Darnell's NBUS Challenge



and the Christmas Cards All Year Long challenge - anything goes

Christmas Cards All Year Round


Thans for stopping by,

Hugs
Carol x

Friday 9 January 2015

My Favorite Things celebration birthday card

Simply Create Too

Hello everyone and welcome back to Simply Create Too for the first challenge of the year. Our first challenge is nice and open giving you lots of scope to use any new crafty goodies, if you were lucky enough to get some for Christmas. My eldest son and his girlfriend bought me the MFT Blueprints 17 die set, and as it was his birthday just after Christmas, I couldn't wait to open it up and create this card for him.




The 'Let's celebrate' sentiment was from MFT Chalkboard Greetings and the stamp underneath it is from Papertrey Ink Stylish Sentiments: Birthday. I cut the name for the banner on My Silhouette Cameo. I'm not very good at masculine cards but I was quite pleased with how this one turned out!
Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs
Carol x

Sunday 4 January 2015

Lawn Fawn Winter Own Christmas card

Hello everyone,

It's gray and rainy here in Manchester this morning and I am sitting in a cold house, waiting for the Central Heating Repair people to come for the second time, so it has been a rather chilly start to 2015! When I see the news though, I recognise that I am VERY lucky if this is the only problem I have, so I am getting on with things and hoping that the repair will be done properly this time.

It is the first challenge of the year over at Christmas Card Challenges and this time it is a colour challenge




I came up with this card using the cute Lawn Fawn Winter Owl stamp





I cut the arched panel with a die from the MFT Blueprints 3 die set and fussy cut a mat for it. I made a mask for the owl and stamped it twice so the owls were sitting next to each other, and I then coloured them with my new Chameleon pens which I think will need lots more practice because it is a very different technique! I stenciled the little hearts with distress ink and perched the owls on a die cut branch.

The sentiment in this cute set comes in a block




and I wanted to stamp it in a curved line, so I carefully cut each line and curved it on my stamp press so I could place it where I wanted. A little bit of WOS glitter on the owls finished it off.

Why not join with us to build up your stash for next year and visit my talented Team Mates for some inspiration.
                       Alanna     Donna     Gail    Heather     Jessica     JoAnn     Lisa  
                                     Margo     Marsha     Monica     Shirley Anne     Tenia


Remember that our theme is just for inspiration and you can submit any kind of Christmas card that takes your fancy.


Blogging friend Darnell is having an NBUS challenge



and I'd like to enter this card as I used my new pens on it.


Thanks for stopping by

Hugs

Carol x

Thursday 1 January 2015

Top 10 Christmas cards of 2014

Hi everyone,

I would like to wish you a very Happy New Year and I hope 2015 brings only good things for you. We had a lovely New Year's Eve celebrating with friends and playing silly games, but if you are feeling a little delicate today, I won't blather on but get down to my favourite 10 Christmas cards of 2014.

Here are my picks, in no particular order

First up is a very CAS design using Papertrey Ink Polka Dot Parade #9 stamps and die





I really love this sweet tree, and the sentiment from Clearly Besotted Most Wonderful stamps is so beautiful.

The next card is a stepper card




and I really enjoyed playing with masks and Pan Pastels to create the snowbanks. I love the silver embossed Santa sleigh too!


I've been using kraft card a lot lately and for some reason this example really makes me smile.



I think red, white and kraft will appear in my cards again! The mix of snowflakes from Papertrey Ink sets and the large die cut word go really well together on top of the striped background stamp.

I wanted a card for a family with a new baby this year so I decided to make this shaker card



using the Papertrey Ink Snowglobe dies. I'm not a big shaker card maker because it seems like a lot of fiddling around is required, but these dies really made it simple! Love the cute baby image from Bugaboo too!

When asked to use ribbon on a card I decided to make a ribbon tree



by cutting different lengths of ribbon and cutting banner ends on them. To have a bit of fun and finish it off I added a partridge and a pear!

This next card uses the Lawn Fawn Winter Sparrow stamps and dies


Those birds are so cute and I enjoyed using texture paste and the Simon Says Stamps snow stencil for the background.

I like wreath cards and this one 


used the Papertrey Ink Rustic wreath stamp. I wanted a stamped border that didn't overwhelm the main panel and I found that the bough from PTI Bells and Boughs fitted the bill.

Embossing can look so elegant and for this card


I used a pretty snowflake embossing folder with a few gems to highlight them. There were lots of wonderful border dies around this year and I used one from Paper Smooches to split the card and add some interest.

I bet we all have friends who are real cat people and when I saw this cat image I knew exactly who I wanted to send it to.


This is one happy, festive cat and I just had to give him a little jingle bell around his neck. You will see that this is the same 'merry' die I used before, but this time  I glittered it to give some bling.




I really tried to get to grips with my Silhouette Cameo over the past year and for this card I learned how to import a digital stamp into the software and extract a cut from it.


I used the PTI In the Meadow dies for the snowbanks and embossed them with a snowflake embossing folder. There is no way that I could have fussy cut those reindeer without losing an antler or two!

My final card is a recent Christmas Tree one


using a very simple Clearly Besotted die, some glitter and and a lovely sentiment from the CB Most Wonderful stamp set. I love that textured kraft card!


I joined a Christmas card Design Team this year and I have to say I really enjoyed making Christmas cards throughout the year. It definitely helped me enjoy a more relaxed  December and I was able to make some gifts and home decor items that I wouldn't normally have had time to play around with. If you would like to keep your Christmas supplies within easy reach and make some cards throughout the year, why not join us over at Christmas Card Challenges which is a weekly challenge with a theme for inspiration, but the only requirement is to make a Christmas card with anything that touches your fancy.

All that remains is for me to thank you for visiting me over the past year.  I really appreciate you, whether you come regularly, dip in and out, follow me, pin my cards on Pinterest, or leave supportive comments. You make blogging worthwhile.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs
Carol x


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