Beige White and Cork Flower and Flourish

This is a card that I made last year that was inspired by a card I saw over on Amy Rysavy's blog.

 

 

For my card, I started by creating the background. For that, I took a piece of beige card and stamped it with the French Script stamp from the Bo Bunny It Is Written stamp set using Memento Toffee Crunch dye ink for a tone-on-tone effect. I then punched the top left corner using the WRMK 1/2" Corner Chomper.

 

I then created a panel from white hessian effect card and added pricking detail using the Stampin' Up piercing template and a pricking tool. The sentiment, from the Kaisercraft Life Sentiments stamp set was stamped onto this panel using Versafine Onyx Black archival pigment ink.

 

 

Next I created the flower detail. To do this, I die cut some Fablon self-adhesive cork sheet using the Sizzix Sizzlits Flower, Centre and Leaf die. This was overstamped using the script stamp and the Onyx Black ink. The Flower Centre, from the same die, was cut from the white hessian card and distressed with the Toffee Crunch ink, and the scalloped circle from the Sizzix Sizzlits Flower and Flourish die using black cardstock. Black and white Baker's Twine was then threaded through the centre holes.

 

 

To complete the corner detail, two flourishes were also die cut from the black card using the Sizzix Sizzlits Vine #2 die.

The card was then assembled as shown in the main picture., mounting the beige card onto black card and positioning the flourishes and flower in the bottom right hand corner.

To finish the card, flat-back pearls from the Kort & Godt Autumn Shades selection were randomly added.

Here are the challenges that I shall be entering this card into:

Art By Mi Ran - #24 - Anything Goes
Brown Sugar - #131 - 3 Embellishments
Crafts 4 Eternity - #211 - No Patterned Paper
Sister Act - #91 - Anything Goes
Stamplorations - Stamps & Inks
The Stamping Boutique - Make Your Own Background
4 Crafty Chicks - #231 - Anything Goes
Red Rubber Inspiration - #204 - CAS
Scrap & Craft - #1 - Anything Goes
Baffies Kreativladen - #40 - Anything Goes
The Crafter's Café - #101 - Make Own Background
Inspiration Destination - #18 - Anything Goes
Penny's Paper Crafty - #212 - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes
Wonderful Wednesday - Anything Goes
Creative Moments - #60 - Anything Goes/Optional Sketch
Inky Chicks - #45 - Anything Goes
Party Time Tuesdays - #194 - Anything Goes
Through The Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
Crafting From The Heart - #44 - Anything Goes
Craft Your Passion - #246 - Anything Goes
Love To Scrap - #46 - Anything Goes
Melonheadz Friends - CAS
My Craft Creations - Anything Goes
Not Just Cards - Anything Goes
Scrapbook Stamp Society - #58 - Anything Goes/Happy Birthday
The Paper Girls - #72 - Cork
The Paper Nest Dolls - #1 - Anything Goes
The Pink Elephant - #283 - Anything Goes
Whoopsi Daisy - #1 - Anything Goes
613 Avenue Create - #108 - Anything Goes
Amusing - Anything Goes
Fairytale Stampers - #50 - Flowers
Glitter and Sparkle - #121 - Pearls and Swirls
Pile It On - #53 - Hearts and/or Flowers
Paper Creator's Crafts - #34 - Anything Goes

Frantaged Collage and Charms Masculine Birthday

This is the card that I made for my hubby's birthday this year. It involved using the Frantage embossing powders which were new to me before making this card, although I have of course watched the demos on Create & Craft.

 

To begin with, I stamped the collage image of Folium from Papermania using Versafine Onyx Black archival pigment ink. The panel was then distressed using Tim Holtz Antique Linen and Walnut Stain inks. Once the distress ink was dry, Versamark was added around the edge of the panel and Aged Taupe Frantage powder was added. Once that was heat set, extra Aged Taupe and White powders were sprinkled over the centre of the panel to give a speckled appearance.

To create the card blank, a sheet of A4 card was trimmed to 5" wide and then scored at 7". Panels of beige mottled paper by Craftwork Cards were cut to fit both the front and inside of the card, the edges first being distressed with the Walnut Stain ink.

The stamped and Frantaged panel was matted onto the black card as used for the card blank and adhered overlapping the edge of the front panel.

The next stage was to add the charms. These were very kindly donated by Donna at the cardmaking group that I attend. The large key charm was looped onto a length of black and white Gorjuss twine that was coloured with the Antique Linen and Walnut Stain inks, to tie it in with the rest of the card. The twine was wrapped around the front of the card and tied to the top of the charm.

The ends of the twine were then wiped with Aleene's Tacky Glue and wound around a paintbrush until the glue was dry, allowing the twists in the twine to remain. The same was done to the twine threaded through the compass charm.

The next stage was to work on the inside of the card.

The first step was to add some sentiments.

Firstly, the 'Happy Birthday' panel stamp, from the Papermania Portabello range, was stamped on the inside of the card using the Onyx Black ink. The panel was reverse masked and coloured using the Antique Linen and Walnut Stain inks. Using the positive mask, the panel was covered and overstamped using the postmark and clock stamps from the Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Visual Artistry stamp set, and the script stamp and number stamp from the Bo Bunny It's In The Words stamp set, all stamped using the two brown distress inks.

The final stage was to add a sentiment that could be read both when the card was open and closed. A line was drawn down the side of the card using a T-square ruler and a pencil, and, using individual alphabet stamps from a Studio G/Hampton Art alphabet stamp set and a Stamp-a-ma-jig, the sentiment 'with love' was stamped down the side of the card using Memento Tuxedo Black dye ink.

Versafine Onyx Black ink would have been better, but the Memento was out on my desk from when I had stamped the alphabet stamps onto the plastic sheet of the Stamp-a-ma-jig, and was used by mistake!

Here are the challenges that I am entering this card into:

A Girl Who Crafts - Anything Goes
Crafts Galore Encore - Anything Goes
Crafty Hazelnuts Patterned Paper - Anything Goes (Not Square)
Creative Craft Cottage - #31 - Anything Goes
Mema's Crafts - Anything Goes
Seema Crafts - Anything Goes
The Sisters Of Crafts - Anything Goes
Bastel - Traum - Anything Goes
Vandicrafts Artistry - Anything Goes
Sweet Stampin' - Masculine
Art By Miran - Anything Goes
Jo's Scrap Shack - #71 - Anything Goes
Sister Act - #89 - Anything Goes
Wags 'n' Whiskers - #145 - Anything Goes
Aud Sentiments - #123 - Anything Goes
Dream It Up! - Birthdays
Little Miss Muffet - #102 - Anything Goes
Scrap & Craft - #1 - Anything Goes
Baffies Kreativladen - #40 - Anything Goes
The House That Stamps Built - #114 - Black, Brown and White
Penny's Paper-Crafty - #210 - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp - It's A Guy Thing
Whimsy Stamps - #78 - Anything Goes
Cardz 4 Guyz - Happy Birthday
Inky Chicks - #45 - Anything Goes
Party Time Tuesdays - #194 - Anything Goes
Through The Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
Crafting From the Heart - #42 - Anything Goes
Sparkle N Sprinkle - Anything Goes (Glitter, Embossing Powders, Flock)
Squigglefly - #2 - Anything Goes
The Paper Nest Dolls - #1 - Anything Goes
Whoopsi Daisy - Anything Goes
Robyn's Fetish - #247 - Vintage Look

Sizzix Mega Sale 2015 Haul

Well, it seems I was early to this party as I placed my order a week before most people knew this sale was even on.
I got my goodies on Wednesday and amazingly I got everything I ordered.
So, what did I get?
To begin with, I got two medium Originals dies. I desperately need a floral die, so opted for the Flower Layers with Leaf #2. It's an unusual looking flower but looks a lot more organic and realistic than a lot of the flower dies around.

I also liked the look of the Frame, Ornate #2. A bit smaller than I thought it would be but very 'ornate' and like the look of the sample using music paper.

 

The next item was one of the On The Edge dies. Now that I've worked out the best way to use these (draw a straight line across the foam using a white gel pen to line the paper or card up against!) I'm using the ones I have a lot more, so felt justified in getting another one. The one I've been coveting for a while is the Butterflight one.

 

 

I'm looking forward to trying to paper piece the butterflies onto it using patterned papers.

 

There were also a number of Bigz dies that I wanted but had to limit myself to just (?) four.

 

The first was another floral die. I went for Flower Layers #8. The die cut has crease lines along all the petals, adding more detail to them.

The next one I went for was a flourish die. I don't own a large one and liked the fact this one looked quite pretty rather than distressed. The one I went with was Classique, which is designed by Prima.

I also went for a die to complement my collection of masculine dies and stamps, namely the Fleur de Lis and Eiffel Tower die, although I suspect it's also possible to make it feminine as well.

 

 

I think this will work particularly well with my Prima paper pads.

 

The last of the Bigz dies in my haul box was the Arch Frame Movers and Shapers die.

 

I'm looking forward to using it with the smaller Movers & Shapers dies I've got. Think I might have to look at more of those in the next sale!!!

 

The rest of the dies I got were Framelit die sets. The first was one that will suit my obsession with sentiment stamps. This set, Tags, Sentiments will allow me to die cut them out, something I like to do a lot. There are 12 dies in the set allowing for 6 layered up tags or 12 separate ones. They work well either way.

 

 

The next was the only Christmas set that I went for. It's a set of stamps with matching dies designed with Hero Arts. The set is Ornaments #3 and has 5 dies and 5 stamps.

 

 

The last two are sets I've been coveting ever since I saw them over on Stephanie Barnard's website. They are Framelit Flip-It die set. Unlike the Movers and Shapers versions, these come with a selection of dies to allow you to create layers for the base card as well as a selection of dies for the focal area of the flip-it card.

 

The first of the two sets that I went for is Card, Fancy Frame Flip-Its #2.

Of course, I will now have to get the matching Framelits for the centre shape as they aren't the same as the ones I have and ideally you need a selection of sizes to properly layer up on the focal section.

The second one I got was the Card, Circle Flip-Its #2 which has a good selection of decorative circle dies including one with pricked detail. I can also use all my circle and scalloped circle dies with it.
 

I look forward to using them all!!!