Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 247

The theme for the last challenge of the year is Christmas.

I recently discovered a site which sells pricking patterns for paper embroidery, and some of the designs are gorgeous. Needless to say, I had a few, three of which are Christmas themed, and this is what I came up with.

One of my favourite colour combinations here - I do love turquoise and gold!

I do love this pattern! To back it, I've used mirror card and I stamped a repeating tree pattern on some white card using a Kaleidoscope ink pad in Berry Blaze. In fact, I liked this so much, I did another in the same colours (although I mixed up the order a bit.)

 This time I stitched on some pearlescent grey card. Again, I've matted with mirror card, and the backing this time is a silver and white vellum that I've had for many years.

And finally, there's this trio of trees. I stitched this in a multi-coloured thread, and completed each tree with a silver star. Again, I've matted with mirror card, and again used some of that white/silver vellum in the background.

One of the things I like about paper embroidery is that it's easy to travel with. I did most of the stitching for these while my husband and I spent a few days at the seaside this summer. Most of the crafting I do needs too much 'stuff' to be practical to take, so this is ideal!

I do hope you can join us this time, and I'd like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and all the best for 2020!

International Art and Soul Challenge 73

Our last challenge of the year is to make anything other than a card. So, a perfect chance to showcase a hand-made gift, tag or piece of home decoration. (Or something else ... so long as its not a card.)

My son's partner loves to travel, so I decided to make her a travel journal.

 I made a box to keep all the bits in too. The front is decorated with Acrylic paper and acrylic paint applied and textured using a rubber tool. The compass was cut using a Tonic die, and both it and the edges of the paper were brightened up with some gilding wax.

And the journal in the box.The journal was cut using a Sizzix/Eileen Hull Wrapped Journal die. I put a layer of Kraftex over some grey board before cutting, then decorated using acrylic paint, my gelly plate, and various stamps and stencils. I added a little gilding was to complete the effect, and made a closure with gold elastic. When the messy bit was done, I covered the inside in some white paper.

I used papers I printed from a Crafter's Companion CDRom to create the pages, although I did make them less saturated, as I wanted a more subtle effect. I printed direct to Ryman Matte double-sided card.

You'll note that I didn't add any details to the pages. That's because I wanted her to be able to add things where she wanted, rather than where I'd stuck something. So, I provided some bits to do that.

 A box containing some tiny envelopes. The post mark stamps are from Marianne, and the envelope die is from Printable Heaven.

A box filled with pouches cut using a Tonic die set, and offcuts of the Crafter's Companion papers.

And finally, some pockets cut using a Sizzix/Tim Holtz die.

 This is my first time using Kraftex. I would have preferred to use some leather or even faux leather or the journal, but I've struggled to get supplies. I know I could buy faux leather by the metre, but then I would have loads of a single colour and I'd like variety. And each piece needs to be about 6 by 13 inches, so most offcuts wouldn't be big enough. I hope the Kraftex gives the journal a robust enough cover, but won't know that for a while!

I do hope you can join us.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 246

The challenge for this fortnight is to do away with patterned paper. Leave your stash of pretty papers alone, and other than that, any project is allowed!

I made a card and matching box for a friend who retired last month.

I started with some white card which I coloured with Distress Oxide ink in several of my favourite shades.

Then, I embossed two roughly 8in by 8in pieces using an Embossalicious folder. I then added a little more distress ink on some of the embossed areas and finished with a little gilding wax.

I made some flowers using dies from Sizzix's Susan's Garden range, Elizabeth Craft's Susan's Garden Notes range and finally a die from Printable Heaven along with some greenery cut using a Sue Wilson die. To complete both the box and card, I put together a label in Photoshop Elements which I die cut using Spellbinders dies. After photographing, I removed my friend's name from photos of both the card and box because I don't think it's fair to include that sort of detail in public without permission.

And that's it!

I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 72

The challenge for this fortnight is to make something for Christmas, but not to include an image! So, we'd love to see lots of sentiments, backgrounds, textures, but no focal image.

I've been enjoying paper embroidery lately, and recently discovered that Stitching Cards do True Type fonts of stitching patterns. So, I've tried one out here to create a (not very) original sentiment for a card.

The frame pattern was pricked using a brass stencil from Joke de Vette. I used some gold-coloured machine embroidery thread for both the circles in the frame and the text. I used some Lurex thread for the scallop, and I don't think I'll be doing that again. I stuck with it because I liked the effect but it's very hard to use as it twists, stretches and breaks very easily. Apart from the stitching, I've added some mirror card and that's it! (Sorry about the reflection of my finger and phone case in the mirror card - I really don't know how to avoid that!)

I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 71

Our challenge for this fortnight is UK Myths and Legends. I went for something fairly generic but which definitely turns up in some British legends: a dragon!

For this I used a decoupage image from Debbie Moore. I think the CDRom came with a magazine some time ago. I've layered the image using glue gel. For the matting, I've use a Tonic die set - I think its called Celtic Circles so it seemed very appropriate. The result if rather imposing, as I needed an 8 by 8 card to accommodate it.

I hope you can join us this time.

Interntional Art and Soul Challenge 70

The theme of this fortnight is Celebrate Autumn, which is something that I, as someone who doesn't like hot weather, definitely does!

The basis of this card is paper embroidery. The pattern comes from 101 Ideas for Paper Embroidery by Erica Fortgens. I used machine embroidery thread in shades of red, orange and gold, and matted the result onto some copper coloured mirror card. For the background, I stamped a piece of cream card with leaves using stamps from Crafter's Companion and a Kaleidoscope ink pad.

I do hope you can join us this time.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 243

The theme for this fortnight is Add Some Sparkle, so an ideal theme if you want to get a Christmas card (or several) done, or in fact, a project for any purpose so long as it has a bit of sparkle!

I decided to make a Christmas card, and I kept it fairly simple, and what's more, fairly flat so it won't need a 'large' stamp!

Having decided to keep things simple, I looked through my box of Christmas dies and when I spotted this one, given the theme, I didn't look any further. It's a Sheena Douglass die, and, believe it or not, I cut it using some glitter card. The photo doesn't make that at all obvious, but it is there! The background I created using various snowflake stamps, Versamark ink and Perfect Pearl powder. (The snowflake stamps will be from a variety of manufacturers, as I've placed all sorts of small stamps like that on a single storage sheet for use with the Cardio Majestix stamp holders which are such a good idea for this sort of stamping.) And apart from a little layering, that's it. I suspect there'll be several more cards of this general design before Christmas as it was fairly easy, but still (with the stamping) feels a little bit creative.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 242

The challenge for this fortnight is to Add a Critter. That critter can be any you want, and the project can be any format at all.

I chose to make a couple of Christmas cards using some stamps from Creative Stamping magazine.

I stamped using Memento ink, using a mask to add the llama after stamping the jumper. The image is coloured with Promarkers, and the banner below with Sakura Stardust pens. I added a bit of background texture, again using Promarker.

And another one - or perhaps the same llama with a different jumper. The techniques and products used were the same.

I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 68

Our challenge for this fortnight is to make tags. They can be for any purpose, and I chose to make some Christmas tags.

I used a die from Marianne which punches holes (a 16 by 16 grid) in card to allow you to cross stitch directly. I actually punched two lots of holes to get the rectangle shown, and the basic tag shape was cut using a Tattered Lace die. I put a second tag shape on the back to cover the 'working'.

The cross stitch patterns came from some magazines I've had for at least 20 years. When I first got in to cross stitch, I used to buy magazines and take out any pages I thought might be useful. I stored these in plastic wallets. I still have a couple of lever arch files of these.

To complete the tags, I punched a hole and added some baker's twine.

I do hope you can join us.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 241

Our challenge for this fortnight is on the theme of Autumn Colours.

One of the first things I think of when faced with this type of theme, is my Kaleidoscope ink pad in Autumn shades, and that's what I went with here.

A very CAS design here. The stamps are from Woodware, and after stamping, I coloured the butterfly with Promarkers in shades similar t the ink colours. A little matting and layering, and that's it. I've made a non standard size of card here, so I'll have to make an envelope for it, but the stamp is so gorgeous, I really didn't want it to share its glory with anything else.

I do hoe you can jjoin us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 67

The theme for this fortnight is Things with Wings. So, birds, insects, fairies, angels ... anything that has wings.

I made an exploding box as an example for my craft group.

The members are not generally papercrafters, so I needed to keep the project fairly basic and not to require many of the tools I take for granted. In the end, they decided they wanted to make a pop up card instead, but I'm sure I'll find a home for this  box.

The papers are from my stash. The butterflies were cut on my Big Shot Pro using dies by Spellbinders. In both cases, the lower layer was cut in card, and the upper, lacy layer in shimmer paper that I bought from Craft Creations when it was based in Cheshunt. Unfortunately, the new version of the company doesn't seem to be stocking the things I regularly bought from the original company, so I'm having to look elsewhere.

And finally, a close up of the butterflies. I used scraps of die packaging (the clear plastic) to support the butterflies, and you can just see a trace of that in this photo.

I do hope you can join us this time.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 240

The theme for this fortnight at Crafty Cardmakers is Pearls and/or Gems. I've made a couple of cards using paper embroidery for this challenge. A craft group I belong to tries many different crafts, and a little while ago I did a session on paper embroidery and I made some samples in advance so that people could see the sort of thing that can be done. The other members aren't necessarily cardmakers, or even papercrafters, so it seemed a good idea to have some good examples.

This first card was made using a pricking pattern taken from 101 Ideas for Embroidery on Paper by Erica Fortgens. I used two strands of machine embroidery thread to complete the stitching, and finished each flower with a sticky gem. The central butterfly embellishment was cut using a Spellbinders die set.

Before I discovered books on paper embroidery, I bought some stencils. I used a Quadrant stencil to prick the pattern for this card.

Again, I used machine embroidery thread for the stitching, this time using metallic type threads. I finished the card using some flower shaped gems I've had for many years. They actually reflect a mix of blue, green and pinkish tones depending on how the light hits them, but some shades seem more obvious in the photo. The background paper is from a pad which was a magazine freebie quite a while ago.

I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 66

The challenge for this fortnight is to Layer it Up. So, we want to see lots of layers, but otherwise, any project is fine!

I recently had a look through all my very old metal templates. Some are just for embossing, some for paper pricking and a few are mixed. One set I haven't used a great deal, and I decided to get them out for another go. I bought them quite early in my cardmaking journey and found them very difficult to use, so I was pleased when I managed to make two different cards without too much difficulty!

The templates are from Lucido, and I used a couple of different ones.

My first attempt. The template is for cutting, pricking and stitching, as well as embossing, but I didn't use the embossing sectins. The paper is from a Dovecraft set called Garden Party. I cut out the heart and centre shapes by hand, and edged them with some Distress Ink before assembly. I pricked the holes and stitched with maching embroidery thread, and completed the effecgt with a sticky gem. The image itself comprises three paper layers, so it total, there are 7 layers in the design.

The second card is actually my favourite of the two, but the photos really don't do it justice.

A different template, and this time I've used some plain card, some Papermania paper and some gorgeous glitter card. Stitching was again using machine embroidery thread, and this one has a total of 6 layers.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 239

The theme for this fortnight's challenge is It's a Bug's Life. So anything goes so long as there's an insect of some type playing a starring role.

For this card, I used a stamp from an issue of Creative Stamper magazine. These stamps were designed by Crafty Individuals which just happens to be one of my favourite companies.

I first created a background with Distress Ink on watercolour paper, and once dry, I stamped and embossed the dragonfly in white. For the central image, I used the same stamp, but this time I embossed it in dark blue, before I coloured the wings and body with some Promarkers. And apart from matting and layering, that was it.

I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 65

The challenge for this fortnight is an easy one, on the theme of  flowers. So, you can share any project you like, so long as there are some flowers somewhere on it.

I''ve made a baby shower card.

I must say, I don't really get the concept. Yes, people have always given gifts for a new baby, but the idea of having a party for that purpose seems a bit odd to me. I remember my mother being shocked when we actually had the pram for our firstborn delivered before he arrived as she considered that very unlucky. So, I suppose things change, and my sister is doing a shower for my nephew's girlfriend who's expecting a little girl next month.

Nothing too complicated: dies from Marianne, Sue Wilson and Spellbinders, a stamp from Creative Expressions, some embossing powder, Pan Pastel, paper from Lily of the Valley and a few sticky gems. (I don't have a single stamp or die that refers to a baby shower. (Or a bridal shower if it comes t that.) So I had to improvise!

I do hope you'll join us this time, and share your floral creations!

International Art and Soul Challenge 64

The challenge for this fortnight is to use embossing - either heat or dry.

I've done some heat embossing on a Chocolate Baroque stamp I've had for a long time. It's fair to say it comes out most years as I get into making Christmas cards, and I'm always searching for a different look.

I stamped with Versamark ink and embossed with gold detail powder. I added some colour to the diamonds using a Spectrum Noir Glitter marker. The background was made using stencils and a gelli plate with distress oxide ink and gilding wax. Even though the script in the background isn't the same as on the image, I do like this combination. Some gold mirror and white matting and that's it!

I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 63

The challenge for this fortnight is Monochrome. That can be any one colour, and for the purpose of this, black and white don't have to count as colours.

I fancied doing something while watching a series, and decided a little paper weaving fitted the bill.

I used a Creative Expressions die for this - the one with the narrowest strips. I used two offset layers of the darker yellow and wove in bits of the paler lemon colour. It took a while, but I think the effect and texture is wort the effort. To complete, I cut a frame and sentiment in black. I like the simplicity of the design - it's definitely plain enough for one of the men in my family!

I do hope you can join us.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 238

The theme for this fortnight is Here Comes Summer.  This means that anything that means summer to you is perfect, although if the connection isn't obvious, it'd be great if you could mention the reason!

Although the idea of sitting on a beach in high summer doesn't appeal to me at all, there's something about the idea of an old-fashioned deck chair on a sandy beach that just seems to me to mean, 'summer'.

I started by masking most of the card, leaving just an oval in the centre. I applied some distress ink for the sky, and used a scrap of paper to give an uneven edge to the bottom of that. Then, I created a sandy lower half in the same way. Of course, I forgot to mask off for the sun, so I added that after using Pan Pastel.

Once that was done, I masked the oval, and stamped a selection of seashells and starfish from the Card-io Majestix range using Memento ink. When that was done, I added a little Memento ink to the background.

To complete the card, I cut the deck chair using a Joanna Sheen die, and completed the scene with a few more images from the Card-io set.

I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 62

The challenge for this fortnight is Christmas in July. So, here's your chance to get started on your Christmas cards or gifts, if you haven''t already done that.

I've been playing with a technique for a while - using Tapestry or Majestix stamps or other small stamps from my collection.

And this is another one! The main tree stamp is from Crafty Impressions and I'm afraid I've got no idea who made the bauble stamps. They've been in my collection for years, and I suspect they came from Hobbycraft when I was first trying my hand at stamping.

I've used a Kaleidacolor ink pad for all the stamping. I was lucky enough to find some on sale at Ally Pally in April, and this is one of the new ones  - Fruitcake.The background shading uses Distress Ink.

To finish the card I added some sticky gems to the tree, and ran a clear Sakura Stardust pen around the dotty outline.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 237

The challenge at Crafty Cardmakers for this fortnight is to use a die or punch. Once you've done that, there are no restrictions on what you produce!

For this card, I started with a background which I created using my gelli-plate, some Distress Oxide ink and a stencil. The die cuts were cut using a die from Tonic's Sew Pretty range. I stitched them with metallic gold thread. The sentiment was stamped with a stamp from John Lockwood/Creative Expressions, and I highlighted the pretty flowers with a little glitter using Crafter's Companion glitter pens in yellow and teal. I completed the card with some sticky gems.

I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 61

Our challenge for this fortnight is to use stars and/or stripes in your creation.

I opted to use some stars, and came up with this - an early Christmas card.

I started by stamping the central image. It's a stamp I bought which I believe is from Creative Expressions/U Mount. I coloured the letters with Promarkers. Then, I masked around the sentiment and added some Distress Ink in Scattered Straw and Wild Honey. I stamed some stars: they're mainly from another Creative Expressions set, but the patterned one comes from a magazine freebie from quite a long time ago. The outline stamps were stamped with Memento ink and coloured with Promarkers. The solid stars were stamped with Versamark ink and then I added some Perfect Pearl in gold. To add a little more texture, I added a little more blue ink using a Creative Expressions stamp, and finished the background using an embossing pen and more Perfect Pearl.

I hope you can join us this time.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 236

For this fortnight's challenge we want to see anything but a card. Apart from that, it's 'anything goes'!

Years ago, I saw a tutorial on decorating a candle using an image stamped onto tissue paper. I always fancied having a go, but never did. (To be honest, I don't use many candles as my husband can't abide them!) Anyway, a craft group of which I'm a member was looking for some ideas for things they hadn't tried before, and I suggested candle decoration. But, never having tried it before, I found a tutorial and had a go in advance.

The video I found is this one from Lavinia Stamps.

And this was the result:

Not a Lavinia stamp, but one of the gorgeous set of Macintoshesque stamps from Clarity. I stamped the image onto tissue paper using Memento ink and coloured with Promarkers. Beware if trying this: like all alcohol markers, Promarkers have a tendency to leak through paper, but this is much more significant with tissue paper. Fortunately, I had some copy paper under my tissue paper. Once I'd trimmed around the image, I wrapped some wax paper around it and used my heat gun to gently melt the tissue paper into the candle. I was fairly impressed with the result!

But, a pretty candle needs a box, doesn't it? I checked, and the square Tonic Kaleidoscope box is just about the right size for this candle. (Its just s smidge small, but I managed to get it to work.)

 So, I stamped the same panel onto Crafter's Companion Neenah card and again, coloured with Promarkers. I assembled a box to fit - but I only have the two shortest sets of sides, so I had to fudge the side panels. I cut the longer of the two I had, leaving the end cut line over the edge of the cutting plate, and then continued the cuts with a trimmer, and extended the crease lines.

And here's the completed set.

I'm going to do the another one using the Snowdrops stamp from the same range so I've got a 'matching' set, but I'll wait and do that at the craft group.

I do hope you can join us this time.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 235

The theme of the challenge for this fortnight is Masculine. And like many cardmakers, this is a theme I always find difficult.

I started with some basic copy paper, a gelli plate, stencils and some acrylic paint. I added some further detail using silver gilding wax and another stencil.

The sentiment is stamped (but I don't have a record of the manufacturer. I think it might be Personal Expressions, but I'm really not sure. I do know it''s a stamp set I bought a number of years ago and it includes many different sentiments. The die is from Sizzix.

The result is a card for my husband. He likes green, and doesn't like things which are heavily embellished, so I hope this will appeal.

I hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 59

The theme for this fortnight's challenge is Lace and Pearls.

I belong to a craft group that's made up of people who do a variety of crafts but mainly include pottery and knitting/crochet. Three times a year, we plan our sessions with one member agreeing to lead a session. As a papercrafter, I find that quite hard. It's not that I don't have ideas, but rather that I struggle to come up with ideas which translate to a hall where I don't have access to most of my craft room!

For the next meeting, I'm going to take this project as a suggestion. It's a basic pop up card, and obviously, people can decorate it any way they want - pre-printed images, decoupage, stamped images, things cut from magazines. Anyway, this is what I came up with.

The front of the card. I've used some paper I bought years ago. It was part of a lot which I suspect had been cut from much larger sheets. This one was always a favourite, but I'd never found the ideal project (until now.) I've added a strip of card and lace, as well as the butterfly which was cut using a very old Marianne die. I added lots of sticky pearls and some matting that's about it for the front.

The inside. As you can see, the 'pop up' mechanism is about as simple as possible! I've covered the inside with some Dovecraft paper, and used dies from Tattered Lace and Joanna Sheen to make the flowers and vase.

A close up of the vase.

And a slightly different angle on the front ... just because!

I do hope you can join us this time.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 234

The challenge for this fortnight is Birthdays and I'm hosting, so I'm looking forward to seeing what you all come up with!

I fell in love with these Mackintoshesque stamps from Clarity when I first saw them, and finally succumbed when there was a sale just before Christmas. This is my first use of this stamp. I decided not to use the included sentiment (which in this case would have read Bed of Roses.) Instead, I used a rubber stamp I''ve had for a long time, and while it's from an Art Deco set, I can't remember the manufacturer. I coloured the image with Promarkers.

For the background, I've used stamps from two more manufacturers. The birthday text is from Woodware and the floral grid is from Creative Expressions. I added some background colour to the text image using Distress Ink and coloured the floral image using Promarkers. Both were matted to some red card and to complete the card, I added some sticky paper lace.

I hope you can join us this time.