A Christmas Card

This project should have been for a Crafty Cardmakers challenge. That blog has ceased to exist, but I had posts scheduled and decided to continue to post my projects on the scheduled dates..

I made a Christmas card using an stamp from Woodware that I coloured with Promarkers. I added a stitched frame. I pierced the holes using a template I recently got which is actually intended for pricking holes in leather. There are some basic frames and a grid of holes too, although because it's intended for robustness, it's about 5mm thick and therefore quite hard to hold in place. Having said that, it worked fine for this frame. I completed with a layer of mirror card and I embossed the base card with snowflakes to add a little more texture.

International Art and Soul Challenge 98

 This challenge lasts for four weeks, taking us through the festive season, and it's an easy one - Anything Goes with a Bow! So, what are you waiting for?

I decided to have a go with my new hexagonal frame dies from Tonic. I already have a couple of sets of square/rectangular frame dies from Elizabeth Craft and I like those, but was intrigued by the different shape. I finally got something that worked well enough, but I need to find a way of reliably getting the angles between the sides more accurate.

It looks ok, but I can't line the inside with a decorated background because the angles between the sides aren't quite right. Still, I made the best of it by filling it with some flowers. Apart from some greenery which I cut using a Sue Wilson die set, the rest were cut using various dies from Susan Tierney Cockburn. The doily in the background was cut using a pink die which I think means it's Marianne, but I'm honestly not sure. Both the bucket and the doily were shaded with a variety of Distress Oxide inks, and flower details were achieved with Pan Pastel and Liquid Pearl. The silver decoration on the frame was cut using a very old Spellbinders die, and the bow using a Creative Expressions/Sue Wilson die set.

And that's it. I do hope you can join us this time.

A Handbag Gift Box

This project should have been for a Crafty Cardmakers challenge. That blog has ceased to exist, but I had posts scheduled and decided to continue to post my projects on the scheduled dates.

I decided to get out a trusty Tonic die set, and made this:

The structure of the bag uses standard heavy weight card in a dark brown. For the upper layer, I created some faux leather using a Sheena Douglass technique. I didn't have enough Kraft card for the project, so I just used some fairly heavy paler brown card as you can see. I must say, it looks the part, although it got a lot softer and generally seemed less robust than when I've used Kraft card in the past. I completed the box with gold mirror card accents.

International Art and Soul Challenge 97

 The challenge for this fortnight is to make something with lots of pink. If you're like me, this time of year is spent making things either red/green/gold or cold, wintery colours like blue/lilac/grey. So, pink is a chance to do something a bit different! Here's what I came up with:

So, it's a Christmas card, but a rather understated one. In fact, the only specifically Christmassy thing about it is the backgroud paper which has the names of lots of Christmas carols. I used a Julie Hickey stamp and die set, stamping the image on to white and colouring with Promarkers. Then, I stamped twice more on to pink card and used the dies to cut the top layer twice more, and the central bit once.  I used Versafine or Versafine Clair ink for the stamping - Olympic Green for the bottom layer and Charming Pink for the die cut layers.

And that's it. I do hope you can join us this time, and I'm looking forward to seeing your pink creations!

A Couple of Christmas Cards

This project should have been for a Crafty Cardmakers challenge. That blog has ceased to exist, but I had posts scheduled and decided to continue to post my projects on the scheduled dates..

I've made a couple of Christmas cards.

I've used a Julie Hickey stamp set, and stamped the central image with three different Versafine colours before colouring the image with coloured pencils. I created the background by first coating some card with acrylic paint and then using the branch stamp from the set to create a background. I used another small leaf stamp which was a magazine freebie just to add some further interest. And because I could do it, I did another card in pretty much the same way!

International Art and Soul Challenge 96

 Long story, but I'll get to the card in a moment. Back at the beginning of this year's lock down, I could see that we would be required to wear masks at some time (although I didn't think it would take as long as it did to be mandated.) The prospect of using disposable masks with all the extra waste (and expense) involved didn't appeal at all, so I investigated how to make my own. Now, I'm not a sewing person. I do decorative stitching where the holes are set up in advance (paper embroidery, cross stitch, hardanger etc) but apart from replacing buttons and putting up a hem, I don't do what I think of as 'practical' sewing. But, I found a basic design that could be done with hand-sewing, and gradually adapted it to something I was happy with. I got to the point this summer where I'd made around 80 masks for family/friends and charity, but I was conscious that they would be neater and probably more robust if they were machine-sewed. At this point, I asked my local craft group for suggestions of what I might need - especially given that the masks I've been making are the pleated type and by the time you include extra side bits for the elastic and a three-layer construction have up to 12 layers.

One member, a lovely lady called Barbara, who is probably the most experienced of the group with sewing machines, contact me and offered me one. It was given to her by the family of a neighbour who sadly had to go into a nursing home, and she'd been waiting to offer it to a new home for a couple of years. And not only did she give it to me, she delivered it and spent about three hours getting me started on using it. So, obviously, I wanted to do something to say, 'Thanks!' And that's the story about this card - except to add that Barbara loves sunflowers and has decorated a number of her possessions with them.

I started with a Brusho background. I spritzed the card and sprinkled three colours, then, while it was still wet, I did a little zig-zag brushing with a fan-shaped brush to even the colour distribution and encourage a little more colour mixing. When it was dry, I added the sentiment (Woodware stamp and Versafine ink), and lastly a sunflower which I made using (mainly) dies from the Susan's Garden Sizzix collection. The only die addition was the stem which is from a Julie Hickey die set. It's probably a little curved to be a sunflower stem, but it was the perfect length for the card.

And that's it - a sunflower thank-you card. I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 95

The challenge for this fortnight is on the theme Fairies and/or Elves.

I used a variety of stamps - mainly from Lavinia (the main image was a magazine freebie quite a long time ago), Inkylicious, and Printable Heaven. I combined them on a background which I printed from my gelli plate using Distress Ink and Brushos on to watercolour paper. The stamped images were stamped with Versafine Clair ink.

I hope you can join us this time.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 265

The challenge for this fortnight is to make a tag. I normally find the smaller format of tags to be awkward, so I rarely do anything more complicated than a single die cut, but I decided I needed to try something more interesting for this challenge.

And in the end, I made two!

For both tags, I started with a John Next Door media plate, which I inked with Distress ink, before sprinkling on some dissolved Brushos and printed to my card. When it was dry, I stamped some images (all stamps from Creative Stamping magazine) using Versafine Clair ink.

The tags were cut using a Sizzix die set.

I do hope you can join us.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 264

The theme for this fortinght is Shabby Chic.

Now, I've never really got the hang of exactly what is and isn't shabby chic. So, I've got a couple of different projects to share in the hope that one of them fits!

I'm scheduling this post in June, and at this time, the hospital where I normally volunteer (but currently can't visit because of public transport restrictions) asked for donations of face masks for volunteers and visitors. I've made quite a few for my own family, and to make it more interesting, started stamping and shading plain cloth before hand-stitching the result. This is what I started with:

And these are photos of the finished result:

The instructions I used to make the masks is here. I'm not in any way a sewing expert and I don't own a sewing machine so the masks have all been hand-stitched. The edge pieces are the same cloth as the main part - I just didn't stamp or shade it at all.

The stamps are from a range of suppliers including Inkylicious, Craft Stamper magazine, Crafter's Companion and the inks are either Versacraft or Versafine Clair. The former is intended for stamping on cloth. The latter isn't, but in my not-very-scientific tests, when I heat set the images with an iron, they seemed to last as well as the Versacraft in a single wash. Beyond that, time will tell!


The second project is a card.

I recently saw a faux bleaching technique demonstrated on Create and Craft and liked the effect so much I had to have a go. I created the background by blending four shades of Distress Oxide ink on glossy card. I placed a Crafter's Companion stencil over that and sprayed with water. When it was dry, I replaced the stencil, slightly offset from where it had originally been, and dabbed black ink. Finally, I added some butterflies from a different stencil - this one from Imagination Crafts. I matted the result on black and then pastel green (not obvious in the photo against the white card) and that's it!
I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 93

The theme for this fortnight is to use Autumn colours. The project can be anything you want, any theme, so long as the colours are autumnal.

I recently added to my collection of Brushos, and several of them seemed to be earth tones, so they seemed to be an ideal starting place for this challenge. I used several colours, and stamped over the result using Versafine ink. The result was two pieces of backing card for six by six inch cards.

The predominant colours on this piece were browns and dark greens, but the overall effect was a little darker than I had been hoping for. To counter that, I added things that would 'brighten' the overall effect. The main image (from Creative Stamper magazine) was stamped using a Kaleidacolor ink pad (cappuccino), and I stamped it on to some woven-patterned paper. The ribbon has been in my box for ages and I'm really not sure where it came from!

The predominant colours in this part were more the dark green and red, and again, I wanted to lift the overall effect. The image was stamped using an Indigo Blue stamp, and coloured with Promarkers. The lace is some of the 'stick on' variety that I got in Tiger (at least that's what it was called when I bought it!)

Stamps used in the background are from Poppy Stamps, Crafter's companion, and an issue of Creative Stamper magazine.

I do hope you can join us this time.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 263

The challenge at Crafty Cardmakers this fortnight is to make something with a recycled element. Other that that, you can make anything you like!

I spent a lot of time this spring making masks. Because of my (admittedly limited) experience volunteering in an isolation ward, I know that masks shouldn't be reworn (without washing) and should be handled carefully, so I made quite a lot for my family, and when the hospital asked for some to give to visitors, I made for them too. Most of them were the pleated variety, as I'm not a sewer, and don't own a sewing machine. But, I decided to have a go at a shaped mask and used the pattern I got here. For fabric, I used an old nightie which was otherwise supposed to go for rag recycling!

I was quite pleased with the result, and I've got to say, the fabric is very soft and comfortable - much more so than the ones I made using new woven cotton.

Having said that, I enjoyed making the others more because I got the chance to decorate using my range of  stamps and stencils. Some of the more recent ones are below, and for these, I used the instructions I found here.

The top mask (closed and open) uses a Tatty Teddy stamp I've had forever. I think it was a magazine freebie which I picked up at a craft show. I stamped it with Versafine ink, and added some background texture and colour using Versacraft ink. I used some of the Versacraft to tone Teddy's patches orange too.

The lower mask (which for some reason I photographed upside-down and I no longer have it) uses stamps from Printable Heaven and Crafter's Companion and a mix of Versafine Clair and Versacraft inks.

See what I mean? Much more fun! The ink fades a little, but is definitely still visible after a few washes.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with, with a recycled element!

International Art and Soul Challenge 92

The challenge for this fortnight is to follow this board:

Your project has to contain three elements from the board - any line, horizontal, vertical or diagonal.

I chose to go with the middle horizontal line and made this:

I started with white card and made the frame using a die from Elizabeth Craft. Another piece of white card, and I stencilled that using stencils from Crafter's Companion and Imagination Crafts using Distress Ink and gilding wax.

The dies used to create the floral arrangement are (almost) all from Susan Tierney Cockburn's various collections. The exception is a die I bought in The Works which makes a useful piece of background with added perfect pearl dots.

I completed the frame by adding some die cuts cut using a Spellbinders die.

I do hope you can join us this time.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 262

The challenge for this fortnight is Things with Wings, so you've got a lot of options!

I have often seen waterfall cards and fancied making one, so I went in search of a tutorial and found this one. It allows for six layers in the waterfall, and I decided to get out my Ching Chou Kuik stamps to fill it.

I left the front fairly plain as a contast to what's inside.

The images were all stamped in Memento ink and coloured with Promakrers using a fairly limited range of colours in coral and teal. I edged each image with a die cut and assembled following the instructions on the video.

I must say I'm quite pleased with the result and will probably make more of these!

I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 91

The challenge for this fortnight is to include an animal in your project. I decided to add to my collection of Christmas cards. I know it's summer, but I like to have my cards finished by the end of November so that I can post abroad without a last minute rush, so I start making them in the spring.

In fact, I made two cards for this challenge and they both feature a Woodware stamp as the central element.

Having decided that that Christmas jumper had to be coloured in bright, Christmassy hues, I couldn't decide whether to do mainly red or mainly green, so I did both. Both images were coloured with Promarkers and both backgrounds are stencilled.

I do hope you can join us this time.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 261

The challenge for this fortnight is to use lots of layers.

I love stitching on card, and dies that prick the holes for you make it easier. I loved this set of dies from Tonic when I saw them, and decided to give them a whirl for this challenge. I cut the various layers and stuck them roughly using a minimum of glue towards the centre. Then I pricked through each layer's holes to the layers below and stitched the whole thing together. Believe me, by the time I was stitching the top layer, I really knew there was a lot of card to get through. I even had to change to a bigger needle after I broke to finer ones in a couple of minutes. I rather like that this design gives several options of how to stitch, although I could wish the holes on the knotwork die closer together to allow better filling of the pattern. Because the dies in this set are Verso, I can see there are options for cutting in to a section rather than cutting it separately which should mean there are more ways to use the dies.

I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 90

The challenge for this fortnight is to make something inspired by a book. You can make anything you like, although we would like you to tell us which book inspired you when entering. Anything else you'd like to tell us about that book will be very welcome!

I was inspired by a book (or series of books) I've read many times over many years; The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (Trilogy in Five Parts). I first read it when there were only two books in the series, and as well as the books, I own recordings of the radio plays, the BBC TV series and even the very disappointing film.

When playing with Brushos, I always think the bolder backgrounds I have made look rather like the photos published by NASA of distant galaxies, so I decided to go with that. In fact, there's a point in the second book, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe when the end of the universe is described and this background actually makes me think of that. Anyway. I could have added various different things to the card: a towel, a cup of tea, a black spaceship, a Chesterfield sofa, a manically depressed robot, but I decided to keep things simple and simply add the words displayed on the front of the book the series takes its name from - The Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy which I generated in Photoshop Elements.

International Art and Soul Challenge 89

The theme for this fortnight is Tea Party.  I must admit, I struggled with this one. I bought some tea cup dies a while ago (Crafter's Companion) and thought I'd use them. But I just didn't like the effect of cutting them out of patterned paper which was the basis of my idea. So, I did a search for digi stamps with a 'tea' theme, and found a freebie set from Crafts Beautiful magazine which I rather liked. There are a lot of different images on the download, but I just used three; teapot, cup and a stack of cups.

I coloured the pot and cup in the central image with Promarkers. I printed out the stack of cups quite big and coloured them too. Then I scanned the result and tiled it in Photoshop Elements to make a background. Of course, at the time I'm writing this (late May) we're still pretty much being told to stay at home, and the idea of sitting with a cuppa chatting on Skype is becoming the new normal, so the sentiment seemed natural. I finished the card with a teacup embellishment cut using the aforementioned Crafter's Companion dies.

That's it. I do hope you can join us.

International Art and Soul Challenge 88

Now, I know it's July, but the challenge for this fortnight is to make a Chrismas card based on a song or carol. When I had  a think about this, I thought of all the songs and carols about snowy wintertime and couldn't quite bring myself to start creating a snow scene. And then I thought of Oh Christmas Tree  (which I actually know better in French since that was what I learned first ... Mon Beau Sapin).

 But that's beside the point. So, I headed for my stamps to find a Christmas tree and came across one that seemed perfect.

Which has first (and occasional second) lines of several Christmas songs/carols. I think it's from a Creative Expressions set that I've had for quite a long time.

To start, I prepared two background sheets using Brushos in scarlet and yellow, and then added a little Pixie powder in green. I stamped the tree on to the smaller piece, and some music and texture stamps on to the larger. I matted, and completed the result with some stick-on lace from Tiger.

And that's it. Quite straightforward, but the end result seems to me to be quite bright and cheerful.

I do hope you can jjoin us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 87

The theme for this fortnight is Tiny Things. How you interpret that is up to you!

I used quite a few 'tiny things' in my card, and even came up with a sentiment that seems to me to work too.

I started with some Mixed Media paper and gave it a background tint using Distress Oxide ink, then added some flowers and butterflies using some Card-io Majestix stamps (the first 'tiny' thing.) I added a little Perfect Pearl powder to add a little shimmer, but that's not obvious in the photo. Next, I cut a 'trellis' using a Tonic die, and added some branches and lots of tiny flowers. The branches are a combination of Spellbinders and Cheery Lynn as were the flowers. I then added some flower centres and 'leaf buds' using liquid pearls.

Finally, I designed the sentiment in Photoshop Elements and printed it on photo paper. In case it's hard to read, it says, 'The Greatest Successes in Life are the Culmination of Lots of Tiny Things'.

I do hope you can join us this time.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 260

The challenge for this fortnight is to create your own background.

I started with a couple of Crafter's Companion rotating background stamps and came up with a couple of different effects.

This card uses Memento ink in four shades to create the background.  I cut a window in the card using a Sizzix die which actually double cuts, so I had a separate 'frame' die cut. I used foam mounts to attach the background, then added the frame tight to the gold coloured background. The flowers were created with a die set from Elizabeth Craft/Susan's Garden Notes.

The process here is the same, but instead of four different ink pads, I used a single, Kaleidoscope pad. Again, I cut an aperture in the floral background, and again, the flowers were made using dies from the Susan's Garden Notes collection.

I have to say I'm a little disappointed with the rotating dies. Having watched Sara demonstrate them, they seemed fairly foolproof, and I assumed they'd work well with my Tim Holtz stamping platform. To be honest, they didn't. It simply wasn't possible to arrange things well enough to get the desired result - even placing the stamp as close to the centre of the card didn't seem too work. Of course, using that platform, I left the stamp in place and rotated the card (which I'd placed at the corner to be sure of repeatability.)

Anyway, I managed to find the Crafter's Companion stamp platform and magnetic base at a good price (ie, not much more than the platform alone) and decided to get it, at least partly because having a non-hinged platform seemed to have some advantages. Unfortunately, the result wasn't any better, initially. Because with this system, you leave the card alone and turn the stamp, it's important to place the stamp in the dead centre of the platform. And there lies the problem. Even getting it as close to the centre as eyeballing it will allow, there's still a bit of a mis-match between rotations. That may be because, unlike the Tim Holtz platform, there's quite a lot of wriggle with the Crafter's Companion  platform. It's definitely possible, even with the platform feet in the recesses in the magnetic sheet, to get up to a couple of millimetre's wiggle when you stamp. The result (providing you line up the grid lines on the platform and base as well as you can) is ok  and I'll definitely use the stamps, but I don't think I'll be using this platform as much as the Tim Holtz.

I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 86

The challenge for this fortnight is 'Blue as Main Colour'. So, not too hard!

I made a card that I can send without having a special reason.

I started by making a background with Brushos and Pixie Powder. When that was dry, I added some stamped images using stamps from a variety of manufacturers including Creative and a couple from Creative Stamping Magazine. I used Versacraft, Versafine and Versafine Clair inks because they are the only inks I have that are opaque enough to stamp over such a strongly coloured background.

I do rather like the result, but then I love the shades of blue I've used - they're so vibrant!

I hope you can join us this time.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 259

The theme for this challenge is Masculine and other that that, we'd love to see whatever your creativity comes up with.

I made a couple of birthday cards. The first is for my husband.

I started with a piece of mixed media paper, and added some Brusho ink. Then I stamped a Woodware stamp using Versafine Clair ink and matted the result onto some white card. The blue layer was cut at both sides using a very old Spellbinders border die, and the holes filled with some stick on studs from The Range which I really like as they're decorative but not so blingy as adhesive gems.

I liked the effect so much, I decided to try again with different colours for my daughter's partner.

This time, I kept to just two colours of Brusho, and again I matted on to white. Then, I added two die cuts from another very old Spellbinders die to complete the effect.

I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 85

The challenge for this fortnight is Under the Sea and can be anything so long as there is an under-sea theme.

My immediate thought when I saw this challenge was to reach for my Josephine Wall Enchanted Dreams CDRom. Having said that, there weren't so many under sea images there, but I found one that's lovely and went with it.

I love the images on that CDRom, but I'm generally disappointed by the background papers supplied - they always seem rather plain and drab compared to the gorgeous, vibrant images. This time, I decided to make my own but not using digital means. I started with my 6in gelli plate. I added an all-over layer of Distress Ink, and printed it on to copy paper. Then, I chose a stronger, bluer shade and again applied a layer to the plate, but before printing to paper, I used a stencil to remove areas of ink. The result was the wavy pattern. I wanted to add a subtle hint of seaweed, so the next stage was to use a stencil of long fronds (from Crafter's Companion) and I added Distress Oxide ink through that. The result was definitely subtle! To get the stronger shades at the edges of the background, I stamped with Versacraft Ink. That's the most opaque of the inks I own, and it definitely gave the desired effect. I used some Creative stamps for this. They're supposed to be watercolour greenery images, but I think they pass for a stylised sea weed!

And, apart from some matting and layering, that's it.

I do hope you can join us this time.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 258

The theme for this fortnight's challenge is Weddings! Now, most years, this would be a hard theme for me as almost no one I know ever gets married. But this year, a former colleague is getting married to her long time partner, and I made this:

I started with a Brusho background in blues and purples. However, they were too bright for a wedding card, so I added a layer of tracing paper which I heat embossed in silver. If you've never tried this, let me tell you, it's brilliant! It worked better than I could have expected.

Not a great photo, and of course I covered up a lot of it! But I was very impressed.

Edited: Of course, the wedding has had to be postponed due to the Covid19 Pandemic. So, there'll be another wedding card to do when they fix the date!

I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 84

The theme for this fortnight is Humour. Like many things, humour is very much a personal taste - and as a result I rarely use it in the cards I make. So, this is a struggle for me and so the humour is very gentle, and perhaps some people won't even see it as humour.

The bar of chocolate was made using lots of squares, cut using a Spellbinders die. I've layered a base piece of card, then a sticky pad, then a die cut piece, then and other sticky pad and finally a last die cut piece. I attacked the edges of the sticky pads with a Promarker in Umber so the white edges didn't detract from the end result. I finished by wrapping the 'bar' in cooking foil, then tearing off a strip.

The sentiment was computer generated in Photoshop Elements and printed on to kraft card, and the paper is a rather lovely foiled craft paper from The Works.

I do hope you can join us this time.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 257

The theme for this fortnight is Butterflies. Like flowers, I find butterflies such an easy thing to add to a card; a beautiful embellishment for any occasion.

I started with a Woodware stamp. I've bought quite a few of theirs recently - such lovely designs. I  coloured the butterfly and a couple of small details on the image with Promakrers. Then, to give it a vintage appearance, I shaded the background with Distress Ink before matting on to some mirror card. The background paper is from a pad I bought second-hand from a friend who was giving up cardmaking. I'm not sure whose it was, but it's an odd size of sheet (maybe 6" by 8", so I suspect it was made for the US market. But, the papers are lovely, and the colours gentler than I'm usually drawn to. I finished the card with a die cut butterfly, cut using a couple of Spellbinders dies.

I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 83

Our challenge for this fortnight is one I'm sure you'll want to enter. Any project, and colours. It just hast to contain flowers and butterflies.

I made something for my sister when she was feeling down.

I made the frame using an Elizabeth Craft die, embossed the card with an Embossalicious folder and added detail with some gilding wax then finished with some Modge Podge. The backgroudn was created with a couple of stencils, Versamark ink, Perfect Pearl powder and some embossing gloop I've had for many years. The fowers were made using a variety of dies, including ones from the Sizzix Susan's Garden range, Memory Box, Joanna Sheen and shaded with Pan Pastel, and the butterfly used some Spellbinders dies.

I hope you can join us.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 256

The theme for this fortnight is Celebrations. That seems a little awkward at the time I'm writing this post as we're all supposed to be socially distancing or isolating, but I think it's actually quite appropriate in its way. When things are hard, it's important to remember the positive things, and in this case, the celebrations I'm thinking about are birthdays.

My son's partner has a birthday coming up, so I made a card for her.

Quite a long time ago - maybe as long as a couple of years ago, I ordered some things from Crafter's Companion, and a free gift was included in the order. That gift, a cut and emboss folder has languished in my craft room, still in its packaging ever since. On a whim, I got it out, and I have to say I rather like the effect. I think one of the reasons I haven't used it before is because I really prefer cards with a square format.

Anyway, the resulting cut really does make a card. All I've added is a lower layer, a die cut butterfly and a pre-printed sentiment. I'm struggling to remember the manufacturer of the butterfly die - I think I got it in The Range, and the brand was something like 'Tri-cut' and it came with some stamps. Anyway, the die produces that lovely, lacy butterfly, and the only issue is that you have to poke out all those pinhole pieces which do try to stay around even once they've been cut out.

And that's it. I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 82

For this challenge, you can make anything you like in any colours providing the end result isn't a square or rectangle.

I made, surprise, surprise, a card.

I used my Tonic Celtic Circles dies for all die cutting here except the flowers, including adapting a square card to a round one. There is, of course, a slightly flattened hinge to the card itself, but that is rather perfectly hidden by the lilac layer which was cut using the same die.

The central panel was stamped using stamps from Creative Stamper magazine. The flower border uses flowers cut using a Cheery Lynn die. Both the die cut and stamped flowers were finished with a spot of Liquid Enamel in white.

I do hope you can join us this time.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 255

This fortnight's challenge at Crafty Cardmakers is to ignore our blog title and make Anything But a Card!

I decided to make a special gift box for my sister's birthday.

I've kept the outside quite plain because, despite my temptation to cover it with flowers, it's probably going to have to be posted to her so the plainer the better.

Inside are pictures of our parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and our very much younger selves.

And finally

I am going too make a small gift box to go inside to complete the gift.

I do hope you can join us this time.