Thank You Cards

 I've had to make a few 'Thank You' cards for people with a range of interests.

An image (digital) I coloured and die cut ages ago. I've got a folder on my desktop where I put things like that if I've got no immediate plans for something but like the result. The image was colorured with pencils and the die used was from Spellbinders. The paper is some I've had in my stash for, I suspect, ten years or more, and the butterfly embellishment is even older. 

The one 'male' card I had to make, and it's for someone I don't know well, so that's even more awkward. I started with a background I made using a Clarity media plate. It's another refugee from my 'not needed now' folder. I've added some matting and layering along with a stamped sentiment (stamp and scrollwork are from Creative Stamping Magazine) and I finished it with a die cut bit of scrollwork cut with what I think is a Joanna Sheen die.

These two cards were made for a couple of ladies with an interest in patchwork. The die I used is from Spellbinders. These dies are particularly suitable for batch cardmaking as you can mix and match the patterned paper.

Another image I created a while ago, trying out a different way of using a stained-glass style card. The background in this instance was coloured using Promarkers, and it was definitely easier than 'paper piecing' as that particular die has always been a pain to cut well.

And finally, one for a lady with a keen interest in embroidery. I used some of a Spellbinders die set, along with a die which punces holes to make the swirls you see which I stitched with some metallic thread.

I really enjoyed making/finishing these cards - especially as they all have recipients already chosen. So often, I make cards because I'm trying a specific technique, and that's why I end up with unused bits in a folder!

Recent Projects

 I rarely seem to post anything here any more. Projects which I complete as part of my u3a craft group do find their way on to that blog, but here's a range of things I've made this year.

Hardanger Suncatcher

Special Birthday Card

New Baby Card

Entrelac Baby Blanket

Origami Paper Flowers

New Home card

Thank You Card

Quilled Butterfly using a butterfly cut out of white card for the outline

Quilled Butterfly using the cut out butterfly

Happy New Year

 I've been taking advantage of good buys in the run up to Christmas, and finally have had a chance to play!

This is a stitch die from Spellbinders. I do love stitching on paper, and I've liked this one since I first saw it, so getting it in a pre-Christmas sale was a plus. You don't have to stitch - the holes could equally be used as positioners for liquid pearls or similar. I kept the card itself fairly simple.

Another Spellbinders stitch die. There are other bits I haven't used and I'm not sure the leaves work really well with a 'wheel pattern' stitching. I think I may adapt that when I use it again. I've used a paper doiley that I sprayed with dissolved Brushos (very dilute), a Spellbinders circle die and some paper I found in my scraps collection. I'm not sure where it came from, but suspect it may be one I made by tiling a sample of an image.

And another Spellbinders die. I've got a couple more of these background dies, and while I do like them, it's so irritating that they're not standard-sized. They're too wide for A6, not the right shape for 5 by 7, and have to have an addition when you use my most common card size - 6 by 6. In this instance, I finished it with a border die cut. It's a die I've had for years and I suspect it's a Joanna Sheen design, but I'm really not certain.

All the stitching was done in Sulky Blendables. I'm gradually  increasing my range of these, but it seems only a limited selection is available in the UK and I'm not about to get in to importing and being fleeced for postage and customs charges.

Not Spellbinders this time, but Stamps by Chloe. I haven't bought any of her designs before, although I've got a few stamps that came with Creative Stamping magazine a while ago. In fact, I made a lot of Christmas cards using that set recently. She has a very feminine, frilly style and that's very much to my taste (although I'm not remotely frilly in person!) This was made using a stamp and die set. I used Versafine Clair to stamp the corner four times, cut the flowers from two images and coloured with pencil (a mix of Polychromos and Koh-i-Noor Polychrome). I added some Sakura Stardust clear to the swirls and some stitcky gems. The greeting is also from Chloe and it's another stamp and die combination. There are three dies - I've used the largest of them with the stamped image.

Another Stamps by Chloe stamp and die combination, but this one is a panel. I used similar colouring materials. The background is a panel embossed using an Embossalicious folder which I've dabbed with interference ink. I finished the card with some washi tape and a couple of die cut borders - again, I suspect these are Joanna Sheen but I'm not sure.

It's been lovely to spend some time stamping and colouring - I don't seem to have enough time for those these days! Maybe I should try to make more time for it in the coming months. 

Clarity Stamps and Stencils

 I recently took advantage of a 50% sale at Clarity Stamps and got myself a set of stamps and stencils I admired when I last looked. I've used one of the sets to make a card for a friend.

I stamped the central image and the separate butterfly in Versafine Clair (grey rather than black) and coloured using coloured pencils. The outer area uses Distress Ink in Tattered Rose and Victorian Velvet. I added some glitter pen over the two butterflies, and picked out the green stems in fine liner or glitter pen. The flowers were made from die cuts.

It's been a While!

 A few years ago, I took over running a craft group in a local u3a. I'd been a member pre-lockdown, and once we got back to meeting, the organiser felt she no longer wanted to do it, so either someone else had to, or the group would end. I agreed, and as a result, I've had to try out lots of different types of crafting and I rarely seem to be able to do something simply because I want to. However, we don't meet in August, and while I've had to think about the projects we have planned for next term (crochet, clay, acrylic paint amongst others), I've managed to get a little time to do some things I really enjoy.

I volunteer in a hospital one day each week, and work with two people there who happen to have the same birthday which is next month, so I decided to do each of them a birthday card.

The first uses one of my favourite techniques - making flowers using dies designed by Susan Tierney Cockburn. I've been collecting her dies since her first company (Sizzix, I think) and have a pretty good collection now. One flower I hadn't spotted in her previous collections was this one;  it's called 'Southern Magnolia'. I did hope I could make it look a little more like the magnolia blossom I love and see around here for just a week or so each week, but that didn't work. (The ones I'm familiar with are more bulb-shaped flowers with magenta at the base rather than the yellow she used.) Anyway, I had a go, and I do like the effect even if any resemblance is small. I used Susan's speciality card - in white for the blossom and coloured with Promarkers for the leaves, and added detail on both with Pan Pastel. I completed the flower with artificial pollen. I've struggled to find that recently, so my use in flowers may be limited! While it may not look much like a familiar magnolia, it's quite a dramatic flower, so I chose to keep the arrangement simple, and just matted and layered. The card was sized to fit the design and isn't standard, but that's not an issue since it needs a box rather than an envelope!

This second card is completely different! I've used a pattern from Stitching Cards . I've bought quite a few of their designs over the years, and I do like the style - especially those, like this one, which 'fill in' areas rather than just providing an outline. In this instance, I've added a sentiment using one of their True Type fonts, and completed with a border created by pricking holes around the rectangle they always use to surround their patterns. The threads are machine embroidery threads which I've collected for a long time and I now have a decent range of colours.

The second card is for a man. I know cards for men is a problem for many cardmakers. It's something I've always struggled with. The top card is for a woman, and I chose to make a pretty flower - something that's pretty universally acceptable among women. When you look at the Stitching Cards website, or designs supplied by pretty much any company, designs for men tend to fall into just a few categories: sport, alcohol or scantily-clad women. The last option isn't one I'd use for anyone, and I struggle with the others. I don't know any men whose life revolves around drinking alcohol to the extent that they'd love to look at a picture of it. And there are many men who aren't interested in sport, or who are so involved in a specific sport that depicting it is actually very difficult because the details would be wrong. And, with both those options, you have to know enough about the individual to decide on 'football' or 'cricket' or 'bowls' or 'rugby' or 'fishing'. There's no universal type of image that works for all men the way flowers and butterflies or 'cute' works for women. So, he's got a geometric stitched design in non-girly colours, and I think it works.

That's it for now. I need to get back to blogging here more regularly, although I do blog regularly on behalf of my craft group here: Crafty Harrow People

Foam Flowers

 It's a long time since I posted anything here: things have been busy, and most of my crafting seems aimed at the u3a craft group I belong to. But here are a couple of independent projects I've completed using flower foam.

My most recent flower project: I bought a metal wreath base from Hobbycraft, covered it in ribbon and then added a variety of flowers and leaves. The greenery was made using Susan Tierney-Cockburn dies and flower foam from a variety of manufacturers. I've used florist's wire and tape, and had to use rather different means of assembling the various flowers compared to paper, but it was an interesting experience, as was relying on hot glue! I've used Sharpies to get extra colour on the flowers and styrofoam balls (from The Works) coloured red to add to the holly..

Very similar to the wreath in most respects, although the roses use a Sizzix Bigz die for the blooms. The 'vase' is made using a Tonic die set I've had just about forever!

And finally, a trial for something I might attempt next year. My mum's favourite flowers were freesia. Susan Tierney-Cockburn's die dies a good job of recreating the shape, and I love that they're so multi-coloured in real life. I don't get the chance to visit the cemetery where my parents are buried very often, so can't really put fresh flowers there, but I'm going to try to put something together to take up for my next visit, and at least, they should last a little while. (The site is on a hillside overlooking the Clyde and a little windswept so a little while is all I can hope for!)

Flowers and Scrabble Letters

 My son and his partner recently moved into a new house. It's been a longish haul for them. Their first sale/flat they wanted fell through, mainly due to intransigence of both the other parties. Their buyer wanted to move quickly or he would pull out. The owner of the property they wanted insisted they had to go away for a month, and when they got back, they'd start looking for a rental property and only then would they be ready to complete on the sale. And all this was after nine months of wrangling when the legalities were all complete. So, it all fell apart and they waited for a couple of years before trying again. This time, they went for a new-build house, and they finally moved!

To mark the occasion, I made a framed picture. I don't expect it to be displayed forever - and I fully expect they'll repurpose the frame, but it's only intended to be short term.

The frame is from Hobbycraft. I used stencils and a variety of inks for the background, with some stamped, heat embossed butterflies too.

The 'Scrabble' letters were made using Tonic dies. The flowers are Susan Tierney-Cockburn designed dies from several manufacturers. The dark green foliage was cut using dies from The Works. The butterfly is layered and cut using Spellbinders dies.

This is the first time I've used the Rhododendron die set. I'm a little disappointed, as, although it looks fine, I don't think it's particularly realistic, which is unusual for Susan's designs. Although that may be because the instructions for making this flower are no longer available, so I had to use techniques from other flowers and hope for the best.

I do quite like the addition of orangey 'greenery'. I think it just adds something to the overall effect and helps with balance especially with a greeny-blue background.

Inky Blending and Masking

 Last year, we did a session on inky blending, and the group wanted to do a similar session this term. We used Distress Inks for backgrounds, stencils for texture, stamps stamped with Versafine Clair ink for focal points. Stencils are from Clarity, Creative Expressions, Crafter's Companion, and Lavinia and stamps from Lavinia, Inkylicious, Woodware, and Spellbinders.

Dominique

Dominique

Nadi

Nadi

Nadi

Nadi

Tricia

Tricia

Tricia

Tricia

Tricia

Our next session will be led by Adrienne and we're going to start some decoupage projects. I hope I can post the results in a few weeks.

Cards

 I've made a few cards this week, all for reasons you'd prefer not to have for making cards.

First, a card I made for a friend who's due to go into hospital for surgery:

I used a Sizzix die set for the owl, and an Elizabeth Craft set for the oval. The papers are from a magazine. I cut an aperture out of the paper-covered front of the card and placed the mounted owl into the space.

And the inside of the card. Paper is the reverse of the piece I used on the front of the card. Excuse my fingers in the top photo. I couldn't get it to lie flat enough!

And then, a couple of sympathy cards.

In both cards, the focal image is from Lavinia and the sentiment is Woodware. I've also used a couple of Aall and Create stencils, and in the top card, also a Woodware background text stamp. I masked the sentiment panel with removeable tape before adding Distress Ink. The top image was stamped in Versamark and embossed with clear powder. The lower card has the image stamped in Versafine Clair, as were the sentiments in both cards.

Hand Made Flowers, Frame and Stitching

 I recently treated myself to a couple of the discontinued Elizabeth Craft/Susan Tierney Cockburn die sets, and I wanted to make something a little different with them. One of the sets is actually an oval nesting set, but with some bigger dies than I have. I got the original sets of Spellbinders Nestibilities, but the problem with them was always that the format was too small. I think their US bias got stuck on that odd 'A2' size card they use which isn't standard anywhere else. So, even for A6 cards, their dies just didn't look quite right. But enough of that.

The first part of the project was to cut out the frame elements. For them, I used an Elizabeth Craft die I've had for some time. It's smaller than I'd like, so I stretched the pieces to approximately 9 and 11 inches long giving me a frame with a 7 by 9 inch aperture. I always get it wrong when I do this - one piece of card ends up in the bin during the process, and this time was no exception.

Because the black card I used isn't the best quality, I reinforced the underside of the front panels with strips of the same black card before pricking out the stitching pattern. The pattern I used came from a book I've had for many years called The Art of Decorative Paper Pricking by Janet Wilson. It's not really intended for stitching, and it's not even one of the patterns in the book - it's actually used as page decoration. But, with a little resizing in Photoshop Elements, I got it to a suitable size, and printed out a strip for each frame edge. I used Sulky Blendables to stitch the pattern.

Another recent (bargain) purchase, is the embossing folder I used here. I don't use A4 embossing folders often, but when you want to emboss a bigger area, smaller ones won't do the job. I got his folder (from Crafts Too) at Crafterama at Ally Pally last weekend. I embossed a bit of Coredinations Whitewash card I've had for ages. (I don't even know if it's still on the market.) I sanded the surface after embossing. I had to add another layer of card behind the Coredinations as it was a bit floppy - especially after embossing.

The next stage was to cut some corners for the frame (Spellbinders die - it's one of their debossing range that never really took off. I definitely found them very hard to cut with - fortunately, there's not much actual cutting needed for this corner die. I then cut another piece of the satin gold card and used the Elizabeth Craft oval die to cut the aperture. I then embossed the gold card using the same folder, and attached it with foam pads doubled up for extra height.

Then, I got to the really fun part. I cut pieces for three dahlias in white card and coloured using Promarkers. I added some striping (white on the shocking pink flower and magenta on the yellow) using fine Posca pens. The peach coloured flower has some added magenta promarker added to the petal tips for a bit of added colour.

That's about that!

A little word about Ally Pally last weekend. It was the first time I've been back since Covid lockdowns, and, of course, since it changed ownership. I think it's a real shame many of the exhibitors who used to go to Ally Pally haven't continued. Craft shops in London are pretty much limited to Hobbycraft - especially since Blade Rubber Stamps closed down. It's strange that such a large conurbation can't support a bigger show than this. I know it's probably more expensive because of generally higher London prices, but it's a real shame. Having said that, I did buy a few bits, and it was lovely to see a stall with just Aall and Create which was definitely something new for me. Unfortunately, my daughter wasn't well enough to come with me :(

Easter and Anniversary Cards

 The first few are Easter cards from patterns by Stitching Cards.

This is a new pattern from Stitching Cards. I thought it was cute!

And an older, although new-to-me pattern.

And a couple of cards from a company called Form a Line. They've got quite a few free patterns, and in fact, I think the designer is the same as for Stitching cards. In both cases, I've used the free Stitching Cards font to add, or in one case, change the greeting.

This one was just the floral wreath.

And this one originally had a Happy Birthday greeting which I replaced. All the stitched cards used machine embroidery thread.

Stamping this time, and not a clear stamp in sight! The central image is a stamp by Crafty Individuals. Once it was stamped, I masked it, and then added further images using stamps from Stamperia (music and the right hand lace strip) and U Mount (butterflies) and the crackle (Crafty Individuals again). All images were stamped with Verrsafine Clair in Acorn. The background shading was added with Distress Ink. I added further colour to various elements using pastel pencils. The background paper came from a CDRom I've had for a very long time called Crafty Image Emporium. I tweaked the colour in Photoshop elements. 

And finally, an anniversary card for my OH. The background was made ages ago and not used. There's Distress Ink, a stencil and a stamp involved there. The diamond shapes were cut using Spellbinders Nestibilites. I added a gold border using an acrylic paint pen. The digits were cut using a die set from, I think, The Works. The sentiment was stamped using a pre-inked stamp I've had for a very, very long time. I bought it before I was comfortable stamping! I added some colour to the leafy bit using a Posca pen.

See what happens when you're planning to be out all day, and then the weather means you have to stay in and craft instead!

A Special Birthday Card

 I had to make a card for a special birthday.  I'd seen someone using the Lavinia Lillium stamp as a partial background recently - I think it was on the Lavinia group on Facebook, but I wasn't planning on using it when I saw it, so I didn't not the originator. Anyway, that's how I started.

I made the card base approximately 8in square, and I've created a vine effect with the Sizzix/Susan Tierney Cockburn Beeblossom die, along with a couple of other branch dies from other Susan Tierney Cockburn set from other manufacturers. I coloured the flowers with Promarkers, adding some detail with Pan Pastel. The leaves were made using olive green card. I stamped the Lillium with Versafine Clair ink, and coloured the blooms with Promarker, then outlined them with an fine Posca pen. You can't see it in the photo, but I finished the flowers by adding a layer of clear glitter marker (Crafter's Companion). I created a suitable sentiment in Photoshop Elements and cut it and a mat with a Spellbinders die set. The stamped area was shaded with Distress Ink in Tattered Rose and Spun Sugar. I added a darker shade around the whole edge using Picked Raspberry (which I originally misread as Pickled Raspberry, and that's how I always think of it!) I've digitally removed the sentiment for the photo.

I made a couple of insert pages using similar techniques.

Beeblossom is quite a dimensional flower, so there's no way this card was going into an envelope. Therefore, the next stage was to make a box. I used 12 by 12 white card to make a basic lid and tray box which I decorated to match the card. Again, I've digitally removed the recipient's name.

I added an oval label area with a mask, and a little background texture with Tattered Rose ink and a Lavinia stencil.