International Art and Soul Challenge 53

Our challenge for this fortnight is to use sequins and/or beads in your creation. So, it can be a card, clothing, jewellery, whatever you like, so long as it's got some sequins or beads on it.

Years ago, I used to do a lot of cross stitch, and I decided to try a set of cross stitch patterns I had as tree decorations, but to make them a little more robust and sparkly, instead of using embroidery thread, I used a fine thread to attach seed beads to embroidery paper. Those decorations are still in use each year, and last Christmas, I was inspired to try the same technique.

I still had some gold-toned embroidery paper and lots of seed beads, so I attached the beads in a simple Christmas tree pattern in two shades of green with a gold background.

The beads aren't all from the same manufacturer, and some are transparent and some opaque, but I rather liked the overall effect.

To complete, I die cut some gold card using a Spellbinders die, cutting the same shape twice. I attached some gold ribbon to one piece, and then stuck the two together with gold sides facing out. And finally, I attached the beaded panel to the front.

And that's the result. The earlier ones aren't backed at all, since I did those in my pre-papercraft days, so I'm not sure how long this one will last, but I suppose time will tell.

I hope you can join us this time.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 225

The challenge for this fortnight is Winter Fun.

I've made another Christmas card, using a digi-stamp. I used to use those more often than not, but since I got my craft room (and my Tim Holtz platform), it's just as easy to do traditional stamping, so I've been doing a lot more. Anyway, back to this project.

The image is from Heather Ellis and was on a magazine freebie CDRom several years ago. I coloured it wiht pencils, cut and pierced the image and other layers with Tonic dies and added stitching. Nothing too complicated, and the time spent stitching the layers was very restful!

I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 48

Our challenge for this fortnight, and indeed over the Christmas and New Year period is Add Some Sparkle.

For this, I homed in on the word sparkle and got out my Crafter's Companion Sparkle pens. I used them to create a background.

I used water to shade the colours together, and when it was dry, I did some faux bleaching with a very old holly stamp.

I used that same stamp for the main image, stamping with the red and green sparkle pens, and a mounted stamp from Dovecraft. I then added the text using an unmounted rubber stamp which I suspect came as a freebie from the Rubbernecker stall at Ally Pally some years ago. I stamped that with Versafine ink as the sparkle pens didn't give a solid enough result.

I cut various mats, and die cut all four layers with some of my set of Tonic Sew Pretty squares. Then, I stitched as you can see, using a sparkly gold thread.

I often forget how a very simple focal image can be complimented by suitable embellishment, and I must say I went from being rather disappointed with the image stamping to being quite pleased with the complete card.

I hope you can join us this time, and I wish you and yours all the best for the festive season.

International Art and Soul Challenge 13

Our challenge at International Art and Soul for this fortnight is to use dies. Now, I don't know about you, but the number of projects I complete without using dies is small compared to the total, so as it stands, this wasn't much of a challenge. So, I decided to use dies in a way I don't normally, and this is what I came up with.

The image is from a rubber stamp I've had for many years, and I coloured the image with Derwent Coloursoft pencils. I cut the image and mats with dies, and in the case of the mats, I added stitching after using my Tonic Sew Pretty layering dies to cut the holes. So far so normal. For the background, I used a fairly pale paper from Papermania, but I jazzed it up with some die cut flowers. The smaller flowers use a Crafter's Companion die, and the larger ones used a Sizzix stamp and die set. I coloured these flowers with Promarkers, and finished both sorts of flowers with stick dots from Craft Creations.

I hope you can join us this time.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 192

This time, at Crafty Cardmakers, we're playing Tic-Tac-Toe. Although were I come from, that's known as xs and os. The grid allows lots of possibilities, and you can follow any horizontal, vertical or diagnonal line.

I've followed the left-hand vertical line, so my card includes gems, stitching and has a summer theme.

I started with a Tonic Sew Pretty die. Now, I really like this range, but I can't help but think that whoever designed them hadn't done much embroidery on paper (or maybe they're just really, really clever.) That's because, to me, the obvious way to start and finish your thread on the back of paper embroidery is to use sticky tape, and these gorgeous dies just don't have enoough solid area to do that. So, after cutting out the shape, I stuck the die cut to a contrasting piece of card, and then used a paper-piercer to follow the holes through both thicknesses. I stitched the holes with stitches 2, 3 or 4 holes long depending on the degree of curvature using my usual machine embroidery thread. (I don't own a sewing machine and any attempt at using one would probably end up with a visit to Accident and Emergency.) I then accented some of the swirls with stichy gems. for the background, I got out a punch I've had for a long time - in fact, I think I used it in my first ever DT card at Crafty Cardmakers in July 2010. If you're at all interested, the post is here.

Anyway, you can see I've got stitching and gems. What about summer? Well, the summer theme is the butterflies, of course!

Apart from that, all I've added is some matting. I had intended to add some flowers, but when I saw how these elements combined, I decided to leave well alone!

I hope you can join us this fortnight.

International Art and Soul Challenge 9

This fortnight's challenge is Stitching. That can be real of faux, as you wish.

A while ago, I finally got a craft room. Previously, my crafty stash was in various rooms of the house, and I was finally able to get (almost) all of it into one room. (Yarn for knitting and crochet still seems to live in my wardrobe ...)

The upshot of that is a somewhat renewed interest in stitching. I've been doing a little cross stitch, some Hardanger, and recently was reminded about Blackwork.

As you can see, I haven't gone for the traditional black-on-white option. To be honest, that's a very unforgiving option. Mistakes that require unpicking tend to leave some debris and it always looks poor, in my experience. But, I've got loads of bits of Aida and Evenweave, and a complete set of DMC cotton and rayon threads, so I've got lots of options.

For this one, I've used some evenweave in a rather nice dark peachy colour, and two shades of brown rayon thread. The main squares are my own doodling design, although I adapted the outside border from a pattern I found online here.

I do love the scent of lavender, and I find stitching these quite theraputic. The don't take too long, and are just complex enough to give a sense of achievement, but simple enough to do while indulging in a marathon of whichever TV show I'm currently watching. (This was done to X-Files!)

I do hope you can join us this fortnight!

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 179

Well, it's the last Crafty Cardmakers challenge of 2016, and naturally, at this time of year, we've got a Christmas theme. But we'd really like to see Christmas with a Twist! So, something a little different?

We're sponsored for this challenge by Woodware. See the challenge blog for more details.

Well, I decided to go for an image from Stitchy Bear called Bah Humbug.

Father Christmas in blue? That must be a twist!

I stared by stamping the background with Versamark and embossed with clear powder on white card, then added some colour to the sheet with Distress ink. I coloured the image with Promarkers, and shaded the background with more Distress ink. I added some stitching to a circle using my recently acquired Fiskars pricking template and some silvery-blue thread. And that's it!

I hope you can join us.

And, since this will probably be my last post here for a few weeks, I'd like to wish you all a very happy Festive Season, whatever you celebrate, and to wish you a very happy 2017.

Craft Cardmakers Challenge 164

This time, at Crafty Cardmakers, our challenge is to have some stitching (real or faux) on your creation.

I first got in to cardmaking via cross stitching, so I decided to go back (at least partly) to my roots, and do a completely stitched card.

First, I pricked out the outer and inner squares in the large sheet of blue card. Then, I placed the peach card on top, and pricked that from behind, through the blue. I stitched both borders, and then, on a separate piece of blue card, pricked the flower pattern from a book of paper embroidery I've had for several years, before stitching that. I do like this pattern - the flower itself is more than just an outline, and I think it looks really pretty.

I hope you can join us this time.

Crafty Cardmakers and More Challenge 140

This time, at Crafty Cardmakers and More, the challenge is to use stitching. It can be faux, but we'd really like to see some 'real' stitching or embroidery on your project.

I decided to make a card for a colleague who's moving on.

I started by pricking out a regular pattern around some pale, shimmery green card. I then back-stitched it to a piece of darker green, before adding a 'spirelli'-style frame. (Although, I was making patterns like that long before I'd ever heard of 'Spirelli'!) I generated a sentiment in Photoshop Elements and cut and matted that using Spellbinders dies. The flowers are made using Sizzix dies. I shaded the centres with Pan pastels and finished them off with a little liquid pearl.

I used to stitch cards long before I'd heard of rubber stamping or die cutting, and I must say I really enjoyed doing this one. I've got several more leaving cards to do in the next few weeks and I suspect I'll be doing some variations on this theme!

I hope you can join us this time.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Simply Papercrafts where anything goes,

A Gem of a Challenge where they want flowers,

Inspiration Destination where anything goes,

Paper Shelter where the theme is Flower Power,

Penny's where anything goes,

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 227

This time at One Stitch at a Time, our challenge is 'anything goes with stitching'.

Our sponsor is:

See the challenge blog for details.

This time, I chose to work with a fabulous set of digis from Stitchy Bear called 'Vineyard'. I've been on the OSAAT team for a while, and that means I've collected quite a lot of images, and I really love Stitchy's silhouettes. So, I combined several of them including from the Rainbow Magic set and the Grazin' in the Grass sets.

I used PSE to combine the various elements, and 'drew' the background seascape you see, framing it in black. I stitched a border for the image using various Krenik threads, and that's it. The grass and vineyard silhouettes are absolutely perfect for use in combinations like this, and I'm pretty sure I'll keep coming back to them.

I hope you can join us this time

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

That's Crafty where anything goes,
Creative Knockouts where anything goes,
Divas by Design where anything goes,
Inspiration Destination where anything goes,
Paper Shelter where anything goes,
Penny's where anything goes,
Scrapper's Delights where anything goes,
Whimsy where anything goes,
Crafty Sentiments where anything goes.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 88

This time at Crafty Cardmakers, we're going with the date! It's April Fool's day, so we want humour! It can be obvious, subtle, or even an 'in joke', but as long as there's some humour involved, you're set for this challenge.

Our sponsors this time are:

and

See the challenge blog for details of prizes.

I've gone for a family-type joke. You see, my husband seems to answer most things these days with, 'Fair Enough,' but it always sounds (to my ear, at least) like, 'Fairy Nuff.' So, as a birthday card for him, I've made this:

The image is from Stitchy Bear, and she's always seemed to me to be a fairy who's not about to brook any nonsense from anyone. I added the sentiment in Photoshop Elements and printed on Crafter's Companion card. It's coloured with Promarkers. I cut the image with a Spellbinders die - the smallest of the Grand Ornate Ovals. That die puts tiny holes around the edge, and what are those for if not to stitch? So, I've added a round of backstitching. The paper is from a pad by Paper Pizazz. I haven't heard of them before, but a colleague is giving up her cardmaking and wanted to sell off some bits. I fell in love with a pad of paper, and this is from that pad. (Can't tell you anything else as it was coverless when I first saw it!) Now, my husband is a tidy soul - at least, he hates other people's clutter. (He doesn't seem to have a problem with his own, as it happens!) So, I've left the card plain.

I hope you can join us this time.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:


The Paper Shelter where anything goes,
Simon Says Stamp where anything goes,
My Heart Pieces where they want fairies or angels,
Creative Inspirations Ink where anything goes,
Lacy Sunshine where anything goes,
Robyn's Fetish where they want fairies,

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 70

This challenge is set by Carole, and she wants us to make anything other than a card, ATC or tag!

We're sponsored this time by

I decided to move away from papercrafts altogether for this one, and made a bookmark.

Before I got into papercrafts, I did a lot of stitching. I started with cross stitch, but soon got sidetracked by Hardanger. I love the effect you get with cut areas, and using varigated threads just makes it even better!

Hope you can join us this time.

I'd like to enter this project into the following challenges:
Papertake Weekly where anything goes,
Tando Creative where they want fabric,
Moving Along with the Times where they want anything but a card,
Frosted Designs where they want stitching,

A Valentine Card

I always make a valentine card for my husband, but of course, traditionally, valentines must be anonymous, and so it's never signed! (I'm pretty sure he know who is 'secret admirer' is, though!)

This year, I decided to do a mainly stitched card.

The heart frame came from a book I bought recently called 101 Ideas for Embroidery on Paper by Erica Fortgens. I bought it from Amazon, and I was a little disappointed in it. The front cover of the book is full of various stitched borders and I thought it was exactly what I wanted. In fact, there are no actual borders inside. There are some frames, including some square and rectangular frames which I can adapt, but no actual borders. More irritating is the fact that some of the ideas rely on buying separate brass stencils with pricking patterns on them. Still, I decided there are enough ideas that I'll use, so I'll be keeping the book.

I had to increase the size of the heart circle, which I did by photocopying at 1.41 of the original size (equivalent to blowing A5 up to A4). I pricked some mirror card, and stitched it with some red thread that I think is intended for machine embroidery but which I think works perfectly on paper.

The plain border on the matting was done using the new (to me at least) Sew Easy from Making Memories. I bought the handle and a few pricking wheels from Hobbycraft, and was very disappointed with the result. Using a pricking mat I already owned or a foam mouse mat, I either got no pricking or the card got so mangled it wasn't usable. I decided to give the thing one more chance, and bought the pricking mat designed for the purpose, and had much better results. It will still work best on paper that's really too thin for stitching on, but it can be made to work with 'normal' card, providing you don't try to use one of the more complicated wheels. The straight line wheel that I used here, and one that does a blanket-stitch type effect worked well. The one that's supposed to put little circles of holes - I think it's called 'burst' or 'starburst' just won't work.

Here, I pricked some card, then matted it onto gold mirror board, and then I went round and pricked the holes right into the lower layer before back stitching using gold thread.

The sentiment was created in Photoshop Elements and cut with a scalopped circle nesitbility die.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:


Allsorts where they want one or more hearts
Di's Digis where they want valentines,
One Stop Crafts where they want stitching,
My Sheri Crafts where they want something new (new book and new Sew Easy)
Stamp, Scrap and Doodle where anything goes,
Mami Doodles where they want something for a loved one,
The Poodles Parlour where they want love/valentine projects,
Stamping with the Dragon where anything goes,
Wags n Whiskers where the theme is love/valentines,
Craft Us Crazy where the theme is 'full of love'

Easter Cards

I don't know what it is this year, but I really struggled to find time to do some Easter cards. It's not like I do an awful lot - just close family - a grand total of six.

I originally planned to use some decoupaged flowers and stitching, and I made one using that format.

And that card was all I managed, until I gave up the idea of stitching, and instead used one of a set of stamps I got at Olympia a couple of weeks ago. It's from 'Words Like Honey', and it seemed like a really useful set of crosses of various designs which will be useful for Easter cards as well as sympathy and other religious occasions. And once I got started, I created five!

I embossed the central cross image with Gold Mirror powder, then stamped around it using some tapestry stamps and a range of Versacolor inks. I edged the image layer with more Versacolor ink, then finished the cards with Papermania Capsule Collection papers, again edged with ink. The greetings are hand-written with my new Promarker Gold pen.

And in more detail,

I'd like to enter the top card in the following challenges:
If the Shoe Fits where the theme is 'sewing'
Karen's Doodles where the theme is Easter,
Papercutz where the theme is Easter,
Delightful Challenges where they want flowers,
Little Miss Muffet Challenges where they want stitching,


I'd like to enter the lower card in the following challenges:
The Res-Q Challenge where they want us to use our corner rounder (which I did, on all five!)
Tellen's Place where they want embossing,
Floweret Stamplar where the theme is 'Easter'
Stampin' Royalty where they want heat embossing,
Creative Craft World where they want Easter cards.

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 42

This week at One Stitch at a Time, we're sponsored by http://www.michellesscrap.com/ who are offering a $10 voucher to the lucky winner. And the theme is Old Stash/New Stash, so that's easy, isn't it? Just let us know what's new or old that you've used, and otherwise, anything goes!

This week I was able to work with an image from Card Mad Fairy called 'Stylised Flower' (available at the Stitchy Bear shop)and this is what I came up with.

It's such a pretty, bold image, I decided to print it a bit larger than I usually would. I added the line detail in the petals and leaves by backstitching with holographic silver 'thread' after colouring the image with Promarkers in a range of pinks and reds and greens. I finished the image with a couple of large sticky gems. The background paper is from MME, as is the sentiment, and I cut the floral border with a Martha Stewart edge punch.

In terms of what's old/new, the image is new, the thread I  used is old - had it for years!

I hope you can join us this week!

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges: A Crafty Little Place where 'Anything Goes',
Partytime Tuesday where 'Anything Goes' provided it's a birthday card,
Top Tip Tuesday where 'Anything Goes'