Triple bendi-fold card

Hi Crafty Friends

This week I kept everyone busy with a tri-bendi card. I love the harlequin paper and as it's plain ivory pearlescent on the back we were able to use it to make lots of flowers which we inked with archival inks; they still look really shimmery in real life.

It was great to see all the different looks people achieved with the flowers.

I used Spellbinders Borderabilities for the flaps (this S shaped one is my favourite set). I can't remember whose is the trellis die (Britannia?? All Occasion???) We did simple punched flowers as the die cutters were in demand for the rest of the card.

Happy crafting everyone
Jx

ATCs

Hi Crafty Friends

This week's post is a real blast from the past. I have quite a lot of pics I never blogged which were trapped in my old computer, which won't talk to my new computer (as you may know, I'm not the most computer savvy person in the world). Anyhoo, I have managed to liberate some of them, so I thought I'd post a few every now and then, starting with some ATC's I made when I was in an ATC swap.

This set was made for International Women's Day. The first pic is of the slip cases, the cards are below.

I chose to highlight a different quality on each card:nurturing, strong, stylish, unique, serene and mysterious

For this one, the theme was TRAVEL. I had fun with this. I drew a rocket, cut it out and covered it in sticky backed foil. then drew in the markings. The stars at the top are punched out and backed with silver. The others are table confetti. I embossed the flourish in silver and wrote the text on a die cut acetate tag.

The theme for this next one was LOVE, so I wanted to suggest a pile of old love letters.  I stamped over two aqua patterned papers, and embossed the kiss stamp. I drew the hearts, cut them out, coloured & stamped them, then covered them with several layers of clear embossing powder, till they looked enamelled, and then threaded them on embroidery floss.

This one was for a sea themed swap, so I went with a rock pool. I went a bit mad with the rocks, fashioning them out of scrunched up tissue and painting them. It's VERY dimensional, to say the least. I embossed the water a lot to make it ripple-y, but I don't think it's come out v well in the pic. The crab was a right pain! I had to cut him out twice, to decoupage the body (and I had to make 6 of them!)

I hope you like them, let me know if you'd like to see any more, and I'll see if I can prise them out of the old lappy.

Happy crafting

Jan x

Ahoy there

Hi Crafty Shipmates

The lovely sunshine was very short-lived, but crafting continues at craft central whatever the weather, and this week we had a nautical theme.

My lovely friend, Wendy wanted a beach/nautical card for her SIL and I really wanted to use my new Marianne Punch Dies - so it just had to be.

Jackie ( from the Thursday class I go to) showed us some card she had inked to look like wood, so I thought I'd try that technique too. I used white card instead of craft, and used different colours because I wanted a more sun-bleached look.

I'm delighted to say that the waves in the porthole were stamped with a stamp I made myself, over a year ago - I'm so pleased to have found a use for it (and thanks Clare for the tutorial)

Stuff used:
Super Smooth white card (Papermill Direct)
Sand coloured paper from my stash. scrap of blue paper
Acetate, string, netting
Marianne Punch dies- Fish, Shells
Spellbinders nesting circle dies
Docrafts stamp
Home made stamp

Happy Crafting
Jx

Golden Birthday

Hi Crafty Friends

Well, the weather is getting better - we've even been HOT in craft central (aka the conservatory). Crafting in the sunshine, with the doors open, and the apple blossom and the bluebells at their loveliest - what could be better?

My lovely friend June lent me this gorgeous Sue Wilson filigree die for club use, so feeling summery, I went for a sunshiny gold. I found some fab paper in my stash  (a bit like patterned vellum) and decided to layer it over gold mirri card for a subtle gold. I love the effect behind the fancy die.
The frame and matting layers were made with the ever-useful Spellbinders matting basics, but as it's a big card (A5) we had to emboss the background old style, with a bit of ball tool and scoreboard action.
The flowers are Sue Wilson, open and solid petal dies. We made the solid flowers from more of the 'frosted gossamer paper' (well that's what it says on the packet) I think they look really pretty and delicate.
I went with a basic birthday greeting, but I think this would make a pretty card for a wedding, anniversary or even a 'thinking of you' so I hunted out lots of stamps that fit the oval so people could choose their own sentiment.

Here are some close ups, but I still haven't managed to capture the subtle sheen of this frosted paper.

Happy sunny crafting
Jx

catch up

Hi Crafty Friends

I'm still trying to catch up blogging with all the class cards. When we had our anniversary, I festooned all the cards we've made over the year, around the conservatory, and it made me realise how far behind I am.
Here is the card we made about a fortnight ago. Margaret had asked for a stepper card, so I decided to do a side stepper. I designed the shape I wanted and made a template for the card base which everyone could copy. This cut down on all the measuring, so we could spend loads of time on decorating - and there was quite a lot of decorating to do.

The flowers are by Heartfelt Creations, a matching set of dies and stamps ('Sun Kissed Fleur', I think). The fancy oval is by Apple Blossom and to my delight the oval is the same shape as my Marianne ovals, so we could do some very close matting. the butterflies are by Memory Box (Butterfly Exhibit) and the gorgeous sparkly embossing powder (which doesn't look as sparkly in the picture) is by Wow. We inked the flowers with a variety of DIs, e.g. Spun Sugar, Dried Marigold, Tattered Rose, and Bundled Sage for the leaves.

I was pleased with how it turned out so I made another one for my sister-in-law.
Hope you like it
Happy Crafting
Jx

Now We are One

Hi Crafty Friends

Well, here we are in May, and for now the weather is beautiful. The garden is at its (not marvellous) best, and this week is our one year anniversary of the club.

It has been so much fun, so a massive THANK YOU to all my lovely friends - for the laughs, and the cakes
Happy Birthday to us!

Here are some of the Wednesday group (sorry I forgot to take a photo on Tuesday)

And hard at work

And after a long search, this is where Keitha found her tape - stuck to the back of her card!

And this is the card we made, a fully loaded shabby chic number.

The cage and bird are by Sweet Dixie, the flowers and leaves are Joanna Sheen (matching stamps and dies) The borders are Sue Wilson, the oval is Apple Blossom and the sentiment by Clearly Besotted. A massive amount of die cutting, especially since the birdcage is cut 3 times and stacked.

here's to the next year of craftiness and fun!

jan x

Flowers and Filigree

Hi Crafty Friends

A bit late, but here is another card I made for the club a few weeks ago. A die cutting extravaganza.

The main central piece is Sue Wilson, with Apple Blossom additions. The scalloped edge is Spellbinders (doctored to fit), as are the leaves and flowers.

And this is one I made while I had the dies out. The flowers are Tattered Florals

Happy crafting
J x