Christmas Card Club #13- Sentiment, no Image.

Back again with our regular Christmas Card Challenge, and this weeks theme has been chosen by Christine, who wants to see the Sentiment as the focal point, no image.
I've put together 6 cards, all using dies- and in the case of the JOY card, stamps- that I bought last year and never got around to using.

These are made with a Sue Wilson Die called Stacked Layering Noel Die, you get both types of NOEL, plus a 'shadow' die. The idea is that you can stack the cutaway Noel on top of the solid one, but I thought I'd get two cards out of it instead! They have both been mounted onto a piece of cardstock run through an embossing folder, in fact all six cards got that treatment, just using an assortment of folders. I used the same cardstock for the shadow as I used for the matt layer.

You also get a bauble and snowflake die in the set.

This one I did in gold & silver, and I *think* it may have been a Memory Box die, but I'm not certain. I didn't always used to keep the packaging.



The final two use a stamp and die set from Pretty Pink Posh, called Joy. I saw Jennifer McGuire use it back last year, and thought it was fab, so I broke my habit of not buying stamp/die sets. The reason I very rarely do that is that I don't like the white border that is usually left around the image when it's die cut, but with this it wasn't going to matter, and to be fair, it cuts almost exactly on the image anyway.

 The stamp is lots of tiny Christmas images, and mine are stamped white on white. There are additional small Christmas images & matching dies, but I didn't use those.

 
I also die cut the letters from white fun foam, just to add a little dimension.

This tip here Jennifer gave in her video- to position your letters nicely, line them up to a straight edge- I used one of the lines on the glass mat- then lay a length of purple tape- or any low tack tape- over the top, and use that to lift & position your letters.

Works perfectly, and the tape isn't wasted, it can be reused for something else.

Christmas Card Club 2020- #3 Stars

My these weeks just seem to fly past! Back with another Challenge from the Christmas Card Club, this time the theme has been chosen by Sylvie, and she wants to see stars- in the nicest possible way, of course! I've made a total of 11 cards for this, 2 sets of four, and one of three that I'm not entirely sure about.

The first set of four use a die set by John Next Door, called Sams Starz. The card base is 7" square, the background die does not cut the outer edges, so you can cut to any dimension you need.












The second set features a printed vellum panel and a die cut star.

The third set, which I'm not sure about. I think maybe the foil card holly is a bit too much. I may try removing it, and see if it looks better with just plain green cardstock.

This shot was my starting point- some image printed vellum I've had for more years than I can recall, a Stitched Stars die set- possibly from The Works- a plain star set from X-Cut,The John Next Door set, which has 4 dies in it, and two star wreath dies. I also used some peel off borders, and sentiments. Still tackling that peel off mountain!

 I started by adding DST adhesive sheet to the back of the vellum. This is a great way- at least against light/white cardstock- to adhere vellum without any adhesive showing. Bought this roll at the NEC.

After that, I added it to a sheet of white card. I cut this, which was roughly A4 sized, into about half,  then cut that half into 4 panels.

The panel was added to the card front, a top fold card, with DST.
I ran some glittery peel offs down each edge.

 At first I planned on using some of the 'scrap strip' sheets I made for the star, but when I tried it over the panel, it looked too busy, so swapped to stars cut from the vellum.











I cut a star 'frame' by taping together the size die I cut the stars with, and the next size down.

Bonus, I have some gold stars for another project!

Added the frame with Matte Medium.








Next I added some smaller fun foam stars to the back, for a little extra dimension. Then added the stars to the card front with some more Matte Medium.

Next up is the Star background die, and as I said, it has 4 dies in it. The background, the star with the trees, a large Star shape, and a smaller die with the images of Deer on.
 These three were all cut from White pearl card, the Star shape from Glitter cardstock.







I'd already made the red one, so decided to switch up the colours for the other 3, gold, silver and Royal Blue.

Layered the background onto a sheet of glitter card. Then layered the 'tree star' onto a glitter star too. This one I added over the centre star with some foam squares. I added the  Deer scene on top, after cutting it out with the Star shape.
Final touch was a peel off greeting, onto a small die cut strip.

Sams Starz.



 The strip die cut is one of a big set of dies intended for use making slider cards. I don't make those, but saw Jennifer McGuire recommend these to use as sentiment strips.




This is the set, Honey Bee Straight Interactive Sliders. I got mine from Bumbleberry Papercrafts.




For the last three, I completely forgot to take photos! But I die cut the circular wreath from some dull gold card, and die cut an assorted bunch of stars, mainly using dies from the Tim Holtz Thinlits set called Swirling Stars.



I added some stars to the wreath, then decided to add some holly. It was die cut from green foil using a holly branch from another Tim Holtz die set, called  Winter Greens.






 I added a vellum panel, this time to the centre of the card, then placed the wreath on top.

WOYWW #546- The 'Hi Honey I'm Home' Edition.

Indeed I am, I was released Saturday evening, so just working on getting stronger now. And I am much, much better today, so thanks to everyone for all the good wishes last week. I have a step counter to give me a visual on how I'm improving, and also a Pulse Oximeter to measure my blood Oxygen level- one of those things they clip onto your finger? Anyway, I was at 91% oxygen when they released me, and yesterday I could manage 20- 30 steps before needing to stop to get my breath back, resting for a minute or so. Today I'm on 95%, and can do 80-100 steps, and only takes me a few seconds to level my breathing, so well on the way to recovery.
Still not up in my craft room yet, that'll probably be over the weekend I'm guessing, so no unpacking yet.
As you can see, a whole mountain of stuff to be sorted, old & new. One new thing I can share is the stamp and die set, front left corner. In true crafting dedication, this was ordered from my hospital bed,lol. I saw Jennifer MacGuire using it a few weeks ago now, and looked for it online. In the UK, there is a site called  Dies to Die For, and she has loads of stuff from many American companies, such as Pretty Pink Posh, Mama Elephant,Altenew, and many many more.

 I don't normally buy stamp/die sets, as I'm not a fan of the white border they leave around designs, but the beauty of this one is having a design stamped out onto the letters, which you can either then mount on the card, or use it for an Eclipse card. Plus you can just die cut the JOY and use as is. So, anyway, when I first looked for it, it wasn't in stock, but I got an email when it was,so I jumped on it straight away. Quite possibly won't get used this year now, but I'm ready for next!
So thats this weeks enabling sorted.
To circle back to last weeks comments I made on the NEC show, the problems seem to be that the organisers are pricing Exhibitors out, many I spoke with are finding the fees exhorbitant now, and when they are also finding out that not everyone is being charged the same for the same size stand, they are starting to drop away, quite understandably. Plus, it's not just papercrafts, they have all sorts of craft and hobby stands, and as in previous years, I'm finding I'm only interested in perhaps 1 in 5 stands, maybe even less. I also noticed a rise in the number of £1 stands- more than theres ever been before, they seem to concentrate on DST/ cardstock packs/odds and ends in the main. Not helping that they charge £12 if you pre book parking, £16 if you pay on the day! Normally we'd go to Happy Stampers, but I thought I would be better avoiding crowds at that point, however that didn't really work out so well. If I'd have given it enough thought, instead of booking for the NEC, I'd have waited a few more weeks, and gone to the Papercraft Show at the Motorcycle Museum, which is just across the island from the NEC. Thats free parking, and just £4 entrance, I can't recall what the NEC was, as I got disabled & carer rates, but I think the general price is in the £15 range.So the MM show will definitely be on my list for next year, as will probably at least one of the Stamperama shows for a change.
So I think thats all from me right now, I'll link in with you at at Julias place, The Stamping Ground, and visit in between naps on the recliner, lol.
Which just leaves.......................And Finally.........................

WOYWW #523-The Almost Download Edition

This week has flown past- it never feels like there's 7 days between one WOYWW and the next! As always, we meet at Julias place, The Stamping Ground, to share our desks/floors/whatever with the world. Feel free to join in, we always love to see a new desk- and desker!
 On Friday we are off to this years Download Festival, at Donnington Park, although from the weather forecast, I have a nasty feeling it's going to be more Downpour than Download.☔☔☔

Made these over the weekend. Post below.












These were the two cards I made at the crop that I forgot to photograph last week.





Very teeny bit of enabling this week, paid The Range another visit for another look at those mini dies, and realised that I have almost no dies suitable for baby cards.



 Elizabeth( Altered Book Lover) will like one, I'm sure.  Didn't spot the Birthday Wishes one last time I was there.One thing buying the baby ones did, when I got home, was jog my memory about having a few suitable Quickutz dies, you remember the ones for the Squeeze tool? So I found the folder they were in, and actually got quite a surprise at what I had- a couple of Christmas ones, a car key-make a great  new driver card-a cameo, slider buckles, and two alphabets,as well as 3 or 4 Baby themed ones. And they work just like the wafer thin metal dies too, so can run them through any die cutter.

 And so I think thats all from me, so it just leaves.......And Finally.............................

Cards using Clarity stencils & HoneyDoo Stamps

A few weeks ago now, I spent some time creating these panels.
  I used two different Clarity stencils, Framework Circles, and Framework Squares. Both are 7" square, and they come with the cut-outs too, so you can mask off areas easily. These cards are just from the circles ones.

  The cardstock is Clarity too, they make a 7" square cardstock pack, which fits the stencils perfectly.

All the backgrounds were created using a light, mid and darker ink, blended using brushes.

By adding each of the two darker colours over smaller portions of the shape, it helps to create a  more 3D look to them.







If you use a dry baby wipe to bring in the colour left on the stencil around the shape before you lift it off,  it does help to define the shape nicely. I picked up that tip from Barbara Gray.
 Most of these have now been turned into cards, and I'll share a few here, and do another post for the others, as there's quite a lot!

These first two use one of the flowers from a HoneyDoo set called Cherry Blossom. The sentiment is a Crealies die, and was cut three times and stacked up. 

These three also use a Honey Doo stamp, this time called Flower Power. In both cases the set comes with 3 sizes of flower, and a stem, or leaves to build up your image.

For all of them I restamped the image onto coloured vellum, then added those to some of the flowers with Glossy Accents, and either Stickles or Glass flatbacks to the centres.

They are all matted onto toning cardstock, then onto an 8" card blank.

In some cases, I lightly stamped a script stamp into the circles, using second generation stamping, and the darkest colour of ink used.

The final three in this post used butterflies, in exactly the same way. No idea what brand the stamp is,  I've had it years, and it's just a random one.

The Best Wishes die is from Crealies, and the Thinking of You is a Sue Wilson Mini Expressions die.

The cardstock used for matting is from a pack by Papermania- Capsule Collection Textured Cardstock.

 It comes is a variety of sizes, A4-which this is-A5 and 12x12. The A4 pack I get from The Range, and they seem to be the cheapest place to buy it, at £9.99. You get 75 sheets of cardstock, one of each colour, so you get quite a lot of shades of each colour, making matting a breeze.