Christmas Card Club #18- Use mainly Red

This fortnights theme was set by Lorraine, who wanted us to use mainly red. A real challenge, and took some thinking about! I'd finally decided I was going to emboss some red card with a  Christmas words folder, when I recalled I had a Tim Holtz pad of embossed card, and I was sure there was a red Christmas one, so in the spirit of trying to use stuff I've had forever, I dug it out with fingers crossed. And indeed there was a red, as well as a green, for Christmas. The whole pad is embossed with various holidays/special days, not all applicable to anyone outside the US, lol. Have no idea what I'll do with those.

I cut 2 6" square pieces of the card, then die cut a couple of bauble shapes from each. The die set is from Spellbinders- Heirloom Ornaments 2010. Most likely retired long ago. I backed this with some cream paper marbled with gold, bought at the NEC Christmas show more years ago than I like to recall.  The string for the baubles is some sparkly peel off lines, and then I added a peel off sentiment, again using stuff I've had far too long.I matted this onto some gold glitter card for a bit of sparkle. I decided the baubles didn't look 'finished ' enough, so found some red ribbon to make a bow at the top of each, which looked better. Looking at them now, I think I may go back to these and add a few acrylic gems in a pattern on the baubles, as they look a little plain, I feel. Or maybe some liquid pearls in dots to follow the swirls of the marbling. Don't know, will have to give it some thought. So thats my offering for this challenge, for the first time in ages, I'm on time, lol.

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 #538- The Bit of Enabling Edition

Indeed, as all has been quiet on the enabling front lately, and I have a reputation to uphold, there have been a few purchases this week. First off, an 8"x8" Tim Holtz pad, called 'Abandoned'. Loving the colours in this one.
 Next we went to Webbs garden centre on Saturday, and they have a Hobbycrafts on site. Not a huge fan of them, to be honest, but occasionally they have some bargains.

Like these packs of Glitter cardstock, 20 A5 sheets, half price at £2 each. So, two shades of gold, a silver & a white. They have lots of colours besides these too.








   While we're on the subject of glitter, I came across some Glitter Fun Foam, and I'm thinking these will be great for a number of things- sentiments, for one, and die cut shapes for Christmas cards for another. I think they were 90p each.

Julias revenge, lol. The enabler was enabled. You may recall Julia was using moulds & air drying clay last week, which reminded me I have a tub full of unused moulds.
 Spotted these in there, the one at the bottom says Superlight, and it really is. Feels like a packet of air! ( Mind you, I haven't opened it yet, they might BE bags of air, lol).They were a pound a pack.
 The one above is heavier.

Got distracted from the Christmas cards to join in a swap in a FB group for Samhain/Halloween. Samhain being the old Celtic name for All Hallows Eve, and the Celtic New Year.
Made another set before this, but got carried away with the stamping, and decided they were far to crowded with images, so they went in the bin. There's only so much you can rescue! Linking as always on Wednesday over at Julias place, The Stamping Ground, where she will attempt to keep order.

 On the Chemo front, this time round has been much better, and having seen the Oncologist on Monday, they'll continue at the 80%, as I seem to have tolerated that much better. Good news is, it's clearly working, as the blood test I had two weeks ago- before the treatment and after the 6 week break- showed my cancer markers have dropped from 235 to 175, so it's looking good.

Saw Annies mention last week of the 2020 Crop, it's in the diary! Looks like June will be a busy month, as the following weekend will be Download, and having seen the Headliners announced on Monday- Kiss, Iron Maiden and System of a Down, plus so far, 10 other bands we always go to see on tours - we are most definitely booking.



 Which brings us round to.....And Finally......

 Love this Terry Pratchett quote from one of the Discworld books.

Snowflake wreath

 This is the project I needed so many snowflakes for.
I still have loads left over, but I'm all snowflaked out for now.
 I cut the flakes with a variety of snowflake dies, and 3 punches, a large, medium and small.
 I used glitter card/paper mainly, but also as I hadn't enough white, or a pale blue, I made my own. I sprayed some pearl paper with Crafters Companion Spray and Sparkle in Iridescent, then sprinkled on some Glamour Dust in Crystal, and a pale blue glitter from Sweet Poppy, as  punches cope with paper better than card.

The flakes have been layered up in threes and fours, and have an acrylic gem in the centre.


The sentiment was cut three times from white card, then once from silver glitter card and layered up.









Rather than use a whole sheet of glitter cardstock to matt my embossed panel onto, - these are 8" card bases- I made a 'cheat' glitter background.

First I cut what would be my glitter panel down to fit the card front.
 Then added a strip of Double sided tape along one edge.
I sprinkled fine glitter onto it, then before tipping the excess off I rubbed it in well with my finger.
 This really helps to make sure you have even coverage. Just repeat this process around all four edges.

If you find any gaps because your tape was too short, either add in a little piece, or you could dab in some wet glue with your finger, then sprinkle glitter over that.

I tipped off the excess, then using a bone folder and a sheet of paper, I burnished over the glitter really well. This gives the glitter a really soft, almost velvet like finish, and of course helps to make sure none will shed.

  I picked this tip up from Jennifer McGuire- she does loads of You Tube videos, and always has lots of great techniques and tips to share. Another tip from her regarding glitter is to use Swiffer cloths to mop up glitter from your card/workdesk. She cuts each one up into a few smaller pieces, and watching her use them it really does pick up glitter easily.

  My 'glitter' cardstock now matted onto the card fronts.
 Next job was the panels I was going to make my wreaths on, and I was intending to run them through embossing folders, so I cut some white pearl cardstock down to show some of the glitter border when it was matted.

 I used two different folders, one called Elegant Snowfall, by Crafters Companion. I think it's been retired, but they have a very similar one called  Snowfall Drift now. The second one is called Seamless Circle, from Crafts Too.
 Took a bit of sorting to find folders where the pattern could be repeated across the panel, as most folders are not wide enough.

To add these panels to the card fronts, I ran a line of dst just inside the glitter square, and then added the embossed cardstock onto that, as dst will not stick to glitter, so putting it on the back of the embossed panel as I normally would ran the risk of it being too close to, or on top of the glitter.
 To make the wreath, I took a large circle die and  lightly marked around it in pencil. This won't show at the end, as it will be covered by snowflakes.
Then I 'dry fit' all my snowflakes to make sure it looked right. I put 4 of the larger ones down first, then put 4 medium ones between those.

That left me enough space to add the smaller ones between those, so 8 of them in total. I also had made up a few tiny snowflakes, and they came in handy to fill the odd gap.

They got moved to one side then, and I began adding them to the panel with a blob of Glossy Accents.

The sentiment was stacked up for dimension, using a Zig Glue pen, then added to the centre of the wreath with some Glossy Accents added with a fine tip fitted to the bottle.
 And I also got a slightly different look by accidentally putting one of  my cardstock sheets into the folder the wrong way round, so one of the Falling snow ones is debossed, one embossed!

Floral Honey Doo Birthday Cards

Wow, two posts in two days! Well, the makings of these were on my desk this week.


The black and white card is on an 8" square base, the Blue & white on a 7".
 The same stamp was used in both cards, Floral Corner Flourish by Honey Doo.

On a recommendation, I recently bought some Sheena Douglas Stamping Card from Crafters Companion, and I have to say it does stamp beautifully.
 I'd cut one square for each card, and I've said this before, but when using square pre-made card bases, the dimensions given are  the envelope size, not the card base!


Meaning, one called 7" is actually going to be closer to 6¾", so you need to cut your matt layer & stamping layer accordingly.
 I stamped the image using my Tim Holtz Stamping Platform, and that makes the positioning easy, as there's no need to move the stamp, just rotate the cardstock 180 degrees. They were both stamped in Versafine Clair ink, Nocturne (black), and Paradise (blue).
 On the black card I sprinkled WOW! Black Twinkle embossing powder, and on the blue, a Stampendous powder called Stardust.
  I also stamped them onto white pearl paper multiple times, heat embossing them too. Then fussy cut them out.

Lots of extra flowers here, as I've also stamped some other images ready to make more cards. The tray they are sat in is intended for party snacks. I found a pack of them unused in a cupboard, and thought they'd be really handy in my craft room!
 Those scissors you can see are great for when you have a lot to cut out. They have a small pair of blades with a fine pointed tip, and a shear action, so you don't end up with aching fingers.

These were by X-Cut, but there are a few other brands out there as well.

I sorted out 4 large flowers,and 4 smaller ones. Shaped them around the pokey tool, and then just pressed down in the centre with the ball stylus.

Two flowers on each of the larger ones, added with a drop of Glossy Accents.

Then a single flower on each of the smaller ones, and finished off with one of the resin Dotted Rhinestones. The ones that sort of look like glass?
 I'd matted the panel onto the base before adding the flowers. It's layered onto Black Glitter card.
 The sentiment is another Honey Doo set, called Happy Times, and also includes a Happy Anniversary stamp.

Again, stamped in Clair Nocturne, and embossed with Black Twinkle. It was matted onto more black glitter card, and the labels were cut with Spellbinders Labels 4, large & small. You can just use one of the two set sizes, but by combining the two sets, you get a smaller border.
 I stamped first, then placed the die where I wanted it and die cut the shape.

The blue version was done in exactly the same way, just using  Clair Paradise, and Stardust Embossing Powder. I also used slightly smaller dies to cut the shape for the sentiment, as there was less room for it. I have no idea where the sentiment is from, sorry. Just added a couple of sequins to it, as there seemed to be too much white space.

Christmas Card Club Challenge-Reindeer

  This fortnights challenge was set by Zoe,and is for Reindeer.
 My first card features a Reindeer by Tim Holtz, a Movers & Shapers die. It's cut from a dark brown glitter paper, and if I ever use it again, I'm going to cover it with a coat of clear embossing powder! It sheds like nothing on earth!
 I cut a selection of snowflakes from a sheet of white linen card, and then backed that with some light blue glitter paper. Then I decided to add the snowflake die cuts back, just coming in from the edges. The A5 card base was covered with some Christmas backing paper- which strangely enough also has reindeer on it- it was just the closest paper I had to the colour of the one behind the snowflakes.

 The next one  ended up with a bit of paper piecing. Simply because I used some of the silver glitter paper that can be coloured that I bought from Pink Frog Crafts and Cards, that I got at the NEC last year. It does colour fine, but I didn't realise the Promarkers would be a little slow to dry, and ended up with green fingerprints on the central snow section. Then I cut another white piece to go behind the reindeer, and a dark blue piece to go behind the trees.
 The die is one of the Cheap from China dies.

 I added a small acrylic gem to the centre of each snowflake. I covered the A5 card base with a silver snowflake patterned paper, then matted the picture on foam pads.

WOYWW #443

So here we are, at the last post before December-just- and is it me, or has this year suddenly flown in the last couple of months? I mean, the whole year has gone quite quickly, but these last few months it's been sort of blink and you missed it.
 Leaving our links over at Julias again, The Stamping Ground- I reckon there should be mince pies too soon, *wink, wink*.
Still not a lot of crafting being done, I have had some more practice time with the baubles, and I seemed to get a better result by outlining first, letting that set, then brushing on the ink. I think the nib of the pen was clogging on the ink. Might try doing the inking, then outlining a few hours later, see if that helps.


Tried  on the kraft card first- I've never really got into the whole kraft thing, the colour is just a bit to 'meh' for me, and although it inks nicely, the contrast just doesn't work for me.

Returned to black, and I'm much happier with the result, still not perfect, but much better.



I also decided to sort my UFO boxes- yes, I've now upgraded to Boxes 2.0-and I really need to get a grip and finish them all off, or get them made up, which is all a lot of them need.



 Exhibit A- and those piles all have 6-10 card fronts in them. At least. The one top right has closer to twenty.

 Masterboards bottom right, a couple of random card fronts above them, two Sweet Poppy Stencil fronts, done if I remember rightly with Imagination Starlights paints- a couple of stamped & heat embossed snowglobes, and the start of some sponged snowy scenes.

A random selection of stencilled backgrounds- all stencils are 7x7 from Clarity.

Another Sweet Poppy stencil, the cat on a wall, all done with stencil paste & glitter to get different coloured cats. I also varied the glitter on the walls on some, and two have been finished off with some foliage & tree stamping. Oh, and a masked off moon & sponged sky.

Doesn't look quite so bad when you hide them in plastic wallets!

There are also canvas UFO's- all are done with Sweet Poppy stencils & paste, a few have glitter flakes. Some backgrounds were swiped on with a baby wipe, some are Bleeding Art Tissue.  Bottom right with the Cat is Brushos straight onto the canvas.

Top right here is Bleeding Art Tissue, bottom right & centre are Brushos- centre one straight onto canvas, right hand one is a dried baby wipe from cleaning up.

Top left I have plans involving Bees- I have a Honeycomb stencil or three,😁, and the background is DI reinkers in Wild Honey & Carved Pumpkin, wiped on with a baby wipe. Bottom square has had ink brushed through a Clarity stencil, I think it needs more, and I think the other two are just random DI reinkers wiped on again with a baby wipe.

I actually found three finished cards- well, apart from the insert- these were done with the Laminator/Foil method, and a Sweet Poppy stencil.

These are again all done with a stencil- Top two are Dreamweaver ones- stencil paste and a Laminator & foil, matted onto silver glitter card, and blue. These came out fine.
 I was really disappointed  with the bottom two though. I was very happy when I foiled them, as they came out a treat- I loved the mulicoloured ribbons and baubles on the left one, and pleased I managed to get the green foil on the holly, and some assorted coloured foil on the baubles.
 I matted them onto Green glitter card, and that's when it went horribly wrong.

I always, always use Pinflair Glue Gel when matting onto glitter card- if it's not a smooth type- so that it grabs. This green glitter card has leached colour into the glue, and then through the cardstock. So, lesson here is that not all glitter card is created equal! I think that green will be consigned to die cutting trees or suchlike, where I can use DST/ sticky tabs. That may also be solution for this- foam tape on the back, then a little Silicone glue on the tape to stick it to the glitter, and the tape should- hopefully- provide a barrier.
 My problem is I love trying out new products/techniques, and get easily distracted by a new one.  So, no more experimenting till I finish these off!
 UTI seems to be clearing, now I've picked up a cough/cold, which seems to be resolving itself into a chest infection, so I'm back on Antibiotics, and extra use of the inhaler! My poor immune system just needs to catch a break so it can build itself up again after all the battering it's taken in recent weeks.  Running up to Christmas we have a few things going on- Wednesday (tonight) we are off  to Birmingham to see Stone Sour, then Friday night it's our works Christmas meal. Monday I have another works meal, for Long Service achievements, as I've been there for 15 years this year. Then next week we have a Marilyn Manson concert, and the week after, 5 Finger Death Punch, so it's all go, lol.
And now, it's time for And Finally.....