A Man's Birthday Card

I always find it difficult to make cards for my husband as I need to do it whilst he is not around and always seem to leave it late so that it is then a panic. Every year I promise myself that it will not happen this year but of course it does. For this year’s card I decided to use Creative Expressions stamp "Dream Cars".

 

I coloured the car in using Twinkling H20s and painted my husband's name as the number plate.

This was mounted onto some really lovely effect card that I bought from Jayne Nestorenko and I used the Fleur De Lis Rectangles from Spellbinders and mounted that onto some Core'dinations card that I had run through my Grand Caliber with That Special Touch Mica Masks - Metal Effect Mask and then sanded.

 I used some brads for the corner but as I did not want it to go right through the card, I cut the prongs off the back and glued them to the front of the card. The brads I used were Creative Expressions Antique Copper Screw Top Brad.

For the greeting, I again used a Spellbinder (one of the labels) on the same card as I mounted the car on and this time used Tim Holtz Washer and Tiny Fastener and again only glued it on to the card rather than pushing it right through.  I must admit to using a peel-off for the greeting but will say in my defence that I needed to be able to do something quick and that it does actually go with the card.

Next year I will plan his card earlier!!

Trifold Shutter Card

I was asked by a friend to make a birthday card for his son's 21st birthday.  He wanted a certain verse on the card and also photos of family and of his football team.  I was given a large envelope with lots of photos and at first was unsure how to tackle it.  I then decided that I would make a Tri Fold Shutter card with A3 card so that I could get as many of the photos on as possible without it being too overcrowded.  As I was not altering the size of the photos, I first made a template that would fit all the photos.

I also decided that I would used both sides of the card and have one side for family and the verse, and the other side for his football team.  I made the verse as the main focal point of the front of the card and matted and layered up card in the colours of the team.  It was then just a question of laying out the photos making sure that there was a good selection of the photos that I was given to use.

The reverse side of the card was matted and layered using football paper in the teams colours and again in coloured card in the same colours.  I made the details of the manager at the time as the focal point of the reverse.  There was a  copy of the team that played nearest to the day he was born and also a team photo of the team that season.  There was also the league table of where his team was in the league when he was born - not a lot different to now as they were in the second division then as well.  There was photos of his favourite players in the last 21 years and a few badges, programmes and the gates of the ground and even Bart Simpson in a West Ham kit.

With making this type of card, once his son has finished displaying it on the mantelpiece, he can put it in a frame as a permanent reminder.  Also this is not my usual type of card, I think hat it worked really well with the items that were given to me.  My main concern was the my friend and his son liked and and it was great to find out that they were both absolutely delighted with it. 

Finished card from Colouring Masterclass

After attending the LOTV Master Colouring workshop in May, I thought I would get round to finishing off the card that we were given at the end.  Instead of using my original colouring, I decided that I would test myself that it would work again colouring on my own without the tutors there to advise.  Obviously Bev Rochester and Jacqui Dennis did a good job as I thought that I have managed to colour this in without any problems and must have retained what they taught me!  I used copic pens to colour.

The stamp is "Love Grow" by Lili of the Valley (http://www.liliofthevalley.co.uk)/ and the embellishments were provided in our pack on the day.  I believe that the background paper is from http://www.nitwitcollections.com/.

I was really pleased with the overall effect of the card and felt that this workshop was money well spent.

VIP Workshop with Jayne

I spent a nice Sunday with Jayne Nestorenko back in September on her VIP workshop.  This workshop was for crafters who have previously attended one of her workshops and as usual  are always a little special.  This time we had three projects to make - albeit one was very quick at the end.  Another good thing about Jayne's workshop are the quality of the 3 course meals that we have there that are included in the workshops.

The first project was the most difficult - lots of measuring which was mainly done on the Hougie Board - but we all got there in the end.  It was a gatefold card with the scenes from the Adorables Summer Collection CD and stamps.  The gatefold card had the added advantage of also having pockets on the front for gift tags. 

The idea of the card was to build up a scene using different stamps and backgrounds.  The striped backing paper was also from the CD. 

I was pleased that a beach scene was chosen as I would be able to add some of the shells that I picked up of the beach in Jersey.

I also liked the idea of being able to get the girl on the front of the card actually look like she was picking up a starfish from a rock pool.

Inside I added a couple of crabs and shells, life buoy and the little boy holding as spade and a bucket at his feet. 

The stamped images were coloured with a mixture of Twinkling H20s and Cosmic Shimmer watercolour paints. 

Again, as is the norm with Jayne's workshops, all of the cards were different.  She also ensures that there are a couple of different colour schemes each time to ensure that no two are the same.  There are also a large variety of stamps to ensure that everyone can choose something different and different colouring mediums are used to ensure all are different.

The next card we made was also a gatefold card, but this time there was not nearly as much measuring as before.  We would be building up a scene from the Adorables Summer Collection CD as before but this time we would not be stamping and cutting out to decoupage but instead we would be using the printed elements from the CD.  These elements were printed out on sheets for us and most were very similiar this time.

The scene that was chosen was a back yard on washing day.  You could choose what you wanted to go on the outside of the card and also what you would be hanging on your washing line and it was to represent the back yard of an.  I particularly liked that fact that the scene was layered up on the front of the card with a door that opened to reveal an outside toilet, if you really didn't like the door opening and showing the toilet you could have just left it uncut so that the door did not open but I felt that it showed a back yard as it really was.

A down pipe and a post was cut out and then some metallic thread was attached to them stretching from one side of the card to the other.  Washing was then hung on the line,  ensuring that when the card was folded in, the washing folded in flat.  There was then a few items that could be cut out and attached to the front or inside the card.  I just left it with a pram outside.

The last items we made were a couple of boxes using the new Spellbinders Grand Shapeabilities Square Petal Top Box and the Spellbinders Grand Square Bracket Edge box, just to show how quick and useful they could be.

A Card for Mum

Another day and another blog. If I keep this up I should catch up with what I have been crafting over the last few  months.     

Today I thought that I would post the design of the cards that I made for my Mum and for her sister for their birthdays, although not the actual cards.

It was a design that I got from Sue Wilson using mainly Spellbinders and also the wonderful crinkly ribbon and organza roses that Sue has sourced. They can be purchased from Sam Poole's shop at http://www.creative-studios.co.uk/shop/. 

Although Sue used hat pins on her card, I decided not to use them as I prefer them without and did not want my Mum or Aunt to inadvertently prick themselves.

I don’t actually have a photo of the exact cards I made for them both, I thought that I did have but only on posting realised that I didn’t. I made theirs in black and white, with white being the dominant colour but I have included some that I made with different colours, including other variants of black and white.

There are so many colours schemes that you can do this card - it is just a question of finding the ribbons that match. The flowers need not be the organza type.  On the beige card I used flowers from http://www.wildorchidcrafts.com/. 

I definitely think that I went overboard on the red but all three look that little bit different. 

I have left the greeting banner blank of these so that I can add the required greeting when I use the card. For the cards that I have sent, I had typed the greeting in a font that I liked and with a matching colour onto some card and then with a Spellbinder die, ut it out and attached it to the front of the card.  I just then went over a little of it with a clear embossing pen and then clear embossing powder to make it stand out a little more. 

Back Blogging

I have been bad at blogging just recently.  I was starting to get on top of it and then spend a weeks holiday in Jersey and all went downhill from there.  At least I managed to get some lovely ribbon in a small shop in St Helier.  I just seemed to have so much to do since I came back but am determined to get back on top and will be posting what I have done since my last blog over the next few weeks.

I will start of with the workshop that I did with Jayne Nestorenko at the end of July.  This was a box with an easel card on the top and was really a lovely item to make.  The background image on the easel card was taken from the Adordables Summer Collection CD and the decoupage was part of the Adorables Summer Collection stamp sets. 

The box was made in two parts and a Martha Stewart Punch was used to decorate around the box lid.  The stopper on the easel card was using Marianne D Creatables Frames/Swirls (LR0116).  I used the Spectrum Noir pend to colour in  the young boy hiker.  Spellbinders were used to form the base, lid and card.

We also made four gift tags to go with the box.  I have found this box really usefull for storing small items as it is really strong.  It was really pleasing that Jayne has put a picture of this on her website.  It is always nice at a workshop with jayne that although everyone is making the same items, there are never two that look that same - individuality is certainly the name of the game with her.