CRICUT - HERITAGE CARTRIDGE

When I had the Cricut out the other day I found this house and thought it had potential.  Of course, it looked nothing like the end product but it was fun dressing the house up.

I used a natural colour cardstock for the house which then allowed me to alter the colour by sponging with distress inks.  The idea of the gable colouring came from the Hero Arts Simple Things stamp set and I also used the front door awning and window boxes from the same set.  The sentiment is from an old SU set, the fence and trim are both MS border punches and the background paper is from my stash.  The label used for the sentiment is also from SU.

MARIJ RAHDER - SUZY 3

A colleague recently celebrated 10 years with the company and I made this card for the occasion.

I blame the colouring of the cow squarely on the shoulders of DH.  He went to bed early one night leaving me and the cow image alone.  I started off with Distress ink Black Soot and an aquabrush thinking I would do a grey / black and white cow.  Well, that looked rather dull so I added the pink muzzle and udders, then decided to paint the toenails with a Spica glitter pen.  The idea of green spots and tail just came to me and next thing I knew, I had a multicoloured cow !  The pig was also done with Distress Ink and an aquabrush.

The background is from a Gina K Designs set called Funny Farm, as is the sentiment.  The background is also painted in using Distress Inks and an aquabrush. 

Dot, I hope you liked the card. 

PEACHY KEEN - HAPPY BIRD AND PHRASES

Often with a new image I stamp it out a couple of times on different cardstock to see which colouring medium works better.  This time I stamped it out 4 times and ended up not liking any of the 3 I did with Copics and normal markers.  What did work was on watercolour paper using an aqua brush with Distress Inks for the yellow and the cheeks and a Twinklling H2O colour for the blue.  The orange bits were done with markers.

The diamond shaped red paper was done with a paper crimper, the blue die cut is one from Go Kreate, the yellow die cut and the one on which the image is stamped are both Nestabilities and the heart is from CM.  The sentiment is from the same Peachy Keen set as the bird.

COTTAGECUTZ - PUPPY W/HEART

In the latest parcel of my US purchases I had ordered a number of CottageCutz dies and this puppy reminded me of our dear little chap who is no longer with us.

The pink paper is CM, the dies are Nestabilities Labels, the sentiment is Hero Arts and the flowers plus brad are from my stash.

HIGH HOPES - FAIRY TALE BUG

Every now and again I have the need to do a really bright card.  This little chap just seemed to lend himself to being brightly coloured and the card sort of flowed from there.

I used Copics to colour the image in and added a couple of tiny Penny Black images to the front and back covers of the book, plus gave it a title.  The yellow, black and lime papers are all from my stash as is the fence which was made from a MS border punch and coloured with Distress ink.  I am rather fond of my collection of Nestabilities dies and used the Deckle edged rectangles and Labels 8 on this card.  The snail is from a Hero Arts stamp set called Sending Smiles and the sentiment is also Hero Arts Simple Things.

BABY LOONEY TUNES

A while back I received this stamp set as a gift and as my US and UK purchases are delivered to a holding address in the US who repackage them prior to sending them on to me I have no idea who sent it.  I had also thought I would not be using it as it did not appeal to me.

I wanted something a little different for my niece, Erin's birthday plus I got to haul the Cricut out again for the fence.  I have struggled with my Cricut but after finding a detailed list of cardstock with the relevant settings I now feel confident to start using it again.

The stamps were coloured in using Copics and cut out.  The fence was sponged with 3 different Distress inks and the grass, which I stamped multiple times, is from Hero Arts Sending Smiles.  The embossing folder is a Tim Holtz one sponged over with Distress inks again and the sentiment, which appeals to me, is also from a Hero Arts set.

PEACHY KEEN - VALENTINE CUPIDS

Happy Valentine's day !  This cute Peachy Keen stamp was one I just simply had to buy.

I am finding the grey Copics a little challenging at the moment and admit this is not my best colouring effort.  The image is cut out using a Go Kreate Wavy Frame die and the hearts are from my stash.  No idea how I came up with the idea to put wool around the heart and in the middle but it seemed to work.  The wool was not the easiest to stick down but I eventually tried a really strong glue and it worked.  The sentiment is from the same Peachy Keen set.

CLEAR DOLLAR - PET ANGELS

So often I want to send a condolence card on the loss of a pet and can never find a suitable image.  Then I saw this set on special at Clear Dollar and thought it would be ideal.

I used Copics to colour in the stamp and cut it out.  After colouring in the wings I did not like the end result and covered over it with Stickles.  The star die is by Marianne D - Starry Garland and is a new one I was trying out.  The wavy frame die is from Go Kreate and the scalloped and normal ovals are SU punches.  The sentiment is from the same stamp set.

After assembling the card I decided the little dog needed a halo which is also part of the set. 

VALENTINE'S MUG

After using only the Scor-it for a couple of years I decided to buy a Scor-pal and must say I am delighted with the various projects that are available, this mug being one of them.  The instructions can be downloaded on the Scor-Pal site and it took more time choosing the cardstock for the handle than it did to make the mug.  The only deviation I made was to cut a circle for underneath the mug as I felt it was a little untidy and wanted to hide my mistakes !

The mug is made from a pad of sturdy cardstock I had in my stash, and for the handle I used CM and Nestabilities Circles.  The heart on the mug is a CM punch and the heart label is a Magnolia stamp.

VALENTINE'S BIRD HOUSE

A while back bird houses were popular but I could not find one I really liked.  After browsing through a Magnolia magazine I thought this one had potential and photocopied the pattern onto my cardstock.

The checkered pattern paper is CM with the rest being scraps from my stash.  The window opening was made with Nestabilities circles and petite scalloped circles finished off with a bit of acetate inside.  The little owl is a Go Kreate die called Owlet and he is standing on a branch made from the SU Two Step Bird punch.  The hearts on the roof are Nestabilities dies.

Under the hearts the roof is fastened with a velcro dot and lifts up to enable one to pop a gift or chocolates

CLEAR DOLLAR - LOVING LADYBUGS

With Valentine's Day looming I thought this card could be used for the occasion or perhaps even an anniversary.

I stamped the image with Archival black ink onto watercolour paper and coloured it in using a variety of markers, SU, Tombow and Marvy Le Plume, plus a blender pen.  The grass was done with Distress Inks and an aqua brush.  I framed the stamp using Nestabilities Deckled Edge Rectangles which I then Distress inked the edges.  The red label is from a Clear Dollar die and the front one with the sentiment on, also Clear Dollar, is a Nesties label die.

The CB embossing folder came in a pack of 4 of which I wanted 3 and not this one.  I actually thought I would never use it.  A lesson to be learnt, do not give anything away as you never know when you might find a use for it !  The border along the bottom is from a roll of self adhesive paper lace which I coloured with Distress Ink.

HERO ARTS - CONGRATS

Whilst searching through my considerable stash of 12 x 12 cardstock I found this brown gingham which matched the stamped rectangle sitting on my craft table.  I tend to stamp, decorate and cut out or frame an image first, pop it one side and then think about how to put it on a card.  This paper just jumped out at me.  Of course, I have not a clue where I bought it from and have not seen anything like it locally so my guess would have to be in Australia.  Debs, you might recognise it.

After buying this Hero Arts stamp set from Ronita at Simply Creative I realised the images could not be cut out so did not quite know the best way to utilise them (there are 3 frames in the set).  I think plain and simple worked well here and it is the sort of card one could make in bulk.

I used Rangers Archival Sepia in for the stamp and cut it out using Nestabilities deckle edge rectangles.  This is truly a 5 minute card which, after making it, I sat back and thought it was way too quick, almost like I had cheated as there was no colouring in.