Memory Box - Meadow Bird

I also have a lot of cardstock which now needs to be used before I go out and buy more (just simply do not have the space for anymore !).  This card was made using Hero Arts cardstock with a Memory Box die called Meadow Bird and a Stampin Up Cogs Extra Large punch for the gear shape decoration.

A simple card using dies and punches which I tend to forget about sometimes.

Memory Box - Prim Poppy

With having had to reorganise my craft storage area using a lot of plastic crates which have ended up being quite heavy I have decided to change my way of thinking when it comes to planning a card.  I usually start with an image and then try to match it up with background paper and the card.  This time I started with the card (and do I have lots of those - did not realise just how many until I had to pack them all up), chose the background paper and then went for the topper.  I have done about 10 cards altogether which makes it easier for me to unpack the crates only once and chose the paper.  I certainly do not have to enrol in a gym here as will get plenty of weight lifting doing my craft !

The background paper to this card has come from an old 6 x 6 pad made by Fresh Print called Blueberry Swatch book.  The poppy is a Memory Box die called Prim Poppy with the sentiment being a Hero Arts one from the set called Remember.  It was stamped using Archival Cobalt ink and die cut with Sizzix Ovals.

Marij Rahder - Suzy 2

After not being able to craft for so long it was a bit of a challenge as to what to start with.  Seeing we are currently living on a farm with lots of horses I thought a horse stamp would be appropriate.

It is such a pity there are no more Marij Rahder stamp sets around, I just love her quirky images.  The horse and the fence are separate stamps from the same set and I just made a mask of the horse (with a post-it note) to stamp the fence in the background.  I used Momento Tuxedo Black ink on Copic paper which I bought from 7 Kids College Fund.  My Copic colouring in is very rusty so I decided just to stick to just browns for the horse.  The images were die cut with Go Create Plain Ovals using Antique Linen Distress ink sponged along the sides.  Not sure of the background paper as I cut a whole lot into card size before we moved and did not note down where they came from.

The sentiment is from the Gina K Designs Purr-fectly Delightful stamp set and was die cut with a Whimsy Notables 2 die.  Have a great week.

Kaszazz - Snowy Reindeer Large

The second of my cards today.  This Kaszazz Snowy Reindeer Large 1199J stamp (Kaszazz is an Australian company) was coloured in using an aqua brush and Black Soot Distress Ink.  The horns are a combination of LuminArte Cinnamon Brown and Burnt Umber.  The headband is Pumpkin Spica Glitter pen with the balls also being painted in LuminArte Poppy Red, Ginger Peach, Deep Coral and Orange Peel.

The background paper is Bo Bunny Father Christmas Stripe.  The sentiment is a Hero Art one called Holiday Sayings die cut using Whimsy Notables 2.  On the left hand side I have used MFT die Fishtail Flag Stax to cut 3 pieces which were decorated with a few snowflakes from my stash.

Peachy Keen's Country Bumpkin Mooey Christmas

I know it is after Xmas but I have finally managed to get 2 cards downloaded onto my computer.  Been having problems with my usually trustworthy photo editing program.

This delightful image from Peachy Keen's Country Bumpkin Mooey Christmas was mailed and as it was made back in October I am unable to remember how I coloured it in - sorry.  The sentiment is from the Hero Art set called Wishes Come True and it was die cut using Whimsy Bottle Cap with a Spellbinders Circle.

The good news is that all my craft boxes have been unpacked and everything survived the international move.  My new craft room has been set up and I am looking forward to getting back to creating.  Just have to deal with my first winter in the northern hemisphere !

Cottage Cutz Holiday Sleigh die

A simple red and gold Christmas card.  The sleigh by Cottage Cutz is an easy one to die cut and it has some solid parts from an adhesive perspective, something which I always look at when purchasing a new die.  I do have a Xyron but end up with more tacky stuff on me than on the die cut.  Must be doing something wrong !!

The sentiment is an unknown one for me and I still have no access to my stamps.  Our container has yet to be delivered so I am without my craft supplies for a while longer.

Peachy Keen - Skatin' By

I'm back after moving countries - what a mission !  All my craft goodies are still to be shipped and we are hoping to have them in the UK by the beginning of December.  Just as well I made a lot of Xmas cards in advance and bought them over in my suitcase.  I even bought an ink pad and sentiments for the inside but forgot to pack an acrylic block.  Oh well, I was looking for an excuse to find a craft store and now I have it !

This Peachy Keen Skatin' By penguin was coloured in with Smooches and cut out.  He was mounted on 2 Spellbinders Pinking Circles and then on 2 Spellbinders Classic Circles.  The background paper is from my stash and the sentiment is a Hobby Art one called Christmas Greetings.

Looking forward to spending my first Northern Hemisphere Christmas.  Hope it snows !!

Fun 'n' Flair - Snowmany Wishes

This cute snowman comes in a set complete with sentiments to fit in the board.  The image was coloured in using markers.

Cottage Cutz - Build-a-Poinsettia

No, I have not dropped off the planet but I have been very busy with our upcoming overseas move.  I had no idea things could get this stressful !!

Here is another Xmas card made using Cottage Cutz Build-a-Poinsettia die.  The background is a scrap free from a magazine and on the petals of the flower I did a little bit of Stickles Xmas Red to give it a bit of a festive look.  The sentiment is Hero Art Holiday Cheer in Archival Crimson ink die cut with Spellbinders Resplendant Rectangles.

Cottage Cutz - Carousel Silhouette

In the midst of creating my Xmas cards I realised I needed a birthday card and that I had given all the cards I have made away.  With moving overseas next month I donated all my cards and projects to the local children's hospital charity store (along with half the stuff in the kitchen cupboards - everyone needs an overseas move once in a lifetime to make you realise just how much junk one collects).

This card is another quick and easy one (all I seem to have time for these days) using the Cottage Cutz Carousel Silhouette die.  I have said many times before just how easy most of their dies are to assemble and I am planning to take some across with me in my suitcase, pieces already cut out, so I can still get some crafting done whilst waiting for the container to arrive.  I suspect I will need to de-stress with all that has to be done once we arrive.

The sentiment was one I had made in bulk a while back (planning ahead for the move) but forgot to write down which stamp set it is from.  Looks like it could be a Flourishes one.

Form-A-Lines - Christmas Kit 7 - Winter Scene

A simple scene from using gold thread for this Form-A-Lines pattern.

The sentiment is Hero Arts from the Merry Christmas Trees set inked in Brilliance Galaxy Gold.

Penny Black - A Bright Tomorrow

The wreath is from a Penny Black set A Bright Tomorrow and it is framed using Spellbinders Circles.  To colour in the wreath I used Momento markers, New Sprout and Bamboo Leaves and Distress markers Fired Bricks and Barn Door for the bow.

Background striped paper is a Bo Bunny one called Rejoice Strip.  Cannot recall which set the sentiment comes from, apologies.

Kaszazz Scarf Teddy with Penny Black Let it Snow

Another card using the Kaszazz image called Scarf Teddy.

The background is The Crafter's Workshop Mini Tile Texture done in Distress ink Bundled Sage
Sentiment Penny Black set called Let it Snow in Brilliance ink Pearlescent Thyme
Kaszazz Scarf Teddy large coloured in using

Scarf     Distress Stains - Bundled Sage and Fired Brick
Hat        Distress ink pad Festive Berries and Tombow marker Carmine (845)
Bear      Distress Stains - Tea Dye, Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain
All the Distress Stains, ink pad and marker used with a paint brush and water to dilute

Peachy Keen - Skatin' By with snowflake background

Peachy Keen has such happy stamps and this little chap is no exception.  He was coloured in using Siren Smooch and Stampin Up Dusty Durango for the beak.  I have a whole lot of different colour Smooches and find them ideal for Christmas cards when a little extra sparkle is called for.

The background is Spellbinders Impressabilities Snowflake used as a stencil.  I sponged it with Distress ink Weathered Wood.  It is a quick and easy background and I think it complements the image.  The sentiment is from a Penny Black set called Let it Snow and punched with an old Fiskars squeeze punch which I see is no longer available.

Cottage Cutz Santa's Coat & Rack

This is a Cottage Cutz die - Santa's Coat & Rack - from last Christmas which I received too late to use.

I used scraps from my stash to cut it out and it was quick and easy to assemble.  The rest of the card is made up also with scraps from my considerable stash of paper.  The sentiment, I think, is from Lily of the Valley.  It has no name on the packet or the stamp set.  I used Spellbinders Pinking Circles to frame the sentiment.

Form-A-Lines Christmas Kit 7 - Carol Singers

Another Form-A-Lines card kit in which I used a multi colour thread for the carol singers.  The lamp was done in a silver thread with the 'light' stitched in gold.

The sentiment is from the Penny Black Christmas Cheer set inked in Brilliance Pearl Poppy.  The deckled edge to the topper was made using a Creative Memories cutter and blade.

Kaszazz Scarf Teddy large with Dreamweaver stencil Lace Border

In an effort to get a number of cards done in as shorter time as possible I stamped out a lot of this Kaszazz Scarf Teddy stamp.  I reckoned it would not take too much time to colour in and I could do them all on a sort of production line.  Once I had the cards laid out I choose different backgrounds and colour inks which make it quite easy to match them to the stamp when I coloured that in.

I used the following on this card :
Dreamweaver stencil Lace Border - Distress ink Weathered Wood
Sentiment is from Stampin Up Many Merry Messages using Distress marker Weathered Wood.
Stamp is Kaszazz Scarf Teddy Large 1861J

Coloured in as follows :
Scarf     Distress Stains - Weathered Wood and Fired Brick
Hat       Distress ink pad Festive Berries and Tombow marker Carmine (845)
Bear     Distress Stains - Tea Dye, Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain
All the Distress Stains, ink pad and marker used with a paint brush and water to dilute.

Peachy Keen - Snow Gifts

I coloured this cute snowman from Peachy Keen Snow Gifts in using Siren Smooch for the mittens and Distress ink Evergreen Bough on the scarf.  The nose is Stampin Up Dusty Durango and the  tongue is Distress marker Worn Lipstick.

For the hat I used Festive Brick Distress ink and Tombow marker - Carmine.  The sentiment is Hero Arts Christmas Greetings die cut using a Hero Arts Small Tag Frame die.

The background is Spellbinders Impressabilities used as a stencil sponged with Distress ink Evergreen Bough.  I struggle with the Impressabilities as I am not happy with their effect on the paper - mine come out not deep enough yet when I add extra shim I cannot get it through the machine.  Using it as a stencil makes far more sense to me !

Prick 'n Stitch - Xmas Tree

Prick 'n Stitch is available in South Africa which makes it a lot easier to get hold of for me.  The main design was done using embroidery thread and a shiny cotton type thread.

I used a Stampin Up border punch to frame it and the sentiment is from the Hobby Art set called Christmas Greetings.

Dreamweaver - Zig Zag Xmas Tree

Not sure if other crafters do this but I have little plastic bags with border punch left overs in.  It comes in handy when you need circles like these or eyes on a punch art figure.  So, I am unable to tell you where the circles on the Xmas tree came from other than from my little bag of circles !

This Dreamweaver stencil LL595 - Zig Zag Xmas Tree was sponged using Distress Inks onto cardstock which I got in the left over bin of an art supply store.  They make up piles of offcuts and sell them for next to nothing.  Most of my card toppers use these offcuts.  The border punch used on the red cardstock is an old, un named EK Success one.

Form-A-Lines - Christmas Kit 3 - Angel

The photo does not do this card justice.  The thread used is a shiny silver and is quite a contrast against the blue card stock.  This card did take a bit longer to do than normal but I enjoyed doing something different for a change.  I am not usually too accomplished with a needle and thread but the  Form-A-Lines patterns are pretty much idiot proof !

The sentiment is from the Hero Arts set Holiday Sayings and is stamped in Archival Cobalt.

Dreamweaver - Coil Christmas Tree

The Dreamweaver stencils are fun and easy to use.  I prefer using Distress inks with a finger sponge as I find there is more control this way.

Distress inks used on this coil tree were Evergreen Bough and Mustard Seed.  The sentiment is a Clear Dollar one from the Filled with Cheer set.

Inkadinkado - Filigree Holiday Patterns

I know, Christmas cards this time of the year, but I thought I would get an early start as the next 4 months or so are going to be quite busy and I did not want Christmas to creep up on me this year, again.  So, for the foreseeable future, it will be Christmas cards from me.

I stamped this Inkadinkado Filigree Holiday Patterns stocking in Archival Colbalt ink and mounted it on 3 Spellbinders Classic Circles from the large and small sets.

The sentiment was also stamped in Archival Cobalt and is from the Hobby Arts set Christmas Greetings.

Apologies for being MIA for 3 weeks but, together with DH, did a volunteer stint relocating wild captive animals and it took a little longer than anticipated.

Whiff of Joy - Magical Wishes

Yet another clean and simple card.  I used a card map from Card Positioning Systems blog and pulled out my Creative Memories wavy trimmer (not sure of it's proper name) to cut out the blue "waves".

The balance of this card is made up of Spellbinders Circles Small with Spellbinders Wonky Rectangles and Whiff of Joy - Magical Wishes for the sentiment.

I will try to post some cards for the next 2 weeks but I will be away helping move animals (lions, tigers, jaguars, leopards, pumas etc - 45 of them) from one animal sanctuary to their beautiful new one about a 2 hour drive away.  Not going to have too much time to create !  Be back around the end of the month.

Marianne D - Cupcake

This is a clean and simple card cased from Kristina Werner's blog.  I used the following supplies :

Spellbinders Petite Scallop Circles
Spellbinders Circles
Marianne D - Cupcake die
MFT - First Place Award Ribbon stamped with sentiment from Hero Arts Find Joy stamp set

The pink gingham paper is from my stash and it has been edged with Victorian Velvet Distress ink.

Hero Arts - Balloon Ride

On this card I used paper from the DCWV Stack 7 pad and stamped it with a large Hero Arts Newspaper Background in Archival Sepia.

The balloons are also a Hero Arts image called Balloon Ride.  The sentiment has been punched out with a Stampin Up oval punch - not sure where the sentiment came from.  Think I had it in my stash and forgot to put it's origin on the back.

Hero Arts - Thank You Messages

I saw a similar idea for this card whilst trawling through the various craft blogs and, seeing I did not have a suitable tree image, I decided to do one free hand.  If nothing else, my art lessons are giving me the confidence to try something new !

The left hand side of the card was sponged with Chipped Sapphire Distress ink with the right hand side being Spiced Marmalade.  For the tree I used the Stampin Up Basic Black marker.  The sentiment is from the Hero Arts set called Thank You Messages.

MFT - Let's Toast

I love this MFT Let's Toast die and stamp set.  It is quick and easy to put together and looks good on a bottle of wine being used as a gift.

I found a scrap of Creative Memories paper to decorate the label and used a circle from the MFT Sweet Stack Labels die.  The sentiment is from the Let's Toast stamp set.  The wine glass is also part of the Let's Toast die set and I added the 'wine' part by cutting out another die shape in maroon and trimming it down.

Impression Obsession - Tree Line

I was trying to find a particular stamp set the other day and came across a couple of large Impression Obsession stamps I forgot I had.  With the larger stamps I tend to ink them up and instead of picking the stamp up I leave it ink side up on the desk and lay the card stock over it pressing down with an acrylic block.

With this Tree Line image I used Archival Black ink on a linen card stock which gives a dappled sort of a look.  Once it had dried I used Distress inks on the background and finished off with a Cuttlebug alphabet die sentiment.

Hero Arts - Thanks Postcard

This Hero Arts - Thanks Postcard image is one of those quick and easy projects.  I used Maroon Archival ink, cut around the image and pasted it onto a card trimmed using a Creative Memories fancy edge - not sure what the proper name is.