Cardstock Patchwork

My sister recently celebrated her birthday and as she is the Queen of patchwork I thought I should try to make her a patchwork card.  Now I don't sew that well and certainly don't do patchwork, so this is my version of a patchwork card. 

I used my trusty Big Shot with square dies to create the boxes - so much easier than relying on cutting straight lines all the time.  If you are thinking about trying a card like this, it's much easier to glue your squares in place on a piece of scrap paper first rather than sticking straight onto the cardstock.  That way if you do make a mistake it's easier to rip it off and start again. 

And the inside ... I would be lost without the French text stamp from French Foliage.  

 

Don't you love that brad.  It's a Designer Builder Brads that you can decorate using anything you want in the centre and then you pop a clear "dome" over the top to seal it.  So pretty.  

 

 

All products are from Stampin' Up except square dies.

French Style Birthday

When I look through the Stampin' Up catalogues there are so many stamp sets that I would like and this was one on my wish list.  Unfortunately I would be broke if I bought them all so it is nice to have friends who are happy to share. I was able to borrow Artistic Etchings (now retired) recently and made quite a few cards of similar design for family and friends.   

       

This time I went with vanilla and black cardstock and even pulled out the crimper instead of using ribbon.  Lots of sponging on here and a bit of bling.

Happy Birthday Poppies

My sister in law celebrated her birthday this week and this is the card I made for her.  A friend of mine lent me some of her stamps and I have always liked this set.  I chose to stamp the poppies on some Newsprint DSP in black and then coloured the stalks with a blender pen.  I don't mind a bit of cutting out so I stamped the image again on Wisteria Wonder and cut around all the poppies.  They were sponged with Wisteria on the edges and then stuck onto the Newsprint image.  I found an image of the bow shape on the internet so enlarged it slightly to the size for my card and cut it out to make my bow.  And I even decorated the inside. 

 

It's been a tough and stressful time this week for a lot of people living in the fire affected areas around NSW.  Greg's sisters were both in areas that could have been impacted if things became worse on Wednesday and they packed up ready to leave at short notice.  Fortunately they and their homes were not harmed thanks to the efforts of all the fire fighters.   

A lot of people this week didn't even get a chance to think about what to take - it was just make sure all the people got out.   

This prompted a discussion at home about what we would take if we had a little time to pack up.  For my family we would have to take the laptops and hard drives.  I would want to take some of my scrapbooks and then my box of cardstock and ink pads.  And I don't want to leave behind my Big Shot.  I hope I never have to worry about this happening. 

 

 

More Christmas Cards

Sorry, but I still have a few more Christmas cards to show.  I told you I made a few extras to show.  

If you enjoy making your own Christmas cards, but are not that keen on stamping, then this card may be something you could do.  I have used some leftover Christmas papers from last year and simply created 3 strips or banners, attached a strip of cardstock with a sentiment and used one of the coloured buttons made with the Buttons and Blossoms Simply Pressed Clay Molds kit.  I am sure your friends would be happy to receive something like this. 

But with a little stamping you could create a card with a little more sparkle by using a swirl or flourish, emboss it with silver or gold in this case, attach a sentiment on an ornament shape with a bit of ribbon and another relatively easy one to do.  I stamped both layers of Cherry Cobbler at the same time and inserted a piece of white matt just to bring it out a little.  A little more involved, but still very Christmasy. 

 

And I have to wish my big sister a very happy big ??th birthday for Thursday.  Hopefully your family will spoil you this year and take you somewhere special for dinner. 

Christmas Door card

While getting organised for my last class I found this inspiration for a card on Pinterest from Loll Thompson.  Her card was more grey and white but I chose to use Cherry Cobbler for my door.  I had to borrow the tiny leaf punch from a friend specially to make this card.  Unfortunately I didn't have the lovely embossing folder that looks like bricks so instead I used the scoring plate to make my "house" look more like lengths of timber panelling which you cannot see with my very poor photography.  I must get someone technical to look at the settings for me - I must have changed something cause the photos lately are not great.  

To make the door it is simply a matter of cutting the shapes and sponging the edges for effect, adding a brad for a door handle and then some red brads for the wreath.  I used the Decorative Label punch to make the pots and cut bits off and added extras to make it look better.

 

 

After lots of deliberating I recently bought the Magnetic Platform from Stampin' Up.  It is a lot of money, but I have to say after going through lots of post it notes to hold framelits in place when using the Big Shot, I think it is worth it.  I love how nothing moves around and you can be confident that the image it cuts will be how you positioned it in the first place.  If you have been considering buying the platform - do it.  You too will be pleased you did. 

It's still Christmas here

This is the third card made last Saturday with Festive Flurries stamp set and Framelits.  It's not super clear in the photo, but there is a snowflake shape cut through the front of the card through which a ?? (I can't think what you would call it - a decoration, ornament, dangly thing) hangs which can be detached and the recipient can then hang it on their Christmas tree.  The lovely paper is from the Winter Frost DSP pack which comes with 48 sheets of 2 different double sided designs, all for just under $12.  All designs coordinate perfectly with Coastal Cabana (used on this card), Island Indigo, Bermuda Bay, Pool Party, Smoky Slate and Whisper White cardstock.  

And the final thing from Saturday was everyone got to make one of the larger ornaments in their favourite colour.  I have made a few of these and prefer the lighter colours, but there were some bold ones made which also looked beautiful. 

 

I still have a few more Christmas cards to share with you as I went through a couple of ideas before deciding on the previous 4 projects.  Shame I can't use any of them for my cards this year - that still has to be done. 

 

More Christmas

This was one of my favourite cards from Saturday.  It's a simple one but also quite striking with the tulle.  Unfortunately the colour in the photos is wrong - it should be more like the last photo - Cherry Cobbler - a very rich deep red, not pink. 

 

The Santa is from Tag It, one of Stampin' Up's promotions which gives $3 for every set sold to Ronald McDonald House Charities.  The sentiment is just the top and botton cut from the Santa image and joined together with a bit of Cherry tulle behind.

And this card is another easy card to make using the Honeycomb embossing folder and Christmas papers. 

 

The reason for my absence

On Saturday I had a group of women over for another class.  Have I mentioned before that I love having these get togethers even though I always agonise over what cards to make, whether people will like them, whether they are too hard or too easy and how long it will take to make them.  Fortunately at our last get together I was asked if we could make Christmas cards next time and also someone wanted to use paper piercing on the cards.  Made things a lot easier for me. 

So, over the last few weeks I have been planning Christmas cards and another secret project, so I haven't had anything to share with you.  But now ....

This is the first card we made using Lovely as a Tree stamp set.  I'm not really a fan of Garden Green cardstock but it's Christmas, so I went traditional this time.  

The lovely shape was cut with the Adorning Accents Edgelits.  Fortunately I had 2 sets of these so we could cut both sides at once and also both sheets of cardstock ran through the Big Shot quite easily which made things simpler for all.  Then it was a case of cutting through the middle of the green cardstock and sliding it out to correct width for a border and then piercing all edges for effect.  Some chose to stamp in Garden Green ink rather than gold emboss and both versions looked good.  Add a seam binding bow and done.  The off cuts from the edgelits were then used to dress up the inside of the card.  

And I also made a few other cards to share different ideas for Christmas, all based on versions seen on Pinterest - the great time waster. 

 

 

After stamping the tree and sentiment on white cardstock I laid it on top of a front opening Old Olive card with the Framelit from Labels Collection inserted in the middle so it cut towards the front.  In the second photo you can see an indent from the framelit which I liked because it created an extra border for the inside.  Lastly I traced around the framelit to create the small border and hand cut. 

A quick one and an update

I am working on another couple of projects at the moment, one for a special birthday coming up and then for a group of cards for an upcoming class in December, so obviously I can't show you them yet.  

Here's a quick card whipped up using the negative space from dies.   Lots of people just throw the off cuts away, but sometimes they actually make an equally good card.  You will have to believe me that the colours on this card looked soooo much better in real life; Coastal Cabana, Strawberry Slush and Bashful Blue.

And remember I mentioned recently that I had been making something for Rachel Capps' fundraiser.  Here is an excerpt from the website about the amount raised on the day.  

So, what was the grand total raised on Saturday, from the raffle and craft sale.... I know you are all dying to find out....I have announced it to Shane and Rachel, they were overwhelmed by the generosity of everyone who contributed, and wanted me to pass on their thanks to everyone........ So thanks everyone........ And the total ........ An amazing ............. Twenty-two thousand and sixty-two dollars and fifty cents!!! ($22,062.50). Well done everyone!
This is double what we thought we might have a chance of raising, an incredible response for an incredible lady and her family. I am sure it will inspire Rachel to persevere on her long road to recovery.

Isn't that an amazing amount of money!  Still I guess realistically it won't go far with having to pay for all treatments involved, wheelchair and specialised equipment so she can go home.  But an amazing effort for all those who organised the event and worked so hard to make the day a success.   

Another wonderful friend's birthday

I am so lucky to have made some great friends through our mutual love of all things crafty and Stampin' Up.  There is something about papercrafting that bonds people together.  Funny how an incidental comment made about stamping at work  can change your whole world.  

Another one of my wonderful friends recently celebrated her birthday and this is the card I made for her.  It uses some of my favourite First Edition paper that I just cannot part with and  Summer Silhouettes stamp set. 

 
A little bit of cutting out required, but I actually find it quite therapeutic. 

A get well card

I recently made a get well card for a friend's husband and used the whale from Pun Fun set (now retired).  

Once again the photo doesn't show it too well, but the background is shimmered and sponged.  

And if you are wondering what I have been working on lately, I have just finished making a bundle of the Festive Flurry snowflakes for a fundraiser.  I was enjoying myself until the hot glue gun decided to pack it in and everything had to be glued by melting the glue on the outside of the nozzle and letting it drip down where needed. 

 

My mother in law celebrated her birthday recently and this is the card I made for her.  I wanted something crisp and clean so chose a white background with a border panel.  I used the dandelion from Summer Silhouettes with a bit of sponging on the edges for effect. 

I was a bit disappointed with the spacing on the bottom of the panel, but happy with the top.  The photo doesn't really do this justice, but the colours used were More Mustard and Rich Razzleberry - a nice combination.  

7 year old birthday

On the weekend we had a picnic birthday party in Glenbrook National Park for my 7 year old niece and also to watch the riders, and in particular my brother-in-law and nephew, come in from the Woodford to Glenbrook Classic Bike race.  Fortunately for all the day was much cooler than the Saturday - perfect conditions for our plans.  And both riders finished the race in good times too.  

This is the card made for my niece.  She is a lover of all things pink, and we like to please.  

 

I used three of the new in colours; Strawberry Slush, Coastal Cabana and Pistachio Pudding with Adorning Accents, Chevron and a (non Stampin' Up) Darice embossing folder for a little texture. 

 

 

My wonderful friend

One of my good friends recently celebrated her birthday and as she once admired a card very similar to this one I decided to slightly change it to suit her.  There aren't many people you can get away with having a saying like "My dear kind and wonderful friend" on, but I felt on this occasion I could.  It's from a set called "Occasional Greetings" which has now retired but I picked it up at one of the recent craft sales.  

I think black and white cards look quite elegant and that's the effect I wanted to portray for this very talented friend of mine.  

I also had to make an envelope to fit the card into.  I found this quite tricky to work out even with the diagonal scorer.  I have heard Stampin' Up have just released an Envelope Maker in the US which has templates of all different sized envelopes, so hopefully it will be in Australia before too long.

 

Seeing stars

Friday afternoon my darling son asked if I had a card for a birthday he was going to on Saturday.  Have been meaning to try something like this for a while after seeing something similar on Pinterest, so it didn't take much time at all to make.  As it was for a 16 old boy, grunge was the order ofthe day.  Lots of black sponging and stamping, and during the making I smudge one of the stars.  But you know what, it really didn't matter. 

The card I was copying was stitched to keep everything together, but I glued mine down and used the paper piercing pack to "stitch".
 

So as I enjoyed making this one so much and was pleased with the end result I made one for my darling husband who celebrated his birthday on Father's Day this year. 

Similiar, but different.