Wedding Blues and Lilacs

A friend asked me to make up a wedding card in blue and lilac.  I struggled at first until I remembered this beautiful paper from Kaisercraft Utopia.  

I attached some paper to foam board and cut two primitive hearts from an Ellison Thick Cuts die.  I then partially cut one of the hearts from the other so they would nestle up close together and gave them a good coat of glossy accents to make sure they stay that way.

The sentiment is from WMS Big Day Additions.  I've mounted it on a Spellbinders Replendent Rectangle.  I tried some WMS Funky Flowers in the top left corner, but I just couldn't get them to sit right given the space available.  I ended up using these die cut loopy flowers.  They were cut with a Cuttlebug die but I can't remember what they're called since they were one of the first dies I ever owned and the packaging is long gone.  I gave them a liberal dose of Glossy Accents as well.

The envelope is stamped with a WMS Funky Flower.  I also stamped another and cut it out with the matching die to make an elegant envelope seal.  WMS Cutting Edge Dies cut so well that the double sided tape I attached to the back of the image didn't phase it.  If you're sending something through the post any embellishments have to be stuck down well or you risk losing them, or worse having your card mangled.

I'm entering this in the WMS Fanatics Challenge 31 - Flowers.  

Thanks for stopping by,

Kate   

Baby Girl Card

I recently bought the Memory Box Baby Carriage die and have been itching to use it.  I knew it would be beautifully paired with this sentiment from the WMS Big Day Today set.

I used a partial Label 14 die to frame the sentiment.  It reminds me of a cloud and I've dangled a die cut star, moon (cut one circle from another) and heart from it so it resembles a crib mobile.

The inside easel sentiment is computer generated - it's just something that came to me based on the front scene, though I dare say I'm not the first to think of it.  I tried to keep the font sympathetic to Claire's beautifully scripted Welcome sentiment.  Again I used a partial Label 14 die so that it matched the front.  

The little baby carriage on the envelope was stamped with an old wooden mounted stamp.  I last used  used this ten years ago when I made the birth announcements for Simon.

Thanks for stopping by,

Kate

Sassy Red Dress for Christmas

Evening all.  Using a very old Sizzix Original die I cut this dress, shoes and handbag from red satin.  It looked so festive I couldn't resist making it into a Christmas card though this was not the original intention.  The sentiment is one I thought up myself so I had to rely on the word processor.  I'm not really happy with the sentiment - the spacing of that capital "S" is not right.  I fiddled with character spacing and letter sizes but this was the best I could manage.

Thanks for stopping by - especially if you take the time to comment,

Kate

Box of Delights

I've made up a box of stamping goodies for Simon's friend Jess who's having her birthday tomorrow.  It was her idea not mine - though I'm always happy to advocate my favourite pastime.

I've upcycled a shoe box.  It was for a girl's pair of boots (courtesy of Simon's friend Niamh) so was already covered in a pretty pink paper.  I've created panels to hide all traces of the box's previous existence using a free stamp from Craft Stamper and WMS Splat That.    The colours are from the last Waltzing Mouse Fanatics Challenge and match the card I made for her earlier.

Using a set like this is not easy for a borderline OCD neat person like myself but once I surrendered to the freedom of mess I really enjoyed it.  Of course it does help that Claire has created a fabulous little set here.

There was a hole in the side of the box so I created a hole in the panel and used it to poke scraps of ribbon through - just what every budding card maker needs.

This may be a bit cheeky but I'm entering this in the November Pyjama Party Wrap it up Challenge.   It's not warm and cozy but I think the splattered background gives a certain comfy and cozy feel to it - like an old pair of dungarees LOL !!!

Once again thanks for stopping by,
Kate

Country Christmas Blessings

Pyjama Party Time Again !!!  Yippee !!!

This is my entry for the Bedtime Sketch, though it is somewhat more ordered than the sketch really called for.  Perhaps I'll go back to the drawing board and try again, if I have time.  Simon and I are going to a birthday party tomorrow, so not sure it will happen.

Using stamps from WMS Country Labels 4,  I built up a background of houses in Festive Berries and Evergreen Bough Distress Inks.  To mute the colours I overlaid a sheet of vellum.  To hide the tape that was needed to secure the vellum, I overlaid photo corners from Tim Holtz ATC and corners.

This is really a Thanksgiving sentiment rather than a Christmas one, but given  the red and green colour scheme and the sprig of holly, I think it works rather well.  The label has been mounted on a gingham panel which was stamped with smallest check from WMS Gingham and Co. set.  I'm getting great use from this set which I ordered just last month for my birthday - should have ordered it years ago !!!

The holly on the card is from the Tim Holtz Holiday Lamppost and has been given the glossy accents treatment to make it shine.   The envelope was stamped with the a sprig of holly from the Festive Foliage set.  I only realised last night that I have the die for the festive foliage holly and could have used it for the card as well. 

I've catalogued all the stamps and die cuts I possess in my iPhoto library and I use key words like sentiment, Christmas, birthday, thanks, baby etc in the description.  When I need something I search this catalogue and it helps me locate where the physical stamp or die cut is stored.  It saves me time usually and helps me when my Mojo is running low.  However, occasionally I slip up - must make a point of  using this die before Christmas.   I would love to know how others keep track of their stash.

I'm also entering it in Festive Friday Challenge 14 which has the following inspirational photo

and the current Make it Monday which has the theme

Berries and Foliage

Thanks for stopping by,

Kate

Cozy Christmas Tote

In this month's WMS Pyjama Party Claire has challenged us to create some gift wrapping/gift bag or box with a cozy feel to it. 

I've created this little tote bag with my Cameo.  The panels have been stamped with WMS Vintage Christmas Backgrounder in Versafine Red Satin.  I layered a red Snowflake #3 and white glitter Snowflake #2 to adorn the bag.

Thanks for stopping by,

Kate

Red Robin Tags

I made up these tags for the WMS Pyjama Party Scandi Tags category.  They're not very Scandinavian with their French sentiments and distressed edges, but Claire said red and white would probably pass muster so here they are.

The WMS Stitched Tags have been stamped with a sentiment from the WMS Say it Loud Winter Holiday set in Festive Berry Distress Ink.  The little Memory Box Meadow Bird was cut from red glitter card as was the grommet for the tag.  The To and From on the back are from the WMS Ornate Ornaments set.

Thanks for stopping by
Kate

Alpine Christmas Wishes

I wasn't so happy with the debossed sky from my previous card so I had the idea of using this polka dot border stamp from WMS Gingham and Co. for the snowy night sky.  Once again I've used the WMS Alpine Christmas set, this time for the mountain range which was cut with its matching die.  This sentiment is from the newer WMS 'Tis the Season set.   I'm loving the bold flourished sentiments in this set - they add a real elegance to a very simple card design.  I made up 6 of these in an evening, applied some glossy accents to the deer and left them to dry over night.

I'm entering this card in the WMS Pyjama Party Old Pyjamas category.

Thanks for stopping by,

Kate

Shiny Red Deer

I fell in love with the red/white/black colour combination on these cards I made last week, so I've used it again.  This is one of my favourite sentiments from one of my favourite older sets - WMS Alpine Christmas and I'm entering this in the Old Pyjamas category of the WMS November Pyjama Party.  The pyjama party is a great opportunity to get inspiration for old and new WMS sets and the fact that there's a chance to win some more Waltzing Mouse Stamps is an added bonus.

The Mini Tim Holtz Deer has been given the Glossy Accents treatment, and the skyline has been given a snowy makeover.  A Memory Box Star of Wonder is set in a Swiss Dots debossed sky.

Thanks for stopping by,

Kate

Colourful Mess

One of Simon's friends is having a birthday party this weekend.  She wants a kit for card making for her birthday so I had this idea for her birthday card using the Waltzing Mouse Splat That set and this freebie stamp from Craft Stamper.  

I was going to save it up for the WMS Pyjama Party on Friday night because I was inspired by the Bedtime Story Sketch.  However when I saw the colours in WMS Fanatics Challenge 30 (two of which are Jessie's favourites), I thought I'd enter it there instead.

When I loaded the photos I realised the problem with colour challenges and indoor photography.  Those murky crimson splats are actually stamped with Dusty Concord Distress Ink and are purple IRL and the Shabby Shutters Distress Ink looks more yellow here than green.  At least the Picked Raspberry and Peacock Feathers resemble their true colours.  

I punched 1" squares in matching colours and assembled them on another piece of card.  I then stamped the image on this panel.  I stamped it again in white and fussy cut out the jar and utensils, painted them with one of those water pens and the same inks I had used for the background.  You can't see it in the photo but I applied Glossy Accents to the jar.  I mounted this panel on a black Spellbinders Postage Square.

The sentiment is from the Waltzing Mouse Big Day - Today set.

Thanks for stopping by,
Kate

Seeing Stars

My friend Jo asked if I could make a card for her to give to friends who celebrated turning 40 last weekend.  They're both American and accomplished musicians so I created this card with his and hers shaker stars filled with red, white and blue seed pearls and musical motifs.  The stars and striped DP were also a nod to their American heritage.

The stars were cut using the 2 largest Sizzix Star Framelits and layered up to give a good thickness to allow the shaker elements to move freely. 

The numbers were cut with a PTI die, the Musical motifs were cut with a Memory Box die and the Congrats was cut with a Clearly Besotted die.   Liberal amounts of Glossy Accents were applied to all the elements.  I also punched/die cut 40 confetti stars to go inside the card. 

Shaker cards are certainly much easier to make with die cutting machines and Framelits and Spellbinders dies to do the aperture cutting.  Who remembers the old days of using a craft knife to cut the inside window ???

Thanks for stopping by, especially if you take the time to leave a comment,

Kate

Deck Those Trees

I fell in love with this pretty sketch from Freshly Made Sketches sketch 161, and I knew it would be perfect to use up one of the extra backgrounds I created last month while Thinking of a Pink Christmas.  

Of course the main reason I fell in love with it was that it gave me the perfect excuse to use this new (for me) Plush Bow die from Memory Box.  I must admit it I was a little daunted when I first saw it - it's so tiny and needs to be assembled.  I managed it though and it is definitely worth it.

The background stamp is from Sizzix/Hero Arts called Birds 'n Trees.  I embossed it with a pink embossing powder before dry embossing it with its own matching embossing folder.

I cut the little bird from white card using the Memory Box Meadow Bird die.  I embossed him 3 times with pink embossing powder and then twice with UTEE.  I just love the marbled effect this creates.

The sentiment is from Waltzing Mouse Stamps Vintage Ornaments, which I also embossed in pink.

I've made up the elements for another 3 pink and 4 green cards using the same sketch, but I wanted to get this one finished and posted before the Linky closes for Freshly Made Sketches.  I'll edit the post once they're done to include the others (if I remember) !!!

Thanks for stopping by - especially if you take the time to leave a comment,

Kate

ED. Here are the same cards in green.  The background and envelope were stamped in Bundled Sage Distress Ink.  It looks more olive here than in IRL.  I used Clearsnap Pistachio EP on the bird and the sentiment.

First Noel Cards

I finally inked up this new WMS 'Tis the Season set.   I love the boldly flourished sentiments, and this Noel sentiment fitted perfectly on this pretty Picot Panel (love that it's self matting). 

Inspiration for these cards came from Mojo Monday 370 - yet another brilliant sketch from Julee Tilman.  

As well as the WMS 'Tis the Season stamp set and the WMS Picot Panel, I've also used a Sizzix Framelits Banner and a glossily accented sprig of holly from the Tim Holtz Holiday Lamp Post die.  I've used some Raspberry Road Christmas Collection papers which were a freebie from the Quick Cards magazine last year - I'm so much better at collecting papers than using them !!!

 

My Christmas Card stash is slowly growing, how's yours ???

Thanks for stopping by, especially if you take the time to leave a comment.  

Kate

Christmas in Red and White

 It's probably a good thing that I'm panicking over Christmas and it's only just gone November - normally I start panicking in December.  Of course it's a lot easier to make Christmas cards when the shops are decorated and Christmas music is playing everywhere.  Which is why Christmas Card Challenges such as Festive Friday are so fantastic.  If you're short on inspiration you will come away full of ideas.  Not just from the design team either, there are some super talented card makers out there!!!  Here is the inspiration photo for Festive Friday #43.

… and here are my individual cards.  

Sorry if some of the sentiments are a bit blurred - I think the glossily accented bows and holly upset the automatic focus.

Stamps used were WMS Heirloom Patterns, WMS Vintage Christmas Backgrounder, WMS Mini Pinstripe (for the last present) and WMS Ornate Ornaments (for the sentiment).  Dies used were Sizzix Originals Gift #2 and Sizzix Holiday Lamppost (for the holly) and Spellbinders Classic Ovals for mounting the sentiment.

Hope you're inspired too !!!

Thanks for stopping by,

Kate