Gingham Cottage

I started this paper-pieced cottage last month but only just got around to finishing it off today - specifically the envelope and lining.  This pretty image from WMS Sewing Box Hugs lends itself so well to paper piecing and I had been meaning to try this for some time.  I used one of the Spellbinders Postage Stamps Square dies to cut a mat - I always think it has that fabric swatch look which complements the theme sew very nicely.  I used a fine liner to "stitch" around the outside of the gingham because my sewing machine needs repairs.  I placed a sheet of plaid DP on the inside and added some little buttons down the left side.  These were cut with the smallest of the PTI Bitty Buttons Stack dies.  I glossed them up a little for some added shine.

Thanks for stopping by,

Kate

Communion Season

A communion card for a young boy based on a previous design of mine using the Spellbinders D-lite Filigree Cross and the Waltzing Mouse Celtic Heritage stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by,

Kate

Rainbow Warrior

I've had this idea to use these elements from WMS Asian Gardens Additions with a rainbow and this month's Waltzing Mouse PJ party seemed the ideal opportunity to give it a try, what with all the mentions of showers and this sketch which seemed to lend itself to the design I had in mind.

The inside sentiment will read "otherwise there would be no rainbows".  This is another card for my dear friend Maggie who had her birthday today.  Us girls are meeting up tomorrow night to take her out for dinner and this is the card I've made for her.  This birthday marks an important milestone for Maggie.  Little did she dream when she celebrated her 50th birthday last year, that she would literally have the fight of her life in the following 12 months.  She has met every challenge with grace, composure and incredible optimism.  This is not just a birthday card, it's a celebration card for a beautiful and fierce warrior.  

Thanks for stopping by,

Kate

Thoughtful Tree

A friend asked me to make her a sympathy card and I asked her if she had any preferences.  "Love that tree" was her reply and I knew exactly which tree she meant.  This tree from the WMS Asian Gardens is one of my favourites.  It's really not that much trouble to fussy cut some extra foliage and the results are definitely worth it.

The leaves were inked up with green and ochre chalk inks.  I used the largest Spellbinders Label 2 Nestie to mount the tree, and added a little blue shading (Salty Ocean DI) on the top half and a little green (Peeled Paint DI) on the bottom half while still in the nestie die to finish off the panel and ground the image.

Naturally while the stamp was out and all inked up, I couldn't resist stamping the envelope as well.

Did I mention there's a Waltzing Mouse Pyjama Party going on tonight/today.  You have only 24 hours to link up so hurry over to the WMS Blog.  

When I was making the card, I didn't have access to the sketch and was working from memory, hence the liberties taken with the sketch.

Thanks for stopping by,
Kate

Welcome Little One

I made this easel card for a baby boy born recently.  I love how the labels 14 die resembles a cloud which I've used as the base for a hanging mobile here.  Best of all though is how perfectly this gorgeous flourished sentiment from WMS Big Day Today fits onto it.

This pretty little baby carriage die from Memorybox can easily be personalised with a mini tag.  This tag is from a very old spellbinders die and I've long since lost the packaging - in any case it was most likely decommissioned ages ago.  However there is also a mini tag on the Opera Tags Die set which could also work.

The sentiment on the inside  -  May the Moon and Stars always be within your grasp - is one I made up to suit the hanging mobile elements.  You are free to use it but please give me credit.  The sentiment and the tag were both computer generated and printed in a soft grey colour to best match the silver embossed sentiment and the silver threads used to hang the mobile elements and to attach the name tag to the handle.

It's PJ Party time over at Waltzing Mouse where one of the challenges is to create a gift tag for a baby or bridal shower.   This is a card rather than a tag, but I hope it meets the other criteria.

Thanks for stopping by,

Kate

Beguiling Butterfly

I wanted to make a really special card for my dear friend Maggie who has her birthday this week.  I've been thinking about it for ages but with 2 days to go I thought I had better do more than just think about it, action was required and decisions had to be made.  In the end I built up the card around this sheet of DP which just happened to be on my work desk.  It seemed perfect for Maggie, with loads of motivational phrases as well as words that really stand out like Birthday and Cake!!!    I built up a thick layer of embossing on a butterfly element and overstamped it with a Crafty Individual text stamp.  This stamp features lots of motivational words so I thought they would tie in nicely together.  I tried to stamp  the portion of the stamp which had the word "Believe" across the body of the butterfly.  Here's a close up of the butterfly.  

You may be wondering about that enamelled border piece on the left as well.  That was part of a Sizzix Eyelets Card Front which I cut down to size, coated with the Seaglass Colorbox pigment ink and several layers of clear embossing powder.

The rest of the inspiration came from the fact that there's a Waltzing Mouse Pyjama Party going on and the Old Pyjamas challenge this month is to use WMS stamps which match Spellbinders Nesties. 

Stamps to match spellbinders dies was the first thing that got me hooked on Waltzing Mouse Stamps !!!  I was so in love with Claire's stamp designs that I bought several spellbinders sets to go with them.  Labels 14 was one such set, though it was initially the 'Twas the Night Before Christmas stamp set and the Holiday Labels No. 14 sets which made me drool. The Country Labels 14 set which I've used here is a fairly recent addition (and it's on sale too).  I stamped the Labels 14 frame in Seaglass Colorbox pigment ink and embossed with clear powder.  I cut out the centre of the frame with a Petite Oval Spellbinders die and stamped a sentiment from Old Country Roses on a recessed panel as it fitted perfectly in the inner frame.  I love the shadow effect this added dimension gives.

Speaking of dimension, Virginia's View has a challenge this month to add layers and dimension.  

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

Happy Easter everyone

I hope you had a wonderful Easter.  I was so inspired by the Easter Vigil Service last Saturday night that I went home and made these cards for my fellow choir members.  Which basically meant I hardly slept before I had to be there again in the morning for the Easter Sunday service - worth it though.

I started with the chevron backgrounds - WMS Zig Zag Backgrounder.  I just love the distressed look of this background, it makes any stamping faults look like they're meant to be.  I started using a tiny cat's eye stamp pad, but that's a lot of stamp to ink up (8 times) so switched to a larger pad which was a brighter shade of blue - in case you're wondering about the differences in backgrounds.

The eggs were stamped with Sarah Hurley Special Editions Pebbles by my brilliantly talented friend and mixed media artist Jaine Drake and embossed with white.  I then used a combination of Distress Inks to colour the egg - Picked Raspberry, Ocean Blue, Peacock Feathers and Spiced Marmalade.  The bow was distressed with Picked Raspberry and coated with Glossy Accents.

The Spelbinders Resplendent Rectangle was stamped with a bargain bin stamp I picked up (I think last year in Australia at Riot Arts stores) and embossed with gold for extra swankiness.  I then distressed the  panel with Picked Raspberry on the top and Ocean Blue on the bottom - to represent the Luxembourgish flag !!!

The real reason the Easter celebration was so wonderful this year was that my super talented friend Sonya carved a cave out of polystyrene and painted it to look like an Easter tomb and garden, complete with round stone on the front rolled out of the way to reveal an empty bench inside with the discarded cloths and stream springing forth from from the entrance.  She even fitted it with back lighting so that after the initial lighting of the Easter candle, the light shone forth from an empty tomb.  

Sonya's not one to shirk from a challenge and is great with miniatures, some of you may remember her Miniature Moments which I shared previously, but at about 3 feet high, 5 feet wide and 6 feet deep, this was hardly miniature.    I just hope I can get some photos of it to to share with you - there were certainly a lot of people admiring it and photographing it after the service.  Hats off to Father Ed as well, who had to convince a rather staid set of priests that this was a good idea !!!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your Easter was as blessed as mine,

Kate

Edit : Here are photos as promised of my friend Sonya's Easter Garden and empty Tomb.  The first is of the finished and lit tomb and the second is with the proud artist Sonya Heffernan and her husband and labourer John Heffernan during the construction.