Scrapped Quilt

One of my best friends is having a special birthday in a few weeks and she deserves a really special card!  I've been collecting tail ends from cutting panels for some time now, with the idea of using them with this Woven Ribbon die (Frantic Stamper) so I put together some strips that I thought would complement each other.

Firstly I embossed - NOT cut - a piece of grey card with the quilt die so I had a base to attach the pieces to.  I did trim the outside edge as you can see from the photo below!  Then I started cutting the pieces needed for the quilt (starting with the longest since some of my strips were only short) and laying them on the embossed piece of grey in a pattern I was happy with.

I prefer to use the metric card sizes A6 - these are the sizes for which I can readily find envelopes in this part of the world.  The ratio of this die (5"x3.75") doesn't really fit very well with an A6 card, so I ended up cutting the quilted panel down to fit in a frame that would fit on an A6 card base and I used stitched rectangles to create the frame (in keeping with the sewing theme)!

Once I had my card front assembled, I just had to work out the what to say on the front - I didn't want to hide too much of all the hard work I'd gone to but it needed something.

I cut her name from various snippets of paper I still had left over using this Memorybox Varsity Alphabet set because I love the stitching detail on it and because the letters are tall and thin so they would easily fit on the card front and on the thin strips of scrap DP I had!

I have a lovely stamp that says "You're sew special" but I used it on her 40th, so I computer-generated this sentiment "You're still sew special" for this card and cut it with a postage stamp square (Spellbinders) which I think makes it look like a fabric swatch.  I stacked it up 3 times and mounted it on dimensional tape.  

Here's a closeup!  It was a lot of effort, but I love how it turned out!

Apart from my friend Jo, I made this card for Pixie's Snippets Playground Challenge #445 - where we are aked to "Show your snippets".  It's a special challenge this fortnight because it's Di's 11th blogoversary!  

I'd also like to enter NBUS Challenge#46 - I finally used this die which I bought in April 2019! 🙈

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments always brighten my day!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and how to find you!

Kate

Hey Now, You're a Rockstar

 Get your game on, go play!

I have the honor to be guest designing for the Dream Factory/Traumfabrik challenge this month. Each month we are given a movie title as a prompt to inspire us to create something - and the movie this month is Stardust. 

I haven't seen this movie but it looks interesting and it has a "stellar" cast so it should be good (Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Henry Cavill, David Walliams and Ricky Gervais to name a few).  Here is the Official Trailer  on YouTube.  Of course you don't have to watch the movie or even the trailer!  You might be inspired by the movie title, the movie poster or any of these key words - Witches, fairies, wizards, fantasy, stars and a Halloween theme is also welcome!

My project is based on the key word "Star".  A good friend of mine had his birthday recently and I wanted to make him a guitar based card - he's a brilliant blues guitarist!  I used this unbranded die to create an electric guitar which resembled his guitar as closely as possible.  Using WordArt in MS Word, I printed his name on kraft card so that it resembled the Fender trademark.  A little distressing to darken the neck and a few highlights with a white Posco pen et voila!

I stamped these half-tone stars  (Waltzing Mouse Stamps Kaboom) in various distress colours to create a backdrop for the guitar!  I knew I wanted to use this "rockstar" sentiment from a very old Inkadinkadoo set, because he is!  As well as being a brilliant guitarist, he also sets up our mikes, handles the sound check and puts everything away afterwards!   He also set up the sound system and played at my son's 18th birthday party!  I double stamped the Rockstar (using the stamping platform) in versafine to make sure it was bold and clear!

I hope you are inspired by this month's movie and hope to see your "Stardust" inspired creations in the Gallery soon!

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit.  If you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and how to find you and perhaps we can get better acquainted!  

Kate

Wine Time

This is a 60th birthday card for a wine aficionado living in Spain.  To set the scene, I used two embossing folders - one for the brick wall and one for the white table cloth and a Honeycuts Slimline die (Slimline Sentiments Blanket) on a piece of gingham card stock for the checked tablecloth.

I used a Marianne D die set to cut the bottle and glasses.  Here's a closer look at the bottle taken just after the application of glossy accents.   Still can't quite make out those details on the label?  Here's what it looked like in Word on my Mac!  

Ok some of those details were pretty small and hardly legible on the finished card, but the important stuff was!  After I printed the label I used the same bottle die to cut the label.  The die has a window to make it easy to line up with the text and which also leaves a raised edge which I used as a cutting guide.    

The sentiment (from Pinterest) and also computer generated, was continued on the inside!

* * * 

I'm entering the following challenges

Can You Handle the Pressure

Anything Goes with an optional twist of Summer - sitting in a Spanish cafe enjoying a bottle (or two) of wine does sound like a splendid way to spend a Summer evening don't you think! 

Dragonfly Dreams July Challenge  - Indoor Hobbies

Is drinking wine an indoor hobby?  I think so!

Four Season Challenge - Anything Summer Goes

Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies July Challenge

613 Avenue Create July Challenge - Anything Goes (not twisting black and white)

I'm thrilled you stopped by and hope you enjoyed your visit.  If you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and how to find you and perhaps we can get better acquainted!

Kate

A Purple Cupcake

Tomorrow is Purple Day - a global grassroots event that was formed with the intention to increase worldwide awareness of epilepsy, and to dispel common myths and fears of this neurological disorder.  So I made up a purple cupcake shaker card for a friend who had her birthday earlier this week.

You can find out more about Purple Day in wikipedia and in this Youtube video the very talented young Zoe Wees' relates her personal struggle with epilepsy! 

My experience of epilepsy is watching my youngest son struggling with this debilitating condition for most of his young life.  Fortunately his seizures are (touch wood) pretty much under control now with a cocktail of medication.  But that comes at a price, as they make him very tired and the most recently introduced medication has caused weight problems.  But it's better than the alternative!   

My little purple Cupcake will be entering the following challenges 

SSS Wednesday Challenge - Food and/or Drink

Papercraft Challenge #80 - Interactive Cards

NBUS Challenge #36 - the bunting die is new

HLS March Anything Goes with Dies

Krafty Chicks Challenge #604 - All Occasions

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit.  If you leave a comment, I’ll be thrilled!  I’ll also know you were here and check out what you’ve been up to so we can get better acquainted!

Kate

Twofer Sunshine

Firstly I have to apologise, these two cards weren't in the same room at the same time so I had to cobble together a photo of the two together.   They're both new (though the second is almost identical to one I made back in March) it's just that the first was needed before I had a chance to finish the second.

I'd also like to apologise for not posting very often lately, I just haven't had much time for blogging.  I'm nearing €1000 raised for the orphanage program I support in Tanzania.  The last few weeks have been pretty manic - word has been getting around and I've had more orders than I can really cope with but I know that will die down soon when everyone in Luxembourg goes back to their home countries for the summer - particularly as almost everyone is now fully vaccinated.  

Not that I can go home - Australia isn't too keen on letting anyone in as they try to keep their Covid numbers as close to zero as possible.  I really had hoped to see my poor old mum and if I kicked up enough stink (and paid enough money) I could probably get there but when there are so many Australians in much worse circumstances than mine trying to return, I'd feel a little guilty - only a few thousand are allowed in each week.

I really love the Twofer challenge - to use the same die or stamp differently!  It makes me look at all my dies and stamps in a different way.   This month the challenge prompt is is 'Sunshine' - either Sun or Sunrays.  My common element is this cute little sun die from a dinky little set called Village Sky from the Frantic Stamper.  When making the first Vintage Champers card back in March, I found the sun die was perfect for creating the wax seal you might find on the neck of a champagne bottle.  I have other suns, and initially I was weighing up various options, but then an order came in for another Vintage Champers card so that made my mind up for me.  

Here's a closer look at the first card - Vintage Champers Cheers.   The champagne bottle die I used is  a very basic outline die only.  But I found by selectively cutting just the neck from another textured card stock, wrapping a strip of black around the neck to hide the join and placing the sun die over the strip to bind it together, the champagne bottle starts to come to life.  The glossy accents also helped!  The first time I made this card, it was for a friend and I wanted to downplay her age but the person who ordered this card had no qualms about declaring her friend's age very boldly so I added two balloons with gold letters to match the gold accents in the patterned paper.  Cheers seemed more appropriate than Happy Birthday - and the fit was better!

 Here's a closeup of the label which I mocked up using Wordart within Microsoft Word.  I looked at various bottles of Champagne (hic!) to get ideas for what to put on the label.   The name, place of birth and year of birth were included to make it really personal.  

The second card was much simpler, again another order.  This was for a friend of mine for her son who is stepping out into the big wide world.  Apparently he loves fast cars so we thought the Vespa would be a wee joke. 

The scooter is from Taylored Expressions.  When I pulled out the set, I found I had cut several white ones on a previous occasion (must be about four years ago) so I went with that and cut the little parts from some blue card stock I had lying on my desk (from a project I'd just finished) with a coat of glossy accents once assembled for dimension and shine!  I grounded it on a sentiment banner carrying the a line from one of his favourite songs (Have it All from Jason Mraz).  A little grass (Crealies On the Edge Grass) separates the spotty road from the blue sky, with the sun and some clouds from the same set finishing off the scene.

I'd also like to enter this card in the Pixie's Snippets Challenge for June.  The clouds, sun and blue bits on the scooter were all snippets.  These tiny die pieces are a great excuse for hanging onto even the smallest pieces of card stock.  This month the challenge is honouring the memory of Ruby.

I'd also like to enter my cards in the Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies Challenge

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit.  If you leave a comment, I’ll be over the moon!  I’ll also know you were here, so I can check out what you’ve been up to and we can get better acquainted!

Kate

Game On Philip

 

I finally got a card done for  {Pin}spirational Challenge #277 and there are only a few hours left till it closes so I'll be brief!  These electronic gaming accessories are from Yvonne Creations.  The card isn't quite finished yet, I need to give everything another coat of glossy accents.  And the photo is terrible so I'll take some other photos later with some closeups of the buttons.  This particular lad loves his Minecraft but for my son's birthday in July I'll probably make up a Plants vs Zombies theme - that's the only Zombie game that I approve of him playing.  And I also have another order from one of my friends for her son so this set will get plenty of use I suspect!

Here's the {Pin}spirational photo so you can see how I was inspired - Headphone, Playstation Logo on the Cup and of course the iconic Playstation Buttons (which unfortunately aren't very clear in this photo and they were devilishly tricky)!

Here are the other Challenges I'm also entering

Papercraft Challenge #70 - Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

Krafty Chicks Challenge #561 - All Occasions

Seize the Birthday - Wheel Buttons on the Controller

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit.  If you leave a comment, I’ll be over the moon!  I’ll also know you were here, so I can check out what you’ve been up to and we can get better acquainted!

Kate

Twofer Leaves

 

A few weeks ago I made a rainbow wreath card and I thought at the time that I would have liked to do it with die cuts but that I would need various colours of vellum to get the same overlapping effect.  Guess what I found last week - 4 pads of plain and patterned vellum!   I was just about to start when I noticed that Twofer Challenge #37 has the theme Leaves -fortuitous indeed!  The die I've used on both cards is from Yvonne Creations Springtastic Flowers, though I'm itching to try it out with several other dies I have in my stash.

Here's a closer look at the Rainbow Wreath Card.  First, I embossed a circle onto the panel so I would have a subtle curve to follow.   There wasn't as much overlap as I had envisaged (next time I'll use a smaller circle) so I added punched vellum butterflies to get the effect of overlapping vellums.  The "Fabulous" sentiment (Honey Bee Stamps) was cut from one of the patterned vellum sheets in one of the pads - I did add two layers of white underneath for dimension and stability!  

Then I just had to decide how I could use that die again in a completely different way.  I recently bought the Marianne D "Eline's Monkey" die set and it's been sitting on my desk waiting to be catalogued (I use my Photos Library on my Mac as a database to keep track of my stamps and dies) and the idea of vines  for the monkey to swing on took root.  So here is a closer look at the second card!  I added little flowers from a Cactus set I have been meaning to use for a while now.

I love those googly eyes and the way he's holding onto that plaque like he's waiting to meet someone at the airport!  I tried to indicate a swaying movement by holding the sign at an angle!

The Rainbow Wreath card will be going to the following challenges

Day of the Month Club Challenge #26 - Find a Rainbow Day

International Art and Soul Challenge #106 - Winged Creatures

Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies April Challenge

This Cheeky Monkey will be going to the following challenges

Dragonfly Dreams April Challenge - Feature a Creature

Shopping Our Stash Challenge # 443 - Plant Life

Pixie's Snippet Playground #401 - I used snippets for the all the elements on this card.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit.  If you leave a comment, I’ll be over the moon!  I’ll also know you were here, so I can check out what you’ve been up to and we can get better acquainted!

Kate

Vintage Champers!

 This is a card I've made for a friend in Australia!  She's turning 80 and I swear she barely looks 60 so I wanted to avoid a big "80" on the card - and I think I've managed it with a very subtle "fondé en 1941"!

 I designed the label using word art, and the dies for the bottle and glass are from a set I bought a while back but this is the first time it's been used.  I cut just the neck from a piece of golden card stock and trimmed it, then wrapped a strip of black card stock around the neck and added a red rosette (the sun from Frantic Stamper's Village Sky die set)

The glass was cut from vellum but I added some gold glitter to give the appearance of champers!  Needless to say there is gold glitter over everything (and everyone) at home!

I added  some hearts (on my desk from another project) for some heart shaped bubbles!

Challenges I'm entering : 

Alphabet Challenge V is for Vellum

Addicted to Stamps Challenge #398

Seize the Birthday Challenge #207 - Optional Topping Hearts

Allsorts Challenge #610 - Love is

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #307 

Paper Players Challenge #527

The Library Challenge - Jar (or in my case glass) of Hearts

NBUS Challenge #23

Thanks for stopping by - I hope you enjoyed your visit.  If you leave a comment, I'll know where to find you and can check out what you’ve been up to and maybe get to know you a little better!

Hugs and stay safe,

Kate