Happy Birthday Mum

Hi everyone. It's my favourite time of the month - My Clarity samples went in the post yesterday, so I can now relax and look forward to the show on Sunday. I might even get to have a play with my new sewing machine, although I did mange to sneak in a quick go by using it on one of this month's samples.

I hope I'm not boring you, as I've just realised that this is the fourth card that I've blogged this month using the Winter Tree stencil. It's such a great stencil though.

Today's version was made for my mother-in-law's birthday a couple of days ago. She loves rabbits so I used it with the beautiful Floral Figures set.

The great thing about stencils is that you can use them whichever way around you want, as long as there's no text on them. On the three previous cards I had the tree on the left but for this one it worked better on the right.

I stamped the Floral Rabbit and Floral Circle first, then masked them off to add the scene using Adirondack ink, a brush and a make-up sponge. The flowers are coloured in with Distress Markers and some more colour is added to the rabbit and sun with Spectrum Noir pencils.

Stamps and Stencils Used

Remountable Floral Figures

Winter Tree

Remountable Letterbox Set

Remountable Letterbox Sentiments

Lynne

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21st Birthday Card

Hi everyone. I hope you've had a good week. I'm having to spread my posts out a bit as I'm running out of things to blog about. I need to make more stuff!

Today I'm really hoping that the postie brings an item that I need for one of my Clarity samples. Then I can get them finished and they can be posted on Monday.

Today's card was made for my niece's 21st birthday earlier in the month. It's hard to believe she's that age already.

Like the previous card, I used the Print and Cut facility on my Silhouette Cameo to create the numbers. The papers are an American Crafts Design, "Colorful Birthday Phrases" and "Cupcakes", and were bought from the Silhouette Store.

The embossed background is done with a Cuttlebug embossing folder.

I also decorated the inside to match.

"Happy Birthday" is from the Word Chain 3 Set by Claritystamp; the stamps on the front of the card are by Chocolate Baroque.

Now, hurry up Postie - don't let me down.

Lynne
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New Home Card

Morning everyone. I'm off to the dentist for a check-up in a bit, so I thought I'd take my mind off it by doing a spot of blogging.

Today's card is one I made for my friend Connie who is German. After over 30 years' service her husband is leaving the Army and they are going to live in Germany. We met just over two years ago at a Christmas function and hit it off straight away. We've been out for coffee, cake and shopping nearly every week since. Life will be a lot quieter now, although my waistline and bank balance will probably be better off!

I thought that a cuckoo clock card would be fun as it ties in with the German/New Home theme.

It's a Samantha Walker design that I purchased from the Silhouette Store. I did it as a Print and Cut on my Cameo filling in the pieces with various patterned paper designs that I also purchased from the Silhouette Store.

The background is my favourite printable, Fleur Frame by Glitz Design (also purchased from the Silhouette Store).

I was particularly pleased with how the weights turned out. The compass design on the patterned paper gives them the look of the real thing.

This is mine that we bought when we were in Germany. It hangs on the wall to the left of my computer and always makes me smile when it cuckoos (I do turn off the cuckoo at night though -that would not make me smile!).

Connie certainly made me smile and I hope her and her hubby enjoy their new life in Germany.

Lynne
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My Dad's Birthday Card

Good morning everyone. Thankfully I wrote the bulk of this post yesterday, so it should make sense. We had a Ladies' Dinner Night in the Mess last night and no matter how late we get in Maya still wants to be up at 7am. Bless her! I definitely made the correct decision not to go to the NEC today. Feeling a little bit sleepy!

This card is one I made for my Dad's birthday back in February. He loves wildlife so I thought this cute little hedgehog would make a great card for him.

I put the stencil in place and stamped the trees and hedgehog. I then masked the hedgehog off so that I could add the grass. I did this and the sky with a brush and make-up sponge.

I then coloured in the hedgehog with Spectrum Noir pencils and I also added some detail to the trees with them.

Stamps and Stencil Used

Small Kind Hedgehog

Pine Forest

Small Birds In Flight

Remountable Letterbox Sentiments

Word Chain 3

Letterbox Set
Winter Tree Stencil

I think I need more coffee.........................

Lynne

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Mother's Day Card

Hi everyone. I hope you're having a good week; I had a lovely day on Tuesday shopping for my new sewing machine. I found out that fellow DT member Kirsty Goodwill has also recently got into sewing, so we met up in John Lewis' sewing department and went for a lovely catch-up after. I'm so excited to get going but I must finish my Clarity samples first.

Today's post is on my mother-in-law's Mother's Day card.

I thought I'd have a change and use some of my neglected non-Clarity stamps. The main image is an old Easter stamp by Graphics (now Chocolate Baroque). There's no eggs or bunnies on it though and I thought the beautiful spring flowers would make a lovely Mother's Day card.

I stamped it in Black Archival and coloured it in with my Spectrum Noir pencils.

The background is created with some old foam backed stamps that I got from QVC (again many years ago) and Butterscotch Adirondack Ink. I also brushed this around the edges with a Clarity stencil brush.

"Happy Mother's Day" is a Clarity stamp (I had to get one in somewhere!).

Some faux stitching and a bow finish it off...................

.....................I might have a go at some proper stitching on a card now I have my new toy. I could never get the tension right on my old one.

Must get on. Lots to do!

Lynne
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Happy St Patrick's Day!

Hi everyone. I've been dressing up poor Maya again. I was out shopping recently and spotted this cute little leprechaun's hat. I thought it might make my readers from the Emerald Isle smile, so I couldn't resist adding it to her collection.

Happy St Patrick's Day

I hope you have a lovely day; I'm off to go and look at sewing machines. The Great British Sewing Bee and the Create and Craft sewing shows have got me wanting to get sewing again and I think my 25 year old machine needs to be updated. There's so much choice now I could be a while!

Lynne and Maya The Leprechaun
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Fabric Fields

Hi everyone. As it's Mother's Day today I thought I'd take this opportunity to wish my mum a Happy Mother's Day and share her card with you.

It's something a bit different but I hope she'll appreciate it.

The background uses Barbara Gray's Fabric Fields technique that was the project in issue 100 of the New Design Club. I thought it would work well with the Scarecrow stamps which I love.

It's an easy card to make but it did take rather a long time. The first thing I did was stamp and mask off the scarecrow. Then, using the Fabric Fields 2 mask, I masked off each section of the field and filled it in. I used a variety of methods for this; some sections were stamped and the backgrounds coloured with ink applied with a brush and sponge, others were coloured in with Spectrum Noir pencils.

I used Barbara's instructions as a guide and added my own twist.

As the fields are so busy I kept the scarecrow really simple, just adding some grey to his jacket.

To finish it off I added some mats and a sentiment that I printed out myself.

Stamps and Mask Used

Fabric Fields 2

Large Scarecrow

Medium Scarecrow

Small Scarecrow

Crow In Flight

Perched Crow

Branch from the Remountable Birdhouse Set

Floribundance

Mistletoe Sprig

Tiny Rose

Large Fern

Small Leafy Swirl

Roses from Elegant Ladies Set

The Daisy is NDC99

I'll blog the card I made for my mother-in-law later in the week. It's a bit more traditional, although still quite brightly coloured.

Lynne

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Spring Birds Card

Hi everyone. Today's card is my last sample from this month's Claritystamp show on Create and Craft TV.

It's nice and bright and cheerful, just like a Spring day.

I began by stamping the birds and sentiment in place. I then covered them up with a thick piece of plastic and sponged Grunge Past through the stencil to create the brick wall below. The plastic keeps the work above clean and gives me something to spread the paste from.

When the wall was dry I cut a circular moon mask with one of my Spellbinders dies and placed it inside the text.

I then put the outside part of the Post-it back around it and removed the middle..............

...........so that I could work on the sun, knowing that the mask was central to the text.

I then swapped the masks back over and added one to the birds so that I could work on the sky.

Once that was done I masked off the top section and brushed several shades of Distress Ink onto the Grunge Paste wall and sanded it a bit.

To finish it off I cut out some flowers, coloured them in with Spectrum Noir pencils and stuck them on with Pinflair glue gel. The birds are coloured in the same way.

Stamps and Stencil Used

Stencil used for the brick wall

Remountable Bird Row

I'll be back on Sunday with one of my Mother's Day cards. It's the first of a few personal cards that I have to share with you.

I'm off to choose what to cook for dinner now - I went to the GNPE in Harrogate earlier. I bought a few crafty goodies but I got rather carried away at the big Sainsbury's afterwards. It's not normally a shop I use so there were lots of new yummy looking things to try and quite a few of them went in my trolley! I think there must be something wrong with me, enjoying a trip to a supermarket more than a trip to a craft show. lol  I do like my food though!

Lynne

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Frohe Ostern/Happy Easter Card

Hi everyone. Today's card is a bit of a globetrotter. It started off as a sample for German TV, hence "Frohe Ostern", but then it gained an English sentiment (Happy Easter) and appeared on Create and Craft.

I do love these bunnies. They always make such cute cards.

I began with a piece of 7" x 7" card, as that's the size of the stencil, but I knew I was going to cut it down to 6" x 6" when I finished so I marked a line in pencil ½" in so I knew where to stamp the bunny. After I'd stamped her I masked her off and stamped the grass.

I then popped the stencil in place and stamped the other two bunnies.

The end of the A4 Clarity Blending Mat comes in handy for tearing the hills..................

...................that I brushed and sponged in for the bunnies to sit on.

I kept the masks in place and added the sky and some more grass.

The bunnies are coloured in with Spectrum Noir pencils.

Some mats and the sentiment (in German or English) finish it off.

Stamps and Stencils Used

Bunnies Set

Small Birds In Flight

Lynne

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Fairies and Elves Card

Morning everyone. Did you have a good weekend?  My weekend's crafting went well, if a little slowly. I got my mum's Mother's Day card done on Saturday (I can't wait to share it!) and my friend Connie's leaving card made yesterday. Today I'm going to make my mother-in-law's.

This card is the second one I made with the Fairies and Elves Wee Folk stamps. This time I used it with the Japanese Reeds stencil.

The background was created using the shaving foam technique. I filled a tray up with shaving foam then spritzed on Tattered Angels' Glimmer Mists (Lavender Fields and Sapphire) and swirled it around before taking the print. The Glimmer Mists have mica in them so they give a slight shimmer to the background - I wanted the sky to look magical.

I wanted to keep the moon white so I cut a mask the same size as the stencil's moon and used that instead. I put that in place before I took the print.

I then used the Reeds stencil and inked through Black Soot Distress Ink..............

..................before going over it with Diamond Sparkle Medium. This is a clear sparkly gel so it gives the black underneath a lovely sparkly finish.

The Fairies and Elves are stamped in Jet Black Archival and it's finished off with some holographic glitter on the stars and some clear Sakura Stardust pen on their wings (just in case it wasn't sparkly enough!).

I do like the background but I can't help thinking that my magical sky looks more like a magical sea. I do hope my fairies can swim!

Stamps and Stencil Used

Japanese Reeds

Wee Folk 3 Fairies

Wee Folk 4 Elves

Remountable Line Sentiments 1

Lynne

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Magical Fairies Card

Hi there. Have you got anything nice planned for this weekend? I'm spending mine in my craft room. I've been having a bit of a change around in there so I'm going to finish that, then I have my Mother's Day cards and a leaving card to make. Once I have those done I will start on my German Clarity samples.

The new Fairies and Elves stamps are a great addition to the Wee Folk collection.

You can create such magical scenes with them.

I thought that the Winter Tree stencil would make a lovely background for them.

I positioned it on the card, then added a base layer of Citrus Adirondack ink with a Clarity stencil brush. I then added a moon mask and used Denim, Eggplant, Slate and Wild Plum to complete it.

The flowers are stamped in first and second generation Eggplant ink and the black is Archival ink. The wings and dots on the toadstool have been coloured in with a clear Sakura Stardust pen to give a bit of shimmer. The outside is done with a brush and the Dotty Wave stencil.

To finish it off I added lots of silver holographic glitter. I don't think you can have a fairy card without it!

Stamps and Stencils Used

Winter Tree

Dotty Wave
Wee Folk 3 Fairies
Wee Folk 4 Elves
Word Chain 7

I'd better crack on, lots to do! I hope you have a lovely weekend.

Lynne
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Floral Mother's Day Card

Hi everyone. I hope you've had a good day. I've been in my craft room, listening to my new radio and making a 21st birthday card for my niece.

Thankfully it went more smoothly than this card did - it nearly caused me to quit crafting! I thought that the two new floral stamps would make a lovely trifold Mother's Day card but I just couldn't get it to look right. I wasted so much card, trying green mats, blue mats, embossed card, plain card etc. before I finally settled on this design.

The base card is Snow White Gold Centura Pearl. The stamping is done with Versamark and heat embossed with gold detail powder. The flowers are coloured in with Spectrum Noir pencils.

The plastic mesh is one of those things that's been lurking in the bottom of my embellishment box for years but it was the perfect colour for this project - I knew it would come in useful one day!

The card was embossed with a Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder.

I added some Card Candi to the floral panels and a decorative strip cut with a Spellbinders Persian Accents die to the end panel.

When folded up it looks like this. Quite a simple card yet I dread to think how long I spent on it!!!!!!

I'm going to make my own Mother's Day cards at the weekend - let's hope they don't give me as much trouble!

Stamps Used

Gentian and Columbine 

Mother Verse

Berry Trailer

Lynne

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Spring Tulips Card and Some Ikea Storage Ideas

Hi everyone. Thank you for all the birthday wishes on FB yesterday. Hubby took the day off work and I had a great day. One of the things we did was go to Ikea, hence the storage ideas. More about that later though.

I'll start with one of my cards from Sunday's Claritystamp show.

I planned my design around the largest of the Grand Big Scalloped Circles dies by Spellbinders, as the single tulip fitted nicely in each scallop. I stamped it all out in Jet Black Archival then coloured it in with my Spectrum Noir pencils.

They are great stamps for colouring in, something I'm starting to enjoy a bit more since I got my Spectrum Noir pencils.

To finish it off I added some faux stitching around the edge with a black pen.

Stamps Used

Remountable Spring Day Set

My Mum also loves card making..............

................. and this is the beautiful birthday card that she made me. Thanks Mum. x

I was also spoiled with pressies. One I wanted to show you is this gorgeous Rob Ryan radio.

I love his papercuts and it's perfect for a crafter's desk. Thanks Hubby. x

I also love my Expedit units from Ikea and I'm always looking for great storage products that work well with them.

This time I got these Pluggis magazine files. They are £7 for two and two sets fit in each Expedit (or the new Kallax) cube.

When you buy them one is packed inside the other so they are slightly different sizes - one is 7.5cm wide and the other is 8.5cm. The smaller one will fit alongside the A4 RUBs (Really Useful Boxes) and the larger one will fit next to regular A4 storage boxes.

I have paper and card in these ones so I have turned them the other way around to protect it from the sun.

The other thing I bought was due to an idea I found on Pinterest.

It's the Variera plastic bag holder. It's £1.50 and is perfect for storing wrapping paper in.

That turned into quite a long post. It's a good job I started with a simple card!!!! See you again soon for the next one.

Lynne
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