Monumental Wedding Card

Good morning. This summer I have several friends that are getting married. I wanted to come up with a special card which could be personalised and adapted to suit each couple. I made this one in a romantic wedding style adding some stamping using Mackintosh Beauty stamps from Chocolate Baroque.

The theme for this weeks Simon Says Stamp Blog (Wed) is Anniversary/Wedding – so I have entered this one.

How it was made:

I used one of the Monumental dies from Tattered Lace (Wedding) to create the shaped card blank. This is a massive die which uses a lot of card (28.2cm X 14.5cm). To make it robust I used 1 A4 sheet of Centura Pearl (300gsm) plus plain card lining (220 gms) for the front and 2 sheets of plain card (approx. 220 gsm) plus a thick patterned paper sheet to line and build the back.

From the leftover card I used Tattered Lace dies to cut the sentiment, heart (Pin Dot Hearts), mini hearts (Diamond Fold set), leafy sprigs (Fleurs die) and bunting pennants.

Lettering for personalisation was printed onto copy paper using a laser printer and foiled using Toner Sublimation foil and a Mink foiling machine (could be done with a laminator). The letters were then cut out and glued to the little pennant flags.

The front of the card and pennants were lightly sponged with Distress Ink (Old Paper) and randomly stamped using mulitcoloured (purples/pinks) Archival Brilliance Ink (Brilliance ink dries ok on the shiny pearl card). The pennants were hung from a fine satin ribbon.

The floral heart and a couple of small flower heads were stamped onto a spare scrap of pearl card and cut out. Light colouring was added using a damp brush and Distress Inks (Old Paper, Tattered Rose) and glued to the card using 3D glue gel for added depth.

Finished with a little clear glitter glue added to the flower centres. I really cannot resist a bit of sparkle.

 

I also had to make an envelope as the finished card does not fit any standard envelope sizes. The width of the card is almost full length of A4 so to leave enough space at the sides, and to create gluing tabs, I ended up needing 2 A3 sheets to create an envelope. I decided to use a couple of sheets of thinner white card and used my large score board to make a simple envelope. I used 1 sheet to create the front and flap plus tabs for gluing, and 1 sheet to create the back panel. To make it pretty I used an 8 X 8 inch lacy embossing folder (Doily – Tattered Lace) to add some texture and make the envelope look a little more special. I only embossed the central area on this one but the folder could be slid along to emboss right to the edges if desired.

Sneak peek of a quilt in progress

I am working on a quilt at the moment. Done the patchwork and applique plus quilting – binding to do. Next I am adding 3D fabric flowers. It’s going to take me a while but I’ll share when it’s finished.

I have used recycled cotton sheets for the patchwork. I added a new fat quarter for cutting the applique. I have had my first play with my Accuquilt cutter and dies. I used 4.5 inch squares, 2.5 and 1.5 inch strip dies for the border. The applique was cut using the Heather Feather dies. So much quicker to cut than with scissors – had the applique all cut in minutes. The lettering was cut on my Brother ScanNCut (built in font) electronic cutting machine.

I quilted using free machining. Some of it freeform and some using quilting rulers (from Alys Stitchy Fingers). It’s my first play with the rulers and they are fab for more controlled/accurate patterns. I also added some decorative machine stitching too.

I used another recycled polycotton sheet for the backing and will be making the flowers from recycled sheets and pillow cases too. Even the wadding is recycled from curtain interlining (I prewashed it to check suitability – some interlinings are too ‘fibrous’ and would shrink unpredictably plus shed fibres etc.).

I love to create something new from recycled stash.

Quick and Easy Birthday Cards for the Little Ones

 

Good afternoon. These were another quick and easy make. I had to rush make these for a couple of little friends ready for their birthday party yesterday and got them finished half an hour before leaving – just enough time for the glue to dry – tee hee.

Materials:

5 X 5 inch white card blanks, white card for layering, patterned papers and plain coloured card to match (black, blue, pink, orange, green and glitter pink), waste mount board

Ready made decorative chipboard numbers

Alcohol ink pens (pink and blue)

Glitter glue (silver)

Happy Birthday dies (Tattered Lace), Lettering dies (Create & Craft Couture set), Birdy dies (Sizzix BigZ Bird #3)

How it was done:

The background mats were trimmed slightly smaller than the card blank and edged with alcohol marker to frame.

The bird body was cut from mount board and floral paper. The large circles from white card and smaller circle from black, to make the eyes. The beak and legs were cut from orange and pink card, and wings from coordinating plain card.

Lettering was cut from plain card. You can see what a rush I was in as they aren’t exactly glued down straight! I decided to add a bit of glitter glue to the foreground which helped to ‘ground’ the birdy but also helped to disguise the slightly off lettering and odd glue splodges.

I hate having to come up with a design in a super rush but it was well worth it. So much nicer and more special than a shop bought card.

Cards for my little friend Daisy

Good afternoon. Today I am sharing a couple of cards made for my lovely little friend who was 7 this week.

The remit was something with dancing and something with a horse.

The first card was from Daddy. It is an extra large A4 size. I found the lovely silhouette of dad and daughter dancing in the Silhouette America store and cut out using my Silhouette Cameo. I added some clear embossing over the top for shine. The background was created with an 8 X 8 inch Embossalicious embossing folder and Spectrum Noir water based inks.

I inked some more panels for the sides. Scored the edges so that they folded inward slightly. I then cut border strips using some edger dies from Crafters Companion.

On the back I attached an 8 X 8 card blank – so it opened like a standard card and gave somewhere for Daddy to write a message etc.

The large lettering was cut with TODO dies. The bunting banner, stamp plate, curly foliage and birthday girl were cut using Tattered Lace dies. The butterfly was cut using a Create and Craft Couture die. I then embellished with a variety of flowers and foliage created in silicone moulds using air dry paper clay or moulding paste. The Lets Dance stamp was from Creative Expressions.

I just had to add masses of glitter glue for sparkle.

 

I used a variety of stamps to create the background scene for this one. I think that the horse is from Stampman. I used watercolour pens and Distress Inks to colour.

The sentiment was computer printed and cut out using a Tattered Lace die.

The tree frame and background tree were cut using dies from Sheena Douglass. Some of the foreground branches were cut using TODO dies.

The flowers, pretty branches and bird were stamped, coloured and cut out using coordinating stamps and dies from Heartfelt Creations (Flowering Dogwood).

Fun cards for the guys

Thought that I would give you a short break from all the butterflies posted up earlier.

 

I had 2 male friends with special birthdays this weekend so I came up with a couple of fun cards that would appeal to their sense of humour. Thankfully they loved them and I haven’t damaged my friendships – tee hee.

 

The first is for my friend who was 70 this weekend. We had a great party and he had his guitar out for a sing along too. He has fond memories of the 60’s so I thought that the Day of The Dead Collection from Sheena Douglass would be perfect, done in ‘Flower Power’ style.

 

• The image stamps and dies are from Sheena Douglass (Day of The Dead) coloured with Spectrum Noir Aquatints and Distress Inks.
• I added some foiling bling using a Zig 2 way glue pen and transfer foil. The foiled sentiment was done on the computer with toner sublimation foil and my Minc machine.
• The curved ‘happy birthday’ , shaped card blank and bunting created with dies are from Tattered Lace. The letters cut using Create and Craft Couture dies.

 

The second card is very tongue in cheek. Shall I just say that my friend is renowned for being a bit ‘windy’!

 

 

• I used an Embossalicious folder and coredinations card to create the background – sanding it back to reveal the ‘vintage’ sentiment panel.
• The pipework and beer bottles were cut with dies from Robert Addams, the jug from Heartfelt Creations. The lettering dies are from Create and Craft Couture. The cogs dies are from a variety of sources including Robert Addams, Trimcraft, Sheena Douglass and Tattered Lace.

25th Wedding Anniversary card

Good morning. I created this one for my friends celebrating their 25th Wedding Anniversary.

 

I used Monumental, sentiment and decorative dies from Tattered Lace along with letter dies from Create & Craft Couture to personalise.

Special cards made with Enchanted Garden, Garden of Eden and Into the Woods Couture dies

I made these for a couple of friends with special birthdays recently. I love the Couture die sets from Create & Craft – they mix & match so well.

 

 

Both cards were started off in the same way. I made a gatefold card base and glued the butterfly panel to the top edge. The metal effect was achieved by cutting out elements with black card and rubbing over with Pebeo Gilding Wax.

The background papers were created with ink sprays with sparkly mica (Lindy’s Stamp Gang).

I used a Tonic die set to create the inner sentiment panels.

 

Dies used:

Create & Craft Couture sets: Into The Woods, Enchanted Garden and Garden of Eden

Tonic: Peony Promenade

Robert Addams: small butterflies

Christmas Cuties TV show samples created for Tattered Lace

WOW have you seen the special offer price on the Christmas Cuties dies from Tattered Lace? Here are my TV show samples using the cute penguin.

Summer T-Shirt decorated using Tattered Lace dies to create stamps and stencils

Good evening. I hope that you like my summer themed project. You may of seen my stamped and decorated summer top in my last posting. This time I have created a variation using dies to create the stamps.

I designed this to showcase how dies can be used to create stamps by cutting from funky foam. Stencils can also be created by cutting acetate or plastic stencil sheet.

Use the coordinating stamps or stencils to complement die cuts on cards, or use them to decorate fabrics for sewing projects, or to decorate ready made items.

Front

Back

Decorated tag to match

Materials:

• Tattered Lace Dies from: Zig Zag Cascade 1 (Foliage 1 and 2), Zig Zag Cascade 2 (Foliage 1, 2, 3 and 5; Flower 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7) – ETL274, Oval Shutter ETL124 (Leaf 1 and 3) and Trio of Butterflies D1099.
• Iron fix fabric paints (green, lime, metallic turquoise, pink, violet, blue, black) and glitter glue for fabric (green/gold)*
• Light coloured smooth knit T-shirt (turquoise)
• Thin funky foam, waste acetate and copy paper
• CutNDry foam, water spritzer bottle
• Zig 2 Way glue and acrylic blocks for mounting stamps

*I used Vallejo fabric paints (Green, Metallic Turquoise, Bengali Rose, Parma Violet, Blue and Black) plus Martha Stewart Multi Surface paint (Spring Pasture) and Pinflair Glitter Wand. IMPORTANT NOTE: I was assured that the Pinflair glitter wand was suitable and fixable on fabric (after heat fixing) but mine has just washed out – eek! I will find another glitter glue suitable and let you know when I find an alternative.

Note: If you want to stamp onto a darker coloured fabric you will need to use opaque fabric paints specially formulated for dark fabric.

How to do it:

Prewash the shirt in plain soap to remove any fabric treatments or conditioners (I use ordinary dish washing liquid). Dry and iron to give a smooth stamping surface.

Load the paints onto the CutNDry foam and work in well with a palette knife. Place them sponge side down onto a palette (I used a piece of waste packaging) and lightly spritz with water to keep them damp. While not using I also place a damp cloth over the top. This keeps the paints useable while working on your project. I have found this to be the best method for getting nice crisp stamping without paint clumping or drying out. They will even keep overnight if placed in a plastic bag.

Use the dies to cut funky foam shapes. Apply Zig 2 Way glue and leave to go tacky (this glue is blue on application and dries clear to give a repositionable tacky surface). Mount stamps onto acrylic blocks for stamping.

Cut the butterflies from waste acetate and use the apertures as a stencil.

Stamp the butterflies onto copy paper and cut around the outer edge to create masks for stamping. Wash stamps immediately after use (or place face down on a wet cloth until ready to clean).

Lay some plastic sheeting inside the shirt to protect any paint from seeping through layers (i.e. front to back) while stamping. I placed my glass mat inside the shirt while working. Stencil the butterfly silhouettes with multi colours. Dry. A hair dryer is useful to help speed up the drying process while working (the paints do dry quite quickly).

Stamp the butterfly details over the top of the silhouettes using black paint.

Stamp the foliage using paper masks to protect the butterfly images.

Finally add glitter glue to the butterflies on the shirt front.

Leave overnight for the paints to fully cure and then iron fix the paints on the reverse to make them permanent and washable.

Twinkle Christmas card created for Tattered Lace

Materials:

• Twinkle Die set
• White card blank (14 X 18cm)
• Black Card (13 X 17cm)
• White stamping card (suitable for wet media)
• Spider Web Netting (silver grey)
• White organza ribbon with silver sparkle thread
• PVA pearls (black), glitter glue (silver), faux sticker gems (holographic black)
• Ink sprays (Black, grey and silver with mica)
• Fine tipped alcohol marker (black)
• Pinflaire Craft Glaze
• Wax paper and baking parchment

How to make it:

1. Cut the frame and oval from wax paper. Transfer the wax onto stamping card by ironing (low to medium setting). Protect your iron with a layer of baking parchment on top of the wax paper.
2. Spritz the card with ink sprays – the transferred wax acts as a partial resist. Dab with tissue to remove excess ink from the waxed areas.
3. Cut around the outer frame with scissors. Apply glaze to the outer frame and oval. This darkens and enhances the contrast.
4. Cut the bauble and leaves. Spray with inks to colour – slightly lighter than the background colour.
5. Lay the bauble into the oval and draw around with the alcohol marker. Apply glaze to the area behind the bauble to enhance. Also use the pen to draw around the inside of the oval, and to edge the outer frame, to give the appearance of added depth. Glue down the bauble and leaves.
6. Glue the black mat onto the card. Cover with a layer of Spider Web and trim to fit. Tip attach with tape under the topper panel. Apply the topper panel with 3D foam.
7. Apply the bow, faux gems, PVA pearls and glitter glue to finish.