oooops has it realy been 3 weeks!!!

Baby album commission

How time flies when your crafting. Its been 3 weeks since I posted here but that's because I had 2 scrapbook albums to make for commissions. I also had a dozen cards and gifts for various teachers at my daughters school some of who were leaving and some just thank you cards.
So I will give you a little peek of what I have been up to.
Firstly the cards and gifts that I made for the teachers leaving my daughters school.
These cards were all very personal as they were made with their various hobbies in mind.

Rugby themed card

This was made using an 8" x 8" white card blank on which I matted a royal blue piece of card 7.75" square and then a piece of cream 7.5" square and finally a piece of green measuring 7" square.
For this card I used Anna Marie Designs template Cd rom number 4 to print a template for the main rugby ball shapes, goal and word rugby. I coloured the word using a Promarker and then highlighted both the ball and word with faux stitching using Sakura gelly roll pens. I then mounted them all onto the card as shown. Finally I added a sentiment written onto a piece of white card using Weathered Wood and Bundled Sage distress markers. I cut this to 2" x 3" and matted onto a piece of royal blue.

Theatre themed card number one

 This one was made using an 8" x 8" white card blank which I matted firstly with a piece of red pearlescent card cut to 7.75" square. Using the same red card I created theatre curtain shapes. I then took pieces of textured paper to create the stage area and placed onto the card front before attaching the curtains. Next I embellished the card using images from My Craft Studio as well as taking images of theatre posters into the programme to shrink them. I finished the design with a bunch of roses, sentiment which I mounted on a Spellbinders die cut and curtain ties.

Theatre themed card number 2

 First I printed a topper and mini venetian mask from the Debbi Moore Venetian Collection. I mounted the topper on a scalloped circle cut using spellbinders largest scalloped circle die. I then added glitter highlights to the mask. Next I mounted the circle topper onto a small square of Kraft card measuring 4.5" x 4.5" to which I had attached a red border. I then matted this onto a cream square cut to 5" x 5". I then took a cream card blank 8" x 8" and matted on to it a piece of silver mirror card 7.75" square a piece of red texture card 7.5" square and then a piece of textured paper cut to 7" square. Next I added my smaller layered square complete with topper. I further embellished the card by adding the mask, paper roses, crystal cabochons, crochet lace, ribbon and tickets.

Cocktail themed card 

 For this next card I took an 8" square white card blank and matted with two different shades of pink cardstock cut to 7.75" square and 7.5" square. Next I added a piece of patterned paper 7" x 7". I then created my main topper by layering up small piece of cream card 4.5" x 4.5" and textured pink card 4" x 4" before adding the cocktail image. (The background paper, cocktail topper and sentiment were all from an old issue of Making Cards Magazine. I knew my hording was for a good reason!!) Next I punched a border strip using a Martha Stewart punch and stuck this to the bottom half of the card along with a length of orange polka dot ribbon. I cut 3 smaller pieces of the same ribbon which I looped in half and attached to the top left of my main topper before I stuck it to the card front. I stuck it in the top right corner. I completed the card with the sentiment which I backed with a piece of card to strengthen before adding to the card as shown.

Cinema/movie buff themed card

 This card was made for a film buff who both loved watching movies but especially going to the cinema to see them. Firstly I used My Craft Studio Cd rom Men-y Happy Returns to print the ticket background and various movie themed items. Some I printed as digi stamps and some as coloured images. I coloured the popcorn image using promarkers and wrote mini messages on the film strip. I then took a 8" square cream card blank to which I added a black mat measuring 7.75" square and then a red mat cut to 7.5" square. Next I cut the ticket background to 7" x 7" and stuck this to the other layers. I finished the card by embellishing with the movie themed items.

Floral good luck card

 This final card was for someone who loved flowers. I took an 8" square white card blank which I matted with a piece of gold mirror card cut to 7.75" square and then added to this some Hunkydory card measuring 7.5" square. In the top left corner I created a flower feature using Spellbinders leafy corner and various flowers I made myself by layering up Martha Stewart punched flowers, Cosmic Shimmer decorative PVA glues and gem stones. I completed the card with a Hunkydory border strip placed across the centre of the card and Good Luck Topper.

Boxed altered Stationary set for Retirement gift

For this gift I purchased a reasonably priced notebook and some pens and pencil and decided to embellish the notebook with some items in my stash then make a box to compliment it.
The outside of the notebook as you can see was very pretty but the inside was very plain other than a plain bookmark ribbon. I had some mini postcards, tags and metal decorations from A My Craft Studios Embellishment Attic kit as well as Craftwork Cards Postcards from Paris papers that I knew would compliment this perfectly.

Firstly I added a length of crochet ribbon down the length of the left hand side and using Silicone glue attached the metal gold leaf embellishment. Next I attached some mini postcards to the cover of the book and placed 2 mini tags back to back at the base of the bookmark ribbon

 I chose 3 sheets of paper from this pad, 1 each of the roses with the Eiffel Tower, the mini postcards and the mirror. Two of them I used for the inside covers of the notebook and one would be used later.

I covered the inside cover with the mirror paper and attached a larger Embellishment attic postcard to the right hand side. I used this to personalise the book.

 

 

I added the Eiffel Tower backing paper to the back inside cover.

Next I used my Crafters Companion Ultimate Pro boxer board to create a box with sections to hold the various items. Firstly I cut two pieces of card to 10" x 11" and using the first one I made a  box base that was  8" x 9" with a 1" depth. For the long dividing strip I cut a piece of card 1" x 11" long and then made a score line 1" from each end. To create the holders for the pens and pencil I cut two pieces of card to 1" x  4" long and then scored every 1/2"

I then glued them in place using Cosmic Shimmer PVA firstly checking each area was spaced right.

I then made the box base using the remaining piece of cardstock. I decorated the front of the box lid with the mini postcards paper and a left over strip of the Eiffel tower paper. To complete the box I added some paper roses, pink crochet ribbon bow, tag and Hunkydory  die cut Sentiment.

Decorative candle Retirement gift

For this I used a tall white pillar candle, red crochet ribbon, two tone blue wide striped gros grain ribbon, red ribbon bows, pearl stems, cabochons, clear gemstones, red berry stems, silk leaves, paper flowers in shades of blue and red, ultra fine crystal glitter and foiled die cut sentiments.

 Although you can't see them in this picture (because they are covered by the flowers) the first thing I did was to stick a length of the blue ribbon and crochet ribbon around the centre of the candle. Making sure that the joins were at the front of the candle then they would be hidden under the floral embellishments. I then stuck a congratulations foiled sentiment to the top of the candle. Next I created my floral centre piece using the large blooms and tucking leaves, berries, pearls and rose buds in between. I then highlighted some of the flowers using a quickie glue pen and crystal glitter.

 With the candle sideways you can see the red crochet ribbon and 2 tone blue gros grain ribbon.

To make the back as pretty as the front I embellished with pale blue cabochons and red ribbon bows.

 

 I used the Crafters Companion Sweet Treats milk carton board  to create a large milk carton.

Once completed I decorated with patterned papers in shades of red and pale blue, paper flowers, silk leaves, decorative pegs, ribbon bows, red crochet ribbon and spellbinders tag and sentiment.

 

Birthday Present for a friend part 2

As a teaching assistant my friend is always writing down notes so I decided a personalised notebook would be perfect for her second gift.
I purchased a notebook that already had a pretty floral design in shades of pale green, baby pink, brown and turquoise.
First I cut 16 various coloured and patterned pieces of ribbon to 2" long and tied 1 of each to the ring bound spine of the notebook as shown.

 

Next I stamped a butterfly using Versamark onto a piece of Centura pearl card.  I had created an inked background on to this first using the Big and Juicy waterfall inkpad. I then heat embossed the image with silver pearl embossing powder, before cutting out. I attached this as shown using Pinflair glue gel. I then cut a small piece of co-ordinating rose paper and spelt out notebook using silver peel off letters. I stuck this to the front as shown using extra strong double sided tape. Next I took a selection of ready made paper roses and cut the wires off all but 2 of them. Using a pokey tool I curled the wires of these before sticking them all to the front with Pinflair.

Next using 2 different sizes of bunting die I cut 4 patterned and 4 co-ordinating plain bunting pieces. I matted these together using Cosmic Shimmer glue and then added the letters to spell Lynn. I attached them to a narrow strip of ribbon and then glued to the front as shown with a small amount of Pinflair glue gel so that they were quite flat to the notebook. I completed the look with some more paper roses, again stuck with Pinflair.

 The finished personalised notebook. Whats great about this is because it is ring bound the embellishments do not stop the book open properly or laying correctly whilst in use.

 

 

 

Not just cards but gifts too!!

Birthday present for a friend part 1

Milk carton to hold a candle and 4 tea lights

To make this I used the Crafters Companion Sweet Treats Milk Carton board and the Boxer board.

Using 2 pieces of 250gsm card I embossed and cut out the two pieces needed to create the main milk carton body and then glued together using Collall all purpose glue.  I then cut a piece of card 3.25" square and stuck to the base of the milk carton. Next I chose 2 monotone papers from this beautiful pad that I found in my local Lidl store.

I used these to cover the four sides of the box. I then used scrapes of spotty paper from my stash to cover the top flaps of the milk carton. Next I used some large black foiled bloom shaped die cuts to create a large floral embellishment. I took each die cut and snipped into it to create individual petal shapes. I then layered them up using Cosmic Shimmer PVA. To the centre I then added a white Creative Expressions ribbon rose which I stuck with Collall 3d glue gel. I then stuck this along with die cut swirls and further flower embellishments I created using punched flowers, black paper roses and black cabochons.

I repeated these steps for the opposite side of the carton

Next I took some black crochet lace and using Cosmic Shimmer PVA I stuck some to the top of these two sides. I then took a decorative wooden peg which I adorned with yet more floral embellishments, before using it to hold the top of the carton closed.

I also added a die cut birthday greeting glued to a decorative mount I had cut from black card.

I then decorated the two remaining sides as shown with clear gemstones, black crochet lace and paper flowers. The paper flowers were punched from co-ordinating papers and the centres made from black gemstones.

 

This was the main milk carton finished but I now needed to create a platform for the large candle and a tray to hold the tea lights. Both of these would need to fit securely in the carton.

 I took my Crafters Companion Boxer board and created a box base 3.25" x 3.25" with a depth of 1". This was to be a platform to be inserted at the base of the milk carton for the large candle I had also created to stand on.

 I then created another box base measuring 3.25" square with a 0.5" depth and covered the inside base with a piece of decorative paper. This was to be used to hold 4 tea lights. After drawing around a 2p I removed a circle from the centre. This was to allow the wick from the larger candle to be protected once the tea light tray was inserted inside the box. To keep the 4 candles from moving around too much I created 4 portions to the tray with black gemstones.

                                                                                                              

                                                                                                               

  

I placed the platform into the base of the milk carton and added the large candle.                            

   Then I sat the inner tray complete with tea lights on top.

                                                                                                                        

 

                                                                                                                                                         

 

 

4 weddings and an anniversary!!

The lovely sunny weather means that wedding season is well and truly underway!!
I had my work cut out needing to make 4 wedding cards and an anniversary card for my best friends on the same day.

Anniversary card

When my best friends Liselle and Khai got married 9 years ago their colour scheme was red and white so every year I find myself with the challenge of coming up with a new unique design still using these colours.

Firstly I created an 8" x 8" card blank and matted and layered onto it using double sided tape a piece of black card (7.75" x 7.75") and then a piece of white card (7.5" x 7.5")

I then selected 2 identical pieces of patterned paper from this lovely book I found in my local Lidl. There are two of each design and they are double sided with the same pattern, but one side is beautifully glittered and glazed.

Next I set one sheet aside and the other I trimmed to 7.25" x 7.25" and using a small amount of Cosmic Shimmer PVA I attached a piece of crochet ribbon to the top of the card, ensuring it was wrapped around the back and secured with extra strong double sided tape. Then using double sided tape I matted this panel onto the white layer of the card front.

I then took my Celebrations embossing board from Keepsake Card Craft and used it to emboss the scalloped heart design twice in silver mirror card and once in white Centura pearl. I then took one set of the silver ones and trimmed away the right heart as this was not needed. Next I layered up to create the 3d heart embellishment.

                    Then using Pinflair glue gel I attached this onto the card front as shown

Taking a Martha Stewart flower punch and some white card I punched 9 flowers.

 I created various floral embellishments by sticking some together as well as adding decorative PVA centres. I then randomly scattered these across the front of the card. I further decorated with two die cut birds and a message from craftwork cards all attached with Pinflair glue gel.

 Next I repeated the steps for the front of the card using black, white and the second piece of patterned paper to mat and layer for the inside.

 

Big and Glamorous Wedding Card

This 1st wedding card was for my uncles wedding who is flying over from America to get married in a castle in a 3 day celebration. So this card needed to be something a little bit special.

Firstly I cut a piece of silver mirror card cut to 7.75" x 7.75" and then a piece of black card cut to 7.5" x 7.5" and matted them onto an 8" white card blank.

 I then layered a piece of black patterned paper from my stash cut to 7.25" x 7.25" onto this.

 Followed by another piece of silver mirror card measuring 7" square and finally a piece of white card stock measuring 6.75" square. All of these layers were attached using double sided tape.

 The next thing I did was create some of my cardstock embellishments. I used my cricut to die cut the words Mr & Mrs,  the champagne flutes were created using my Celebrations board from Keepsake Card Craft, and the bow was made using Sue Wilson Lattice bow dies and grand calibur to cut them.

 I layered up the white and silver pieces of the Mr & Mrs as shown using Cosmic Shimmer PVA.

 Next a glued a strip of lace paper from my stash and stuck to the bottom half of the card blank.

 I then took 3 large ribbon roses from Creative Expressions, and some paper roses in black and red. Along with some die cut leaves ( not in the pick below) that I created from Centura pearl card using the Spellbinders Foliage die set and my Grand Calibur to cut them.

 I then arranged everything and once I was happy attached using Pinflair glue gel to the card front.

 I then completed the design on the front by adding a simple sentiment, the lattice bow, a black cabochon, a pearl heart embellishment, silver pearl decorative PVA glue dots and lots of mini silver gems for the champagne bubbles.

 To finish this card I repeated the matting and layering steps for the inside and also added a die cut cake. Then using my Crafters Companion boxer board made a matching box.

 

2 cards, 1 do!!

For this wedding I needed two cards one for myself to send to the couple and one for a friend to send.

So for this I decided I would make two cards that both featured pink in the colour scheme but that were very different.

So firstly using the lovely pad I found in my local Lidl I chose a gorgeous glittered paper.

 I then chose a selection of embellishments from my stash that had either been created using the  Cricut, Spellbinders dies or the Keepsake Card Craft Celebrations board.

 Next I cut some black card to 7.75" square and the patterned paper to 7.5" square then attached them both to an 8" white card blank using double sided tape. Then using Pinflair glue gel I glued on the doves, rings, pink scalloped heart, wedding day sentiment and finally the bride and groom as shown.

 I then cut some flowers using Sue Wilson dies and made centres with Cosmic Shimmer vanilla PVA.

 I added these to the left side of the heart and a black organza bow to the base of the cake.

 Finally I repeated the matting and layering steps for the inside of the card and completed with a die cut label panel (for somewhere to write as patterned paper is glittered) and black organza bow

 

For the second card I started out by creating an 8" square card blank. I then took a piece of cream card cut to 7.75" x 7.75" and a piece of white cardstock that I had trimmed to 7.5" x 7.5". Using my Crafters Companion boxer board I scored the card every 0.25" to create the piece of card below.

 I then wrapped this piece of card with a piece of white crochet ribbon making sure it was secured on the back with extra strong double sided tape. I added a matching bow on top using Pinflair glue gel. Next I attached the cream card to the card blank using double sided tape, followed by the embossed white card using lots of foam tape.

 I then chose a selection of embellishments from my stash including die cuts, Craftwork Cards messages and the lovely lacy horseshoe topper.

                     I attached all of these to the card front as shown using Pinflair glue gel.

 The finishing touches to the front were created using pink ribbon roses, a pearl heart and Cosmic Shimmer decorative pva in vanilla.

 Finally I matted and layered the inside of the card to match the outside, adding one of the messages.

 

Number 4 a mix up of the others!!

This wedding card commission was inspired by the previous wedding makes using a combination of the elements and colours from them.

Firstly I created an 8" square card blank and matted on to it a piece of silver mirror card measuring 7.75" x 7.75" and then a piece of pink cardstock cut to 7.5" square that I embossed using my Grand Calibur and an A4 embossing folder.

 As with the previous card design I created a piece of ribbed card stock. Taking white card cut to 7.25" square and  by using my Crafters Companion boxer board and scoring every 0.25" on it.
I attached white crochet ribbon and matching bow complete with pink cabochon in the centre.

 I added a selection of embellishments and toppers from my stash using Pinflair glue gel and further embellished the design with Cosmic Shimmer decorative pva on the horseshoe and cake.

For the final finishing touches I added some bells cut using a Tattered lace die and some pink paper roses.

 I matted and layered the inside of the card using the same layout as the front and then added a pink foiled message to the left hand side.