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.

 

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.

                                                                                                                        

 

                                                                                                                                                         

 

 

OMG its been so long since I posted. Have been a bit pre occupied lately with a certain male that has come into my life. Twitter, Facebook, Skype and phonecalls have been my life for the last 6 weeks. But its going to be even better soon when he comes to visit London in just 11 days. I have also spent a lovely 5 days with my bestie friend and her beautiful family in Essex. We did some crazy stuff don't think I have laughed so much for a very long time. Lets just say a visit to the swings with the children will never be the same again!!!! So because of all this I am now inundated with cards that I should have made and with Father's Day so close got plenty to be getting on with. But here is a little recent creation. As always has all my favourites flowers, glitter, gemstones and even gorgeous hat pins.

Birthday card for a Crafty Friend

This is another card made using the fab Glitter Girls board Once Upon  A Time.  I made it for a very special crafty friend of mine its her Birthday today. I have used foiled , glittered and embossed cardstocks in  various tones of pink and purple. The card has been embellished using lots of pretty flowers, a large and small die cut butterfly (using the spellbinders dies) clear gemstones and some gorgeous spotted organza ribbon.

My 15 mins of fame

This is the matching box for the card

This was when Nigel May was reading out the Glitter Girls Story written by me

This card was made to commemorate The Glitter Girls 50th board and featured a story written by me. I presented this to them at a retail show in Alexandre Palace. Kathy and Babs loved it so much that they took it on TV with them. It was show on Create and Craft on Thursday 19th April 2012 (9am hour) I was also called by them from the TV studio and spoke live on air for 10 mins. This card took more than 2 hours to make not including the box. It featured glittered, foiled and embossed cardstocks in shades of pink and purple. it was embellished with organza ribbon, butterfly diecuts, paper roses, babies breath and clear gemstones.

My latest creations

Below are the latest cards that I have been commissioned to make. The first card had to be for a man who loved everything technical. I think using a glaze pen and some peel offs has really brought the Ipod and I phone to life. The 2 Hello Kitty cards were really great to make as the gave me the chance to get out my Promarkers and act like a kid colouring in. After a large amount of time spent colouring I then set to work with ultrafine irradescent glitter, gorgeous glitter flowers,  ribbon bows and gemstones.

 This is the inside of the Hello Kitty card above which has been made to perfectly match-greeting says Just for you on your special day

 This is the inside of the Hello Kitty card above which has been designed to co-ordinate perfectly with the front of the card