The year in Review

Welcome - I was going to do a new post, but instead have decided to review the year and post a card from each month!! 

This is my January choice - I had fun experimenting with this background and loved the outcome.

February was another card that had an experimental background that I chose.  Loved the way this one turned out!

In March there were fewer cards to choose from, but I really loved this one.

In April our Grandson was born, and this was my favourite card - made for my grand daughter's second birthday

May brought some more studio time, a slew of sympathy cards and my first successful paper piecing on a card.

For June I chose this bright card - simply because it is so cheerful - even more so in real life.

July I found hard to choose a card as there were several that I like, but this one with (retired) stamps from Layers of Color was the one I chose.

August I made this card for a dear friend

September I combined and digi image with digi paper and came up with this colourful card, and got it up before my computer died!

October was a month for numerous baby cards, this one being my favourite

In November my favourite was a commissioned card 

December saw me experimenting - this time with gesso and watercolours

I do hope you have enjoyed this review of my year - I do know that I have enjoyed reviewing my blog and selecting them.  There were many other cards made, some of which never made it to my blog, and some of which, to my embarrassment  I didn't even photograph before getting them away.  I blame that on being a senior blonde ....

Thank you for supporting me through out this past year, you visits and comments have been very much appreciated.

May your 2013 be one which brings much joy to you and yours.

Felicity's Card

Welcome, and a blessed Christmas to all my visitors.  

It is supposed to be summer here in the Antipodes, but at the moment it is not sunny, rather we are due the remnants of a tropical cyclone and it is warm, humid and dull - just when I wanted sunshine to photograph the sparkle on this card!! 

The image is a bride digi from Bugaboo Stamps, but I wanted a 'girly' image for a 2 year old, so trimmed off the veil and train after printing.

The image was coloured with chalks and mounted, using foam dots to give some dimension, onto a Prima Fairy Flora dp cut with the Floral oval die from Spellbinders.

A bow was added for interest, and rhinestones for some sparkle - but that did not work for me...

Mounted the panel onto blue card stock after trying green.

Stamped and embossed the sentiment using silver hologram ep, 

still not happy....

Inspiration struck and out came the glue pen and the glitter.... and now the card, my studio and I are very sparkly, and the card has two fancy borders. 

...and finally the sun poked out for a few seconds and I got a quick photo... please excuse the shadow but I was rushing before the sun hid behind the clouds again.

I am linking this to:

Catch the Bug - Recipe Challenge - use borders

Hiding in My Craft Room - Challenge #77 - Anything But Christmas

Stamp Your Life Challenge #1 - Anything Goes

Crafts 4 Eternity Challenge #103 - Anything Goes

ATC's and Cards with Attitude - Anything Goes

Avadares Challenge #6 - Anything with a digi

Lady Annes Sentimental Friday Challenge - Anything Goes

Fat Pages and Cards with Attitude - Anything Goes

QKR Stampede Challenge #19 - Let it Shine

Wags n' Whiskers Challenge #94 - Anything Goes

Thanks for visiting - may your day be blessed.

Any comment you may leave is appreciated, 

and the encouragement is so very welcome.

Napkin and Plant Wrap!!

This card has been selected as one of the top three at Papelitos Challenge 
Thank you Papelitos!!

Greetings.

It is good to be back here after such a long absence - with summer, (read gardening and lawn mowing) Christmas and the house project, life is a tad busy!!

But I have managed several cards and another card class since I last posted.

The card I am sharing today was inspired by some paper table napkins that were used at my Aunts 85th birthday party - my cousin graciously gave me a couple to bring home.

I used the 'felted cardstock' technique found here. After adhering and trimming the napkin layer, I sponged the edges. I then sprayed it with a silver glitter mist.

This was then mounted over maroon card, and the sentiment embossed on a scrap of the same card, cut with a die and the edges sponged with pearlescent ink.

The silver layer under the sentiment and top layer was a wrap from a gifted plant - compliments of my neighbour.

This shot shows the sparkle from the mist and the silver layer.  The rhinestones were added in three groups - one on the sentiment and two on the card.

I was very pleased with this outcome of this card.

I am linking this to:

Mema;s Crafts - December Challenge - Anything Goes

Artistic Inspirations Challenge #20 - Anything Goes

Bunny Zoe's Crafts Monthly Challenge - Celebrations

Crafty Bloggers Network Challenge - Anything Goes

Daisy Doodles Creative Challenge #74 - Birthdays at Christmas

House of Gilli Challenge # 48 - Add Sparkle

My Grafico Challenge # 142 - Anything Goes

Squigglefly Challenge #50 - Anything Goes with a Sentiment

Vintage Stamping Challenge #3 - A Pocket Full of Posies

Papelitos Challenge #24 - Anything Goes

Thanks so much for visiting - may your day be blessed.

Gesso butterfly

Welcome - some rainy weather has given me a break from house painting to make some cards.  As I needed two in a hurry, I grabbed the images that I had been experimenting with gesso and watercolour, and made them into cards. 

This is the result of watching a video recently on using gesso over a printed page, and then stamping and watercolour over that. The problem is I cannot remember where I saw it to be able to link back and give credit to the artist.

The artwork started out as a piece of page from and old Mills and Boon romance... it was painted with gesso and left for several days.

The butterfly was then coloured using watercolour pencils and a water-brush. After that was dry I masked the butterfly and stamped the background script.

The sentiment was stamped and gold embossed across the corner, and the edges sponged with distress inks.

Although it is not clear, I used two distress inks, but forgot to let the first one dry completely before I added the second one, so they sort of blended....

Some liquid pearls were added in the corners.

A double bow in the corner made from the same ribbon that is under the left hand edge of the image panel.

When I bought the gift to go with the card, it was gift wrapped by the shop I purchased it at - I asked if they had pink and purple toned paper, and this is the result - an awesome match!  

I think my 85 yr old young Aunt will love the combination!

I am linking this to:

ATC's and Cards With Attitude - Anything Goes

Lady Anne's Challenges - Sentimental Friday - Anything Goes

Fat Pages with Attitude Challenge #28- Anything Goes

Hotshot Craft Blog Challenge #13 - Butterflies

Stamping With the Dragon - Anything Goes

Stemplesonne Challenge #77 - Anything goes with a stamp

Wags and Whiskers Challenge #94 - Anything Goes

Thanks for visiting - may your day be blessed.

Any comments you may leave are really appreciated.

This Year's Christmas Card

Welcome - and thanks for calling by to visit.

Just a note here to say that I may not be posting much over the next few weeks as we have family commitments, and we are also finishing some painting on the house.  I would far rather paint with water colours on paper, but needs be that I have to use acrylics on wood...

I started this project by sorting through my Layers of Color Christmas stamps. Unfortunately the company is now not trading any longer as I love their stamps.

This is the stamp I used as the main feature, and after stamping I distressed the edges and sponged on some more ink.

There were two sentiments used - this is on the top left,

and this on the bottom right.

The wings were stamped using a Brillance pearlescent ink, which you can see in the second photo has a lovely sheen on it.

The card was assembled after sponging the edges, starting with a strip of Christmas dp from a pack that I won from Alicia over at Time to Create, then layering the main image over that.  The stars are from a packet of metallic confetti that I have had from very early in my stamping days! (Ahem, like a decade...), and after gluing them on, I remembered why there are still so many of them in the container!! 

I am linking this to:

Crafty Bloggers Network Challenge #5 - Christmas Anything Goes

Crafty Boots - Anything Goes

Creative Craft Friends Challenge #65 - Christmas Crafts

Lexi's Creations Blog Challenge #79 - Christmas

Paper Playtime Challenge #89 - Anything Goes

Paper Girls Challenge #20 - Christmas

Stamping Sisters In Christ Challenge #167 - Christmas

Addictged to Stamps Challenge #44 - Christmas time

Creative Inspirations Paints - Challenge - Anything Goes
Word Art Wednesday Challenge #55 - Anything Goes
ABC Challenge #6 - Anything Goes

Thanks so much for visiting - and for any comments you may leave - they are a great encouragement.

May your day be blessed.

Card recipe:

Card stock - bream and white

Inks - Tsukineko Brillance Galaxy Gold and Memento Rich Cocoa

          Distress Inks - Tea Dye, Fired Brick and Crushed Olive

Stamps - all retired Layers of Color - Post Card, Regal Wings, Glad Tidings and Christmas Verses

My First Class

Welcome and thanks for visiting. 

 This post is about stamping, but not just mine.

I have been asked recently to run a class, and this week I took the plunge and 'just did it'.  It is just a small class, but we had fun!

These are the two samples I made - a calendar.

And a  Christmas card.

What doesn't show here, is that I used a 'twinkling' silver embossing powder, and there is kindy glitz on the circles in the stamp and the centres of the star bursts, so IRL it really sparkles.

These are the results - as you can see, these girls weren't afraid to change things up a bit.

The afternoon was voted a success, and they asked for more!!  

Thanks for visiting - may your day be blessed.

Project recipe:

Card - Forest Green and chrome yellow, scraps of white and cream.

Ink - clear embossing, Memento Dandelion, Distress - Barn door and Mustard Seed.

Stamps - Butterfly - The Crafts Meow - Friend of Mine,

                              Kiwistamping Christmas tree (retired) Daisy 

                              All Night Media -  Starburst 

Accessories - white pens, scrap of dp, aqua pencils, brads, Kindy Glitz

A Commission

Welcome, and thanks for visiting.

I have deliberately punned the title of this post - I was asked to make a card (a commission) for a couple who are being ordained (commissioned) into positions of ministry in their church.

I chose to make a very simple card in gold and white with a touch of red.

I love this scripture, and felt it appropriate for the occasion. The print was gold embossed, and the edge was also gold embossed before I mounted the panel over a layer of red/gold paper that I was given in a 'scrap-pack'.

The panel was mounted over the ribbon with foam tape to give some dimension.

The inside was decorated with a strip of washi tape and this sentiment stamped in gold ink.

I am linking this to:

Card Crafter's Circle Challenge #49 - Textures

Lady Anne's Challenges Sentimental Friday - Anything Goes

Clearly Inspired Challenge #64 - Clean and Simple

Craft Punked Challenge #46 - Anything Goes

Fairy Tale Challenge Blog Challenge #54 - Embossing

Word Art Wednesday Challenge #54 - Anything goes

Gingerloft Challenge #52 - a Touch of Gold

The Paper Players Challenge #122 - CAS and Silver or Gold

The Squirrel and the Fox Challenge #31 - Anything Goes

Thanks for visiting - may your day be blessed
Thank you for comments left - they are such an encouragement.

Card recipe:

Card - white card stock

Paper - gold, red/gold (from my stash) white
Stamps - main one from Stampendous, inside (retired) from Layers of Color

Ink - Clear embossing, Brilliance Galaxy Gold

Accessories - ribbon, gold embossing powder, washi tape, Spellbinders M-bossing folder.

Gift Card Base Thank You

Welcome, and thank you for visiting.

I apologise for not posting for so long, but there have been various reasons for my absence, not the least being that I was having difficulties (read senior blonde moments) with my photo-editing program, Photoscape - thankfully we visited our son and his wife the other day, and my daughter in love so graciously gave me a tutorial, and also pointed me to an online tutorial, which has been a great help.

I recently received a gift from a fellow member of the Splitcoast Stampers group Stamp Addicts.  It was a wee portfolio of card blanks.  I needed a Thank You card, so started with one of the blanks, and the accompanying off cuts, and a sketch from A Die For A Sketch.

I love this web ribbon and the colour was an almost perfect match with the background,

The diecut was a Spellbinders labels 10 which I embossed and sponged to highlight the sentiment.

The final touch was a row of pearls under the sentiment and along the base of the other layer.

I love the subtle colour way of these papers, and the way they can be mixed and matched.

I am linking this to:

A die for a Sketch Challenge #6 - Sketch

Sweet Stampin' Challenge - Anything Goes

One Stop Craft Challenge - Anything Goes

Amusing Challenges - Thank You

Kenny K's Krafty Krew Challenge #119- Monochrome

Oner Stitch At A Time Challenge #139 - With Thanks

Penny Black November Challenge - Any Die Will Do

Pile It On Challenge #46 - Lets Be Thankful

Robyn's Fetich Challenge #133 - Anything Goes

Sentimental Sundays Challenge #128 - Thanks/Thanksgiving

Thank you so much for visiting - may your day be blessed

Thank you also for any comments left - they are much appreciated

Card Recipe:
Card base and off cuts - from Die Cuts With a View
Stamp - Thanks - unknown
Ink - Whisper - sugarloaf green
Accessories: Kaiser pearl strings

3-D flower and Butterfly

Greetings again - thank you for visiting, and I trust you feel welcome in this corner of the blog-isphere.

I recently made a birthday card for a friend with limited sight, and I try to make a very tactile card with reasonable contrast for them to be able to appreciate it.

I started with a very large scalloped oval that I had received in a RAK from Lovely Linda.  I made a basic gatefold card from it, and then added the dp on the two outer surfaces.  The edges of the card, and the top and bottom of the inner were sponged with a rouge ink.

The rose started as crinkled tissue paper that I rubbed the rouge ink over, then glued to thin card and cut and embossed, then edges of the petals were inked as well. The layers were held together with a jewelled brad.

The butterfly was made using a cuttlebug die and embossing folder set.

The sentiment was embossed, cut and sponged and layered over another die cut, and the closure secured with a ribbon.

I am linking this to:

Creative Card Crew Challenge #22 - Fancy Folds

Die Cutting Divas Challenge #89 - Anything Goes

LEJ Designs Challenge #27 - Anything Goes

Sassy Cheryl's Challenge #139 - Nothing Square About This

Shopping out Stash Challenge #75 - 3-D flower (tissue is old)

Twisted Tuesday Challenge - Free for all

Thank you for visiting, may your day be blessed.

Any comment you may leave is always appreciated.

Card Recipe:

Card - white and a scrap of red

Ink - Rouge chalk ink, clear embossing ink

Stamps - unknown sentiment

Paper - Kaiser Miss Nellie pad

Accessories

  Dies - Spellbinders Large classic scalloped oval, Labels 10, Donna Slazinger Rose, Magnificent Circles.

           Provocraft Butterfly with embossing folders

  Ribbon, gold embossing powder, tissue paper, jewelled brad