Keepsake

If you've read yesterday's post you will know that I'm sorting through the contents of my craftroom. It's a great time waster but it's also a job that needs to be done. The bonus is that I'm finding all sorts that I'd forgotten about including this topper, already stamped and coloured, just crying out to be made into a card. It also gave me an opportunity to use a snippet, admittedly quite a sizable snippet, of green card so I'll be popping over to Pixie's Snippets Playground for the first time this year.

Supplies used:

- a white A6 card blank from Docrafts Papermania 

- the snippet of green textured cardstock, also from Docrafts Papermania

- water colour card, from a pad bought at my local craft shop (sadly now closed down), brand name now forgotten

- Penny Black's Keepsake stamp

- Memento Tuxedo Black ink pad

- pink water colour paint 

- Stickles Sprinkled Sugar for the centre of the flowers

- small yellow gems for the centre of the flowers - I didn't think the Stickles was sparkly enough - and pink ones for decoration. 

Ah well, better get back to my stuff sorting. I feel that as I unearth more forgotten treasure there will be a few more cards to share with you. Talk about getting back to normal with a bump. 

Happy Crafting

Christmas Alphabet - U for Urchin

Evening folks,

This is coming to you from a wet and windy corner of Scotland - there's definitely a storm brewing - but I'm happily ensconced in my craft space crafting away and bringing you the next in the Alphabet series.

As soon as I saw this digital stamp on the Scrapbook Sisters site I just had to have it. The little boy reminded me of a Dickensian urchin - possibly one of Fagin's pickpockets :)  I printed him out on a scrap of cream watercolour paper, which at 190gsm is about as much as my printer will take, and coloured him with distress inks in muted vintage shades, but added a flash of red to the bow-tie and flower. The edges are inked too and a touch of glitter was added for a wintry touch. All the card and paper used came off the snippet pile - I'd like to say that this pile is fast disappearing, but it's not - can't understand it but, like Topsy, it's just growed!

The holly sprays were made using an X-cut punch.

I've used the other side of the Bo Bunny design paper I used on the Holly Jolly Christmas Card a month ago  - here's the link if you would like to see it - I managed to pick up a couple of sheets from a craft shop but I see it's available as a pack and all the designs are gorgeous.

Materials List:

• Cardstock: Papermania Textured Card in green (base, greeting mat & punched holly leaves) and grey (mat); Reeves cream water-colour card, 190gsm
• Design Paper: Bo Bunny Noel/Rejoice
• Digital Stamps: Scrapbook Sisters Boy Digi Stamp 092655-GB; Sentiments 4 You Circular Merry Xmas Greeting
• Inks: Tim Holtz, Vintage Photo, Pumice Stone, Black Soot, Fired Brick
• Tools: X-cut Embossing Silhouette Punch - Holly Sprays; Stampin' Up circle punches, 1" & 1.25"
• Sundries: Very Fine white iridescent glitter; red doodles dewdrops

Having used all those bits and pieces to make this card I'm submitting it to Jules Crafty Snippet Challenge - Week 45 for her crafty inspection :)

I'll be back later with a post on the next in the series - the letter V. Now, it's time to think of dinner.

See you later,

Things With Wings - a birthday card

Evening All,

I've just been doing a bit of blog housekeeping - and it needed it ... my, it takes time keeping up with all the lovely candies and giveaways that some of you lovely bloggers have up for grabs ... I was weeks out of date!!! Still it's all bang up to date again so time to show you the card I made for my son's lovely partner, Elaine.

I used my Crafty Individuals paper and stamp for this card. This is another of the images I coloured whilst on holiday in Wales ... now that was a worthwhile exercise as I've used quite a number of these pre-prepared stampings now. This one is stamped on to watercolour paper and the butterflies and flowers are coloured with shimmer paints and I took TH's DI, Spun Sugar over it - thought it looked better with the gorgeous paper.

The corners are just made from a square of co-ordinating paper cut in have diagonally, then matted onto pink card.

Simple decoration inside and out - the lovely cream card base didn't seem to call for more.


Materials:

• Cream square (5.5"x5.5") card base (Paper Mill Direct)
• Stampin' Up cardstock, Rose Red & Baja Breeze for Matting & Layering
• Crafty Individuals Springtime Background Papers
• Stamps: - Crafty Individuals CI-301 & Stampin' Up So Happy for You set
• Shimmer paints - green, blue, yellow & pink
• Ink pads, Memento, Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz DI, Spun Sugar
• Embellishments: Wild Orchid Crafts 25mm Wild Rose in Mushroom/Cream; pink ribbon & pink die-cut butterfly from stash; Crafty Notions pink rainbow drops

I seem to be chasing my tale this week ... the Christmas card's not done, a couple of birthday cards still to do and a hundred and one other projects I have lined up waiting to be done ... I blame the weather!It's been very changeable of late. And then there has been a couple of diem interruptus while the EM has been redecorating the bedroom - it was worth it though, he's done a lovely job :)

Right, I'm off to take stock before starting on the next project. Maybe a cuppa will help :)

Hope you are all faring well and enjoying your week. Take care and happy crafting,

Time Flies - not exactly a card . . .

Hello to you all,

Now don't laugh but this little sweetheart is now gracing our downstairs loo. My Estate Manager recently decided to re-decorate the wee room and after consultation with the Queen of Cream - moi - he has painted it a gorgeous lido blue (Clear Ocean, actually). I wasn't sure to begin with, after all don't small rooms call for light treatment, wouldn't a dark colour make it look even smaller!! But now the job is done I've been won over - it's daring but it's gorgeous - phew : )  However, one thing that is clear is that the old, tired piccies were no longer up to the job. Something new was called for.

So what to do - well, make my own of course, and I had the perfect image for the project. This is one of the stamps I water-coloured last Sunday and I have to admit I just loved colouring in this one. In fact, I have become so attached to it I put off using it to make a card to give away. This image so reminds me of my two children when they were little and cute that I just didn't want to part with it, so making a page to frame was the perfect solution.

This design paper was already in my stash and was a great match with the blue card used for matting.  Framed, it's now gracing the wall of the smallest room and looks perfect.

Materials used:

• Cardstock: Reeves Watercolour 190gsm; Stampin' Up smooth card, Marina Mist & Sahara Sand
• Design Paper: Crate Paper, Sweet Branch Collection, Cherish; Tim Holtz Distress Ink, Weathered Wood for distressing
• Stamps: Sheena Douglass, A little Bit Sketchy, Time Flies; Stazon Ink Pad, Jet Black; AquaMarkers to colour; Krylon gold leafing pen for edging

Now, what excuse can I find to keep the other image I watercoloured last Sunday : )

It's film night in our house, we subscribe to LoveFilm, so I'm away downstairs to watch tonight's offering, a Jodie Foster film I believe.

Brother's Tartan Birthday Card

Good evening everyone,

My second card of the day and it's a card for my brother, Douglas, who loves all things Scottish and who, although brought up in a city, is very much a country boy at heart so I thought he would appreciate this Sheena Douglass stamp, 'Nature'.

I stamped it onto watercolour paper with Tim Holtz Black Soot distress ink and following Sheena's instructions dried the image off with the heat gun then went over the image with a damp paintbrush - a scary new technique for me. I let it dry then, because I wanted a real wintery scene, used a Versamarker pen to pick out the hilltops and spots where I thought snow would lie and embossed those areas with Seafoam White powder from Papermania.  I frosted the picture using a glue pen and white irridescent glitter.

I hope you can see that the frosting sparkles in blues and greens. Because my brother's health has not been so good over the last year but is improving the 'Nature' sentiment seemed to strike just the right note.

Other materials used: tartan patterned paper for background, blue and green card for matting and punched trim, and silver/black peel-off trims were from my stash; black stitched ribbon (all three rows of it), and silver snowflake trim were from Funky Farm Scrapbook Barn.

For the inside I designed a matching digi sentiment on my computer by scanning the tartan paper and using the digital punch feature to cut out a centre square and a frame and added the 'Happy Birthday' text.

Douglas lives in a small village in the Scottish Borders. Up until a few years ago he and his wife owned and ran the local village shop which served the community. A local artist, Lucille M Fenton, spotted him in his kilt and asked if she he would let her do a painting of him - here is a photograph of the painting:

He is wearing the tartan of the 1st Battalion of the Cameronians, (Scottish Rifles) the regiment he served with until, sadly, it was disbanded in 1968. The beauty spot he is posing on is somewhere in Berwickshire. I think he looks like a man in his element.

Hope you liked my card and the painting. Feel free to comment on either or both.

Bye for now
Elizabeth