Flowery Birthday Cards

Back to the marathon catch-up-post-mageddon! I used a particularly nice flowery paper and topper set from Making Cards Magazine to create these two quick cards.

For the sentiments I used a magazine stamp set (Also from Making Cards Magazine) and Hero Arts Stamp Set - Messages with a flourish (CL738).

You can still buy the sentiment stamp set I used from the magazine, directly from their website, so I shall include a link here in case you are interested. This is not a paid promotion, lol.

Pinky Pig

Happy Friday Folks! It's my fortnightly Dr.Digi post and it's back to a 2D Cuddly Critters Pig! Loved making her in felt and knew I had to have a go in pencil too!

Coloured with polychromos and a white posca pen I also coloured in the text too this time. Font is DK Rosy Lee.

Here is the digi in the shop:

And here is my version:

Paper is one from the stash, probably a magazine freebie. The heart bling is from WHSmith, I'm not sure about it on this card but I couldn't find anything that fitted better! #embellishmentchoicetrauma

Coloured the pig completely smooth and shiny to begin with, then added the mud, then added the hairs, then coloured the letters.  I printed out the pig and letters after combining them in a graphic package on the PC.

Thanks for joining me today! Hope to see you again soon!

Owls - freebie download from Making Cards Mag.

I really like the challenge of using a limited group of items to make a card and the freebie download packs from Making Cards Magazine are a fab way to do this! Sometimes I just feel overwhelmed by choice and ideas and it results in a lack of productivity and creativity! I always feel like reducting the stash I use makes for much more interesting cards.

I love the January download pack featuring soft watercolour owls! I paired them up with some 6x6 papers from my stash, kraft card, and two different types of bling. The one embellishment set is Shimelle Glitter Girl Collection by American Crafts and the others are adhesive wood-effects gems I think from docrafts, will check!

I decided to make a set of 4 cards using 6x6 white card blanks as the bases. This was just for convenience, I have lots of them ready to use!

Because the set doesnt come with any greetings/sentiments I printed out some round ones and banner ones on the computer using two fonts, Caneletter Script and Bernadette Rough.

Several of the 6x6 papers came from a Chalk Studio Set from My Minds Eye. I can spot at least one section from a Lawn Fawn Plaid Set and a few pieces my friend Amy sent me when I worked on her Design Team, thanks Amy!

On all of the cards I added glossy accents to the Owl's eyes (Customers always comment and like it) and I added some stickles to the centres of the flowers. The bunting I used I think is a docrafts product I got from the Range.

Thanks for joining me today, I hope you like this set of Birthday cards, they were quick to make and fun to do! If you want to check out if they are still available to download you can use the link below. Making Card Magazine has a great facebook page that alerts you to offers and freebies too.

https://www.hobbies-and-crafts.co.uk/Blog-Card-Making/

Final Christmas Card Catch-up post!

Final catch up post relating to 2019's Christmas Cards, unfortunately the list of outstanding cards is much longer than that, I think it goes back into June! Oops. 

These two are cards from a Studiolight decoupage set, but they were larger fancy shape toppers. I added a few bits to the intended layout as well as some glossy accents etc.

I scanned the background shape into the computer and reprinted them onto card stock so I could make them into shaped easel cards.

I used left over pieces from the kit to make a central island inside the card that the top piece could rest on.

Didn't get any report on them from the people I sent them too so presume they weren't to their tastes - But I enjoyed making them!

Nightmare before Christmas!

More of the catching up and another Christmas pop-up box card, this time the theme was "Nightmare before Christmas".

Went with a restricted colour palette even though it was a christmas card, hoped the pop of red would keep it a bit festive.

I used the Burton's Nightmare font for the text and panel to write the message on.

It always a sense of relief when it still lays flat after adding all the components!

Eurodisney Christmas!

More of the mopping up, this is one of the pop up boxes I made for Christmas with a Euro-Disney theme!

For the main pop up part I used christmassy Mickey heads which I purchased from HeyLenaArts on Etsy. At the time I thought it would be faster and more professional looking that slowly creating my own and I love supporting fellow Etsy artists!

The background images are all Disney themed, photos of the rides, original artwork by Eyvind Earle, (The artwork is amazing, well worth a browse when you have time, I felt very inspired!) and Alice in Wonderland Maze statues etc. I also used a map of the park and the ride wait map from the Disney app.

I used some sticky sparkle sheet sticker over my Mickey heads and some Waltograph font for my greeting.

Bling from the stash as normal. As with all box cards, it folds flat to post!

More of the Penguins

I love making penguin cards, so yet another penguin christmas card catch-up post! This set is a new one I bought for my 2019 Xmas cards, it's Little Penguin Agenda from Mama Elephant. They are beyond cute! 

And I made this layout for a batch of my christmas cards and commissions. 

As well as the penguin agenda set I used a set from Cardio called "Branching out" to make the winter foliage behind the penguins. I used Distress Oxides to stamp and Nuvo jewel drops for the berries. Penguins are coloured in copics and fonts are Dacquoise and Deliquente Alt I.

Snowglobe Layout Part 2

More catching up, here are two of the other designs I made using my initial snowglobe layout for Xmas cards 2019. One was a commissioned card and the other one I made for a friend.

Ingredients.

• Stamps - Artemio Type F Penguins with Sledge Wooden Stamp. and Hello Bluebird - Frosty Friends.

I got the Artemio stamp as a wooden backed stamp several years ago, it's a favourite. I don't know if you can still buy it, but it does seems Artemio released a clear set including him.

The Frosty Friends set was a second hand purchase, it stamps really nicely so I'm hoping it's the real deal and not a knock off. It wasn't cheap! 

• Scalloped Background shape from the stash, coloured with distress oxides.
• Snowglobe die - Craft Emotions called Snowglobe with Houses.
• Papers from Making Cards Magazine. (I scanned them and have printed them back out many times since my initial freebies with purchase).
• Fairy lights from Paperchase. They were sold as present wrapping.
• Font is CAC Pinafore
• Bling from stash.

More Penguins!

Catch up post with another Penguiny card idea I used for my christmas cards in 2019, this time using the Woodware Clear Stamps - Penguin Parade.

I did some DL easel cards for my commissioned cards, here are two of them! I swapped papers and cardstock for them but the main layout stayed the same.  I used up old stock from the stash, I think most were magazine freebies, even the ribbon!

Font is Freehand 575 BT. Penguins were coloured with copics and then I added glossy accents and stickles. Bling also from the stash.

Rubber Crimbo Duckie

First post in a while that isn't a catch-up post! It's a DT day post! And I wanted to re-purpose the Rubber Duckie digistamp from Dr.Digi's House of Stamps and use him for a Christmas card. I really need to work on my Christmas card stash all year round and not leave them til December! lol.

This is a super simple card using the Rubber Duckie digi, it could be even more CAS than I did it but I wanted to share with you how easy it is to use a nicely shaped digi to make a card like this for any occassion. It's always great for using small scraps of cool papers too!

This is what the digi looks like when you download it -

Here are some brief instructions of how I made it.

First of all I create a 16x16cm square on the computer and used an overlay grid to position the ducks. My grid overlay divided the square into a 3x3 grid and I positioned a duck centrally in each section. For the middle section I pasted a small duck and added a circular "Christmas Quackers" greeting. I then printed this out and cut out the eight outer ducks (making duck shaped holes/windows). 

(The red lines here are not my grid, they are to protect the digi from theft.)

(If I then only kept the shape around the ducks, leaving just silhouettes it would be very simple to create an svg file and cut it out on the cutting machine!)

I then created a grey box to cover each of the ducks and pasted it into the grid I had made. This is for the correct layout of the scrap papers underneath my ducks.

I then added some extra border to the square making it a 17x17cm card front for the card. By adding a black border on 3 sides I was able to cut it out the right size and score the 4th edge ready to make up my card. (I leave a 2 centimetre overlap and then stick it onto another blank 17x17 cm square to make the card blank).

After I had printed this out I cut out eight 4.5x4.5cm squares from christmas papers. I stuck them on each of the grey squares. 

Using 3D foam I mounted the topper, with the duck shape windows directly on top of the papered squares.

I cropped out the sentiment design and reprinted it on a new sheet of paper, and then using my cuttlebug and dies made it into a 5cm diameter circle and from red card a 5.5cm diameter circle to layer it onto. 

I then coloured in the duck with copics and 3D foamed it into the centre of my card.

Finished Card!

Did you like a post with more instructions and info on how I made it? Tbh, with my coloured cards the process is very obvious and simple but I thought maybe when I use the computer to make a card or a template for lots of cards, it might be interesting and helpful to share?

Penguins!

Catch up post again, a card I made as one of my christmas designs for 2019 using the Avery Elle - Bring on the Joy stamp set.

I love this set and enjoyed using it in my snow globe layout. (Which as later posts will show, I used with a few different stamp sets!)

I thought I would just do an ingredients list for this card, I used a lot of different things.

• Stamps - Avery Elle Bring on the Joy. (Coloured with Copics)
• Die cut trees from Joy called "Mery's Christmas Tree and House Border".
• Scalloped Background shape from the stash, coloured with distress oxides.
• Snowglobe die - Craft Emotions called Snowglobe with Houses.
• Papers from Making Cards Magazine. (I scanned them and have printed them back out many times since my initial freebies with purchase).
• Fairy lights from Paperchase. They were sold as present wrapping.
• Fonts are Daquoise and Freebooter Script.
• Bling from stash.

CUP

I have spent a bit of time creating a new Crafts U Print Gallery for my blog. Sometimes when I am struggling for new ideas, or want something straightforward in a kit format, I pop there and buy a few  projects.

CUP Gallery!

I always felt like using kits was a bit like cheating but tbh, they take a fair amount of time to make up, I often fully customise them so they fulfil my remit a bit better and sometimes I'm just paying for the artwork to use in my own way. 

So perhaps not as much cheating as up-cycling?

On CUP I struggle to find projects that suit my tastes, and may be like me you have been overwhelmed by the choice and difficulty in finding things you really like? Perhaps you will spot something in the gallery you like and it'll save you some time browsing on CUP, where I promise you, there are lots of nice things,  you just have to find them!

This post is not sponsored. lol.

Using Up Studio Light Spares!

Hi again, more of the catch-up post department! 

A couple of years ago I discovered the Studio Light Christmas Card kits. They are booklets with a suggested card layout and then all the parts to make it up. They also add a few extra and spare parts for every card and at the end of making up the sets (mainly as they proposed) I was left with a large bag of cool leftovers. This year I made 8 cards with leftovers from a couple of the official card kits.

Here is one of the cards that you are given a guide for. I make them up as suggested and then add some little extras, in this case, some wooden bling and a little wooden bunny.

These are the eight cards I made with the left over bits. (From two whole booklets).

The booklets always come with a central image for you card, so printing out some new central images was all I needed to make up a new design. I chose 8 photos and cut them out with circle dies and layered them onto card.

I have a few friends who like cats, so the first two were cat themed.

I have a friend who likes travelling so I printed out a snowy northern lights image for her.

For my SIL & BIL and my Nephew I  made two cards using photos of their dog Smudge (That I took from their facebook photos, oops!) and I gave them a blue hue to kind of look a bit more wintery? They seemed to like them at least, lol!

All the layering card and the backing papers are from my stash, luckily I have a lovely nordic 6x6 paper set that go well with the Studiolight colour schemes.

I did another dog card for my FIL. They used to have a lovely golden retriever called Chester, a long time ago now, so hopefully this meant happy memories!

My brother seemed to have opinions on appropriating non-Christmas animals for Christmas cards, but I don't think it matters what animal you pick as long as the photo has them in snow! This is a snow fossa for my brother, and I did my Mum a snow tiger!

So that was the set I made from the recycled bits! I love making these. I don't really mind if people don't think they are very christmassy, this year what was important for me was enjoying making my big batch of remaining Xmas cards. 

I've probably made over 100 Christmas cards using the StudioLight kits but never seem to have bothered blogging any before, so thought I would at least show these extras this year!