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Monday, 28 March 2011

Forever Friends New Baby

This is the second card I made to go along with my decoupage tutorial at the Crafty Cardmaker's Spotlight this week. It was my first ever tutorial and I hope I made it clear without waffling on TOO much LOL.

The image is a Forever Friends die cut decoupage which has a lot of layers so I used 1mm thick foam pads to put it together. I used a sketch from Paperminutes for the layout and the colour scheme from the Forever Friends Challenge of green, lilac and yellow. I don't have very many baby cards and it is always useful to have one for when you don't know what sex the baby is going to be

The yellow gingham paper is by Papermania and the other 2 are from My Mind's Eye. I have used dies from Marianne's Creatables and Nestabilities for the mats. The buttons are Papermania and they have waxed cord knotted through them. The embellishments are from various Let's Make Cards packs, the Congratulations chipboard is from a Colorbok pack from QVC and 'Welcome to the World' sentiment sticker is my stash.

I would like to enter this card into the following Challenges :-
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Single Flower - Digi's by Phooka

At Crafty Cardmakers it is my choice for the Spotlight Challenge today which is Decoupage. Please take a look at my previous post which is a tutorial I made as a simple introduction to decoupage. This post is to give you more information about the card itself.

I just love this gorgeous happy flower image from Digi's By Phooka. I call sunflowers 'Happy Flowers' and this image and card pretty much sums me up. Bright colours with a happy smily face. I've even added a glittery fabric sticker butterfly :)

I have decoupaged the image and coloured with Promarkers. I used a Nestabilities die to cut the main image and also the larger orange on in the background which is a DCWV cardstock. I have edged both panels with a gold metallic marker. The main card has been covered with a marbled paper which was a magazine freebie.

The patterned ribbon is one I got from a Brenda Pinnick TSV from QVC which I have had for a good few years. The flowers are Primas. I coloured the larger one with the gold pen to tie it in and added a pearl brad from American Crafts. The sentiment is a clear adhesive one with gold foil rubbed onto it.

This card will be heading out to a very good friend who took me to a spa day last Tuesday. I had a sunbed session, pedicure, facial and a back massage and was so chilled out, calm and relaxed. The smiley flower signifies how very happy I was and the floating butterfly is me, I felt like I was floating afterwards and like a butterfly.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges :-
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Crafty Cardmakers Decoupage Spotlight Tutorial



This week's spotlight theme at Crafty Cardmakers was chosen by me and it is all about 3D Decoupage. Traditional decoupage is decorating objects and items of furniture with paper cut outs and applying up to 12 layers of lacquer. However the majority of crafters know it as creating a 3D image by layering up parts if an image and mounting on 3D foam to create a highly dimensional focal point to your card or project.

If you have never done decoupage before I have created 2 projects for this spotlight to highlight different ways that you can ease yourself in gently.

First of all, anyone who shops in the traditional craft retail outlets will have seen the die cut decoupage packs which are the easiest way of starting. As you can see in the example below, all the layers are numbered making it very easy to follow. Just be careful taking them out of the main sheet, use tiny scissors to cut the paper tabs if they don't come out completely.

I would suggest that assemble one layer at at time so you don't get confused with which layer is next. If you are a complete novice this is the easiest way of not getting into a mess. You may find there are a lot of layers and in this case I would suggest that you use foam pads that only 1 or 2mm thick to reduce how deep the overall design is. As you can see in the image below, there are a lot of layers in this image so I used 1mm pads.

The only real downside with using pads may be that you have to be careful with your placement when you are layering your image as you generally only get one chance to place it an it is stuck.You may also want to try decoupage gel which enable you to create your own depth and can be more forgiving when you are assembling the layers.

I used this image to make an easel card as below:-


One of my favourite styles of cardmaking is to use a digital image that I have coloured and decoupage certain areas to add dimension and more interest. I have used a very simple image to show you how easy it is to create this with your own images, either stamped or digital.

In the example above you can see that Image 1 is the complete digital image. First of all you need to decide what the layers will consist of and this will dictate how many times you need to produce the layer. In my case I have used a graphics program to crop each layer so that I only print out the part I need. You may decide to print the full image and just cut it down with scissors. Just do whatever you feel comfortable with. As you will see on layer 1 I have coloured only the stem and the outside edge of the petals. This bottom layer can be your practice layer if you want to experiment with your shading as a lot of it will be covered up. You do not need to colour in everything but I would always suggest that at least put a colour edge around the next layer up so that you wont see any white gaps in between the foam pads. It will make your card look a lot neater and more professional.

Layer 2 I have again coloured in the same way. The final layer #3 is simply popped on the top and you have a completed, entirely coloured image with 3D layering.

You will see how the design of this flower lends itself to 3 very simple layers. You may find the image you choose may need more or less. How complex you make it is entirely up to you. You may find as you do more of this of this technique that you will take on more complex images with more intricate layers. It is a great way of using your images in a new way and making them more versatile.

We've got a sponsor for this Spotlight Challenge which is from


Fancy Folds and Motion Paper Crafts CD worth $17.95 to one lucky winner.

I hope this tutorial will give you the confidence to have a go and I look forward to seeing your projects for this Spotlight on Decoupage. Please take a look at the projects my fellow teamies have made, there are some absolute stunners.
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Happileigh Scrappin' Challenge #16


It's Georgia's turn to set the challenge over at Happileigh Scrappin' Challenges this week and it is to make a shaped card, no Squares or Rectangles here !!

I used an egg from the Fancy Easter Egg's set which are available to purchase from the Happileigh Scrappin' Store. There are 5 different designs in this set for only $3 which represents fantastic value.

For my creation I wanted to try something different but really wasn't sure if it would work. I had the idea to transfer the digi design onto acetate using a Sharpie marker. I than applied some dries clear glue and ultra fine glitter to these areas and left them to dry. I think I may have used a little bit too much glue as it took over 24 hours to completely dry but the sparkle is amazing so well worth it.

The main pink background is a crackle effect self adhesive irridescent paper which I adhered to the large egg shape I had created for my template. I then used this to make a shaped card, creating a frame around the image and squaring off the base so it could stand up. I attached the acetate to this base card so that glitter would be inside, thus ensuring the recipient doesn't get covered in like I did when I made it. To complete the sandwich I added a black layer to the card front to create a frame around the egg and cover the adhesive that had been used on the acetate.

The spotty ribbon is actually a patterned shoelace from Poundland. They are printed onto a strong twill and you get 4 pairs of varying sizes laces for only £1!! The tag is from an easter set of dimensional stickers and I have suspended it from the ribbon using 2 jump rings.

This week we are welcoming some new members to our team. Please pop on over to see the lovely creations my Happi Sisters have added. There are lots of lovely cards to feast your eyes upon.

Remember, for our challenges you don't need to use a Happileigh Scrappin' image but if you do your entry counts twice and with freebies available here it is easy to use one of Leigh's fabulous digis.

Don't forget that at Happileigh Scrappin' Store Leigh is having a sale on her digi's for the month of March.


We would love to see lots of entries in this challenge. Leigh gives away her lovely digis to the top 3 so it is well worth entering and me and the DT love to see your creations, so come on over to Happileigh Scrappin' Challenges to join the fun.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges :-
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Sunday, 27 March 2011

OSAAT Guest DT Mother's Day



A few weeks ago I was contacted by Marjo at One Stitch at a Time after entering a challenge and saying I would be interested in a Guest Designer spot. Today is the day that I go 'Live' with a challenge of Mother's Day.

Stitchy Bear Digital Stamps each month have a huge collaboration pack from different members of the store. For the month of April you will get a Mother's Day/Babies set and it has loads of images in it as you can see below. The best things id it is ABSOLUTELY FREE if you spend only $10 in the store. Fabulous value!!


There are 2 sponsors for this challenge, One Stop Card Crafts are offering a $10 voucher


And Digi's With Attitude are also offering a prize, more details are on the challenge post.


I was able to choose my own image and picked this gorgeous little duck in the bath. It is called Rub-a-Dub-Dub and is designed by Stitchy Bear. You can purchase it in the store here

The image has been coloured with Promarkers and I have added some stickles glitter and dewdrops to highlight some of the bubbles. I have also used artistic license and added bubbles spilling out of the bath. I added Crystal effects to the big red hearts, eye and beak of the little duckie.

The blue paper is from a big QVC Colorbok pack and I have added ink to the edges of this and the paper too. I wanted to do a relax theme to the card for Mother's day and used a sketch from Waltzing Mouse stamps for the banner idea. the lettering is rub ons and I have strung the flags onto a thin cord and 'pinned' it up using Craftwork Cards Candi.

The Mother sentiment is a Sizzlits die I bought in the sale last year. I think it cost me just 49p and I knew it would come in handy. I cut it in blue 1st and then layered a white one on top adding some little black dots and a gem on the butterfly. The rest of the sentiment was made up using the rub ons.

So that's my MIL's card done now, she will love the cute image. I hope you will hop on over to One Stitch at a Time and take a look at the DT's cards and maybe even enter the challenge yourself.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:-


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Thursday, 24 March 2011

AIF073 Under The Weather





We have a new challenge for you today at AI Factory and this week we have an Under The Weather theme where you should make a Get Well Soon card.

We're showcasing a fabulous clipart set called Little Doctor which is available from the AI Store here.
It is amazing how many individual images you get. No less than 12!! Really really good value and there is something for everyone.


Now before I tell you more about my card I need to apologise that the colours on my image are different to the clipart. You know when no matter what you do to fix it your printed colours don't come out right, well unfortunately that happened to me. I think it still works really well but maybe now quite how the designer pictured it LOL

I like to make unusual shaped cards and as soon as I saw the set I knew I wanted to make an ambulance card. I printed the image out to an A5 size and used a sheet of white A4 card for the base. I thought it would be fun to have the doctor peering out of the window so added him to the inside of the card with a Get Well Message which is a fabulous freebie from Elegant Wordart By Bethany. Last but not least I have added spokes to the wheels with some black Paperchase gems in the centre.

To enter this week's challenge visit the AI Factory Challenge Blog where you will see the full rules and details. If you play along with us and upload your image you could win this week's image.

You are not required to use an AI Factory image to enter, but there are loads of great freebies available here in the freebies section of the store. You will need to link up your entry before midnight EST on Wednesday March 30th. If you use an online gallery Such as AiF, PCP or SCS then please tag your entry with the challenge code AIF073 so we can see all your cards in one place. Whilst you are at our challenge site please take a look at the rest of the DT's wonderful creations.

I look forward to seeing your entries in our challenge and Good Luck !

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges
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Monday, 21 March 2011

Guest Designer at Shelly's Images

OOOh, I've got some really exciting news to tell you. This week I am a Guest Designer for Shelly's Images. Shelly recently asked for people to come forward and said yes straight away. Don't you love it when that happens :)

Anyhoo, this gorgeous image above is called Carrot Patch and can be purchased from the Shelly's Images store here. As soon as I saw the image it reminded me of Rabbit in The Winnie the Pooh stories as he was always tending to his garden, especially his carrots.

I have used the current sketch from Cards for Men for the layout. I am giving this to a good friend of ours who is retiring. He is been a gardener at a massive house for many years and his own garden is lovely. We'd have him do ours only he lives some 100 miles away. It is always a treat when we go for the weekend and he shows us what we are eating that came out of his garden.

I coloured the image with Promarkers and made a second layer with the seed packet to create dimension. The papers are from the Desert Blooms pad by Trimcraft. They have got 4 pads in their First Edition range and I have them all, they are such sweet designs and yummy colours :)

I have added Candi dots (why??? have they changed the name from Card Candy....it was a good name without changing it) a sentiment from Anita's and a cutie little rabbit pinching some of the carrots.

Thankyou so much to Shelly's Images for giving me this Guest Designer opportunity and please check out the creations that the Design Team have made with this image too on Shelly's Images Blog

I would like to enter this Card into the following challenges :-
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Happileigh Scrappin' Challenge #15


It's Chris's turn to set the challenge over at Happileigh Scrappin' Challenges this week and it is to use pastel colours on your card in celebration of Springtime.

For my creation I have done something completely different for me. I have combined 3 separate digis to create a scene. I enlarged the Window Box digi to create a window that you could look through from the outside. I created another layer and resized the Mama's Sugar and Chandelier digis so it looks like you are peering into a living room. The whole of the window box section is mounted onto 3d foam to create the depth I wanted.

All these digis have been coloured with Promarkers and are available to purchase from the Happileigh Scrappin' Store.

I thought the whole scene would be perfect for a Mother's Day Card. I've added a little stickles to the lights and the roses. The sentiment panel is a Papermania rose patterned paper which I have die cut with a die from Marianne Creatables. It is so intricate and very delicate. The text is a peel off which I coloured in black. Last but not least I used some small ink pads to soften the edges of the paper and window box image.

Remember, for our challenges you don't need to use a Happileigh Scrappin' image but if you do your entry counts twice and with freebies available here it is easy to use one of Leigh's fabulous digis.

Don't forget that at Happileigh Scrappin' Store Leigh is having a sale on her digi's for the month of March.


We would love to see lots of entries in this challenge. Leigh gives away her lovely digis to the top 3 so it is well worth entering and me and the DT love to see your creations, so come on over to Happileigh Scrappin' Challenges to join the fun.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges :-
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Monday, 14 March 2011

Happileigh Scrappin' Challenge #14


It's Barb's turn to set the challenge over at Happileigh Scrappin' Challenges this week and it's a recipe for you to follow.

1 plain piece of cardstock
2 Designer papers
At least 3 embellishments


For my creation I have used Promarkers to colour a lovely digi Leigh has design called Scraggly Teddy which is available from the Happileigh Scrappin' Store. As soon as I saw it I knew it would be great for the teddies to be flipped so they could hold a birthday banner between them.

The card base has been made from a sheet of A4 card. The paper is a double sided one from My Mind's Eye Bloom & Grow collection. I had created 3 layers on the bear so that the banner could be placed behind the arms. Each banner was made with a diamond shape of paper that is looped around the silver cord. They each measure 1.5cm at the widest point so they are quite dinky and have gold peel off letters on them to spell the sentiment. Each triangle is mounted onto 3d foam to add more dimension.


To separate the 2 papers I used a chocolate grossgrain ribbon with a diamante effect ribbon buckle. The lettering to spell Mom is velvet effect. I layered a couple of Prima daisies together with an American Crafts gem brad and I made a hat pin embellishment from assorted beads.

As you can see the card is for Mom. That is my Mother in Law and I gave it to her for her birthday yesterday and she absolutely loved it. The colours are her favourite and she adores and collects teddy bears so it ticked a lot of boxes.

Remember, for our challenges you don't need to use a Happileigh Scrappin' image but if you do your entry counts twice and with freebies available here it is easy to use one of Leigh's fabulous digis.

Don't forget that at Happileigh Scrappin' Store Leigh is having a sale on her digi's for the month of March.


We would love to see lots of entries in this challenge. Leigh gives away her lovely digis to the top 3 so it is well worth entering and me and the DT love to see your creations, so come on over to Happileigh Scrappin' Challenges to join the fun.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges :-
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