Christmas 2011 – Merry & Bright

What a busy few months I’ve had! I’ve not even started my Christmas shopping, let alone handmade all my Christmas cards this year :-( But I knew you all deserved to get at least one Christmas card video before Christmas, so here you are!

[I’ve made this card using the above software. Please feel free to click on the image to take you straight to the download page of their website. If you have a Silhouette or a CraftRobo machine, you should be able to download and use this software as they are both the same machines, that (for some strange reason) are sold under different names in different countries.]

I made this card to be bright and cheerful. That’s what Christmas should be all about, so I chose some non-traditional pinks and greens, and hand coloured the trees on the inside of the card.

At the moment, I’m all about the weird and wonderful shaped cards, and this one is no exception as I’ve cut three frames into the front of the card and stamped the Christmas tree images straight onto the inside of the card.

I loved making this card. I hope you love watching me create it – all from the comfort of my new home, and new craft area(!). My life has been in such upheaval and I’ve been packed up in boxes for so long now, I’m so pleased to be crafting again. It’s a shame I missed out on the big run up to Christmas, and doing lots of Christmas videos for you all, but sometimes life doesn’t work out so neatly for you, does it?

There’s two video’s below; one is the designing of the card in Silhouette Studio, the second puts the card together at my craft desk. Enjoy!

Kindness comes in many forms…but always from the heart

I wanted to make a card using masking techniques with this Blossom Art stamp set by Hero Arts.

This is a really simple technique that gives some beautiful effects. It can really stretch your stamp sets to make them even more versatile, by effectively creating larger ‘background’ stamps out of several smaller ones.

The sentiment stamp is called Heard from the Heart by Stampin’ Up! and I just love all the sentiments in this set.  I use a technique of white embossing on vellum cardstock to give the sentiment added interest without covering up all of the stamping underneath. Kristina Werner uses this technique a lot and it inspired me to try it myself.

As usual, please don’t forget to rate and subscribe to my YT Channel. Also, if you ‘follow’ my Facebook and Twitter pages, then you’ll always know when my next video/blog post is up. Hope you like the video. See you next time!

Hope you have a GREAT birthday!

Something VERY different for me today to share with you! And a video too, yay!! “Finally!” I hear you all shout…I know, it’s been quite a while. I’m very sorry. As it has recently been described to me – life has been “biting me on the bum” of late, so making card tutorials definitely slipped down my priority list :(

But I really missed doing them, and so I filmed this one for you all. I figured after all this time, this card had to be something a little special, and I hope you agree – it’s definitely different to my usual cards!

I decided to go for a completely different shaped card. I don’t know where I dreamt this particular shape up, but there you go…

I wanted to use these beautiful flocked papers called Paris Nights by GCD Studios. But this card was for a male – so it couldn’t be too feminine! Hence the change in the shape of the card to make it a bit more appropriate for its male recipient. I hope you think it works? I really love this card, even if I do say so myself. It actually pained me to send it, lol! =)

As usual, please don’t forget to rate and subscribe to my YT Channel. Also, if you ‘follow’ my Facebook and Twitter pages, then you’ll always know when my next video/blog post is up.

PS. Thanks for all your patience and lovely supportive emails since my last video. You’re all gems =)

Thinking of you…

 

My friend’s dad recently passed away. Such sad news, even though it was expected, it’s still just awful for him. Sympathy cards are always toughies. My rule; make them simple and not with too much…well not too much anything really.

I totally feel a sympathy card should always be more about the words said on the inside, rather than too much fanciness on the outside. These cards are going to be treasured for the thoughts you write inside rather than how pretty the outside is!

That doesn’t mean they can’t portray your personality, I just think it’s an occasion when it needs toning down a smidge…

Hope you like it!

Bob Marley Disc Birthday card

The person this card was for LOVES music. I would go as far as to say he’s totally obsessed with music and all things lyrical! So I took a quote from a Bob Marley song that I found particularly apt for him, and used it on his card [Love the life you live / Live the life you love – Bob Marley].

The card is round, as it’s to represent a cd or vinyl disc, sticking to the music theme. Plus it makes it a bit different to the rectangular/square cards that seem to dominate the card market.

All of this was designed by me using Silhouette Studio software, and the sentiment was handwritten and cut out in the same way.

No video – this card took me HOURS to get right, and I couldn’t face making it again just to video. But I thought I’d share it in any case. Hope you like it, and I’ll be back soon with a video I recorded over the weekend, so watch this space!!

Another New Baby card!

My friend has just become an Uncle for the first time. He wanted something pretty and pink and cute. I hope I met his brief =)

I used the Life is Good collection by Echo Park. I don’t use this pack enough – I just love these papers! The designs are just so gorgeous.
My card design was inspired by these recent cards of mine; the glittery Mother’s Day card, the stencilled Father’s day card and the ele-phantastic card. I used an element from each of these very different cards to create this new baby one. And you know what? I love it.

[Note: You can check out my videos at my YT Channel for the first two cards to learn how to make this one.]

New Baby “Welcome” card

Don’t you just love this Baby Giraffe stamp by Imaginisce? The actual stamp is smaller than this image but I needed it to be much larger as the focal point for the card, so I stamped it, scanned it in, and made it bigger in Photoshop, then quickly clear embossed the printed image before the ink dried.

The guy I made this card for wanted it to reflect the new Dad’s career (police force) so I included the checkerboard police logo as the background focal. This is why I needed the giraffe to be so much bigger – to tone down the very striking checkerboard effect of the logo! The shooting star is to incorporate the baby’s brother whose name is ‘Cosmo’. Cute name, huh?

Then I just inked the Basic Grey White Chocolate Chip micro stickers with some pink chalk ink, stamped a sentiment from Woodware’s Jane’s Script stamp set, and the card was complete!

How I store my Dies

I thought I’d do you a very quick video below showing you how I store my dies in my craft room. I use lots of different brands of dies; die-namics, Cuttlebug/Provocraft, Nestabilities, store brand dies etc, and a lot of them have several dies in each set – and some are quite small and easily lost. So I store all of mine in empty cd cases, using magnetic self-adhesive sheets to hold the dies in place. Then I can see exactly what’s where, and clearly identify missing ones that I’ve left lying around my craft area (tut-tut, Wendy!) and need finding immediately before they accidently get binned!

Miss you

I thought it was time to do another Silhouette Studio video tutorial!

[I’ve made this card using the above software. Please feel free to click on the image to take you straight to the download page of their website. If you have a Silhouette or a CraftRobo machine, you should be able to download and use this software as they are both the same machines, that (for some strange reason) are sold under different names in different countries.]

I broke out a new paper stack called Pretty Please Spring Papers by My Mind’s Eye and got my old trusty Penny Black Salutations stamp set out for all the stamping. Still love this set, even though I’ve probably had it years.

I love the colours in this card. This paper stack is definitely one I’ll be using again! I could’ve chosen so many other beautiful papers from this stack – spoilt for choice. I think MME are my favourite paper company in terms of their gorgeous designs. Lush!

There’s two video’s below; one is the designing of the card in Silhouette Studio, the second puts the card together at my craft desk. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Lil One

Super busy of late…job hunting (boring!) and spending some time with my Mom (wonderful!). So I thought I’d get some crafting done before I forgot how!

This card is a commission, so the bottom half of the sentiment is handwritten, as obviously, there’s no “lil one” stamp that I know of!

I quite like adding a bit of handwriting on cards. It makes them completely unique, and adds that extra very personal touch that you don’t get in mainstream cards.

I don’t have a video for this. But I do show you how I created a flower very similar to this in this blog post, so I’ve linked the video below (view from 3:15 for the flower creation part).

For those of you wondering, I do have a new video in process (a Silhouette Studio tutorial one), so check back here soon!

Thank You

This card has been inspired by a couple of cards by the wonderfully talented Kristina Werner. She did both a Finally Friday card and a Make A Card Monday (MACM) card recently, using the one-layer technique. I saw these cards and I just had to have a go at one myself…

Both Kristina and I have a borderline obsession with Kraft cardstock ;) And the Chestnut Roan ColorBox Chalk Ink really does go so well with it. Also, it didn’t seem to smudge at all when using copic markers over it, which quite surprised me in a very good way!

Enjoy the video below, which shows you how I put the card together, including a few tips I hope you find useful.

Please don’t forget to rate and subscribe to my YT Channel. Also, if you ‘follow’ my Facebook and Twitter pages, then you’ll always know when my next video/blog post is up.

Watch video below | Watch at YouTube

Wedding cards…

I made a few wedding cards recently. I wanted them to be a little different to the usual slushy cards that are sometimes a bit ‘twee’ for my liking.

And these are bold, bright, and very cheerful! Perfect for weddings.

There’s a lot of detail going on here. But I love the rich colours, especially on the red card, which is my favourite. These cards are accented with perfect pearls and just doodled with a white gel pen. The gold glitter blings it up to really get into the extravagance of the day!

I also very much love the sentiments. Hero Arts are great at coming up with just the right sentiment.

The other card I did was similar to the red one, but with a different colour scheme, and without the background stamp.

No video today. It was my 30th birthday yesterday, so I’ve not been at my craft desk for a good few days - I’ve been celebrating with family & friends! Back soon with a video tutorial for a thank you card though – gotta thank folks for all their lovely thoughtful gifts ;)

Stencil “DAD” card with Silhouette Studio tutorial

I {heart} my Silhouette machine. Look at those gorgeous crisp cuts on this card. Awe-some-ness!

I’ve made this card using the above software. Please feel free to click on the image to take you straight to the download page of their website. If you have a Silhouette or a CraftRobo machine, you should be able to download and use this software as they are both the same machines, that (for some strange reason) are sold under different names in different countries.

I know I shouldn’t blow my own trumpet, but I really love this card. Its a CAS design that has used some rather feminine papers actually, but it worked out as a great Father’s Day card nonetheless.

Just in case you were wondering, I really don’t like using “male hobbies” as focal points for masculine card designs. Well, at least whenever I try to make a card with a cricketer or fisherman, for example, they end up getting filed under “bin”. It just doesn’t work for me and my particular style. Do you have any tips for designing masculine cards?

Enjoy the video below, which shows you the Silhouette Studio design aspect, as well as putting the card together. Please don’t forget to rate and subscribe to my YT Channel. Also, if you ‘follow’ my Facebook and Twitter pages, then you’ll always know when my next video/blog post is up.

Watch video below | Watch at YouTube

How I store my Distress Inks

Super quick post today. And you get to see a bit of my craft room – this is the tidy bit, lol!

I get asked a lot how I store my distress inks. I have them in a stack, stored face up (Distress Inks are so juicy, they don’t need to be stored face down like other pads). I simply identify the colour on each side of the pad using a tiny sticker coloured with the ink itself. Very easy, very quick, and saves a whole lotta hassle in the long run, constantly searching for a colour, especially if you have lots of ink pads! Hope it helps you all too =)

Watch video below | Watch at YouTube

Another Father’s Day card

Father’s Day is really truly only just around the corner now {which means so is my 30th birthday, but hopefully that won’t be too traumatic!!} so here’s another design that you can use to create a nice card for your Dad.

I created this design for a craft day with my friend Katherine, who is more used to working with glass, and has never made a card before and really wanted to give it a go. So I kept it fairly simple, but still, there are quite a few techniques going on in the card. I wanted her to have a good play around with paper techniques!

We also messed around with combining some glass techniques with my paper craft and came up with some really beautiful pieces (sparkly silver swirls on blue fused glass – gorgeous!!). I will have to show you those when I get a picture from her.

Techniques used in this card were die-cutting (lots of), eyelet setting using a crop-a-dile, faux stitching and corner chomping. So the video ended up being 10 minutes long!

Enjoy the video below,and please don’t forget to rate and subscribe to my YT Channel.

Watch video below | Watch at YouTube

Father’s Day card

 The bits I like:

• I used sewing on this card. Much fun, must do more often =)
• I used some paper ageing/antiquing methods too.
• The jumbo scallop Die-namics die cut by My Favorite Things.

The bits I don’t like:

• Should have left the top two corners square (Put. The. Corner.  Chomper. Down!)
• Maybe white embossed the sentiment?

But I’m not going to get hung up over these two things that I’d like to change! Enjoy the video, please don’t forget to rate and subscribe to my YT Channel.

Watch video below | Watch at YouTube

“Hello” card and MFT mini rolled roses tutorial using felt

 

AN UPDATE…

You might have noticed I have been away from my craft desk. For ages. I’m so sorry. I don’t really know how it happened. I guess life just got too stressy and busy for me all at once and I just hid away for a while, reading lots of books. This is my way of just stepping back from things for a while & recharging my batteries.

The reason: I’m being made redundant at work, and given the current job market in the UK, it’s going to be tough to find a new job that (a) pays enough to pay the bills and (b) be near enough so I don’t have to spend all my hard earned pay on petrol – and at £1.37 per litre (£6.23 for a UK gallon!) the job will have to be pretty close by!

So as a result, I’ve not been feeling very creative. I got crafters block on any new designs. I made some cards that I hated and threw away, frustrated. And then recently, I started coming up with some new designs that I wanted to try out and I was back at my craft desk once again. Phew!

BACK TO THE CARD…

The sentiment is “hello” to say “hi” to you all after being MIA for so long. Thanks for being patient =)

I ordered some of the Die-namics dies from My Favorite Things, which arrived this week (very quickly seeing as they shipped from the USA). They. Are. Awesome.

They cut through felt so well – and there was me thinking they’d struggle, because to be honest, they don’t look like they’d cut through much more than paper. They don’t look fragile as such, just nowhere near as beefy as the dies you get from Sizzix or Provo Craft. But they do exactly the same job, whilst taking up much less room! Thumbs up from me there.

I demonstrate using one of the dies in the video below, the Mini Rolled Roses die, using felt. You will need fabric glue for this. Trust me, I tried with Glossy Accents and TomBow glue and neither worked. They just came apart afterwards. I actually believe a hot glue gun would be the best for this as it would hopefully fuse the materials together and set/dry almost instantly. I don’t have one, so do let me know if you try this with a glue gun. I want to know whether to invest as I’m far too impatient to wait 4 hours for the fabric resin glue to set (I ended up sewing these flower together in the end, just to get the video finished!).

The video is below. It’s a long one! But I do show you a lot =)

Please don’t forget to rate my videos and subscribe to me over at my YT Channel. Also, if you ‘follow’ my Facebook and Twitter pages, then you’ll always know when my next video/blog post is up.

Watch video below | Watch at YouTube

Teenage birthday

After seeing this post on the Hero Arts blog, I really wanted to give the twisted flower a go myself. I’d already made this card (sans flower) and really did not like it. I felt it was too bland and boring – even for me who only really does CAS! This flower was the perfect solution.

I chose red deliberately to clash with the pink. I think it works! If you’re careful, you can get away with choosing colours that supposedly ‘clash’ and make a statement with them (see here even the orange background is working alongside the pink!).

This card went to a teenage recipient after I added the girl’s name to the bottom right using white rub-ons. She loved it!

Back with more cards soon!

Starry Birthday & Silhouette Studio Tutorial

 

It’s time for another Silhouette Studio tutorial! This card is made in its entirety with the Silhouette/CraftRobo machine and is super simple to design using the SS software.

This design requires the above software. Please feel free to click on the image to take you straight to the download page of their website. If you have a Silhouette or a CraftRobo machine, you should be able to download and use this software as they are both the same machines, that (for some strange reason) are sold under different names in different countries.

This card is a masculine card – all you need to do is pick some strong masculine patterned papers and you’ll have a great card for all the men in your life!

Please don’t forget to rate my videos and subscribe to me over at my YT Channel. Also, if you ‘follow’ my Facebook and Twitter pages, then you’ll always know when my next video/blog post is up.

Watch video below | Watch at YouTube
 

Watch video below | Watch at YouTube

Glittery Mother’s Day card

I know, I know. I promised you this post and video last week, but life got busy and before you know it, another week had gone by…

Sorry, but I hope you understand ;)

I love this card. It was super quick, really easy and you all must think so too, cos I’ve sold quite a few of them to various folks this week. There’s still some available in my Folksy and Etsy shops for you folks in the USA to get ahead of Mother’s Day for you on 8th May.

Anyway, the video is below as usual. Please don’t forget to rate my videos and subscribe to me over at my YT Channel. Also, if you ‘follow’ my Facebook and Twitter pages, then you’ll always know when my next video/blog post is up.

Watch video below | Watch at YouTube

Mother’s Day card

Some of my longer-time fans may recognise the top of this card from this post…

…but I loved this design so much, I decided to make it into a Mother’s Day card for this year. All you need to do is change the sentiment, and “ta-dah!” you have a great Mother’s Day card ready to go.

I keep several cards like this without a sentiment already stamped, so that if I’m stuck for an emergency card, I can whip out just one stamp and I have an instant card that doesn’t look at all rushed. Sneaky but perfect!

This card is available at my Folksy and Etsy shops and I do post them out within 24hrs of your order so you can be sure to get it in time for Mother’s Day. Any support is very much appreciated ;)

As I’ve been super busy putting in my new bathroom (which seems to be taking forever) as well as working full time, I don’t have a new video this week. Sorry, I’m just trying to do too much at the minute, but I am re-linking the video below that shows this card but with a Happy Birthday sentiment to tide you over in the meantime. I’m hoping to film my second Mother’s Day card design tomorrow night, so the video should be up in a few days. Thanks for your patience!

Watch video below | Watch at YouTube

Butterfly Birthday

Quick post today – just wanted to show you a couple of cards for different occasions using a similar design.

It’s so easy to change a card design to suit your needs. Here I’ve just exchanged butterflies with hearts, and I have an anniversary card as well as a birthday card.

Super quick this way too, as you only have to think up one layout! =)

Anyway, the video is below as usual. Please don’t forget to rate my videos and subscribe to me over at my YT Channel. Also, if you ‘follow’ my Facebook and Twitter pages, then you’ll always know when my next video/blog post is up.

Watch video below | Watch at YouTube

Flag Frame Birthday card

Ever get bored of the same old square/rectangular base cards? Well I thought I’d try something a little different and design a birthday card in the shape of a flag! No real reason, just thought it would be a cool shape to try!

This particular card is clearly for a feminine recipient, but the design could be easily customised into a very masculine card – even a patriotic card, which would be very timely with the Royal Wedding coming up next month =)

You could really go to town and totally bling it up, too. But that’s not my particular style, so you’ve got clean and simple from me as usual today, lol!

Don't you just love the way the card seems to hover in the air, because so little of it is actually touching the table top. Cute!

Video below – enjoy =)

Watch video below | Watch at YouTube

Circle Wheel Card & Silhouette Studio Tutorial

This design is one which has been in my sketch book for ages, but I’ve just not got around to creating the die cut file. But I finally did it this weekend and also filmed the process as a Silhouette Studio tutorial as well as the usual video of how I make the card. So you get double the fun for today’s post =)

This design requires the above software. Please feel free to click on the image to take you straight to the download page of their website. If you have a Silhouette or a CraftRobo machine, you should be able to download and use this software as they are both the same machines, that (for some strange reason) are sold under different names in different countries.

I really like the design of the base card itself – the circle cut out create sort of a ‘wheel’ which would be great for making a masculine card with. I wanted to use girly papers for this though, hence the addition of the flower!

The only issue with these cards is creating an envelope! You have to create a square envelope and insert a square piece of card into the envelope before inserting the card itself. This is to ensure that the corners don’t get bent over during transit, which would otherwise make the overall effect a little scruffy to the person receiving the card.

Please don’t forget to rate my videos and subscribe to me over at my YT Channel. Also, if you ‘follow’ my Facebook and Twitter pages, then you’ll always know when my next video/blog post is up.

Watch video below | Watch at YouTube

Watch video below | Watch at YouTube