Another twist on an old success

I made this card yesterday and based it on this card that I made back in October. I played with stripes and colours and I'm pleased with the effect.
Here it is:

Again it's a simple card. I'd spent most of the morning making a baby card just like this one which took longer than expected thus cutting back on the time I had to make this card.

Materials:
Cardstock: Island Indigo, Pool Party, Basic Black, printed acetate by My Memories, P187 Spring Greens: Cabbage Patch by Kaisercraft.
Ink: Stazon Black.
Stamps: Best Dad Ever (for the happy birthday sentiment).
Other: Mini glue dots, baker's twine in Caribbean and Cappuccino by The Twinery.

Tips and Tricks:
1. The sentiment is stamped on the acetate and left to dry before using.
2. All the acetate layers are affixed with mini glue dots.

Stuff Ups:
1. I had to redo the sentiment on the acetate so I removed the ink with Stazon cleaner and tried again.
2. In this picture the cappuccino twine is twisted over itself but I straightened it out before I posted the card.

Pleasant Surprises:
I managed to get the light right for once so the colours in the picture ring true. I also found my mini easel which made it easier for me to get a better photo of the card.

Happy New Year

Welcome to 2012 everyone!
This card is for my Mother-in-law who is in hospital again and we will be visiting her tomorrow. It's quite similar to my last card but I tried a few different techniques on this one.

I did consider colouring the flowers in different shades and tints of purple but since this is a 'get well' card, I wanted it to look more colourful than monochromatic.

Materials:
Cardstock: Shimmery White, Concord Crush, Whisper White, Watercolour paper, In-colour 2010-2011 DSP: Concord Crush.
Ink: Wisteria Wonder, Memento's Tuxedo Black, markers - So Saffron, Melon Mambo, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink and Old Olive, Versamark.
Stamps: On The Mend by Lawn Fawn.
Other:  Basic Rhinestones, clear glitter embossing powder, dimensionals, sponge, Pink Sorbet baker's twine by The Twinery.

Tips and Tricks:
1. Bandaid background - I clear embossed the bandaids. If I had distress inks, I would have used them for the background colour but I don't so I used a sponge and ink pad. I also used the same technique on the flower panel.
2. The vase is paper pieced.
3. I used the Pretty in Pink marker to add rosy cheeks to the flowers.

Stuff Ups:
1. The bandaid stamping is pretty terrible - unevenly spaced, overlapping in parts.
2. The embossing is terrible too - I missed bits and smudged the Versamark when I was sponging. Fortunately most of those bits are covered by the flower panel.
3. I seriously need a lamp because the lighting in my craft room sucks!!
4. On my first attempt at making the flower panel I tried watercolouring the flowers but I guess I didn't let the Tuxedo Black ink dry long enough as it started to run when the aquapainter hit it.

Pink, Purple, White.

I will admit that this card was a struggle to create. While it is quite simplistic, getting the creativity together at 11:30pm on Christmas Eve, when I was bleary eyed with the need to sleep, was difficult. Still, it came together in the end.

That centre panel went through a miriad of different things before it ended up with a great whopping Prima flower as the centrepiece. I stamped two other panels before this one - the first was a rainbow tiered birthday cake with stars and streamers around it - but the colours didn't work. The second featured 2 step cupcakes but that wasn't working for me either. Even with this panel I played around with rhinestones before trying the piercing in the corners.

Materials:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Shimmery White, Wisteria Wonder, not sure which pink, Pink Passion maybe - sorry, it's old cardstock.
Ink: Chocolate Chip.
Stamps: Bake Me a Cake by Lawn Fawn.
Other: Big Shot machine, dots embossing folder, paper piercing tool, mat pack, dimensionals, Prima rose, clear button, Pink Sorbet baker's twine by The Twinery.

Tips and Tricks:
1. I used the guide in the mat pack to pierce the corners of the white cardstock.
2. Gluing down the flower was surprisingly difficult. 2-way glue didn't work, glue tape didn't work. I ended up using dimensionals and just hope that it has survived!

Stuff Ups:
1. The layers are not aligned properly - I was too tired to see straight.
2. I've spoken about the drama I faced with the stamping.
3. Getting the flower to stick.

Pleasant Surprises:
Just the fact that I finished a card at all and it's not totally hideous - it was looking that way for a while there!

Birthday time

I made this card this morning, it was a quick card to make and features washi tape which is something new that I bought and was looking forward to using.

As you can see, this card is customised for my brother-in-law. I have a new alphabet stamp set by Lawn Fawn that allows me to do this!

Materials:
Cardstock: Island Indigo, Basic Black, Brushed Silver, Whisper White.
 Ink: Tuxedo Black by Memento.
Stamps: Motorcycle by Stampin' Up, Jessie's ABC's by Lawn Fawn.
Other: Black and white checkered washi tape, sponge, dimensionals.

Tips and Tricks:
1. I put a little bit of glue tape down on the base card and stuck the silver panel to that. Then I put the washi tape around the edge to stick down the silver panel.
2. I sponged around the Whisper White layer to give it some interest.

Stuff Ups:
1. I should have cut the washi tape to make it thinner - it's just too overpowering.
2. Cutting the washi tape would also have allowed me to centre the motorcycle panel on the silver rather than have it sticking out over the top of the washi tape.
3. I really wanted to use my diamond plate embossing folder on the silver but it would have been too much.
4. The uneven edges on the washi tape was deliberate!

Pleasant Surprises:
I'm amazed that the letters of the sentiment all lined up - each letter is an individual stamp. Lawn Fawn stamps are brilliant at making stamping easy!

Christmas, oh how I love you!

What a month I've had! I did get my preparation done in time for my interview and it certainly paid off as I got the job! I'll be teaching at a brand new school next year that is still being built! It's so exciting! Yay!

I also finished all my Christmas cards yesterday, thank goodness. It's taken me 3 months on and off to get them done. I tried paper piecing and I'm pleased with the results. The colours pop more in real life, I just couldn't get a decent snap of the card today, sigh.

I made 50 plus some spares. I used different patterned paper (as I've posted in a previous entry) so each card is different from the next one.

Materials:
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, patterned paper is called December 25th by Kaisercraft.
Ink: Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Daffodil Delight, Memento ink in Tuxedo Black, Basic Black marker.
Stamps: Ornate Ornaments by Lawn Fawn.
Other: Basic Rhinestones, sponge.

Tips and Tricks:
1. Since I was making so many cards I did it all in stages like an assembly line:

1. Made a prototype.
2. Paper pieced the ornaments.
3. Cut the base cards and card layers.
4. Sponged the edges of the Very Vanilla with Crumb Cake ink.
5. Stamped images on the Very Vanilla.
6. Attached paper pieced ornaments.
7. Stamped sentiments on base cards.
8. Wrote messages in all the cards.
9. Attached layers to card fronts and added rhinestones.
10. Addressed envelopes and now they are ready to post!

2. Paper piecing took a long time! I stamped the baubles on patterned paper and cut them out. I stamped the baubles again on patterned paper and cut out the bands and topper pieces. Then I ran the edge of a Basic Black marker around the edge of each paper piece to hide the cut edge.
3.  I use my scissors to help me attach the sticky back rhinestones accurately. I find it easier than using tweezers.

Stuff Ups:
1. Lots. When making so many cards, mistakes are easy to make. The most mistakes were to do with stamping, the image smudging or not stamping fully, etc, etc.

Sorry!

Sorry, no card this weekend! I have a job interview tomorrow so I've been working like mad preparing for that. Maybe mid week I'll put up a new card.
Wish me luck!
:) Kate

The last of the brown (for now)

So I made this card for my friend Tracey whose birthday is today (Happy birthday Trace!) and my husband said it's nice but I've been using too much brown lately (yeah, brown has been my neutral colour of choice, mainly because I bought a whole pack of it). I thought this sounded like a challenge (in a warped kinda way) so I'm making cards without brown for a little while! This is the last of the brown for now:

The design of this card is from an old Stampin' Up catalogue. I've tweaked it to suit my whims.

Materials:
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Elegant Soiree DSP.
Ink: Versamark, Memento Tuxedo Black, Crumb Cake.
Stamps: Blissful Botanicals and Sophie's Sentiments by Lawn Fawn.
Other: Fiskars Eyelet border punch, Victoria crochet trim (I've called it lace in the past but it's not really called that), Perfect Pearls Mist in Heirloom Gold, American Craft ribbon, circle punch, Basic pearls, Big Shot machine, Beautiful Wings embosslit, mini glue dots, sponge, Fiskars corner rounder punch.

Tips and Tricks:
1. I lightly misted the Whisper White panel with the Perfect Pearls and let in dry before stamping on the sentiment.
2. I sponged around the butterflies with Crumb Cake ink.

Stuff Ups:
1. I messed up the alignment of the border punch so I had to do that again.

Pleasant Surprises:
1. I got the sentiment stamped correctly, first time! Gosh, I love Lawn Fawn stamps!!