Decoupage week..day 4

Hello everyone...Genny here again. Todays cards feature some more decoupage from the Anitas range brought to us crafters by Docrafts. All the sheets that I've been using are available from Julie here at JB-crafting supplies...along with many others. This week I have been concentrating on cards suitable for the men in your life. The first card is the cricket image. It is a die cut decoupage but when made up gives you the impression of looking into the picture. I've placed the image onto a piece of mixed green strip of paper. This was then placed onto a dark green base. Then I put two of the borders at the top and bottom of the strip. There are three borders on this sheet of decoupage and you could make a wonderful card just using those. The coloured strip I made using a range of greens by the Cosmic Shimmer Mist range from my stash,

The card above is made from the decoupage sheet that included the sailing boats that I featured earlier in the week. This is a lovely image which again features an almost tunnel version of decoupage. Showing a lovely picture of a deck chair...it is just calling you to sit on it and watch the boats in the distance..a lazy summer day. I used the border at the top and bottom of the card and have just embellished using some nautical peeloffs. The top card is an 8x8 and the bottom is a 6x6.

Tomorrow I will be featuring some cards for the younger male..another difficult range to cover. So until then take care and happy crafting

Altered Book

This week's project is an altered book for our scrapbooking class tomorrow. Julie x

Decoupage week day 3

Hello everyone..Genny here again. I hope that you are all having a good week and that the weather is being kind for you. Todays cards feature what I know alot of people adore...Football and Rugby. Again I have used sheets from the wonderful Anitas range brought to us by Docrafts. Both of these cards are 8x8 in size so it just shows how the decoupage is a big enough size to make a larger card. Both decoupage sheets include a lovely border. I used a sheet of card from my stash to back the cards and then the only things that I've added is some peeloffs
.

I do hope that you are enjoying this week of decoupage aimed at the men in your life.There'sstill more to come. So until tomorrow take care and happy crafting

Vintage floral 6x6 mock up (dt post)

Good Morning all!

Today I have created a card mock up using the Vintage Floral cd! Its a little different for me in one way but in another it is not.

I am a graphic designer so I tend to work on the computer quite a bit. My printer decided to be a little temperamental this week so I used one of my design programs to show you what I would have done had it been working properly!

I used 2 of the papers from the set which I 'cut' to create a paper pieced background. Originally I had 3 but in the end it looked much better with these 2. While your patterns can be of any sort for this, it works best if you use complimentary colours. And by that I mean colours that look well together :). The good thing about this CD is that all of the patterns come in several colours and all of which really work well with each other so this wasn't a hard task.

Then I had a look at the sentiments provided. In this instance I didn't really have a particular occasion in mind so I purely went on visual here. I decided on a banner which would stand out from the background.

Lastly, I chose a ribbon border. The card was looking quite plain to me so I wanted to add just a tad bit more without going overboard. I played around with the placement a little which ended up on the left side and I 'tucked' my sentiment banner underneath it.
I hope you like my little mock up card! This could be printed up as is or each of the elements could be printed separately and put together.

Happy Crafting!
Sam

Decoupage Week Day 2

 Good afternoon everyone..Genny here.My second day of my decoupage week features the two images suited for men (but I know some ladies that would like these as well). The decoupage sheet is available from Julie here at JB-crafting supplies. It is another from the Anitas range from Docrafts. The really good thing with this sheet is that both images are on the same sheet...what a bargain. I used some paper and card from my stash to cover the cards....but it only took an A4 sheet of both designs to do both cards. The borders are also on the sheet of decoupage. I haven't put a greeting on either card which means that I could use them for any occasion..good luck..happy birthday...or simply a thinking of you card.

Well I hope that you like todays cards and will have a look at all the other sheets of decoupage that Julie has in stock. So until tomorrow take care and happy crafting.

Decoupage Week

Good afternoon everyone...Genny here. I have decided to do something a bit different for my design team make this week. As most of you will know Julie stocks some amazing decoupage sheets in the shop..so I thought it would be fun to feature a different card for the man in your life..every day this week. So please keep watching.
This decoupage sheet is my first attempt. The sheet itself features two designs with a marine feel and have spot foiling detail. They are a lovely quality and are all die cut..so no fiddly cutting. Mind you saying that, there are times when I love nothing better than an evening sat cutting out decoupage..lol. Even though you can't see it clearly on this photograph the image has 3 layers and there is a matching border.
I loved the image so much , I put it on a toning blue background. The only other thing I've added is some silver peeloffs and a peeloff greeting. The card itself is a 6x6 scalloped edge.
So until tomorrow and another card...take care and happy crafting.

DT make

Hi everyone - hope you've had a good week & have managed to keep cool.

I haven't been at home much this week as we are looking after Keith's mum since she had a fall. She's ok but is a little wary of being at home, plus there are other concerns for us which we need to address. We are getting things sorted, but it takes time.

Anyhoo - remembered my laptop on a fleeting visit back home so have used Craft Artist with the lovely Crafter's Companion Vintage Floral CD that Julie sent me.

The images are lovely, and everything goes together so well.

I used a stencil to get the heart shape, then filled it with the roses from the CD.

Picked materials out for the background & a layer & a few more embellishments.

This would be a 5x5 inch square card.

You could either print the card off as a complete card or, as I have done before, print the different elements off to decoupage.

Hope you like it.

Hopefully we will be back home soon & will be able to get to my crafty stash!

Have a good week whatever you are doing,

Bev xx

Colouring and clear card (dt post)

Just a quick one from me today, as its the beginning of summer holidays! Yay! Oh wait... that means 6 weeks of all three kids... Might have to break out the kiddy crafty supplies!


So I borrowed some promarkers off my mother in law and have been playing around with colouring these gorgeous digis from the Crafters companion Vintage floral Collection CD . I had some fun practicing on these but Im not sure what I will do with them yet! Im still not very good with digis and placement but maybe I will get there soon.

Even though I was having a good time with the promarkers, I decided to do something a little different. So I coloured in my digi stamp with my versamark pen and heat embossed it with shabby embossing powders. I used white and gold for the image. I then fussy cut around it and created a card base from some acetate I had. I used very thick stuff for stability. I cut it down to create a square card and adhered my digi to the centre. I made an outline for the card using a black fine tipped promarker and a ruler and stamped the sentiment with Vintage floral sentimentals stamp set in black ink.

I had a bit of a hard time photographing this one but I hope you like it. Maybe next time I will see if I can actually print on the acetate! Wouldn't that be fun???

 

Happy Crafting everyone!

Sam

Handbag using Tonic Die

 Hello everyone...Genny here. I thought I would share something a little different for today.This was a handbag that I made using a template from my stash and for the decoration I used the fabulous Tonic Anemone die which is available from Julie here at JB-crafting supplies. I wanted to keep the card to purple tones so I used my own cardstock in the die , rather than the papers from the matching pad. The buds I made using a couple of the flower petals...simply shaping them until I was happy. I have used silver peeloffs to create stems and added  purple jewels to add even a bit more bling. It was made for a girl who was going to be 21. The jewelled letter was from my stash but you could make something similar just using jewels. The nice thing about the handbag as a card was that it has small sidesso you could actually put a small gift inside.

Rather than leave the back plain..I used it as a place to put a greeting peeloff and a butterfly from my stash. It is always worth having a good stash of different embellishments..I have to admit to having lots and there are some fabulous ones in stock at the shop...as I keep discovering.
I will be back tomorrow with another card..male themed ..so please watch this space. So until then..take care and happy crafting.

DT make - vintage Paris candle

 

Hi everyone! Hope your weekend has not been too bad - we've had rain but no thunder & lightening yet. Still very humid though.

When I was looking through the design sheets on the Vintage Floral CD from Crafter's Companion I thought that the Paris images would look good on a candle.

I picked a design & colour out. Taped some tissue paper onto some copy paper & printed the design onto the tissue.

Tried the images around the candle to see where I wanted them.

Placed some greaseproof paper around the candle, pulling it tight & making sure there were no creases on the image sheet.

Carefully heated the image with my heat gun, making sure the greaseproof was held tight & watching for creases.

This was the first time I had tried this with a printed image & I am pleased wth how it turned out.

Hope you like it.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bev xx

Digi bird (DT post)

Good morning all,

I felt in a colouring mood with this card. I used a bird digi from the Crafters Companion CD vintage floral collection.

I have been neglecting my inks and colours lately so I wanted to do a little bit of that here. So I printed out the bird and used the very few coloured pencils I have to give this bird quite a colourful look. I blended together reds, browns and yellows for one part, then blues, greens and yellows for the other. Once I had finished with the colouring I used my white gel pen to add a few highlights to my bird and then cut it out leaving a small border around the whole thing.

I used a large background stamp of a tree which I thought would go nicely to compliment my colourful bird. Because I used so much colour with the digi, I decided to keep the base card white and black. So I did all of my stamping with black ink and then the borders with a black fine felt tip pen. I stamped a sentiment from the corresponding crafters companion vintage floral sentimentals stamp set onto a strip of card. I cut the ends at an angle for one and with the 'v' on the other end to look like a ribbon. I had stamped my sentiment with black archival ink so that I could do a bit of watercolouring to compliment the colours in my bird. I then outlined my 'ribbon' and then stuck all the elements on to the card. I tried to position the bird as though it had its feet resting on one of the branches.

I hope you like the final result! I really love how the colours pop on this white and black card.

Happy Crafting!
Sam

Halcyan days by Crafters Companion

Good afternoon everyone...Genny here. Today I'm lucky enough to be sharing the cards that I have made using the fabulous cdrom  Halcyan Days from Crafters Companion. It is available to buy from Julie here at jb-crafting supplies and is worth every penny. I have just loved working with images on here and whether you are a cardmaker or a sewing addict..the inspiration is outstanding. The artwork featured is the work of the very talented Abigail Mill who specialises in machine embroidery. Never before have I encountered a card making cd that has inspired me so much to get my sewing machine out.

The cards that I have made this week are the sort of cardsthat I would make to send to a friend just to say hello. The first card features this amazing cottage..how cute would that be on a new home card. How cute printed onto fabric and turned into a cushion. On this cd there are the fabric companions which you can print onto printable cotton and then transfer onto whatever you fancy.The second card uses one of the sentiments that are featured on the cd. There is an abundance of choice here...just lovely words to send to a friend.
My third and final card for today features this cute hedgehog. On the second and third cards I have made up a patchwork background using scraps of papers that would have otherwise ended up in the bin. I just cut up the scraps and randomly stick them onto a plain background. I tend to stick to either 3 or 4 patterns. When it is dry I go round with a fine liner pen and add some faux stitching.I love doing this on many cards but felt that it went particularly well with these images..after all the images are made up using small pieces of fabric.

I hope that you like the cards and that you will really consider adding this cd to your own library. For me this really is the cdrom of the summer. The images are so cheerful..nostalgic..whimsical..you could find something for every age and either gender. However you feel inspired..if you need any new goodies for your stash...and let's be honest..who doesn't just love new stash..pop over to jb-crafting supplies and speak to Julie. So until next time..take care and happy crafting...Genny

Live the life (DT post)

Good evening crafters!

I am tapping into my inner teenager with todays card using Crafters Companion Vintage floral cd.

I loved the post card selection in this collection and I really wanted to do something with them. I had a thought that I would put them together as if I was decorating a scrapbook page from a trip I had taken. It actually reminded me of when I went to Paris with my husband and it was a dream. Way to short but I loved it. So the sentiment I chose to go with it, 'live the life you dreamed', sort of when along with the feeling I had with this card.

I printed out my elements including the post cards, and the ribbon border and bows and cut them out without a border.

I using tim holtz vintage photo distress ink to make my card base match the vintage look I was going for with the post cards and I used a script stamp which I randomly stamped on the background for some texture. The fact that the script was in French was just an added bonus and went quite nicely with my theme. Unfortunately its not that visible in the photos.

Once I had finished my base I started assembling my elements. I layered them all up using different thicknesses of foam adhesive. I had the clock and the rose left over from my previous project so I added those in to give a more dimension to these flat pieces. I also distressed the edges of my postcards a little so that the white from the paper underneath wouldn't be noticeable.

 

I decided that my bow looked a little flat as well so I added some white gel pen in the highlighted areas to make it pop more.

I finished it off with my sentiment at the bottom and voila!

I have included 2 photos with different editing because in the end I think the vintage editing of the second looked quite nice with a card like this.


Happy crafting!!
-Sam

Halcyan Days from Crafters Companion

 Good Afternoon everyone...Genny here. I'm here again to share some inspiration from the beautiful Halcyan Days cdrom brought to us by the great team over at Crafters Companion. The cards I have made for today are both 8x8 cards..just to show that any size is possible with this cd. I thought it would be nice for you to see the detail so for both cards I have taken a close up on the main image.

The art work is done by the very talented Abigail Mill. n all her creations there are layers of lace, organza and cotton, with the detail given by the use of freehand machine embroidery. Each is a work of art in it's own right. For the cards all I have done is mount the image onto atoning card and just added some freehand doodling. Again it is a case of a simple card that gives a large impact.Just what we need sometimes.

I just love this image with the birds on it. To me it seems a very happy image that makes me smile. Such pretty fabrics have been used...it makes me want to blow the cobwebs off my sewing machine..and I know that Julie has some fantastic materials in stock. I have never been so taken with a cd. There is something so tranquil and relaxed about the images...perfect for summer crafting.

I am also working on a couple of cards which I will share with you later in the week.On this cd there is so much..alphabets, borders, toppers and sentiments. On my next cards I will be using the sentiments and scraps of paper left over from all my projects..just to show you how to make your crafting stash go a little further. So until then..take care and happy crafting

Crafter's Companion DT post

Hi - hope you've had a good week. I am looking forward to the men's final at Wimbledon later today. The Tour de France lands here later today that's making getting around a bit difficult but only for a day - can't move on our road.

I printed off a design sheet to use as a backing paper, co-ordinating paper, postcards from the vintage ephemera sheet & a few embellishments all from the Crafter's Companion Vintage Floral Collection CD. I printed these onto super smooth paper as I think this gives a better finish.

Adhered the design sheet to my card, then set about cutting out the rest of my elements. 

Matted the postcards onto the co-ordinating paper.

Arranged all the elements onto my card until I thought it looked ok.

Hope you like it.

Clean and simple (dt post)

Good morning!

Ive been running around like crazy this week trying to do all the things that have managed to sneak onto my to do list. Does being sick knock you off your schedule like it does me? It definitely has since last week when my whole family decided it was good to share :/.

Anyway as I was finishing up work late last night I actually remembered what day it was! So I had a quick rummage in my brain for some simple and easy inspiration and I decided to use one of the digi stamps provided to me this month from the crafters companion vintage floral cd.

I love these simple little buds so I used one of my favourite colour combinations and attempted some watercolouring on this lovely image.

Unfortunately, my printer will not take my thicker water colour paper so I had to make due with my regular cardstock so sadly the colours did not blend quite as I had hoped. Even so, I managed to pull out a result I was happy with. I used squeezed lemonade, ripe persimmon and fired brick distress inks with a waterbrush for my buds and shabby shutters and peeled paint distress pen for the leaves and stems. I also used my gold shimmer water for blending. It gives the finished image a gorgeous gold shimmer.

Once I had coloured the entire image, I fussy cut around it, being extra careful with the thin stems, and played with the placement on my 5x7 card. I thought it needed something else to give a little more interest to the card so I decided to do some drawing and a little faux stitching. I did a little scan of my craft room and found something circular that was about the size I needed. I traced around it with pencil and then removed the object and traced the pencil with a black felt pen. I then added my faux stitching around that. I glued my cut out over the circle, rounded the corners of my card with my corner rounder and the did another line following the edge of the card. I used a sentiment from the crafters companion sentimentals - phrases set and stamped it off to the side with archival black ink. Unfortunately I wasn't as straight as I had hoped but it works.

I hope you like my simple card and give it a try yourself! You don't need a lot of fancy stuff on a card to make it work ;). Especially at 1 in the morning!

Have a crafty day!

Sam.