Happy New Year!

I made these menus for a friend's New Year's Eve dinner party that they're having tonight and seeing as it is NYE, I thought it would be appropriate to share them with you. I handpainted these wonderfully, funny little cat images with watercolours and then highlighted some areas with Sakura glitter pens.

For the menu plaque, I wanted to use a specific colour and as always, no matter how much paper or card I have, and believe me, it's a LOT, I can NEVER find the right piece and shade that I need! So, in this instance, I used ink to paper technique and with the help of a Brilliance Dew Drop ink pad in Cosmic Copper, I found the exact colour I wanted.  After stamping the word menu with my alphabet stamps, I added the final touch of little cat paws as these naughty cats scamper across the card, ready to sing their little hearts out and bring in the next decade....

So, as the final hours of 2009 tick down, I just wanted to say...

Wherever you're going and whatever you're doing...

Have fun tonight, be safe

and

 hope you all have a wonderful, happy and peaceful 2010!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Pride & Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, just happens to be one of my favourite all time books ~ so, when I received these beautiful decoupage images from The Crafthouse Press, featuring Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet, I just knew I would love working with them and I most certainly did.

When the images and backing papers are combined, they make such an effective, elegant card that would be perfect for anybody who loves this book as much as I do!

Torturous Instant Chocolate Mousse

By now I guess you know that I'm quite creative and give me a piece of paper, some inks, scissors and a bit of glitter ~ I'm always going to be in my element. But there is one other thing that I love to do and that is, cook. And when I cook, as with my crafting, the food ALWAYS has to be pleasing to the eye ~ so, for Christmas Eve I made and treated my friends & family, to this... Nigella Lawson's Instant Chocolate Mousse and I can thoroughly recommend it ~ it is delicious and so, very simple to make.

There is one thing I might add, it didn't look this way for long...the little coffee cups were soon empty and I think you can safely say, everyone enjoyed it!

Twit~Twoo

I love owls and especially cute little owls like this and I made this card using the wonderful images from Dawn Bibby's Woodland clear acrylic stamp set.

First of all, I cut a circle aperture in the card so that it gave the effect that you would be looking through the card, into the moonlit sky. Then using Tim Holtz's Black Soot Distress Ink, I stamped the owl image onto card and cut it out. Using a waterbrush, I then dragged some of the black ink from the outline into the image which created a soft wash over the areas where I wanted some colour. On my little owl's eyes, I used glossy accents and then just highlighted areas of his wings, with my ever faithful and much loved Sakura glitter pen.

Whilst that is drying and set aside, I cut out another circle and this will be used for the moon, which the owl will be set against. First of all I stamped and embossed a branch within the circle, this is where my little owl will be sitting, and then went around the edges of the circle with the Distress Ink pad and once again, dragged some of the colour in from the sides, to give a shaded effect.

Once everything is dry, I then layered up all the stamped images, using foam pads to give height and definition, making sure that it was all aligned with the aperture on the outside of the card. I stamped a  couple more branches onto the front of the card, this time using glitter embossing powder to give that glittery, moonlight effect and then the final touch of a greeting message was added in the corner.

The final cards have all been delivered...

And I hope that everyone who I've sent a card to this year, has loved what they've received, just as much as I've loved making each and every single one of them.

All these cards were made using the same method ... rubber stamping. But by using different ink pads, embossing powders and techniques, it shows just how versatile a rubber stamp can be.

He knows when you've been good or bad...

Snowman by Jolly Nation

Hand painting an image can make each individual card look so different. On this card, I co-ordinated the colours in the image to the background papers to make it a fun looking, contemporary card!

The Holly & The Ivy

Bejewelled Tree ~ The Easel Card

So, all that's left for me to do, as I stay warm and cosy inside, listen to Christmas songs playing, whilst watching the snow fall to the ground once more, is ... wish you all a very happy Christmas and hope that you all have a wonderful 2010!

Happy Christmas, everyone!!! ~xo

Santa Claus is coming to town...

When it comes to me making a card, I must admit there are some things that I always like to include. For me, texture is very important, I like to add finishing touches of ribbon, fibres, glitter or jewels, which can sometimes turn a simple design into something that little bit more special. The card always, has to be aesthetically pleasing to the eye and I always believe in "less is more". I like simplicity and I never want to drown the card in design. And then there is one more thing that probably stands out and that is ~ that I love dimension. I think it makes the final card much more interesting and gives it some reality, almost as if you could lose yourself in the card.

So in my opinion, this card, ticks all those boxes. The glitter adds the texture and then you can't get more dimension on a card than creating a 3D Christmas rooftop scene. Each layer of the snowy, sparkling roofs, have been built up individually with 3D foam, with the main focus on Santa, standing at the highest point, with his sack of presents against a glittery, silver moon.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Like many crafters, we can be known to struggle slightly when it comes to making cards for men but recently I received The Crafthouse Press' ~ Men's Travel & Sport CD ROM and I can assure you that I will never be stuck again. It has a wonderful selection of papers, gift boxes, decoupage and so much more. All of the images have a vintage feel to them and work so well for scrapbooking or card making.

Below is a pillow box and gift tag, that I made using just one of the many designs that's on the CD ROM. With the addition of some ribbon and a button (and probably a small gift inside) ... it makes a gorgeous little gift box, that I'm sure any man would be delighted to receive.

Belle of the Ball

Just trimming off an inch from the side of the card, can give a very different look to what can be an ordinary rectangular card shape. Put that together with some beautiful backing papers ~ you already have the makings of a simple but elegant looking card. But the real fun comes from making the main image on this particular card and if you've never tried shrink plastic, then you must!

This image comes from The Crafthouse Press. It will come plain for you to colour it in, with whatever colours you decide to choose. You can use most pens or coloured pencils on shrink plastic, anything from my beloved Sakura metallic gel pens to Marvy Le Plume markers but the trick is, not to colour it in too dark or too heavy, because when you shrink it down, it becomes more intensified.

Once the image is coloured in, then comes the fun... I usually use a heat gun to shrink the image down and at first you might think it's all going horribly wrong but I assure you, the more you heat, the image WILL flatten out! Once it's shrunk down completely, just put a stamp block on top to flatten it completely and voilà, you have your perfect little image to use as you want. If you want to use it as a charm, I suggest punching a hole into the plastic before you shrink it down but on this card, I used silicone glue to attach it to my background. A final touch of some ribbon and a greeting plaque was added and I hope you like the final result!

Another day, another Christmas card!

One of my favourite crafting materials to use is Dreamweaver's embossing paste, together with their stencils. It's not always the quickest or easiest card to make but in my eyes, once you get the hang of working with the paste, the end result is always worth it.

On this card, I used a clear paste on a snowflake stencil. After removing the stencil carefully and whilst the paste is still wet, I sprinkled glitter all over the image. I always like to use a fine glitter, as you get a better finish and also I find it much more sparkly and twinkly. Once the image is completely dry, it's ready to matt and layer on a beautiful backing paper which I punched the corners with, using Martha Stewart's "Loop Corner Punch".

A gorgeous piece of turquoise satin ribbon is attached across the card, all finished off with the final touch of a matching bow!

White as snow...

I've recently become a part of the design team for a wonderful company, called The Crafthouse Press. And seeing as Christmas is fast approaching, these cards have been made using their fantastic "Patchwork Kingdom, Christmas Collection" decoupage and backing papers and were an absolute joy to work with.

The main images and focal points on both cards are these gorgeous polar bears, having fun in the winter snow. Each polar bear has been decoupaged using either foam pads or silicone glue, then matted and layered onto co-ordinating cardstock, papers and mirri card. On card 1, I've added finishing touches of iridescent snowflakes, grosgrain ribbon, a greetings plaque and glitter glue.

On card 2, I attached a small tag and bow and used a peel off sticker Christmas greeting. Glossy accents were added to give him a shiny nose and a hint of Stickles glitter glue along the bottom of his skates.

Card 1

Card 2

Walking in the air...

For me, Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without Raymond Briggs' and The Snowman. Such an amazing piece of animation and wonderful illustrations, that were so simple but so very effective. Of course, when you think of The Snowman, the one thing that I think everyone remembers, is that famous song. I wonder, on how many occasions have you probably looked at the illustrations and caught yourself singing the tune? Me? I'm definitely guilty of this ~ many, many times....

These cards were made using textured papers and decoupage of some of the beautiful illustrations from Raymond Briggs' book. The main focal point of the card is a decoupaged image of "Stylish Snowman", all dressed up in his hat, scarf, trousers and braces. Each layer is individually built up using foam pads, to give depth to the image. I then cut out individual scenes, telling the story of James building his snowman and stuck those around the main decoupaged image. The finishing touch was a ribbon run down the side of the card and two small buttons attached with small off-cuts of ribbon, threaded through.

Where there is great love there are always .... flowers

One more Christmas card, all done and dusted...ready to be written and delivered.

I think this has to be my favourite card that I've made this year. Not traditional in colour but it has all the wonderful elements of Christmas ... shimmering and glittering holly leaves, all cut by my own fair hand, each and every one, placed around the main focal point of a beautiful red poinsettia.

Christmas comes but once a year....

My latest batch of Christmas cards for friends and family...just 4 more to go and then all I have to do is write and post them!