Cards so far this year

As you know, I enjoy making cards, so here are some I have made this year.  Above is a stencilled one and I have made this at least three times now, with different colour ways.  It works really well.

Another stencilled one but with the sentiment in a 'spotlight'.  

Here it is a bit closer.

I like to have lots of thank you cards at the ready.   The stamps, 'Linocut mini sampler' from Clarity Crafts, are created from the artist's own lino cuts which were shrunk down.

A collage card inspired by an online course with Laly Mille, called Naturalist.  This was for my colleague at work who enjoys nature, entomology etc. 

A new stencil and die combination from an American company.  The extra tax made this an expensive purchase, but I have used it several times, so it is worth the money.  I used a paper pad for the shapes.

A hyacinth card for my mum-in-law.

This was for my sister-in-law who likes butterflies. 

A card for a friend using the stencil and die combo from America. Lots of different scraps from paper pads were used here.

Finally for now, a card for my nephew and his fiancée, using gilding flakes. 

It's so nice to be able to create personalised cards and posting about them here means I have a good back catalogue to refer to!

Cards so far this year

Here's a round up of the cards I have made so far this year.  I like to post them on my blog as it gives me a reminder of what I have sent to whom and how my cards are developing.  Above is one for a January birthday and I have been enjoying playing with these stamps from Alison Bomber for PaperArtsy. Her Youtube channel (Words and Pictures) is really inspiring and I spend a lot of time watching her projects.  

This was for my brother-in-law.  Cards for men are always a bit trickier - florals, butterflies etc. may not be so appropriate!

This one was for a colleague who had been involved in an accident.

Sympathy cards are ones we don't enjoy making so much, but they are important. This one used the same stamps as the first card, but the mood is so different.

I always enjoy making thank you cards.

This was for a colleague's birthday. She enjoys entomology so the card needed to reflect that.

I also made her a little tag book with watercolour pages inside.  I thought she might enjoy using this on field trips.

A March birthday, celebrating the crocuses.  Another stamp set by Alison Bomber.

Finally, for now, a card for my sister-in-law which again celebrates seasonal flowers. She has a lovely display of 'tete a tete' daffodils in her garden so I think this will be perfect for her.

Crafting projects

 I do enjoy making cards - possibly because they are quite quick to make and are a complete little project in themselves. 

 I also like being able to make a card for different reasons.

 I have recently bought some lovely new stamps and dies - this teasel stamp looks like I have lino cut it.  The best thing is that I can alter the look of it by changing the background, or embossing it, or watercolouring it.  I think it will prove to be really versatile.

Here is another card with a relatively newly purchased stamp (Chris rolls his eyes heavenwards...).  The problem is, just when I think I have all the stamps and dies I could ever need, along comes another one and I need it too!  This stamp has a simple image of dandelions but is really effective and another stamp which will be versatile. It can also be used with other media as it is a rubber stamp, rather than a clear polymer one.  Bring on the experiments!

This and that

 Star plant at the moment has to be this rather glamorous Hippeastrum.  I showed a photo of it just starting to flower, but look at it now!  It certainly makes a dramatic statement.

 There are more buds yet to open, so I hope to enjoy it for a while yet.

I had a birthday recently, so have been making some thank you cards.  I have really enjoyed making these - some with stamps, some with dies and some with embossing powders.  I have also been steadily adding to my crafting stash!
I am off to see some snowdrops on Sunday, which for me is the start of the gardening season proper.  I'm not sure where we are going yet, but there are several gardens to choose from locally. 

Painting using the gelli plate...and more cards

 I was watching a video on Youtube about 'Painterly Layers' on a gelli plate, so thought I should have a go as I really liked the effect.  I discovered a few things:
1.   You need to be quite fast (especially if your acrylic paint dries quickly) and can't take too long with each layer - don't let the paper stick to the plate either (!)
2.   Using a heavy body acrylic paint is probably the best for this technique.
3.   Use light colours working through to darker colours (which is a good thing to remember with any gelli layer prints).
4.   I like bright colours best for this technique (although more muted colours would give a different feeling so perhaps I should try them too).
The paints I used were Pebeo studio acrylics, some with iridescent or metallic sheen to them.  While these are lovely paints, they were a bit too transparent for this technique and also dried too quickly.

However, I was quite pleased with some of the results.  Even the ghost prints were interesting.

 This one was an improvement - I added a magenta to the final layer which worked better.

This one was my favourite as I had covered the plate with pattern and colour. The colours weren't quite so transparent and I do like the mix of yellow, orange, pink and blue.  I have some System Three acrylics which are heavy body paints, so I shall give them a go next. 

 I have also been making some cards - the one above was for my sister and turned out pretty much how it looked in my head.

This was for a colleague at work who kindly bought me some fleece tops for felting.  It was nice to be able to give it to her the next day.

Cards and Crafting Live at Doncaster

I have been making a couple of cards recently and really enjoyed creating the splat and splodge background in the one above.  It really looks as though I have gone a bit mad with the inks, but the splats and splodges are stamps.  I need to make more of these in lots of rainbow colours...

I took a long time considering what I was going to make and tried various things, but in the end I found that simple is best for me.  I was pleased with the card above which I think worked well.

Last Sunday on yet another hot day for the UK, Chris and I went to Crafting Live at Doncaster.  This is a shopping show, with around 70 stalls full of all things crafting.  The majority were papercrafting but there were material and sewing stalls and some others, such as beading.  I had been curious about these shows and decided I wanted to go just once.  I got the dies above as a free gift, which was a good start to the event.

I managed to avoid the sewing and material stalls, even though there were some beautiful fabrics.  Above are a couple of stamp sets (I spied the hare stamps from across the aisle and just had to buy them - they are in a lino print style which is something I have been looking for) and some stencils which I bought.  I even managed to stay in budget! 

I nearly forgot to include this stamp, which was the one I actually went to the show for!  It's a layered hydrangea stamp which gives a watercolour look once it is layered up.  I enjoyed the show but am not sure that I need to go to another one.  It was great to have so many shops all in one place though.

Recently I have been...

 ...making a vegan chocolate cake for a colleague's birthday...

...spending an afternoon making cards using paper piecing (using some of my ever growing card making stash), where I die cut the same shape in different colours and types of card and then pieced them back together in different combinations. 

...finally getting my MDF 12 x 12 storage unit (bought as a kit and put together by Chris and me - it was a two person job!) painted and decorated to organise my 12 x 12 papers more efficiently.

 I used the same paint as the other units - Orpington Duck Egg - and the same or similar papers too. (the other projects are here and here)

 I did include a different one for the back.

 I particularly like the Chinoiserie look of this one

 This unit is now full of my papers and makes me feel happy!  If only I could organise my other stashes - jewellery making equipment, sewing, polymer clay, art materials...a never ending list!