Christmas Card Club #11 A Button, Two Brads, Ribbon And One Other Embellishment - Card 16

I had a fun time making this card for my fortnightly Christmas Card Club. It was Zoe at Stamping Scene's turn to pick a theme and it sure was fun!  Many of you know that I am on a stash busting mission. This theme was right up my alley as I was able to choose items I wanted to use up. I'm sure you all have those kind of bits and bobs hidden away in your craft rooms too.  Little bits of 2 or 3 items left over from larger packets. It is a good feeling when we manage to use up the last of these little treasures!   lol

I tried hard to break my mitchy/matchy mold and combine some colours that I do not usually put together. I wanted the image and the pink die cut I chose, to stand out on the DP.  The two design papers are quite heavily embossed with opalescent snowflakes. It seemed that I would have to introduce a third colour or those papers would have dominated my card.  Hope I was right!

I have a bit of a confession. I had to stray a bit from the brief! I made up some card kits at home and took them with me to Mum's. Her neighbour kindly loaned me a folding table and I set up a little craft area in the guest room. Somehow I managed to lose the third snowflake brad.  It was going to sit on the large snowflake to the left of the image. I had to shift the image over to hide that it was missing! The brads are my VOS item. I think they are at least 10 years old...felt good to use them. The green sparkly self adhesive ribbon is another golden oldie...originally from the dollar store.

As you have probably guessed, the pink diamonds are my "other"  embellishment.
The chipboard button is a NBUS item from a recent RAK win.  I liked that it was a self adhesive style. Easy peasy!

I was not able to finish the inside of the cards I made at Mum's. I will have to finish them once I am home again. There was a limit of what I could manage to carry on the bus. lol

****************This is card #16 of 50. I am on a consumables spending freeze until I have made 50 cards (Sook Wang tape and heavy weight card stock are exempt).***************

Recipe:
Card base and envelope -  from my stash
Design Paper - Best Creations, Christmas Wishes glitter embosssed papers
Card stock - snippets of pink and white card from my stash
Dies - Spellbinders
Snowflake brads - VOS, from my stash
Button - NBUS, from my stash
Bling - pink diamonds from my stash
Ribbon - VOS, from my stash
Stamp - forgot to jot down the name...sorry

I am entering this card in the following challenges:
1. Pixies Crafty Workshop - must use snippets
2. MFP Speedy TV Christmas Card Challenge - must be Christmas
3. Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - must be Christmas
4. Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge - must cover card with paper
.

Inky Goodness - Card 8

This is the test card I made on my own, when I was planning and making up the kits for last week's craft day with my neighbour. I was a wee bit nervous cuz had only played with inks once before. I decided I liked the outcome and went ahead with the inky card kits I showed you on a previous post.

I used watercolour paper. Not sure if I like the result on it, but I do like the colours.  I used heavy, water colour paper. I think it was 130 pound paper, but it seemed to get these little grainy spots. Next time I try these, I will use the same card stock I used for the ATC's last year. It seemed to take the stain better and looked smoother, for want of a better word.                        

I used some stamps that had never before seen ink (NBUS), so that was a good feeling. I think I need to implement a policy of stamping a "practice run" before laying a stamp to good paper.  Stamps seem to all have a mind of their own Some need a heavy hand, some a light touch, some a lighter touch on one side more so than the other.....I am sure you all know what I mean!

I will keep up trying to make inky cards! It was fun and I enjoyed making this one.

****************This is card #8 of 50. I am on a consumables spending freeze until I have made 50 cards (Sook Wang tape and heavy weight card stock are exempt).***************

Recipe
Card base - hand cut from stash
Card stock - snippets of kraft and pink card from my stash
Water Colour Paper - 130 pound from my stash
Tim Holtz stains: Worn Lipstick, Pickled Raspberry, Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmelade
Ink -  Momento black for images; ColorBok Charcoal Chalk ink for edging
Stamp - will have to fill this in once I am home as I forgot to write down the name...sorry
Bling - From my stash
Embossing Folder - Darice Woodgrain
Twine - jute twine from my stash
Button - glittery button from my stash

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

1. Pixies Crafty Workshop - must use snippets

Christmas Card Club - Christmas light, Challenge #8 - Card 2

It was Asha's turn to chose the theme for our Christmas Card Club. Her blog is Sunny Summer Crafts if you would like to pop over and take a look at her wonderful cards.

This was a great theme as there are so many different ways to interpret it. I chose to use my Memory Box Village Lamp Post die as I don't think I have ever used it before (NBUS).  This year, I am trying to make a conscious effort to use my NBUS supplies rather than hoard them!

My back and hip are very sore at the moment and working at the craft table is quite painful. I kept this card quite simple, to shorten the time leaning over it. Expect to see me visiting all over blogland as I have been spending quite a bit of time sitting with  my ice pack or heating pad! I had this same problem earlier this year and just got this under control 2 or 3 weeks ago. Today, I felt a slight pop as I was picking up some leaves...forcing me to limped into the house to find the icepack.

Luckily, I have several cards ahead so will schedule posts for the next short while. Enough wallowing...on with the card and the recipe...

And the inside...

****************This is card #2 of 50. I am on a consumables spending freeze until I have made 50 cards (Sook Wang tape and heavy weight card stock are exempt).***************

Recipe
Card and base - 5 1/2 inches square from my stash
DP - WRMK Yuletide
Cardstock - a very teensy snippet of green card was used for the corner dies and a snippet of white for the sentiment banner
Dies - Spellbinders Labels 26 for the image mat; MB Village Lamp Post; Quickuts corner die
I think the banner is either Impression Obsession or???? To sore to walk downstairs again to check...
Punch - Martha Stewart snowflake
Image - Sassy Cheryl topper
Sentiment - Merry Christmas is a rub on; Inside verse is Stampers Anonymous, Old Fashioned Christmas
Ink - Momento black ink; Ingvild Bolme red chalk ink

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

1. Christmas Card club - must be Christmas Light
2. Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge Extra - must be Christmas but Anything Goes
3. Pixies Crafty Workshop - must use snippets
4. Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge - must cover card front with paper
5. Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - must be square
6. MFP Speedy TV Christmas Card Club - must be Christmas
7. Two Peas in a Bucket  April Mood Board

Share The Love

Finally made some Valentines. I was starting to worry that I would not get them done, but then I had a brainwave. It was my turn to make up the card kit for my weekly craft night with Lisa, my next door neighbour. I decided that I would make up 3 kits, for a total of 6 cards between us. All would have a Valentines theme.

These solved my necessary Valentines quota. Now any others I manage to make will be for extended family. Luckily, Lisa was game for that idea, so over I trudged to her place, card kits in hand and we really had fun getting into the Valentines theme! Normally, we do one quick and easy card...the sort you start and finish in 20  minuets...30 minutes tops. After that is done, we just get on with whatever we each brought to work on.

This time, I laid out all the supplies on her dining room table and we just worked on those all night. We had lots of giggles and fun, and we seemed to be full of creativity and inspiration.  Good thing, cuz we both needed to finish up those cards.

Here is my first Valentine made this year. It has snippets of Very Old Stash (VOS), and even has some Never Before Used Stash (NBUS). All the papers are left over from scrapbooking and in a former life, they were 12x12  paper.

Did you notice that I managed to add a bow...and that I even managed to work in a hanging charm. This little beauty was given to me by a pal in England (thank you again, you now who you are). I never seem to know how to work bows and charms onto my cards, but for once it seemed to work! It is hard to part with them though...they are so pretty and I like the look of them housed in the little jars on my embellishment shelf. lol

I had a momentary lapse of  brain cell activity while creating this card. I got so involved in measuring and marking out the straight line to add my glitter paper ribbon to, that I didn't notice I had put it on sideways!!! If I changed the orientation of the card to a vertical fold, then the word paper read sideways. Of course the glitter paper ribbon has an abundance of really sticky glue that could not be coaxed off! So I decided to make it look like a package tied up with ribbon and went ahead and added my new strip the correct way. Whew! Not a perfect solution by any means as I still think it looks silly...but not as silly as sideways words!

I even managed to finish up the inside too. I had already signed it when I realized that I had not taken a photo of the inside...so I have had to cover up DH's name. He likes his privacy on the internet.
The top edge of the letter "d" did not stamp evenly. I am contemplating touching it up with a copic fine liner but am so worried I will make it worse. What do you all do when this happens?

Recipe
Card Base and Envelope - from my stash
Design Paper - snippets of 12x12 Colorbok Bright Ideas pink word background (VOS); and snippets of 12x12 Echo Park Style Essentials Grey Damask
Card Stock - snippets of pink textured card
Ribbon - striped ribbon from my LSS (new); snippet of black glitter ribbon from my stash, manufacturer unknown
Cord - fine silver cord from my stash
Embellishments - Flower from my stash; charm from my friend in England (NBUS)
Image - Wild Rose Studio topper

I am entering this card in the following challenges
1. Pixies Crafty Workshop - must use snippets
2. Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge - must cover the front of card base with paper
3. Two Peas In a Bucket - February Mood Board challenge - use Mood Board for inspiration
4. Stamping with the Dragon Challenge - Love is in the air

Fly

I think I saved the best for last...and gave it an appropriate name.

We fly home from our month in England today. By the time you are reading this we will be sitting in our recliners, trying to keep our eyes open as we cope with the jetlag from the flight back home.

This is the last and my personal favourite of all the cards I made in July, up at the lake. I really managed to use up quite a few of the teensy Prima flowers... only 7 zillion left to go...lol

I made a little mistake on this card...I over generously dabbed the cream paint on the Spellbinders fancy label. It was so whitish that the butterfly did not stand out. I had one die cut left so I repeated the process and tried to be a bit more stingy with the paint. Rather than throw out the extra whitewashed die cut, I layered it under the correct version, giving the look of a bit of a shadow. I pop dotted the correct one forward and I am really happy with how it looks now. I have included a couple of closeup so you can see the layers up close.

Recipe
Card base - From my stash; Michaels Recollections brand square textured card set
DP - Prima Lyric
Card Stock - Kraft snippets from my stash
Dies - Spellbinders Fancy Tags 2, Impression Obsession flag dies
Chipboard - from my stash; Michaels dollar bins
Bling - from my stash
Flowers - from my stash; Prima and and dollar store teensy kraft flowers
Sentiment letters - from my stash; Bo Bunny card stock sticker letters
Paint - Acrylic Cream paint

I am entering this card in the following challenges
Pixies Crafty Workshop - must use snippets (my die cuts were made with snippets)

Robin Red Breast

This is a scheduled post as I am still on holidays. I am in Filey, North Yorkshire enjoying a beach chalet style of life with Dh's cousin and his lovely wife. They keep a beach chalet year round and have decorated it in a British Flag theme. I will post pictures once home as it is truly fabulous!
We have a great routine of beach mornings with the dog and then home for lunch and on to other plans for the day. The days seem to unfold with a relaxed, idyllic style and it is wonderful.

I do have a card to share, another from my cardmaking blitz this summer up at the lake.
The card is a little too plain for my liking but I was really getting to the bottom of the bit and bobs I brought up to the lake. It was getting hard to be as creative when I was running out of supplies!  I was chanting Less Is More, over and over as I made it...but it did not help!

I do love the robin though...and I have come to the realization that I must love K & Co too! I have noticed that more often than not, when I go to write my card recipe, there it is, K & CO, listed over and over...shame they are not sponsoring me!
I just seem to pick up their 3D sheets whenever they go on sale...that way I have some pretty elements ready when my mojo goes walkabout.

This Less is More card has 5 elements...a piece of DP, a kraft card stock die cut, a piece of chipboard from you know where, a K & Co 3D robin and some diamond bling. That is it! I even managed to keep the lid on the cream paint this time!

Here is a close up of the detail of the K & Co 3D bird.

This is another one that will go into the inspirational cards box...I may use it to write a letter or I may stamp a sentiment inside later...it just depends on the individual circumstance when it is called into play!

No recipe today as this card is so easy and I have already basically listed everything in the narrative above.

Since I did manage to employ one measly snippet of kraft card  stock for the die cut, I will take this card over to Di @ Pixies Crafty Workshop - must use snippets, and join in the fun.

I will appologize to the others who have joined in there, this week. While on holidays I am not getting round to my usual visiting and comments. Usually, I try to visit everyone who drops by Di's Pixies Crafty Workshop...Will return to visiting you all again, when we are back home.

Rudolph Days - Christmas NBUS

NBUS...what a weird accronym! My friend Darnell @ http://www.djkardkreations.com/
penned this one...it stand for Never Before Used Schtuff.
You know what it is...we all have it. It is tucked away in drawers, folders, backets, and envelopes. You name it...we have it somewhere...or something somewhat like it! lol

Darnell penned this word and is on a mission to make NBUS cards this year. I have decided to join in on her parade. When the mood overtakes me, I will combine NBUS with my effort to use up my paper scraps...so it shall be cards of snippets as well as NBUS...oh my...that is a mouthful!

Here is my first try...I will be submitting this card to Rudolph Days at my friend Sarn's blog, Stamping For Pleasure. Making a Christmas Card on the 25th of each month for her challenge helps keep the finished cards number up so the Christmas season can be a little less hectic! There are some lovely Christmas cards submitted there so Christmas themed inspiration abounds.

My main NBUS item is the Kraft Christmas stocking tag. I got it for Christmas quite a few years ago. It came in a packet with a few other similar themed items that will eventually also turn up on NBUS cards. While I never liked it on it's own, I don't mind it combined with my stamped wreath image. 

The tag had a smaller, very narrow strip of tag that said, I BELIEVE. It sat at a weird angle and read backwards. I removed it and added the stamped and coloured wreath  to cover the spot where it used to sit. When that wreath looked a little bare, I added the 3D teddy from a dollar store page of decoupaged stickers. Another NBUS and another I couldn't imagine using as although I did like it, it just seemed too darned small to be a focal point. Combining it with my stamped wreath worked for me. A little Christmas red stickles added to the teensy berries on the wreath gave it just a touch of bling too!

So this is proof that something you never thought you would use, could work out after all.

Recipe: 

Card base and envelope - from my stash, originally Michaels, Recollections Kraft Corrugated

DP - from my stash; My Minds Eye Santa Claus

Cardstock - red and kraft snippets from my stash 

Dies - Marriane corner die blog candy from Shaz in Oz @ http://calligraphycards-shazinoz.blogspot.ca/

Bling - last of the snippets of teensy fire engine red bling on the card. This size is hard to find...while I do have some other shades of teensy red ones, I will be watching to replace these!

Embellishment -from my stash,  K and Co present with bow

Stickles - from my stash, Christmas Red

Stamp - unknown; I stamped this at a stamping class at my local scrapbook store and did not write down the name

I am entering this card is the following challenges:

1. Pixies Crafty Workshop - must use snippets

2. CHNC Extra - Always Anything Goes, must be Christmas

3. Stamping for Pleasure Rudolph Days Challenge - must be Christmas 

Soar

Don't know if this is old enough to qualify as NBUS (never before used schtuff), but this Memory Box die is about a year old and I can't think of when I have ever used it! Oh my goodness,...some of you know that I have memory problems from an accident...this NBUS idea may need some tweaking!!! lol

This is just another page of 6x6 Prima Lyric collections with a few added dies and embellishments. This is another card in my series of inspirational cards. I have bloggy friends and some IRL friends who are struggling a bit at the moment. Life can get so busy and it is hard at times to get the right balance of work, play and family life.  I think these cards could be pressed into service to send to someone so inspire them about the better days lying ahead...or adding a sentiment of Soar...its your day could be added and presto, it becomes a Birthday card.

I have written of my struggles to learn Windows 8...well the keyboard on this new W8 laptop needed adapting. I can not access the question mark, the apostrophe etc. So if my posts seems stilted or misspelled,  it is due to not having access to those keys.
It is being taken in to the geek squad to have the keyboard adapted and to have a shortcut installed to download pictures...it is about a one hour process to download and get access to pictures. If you have any choice...I would take Windows 7 if you could find one still!

Here is a bit of a closeup so you can see the depth of the 3D nest etc.

Recipe
Card Base - from my stash; Michaels Recollections brand square textured white card and envelope
DP - Prima, Lyric collection 6 x 6 pad
Card Stock - from my stash; snippets of kraft used for the Memory Box dies
Dies - Memory Box; Small Birdcage, Songbird and Corner Bow
Embellishments - from my stash; K and Co birds nest and kraft ticket (maybe 7 gypsies or TimHoltz)
Burlap - from my stash ( a friend gets me new burlap coffee sacks...they cut up nicely!)
Bling - blue diamonds from my stash; Dollar store

I am entering this card in the following challenges

1. Pixies Crafty Workshop - must use snippets the kraft cardstock used for the diecuts were snippets.

             

Spread Your Wings

I wanted to make some cards that are sort of multi purpose. Cards that are a bit uplifting to mail to a friend going through a tough time...or pressed into service as an inspirational Birthday card by stamping a Bday sentiment inside. I am making a dozen of this style of card...some have whitewashed butterflies, others have birds, others just a framed sentiment.

The DP I used here is a new look for me.  I have never been a huge fan of peach...but it is growing on me! I bought a few new outfits for my upcoming vacation and they have a definite peach trend. When I saw these Prima 6 x 6 paperpads with a splash of peach scattered here and there...I took the plunge.

I've also managed to fulfill a couple of crafty goals with this one.  Remember that one of my New Years goals was to make some cards that used up some flowers...well, some of the flowers I used on this card are years old!
Remember those little glass jars of Prima flowers...you know...we all had them! I managed to use a few of them here. I layered them with some kraft smaller flowers that came from the dollar store about 10 years ago. Wish I had bought 10 packages as they are my fave, teensy flower.

I also managed to slide in another NBUS (Never Before Used Schtuff)...the pretty chipboard butterfly was from a chipboard package from the Michaels $1.00 bins. I am a bit of a sucker for those bins...and I have buckets of "schtuff" to prove it...time to use some of it up!
I also cracked open a bottle of ivory acrylic paint...left over from those days when I painted wooden Christmas crafts. Another NBUS as the lid was still sealed! I distressed the die cut label and the butterfly with this cream paint. I like the vintage, shabby chic look it created.

Recipe:
Card base and Envelope - from my stash Michaels, Recollections brand 5 1/2 square, white  textured
DP - Prima Lyric collection
Card stock - snippets of kraft cardstock from my stash
Dies - Spellbinders Fancy Tags 2, Impression Obsession flag dies
Chipboard - NBUS from my stash,  Michaels dollar bins
Bling - teensy diamonds from my stash
Flowers - Very old Prima, and dollar store kraft teensy ones
Paint - NBUS acrylic cream paint
Word letters - Bo Bunny cardstock stickers

I am entering this card in the following challenges
1. Pixies Crafty Workshop - must use snippets
2. Sister Act - Always Anything Goes
3. Word Art Wednesday - use an encouraging word

Thought  I would close with some photos of what is blooming right now in my garden. I snapped these photo just before we left. I did not want to chance that any would  be finished when we returned, and then I would have no memory of them!
In spite of digging them all up and dividing them this spring, the daylilies are still blooming great guns...

While I do have a few more colours, some are not blooming yet as they were chosen to bloom later so as to stagger the blooms in the garden.

One  clematis is in bloom, soon to be followed by the one on the other side of the garden!

And finally, if anyone recognizes this plant, could you let me know the name...It is about 4 or 5 feet high and grows from tuberous roots. Bees just love it...it is usually covered in 30 or more bees. They keep so busy here on this plant that they leave the patio alone. We can eat supper al fresco  and they do not come over to bug us! The pink is a true fushcia pink colour...the colour here is a bit off as that fence is actually sort of an orangey, redwood shade.