Super FREE offer

I just have to share the news with you all....

In my inbox was an exciting emailing offering me a FREE cardmaking template

Well lets face it - theses days we dont get much for free do we??

So naturally I clicked and checked out the deal....

And here it is for you all to get your freebie too...

Get a free "Santa's Magical Sleigh" card making template from Card Carousel.

Just visit www.cardcarousel.co.uk/free/sleigh.html



Simply click on he link above to be taken directly to the website and your free template

So what you waiting for???

I have mine and WOW

x

All I want is....

This card was made within an hour of browsing a new CD I got...

The CD in question is Walter & Winnie Does Christmas - and yes the title is correct even though it does seem wrong!!

I believe it is part of the Polka Doodles range!

So - as you all know I am a huge OWL fan so this CD is right up my street - or should I say up in the tree....

I printed the sheet which actually has 2 of the same design per sheet so great to share or for batch making sessions....

I used a craft work cards scallop edged 6x6 square card blank and then played with the wonderful new WINTER limited edition Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads - using a foam pad I covered the edges of the card in the richest red - Festive Berries

Then I sprayed the card front with Crafters Companion Glossy Spray - when it was tacky I used a straw and blew into the gloss to give a bubbled textured effect!!!

I trimmed the image to leave a wide white border and then built up the cute decoupage - there are only 3 or 4 easy to cut pieces....and attached then using small double sided pads.

I matted this onto a piece of green mirri card which I had cut inverted corners and leaving a wider than normal border.

I cut a piece of silver mirri card and then used a deckle edge cutter to cut a piece of Christmas text paper - again from the CD - and stuck it in place.

Next I wrapped a length of green printed ribbon round the silver mirri & paper panel and fixed at the back - then used a smaller length but showing the reverse of the ribbon, I formed a few folds and secured in place with double sided tape - and the cut both ends into V's

Once the card blank was dry I attached the silver panel in place and then the green panel on top - then fixed a red printed card candy to each corner...

I then realised I had a touch of red ink on the front white panel and a smudge on the reverse so used a dabber and lightly dabbed the white panel - on the back of the card I did swirls of colour which looking surprising pretty!!!

Finishing touch was the glitter! I used a thick layer of Pinflair Glitter Glue on the edge of the hat and pompom and then sprinkled with glamour dust and left to dry before tapping off the excess - this makes the sparkly fur trim look quite thick - not like the normal look of Glamour Dust!

Hope you liked this card - I did two more so sooner or later you will see another!!!

Thanks for looking again....

Monotone Cuttlebug Tree

This is a project I put together for the card classes and was so popular

Its not everyone that is lucky enough to own a die cutting machine so when I put this together I took the Cuttlebug in so people could have a play and enjoy it!!

So to make the card I used a sheet of A4 black cardstock which I folded in half to create the tent fold A5 card blank.

I covered the card all but a narrow border with a black and white patterned paper

Using an EK Success border punch I punched a length of lacy swirls and matted it to a piece of silver mirri card

This was then glued across the card centre.

A small piece of white card had a length of black organza ribbon wrapped around it and secured at the back then matted onto a piece of black card leaving a narrow border all round.

The embossing folder was actually a free gift in a magazine - so I used a small piece of silver mirri board and embossed this using the Cuttlebug then attached to the white cardstock along side the black ribbon.

Red gems and pearls were added to the tree to decorate and add just a hint of colour to the monotone look

A silver dufex sentiment was attached across the punched border to finish!

The difference between the 2 cards apart from the backing paper and punched border stip is the tree design

The top one is EMBOSSED - so the pattern is raised to the touch

The bottom one is DEBOSSED - so the pattern is sunken to the touch

Thanks for looking

Gothic Beauty

I wanted to make a card with a difference for a lady I know in passing who was having a tough time

She is a bit wild - nutty - different!!!

So I decided to use a cd I loved but so far hadn't had reason to use

Jems Designs - Gothic Beauties

So to make my card I used an A4 sheet of red pearlescent card stock which I folded in half to produce my A5 card blank

I used a piece of black mirri card which I punched a border using a lovely Martha Stewart punch called CHERISH

This was matted centrally to card blank then I adhered the base image onto a piece of red card stock and attached to the black mirri card

I had an oddment of red mirri card so using the same punch I punched top and bottom edges and fixed in place below my image

Although the photo doesn't show it - this is decoupaged - and as usual the top layers were shaped before adding them.

No signs of glitter on this card - but I did use red flower soft and some red pearls to tart it up a little

The finishing touch was the "Follow your dreams...." sentiment which was so appropriate for the reason behind this card

I hope you like this as much as the recipient did!!!

Posing Polar Bears

Today's card to share is taken from the new cd release from Peerless Designs

Cuddle Upz 3 - Arctic Adventure

This card is actually one of the complete 3d cards - so its a click and print out the main card and the 2nd sheet is the decoupage elements

As I print direct to matt photo paper I chopped the back off the main card and before matting the front of the card I used my Silent Setter to make a row of holes above where I planned to add the sentiment

A length of deep blue grosgrain ribbon was woven through the holes - and I lightly fanned the ribbon that showed on the card - and liked this effect as something different! 

 So then I matted the front onto a piece of bright blue card then direct to my navy blue A5 card - now it was ready to add the easy to cut out decoupage

Like I tend to do these days, I used a shaper tool on  the top layers of decoupage which made the layers blend together nicely

All that was left was to add the sentiment to the bottom right of the card on sticky pads

My finishing touch was to spray the entire card with Crafters Companion Iridescent Glitter and add a beautiful matching insert

A super card for any occasion - any age group - and male or female

Thank you for looking - watch out for more lovely cards made from this fab new cd

Gilded Owls

Today's card is something new to me and I love it!

For this card I used....

Blue Eazi Score board and tool

 Dreamweaver pair of Owls stencil,

Pearlescent embossing paste,

Copper Thunder gilding flakes

MATT Black and Tan coloured cardstock

Copper pearl cardstock

Martha Stewart branch punch

Little Claires circular sentiment

Brown organza ribbon

Papermania shimmer chalk

Crafters Companion Spray & Shine

Double sided tape, PVA glue, low tack tape, quickie glue pen,

A paper trimmer

and a selection of contrasting pearls.

The first job was to attach the stencil to my black cardstock with low tack tape - I took most of the tack away so it wouldn't mark the black card - this is done by pressing the tape to clothing and pulling off several times.

Once attached I used the palette knife to completely cover the owls then scrapped away the excess paste and put it back in the pot.

Carefully I removed the low tack tape and discarded it - then put the owls to one side to dry completely

Next stage was to cut the black cardstock down to 15cms wide and scoring to create an easel card - that was line 7 A4 half fold and line 4 A4 gate fold

I measured a strip of matt tan cardstock to approx 2"  wide by 5.25" (5cms x 13cms) long - and punched along one long edge then turned over and matched up as I punched the other edge.

A piece of dark brown organza ribbon was wrapped around this punched strip and secured behind. A length of foam tape was attached to the back and then placed on the base of card to form the stopper.

I used a die cut circular sentiment from Little Claires that also featured an Owl - coloured it with Papermania shimmer chalk then sprayed lightly with Crafters Companion spray & shine to seal it, this was added to the centre of my punched strip with foam pads.

Using the same matt tan cardstock I measured a piece of card approx 5"  x 4" (12.5cms x 10cms) and punched one edge using the branch punch again.

Matted to this was a piece of copper pearl 4.5" x 3.25" (11.5cms x 8cms) then matt black 4.25" x 3" (11cms x 7.5cms) copper 4" x 3" (10cms x 7.5cms)

Once the embossing paste was dry completely ( around 4 hours I think I left it) I repositioned the stencil and used a good quality PVA glue to cover the owls - removed the stencil then completely covered the design with copper thunder gilding flakes and pressed firmly all over the design so as not to leave any white showing - then tapped the card to remove the excess and set aside to dry again

Once the PVA had dried I brushed away any loose bits of gilding then cut the topper down to fit onto the last matted piece of copper card - so approx 3.8" x 2.8" (9.5cms x 7cms) and attached centrally using double sided tape

All that was left was to add my pearls - I used a dark brown in the 4 corners of the owls topper and brown - beige - tan in the top left edge and bottom right edge of the punched matt tan cardstock

On the easel base I used 3 copper coloured pearls along the front edge at the left and the right to finish.

I do hope you like the card and that my instructions have proved useful!

Please note all measurements are approx.

Poinsettia

This card is another taken from Ella Designs 12 Cards For Christmas cd

The poinsettia is a stunning image and a real delight to work with

I decided to use a scallop edged card from Craft Work Cards

The main base image was added centrally to the card and then I made a start on the oh so easy to cut out decoupage

I built the design taking care to shape the top most layers to define the shape of the petals....

I wasnt sure what to use for decoration then spotted the last few Glitterations Sticky Gold dots which worked a treat!

I added a small gold glitter dot to each of the scallops down the right hand side and across the decorative panel across the centre of the card

4 larger dots were added to the 4 outer corners and then gold stickles was dabbed around the centre of each poinsettia to complete this lovely tradional christmas card

Thank you for your time

Gift Wallet Card

Hello again - bet you thought I had given up making cards didnt you?

Sorry - life just gets in the way at times....

So here we are - I have lots of new cards to share with you so lets hope time doesnt run away with me again....

This is a lovely card and gift in one really as it has a lovely pouch in which you can slip a gift voucher, gift card or even money

It is taken from a wonderful new cd I have by Ella Designs - called

12 cards of Christmas

However as you can see in this card - some can be adapted for general use

Everything is so easy on this cd - I simply chose the complete 3d card option which offered 2 pages of printing - and really easy to follow instructions on how to make the card up too!

I had to cut my a4 card down to measure 13cms x 29.7cms - that left a strip of waste card which then was cut to 8cms x13cms leaving just a small amount of waste

The scoring is all done using the Eazi Score Blue Board - so the large card i splaced landscape and scored on line 7, move the whole piece over so your score line is now on line 5 and then score line 6

Next I rounded the corners to the right hand side of the card before taking the small piece of card and scoreing it on line 1 and line 2 and rounding the right hand side corners.

The small strip is then attached to the large piece with double sided tape to form the envelope flap as in the photo above

Now the nice bits - I cut out the pieces to cover the inside and outside of the card - as I said it is all measured for me - just cut and stick in place!

Once the backing papers are on its time to add the pouch inside - how easy  - it was just a case of scoring and creasing the outer edges of one panel and securing on place with double sided tape

Finally I attached the base layer of decoupage to the front flap - taking care not to attach anywhere else or the card wouldnt open

After all the decoupage was added I stuck a gift tag to the scrap card and cut out, then punched a single hole and used coloured fibres to finish!

The whole card was highlighted with glossy accents and glitter to finish

What a super card and pressie in one - wouldnt you agree???

Thanks for looking - see you again soon