Using Punches and/or dies at Lexi's Creations....

Hi Susan here...

Well today we not only start a new month but we start a new challenge as well over at Lexi's Creations. It's a fun one...

'Use punches and/or dies'

You will be able to make whatever you want in whatever colours you want for this challenge as long as you use punches and/or dies. Take a look at Lexi's Creations for the full details of this challenge and to set your eyes on some fabulous inspiration from my design team.

Now for my card...

I have gone overboard with the butterflies for this one....The person it's meant for loves them!!

I have used a Tim Holtz edge die, using Kraft card and colouring the butterflies throughout with distressing inks, adding stickles and pearls.

I used a die for the beautiful spray of flowers in the background. I used a rich deep red card from Paper Mill Direct, then I slightly aged it with distressing inks.

The backing paper I have used is a freebie from a magazine, love this paper, gorgeous rich colour, I used distressing inks to age the edges.

The butterflies are a mixture of punches and dies, I have used Kraft card throughout and coloured with distressing inks.

The sentiment is an old wooden backed stamp.

Thanks for taking the time to look and for all your wonderful comments
Love and hugs
Susan xxx

Merry Christmas at Lexi's Creations....

Hi Susan here...

How are you all? Busy getting ready for Christmas, have you made all your Christmas cards yet?
If not why don't you join with us in the new challenge over at Lexi's Creations.
It's a great one for this time of year...

'Christmas'

Open for anything you want to make as long as it has a Christmas theme going through it.
There is lots of inspiration from my design team, it always amazes me that the same image can be used by a few people and their creations are so totally different. Come along and take a look and why not make a card and join in with us.

Now for my card....

Now you all know me by now about how I love making Christmas cards....this one I just wanted to use a traditional colour and make in monochromatic.

I was quite pleased with the effect.

The ribbon is from my local market.

The backing paper in red with white spots in from my stash, had it for ages, this is just a small piece.

The gorgeous red ribbed card and the main deep red cardstock is from Paper Mill Direct, it is well worth a look at this store, their cardstock is amazing and well worth buying. The ribbed card comes in 12x12 size pieces of card and you get 10 sheets per pack.

The large snowflakes are a die, I have used plain white card and then added Stickles all over the surface.

The cute little image is called Sammie Snowman, available from the Fairy Dust Crafts Store, designed by Lexi Lee.

The tickets are from Fairy Dust Crafts, I blanked out the centre and replaced with my own sentiments.

Stickles has been added to the edge of the topper and around the edges of the tickets.

Thank you for taking the time to look and please try and join in the challenge with us.
Love and hugs
Susan xxx

Something totally different from me....

Hi Susan here...

Yes I know, it's more Christmas cards, but in a totally different style, especially for me.

I am not one normally to make simplistic cards, simple and clean is a very hard concept for me to follow, but I had a brainwave for these cards and so I thought I would show you what I came up with.

The card itself is made using a beautiful textured card from Paper Mill Direct. This is really good quality card, love using their card stock.

The snowflake trim is from an edge die from Tim Holtz, I cut it out of a piece of 6x6 scrapbooking paper with snowflakes in relief all over it, if you look closely you can see them, it was calling out to be used for this. The colour was just right for what I wanted and it had a white haze all over it so it looked really magical. I added stickles to the edges of the snowflakes to add a bit of sparkle.

The cute little stockings are a stamp from Molly Bloom, it was a freebie on the front of a magazine, I stamped the image three times and coloured them with promarkers, I then added stickles here and there and cut out one of the stamped images completely, on top of this layer I cut out two more layers of just the stockings and layered them up 3D.

The Noel was cut out using a die from Tim Holtz and some fabulous ridged card from Paper Mill Direct in a bright red.

Not overly simplistic I know, I could have left out the stockings but well they wanted to be on this card!! I know looking at the card now, it would have looked just as effective without the stockings, and at a later date I may remake the card leaving these off I think, but hey I still like the look of the card.

My next card was a real inspiration...

This one has been made using a backing card in Kraft from Paper Mill Direct which has a ridged effect.

I cut a piece of red ribbed card from Paper Mill Direct that I had left over from the card above, then tore the bottom edge .

The plain white card on the top I stamped with a text stamp and tore the bottom edge so that the two just fitted into each other nicely.

I cut out using a die the gorgeous snowflake and added some stickles to make it sparkle.

The letters are cut out using a die from Tim Holtz using the red ribbed card.

The ribbon is from our local market.

Well what do you think, different for me, but I am so pleased with them. I am definitely going to make some more in this vein, but maybe not just yet even though they were super quick to make!!

Thanks for taking the time to look and for your fabulous comments

Love and hugs

Susan xxx

Christmas is coming....

Hi Susan here....

I have a few more Christmas cards to show you that I have been working on...hope you like them.

I have tried to use a few different shapes for my cards this time, as I usually make my cards square, but couldn't resist having a change. So for this particular card I have used a 5x7 inch size which I think best suited the images and layout.

I have used a set of stamps from Chocolate Baroque for this one. I inked around the edges of the squares after trimming them with Tim Holtz distressing inks in sage green and then slightly inked the birds breasts.

The beautiful swirls are a die from Marianne Designs. 

I have used base card from Paper Mill Direct.

The flowers in this most gorgeous deep red colour are from Hobby Craft.

The magical sentiment is a stamp from Prima, I love this text stamp.

My backing paper is from my stash, it is originally from a 12x12 scrapbooking pad.

I have grouped a few cards for you to see on this post, so for my second card I have used a 4x8 inch size of card and set it up in a traditional tent style.

My backing paper was from an 8x10 scrapbooking/cardmaking pad from Papermania, it already had a fabulous design of baubles, snowflakes and the sentiment so I didn't want to cover this too much.

The flowers and berries matched my colour scheme really well, these are from Hobby Craft. I didn't want to use a solid block of colour for the flowers this time with the backing paper being really strong, these flowers matched perfectly and seemed to lighten the whole thing.

I have used an old favourite punch, for my snowflakes I have had this little punch for such a long time and use it such a lot that if it had a name on it well it isn't there now, so sorry I can't tell you who the maker is, I have used Tim Holtz distressing inks called china blue and then added some stickles and a tiny blue gem in the centre.

The beautiful china house button I bought on a trip to USA, I treasure these little china gems, I love them so much, I have tied some silk ribbon into the buttonholes.

This stamp is so adorable, it is from and I love it.

I have used chalks to colour it, then I added stickles to the dress shoes and wand, well you can't have a Christmas card without glitter can you.

The little gems falling from her wand are from my local market. I bought a little box of them, all different colours, they are a pain to work with because of their size but well worth the effort.

My next and last card for this particular post is again using this rectangular shape.

I had a lot of fun making this one, I have used several dies.

The backing paper is from a set of papers that was free on a magazine and the sad thing about this is I only have a small amount of this left over, I love the way it looks like traditional tartan fabric with stitches going through it, I have used a base Kraft card from Paper Mill Direct.

The snowman is from Tim Holtz, I used his distressing inks all around the edges using sage green and tea dye,  I stamped all over the die cut shape using tea dye distressing ink and one of my favourite text stamps.

The flowers are from Hobby Craft.

The beautiful ivy leaves are an embossing die from Marianne Designs, I have added glitter to the veins to give a bit of sparkle.

The snowflakes are a beautiful die from Memory Box, after cutting this out I glittered the whole thing using stickles.

I recently bought some small wooden embellishments and this little house was one of them, I painted it using white acrylic paints and distressed the edges with a tea dye distressing ink, then added stickles here and there.

The fence is a die from Marianne Designs I cut two of these out of Kraft card and joined them in the centre, using white acrylic paint I painted 'snow' onto the fence then added stickles to make snow glitter.

Well that's it, I hope you have enjoyed looking at my cards as much as I had making them. Funny thing about making Christmas cards, once I start I can't seem to stop, I think it has something to do with it being one of my favourite times of the year and I love to give everyone I know a card to celebrate. Now you know why I have to make so many!!

Anyway thank you so much for taking this time to look and if you would like to leave any comments I appreciate it very much.

Love and hugs

Susan xxx

Halloween at Lexi's Creations....

Hi Susan here

 Can you believe that October is nearly at its end....!!
Over at Lexi's Creations we are starting a new challenge today, and the theme is

'Halloween'

Appropriate challenge for this time of the year. I love the reds, yellows, oranges, and black colours that are used on these creations.
Full details can be found on the Lexi's Creations Challenge Blog about this fabulous challenge and our great sponsor. 

Now onto my card....

 

My backing paper is from a 6x6 scrapbooking pad that I have had for ages, the colours in it always remind me of celebrations and this time of year. I decided on red and black for my main colours as I think they are so dramatic and I always think of these two colours when I think of vampires and bats.

The gorgeous little silver charm is from Ebay.

The sentiment ticket is originally from Fairy Dust Crafts, I blanked out the middle and put my own sentiment there, coloured the outer edge with Promarkers and then glued it to a die cut shape using black card and glittered the edge. The die is from Raindrop Echo.

I have used several dies on this card, including a gorgeous Tilda edging for the black strip at the back of the image. I put some stickles all along the edges.

This cute image has been designed by our own Lexi Lee and is available from Fairy Dust Crafts Store, it is called Vampire Bear.

I have used chalks to colour the image, I have added stickles to the moon to make it shine.

I used another die - a nestabillity die for the topper and then trimmed the shiny red card to back that.

All the card used is from Paper Mill Direct.

I hope you decide to come and join us in this fabulous challenge at Lexi's Creations.

Thank you for taking the time to look at my creation and for your many wonderful comments.

Love and hugs

Susan xxx