Author: Catherine

So when I am inspired and enjoy a particular result or technique I like to repeat it in a different way to either perfect it or make it my own. Todays card is moving on from the cards I shared yesterday with were inspired by Liane’s tree card.

At the same time as die cutting the trees for the cards yesterday I also die cut these dragonflies from the same inked paper I had created.

So clearly the inspiration of the original card is still evident but the orientation had changed, the dragonflies are also more haphazard in the way I have added them to the card and also I added lots of inky splatters in the background using the same inks as I used to create the blended paper.

I still added the clear gems and the sentiment using black cardstock with white embossing.

Whilst I loved the tree cards I really loved this dragonfly card more … think I just loved the whimsy and the shine.

I will say I was glad to pack the glimmer paper away though … I really don’t enjoy working with glitter like this … even though it’s reasonable quality it still sheds loads so I ended up both covered with tiny pieces that came out of the die cuts and the glitter! The cards all looked super sparkly though so maybe worth putting up with the mess!

Happy crafting

Catherine

PS Thank you Liane

I spotted another card by Liane over on instagram and it made me immediately hunt through my dies to see what I could use to CASE the card and within about 30 mins had inked cardstock and die cut some trees and some dragonflies.

But then I didn’t do anything for a few days as I had a very busy time and not enough time to get to the craft desk and make these into something!

When I did I had to then do lots more diecutting from white and the glimmer paper to make sure I had enough to stack die cuts and also to have some sparkly ones in there too.

I ended up though after a few hours play with three different cards inspired by the one Liane had shared.

I’ll share the dragonfly one on another post but will pop the two trees ones onto this post as these were closest to the original inspiration.

I started with this one … these more graphic die cut trees I love although I must admit I find them tricky to cut with my rather worn Big Shot machine now and goodness me there are a lot of bits at the end to clutter the desk and floor!

I die cut the tree three times from the inked cardstock I had created and then again enough times to stack each tree a couple of times with the fancy top layered as the final one.

I did try and cut the fancy layer from the glimmer but didn’t like the look plus the die was so fiddly it was tearing a little with the glimmer paper so decided the solid shape would work better. Again I added a couple of layers underneath to give them some dimension.

I embossed the panel I had adhered the trees to using a snowfall pattern. I had lightly brushed the centre with a light blue just to give it some interest. Not sure any of the pics pick this up though.

The sentiment I stamped and embossed from a set from Altenew. I like the font on this set.

I added it to a 5×7 inch card blank.

I then made this card using the more solid but slimmer trees.

These are less fiddly to die cut but still lots of bits when all those holes have come out!

Again stacked the images at least twice. I then chose to emboss a slimmer panel and then added some shimmer paint splatters to the background.

This time the sentiment was from Christmas to Remember and again embossed onto black with white powder.

Both cards had dimension from both the die cuts and also raised the panels a little off the card blanks.

Both were finished with some clear gems.

Love how these came out … but must admit I think my favourite is the dragon fly one … so check back to see better pics of that one tomorrow.

Thank you for the inspiration Liane.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Hello!

I have a design team contribution for you today for the Creative Knockouts blog. Our challenge is to use two or more patterned papers and the blog is sponsored by Conie Fong who gave me this lovely image to work with.

The pointsettia and the holly and the baubles are so beautiful and I decided first off to watercolour them using distress inks.

Then I chose patterned paper from the stash to sit behind the image once I had fussy cut it.

I layered up the patterns and added in a strip of white on either side of the green to break it up.

Then I added ribbon behind the goal image and added foam to give dimension.

Next I took the same green paper and die cut it with the word Joy and layered that up a few times including the shadow die so even more dimension. I probably should have kept this flatter because it’s now quite a bulky card but hey ho … I think it is still cute!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Another long talk DL card using the gifted dsp from Crafters Companion.

This time I added an inked panel of the paper to the card blank and then added a panel of embossed Smoky Slate cardstock I had also inked to this and added lots of splatters of pearlescent ink in rose gold.

I then took some elements of vintage ephemera from a kit and added those before starting work on the main floral image.

I decided to have a go with stamping and using the coordinating masks for the Altenew Rosy Outlook set. Well it worked ok but it was very messy with the masks sticking to stamps and having to be continually realigned … next time will just stamp and cut out of a post it note like normal!

But the stamped images work really well to create a cluster of flowers and I’m pleased with it!

I fussy cut it out and then added on foam to give some dimension before I then added the sentiment… I used a magazine stamp for this.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

I played with some more of the crafters companion dsp but the focal image I stamped onto shimmery watercolour background I had created from mop up of another projects.

I teamed it with a small panel of green and then some twine. I then stamped the sentiment onto some Kraft cardstock for underneath.

It is difficult to see the shimmer in the pictures but hopefully you can see that there is a variation to the pigment in the following picture with the flash on…

I also added some dot of the mica onto the background.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Todays blog is a card that was made in stages … using scraps and things put to one side until the time came to use them!

I had some scraps left over when I made a few Christmas cards last month so instead of shoving them back into the box I decided to make a panel of strips of paper by taping them together and trimming it so it became a panel. This then got up into the ‘backgrounds’ folder.

Then on another session I stamped the three reindeers all together (I stamped them twice actually … the other three are still in the folder to be used) and coloured them using the stamping blends and the promarkers.

So when I made this card I had the background panel and the topper … I decided that the Kraft would work well with it and I happened to have this merry word already die cut and sitting in the to be used tray … so then it all came together quite easily. I gave the background a mat layer of the Kraft, I made a layer to offset the stamped reindeer panel and then added the sentiment die and stamped the rest of the sentiment from the Avery Elle set.

Then I added the dotty card candi and added some glossy accents to Rudolph’s nose to make it extra shiny and with dimension!

A perfect cute card made from pieces leftover from other projects, scraps and a lot of love!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

I decided to make up another of the backgrounds from the lovely Altenew layered stencil using some pale blue cardstock and then different shades of blue inks and then added some embossing through the final layer of stencilling. I only added it to some bits of the final layer and not on the larger flowers that I had added the teal through the stencil for.

The embossing I chose to add was silver.

I die cut a circle which I then placed over the part of the panel that has a little circle gap … it isn’t immediately obvious that it is there but I think that on a large panel like this it needed something to break it up.

I then decided to have another play with the stacked cake stencil and dies.

I decided to keep to similar colours for the cake as the background but also added in the purple colour too.

The cake i die cut several times to stack up, and also added lots of layers underneath to give it dimension. The frosting layers of the die I inked and then embossed with clear embossing to make them shiny.

I also added gold wink of Stella to the flames on the candles.

I then decided to turn this into one of the 18th birthday cards for the stash for this year. So I cut a banner and stacked it up a few times using turquoise cardstock. I decided to add a mat layer of white and then turquoise for the full panel too.

Then the 18 I cut from the Playful Alphabet dies three times … I added a bit of ink and then clear embossing to the top layer so again it is a shiny finish for the numbers.

I decided this would be enough as the cake and the embossing and all the layers make this a heavy card and plenty to look at with all that gorgeous pattern behind the cake!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Another card using that gorgeous Crafters Companion dsp …

This time I shortened the front of the card blank and punched the edge. Then added a piece of the dsp so that formed the bottom half of the card front.

Then I created a topper using the dsp, a Kraft die cut flourish and the Artistically inked stamps.

I also used a scrap of the ruffled ribbon to embellish along with the sequins!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

I have a box that has all the Christmas papers in it along with embellishments/card toppers and random things people have gifted that have a seasonal feel to them but I wanted to have a sort through and get rid of things I wouldn’t use… and of course ended up making some cards from what I found!

First up the focal element was gifted to me but no idea by who … but I appreciated it and kept it and now am reusing it in this card.

I added the Tim Holtz die and some magazine papers for the background and the black layer to frame it. Quick and easy and another card for the stash!

The next one uses similar papers but this time I added lots of vintage type pieces of ephemera that I had had in the stash for a long time.

I also had one sentiment left from the gold foil cut sentiments from an old Stampin Up kit and found a little wooden snowflake that finished it off perfectly.

Not bad from a short session when I should have been tidying! Good news is that I did manage to throw some things away… bad news is there is still too much paper in the box for me to justify new dsp for Christmas this year! Ah well maybe next year?

Happy crafting!

Catherine

So today it is my wedding anniversary … 16 years ago I married my lovely V!

I made the card for V from some gifted elements mainly as I thought that they worked well as topper elements.

The little journaling cards and the heart were both from gifted extras that came with a swap and then I used the Pefectly Penned dsp for the background paper. I edged each panel with grey ink, using the brads to ‘pin’ each of the cards into place. I layered up the panel onto foam to give it dimension.

I added the embossed sentiment too.

Then inside the large card I added the sentiment using a stamp set I bought in a sale … love that large halftone Everything … and embellished with the little Lawn Fawn hearts.

Fairly simple card but enjoyed putting together this simple card.

Happy crafting!

Catherine