Category: Joy

Christmas 2022 challenge, Joy, Peace & Joy, Waffle flower

Christmas cardmaking 2022 challenge … #10

Catherine

Well I may have been AWOL from the blog all week but I did actually manage to finish this years Christmas challenge … Yes I did!

Today’s theme is Peace and Joy … so of course I went to the Peace and Joy stamp set that I still adore.

I grabbed some retired colour cardstock (Fresh Freesia) and added the background pattern using a Waffle flower background die that gives that lovely pierced look.

Then I stamped and embossed the large sentiments and then die cut them. I decided to add some inking to the background and then had fun stamping and fussy cutting the foliage images from the stamp set in some fun pinks and purples to go with the Freesia cardstock.

I decided they needed a base to sit on so added the die cut square in black which I die cut twice to stack. I had also stacked the sentiment die cuts too so they had some sturdy dimension.

I also decided to add the laser cut snowflake for some shimmer and contrast. And then the pearl gems in the purple colour to embellish.

This card was actually smaller than an standard 6×4 but will still work fine in a standard envelope I think.

I then had some more of the cardstock left so went with another card using the other large sentiment from the set.

This one I also added the die cut poinsettia from a magazine kit. I decided to set the large word back on this one rather than adding the dimension to the word. I stacked the die cut ‘hole’ a few layers deep so the stamped and embossed word was set back.

I went for a Rich Razzleberry card base for this one which framed the stacked panel nicely.

Love how these two cards came out.

So there you go … finished my 10 week challenge just in time for Christmas …. impressed I managed it!

Would love to see any cards you make using my challenge as the starting point. Please let me know in the comments here or over on Instagram.

Now I think I am done with what I can blog between now and Christmas so will take this opportunity to wish all my blog readers a very merry Christmas!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

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Christmas Greetings, Joy, Martin's Mayhem 30 day challenge, Merry Moose, Peace & Joy, Ribbons

Martin’s Mayhem Christmas challenge

Catherine

Day 11 for Martin’s #30daychristmascardmakingchallenge and the challenge is something white.

I fancied playing with vellum so I made a vellum card and then die cut a lot of the large panels to make the central part of the card and disguise glue etc. Some of these were in smoky slate rather than white but I think it all worked together.

On the front of the card I stamped the tress from Merry Moose a few times and then embossed them in white. Then used a blending tool and dark grey ink to blend over the top and then wiped the trees clean.

Next I asked the Joy word with a vellum shadow and white embossing onto the grey word. I decided to sandwich underneath the word and on top of the embossing the black and white ribbon to give some contrast and texture.

Then added the gems to finish off.

You can really see how the vellum is see through when the card is stood up albeit only semi-transparent.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Distress oxide ink, Joy, Masks/Stencils, Peace & Joy, Stitched framelits

Two for one type of cards

Catherine

I knew I wanted to use the snowflake stencil but I wasn’t entirely sure where to start but decided to emboss through it and then ink smoosh with my distress oxides. As always when ink smooshing I mopped up the ink with some glossy card stock. Love the effect this has on glossy cardstock and it is always fun to end up with two different pieces to choose from. I ended up using the same stencil to also add some ink through onto the glossy card.

I decided to make both into similar cards so cut the panels down into 4×4 (think the darker one is 4.15×4.15) and then set them aside.

I had black cardstock die cut squares on the desk already so I used them to ground the focal image and chose to add a laser cut snowflake, and then the Joy from Peace and Joy (still an absolute favourite stamp set).

I did die cut the bottom layer of Joy from a scrap of the Soft Succulent vellum I had to hand so that has a slight colour to it but it works with the colours of distress oxides I had used.

I chose to stamp the to the world sentiment in the oxide Blueprint Sketch as I had used that in both of the backgrounds and it seemed the right level of brightness.

I then finished them both off with gems, silver for the dark card and these funky blue ones for the other.

Wanted to share these close ups so you can see both the shine of the glossy cardstock on the top one, and also the texture of the embossing on the bottom. Both so pretty especially the way the oxides work when they have reacted with water.

Lots of pics there… hope you like both projects. I can’t decided which of the cards is my favourite… how about you?

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Joy, Merriest moments, Paper Pumpkin - Joy to the world, Peace & Joy, Ribbons, Sheena Douglass Embossing Folders, Stitched framelits, Tidings and Trimmings, Tidings and Trimmings, Tidings and Trimmings

Kendras card challenge #2

Catherine

I enjoyed making the cards for challenge #6 so decided to make another set using an older template… template #2.

I chose the Tidings and Trimmings papers and stamps and dies for the main focus… but ended up adding other bits and pieces in too like the shimmery vellum and the sparkly speciality paper… I can never resist going a little mad with those fab Peace and Joy stamps and dies either and felt a big word was perfect as the focus of a few of the cards.

Here they all are…

I make the cards in stages…. cutting, then putting the pieces into labelled envelopes, next the layers of cardstock are cut and added to the envelopes. Then I stamp and cut lots of embellishment pieces so I have a little pile to use. Then I start to assemble but not always finish the card topper (I make these as card toppers first before I add to card blanks/make card blanks). Sometimes I just add layers to the paper pieces and add a few bits into the envelope and come back as I know I want an additional element like a ribbon, or sometimes it comes together immediately with everything to hand. But at least this way I get to just do them a bit at a time and 14 cards isn’t too overwhelming to deal with!

As the template is for US sized cards I did have to fiddle a little with the sizing of the final layers to make it fit the UK size cards but it worked fine. I made the card blanks out of Cherry Cobbler cardstock as I had loads of it and then inside added a white panel and some more dsp strips or panels and a little stamping. They were all different but only took one pic of the inside…

Envelopes again I kept simple with some little banners of dsp leftover from the inside panels and that was all!

So another 14 Christmas cards made. Must admit these were a little heavy because of all the extra cardstock so maybe need to remember this and try to gut the layers a little next time.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Banner Pick a Punch, Challenges/projects, Christmas Greetings, Christmas Pinecone, Christmas Season, Christmas to remember, Embossing Folders, Joy, Merry Moose, Old Paper, Painted Christmas, Pinewood planks, Seasonal Labels Dies, Sheena Douglass Embossing Folders, Stitched framelits, Tidings and Trimmings

Kendra’s card challenge 6 … Christmas in April

Catherine

I haven’t made any Christmas cards in ages … so when I stumbled across Kendras card challenge using 6 pieces of 6×6 to make 15 cards I thought it might help spur me on and help me get started on this years cards.

Of course I forgot using an American template would lead to card sizes that aren’t standard UK sizes so I made mine as card toppers and added them to 5×7 card blanks.

Kendra provides both the cutting guides and the layout/sketches with measurements so this made stage 1 (cutting, layering and grouping together) easy. Next step was to decide how to finish each of the cards off.

I used the Painted Christmas dsp for mine …

And teamed the papers with Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Pear Pizazz and Mossy Meadow cardstock … mainly as that was what I had to hand! I also added in some of the glittery speciality paper too for some fun.

I used different embossing folders, stamp sets, die sets and punches to finish off the cards… some I added inking too, some I kept plainer.

So there you go … 15 cards made ready for December. I always make lots of cards but I then gift them to my parents and my aunties for them to use too … so it helps to get lots done in one go … they then function as a set, although each is very different!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Distress oxide ink, JOFY, Joy, Masks/Stencils, Peace & Joy

Christmas in July challenge 3

Catherine

Challenge number 3 for my self imposed Christmas in July thing… and today it is all about the Masterboard!

So I actually have a little confession … I made the actual masterboard for this weeks ago when testing out some new stamps I had bought 2nd hand off a friend but never got the time to do anything with it… so it was perfect for incorporating into the challenge and get something done. It is A4 linen cardstock that has had lots of stamping and inking and stencilling and doodling on it.

I cut it up into panels… although the one tip right got trimmed again to make the tag and the strip adding to the 2nd card as an extra element so didn’t let any of it go to waste and made these 6 cards.

I love the Peace and Joy set from last years catalogue so much. Don’t think I will ever tire of using it!

I chose scraps of cardstock I had in the scraps pouch to cut all of the words out with their mounts.

I also used some scrap white cardstock to stamp and fussy cut out some more stars using the Jofy stamps and the Peace and Joy word stamps.

I added some tiny snowflakes as embellishments and on the tag card a scrap of sari ribbon.

The finishing touch was to add glossy accents to the top of most of the word die cut pieces to add both dimension and shine.

Love how the cards came out. So cool!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Forever Flourishing, Joy, Scalloped tag topper, Wreath Builder

Tag Thursday … leftover bits from Christmas

Catherine

Well that was a rather busy 24 hours… after a busy night cooking and eating tea, helping the hubby with something ‘secret’ and a zoom call with my weightloss ladies, we discovered it was snowing “big style” so at 8.45pm the teenager and I got ourselves all wrapped up and went for a magical walk in the snow.

It only lasted an hour and then rain arrived again to get rid of it so I am glad we made the most of it!

This morning an early dart across town as hubby’s car needed a service and then back to working in the spare room, then another trip back this afternoon to pick the car back up again, with a detour to the hospital so hubby could get his blood test done.

Back home, back to working as needed to get some stuff done for tomorrow and the mad dashes across town had cut down on the time I had had to do it. And before I knew it, it was time to do tea and then come and update the blog… but I did sneak in this little bit of simple crafting first!

After all it is Thursday so why not continue with the tag theme on a Thursday? So I found some bits and pieces on the side of the desk so thought I would finish off these tags and make a start on the stash of tags for Christmas 2021!

The three tags and the patterned paper were already set up but never got round to finishing them off.

I delved into the stash of precut die cuts and started adding bits and pieces to each of the tags.

Love how cute these are and how simple they were to make! And now they’ve been added to the box in readiness for December!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Joy

Gift box making

Catherine

OK I’ve an odd little project to be blogging about today, mainly because I completely forgot about it before Christmas like I had planned and came across the pic in my photos and thought ooops!

Sorry I didn’t get around to blogging last night… it was another crazy work day and once again no crafting done, instead watched the two WandaVision episodes that have been released on Disney+ which I enjoyed… they are weird, but riveting!

Today there are plans for shopping and some household chores but hoping to also get some crafting time in the bag! But now let me tell you about this project I actually made in November!

So I bought a box of three beautiful soaps from Temple Spa which I wanted to split up as little gifts for my Auntie’s and my Mum… and so I needed a box for each of them.

I made three boxes using Soft Sea Foam cardstock using the Crafters Companion tool so it was easy and no real measuring required

Then I cut papers for the tops and used some paper twine to tie them into more secure packages.

Of course I added tags to them too… and used the beautiful Joy dies to create a dimensional embellishment onto them.

Quite simple (the box making tool is what makes it simple!) But effective prettily packaged gifts. Oh and the smell of those soaps is divine!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Distress oxide ink, In the Pines, Joy, Peace & Joy, Pine Woods, Sheena Douglass Embossing Folders, Sizzix, Tim Holtz, Wreath Builder

Merry Christmas!

Catherine

Merry Christmas dear blog readers… hope you have a lovely day, however you choose to enjoy it. Clearly we all have had very different years all year and Christmas will no doubt be a different experience too. However staying safe is the most important thing and we will get to party and spend time with our loved ones another time as long as we stay safe!

OK… onto the crafting… today I have the cards I made for the child and the hubby to share with you. As usual they were the last cards I’ve made… always left until the last minute!

The Princess got a pretty wreath card with peach and green colours and lots of white.

Hopefully you can see plenty of sparkle on the words too and a bit of soft wool for the bow.

The hubby also had word dies feature, but I went for a wintery scene instead…

I used lots of ink blending and splatter for the background and lots and lots of sparkle on the trees too.

Entering this card into the Stampin Up only challenge for Winter cards.

Really pleased with both cards and they incorporated my new obsession of die cutting which I have really taken to this past few months.

Anyway, thats all from today. Best wishes to you all.

Happy crafting & Merry Christmas!

Catherine

Art Alchemy paints, Artist Trading Coins, fresco finish paints, Paperartsy, Gorgeous Grunge, Joy, Masks/Stencils, Peace & Joy, Wonderland, Wreath Builder

Final advent coins 19-24

Catherine

Today I have the final advent coins I made. These I made all in one afternoon and chose to make them in pairs to make life easier for myself!

I also used the same old number stamp set to finish them off.

My favourites are definitely the black with white embossing background. Just wish I had used slightly smaller number stamps rather than the large ones. Have to admit these were inspired by the samples Martin made for the Artisan blog hop.

The ones with the text background were also inspired by this blog hop… but by the banner on the card made by Hélène. For both of these the Peace and Joy (My current favourite Christmas stamps ever!) Stamps and dies. I also added a die cut tree scene with the glimmer paper.

Then to contrast I made the more natural ones using the pointsetta die from the Wreath Builder die set. I also added some texture in the background using the Gorgeous Grunge set.

So there you go… my advent coins for this year done… except it’s not exactly true because numpty Catherine sent the first bundle of coins (days 19-21) without a stamp on the parcel … so I had to make more!

These are the ones I made…

This time I went for a different look completely… I went with coins with a stencilled layer of stars and then layers of Fresco finish paints and alchemy paints. Then I chose three different ways to decorate them, but kept to the same colour and number stamps.

I added stamping to each coin using archival ink so each was different.

I used die cuts from the wreath builder dies and some stamped twigs.

I also used some Stamping magazine stamps for the holly and the little winter house. I added sequins for the holly berries and flock for the snowy roof.

Love how different they all came out. Looking forward to next years challenge (we are back to Twinchies and some have been made already! Yup I got organised ahead of time for once!)

Happy crafting!

Catherine