Sheena Douglass Embossing Folders

I saw the sketch Martin had created for the challenge on day 18 and knew how I wanted it to look … spoiler alert it didn’t end up looking like that! Best laid plans and all that.

I used vellum to create a panel over colourful strips of cardstock ehich i embossed to create the pattern and decided to sew into place. But then I had an argument with the sewing machine.

So I ended up cutting down the vellum to get rid of the ruined part and making a much smaller card.

I did manage to fix the machine but in changing the background and dimensions you kind of lose the coloured strips underneath and one got very wonky. By the point I decided to keep going as vellum is a precious commodity. Added a laser cut snowflake and the embossed sentiment onto the top and of course a few gems.

I do like this card … but you know when you have a plan and it doesn’t quite work … that’s what happened here.

Ah well something pretty came out of the 30 min wrestling session with the sewing machine … Guess that is all that matters!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Distress oxide ink, Embossing Folders, Indigo Blu, Lacy Brocade, Merriest moments, Old Paper, Pierced Blooms, Ribbons, Sheena Douglass Embossing Folders, Stampin Blends alcohol pens, Stitched framelits, Tim Holtz

Kendra’s card challenge #3

17 May 202217 May 2022 Catherine

Yet another batch of Christmas cards made using the templates and guides from Cards by Kendra. This time I used the one for challenge number 3. You can find all the details at Kendra’s blog.

This particular template makes 16 cards from base of 6 pieces of 6×6. I used papers from the Indigo Blu magazine kit I got last year, admittedly they are double sided so for some of the card layouts I chose to turn over the paper and use the reverse. It definitely gave me more options when I was designing how to finish the cards.

I learnt from last time to not add too many other pieces of cardstock too so I could reduce the weight of the cards.

Here is the full lot…

I used a few different shades of cardstock in the pale blue and greens along with the shimmer vellum in Evening Evergreen. I mainly used images from the magazine kit of stamps or those printed on the paper kit. Occasionally I added die cuts either as part of the sentiment or leaves for the flowers.

I chose to use the die cut snowflake embellishments on quite a few too … sometimes the iridescent side, sometimes the matt side. They worked well with the papers and the feel of the cards I think.

I did a lot of embossing too… this added texture and worked well with the grungy nature of the papers. Especially when I chose to add ink too.

Thoroughly enjoyed putting these together, the whole set took a good few separate sessions over the course of a few weeks. I particularly enjoyed colouring those Holly leaves and berries, although the fussy cutting less so!

Creating these also made me want to do more with the Merriest Moments embossing folder and get the dies and stamps out for that bundle too… so maybe that will be the next set of Christmas cards …. unless another set of papers and one of Kendra’s challenges tempts me first.

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

13 May 202224 Apr 2022 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

18 Apr 202218 Apr 2022 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

Inchies and Twinchies, Promarkers, Letraset, Sheena Douglass Embossing Folders

Advent twinchies 13 14 15

16 Dec 202110 Dec 2021 Catherine

Today I have the next three advent twinchies to share with you.

I decided to break out the embossing folder and also some paint to alter the number stickers.

I created these cute snowmen twinchies using the same folder, different inks and different colour schemes for each of the twinchies.

Absolutely love how they finished up and loved remembering the technique to use the ink on the embossing folder for a different look.

And the stickers worked well painted as the red of the original just didn’t look right with the pink and purples.

I added wink of Stella to the snowmen hats and scarves.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Christmas 2021 challenge, Christmas Season, Christmas to remember, Forever Fern, Ribbons, Seasonal Labels Dies, Sheena Douglass Embossing Folders, Tidings and Trimmings, Very Versailles

Christmas challenge #4

03 Oct 202125 Sep 2021 Catherine

Another week has whizzed past and we are already onto week 4 of this challenge… and this week Tree is the prompt.

Now I love tree stamps and dies but this year I haven’t bought any new tree based stamps or dies. I love the Whimsical tree set but not yet managed to sneak that into my basket so I was going to use old stash … but then I spotted the tree themed paper in the Tidings and Trimmings dsp and an idea came to mind! So this is what I did!

I took one sheet of Soft Succulent cardstock cut in 4 and 2 6×6 sheets of the dsp cut into half lengthways and decided to make 4 cards in different styles/finishes using the same base supplies.

Card 1… kept this one simple. Dsp mounted and then run through an embossing folder. I stamped and die cut the sentiment (Christmas to Remember) and a couple of Holly leaves and berries from Christmas Season. I also added some linen thread and a vellum die cut frame to give the sentiment some definition. Simple!

Card 2… again fairly simple … I scrumpled and distressed the paper and the edge of the cardstock panel. I mounted the dsp onto a piece of foam to give it dimension and then stamped and die cut lots of different leaves from Christmas Season to create a central cluster focal point.

Card 3… this time I decided to added some ink to the cardstock panel and make it ombre before adding water splats, ink splats and white splats to create a fun background. Of course I didn’t want to cover it up so added the dsp on an angle after edging the paper to give it definition. Again some stamped die cuts added and the vellum from under the main sentiment.

Finally… Card 4… this time I added to the dsp with ink blending and stamping to make the paper more vintage (Very Versailles text and Forever Fern dots). I decided to die cut the sentiment to create a label and used some brown string from the stash to make it rustic.

I love how these came out and pleased with the ideas I used to make them all different although of course they started the same.

Hope that’s given you some ideas for stepping up a simple bit of cardstock and dsp!

Have a good week.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Distress oxide ink, Masks/Stencils, Sheena Douglass Embossing Folders

Christmas in July challenge 7

19 Jul 202119 Jul 2021 Catherine

Today I’ve gone a bit mixed media in my approach but the challenge I gave myself was to do ATC based cards.

A few years ago I set myself an ATC challenge and made 365 + in the year, some of which I used on Christmas cards. So decided to grab some ATCs cut from packaging and made up some ATCs and then worked out how to use them in cards.

These were the ATCs I made…

Gesso background, then texture paste through a stencil, onto which I sprinked some pearl embossing powder onto some parts whilst it was wet.

Once dry I heat embossed the powder to create some resist shiny elements and then added distress oxides in Speckled Egg, blueprint sketch, worn lipstick and picked raspberry.

I let them dry thoughly and then wiped off the excess where the resist was.

Next to decide how to use them. We’ll I love this deer image so stamped it 6 times in different dark blue and purple colours and then fussy cut them out.

I added one to each ATC.

Next I grabbed some white cardstock and cut 3.5×5.5 inch panels and embossed them.

I then grabbed three different coordinating colour cardstocks and made my card blanks.

I added the panels and the ATCs.

Then I added sentiments and sequins to finish off!

Some modern, dimensional and pretty cards to add to the stash!

Not sure how many challenges I cam get through this month and whether I will get to the 12 I originally aimed for but will keep going as best I can.

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!

25 Dec 202028 Dec 2020 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 and crafting styles, Banner Pick a Punch, Banner Year, Heartwarming Hugs, In the Pines, Merry Moose, Pine Woods, Ribbons, Scalloped tag topper, Sheena Douglass Embossing Folders

Heartwarming hugs zoom craftalong

30 Nov 202028 Nov 2020 Catherine

A few days ago I shared the samples I made for the craft along I did with my friends via zoom.

Well as I really don’t enjoy making the same projects over and over, here is what I made…

One card pretty much stayed as per the sample, but the others I either changed the paper (the joy of double sided papers and everything matching perfectly with Stampin Up means you automatically get a different look just turning over the papers!

Some I changed the placement of the elements and some I did switch the embellishment/focal feature from the trees from the In the Pines to a Merry Moose … because I hadn’t used him an few weeks so I missed seeing him! 😂

But I did keep to the same pieces of paper and cardstock as the kit for all the cards and really enjoyed my different take on the cards.

My friends similarly chose their own way of finishing the cards off and some chose to keep the design the same, but different paper choices and others changed up the design entirely. I love seeing the different versions and people having fun being creative.

Really loved creating with these patterned papers… Good job actually as I ordered a whole extra pack of them… so guessing next year for Christmas cards we will be continuing with the red and green colour scheme!

And those In the Pines tree stamps and the coordinating dies will definitely be coming out to play again… so lovely!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Banner Pick a Punch, Banner Year, Heartwarming Hugs, In the Pines, Pine Woods, Ribbons, Scalloped tag topper, Sheena Douglass Embossing Folders

Heartwarming Hugs & In the Pines

27 Nov 202027 Nov 2020 Catherine

Yesterday I held another card making zoom session with my friends… and here are the samples from the class. I wanted to use the In the Pines dies and stamps and decided to go with the fun Heartwarming Hugs dsp.

I used the coordinating cardstock in Real Red, Pear Pizazz and Mossy Meadow. I also added white seam binding, red braided linen trim and some red organza ribbon.

I decided for the class to mix up the style of cards with some easel, z folds and the usual cards. I also mixed it up using both the Scalloped tag topper punch and the Banners Pick a Punch to create some interest.

I added a few sentiments from the Banner Year stamps set too.

Here are the cards…

Card 1: