Category: Emma Godfrey

Artistically Inked, Design Team, Designer Series Paper, Emma Godfrey, Pierced Blooms, Prismacolour pencils, Wreath Builder

DT: Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies challenge

Catherine

Hello! Welcome (back) to my blog!

Today I have a card I made for the Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies challenge design team using lots of the little flowers from Wreath Builder Dies and the leaves from Pierced Blooms dies with a cute digital image that has been printed and coloured in my stash for ages!

I chose some papers from the stash that worked with the colours in the image and then used Daffodil Delight as the base for the card and the mat layers.

As long time readers of my blog will know I occasionally have a big die cutting session using all my scraps of cardstock and as a result I end up with pouches of the die cuts sitting there ready to use and this was the case with the flowers and the leaves.

I just picked out the ones that went with the colour scheme and it was easy to create these little flower clusters. I added in the white die cuts that I think are Memory Box dies but I’ve had them so long I have no idea and certainly don’t own the die to check. This helped soften the slightly more graphic shapes of the leaves.

I decided to fill the centre of the flowers with rose gold shimmer paint to finish them off.

I remembered to also finish the inside with some of the paper, another leaf and flower cluster and a sentiment.

Cute!

Love this bright and cheery card.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

DCWV, Emma Godfrey, Stitched framelits

Happy birthday James

Catherine

Hubby and I have had a restful day off work together today which has been fab … and then we are off to the cinema with M tonight to watch Antman which I am excited to see. So I am glad I am late in posting the card I made for my cousins son, James. (To be fair I was also late in physically posting it to him too …. But then again Auntie C is always late in posting cards … my theory is I am just extending the birthday!).

I used some very old patterned paper I’ve had in the stash for years and years as the base and the letters and paired it with the red cardstock to make a simple but funky card for a teenager!

Given male themed cards and teenager cards are not my go to make I am pleased with this one … I used a stack of paper from DCWV which has some encapsulated glitter but isn’t overly sparkly. It also has alphabets as the theme so grabbed the large J and then the rest of the letters from another piece and this created the focal point of his name. I then built up around that with punched circles and card candi.

I added the sentiment embossed from Paperartsy and pretty much left it at that… layered pieces of paper and cardstock!

There is some dimension with the j and the birthday sentiment raised and then the whole background raised off the card blank too.

Inside the card I added some scraps of paper, another punched circle and another embossed sentiment (I couldn’t work out whether to go with black or white on the front so did both!)

Really love how this came together… funky but also super simple really!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Emma Godfrey, Ribbons, Splendid Stems, Splendid Thoughts, Stampendous, YouTube video

Another purple background card

Catherine

This card is like the one I shared last Saturday in that it is using the purple background inspired by … yes you’ve guessed it … Jennifer McGuire and the distress ink resist mono print type technique. This was the background that worked well although I then end up covering most of it up with the stamping and the focal point but still I love how it turned out!

I decided to play with the Splendid Thoughts stamps and added some additional pattern to the background using the more solid stamps. Then I stamped, coloured the images and die cut them and added the finer diecuts to create the cluster.

I decided it needed a frame so I die cut the larger shape from the Seasonal Labels dies. I inked the edge of that and the background panel to frame it.

Then added dimension using foam and texture with the silver bow.

The sentiment I added was from the little tray of bits and bobs I have to the side where I make things for projects and then don’t use them.

Inside I added a piece of white and a leftover stamped piece and die cut to coordinate but forgot to take a pic … oops!

I finished off with the little iridescent gems.

No one would probably work out that the background was handmade not a bought paper I think but I love how this ended up and enjoyed the playtime.

If you fancy watching this one come together than you can watch it as I did video the whole thing!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

P.S. I still have 2 backgrounds left from this playtime but might give purple a rest for a few weeks! But watch this space to see the other things I make from them!

Emma Godfrey, Gummiapan, Ribbons, Sizzix, Stampendous, YouTube video

Playing with purple distress inks

Catherine

Last weekend I grabbed a stack of distress inks to make a background inspired by Jennifer McGuire but ended up not using the two that I made originally but instead the ‘fail’ background and made that into a card. If you fancy watching it come together I did video the whole thing.

If not … read on!

So the background was made by using distress ink resist mono print type technique. But this one didn’t come out very clearly so I decided as it was pretty to carry on playing with it regardless and come up with something. It ended up quite grungy and I love it!

I used the Gummiapan alphabet stamp and then lots of splatters. Then the Stampendous stamp that had been used as the resist pattern originally.

Then I picked out some new to me dies (I know no spend but I bought these with the money I had used selling stash so I’m not counting it as spends! – yes I’ve found a loophole in my no spend resolution I’m willing to work with!)

Anyways I die cut some leaves and the circle in white and stacked them up.

I grabbed the denim blue ribbon and added that before adding the banner and sentiment. I also die cut the little circles from the same cardstock and die set and added wink of Stella and used them as gem type embellishments.

I used Rich Razzleberry as the base and added a layer of white to frame the background panel and added white inside to make sure it was good for writing on (but didn’t decorate the inside).

Really pleased with this inky card and what’s more from the play I ended up with another three backgrounds to play with.

I did end up using one of them straightaway and filmed another video but I’ll blog about that once I’ve got round to editing and uploading it!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Alpaca Pals, Emma Godfrey, Prismacolour pencils, Ribbons, Stitched framelits

2023 – budget and use my stash

Catherine

Happy new years eve!

Thought I would pop on today and give you a flavour of what my crafty plans are for 2023 although clearly the title gives you an idea of what my plan is.

I have a lot of stash in my craft room and over 2022 I did start rationalising and getting rid of unlikely to use stash. I think I need to do that again and be really clear about what I NEED to keep, what I LOVE and can’t part with and what realistically is never really going to get used.

I also need to be a bit frugal this year as we have a lot of things as a family we want to save for … so apart from basic supplies like cardstock, adhesive and envelopes/card blanks … I have decided to say NO BUYING.

I think I could well end up caving but I really don’t want to at the moment as I have so much stash going unused it is silly to buy more.

Small confession in that I did spend a little Christmas money on Boxing Day so I do have a few new bits and bobs to use but my plan is no spend in 2023… so going to ignore that little splurge even though I’m still waiting for it to turn up!

So with this in mind prepare to see some old products and stash appearing rather than lots of new stamps and dies … hope this is not a disappointment to you dear blog reader!

Sure I will find some stash hidden away that I loved using and will find a new way to use it though so hopefully the projects I make will still be fun and not old fashioned! Lol!

So with that in mind I have a project to share today using old stash…. getting myself geared up for 2023’s challenge …

The stamped bird is a polkadoodles image I stamped and coloured probably about 5 years ago and never used till now… the dsp is old magazine kit paper again just sitting there in the stash…. the twine was gifted in a swap and has found its happy place on the card and the cardstock (with the exception of the black card base) were all scraps lying on the desk.

Finished off the inside with another of the birds and some scraps of the dsp on a white panel for writing on.

So here’s to 2023…. let’s be frugal and make good use of stash we already have!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Beautiful Brocade, Emma Godfrey, Promarkers, Letraset, Ribbons, Stitched framelits

Playing with scraps…

Catherine

I had some leftover pieces of patterned paper and I just couldn’t bear to throw them away …. and so I decided to cut them into strips and have them create a new patterned paper! I then sewed down the edge of each side of the strip to secure them in place.

This created a lovely panel for a longer line card (DL). I mounted it on Blackberry Bliss which teamed perfectly with the papers and then had a hunt through the stash for an image to work with the panel.

I settled on this image which was a digital stamp printed and coloured with promarkers. I fussy cut her out and then decided an oval shape would look nice for her to sit on.

After die cutting the oval I grabbed my embossing folder and made the oval all textured and this pattern worked well with the papers.

Now for the card base. I made it out of Smoky Slate but I added a splatter of black wink of Stella so that it had got some interest going on. Then I added the main panel and image.

I embellished with some sari silk ribbon in a bow and some lavender shaded pearls and the bright pink sentiment strip!

So cute and a lovely card considering it started as scraps of paper.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Biggest Wish, Distress oxide ink, Emma Godfrey, Gorjuss, Masks/Stencils, Promarkers, Letraset, True Love

Found a background on my desk!

Catherine

So I found this background I had made a while ago and left on my desk, and decided to make use of it and make it into a card…

I grabbed some of the True Love dsp flowers and a small section of the reverse pattern and this made somewhere for the Gorjuss girl to stand.

I coloured the girl using my promarkers using colours from the background and then added some foam so she has some dimension.

I added the sentiment which is a mix of the Biggest Wish and the Emma Godfrey Paperartsy stamp and then some gems to finish.

A very bright and fun card with the black cardblank to finish off the modern funky look.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Christmas Greetings, Christmas Pinecone, Christmas Season, Christmas to remember, Emma Godfrey, Martin's Mayhem 30 day challenge

Martin’s Mayhem Christmas challenge

Catherine

Hello! Today I have the card from day 5 … where the challenge was a sketch. I hadn’t originally planned on doing the sketches but then inspiration struck so I went ahead and did it.

The sketch called for three panels and three embellishments and a sentiment … so I cut up a piece of the glossy paper that was a mop up piece that I had stamped on whilst making the star cards and then set aside. I then cut a piece of the die cut Pines pieces that again were just sitting on the desk.

Next I went for pine cones embellishments using the Christmas Season stamps. And a sentiment from the coordinating Christmas to remember stamps.

Finished off with the pearls to embellish.

Still can’t quite believe I’m still making all these Christmas cards… just hope Martin’s challenge doesn’t stop me from finishing my own!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Christmas 2022 challenge, Colorado Craft Company, Distress oxide ink, Emma Godfrey, Gelli Plate, JOFY, Spellbinders

Christmas cardmaking 2022 challenge… #3

Catherine

Hello

Todays Christmas cardmaking challenge theme is star. Now I remember using the Tidings and Trimmings stars last year but as I used that set last week I wanted something different. So I scoured the stash and found these fab Jofy star stamps and decided to go a bit mixed media.

I stamped the stars onto basic white and then ink blended over them to add colour using my distress oxides. Then I grabbed some mixed media cardstock, distress oxides and my Gelli plate to create some fun backgrounds… I love the randomness of this and the different patterns it can create. Onto one of them I decided to stamp more of the stars and snowflakes from the same stamp set and then cut down the background to fit a 5×5 card. Then I added a black die cut branch and some black star and the fabulous Joy die cut from Colorado Craft Company.

This was my simple card … I did pop the star up on foam tabs but kept the whole thing simple.

The other one I grabbed a different Paperartsy stamp set that has lots of sentiments and made them into a square shape on the stamp platform so that I could stamp in one go and make a background.

Whilst it is still subtle I love how it looked (in fact I made two more backgrounds similar but not done anything with them yet so they are in the “still to play with pile” for now.

I decided to make another layer and make this into a bigger card so blended the bottom panel with the same colour of inks but kept it random, like I had on the star.

I added the fab glimmer paper onto this too… with the stars, the little strip that went top and bottom and the word die. I also stacked the word die so it was nice and chunky!

This time I did some grey leaves but top and bottom and also added white paint pen to the design on the star.

So these are my star themed cards for this week. Are you joining in with my challenge? If so I would love to see what you are making so please let me know here or over on Instagram.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Design Team, Emma Godfrey, Heffy Doodle

DT: Craftyhazelnuts patterned paper challenge

Catherine

Hello! Happy 1st September! I’m actually writing this post ahead of time and scheduling it because by the time you read this I will hopefully in the sun by a pool and cocktail in hand on my holidays!

Today I have my design team contribution for Craftyhazelnuts patterned paper challenge blog and once again I turned to the stack of Making Cards magazine kits and made these two cute boy birthday cards.

Last month I said I don’t use characters in my cards often and then 2 months on the run I’ve ended up with character based cards! Lol! The reality is I needed to make some little boy cards so these images and fun papers came in handy … and so I saved them to share for my design team contribution!

Both cards are similar with the same big Heffy Doodles die cut as a big feature and then the same sentiment stamp, but I did mix them up a little with the colours as the first I added the royal blue into the mix, and the second I made a watercolour/ smooshed ink cardstock to die cut and stamp onto!

For both cards I die cut the 💙 from the top of the i a few extra times to add as embellishments. On the first card I also stacked the sentiment to give it even more dimension.

Inside the cards (and on the envelopes) I added scraps of the paper left over. Oh I also must mention that the stripey paper was not diagonally striped originally but I thought it looked better at the angle hence I ended up with a triangular piece inside the card. May seem like an obvious way to use striped paper but I rarely twist the paper and so thought I ought to mention it!

Love how both of the cards came out, particularly like that watercolour/ smooshed ink die cut.

Happy crafting!

Catherine