Use up the magazine #23

Hello! Yes I managed another three cards! I kept two very similar – just turned over one of the papers to be the other side for a layer and then slightly changed the positioning of the flowers – but pretty much the same – and then the third one I revisited a technique for using up smaller scraps.

I love the white embossing on the patterned paper – it gives some lovely variation to the colouring of the leaves and petals.

The second one using the more patterned paper is quite busy but it still looks lovely!

This one using scraps and then adding gilding flakes to the cracks I love! Really fun technique. Also love the gold embossing for the double layered flower – so pretty!

So three more made – still some larger scraps and small puddle of smaller scraps left but I am getting there!

And of course the process for making these is up on my YouTube!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Use up the magazine #22

I kept going with the papers and made another three cards done- I’m also starting to think that the pile of papers is increasing when I look away! 😂

Anyway the video is up on YouTube of these three cards .

This time I went with pinks and purples – and gold embossing!

This one I kept the focus on the background paper because that hummingbird is so beautiful!

The embossing of the oval really helped to elevate the card – just so pretty! Also love the navy ribbon too.

Added embossing of a script stamp to the background – again a perfect way to add texture and shine!

I liked making all of these – wonder if I will have energy to make anymore before I give up and pop the pouch away until sometime next year?

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Use up a magazine kit #21

I really wanted to use up the magazine by the end of December but then life got in the way and I never got a chance until yesterday – I pulled it out and made a start! Three cards done! Far too many papers left I think to get them all used up but I’m going to give it a go!

I started with just using one of the A4 pieces and some of the cut apart pieces to make three different sized cards – a standard, a DL and a small notecard.

This one was nearly a disaster as I originally stuck the topper element on upside down but then I realised and managed to pull it apart and rescue it! Phew!

I added a little bit of green ribbon to this one and an extra layer of the patterned paper.

This final one is so simple but I like how simple it is! Shows off the texture in the design of the papers.

All of the above I filmed the process – so check out my YouTube channel– plus as this is project 21 there are plenty to watch in the playlist of the previous projects.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Table place cards for Christmas

Quick little project to share with you of the place cards I made for our Christmas table this year.

I used the cute little Polar Bear Pals dies to create five lovely bears. I inked the elements to give shading and then added the glitter glue to the bobble on the hat. It took me about an hour to cut and then assemble these fellas. You could easily personalize them with different coloured accessories or leave the scarves and hats off if you would prefer. I went with them all the same to match the colour scheme in my family room.

Next up I created the little place cards from black and then panels of white. The white panels I then embossed them with the snowflake embossing folder.

I glued them together and then added a bear to each one.

Next I die cut the initial for each of us in red and black and stacked them together. I then glued them in place and added the same glitter glue to them.

This finished off my place cards.

Then for the rest of decorating the table I die cut stars and snowflakes from scrap white card stock. These became the sprinkles for across the table!

Of course the table prettiness was soon destroyed and covered with six million dishes of food which we loved!

Had a great Christmas – hope you did too!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Scrappin Saturday

Hello! It’s Saturday and once again I have a filmed Scrappin Saturday post!

This is using some old and mismatched SU papers to make this page of me and my daughter from a couple of years ago when we went to see the Disney100 in concert at Liverpool arena.

Even though the patterns don’t exactly go together I think it works well enough with the colours in the photos and I love how the page came out.

I used some foliage and floral elements and the heart puffy stickers that I got from my lovely friend Helen and also the letter stickers I bought from Hey Little Magpie at the last crop.

The central panel I added some stencilling to usi by an old Claritystamps stencil – I think that helped add some softer pattern in contrast to the bold patterned paper.

So there we go – the last Scrappin Saturday project of the year!

Really enjoyed putting this together and have loved having got lots of scrapbooking done in the past 12 months. Hope you’ve enjoyed them too!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

DT: Kingston Crafts – acetate and vellum kit – Festive Friday 2025 #52

Happy Boxing Day!

I’ve made this card when I saw the cute Santa in the acetate and vellum kit. I just thought he looked so cute he could be posing for a photo – so I used a sizzix die cuts to create a Polaroid.

I added the sentiment to white cardstock to strengthen it so I could raise it up on adhesive foam across the card.

I made the background using the lovely pastel cardstock from Kingston Crafts and an embossing folder sanding the pattern to expose the white core.

I finished off with sequins just to add some sparkle.

But seriously how cute is the Santa? Just love him! and the amazing thing is that there are so many in the kit I can make many more cards featuring him!

Hope you are having a good festive season!

This is my final festive Friday of the year – and yes I managed a festive project every single Friday! Pretty sure I will keep this up for next year too – so please do join in the fun of making Christmas projects all year round – firstly because it’s fun, secondly it means you have a decent stash by the time you need them!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Merry Christmas!

Just wanted to pop a little post out to wish people a very Merry Christmas – and to share the ‘special cards’ I made for my close family.

Let’s start with this one …

For my parents I went with the Spellbinders Snowcapped holiday birdhouse and then also added a few floral elements from the Alex Syberia Christmas Bouquet to add extra colour – this really is one of my favourite ever die sets!

I added some spots of glitter glue for the flower centres and for the snowy bits on the branch and the roof. Oh so pretty!

I decided to use a foiled sentiment and then some letter stickers for the Mum & Dad element.

Next up I used the same Snowcapped Holidays dies for my card for my hubby.

This time I went OTT with the die cutting of the foliage elements in all different scraps of greens and then die cut a dark purple ring to create a wreath element.

I decided to add in the berries in two colours – a pale duck egg blue and then that dark purple. For each of the berries I gave them a coat of wink of Stella and then a glossy accents coating to give them a shimmer glossy finish.

This time my birds were more like little sparrows and I think super cute!

I added a die cut panel and then a frame of the green to then add this to an 8×8 card blank.

I then added the die cutting Merry Christmas sentiment with some wide emerald green satin ribbon underneath.

This added just the touch of softness I wanted to break up the texture.

But seriously how cute are those little bird die cuts?

I had such fun the day I made this card die cutting scraps and making many cute little birds! I shared this on an instagram story …

Ok last card to share and this is the one I made for my daughter.

It’s another 8×8 card and I went with tartan papers from Indigo Blu which then determined the colour scheme and again went die cutting heavy!

This time I combined not just the Snowcapped holidays and the Alex Syberia Christmas bouquet but also the arrange a wreath dies too!

I went with Kraft, white, rose gold and a little bit of the shimmer green vellum for all the wreath elements and the sentiment with the shadow.

I also found a fabulous ribbon in my stash that coordinated perfectly and I think added a nice extra texture.

The stamped sentiment is from an Altenew set and then the letter does for her name are old ones in my stash.

I chose two papers that I thought worked well together and layered the top panel on the white to separate the layers. I also added plenty of dimension with adhesive foam between the layers and then the wreath and the letters and the flowers.

I know it’s quite a rustic looking card but I think my daughter will like it with the different elements and the shiny rose gold foiled card.

So these are the three special cards I made – a lot of die cutting and some fiddly elements to adhere but I really enjoyed putting these together. I knew those Alex Syberia dies would be something I would reach for time and time again and it turns out the Snowcapped holidays work perfectly with them too!

All I have left to say for today’s post is of course Merry Christmas. I hope you are having a lovely time. I know this time of year can be hard for some people so please do look after yourself and know that I appreciate you for visiting my blog.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Scrappin Saturday

Carried on playing with the page kit I shared last week – but for page two I did change up the layout a bit more as I thought this layout worked better with the three photos.

Love how this came out.

I videoed the process – so please check that out on my YouTube channel.

I loved Sarah’s layout with the half circle but chose to align it all to the right and then changed around some other elements and chose different chipboard stickers. I also went with the sequins as my finishing touches!

So there we have another scrappin Saturday project – I have really loved getting back into scrapbooking over the last couple of years and it’s been good to get a weekly post up … one more Saturday of the year … wonder what I will make as I have run out of page kits to play with!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

DT: Kingston Crafts – vellum & acetate kit & Christmas pad- Festive Friday 2025 #51

Final Festive Friday before the big day and I have to say I love this card I made as a sample for Kingston Crafts.

I die cut the film strip from the foiled cardstock and layered it up with two other die cuts. I sandwiched the vellum characters between the top and next layer down. I then added a white cardstock panel at the back.

I created the card blank from the solid red in the Christmas pad and then added the panel of the tree patterned paper.

I then added the floral elements from the kit. I also added the foiled sentiment across the top of the panel.

I added the black gems to finish off. A simple way to add a little extra sparkle!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Final set of patterned paper cards

Earlier this month I shared a whole batch of cards I had made from the leftovers from the Making Cards magazine papers I had put into pouches for the patterned paper projects this past year. Well I have two cards left that I thought deserved their own post!

The paper is just the background in a square for these cards – and then I went to town with die cuts! Firstly the large sentiment die cut is a magazine one – for one I used the whole die cut – for the other I snipped off the sending as it hadn’t cut quite right!

I used green card stock and a spellbinders die for the wreath and then the fabulous Alex Syberia dies for the floral and foliage elements – so so pretty!

I changed the colours a little on the second one to add in the lilac.

I also teamed this with the darker blackberry bliss I had cut the main sentiment out of.

This time I also added in some smaller lilac flowers using the same spellbinders die set the wreath was in.

I finished off both cards with the foiled sentiment and glitter glue for the centre of the flowers.

Both panels I mounted onto green and then onto the 6×6 card blank.

Inside each card I just added one of the flowers! A cute addition to the inside.

I loved making these cards – those dies are just so adaptable to different themes of cards and I love mixing companies together to make unique cards.

And so that’s the end of the Making Cards magazine paper projects for this year! Such a lot of fun and some very different projects and styles!

Of course I still have so much patterned paper in the stash I suspect that the challenge will continue to use them up at least once a month … but you will have to wait till the 1st of the month to see what my plans for 2026 will be!

Thanks for joining me on my creative journey this past year!

Happy crafting!

Catherine