8x8 Display Piece, Wedding Album Style + Acetate Front, Easel backed

My husband has a work colleague who's getting married in a few short weeks, so I was asked to make the card that will hide in a folder as it gets passed around the office for people to sign.

8x8's do not play to my wheelhouse - no secret there.

Plus a thick layer of acetate on the front has made this a real beast of a card to try and get a decent picture of.

But I at least like the concept of a snapshot with the photo corners so I may revisit this idea at some point and see if I can fine tune the design on what is otherwise a 'meh' card to me.

Never mind.  I rarely like anything I make that isn't 'me' in terms of colours or design.

'Meh'...

I'm off to do some more work on my next project - a Golden Wedding Anniversary card.

The woman who has asked me to make it wants the emphasis on lots of gold with the odd pop of colour.

Don't laugh...  I hate gold, too!

*

Wherever you are, enjoy your day.

Donna. x

Product Focus - Craft Consortium/Valentine's Day

I'm doing something a little bit different today...  showcasing some of the many products that 

Craft Consortium have for sale that suit those Valentine's Day projects you may soon be working on.  

Of course, some of you may have already started your projects for mid February - but that's ok because you still might notice something here that you hadn't spotted before.

After all, there really are quite a lot of options to choose from!

So how did I choose to showcase some of these products?

Let me show you...

(This one's here for those of us who aren't into hearts and flowers but still want to mark the occasion in some way).

I chose to wrap tiny parcels with the decoupage papers as it struck me as a good way to properly see some of the many different designs in action.

You may well have noticed the charms and adhesive pearl hearts before...  but how many of you have ever considered those sweet little envelope stickers as little toppers, I wonder?

And so, so easy to make that I didn't even get my dies out - choosing instead to use a much neglected circle punch that I have.  

Just layer it up two or three times and add the sticker.

Simple, but effective.

I hope this has inspired you to think outside of the box a little and really stretch your stash to its maximum. 

After all...

Who would have thought that decoupage papers, charms, lace, etc could really work quite so well as actual gift wrap?

Just goes to show how versatile these products can really be.

Thanks for stopping by today.

I'll be back with a proper 'make' later in the week...

Donna. x

Bird/Heart Tag Card, Missing You, Muted Colour Palette

I have noticed that many in Blogland are suffering from what I'm going to refer to as 'Lost Mojo-Itus'.

It does seem to be reaching pandemic proportions, doesn't it?

I think that the cold and a lack of sunlight affect many of us far more than we realise.

So with that in mind, perhaps my tag card for today's new Tag You're It challenge is paying homage to what so many of us seem to be missing...

It's a simple offering that shows just how easy it can be to make a tag into a card.

A bird stamped on vellum, some sparkle from the ink used (and a pen) plus a tiny gem and clear embossed sentiment just give this a little something extra to add visual interest whilst still keeping to a clean look.

Where did my inspiration come from?

Let me show you...

I was inspired by the colour scheme but wanted softer, gentler colour tones for my design.  As you can see, I also stuck with the heart and animal theme but swapped out the cute critter for a bird.

And for those of you who haven't seen it (inspiration can be a funny thing like that.  For some it's obvious, yet for others it's anything but) Lisa's 'tag on a tag' has become a 'tag on a card'.

Supplies Used:

Die:

Paper Smooches 'Gift Tags'

Memory Box 'Heart Delights'

Stencil:

Creative Expressions 'Birch Tree'

Stamp:

Inkadinkado 'Luv Ya'

Inks:

Holtz/Distress 'Pumice Stone'

Brilliance 'Starlite Black'

Tsukineko/Memento 'Gray Flannel'

Ranger 'Perfect Medium'

Other:

Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen - Clear Overlay

Vellum

Emboosing Powder - Clear

Raffia - White

Tiny Gem - Clear

Sentiment stamp from stash

Challenges I'm Entering...

That's Crafty

(I Heart You)

Pixies Crafty Snippets Challenge

(Tag, hearts and vellum bird all from Snippets)

Time Out Challenges

(Inspired By Words...  Friends are connected heart to heart, distance and time can't break them apart').

Simon Says/Monday

(Young at Heart)

Make My Monday

(Challenge #39    'Shimmer and  Shine')

Wherever they may be hiding, I hope that Mo and Jo come back soon for those of you who can't seem to find them! 

Stay warm...

Donna. x

Engagement Card, Photography Enthusiast, Congratulations

I haven't posted for a while, have I?

There is a reason why, and for those of you that have been on my Facebook page today you may have already seen and clicked on the link...  so you will know.

But for those of you that may not use Facebook, you can click 'here' if you want.

At least then you'll understand why I disappear from time to time...

Anyhow...

I wasn't planning on making anything for a few days yet, but on Tuesday of this week at around midday my husband messaged me to ask if I had an engagement card to hand for one of his work colleagues.

I did not, but being a 'crafter' meant that the need to make one couldn't be dismissed - even if time constraints meant it would be dark in a matter of four hours max.

And I can't craft in the dark.

Believe me, I've tried...

Even with decent 'daylight' bulbs and lamps I can't get past the fact that I'm not seeing colours in their 'true' form.

So this was a quick 'make' for me that took about three hours - 

at least half an hour of which was used just on trying to get this card blank 'square'.

I still haven't figured out why I can't manage this feat which is why I'm not even attempting to cut and score my cards from scratch as yet - except for the odd exception when I have no choice, of course!

Here's the card...

It's not my best work, but it's ok...  especially as the main recipient was for a man and a suck at making cards for men!
(Should I 'say' that out loud?  Oh well, I just did)!

At least it's not overtly girly!

As this photograph was taken in the dark (it went straight off to work with my husband the following morning), the colours may look a little 'off', but I've messed around with the White Balance (thankfully my editing app now supports this), so hopefully you will see that you are looking at a white, black, red and grey colour combination.







Supplies Used:

Dies:
Simon Says Stamp! 'Sketch Heart'
Marianne Designs 'Filmstrip'
Memory Box 'Heart Delights'

Embossing Folder:
Sizzix Texture Fades 'Notebook'

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress 'Black Soot'
Ranger 'Perfect Medium'
Memento/Tsukineko 'Tuxedo Black'

Embossing Powder:
WOW 'clear'

Other:
Tonic/Holtz 'Paper Distresser'
Stamp from stash
Padded fabric heart from stash






Challenges I'm Entering...

Pixies Crafty Snippets Challenge
A card made entirely from scraps/snippets

Simon Says/Wednesday
'Something New'
(Hopefully an engagement counts)!

Now that November and December are finally over with (I completely ignored Christmas just to be able to cope with it - but I did at least make a batch of last minute Christmas cards that hopefully made their way to those of you whose address I have),  I'm hoping to get back into the swing of craft making.
I haven't wasted my time away from Blogland, though...
Sometimes tidying and sorting is just as therapeutic as 'making'.


Thanks for stopping by...

Donna. x

Christmas Wreath Tag, Heart Shaped, Woodgrain

I've come up with a design for Day 20 of Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags that on first impressions looks nothing like the set of inspiration tags.

Let me show you.

Here's my tag...

...  and here's the set of four tags that I chose to take inspiration from.

I spy hearts, a wreath, holly and berries and patterned paper in that mix of tags - as well as some green and red colouring.  Those elements combined (the wreath has been cut from individual 'branches' of patterned paper) are what ultimately led to this creation.

For some reason my husband looks at my tag here and thinks of chocolate macaroons!
Oh well...

Supplies Used:

Die:

Memory Box 'Grand Heart'

Simon Says 'Sketch Heart'

Impression Obsession 'Wreath'

Punch:

Martha Stewart 'Branch'

Other:

Altenew 'Woodgrain Bark' Paper

Twine

Button - Red

It just goes to show that you never can tell how a design will inspire you!

Thank you for stopping by today...

Donna. x

Heart Pendant Christmas Tag, CAS/Grunge, Varnished

I was initially a little stumped about what to do for Day 12 of Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags...

but that block didn't last for long.

Here's what I made...

The 'block' was because I don't often work with gold...  but there's nothing like a good challenge to get you thinking.  I just had to figure out how to work with it 'me' style  :)

My tag was based on this rather opulent looking creation...

...  And as you can see, I've striped it right back to basics and just taken the gold colouring and the fact that it's a Christmas ornament die as my starting points.

Supplies Used:

Dies:

Sizzix/Holtz Framelits 'Tag Collection'

Memory Box 'Snowflake Love Pendant'

Ink:

Holtz/Disress 'Black Soot"

Other:

Crafter's Companion 'Spray And Shine' Varnish

Tonic/Holtz Distressing Tool

3D Holographic Heart Embellishment

Black Raffia

I have to say I'm quite taken by the look of this simple creation. 

I think I may have an inner 'grunge' side to me!

Thanks for stopping by today...

Donna. x

Valentine's Day Card, Bee, Heart, Love

I've been working on this card on and off for about a week now.  Inside I plan to write, 'Bee My Valentine....' or something along those lines.  Not bad for what started out as a scrap piece of card.  I'm not even completely sure where it came from - packaging from something or other if memory serves correctly!

I started off by stamping the shiny side with a Kaisercraft Texture clear stamp (Wood Panel) using my Stazon Brown inkpad.  The stamp itself is quite narrow so I had the challenge of matching up the lines as best I could.  Whilst the ink was drying, I cut a Memory Box Sweet Heart die from textured red card and dug out a green mini clothes peg from my craft stash.

After folding the card (edges to middle) I glued the green peg to the left hand side of the folded flap. Once dry, I attached the red heart and then worked on gluing together the Memory Box Jolly Bumble Bees - two large and one small.  These were shaped and attached before I moved on the adding the word 'Love' from sticker tiles that I've had in my collection for a number of years.

Once the outside was finished...

...  I had to play around with what to do on the inside.  I finally settled on this Memory Box Woodland Branch die, paired with the Memory Box Honey Bee Hive and leaves from the Impression Obsession Bare Branch Die.

Hope my husband likes it :)