Dragonfly Charm Card, Scribble Flower Circle, Friend

I haven't made a card like this for a while now...  

It reminds me of the stuff I started out making - not sure if that's a good or a bad thing really, but it does include lots of my favourites...

Dies, acetate, Mirri card, screw brads, dangling things hanging from invisible thread, sanding and distressed edges...  I could go on but I'm sure you get the idea!

The main difference with this card is that I've since discovered Spray Adhesive - which means no more trying to marry up dies on the back of the acetate as the spray adhesive leaves behind a shimmer that looks good enough to leave well alone.

Here's a picture of the card lying flat... 

I did spend an age describing in detail how this card was made, but for some reason or other the blog went on the fritz and everything froze - so l've lost over an hours worth of work today. 

So I'm sorry, but I can't type all of that up again...  not with sore hands/wrists that still need time to heal.

Wonder if it's just the joys of old age?

Supplies Used:

Dies:

MFT 'Friend'

Poppystamps 'Scribble Flower Circle'

Memory Box 'Fabulous Phlox'

Memory Box Woodland Branch'

Spellbinders 'Nestabilities' - Circles

Punch:

Flower Punch from stash

Other:

Dragonfly Charm

Screw Brads

Acetate

Invisible Thread

Challenges I'm Entering...

Poppystamps

Challenge #32   'Flower Power'

Pixies Crafty Workshop

All snippets except the Core'dinations...

As always, thank you so much for stopping by today...

Donna. x

Daffodil Dance (Penny Black), Vintage/Distressed, Postcard

As most of you well know, I'm having a blast learning how to use these 'new to me' Penny Black stamps...  but daft as it sounds I'm finding that the stamping/colouring is the easy part and the 'what on earth am I going to do with this now' (the design) is a real struggle.

And this card seriously 'took the biscuit' in that category.

I don't know if this programme only ever aired in the UK, but do you remember 'Worzel Gummage'?

I still remember the song...

'You put a WER after W,

A WER after O,

A WER after R and it's away we go.

You put a WER after Z,

And a WER after E,

A WER after L,

And that... (four taps/knocking noises)

Spells ME!

So can you say it?

'W'wer'O'wer'R'wer'Z'wer'E'wer'L'wer?

I don't remember an awful lot about Worzel Gummage - other than the fact that he was a Scarecrow, but I do remember that he had several different heads that he would use from time to time.  He kind of just yanked and twisted them off as needed.  Not sure that that would be allowed on kids TV any more!

Well as far as this card went I had my 'stupid' head on.

I freely admit that it nearly ended up as bin fodder and the design took so many wrong turns before I finally found something I was happy with.

So this is vintage/distressed with a contemporary edge.

It might not be to everyone's/anyone's liking, but it's the best I could do...

especially as this was my first time going 'off piste' and using my own colour combination rather than strictly trying to copy what I saw on the back of the packaging.

I can't completely take credit for this colour combination though.

Here's where my inspiration came from to 'change things up' from the very yellow design shown on the packaging for this Penny Black stamp.

http://www.artscrapandmore.com/search?q=+daffodil.

I honestly don't think I've ever used so many different colours.  I am pleased with the way it turned out though :) 

Supplies Used:

Stamps:

Penny Black 'Dancing Daffodils'

Penny Black 'Postcard'

Stampin' Up 'French Foliage' 

Lili Of The Valley 'Grunge Corners'

(Friend Sentiment from Stash)

Memento Markers:

Dandelion

Tangelo

Pear Tart

Toffee Crunch

Rich Cocoa

Pistachio

Olive Grove

Bamboo Leaves

New Sprout

Tuxedo Black (stencilling)

Gray Flannel (sentiment) 

Distress Ink:

Walnut Stain (edging/dyed twine/postcard stamp)

Stencil:

The Crafter's Workshop 'Art Is'

Dies:

Sizzix Framelits 'Tag Collection'

Memory Box 'Peaceful Butterfly Wings'

Embossing Folder:

Cuttlebug 'Butterflies 3x3 Tag Team Combo Set'

Other:

Tonic/Holtz Distress Tool

WOW Embossing Powder - Detail White

Signo Uni-ball 'Angelic White'

Twine

Challenge I'm Entering...

Simon Says/Wednesday
'A Bit Of Sparkle'

Two posts in one day!
Sorry about that - I'm just so far behind.
One more post to do tomorrow (hopefully), plus I can start catching up on Instagram.

Still, it keeps me busy.

Enjoy your day...

Donna. x

Threaded Butterfly Buttons, Scribble Flower Circle, Friend

Apologies again to those of you who I haven't caught up with as yet.  Sore wrists and knuckles (RSI)? meant that I've had to take things easy for a while - as well as thinking about ways to do things differently.
 The best thing I've found to help me has been my trusted old hot water bottle with very hot water inside it - but I love intense heat anyway so that may or may not work for you if you ever find yourself in a similar position.

Guess I just have to learn to moderate my keyboard and iPad usage for a while longer as I still get the odd niggle...  but at least it doesn't seem to have affected my crafting!

So a short post today as I've already overdone myself a bit on editing a batch of photo's.

This was a quick and easy card to make...

...  and it will be' winging its way' to a very lovely craft friend of mine who is currently away on holiday.  I just wanted her to have something fun and cheerful to come back to after her time away.

So how's it made?

Cut out one Poppystamps 'Scribble Flower Circle' and disassemble the pieces - but don't throw anything away as yet!

Spray the back of the outer circle part of the die cut with Crafter's Companion 'Stick & Spray' 

(a Temporary Repositionable Adhesive), then attach to a piece of card stock.

Using a Finger Dauber (or any other Sponge Foam Applicator that you have to hand) add Holtz/Distress 'Frayed Burlap' ink over the die cut.  Keep a light touch - you don't want to add too much ink!

Remove the die cut.

Now add the inner part of the Scribble Flower Circle to the card base - at a diagonal angle.  (I've actually layered up three die cuts here for added dimension, but it's a personal choice that shouldn't effect the overall design too much if you choose not to do the same).

Now rummage through those bits I said not to throw away yet and find the small curved triangle that completes the biggest of the six petalled flowers - and glue it into place.  (Once again, mine's layered up to match the depth of the three layers I've already used).

Cut out one of each of the Poppystamps Butterfly Buttons from your scraps collection/offcuts of card.

Decide on the placement of your butterflies, then thread the Butterfly Buttons through the string and glue into place - adding Crackle Accents once dry.

Leave to dry again...

Then cut the card stock to size, being sure to leave room top and bottom to add a complimentary strip of coloured card that you attach from the back.

Glue the whole thing to a card base.

Die cut one more Scribble Flower Circle from a complimentary shade of white colour card stock,  carefully cut out the flowers and place as shown above.   Then trim off the excess.

Add one die cut butterfly from Memory Box 'Peaceful Butterfly Wings', three Morning Dew Drops...  and that's it...  except for adding the MFT 'Friends' die that I've cut twice (using two different colours) to add a drop shadow effect.

As I said, an easy card! 

For those of you who are wondering, I used Altenew's 'Woodgrain Bark' card stock for this design...   and in a 'not too far into the future' post you'll see how I used the other part of this die cut to create a very different looking card indeed. 

I'm entering this card into the latest Poppystamps challenge...

Poppystamps

Challenge #32   'Flower Power'

  ...  as well as Pixies Crafty Snippets Challenge

(An all scraps/snippets/offcuts card - even the large piece of white card stock used to attach everything to is an offcut).

Thanks so much for stopping by today...

Donna. x

Promise Me (Penny Black) Card, Off The Edge Film Strip, Script Background

I hadn't intended to make this tag into a card initially...  it was one of those 'where bits from previous projects' were still lying around and grabbed my attention.

It's funny how most of my better designs morph from those 'left overs'.

So for those of you who haven't read my previous post, this project started off as my DT inspiration tag for Tag You're It...

and just by adding one extra die and a stencil it's become this instead.

Green and red...  I just love these two colours together.

But red is such a beast to get a decent photo of.

Supplies Used:

Stamp:

Penny Black 'Promise Me'

Dies:

Penny Black 'Promise Me' II

Poppystamps 'Bijou Filmstrip'

Memento/Tsukineko Marker Pens:

New Sprout

Bamboo Leaves

Rhubarb Stalk

Love Letter
Tuxedo Black

Distress Ink:
Walnut Stain

Embossing Powder:
WOW - Clear

Embossing Folder:

Spellbinders 'Fabric Weave'

Stencil:
The Crafter's Workshop 'Art Is'

Other:

Crafter's Companion - Spray and Shine 'High Gloss' Varnish

Twine

Tonic/Holtz Paper Distressing Tool

What I didn't mention in my last post is that I'm currently suffering from what I believe to be RSI...  in both hands/wrists.

So I'm trying to limit my iPad and iMac usage as much as is possible, which means yet another backlog of comments for me to work through  (Am I the only one who always falls behind)?

But I will work through them as it's my way of saying 'thank you' to those of you who are always kind enough to stop by.  x

Don't forget to come and join us at Tag You're It!

Enjoy your weekend...

Donna. x

Promise Me (Penny Black) Tulip Tag, Off The Edge Film Strip, Corrugated

It's Friday!  

And Friday means many things to many different people, but for me it's a chance to say it's

'Tag You're It' Friday time.

 I'm so pleased to be able to tell you that as of today we've now moved to a monthly format...

Hopefully this means that more of you will have a chance to play along, which is a  

  big thumbs up from me as I hate missing out on challenges simply because I ran out of time.

Don't you?

My tag for today meant an opportunity to play with a 'new to me' Penny Black stamp with matching die set...
  

As it's a wood mounted stamp the option of using a Stamp Positioner of any kind was out of the question.  After all (I reasoned to myself), people stamped long before these assist devices came along.   

So I wanted to have a go and see how I got along.

What do you think?

It's 'passable' for a first go, I hope!

(Makes me sound like a 'newbie', doesn't it..?)

Truth is, I've shied away from stamping and water colouring for fear of failure.  I didn't think I could do it so I didn't even try.

But a very kind and supportive friend on this DT I'm so privileged to be a part of basically encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone and 'explore'.  

So that's what I'm doing right now - as those of you who have noticed my current Penny Black crafting obsession might have noticed!

I have to be honest and say that in order to get a bright and vibrant enough picture I've had to forgo the integrity of my tulip colours looking as they do in real life...  which is a shame as my poor tulip on the left looks like it has a fairly chronic case of the measles!

Poor thing.

Just imagine all three tulips with far deeper "red's" and a little less differentiation between the colour tones and you'll be spot on with what my eyes see when I look at my tag. 

Now just before I show you the gorgeous tulip inspiration we are all using for the challenge this month, let me first tell you what my husband had to say in relation to my 'make' for today...  

"It's one of those styles that looks ok until you get too close" he mused...  "then it looks like your felt tip just ran out".

All I can say is if you have also had equally 'edifying' comments about your craft work, please feel free to share them with me and let me know I'm not alone.

Pretty please?

Otherwise it's off to the corner for me to have a good cry!

I did say it was a gorgeous looking inspiration tag, didn't I?

I do so love red and green together...

I've kept to the tulip theme, kept the red and green, dropped the sentiment, added an 'off the edge frame' filmstrip die cut and introduced some added texture with my corrugated kraft base and twine. 

Everything's been layered up for extra durability, but you don't have to do that.

It's just my style of craft making.

I should also point out that if you can see what look like crease marks on the tulips your eyes are not deceiving you!

I had an idea for introducing a bit more texture to my mini CAS make and just went with the flow...  then sprayed with a thin layer of varnish before attaching to my tag.

What else did I use?

Supplies Used:

Stamp:

Penny Black 'Promise Me'

Dies:

Penny Black 'Promise Me' II

Poppystamps 'Bijou Filmstrip'

Memento/Tsukineko Marker Pens:

New Sprout

Bamboo Leaves

Rhubarb Stalk

Love Letter

Embossing Folder:

Spellbinders 'Fabric Weave'

Other:

Crafter's Companion - Spray and Shine 'High Gloss' Varnish

Twine

On my next post, I'll be showing how this tag became the focal element of a card - just by adding one more layered up die cut and some heat embossed stencilling...

and some distressed edges - which I just love to use!

Thanks so much for stopping by today...

...  and if you can, why not join in with our new monthly challenge theme at
Tag You're It?

Donna. x