Exploding handbag!!

Isn't this a cute little bag? I've made it with some card from the hunkydory kit which will be available with the Makey Bakey mice on Friday! It's a bit like the tardis, bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside. The bag base is made from one sheet of A4 card.

When opened up there is lots of space inside and a little sweet treat fits inside. I've used papers from the hunkydory packs to decorate the inside, but it would work just as well with double sided patterned papers. I used a tonic punch to create a decorative edge and popped some card candy on there along with a little topper. The edge is tinted with distress ink in shaded lilac and seedless preserves.

If anyone is interested I could write a quick tutorial. Let me know if you'd like to have a go at making your own exploding handbag!

It's a hat

I thought I'd share another card with you today, this time using my Marianne  collectables dies again, COL 1322. These ones are designed to be cakes but I looked at them and saw hats instead! I used Centura pearl card and Marianne romantic journey papers. The decorative trims are another Marianne set, creatables, LR 0273. A few sparkly gems and a little ribbon finish it off!

A mouse in the house!!?

Yes! We've got mice!!! Can you believe it! These little critters have caused absolute chaos in our house over the past couple of weeks! The family are threatening to stage a walk out because they say I've forgotten to feed them! (As if I would!)  These are the Makey Bakey mice from the upcoming release by Crafters Companion. They are simply adorable (says she who hates the real thing). This card was made using just one mini kit from the everyday CD and try as I might to use it all, I had loads left over! 

It was great fun (?) cutting out the wee mice. I could quite understand why the farmers wife cut off their tails! Lol. I think I've got another favourite Cd now!! Come back and see what all the excitement is about. There'll be lots more! .... Maybe I did forget to cook dinner....?

Hairband

Sometimes when I'm using my crafting things I have some pretty hair brained ideas. I don't know if this could be classed as one of them but I decided to try cutting some felt with my Marianne dies. After all it says they will work and it did! I had this idea to try altering a hairband and this is how it turned out. I used hot glue to adhere the pieces to the bare band, building up the layers and used only flowers and leaves to start. 

It looked not too bad but when I tried the extra yellow layer behind it just made all the difference. Tiny buttons and the little wooden ladybird finished it off. 

Another mirror!

I've been playing with Petra's mirror and flowers  again and come up with something completely different. This one got a bit tricky as I had to cut layers through the front of the card and try to keep them lined up and square. Thank goodness for washi tape! 

As you can see when the card opens there is an aperture . The images on the patterned paper worked beautifully and I'm gaining a little bit more confidence with the flowers! 

Petra's mirror.

Ooh, I have been playing again! Now this is not my usual style at all, and I normally leave any working with flowers to my daughter, but I felt I had to have a go with this design, I used the Petra's mirror die from Marianne to create the focal point on the chest of drawers. I used Marianne romantic journey papers, tinted with distress ink for the drawer fronts. I think it makes them look like old marble? 

The handles are another Marianne die and then I added lace, trim, pearl 'buttons' and the roses, again tinted with ink, to complete my card. This is a biggie! It's almost A4. I've always admired other folks creations in this vintage style but never really tried it. I'm fairly happy with my first attempt! Let me know what you think. :)

Flip down card

Well, are you ready? You can get the Snowman/Father Christmas CD combo today,at 12 noon, on create and craft!!! For my card this time I used the Father Christmas disc and created a flip down card. The little stack is held closed with magnets. It's something a bit different and it's fun to make interactive cards!!

I just recently (last week) got a new printer so I'm able to print directly onto my Centura pearl card! Fabulous! It was so frustrating when the old printer stopped picking up heavy card and towards the end it would only print on paper! It's just great now to watch the card slip through without a hitch! . Anyhow, after all that, my images and background are printed on ... Wait for it... Centura pearl card!!! Not only does it look amazing but it adds to the sturdiness of the finished project!  

Lets hope Father Christmas is catching up on his sleep and dreaming of all the lovely craft supplies he's going to pop in our stockings this Christmas! :) here's hoping!!

Snowman "book" card

Hi everyone, I'm back today with a card I've made using the hunkydory kit which accompanies the snowman CD. Wow, what a fantastic kit it is! There's oodles of stuff in it and the hardest part is deciding what to play with first!

I kept the front of my card fairly plain, just using a piece of one of the cards and some core'dinations card and then embellishing it with some ribbon, punched snowflakes and gems.

On the inside I used one of the 6x6 papers and created a window using concertina'd card with some of the beautiful patterned acetate and then bordered it with some punched strips. The facing side is done with the matching insert paper which I cut to size so the sentiment would fit. I then fussy cut the snowman image and layered it on afterwards. 

Snowman exploding box

Grr, I just can't seem to get things to work how I'd like today! I did want my introduction before the photo but the computer was having none of it!!! Lol.

Well I decided to try my hand at making one of the exploding boxes from the Snowman CD. This is a fun project and really fast to put together, although if I were doing it again I would put the image on the inside and the pattern on the outside. 

 

I used one of the border images, printed twice and joined together, to score and create the snowman rosette for the top of the box. I love how this turned out. I used embellishment images from the CD to decorate the insides. 

Lets hope everything starts going right again before long! I'll be back soon with some more sneak peeks soon so don't forget to pop in and have a look!  :-)

Christmas tree

I know, I know! I've been missing for a long time. I was busy enjoying the company of my eldest child home for a visit! :) It was just great to spend some time with her. 

Anyhow I've not been neglecting my crafting. I've been getting samples ready for a new launch for Crafters Companion. This time it's Father Christmas and the Snowman! I decided to try something a bit different. Ever had a great idea and regretted it? This is one of those! Lol

I thought a couple of pages of patterned paper and half an hour would have it sorted. NO! More like half a day and I lost count of the paper! I was also sticking to everything before I had finished. I used an EK success punch and patterned paper from the CD to create the layers of tree. They're attached, with collall glue gel, to a polystyrene cone base. Once I had (eventually) completed it I sprayed the whole thing, liberally with irridescent spray n sparkle then cut some bauble embellishments and added them on too. The star at the top is cut out of  Centura pearl card and attached to a cocktail stick which I've pushed down into the top. 

Hope you like my wee tree. I'm happy with it and glad I persevered with it. :)

Lets catch up.

It's is my final Barkley make at the moment. I've used the stamped image, coloured with spectrum noir pens of course. It's such a gorgeous wee image and I love how it turned out. I die cut the card and while it was still in the die I tinted it with peacock feathers and mowed grass distress inks. I chose two shades of pink for matting and layering  to bring out the flowers and added some flower embellishments I've had for absolutely ages.

I used some lace trim along the bottom edge of one card layer and the 'lets catch up' sentiment stamp. Hope you all love Barkley as much as I do! I really do think he's my favourite! 

Barkley decorations.

Well it's a late post from me today but we decided to go to the seaside. We had a lovely day although with the breeze coming off the sea it was chilly enough. The sunshine brought everyone out and we had a job even finding somewhere to park.   

Back to my project and I made some modular decorations and used the Barkley Christmas CD to print off my papers and toppers. 

I've added tassels and beads to some of them. I've written a step out for this project which you can find over at club inspire on crafters companion. Have a go at making your own and I'd love to see how you get on.

Telescoping Barkley

It's a bit cooler here this morning but still most pleasant! Yesterday was a scorcher and lots of people got a roasting. Thankfully I just stayed inside and tried to keep cool. 

My card for you today is a telescoping one  using the Barkley everyday CD. I printed out one of the embellishments and when cut out inked around it with black soot distress ink to make it stand out well.

I chose some of the gorgeous doileys and used them to create my layers along with some die cut core'dinations card. The little greeting is from the sentiments section of the CD.

Night light

Ooh, I've had this idea in my head for such a while now, just struggling to get out, but either I didn't have the materials or the subject didn't suit it, well Barkley is just perfect.! 

What did I do? I printed four of the fabric companions onto printable vellum paper using the best print setting. Now I've used the Christmas CD but I could just as easily have used everyday. Next I embossed some card I'd cut,to use as frames, with the floral vine embossing folder.

 Now if I were doing it again I would spray them with my spray 'n' sparkle at this stage. I didn't until I had the frames constructed and I didn't get as good coverage as I would have liked. 

So I made four frames to fit over the images, just as if they were frame cards form previous CDs. I added ribbon to two of them as I made them so I would be able to hang it up. Next I stuck three of the frames together to form 3 sides of a box. Before adding the final side I measured the space that was going to be left in the base and made a shelf which I stuck in to set my tea light on and also to stabilise the construction. I also made a little holder for the tea light so it wouldn't slide about inside the lantern. After attaching the final side I made a little flap to enclose the top of the lantern and added some strung beading and little embellishments.. Now don't worry about that tea light, I've used one of the battery operated variety so it's completely safe. 

Hope you enjoyed today's make and if you want any more info or a step out please let me know!

A-tissue!

I made two sides with polka dot patterned paper! (Hey mum, I used spots!) and two with the fabric companions images which were just the perfect size! The top has a companion paper and I finished the whole thing with some beaded trim and lace from my stash. 

Tissue box cover.

We are still having some fabulous weather here although I must admit it can be difficult getting to sleep. I'm not complaining tho, we get so little good weather we just have to make the best of it when we get sunshine! Maybe that's what inspired today's make.

I constructed a tissue box cover fron thick chipboard and used papers from the Everyday Barkley CD to cover the outside. Just right for the hay fever season!

Crackers about Barkley!

Wow, we're having absolutely scorching weather here at the minute and I'm loving it! I've always said I was born in the wrong continent! Lol. 

Today's make continues the cracker theme, and I made a box of mini crackers to decorate the Christmas tree using some of the papers and embellishments printed from the Barkley Christmas CD. The fact that I had to liberate and then eat six packets of yummy sweets to get the tubes was just a happy coincidence! ;) will there be more Barkley  tomorrow? You bet there will!!

Introducing Barkley!

Well, how cute is this little fellow?  I think he's my favourite character so far and is due to be launched by Crafters Companion on Friday. 

I made a cracker style card and punched the ends with  a Martha Stewart punch. The image is stamped on Neenah card stock and coloured with spectrum noir pens. I used JG1, JG2 &GT2 for his hat and true black for his ears. The background is tinted using stormy sky distress ink. The brim and pompon have polar white flower soft and some ultra fine iridescent glitter added, and the snow is glittery too. Watch out for more Barkley over the next few days.

Centre step card

Yesterday was a busy day for me as I was at the Arches Centre, Randalstown, again, this time to hold a drop in make-and-take day. There were lots of lovely cards created and I met some very enthusiastic new cardmakers. 

I've shared almost all my Brambly Hedge samples with you now, but this is one I made using the Hunkydory kits. I scored the card and made it into a centre step. I've not made many of these so I made a little mistake and scored all the way across my centre fold line. When I folded the steps I realised I had a crease where it shouldn't be but I disguised it with the lace and ribbon. 

For continuity I added the same ribbon to the bottom edge of the centre step then added my toppers. Since the little mice are picking blackberries I added some frosted ones that came from some flowers to fill up theat side.

Back cover

Finally the back cover of my album is just plain but using the same patterned paper as the front. I added lots and lots of ribbon and lace to the book rings for a touch of luxury and tried to choose toning colours with the paper.