Loving paper piecing, my 2nd attempt, a Humphrey's corner Christmas card

I tried paper piecing for the first time last week and really enjoyed it, so much so that I hunted out some of my acrylic stamps that I have never used, if you could see my craftroom you would see why I can't find them all but I've got a few to be going on with until I can unearth the rest. The best thing about doing a massive sort out/reorganisation in my craftroom is that I ALWAYS find stash I never knew I had, so its a bit like Christmas morning each time!

I decided to make a Christmas card this time and used a Humphrey's Corner stamp as I thought it lent itself well to paper piecing his clothing, the acrylic stamp set probably came free from a magazine or won in a draw, can't remember which, but I didn't buy it separately.

Stamped the image 4 times using Tuxedo Black Memento ink onto 3 different sheets from the K & Co 'Roam' 6" x 6" paper pad I bought on eBay last week, also onto grey textured card for the face and pale blue doily paper from my stash for the snowy background, cut out layers and stuck them all together using silicone glue.

Also used 2 different brown papers and blue/brown polka dot paper from the 'Sew Pretty' designer paper collection which came free with Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine earlier this year.
Added docrafts foiled sentiment from last year's Christmas goodybag, all mounted onto white 4" x 4" card.

2 stamped cards using new stamps, inks, pens and paper pads (as well as promarkers), very different to my usual style

Do you buy new stash and then not get around to using it, and it sits on a shelf or desk just waiting to be used, well today I have used a combination of new brand new stash along with unused stash I've never used before and the result was 2 stamped cards. I have kept them both simple, so its just about the stamping as I am new to both techniques.

the first card is a Four Seasons card featuring the same tree stamp from my brand new Woodware Woodland stamp set which arrived today as well as Dew Drop Memento inks and Spectrum Noir pens I've had for some months but never used, and a few Promarkers from my older stash.

                                                             'FOUR SEASONS'

I stamped the tree trunk four times onto white card with Rich Cocoa Memento ink then coloured the trunks with Cinnamon and Satin Promarkers, but changed the seasons of each tree with different dew drop Memento inks and Spectrum Noir and Promarker pens for the leaves to mark the four seasons, I was inspired to make this card as its coming to the end of summer and I just love the rich colours of autumn.

The Spring leaves were stamped with Bamboo Leaves Memento ink and coloured with LG1  Spectrum Noir pen; the summer leaves were stamped with Cottage Ivy Memento ink and coloured with LG2 (greens) Spectrum noir pen, the butterfly from the same stamp set was stamped with Rhubarb Stalk Memento ink and coloured with Poppy and FS8 (pink) Spectrum noir Pen; the autumn leaves were stamped with Rhubarb Stalk Memento ink and coloured with Cadnum Red Aqua Promarker pen, and the fallen winter leaves were stamped with Rich Cocoa & Tangelo Memento inks and coloured with Cinnamon Promarker and Cadnum red Aqua Promarker pens.

All the elements were cut out and adhered to a cream 4" x 4" card base using Wackytac adhesive sheet.

                                                       ''SPEEDY RECOVERY'
                                              (marks are on scanner, not on card)

the 2nd card is my first attempt at patterned paper piecing and features the owl on branch and mushrooms from my new Woodware Woodland stamp set, stamped with Rich Cocoa Memento ink onto white card and 3 different patterned papers from the K & Co 'Amy Butler Belle' 6" x 6" paper pad which arrived yesterday, bought on ebay last week. I cut out all the owl elements and adhered them using Wackytac adhesive sheet which is great for fiddly pieces which it is hard to use glue with. the mushrooms were stamped twice onto white card using Cottage Ivy and Rhubarb Stalk Dew Drop Memento inks and coloured with LG1, LG2 and FS8 Spectrum Noir pens and Gold, Poppy and Cream Promarkers, cut out, layered together and adhered onto a 4" x 4" black scalloped edge card with foiled sentiment added.

Just one card this week!

Its been a very quiet week craft wise for me and I have just made one card. I love my 8" x 8" scalloped edge cards I bought on sale after Christmas from the Range, (got 40 cards for £2!) as they give plenty of room for large images and this card features the die-cut oriental fan decoupage from Create and Craft (I bought the kit in a massive box of craft stash on ebay last year, my son picked the box up for me as it was so heavy and large) that I have used in several cards recently, its so beautiful. For this card I cut out the decoupage to remove the background fan shape to reveal more of the details and the background paper I've used too, I think it will be an anniversary card as it looks like two love birds, though I've not added a sentiment yet so it could possible also work well for a birthday card. The polka dot paper is from the free Hunkydory Flutterby Wishes kit I have loved using in many of my recent cards, never had a HD kit before but last week I took the plunge and joined hunky-dory Platinum club and am looking forward to receiving my free membership gift soon. I am also loving using the foiled Christmas 'mirror' card from Carley, also from C & C. I don't think it looks mirrored at all, more foiled, but it is very rich and a lovely backdrop to my cards. So this card has come from 3 great craft bargains, my type of crafting.

busy week crafting anniversary cards, christmas cards, birthday cards and a sympathy card (11 in total)

I have had several late night crafting sessions this week and made a total of 11 cards. the first 3 are anniversary cards.

they feature Flutterby Wishes and other decoupage, Papermania Vintage notes die-cut hearts, peel-offs and patterned papers and mirror card all from my stash.

the next 2 cards are birthday cards for docraft friends, the housemouse decoupage card was for Emma (Trenouth) whose birthday was on 14th august and the Create and Craft oriental floral decoupage card was for Angie's birthday (JustAng) which is today (16th August), happy birthday ladies x

this next card is a  Flutterby wishes sympathy card for Joy a Docrafts friend who lost her husband recently.

These last 3 cards are all Christmas decoupage cards. They feature Carley's Christmas mirror card (from Create and Craft, not really mirror, more like foiled card, but none the less gorgeous) in their backgrounds. for this first card I used a Chrsitmas tree peel-off, backed it with green pearl card, cut it out and added lots of tiny adhesive gems for the baubles.

 

I also made 2 other cards but cannot get them on the right orientation, sorry. they are a House Mouse decoupage birthday card and an 8" x 8" Christmas decoupage card.

 

 

Graduation celebration card and photos and 10 other cards made this week

It was such a joy to travel to Bristol Cathedral on Friday 26th July for our son and his partners graduation ceremony. Dan gained a first class Honours in his LLB (Law Degree), sorrel did the same degree and gained a 2:1, we are very proud of both their achievements, and needless to say both sets of parents took many photographs, not seen most of them yet as they are on Dan's camera (and they are on holiday in lake Como in Italy, an end of degree holiday with her family and we are also waiting for the official photographs we ordered, but I do have 3 lovely photos which sum up a day we shall never forget.

The first photo is Dan and Sorrel with Andy and myself outside the cathedral before the ceremony.

the 2nd photo is of us and Sorrel's family, back at Dan and Sorrel's home toasting their success with champagne.

 

This last photo is my favourite and now my pc wallpaper, it is of Dan and Sorrel just outside the cathedral after their graduation ceremony.

 

this is my graduation card to Dan and Sorrel, its made from Funky Hands Word Book CDRom, using the Bad Ted set.

 

As the large letters stand proud of each letter page, the pages had to be cut out individually, as did the co-ordinating lower case letters on the front page, this took hours but it was a labour of love, the card ended up being over 1 foot long and not too stable but it looked good resting on their bookshelves in front of photos they had framed. Each page was decorated with congratulation messages and a photo of the graduates but I have not uploaded these.

 I'd not got around to much blogging last month, mainly due to the heat especially upstairs in my craftroom, so I thought I would blog early today before the heat arrives. Last week I was unable to sleep at all one night so I sat on my recliner chair catching up on craft tv shows and made lots of cards, featuring House Mouse, Kanban kits and Hunkydory Flutterby Wishes kit

You can't tell the depth of the decoupage on this adorable image, it has 4 layers and was one of the easier sheets to cut out, some HM images are very fiddly especially their tiny long tails but this one wasn't too bad, its a birthday card for my dear friend Lynda who loves all shades of lilac and purple. the glittery paper came from Poundland and the purple and patterned papers came from my stash along with the 6" x 6" scalloped card.


The next 4 cards are all made from the Hunkydory Flutterby wishes cardmaking kit which came free with a craft mag a couple of months ago, the kit has gone a long way and so far I have made 13 cards from it and I still have one large decoupage topper and several backing papers to use up.

1) 18th birthday card for Jaz, Carrie's big sister.

 

2) quick birthday card for my friend Noreen who doesn't like fancy cards.

3) This card  features a FW floral topper as well as  Papermania vintage notes die-cut hearts from a docrafts goodybag bought earlier this year for mothers day by my daughter Anne-Marie.

4) This is an anniversary card featuring a FW butterfly and Papermania Vintage notes die-cut doily and 'Love' sentiment.

the next  4 cards are made from Kanban kits bought recently on offer from CraftyDevils website.

1) New home card for Pam (Pamsie) a doCrafts forum friend and her husband Roy.

 

this card features die-cut decoupage topper as well as Posies scrapbook kit alphas bought years ago from QVC.

2)

Kanban die-cut decoupage topper, not sure if this will be a birthday or anniversary card yet.

3)

 

Cute rein-dog Christmas card featuring die-cut decoupage and co-ordinating topper along with green Kanban Merry Christmas backing card.

4)

this card features Kanban die-cut beach theme hearts, the pink glitter paper is from Poundland, the rest of the card is made from my stash.

 

thanks for any comments you may leave.