Shabby & Vintage?

If you have visited my blog recently you may have seen two cards which I entered for the House of Cards October Sketch Challenge (you can see the sketch below) - one being CAS and the other Classic & Elegant styles. Well this week the style is 'Shabby & Vintage' and I can honestly say I don't think I've ever made a card in this style (well not intentionally!!) Not to be beaten I had an idea in my head and set to - whether it can be described as shabby, vintage, a mixture of both or neither remains to be seen but at least I tried.
I started with a piece of Pink Pirouette DSP and sponged around the edges with Crumb Cake then added the 'crosses' with two strips of cardstock which had been cut with the Scallop Trim Border Punch, this was then matted onto a Crumb Cake card blank. The fancy circle in the centre is from the Perfect Pennants Bigz die with a circle of DSP, cut with a Circles Collection Framelit, matted onto it and stamped with the sentiment from Field Flowers.
For the larger flowers I took a piece of Pink Pirouette cardstock, distressed it with a bone folder and separated the two layers before cutting with the Floral Fusions Sizzlits die. These were sponged lightly with Crumb Cake before glueing the layers together and a Basic Pearl added to the centre. The leaves were cut from the Little Leaves Sizzlits die and the tiny flowers from one of the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch pack. The 'ribbon' loops are pieces of Crochet Trim coloured with Pink Pirouette ink. My apologies for the long explanation but there were a lot of different components to the card and this is one I definitely won't be adding to my 'Simples Sunday' collection :0)

This is the sketch!!

                             
              Margaret x

CAS(E) this Sketch

This is a card I have made for this week's 'CAS(E) this Sketch' challenge based on the sketch to the left.
I have flipped the sketch around as my reindeer was facing that way! I used two stamps from the Hostess set, Warmth and Wonder' and stamped the reindeer in Early Espresso and the tree in Old Olive. For the baubles on the tree and the sentiment I used the Gold Metallic Encore pad - the shine shows up much better in the close up above left! For the sentiment banner I used a stamp from Sweet Essentials, masked to leave the word Christmas, then used my stamp-a-ma-jig to stamp the 'merry' from Pennant Parade just above. To finish the card I matted the panel onto Early Espresso cardstock and then onto a Crumb Cake card blank.

Sketch Challenge

Whilst hopping around blogs the other day I came across a site called Paper Craft Crew Challenges and when I saw the sketch for this week I had to play. A completely different style to my normal cards but I enjoyed the challenge so much I ended up making two!! Come and have a look.






For this one I used some leaves that were lying around which I'd cut with the Autumn Accents die the other day. I sponged them, along with an acorn, using 'autumnal' colours - too many to mention but all SU! The leaf on the oval is from Lovely as a Tree and this was stamped in Old Olive and coloured with a blender pen, using some of the same colours. Cardstock is Early Espresso, Neutrals Ivory and Very Vanilla with the leaves in Crumb Cake and Pumpkin Pie. I finished the card with a knot of twine made from strands pulled from a piece of Burlap Ribbon and a sentiment from the Express Yourself Hostess set.
I am also entering this card for the Around the World challenge (AW03) which this month is 'Fall' (or Autumn in the UK!)



After my first attempt I went on to make a Christmas card using the same sketch. The colour combo is Coastal Cabana, Smoky Slate and white with a piece of Winter Frost Speciality DSP for the background. The snowflakes are from Festive Flurry stamped in Smoky Slate and cut out with the matching Framelits. Both sentiments are stamps from Teeny Tiny Sentiments and a bow of silver ribbon and some Basic Rhinestones were added to finish the card.

Thanks for stopping by, back soon

Margaret x

Three Challenges in One!

Today's card is one I have made for three challenges in one but, having made it I'm not sure whether it entirely fits the bill for two of them! I used the sketch from CAS - Colours & Sketches challenge site shown left (is there enough stamping?) I am also entering it for LIM - String or Twine (is it CAS enough?) and the SUO Challenge 82 - Harvest Time.
The base card is Crumb Cake, as is the semi-circle which was inked around the edge with Crumb Cake ink. The circle in the centre is Naturals Ivory and both circles were cut with dies from the Circles Collection Framelits. A sentiment from Four You was stamped in Crumb Cake on the central circle before adding the leaves which were cut using the Autumn Accents die and sponged using Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie and Real Red inks. For the twine I took a piece of Burlap Ribbon and separated some of the threads then tied around the top of the leaves in a knot. To finish the card I added some 'raindrops' to the leaves and circles using Crystal Effects.

Thanks for stopping by

Margaret x

Simples Sunday

This week's Simples Sunday card - and another entry for the Less is More challenge 'String or Twine'.
A similar design to yesterday's card and just as smple but, this time, an anniversary card. The cardstock is Naturals Ivory which has a lovely rustic feel and goes perfectly with the Linen Thread. Both hearts were punched with the large Heart Punch and the one at the front was embossed using the Square Lattice Embossing Folder to add texture. A sentiment from the Hostess set 'Express Youself ' was stamped using the Gold Metallic Encore pad and a bow of Linen Thread was added to the embossed heart. I told you it was easy :0)

Have a good day and I'll be back soon

Margaret x

And now for something completely ...... simple!

The Less is More challenge today is to use string or twine and I have gone down the 'twine' route - Cherry Cobbler Bakers Twine that is.
I really don't think you can get a much simpler card than this and super quick to make. Start by matting a piece of Whisper White onto a Cherry Cobbler mat then wind a piece of twine around to form the criss-cross on the front. Once this is done layer it onto a card blank and add whatever you wish! On this card I added a star punched with one of the Merry Minis punches using a dimensional, a Basic Rhinestone in the centre for that bit of Christmas sparkle, and a sentiment from Sassy Salutations stamped in Cherry Cobbler. Job done!
There appears to be several weather warnings out for gale force winds this weekend so, whatever you've got planned, stay safe and have a good one.

Margaret x

 

Little Girls Card

The last of my commissioned cards was one for the sister of yesterdays new baby! I used an image from the retired set, Everybunny, stamped in Staz-on and coloured with a blender pen. This was then punched with a Circle Punch and matted onto a Wisteria Wonder Scallop Circle. The '3' was cut from the Timeless Type Junior Alphabet dies (also retired) and the sentiment is from Bring on the Cake. A few Pink Pirouette butterflies cut from the Beautiful Wings Embosslits die were added just because a little girl has to have some pink!!

Margaret x

New Baby

Another commissioned card, this time a congratulations card for the parents of a new baby girl. The brief was 'something very simple' so I stuck with a sentiment (retired) and a few flowers punched with one of the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack. The sentiment was matted onto a Pink Pirouette label cut with one of the Apothecary Accents Framelits and I added a few Basic Pearls finished the card.

Margaret x

 

Classic & Elegant for HoC

Last week I entered a card for the House of Cards Challenge, using the sketch top right, to make a CAS card. I have another entry for this week's challenge which is using the same sketch but, this time, a Classic & Elegant card.
I used a piece of DSP from Modern Medley, cut diagonally, then fixed to a plain card blank to give the white 'x'. The retired SU sentiment Beautiful Birthday was stamped in Black Staz-on, cut with a Labels Collection Framelit then matted onto a larger framelit cut from Basic Black cardstock. A small loop of (retired) Basic Black Satin ribbon was glued to one side of the frame before fixing to the centre of the card using dimensionals. I added three small punched flowers, from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack with a Basic Rhinestone in the centre of each one.
My apologies for posting Weds card on Tuesday evening but, as this is for a challenge, I couldn't schedule it as normal because I needed to link it up to the challenge site and I can't do that when I'm not here! If you would like to see my Tuesday's 'new home' card scroll down to previous post :0)

Thanks for stopping by and I'll be back on Thursday

Margaret x

Last week I had some commissioned cards to make and this is one of them. A long time ago I made a card very similar to this for a friend's birthday so when I was asked to make a 'new home' card I thought this would fit the bill quite nicely.
I have used a few retired products but the current ones are the Bird Builder, Word Window, Circle, Small Heart and Scallop Border punches and the cardstock is Crumb Cake, Early Espresso and Old Olive. It was just a pity that the 'm' was glued on wonky!!

Margaret x

If you would like to purchase any products, or join my team, I would love to help. My contact details can be found on the 'contact me' tab at the top

Scary Things!

Whilst browsing around blogland I came across a very talented lady who had designed these Halloween cards and I just had to make some for three of my grandchildren. I don't know what's happened lately but they seem to be as excited about Halloween as they are Christmas!!
The demo who designed these is Sara Lincoln (from Michigan) and if you pop over to her blog here you will find a video and supply list.
I do love punch art, I find it very therapeutic to make something that ends up looking like something - even if they are a bit scary in this case (particularly Dracula!) :0)

Have a great day and hopefully I'll be back tomorrow

Margaret x

Simples Sunday CASE'd Card

Whilst browsing through the lovely entries for yesterday's LIM challenge I came across a card which I loved and just had to CASE. It was made by Jenny and her card can be seen here (with another version here and yet another here) - do go and have a look they are fab! I do hope Jenny is not offended that I've called it simple but, even though it may be simple to make, I think the design is stunning.
Normally for my Simples Sunday I don't make cards that use a lot of products as I know how annoying it can be to see a card you'd like to make but not have the right dies or punches etc etc. However I make no apology today as, even if you don't own the products that I used you can easily 'do it yourself' with a little cutting. (see card below)
I used the Petite Pennant Punch for the trees, punched from Polka Dot Parade DSP, and one of the Adorning Accents Edgelits for the snow mound. The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Sentiments, stamped in Old Olive.
And here's one made with just scissors and no fancy stuff!

Margaret x