More gilding

I thought I would have a go at some more gilding, so I made another picture for Christmas. I chose images that face each other so they'll look good on the mantlepiece. It's really hard to get a decent photograph as it's so dull today, and they are also highly reflective, but it is a lot better up close.

Again I used the kit I bought from HERE - it's well worth the money as you get plenty of gold leaf (25 sheets, this 6 x 4 design took 1½), brushes and enough paint in several colours to do dozens of designs.



Thanks for looking

Christmas is coming...

am I allowed to say that? I have to admit that I'm not a fan of tinsel at Christmas, but I think my house can sometimes look a little bare and less than festive. I am always trying to come up with something more personal to add to my collection, and having decided that I would try my hand at Verre Églomisé (glass gilding), chose a reindeer to get me started.



I was surprised how easy it was after reading how tricky gold leaf can be to use, and although I used imitation gold leaf which is thicker it was still so easy to tear.

This is where I bought the kit if you're interested in having a go: Gold Leaf Supplies

Thanks for looking

Charisma Cardz Sketch Challenge

I really enjoyed doing this sketch challenge at Charisma Cardz although the colours look really dull in the photo, it's actually quite a bright card in real life.

I started with a green base that's actually a nice bright colour. I matted the dp - not sure where it's from - on some brown cs for the main panel, and ran some mossy green Core'dinations cs through the cuttlebug with the swiss dots folder. The picture is a digi-stamp (I used the ready coloured one) and the sentiment is computer generated. I finished it with another strip of brown cs with a sticky ribbon, and some peel off dots coloured using peel off markers.

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365 Cards - I Want Candy

I struggled a bit with the 365 cards challenge today, I had nothing that would really 'work'.

It's only an A6 card so I didn't have quite so much space to fill, so I started with a pink layer, with K&Co Sweet and Sassy paper on top of that. I embossed some white card with the Swiss Dots folder and cut the sweet out of some more K&Co paper. I added a page pebble and some ribbon, and the sentiment is computer generated.


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365 Cards - Think Pink

Today's 365 cards challenge is to include 'a whole lot of pink', which wasn't too hard for me as I am going through a pink phase at the moment. I started with a dark pink base, with a layer of pale blue cs, and a layer of paler pink. The strips of paper are from the K&Co 6x6 packs Sweet and Sassy and Belle. I paper pieced Vicky's dress using paper from the same pack and coloured the rest with Promarkers. I layered her up on the same colours of cs as before and added the green ribbon. I finished it with the flower with a 10mm Dovecraft gem in the centre.


The inside uses the same cs again and is finished with a strip of dp.


Thanks for looking,

365 Cards - A Hard One!!

I really struggled with the 365 Cards challenge today - to include the sentiment 'You are there, and I am here'.

I've had this Inkadinkado stamp pretty much since I started stamping, and rarely use it but thought it would work well for this challenge. I stamped it on white card with black Stazon and watercoloured it, before mounting it on various layers of brown and white cs and Scribble Scrabble dp. I paper pierced one layer. The base of the card is brown cs with layers of the same papers, and the strip across the middle is punched using a Fiskars border punch layered onto white paper. The ribbon was out of a bargain box so no idea who makes it, and the sentiment and the box it is in is computer generated.


The inside uses the same Scribble Scrabble paper, and again the sentiment is computer generated.


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365 cards - Day 65

The challenge at 365 cards today was a Mother's Day card which, being in the UK we've already had this year. The card I came up with just says 'For You, Mum' so it could be used any time - for Mother's Day, a birthday or just because.


The base is 6x6in purple cs, covered with the paler green from the Papermania Boutique 8x8 stack. The purple dp is from the same stack. I used the same combo for the strip in the centre, and added the computer generated sentiment printed on white cs. The image - Tulip bowl from Sketching Stamper - was coloured using Whispers markers and mounted on the same purple cs as the base. I'm not sure about the flower, but it's there now, and it's staying put!

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365 Cards - Super Sketchy Sunday

I really enjoy doing the various sketch challenges that are around, and this one in particular has so many variations, I had to stop at just one card (for today at least!)


The chandelier was a free download from Jak at Crafter's Kitchen and the paper is Papermania 8x8 Boutique stack. The flowers are attached using brads, and I added some bling to the chandelier. It is all mounted on a black 15x15cm base. I decorated the inside with the same paper and another flower.


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365 cards - Floral Fest

The challenge at 365 Cards today is to include eight flowers on your design. As much as I love all the flower embellishments out there, I have real difficulty in placing them right. They either seem to be too spread out and look lost, or too cramped and busy, so as lovely as they are, I decided to use a digi-stamp instead. Luckily this one (Daisy Crazy from SketchingStamper) had the eight flowers required, so I coloured it in using watercolour pencils but decided they looked better not painted. It's actually a tri-fold card, and all the inside panels are decorated with the same layers of green cards and gingham paper. The sentiment under the image flap says 'Birthdays are like flowers; the passing time brings forth the most beautiful blooms' - can't find who said it, but it's nice anyway. You can see it in this picture:


Thanks for looking, I really appreciate it!

Skateboarder Josh

The boys were with Nanny and Grandad for the day today, so I managed to play with my new digi-stamp - 'Skateboard Josh' from DigiStamp Boutique. I didn't have a recipient in mind for the card so there's no sentiment, but I like it as it is.

Josh is coloured with Pro Markers, except for his clothes which is paper pieced. He's mounted on various layers of cardstock (12 layers in all!!), and the papers used are both from the Papermania 'For Him' 8x8 stack. I popped him up on foam dots and added some ribbon from Papermania also.

The inside is built up in the same way:



Thanks for looking :)

365 Cards - Day 62

Todays challenge over at 365cards is 'Age is just a number' so there should be a number of some sort on the card. This was a bit of a challenge but after thinking about it for a bit I came up with this card:


I've made one similar before - the numbers are wooden and about 8.5cm tall. I covered them with paper from the K&Co Sparkly Sweet stack, and sanded the edges. The other layers are also from this stack and they are mounted on purple cardstock. I finished the corners with half pearls, and added a panel inside for the greeting. These photos show the card front on and the inside.

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PTW Challenge card - Spots and Stripes

This is my entry for the Papertake Weekly challenge which was spots and stripes. I decided to go for a masculine card, so the Dovecraft Masculine 12x12 stack was perfect. The stripes came from that pack, and the spots from the Papermania For Him stack. These are matted on white card, while the card base is slightly textured. The circles are up on foam dots and finished with a button. I cut the corner piece and again matted it on white and added some half pearls, and the sentiment is some peel off stickers. The corners are rounded to tie in with the scallops and also the inside:


Thanks for looking :)

Anniversary Card

This card was made using a digi-stamp from Grab-a-doodle-do - the pretty birds set. I coloured it using pro markers, and the ribbon was also coloured using these. The yellow is the reverse side of some SEI paper, embossed with the swiss dots folder. The bottom is the front side of the same paper and it is all mounted on pink SEI paper. The image is mounted on the same paper, embossed using scallop nesties and finished with a gem in each scallop, popped up on foam dots. The sentiment is computer generated, and printed on SEI paper (again!), and finished with some primas.

Thanks for looking

365 Cards Challenge - Something's Fishy

For todays challenge over at 365 Cards you had to include at least one fish - kinda tricky as I didn't have anything remotely fishy! I've had my eye on some digi-stamps from Pink Petticoat for a while so thought why not - and Cory can use them too. So, here's my attempt:

I haven't made a shadow box card for a while so thought I would give it another go. I cut the circle in the base cs using my cuttlebug and nesties after scoring the fold lines. The fish is between two layers of acetate, as are the rocks and weed (both free hand drawn). I used DCWV dp on the back sheet, and the blue dp on the front is American Crafts. I finished it with the greeting (part of the digi-stamp kit) and a button, and some peel off stickers that I think look a bit like bubbles. It's not a great picture as it's so hard to photograph acetate, especially at night with rubbish lighting!

Thanks for looking

Gift Box

Not a card this time, but a gift box. It's big enough to fit three travel sized bottles of bath smellies.

I used cream hammer card for the base - I'm not sure of the measurements as I made it to fit the bottles. The pink was embossed using the Framey keepsake board and finished with half pearls, and the dp is Laura Ashley. The cuttlebug butterfly was one that I got in a swap and I added some crystals to it's body. The box is tied closed with the ribbon.

Thanks for looking :)

PTW Challenge card - Perfect Pastels

Well this really was a challenge as I don't really have anything I would call pastel coloured - I tend to go for brighter colours and big patterns, but I settled for this Laura Ashley paper from an 8x8 stack, layered on the palest pink I could find. I stamped my Stampendous 'Sketchbook Dragonfly' using black Stazon, and coloured it using watercolour pencils. I cut it out and embossed it using nesties, and layered it on a pink scallop. Finished the corners with 5mm half pearls.

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Bev's Blog Candy

Bev has got some fab blog candy to give away <HERE> to celebrate her blogoversary this month. Pop over and see what's on offer!

Boys Will Be Boys

This was going to be a challenge entry, but I've decided to try another one for that, so it's here instead, just another card to add to my ever-growing stash of cards!

I used my 'Little Boy' stamp by GCS Artstamps (available at SirStampalot), another stamp that I love but don't use often enough! I coloured him using watercolour pencils* - didn't do a great job as I've not used them before, I normally use paints - but practice makes perfect as they say! He was cut out using nesties and layered on some blue paper I pinched from Cory's own craft stash (which is nearly as big as mine, lol). The other layers are Dovecraft Masculine dp, layered on the same blue paper, and the sentiment is cut out from the dp too.

* Mine were a bargain - a tin with 24 pencils for £2.80 from Tesco

Thanks for looking,

Christening Card

I wanted to keep this card fairly simple, and although it is for a church christening I didn't want it to be overly religious. I think the cross stamp (Papermania PMA10056) fits the bill, as does the writing which was created in MS Word. I mounted the cross on silver card (dull silver, not shiny), and used my ticket corner punch on both layers. I used a Debbie Moore Regency Corner stamp on each corner which was a late addition as I thought it looked a bit too simple! Finally I added some gems to the cross.

Considering it was such a simple card, it took a surprising amount of tries to get it right - I think I've managed it now!

Thanks for looking, let me know what you think

PTW Sketch Challenge card

This is my entry for this week's Papertake Weekly Challenge, a fab sketch that I will definitely use again.



I used my Stampendous Beaded Bodice stamp - one of the first stamps I bought when I started card making, and still one of my favourites now although I rarely use it. I stamped the image with Versamark, and embossed it using Ranger Antiquities Chinese Red embossing powder. It's all layered up on misc red and black card, and I've added clear gems and a sentiment created in MS Word.

I'm really getting into these challenges now, and they're really helping me come up with new ideas so you'll be seeing a lot more entries in future!

Thanks for popping by