To a Special Couple....

Hi everyone, did you enjoy the little snow flurry we had here today in the South East of the UK? No?, me either!!My lunchtime dog walk was fun! Well, for one of us anyway...This was Holly's first real taste of the White stuff, and when I say taste I mean taste, she just lapped it up. Literally!!!And yes, she has gotten big hasn't she, almost 6 months old now and still as beautiful as ever..!
Anyway, enough about the weather, on with some crafting!
I forgot to mention, late last year one of my best friends asked me and another of his friends to be the Best Men at his wedding.. Two Best Men!, now that's different! But he said he just couldn't choose between us, so it was both or neither.. Needless to say, both of us jumped at the chance to stitch him up, I mean, support him on his big day! The added bonus is that he is getting married in Gran Canaria!! So we have an Italian, marrying and Egyptian on a Spanish Island. Can't get much more eclectic than that! Guess that's what makes this whole big marble we all live on go round!!
So, I've started to make a few samples to see what kind of wedding card I can make for them....And this is the first one...
It's quite traditional in it's make up, and to be honest I don't think it's really them, but hopefully it will give you some inspiration if you have Wedding or special Anniversary this year...To start off with, I cut and embossed the Anja's Edge Die (LR0202) in to some Ivory card stock. Notice that, just like the Anja's Corner Die (LR0200) used on a project a few post's ago, this die does not cut out of the card stock, it leaves a fantastic edge to it!I then turned the card stock around and used the Die on the other edge. This left quite a nice effect to the card stock.I added some foam tape to the solid centre area of the card stock and layered it onto another piece of the Ivory card stock.. Tone on tone can be very effective. In fact, I have used the same coloured card stock for the whole of the project...On a separate piece of card, I added a thin piece of ribbon around itand then positioned it and the die cut piece of card onto my base card.Next, I cut out two images using the Marianne Creatables Key Die (LR0193).Tying them together with some Ribbon, before securing them to the base card with some foam pads.I then cut out the largest shape from the Spellbinders Classic Heart Die (S4-136).And placed this onto my project using foam pads to add some more dimension to the project.Next, I cut out the car using the Classic Cars Die (LR0198).To make it look more of a Wedding car I added a length of Ribbon to the Bonnet (hood) and top of the car,hiding the ends of the Ribbon with some Roses. The Roses are a little out of proportion to the car, but they were the smallest I had, and if you can't be a little flamboyant on a Wedding car card, then when can you?!The car was then added to the project,and I finished the whole thing off with my sentiment and some heart gems...
I'm surprised that, although I have used the same colour card stock throughout the project, each element stands out on its own, and yet they also work together! Obviously, this could also be down to my brilliant photography! Yeah right!!Hollister doesn't seem to think my photography skills are up to much either!! Oh well!
Thanks for checking us out, see you soon.
Andy.

Love Hearts.....

Hi everyone, I hope your weekend is getting off to a good start? Almost at the end of January now!! Wow! where has that Month gone? So, February arrives next week, the Month of Love, which means Valentine's Day, is not too far away!!So, with that in mind, here is a simple, but effective little Valentine's card to make for the one you love...I cut out the two largest shapes from the Spellbinders Heart Circles Die (S4-316) using Red card stock. I also cut out the corresponding sized circles in White card stock using the Spellbinders Classic Circles Large Die (S4-114).And layered all of the shapes together.
For the centre I tried a few different dies, just to see which one worked best...The La Rue Heart...Nope!!The La Rue Flourish...Nope!!!Or the Quinn Flourish...Could be!!.. Is anyone getting a bit of Déjà Vu about Hong Kong Phooey?? No? Well, I guess you have to be of a certain age!! to appreciate where I'm coming from.. This is Rosemary, you're telephone operator!! OK, I'll stop now....
So, Yes the Quinn Flourish was the Die I went with, placing it in the centre of the previous dies I cut. These were then positioned on to my base card to which I had added some of the "waste" Hearts which were left over when I cut out my Heart Circles...To add some Valentine's sparkle I added some Heart Gems around the edges of both the larger and smaller Heart shapes..And there you go,....
Thanks for checking us out and enjoy your weekend..
See you soon.
Andy.

A Box full of Memories....

Hi Blogland... This week’s challenge over at the Cuttlebug Blogspot is to create a box... Occasionally, when you get a bit carried away with your crafting, you may find that your project does not fit into a standard sized crafting envelope and to cut the project down so it does fit would ruin it.. So, what's left to do? Make your own box or envelope to fit of course... There are many scoring boards on the market such as the Hougie Board or Envelobox Creator which will help you to make standard and out sized envelopes and boxes, and once you have mastered the instructions they are a God send.. However, I decided to make my own from scratch.. ! Why?, because it was a challenge and it's something I've been meaning to do for some time now..So, here it is... My box and a project to keep inside it.. Fancy giving it a go? Here's a step by step guide if you do..I started off with four 6"x 2" pieces of Grey Board.And glued them all together using Glossy Accents.I cut strips of my chosen card stockand applied them to the outside and inside edges of the box.The box is reasonably sturdy like this, but just to add a bit more stability I cut short lengths of the card stock, folded them in halfand glued them to the Four outer and four inner corners...To hide the Grey board and also to add a bit of age to the box I went around all of the edges and corners with Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink.To make a base for the box to sit on I cut 2 pieces of my pattered card stock and also a piece of 290gsm card stock using the largest die from the Spellbinders Grand Scalloped Squares.Layering them all together to form a nice thick layered shape. To hide the White core of the card stock I again distressed the edges using both Distress Ink and Distress Stains in Brushed Corduroy.I ran some Pinflair Gel around one edge of the box, applied it to the base and put it to one side to dry.To make the lid of the box I started off by cutting four strips of the Grey Board 5 3/4" x 1/4"and joined them together in the same way as I did the sides of the box, securing the corners with some extra pieces of card stock.I then stained the Grey Board with the Distress Stain as before.So that I could adhere the frame to the lid and so that it would line up correctly I positioned this smaller frame inside the base of the boxand ran some Pinflair Gel around the edges.Placing the lid of the box, (which was made exactly the same as the base, using 2 pieces of my patterned card stock on one extra piece all stuck together) onto the Gel and then setting it to one side to dry..Once the Gel was dry, I lifted the lid off which brought the inner frame with it. This inner frame will make the box lid have a nice tight fit when it is placed onto the base of the box..To add a little bit of decoration to the box I added some matt Black Gems, which made the box look like it was tacked together.To decorate the lid I cut out some shapes using the Memory Box Die Madera Corner (98237). This was cut out 8 times using the same patterned card stockand then positioned onto the lid of the box in my desired pattern.
As nice as this effect was, I think it looks like the pattern has been carved into the box!, I wanted to add a little bit more to it.So I took my Gilding flakesand applied them to the cut out shapes.And there you go.... I've decided to keep my "Book of Holly" (my Dog) well, volume One anyway! in this Memory Box, as well as her first Collar which she has grown out of, her puppy teeth we have found and a few other nic naks of her first few Months with us.. Once this box is full, I can think about making another one for volume Two...
Don't forget to pop on over to the Cuttlebug Blogspot to see what my fellow Design Team Members have come up with under this theme and why not take part in the challenge whilst you are there?!
Thanks for checking us out.
See you soon.
Andy..