Thinking of you....

Hi gang, how are you doing today? Just a quick post from me today, not the usual waffling on about the weather and such like as I have lots to do this weekend.. So, shall we just get on with today's card?I've wanted to share this with you for a few weeks now, but as it is part of the New Do Crafts promotion I have not been able too. However, now that the promotion has arrived and is in stock I can now share....This is one of the images from one of the Enchanted Fairies stamp sets.. Apparently the stamp sets are based on icons in the fashion and music industries such as Katy Perry, Kylie and Victoria Beckham.. Who’d a thunk?? I'm not quite sure who this particular fairy is based on, I guess she does look a bit like Vicky B??!!Anyhoo, once stamped, coloured and glazed I added a bit of Glitter to her wings and some gems for an extra bit of fairy sparkle.. Adding the gems at this stage was a mistake, as I will share with you shortly!!Once the image was dry from being glazed with the Glossy Accents, I cut it out using Spellbinders Labels Four.. This is where I encountered a problem with the gems I added earlier. As the image passed through the Cuttlebug, the pressure actually crushed the gems and embedded them into the card.. You can't really notice them in the picture, and it's not a bad effect, but not really what I was trying to achieve. They are actually sooo crushed and embedded that I can't even get them out of the card so that I can set new gems.. Ho hum, note to self for next time.... add gems after passing through die cutting machine!!This was my chosen card stock for my finished card as it looks quite whimsical and fairy like. However, the area surrounding my stamped image was too White for the backing paper.So, I coloured the White area using some Inks that I thought would compliment the paper, Aqua Adirondack and Pearlescent Lavender Brilliance Ink.Finishing the card off with another layer of Labels Four, this time in Silver Mirror card, just to break up the colour scheme a little. And finishing off with my sentiment and a Ribbon..
Don't forget that we have our FREE ProMarker Demonstration Day tomorrow with "SJ" from Letraset, it should be an informative and, as always, fun packed day of crafting... We look forward to seeing you there...
Thanks for checking us out.. See you soon..
Andy.

Has Spring sprung?.....

Hi folks... As we approach the end of another Month of 2012, hopefully the weather will start to change and get just a tad bit warmer than of late, heralding the arrival of Spring! (Andy crosses fingers as he is fed up with these cold early morning doggie walks!!)
So, with that in mind, (spring that is, not cold dog walks!) over at the Cuttlebug Blog Spot, this week’s challenge is... Springtime..
And here is my Design Team entry...I'm not 100% sure it screams "Spring" but I guess Flowers in a pot and you can't go wrong! This was one of my other ideas!However, it was too corny for me to send in,as I put "Harold the Hedgehog" on an actual Spring, I thought that was taking the brief a little too literally!!
Anyway, let's make a start on our "How to"I started off by cutting out a pot shape from the Spellbinders Die Flower Pot's (Doh!) S5-060 using White card stock..To give it some colour I added a few shades of Distress Ink, shading in some area's to give it some definition..The colouring needs to be done on both sides as the top part of the die folds down to form the lip of the pot.I then went over the whole of the image with Glossy Accents, leaving air bubbles on the lip of the pot. Not intentionally mind, but we will cover that up later!
Whilst the pot was drying, I prepared the rest of my project.Firstly, I cut out sets of Tulips using the Marianne Creatables Die Tulips LR0209. One set in Green card stock and one in Blue.Cutting the Flower Heads off of the Blue Tulips to attach to the Green ones to make them look realistic..To add another floral springtime twist to the project, I punched into a piece of backing paper using the Martha Stewart Punch around the Page set Wild Flowers (M42-80005).Then added some gems to each of the punched out Flower shapes. I also positioned the now dry Flower Pot onto the backing paper and arranged my Tulips. Finishing off with an "ickle" Ladybird to hide the air bubbles created when using the Glossy Accents.
This lot was then matt and layered onto my base card and finished off with my sentiment...
Don't forget to pop on over to the Cuttlebug Blog spot to see what my fellow Design Team Members have come up with for this week’s challenge.
Thanks for checking us out, see you soon.
Andy.

Just for you.....

Hi Blogland... And, "Happy Valentine's" Day to you all.. I wouldn't say I was an old romantic at heart. A loving gesture every day does more than a forced act once a year for me.. That said, Valentine's will come and go very quickly, and I have done all of the cards for this event I am going to make,so, it's a "Just for you" card today...
You know when you know you have just that perfect piece of backing paper? Well, that was the case for this project..I've had this basket weave paper for a couple of years now, and what better way to use it than with a .... Basket of course...I cut a piece of it out using the Marianne Craftables Die Daisy Basket (CR1207). As the paper is rather flimsy, I also cut the die out in some card stockso that I could back the two shapes together to give it some stability.I wanted to add more texture by way of some additional weaving; I cut some strips of card stockand started to weave them through the basket.Sealing down the edges,before cutting off the excess card stock. Pretty effect eh?I wasn't 100% sure where I was going with this project! Was it going to be for Mother's Day? A basket full of Choccie Eggs for an Easter card? Both do'able ideas, but once I had found my image I knew where I was going!So, once stamped, coloured and glazed,I snipped off the basket handleso that my image could sit proudly in the basket.Spring on a plate! Well, card anyway!!
Enjoy your day, and thanks for checking us out, see you soon..
Andy.

Another wedding card...

Hi Blogland, how are you doing today? I hope it is a lot warmer where you are this morning? Just popped out to take Holly for her morning stroll.. And it was minus 8.. Needless to say, it was a very short stroll.. Still, we're now back in the warm and ready for the day ahead!I'm going to share with you another Wedding card sample I have come up with. The colour scheme, really say's "wedding" to me, but ideal for an engagement or Anniversary also..To start with, I cut out the largest shape from the Spellbinders Classic Heart Nestabilities S4-136 using Aqua coloured Vellum, I then cut the next sized Heart shape using some White and Aqua coloured Rose card stock..I wanted just a tiny bit of the Aqau Vellum to show, and when the dies were layered together "normally" I felt that too much of the Vellum showed.So, I manually trimmed off the excess to achieve the effect I wanted.I did this twice more,this time using the second and third largest of the dies.Once done, I attached the larger Heart shape to the back of my prepared Easel card,layering the two smaller Hearts on the front of the card as my stopper!Adding my stamped, coloured and glazed image,and my sentiment.. Another one for the pile!
Hope you have a good weekend and manage to get some crafting done..
Thanks for checking us out.
See you soon.
Andy.

Cogs, Cogs and more cogs...

OK gang, I hope you're sitting comfortably as this is going to be a long, picture heavy post...
Last weekend it was Paul's (Joanne's Partner) Birthday.And here is the card I made for him..
There are lots of different elements in the make up of this card. So, I'll stop waffling on and just get on with it for a change..I started the project off by embossing a piece of Acetate using the Timepiece embossing folder.I then rubbed a Black StazOn Ink Pad over the de-bossed side of the image.Then, with some StazOn cleaner sprayed onto a kitchen towel,I rubbed off the excess Ink.This left just enough Ink in the groves of the embossing folder to highlight the “workings” of the Timepiece image, which was just the effect I was after? I then cut the face of the Timepiece out.On a piece of Slate Grey coloured Mirror card, I embossed the Renaissance embossing folder.Placing two circle Spellbinder Nestabilities around the clock faceand cut them out.The clock face was then stuck onto the embossed piece of Acetate.Next, I embossed part of the Workshop embossing folder onto the Grey Mirror cardand hand cut two of the clock hands.I then join them together with a Brad.They were then added to the clock face and put to one side whilst I got on with the rest of the card.
As popular as Spellbinder Dies are, I guess one of their limitations is the thickness of card stock they will cut.. Problem solved! In conjunction with one of their preferred working partners, there are now pre cut shapes in Grey Board.. A much thicker and more robust material than the general card stock we are all used too. As they match their respective shapes exactly, you can manually cut your chosen papers to fit these shapes. Result!So, I took one of my favourite shapes, (Well, favourite for now, until the new Spellbinders come to Pinnacles in March!)and painted each element using Stream Adirondack Acrylic Paint.It took seconds to do, and was dry almost instantly, which meant I could add another colour straight away. This time I chose Pearl.Next I added a little bit of Blackbefore finishing off with the Pearl again to give the cardboard cogs a worn, scratched, metallic look.Using the largest of the cogs first, I adhered a simple Peel off to the centreand then attached my clock face.
This part of the project complete, it's time to crack on with the base card for it to sit on.I took a piece of very thick Acetate and scored it into 3 equal pieces.Securing 1 of the sides underneath my chosen card stock, which left the other 2 sides to form my easel card.I then applied cog Peel Off's in a pattern so that they looked like they were all working together, but also leaving space to,firstly add my painted cardboard cogs,and also my clock face...Last but by no means least, my sentiment..I was really happy with how it all turned out and came together in the end, and it has a lot of potential for other "male" themed events.. Not to mention New Year cards and Scrapbook pages.. If I had had the time, and/or the inclination I would have loved to have got some Alcohol Inks to work on the Acetate and Mirror card to give a more Tim Holtz styl'ie finish to them. Oh well, it looks like we'll just have to have a play in our Time Holtz Day on the 10th March then won't we?!!
Thanks for checking us out, see you soon.
Andy.