Something Different Saturday...

Happy Saturday All!

Firstly I have to apologise in advance as for the next few weeks there may be some disruption in the something different as due to yesterdays announcement things are a little up in the air.  If you missed it please scroll down as I hate repeating myself lol!


Now as I stated I have been manically making things to keep blog disruption to  a minimum however the something different projects are nearly all very time consuming and since the ideas naturally flow ( I know how lucky I am in this) it is very hard to plan more than a couple at a time.  I have premade a couple however I do not have enough to cover the move period fully.








That said I am already using one of my premades for today as tonight is the last night of the play so I'm down to one now!


This was made as a thank you and goodbye gift to Shirley who I work with over here.  We have a drawer at work which contains snacks for bad days so I thought I would make something sweet for her to keep in the drawer for when she is having a bad day!











Ingredients:
Spellbinders labels 4
spellbinders Bracket Borders 2
Cream hammered PMD card
Do Crafts Paper
Waltzing Mouse Rescue Remedy stamp
Extra Large Parma Violets!

Little description sorry but I hoping to use this seed packet idea again so there will be more detail then!  However I promise pictures of the play tomorrow!

Enjoy...

Changes

Happy Friday,

Everything Changes and so today I have an announcement to make.  After 5 years I have decided to return to the U.K  This has been a complex decision however it is made easier by then fact that we maintain a house in the U.K. as Mr Next Door works there lol!  There are lots of reasons for this move however I am really excited that in a month or so I will be home and will be able to shop properly! lol


I decided to show a card today that is one of my favourites.  Now as I will be organising the move, moving and hopefully setting up a new craft room in the U.K. I will need some time away from crafting to manage it all. Therefore I have been busy making, photographing and scheduling as much work and posts as I can.  so for the last few days or so I have been spending as much free time as I can in the craft room.


 Today's card is my favourite of all those I have made so far ( as i write this I am looking at a pile of cards and creations awaiting write ups!)


I started, as always at the moment, with the Sue Wilson Californian collection background die. however I wanted to do something different with this and as strange as it may sound I woke up with this card in my mind.  I could see small white flowers at each junction of the die, set against a duck egg blue.  I got straight into the craft room and created this!

I mentioned the other day that I started a card by getting the different coloured cards and papers out first. Karen asked is that how I usually work and I'm sorry to say its not.  I tend to sketch out a card in my mind or on paper based on an idea or a die or stamp.  I then work out which colour I think it would work in.  A lot of times I start with die cut pieces that are laying on my desk and just play til I'm happy!  As I said this card started almost finished as an image in  my head.

Ingredients:
Sue Wilson Californian Background die
Blue & White smooth PMD Card
Sizzix small flower die
Spellbinders Belly Band One die
Crafters Companion Sentimentals range stamp
Creative expressions PVA Glue Pearls

Enjoy,  John x.

A Little too much pink?

Happy Thursday,


Opening Night tonight so still AWOL I'm afraid!

Today's offering is a strange combination that, to be honest, I'm not sure I like!  Whilst I love the backing paper and it is blue and pink I'm not sure whether the colours match correctly.  Let me know what you think?!?

The backing paper is First Edition Floral Pavilion with a mixture of spellbinders die cuts in blue, pink and cream.







Ingredients:
First Edition Floral Pavilion paper
Spellbinders Gold Circles one
Spellbinders Elegant Ovals
Spellbinders Gold Ovals
Pink & Cream PMD Smooth Card
Whimsey Stamps sentiment stamp
Stick on Pearls


Enjoy...

Black Flowers?!?

Happy Wednesday,

As I may have mentioned yesterday I am busy tonight in a dress rehearsal for Sweet Charity so not a lot of description for this one I'm afraid.

I simply cut each flower in black then inked through the die in white chalk ink and repeated this a few times (felt like a few hundred at the time!)  I used one of the flower dies that come with Spellbinders bracket edge box however almost any flower die that has a detail would work for this one and I can see it in a myriad of colours.

Ingredients:
Spellbinders bracket edge box die 
White and Black PMD smooth card
stick on pearls
Happy Birthday stamp DoCrafts
Creative Expressions Detail White embossing Powder.


Enjoy...

Scheduled...

Happy Tuesday,

I have called this post scheduled as for the remainder of the week all my posts have been scheduled ahead of time.  This is because I am appearing in the local Am Dram performance of Sweet Charity this week (hope you got your ticket Val! lol)

Therefore all posts have been premade and written, today is the technical rehearsal so I am already absent!  Now writing a detailed description for each card and creation in one go is very time consuming and I am really running short on time(sorry I know this is an excuse I make a lot lately but Fridays post will clarify the reason for this!)

What I have decided to do, and I would love to hear whether you like it or not, is to put an ingredients list with each card and creation (just like a proper recipe)


The idea is that hopefully the list of items or ingredients I used to make a card may help you should you want to make something similar.  I am more than happy for people to copy the gist of my cards and make their own versions!

Ingredients:
First Edition Neroli Paper
Spellbinders French Harmony die
Hobbycutz wooden laser cut wreath
Marianne rose and leaf die set
DoCrafts sentiment stamp
Burgundy smooth PMD card
Grosgrain ribbon.



 I hope you all like the new recipe idea and that, as always, you,

Enjoy...

I Don't do Green!

Happy Monday,


I've titled this post based on a conversation I had with Wendy a couple of weeks ago.  She said, when we were discussing summer cards and colours, you don't really do green or yellow do you?  That got me thinking I really don't do I?

Therefore I was determined to make a card in a nice soft apple green beloved by others but shunned by me.

I started with the green card which i embossed using the A4 Darice tumbling leaves embossing folder and lightly inked, to give some more definition, in moss green ink.  This is matted onto white then a forest green card.

I die cut the strip at the side using 2 of the dies from Spellbinders Bracket Borders 2, a filigree section and an edge.  I removed the edge die and inked through the filigree section with the moss green to give a softer edge.  The centre piece, used as a ribbon threader, is cut from spellbinders elegant labels four through which I threaded a soft and darker green ribbon.  This piece was foam mounted onto the die cut strip and a messy bow and hatpin added.

Finally I hand cut, and mounted to match, a banner and added the sentiment from Crafters Companion sentimentals range.

Does the green work for me, it's up to you to decide!

Enjoy...

Sorry More Feathers!

Happy Sunday,

I know the peacock feathers were not universally popular last week however I have to get my  money's worth so here is another offering for you.

The feathers, three this time see I do listen! are die cut then inked using a versamark three colour inkpad.  These are shaded in all the colours using cut n dry foam and the ink has a opalescent finish which doesn't really come over on the picture.

The remainder of the card is simply put together with embossing, inking and die cutting.

I used simple white and a soft blue to make the oval layers using the new spellbinders oval dies and ovals large.  I layered these up with foam tape and placed several of the peacock feathers in between the layers.  The top sentiment, in the same ink, is from whimsey stamps.

The whole centrepiece, along with an overlarge bow (even I think this one is a little too big) is foam mounted onto an embossed and inked piece. This is then mounted onto a card blank with a pierced piece.




Not everyone's taste, but,

Enjoy...