Monday Giveaway...

Happy Monday,

It's another Monday giveaway card today, simply leave a comment on this post and Mr ND will select a winner who will be sent this card.  The winner of last weeks card was Foxy However I haven't received your address yet so please email me on Lockers@live and I will post it out.  Also appologies to Sam I only posted your card on Saturday as I struggled with time, sorry, you should receive it in the next couple of days!  The answer to the question last week was that I have indeed changed the photo college at the top of my blog!  Im hoping to change this every season to reflect the work I have been doing, some of the cards on the original were well over a year old.

Back to today and I have selected another favourite of mine a tunnel card of reverse layers.  My favourite colour combination is a blue and white or ivory so UI thought this would e perfect as a representation of my favourite colours and styles.

I started by cutting the Fancy Frame from Couture Creations in CE white hammered cardstock (I love hammered card as it allows you to have a plain piece of card that adds interest to the front.  Next I cut another of the games in periwinkle blue however I left the die cut frame in place by sticking tape at the back.  I then foam taped the centre panel from the frame die behind the blue piece at an angle to add more interest.

To finish off the card I added a heart in the centre, the celebrate die cut and mounted the pice of ever increasing layers of the white and periwinkle card.  Finally a knotted piece of champagne silky crush ribbon along with a strip at the back.  A few dots of silver PVA and finished.

Ingredients:
Couture Creations Fancy Frame die
Celebrate Die
White Hammered and Periwinkle foundation card
Cosmic Shimmer Silver PVA
Champagne Silky crush ribbon

Enjoy...

Simple Sunday...

Happy Sunday,

I was struggling at the end of last year (doesn't it feel strange saying last year about a couple of weeks ago?) to keep simple sunday going however It did prove very popular so while some of the simple cards and projects may be more complex I am intending to show something each week that can be made quickly!

This card couldn't be simpler it is just the mask which I have inked through using Shaded Lilac distress ink.  I inked the edges and added it to a layered card with the embossed panel.

I added some pearl PVA glue dts at the junctions on the inked image as well as a strip of sea binding and a messy bow with a heart dazzler in the centre.



I hope you will agree that this is an effective card however it is a simple one to create and could suit many occasions.



Ingredients:

That Special Touch mask Delicate
Shaded Lilac distress Ink
Cosmic Shimmer pearl PVA
Couture Creations large retro flowers embossing folder
CE Lilac seam binding.


Enjoy...

Saturday Stamping...

Happy Saturday,

As I am canning the layout ands timing of my blog I thought it was time for a new feature on Saturdays Stamping!  Now something different will return however not as a weekly feature as its a bit time consuming with everything Ive got on at the moment!

Therefore today's is the first Saturday Stamping and so I wanted to feature this card which has rubber stamping as well as stamping with a stamp I made using funky foam and a die.  Now I know I featured this on Monday as a tip as well as on Create and Craft however I wanted to reiterate that this technique can be done with any die.

I started this card by stamping the rose stamp, from Creative expressions, in perfect medium and embossed it with Cosmic Shimmer detail white embossing powder.  Next I used distress inks and cut n dry from to colour the image.  I swirled the ink, in spun sugar, over the rose bud.  I then used evergreen bough ink over the leaves adding a little tea dye to darken the stem and edges of the leaves.  As you can see for the card I intentionally didn't stay in the lines I wanted the colour to be more intense in the centres but to lighten around the image.  Whilst to some this may look rough and ready I really like the approach and the way the stamped image seems to shine!

Next I stamped the 2 green colours of distress ink using the tree stamp I made using funky foam and the Lucky Tree die form Couture Creations (see Monday's post for more detail on this)  One of the benefits of the foam stamp is that they hold ink really well and give almost a velvety stamped image.  This means that you will get four or five faded images form each loading of ink.


Ingredients:
Couture Creations Lucky Tree die
Creative Expressions singles rose stamp
Distress ink in Evergreen Bough, Shabby Shutters, Tea Dye and Spun Sugar
Cosmic Shimmer detail white embossing powder

Enjoy...

It's all white...

Happy Friday,


A simple palette today, white on white on white.  Isn't it amazing that there are so many different shades of white, just changing the texture of the card can make a simple white shade look different.

For this card I used the white ribbed card form Creative Expressions that was in the special finished pack.  I started by cutting a square 20x20cm and cut the couture creations Lotus Filet out from the left hand side, this gave me my aperture.  Next, using white shimmerlux card, I die cut the art deco background and foam mounted this under the aperture.  I them fame mounted the whole piece onto another piece of the shimmerlux card cut at 21x21cm.



Finally to finish this simple card I die cut of of the waterlily dies, again from Couture Creations, and mounted it to the left over a hand cut banner stamped with a beautiful sentiment form Creative expressions that comes with an old set.  The waterlily is highlighted with a simple piece of satin edged ribbon which I tied in a knot and added a couple of pearl sprays and a heart dazzler over.

The highlights at the points of the background are made using cosmic Shimmer PVA glue Pearls.













Ingredients:
Couture Creations Dies 
Lotus Filet
Art Deco
Waterlily
Special Finishes Card pack by Creative Expressions
Cosmic Shimmer silver PVA
Embellishments and ribbon all from CE


Enjoy...

In the Pink...

Happy Thursday,

Todays card is another sample rom my shows on Sunday and yes it does look a little pink however it is more subtle than that as it uses a crisp white and a blush foundation card.  Now the blush card looks like ivory and is very pale until it is against white then it shines in pink!

I cut the fancy frame from couture creations using the striped card that was in the special finishes card pack, you kn ow mw I love a special finish card.  I then cut the waste piece into a square and stuck it down to a piece of blush foundation card using a double sided adhesive sheet.  Next I covered the aperture in glacier ice to give this shimmering yet subtle look.



I mounted a celebrate in blush with an offset white version (both cut from the couture creations die of the same name) across the aperture and added two swirls cut again in the blush.

I ran a piece of the blush card through the GC with the large retro flowers embossing folder from Couture Creations and extended the pattern by running it through again.

A few layers of the white and blush card, a strip of ribbon and a liberal supply of cosmic shimmer ivory PVA dotted about and I made up the finished card.







Ingredients:
Couture Creations Dies -
Celebrate
Fancy Frame
Swirl
Large Retro Flowers A5 embossing Folder
Striped white and Blush foundation card
Cosmic Shimmer PVA in ivory & Pastel Pink
Glacier Ice glitter jewels


Enjoy...

Creative Wednesday, for Tracey...

Happy Wednesday,

Now today's card has two uses, firstly it is my Creative Expressions design team card for this week.  Secondly this is Tracey's (who many of you may have spoken to as she is the product assistant and In house crafter for Creative Expressions) birthday card.  Now this wasn't interned as a Birthday card for Tracey however a few weeks ago I helped her to rearrange the factory shop at CE tower (well worth a visit as It has all the new products and cosmic shimmer ranges in one place as well as a really good clearance section with 12 x 12 paper starting at just 1p)  We wanted some cards to display and show how the products can be used so I took some of my cards and Tracey declared that this one is too be her birthday card, even though she is more of a dog lover than a cat person.  I thought therefore I must have got something right on this one as Tracey is someone I learnt loads form and is a prodigious crafter herself!




I stamped the cat design form the Creative expressions stamp in archival black and coloured the edges using spiced marmalade distress marker.  I then pulled the colour into the image simply using a wet paintbrush.












The edge is distress inked in the same shade and mounted onto a die cut card using the new Scandinavian background die with the illusion A4 embossing folder.  I added pearl moon gilding wax to the embossed sections and made up a layered card with some London tan seem binding and a Creative Expressions fabric flower (or two)

All in all not my usual style but I was quite pleased with the finished result though not as pleased as Tracey obviously! lol

Ingredients:
Singles stamps Poppy
Creative Expressions Scandinavian die
Illusion Embossing Folder
Spiced marmalade Distress ink & Distress pen


The chosen winner of Mondays card (*as selected by Mr ND) is Foxyg Please email me on Lockers@live.co.uk with your address and Ill post tomorrow!
Enjoy...

Technique Tuesday...

Happy Tuesday,

Following on from the changes and giveaway yesterday I thought Tuesday could be a technique day, I used to do Technique Tuesday when I first started the blog so this is kind of a return to my roots lol.  Now it may not always be a new technique but Tuesdays card is hopefully going to be one where I have featured a technique.

I'm starting with this card that was featured as one of the samples for my shows on Sunday on C&C.  This is a technique heavy card as instead of using the die cut I have used the negative pieces that are left behind after the die cut is removed.

Firstly I cut the Couture Creations die in Silver shimmerlux canvas card form Creative Expressions however I was very careful cutting the die and I made sure that all pieces remained in place.  Next I attached a sheet of double sided adhesive sheet to a piece of blush foundation card, i removed the protective sheet and placed it carefully over the reverse of the die with the pieces in place.  I then pushed, from the reverse, the waste pieces to stick them to the sheet before pulling off the die leaving the die cut background in the die.  This can also be achieved by carefully removing the die cut piece before attaching the sheet however you must make sure all the waste pieces stay in place.

The piece of blush card should then have all the negative pieces stuck in place I rubbed over it to make sure they are well stuck down before I added diamond snow all over the remaining adhesive sections.  I simply added a frame made form the remains of the piece I cut the die form (this gives a perfect finishing shape to the piece.

Finally I added some foam tape and a few layers, a tied piece of satin edged ribbon and a pink dazzler to complete a simple yet effective card.

Ingredients
Couture Creations Art Deco Background die
Shillmerlfux Silver canvas Card
Blush Foundation card
Diamond Snow Glitter Jewels
Satin Edged organza Ribbon
Pink Dazzler
Double sided adhesive sheet
All Creative Expressions (the special finishes card pack is only available on the Create and Craft website)

Enjoy...