The Duck is Back!!

No I've not gone entirely Quackers, well maybe just a little.  I'm referring to my Duck shaped cards.  I have been making these cute little guys for a few years now and noticed I didn't have any spare in stock.  So could I find my handmade template?  No of course not, I searched everywhere and was just about to hand draw another when I thought why not use the cricut mini, then I can design it and save it so I don't lose the template again, and not only that but I can also enter a 'Challenge'.  More about that at the bottom of this post.

So here's my new 'Get Well Soon' little ducky design.
 
Starting with the yellow card base, which has been covered with quality linen textured yellow paper and cut into a duck shape, the cut edges have been inked with 'orange' pan pastels to add definition to the shape.  (I have sealed the pan pastel to avoid colour transfer)

Little Ducky has a little 3D wing that has been made as per the main card and attached dimensionally to give interest.

Ducky has a bright orange beak cut from orange Funky Foam and a googly eye for expression.

The duck even has a little bandage on his wing, the bandage has been made from handmade paper which i have folded and wrapped about his wing, and is topped off with a little tag with a little bakers twine bow. The tag has the wording 'get well soon' 

 

Materials & Tools Used:

Yellow Cardstock, Yellow linen patterned paper, funky foam, handmade paper, bakers twine, jewellery tag & googly eye, all from current craft stash.

Cricut Mini and Cricut Craft Room Basics (in CCR) to cut the main Duck image 

(wing and beak cut by hand) 

Challenges Entered:

Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog - FCCB Challenge #203 Bye Bye Birdie

http://fantabulouscricut.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/fccb-challenge-203-bye-bye-birdie.html

A Butterfly of a different colour

Following on from my butterfly, butterfly post, I thought I should share the 'other' version.  Using the same pattern / template but changing up the colour combo creates a different feel to this butterfly card.

I do have a liking for the Chocolate, Orange, Teal colour combo, (and chocolate oranges I must confess :D)  So here is what happened when I teamed up those shades in butterfly form.

I used card from Papermill Direct in 'Mocha' and 'Teal' shades, which I purchased as part of a pick n' mix selection box, these are really good value and allow you to try out a variety of card colours and weights, (believe 4 selections in a box). The papermill card is lovely to work with and cuts so well in the Cricut Mini, you get a nice 'clean' cut.  (and I'm still using the first blade that came with the machine back in November time).  I tend to use the 'medium' card setting and only adjust down if I'm cutting thinner paper.  

Accompanying the papermill cardstock on this outing is some pale blue pearlescent card, seen between the 'mocha' and the 'teal', and also pearlescent white card seen just inside the white scrolls on the top layer.  The patterned paper is from a 'First Edition' 8x8 paper pad called 'New Leaf'.  I added stickles glitter glue in 'Mercury Glass', and some faux half pearls.  On this version I also used Card Candi from Craftwork Cards.  I had the orange Card Candi in my stash but used my promarkers to colour white Card Candi into a lovely mint green colour.  Now I'm feeling hungry, Chocolate Oranges anyone? :)


Materials Used:Mocha Card  - Papermill Direct
Teal Card - Papermill Direct
New leaf 8x8 pad  - First Edition
White & blue Pearlescent cards from own stash
Mercury Glass - Stickles Glitter glue
Self Adheshive Faux pearls
Card Candi - Craftwork Cards

Tools Used:
Cricut Mini- Provocraft

Butterfly, Butterfly.....

Something so special about butterflies, don't you think? In the crafting world they tend to be used mainly as embellishments, little accents to set off a design.  Lots of colours, layers, pretty, sparkly, beautiful.

I have always had a bit of 'a thing' for shaped cards.  know I have made butterfly shaped cards in the past and they have always been well received by the recipients. So I thought it was time to revisit the shaped butterfly card.

I've always been a very 'hands on' crafter, getting blisters because I'd fight with heavy cardstock and scissors or craft knife to hand cut my designs.  Nothing wrong with that and I can spend many hours just cutting.  But recently I bought a new little toy, having always shied away from the electric cutters in the past, I realised that actually, there was no reason why I couldn't bring this technique into my crafting.  So here is the Butterfly Card that I made with the help of my new little toy, the Cricut Mini.

There are 5 to 6 layers of quality card, textured card and designer papers that make up this beautiful butterfly, I took inspiration from some beautiful Purple Corded paper I espied on the Papermill Direct website, it was a limited edition and I just HAD to have it!!  I think it added a lovely texture and rich colour to the Pink & Purple theme, and it cut extremely well on the cricut, using the 'medium cardstock' setting, I could have tried the light setting but I thought the lovely deep corded effect would cut better on the medium setting and it did, first time!! The card didn't really need lots of patterned paper, so I settled on a subtle design from a 'First Edition' paper pad for the top layer.  Added accents of stickles glitter in 'Star Dust' and delicate faux half pearls to provide the finishing touches.  This design and colourway has been very popular with my customers, I should make more but at the moment I'm selfishly keeping the remainder of that purple corded for myself, for those moments when you just NEED to stroke paper, and besides it's purple!!  did I mention it was purple?  :-D

Materials Used:
Purple Corded paper  - Papermill Direct
Birdsong 8x8 pad  - First Edition
Pink Bazzill Cardstock
White Card & white Pearlescent paper from own stash
StarDust - Stickles Glitter glue
Self Adheshive Faux pearls

Tools Used:
Cricut Mini- Provocraft

Crafty Folk Shop Of The Week - VerasTreasures

Apologies I'm a little bit late with this weeks 'Shop of The Week' post.  But they say better late than never, so this week it is the turn of VerasTreasures. This shop, owned by Pixie is such a pretty shop to browse.  She has a lovely vintage styling going on and the photographs have been carefully taken to truly capture that vintage feel with such beautiful settings.  

In the shop you will find lovely vintage items perfect for afternoon tea perhaps?  Pretty china cups, cake stands, and even vintage aprons and linens.  I didn't realise that there was also a lovely selection of Vintage downloads perfect for crafting too!!  I spotted old postcard and photograph styles.  I will certainly be popping back to check out this section for future craft projects.  You can see for yourself at https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/VerasTreasures.

And again, as part of my SOTW promoting, I have created this Treasury for VerasTreasures, my theme inspired by the lovely items in the shop and includes 2 of them.  I chose items to complement this theme from other Craftyfolk Team members, there are a lot of lovely items to discover, just click the pics :)

'You're Invited, Home for Tea' by pollypurplehorse

A Treasury for and inspired by VerasTreasures, the Craftyfolk team Shop of the Week. :)

Yellow Teacup Tea Party... VerasTreasure... $3	Vintage Old Foley TwoTi... TheWhistlingM... $15	Favourite Tea-Time Reci... dottiedesigns... $24.95	Sadler Tudor House Teap... VerasTreasure... $12
Wizard Of Oz Mug, There... missbohemia $9.5	Ceramic Pitcher and Mug... CandanImrak $150	Keyring - Spring Cottag... Lynwoodcrafts $7.5	Lavender scented Home d... picocrafts $7.8
Gainsborough's Hous... michelewebber $190	Home is where the heart... onelittlepug $3	Little Green House neck... BeadyDaze $28	Tea Cosy fun knit flowe... SpinningStrea... $26
Inspiring Fun Art Downl... UniquelyYourD... $3.12	LARGE Custom Street Add... GreenStreetMo... $225	kraft gift tags, hand s... JDooreCreatio... $3.25	Garlic / Chilli board, ... CottageCoppic... $10

Treasury tool by StylishHome.

I LOVE Stamping!!

I LOVE stamping!!  There I said it out loud, but it's true and needed to be said.  I think most crafters that work with paper, card, etc start out stamping and then either lose their way or get so amazed by new products on the market that they meander away from the path of stamping.

I've made a lot of cards lately that could be described as CAS Clean & Simple styling.  Something about those crisp white card bases and regimented patterns.  But every now and then, I rebel!!  I get out the inks and get messy.

One of my favourite Stamp companies is Visible Image.  I love their quality and the unique designs and so when i saw the brand new sets from the 'more than words' collection, I knew I had to have 1 or 2 or 3 (I ending up buying 3)  I believe I do have another on the way but that's another story :)

I chose the 'Thank You' set to work with, has a lovely verse and is very versatile with the flower head stamp included which is great to make backgrounds as well as focal points.

So I planned to not plan my card!!  I just assembled some basics from my craft stash, like distress inks, archival ink, gilding flakes, water spritzer etc and set to work.

 

First I thought I'd make a sheet of patterned card.  I blended dabs of distress inks in 3 colours all over a white piece of card, taking time to blend the colours all over.  Used 2 main colours of Spiced Marmalade and Worn Lipstick for larger areas and used the Tea Dye to help blend the two together.  Then I thought I'd have more messy fun and filled a spritzer bottle with water and gently sprayed it randomly over my newly coloured card.  I left the water droplets for a few seconds before blotting with tissue.  You can leave the water longer if you want a more dramatic look of course.

When the card was dry, I stamped the flower head from the set all over it randomly, using the 2 main colours of the distress inks.

A sentiment verse from the set was stamped onto a panel of white card using Black Archival Ink, and finished the panel with a couple of stamped flower heads to match the base.

After trimming my background cards to size to suit my design and the 6x6 card blank, I then dabbed gilding glue around the edges of both sheets and applied the gilding flakes.  Love doing this, it's extra messy but worth it, especially when you 'burnish' the flakes to reveal their variegated shades. 

I wasn't finished stamping though, I decided to 'stamp' a couple of the flower heads in gilding glue and gild them too, helping to bring the sentiment panel and background card together.  I thought the card still needed something extra to balance the black, and so I used the 'Thank You' stamp from the same set and stamped in black at the top right and bottom left of the card.

Then just a little matting and layering with my favourite black cardstock (papermill) and the card was complete. 

I really like the look and warm 'feel' of this card, and the 'thank you' repeated twice is like saying 'thank you, thank you' and gives extra meaning to the sentiment, I think?  

I need to get my 'Challenege Mojo' back and so I am going to enter this card in Visible Image's March Challenge
http://visibleimage.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/use-your-favourite-visible-image-stamps.html

Which this month is all about using your favourite stamps, and this new range of stanmps is currently my Fav!!

Challenges entered:

Visible Image - March Challenge - Use Your Favourite Visible Image Stamps
 http://visibleimage.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/use-your-favourite-visible-image-stamps.html



Shame my camera work does not truly reflect the gilding flakes, they catch the light and provide extra interest to the card.

Materials Used:
White stamping card from Oakhouse Studio
Distress Ink pads in 'Spiced Marmalade' and  'Worn Lipstick', also 'Tea Dye' to blend
Black Archival Ink
Black card from Papermill Direct
Gilding glue 
Gilding Flakes in 'Brighton Pier'
White 6 x 6 Card Blank from Craftwork Cards

Crafty Folk Shop Of The Week - CereusArt

This Weeks 'Shop of the Week'  is CereusArt  owned by Dana.  

What a wonderful shop full of gorgeous beach and coastal goodies.  The items are beautiful and the photography sets them off a treat too.  Living at the coast myself (although in UK) I find myself drawn to the lovely shells, starfish and all the amazing things that have been created with them.

Dana's Etsy shop can be found here:  https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/CereusArt

Now as I was curating a Treasury and needed a theme, I chose Stars, as my eyes were so drawn to the starfish in this shop.  I had a lovely browse through the Etsy shops to find lots of other 'star' items to accompany the starfish.

Hope you enjoy browsing through them all too!! (Clicking' the pics should take you to each one)

'You're a Star!!' by pollypurplehorse

A Treasury created for CereusArt the CraftyFolk Shop of the Week!!

Beach Decor - Large Sugar S... CereusArt $1.5	Sea glass anklet with silver... EgyptianInspir... $15.99	Blue Star Ring, Real Flowers... JustKJewellery $10	Sunset Star Aceo original OO... thecurioustree... $8
50 Celebration card. onelittlepug $3	Modern Mosaic Panel in Blue ... michelewebber $27	Tiny Silver Star Studs DeborahJonesJe... $14	Purple and white felt Christ... SewGifted $9
Small Coin Purse - multi col... moodycowdesign... $10	Clearance SALE Silver stars ... AmazoniaAccess... $8.8	Star Hanging Ornament Pink a... averilpam $4.5	Beach Decor Starfish Canvas CereusArt $10
Sterling Silver 'You'... SilverbirdDesi... $25	bone china Royal Vale Star T... VerasTreasures $18	Felt Star Hair Clip, Baby Ha... ZNextDesigns $6	Verdigris Starfish Earrings ... gimmethatthing $10.85

Sponsored by .

Playing with Bohemian Bazaar...Part deux!!

Wow can't believe I waited sooo long to get stuck into this collection and now that I have, I can't seem to tear myself away.  I've admired it for so long, stroked the papers, flipped through both the 12x12 and the 8x8, although I must admit that I haven't opened the little extras like the tags and pockets and chipboard embellishments yet.  Saving those treats for now :D

I like interesting card bases and I'm a bit choosy about quality.  So these elegant step cards from craftwork cards fit the bill nicely.  Again I think the colours of this collection really 'pop' when set off against a good quality intense black.  I've used many cardstocks over the years and never been 100% happy with the blacks.  Not sure why, but it seems really difficult to get a good even black.  So I was over the moon to recently re-discover Papermill Direct.  (Used to buy from there shops instore many years ago)  Anyway, I ordered some black card as part of a 'pick & mix' of 4 colours, which btw were all super quality and colours.  The black really caught my eyes though, at last a proper black to play with and i think it sets off the bright colours perfectly.

For the first card I inked around all the edges of the 'step card', that's quite a lot of edges, so i double-checked to make sure. Also inked up the paper edges using 'Broken China' distress ink before matting & layering the panels onto my new found friend, the black card.  Attached the panels to the card base using a combination of double sided tape and cosmic shimmer glue.  

I die cut the sentiment panels and the black accent shapes and flourishes, again using the papermill cardstock, perfect through my Big Shot.

After assembling the panels and adding the card accents, I turned my attention to the finishing touches.  I knew the card needed something extra, something tactile and to add dimension.  So I took some vintage rose lace ribbon, that was a cream colour, and decided to sponge it with 'broken china' distress ink.  I tapped some ink onto a mat, added a little water and sponged the rose trim all over.  After it has dried a little I then added a touch more of the blue ink (neat this time not watered down) just applying it to the raised edges of the rose folds itself, to add a little more definition.

A couple of wired fabric leaves (from my stash) and some black liquid pearls add the finishing touches.

Blue Roses Step Card

And next up is another step card.  Again using the papermill black card to set off the beautiful colours of the G45 papers.

This time I used 'Spiced Marmalade' to ink all around the card base edges and also the edges of the patterned paper.

Using the same method as before, I dyed my cream coloured American seam binding by adding a little water to some of the ink tapped onto a mat and dragging the seam binding through it, making sure it was completely coloured before setting aside to dry.  I love American seam binding, but I can't seem to find it locally, and am almost out!!  So if anyone can recommend a store for me?  

Okay I assembled the card panels as before using a combination of double-sided tape and cosmic shimmer glue.  I die cut the sentiment panels and some flourishes from black card.

As before, I needed to add something to the design.  I settled on making some die cut roses, using a die that cuts them as spirals, then I inked the cut edges and rolled them up into rose shapes, gluing the bottom of each with cosmic shimmer glue to hold them together.  Now I would normally use a hot glue gun for my rolled roses, but I thought I'd experiment and try the cosmic shimmer glue, and besides I wasn't sure where I last put the glue gun.  Anyway the experiment worked and the roses stayed rolled up in position.  I added a tiny faux pearl to the inside centre of each.  

Now I needed something to help set off my trio of roses.  out came the Big Shot again and I diecut some more flourishes in black and also some trailing ivy leaves in green bazzil cardstock.  I inked the edges of the ivy leaves to dampen down their greenness and co-ordinate with the rest of the card.

I added a bow made with the dyed seam binding and some black liquid pearls to finish the card.

Rose Trio Step Card

 I'm finding it hard to choose my favourite from these two.  They are both standing on my craft table looking at me :D  P.S. I must apologise for the quality of the photos, I'm not a good camera-woman :D