Shake, shake, shake... shaker cards!

Hi there :)

Remember when I was commissioned to make the space card for a little boy who was turning 3?  Well his younger siblings were celebrating their first birthday within a couple of days of him and I was asked to make their birthday cards as well.  Since they're twins I made cards that were 'the same but different'... here's the finished cards:

I made the wee boy's card first using MFT's Happy Hippos and Balloon Shaker Window die set.  I started off with a piece of watercolour paper that was die cut using my ever faithful stitched rectangles die... I think this must be my most used die I own!  I then watercoloured some Distress Ink onto the paper using the 'wet on wet' technique with Mowed Lawn, Blueprint Sketch and Fossilized Amber.

While I had the inks already on my craft sheet I used the rest of the ink to colour the die cut balloon frame... love how that turned out!

Next I die cut the opening for the shaker card... make sure you have a pretty good idea of where everything is going on your finished card so that you have room for everything... just saying LOL

Then it's time to start assembling the shaker card... this is the really fun bit!

Along with the Balloon shaker pouch from MFT I used some Ice Cube Jewels and Lagoon sequin mix from Little Things from Lucy's Cards.   I've got a growing collection of pretty things from this company and apart from looking cool in shakers they are also delightful to look at on my shelf... and I do like pretty things :)

I loaded up some of the sequins and the ice cube jewels into the shaker pouch and then ran some glue around the edge before sticking it down onto some glitter cardstock.  Multi Medium Matte is definitely my 'go to' adhesive for this kind of thing because it sets quickly and extremely securely!

The next step was to adhere the shaker pouch to the back of the card front using some more adhesive... that sounds more complicated than it should... take a look at this photo and you'll see what I mean:

Next I added the balloon frame and the 'string'.  At this point I also realised that I hadn't stamped my sentiment on the card front but thankfully the shaker pouch is relatively the same depth as the MISTI magnets so it wasn't even an issue. 

Time to add my pre-coloured images... a cute litte hippo and a wee bird.  I die cut some foam to give them extra dimension and it worked really well.  At this point, I layered the card front onto some dark blue cardstock which really made the colours pop!

I added another hippo to the inside of the card:

And here's the finished card:

And now for 'the same but different'... since I'd already worked out my basic design, the second card came together really easily.  Colour the watercolour card using Distress Inks - Picked Raspberry, Worn Lipstick and Wilted Violet. 

I coloured a balloon frame as well and die cut a window for the shaker pouch:

This time I used some more Ice Cube Jewels along with 'Magic Wand' sequin mix for the shaker pouch:

At this point Michael came into my craft room and I forgot to get a few of the photos I wanted but here's one of the inside of the card:

Here's the finished card featuring MFT's Adorable Elephants... love those little guys!

Here's a photo of all three cards together.  I really did love making these cards and I know they were all really appreciated by the recipients and their family :)

Thanks so much for stopping by today xx

More gift card holders... and a little bit of a naughty puppy!

Hi there :)

Following on from yesterdays post about using my new Lawn Fawn small stitched envelope die to create gift card holders I wanted to share a couple more that I made.  Since I had the basics sussed I thought I'd try something a little more creative with the next two... and I remembered to take step by step photos!

I started off using a Winnie & Walter stamp called  Do you see what I see to create my background.  I stamped the background with embossing ink and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  This stamp is only 3x4 inches but it's perfect for little projects like this.

Next I got out a couple of my Gansai Tambi paints to give my background some colour.  I really like how soft and creamy these paints can be... but they're also perfect for doing colour washes.  Colours used: Pale Aqua (50) and Cornflower Blue (61). 

Another cool thing about using Gansai Tambi paints is that if you use one colour a lot you can actually just buy individual watercolour blocks in the little plastic trays to replace the colour you've run out of... totally brilliant!

Right, back to the project, after letting my little background dry a bit I ran it through the Big Shot with the front panel die from the set.

So pretty and the stitching really adds a finishing touch!

Next I decided to add a gorgeous polar bear from MFT Polar Bear Pals stamp and die set.  After stamping and heat embossing my image I die cut him and then coloured him using my Zig Clean Color Markers.  I was able to colour match his scarf pretty well with the background colours too!

Then I decided to stamp a sentiment on the background.  It looks a bit patchy in the photo but in real life it's pretty good.

Since I was trying to take things up a notch I decided to stamp and heat emboss another sentiment on the back of the envelope.

Then it was time to adhere the front panel and the polar bear to the envelope.  The front panel was adhered with tape runner and the polar bear is on foam dots for a bit of added dimension.

Of course, it's a bit silly to say 'I come bearing gifts' without there being some polar bear gifts so I decided to stamp, emboss and colour a cute little bucket of fish from the set.

It really did help finish off the back panel:

At this point I decided the front panel needed something... and I had just the right something for it... some GORGEOUS sequins from Lucy's Cards... this pack is called Cool Breeze and I'm totally loving all the little bits of gorgeousness included in the pack!

Just an FYI: The packs from Lucy's Cards arrive in little zip lock bags but I wanted to have mine on display... I've bought several sets... so, while I was at a local chemist I saw these gorgeous little glass jars and couldn't resist them.  I emptied all the packs into their own jars, peeled the stickers off the little bags and added them to the fronts of the jars and voila... lots of pretty things to look at and USE!

Here's how the front panel turned out:

At this stage the mojo was still completely flowing so I kept going and made another gift card holder.  This time I used a Prima Stamp from their Bedtime Story collection.  I bought this stamp several years ago and never got around to opening it so it's definitely a NBUS item!

This time I used Rangers Queen's Gold embossing powder and stamped the image in two halves to create a full background.  I didn't worry too much about the 'join line' because it wasn't going to show up in the finished project.

This time I used dark colours from the Gansai Tambi paints to colour my background, Deep Blue (67), Deep Violet (38), Menthol Violet (66),  Dark Brown (47), and Black (20).

Then I die cut the label from my newly created background and stamped, embossed and die cut an image from MFT Adorable Elephants stamp and die set.

I coloured my elephant using Zig Clean Color Markers... I love how gorgeous he is!

I stamped one of the sentiments from the Adorable Elephants set and die cut it with a little banner die from MFT Tag Builder Blueprints 6.

Then it was time to put it all together... and add a few little glimmer star sequins along with a rhinestone on the sentiment banner!  After all, who can resist a little bling??

I wanted to 'dress up' the back of the gift card envelope so I stamped and heat embossed some stars from Lawn Fawn's Summertime Charm stamp and die set.  I also die cut some little stars from some of the left over background.  Unfortunately I didn't check my photos very well because it was a bit fuzzy... but I'm sure you get the idea.

I did think to get a 'group photo' with all my little envelopes... so much cuteness in one space!  You definitely want to click on the photo to see them in more detail!

So there you have it... an Auntie's solution to making a gift card more than just a gift card!

Now for something from the 'home files' section... our fur babies KNOW they're not allowed on the bed... but I often find one or the other one on the bed having a little nap... actually it's more Toby than Nivea that does that!

Having said that, on the weekend, Michael often says that they can come up on the bed for a cuddle... but yesterday I walked in to find something quite different... Miss Nivea was not just on the bed... she was IN it.  Actually she was TUCKED IN!  Thankfully I had my phone on me so I was able to capture a quick snap of her!

Daddy (Michael) was still in bed and this naughty little girl was all snuggled up beside him and had her head on MY pillow!!!  When I got the first photo she looked up at me as if to say... but Daddy said I could be here:

If Auntie Nina saw this she'd be saying... Back to the pound!

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today xx

Mermaid cards

Hello :)

I've been having some fun in my art studio designing mermaid cards.  It all started when I found a stamp I'd had in my stash for YEARS.  Within minutes of finding the stamp ideas started flowing and I just had to go with it and here are the results.

I started out with this stamp from Sugar Plum Stamps.

I didn't take all the step by step photos I usually do because the design was buzzing around in my head but I think I got most of the steps.  I decided to do a set of four cards so I stamped all the mermaids with black ink and then heat embossed them.

I knew I wanted to do a watercoloured background so I painted over my stamped image with masking fluid and then I left it alone to dry.

When the masking fluid was dry I started on the water.  I used the wet-on-wet technique to paint in the water using Salty Ocean and Mermaid Lagoon (how appropriate!) Distress Inks.  I also did an extra piece of watercoloured card using the same technique... trust me, it will make sense later on!

Then it was time to add some colour to the sky.  I die cut some masks using Lawn Fawn Puffy Cloud Borders from regular card and then I used Tumbled Glass Distress Ink and a round blender to create a sky background.  It's the first time I've used this technique and I really like the effect.

Meanwhile... it had started to rain and Toby and Nivea wanted to hang out with me, so I brought their beds down to the art studio.  Then Nivea decided that running around in the rain like a loon was right up her alley!  Even though Toby had access to his big bed he decided to squeeze himself into Nivea's bed and then look at me as if to say... this bed isn't big enough for me... silly boy!  I couldn't resist getting a photo of him!

 

Right, back to the cards. The next step was to unmask the mermaid... I never get tired of seeing the design being uncovered!

I had an idea for making waves out of velum using my Mama Elephant Ocean Waves Trio dies.  The only problem was I couldn't find my velum anywhere!  It turns out that it's not so easy to get anymore.  Spotlight didn't have any... neither did the emporium art supply stores... neither did Warehouse Stationery.  In the end I bought some translucent tracing paper.

I got my dies out and cut the waves from the tracing paper.  Then I cut the tops of the waves from white cardstock using the same dies and stuck them to the inside of the waves and I love how it came together.

Once I had the wave idea sorted it was onto the colouring.  I used my Zig clean colour markers to colour in the images along with my waterbrush to smooth out the colours.  I got inventive with the colouring and did each mermaid in different colours and with super bright hair.  Here's a few images to give you some ideas of what I was working on.

At this point I got so carried away with the colouring and making the waves that I actually didn't take any photos!  I did manage to get photos of the gorgeous sequins and things that arrived in the post the other day which I now have in little glass jars... LOVE LOVE LOVE!  I used some of these delightful little goodies to add a splash of magic to my cards.

Here they are waiting for the sequins to dry overnight.  Have you spotted the blue wave in the front?... that was made using the extra piece of watercolour background from the start of this post.

This morning I took my cards outside to get good photos of them...

I have to admit that the mermaid with pink hair is my personal favourite!  Do you have a preference?

Here they are all together:

Thanks so much for dropping by my blog today xx