Banana!!!!

     This card is just for fun, well actually it's for my husband, but it's not for any design team. We all love watching the Minions, even Grandma, so when we found a stamp set in a toy shop we just couldn't resist.

     There are lots of stamps in the set but these three are my favourite, so I stamped them on white card and coloured them with alcohol markers.
     I cut each one out and mounted them on a dark blue card mat before sticking them on to a bright yellow large DL card blank. The greeting running along the bottom is a gold peel off.
     Despicable Me is a great family film, it's certainly one this family loves to watch again and again.

I would like to enter these Minions in the following challenges:

Top Tip Tuesday - Use An Action Stamp

The Dream Factory - Love Films (Gru learns to love the girls)

Little Red Wagon - Cute

Couture Creations Vintage Gift Box

     This week's project for Creative Expressions is the gift box to go with last weeks card. Again using papers and dies by Couture Creations as well as a Spellbinder die and some Foundations card.

      To make this gift box you will need a sheet of pretty double sided card and access to this tutorial by the talented Christina Griffiths.
     Christina uses a 12x12 paper in her tutorial, I have used a 6x6 for this box. I did practice on a sheet of copy paper first just to get the hang of it, with her instructions it was easy.
     Using a 6x6 paper gave me a finished box of 2 1/2 inches, just right for a necklace or some earrings.

      Where Christina had used lace I have used paper lace, made using a Spellbinder die called Romantic Rectangles and cream card. The largest of the dies in the set cut enough paper lace on one long side to edge one point on the box.
     Being paper lace I was able to stick it on with Cosmic Shimmer PVA dries clear glue, you'll notice that Christina uses this glue to assemble her box too.

      I used another sheet of Couture Creations Vintage Rose Garden to line the bottom of the box and to cover the lid. I didn't use the same pattern for the lid as I had for the box, which wasn't a problem as all the papers in the pad co-ordinate beautifully.
      The lid carcass was made using Foundations card Taupe. I have used the Couture Creations die Vintage Roses to cut dusky pink flowers to go on each point, this helps tie it in with the card from last week.

      The top of the lid is covered with the same paper as the base insert, which means that to make the box and the lid I have only used two sheets of the paper from the pad, leaving me lots more to play with.
     The greenery is cut using Couture Creations die Classic Vine and some green card. The paper roses are glued down around the little ribbon handle that was made using Creative Expressions Satin Ribbon - Rose.

Materials used

Couture Creations dies - Vintage Roses / Classic Vine

C.C. Paper Pad - Vintage Rose Garden

Spellbinder Die Set - Romantic Rectangles

Creative Expressions Foundations Card - Taupe

CE - Cosmic Shimmer PVA dries clear Glue

CE Satin Ribbon - Rose

I would like to enter this gift box in the following challenges:

Craft For The Craic - Bingo (flowers,ribbon,die cut)
Crafts 4 Eternity - Anything But A Card
Dream Valley Challenges - Mother's Day
Crafty Boots - Anything But A Card

Ship Sketch For The Male Room

     This fortnight at The Male Room we have a sketch for you. You can create a card or a layout using our sketch, just keep it masculine and enter it in our challenge.
     This card is one of the masculine cards I will be demonstrating on Saturday at Keep On Crafting in Bury St.Edmunds, so if you're in town pop in and say hello.
     The stamps are by Woodware, Shipped Script and Bon Voyage. All stamped on white card using Archival Cobalt ink.
     The card is 5 1/4 inches square with a blue mat layer slightly smaller and stamped with the ship and some seagulls in Cobalt. The map square is 2 1/2 inches, the script square is 2 inches and the greeting square is 1 1/2 inches, they are layered on tip of each other to keep the card thin enough for posting.       I have tried to use tape runners in the past and got myself in a rotten mess but I have finally found one that works for me....High Tack Permanent by Stix2. This one has not taken flight toward the bin!!
      Come and join us at The Male Room with your creations, we have design team call running too.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Crafting From The Heart - Anything Goes

Not Just Cards - Anything Goes

Cardz 4 Guys - Sailing

Couture Creations Rose Bouquet

   This project would be ideal for Mother's Day, which here in the UK is March 15th. It's made using three Couture Creations dies and one Sue Wilson die set, all available from Creative Expressions. A little heavy on the die cutting but Mum's are worth it aren't they?

     The first two dies are both Couture Creations, Vintage Roses and Classic Vine. Both have been cut several times in plain white card.

     For the bouquet the vine is cut into four pieces as per the photo. The roses are cut into single stems but don't throw the base away, this is trimmed to look like a butterfly.
     The best thing about getting new dies is finding out how many different ways they can be used, I would suggest cutting them out in an inexpensive card and playing around with them, cut them apart to see what else you can make. The more you can make with them the better value they will be!

 
     Once all cut apart colour the flowers and foliage with inks or pens, the rose has cut out parts so I have backed the flower heads with a darker card to give contrast.
     Assemble the coloured flowers in to a small bouquet ready to go into your lace wrap, layer some of the flowers using foam pads to give dimension.

     Using Couture creations die Heart Bouquet cut once in thin card, being thin card it will curl into a cone more easily than thick card.
     Have the point facing you and roll the sides toward the middle to wrap around and form a cone to hold your flowers.
     Try the bouquet in the cone, adjust if necessary and glue in to place. Add a small ribbon bow on the front of the cone and glue firmly. Colour the butterfly and stick on to the flowers.

     The bouquet is mounted on an oval of Couture creations paper from the Vintage Rose Garden 6x6 stack, this was cut using Sue Wilson die set Austrian Collection Innsbruck (which I borrowed from my Mum...shhh...don't tell). The same set was used to cut the lacy green layer and a white layer to go underneath the green. There are 5 die in this set, I have used the largest three.
     I have used Cosmic Shimmer PVA Glue in Dusky Pink to add tiny dots to the lacy oval, bringing the green and pink together.

     The base white card has been coloured using Distress Ink Victorian Velvet, then I have water stamped with a script stamp to leave pale writing across the background.
     The corners looked a little empty so I cut some more of the Classic Vine, cut it apart and coloured it with Distress Ink Bundled Sage. Once dry I stuck these little bits of greenery in the corners.
     It has been fun using the dies and cutting them apart to make something a little different. This card will have to be for my Mother-In-Law as my Mum is not fond of pink ( and she'll spot the dies I borrowed too), I shall come up with something else for her.

Materials used
Couture Creations Dies - Heart Bouquet / Classic Vine / Vintage Roses
Couture Creations 6x6 Paper Pad - Vintage Rose Garden
Sue Wilson Die Set - Austrian Collection Innsbruck
Cosmic Shimmer PVA Glue - Dusty Pink / Dries Clear
Distress Inks - Victorian Velvet / Bundled Sage
Thin white card / green card

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Jellypark Challenges - One For The Mums
Quirky Crafts - Pretty In Pink
That Craft Place - Anything Goes / Mother's Day
The Ribbon Girl - Add Flowers

Going Dotty

     House Of Cards this month have a stash challenge for you, we would like you to use Enamel Dots. If you don't have any then pop over to our blog and watch the tutorial on how to make some with hot glue, later in the month we have another tutorial on making them using Perle Beads (Hamma Beads to us Brits).
     I had some enamel dots given to me last summer and I put them away in a safe place, you guessed it, so safe I couldn't find them! A few hours and a very messy craft room later I remembered where they were, on my desk all the time, safe and sound in the draw unit with the gems, obviously!!
     The colours of the dots matched some of my Distress Inks so a plan was hatched, then I remembered a Clarity stencil that was dots and circles, abstract it is then.

     Picked Raspberry, Crushed Olive and Peacock Feathers were the three Distress Inks that I used, you can see where the inks overlap there are hints of other colours, like mauve, green and orange.
     I used masking tape to hold down the card and the stencil while adding the inks, then before removing the stencil I flicked water over the whole thing and dabbed it off with a tissue.
     Using the dots I put one in the middle of each white dot, there are three different sizes of enamel dot so I tried to space them out evenly.
     The only backing that looked good with this was black so I have used Black Soot Distress Ink to colour the edge of a white card blank. The greeting is a Britannia Die cut in black card.
     I think it's a fun, modern abstract type card, done in shades of blue and green it could be a good teenage boy card. Please pop over to the House Of Cards and see what the team have come up with, I'm sure you'll find inspiration there as well as instruction on how to make your own dots.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Brown Sugar - Anything Goes
QKR Stampede - Circles
Sister Act - Anything Goes

Cut and Fold

     An altered book can be many things, this one is folded purely as a decoration. Altered Eclectics is a challenge blog for altered art and recycled items, pop over and take a look at the amazing things that the team have made with tins, boxes, clocks and CD's.

     I have folded this book with my craft name in it. There were a few pages either side of the name that were spare, these can either be cut out as long as there are only a few, or disguised as I have done.
     Once the name was complete I stuck a piece of black card over each page facing the name, then coloured the page edges with a black alcohol marker. This book didn't need a ribbon to hold it at the right angle, it just seems to sit happily as it is.
     The outside hard cover has been decorated with Chinese paper cuts that I have had since I was a teenager, they are stuck on and covered with Decopatch Matt medium although they do appear to be a little more satin than mat. There was a little colour run from the paper cuts but on a black book it doesn't show.
     The spine has a long peel off of cherry blossom over a black card panel which covers the printed spine of the book. There are also some small peel offs on the corners of the black inserts to tie it all together.
     Come over and join us at Altered Eclectics with your altered creations, we love to see what wonderful things can be made from cast offs.

I would like to enter my book in the following challenges:

Country View Crafts - Anything Goes

Oh Christmas Tree

     This lovely row of trees is a digi stamp by Bugaboo called Christmas Tree Row, they are our sponsors over at CraftyHazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra. We are an anything goes as long as it's Christmas challenge so you don't have to make a card, it could be a decoration or a gift.
     I have printed the trees out twice on white card and matched them up, I had to draw a small ground line to join them with a black pen. They are coloured with alcohol markers in various shades of green with little brown trunks.
     The snow line is coloured with a Cool Grey marker which has a slightly blueish tinge, I have also made some small marks along the snow at random. Each tree is outlined with an Ice Grey marker to make the green stand out more. Every brand of markers are slightly different even if the colour names are the same so I play on a spare piece of card first to check it's the colour I want.
     I have used Sakura Stardust pens to colour the lights and the stars on the trees. This has been picked up by using a gold mat layer under the image panel before going on to green backing paper on a white card blank. The greeting is a continuous peel off in gold, a bit tricky to line up but with a little patience I got there.
     Please come and join in the festive fun at CraftyHazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra, it's never too soon to start those cards.