Pretty In Pink

     This card has been made for a special young lady on her special day. The items used are from Creative Expressions.

     Fold two sheets of the 8x8 inserts collection as shown in the photo. This is an idea I first saw several years ago, it's based on an origami fold you can watch here on You-tube.

     I used a piece of white card to make the hinge but I coloured the area that would be seen with an alcohol marker. I stuck some pink ribbon into the gap on the sides before sticking the sides down so the card can be tied shut for presentation.

     Inside the card I have used white card coloured pink again to create the base for the die cut squares, both white squares are mounted on gold paper.
     The greeting square has been stamped and embossed with Bright Gold then coloured with Distress Ink Spun Sugar. There will be a photograph on the right hand panel before I give it to Em.

     The white panel that is on the insert paper is ideal for the decorative panel, using the small stamps in the Butterfly Montage Collection I stamped in Distress Inks Spun Sugar, Seedless Preserve and Brilliance Gold to create foliage that would poke out behind the die cut panel.
     The flowers and butterflies are stamped and embossed in clear, then fussy cut and glued on to the card, the flowers have a tiny gem in the middle to add sparkle.
     21 is die cut from the same gold paper used to back all of the square panels. This front panel has also been coloured with Spun Sugar then mounted on foam pads above the foliage.

Materials used
Phil Martin Graceful Butterflies & Dragonflies 8x8 Insert Collection pad
PM stamps - Butterfly Montage Collection
John Lockwood stamp set - Flower Hearts Elements (greeting)
CE Embossing Powder - Clear / Bright Gold
Distress Ink - Spun Sugar / Seedless Preserve
Sue Wilson Die -  Madison Square

Autumn At The House Of Cards

      Autumn has arrived at the House Of Cards. This month we would like you to use our photo for inspiration, add texture and/or use the colour palette.

      This card has a background of Kraft card embossed with an autumn leaf design, it was then coloured with several different gilding waxes and buffed to a subtle shine.
     The large pumpkin is a Sixxiz die, the small ones are a Cuttlebug die that has an embossing folder with it.
     The pumpkins are coloured with a mix of Distress inks and alcohol markers after being cut from orange pearl and green card.
     The largest pumpkin is stuck flat onto the backing but the others are mounted on foam pads to give dimension.
     The mat is a layer of chocolate pearl card which is then stuck on to an olive green card blank.  I have not added a greeting as yet, this will be done when I have decided what to use it for.

   


     Come and join us at the House Of Cards, we have lots of inspiration for you that will be showcased each week, we would love to see your take on our photo.

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

Creative Moments - Autumn Colours

The Sisterhood Of Crafters - Pumpkin Patch

Solar Sparkle Ball

     Here is something a little different for Altered Eclectics this month, it's an idea I saw on You-Tube and thought I just had to make one.

     To make the ball you will need 50 clear plastic cups and a pack of 50 LED lights, mine are solar powered and came from a local discount shop. The ball made on You-Tube had slightly more tapered cups, mine were a little too slim so I had to add a shot glass between each cup.
     The cups need to have a hole drilled in the bottom so the led light will go through it, I've used a hand drill that used to be Dad's.

     Each cup has been stapled to the next, starting with a centre band of 10 cups and building one half of the ball, then the second half ball was made. With both halves laying next to each other push one light through each cup hole, then carefully join both halves making sure not to staple the cable.
     The finished ball is perched on top of a tree stump in a pot with the solar panel tucked beside it.
     During daylight hours it doesn't look as good but it does raise some interest with visitors. The lights last well into late evening at the moment, the front porch is south facing so it should be good for a while, it's also sheltered from the rain.
    Come and join us at Altered Eclectics with your creations, we like altered art and handcrafted items, anything but a card or an ATC.
   

I would like to enter this sparkle ball in the following challenges:

613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes (optional Sapphire - change white lights for blue)

Decorate To Celebrate - Party Decoration  (would look great with flashing lights)

Leaf It Out

     It's an Autumn theme at The Male Room this challenge, just remember to make your project suitable for a man or boy.
     I have a stamp set in my stash with the most gorgeous leaves in various sizes, I also have a collection of mica powders in beautiful colours so what could be better than to use them together.
     The base card is a chocolate brown pearl card, dark card shows off mica powders so well. The wording is stamped and embossed in CS Bright Gold before adding the leaves, these are all stamped in Versamark and then dusted with a mix of green, gold, bronze and rust coloured mica's. I also stamped a spare small leaf and fussy cut it to mount on foam pads to add a little more interest. The mica panel was dusted to remove excess powder, then lightly covered with hair spray to fix it.
     The image panel is mounted on a thin layer of old gold paper and mounted on a Kraft card decorated with more leaves stamped with Versamark but this time dusted with brown chalk.
     Come and join us at The Male Room with your masculine autumn makes, pop over to the challenge blog and take a look at all the inspiration we have for you.

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

Make My Monday - Autumn Colours

One Stitch At a Time - Leaves

Pink Pocket Card

     This card was made using a selection of products from Creative Expressions Phil Martin range.

      It all started with a sheet of paper from the 8x8 pad Graceful Butterflies, this is a good quality firm double sided paper.
     Fold the paper in half with the pattern on the outside, open and fold in half the other way to get quarters. Cut from the outside to the middle on ONE side as shown, fold the bottom right corner in and the top right corner out as shown, they are not the same so do check before you fold.

      Fold the bottom corner in and fix down, fold the lower half of the square up to meet the top half (the pattern will show now). Turn it over and fix the small corner flap down.
      Now fold the card in half along the crease line. The patterned square will form the backing to your pockets, this will need to be fixed along the bottom edge, the left hand edge of the front patterned triangle will also need to be fixed to the plain layer to form the other pocket.  This should leave you with a double pocket on the front and a single layer flap for the back of your card.
     I would suggest trying this out on a piece of scrap paper first so you don't waste the good one.

      Now you have the card blank made you can begin to decorate it. I have a small gap open in my front pocket accessed from inside the card, perfect for a secret message tag.
     The greeting, which is from a John Lockwood set, has been added to a small die cut from the Madison Square set edged with Distress Ink Spun Sugar.
     Decoration on the outside started with stamping one of Phil martin's Sentiment Borders across the flap that is plain pink using Distress Ink Seedless Preserve. On the top right corner there is a small flower made using Graceful Pink Sparkle Texture Paste through a Doodle Daisy mask.

     The flowers are made using Sue Wilson die Classic Foldover Flowers and strips cut from another sheet of the paper pad. The greenery is die cut with a Couture Creations die and some of the green paper in the same pad.
     The butterflies are stamped with Phil Martin's Butterfly Montage set and Seedless Preserve, then clear embossed and fussy cut.
     The tags are die cut from the paper pad, the edges coloured with Distress inks and flowers made using the paste and stencils again. The greeting is stamped and embossed in Bright Gold.
     Once the tags are dry you can tuck them into the pockets, these are ideal for writing little messages on and could be used as bookmarks later on.

Materials used
Phil Martin Graceful Butterflies & Dragonflies 8x8 pad
PM stamps - Decadent Damask Every day Sentiments
                      DD Sentiment Borders
                      Butterfly Montage Collection
John Lockwood stamp set - Flower Hearts Elements
That Special Touch Mask - Doodle Daisies
CE PM Sparkle Texture Paste - Graceful Pink / Decadent Wine
CE Embossing Powder - Clear / Bright Gold
Distress Ink - Spun Sugar / Seedless Preserve
Sue Wilson Die - Classic Foldover Flowers / Madison Square
Couture Creations Die - Classic Vine

Stubborn Gremlins

     Here's a tree decorations made using Stix2 products and a few extra beads. I have used four snowflake die cut shapes, some of the seed beads and iridescent glitter.
    The large beads and bells are from Sparkle and Flair in Harleston, Norfolk where I was demonstrating on Saturday.

     I still have no connection at home, we are waiting for BT to come and dig a big hole to reach the broken cable.
     When we get back on line I have lots to show you as I've been crafting to stay calm!

     See you all soon I hope!

Technical Gremlins

    We are having some technical issues here, a saga that has been running for well over a week and shows little sign of improvement.  All is not lost, crafting is keeping me sane......well almost, so there will be lots to post when we are up and running again.