My last post of 2008

Just another quick Hi to wish everyone a very Happy New Year!
I've been so busy over the "holidays"! I haven't done one crafty thing.
I haven't even had a go with my new craft robo yet (boo hoo) but I can't wait!

I really should do something though as Holly is being Christened on Saturday and I haven't got a card made for her yet.

Anyway, gotta go and get some beauty sleep!

Again - Happy New Year - wishing you lots of love and luck for 2009!
And I'm looking forward to a new year of blogging fun!! ;)

Merry Christmas!!

Just a very quick visit to wish everone a very merry christmas.
I haven't had a chance to visit anyone much lately so I hope you all see this greeting.
I hope Santa was as good to you as he has been to me (I must have been a very good girl this year!!) I got a Craft Robo!!!
I can't wait to get playing with my new toy!!

A different money wallet - for christmas!

Isn't time flying!!! And I'm so busy lately that I've hardly had time to make anything. But I was asked to make a money wallet with a letter in it from Santa, I could hardly refuse the big man could I!!!
This is the outside of the wallet

And this is it opened out

With this letter

And this is the back

I couldn't put my usual name on it as it was for a special customer!

I used a sheet of A4 card and scored it at the 12.5cm scoreline, folded it and butted the fold up and scored another line at the 12.5cm mark. I then trimmed a small amount off the edge of the longest flap and folded it all up and I had the basic envelope shape.
I matted and layered everywhere - I almost started doing it to the cat!!
On the inside middle flap, I added 2 strips with brads. I made these about a mm longer than the mat so as you can slip some money under them.
I added some clear sakura stardust pen here and there and printed Santa's letter onto vellum.
I had tried to do the closure with magnets but it was too thick so I added the ribbon (although I have a very limited selection of ribbon at the moment - that's one for the january sales!!)
I was happy with the outcome - I wonder if the recipient will even notice the packaging or will the present get all the attention!!

Anyway, best go - it's now 5am!!!

A Holly Card!

I went to make a card for Holly - which I thought would be easy given the fact that she has quite a festive name! But I found it quite hard to make holly look babyish.

This is what I came up with:

I have added an extra piece of silver mirri on the inside with more holly stamped and coloured with sakura glaze pens. I added this after I had given the card to Holly never mind after I took the photo!!
I had the "Holly" wording which came with the bauble stamp from Joanna Sheen, and I stamped and embossed it with sticum powder and stuck pink glitter to it. The baubles were stamped and glittered onto acetate and slotted through each other to create a 3D type bauble to hang in the aperture of the card.
The sentiment was printed onto pink vellum and (working quickly) I applied the sticum powder and glitter to it.

It wasn't quite what I was looking for but I suppose it turned out OK.

I hope you like it!!

I got an award!!!

I can't believe it! I've never got an award before!!
Thank you so much to Chrissie for thinking of me. I haven't even been blogging for very long so I'm really thrilled!

So now for the rules, which are:
Link to whoever gave you the award and pass it on and link to 5 others.
You also have to write down 5 things you are addicted to!

1. I have very quickly become addicted to blogging!
2. both the MAC and JS forums
3. Crafting (whenever I can get the time)
4. Buying craft stash (which is a totally different addiction to actually crafting!!)
5. My family - and especially at the moment with my nephew Ryan and new niece Holly

And now I have to pass the award on to 5 others. This is a difficult task. Not because I don't think everyone deserves it but because I think everyone does deserve it!
Hmmmm.
So, my five are (in alphabetical order)
Andria, Calvin, Irene, Maddy & Suzanne

How about a Christmas Card???

Just for a change...
Well, actually, I haven't shown any christmas cards on my blog yet so it is a change!!!

I made this one for my goregous wee nephew Ryan, and I was really pleased with it!

I used stamps from Sugar Nellie and backing paper from DCWV with white and blue glitter cardstock. I also made a wee dangly charm by stamping the snowman on shrink plastic and coloured it with Sakura stardust pens (remembering to punch a hole through his hat before I shrank it!) and I attached it to the card with jump rings through an eyelet.
I coloured the images with H2O's and made the sentiment with my nestibilities and another Sugar Nellie stamp.

Here's a side view

And a close up of the wee charm

I think I was more excited about giving him the card than he was about getting it - although he is only 1, so I'll let him off this time!!

Thanks for looking!

Money Wallet Tutorial!

Can I just say - Chrissie, great minds!!
I had taken photo's as I went along while I was making the aforementioned money wallet with the intention of doing a tutorial at some point in the future - when I had a bit more time. I have since realised that this is never going to happen so there's no time like the present!
As I was going through the photo's however I noticed a small descrepancy which I'll come to later!

So without further ado, here's the tutorial...

1. For the outer sleeve take an A4 sheet of card to match your greetings card (if applicable) and measure 22cm up each side and leave a small mark with a pencil.

1.

2. Now take something large and round like a dinner plate (or in my case the top of a small round side table!) line it up with your marks and draw around it (curving into the smallest measurement)

2.

(I was going to show a picture of the drawn line here but as I was using dark card it didn't show up in the picture very well - but you'll see it in the next instruction)

3. Carefully cut around the curve

3.

4. Now take your scorboard and sore at the A6 gatefold line along the longest side (or if you don't have a scorboard, then measure and score)

4.

5. Turn your card around and do the same on the other side.

5.

6. Then measure 11cm from the straight edge and score along that line.

6.

7. Carefully cut out the two rectangles now visible at the sides along the straight edge.

7.

8. Fold all the score lines and put double sided tape along the edges.

8.

(The scissors are just there to hold down the flaps til I took the photo!)

9. Stick all the flaps down and trim off any bits that are sticking out. Then leave to one side.

9.

10. Now take a piece of contrasting card - here I'm using gold mirri card - and measure 9.5cm accross. Then take your outter sleeve and line up so as it overlaps the edge of the mirri and your drawn line and the bottom and then draw around the curve (you could cut out a strip of the mirri and put it into the sleeve and draw around the curve then - but I don't like wastage!)

10.

10.

11. Again, carefully cut around the shape. make another shape by drawing around this one out of the same card as the outer sleeve or contrasting card.

11.

(please ignore the mess at the top of this photo - I am a messy crafter!)

12. Now take another piece of contrasting paper (possibly patterned) and cut out a rectangle measuring 5cm x 11.7cm. Draw and score a line one cm in at the bottom (long side) and at each end. Also score a line 1mm out from this line too as this helps it to fold around the other piece of card.

12.

13. Cut across the corners of your scored lines and apply DS tape.

13.

14. Line up the gold mirri piece to the scored lines, fold over and stick in place.

14.

14.

14. This is the front

15. Generously apply wet glue all over the back and attach the other cut out piece. Place under something heavy until dry to keep flat. (this is where my side table top comes in handy again!!)

And here's where the fatal flaw occured. I was called away to do something else ("perfect" I thought, "just when I have it in to dry - it'll be set when I come back!") But when I got back - I forgot to carry on taking photo's, so I'll just have to try to explain the rest!

16. Punch a hole in the middle at the top of the gold mirri piece and thread a small length of ribbon through it and tie in a knot. Also I coloured around the edge of the gold mirri with a gold pentouch pen just to hide the white undercard.

You could also add a tag with names on it to the little pocket bit at the bottom or as I did with this one, cut out a tag and attach it with another bit of ribbon through the first bit of ribbon.

And that's the inner piece done!

17. Back to the outer sleeve. Attach a piece of ribbon across the top where bottom folds up to meet the curve - this just hides the join.

18. Using a glue pen draw around the edge of the curve and add glitter to it - don't forget to do inside the pocket too.

19. Add another tag with the recipients name on it and attach to the front below the opening. You could add some decorative papers or more glitter if you like!

20. Insert the inner sleeve and hey presto, it's finished! And it fits nicely into an A6 envelope.

21. Now add a £100 note and post to: Sheena..... (just kidding!!!) (although if you really want to you can contact me and I'll send my details!!!)

Here's a couple of others that I've done

I thought I had more - but I mustn't have taken photo's of them.

I hope you enjoyed this little lesson - even if some of it was missing!
And if anyone makes one - I'd love to see them! ;)

Thanks for looking!

A Money Wallet

My hairdresser wanted a money wallet too so I made this one to match the card...

I love making these, mainly because I can make them to match the card, but also because they're just fun to make!

Thanks for looking!

Not your average wedding card??

I was asked by my hairdresser to make a wedding card, and I thought as she likes things a bit different and funky, that I'd steer clear of the usual white/silver wedding card style. So I came up with this...

Again, it's in my current favourite shape and I used papers from DCWV "once upon a time" stack. I thought the "Happily ever after" wording was just perfect for a wedding card! I also added some paper flowers (which I can't remember the maker - I'll try to find out later!).

This is the inside...

And the box to put it in...

I like to keep my boxes fairly simple and keep the surprise for whats inside! I did emboss some florishes at the top of the box with holographic powder which doesn't really show on the photo :/

It went down a treat - I was a bit worried as it's not your average wedding card - but my ma said that if she (the hairdresser) didn't like it, she (my ma) would take it! Sorry ma, I'll just have to make you a different one!

Thanks for looking ;)

For Sabrina's 30th

I was invited to a friends 30th birthday party and as she was turning 30, I thought that would require a really special card. So I made one in what has become my favourite style of card to make lately!

Again, it's A5 gatefold with holographic embossing down the right "gate" and hidden magnets and I used papers from DCWV "all dressed up" stack mounted onto silver mirri. I also added a few gems too.

This is the inside:

On the inner panels I coloured a flower on each (flowery) square with a clear sakura glaze pen for a subtle touch.

It's always nice when people recognise the work you've put into a card - and she did! She couldn't get over the weight of it to start with - it's a good thing I wasn't posting it!!

I hope you liked it! I've almost finished my christmas cards - that was a slog! So I'll hopefully soon be adding some of them.

We can't forget Ryan!

I made a card for Ryan - saying as Holly was getting all the cards and pressies - I didn't want him feeling left out!
I saw the image on (you guessed it!) Joanna Sheen's Baby love CD and I thought it was just perfect!
So it was very simply mounted onto silver mirri with a piece of ribbon and a sentiment added and attached to pale blue stardream base card.

He seemed happy enough and I let him work away with it, it just got a little bit bent up!
I also got him an "In the night garden" book which he also loved!

The final card for Holly

This is the last card I made for Holly. I made it for my little sister Rachael to give even though it is by far my favourite of the three - but hey that's me! (Sinead knows I made them all anyway!!)

I used punch stardream card and made it into an A5 gatefold card. I stamped and embossed a flower stamp with holographic embossing powder down the right flap. I then used an image (again from Joanna Sheen's Baby Love CD - I've got my money's worth from this CD!!) and decoupaged the little girl and the balloon. I also added some pink and white sakura glaze pens and some clear sakura stardust pen over the dots around the picture - the glaze pens leaving a slight texture.
I mounted some of the corresponding backing paper onto silver mirri card and attached it to the left flap.
Then I placed a magnet on the inner right flap, closed the card and more or less just dropped the other magnet on top. I made sure that the magnets would be placed where they would be hidden.
I mounted the image using foam pads over the backing paper and hiding the magnet. I also added a couple of sentiments.

For the inside I mounted some silver mirri and some more of the corresponding backing paper on the inside of the flaps - hiding the other magnet.
I also made a little waterfall piece also mounted onto silver mirri (to hide the back of the brads).
And then I got Rachael to sign where you pull the tab to animate the waterfall.

So that's it. Thanks for looking!

Another card for Holly...

This is another card that I made for Holly - this one was from Ma & Da so therefore for their Grand-daughter!

It's another image from Joanna Sheen's Baby Love CD and this time I punched out the face of the angel from the unused largest image using a square punch and another from some mount board. I mounted the picture up and tripple embossed it using holographic powder to give it a really nice sparkly effect. I coloured around the edges to correspond with the colour of the card and then carefully attached it to the main picture. I also painted the wing with a white H20 paint.
I mounted the image onto the matching backing paper from the CD and some mirri card along with some cream feathers sticking out from behind.

I made up an embellishment using some more of the feathers and stamped and embossed a flourish stamp - with white powder on pink vellum and with pink powder on white vellum. I cut around these and attached them to the feathers with wire. I tied a ribbon around the wire and curled a little flower onto the ribbon (this used to be for your hair!). I attached the embellishment using silicone glue.

I added the sentiments which were printed and mounted on mirri card, and in the words of Gordon Ramsey - Done!

1st day of advent

This is the first day of advent and I thought I'd just get my blog into the christmassy mood and updated my blogskin.
Hopefully after christmas I'll remember how to change it back!!!

So let me take this oppurtunity to wish you a very merry christmas!