Christmas with the 'Gentleman Collection' Papers for Meg's Garden

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.  So pleased you dropped by.

I have finally started making my Christmas Cards.  Yes, I know, I have started them way too late, but my life has been a bit hectic over the last couple of months and hubby and I have been away on the most wonderful holiday as well so I haven't really cottoned onto the fact that Christmas is just around the corner.  Oh My Gosh!!!  Did I just say that!!  Yikes!!  I really do have to pull the proverbial finger out!!
 Anyway, back to the business at hand (before I totally freak out LOL!) I'm here to share a couple of Christmas cards that have been made with some sheets from Meg's Garden's 'Gentleman Collection' and I really love how they have turned out.  You all know that it is not necessary to use dedicated Christmas paper to make your Christmas cards.  For me, it's more about the colour and texture than it is about the designs so I decided that the 'Gentleman Collection' papers would be perfect.

Card No. 1

I did use a small piece of Christmas paper from Kaisercraft underneath but the top layer is 'A Gentleman's Auto' 12" x 12".  Did a tiny bit of spraying with watered down Distress Ink in 'Peeled Paint' and 'Pine Needles'.

Used some fabulous 2Crafty Chipboard  (Element Set 1, Card Word Circles - Christmas and Mini Reindeers) and a die cut  from Memory Box.  The lovely lace is also available from Meg's Garden.  

Love that gorgeous deep red bloom.  Meg's Garden has some beautiful flowers available in her shop but you should check it out on a regular basis as the stock does change from time to time.   To the cluster I added some die cut leaves, berries, gauze, the lace of course and some bits of twine as well.  

The inside was also decorated with the same paper.  Heat embossed the edges with gold and I created a pocket on the left hand side to hold some gift vouchers.  The right hand side was left blank so I could write the sentiment.

Card No. 2
This one is very similar to the first.  The sheet used here is 'Gentleman' 12" x 12" and I've just added some different colours and different embellishments.

Spread some crackle around on this one and inked it with 'Fired Brick' DI.  The tags are a freebie received with a crafting magazine.

Used the same type of flower and lace in the cluster but this time I added some dodo wire and different berries as well as a piece of  gold mesh and some die cuts.

The inside was decorated the same again just with different colours and different stamps and I've added a small piece of dry wall tape as well.

There you have it!!  My 'Gentleman Collection' Christmas cards.  As I said before, I am really pleased with how these cards turned out so I will be making all of my cards this year in the same manner.  I will be posting those up over the next few weeks so I hope you will pop back here to take a look.  In the meantime why not take a look at all the amazing creations from my Teamies over at the Meg's Garden Blog.  You can find it HERE.   To take a look at all the fabulous products Meg has in her online store, click HERE.

Meg's Garden products used
'Gentleman's Auto' 12 x 12
'Gentleman' 12 x 12
Dodo Wire
Lace 1.6cm white

Thank you so much for visiting and enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care and God Bless.

Marg oxox

Flowers - Just for Me!

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.  Hope you are all having a fabulous day!!

I have another card to share.  Haven't really been in "the crafting zone' lately and was getting a bit down about it but things have picked up again and I decided to make something 'just for me'.  Didn't care if it was good or bad, just wanted to get my fingers dirty so to speak.   I had started another Art Journal page but got stuck and it's still waiting for me to finish it so, in the meantime, I made this card.

The papers I used are from Meg's Garden's 'Gentlemen's Collection' and, though they are certainly wonderful for masculine projects, they also work just as well for feminine ones.

Did a little bit of stamping  with a text stamp and black archival ink and also added a bit of texture through a stencil.  I actually wanted to drizzle some paint over the papers, but had a lot of trouble getting it right so used the stencil instead.  Also sprinkled the background with watered down Black Soot D.I.

The wooden flourish is from Kaisercraft.  Coloured it with Distress Inks and lightly swiped it with gesso.

The large flowers are from Kaisercraft, the small roses from Meg's Garden and the rest are from my stash.  The metal leaves were lightly swiped with gesso.

The ticket was fussy cut from Prima's Engraver Collection, edged with Distress Ink and, again, swiped with gesso.  Love that gesso!!!

The inside was decorated with some strips of the same papers and stenciled with Tea Stain D.I.

I may have to make a few more of these 'random' cards just to perk up the old 'mojo'.  It didn't take a lot of time to do and I just went with the flow and did whatever I felt like.  Must say, I thoroughly enjoyed the process.  Sometimes you've just got to please yourself!!

Thank you so much for visiting and I do hope you like my little floral make.  I'll probably give it away to someone but, for the moment, it's there to remind me why I love crafting so much.

Take care, lovely people and enjoy the rest of your day.
God Bless.

A Thank you for a Sweet Friend

Hello my lovely visitors and welcome to my blog.  I do hope you are enjoying your day.  We're getting quite a bit of rain in Adelaide today.  It's wonderful!!

I'd especially like to welcome my new followers.  Thank you so much ladies for joining me, I really do appreciate it.

Today I'd like to share a card I made as a Thank you to a dear friend.  I have known this lady for a number of years and she would have to be the kindest soul you could ever hope to meet.

 The papers I've used are from Maja's 'Walking in the Forest' Collection.  I've also used a little bit of Prima's Sunrise Sunset paper for one of the die cut layers.  

 The flower is from Prima.  I've had it in my stash for quite a long time and finally found the right place to use it.  I love the little charms and pearls attached to it.  

 The base paper was cut to size and then distressed but all the other layers have simply been torn to the size and shape I wanted.  Makes it look extra shabby, and I love that.

 Added some bits in between the layers such as the half square doily, the gauze and the punched sprigs.

The two chippies on the side are Imaginarium's Tiny Keri Flourish.  They have been coloured with Walnut Stain Distress Ink and then lightly brushed with Versa Color Gold.

Tucked a KC paper flower in at the bottom, which was also lightly brushed with gold Versa Color, and also added some strips of Tim Holtz Washi Tape.

Rolled some of the edges of the paper.  I really love that look.  The flourish shape under the flower was cut from white cardstock with my Silhouette.  I then stamped it with Kc's Script stamp and edged it with Tea Stain Distress Ink to make it blend in.

On the inside I simply adhered a number of torn strips of the Washi Tape.  I need to find a really lovely friendship quote to add to the card before I can give it to my friend.

My friend loves blues and orange so I am really pleased that I found this paper range.  It was perfect for my card.

I am so pleased you came for a visit and thank you for taking the time.  Hopefully you enjoyed it enough that you will want to come back.

Take care and God Bless.
oxox Marg

Feeling Blue ... but in a very Happy Way!!!

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.  So happy that you popped in for a visit!!  

I'd like to wish all my Aussie peeps a very happy Australia Day!!  Hope you all had a great time.

We had a lovely day here.  Hubby and I went over to a friend's house for a BBQ and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!!  

Today I have another card to share and the reason I added the 'Happy' to my title is that this card is made with product from two prize wins!!!  The first, of course, being the gorgeous Pion Design papers which I've had for a while now, and the other is the prize I won from Scrapmatts through Helen Tilsbury's Blog Hop a while ago.  I actually received these chippies as I was making this card so they came in very handy.  A big THANK YOU to both Helen and Scrapmatts for my amazing Blog Hop win!!!!

You can find Helen's Blog HERE and Scrapmatts HERE.

Now, I should have been making more masculine cards but felt the need to do something 'pretty' so I made another feminine one, with flowers, of course.    

Here 'tis.

As stated before, the papers are from Pion Design.  I have thoroughly enjoyed creating with these.  The patterns are very subtle but oh so pretty!!  Unfortunately it doesn't really show up very well on these photos.

I love the ripped paper look, so went for that again here.  Distressed the edges but, as I didn't want them to look aged, I didn't bother to ink them.  I just crumpled them up a bit and did some doodling  around the edges with a white gel pen. 

 I used a scoreboard to create the lines on the base paper to give it that corrugated look as a bit of added interest and then cut a doily in half and inserted that between the two layers of DP.

The flowers are a mix of Prima, Kaisercraft and Ribtex and the leaves were cut on my Silhouette.   There are also some Magnolia Ink gem strays tucked in between.  Placed some gauze underneath the cluster as well, it just softens the outline a bit ...

... and here is part of my prize from Scrapmatts!!  The gorgeous Happy Birthday chippie!!!  I simply coloured it a little with some Versa Magic 'Cloud White'.  The blue ribbon is from my stash.

 Here is a better look at those gem sprays.

So, there we are.  A feminine card 'happily' made with two fantastic give-aways from two totally amazing Companies.   Thank you again to Pion Design and Scrapmatts and also, of course, to Helen Tilsbury.  You made my day guys ... Thank you all ... you are amazing!!!

And thank you too, my lovely visitors for dropping in and letting me share this with you.

Please do take care and God Bless.

oxox Marg

Meg's Garden DT Project

Hi everyone, so pleased you dropped by and hope you are all having a lovely day

My next Meg's Garden DT Project is up on the Blog.  

Here is a little sneak peek for you.

For all the details please visit the Meg's Garden Blog HERE and maybe leave a little comment there.

That would be really lovely.

Thank you for visiting.

Take care and God Bless.

ox Marg

Christmas Cards - #1

Hello everyone!!  A very warm welcome to my blog!

So, I guess everyone is busy getting ready for Christmas.  Life is starting to get quite hectic around here.  Shops are chocka-bloc full of people every time we go and it's getting more and more difficult to find a parking space!  I know!! I know!!  If I had been better prepared I would have done all my Christmas shopping ages ago and had all my cards made!!  I say that every year and every year it's a last minute rush..  Don't know why I just can't learn from past mistakes!!  Ah well!!  Maybe next year??!!!

Anyhow, I have a card to share.  One of the Christmas ones I've been busy with.

The papers I've used are from Meg's Garden's Christmas Time Collection Mini Pack. Distressed the edges and added some hand sewing.

 The gorgeous ribbon also is from Meg's Garden.  It was ivory originally but I coloured it with Fired Brick Distress Stain.  Simply sprayed it onto my non-stick mat and then ran the ribbon through it. I love how it turned out.  

 The wreath was cut from cardstock with my Silhouette Portrait.  I simply tweaked it a little and added some small branches to fill it out a bit.  Added the small gems for berries and the 'snow' is white puff paint.  

Some closies.

 On the inside I used some Kaisercraft papers but I don't know which collection they are from.  The border punch is Martha Stewart's Doily Lace. 

 Found the little verse on the net, printed it onto some cream cardstock and cut it out with Couture Creations Victorian Square.  The sprig was cut from another Kaisercraft paper with Memory Box's Snowflake Sprig Die.

 I used Versa Color  'Olive' and 'Scarlet' for the stamping but don't actually know where the stamp is from.   I know it looks light and uneven but that was actually the look I was going for so I'm quite happy with it.

 The die cuts underneath the wreath are Couture Creations Crystal Star and Memory Box's Tiffany Frame.

I haven't finished all my Christmas cards as yet but I am getting there.  Luckily the overseas ones have already been posted so hopefully they will get to their destinations on time.  

Thank you so much for visiting, I know how busy everyone must be at this time of the year and I really appreciate you taking the time.

Take care and God Bless.

Marg oxox