2016 Christmas Cards #3

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.  Hope your day is going well.

At the end of last year I decided I would make at least two Christmas cards each month so that, by the time Christmas came around again, I would be well on the way to having my cards done.  Well, if you have read my previous Christmas card post (HERE), you know that didn't happen.  I have fallen way behind on that schedule but, I am trying to catch up. 
After posting the previous card, I actually surprised myself and got stuck right in and made two more.  Bit of a shock to the system actually but, I survived it .. LOL!!

As you can see, these two cards are very similar.  Similar design and similar elements, just slightly different colouring.  Papers used are from Kaisercraft's Holy Night 12 x 12 Paper Pad. 

Card No. 1.

The baubles and berry sprays are leftover from last years cards (it's great that I'm using these up and don't have to find a place to store them) and the pine boughs were cut with Impression Obsession Die 021-N.

Just to add a little interest, I tucked some gauze in between the circles ..

.. and, of course, I had to add some splooshes and splats of gesso.

The inside has a pocket on the right for a gift card or, I can just tuck a personal message in there.

So, that was card No. 1 ..

.. and this is No. 2.

As I said, they are very similar to each other.  Different colouring of course but this one has an extra paper layer and rounded corners.

The silver baubles were originally red.  I simply painted them with gesso and, while it was still wet, dipped them into some silver glitter.

Added a little gauze underneath the cluster this time and used some different flowers.

As on the first card, the right hand side is a pocket.

I used a different brush for the splatters this time and it went down a bit heavier than I would have liked.  Will have to go back to the old brush I think.

And there you have it, two more Christmas cards done and dusted.  Now that I've started the ball rolling maybe I can keep it going.  Maybe!  LOL!!

Thank you so much for dropping by and enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care, stay safe and God Bless.
Live the life you have imagined.

A Tag .. and Planner Update!

Hello all my crafty friends.  So pleased you dropped by and hope you are having a wonderful day.

I'm here to share a little tag I created.  I watched a tutorial by Tammy Tuterow and, although the basic technique wasn't something new that I hadn't tried before, it was something I hadn't done in a while so I decided to have a little play.  HERE is the link to the tutorial and ..
this is my tag.

I used a slightly different colour combo to the one Tammy used and she used clear texture paste whereas mine is slightly transparent.  Tammy also added micro beads and glitter while the paste was still wet but, unfortunately, I got called away just after I stenciled this and by the time I got back, it was too late to do that.  Ah well, such is life.  Maybe next time.

I did some stamping on the background with my two fave stamps.  'Arty' and  a Script stamp .. both from Kaisercraft.

The two white blooms are the 'Puffy Paper Flower' and the 'Azalea' which are both available from Megs Garden.  The Azalea was all white , I simply coloured the center with some watered down acrylic paint.  The other flower was part of a crafty gift from my dear friend Heather Jacob.  

The chippie is from 2Crafty Chipboard and I added a little 'Rust' to the Tim Holtz Word Band.  The Word Band is available from Megs Garden.

I didn't follow the whole Tute from Tammy  .. just the basic background .. and then it just grew from there.  Not sure yet what I will do with this tag.  I may even turn it into my next Christmas card .. that should be interesting,  LOL!!

Now, about my Planner.  In my last post I mentioned that I wasn't really happy with the dividers I made.  I was even thinking of perhaps making some mixed media style ones, although that was going to be a lot of work.  Well, I did decide to change them.  Luckily, I had only done January and February so there wasn't a lot to change.

This is the original January divider ..

.. and this is the new one.

I am so much happier with the new ones.  I had downloaded some Katy Pertiet  free printables (HERE is the link) which I was going to use as small labels inside my planner.  I  resized them using Photo Shop and then also changed the colour balance on some of them to match in with the coloured monthly tabs and now they are my dividers .. and I love them!!!  The best part is .. they took hardly any effort at all.

 This is the original February divider ..

.. and this is the new one.

Covered the back of the last weekly January page, and created a pocket to hold my stickers.   A lot neater than doing it the other way,

I do realise that February is not the start of Autumn but I really love this page and it matched in well with the monthly tab.  So March, eat your heart out!!  LOL!!

So, that's my new look Planner.  Every once in a while I will show you more of my pages.  I'm really enjoying putting this together.  I don't have to worry about inking or stamping (unless I want to of course LOL!!)   all I'm really doing is adding stickers and washi (or my facsimile) and then just journaling about the things that are happening in my life.  I love it!!  No stress, no hassles, I only do what I want to do .. like I said "I love it!!"

That's all for today sweet friends.  Thank you so much for visiting and do enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care and God Bless.

 

Christmas with Feeling Sketchy #133

Hi everyone!!  Welcome, and thank you for dropping by, so nice to have you visit.

I started making my Christmas cards for this year a few weeks ago.  Haven't made very many yet but am totally stoked that I actually managed to get them started this early.  Well, early for me anyway.  It's usually December before I even start thinking about them and to have actually started making them in November is amazing!!  I am so proud of myself!!  Anyways, I thought, seeing as I was making cards anyway, why not make one for a Challenge, and so the card I am about to share with you was made for the Feeling Sketchy Challenge # 133.
I saw the sketch thanks to Lizzy Crust at Crumbs of Creativity (love her work!!) and thought it would be perfect for one of my cards so ..

This is the sketch  ..

 .. and this is my interpretation.

I have used papers from Megs Garden's  'A Musical Christmas' Mini Paper Pack and turned the sketch upside down ('cos I could!!)  LOL!!

This large bloom was white originally.  I simply sprayed it with Dylusions Cherrie Pie Ink Spray.

I've had those gold 'Merry Christmas' stickers in my stash for years.  Found them again while I was cleaning up and they came in very handy!

The tickets to the North Pole are from an old Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet and the little bauble spray was pulled out of a Christmas decoration which was bought specifically for use on my cards!

Created a pocket for a Gift Voucher by fussy cutting one of the paper sheets.  The quote at the top is a cut apart from another Kaisercraft collection.

Created a bit of 'snow' on my card by adding some spots of gesso and then, while it was still wet, sprinkling it with some glitter.  You can't see it too well on these photos but it looks really pretty!!  Pamelia Johnson did a fabulous tutorial on the Frilly and Funkie site.  Her card is a lot snowier than mine but I did use some of her technique!!

So, another card done, and a Challenge entered!!
At the beginning of the year I had intended to enter at least one Challenge each month.  Well, that never happened so, I'm thinking, maybe next year!  Maybe!!  You never know!!

Thank you so much for visiting and here is the Link again for the Feeling Sketchy Challenge.  Why not have a go??  It's really fun and so easy to make a card following a sketch!

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

An Anniversary Card

Hello again everyone!!  A very warm welcome to my blog, so pleased you came for a visit and I hope you are all having a wonderful day!  I have some new followers as well.  A very warm welcome to you and thank you so much for joining me.

I am quite busy making my Christmas cards at the moment and really enjoying the process.  Will start showing them soon but not just yet.  Gotta keep you in suspense just a bit longer.  LOL!!

My oldest son and his beautiful wife celebrated their Anniversary a few days ago and so I am here to share the card I made for them. 

The papers used are from Prima's 6 x 6 Timeless Memories Paper Pad.  I  simply tore it at the top and bottom, rolled the edges and added a small piece of black lace behind the openings ..

.. then inserted my flower clusters along with some stamens and bits of twine.

Added some Prills, did a little doodling and splashed a bit of white gesso and black ink over the paper.

The flourish was cut with Die-namics Framing Flourishes die.  I actually cut two and glued them together for a bit more dimension.
I'm really enamored of this staggered style of card at the moment.  That extra bit at the side just makes it a little more unique!!  I think so anyway.

The inside edged with strips of  the same papers.

I really liked this colour combination .. will definitely have to use it again!!

Thank you so much for coming to visit. For my South Aussie peeps, hope you keep your cool over the next few days, it's going to be HOT!!!

Take care everyone and I hope you have a very enjoyable week.
God Bless.

Man Card #2

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.

I'm here to share the second of two male cards I created just recently.  If you haven't seen it, and you'd like to, the first one is HERE.   

This card, and the previous one, were both made predominantly with Prima's Engraver Collection.

I really love these papers .. my fave colour combo!!
This card was actually made first and took me a few days to complete.  Then I used the left over bits, and some things I decided not to use here, to make the other one and that only took an hour or so to make.  This one is a bit more involved than the other card but still ... not sure if there is a lesson to be learned here or not.   

 

I've never used staples before but thought I would give it a try and, I like it!!  A great way to attach the twine from the labels so they don't just dangle every which way.

Had to add some crackle and, of course, swipe some gesso as well.

Cut out the Happy Birthday with my Silhouette Portrait.  I actually cut two and glued them together for some extra depth/height .. whatever.  I also covered it in Glossy Accents, although you can't really see that here.

The inside .. of course.

The stamp is from the 'Pearls of Wisdom' Set by My Favourite Things.

A couple of closies showing the layers.

 .. and another front view (just in case you forgot what it looked like LOL!!).

So, that is all my 'man' cards done for this year .. Yayy! .. and now I can get started on Christmas!!
That's quite freaky actually, because I have never started my Christmas makes before the end of November.  Hopefully this means less stress!! ..  or not!! .. LOL!!

Thank you so much for visiting and special thanks to you sweet people who take the time to leave me some love.  I really, really appreciate it!!  Hope you all enjoy the rest of your day.

Take care and God Bless.