Cardmaking-Companion-Blog

Becuase it is known that I make cards for charity I am lucky enough to sometimes be given card making supplies from different people. Recently I was given a few boxes from an elderly lady who used to own a craft shop.

It was quite exciting rooting through everything – some of the stuff was very old and had discoloured but I found a few sheets of these cute toppers.

The paper they have been printed on is quite flimsy so I mounted them on silver Mirri card, and because the images, although cute, looked a bit flat I aded a sprinkling of glitter. In the photogragh the glitter looks a bit clumpy but on the actual card it adds a delicate highlight.

The landscape card blank has been covered with the blue multi dot paper from cardmaking-Ideas, which picks up the blue from the Topper.

I’ve used a corner punch on the bottom 2 corners to add interest to the card and added  tiny blue gemstones as an embellishment below the punches.

The sentiment is a peel off sticker mounted onto pale blue card, matt and layered onto the Mirri card.

The cream fabric flower tucked behind the Topper adds a finishing touch to the front of the card. This is one of a lot of fabric flowers which I bought at the Port Sunlight Show.  They come in bunches of about 9 flower heads on wire stems and I really like them. The down side is that they do make the card bulky so ideally you need to make a box, rather than an envelope to put the card in.

Finishing touch is the card insert which is in cream to co ordinate with the flower embellishment.

This ballerina topper was also part of my find. It is so sweet that it makes a great card for a young girl.  Again I have mounted it onto silver Mirri card and I’ve highlighted the flowers with a pinch of glitter. The card is covered with Dusky Pink Swirls, from Cardmaking-Ideas, which I think suits the Topper perfectly.

The sentiment has been matt and layered onto the Mirri card and the finishing touch is a dusky pink organza ribbon. Inside the card is a pink insert.

The card on the right has been made using the same Topper and paper but I’ve just altered the layout slightly by only partcovering the white card blank.  A silver peel off edges the paper.

These Ballerina cards were made prior to me going to the Port Sunlight show. Had I been making them now I would also have added some of the flower embellishments which I bought.

I’ve just got back from a really good day out at the North West Happy Stampers Spring Stamp Festival. The show is held twice a year and I also went to the Autumn show last October.

As you can see from the photograph the event was very busy. It is a ticketed event and was completely sold out. Most stalls had demonstrators and it was just a case of being patient and gradually working your way to the front so you could see what was going on.

I went with my friend, Jean, who is relatively new to card making, and we both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

I had set myself a budget before going but there were so many good offers the budget just went out the window!

Among other things, I bought quite a lot of miniature floral bouquets embellishments so I think you’ll be seeing them on quite a few cards in up and coming blog posts.

With regard to actual rubber stamps I was very controlled – I bought a bargain set of Penny Black baby stamps, 3 wooden sentiment stamps, and 1 really cute  character stamp!

I also treated myself to a couple of new punches to make some grunge flowers with -  so as soon as I’ve finished writing this I’m going to have a play!

This weekrnd is the Bank Holiday Weekend here in the UK. The weather is glorious and I’ve been having a bit of a Spring Clean through the house trying to get rid of things we no longer need or use.

However Spring Cleaning needn’t be just about housework – it can extend to your card making as well!

Here’s a quick card I made last night ready to replenish the dwindling supply of cards I sell at Church (another 38 were sold yesterday so that means another 38 children will be clothed, schooled and fed for 1 day).

The feature tag was made by my good friend Linda, it was the gift tag she gave me on my birthday present a few years ago. Like all of Linda’s work this is beautifully done and I just couldn’t throw it away so it has sat in one of my drawers ever since.

Anyway last night I decided to use it as the feature topper on a card.

The background paper has been fixed to a 6″ x 6″ white card blank and then I stuck the tag firmly down with double sided sticky tape. The ribbons compliment the colours on the tag and I decided to just let hang free rather than tying them into a bow.

The rubber stamped image has been coloured using water based inks and it has been matt and layered onto Mirri card, leaving just a narrow border.

The finishing touch is a sentiment topper, and inside I have used a pale green insert.

Because the topper was already made this card probably took me only about 5 minutes to assemble.

So the motto of this story is always to look at things that you might be able to recycle for your new cards!

Yesterday two of the founding members of our Church left.  About 18 months ago, Mike, stepped down from Eldership because he felt God was directing him to move away from Longton and directing him down south to Torquay.

It has taken all this time for his house to sell but the sale is finally going through this week and yesterday was Mike and Penny’s last Sunday with us.

As a Church we had a group picnic to wish them well and it turned out to be a lovely social event.

Normally I would make a “Good Luck” , or “New Home” card but in this particular case I thought this rubber stamp sentiment says it just right.

The background paper has been cut so that the design goes along the card, the rubber stamped sentiment has been mounted onto some silver Mirri card, and a silver cross peel off has been added.

The small flower has been coloured with a Copic Marker and after I had taken this photogragh I also added a jewel embellishment to the centre of the flower.

Inside I put a pale blue insert.

As you will have gathered if you have been reading this blog for awhile my preferred style of card making is clean and simple and that just about sums up this card. It may be simple but I feel it sums up perfectly what I wish for Mike and Penny in their new adventure.

One of the things which stood out yesterday was, as a Church we are a very diverse group of people, but we all stood together to wish Mike and Penny well. That led me on to thinking about card making – we are a diverse community of people but we share a common interest and I hope we wish each other well.  The video I’ve posted below has nothing to do with card making techniques but it is to do with people. Take a look and maybe take a few moments to think about what it means for your life.

My favourite way of colouring in a rubber stamped image is to use Copic Marker Pens.  I love the way these alcohol based pens blend together to give your work a sense of depth.

The weather here has had a real Spring like feel over the last week and to me this card also has a real feel of Spring about it.

The card blank is one which has been pre printed in a pale green with butterflies. (You can easily create this effect by background stamping).

The centre image is from Sugar Nellie, coloured in with my Copic Markers.

I cut round the image using a scallop edged Nestability and chalked the scallop edges with a pale orange to compliment the colour I had used on the girl’s tunic.

Finishing touch was a “Happy Birthday” peel off sentiment.

Quick Tip: Always try to “ground” your rubber stamped images, rather than having them float in mid air.

Copic Markers come in a huge range of shades but you don’t need them all at once – build up your collection over time.

- Manga Skin Color Set - Copic Ciao (8 Markers + 1 Multiliner Pen)

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0-S Copic Sketch Marker Colorless Blender

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COPIC Bleedproof Marker Pad- 11-3/4 x 8-1/4 Inch (A4)

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Copic Marker Copic Sketch Markers Set of 12, Basic Colors

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COPIC Set of 36 Sketch Markers

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Card Making Kits are probably the quickest and easiest way to make a stack of cards!

I’m under pressure to produce a lot of cards for sale at the moment. As part of the work I do for the Ugandan mission we’ve agreed to sell cards at our village fete in May and just after that we’ve agreed to set up a stall at Longton  Garden Trail Day.

Longton Garden Trail is an annual event where people who have superb gardens open them up for the day, visitors buy a ticket (the proceeds of which go to charity) and this entitiles them to go and visit each of the gardens on the trail. And before you ask my garden is definitily not on the Trail!

Due to work commitments I haven’t been able to make as many cards as I would have liked to have done over the last few months so as I said the pressure is on at the moment.

The cards shown here are from a kit which I got as a signing on gift from a magazine subscription. I made a few cards in December and then put the kit to one side until the other day when I sat down and made this little lot!

With a card making kit you can have the best of both worlds- all the components of the kit are co ordinated so you don’t have to root around looking for things that work together well, but you can still be creative in how you assemble the kit. Some kits do come with ideas and illustrations whilst others like this one you let you get on with it.

I hope that you have all had a restful and peaceful Easter time.

I have had a really lovely break and found time to make lots of cards, some of which I’ll be sharing with you here, and some of which will go directly onto Cardmaking-Companion.

Unfortunately over the Easter period my friend’s Auntie died. She approached me at Church and asked could I make her a sympathy card.

Now thankfully  I have not had to  make that many Sympathy Cards so I sat and thought which was the best way to approach this. As I did not know if the deceased or her family were religious, or not, I did not want to make an overly religious card, neither did I want to produce a card which was too upbeat.

I popped to a local craft shop and found these beautiful black, white and grey (achromatic) decoupage flowers. The sheets did not have the manufacturer’s name on them. They are all pre die cut so you just have to pop them out and then decoupage them using 3D double sided sticky foam pads.

As you can see I made 3 different versions so my friend could choose which she liked the best but when she saw them she bought all 3 – saying that at her age it is a sad fact that she will no doubt need to use the other 2 before the year is out.

My personal favourite is the single rose on the right. I think that this is simple but has a classic feel to it.

Susan

Cardmaking-Companion

Carrying on with the topic of using pre-printed paper -this card shows you how you can let the paper say what you feel.

The sentiment on this background paper reads ” Some people make the world more special just by being in it”

I think it’s a lovely sentiment to send to someone and as such I don’t feel that the card needs a lot of additional adornment.

I have covered a 7″ by 5″ card blank with the paper and as you can see in the photogragh below I wrapped it round the top of the card.

Sometimes I cover the front of the card precisely but on a lot of occasions I like to wrap it round the top of the card if is a landscape card,as in this case, or around the side, if  it is a portrait card. I think it gives the card more of a professional feel to it.

Although I haven’t done it on this card, if I feel that edge is a little raw I will run a gold or silver peel off border along the edge just to finish it off.      

Along the front of the card I have fixed a strip of blue and white polka dot ribbon. The large double flower picks up the twin colours of the background paper and the flower is held together with a blue button brad.

To complete the card I used a pastel green insert.

If you do have a paper which has a nice sentiment on try to resist the temptation  to over embellish the card – let the words speak for you!

Susan

Cardmaking-Companion

I don’t know about you, but I’m guilty of buying lots of  6″ x 6″ themed paper pads and then when I get them home I put them on my shelf because I’m not sure how to use them!  The pictures on them seem to form the front of a card on their own and I hum and haw about what to add to them so they just get left!

Handmade Forever Friends Card

Anyway yesterday I sat with a pad of Forever Friends papers and was determined to use at least one of the papers as they are so cute.

And as you see this is the result!

I used a 6″ x 6″ card blank and fixed the paper all over the front. I then used a duplicate paper and cut around the bottom border and bear.

To add some interest to the card I then decoupaged this using double sided foam roll tape.

I chose a bright pink spotted fabric flower as a card making embellishment, using a white brad as a centre, and then tucked a “with Love” sentiment under the petals of the flower.

As usual  I put in a handmade insert in a matching colour.

For interest I just punched the bottom left hand corner of the insert with a flower punch which I felt complimented the fabric flower.

My finishing touch was to add Pearl Liquid Pearls to the centre of each of the flowers in the bottom border.

Susan

Cardmaking-Companion