birthday spotty box

I make cards all of the time, but upon seeing the price of some gift boxes I have decided that I need to get into gift wrap too!

I have made this box out of a sheet of 12x8” paper which I bought and then did not like on the layout...

It was dead simple to do and considerably cheaper than on the high street. This makes the chocolate inside look very classy.

I scored card at 3 1/4”, 5 3/4”, 9” and 11 1/4”. Then scored up from the bottom 2 1/4” and cut up the score lines...

At the top I folded a flap and scored to bring the top to a point. Simple and easy but I think it looks great!

firey birthday

I have a tonne of eyelets, but I hardly ever use any, and after buying some lovely WRMK eyelets which came with loads of 3/16th plain eyelets I really had to use them somewhere...

So I raided my rather large paper stack and found this Christina Cole Pink Stripes paper, which if full of really rich colours. I stamped my Magnolia presents and coloured them in complimentary colours using Whispers pens.

It was finished with Bazzill (orange peel finish, but no idea of the colour), and a Pebbles Inc rub on.

This is an unusual opening for me, but I like it and must do it again!

no ruduolf only holly

I did another theme and variations for this months Rudolf Challenge on UKScrappers.

I used exactly the same design as I did on this stars card, here using Doodlebug paper holly jolly dot line, bazzill in grasshopper, Ladybug stitched grosgrain and American Crafts felt shapes.

The message was stamped with Karen Foster snap stamps and black staz-on ink.

Other cards have gingerbread men or christmas trees in place of the holly.

magnolia's new home

I bought the ‘Edwin’s Town’ stamp from Magnolia and when it arrived it was HUGE. Way too big for my little scrapbook pages or cards, so I attached it with a pair of scissors to end up with 3 separate houses.

Here I stamped the smallest one and coloured it using H2Os. The image was layered on Bazzill bling and finally onto a card with a scolloped bottom. The card was finished with a scruffy hand drawn line (very unlike me) and a piece of ribbon from my large collection

The message was stamped with Karen Foster snap stamps (I love these so much).

Oh and it fits this weeks challenge ‘get the edge’ on the scrummy stash cafe blog too!

scrummy birdie covers

Over on the Scrummy Stash Cafe Blog they set the challenge of making something inspired by album art. I saw this and thought ‘I’ll give this week a miss’, but then started to think about it!

I have been inspired by the Paul Simon Album Graceland, I’ve tried to stick to the colours, and have used a similar style for the message.

I used a stamp from Imaginesce ‘For Peeps Sake’ collection, twinkling H2Os, a goggle eye and my Karen Foster Snap stamps in small. The red scolloped background is from an old Colorbok scrap pad I bought when I was new to scrapping.

more stars for arty girlz

I love stars, I particularly love this star. It’s my only Sizzix window cut die (never really use the window) and I use it all of the time!

My latest thing is drawing a rough double line around everything, here both on the white frame (in black) and the star (in white).

I used Doodlebug throughout, Boy O Boy Dotted Line, Ladybug and Blue Jean Bazzil, Ladybug stitched ribbon, my Karen Foster snap stamps.

Oh, and it fulfills the requirements of this weeks Arty Girlz challenge too! Yay for me!

i can do elegant!

I love the cuttlebug embossing folders, but like so much of this stash I have I don’t use them enough to really justify having them (never mind wanting to buy more!)

So, I made a point of using them. When I make cards I am very organic, the design grows out of me playing. When I first envisioned this card it was a lot more complicated than it ended up.

I used 5/8” blue grosgrain ribbon, my Karen Foster snap stamps for the message on a tag cut with a Quickutz die. I also used pearl card from the Papermill and Bazzill bling in Blank Check I think!

Not much else to say...

you're a star arty girlz

The Arty Girlz challenge this week is to use stars, so here I go.

American Crafts simply chic papers, Karen Foster snap stamps, and lots of gem stars. Not really liking how regular they are must try and be less ordered from now on... 

hearts and bones

I finally managed to make something approximating a Valentines card, only a month late so not bad...

I used Pebbles Inc. patterned papers, DCWV plain card, Doodlebug rub-ons, Making Memories brads and an American Crafts felt heart.

In other news,  I got some bargain DVDs so will have many happy nights in watching those. I can highly recommend My Name is Earl on DVD (how we have spent evenings the last couple of months) and I would also recommend the film Venus (very funny at times).

thinking of papertrey

A while back I bought the Text Boxed set of stamps from Papertrey Ink, and really I’ve not used them enough to justify their purchase.

However when I saw that this weeks DCM challenge was to use stitching I had an idea right away.

I marked the stitched design by hand and then sewed it using a back stitch with regular thread. I used the flower from the Text Boxed set, stamped it with Doodlebug  bubblegum ink and cut it out. They were mounted onto the card using 3d foam.

I used American Crafts ribbon, and Bazzill bling in Petty Cash. I also used assorted gems from my collection.

american hugs & kisses

I love American Crafts stuff, it seems to be used on nearly every card I make. Here American Crafts The Goods papers (Rudolph (Spots) and Trimmings) with a Ned Jnr sidekick rub on message.

I also used velvet ribbon from Dovecraft (a bargin at 99p for 5m) and Dovecraft Christmas brads.

b is for birthday ribbon

More American Crafts ribbon used here, I have loads of the stuff and need to get more use out of it than just looking at how nice it is. I love this look of knots tied into the ribbon.

I used American Crafts Simply Chic Paper, but the large B with Quickutz Merry alphabet and stamped the rest of the message with Karen Foster mini snap stamps.