Stamperama

Had a lovely day out at Stamperama at Harrogate with my friend. Wow it was manic.
Managed to grab some really lovely card which of course I need desperately. I love the different textured finishes to these and will be using them shortly in a couple of projects I have in mind. Of course, these purchases came hard won. With all the crowds and jostling for bargains I'm sure I've a bruise or two lurking somewhere.
Some marvellous demonstrations too with some tips picked up along the way. Worth its weight in gold watching the experts at work. And never be afraid to ask that question in your mind. Chances are someone else is thinking it too but feels too silly to ask. There is no such thing as a silly question.

Over at the Hochanda space we watched Leoni Pujoli of TV fame doing her stuff with ink and stencils. Got some really great tips from her and this is what I decided to blog.

The butterfly just looks like it's going to fly off the page and is really only highlighted because it has been surrounded by black ink. A trick of the eye but what a lovely effect.
I'm thinking of making this into a card.
It was really therapeutic and I shall definitely do more.
Hope you like it as much as I do.
Thanks for stopping by
Karen xx

A host of golden daffodils

This months Simply Cards and Papercraft issue 188 magazine has a particularly lovely free gift. With Spring hovering ever nearer the daffodil die was very welcome and very pretty.

I decided to make a pop-up box for this die so it looked liked Wordsworth's host of golden daffodils, or as near to a host as I could get it.

There seem to be so many different ways of making these boxes just lately but I make mine:
Card measuring 26 cm x 14 cm scored on the long edge at 6, 12, 18 and 24 cm. That leaves a 2 cm flap to join with. On the short edge I score (from the 2 cm end) at 8 cm up to the last score line only. I like to keep the back straight and therefore don't score through it. Hope that makes sense.
 Cut off the top section from the 24 cm score line down to the 8 cm score line. This will leave the tab to join the box. Do the matting and layering before joining the box together but leave the inside back section until after it has been joined.
Insert two or three plinths to attach your embellishments to, whether directly or on acetate as I have done here.

I was really pleased and decided to make another using butterflies from Card Making Magic, only available from Craft Stash.

Incidentally, for online craft goods Craft Stash is an excellent, well priced store where you can earn points when you buy that can be used to reduce the price of future purchases.
I cut most of the butterflies out in white card and then coloured them with Cosmic Shimmer Opal Polish and then covered them in Glitter Kiss. It doesn't show very well in the picture but the sparkle is heavenly. A veritable flutter of butterflies.

I do hope you like them both
Thank you for stopping by

Karen

Valentine

Now hubby and I are not usually in to Valentines day these days but I saw this amazing little box on Mixed Up Craft and simply had to have a go. Hence, he gets a bar of chocolate. Lucky man!!
It looks unassuming on first glance ...

But start to pull that little tab and you can see there's a lovely bar of chocolate heaven...

Pull it further and up pops a length of acetate with a heart on it.

It really made me smile. And hubby too.

If you want to have a go at making this, head over Mixed Up Craft and give it a go. Or pop over to her You Tube channel and subscribe.

Happy Valentines and thanks for stopping by
Karen 💖

Tonic Memory book

Early 2018 I bought the Tonic Memory Book 1 but as far as making a memory book I've pretty much put it to one side as a project in waiting. Well it's waited long enough so I set about looking around for inspiration and found it in a Facebook group called 'Making Memories with Jodie.'
Jodie is Jodie Johnson of Tonic, who has demonstrated Tonic products on Create and Craft and now Hochanda . Wow, there are some amazingly talented ladies in this group and all willing to share their knowledge and experience. It crossed my mind to go through this book step by step but all the information and inspiration you need is there already. So I'm sharing instead the finished base which I am super happy with.

They certainly use up an awful lot of card. But now for the fun part which is decorating each page. I will show these pages as they are done and added to the inside of the book. I also have a plan for decorating the cover page but first things first. Wish me luck!!

I do hope you like it.
Thanks for stopping by

Karen

DAD

Well if you make a hanging card for MUM (see post 2019) then you can't leave DAD out can you?
I decided to stay with the hexagon shape but this is far more simplistic. No pretty ribbon framing it or tying it together.
For DAD I used kraft card and embossed each piece before inking in brown, blue and pale violet.
Again I shadowed the letters to help them stand out and then added HAPPY, BIRTH and DAY to each piece.
I used some blue starry ribbon for the hanging but to join each piece together I used 14 mm binding rings. They were so hard to open up that after a couple I got hubby on the job to finish them off.

I hope I achieved the masculine look I was aiming for but I'll let you be the judge.

Thanks for stopping by and please call again
Karen :-)

Devils and Angels

Yesterday I read an awful story about  someone having stolen a PS4 from the local children's congenital heart ward. Only the empty box was left. This game was something the children, having just had an operation, would look forward to playing with.
I decided to make some cards to sell to help contribute towards buying a new one.
I had recently bought a card kit from create and craft. Not something I would normally purchase but  thank goodness I did. What a haul.

This kit allowed me to make up 20 cards in next to no time complete with inserts. They are all the standard right to left opening cards apart from a couple that are tent fold.
Fingers crossed they all sell.

On a brighter note, a lovely young man has since donated a new PS4 to the hospital having also read about what happened. So there are angels after all. Yeah! I hope my funds will go towards a new game for the PS4.
I'll let you know how much I raise in a later post

Hope you like the cards.
Thanks for stopping by
Karen :-D

2019

Well after a horrendous second half to 2018 finishing with an operation I'm back and moving into 2019 a new woman with a crafty purpose.

Looking forward to the year ahead and my continued crafty journey. Whilst I've not been able to craft I've spent my time designing different projects to do in the months ahead. Hoping everything works out fine.

But to kick off 2019 here is a card I've made with my late mum in mind who would be 100 this month if she were still with us.
The idea originally was to use circles but I came across the hexagons I'd forgotten I had and bingo.
These are by Christina from Card Making Magic dies, only available from Craft Stash. A fantastic on-line store for all your crafty goodies.
The flowers are also from Craft Stash.
The ribbon is berry burst from Stampin' Up! and the lacy ribbon I've used to edge it is from Embellishment Attic and it came in a bundle of ribbons I bought but I've been unable to locate it independently. However, lacy ribbon can be found in abundance from good craft stores or haberdasheries.
The large letter dies are unbranded and I bought them from E-bay. They are 5 cm high and a brilliant size for statement pieces. They cut really well too and you can also get numbers in the same size too.
I used 300 gsm white card to cut 6 hexagons. Three for the front and three to cover all the ribbon on the reverse.
The hexagon set includes a couple of lovely panel pieces too which I used to cut three pieces from a sheet of A3 card Pinks and Peaches from Crafter's Companion and lined them up with the base hexagons.
I shadowed the large letters to give it more oomph.

As you can see I also decorated the reverse leaving a space to write a message. I was thrilled with how it turned out and I do hope you like it.

Now to make a box
Thanks for stopping by and Happy New Year
Karen