Creative Stamping Mag Issue 96

 

Loving these Crafty Individual stamps that came as a free gift with the current issue of Creative Stamping magazine. I've teamed them up with some backgrounds made from Cosmic Shimmer gilding polish....

 and the image of a couple walking with their dog is so sweet! Enjoyed colouring the lumberjack shirt on this, after watching them make them in the Great British Sewing Bee challenge earlier.

Exciting news here is that we have just sold our house and are moving into a bigger home nearby in Needham Market. One bedroom is already earmarked as the craft room!

And finally I made an ATC with some peach Opal Polish in the background

Happy Cats

 

More cat cards using the nitwit decoupage pack I bought last week

When I looked at the faces, I thought they looked a bit sad or surprised, so I have gone and put a little curved line under their mouths and turned them into happy cats!

Nitwit Paws-itivity Cats

 On a quick trip to The Range, this Nitwit Pawsitivity decoupage pack fell into my basket

There are 48 pages of cute cat die cuts - however they are all the same image!

This means I will have to be inventive and try out different layouts, colour schemes and backgrounds as I use it up!

Daisy, Daisy

 

These lovely bright daisy papers were free with issue 94 of Creative Stamping Magazine - along with a fab set of Garden Gnomes stamps!

They were cheery cards to make on a wet and miserable day!

Hot Diggity Dogs

 

We have just put our house up for sale and so, much of my craft room has had to be packed away. This means I am on a very limited range of materials and have to be a bit more creative. 

It is also a good excuse to use up some of my older stash, and these 'Hot Diggity Dog' images are years and years old!

I hope the house doesn't take too long to sell as I am missing having all my bits and pieces around me.

Guitar Hero

 

I dug out some old freebie stamps from magazines with a music theme and put together these cards - it seemed appropriate to listen to a bit of rock music in the background whilst I made them!

Vinyl records are increasing in popularity now - my son has quite a collection, even though he is in his 20's, so I've used the record shape for the 'happy birthday' sentiment.

So there we have it - birthday cards for lovers of heavy metal, glam rock or acoustic guitars!

Making Cards - Crazy Cats

 

I love the fun images from the 'Crazy Cats' range that are free with the May/June issue of of Making Cards & Papercraft magazine.

I couldn't wait to make some new cards when the latest issue appeared in the post.

The 'pretty as a picture' images and backing papers are cute too, so I will be using them for my next few cards!

Sporty Cards

 

Always useful to have few sport themed cards ready, like this tennis one above

The jogger card has a background made from exploding blue brushos (which I made ages ago)

and an urban basketball card with a cute wooden ball

Twins!

 A neighbour is expecting twins and they have a habit of coming early, so I thought I'd better be prepared!

I don't know what the gender of the babies will be, so I have made a neutral one above - and can colour the hearts blue and pink if there is one of each

A pink card if they are both girls and a blue one if 2 boys arrive!

Condolences Cards

 

One of the reasons that I wanted the Gemini sentiments die set was the inclusion of the word Condolences, as I haven't got this as either a stamp or die sentiment.

Again, I like the simplicity of the font of the die and have made a few of those cards that you never want to use.

More Gemini Interchangeable die cards

 

These dies are going to be so useful, they cut so well and are a nice modern looking font that works with so many types of cards

I've got lots more ideas on how I can use them in the future!

Mothers Day Present

 One of my Mothers Day presents was the new Interchangeable Sentiment die set from Gemini - I originally spotted them being demonstrated on Create & Craft TV

Its a great idea to have 3 different sentiments fit the same floral frame - this one has Congratulations, Celebrate and Condolences - so can be used for many different types of cards

The sentiments look good on their own without the background too!

Nuvo Drops Storage

 Since January my Nuvo drops collection has expended quite a bit!

It is recommended that the bottles are stored upside down to stop the nozzles clogging, so when I saw that their stackable storage rack was back in stock at Tonic, it seemed a good idea to get one!

The stepped storage makes it easy to see the bottles at the back when picking the right shade and type of drop to use.

The drops have been appearing on so many of the cards I have made recently!

Knitting and Sewing

 

These are both hobbies that have become so much more popular since lockdown, so I thought I would make some themed  birthday cards for those who enjoy these pastimes. Both cards feature real buttons!

Really..... You have got to be Kidding!!

I received this months copy of Simply Cards & Papercraft Magazine in the post yesterday. It has been delayed because of problems with the supplier ( Brexit ?), but they had emailed and explained that. What I really find hard to believe is that they claim their 'biggest kit ever' that came with it is worth £45.99

when I excitedly opened it,  I was confronted with .....

Now, I watch Hochanda and Create & Craft channels on TV, so I am used to seeing overpriced card making kits (Yes, Tattered Lace, I am talking about you!) - but this takes the biscuit.

This 52 piece kit contains an embossing folder only 3 inches square, 3 tiny metal dies ( don't bother, its easier to cut out the plant pot by hand) and a set of very small herb related stamps. There are the names of 9 different herbs in 2 different fonts - so that's 18 stamps for a start. However these name stamps are only 1 or 2 cm long. There are no cards, envelopes, charms, stickers,  ribbons or other embellishments included in this, so called, kit. 

But I shouldn't forget the digital papers and templates I could download - well, I will forget about them as I don't print off background papers on my home printer - have you seen the price of ink cartridges! There is also an SVG cutting file to download, but that is useless too, as I only have a big shot manual die cutter. How can they claim that this is worth £45.99???

Now I can understand why the price has gone up to £6.99 per issue, but really, who are they kidding on the price of this 'kit'. Who, in the real world, would spend nearly 50 quid on it?

The freebies that came recently with Papercraft Essential magazine and Creative Stamping Magazine were so much better (rant over).                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Papercraft Essentials 196

 

This months issue of  Papercraft Essentials Magazine had a lovely Woodland Collection topper pad as its freebie, with some sentiments for Mothers Day included

 

So it seemed a good idea to make some cards with it!

And there are still loads of elements, papers and sentiments left.