Faerie Mojo

Last February I won a  massive parcel of Faerie Dust papers and embellishments from Graphic 45. 

I made and blogged about a few cards and then put the parcel to one side. Well, I have just re-discovered it whilst putting away all the Christmas card making stuff and feel inspired to sprinkle a bit more faerie dust around on my cards!

Certainly helps to brighten a dull and wet weekend!

Card Making Magic Stars!

Last year I mentioned about the Masculine dies and stamps I won from Christina Griffiths  & Card Making Magic

Well, I have now got around to using the stars die from that set and have made 3 of a kind birthday cards for men, using different colour schemes and backing papers

They were quick makes, so I must remember them in future if I need to produce a card in a hurry!

Creative Stamping Magazine Issue 67

I am a big fan of Creative Stamping Magazine because of their great freebie stamps and this months issue is a cracker! A wide range of  fab vintage images.

Couldn't wait to get started and felt so inspired by them!

Made a few non birthday cards for a change

And this is work in progress with brushos  and gilding wax for the backgrounds

More Hibiscus Wreaths from Tattered Lace

Following on from yesterdays post, here are a couple more cards made from the different colourways of the hibiscus wreath that you can download from Tattered Lace - the cream one works well for sympathy cards.

Tattered Lace Magazine Issue 62

I don't often buy this magazine as it is rather expensive at £12.99, but I decided to treat myself this month, as I really like the Hibiscus flower wreath die that comes with it.

It also came with some tropical  Flamingo papers that I matched up with this bird that was cut from a freebie die from another magazine last year

As with all Tattered Lace magazines you can download the images that fit the die in lots of different shades, so that you can produce these wreaths over and over again.

And of course, you can use the die on plain card as well, here I just softened it with a little dusky pink ink around the edges

Golden Snippet Christmas Cards

I saw a post over on Tiny Roses blog about making snippet cards using leftover strips of papers and she inspired me to make these two cards.

I hope to make some more at the weekend using different contrasting papers!

Upcycling Your Christmas Cards

Several people save all their Christmas cards and hand them over to me, as I love cutting them up and re-using them. It is such a shame to throw away some of those lovely designs. I often take off any embellishments such as sentiments, bows and charms to re-use too

 

Here I have several cards that I am going to die cut using some bauble and snowflake dies. Snowflakes can be really tricky to get out in one piece and this die is a favourite as it cuts so cleanly.

This stag bauble die was a cheapie, only £2.55 from China - see more cards made with it back in 2017 here

I've even used the cut out as a negative to make some more cards.

The ribbons were originally from the Christmas crackers!

All the scraps can be put into the recycling - unless they have glitter on them, then my local Council won't take them, so I tend to use the backs for shopping lists etc

All these will be put away until Autumn when I will start to make Christmas cards again!

My New Cat Die !

I bought this trio of peaking cat die from AliExpress - it cost only $2.16 including postage!

It did, however take a month to arrive from China.

So I couldn't wait to make some cute cards with it using different coloured cardstock

I even added balloons from another die I had bought from AliExpress back in August

More Hunkydory Under the sea cards

Some more birthday cards made with the Hunkydory papers and stamps I mentioned yesterday

Plus this one has a blue lobster on it!

 Happy New Year and I hope  2019 brings you health, wealth and plenty of time to craft!

Hunkydory - Twilight under the Sea

I've had this Twilight under the Sea paper pad for a while now, it's got some great designs in it and on a trip to The Range yesterday I spotted these 'Dive In' silhouette and sentiment stamps that go with it for £4.99 - so I snapped them up!

As you can see they go together well and make a different type of card - such a change from my usual girly flowers & butterflies!

And this is a card I had made previously with the background papers and a sweet fairy!

Merry Christmas to you all, and I hope that everyone appreciated your Christmas cards and other home made crafted goodies!

I made over 450 Christmas cards this year - 400 of which went to various local charities to help with their fund raising. With a bit of a push I hope to exceed that total next year but find it hard to get in the festive mood until September.

Just to finish with card to you all, made with a freebie embossing folder and bauble die from a magazine and silver bow saved off the crackers last year!

Happy Christmas everyone.

Masculine Makes ....

I was lucky enough to win these Masculine dies made by the Christina Collection from a crafting magazine. It arrived about 6 weeks ago when I was in the middle of Christmas card making, so I put them to one side. 

Now the Christmas crafting is over for this year I got them out and had a play!

They cut really nice and crisp images, and are a great addition to my ever growing collection of  dies.

So useful for those 'difficult to make for' men in your life!

Cats Galore!

I love cats and thought this birthday card covered in cats sitting, walking and jumping all over it would be suitable for another cat lover too!

I think both the cat and the square collage dies were both cheapies from China!

Stags & Reindeer at Christmas

Again, many of the Christmas cards I am making for 2018 feature a stag or reindeer on them - some cute and others realistic!

I just can't resist making them, especially as I have so many deer stamps, toppers and dies in my stash!

A Very Strange Commission!

I am often asked to to make special birthday, retirement or birth congratulations cards for the people I work with  - but this one is the weirdest yet!

I've been asked to make a card featuring a Highland Cow wearing a mini skirt for a lady who is retiring - no idea why!

If you have seen any Highland Cattle, you will know that it is highly unlikely that any would wear a skirt - let along a mini skirt, so this is the best I could come up with.

A Commission and Recycling

I recently got a commission to make a card for someones first Grandson - this will be winging its way to Romania soon!

Like many people, I have now started making my Christmas cards. These two have both got parts of last years cards recycled in them!