More festive bits...

Post 16
On a bit of a roll with the Christmas cards at the moment. Also on a roll with the beautiful Lili of the Valley stamps.

Such a simple card!!!! My base card is cut from the sizzix base for the pop n cuts cards, from Karen Burniston. This initially was done as I'd intended to do a pop up card. But for the bulk required for christmas I decided against it and went flat......also postal fee friendly...it's win win! 

 Stamped and embossed the holly tree using some silver embossing powder.

Then painted the holly leaves with my white 'twinkling H2O's. Glittered the berries with silver glitter.

A little matting with centura pearl , to match the base card, and a layer of black.

Stamped a Lily of the Valley Christmas sentiment in an insert....and that sent me on a roll with stamp, glitter and paint in hand. Happy days.

Hope you like.

Clair xxx

Christmas...arrggghhhh!

Post 15
Two posts in one evening...can you tell my OH is out!!!!
It had to be done , there is no denying the fact, Christmas is around the corner and I needed to make a start. So today, once the children were out at school I set too with my beautiful new Lili of the Valley stamp.

The stamp, Partridge in a Pear tree , I fell in love with as soon as I saw it. I coloured the image with my promarkers (a fine tip on your pens is a must for this image) then glazed the pears and glittered the buds.

The  image was then matted onto some red card stock then on to my base card, centura pearl.

The flower was cut from the Spellbinder poinsettia dies, inked, glittered and finished off with gems.

Quite a while ago I saw the Karen Burniston Pop N Cuts dies, and I finally bought the base die yippeee! I've been itching to play and this card fit the bill. So, having cut the base from the die I then cut some of the red card for the pop up...

as it was far too short I added on some centura pearl and a strip of green to cover the join. The sentiment is an old favourite from Lili of the Valley. The card was finished off with more poinsettias.

Once I had finished my first Pop n Cuts christmas card , I ditched the housework and became a machine for the rest of the day, managing only 6 cards....but very pleased with them, and a most enjoyable day to boot.

Happy crafting.

Clair xxx

Wedding bliss....

Post 14
A little rush job for a cousin who, after being with his partner for goodness knows how many years, and surviving many family traumas, they finally tied the knot. My Aunt had rung him, thinking he was away for the weekend in the Lakes, he told her they were literally walking out of the place in Gretna Green where they had just Married....MARVELLOUS.
So a card had to be made A.S.A.P.

The base is Centura pearl cardstock from Crafters companion,the first layer has been pierced all the way round the matt. The decorative paper is from a DCWV paper stack called 'Love and Marriage'.

The hearts were also  cut from the centura pearl then embossed using a cuttlebug embossing folder...sorry can't tell you the name of it. Some crinkle edged ribbon from Creative Expressions sits behind the hearts. And the to finish I used some paper roses from the stash.

Inside was decorated with some smaller tumbling hearts on some more paper. 

Hope you like.

Happy crafting.

Clair xxx

Retiring ....

Post 13
A card inspired and shamelessly copied from Octobers  'Craft Stamper' , there was an article a few months ago demonstrating this technique, and this month someone sent in a card having done their own version...it totally inspired me to have a go. In both the article and the readers version they have used distress stains. As I haven't yet invested in distress stains I had a think and decided to try my distress markers, applied as a water colour

Using a template cut out from a spellbinder label, 20 I think, I applied the colour in diagonal stripes....my first attempt was terrible, I used far too much water and it seeped under the template and made a dreadful mess. The second attempt was much better.

Once the paint was dry I placed the stencil back on the card and traced around the shape 3 times with a fine liner pen moving the template slightly each time.

The painted area was then covered with the positive I'd cut when making the template. I stamped the swirls using black memento ink. The stamps are some clear stamps I've had in my stash for years.  I inked around the card with antique linen distress ink and matted it onto some core-dinations cardstock.

The flower, also from my stash, was stuck on with pinflair glue gel. And finally the sentiment, I printed off my computer , cut it out banner style, and inked around the edges, before sticking it on the card with a raised part to give it some interest.

The inset was also inked with antique linen, and I repeated the process of drawing around the stencil and stamping my swirls to surround the sentiment inside the card. A few self adhesive pearls finish the card.

Hope you like. 

Happy crafting.

Clair xxx

Starting where I left off......The Guys!

Post 12

Well...Hi! After a wonderful holiday in Portugal, can recommend Lagos (beautiful town, marina, beach all with  a fabulous cooling breeze) for anyone looking for a holiday!

I'm finally back to my bloggery. I haven't been in Portugal for a whole month, as glorious as that would be, but with getting both my boys ready for starting new schools and going back to work my blog time has been at a minimum. 

The card making has recommenced in earnest as I'm trying to get all birthdays done before starting on the Mount Everest of Christmas card making.

My card for today is as the title suggests a 'Man' card.

An image I love for man cards, every man I know assumes this position probably more often than their other halves appreciate!!!!

The image is from Mos digital pencil , it's coloured with my beloved promarkers. 

 The base card is a Kraft card and the papers matted on to it are from a free digikit by Serif, it's called American holidays 2011 . 

 The numbers has been printed off, from another digikit then coloured and glazed.

A wee bit of bunting to fill a corner. And then some faux stitches around everything stuck down. 

I decorated the inside with faded version of the paper and added more bunting.

Hope you like .

Happy crafting .

Clair xxx

Three for the Guys!

Post 11.
 I thought I'd do a 3 for 1 today as foreign climates are beckoning and I won't be posting for a couple of weeks.
I've had a few 'male' birthdays to do cards for in the last week so I thought I'd share.

The first card is a 30th birthday card for a cricketer.

The image is a digi stamp from Just inklined , the image has been coloured with my pro markers. The papers are from a free digi kit from Serif called 'American Holidays 2011'.

I've cut the cricketer and papers out using my Sizzix hexagon framelits dies. The 30th tag was done in Craft artist 2, and again cut out with the framelits. 

The buttons are from the digi kit. I completed the card with the usual faux stitches, and a dolop of glaze to highlight the cricket ball.

 

Inside the card are more hexagons cut from the scraps I had left over,and the sentiment is a Lilli of theValley sentiment stamp.

This next card is the 'Game on' digi stamp from Mos digital pencil. Coloured again with pro markers.

I've gone all Kraft and blue for this one! The card is layered with kraft and coredinations card, then on plain white I've ramdomley stamped the A6 Plaid stamp from Creative Expressions, using vintage photo distress ink. I made 3 banners from my scraps, and a tag with the stamped sentiment on. To finish I've wrapped some bakers twine around the card and completed it with some card candi.

Inside are some more banners and another sentiment from Lili of the valley.

Finally a card for my nephew who shares his birthday with my son.

Can't beat Beer for a guy in his early 20's!!!! The stamps are from the Creative Expressions 'Cheers' unmouted stamp set. All the stamps, including the insert are from this stamp plate. Coloured with promarkers and all cut out, I've mounted the pints  on to  some kraft card and cut it with a spellbinders labels die. The background paper is once again from my Hot off the Press 'Cardmakers Foral Ultimate pack'.

I glazed both the main image and the little embellishments in the corner. And more faux stiches complete the card.

Hope you like todays selection. 

I may manage one more post before my jollies....iron holiday clothes or craft?  there's a dilemma!!

Happy crafting.

Clair xxx

Just a note to say....

Post 10.
Todays card  is a basic Birthday card. Although there's nothing basic about the gorgeous image from Saturated Canary called 'Boobie Love', just look at that price...how can you not buy it!!!!

The card is a 7 x 5 card, the paper I've used has once again come from the floral pack from Hot Off The Press ( it's finally starting to pay for itself!!) The image has been coloured using pro markers. I cut out a rose from the backing paper and stuck it over the ribbon on her shirt, the cut out another with a circle punch and glazed it as an embellishment.

A stamped sentiment and some obligatory faux stitching with my fine liner pen, a piece of pink ribbon and the card is complete.

Hope you like.

Happy crafting.

Clair xxx