Smile Crocodile!!

Hello.... remember me???

Its been another manic week getting Hannah set for her trip overseas next week so the craftroom has been a bit neglected until this morning when I made a card for the Paper Piecing challenge at Less is More this week!
I just love paper piecing so I couldn't miss the chance to play along , it gives just the right amount of impact on a coloured card base :0)

.... see what I mean?

It had to be simple and quick so I pulled out my newest Lawn Fawn set called 'Critters Down Under' because I knew this snappy little guy would work well for the colours at Annabelle's Stamps challenge too....... they have to be one of my fave colour combos...just yummy :0)

Next week I'm hoping to start on redecorating James's bedroom because he can move into Hannah's whilst she's away, so crafting will again be taking a back seat!!
Not sure of colours yet but as his favourite guy on TV is Mr Tumble, yep him on the right, and his house is decorated pretty much like his bag , I think we will have to come to a compromise!!..Lol

..... I'm back again over the next few days with new challenge posts for CASual Fridays and St Luke's and a special post on Sunday sharing something brand new... it's an exciting launch, you simply must come back and see :0)

Must get on, I have a mammoth pile of ironing to conquer!!! in this heat...... not fun :0(

Thanks for stopping by
Jenny x

Sunshine Card and a Tutorial

I was about to say good morning but its already afternoon...time flies when your in your craft room!!!

I have a card to share for three challenges...yep I was quite impressed too, I love to combine them where I can :0)
I also have a tutorial for embossing nestabilitie frames onto card because a few of you have asked how I did it on this card but because I have a dire voice on video and not enough hands to video and demonstrate at the same time its a photo tutorial I'm afraid!

Back to my card though and I've used the colours from Dynamic Duos and included stitching for the challenge at Annabelle Stamps and circles for the challenge at Passion for Papertrey....STRIKE!!

I seem to have a bit of an obsession at the moment with the sun,clouds and sky in general but the colours at Dynamic Duos just seemed to fit this idea. 

I used a Cuttlebug die to make the sun and then hand stitched the rays around it. Not too easy to see but the blue card has been debossed with the PTI linen IP, then I die cut the bottom with a cloud border die, an idea I cased from JJ here... don't you just love JJ's card?

The top cloud is the positive version of the cloud die and I just popped it up on foam tape and stamped a PTI sentiment.

Here are the challenge graphics

Now for the tutorial and there are a few photos... I honestly thought I was one of the last to the party on this technique but I'm pleased to be able to share the sandwich stack I use in my Bigshot.

First of all I urge you to not force anything through your machines because this technique does pass easily through the Bigshot and I don't want to be responsible for broken machines. A number of factors have to be taken into account including how thick your card shims are and how worn your cutting plates are ...as you'll see mine are quite rough *shame*

This is the basic sandwich :

• Multipurpose platform with both tabs closed
• tan embossing mat (mine is about 1.5mm thick)
• your card with nestie taped to it with repositionable tape (I've used 300gsm card and washi tape because it doesn't mark and is easily removed) cutting side down.
• 2 x card shims (I use the grey card from the back of A4 refill pads so its thicker than cereal box card but not quite chipboard)
• 1 x Acrylic plate

.....so all stacked ready to go and this combo goes easily through the Bigshot, in fact it feels like it has done nothing!!..... I will add at this point your tan mat and cardboard shims should be bigger than your piece of card so as not to emboss extra lines onto your finished piece...this is most important if you are embossing straight onto the card front... I found that out the hard way!!

Voila!! the washi tape peels easily to reveal a subtle but visable frame. 

Now if you want more of an impression just add an extra shim which is exactly what I did only I hadn't got a piece the right size to hand so I thought I'd show you why the card needs to be bigger than the finished piece

Same sandwich... I know you didn't need to see the same photo twice... but this time I added my third strip of card under the other two card shims before running it through which is what the photo is showing, not only does it emboss a deeper, crisp frame but the strip of card de-bosses a panel across the card too... kind of cool actually :0)

Hope this helps and you have fun playing around with card to find the right combo for you :0)

If I've missed anything or not made something clear please just send me an email and I'll see if I can help you  out.... sorry if you have a Cuttlebug but I think the principle is the same on both machines, the tan mat under the card is the crucial piece of this sandwich.

Well I think that's enough from me, go forth and emboss your nesties with confidence :0)

See you tomorrow for CASual Fridays.

Jenny x

Dies : wonky circles-Cuttlebug, Cloud Border-Taylored Expressions, Linen Impression Plate-Papertrey Ink.

Sentiment stamp : 'Scattered Showers'  PTI.

Yellow Fever!!

Hello again... I know, two posts in one day...I'm not very organised am I!!!

If you are here for the Make the Day Special Blog hop

click here for my card :0)

Well the reason for my return so soon is.... I have another card using yellow, yep shoot me down in flames!, I say its a colour I don't use often and then make two cards in one week with it!!

It turns out this week that Annabelle Stamps are wanting cards made with Lemon,Kraft and White so I thought this would be a great time to try using my Prismas on coloured card stock because I just love how it looks.

I've been following the challenges for some time through Therese and Marion ,who are two members of the super talented design team and they make the stamp sets look even yummier than they already appear and I need want to add some to my stamp collection!!

The card is a CASE of JJ's card here, I just love the cut away panel leaving the stamped flower as a bridging piece so I used the flowers from a There She Goes stamp set called Kindred Spirits to recreate the effect and coloured them with my Prismacolours which take very well on SU crumb cake card by the way :0)

I'm hoping this will be acceptable for the Less is More challenge this week because my white space has turned to Kraft coloured space, still a pop of yellow though :0)

Whilst I have the chance I just want to mention my 2 sq inches of fame on page 88 of  the current edition of Papercraft Inspirations :0)  It's was exciting to get an email from them asking to showcase my Jelly Bean card which I made for the masking challenge at LiM....I am in great company on the page with so many of my blogging friends being featured too.
Congrats ladies :0)



I'd best be off now but in the words of Arnie... I'll Be Back!!
Tomorrow morning to be precise with the new challenge over at CASual Fridays.

See you there :0)

Jenny x

Stamps : 'Kindred Spirits' 'Sentimental Birthday' There She Goes, 'Ledger' Hero Arts, 'Text it' Waltzing Mouse Stamps

Ink : Crumb Cake ,Soft Suede & Whisper white SU, Versamark.

Card: Crumb Cake SU

Other : Cinnamon Stickles, WOW embossing powder