Keep Calm and read this long post!!!

Having seen the Patriotic colours challenge at Less is More earlier, an idea popped into my head and when that happens I just can't rest until it comes to life on my craft table!!! This in turned sparked a second idea.... so I have two cards to share with you, in a very picture heavy post, on this soggy Diamond Jubilee weekend....

The one thing we do well in this country is put up with the rain at special events and as usual, it's happened  that way so I thought a very British brolly would be just the job this weekend.
The Union Jack is from a pack of cupcake decorations and I stuck it to a sheet of card before die-cutting with the memory box umbrella. I cut several  to make the different coloured parts and to give it some thickness too.

The 'Keep Calm and Carry on' typeface was made on my iPad of all places!! I found a great app a while ago called Keep Calm (funnily enough). It lets you personalise your own poster and save them to your photo file, then its a case of taking them off your iPad and using them in Word like any other image..... gotta love the iPad :0)

So what was your second idea I hear you ask!...... well if its not pouring with rain it's scorching hot at these special summer events so wouldn't Union Jack flip flops be the perfect attire....

This is a new PTI die that arrived this week and it had it's first outing without the stamp set!
I left the flip flop straps plain so this could be a guys or gals card and basically I pinched two more flags and cut them the same way I did the brolly. You can also make out the debossed stripes on both cards, from the new Stripes Impression Plate from PTI.... I think this will become a firm favourite next to the Linen IP... I was going for the look of wood panelling :0)

I'm also entering one of these cards into the 'Right Royal Challenge' at a Passion for Papertrey and although the blue is slightly darker than the challenge graphic, I'm entering one of them into Dynamic Duos as well....it's still technically blue  :0)

In my post yesterday I showed you the photo of me dressed as the Queen of Hearts at our Silver Jubilee street party in 1977 so I thought I would dig out a couple more pictures to share in this post too...

It was definitely a party for the kids!!.... when I look at old photos like this I wonder where and what these children are doing now???

In case you're interested, I'm the little blondie on the right without a hat on and my little bruv is just off the picture to the left in his highchair.

That's me.... I still don't like wearing hats to this day!!!

Well done if you made it this far... I apologise for all the photos but Diamond Jubilees don't come around very often!!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend and if you're in the UK, I hope you enjoy the festivities and have fun dodging the raindrops... don't forget that brolly *wink* 

I think I'll be watching it on the TV :0)

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.

Birthday Tea!

It's my Mums birthday tomorrow and I'm making a card for her at the eleventh hour.... that's how organised I am this week!!..... so I'm combining the die cuts/punches challenge at Less is More with the tough ColourQ palette just because it is not a combo I would naturally select and my lazy creative brain couldn't think of one itself tonight !.... I'm pleased I persevered with it :0)

I have used the Dienamics 'Always Time For Tea' Die and stamp set for my blue china set and the table cloth is cut using half of a 'wonky square' nestie die, a set I've had for ages and have never really used much but I'm glad they've finally found their place in life.... cutting tablecloth shapes!!!
I've used the canvas impression plate to give the white card some texture and distress inks on the edges of it and the cloth, teapot and cup for extra dimension.

As usual I didn't think about the sentiment until last and had to stamp it across two layers...... a quick touch up with a memento pen and I think it looks okay :0)
I'm still deciding how to add the word 'Mum' to it..... I could do with a stamp in a matching font if you're listening Hero Arts!!

Here is the ColourQ palette for this week and I thought I'd enter my card into A Passion for Papertrey as well, seeing as I've used a PTI impression plate and the teapot has stripes on it which are the required elements this time around :0)

I want to Thank you all so much for your lovely comments on my blog candy post, you're all so very encouraging and sweet, not to mention the bestest blog pals ever :0) 

I'll be back Tuesday evening, hopefully with a card and definitely with the winners chosen by random.org :0)

Thanks for looking and see you then x

Jenny x

A mixture of challenges!!

Hello everyone,

Back from a weekend away and have just about caught up, it's been one of those days when craft time was on and off all day so it feels like it took forever to make this card !
It's for this weeks Less is More and the very generous Mandi and Chrissie are letting us choose three of the past 29 challenges to mix up and produce a card with ..... what a fab idea I hear you say .... the hard part is choosing three!

In the end I decided on

Wk#1 - Pink and Black ( I missed the first week so I just had to do this one )

Wk#4 - Three Squares

and

Wk#12 - Off Centre

As you can see the large outer frame is raised up so the stamped flower panel sits inside the aperture and the two smaller squares overlap the edges slightly. The images and sentiment are from a 'new to me' PTI set called Gracious Vases and I've used my distress inkpads (Victorian Velvet and Black Soot)  to colour the vases and flowers.
To add an extra dimension I used some pink leatherette strap tied around the frame and, I faced my demons to add some fine glitter accents to the images .... I now have very sparkly jeans too ! (sigh)



Thanks Mandi and Chrissie for another great challenge, it was great fun looking back through the challenges and older entries too :)

As I've used my PTI stamps I'm also entering this into the current challenge at A Passion for Papertrey which is anything goes .... may even get a chance to make another before Monday when it closes :)

Don't forget Thursday brings a new challenge over at St Luke's Charity Card Challenge please pop by then to see what we have in store for you :0)

Oh .... just wanted to ask if any of the Limettes from the UK are going to Alexandra Palace in September to the Big Stamp and Scrapbooking show, details here. I thought about going but not sure what day yet...would anyone want to meet up??? Just a thought?

Anyhows ... thanks for looking , love to hear what you think X

Casual Sweets and Treats

Hi Everyone,


This is more like a summer card and it's for Casual Fridays this week whose theme is Sweets and Treats .....

 

The lolly is made from strips of card and mounted onto a stick, the chocolate topping sauce is glossy accents on top of brown card with beads sprinkled onto it when wet to make the hundreds and thousands :)

I'm also entering this card into Summer fun at Passion for Papertrey  because it's a wishful summery card (unlike yesterday's) and I used the PTI Canvas IP for the background mat :)

That's it folks...a quick post as lots to do , then I can have a hop around your blogs later.

Thanks for looking ....bye X

A Raindance Card !!!

Okay, please don't blame me for the rain this morning because of the card I have to show you .... I'm sure it had no effect on the weather at all :)

This card is for no less than three challenges, oooh get me combining challenges eh !!!

First challenge is Moxie Fab world which have a lush coat as there Tuesday Trigger this week, Oh I'd love to have a nipped in waist like that again :)

Next is St Luke's Charity Cards who are asking for Black,White and another colour this month. This is a very worthy Challenge site as you can also send your cards to St Luke's Hospice so they can sell them to raise much needed funds for the Hospice so please hop over to the blog to read more here and support the fab work they do :)

...And finally A Passion for Papertrey , a challenge site I've been stalking for a while and now I have a  few stamp sets from PTI I can join in too :)  They have a challenge running called sweet summertime and I thought this very fitting .... I know tongue in cheek stuff but our summers usually turn out this way :)

Stamps and dies are PTI and I've used part of  a brass stencil to emboss the raindrop background.

Thank you so much for all your lovely comments on my last post, I'm gradually trying to visit those I can and say hello too but if I don't get round to you please know that I appreciate your kind, supportive words ;oD

That's all for now folks

Thanks for calling by X