Happy New Year

Hello friends, followers and Family, a short blog post this evening to wish you all Happy New Year.

I have not done much crafting over Christmas and made this easy New Year card using Papermilldirect card and distress inks with Sizzix die cut stars.

The small piece of  coloured card in the center was a scrap in my bits box, I coloured a top fold white card blank with distress inks and spattered it with white gesso to match the small coloured piece of card.  The scrap of card was attached to the center of a piece of white card, string tied round and tie in a bow and a sentiment fastened over with 3D sticky pads.  A selection of stars (cut out over Christmas) were placed around the card which was attached to the card blank with 3D sticky pads.

Sylv xx

Santa's List Box and Christmas Tee-Light Decorations

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to family, friends and followers, wishing you a wonderful time over Christmas and into the New Year.

This week is the last Daring Cardmakers Challenge before Christmas and we want to see your Christmas decorations.   I have made a Santa's List box and a few tee-light lanterns.  Pop over to Daring Cardmakers and see the design team Christmas makes and to enter your Christmas makes.

The box was made using the Silhouette and a cutting file from their store,  papermilldirect card and distress inks to colour the box spine and the letters.

The box can be used as a gift box but I will be using it to keep little treats in to offer guests when they visit. 

The lanterns above were made using papermilldirect card and a Sizzix die which has the lantern pieces and three patterned dies.  The four sides of the lantern were glued together and coloured with distress inks, the snowflake panel was backed with white vellum.  I may line the candle one with vellum too so the candle inside does not show.

Once again have a great Christmas and thank you all for your lovely comments throughout the year.  See you next year.

Sylv xx

Vintage Christmas Batch Makes

Hello friends, followers and anyone calling in, today I have a quick easy way to batch make Christmas cards, I used papermilldirect Buff 260gsm card with Red Plain 120gsm Paper inserts, presented with a kraft or red coloured papermilldirect envelope, but any colour palette would work.

A simple printed card is quick and easy to make when making batch cards.  I gathered various loyalty free vintage images from the Internet for these cards, added a simple sentiment and printed them onto Buff smooth 260gsm card.  The printed images were highlighted with a splash of red, white, gold or silver glitter or paint.

Red paper inserts give a splash of Christmas colour to the cards and I present them in groups of six tied with red and white string.   These are great for selling at craft fairs to raise money for a charity, or a quick card to run off if you run out of cards.

Sylv xx 

It's Snowflakes Falling At Daring Cardmakers This Week

Hello everyone, today I have a snowflake card made for the Daring Cardmakers DT.   The challenge this week is to show us snowflakes on your cards, just one or lots, stamped, die cut or foiled.

Pop over to the Daring Cardmakers blog to see the beautiful cards made by the design team and details of how to enter.

My snowflake card uses an embossing folder and die cut snowflakes layered one on top of the other.  

A square of white card was embossed with a snowflake embossing folder, the snowflakes were slightly coloured with distress inks.  I wanted a large snowflake so used a Sizzix tri-fold card die cutting the main snowflake from the card, two more snowflakes were die cut to layer on top.   The embossed panel was attached to a square card and the layered snowflake added  with a printed sentiment placed  underneath.  I finished the card with Perfect Pearls and a crystal in the center of the snowflake.

All card used is from papermilldirect, white linen for the card and sparkle print card for the snowflake, you can see the lovely sparkle in the picture above.

 Sylv xx

December Elemental Chalenge at Daring Cardmakers

Hello friends, followers and family, it is the first week of December which means an elemental challenge over at Daring Cardmakers.  Cathy has picked this gorgeous Christmas picture for us to pick three elements to use in our cards or crafty Christmas makes.

The design team have been busy and you can find their inspirational makes and details of the challenge HERE.

I picked the stocking, stone fireplace, winter greenery and the beautiful duck egg blue and beige for my card.

This fun card was made using Tim Holtz "Tattered Christmas" and Sizzix matching dies, Crafters Companion brickwork embossing folder and papermilldirect white textured card and turquoise blue card.

Sylv xx

Daring Cardmakers Bags and boxes

This week over at Daring Cardmakers we have the second step away from the cards challenge, we want see your gift bags and boxes which can be Christmas related or just every day bags and boxes you make to send gifts, make for a winter wedding or just to give someone a treat.

The design team have made a great selection of bags and boxes to give you inspiration, their makes and the link to add your makes can be found HERE.

I have made these boxes to use as place setting for Christmas Day.  I usually dress my table with a colour theme and make place settings for my guests.  This year my favour boxes are little milk carton boxes which will be filled with home made chocolates or truffles.  I added the guests name tags with red cord and a gold sleigh bell.
 

My colour theme this year is red, white and gold.  The little box was cut from papermilldirect white linen card using the Silhouette, stamped in red with a Stampers Anonymous Christmas foliage stamp and decorated with some gold Perfect Pearls, sequins and a printed name tag.  As it gets nearer Christmas I may add some more gold to the box, I feel the center of the flower would stand out more with a few gold dots.  We will see, this time of year is hectic and I am finding less and less time to craft.

Sylv xx

Santa's Magical Key Tag

Hello friends, new followers and passers by.  I have been busy this week with my Christmas makes and have been making things for the younger children.  I know some children are concerned that Santa will not call at their house because they have no chimney for him to climb down, this tag solves that problem!

There are lots of versions of this type of tag on the internet and I wanted to create my own.  I used papermilldirect thick 580gsm card as the base and the beautiful 300gsm double sided pearlescent  card for the outside of the tag and the key.  This made a very thick tag which should keep for years.

The wording on the "Santa's Magical Key" tag was printed onto the card before I cut out the tags, the verse was a free download of four verses from the internet, you can find various verses and poems on Pinterest too.  

A tutorial showing how I made this tag can be found here on the papermilldirect blog.

I made a second tag and decorated it with winter foliage and a number 25 and added the key and a sleigh bell. 

Sylv xx

Tri Fold Snowflake Card

Hello friends, followers and anyone passing by.  I have made a start on my Christmas makes and today I have a selection of die cut tri-fold Christmas cards to show you.  I used papermilldirect's new 300gsm double sided pearlescent card.

I bought a Sizzix tri-fold card die last year, cut it out once using a thin card and wasn't happy with the result, it was a little floppy and didn't hold up well.  This year I was determined to use the die and tried it with 300gsm double sided pearlescent card. This is a nice firm card and being double sided was ideal as both sides of the card are on show.  The card cut out beautifully with the thin die and when folded held it's shape well. 

The cards, snowflakes and wording embellishments were cut using  Xmas Red, Xmas Green,  Maya Blue, Harvest and Ice Silver. I used the cut out square from the front of the card to add to the inside back of the red card, stamping it and heat embossing with glitter embossing powder.

I layered up the snowflakes in different colours to tone with the card colour and added coloured gems to each snowflake to add a little more interest.

Sylv xx

Daring Cardmakers Christmas Tags, Toppers and Labels

Hello everyone, over at the Daring Cardmakers this week's run up to Christmas challenge is "Tags, Toppers and  labels". why not join us in the challenge, details and inspiration from the design team can be found HERE  

I always like to make some special tags for the children and this year I have made these "Santa's Key" tags.  Great fun to add to a Christmas Eve box for the children who want to make sure Santa can get in on Christmas Eve.  I will be doing a tutorial on these tags next month for papermilldirect,  keep an eye out for it if you want to know how I made it and materials used.

My general tags for Christmas presents are usually printed using various digital downloads for quickness, I do use stamps if I have a surplus of time but it's usually a last minute affair.  Using the same digi images or stamps enables me to co-ordinate my cards, wrapping and tags as I like.  

above are some tags and a card made using one of the tags, I used Pinkpetticoat images (now The Lovely Studio)  for the tags and used one of the tags to make the small square card which can be used as a gift card or Christmas card.

If you have made some tags, toppers or labels for Christmas do come over and join us, we love to see what you make.

Sylvia xx

Daring Cardmakers Challenge Winter Foliage

How are you all getting on with your Christmas makes, is it too early for you to start, or do you like to get organised early?  Over at Daring Cardmakers this week we want to see some "Winter Flowers And Foliage" on your challenge cards, Holly, ivy, cones, winter flowers, berries etc.

Pop over to the Daring Cardmakers blog for more details of the challenge, how to enter and to see the fabulous design team inspiration cards.

Some lovely Sizzix foliage dies and Christmas Penny Black dies were used to create my card.  I went for traditional colours of red, green and white and added some glitter, crystals and a foiled sentiment.

Do come over and join us for this week's challenge we would love to see your Winter Foliage cards.

Sylv xx

Reviewing The New Papermilldirect Sirio Colour Card

Hello friends, followers and anyone calling by.  I have a couple of special anniversary cards to show you this week and a review of the new papermilldirect Sirio Colour Card which  can be found over on the papermilldirect blog. 

I made two special anniversary cards  with this beautiful quality card and added some hot foiling which worked a treat.  I used the Go Press And Foil machine to add the sentiments and to colour the flower embellishments and numbers.

I used "perla" coloured Sirio card for the front and card blank on the 25th and "perla" with a white linen card blank on the 30th. 

This card is a dream to work with, a great firm weight being 290gsm, it die cuts beautifully and the foiling worked a treat.

Sylv xx

Daring Cardmakers Elementall Challenge

Hello friends, followers and passers by.  Today I have my Daring Cardmakers design team card to show you.   

Over at Daring Cardmakers this week we are starting our countdown to Christmas with this mood board for the Elemental challenge.  You need to pick three elements from the picture to use in your cardmaking, the colour scheme counts as one element.

I picked checks, the word Noel, bauble, bird (from the tag), hessian cord and the colours navy, white, silver and kraft.

 

Check out the Daring Cardmakers blog for details of how to enter the challenge and to see the design team inspirational cards.

Sylv xx

It's Glitter And Sparkle At Daring Cardmakers This Week

Good morning everyone, have you started your Christmas cards yet?  I am way behind but a start has been made.  Today I have a glitter and sparkle Christmas card which was made for this week's Daring Cardmakers challenge.

The challenge is  "Go Glitter" hosted by Svenja, she wants to see your sparkly glittery cards in the challenge this week.  I'm sure you all love glitter on your cards, so go on come and join us for this challenge.   The design team inspiration and the link to add your cards can be found HERE.

I was testing out some new card for papermilldirect with the Go Press And Foil machine so thought I would use the card and the foiling for this design team challenge card.  

No white glitter card could be found so I brushed glue onto the edges of a white card square and covered it with Glimmer Dust.  Using a Sizzix die I cut out the foliage and covered the leaves with glitter too.  The sentiment was foiled onto a small square of Blu Sirio Colour card and I foiled the berries with red and silver foil, just to add a little more sparkle!

Do come over and join us at Daring Cardmakers in this glittery challenge, it can be any subject not just Christmas.

Sylv xx

Apple Of My Eye

Hello, friends, followers and passers by.  Today I have my Daring Cardmakers Challenge card.  

This week Joanne is hosting the challenge "Apple Day" (which is on 21st October here in the UK).  She would like you to celebrate the season of mellow fruitfulness with your cards, apples, pears or any tree fruits and the colours of Autumn. 

You can check out the design team inspirational cards, and add your challenge card HERE.  

I made a round card, coloured with reds and greens with a basket of rich red apples.

I cut out a circle of card and coloured it with distress inks, spritzed it with my Tim Holts spritzer and distress markers and then added crackle paste through a die cut piece of card I had on my desk.  The apples were stamped, die cut and coloured with polychromo pencils.  The sentiment was stamped and the die cut apples attached at the side of the sentiment.

Using the largest circle die I have the circular card was cut out  in apple green card, I lined the card with a circular white paper insert.  The coloured panel was added to the card and tiny crystals and dots of Perfect Pearls added to finish.

All card used was papermilldirect and the stamps were Simply Besotted and Lawn Fawn.

Come over and join us with your fruity cards, we would love to see them!

Sylv xx

65th Birthday Card

Hi everyone, Do you ever get inspired by a certain colour or texture of card?  Today I have a special card to show you which was inspired and designed round a piece of  aquamarine coloured Nettuno card I had in my stash.  The colour and texture are gorgeous and although it was a small piece I did not want to throw it away.

The background was created using my Tim Holtz  spritzer tool and distress markers, tumbled glass and cracked pistachio markers were used and spritzed onto a square of  white linen card, I then gently sprayed the spritzed area with a mist of water and left to air dry.  

A Sizzix fern die was cut from the aquamarine Nettuno linen effect card and a small hexagon was cut from white linen card.  The greeting was stamped in blue ink on the background and the 65 was stamped onto a small hexagon also in blue.  

Two holes were punched into the hexagon and hessian string threaded through, this was wound round the white square under the sentiment and fern.  This panel was layered onto a larger white linen square  with 3D sticky tape, then matted onto a white linen card blank.  

The card was finished with a few blue crystals, sequins and dots of Perfect Pearls.

Sylv xx

Pumpkin Halloween Card

Hello friends and followers, I am back from a four week holiday and catching up with my crafting.  We are now into October and love it or hate it Halloween is looming.  Today I have a pumpkin shaped card which could be used for Thanksgiving or Harvest Festival with a change of decoration.

The pumpkin card was cut on the Silhouette using a place card cutting file which I enlarged to 15cm to make this card.  The Halloween figures were cut twice using a Sizzix Tim Holtz die set and stuck together to make a deeper image.  I scored the sections of the pumpkin to give some depth to the shape and coloured it with various shades of orange polychromo pencils.  More colour and speckles were added with distress markers and the Tim Holtz spritzer.

Materials used:

• papermilldirect intensive orange plain 210gsm, buff smooth 260gsm and black plain 250gsm card
• Sizzix Thinlits die set - Halloween Shadows 
• Tin Holtz spritzer
• distress markers and Polychromo pencils
• Silhouette cutting file from the Silhouette store - Pumpkin Place Card And Label

A fun card for the children, not too scary!  If you are having a Halloween party the cutting file would make lovely place settings by adding different spooky images for each person along with their name.

Papermilldirect have a great range of rich Autumn coloured card from oranges, reds and yellows through to plums and purples for your Halloween and Autumn makes.  Check out the shop for packs of card and pick and mix boxes.

The Witch's Cat

Hello friends, followers and passers by.  Thank you all for your lovely comments over the last six weeks while I have been away on holiday.  I tried to keep up with my commenting but it was a bit hit and miss and hopefully I will get back to normal service now I am home.

As today is Friday it is a new challenge over at Daring Cardmakers and above is my DT card for this week's challenge.  

Shabneez has set the challenge for us and the theme is "PETS".  She wants to see cats, dogs, goldfish, spiders or any other pet featured in your creations.

As I have been working on Halloween cards I couldn't resist this crazy cat and made this fun Halloween card with the cat flying off on the witch's broom and being chased by the bats.

I used my favourite papermilldirect white linen card, distress ink, polychromo coloured pencils, brick wall embossing folder, Sizzix dies and Tim Holtz Mini Crazy Cats and Dogs stamps and dies.

Whatever your favourite pet is we would love to see your cards, you can find the link to add your creations HERE.

Sylv xx