52 Weeks of Crafting

A colleague asked if I would make a card as a thank you for a weekend stay in the country. Specifically they wanted a card that was country-inspired without featuring too many flowers or animals.

The headline card was the one inspired by the brief. I used two magazine freebies to create the tree and fence scene which I heat embossed in black. I blended the background after die cutting the rectangle to make it a bit more atmospheric, I added the sentiment and birds using dye ink instead of embossing as I wanted the textures to be different. The touch of string was to add texture though truthfully I don't love it now!

This was another card I was just playing around with on my desk and it doesn't really work with the brief (too flowery) but I do like the simplicity. I die cut the tree and used distress ink to get the color and texture. I added these sweet little flowers that I got at Michael's just after christmas. I was going to add them to a square but decided the hexagon was a bit more modern. The thank you is also a magazine freebie.

A fun little session and a good mid-week brief.

A colleague just bought a house and had to ask a massive favour of another colleague in order to make it work. She wanted a thank you that was deeply personal and after talking to her about it we decided a watercolour London scene was exactly the right note.

I started by heat embossing the Tim Holtz stamp from Claire on watercolour paper. Then I used Distress Inks and a water brush to get a grey and blue sky effect. I added a Mama Elephant thank you set in the corner that would offset the skyline and hold its own.

I decided to triple mount it for a touch more elegance. Really happy with it and my colleague loves it too. A lovely little art project.

My friend gave me a brief for a birthday card that included brunch, fried chicken, crime and detective shows, weight lifting and boxing, and the closer 'basically all millenial things.' Awesome.

I decided a collage card would help me cover all the crazy stuff in this brief. I paper cut the different components. I am particularly pleased with the representation of the mystery show. I try to only add drawn accents if it's needed but I think I got the balance right. Once I had laid it out I die cut the sentiment so it would fit with the rest. I got my friend to consult on backgrounds as I was feeling indecisive and she chose the pink chevrons which was the one I was least convinced by but it works. At the last minute we decided to add the pineapple, which totally makes it.

I absolutely love it. I hope she does too! 

My buddy Dave at work always asks me to make him funny cards for his family. He asked me to make his girlfriend a fox card and his dad a train card.

For absolutely no reason, I decided to make the fox card a shaker. I just thought, why not? I haven't made a shaker in a while, this will be fun! And then I saw that CAS-UAL Fridays was hosting a shaker challenge so that confirmed my commitment.

Plus, while it looks simple, there are about 6 uses of dies on this card (the background square with circle removed, the acetate circle, the scallop with the ring cut out, the foam ring) so I'm entering the CAS On Sunday challenge of 'Use a Die'.

I colored a Unity Co stamp directly on the card blank and then die cut a piece of paper around it. I die cut a foam ring in red to hold the sequins and then layered on top a scalloped circle with a die cut out as a frame. I added a hand drawn border and a little printed tag that Claire had given me as a sentiment. Really pleased with it as I struggle with shakers and I was patient enough to wait for all the glue to dry on the foam and the lid before shaking it so I didn't get the sequins stuck around the edges like usual!




Now for the train. I tried my hand a paper cutting one from sight and it came out a bit sloppy and un-train-like. So I cheated a bit, printed out a train image, glued it to a black card and then cut it out as a stencil and then flipped it over. Still, I had to do it by hand so I think it's ok! The paper is an ancient one from my stash (I think it's Recollections a few years ago). I cut the tag and used Distress Inks to blend over it to give it the vintage leather feel. The stamp is a really new one from Paper Source (I indulged when I went to the US recently!) and I think it may be it's inaugural use. I added some black bling and a gold glitter dot for the train's light.

Really happy with both of them and can't wait to give them to my colleague.

I saw the colors at Color Throwdown and was going back and forth in my mind for the past few days trying to think of what to do. Then I discovered the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch and something came together in my mind.



I masked the right hand border and blendd using Picked Raspberry, Peacock Feathers and Seedless Preserve distress ink and added some bleached water dots. I added a few feathers stamped and die cut and faised them on foam for texture. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up Balloon Celebrations.

By making it a birthday card I also wanted to enter the CAS on Friday birthday challenge.

I ended up liking the treatment so much I did it in two other color combinations.

 

A colleague remembered her 5 year anniversary a bit late in the day - specifically it was 6:15 on a Wednesday for her anniversary on Thursday!

She was in a fast-paced brainstorm, listing things about their relationship and dates and we were trying to come up with gift ideas. She mentioned their first date was surfing and involved tequila shots on the beach and I thought: that would make a great card.

I started by paper cutting a surfer and surf board in black paper, then cut out my shot glasses and limes. I added glitter glue to represent the tequila and added white gel pen to the limes. I watercolored using Distress Inks to get the sunset and beach motif. The sentiment is die cut using white stock and I split it over the background and kraft card blank.

My colleague was really tickled by it so I'm pleased it worked out.

Two special cards today commissioned for Mother's Day. The headline is a card that a colleague asked me to make featuring freesia (preferably purple freesia), a butterfly and a meerkat. Yes a meerkat. She had sent me a photo reference for the freesia that was really nice and, since I lacked a freesia stamp, I decided to try my hand at colored pencil drawing. Not too shabby I think! I die cut a butterfly and then added a little cut out meerkat. He's probably the weakest link here but, then again, it's not a strong narrative to have a meerkat is it!? After I fussy cut the flowers I arranged it and realized I needed a sentiment so I went to my trusty dies. I'm really pleased with it, even if it is totally random!


This one was too funny - a designer told me he wanted a card for his gran, who was a painter in her youth and from Wales. She liked painting birds and landscapes so I decided to do a little mini watercolour of a Welsh coastline scene in honour of her. I made a little watercolour box and a mini brush and easel out of paper. It was a bit fiddly but I am really pleased with it! Then I found a nice artsy backing paper that has texture but doesn't detract from the scene. I die cut a greeting but liked it better without it - I can always add it back in if my colleague wants it included.

Totally random and different but so pleasing to make!

My colleague asked if I would make a 30th birthday card for her sister-in-law. She gave me the brief that she is musical, girly and likes a lot of bling.

I have never used the image featured here - it was from a music-themed Creative Stamping magazine last year - and when my colleague described her sister I just thought, yes, that's it! I heat embossed it in black and then blended with Distress Inks around her. I added music notes from the same set and a different greeting, I wanted something big and swirly. I added the blingy 30 and then edged the entire card in strip gems. Why not I thought?! Normally I'd think it's overkill but weirdly I think it works.

It's gotten me over my fear of this stamp and how complicated it is and now that I see how well it works with blending it may become a new favourite...!

A good friend asked me to make a wedding card for a couple he has been friends with since high school. They have been together since they were teenagers and decided to get married to make things easier as they buy houses, move countries and generally change their lifestyle by the year!

He gave me a brief of things that would mean something to them - they travel a lot as a group of friends and so he requested a number of things to represent their adventures. Plus booze and food that feature regularly - it's something I can certainly relate to!

I started cutting out everything from plain card stock, I didn't want to have to draw too much (mainly because I'm terrible at drawing) and paper cutting always looks a bit different. People tend to be more forgiving as well!

The bicycle is a stamp that I die cut out (and then cut out a few pieces more), and the ham, beer stein, cheese and lime slice feature some pen detailing. The little grapes on the cheese board (hard to see) and the tulips are a punch (I colored the leaves green to avoid pink stems and leaves). The gin and tonic and champagne glasses are filled with glitter glue to look like liquid (I was pleased with that detail, I'm doing that again). Finally I made a Malta flag to represent her heritage and a destination they often return to.

It's in the post to go to my friend now, I think he'll like it and more importantly I think the couple will like it!

This final set post is for a girl on the team about to leave so I'm showing her leaving card as well.

I kept things super simple here. Her little dog is a friend of my little dog (friend is a strong word, more like pint-sized bully) and like me she lives for that dog. She's Finnish, and has a great Scandi style, so I wanted it to be clean and simple in execution. I decided to simply stamp 4 paw prints, use different powders and heat emboss them. I'm featuring the gold and turquoise here but I also did silver and red glitter (which I stamped upside down. Oops. It kind of works though so I left it).


Her leaving card is also really simple, featuring a paper cut silhouette of her, the dog, a glass of wine and a little speech bubble with the brand mark of her client for the past 3 years. I debated a 'longing for you' message but decided against it, the simplicity is really nice and I think it suits her as well. I'll miss her so much and I am gutted to see her go. Hopefully there will be future visits from her and we can see the little dog again in the future!

A colleague is from Brazil and her brother just announced him and his wife are having a baby. She wanted to make him a card that showed his football team Flamengo as he has found out he's having a boy. She also wanted a card for her mom that congratulated her as - apparently - she has been bugging my colleague for a grandchild for some years now and she can now give her some peace!

The headline card features the card I made for her mom. I heat embossed the congratulations greeting from a baby set in white and then blended over it in Salty Ocean distress ink really lightly for the sky. I die cut a stamped plane from the same baby set (why is there a plane in a baby set??) and then colored it with ProMarkers. I cut  a scrap of green paper to look like a hill and then dotted it with Enamel Accent flowers. I added white Enamel Accents to the sky to make it look like sky writing from the plane, and then added the Future Grandma in glittery letters. What a weird card but I love it.


The next one is the card for her brother. I cut a number of red stripes and layered them over a black card. I added big black foam letters to make it more masculine and smaller red ones to balance it out. I die cut a circle and drew on some football spots, and then cut out two jerseys, a big and a small, in red and added black stripes. Finally I added a little insignia in white gel pen to complete it.

I love my random colleague commissions, they are definitely the strangest briefs and so much fun to fulfill.

I regularly mention how weird my colleague card commissions are. I mean, I've had some extraordinary ones in my day including Shaun the Sheep and Pingu, a traditional Cossak dancing, and a Minion Valentine all come to mind......When one of my favourite designers asked me to make a Playmobile pirate Christmas card for her nephew of course I said yes!

I looked up a number of Playmobile images and then did a shameless copy after printing a few out. To make my life a bit easier I actually made a paper doll first in roughly the size of an A6 card and made all of the corresponding elements to fit that doll though ultimately I abandoned it when sticking down and just layered everything up on the card without it.

The shirt beneath the jacket is patterned DoCrafts Cranberry paper from their Christmas set and the sword is silver paper but everything else is just plain cardstock. I used a punch to get the eyes and smile (an eye cut in half!) and the feather in the hat is actually a little die I have but the rest is cut by hand with my trusty Fiskars finger blade. I drew the white hat details on with a gel pen. I added a few bling buttons and a candy cane with the peel off greeting and left the background empty. I didn't want to detract from my lovely pirate! I can't wait to give it to her, this was too much fun (despite the hour+ time to create)!

A colleague asked me to make Claire a Princess Show Pony card. She gave me no context, except to say it was regarding an inside joke. I decided it was far more fun guessing than knowing so I was like 'Sure! I'll go with my imagination!' 

I had a commision for a nautical birthday card for a colleague to give to her sibling and I loved the brief as I knew I could go a lot of different ways with it. I particularly wanted to stretch myself with a combination of challenges:

Sketch layout at CAS(E)this sketch:


Color challenge at Retro Rubber:


Tic Tac Toe at Paper Players:


I went for the top line: Enamel dots, CAS, masculine

Here's what I did: I followed a new tutorial for applying distress ink to an acrylic block and then spritzing with water and dragging across card stock. Love. Love. Love.  I used Mowed Lawn and Salty Ocean to be on brief with the color theme, and then overlapped them in the middle to try to get a middle stripe to meet the sketch.

The anchor is from Claire, the last in my stash as she die cuts them for me and brings them over.

All in all I was really pleased with the combination of challenges and how it all came together. I hope my colleague likes it too!

My colleague asked me to make a wedding card for her friends that was Absolutely Fabulous themed. I was delighted by the brief and then almost immediately panicked because I didn't know how far to go!

I liked the layout at CAS(E) this Sketch and wanted to find a way to make it work:


I started with a champagne glass - I figured I could make it work if I had a champagne glass. I cut the first out of card to use as a template and then cut two more out of vellum. I chose one with tiny flowers and another with tiny lines (courtesy of Claire) as I thought they looked like bubbles. I stuck down the vellum but I hate the glue mark you get - I was trying to make them stand up with foam tape but that looked even stranger.

I layered this over the brilliantly sparkly magenta kiss paper I have been saving 'for best' from my first ever Recollections pad - Femme Fatale - that my sister bought me when I first started crafting.

I printed the sentiment (my colleague asked for it specifically) and kept half above the paper, half below so that it would mimic the sketch.  I tried an alternative with more muted colors/papers and a blended background but it really wasn't working for me. By that point I'd had a chat with a friend over Skype and a cocktail and my brain was disconnected from proper crafting.

Hopefully my friend (and her friends) will like it as much as I enjoyed making it.

A colleague asked if I would make a birthday card featuring yellow wellies for his mom. I have this great Little Claire stamp that I knew would be perfect and when I saw the layout in Sketch Saturday I thought it would work well with the image:


The background paper is from Studio Calico. The image is colored with ProMarkers and then cut using nesting Sizzix dies. The greeting was a freebie from Creative Stamping magazine. The yellow spotted ribbon is ancient, I think it's American Crafts. Really pleased with how it came out and I hope my colleague likes it.

Is there anything more personal than someone's wedding? I love to make personalised cards for my friends and love to add details when I get briefed to make something for someone else.

Today's post shows 3 different cards that I hoped would capture different personalities.

The headline card is from a wedding we attended this past weekend. The couple got married at the very grand St Pancras Renaissance Hotel in London and they had an art deco theme of black, white and gold to go with the grand interior. I chose paper that I thought matched the theme and then colored and fussy cut this awesome KennyK wedding image to match their hair and skin tones. There are touches of liquid pearl in her tiara and earring but it was hard to capture in the photo. The banner is a Simon Says Stamp die and it's actually only half of the banner - it doubles up normally - but I thought this gave it a good balance.

My friend asked me to make a card with a lot of fun little details. She asked me to have someone doing yoga and then asked me to do something to hint at how she is about to be a grandmother.

I researched different yoga poses and found Ego Eradicator, an energy pose that felt perfect. I cut it by hand as a silhouette. I put four hearts, as she has four kids, and inside is a smaller heart growing inside.

I die cut the sentiment in purple and layered it over the same teal paper.

No bling, no sequins, just simple paper shapes. I love it and think it fits the brief really well.

Two of my colleagues asked for very specific mother's day cards this year and, as ever, I like to do something a bit different with a personalized brief. Both are papercut because I thought it was the best way to meet their specific needs.

The headline card was made for a friend whose mother is an Egyptologist. In real life! He said that we should go for a good old fashioned mummy gag and asked for the sentiment specifically. The rest was up to me. I decided that, since this is one of the oldes puns in the book, I would go for a really modern look. I made a mummy shape and then wrapped it in strips of white paper. Harder than it looks, I should mention! I then die cut the sentiment in purple to introduce some color. Finally I added the bling strips just to make it a tiny bit more feminine. Weird twist on the old gag, I hope he likes it.



This card was commissioned by a colleague who said her mum is setting up her own yoga business and wanted to show her taking on the world. I cut out a silhouette of the downward dog position and then cut out some green countries for my globe. The countries were so much harder than the person, honestly I am never paper cutting a globe again. They're not nearly good enough for how much effort and redoing it involved! I layered these over some cloud-patterned vellum, I'm loving this at the moment and have used it several times recently. I tried a version with a sentiment, sent pics to my colleague and we both agreed blank was best.

Really happy with the final products and how different these are from anything else I've ever made for Mother's Day!

I was asked by a colleague to make a card for her brother, celebrating his wedding and birth of his son. She was very specific, asking for gold rings, green and blue to be the colors and the reference to both occasions. I struggled with this one to be honest!

I decided to use my Tim Holtz letter dies and decided type would be my friend - why be symbolic when you can literally spell out what you need to say! I spelled out Mr & Mrs and put them over some hand-cut banners.

I spelled out Baby in peel offs as I thought that would tie into the Congragulations at the bottom. I hate those peel offs they are so thin and hard to use but they're really elegant so they stay in my collection. I added three little hearts to represent the three people in the family.

The rings are die cut out of gold paper and overlapped to make an infinity sign. I added the heart ribbon as an extra little touch. It's a bit busy but I think it's on brief and she'll like it.


Also: I made this cute little mini card using my blooming marvelous set from Stampin' Up - stamps and dies on a 3x3 card. Was pretty quick and easy and using all scraps it was a nice one to throw together. Need to keep this in mind!