Distress Oxides on Photo Paper

Ahoy and Festive Greetings!

Not long now until the big day .... Yay!

Today's cards were made using Distress Oxides, glossy photo paper and stamps from MFT. The reason for using glossy photo paper is that you get that intensity of colour from the Distress colours rather than the chalky look.

These are the colours I used and the technique was simple...just rub ink onto your craft mat, spray on water and then smoosh the photo paper in to the colour. Do one colour at a time and air dry or heat dry in between each layer of colour.

When you're all done you are left with a chalky mass of colour (interesting that some of these colours produce greens or purples in their chalky state). Grab a wet wipe and 'clean' the paper to reveal an intensely coloured, glossy look. 

*left side not wiped on above image*

Ta-Da!

I much prefer the zingy, bright colours to the chalky look but you can only do this on glossy photo paper.

Next job was to fussy-cut a heap of skiing polar bears from MFT's 'Polar Bear Pals'.

Wish I'd bought the matching dies...this killed my hands...lol

I chopped up the photo paper into smaller rectangles, stuck them to my card base, hand drew a wiggly frame then added a sentiment and my bear.

Of course, you can't have a festive card without a splash of glitter so I added Nuvo Crystal Drops in Silver Moondust for snow...

...and some Wink of Stella sparkle.

So if you like the brighter look, give glossy photo paper a try.

Meanwhile...just 8 more sleeps to go....SQUEEEEEEAL! 

Altenew Bold Alphabet - MFT Party Patterns

Do not adjust your eyeballs!

You are not tripping... I just went a bit mad with the mind-bending, migraine inducing patterns.

Sorry about that...lol.

So to give you this free, legal 'high' I used Altenew's Bold Alphabet die set for the letters and paper from MFT's Black & White Basics 6 x 6 paper pack.

I also used a dotty, circle stamp from MFT's Party Patterns set.

To finish the card I added some brown glitter, razzle-dazzle sticky dots and a sentiment from MFT.

Enjoy the ride man.

MFT Stamps - Lucky

Ahoy!

I hope you've had (or are still having) a great weekend.

Wish it was still Christmas....I miss the happy colours and twinkling fairy lights on dull days like we've had today.

Roll on spring with its sunny days and cheery colours!

I made this card a few weeks ago prior to my son's driving test. I can't believe he's all grow'd up...life is flying by. I used the 'Lucky' stamp set from MFT and Lucky Clover & Twisted Citron Distress Inks to 'smoosh' a background pattern.

Alas my card was a disaster on the 'Good luck' front as he failed his test, so we tore it up, he re-took his test and passed...Yay! 

I had fun making it and he appreciated the thought, so that's all that count.

Thanks for stopping by.

Have a fabulous week and I'll be back soon.

MFT - Bold Blooms

Ahoy!

Today I have a really easy-peasy card to share with you using the dotty stamp from MFT's Bold Blooms.

I used a selection of Versacolor inks in rainbow colours and dotted a pattern across my piece of card.

Once I'd stamped my pattern, I used Altenew's Bold Alphabet die-set to cut the letters for the name, in this case 'Beata', plus 3 additional sets of letters from scraps of white card. 

I stuck my patterned piece to my card base, added the white letters back into the gaps with glue and the dotty letters on last. The extra white letters give the dotty letters some dimension and make the name stand out. 

See....told yer...easy peasy. The hardest part, as per, was getting the sequins in just the right spot....lol.

MFT Bold Blooms (Foliage)

Do you ever make a card that you love so much that you almost can't bear to send?

This was one of them and yet it took just a few minutes to make.

Sometimes I can sit for hours and can't make a card for love or money. The ol' mojo does a runner or what I make just doesn't feel right. Those that I pontificate over or stress about for days are the ones that either end up in the bin or push me to the point of selling EVERYTHING (again!)...lol.

I love the simplicity of this card. 'Foliagey' cards just make me happy.

I'm weird...I know.

I used one of the leafy stamps from MFT's 'Bold Blooms' and loosely stamped the coloured section. I wasn't worried about stamping it perfectly...I wanted the colour to go over the outlines in a relaxed style.

I personalised it using Memory Box's Classic alphabet die set and added a heap of sequins from Neat & Tangled (Ocean Waves).

I love these leaves..., they'd be great in autumnal colours. Hmmmmm....might try them on Christmas cards, coloured with glitter. 

Have a groovy weekend X

MFT - Lucky Dog

Is it me, or has this year just flown by? 

I say it every year, but this year seems to have gone by faster than ever. We'll be digging out the baubles n' tinsel before you know it.

This is the card I made for my husband for his birthday last month. We got a rescue dog almost 2 years ago and, although he will deny it, my husband adores her. 

In fact they adore each other, it's quite sweet to watch them together

MFT's Lucky Dog was the perfect stamp set to use on this occasion. I picked a few of the images and simply stamped them to form a kind of background paper.

Basic colouring with Promarkers, nothing fancy schmancy and a sentiment from the same set.

A really easy card to make and a brilliant stamp set for a dog lover...even if they deny it...lol.

A blustery, rainy week ahead here in Blighty...have a good 'un.

Die-Cut Layering & Personalising Cards

I love making personalised cards, adding the recipients name and with a theme that they will recognise & love. I made this one for my daughter Sophie, who turned 20 this week.

Sadly Sophie has a rare condition called 'Succulentcactism' which means she's addicted to succulents and cacti. Unfortunately, like my addiction to all things 'planty', there is no cure but you'll never hear her bang on about it, she suffers silently. Such a shame..... she's so brave... lol. 

So to make this I cut a piece of card the same size as my card base and stamped out my images using MFT's 'Sweet Succulents' stamp set. I coloured with Zig Brush Markers and then die-cut Sophie's name with Altenew's 'Bold Alphabet' dies.

I also die-cut her name from white Funky Foam. I adhered the card panel to my card base, stuck the foam letters down first and then the coloured letters on top, which gives the card a lovely dimension.

I added some white gel pen highlights, Wink of Stella glittery sparkle (doesn't show up in photos though) and a few clear sequins.

Et Voila!

Now I have to tend to a poorly daughter with a trip to a garden centre...Ha! Ha!

Have a great weekend everybody x

You Ain't Nothin' But a Hound Dog

My card today was super quick to make and features an older stamp set called Dogs from Inkadinkado. 

I stamped the hounds with VersaColor inks, added googly-eyes and a sentiment from MFT's Lucky Dog stamp set.

Job done!

A Bounty of Blissful Blooms

Ahoy!

First a huge THANK YOU for the kind words sent to me following my first foray into crafting videos on YouTube.

I hope to do more soon.

 I made this card for my very special auntie Diane.

I started by stamping the floral images (MFT's Blissful Blooms) onto a piece of  6"×6" card and did some simple colouring with Promarkers. I then die-cut the name (Altenew's Bold Alphabet) from the coloured panel and also from some white Funky Foam. I stuck the Funky Foam letters back into the card and then the coloured letters on top to give some dimension. I stamped out a few more flowers onto a scrap of card, fussy-cut and added those too.

A few white-pen highlights & sequins to finish.

Thanks for stopping by and have a groovy weekend x

Baby Card

A whole heap of cutesie-patootsie today, in the shape of a new baby card.

I used a scalloped border die from MFT to create the two edges to my piece of 6" × 6" card. 

I ummmed n' arrred over this Tweet on You stamp set (again from MFT) for weeks before I caved in and bought it. I'm a typical Libran... indecisive. Takes me ages to make my mind up and usually stock runs out when I finally decide to spend my pennies...lol

I think this is an older set and I'm so glad I bought the dies too as the baby would have been getting married by the time I'd fussy cut all the bits out.

Instead of breaking the individual dies up, I ran the whole piece through my Cuttlebug. At least I won't lose little bits in the future. I then stamped the images on to the tiny cut-outs and coloured them with Promarkers.

I Distress Inked the centre of my card base with Tumbled Glass and then added my scalloped-edged pieces with foam pads for a bit of dimension. I had to cut them down a bit to leave the blue gap in between showing. (Hope this all makes sense)

The little 'wabbit' is from the super-cute 'Snuggle Bunnies' stamp set, also from MFT, this one I did fussy cut, but it was dead easy.

I then set about sticking all the bits down with glue or foam pads. I didn't use all the pieces in the end....less is more.

The baby's name was made with the Classic Alphabet die set from Memory Box.

To finish I added white & black doodling to some of the flowers and the butterflies, glossy accents to the name and some sequins.

I didn't add a sentiment, that way the card can be put into a frame and turned into a picture for the baby's room if required.

Tiz the weekend now...have a good one and as always, thanks for visiting xx

Card For a Friend

My card today features a brilliant Friend die and gorgeous background stamp called 'Bundles of Blossoms' from MFT and some simple ink blending with Distress Inks.

First I stamped my piece of 6" × 6" card with Versamark ink and then added white embossing powder.

I added colour with Twisted Citron, Picked Raspberry and Dried Marigold Distress Inks. I then laid the Friend die in position, ran it thru' the ol' Cuttlebug and stuck it to my card base with foam tape for a bit of dimension.

A few sequins and a birthday sentiment et voila...job done!

Wishing you all a happy & peaceful weekend.