Pretty Peonies

Hello, hopefully the sun will shine on you this Bank Holiday weekend.  I've been busy in the garden which was the inspiration for this pretty peony card. Unusually for me, I've not used any patterned paper or ribbon/lace.  Not completely comfortable about that, though!

Card Recipe:
Stamp: PSX Botanical Peony
Colouring Mediums: Memento, Promarker Pens
Paper & Card: Centura Pearl card, Glitter Card
Tools: Tonic Super Trimmer, Spellbinders, BigShot Pro, Crafter's Workshop Mask
Embellishments: Handmade pearl hatpins, mulberry gardenia, cherry blossoms and tea roses, Butterfly charm, rhinestones 

To make this card, I scored an A4 sheet of  Centura Pearl card in half.  I then trimmed a piece of heavy duty glitter card (it's actuall more like box board!)  to 20.4mm x 14.2mm and another piece of Centura Pearl to 19.8 x 13.6mm.  These create mats with just a 3mm border between each layer, so a good quality and accurate trimmer is essential, step in the Tonic Super Trimmer!

For both mats, I placed spellbinders nesting dies in the centre to create an aperture, the green glitter layer had the smaller die (but still large enough to create a big enough aperture for my image).  Once I had cut through the aperture on the top pearl layer, I placed my Crafter's Workshop Mask over the top (ie not next to the blade side) so that when I embossed the layer it created an embossed frame.  The top layer is adhered using Gell Glue, which both adds dimension but also is a strong bond to the glitter layer.

I stamped my PSX Botanical Peony stamp with Momento London Fog ink and coloured with Promarker Pens.  I love these discontinued stamps, and I have to confess that I bought this rare Peony stamp in an Ebay Auction and it was the most I've expensive stamp I've ever bought!!!!

To finish the card, I added mulberry flowers and my own my handmade crystal and pearl hatpins, (don’t forget to take a look at my creating hatpins tutorial).  The metal butterfly charm came with the slots to add your own crystals to, so I can always make sure it co-ordinates with my card by adding the appropriate colours.










I am entering this card into the following challenges: Pin It Now!

PSX Botanical Pear Card

Hopefully Spring is now just around the corner, and so to celebrate, my card this week is a fresh design featuring PSX Botanical Pear Stamp.  This card was made for a very dear fellow forumite, Jane, who is in my Birthday Card swap group and who I am so proud to be able to call my friend, she’s an inspiration.

Card Recipe:

Stamp: PSX Botanical Pear

Colouring Mediums: Memento Ink London Fog, Promarker Pens, Tattered Angels Glimmer Spritz

Paper & Card: Conqueror, Stardream Opal, First Edition, DCWV
Tools: Spellbinders Venetian Accents and Motifs, Silhouette Cameo, Grand Calibur, Anna Griffin Ribbon Punch

Embellishments: Double satin ribbon 3mm, Cotton Lace, hand-made beaded Hat Pins, crystals, mulberry cherry blossoms, Anna Griffin bubble

To make this card, using my Silhouette Cameo, I cut the card base from stardream cardstock, and the flourish background & tree from DCWV and First Edition patterned card.  The ribbon-edged border was cut from more on K&Company Elegance Shimmer with an Anna Griffin ribbon punch and threaded with 3mm double satin.  I also used my Spellbinders Venetian Accents and Motifs. 

The main image is PSX Botanical Pear Stamp, inked in Memento London Fog and coloured with Promarkers.  I stamped the image twice and decoupaged the Pear and Blossom.  Finally, I cut the image out using a Spellbinder border die and spritzed with Tattered Angels Glimmer Spritz.

To add a bit of interest to the accent pieces, I heat-embossed the filigrees tree with two different embossing powders, one glitter and one pearl.  The effect is very subtle and hard to pick up on the photographs!

To ensemble, I mounted the flourish background onto the backing card.  Next, I attached a layer of cotton lace to the back of the Anna Griffin punched threaded ribbon border.  I used a number of accents pieces from Spellbinders Venetian Accents and Motifs, embellished with rhinestones and an Anna Griffin Botanical dome sticker. Finally, I added a gardenia mulberry flower and a couple of hand made Pearl Hat Pins.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today, I hope you like this card, if so please do leave a comment, I love to read them all!

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Lilacs in Ivory & Grey

This PSX Lilac stamp is one of my all time favourites, I could easily use it almost all of the time.  However, this time I’ve rung in the changes with colour scheme. Instead of the obvious lilac and lavender tones (and I do love those colours too), I’ve gone for ivory, grey and crystal. The card also features a number of different techniques, including:

Paper piecing ● Decoupage ● Distressing ● Embossing ●  Digital Die Cutting ●  Manual Die Cutting ●  Glittering ●  Flower embellishing ●  Accenting ●  and (of course) Hat Pin Making! 

Card Recipe:

Stamp: PSX Botanical Lilac

Colouring Mediums: Memento Ink Pad London Fog, Promarker Pens

Paper & Card: K&Company Elegance Shimmer, Stardream Opal
Tools: Spellbinders, Silhouette Cameo, Grand Calibur, Creative Expressions Embossing Folder

Embellishments: Berisford satin picot ribbon 10mm, hand-made beaded Hat Pins, crystals, pearls, mulberry flowers

To make this card, using my Silhouette Cameo, I cut the card base and butterfly base from stardream cardstocks. I also cut the flourish background, flourish border and butterfly on K&Company Elegance Shimmer. 

I then embossed an offcut of stardream card through my Grand Calibur using my new Tied Together embossing folder.  Once embossed, this offcut was paper-pieced together with an offcut of coordinating K&Company Elegance Shimmer patterned paper and the join was covered by a strip of picot edge satin ribbon, then die-cut with Spellbinders Labels 1. 

I stamped my image with Momento London Fog and this was also cut out with a Labels 1 die.  I have a really great tip for cutting smaller filigree shapes on the Cameo. I shrink the whole shape to the size that I want, then ungroup the image and use the outline tool to increase the size of the smaller filigree elements so that they enlarge and cut cleanly.
 

To accent the card, I inked edges with promarker pens, which I also used on the butterfly filigree layer and the mulberry flower edges and stamen.  The stamped image, flourish border and filigree were flittered with glue pen and crystal glitter.  I accented various pieces with flat-back pearls and rhinestones.

This card was shortlisted in the following challenges:
Allsorts Challenge - Flower Power

 I ♥ ProMarkers - Layer it Up

Joanna Sheen Challenge - New Beginnings

Love to Create Challenge - Three Favourite Colours (ivory, grey and crystal silver)

Hope you like this; do leave a comment if this has pleased you.

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Hydrangeas, Lace & Pearls

Hello and as we enjoy the late summer sunshine, I was inspired by the last of my lovely hydrangeas to create this card.

Card Recipe:
Stamp: PSX Botanical Hydrangea
Colouring Mediums: Memento, Promarker Pens
Paper & Card: K&Company Life’s Journey, QVC
Tools: Spellbinders, BigShot Pro
Embellishments: Seam Binding, Lace, handmade pearl hatpins, mulberry gardenia, cherry blossoms and tea roses, Anna Griffin sticker

To make this card, I cut a piece of A4 shimmer card (from QVC) to 15cm wide and sored and folded it in half. Then, using my Big Shot Pro, I cut the card base using my Spellbinders Grand Labels 1 but under-lapping the scored and folded edge to create a card base rather than two mats. I then scored the top of the card in two to create an easel card.

I stamped my PSX Botanical Hydrangea stamp with Memento Cocoa ink directly onto K & Company Life’s Journey papers. The image is coloured in with Budding Rose and Fresh Meadow from Promarkers Spring Limited Edition colours – they are so gorgeous, I am going to need to get another set to put away.

I then used seam binding (The Pretty Little Ribbon Shop), lace and beautiful mulberry flowers (Wild Orchid Crafts) to embellish, and if you like my handmade hatpins, don’t forget to take a look at my creating hatpins tutorial.



 









This card made the Top Three in the Pretty Little Ribbon Challenge Lace & Pearls

Hope you like this; do leave a comment if this has pleased you.

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A Card for Mothering Sunday

Tomorrow is Mothering Sunday here in the UK, so I thought I would share the Mother’s Day Card I’ve made for my Mother.  Her name is Iris, so I was over-the-moon to have tracked down a second-hand Iris PSX Botanical Stamp. 

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