Tuesday, 31 January 2012

Parrot and Tropical flowers




Guess who was having a play with her flower punches? 



1. It all started innocently enough - I printed off my Cheeky Parrot digi image, coloured it with Promarkers and decided to cut it out with my little Tonic Studios scissors. Then, as I looked at it I had the idea of making lots of tropical looking flowers and creating a "jungle" effect! Just as well, then that I kept the actual card white and didn't add any patterned paper!


2. Next, I decided to use my new Tonic Studios Shape Mate Starter Pack with the Oval shapes to create an aperture in the card front, so I used the smallest oval and cut around the outside.


3. I cut another piece of card to fit inside the front ie the same height but 1cm wider to allow for gluing and stuck it to the inside.



4. This time I cut an oval on the 2nd "page"to fit exactly inside the first oval but using the inside of the Shape Mate Oval template.

5. To make the "Tropical" leaves, I used the Tonic Studio Classic Heart punch, Craft Tacky Glue, turquoise card, a little green wire and a paper crimper.

6 .I added a little Craft Tacky Glue to the middle if the heart then folded it in half with the wire in the centre.
Pinch the heart tightly in the centre over the wire to keep it in place.

7. I fed the "leaf" through the crimper at an angle to create veins.

8. After a lot of punching flowers using the fabulous Petal Pairs, mini Daisy, Multi Detail Flower,
mini Snowflake. mini Flower head and mini Butterfly, I added some pen detail and a gem before adding the finished flowers to the different layers of the card.


A bit different for me but I hope you like it!


Challenges
My time to craft ...Adorable
Allsorts.. one or more hearts (I've used 3 to make leaves!)
Alphabet Challenge ...Zoo animals
Crafty Catz... things with wings

Promarker and digi giveaway

+5 DIGIS


I've had these 5 Promarkers to use as a giveaway for a while and was waiting till after Christmas when the postal service had settled down again. 
So, I have 5 BRIGHT Promarkers and 5 digi images (of the winner's choice) from A Passion for Stamps to give away. You'll find all the details on A Passion for Stamps.
All I ask is that
a) you are a follower(existing or new)
b) you leave a comment on the post on A PASSION FOR STAMPS    (NOT HERE)
c) you add the pic, LINK and details to your blog sidebar to spread the word.
It will run until 31st of January

Wednesday, 25 January 2012

Dacshund



I've had a chance to finish one or two of the things I started at the weekend so the first one I'm sharing today is "Dacshund". You'll find the digi HERE and it's another card which is suitable for sending to a man so I've resisted the temptation to add bows, flowers etc. I did have several different layouts in mind and had all the "stuff" left out (ie ribbons etc)but then decided to keep it plainer.
The paper is DCWV Retro pack which I've had for a while. I love it but don't like to use it up! The beautiful borders at the top and botton were created using Tonic Studios Royal Fleur 2 in 1 punch. One shape is the "positive" while the other is the "negative".

1. I used the Royal Fleur punch with the Border System


2. The cut border

3. Simply snip the two shapes apart and use separately.

I've added a tiny drop of Glossy Accents to the eyes to make it more realistic (but not scary!)

Challenges
Alphabet Challenge..Y is for You can choose

Monday, 23 January 2012

Love Birds!




Good morning! I've been catching up on a lot of card making over the weekend but did it in a strange kind of way - started several very diferent cards at the one time and befuddled myself by doing a bit here and a bit there.
Result...a pile of unfinished projects and only one complete card to show for it!
Well, this is it!!
The cute little Love Bird image was one which I drew at the weekend too and you can buy it HERE at A Passion for Stamps if you like. It's coloured with Promarkers and I added Stickles to the "heart" on their chests to highlight it. I've also used Glossy Accents on the beaks.
The hearts are from a Nellie Snellen die cut set and all the punches are by Tonic Studios.
I used the Border System , Edger 3 and Hearts Accent Punch for the bottom part and the Flower head plus the small flower from the Floral Border punch for the flowers at the top.

Don't forget about the chance to win one of the Tonic Studios punches. You can see the details HERE on Blog Tonic

 The giveaway of 5 Promarkers and 5 digi images is still running on A Passion for Stamps until Jan 31

The "Baker's Twine" was a little experiment. I have oodles and oodles of gorgeous coloured embroidery thread so, on a flying visit to Craftworld in Belfast on Saturday, I bought some white. I twirled the two colours together and added a little glue from a glue stick. It worked better then I expected so I'll definitely be making more colours.

Challenges
CupcakeCraft ....All you need is love
Moving along with the times ....things with wings
Totally Papercrafts  ..make your own flowers

Sunday, 22 January 2012

Some new digis

Good morning! Just letting you see the latest new digi images I've added to A Passion for Stamps - why don't you nip over and have a look?
I'll be adding some cards made with these images later.

Don't forget, too, about the Promarker and digi giveaway on the same blog - which you can find HERE

Love Birds; £1.90




Cheeky Parrot; £1.50




Lily of the Valley; £1.70



Clarkia; £1.70



Dachshund; £1.70


Friday, 13 January 2012

Punch giveaway on new Tonic Studios blog


THIS POST IS A COPY OF THE ORIGINAL WHICH CAN BE FOUND ON  BLOG TONIC


Welcome to the sparkly new Blog Tonic. We've moved  all our old posts over to blogger  and we are looking forward to sharing more of our creative ideas with you. To celebrate, we have some great news for you... 


We are giving you the opportunity to win one of Tonic Studio's fabulous Simplicity Geared Punches.  What is more, it will be the punch of your choice!




Their ingenious (and patented) gearing mechanism takes all the effort out of punching from the user meaning even the most ornate shape can be punched effortlessly!


Their beautiful New Simplicity Geared Pattern Punches are a breeze to use and with the wide selection of patterns on offer you are sure to be spoilt for choice.

If you'd like to get your hands on one of these little beauties this is what you need to do...


GO OVER TO BLOG TONIC AND SEE THE DETAILS


Thursday, 12 January 2012

Tonic Studios New Blog and Snowdrop card





Good morning!
Tonic Studios have just launched their NEW BLOG and we'd love you to come over and become a follower. The blog already showcases some of the projects made by the Design Team using their fantastic products over the past year or so but there will be lots more ideas and news which you should keep an eye on!
TO CELEBRATE THE NEW BLOG TONIC ARE HAVING A GIVEAWAY OF ONE OF THE NEW GEARED PUNCHES....READ ABOUT IT HERE

Don't forget,too, that I have a giveaway of 5 Bright Promarkers and 5 of my digi images running until Jan 31st. You can enter HERE


My card today has been made using the Tonic Studios Daisy Border punch to create the doily. You will find a really simple tutorial HERE showing how I made this for an earlier card (below)



The image is Snowdrops - one of my own digis which you can see with  all the others on  A Passion for Stamps




The scalloped edge of the striped paper was created using the Tonic Studios border system and 







 

To give the card more dimension I used the Tonic Studios Mini Trimmer to create a little box which I added underneath.The "box" folds flat for postage.


I used the tiny cut out flowers from the Floral border punch to add to the centres of the scallops.

Challenges
Digital Tuesday...Punch it out
Divas by Design ...new beginnings (snowdrops for spring)
For Fun Challenges ...What Fun!
Moving along with the Times ...spots and/or stripes
Paperplay ..in stitches

Wednesday, 4 January 2012

Crocuses



It's another grey, wet and windy day here so I thought I'd share a bright Spring card with you! 
As you can see I've used gingham paper again - I can't get enough of the stuff  (as well as gingham ribbon) and have to keep telling myself to use something else, otherwise it would be on all my cards.
This is one of my new drawings and is called "Crocuses" (what else?) and you can see it HERE along with the little Cairn Terrier I drew a couple of days ago. I've also printed out some of my Snowdrop digi images and will be using them soon too.
Perhaps I'll  get more drawing done now that I'm off work looking after my husband....

While I'm in this frame of mind I'll probably be going BRIGHT to compensate for the lack of sunshine!

Challenges
Papertake weekly....anything goes

Sunday, 1 January 2012

Sir Stampalot DT card - Monochromatic


I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and would like to wish you a very happy New Year!
Maybe you got lots of lovely crafting goodies for Christmas and "need" to try them out? Why not join in the challenge at Sir Stampalot where the theme this month is "monochromatic".
If you need any encouragement to join in -  there is a fantastic surprise package as a prize on offer from the shop!!



I've been drawing again - this time I've done a few images which I really needed for my own cards and hope you'll find them useful too. I send a lot of Get Well cards, and needed some images which could be used for both male and female cards. This one is "Bunch of Grapes" and I've already coloured it in green, dark red and purple and am pleased with how it looks.
You'll find it along with the others HERE at A Passion for Stamps.     EDITED.. If you've read my post from last night you'll know that this card was "one I made earlier" and the new images will be available soon...

The die cut is Nellie Snellen, the punches are Tonic Studios border system and Royal Fleur 2 in 1 corner punch.
Don't forget to check out the other DT cards...you'll get all the inspiration you need to get you reaching for your stash!

Challenges
ABC  G is for Green