Flippin' Men Stamped Card

I'm thrilled that I have managed to create a stamp with the Flippin' Men! Flippin'Peace image.

I have been given exclusive rights to make 20 of these sets & should have them up and running by 15th January.

This is done on an A5 card I stamped the image and coloured it with Copic Markers, I actually think the image looks fabulous left black without any colour as done in the insert shown under the card.

I made an insert and stamped the back image instead of a verse along side some of the stamp wording, much easier to add a stamped image rather than a verse for men's cards.

My New Toy

After deliberating and stewing over buying this I can now confirm that I love it.

You know the problem of going to work in the dark mornings and returning home when it is dark and needing to take a picture of a card in the daylight mostly by balancing the card on the windowsil and praying that the sun (if any) won't cast shadows.

Well that was the problem I faced most days. I bought a soft box well actually 2 one with lights but then the problem was where to keep it and then the studio lights were enourmous so where the heck are you supposed to put them when they aren't in use? I ended up taking one of the soft boxes to work to use on photography there & the other was made redudant along with the lights stashed away in the loft.

So I needed something compact that would solve my lighting problems and I found it, it wasn't cheap so I had to save up my pennies and put some Christmas money towards it.

So What is it?

THIS

This shot of my new toy is took with the lights off and the door closed, I mainly take shots with the door open, as you can see it is small, it's height inside is roughly the height of a bottle of plonk (wine) and its width inside is roughly 8inches.

With a card inside ready to take a photograph

there is 2 sets of CC lights at either side at the front and a blue spot light to take shots of glitter and bling.

With all of the lights on, this was not a close up shot I cut the image down but it shows just how bright the box is.

Where to buy or get more information: http://otamat.com/Photo_Light_Boxes.html

A Beautiful War Time Card

This most beautiful old card is 92 years old and it was given to me by a very dear lady Sue Ward to whom I am extremely grateful, it arrived this morning and I carefully opened it and then just sat in awe.

It will be highly treasured. Thank you Sue.

Sue has Kindly allowed me to tell the story of the card.

"It is a small ( smaller than A6) Christmas card dated 1916 and it has the original envelope... although it is a bit worse for wear...and addressed to my "gran and grandad." The card is cream and I think the aperture sentiment is printed on lavender silk. A bit about how I came to have it. When I was 5 I was fostered by a couple with the surname Trigg...who I considered to be my "Mam and Dad" The rest of their family...bar a very few...didn't consider me as part of the family. They are no longer with us, and after they died the rest of the family, after picking over the belongings left me with a few precious photo's and this card. I did ask about it, and was told that it came from an uncle and no one seemed bothered about it. I've hung on to it because although it doesn't have any real family connection to me, I didn't like to throw it out but I'm afraid that one day that might just happen...as obviously none of my children have any connection to it. "

My Christmas Vintage Postcard Collection

I thought I would show you the Christmas selection of my vintage postcards.

Up until lately they have been kept safe in a box, my Daughter bought me an album so that I could put them in date order, the first that you see below with the heart on is stamped and dated as 1902

Stamped Poppy Card

Ruffled Poppy stamp from the Remember stamp set by PTI I stamped the image in plain old black ink then added tiny black gems to the poppy the gems are really made for nail art but hey they are great for hand made cards (don't you think?)

I used a pre pattered A4 card for the base card cut down and folded.

Layered the image on black and silver card then tied a ribbon around the middle of the card before added the stamped image.

I finished by stamping the words "for being a friend" and using a word slot punch to punch out the shape then added it to the card with foam pads.

"Well I couldn't let the year end without doing one more Poppy card"

Cuttlebug Leaf Card

The cuttlebug leaf folder is very understated I love to use it as an accent at the edge of a card like the one below, I just used it on the corner then used the Take a Bough and the Birds of a Feather stamp sets by PTI to accompany it.

A lille pit of patterned paper by Kanban and and a ribbon and a card is born.

Floral Craft - Cymbidium Orchid

A hand made orchid made from Craft Punch shapes although this one was made specifically for the Cymbidium Orchid.

I used the label nestabilities die cut shapes to mount the orchid onto and stamped some quotes from PTI Stamps.

I scored the base card and rounded the corners with a corner rounder punch then tied a top notch ribbon around the center of the card.

A close up view of the floral punch craft Orchid. you can see how I painted the petals on this view.

Twinklets Glass Glitter Accent Card

Using punched shaped from my floral craft punches I added the glossy accents as a glue and dipped the shapes into the glass glitter, once dried I stuck the shapes together using a wet paper glue and threaded a button with raffia before fixing in the center of the flower with a glue dot.

And so to the full card,

I used a Kraft coloured card stock from PTI for the 14 x 14cm base card and stamped the DCM rubber stamp border with Vintage Photo distress ink. I added a piece of chocolate coloured card which I distressed around the edges then tied a cream ribbon around the card.

I stamped the main image by Clarity stamps with the same Vintage Photo ink onto cream card stock and again distressed the edges and added this with double sided foam pads.

Lastly I added the glass glitter embellishment.

There’s a magic in the air again
For Christmas time is here,
There’s happiness in every heart
And all the season’s cheer,
There’s a special kind of joy
That’s part of Christmas too,
The joy of wishing all that’s best
Especially for you.

I would just like to wish you all the very warmest wishes for Christmas.

Vintage Greeting Cards - A couple from my Collection

This postcard is soon to be 100 years old so I thought it was very apt so show this to you.

I collect old postcards and greeting cards preferably before 1930 although I do have a good few older than that in my collection.

So if anyone has any that they would like to donate to me I promise to give them a good home.

Postal date for this one is 24th December 1908 so it will be at least 100 years old on Christmas Eve this year.

This is a Birthday Card from 1909 the greeting on it is unusual as it says "on this your Natel Day"

I love it when the back of the card has a letter attached, as you can see the postmark is 19th March 1909 on this one.

Verses for Cards

Printing the verses for card you make is often the last thing us card makers do, In fact we often find it a chore, even picking the right verse can send us into a spin.

Verses4Cards can help us with this very task, what better way to find free printable verses poems and quotes all free and printable in one place at the click of a button.

There is everything from Christmas to Sympathy verses and poems free for the taking. so banish your headaches and pop over to browse the vast collection of verses for cards.

http://www.verses4cards.co.uk/

Flippin' Men - Fishing

This is just 1 in a series of 20 Flippin' Men by La Pashe.

I love the way this one makes up all chunky pieces to cut out, I used one of aperture cards which were designed to compliment the Flippin' Men sheets and covered it with basic grey papers.

Cuttlebug Butterfly Card - Crushed Glass Glitter

Using the cuttlebug i cut out the butterfly and embossed the with the matching folder I then cut out a second butterfly from acetate and using the glossy accents and the diamond dust crushed glass glitter made this one nice and sparkly before attaching the two together.
I cut out 2 sizes of the label 1 nestabilities dies and wrapped and tied a ribbon around the smaller die, then layered the two together with foam pads.

I did stamped the words New Beginnings on the top label.
The base card was a pre-embossed square card that I found in my craft stash all I did was round off the corners.

Twinklets Crushed Glass Glitter

I made up a snowflake from a cuttlebug die and some craft punch shapes then added ranger glossy accents to the shapes and dropped them into the glitter and left them to dry while I made up one of Claire's 3 Kings shapes (Found here) it is sort of a flat bottomed cracker and when made up you can add goodies inside it.

I intend making a few for the Christmas table and adding gifts inside.

A close up view of crushed glass glitter on the snowflake layers.

I think this will be my favorite product for a long time to come.

I also tried the glitter out on some flower shapes

An even closer view