I decided to make an effort and so I made a card for the day. I had an idea of cutting out a heart and having a key in it, so that is what I wanted to do. It took some thinking but I did manage to get the heart cut out. I used Stampin Up”s concord crush cardstock as the card was for my husband so I didn”t want to use any pink. I also like the purple with the red.

The card needed some balance on the inside so I added a few little touches to ensure that it would stand up nicely. When I first started I couldn”t get a nice key so only had a great big heavy on that I was struggling with. When I stumbled on this smaller key I knew it was the answer to my balance problem.

To keep the whole thing closed I added a body band with yet more hearts. Now this may have been a bit of overkill but it was only on for a short amount of time and so served its purpose.

So there it is, my card for my valentine.

]]> http://www.dreamcrafts.co.nz/2012/02/14/happy-valentines-day/feed/ 0 http://www.dreamcrafts.co.nz/2011/12/30/inspiration-has-struck/ http://www.dreamcrafts.co.nz/2011/12/30/inspiration-has-struck/#comments Fri, 30 Dec 2011 05:06:16 +0000 admin http://www.dreamdolls.co.nz/?p=160 Continue reading →]]> The time between christmas and new years here is often a time to do little, eat a lot and recharge after the year. This year has been no exception to that.

While recharging I had every intention of getting out the sewing machine and continuing with some of those projects that have been pushed aside for other things.

That hasn”t happened, but instead I have been getting on to a few cards. Actually so far only 4 and two of those I haven”t even gotten around to taking photos of.

So this first one I got inspiration from Darlene Designs and I am pretty happy with how it turned out.

I used Stampin Up French Filigree stamp, clear embossing powder and Tim Holts inks to create the background. The butterfly is from the Beautiful Wings Embosslits. It has no greeting because I am not sure what it will be used for as yet.

The second came out of my head so no reference here.

So I teamed up Concord Crush and Real Red Inks for this one and believe it or not these are the only inks on it. I love this Tulip Frame Embossing folder it can go with so many things.

My head is swimming with card ideas, but alas nothing for a card for my Daughters Birthday at the end of January so I will have to put my thinking cap on a bit more.

Sammie had wanted a stamp of santa in his sleigh with the reindeer last year, and I had managed to get one after christmas, so I tried out a card with it.

I began by stamping the image with black embossing powder which was coloured with a blender pen after all the background was coloured.

I used a mask to make the moon and inked the outside using Tim Holtz Weathered wood and Stormy Sky distress inks. This gave me just the right blend of blue grey for a night sky. The moon is inked in Stampin”” Up Barely Banana which is a retired colour, but again just the right shade.

After all the inking I sprayed the top with Dazzling Diamonds glimmer mist for a bit of sparkle, before assembling the whole thing.

This was the first card that I tried out, and we liked it so much that it was the one we used. Made trialing very easy as there was only one. I ended up having to make 50 of them this year, the inking of the background took the most time, but I think the results were worth it.

She did not want a baby shower so I am going to take her out for a girls day next weekend, while Richard and Bevan babysit and cook dinner for us.

Again my limited resources has effected what I do for a card, and my first attempt at this was too plain and boring. So this morning I pulled it all to bits and had another go.

The picture is not the best and I might have to replace it, but this version is so much better.

Richards birthday is the day before so I have made him a birthday card as well.

Yes there really is a line on the fishing pole, and I used my owl punch to make the fish as well. I also found a verse for the inside of the card.

I don not know if you can read it or not, and I cannot remember where I got it from. I have managed to find a list that gives you the ink colour setting for the Stampin Up inks so I managed to print it in the chocolate chip ink colour.

This was a tricky one as I didn””t have anything that implied a house or moving, so I had to stretch my imagination.

I used my birdcage die and started from there with the little bird holding a key for the new house.

I loved this colour combination of Ballet Blue and a metallic cream, it reminded me of the old fashioned wedgewood. I will be using this again sometime in the future.

I also made a card for my Dear Jane Secret Pal, and I used the new sew suite stamps from Stamping up.

This is the first time I have done patchwork on a card, so still needing some practice in it, but over all not to bad.

I cut the cage so that it looked like the cage door is open, and I cut two sets of the wings so that the bird could be flying.

I turned it into a Birthday card, but now cannot remember who I gave it to, Luckily I took a picture before I sent it.

Anyway, using my limited supplies this is what I came up with.

I was pretty happy with how this turned out and I hunted online for a verse for the inside.

Today I finished the last block of my third row of the quit. I decided after doing the first two rows, that I would then do the last two rows, followed by the middle two. That way if I had any problems with not enough fabric it would all be spread throughout the quilt. I also have a few random blocks done as well.

So here they are

I chopped the top of this picture off so you will just have to take my word that the duck is done.

So onwards and upwards. I am not sure if it will get finished this year or not, but at least progress has been made.

For our Anniversary last month Bevan gave me my very first Tim Holtz Die. The caged bird one, I couldn””””t wait to use it.

It has taken a little while for me to collect all the bits I wanted to put on it, but this morning I finally got the time to finish it.

So here it is.

It is not done in the usual grungy Tim Holtz style, but I am very happy with it.

Although you can””””t really tell in the picture I managed to make the bird cage rounded at the front so that the little bird inside would not get squashed. Because of this I made a little box for an envelope so that the whole thing can be posted without getting crushed in the mail.

I can see me making many more things with this die.

Needless to say her card needed to be my best work. Now I did copy this design from darlenedesign. She makes very lovely cards and best of all gives a list of all the items in the card.

So armed with my owl punch here is what I made.

Looks pretty plain on the outside. I used a leather grain paper for the envelope and added an owl peeking out.

You can”t see the colours on the cake here, but it is coloured in. I used the cake cuttlebug die for the cake plate and believe it or not it is all silver.

I was also playing around with making boxes, so she got part of her gift in this little triangle box.

I forgot to take a picture of the inside, but it has petals layered in there. and it needed its own tag of course.

I just punched a small hole in the top of this and then threaded some gold thread through to tie it to the box.

And of course no gift is complete without being wrapped. In keeping with the card I wanted owl themed wrapping paper, so I have to make some.

This is the work in progress. I simply cut templates for the circles and scallops in my cuttlebug, and sponged the ink on. The owl in the middle is stamped on from the Punch Bunch set from Stampin Up. When I had finished I sprayed on two coats of spray on gloss to give the whole thing shine and strength. I was pretty happy with the finished product.

I have to say that Cath was pretty impressed, and even went so far as to carefully fold the paper and put it in with her card making stuff.