Take time to smell the Roses.....

I made this card for a tutorial on Spectrum Noir Aquablend pencils recently.

The details can be found here.

Floral Frame for The Inspirers

This is my latest make for Crafter's Companion Inspirers - A project for Mum - I chose to make a framed picture.

I started with the Downton Abbey - Downton Decor die, cut from a piece of White Linen effect card measuring 6 1/2" square. This die does not cut the outside edge so can be placed onto any size card.

The Gemini cuts these in one pass - amazing!

I added a matt of Sheena's Stamping card 7x7" and black Coredinations to fit the frame.

An oval frame was added using the Downton Abbey - Ornate oval frame - it fits perfectly into the centre of the card - and is raised with foam tape.

My flowers are stamped and die cut using Sheena's Perfect Partners Victorian Floral Anemone.

These are currently on 3 for 2 so a great deal!

The Jar is from Sheena's Home Life - In a pickle set.

I water coloured using Spectrum Aqua pens - colours below - using a little artistic licence for the blooms. The jar was cut twice, the lid added over the flower stems with glue gel then a layer of Acetate stuck with glossy accents around the edge to resemble glass.

The blooms and leaves were stuck with the glue gel.

I find that if you shape the flowers when damp they hold their form a lot better.

Finally I die cut a smaller oval from the Downton Frame using the white linen card and coloured as above to match. The letters are from the Die'sire Decorative Alphabet set.

A few gems and pearls were then added.

Thank-you for taking a look

xxx

Friends Forever - Boho Dreams for Merly Impressions

Another layout created for Merly Impressions using Boho Dreams from Kaisercraft.

Details can be found on the blog here.

Belated Birthday too!

 I made this one for a friends birthday.

It's only 5 1/2" square but I think the size works well.

I cut the fancy frame from a spellbinders dies and layer it onto a piece of matching card 5 x 4 1/2" using foam tape. 

Once on the card I used a ruler and fineliner to create a thin border.

I'd been making these flowers for another project and they fit perfectly - they are Heartfelt Creations with Prills in the centre.

The message is a new stamp I got from Sir Stampalot recently, I think it's Molly Blooms?

Anyway, I hope you had a lovely birthday Tracey.

xxx

Baby Girl card.....

A new baby card I made for my lovely friend Charlotte, who's sister had a beautiful baby girl.

The card is 8x8" square with Doodlebug papers.

Bunting created with a Stampin' Up punch and some rub-on letters.

A few little stitches and buttons...

Thanks for taking a look

xxx

Birthday Boy with Boho Dreams for Merly Impressions

My second project this month for Merly Impressions using Boho Dreams by Kaisercraft.

This one is very versatile and can be used easily for masculine layouts.

Details can be found on the blog here.

Love, Love, Love.....

My latest project for The Inspirers is a 12x12" scrapbook page using Sara Davis - Signature Range - Love & Romance Collection.

The papers are from the 12x12" paper pad, the woodgrain was trimmed to 11" square and matted onto Black Coredinations from the Neutrals range, gutted to 1" from the edge.

Next I took the hearts paper cut 7 3/4" square then die cut both sides using the Die'sire Classiques Evie ribbon threading die.

This was layered onto white coredinations measuring 7 1/2 x 8" with foam tape leaving a small border, the again on black coredinations 8 x 8 1/2".

Natural jute was threaded and  tied in small bows.

I die cut the love die 3 times and layered over and beneath my photo (which is 3 1/4 x 5 1/2" matted onto black coredinations) using tacky glue  and once dry coated with Glossy Accents.

The hearts were die-cut using one of the nesting dies from the collection then placed down the right hand edge with a tiny amount of tacky glue down the centre. Once dry I used a piercing ruler and thread to stitch them into place.

Finally some small gems were placed in the flower centres on the left side.

All edges have been inked using Black Soot Distress ink.

Thank-you for taking the time to read this post.

xxx

PaperArtsy #3UP

I was delighted to be chosen for PaperArtsy's #3UP challenge using JOFY (Jo Firth Young) stamps!

As many of you will know, I adore her products so this was a dream come true.

This is what I made - stamp sets in brackets.

I started with a 7x7" piece of watercolour card and stamped the bee-hive (30) and two stems of the lilac/yellow blooms (26) on the left. The background was then given a wash of Tumbled Glass - distress ink.

The blooms (26) were coloured with Shaded Lilac and Squeezed Lemonade.

Three further stems were stamped, coloured then cut out - then layered up with glue gel to create dimension. 

In the centre I stamped the small honeycomb (30) and added some hexagons from the same set, coloured with Wild Honey. These were cut out and glued into place with the Sentiment (mini) over the top.

The hive (30) was coloured next and I added a double spray of the flower (32) stamped directly over.

The flowers were stamped again, coloured with Seedless Preserve and Carved Pumpkin then glued just in the centres. Top-tip - colour the edges on the main page before adding so that the colour reflects underneath too. I just adore these little bees (30) which were cut, coloured and added with glittered wings.

Another favourite stamp is the dragonfly (13) which was cut out twice and layered. Another technique I love is adding detail with a white sharpie pen - I really feel it makes the image "pop".

To finish I cut several of the daisy/grass strips (13) and place them along the base with additional leaves and blooms.

The whole project was mounted onto some black card which I think frames it well.

  This is the colour palate I used - markers and ink pads too.     

Thank-you for taking the time to read this - please take a look at the PaperArtsy blog for more artwork for this challenge.

Thanks Leandra and Darcey too!

xxx

Belated Wedding Card.........

Bit delayed but hopefully worth the wait! 

A friend I used to work with got married earlier in the year and I made them this card.

It's 7 1/2" square white linen effect card so I used a similar material to decorate it with. 

The Mr & Mrs is from Sara Davis Signature Collection - Together Forever.

The ornate frame is spellbinders, the flowers are Heartfelt Creations.

Add in a few Memory Box and Tattered Lace dies and we have a real mix going on.

Love the way they all work together on the card.

Wishing you both every happiness 

xxx

Baby Joshua

Lots of baby cards lately, here is the first one for Joshua.

TFL xxx

Sara's Signature Range - Traditional Christmas

Sara's new Signature Collection - Traditional Christmas - was launched on Hochanda last night.

It's a fabulous set of dies, embossing folders, papers, ribbons, stamps and specialist card!

These are my samples -

You've been Framed - cards made with Boho Dreams for Merly Impressions

This month I have the pleasure to play with Boho Dreams by Kaisercraft for Merly Impressions.

Full details on the blog here.

Family and Friends

Chrissy designed beautiful layouts for the Merly Impressions Retreat, here are my versions of two of them. The papers can be purchased here.

TFL x

Merly Retreat 2016

We've just had a lovely weekend at the Merly Impressions Retreat at Wyboston Lakes.

Our "homework" was to make a card for a participant which would be distributed randomly on arrival. This was the one I made using papers from the Fly Free collection by Kaisercraft, Rose stamp from Always and Forever, Butterfly and words are Tim Holtz.

The images were coloured with a combination of Distress pens, Kaiserfusion pens and Spectrum Sparkle.

This was my room which was very comfortable.

Loved the tiles in the shower & fabulous Elemis products!

The view from the restaurant was stunning...

if you look closely you can see lots of bunnies playing in the evening sun.

Lynn and I enjoyed a few glasses of wine too!

And had to play in the 60's style chair....

Even Ted found a new friend............

This was the card I received from Cathy - Thank-you, it's lovely!

The weather was lovely, apart from a couple of Hail storms...

And beautiful cupcakes made by Merley!

Thanks Chrissy, Paul, Merley and Anam for your hard work :)