Project 75: Candy colored gingham

A little while ago my parents were cleaning and found a Mary Englebreit rubber stamp that my mom had been given years ago. It's not something I'd use that often normally but I thought it was a fun way to play homage to my craft roots.

I love gingham. Fact. I am obsessed with it. So when I saw this week's Mojo sketch I thought I could use the stamp as the starburst and greeting. Two birds, one stone, etc.

Ok, so this is a bit kiddie colored, candy striped, etc. But I actually really like it! I intentionally used different patterns to add to the ice cream parlor feel and then topped it off with the paper thread Claire gave me last week, some punched flowers with little gems and then used my impulse-buy scallop square to punch out the stamp.

Hope it cheers you up on these rainy, not-quite-spring days.

Project 74: Playing in the steam punk trend

Steam punk is a trend that I've been seeing in crafting for about a year and never really got into it. I saw this paper set on sale though and thought I'd give it a try. I'll be honest now, it's been harder to work with than I thought and I'm not sure I cracked it. But Claire and I have decided to start showing cards that aren't quite there in the spirit of honest crafting.

I stuck to natural recycled bases instead of white as the papers looked a bit stark on white.

The headline card uses two papers layerd into a pinwheel with a brad in the middle to give it that vintage toy feel. I embossed the card directly with a hexagon embossing folder that is new to my collection. I think it works here though I didn't put enough pressure on it so the pattern is faded. Could this pass as a boy birthday card? Hope so! 

Another version of the pinwheel card. The version on the right is too busy but the blue and orange looks cute. Again, think this could just about  work as a gender-neutral card.

For this one I played with a really simple layout, feels like a traditional card for such interesting papers. I thought the button was too plain so I added the bow which maybe makes it too cute.

Finally these ones used a really nice patterned orange paper. I embossed the black strip on the left and added a birthday tag with a button and bit of black and white bakers' twine. For the one on the right I used black corrugated card, a bird stamp and then cut some of the orange paper as a baking to the black flower.

All in all I don't think I really mastered the steampunk trend. Really hard to get right! I'm just too cutesy and girly I think to get this spot on. I'll do a bit of trawling on pinterest and craft blogs to see if I can get some inspiration to get a bit closer next time.

In other news: I'm fulfilling a massive order at the moment so this weekend has been a bit of a blur - perhaps that's why the cards aren't quite where I want them to be!

Project 73 Continued: More monograms

I thought I'd follow up on the post I put up on Monday featuring monograms.

I love personalized stationary so I thought I would try a few ideas.

No boring details here, just some simple layouts trying a few color combos for good measure.  All feature candies and a drawn or cut letter. My faves are up top but I like the two below a lot as well.

Claire started showing "oops" cards which are the ones that don't always go to plan. This pink one is definitely an overwhelming amount of baby-girl-pink. Yikes. And I thought it needed a blingy letter? What was I on?

I toyed with getting a letter diecut set but they are bloody expensive! Who has the money for a £45 set of letter cutters? Hand cutting is a pain but it's essentially free. So we'll stick to that until I get some serious orders to pay for the difference.

Project 73: Simple monograms

Claire and I have started a card exchange where we make each other a card for the other person's use (so no writing inside) and she made me a lovely card in homage to our friendship last week.

She pointed out this week's Mojo sketch  and thought it would be a bit hard to replicate. Ha! Challenge accepted.

I made a few monogram cards this week and she commented on a teal, cream and brown version I did. So I put this one together so she knows that I actually (occassionally) listen to her. And I like it enough that I might make one for myself!

This is the sketch that I was following - obviously I rotated it as I thought it would work better in the vertical format.  (I'm right though, aren't I?) I left the bow off as the velvet ribbon looks best unknotted and as I die-cut nesting scallops they were enough of a feature.

Yes she'll see this before she gets the post but I couldn't resist. I had a bit of admin to do for an order I'm fulfilling, searching through papers and everything and I needed to finish in a card or I'd just be frustrated.

I'll post the other monogram cards later this week so come back and check them out :)

Project 71: Easy boy cards

On our playdate I had a bit of fun coming up with some boy cards based on sketches I had seen on pinterest or magazines. Two simple sketches here that I think could be mass-produced in sets or for the next craft fair. 

This first one is roughly inspired by this card in that there are stars and string. Other than that it's a bit of a loose interpretation. I love using primary colors for boy cards and the giant greeting felt like it fit the theme. This is from the same stamp set as the giant "Thanks" used here. Stars are punched using the punch from the birthday bumper pack from my sister. 

This one is based on a magazine sketch that I adapted for a boy card. Really simple bit of twine against the brown craft card is nice. I got to use a mix of fun papers as well, which is always a bit of a challenge. 

Project 72: Mother's day cards

Claire and I made some awesome mother's day cards for UK Mother's Day and, of course, I forgot to take the two I need for the mothers I am seeing this weekend. Doh.

*Buy a card for UK mother's day if you need one*

So I made two cards bespoke for them. That's nicer, isn't it?

The headline card is for my mother-in-law as she gave me the flower punch for Christmas. I used Claire's bird punch (which I totally covet) and used some sparkly teal paper to balance out the pink. I love the candies as well. Candies on all cards. Forever.

This one is for Grandad's wife Brigid, who is really special and has always been ike my own family. In fact through some geneology studies we think we may actually be related! I kept this one pretty simple, just making a heart with some flowers topped with glitter dots. I think the yellow background makes it really cheerful as well.

Happy (UK)  Mother's Day!

*BUY A LOVELY FLORAL OR BUTTERFLY MOTHER'S DAY CARD HERE*

Project 70: Die cut bicycles and cameos

 

As I'm still relatively new to die cutting I rely on Claire for advice and guidance. Oh and for stealing her great kit.

She has this stamp and die cut set with bicycles that I am just loving. You stamp the image first and then the die cuts the shape around it. A bit fiddly for day to day crafting but great for playdates and special occassion cards.

The headline card uses some die cut tags that I bought as my first nesting die set. The papers are Martha Stewart and the Hippie Chick matte stack. The stamp is a new one that my mom and dad got me for my birthday. (NB - Claire was really jealous of this stamp so if you're reading this Mom or Dad - get in touch and let me know how she can find one of her own so she doesn't steal mine.)

The next two played around with some layouts I saw in a magazine. I really like the way the striped paper feels a bit retro.

The cameo dies are really great. I got 5 in a set (yes, these were my second die purchase in a week) and it came with a frame but we mainly stuck to the nesting die set. The layered version is more true to the sketch we were replicating but the spotty one was an opportunity to use the scrap from cutting the die as a frame. Claire gave me the tip about coloring some of the petals on the white flower to match the die.

Finally this isn't a true die-cut as I hand-cut this with a blade around a stamp set that my friend bought me for my birthday. I was really into vertical stripes this weekend! I added the greeting to the far side offset with a button and flower.

In this one you can see Claire's cameo card with mine: we were going for old lady-style floral wallpaper and I thought that they looked sweet against my vintage tea cups that I keep on my cake stand.

I'm prematurely 80, I know this already.