Christmas – Oops :)

Ahh – well, it’s just getting to be my usual these days – 3 miles behind myself so once again didn’t get any posts up prior to the big event.  I was SOOOO far behind this year with C. cards after last year’s wedding – I lost 2 months out of my cardmaking schedule which I never really managed to recover so started this season with much less than usual.  Then I had the same problem I have every year – starting in July it’s just so hard to make C. cards with the sun splitting the sky.  I refuse to start playing the music any earlier than October although that may change but I do need some sort of help to get a shade more inspiration much earlier in the season.  Invariably iI only really ever get going by mid October with just 2 weeks to go before I stop making, and start finalising (inserts/envelopes etc).  So there you go – what can I say.

These 2 cards are just a couple of my nicer ones from this year as I found myself doing a LOT of repeats from last year for speed.

The first was one of my quick cards made using diecuts which I loved.  I used an A6 landscape/portrait card if that makes sense (fold at the top rather than the side :).  Another slightly smaller piece of single card was then cut and I printed on my various scripture texts.  I then diecut a circle out of the top end to make a frame.   On a small piece of scrap card (just enough to fit behind the circle) I coloured a background using dewdrop chalk inks to provide a little backdrop to the diecuts.  This card has 2 shepherds with their lambs where others had a few more or a different setting.  But they made a great quick and easy card to make.

 

Added on some stars and a nice glitter border peel off and that was it.

Then the 2^nd card was another very quick and easy one as I got an unexpected order for solely Christian cards at the end of October and was in a flap as to how to produce more (most of the rest were already allocated) plus I wanted something that would really stand out too.

So this was the solution.  Another A6 card – this one a landscape one.   Corners were punched and a piece of mirri paper (I used all the colours to make my set – this one is purple) was die cut with a Spellbinders A2 border die before having it’s corners punched also.  An S/B small silver floral frame was put in the middle and a scripture text cut to size to put into it.  A couple of snowflakes and a peel off greeting to complete.  

These are being entered into:
Word Art Wednesday 214/215 challenge.  
Crimbo Crackers
Crafty Creations 

Finally back :)

Ok - where HAVE the past 7 months gone to - I seriously cannot figure how so much time has passed since my last entry.  But as ever, it takes a WordArt Wednesday to get me kick started into action again.

I've been making Christmas cards (or at least trying to) since mid-July and now near the end of October I'm coming to an end temporarily for this season as it takes me weeks to 'finalise' each of them ready for collection by those who've asked for some.  I rarely get paid for these ones much as most go to family but I do thankfully have 1 or 2 friends willing to buy £20 worth which is great, but given I can only charge about 50p max per card means I don't get much profit.  Regardless, I continue to make for my pain relief & distraction therapy rather than profit anyway.

So onto my offering for the Challenge this week & possibly my last of the year unless I get a half hour to put something up before the end of it.

The card I've made is one of my favourites for this season - a Joy diecut on red mirri paper which has a border cut with Spellbinders A2 curved borders.  I then did the same on the card front while cutting the back straight to ensure it sits up properly. 

Just finished off with peeloffs so is a nice quick & simple card - and very effective I think. I've done some more in different colours which all look wonderfully striking and have gone down well.

Enjoy!

 

Merry Monday Christmas challenge

Wowee – how rare is this – a whole 2 (!!!) posts in less than a week??  But I just couldn’t resist making up this Christmas card for the MerryMonday Christmas challenge this week.  With a great challenge of making a card to reflect the wonderful Silent Night hymn, it was really a doddle.

I adore easel cards when I can get the time to make them & in particular if I can make them without flowers so they’ll be easier & cheaper for recipients to post.   And for that purpose, I find pyramid designs are great as they add a bit more height without being excessive (you can determine the height better).

So this card uses stash background paper on front & base with a contrast panel of Craft Creations silver wording paper.  Then I diecut a couple of silver border strips from the Spellbinders Ironworks die set. 

I pyramaged up the Christmas image and matted it on some silver mirri card.  The “stop” bar with the Silent Night text is computer printed and then run through a Xyron before coating in plenty of holographic glitter.  I’d often cut similar strips off old Christmas cards before thinking I could probably make my own, & since discovering how easy it is, I’ve run wild!!

The inside as usual is decorated to complement the outside and a tag provided for the message. :)

This is a card I know will please its recipient immensely & I hope you like it too.

Blessings. :)

So this card is being entered into:

Merry Monday Christmas Challenge #130

Word Art Wednesday - Challenge 138

I’ve had to make quite a few Sympathy cards of late sadly for friends and my mum-in-law which can sometimes be a tough challenge, but I’ve had some wonderful inspiration with using Word Art designs in particular rather than my usual decoupage designs.

So this one is a little A6 card done in a black and white theme which I feel works well for the occasion.

I embossed the background with a vine design and then used the MS Leafy Lace border punch to make 2 border strips.

I wrapped a strip of black ribbon on one side and added a black bow before putting the diecut sentiment onto a doily to make it a little less severe.  Had to hold off on the bling but was still very pleased with the end result.

I then created an insert with a suitable sentiment using some of the wonderful Christian poetry by Michelle Lowndes which has become a total life saver for me as her verses are so perfect for cards.

I've entered this into the Word Art Wednesday challenge 138

Vintage Sentiments

This is one of my all-time favourite card designs I think with it’s wonderful vintage feel.  It was originally a Christmas design but translates perfectly through to any kind of general one as you can easily change whatever text you put on the postcard.

I’ve matted a lovely vintage paper from Pion Design onto gold mirri card, then printed off a postcard with my WordArt verse on it which got matted onto a wonderful white doily which just sets it off wonderfully.  I love this particular verse as while not biblical per se, it’s ideal for anyone, Christian or not.

Finished it all off with a white ribbon and group of mixed flowers – this time using some from Prima as well as Wild Orchid Crafts, and some white pearls.  It’s such a hugely versatile card I know I’ll be making many more but sadly Prima have gone & changed their stock again, so the beautiful cream flowers aren’t available anymore.  But that’s ok – just have to try using some other colours or sizes etc.

So far I’ve only made this as an “ordinary” card rather than an easel but it would lend itself nicely to an easel style too.

I'm entering this into the Wild (oops KEEP writing that LOL!) sorry Word Art Wednesday challenge

Crafting from the Heart
Crafty Creations Challenge #264 - S for Scripture/Sentiment

Word Art Wednesday Challenge 130

Another week done & another month to boot – hard to believe we’re already into May as Christmas seems only a few wks past & the weather as yet at least hasn’t quite hit spring :(

This week’s card is in lovely soft brown colours that I absolutely adore, but can’t get the papers for any longer – they’re from a very old Paper Pizazz pack which I don’t even know the name of to hunt on Ebay or elsewhere for sadly, but someday perhaps I’ll come across them again.

I decided to change my normal design for this card & used two triangles instead to split the card in half along the diagonal which works perfectly with the circle sentiment which I’ve matted onto a 10 cm doily. 

Finished it off with a matching bow and a gold glitter border peel off to match the gold edging of the ribbon – just neatens up the ribbon edges at the ends as the cuts are prone to fraying.

I've just put an ordinary insert inside rather than matching it as I'd so little of the paper left to do so sadly.

LOVE this verse but caution you to remember it’s a single verse & thus shouldn’t be taken on its own to mean anything major – rather use it to be inspired to read the whole passage:

If you want to understand the issues behind that you could consider reading this article:  http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/practical-faith/stop-taking-jeremiah-2911-out-context

I'm entering this card into Word Art Wednesday Challenge 130

Blessings