Communion Season

A communion card for a young boy based on a previous design of mine using the Spellbinders D-lite Filigree Cross and the Waltzing Mouse Celtic Heritage stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by,

Kate

Creative Blog Hopping

Last week my good friend Jaine asked me to join in a Creative Blog Hop.  I was warmed (and slightly humbled) by her glowing account of my work.  I only hope I don't disappoint.

My blogging is somewhat sporadic at the best of times, but as I'm just back from a quick trip to Australia where my mother has virtually no internet access and having left my husband in charge of the house and children, I had a bit of housework to catch up on when I returned.  
Anyway I am slowly returning to normal, and as Monday has arrived, it's my turn to answer a few questions about myself and my work.

1.  What am I currently working on?

I've just finished a project to make thank you cards for my son's communion last May.  I know I'm late but fortunately I have very understanding friends.  It's more of a keepsake than a thank you.  Naturally I thanked all my friends on the day for their contributions to the ceremony and party afterwards, and Simon thanked everyone for their generous gifts.

I enjoy big projects - it gives me a chance to combine my organisational skills from my computer analyst days with my creative side. 

Here are the cards/keepsakes.

I had planned to use the Spellbinders Die-Lite Window 3 - a very elegant gothic church style window.  In fact this die was partially responsible for the idea for this design.  However it was pretty obvious that I was not going to be able to make a large number of cuts with these 2 dies as they are a bit temperamental.  By the time I has realised this I was too far along the design path and so I looked to the Silhouette site and found a suitable shape I could work with, changed it up a bit using the Silhouette Designer software and cut the card fronts, the toppers and the frames with my Cameo.  The sentiment (and the other inspirational factor behind the idea for the card) was from WMS Light of the World.  I loved the idea of Simon's "light" shining through the window of the card front.

Here's the inside

Special cards for a really special little boy.  Jaine mentioned that he is partially disabled, but anyone who knows Simon knows that he spreads sunshine and happiness wherever he goes.  It is a joy to have been given the privilege of looking after this wonderful little person.

2.  How does my work differ from others in my genre?

I think many of my cards are more about an idea rather than a work of art.  I was always a failure in art classes at school, not being able to draw for peanuts (I don't even like my handwriting).  However when I discovered stamping (about 18 years ago) all of my creative energy just bubbled to the surface.  
Not long into my card making journey, I became fascinated by quirky cards such as shaker cards and I used to pore over my children's pop up story books to get ideas for pop up cards and reveal cards.  More recent experiments include double sliders, waterfall cards and swing cards.

This penny spinner was my own invention as I felt the butterfly should  spin around the circle not just go back and forth.   I have seen other more recent circular spinner cards, but when I made this one and it's predecessors I came up with the idea myself.

This swing-out geared card where turning the gear revels the end of the sentiment "2 turn 60 is time to celebrate" was another card I "engineered",

as was this growing sunflower 

I also must confess to having a corny sense of humour as with this Zoo card I made for one of Simon's friends, where the inside of the card (supposedly being from the inside of the lion's mouth) reads - Pleased to Eat You.

I also like to include song lyrics into my cards such as this Hello Dolly card (but then I am one of those annoying people who are known to constantly find and sing song lyrics in everyday conversation).

  

3.  Why do I create/write about what I do?

I think everyone needs a creative outlet.  Life seems a little brighter when I can look back and say oh wow "I made that" (it's even better if you look at something you made a few years ago and can still say that).  What I like most about card making is that I get to create something beautiful (hopefully) for people I care about.  Cards are not big things - they take up very little space, but they are made with love and I like to think of that love sitting in someone's bottom drawer and being taken out and aired every now and then. 

My friends Jaine and Lena were responsible for me creating a blog.  Initially it was only for my benefit - a way of remembering my design processes and how I had created a design in case I wanted to revisit it as a later date.   I have always thought it important to share ideas and techniques, but for a long time I only had Jaine and Lena following me, so there wasn't much sharing going on.  However as I started joining in challenges, I got a little bit more noticed and when people started saying nice things about my cards or thanking me for sharing a technique ... well to be perfectly truthful I was tickled pink.  

4.  How does your creative process/writing process work?

When I make a card for someone I try and think of what they enjoy or what colours they like.  I keep a catalogue of my stamps and dies on my computer and (also on my iPad for when I'm on out) so I can peruse it easily - gone are the days when I remember every stamp in my collection (and not just because my memory is going).

I have a long list of challenge sites to go to for sketch inspiration and colour combinations.   I think challenge sites are wonderful - so much eye candy in the one place, yum !!!

The hardest part is always picking designer papers.  I have a ridiculous number of them.  I can't stop myself from buying them and I have real difficulty parting with them.

If you've made it this far without dying of boredom then thank you very much.  I have no one specific to pass on to in this blog hop but would recommend you scroll through any of the blogs I follow on the right scroll bar.  There are some extremely talented card makers there as well as genuinely wonderful people.

Hopefully you'll drop by again and often, 

Kate

One Last Communion Card

One last card this time a commission for a friend.  My friend Sonya was commissioned to make the present which is a Room Box - a framed 3-d room such as you might find in a doll's house.  Sonya chose several shades of light blue for the soft furnishings to go with the white furniture she made to kit out the room, so I tried my best to use similar colours for the card.

I was a bit rushed this morning getting the card finished and photographed before picking up Simon for lunch and physio. As I mused over it while Simon was in physio, I realised the "KOMMIOUN" (Luxembourgish for communion) was difficult enough to pick out without having the distraction of the name underneath, so I removed the "JESSY" and used it on the envelope.  

The PSX Florentine letters were stamped in Color Box Sky Blue on white card and punched out using a 1" square punch (so easy to line up perfectly as long as you leave them on a strip of card).  I distressed the edges with the same ink.  If I had to do the card again I would try white embossing on blue base card.  The chalice in the middle was stamped using an image from the WMS Celtic Heritage set.  The butterflies were punched from the same cornflower blue card stock I used for the base and distressed with  Salty Ocean and Worn Lipstick DIs.  I added to these later using white Enamel Accents.

I decorated the inside with the same patterned paper as the front and added this image cut using the Spellbinders Floral Border D-Lite die (loved it so much I added one to the envelope as well).

I gave Simon's class mates their communion cards at lunch time today - they were thrilled with them. "mega schein" (mega beautiful) was one comment I overheard when one little girl was showing her friend.  Making other people happy with your creations -  that's what I love most about card making.  It's comments like those that make the hard work worthwhile don't you think. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend,

Kate

More Communion Cards

You may already know how much I appreciate the kids in Simon's class at school who are always ready to help him do things he has any difficulty with - especially the girls.  Five of the children in his class make their First Holy Communion this Sunday.  I made cards for this boys earlier in the week and these are for the girls.  SO much easier making cards for girls - you can really go to town on pretty papers and embellishments.

I used the insert from the Spellbinders D-Lite filigree cross to create a pretty aperture in the window of the base card.  Papers from various paper packs, the Spellbinders Persian Accents and a butterfly punch were used to frame and embellish the aperture.  The butterflies were sponged with Worn Lipstick DI, and the girls' names were cut with my Silhouette using the Abbeyline font (free download).

Here is a look at the inside of one of the cards.  I saved the cross which I cut from the frame mat on the front and used it on the inside.  The aperture is clearly visible here too.  I love the versatility of this Spellbinders Filigree Cross.   The chalice and sentiment are from the WMS Celtic Heritage set.

I was inspired by the following challenges

Inkspirational Challenge #55

to use 

Green and Pink

and 

Seize the Sketch #19

Thanks for stopping by,

Kate

Some Communion Cards

Two boys in Simon's class make their First Holy Communion next Sunday and I wanted to mark the event by making them a card.  I was a little pushed for inspiration when I saw the card being showcased on Case Study 189.

Using Spellbinders D-Lite Filigree Cross (which is a 2-part die), I cut the window in my card front and created this tone on tone blue cross to sit in the aperture when the card is closed.  

The sentiment is from Waltzing Mouse Stamps Celtic Heritage.  As both boys names were short, I decided to die cut their names using this WPlus9 Folk Art Alphabet.  Might have to rethink this design for the girls though one of them is Jennifer.

Merci and Memento

Just finished a batch of Thank You Cards for Simon's best friend Niamh who made her Communion earlier this year. Despite heavy rain for most of the day, it stopped long enough for a few photos to be taken outside - as you can see she didn't let the weather dampen her spirits.  The service was beautiful and we had a lovely meal and celebration afterwards, although by this time she had swapped the satin slippers for wellies !

A few of the Spellbinders Decorative Labels 8 were perfect for framing the photo and the thank you note, and Labels 8 was used to die cut the photo.  Other dies sets used were Resplendent Rectangles, Adorning Squares and Persian Accents.

Stamp sets used were Waltzing Mouse Celtic Heritage and Victorian Frippery, stamped in Versacolor Violet and clear embossed.  The gingham background was left over table runner which had been used to decorate the tables.

Thanks for stopping by :)

Communion card

Simon's best friend Niamh celebrated her 1st Communion Day last weekend.  The service was beautiful as was Niamh in her white dress.  We had a lovely party after the ceremony and did not let the rain dampen our spirits.  It was quite funny when Niamh greeted us back at her house - she was still wearing her beautiful white dress, but the ballet slippers had been replaced with much more sensible boots.

This was the card I made for her.  The Celtic Cross was from Waltzing Mouse's Celtic Heritage set, as was the chalice on the envelope.  The sentiment was from Waltzing Mouse's Light of the World set - it's actually 2 stamps so the positioning is very flexible.  Naturally I set it all off with a background stamped with the WMS Cabin Plaid Backgrounder.  

The die cut alphabet I used to spell Niamh's name on the envelope was from WPLUS9.  I discovered this site while visiting other blogs and decided to try ordering directly from the States.  They have a fab collection of clear stamps and matching dies - well worth a look.