Creative Expressions - Bee Happy

Two projects today using the Bee Happy die from Creative Expressions Craft Dies by Paper Panda. If you don't know who Paper Panda is, then check out this link.   

For the first one, I teamed the die up with Creative Expressions 3D Embossing Folder Honeycomb trellis for the textured background, and Card Deco Frame Card Lacy Dots 4K die for the base card. The inky background uses Distress Oxide sprays in Scattered Straw and Spiced Marmalade, along with Cosmic Shimmer Pixie Powder Mango Blaze and Pixie Burst Orange Slice. 

I really love these Card Deco card dies. It just gives something different to the base card - and they are pretty good value for money.

The second card uses the same embossing folder, but this time with patterned paper. I cut into the Bee Happy die cut, to give added interest. 

Click on the image to see the video demo, and please feel free to follow me here on my blog, or on FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest.

Happy crafting, 

Cxxxx

Eizabeth Craft Designs - 1478 Garden Scene

Today's share contains a couple of cards using Elizabeth Craft Designs - 1478 Garden Scene die. This is very much like a "Create a Card" type die. These are great for creating quick cards, as the work is pretty much done for you.

I chose to use two different techniques. The first one is an inked background using Mermaid Lagoon and Cracked Pistachio Distress Oxides and Sprays. The sentiment is from Julie Hickey Designs - Everyday Sentiments.  I love the Tim Holtz Distress Range - particularly the Oxides and the Oxide sprays. 

The second one is the quickest way to use this type of die, where patterned papers make the background. Again, the sentiment is from Julie Hickey Designs - Everyday Sentiments. 

Click on the images to see the video demos, and please feel free to follow me here on my blog, or on FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest.

Happy crafting, 

Cxxxx

Easter Bunnies!

Today's share is another Easter card - this time, using Elizabeth Craft Designs Bunny die. I cut it three times, and combined it with the sentiment from Karen Burniston's Easter Charms. Click on the picture to watch the video demonstration. 

Thanks for popping by, and I hope I have given you a little inspiration. Feel free to follow me here on my blog, or on FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest. For lots of video demonstrations, pop over to the Hixxy Studio YouTube channel to subscribe. The main items I use can be found on the Hixxy Crafts website - have a look under the Hixxy Studio tab.

Happy crafting,

Cxx

Easter Basket

 We are fast approaching Easter, and I have a few projects to share with you. The first is this twisted Easel card in lovely pastel colours, using Elizabeth Craft Designs Easter Basket. Click on the picture for the link to the video demo.

I also used a sentiment from Karen Burniston's Easter Charms set.

Thanks for popping by, and I hope I have given you a little inspiration. Feel free to follow me here on my blog, or on FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest. For lots of video demonstrations, pop over to the Hixxy Studio YouTube channel to subscribe. The main items I use can be found on the Hixxy Crafts website - have a look under the Hixxy Studio tab.

Happy crafting,

Cxx

E is for Extremely Tricky!

So, we're at the start of another 2 week challenge. And of course we are now at E/F. Same as before - you can make anything you want and use anything you want from your stash - providing at least one thing starts with an E or an F.

I like to take each letter individually and see what I can dig out from my stash, but I have to admit that E was a tricky letter for me. That said, I finally found my inspiration and managed to create my project for this week's inspiration - and Easel card with an Envelobox.

One of the things I found most tricky was trying to find colours. Originally, I was against using Emerald, but in the end I dug through my ink pad collection to see if I could find any inspiration for colours starting with E. And this is what I found - Emerald and Elderberry - Green and Purple - and I actually quite liked it. To be fair, I didn't use the ink pads (except for the sentiment) but it gave me a starting point.

I really wanted to use my e-Brush - an airbrush brought out by Craftwell about 5 years ago that works with Spectrum Noir pens. So I then had to colour match with my pens. I used JG3 (Emerald/Green) and LV2 (Elderberry/Purple). While I was looking through, I also picked out a couple of lighter colours to go with them - LG1 (a pale green) and CR2 (a light pink).

I had a piece of Mylar into which I cut a circle (easier to do if you have multimedia type dies). I used scrap paper to mask off the area around. I started with the LG1 and sprayed the bottom part of the circle, and then CR2 to do the top.

   

I then used a stencil over the top. This one is a mini stencil by Imagination Crafts that was in a Crafter's Inspiration Magazine. It's a double so I wasn't too worried about it being coloured by the ink. And to be fair, it will still work in the same way. So, over the top of the circle and stencil, I sprayed JG3 and LV2.

  

And the result was really quite lovely. 

I also airbrushed a piece of card using the lighter colours to use as a background.

This topper was then used on an easel card. This was cut using Crafter's Companion Circle Easel card die set. The purple mat was Embossed with an old embossing folder from Crafter's Companion - Embossalcious Everday 6x6 Floral Frenzy. The green fancy mat was cut from Core'dinations using the dies that came with the Easel card set.

 

 

For the envelobox, I followed the instructions for a 5.5" x 5.5" card, so started with a 9" square, and scored at G and levels 1 and 2 on each side.

  

 

I decorated the top of the box in the same way as the easel card. I also added some extra mats and layers, and (although not a lot shows) I found a piece of card in my old demo stash that was inked in the right colours (quite by accident) - I am presuming it would have been with Spectrum Noir Harmony Water Reactive Ink in Plum Pudding and Holly Leaf. I used an Edge'able (Jardin) to cut in either side. it just peeks out below the circle.

  

So there it is - my Emerald and Elderberry circle Easel card with Envelobox, with E-Brushed topper,  Embossing and Edge'ables - and a few pearls for Embellishments!!

 

Happy crafting!

Cxxx

Birthday Tea

It was my lovely sister-in-law's birthday a few days ago. I made her this card using Hunkydory Pick and Mix - A Tea-licious Day.  

Behind the topper, I used Crafter's Companion 5x5 Tea Party Create a Card, cut in pale blye card. The other matts and layers are matt gold card, pink dots from Sara Signature Little Angel, and some pink Core'dinations. The flower is Sara Signature English Country Garden Lazy Daisy and Grand Floral.

I also dug out some Card Candy, and added a few pearls. 

Will be back in the next couple of days with the new challenge over at Use Your Craft Stash.

Happy crafting!

Cxxxx

B is for .....

So, we're into the second week of our A or B theme challenge at Use Your Craft Stash. While you can use any technique, colour, card fold, product starting with A and/or B, I chose mostly A for my first inspiration last week, so have gone with the B's this week.

I have a Brown and Beige Baby themed, Bendy front card with a Bear and Buttons, and a Box with a Bow for it to go in. 

For the base of the card, I used Crafter's Companion A3 Double Sided Printed card - Elegance. And for the box, I used Decadance.  Beccy's Place has instructions for this in her Card Fold Tutorials section. I didn't use her measurements, as I wanted it larger. So I started with a piece 15" x 8", and scored at 5" and 10". The higher bendy part is about 4" in height, and the smaller one is about 2".

I cut the edges with Crafter's Companion Die'sire Edge'able Rococo die. I have it in two sizes - from being on the DT back then - and one of the sizes was exclusive to whichever channel they were on at that time - but I can' remember which.  Whatever, this is the smaller of the two dies.

To create the Bendy front, the two sides then fold over and fix using tabs and slots. I backed this with Brown card, and added a piece of card to create a stand at the back. 

The Baby themed topper with the Bear, is an old Kanban one. I added Brown Buttons, and a Bow.

For the Box, I used the Big Score and a sheet of the A3 printed card, this time from the Decadance pack, with more Brown card and some Beige Centura Pearl from the Pastels pack. I embossed this with Spellbinders double sided A4 embossing folder called Dainty Dots. I finished it with a bow.

Remember, you have until Sunday afternoon to share your creations with us at Use Your Craft Stash.

Take care, and stay safe,

Cxxx

A very different time.

In one of the strangest years ever, we have come to one of the busiest days for birthdays in my calendar - 3 of them. And I am going to share them over three posts - because I can - and because it gives me something to do. For all three of them, it's most definitely a different day to the one that they expected or had planned.

So my first share is for my grandson, Arlo, who is one today! We will not all be meeting up this weekend as originally planned for a big party - but that will happen once this is all over. We will hopefully get to "chat" later. 

You may - or may not - know that there is a film with a dinosaur called Arlo - and Arlo has lots of dinosaur themed things. So his card had to be the same.

This is an 8x8 card base, and the topper is Hunkdory Pick and Mix - Dinotopia. I have used gold mirror card, yellow Core'dinations and the blue paper is from an old Papermania pack.  To cut the shapes, I used Spellbinders Grand Squares, Grand Scalloped Squares and Circles, with some Crafter's Companion Stitched Edge circles.

The 1 is cut using a really old Crafter's Companion 3" number die, and the letters using Diamond Press Block Alpha. And it's all finished off with some twine and flat backed pearls. 

Enjoy today the best you can - wherever you are, and whatever you are doing. Stay safe.

Cxxx

Easter at Use Your Craft Stash

As many crafters know, we all build up a huge stash of things as we race to get the newest dies, paints, stamps, inks etc etc And we're all bad at using up our stash.  So, over at Use Your Craft Stash, our aim is to get people to do just that - use your craft stash. We have no prizes on offer, but will be setting a weekly theme. And this week is Easter.

Now, I don't make Easter cards, so had to rack my brains to think what I had in my stash that would be suitable. And then it came to me - Bebunni!!  So, I had a look through and decided that Brighten My Day from Bebunni Floral would be a perfect choice. 

If you have seen my post from a few days ago, you will know I have a list of things in my stash that I want to get out and play with, and this seemed like the perfect time. So, instead of reaching for my watercolours, or my alcohol pens, I went for my Spectrum Noir ColourBlend Pencils.

As you can see, I have all the sets of pencils, along with the blending solution and paper stumps. I decided to restrict myself to just one set - the Essentials.

I started by colouring Bebunni, with White, Smoke, Taupe, Pewter, Black and Peach. 

And the Daffodil was coloured with Linen, Eggshell, Canary, Pumpkin, Nectarine and Pewter.

  

For the leaf I used Pistachio, Sage, Jade, Taupe and Black. I really like the blending solution to help get rid of the hard lines.

I decided that I needed to ground Bebunni, and used Smoke, Taupe, Pewter and Black. I then gathered all the papers - Core-dinations Brights Yellow and Green card, Papermania Yellow patterned paper (this has to be well over 10 years old), and I think the green stripe is also DoCrafts/Papermania. The Easter "words" card is another old one - and I really cannot remember where this came from.  I then dug out my XCut Egg des - these are the two smallest sizes, along with the paper strips that were for the Crafter's Companion Quilling dies.  

I also dug out some old embossing folders to add texture to the eggs. These are from Crafter's Companion - Verity Rose collection - Flutterby, Cupcake and Destiny.

And then I inked them with Mustard Seed and Lucky clover Distress Oxides.

 

The mats and layers were cut using another very old workhorse from my stash - Spellbinders Grand Scalloped Squares and Grand Squares, and also the Rectangles.

Even the ribbon has been around a while. You used to get packs with (I think) 4 ribbons wrapped around a piece of card. Not sure what make they were - but both of these were from packs like that. And of course, I used my trusty bow maker from Tattered Lace!! 

If you have craft stash to use, come and join us on FB at Use Your Craft Stash. You don't have to take part in the weekly themes if you don't want to, but get some inspiration and share your makes using your stash.  We look forward to seeing you.

In the meantime, take care and stay safe. 

Cxxx

Hearts and Easels

So, I am currently fundraising for a new local charity called Helping Yound Minds, aimed at providing a safe space and mental health support for our local youngsters. I initially started out with signing up for some sporting activities and setting up a Go Fund Me page - as I've always managed to raise a reasonable amount in the past. But it's just not happening at the moment, and I'm a bit down about it all. 

And when I'm a bit stressed, I have a tendency to tidy and organise. While doing so, I re-discovered a whole drawer full of old demo bits and pieces - die cut bases and other things prepped for demonstration and never used. And I also realised I have some other stuff - completed samples etc - that are just sitting in boxes. So, am thinking I am going to use all those bits and pieces and my vast stash, along with those already completed pieces, to try and boost my fundraising. 

At the moment, I am just prepping and creating, and don't really know how I'll go about selling stuff, but just doing something to make it happen is good enough for now.

Here are two heart easel cards completed today, and I rather like them. It's been a while since I really created anything - and have to admit I don't miss the time involved, but I am loving the results.

Both use the Crafter's Companion Heart Easel Die for the base, and the larger mat. I also used my X Cut Heart and Scalloped Heart dies, and Crafter's Companion Stitched Edge Hearts.  For the one on the left I used Sara Signature Together Forever Champagne Flute and Graceful Swirls, and for the one on the right I used Sara Signature Vintage Tea Party Cherry Cupcake. All the card and paper is from my stash - a lot of which I no longer have any recollection of where it came from. Ah, well!

Will keep you updated as I add to the collection ready to try and raise some money!! 

Take care,

Cxxx

Noah's Ark 2 by 2

Our family has been expanding in the past few years, and it means I am now getting to make some cards for the little ones. This one is for my great nephew who was two this  past week.

The topper is a Hunkydory Pick and Mix called Animals on the Ark - the whole two by two thing seemed appropriate for a 2nd birthday!! I teamed this with gold mirror card, orange Core'dinations card, Kanban Parcel Paper background card and some really old yellow Papermania stars paper.

The number is cut using Diamond Press Block Numbers, and the letters with Die'sire Kinetic alphabet.

I have to admit that this started out as a 6x6 card. But I stuck everything on the wrong way, so had to put it onto a 7x7 instead, and add the pearls. You wouldn't have known if I hadn't told you!!

Take care,

Cxxx 

Black Butterflies!!

Well, I know you don't normally see black butterflies, but I like the silhouette against the bright background.

Imagination Crafts: 

Mix Media Inks - Fuchsia and Sunshine

Magi Blend

Art Stamps - Distress Set 1

Other:

Gesso

Glycerine

Memento Tuxedo Black

Watercolour and Black Card

Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Overlay pen

Acetate - from Sara Signature Flutterby collection

Dies - Botanical Butterfly, Trio of Wings, Simplistic Sentiments from Sara Signature  Flutterby Collection

I started by masking off the bottom of a piece of watercolour card, as I only wanted the colour on the top. I used a bit of wax paper and low tack tape.

Next, I sprayed some of the Mix Media inks onto my craft mat, then using a sponge applicator, I mixed them with some glycerine to blend for the background - creating this lovely warm orangey colour.

I used more of the sprays, but this time mixed them with a bit of gesso and some Magi Blend, because I wanted to paint them onto the printed acetate. It's hard to see on the finished picture, but one of the layers of the large butterfly was made from this. 

I also used this mixture to stamp onto the background. 

I then stamped over this with Memento Tuxedo Black - stamping more than once each time to get different depths of colour.

The background was mounted onto black card, and I used a thin black ribbon across the bottom of the inked part to define the edge. 

The die cuts were covered with Clear Sparkly pen, and both the large butterfly and the sentiment have a layer cut from the painted acetate.

Haven't had a chance to craft and get messy for a while - so not sure when the next post like this will be - but I will have hopefully have some quick cards to share in the meantime.

Take care

Cxxxx