Author: lavenderhousecreations

lavenderhousecreations

great friendships

I was working on a couple of designs for my design team groups and this design popped into my mind. I decided to make it right away because sometimes an idea leaves my brain and is lost never to return. The card works for both Double D, and CAS Colours and Sketches so I managed a twofer.

Initially I thought to make the border using a homemade stencil, but I didn’t like it much and in the end went with using the actual dies. I’ve had them forever, long before keeping track of brands was around, so don’t know which brand. However, based on my early buying history, I’m sure they are either Spellbinders, Sizzix or Memory Box. The image and sentiment stamps are from MFT and I used a Hero Arts infinity oval die and some fussy cutting on these.

After cutting the strips, I inked them using some cube inks from Crafters Companion and Hero Arts and then I glued them as you see. After stamping and heat embossing the image and sentiment, I added them as you see, keeping it all flat.

I quite like the result with this card. The colours look pretty yet the design is very CAS. I do believe I’m getting a lot better at doing CAS cards these days. The saying – practice makes perfect, fits.

Thanks for spending time with me today, I appreciate you and any comments you may leave.

lavenderhousecreations

pink flower

Welcome back to the second challenge of the new year, here at cardz4galz, which is to add pink flowers. Challenge #268 has been chosen by Billie A and she will also choose the winners.

I wanted to keep my card simple so I chose a lacy look border die by Crafters Companion and die cut it. After attaching it to another layer I added the GKD ribbon and then attached the layer to the card front. The flower and foliage are from a Waffle Flower set. I die cut the pieces and then inked them using Distress inks and a sponge. I put the flower together and using a soft pad and a flower shaper I added some dimension to it before gluing it on top of the foliage. A few pink embellishments finished the card nicely and I’m happy with how it looks.

Thanks for spending time with me today. We look forward to seeing your creations in our gallery and hope you have fun making them.

lavenderhousecreations

sending love

This card has been finished and on my computer desk for several days already. So much going on that I didn’t have an opportunity to post it till now. I made with the challenge at Color Hues Challenge #125 – Blue and White in mind. I saw something on Instagram where a crafter posted a few different colour versions of a card similar to this, but I can’t find it now so cannot credit her with the idea. I basically took her idea but changed it up enough to make it my own. I used a Memory Box leaf die and different blue scraps of card stock to cut out about 12 leaf sprigs with several in each shade of the blue. Using another scrap piece of white card, I deckle edge cut it to the width I wanted and then spattered some dark blue ink along the edge. After that I added foam tape and set it aside for a moment. Using another white scrap piece I added a single layer over the card front leaving a tiny border all around, then I added the other piece to one side of this. I had ensured that the foam tape was far enough away from the edge to tuck the leaves underneath which I proceeded to do. The sentiment comes from a Catherine Pooler set and I tucked this into the leaves a little when I placed it. After adding a few embellishments I called it finished.

I am liking the end result. The card is simple in design but with enough going to make it interesting.

We are still enjoying some lovely dry days with a strong morning frost, but gorgeous sunshine along with it. And for those who are interested, I managed to find the right chocolate for my hubby’s birthday cake yesterday so I’m pleased about that. Another project for later this week.

Thanks for spending time with me today, I appreciate you and your time.

lavenderhousecreations

have an Ice day

Welcome back to a new challenge here at Double Trouble. Our 3-2-1 recipe Waddle We Do Next, is asking for 3 colours, 2 images, 1 Sentiment, with a twisted sister dare of adding a Penguin. In addition you may enter your card into our sister challenge at TSOT, but ensure you don’t accidentally back link.

My two images are in fact the trees and the penguin who I felt needed his space to shine. My background uses part of a Christmas napkin that I added to card stock and spritzed with glitter spray. I stamped, (from GKD) the trees directly on top. The penguin is from a Crafters Companion set, as is the sentiment. When he was stamped I used clear heat embossing before proceeding to colour him. My colours are green, red, orange-his beak, pink for his cheek and pale blue for his ice boots and to add some shading to his hat. I used a copic marker on his body along with a Pitt pen here and there and I also added some stripes to his hat and scarf using a Posca pen. The background truly sparkles in reality but the photo doesn’t pick it up.

My card doesn’t follow the sketch exactly but is kind of close. It will be a good one for a winter birthday of which a few are coming up.

Thanks for stopping by to take a look. You and your comments are appreciated.

lavenderhousecreations

lights, camera, action

new paper pad and camera die cut.

My hubby’s birthday is coming up soon and I’ve been working on this card for him. I can share it here, as he doesn’t go to my blog so won’t see it. Because it fits the current challenge at As You See It, Challenge #364 – Craft Room Additions I shall be entering it there.

My new additions are the patterned paper, the camera, and spectacle dies. This is an unbranded set that has other dies related to travel in it. I used two photo frame dies that have been in my stash forever and not used often, if at all. The banner die is from Scrapbook.com the alphabet dies are from First Edition craft and were cut from scrap card stock. The hugs die cut was a gift so I don’t know which brand and the its your birthday in the smaller frame is from CTMH and was a leftover piece in my stash.

The hardest part in making the card was figuring out what I wanted to use and then following along with the tutorial by Sam Calcutt at Mixed up craft. I like her tutorials and generally find them easy to follow, but for some reason, on this one, I couldn’t get the measurements right at first. I also didn’t have a heavy weight CS in the blue so getting mine to stand properly took a bit of finessing. I’m nothing if not persistent and usually find solutions or work arounds when I’m stuck. Because the paper is very busy, I kept the additional items to just a few things camera related. My personal message will be written on the back of the easel stand added behind the card.

I’m hoping to make his favourite chocolate cake but can’t find the chocolate that I normally use. When I asked at a local grocery store that has carried it in the past, I was told they aren’t stocking it due to the cost. They offered a chocolate flavoured slab, but I declined as it has to be quality and the real thing or nothing. I’m hoping when I’m in Nanaimo next week, a larger town not too far away, that I can find a gourmet store there that stocks it. The price of things lately is beyond ridiculous, but making a cake without the right ingredients is a complete waste of time in my opinion. Wish me luck.

Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you and your time.

lavenderhousecreations

a gift for you

To make this card, I used a slightly textured piece of CS, some Speckled Egg ink and a folder from SSS. I inked up the flat side of the folder, added my card and ran it through the machine. This is the result and I love how it looks. I did a test piece first to ensure I had the right sandwich, so I now have another piece I can use at some point.

The current challenge at Seize the Birthday #318-Make Your Own Snowflake Background and using this folder from SSS, fits the bill beautifully to my mind. The stamps are from a Penny Black set. I stamped out the Penguin and then heat embossed it clear so I could use watercolour pencils. Once it was coloured and dry I fussy cut it and added some foam tape. Taking a scrap piece of printed vellum I cut a piece to ground the penguin and edged it with some glitter using a Sakura pen. Used the same pen around the sentiment edges. The Penguin was attached as you see and the card was complete. This card will go to a male friend whose birthday is coming up soon.

I’m really happy with how this card turned out and must remember to do this technique with folders more often. Thanks for joining me today, I appreciate you, your time and any comments you may leave.

lavenderhousecreations

celebrating 10 years

Ten years of blogging and making challenges for likeminded crafters is to be celebrated. Double D is celebrating just that. Congratulations to both of you for the hard work you put into all the challenges you support.

Before I began, I had something other than this in mind, but I couldn’t find the set of dies I was looking for. In my search I found this very old and somewhat neglected layered die set from Spellbinders. As I was getting a bit frustrated in my search, I decided to use this and go with something different than what I had in my head. In the end I’m happy to have changed direction.

I cut the pieces I required once in gold but the rest in white CS. Using the gold as my base, I added the inked balloons that I had coloured using distress inks. I used some foam tape to lift them. Using a scrap piece of yellow and an EF from Gemini I dry embossed the piece. Then I carefully cut along one curved edge. Initially I was only going to use this section, but it didn’t look quite right so on impulse I laid down the other piece, which created a gap because of the cutting. This looked much better but the white gap was too stark so I added some blue ink before gluing down the yellow layers. Once I was happy with this I glued the balloon piece on top. The sentiment section was added with additional foam tape which creates a lot of dimension. After some debate I decided against adding an additional balloon or other embellishments as it looks busy enough as is.

Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you and your time.

lavenderhousecreations

country cottage

Welcome to the first challenge of the year here at Cardz4galz. It is my turn to choose the theme and I chose Country scapes figuring most crafters would have a few stamps and dies that would work for the theme.

I still have some decoupage pieces that came in a card kit from Crafters Companion and this is one of them. It is nice that the kit has all the pieces as punch out’s, as in the past, I’ve had to fussy cut things like this. In fact I still have a few sheets that I purchased in the Netherlands, but I’m a bit lazy in wanting to cut them.

Once I had all the pieces in place using foam dimensionals I used a frame die cut using a PaperRose die and backed it with some paper that looked like a sky. After which I added the scene piece. In my scrap box of CS, I found a photo piece and die cut it using an unbranded die. I adhered the scene frame on top of this piece then added a few sage gems from Altenew. I can’t remember which stamp set the sentiment came from but believe it to a Kokorosa set.

I quite like decoupage cards but they do have substantial dimension which is problematic with mailing these days. I guess I’ll be giving this one in person when I decide to use it. Thanks for stopping by, you, your time and any comments are appreciated.

lavenderhousecreations

foxy fun

Happy New Year to all and here is the first challenge of 2026 for Double Trouble. Our recipe is to use: 3 colours, 2 shapes and one sentiment with the theme of cool, wild or crazy.

In my case I’ve chosen cool and wild as represented by the music background, it reminds me of cool jazz bands, and the Lawn Fawn wild animal fox. My shapes are the background panel, a circle die cut as well as the fox himself. The EF is from Spellbinders and I used a linen CS. I used a sanding block to take off some of the colour on the raised sections as I liked the look and it showed off the embossing more. My fox was built using scrap die cutting and then gluing the pieces together. The circle die cut is done with infinity dies by Hero Arts, the sentiment is from Spellbinders and the embellishments are from my stash. They pick up whatever colour they are close to, in this case yellow. My colours are Yellow, orange and pink, but if brown is considered a colour rather than a neutral I guess it would be four colours.

The idea for this card came from Pinterest, but it isn’t a CASE, just a general similar look. Remember that you can join in with the TSOT sketch challenge if you wish, but ensure that you aren’t back linking before you do so.

Thanks for joining me today, I appreciate your time. I wish you joy in your crafting and look forward to seeing your creations in our gallery.

lavenderhousecreations

standing fun fold

Having seen a card done in this style on YouTube, I wanted to try for myself. If you are interested in making one you can go here and see how. I followed the measurements but my card is using a napkin design that I had transferred to some thin card stock a while back. The only stamps I used are on the back piece and come from Marianne Designs and Kitchen Sink. I had to get a bit creative in laying mine out which took some fussy cutting but I’m pleased with the end result. The card stands beautifully, but folds flat for mailing and isn’t too bulky when folded. I’ve already got a smaller base ready for a second one and an image from a tissue box to use on a third.

Figuring out the fussy cutting took a bit of time, and I also did a bit of decoupage on the figure and bicycle. I used an old paper pad (when I say old, I mean really old) that is all sky and cut it to the size I required. After stamping the windmill I coloured it using Inktense pencils and a small amount of water. The ones I plan to do soon, will be much easier as I now have a good idea what they will look like when finished.

This was fun to make and my hubby was quite impressed with it. I am adding it to the challenge at Triple B January 2026 TB Challenge. Considering the weather and the dreary days, doing a card that denotes springtime was a nice project.

Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you and any comments you may leave.