card-making

lavenderhousecreations

APRIL SHOWERS or LOVE IN THE RAIN

Welcome to a new challenge here at cardz 4 galz, and the theme for this one is about April Showers. As you can see I have used a cover plate die that looks as if the rain is pouring down. It did have a cut out umbrella, but as I wanted to use this particular stamped image, I have covered up that section with the stencil/die word.

My image is from an old Inspired by Stamping set and I coloured this with pencils then fussy cut it. Before attaching this to the card front I turned it over and using a shaping tool made the umbrella look more dimensional. To ensure it wouldn’t collapse when being mailed I doubled up on some foam tape and added more to the bodies. After die cutting the word and stenciling in some colour I added it over the gap and then added the image below it. My stenciling skills need some work because my edges aren’t as crisp as they could be. It isn’t my go to technique, and I really ought to use it more than I do.

I’m not unhappy with the end result and I learn a lot during my process so it is time well spent.

Many thanks for stopping by. I appreciate you taking the time and any comments you may leave for me.

We look forward to seeing your creations in our gallery and of course wish you fun in the process.

lavenderhousecreations

Marching Along Wishes

Using stencils isn’t my go to technique most of the time, which is rather silly when I think about it. I don’t think I’m very good at it, but if I don’t practice I have no chance to improve. Anyway for a change I did decide to stencil this background for the April 2026 – Stencil Fun Challenge. I’m not sure which brand the stencil is but suspect it is from Sizzix/Tim Holtz.

The challenge twist is to use rainbow colours so I used different inks diagonally. Once dry I sprayed with some shimmer and then I cut it down to the size I required. The two rings were leftover bits and I added them so the little fussy cut fox had somewhere to be as he marched along. He comes from some old StampinUP paper and was a leftover from another project. I used a Joy Clair sentiment stamp on the banner and curved it slightly on the block before I stamped. Before adding him to the top I used some foam tape for dimension and I went around the layer with a black pen as well.

As the background is quite striking and busy I decided to leave the card as is rather than add any embellishments.

We have a lovely sunny, warm spring day but I chose to do house chores rather than work outside. My hands are sore from gardening over the weekend and I woke up with them being very swollen this morning. This card was mostly done yesterday afternoon and only needed to be added to the card front today so not too much work or fiddly stuff that my hands couldn’t deal with. It will likely be a few days more before they settle so I won’t be doing much creating until they do. I don’t mind aging, but I do mind the aches and pains that come with it.

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

lavenderhousecreations

Micky & Minnie Hello

Remember yesterday when I mentioned I tried 3 times with a design. I did come up with something I liked eventually but had the other 2 pieces sitting looking sad on my desk. As you know I hate wasting anything and knew I could redeem them somehow, and this is what I did.

The poorly stenciled piece was cut down to fit behind this embossed and die cut frame which redeemed most of it. The stamped image on the other card was ruined because I tried to add a frame around the card front after the image was there and it looked awful. What I did in the end was cut the image off – kept the scrap card left over to use somewhere eventually and then fussy cut around the Disney characters. I did another stamp and fussy cut of the mice, added them on top of the original pieces for more dimension. Then I took another stamp from the set and added the stars above their heads and the Hello at the corner.

Supplies used are: Spellbinders EF Postage Stamps with dies, Simple Stories Hello Magic stamps and a gifted homemade graphic style stencil. I scored the card front diagonally before adding the framed piece on top. In the end I think this turned out well and perhaps better than what I was originally thinking yesterday.

I am entering it into the CYHTP challenge and I believe Disney characters fits the optional twist of Kids. As well I shall enter it into the Stencil Fun March 2026 Challenge. Twist not taken.

We’ve gone from really cold wind and a lot of rain, to a balmy spring day where we didn’t even need a jacket to take the dog for a walk. Its supposed to heat up a lot for the next few days so I shall have to get into the garden before it becomes unmanageable. That will likely mean no crafting as I have to choose how I use my hands and gardening usually means pain for a few days.

Thanks for stopping by.

lavenderhousecreations

Soft Spring Colours

As You See It – Challenge #369 – Soft Spring Colours is a colour challenge this time and I’ve done my best to match them.

I started with the embossed layer using a Catherine Pooler/Sizzix folder. When done I went over the panel with Tumbled Glass ink and cut it down to the size I required. After some searching I located this stiped piece and added it as you see. Then I cut a square white piece and a smaller piece to go on top so that there would be a border showing. This piece I inked green and added them together. While it was drying I inked up another strip of white card in the blue and cut 2 small squares which I then added as you can see. With a small piece of the striped section I added that to join the 2 pieces together. With a stamp set from Inkadinkado I took a small floral, stamped it and heat set then fussy cut it. When that was done I added colour using Prisma pencils and a little bit of the green ink. This was popped up on the center striped square.

My sentiment was from some vellum sentiments I’ve had for a while and this one was beginning to curl so I decided I had better use it before it was too damaged to use at all.

I find it annoying when a photograph seems to change the colours on a card as appears to have happened here. The striped piece is actually a lot lighter in colour than it shows, but it looks much darker now. In fact the entire photo looks darker than it does in real life. I also think I should have used a different folder as this one is quite busy and I’m not sure about the card now. Oh well, it isn’t a disaster, just not quite what I imagined.

Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate that you do and also any comments you may leave for me.

lavenderhousecreations

3-2-1 Recipe

Welcome to a new Something, Anything and Everything challenge #213 here at Double Trouble and the recipe is as follows: 3 of something, 2 of anything, and 1 of everything else, all from your stash. Twisted sister double dares you to add an Easter element, but using the sketch is optional.

As I’m someone who often uses up bits and pieces left over from other projects using a recipe such as this is fun. My main circle piece was created using a technique shared by Natasha Foote and the different paper scraps were cut into 3 before adding them to the left over silver die cut. I used another scrap piece to die cut the banner which I then added behind the circle. The little nest and bird are from Gummiapan and I paper pieced the red breast on the bird before adding it to the nest. Both of these were added to a vellum oval before placing on the circle. I should mention that the circles were cut with Hero Arts infinity dies but the doily is from a Gina Kay set as is the sentiment. The embellishments are ancient and are from my stash. The mirror card background is the last bit I have in this colour and I thought it worked for that layer.

I rotated the card to landscape before adding everything to the base and although it isn’t an exact rendition of the sketch at TSOT #692 it is a loose interpretation of it. Due to backlinking I cannot enter the card into this challenge, but you can if you are careful of the backlinking rule. My card has 3 circles and 3 gems, 2 images, 1 banner and 1 sentiment which includes the Easter element.

Please have fun creating and we look forward to seeing your creations in our gallery. In the meantime, thanks for stopping by, you, your time and any comments are always appreciated.

lavenderhousecreations

First Grandchild Congrats

The current challenge at Shopping Our Stash is to make a card without white. My challenge was to make a new baby card for a dragon boat team member and hubby, who have the joyful experience of becoming a grandparents for the first time. Being able to combine what I needed with the challenge was a bonus.

Its funny how one can own a die for quite a number of years and not really use it, then in one week suddenly find uses for it. I had this MFT die set on my desk and the idea came to try to make a shaker card. (I’m generally not good at these, so rarely do them). As the baby is a boy I went with some blue DSP and cut the panel. I then backed it with some packaging plastic and adhered some of the letters that were sticking up a little too much. Using 3 of the confetti dies and some scrap glitter CS I die cut the confetti. After going around the congrats layer with some foam tape strips I added the confetti bits inside and used a scrap piece of silver CS to cover it all. This layer was then added to the card front. Taking a very old wooden block stamp, I scribbled some flesh coloured alcohol ink, let it dry, then stamped the baby on top, after which I fussy cut it. The safety pin and rocking horse are from a set made by a company called Little B. Don’t think they exist anymore as this is another set I’ve had for a very long time. I coloured the rocking horse with some Sakura gelly roll pens. Unfortunately the glitter CS confetti tends to clump together and it doesn’t shake freely so another lesson learned here. Told you making these isn’t one of my talents. The inside words were generated on my computer – Between the earth and the sky above, Nothing can match a Grandparent’s
LOVE.

I guess you could say, I truly shopped my stash to make this card. It is now in the mail and I hope they like it. Many thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you and your time.

lavenderhousecreations

Winter Roses

Having seen quite a few of these eclipse style cards on line, I really wanted to try for myself. When the opportunity arrived to buy the Craft Addiction dies here in Canada, I jumped at it. So my first set is ovals, but I do have another set coming soon which is different.

Sunday Stamps has this theme: SSC382 Oval Things and as it happens I had already created this card, but not yet posted it. Sometimes the universe works in my favour. The key to using the dies this way is to ensure you have two of the exact same image and I had this paper as a partial scrap already on my desk. All I had to do was pull another sheet and line things up properly. I’m not sure I can explain it well, but there are several people on YouTube and on Pinterest who explain it or who you can follow along with. Once my design was cut I went around the back with foam tape and also carefully around the oval section so it won’t collapse. The lines are too thin to successfully add foam, but I found they are fine without. The main layer was then added to a silver card front.

My sentiment comes from Hampton Art. I fussy cut around it and added a bit of colour to the edges. I also added a couple of clear gems into the larger letters and a few very tiny ones here and there on the rose. Just enough to catch the light when the card is moved.

It isn’t often that I become enamored with a paper pad, but I do love this specific pad. There are so many beautiful images on one side and matching colours but a more marbled design on the back side. Many thanks for stopping by, your time and you are much appreciated.

lavenderhousecreations

X is for X-Ray – Black and White Only

So The Alphabet challenge has a black and white only theme and this is what I came up with. I had seen something similar on Pinterest so I’ve kind of CASE’d it. Took the idea and changed it quite a lot.

Don’t ask where the little ticket die came from. I’ve had it for a long time and probably only used it once. When Winners first opened they had a small craft section and I purchased quite a few little items but never thought to keep information on them.

To begin I cut 5 tickets in both white and black. To stretch the black to the sides for a border, I cut them down the middle and then glued. I laid them out on the layer to ensure they would fit and then glued them as you see adding the hearts back into the centers. Using a scrap piece of patterned paper I added a strip down the left side. The I cut the letters from black paper using a die set from First Edition Craft and I added them as you see.

Somehow there was a scratch mark on the layer so I covered this with the twine bow. The word birthday is from a Spellbinders set and I offset the white layer onto a black layer. The little embellishments are from an old Die-namics MFT Confetti set. I’ve never actually used this set, but it came in handy today. This card will likely go to my B.I.L later this year.

I quite like how this one turned out. It is flat enough to mail and yet still has texture and dimension. I’m on a roll with making a few masculine style cards to add to my stash. And I still have a few more ideas to work on too. Thanks so much for stopping by, I do appreciate it.

lavenderhousecreations

Ducks in a Row?

Let me say from the outset, that I can’t take full credit for this particular design. A while back I came across a UK demonstrator, named Christine Stokes and started to follow her because I really like her work. She created a card like this one and it made me smile. Because I’m not sure the CASEing rules we have in N. America apply elsewhere, I asked for permission to use her design, which was given. Of course it has taken me months to actually use her idea, but finally here it is. And if you want to see the original go HERE.

When I was part of StampTV I used to also regularly enter challenges at The Paper Players and I’m not sure why I stopped. So for a change, I am entering this card into their current challenge. As well it fits the challenge at Allsorts so it will go there too.

Obviously, I didn’t use ducks but I did have these little chicks from Kokorosa and like Christine, I created my own words on my computer. My layout is quite similar but my saying does include a Happy Birthday greeting as I thought the little flowers the last two chicks are holding deserved that.

Once the die cutting was done I used pencils to colour them and I lifted their wings a little bit too. It took me a while to decide on my phrase, but amused myself with what I eventually came up with. As an afterthought I realize that this could quite easily have been an Easter card, but too late now. As it is I made a spelling error that I didn’t notice until after I started adding my chicks and basically had to carefully remove them so I could replace the layer with a corrected version. I did use foam tape for a little dimension. I also added an additional thin layer in yellow before adding it to the white card front.

I had fun making this one and may look for the dies that Christine used if they are still available. Thanks for joining me today, I appreciate you and your time.

lavenderhousecreations

Up, Up and Away

Right now I seem to be on a creative roll after a few weeks of not being very motivated. Many reason’s for it, but I’m glad that my brain is once again coming up with ideas. I have quite a few PP scraps lying around and I wanted to use them. Having seen a card on Pinterest I thought it was a good idea and a way to use some of them.

Then I also noticed the challenge at Just Add Ink #781…Just Add Wings! and this card was born. I knew I had a stamp set with a plane, but had to do a bit of searching as I couldn’t remember which company it was. It is from CTMH which is now no more, but I do have a few sets from its early years. The sentiment, however, is from an old GKD set.

It took me a while to get the paper scraps the way I wanted them and I made a mistake at first when I tried to glue from the bottom to the top. Started over from the top down and glued the cut pieces as you see. They were cut using several dies, some from Spellbinders and some from Kokorosa. Once I had them together I added them to a white layer which I then cut down to fit on the card front. Before doing that I stamped the clouds and the sentiment. The little plane was done on a separate piece, coloured with a mix of Prisma pencils and Sakura gelli roll pens. After fussy cutting, I added dimension with foam and then went around the entire layer with a black pen after which I glued the panel to the card front. I was dismayed to realize that I had somehow gotten a large black smudge on the plane which would not come off. So more stamping, more colouring, more fussy cutting and then glued it over the original.

Another needed masculine style card ready and I’m quite pleased with myself and with it. LOL. My hubby was complimentary when he saw it. Many thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you and your time.