card-making

lavenderhousecreations

fall is coming

On a dog walk yesterday I found a beautiful fall leaf that was mostly intact so I brought it home. Not having the time to play with it, I set it aside with a damp cloth on top so it wouldn’t dry out too quickly. This morning I decided to use it and while thinking about it, I also checked out the latest challenge at Double D. They were calling for butterflies so I decided to combine my leaf with a butterfly.

I cut a 6X6″ card then spent some time painting the back of my leaf with colour, which when done, I spritzed slightly before laying it in position on my card. Using the tool I generally use to press stamps in my Misti or Stamping wheel, I carefully ensured it was pressed fully onto the card. I left it for a minute or two and then gently peeled off the leaf and what you see here is the result. I did stipple a little bit of green with a brush. There was enough colour left that I was able to do another much smaller piece for use later. The sentiment comes from a Joy Clair set and my butterfly is die cut using scraps and a StampinUP set. I chose to use some green embellishments from my stash that came from a package purchased at Michaels a long time ago.

My hubby was so enamored with the leaf print that he stole the card from me before I put it together and proceeded to take photos of it. When I got it back I went around the edges with a brown Spectrum Noir marker and then added the rest. I have to say I’m quite pleased with the end result and the leaf sure makes an interesting texture on the card.

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

lavenderhousecreations

dale’s place

above showing card standing upright left side it is lying flat.

Our friend, who is always so generous with her time and talent, has a birthday coming up soon. She is a keen gardener and I wanted to make her a special card. Having done a bench style card for my hubby earlier this year, I had the idea of making another in a garden theme. I returned to Sam at https://mixedupcraft.com/2020/06/13/cute-bench-fold-card/ and this time CASE’d her card. In my case I don’t have a garden stamp set or dies, but I did have some pieces cut from a store bought card that I had saved and with my new Spellbinders kit could make florals and some pots. The gloves, rake and shovel were Internet sourced which I resized, printed and fussy cut. Like Sam I created a tray even including handles and I added some tiny flowers I’ve had forever and incorporated a few die cut leaves as well. The window is an A.I. die and the scene in the window is cut from another item I saved, which I think came from a chocolate box or similar. The wood grain paper is a dollar store product and the counter top is from my stash. I hand made the sign adding some cord and a tiny gem to hang it from. I did the same thing with the gloves and also with the saw hanging on the inside right panel. The planter is from my stash and I cut it down to make it work better and disguised the section where I added the piece together, with flowers. My flowers and leaves were sponged with distress oxides and I coloured the two pots with a copper marker and then some Sakura gel sparkle. I figured out how to add the watering can so the card can still be folded flat although as we see our friend often I’m hoping to give it to her rather than mail it.

When I began the card, I wasn’t really thinking about adding it to any challenges, but after checking a few I found that it does fit into some themes so I’m going to add it to the following:

https://thefourseasonschallenge.blogspot.com/, Colour around birdhouse and pots help my card fit into this challenge

https://secretstamper.com/2025/08/creative-creases-106/#more-47548, Anything goes fun folds

https://dd-tripleb.blogspot.com/, the butterfly in the window and the blooms on the shed.

Thanks for stopping by, your time and any comments you may leave are always appreciated.

lavenderhousecreations

favourite colour

The latest challenge at Seize the Birthday #310-Use Your Favorite Color. My favourite colour is almost always purple in any variation and I like it paired with yellow and or gold. I wasn’t too sure of what I might make for the challenge so decided to just play around with a few scraps and some dies. This card is the result of playing. I had no real idea in my head, except that I wanted it simple. My card front is from GKD, the dies used are from Essentials Mixed edge rectangle layering basics and a heart shape from Hero Arts infinity dies. I cannot remember which stamp set the sentiment is from as it was one of several I had in my stash of oddments although I suspect it is from a dollar store stamp set. The purple paper is from StampinUP and was sitting around on my desk for several weeks. I didn’t like the patterned side but I love the variation in tone on the purple side. The yellow is what I have in my stash. I cut another heart from gold which I then cut in half and added behind the purple one to give an edge to it. This was then popped up with some foam tape and added after I had glued the rectangles in place.

This is quite a simple card, and I like how it turned out. Using this die set was also a good idea as I’ve had it for some time and not used it nearly enough. Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate your time and any comments you may leave.

lavenderhousecreations

musical note Christmas

The Christmas challenge at Peace on Earth Challenge #90 had some lovely colours in the inspiration photos with the bottom right corner one appealing to me the most. I’ve used a few here but slightly muted.

The other day I was playing with a napkin image of musical notes and I attached a larger portion of it to some card stock for a future background. With the piece leftover I was about to set it aside when I wondered what it would look like behind an opening? On my desk was a scrap piece of CS that I had already die cut some banners from and I placed this over the top. It looked good so I cut two more banner openings from the opposite direction then attached it to the napkin piece. After trimming the edges I decided to ink around them and slightly on top to age the CS a little. I remembered that I had this MFT set of bird and die stamps so on another scrap piece I stamped two birds and some foliage. Coloured it all with pencils and water, die cut them and attached as you see here. I used the Just a Note sentiment, from the set, at the top, but as I’d decided I wanted it to be a Christmas card the wishing you and Merry sentiments came from a Divinity Designs set. I had the embossed piece leftover from a project and I added the bird piece to this. Taking some copper thread I added a few turns and tied into a bow before adding the small gem to the middle. Then I added the layers to the main card front. Not a good day for tying bows as it took me more than 10 minutes to do with a bit of swearing thrown in.

Its a Dragon Boat paddling evening, so I have to leave in a few minutes, but thanks for stopping by and for any comments you may leave.

lavenderhousecreations

Sympathy window

Once again I needed a sympathy card, 5th one this month. As Double D Frames Challenge is looking for frames, I figured I might as well make a card that works for that as well as for the friend it is intended for. At the same time it gave me a chance to use part of a Spellbinders die set that came with my kit for the Weekender Retreat. I used just the window arch and interior piece, plus the steps, along with a Gummiapan floral as a small topper, sentiment is from GKD and the background is DSP from StampinUP. Florals were coloured with pencils and because I messed up I had to add an additional flower near the sentiment as well as a fussy cut bird from the DSP to disguise the mess. I guess experience in card making means that we know what to do when we make a mistake. I used my score board to get the lines behind the scene. In the end I quite like the result.

We have heat in a big way, and I am glad that where we live usually means we also have a breeze as it helps to keep the house cool. Down in the town it will be almost unbearable. Tomorrow my dragon boat team are racing in an area that will be even hotter and I am glad that I will not be participating. I tried one race last year, did not enjoy it and decided that racing is not for me. Practices I enjoy as there is less pressure and fortunately the team understand my limitations. My hands sometimes just won’t hold onto the paddle properly which is disastrous if in a race. And if any of you are wondering whether your scissors are sharp, just do what I did and have them slip when cutting something. My finger is now bandaged so I don’t get more blood on anything. All I was trying to do was to cut my sentiment stamp in half so I could use it differently and I didn’t notice that the points of the scissors were going to hit my finger. BooHoo!

Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you, your time and any comments you may leave. Have a great weekend.

lavenderhousecreations

balance

prepared pieces ready to begin.

Well this almost turned into a disaster, but I coped and still had 3 seconds left on the clock when done. Why, you ask – its the ‘dreaded’ speed challenge at As You See It Challenge #349 – Rapid Water and of course when in a hurry, whatever can go wrong usually does. In this case my die didn’t cut properly and I had to repeat the process on another piece of CS. That will teach me to make sure my cutting plates are in good shape LOL. After I stamped the image I quickly coloured using Inktense pencils and a water pen and then fussy cut as best as possible. I also stamped the sentiment and fussy cut around that. Stamp set is an unbranded one and the quality is definitely not there so the sentiments don’t stamp really clear on the word edges. With the more expensive brand sets this is never an issue. Anyway once I had these pieces ready it was mainly an assembly of the parts. After a quick glance at the clock and a deep breath, I cut down the blue layer to fit over the top fold square card base and adhered it. Then I added the water layer and even used two of the fallouts to create a wider splash zone. In adding the yoga frog and the sentiment the glue point jammed so I didn’t get enough glue to stick them properly. Doesn’t show here and is an easy fix now I’m no longer in a hurry. The die used is from Memory Box and I’ve had it for a long time.

After I’ve improved it one of my yoga group will receive this sometime this year. I shall also give my glass mat a good clean in a minute. Actually my entire desk needs a good clean. I need a craft fairy to magically inventory my new supplies and put them away and then to clean my entire space.

Had a fun Friday evening and full day Saturday with the Spellbinder’s Weekend Retreat. The items in the kit are going to be fun to use. I could have crafted along with the designers, but chose not to as it was more relaxing to just view. Had I tried to craft along I think I would have gotten quite frustrated. As it was, I became exhausted and fell asleep in my chair. I only woke up when I almost fell out of the chair. At least it was done in my time zone. Some attendees were watching and crafting at ridiculous times of the day and night. Took me all of yesterday to stop being so tired. The entire event is available to watch at anytime so I can always watch again if I need to.

Thanks for spending time with me today. We have sunshine with a cold wind here but it is supposed to get quite warm this week. Wildfires are burning in other provinces and our hope is that they don’t start here. It is so sad for those affected.

lavenderhousecreations

Red and Kraft

Seize the Birthday #298-Kraft and Red is the latest challenge and this is my 2nd attempt at a card. For the first time in long while, I actually ditched the 1st try. Although this is certainly better, I’m not sure I like it that much.

The MFT die used is a new one that I got on sale at our local craft store last week. The central portion is a background die, called floating hearts from SSS, that I cut and glued inside. Before I glued anything I used Barn Door ink and sponged over the birthday section and then the background piece. Using clear embossing I heat set it all. The inside section was created with a bit of fiddling and finessing. When satisfied I added the entire piece to the card front. The red border at the bottom is from ribbon strip dies and these pieces were gifted it to me by a stamping buddy. She sent a lot (a long time ago already) and I’m slowly using them up. Gems are from my stash. My reds match better under normal light although they are slightly different in tone.

I am not a person who likes browns and beiges so although I admire cards done on Kraft CS, I don’t use it very often myself. That is probably why I’m not sure I like this card.

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

lavenderhousecreations

anything but square

Our current challenge at https://cardz4galz.blogspot.com/ has been chosen by Helen and we’d like to see anything but square creations. She will also be choosing the winners.

I chose to make a shaped card using Hero Arts Oval infinity dies and I carefully placed the biggest die so that I could keep the folded edge. The other layers were cut in the usual manner. The florals are from an unbranded stamp and die set. For the longest time these were in a box on my desk as I wasn’t sure I liked them after I had made them. Recently, I had the idea of layering some of them together which gave a nicer flower. I used some shimmer on top of the layer stamping so there is a subtle shine to them.

For now there is a generic sentiment inside the card, which I think will be all I shall use. Adding a sentiment to the front seems to me unnecessary. I also cut a small straight section at the bottom of the card so it will stand up nicely.

We look forward to seeing your creations in our gallery and hope you have fun with your designs. Thanks for stopping by, your time is appreciated.

lavenderhousecreations

glitter butterfly

SOS539 – Glitter Me Happy is the current challenge at Shopping our Stash and then Seize the Birthday wants us to use something new. Reminder #297-Use Something New.

I’ve just received some new EF’s and dies from StampinUP so this card works for both challenges. I chose the butterfly 3D folder and the dies that go with it. After embossing the panel I sprayed some sparkle spray and set it to dry. Then I die cut the the butterfly base and embossed it and cut 2 of the top layer, one in white CS and one in the purple glitter paper. I glued these 2 together so there was more stability for the top layer. Using a silver Nuvo glitter pen I went over the bottom layer to get it glittery. I did this twice to ensure good coverage. When it was fully dry I added the purple top layer attaching only under the body section, then I added the black body on top. I stamped the sentiment using an MFT set, but used the die from StampinUP to cut it. Using 2 tiny heart stamps from a YNS set, I stamped them at the end. Initially I tried stamping directly to this strip, but messed it up so I stamped again on scrap and fussy cut one to cover it. I also went around the sentiment strip with the silver glitter pen. It is very subtle so hard to see on the photo. After backing the layers to a silver piece it was all added to a white card front.

My hubby really likes this card and I hope that you do too. Thanks for stopping by, your time is always appreciated.

lavenderhousecreations

Seeds and Acorns

Challenge #336 – The Seeds of A Corny Theme

The past couple of weeks have been hectic and I haven’t been very motivated from a creative standpoint. I’ve been trying to do Christmas cards, sort of successfully, but I’m still very behind. I didn’t want to miss the challenge at As You See It because my goal is to enter each one this year and it would be a shame to fail now.

I pulled out a scrap piece of Kraft CS and two stamps from a YNS set along with one from Lavinia Stamps and a sentiment from GKD. I stamped the acorns and then randomly added the seed head here and there. Using some shimmer watercolour paints I added colour to the acorns and outlined some things with a sparkly gold Sakura pen. With a small sponge I added some gold ink to the seed heads. Then I used a die from StampinUP to cut the Kraft piece down slightly and a gold background piece as well. These were angled as you see in the photo. In my scrap file I found my last piece of CTMH hound’s-tooth paper and used it as the background. In retrospect it may have been better to use a Kraft piece for the sentiment as the white seems a bit stark. I may tone it down a bit, but too late for my post.

Thanks for spending time with me today, and thanks too, for any comments you may leave.