cardmaking

lavenderhousecreations

hogs and kisses

Welcome to a new challenge here at Double Trouble. Our recipe this time is called ‘In with the old, out with the new.’ You need to have the following: 3 layers, the card base does not count, 2 colour choices from the #1 colour wheel and 1 image. Twisted sister says add a pig if you want to. And your double dare is to make it fit the TSOT sketch challenge and enter it there. Be careful not to backlink when you do enter this.

My card has more than 3 layers and uses patterned paper from SSS. I used a unbranded frame die negative space piece to surround my background paper and another unbranded die set to cut my other pieces. My papers actually have several of the colours from the colour wheel, but I opted to colour my image with Spectrum Noir markers in some of the colours too. My image and sentiment are from Divinity Designs and I used the matching die to cut the image out.

Foam tape was used around the frame before adding to the background which gives the card a 3D look. The sentiment piece was glued flat but I have the image piece on foam so it doesn’t sink on one side. I wasn’t sure about this card initially, but my hubby took a look as well as our artist friend and both gave their approval.

We look forward to seeing your cards in the gallery and hope you have a lot of fun creating them. Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate your time and any comments you leave.

lavenderhousecreations

As You See It Speed challenge

7 mins 23 seconds

How appropriate that the newest challenge at As you See it is asking for purple which as many of you know is my favourite colour, and this is one of my favourite challenge sites too. Challenge #367 – Lickedy Split Lavender.

After finding all I required to make the card, I started the clock and cut two same size panels for the card front. Using a new oval from a Craft Addiction die set, I cut the floral image from a new paper pad by Hunky Dory called Duo Designs. I simple couldn’t resist that paper when I saw it. Anyway I took part of the paper and moved the die around until I found the part that looked best and cut it. With a smaller die from the set I die cut the white oval.

The hardest part of making this card was actually the sentiment. I used a stamp from a Joy Clair set, but I had to mask off each word so I could stamp it as you see rather than as a straight line. Up till that point it had only taken me about 5 minutes to do the card. Of course when doing something in a hurry Murphy’s law says it won’t work and I ended up having to do the oval twice.

So my card took me 7 mins and 23 seconds to complete. Well within the 10 minute limit, but it still made my heart race a bit.

For a card made in a speed challenge, it has turned out better than I expected and I quite like it. I am supposed to be doing bookkeeping for the end of year accounting, but it is a job I hate. I was so fed up that instead, I took a break and made this card as well as creating 2 envelopes for cards ready to be mailed, but that were not a normal size. I’ll go back to the books tomorrow I guess.

Thanks for spending time with me today, it is appreciated.

lavenderhousecreations

tent fold card

showing how it stands

Our artist friend has a birthday coming up soon and I really wanted to personalize a card for her. When I saw this style card on YouTube, I thought it would be perfect to make a painters easel and this is what I came up with. The tutorial is found HERE if you are interested. Our friend loves blue so my first thought was to use blue PP, then my second was realizing I don’t have any stamp sets with artist tools. She is also an award winning photographer so I thought about doing a card using that as a theme, but I’d done several of these for my hubby and wanted something different. In the end I looked online to see what I could find that would be useful and found a set by Globeland on Amazon. Cheap stamps but good enough for what I needed, but no matching dies so I fussy cut the images. And the order was delivered this morning which was perfect.

Making the card folds and decorating it wasn’t hard at all. I did, however, want something on the floating piece that would look as if someone was painting. It was then that I remembered some cards that came in my Weekender kit from last year. I found one that looked like a painting and cut it to size before adding to the panel. The sentiment is from Joy Clair and I’ve added a piece on the back for writing a personal note.

All in all I’m happy with how this one looks and of course I’ve learned a lot while making it, so the next one will be much simpler to do. I have two other artist friends and may do something similar for them when their birthdays are coming up.

I think this card works for the following challenge: V is for Volume (Dimension) at Alphabet challenge blog and it loosely follows the sketch challenge at Just Add Ink #779…Sketch even though it is a fun fold rather than a note card style.

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

lavenderhousecreations

spring blooms

There are times when a store bought card, or in this case a tissue box, has images that just have to be used rather than thrown away. So I cut up the box and have several pieces that I can create with. This is my second card, but the first one is a scheduled post so won’t show up for a while yet.

I rather liked the sketch idea at Sunday Stamps and this is what I came up with. I shall enter it into the Anything Goes current sketch challenge.

Using some leftover scraps of a GKD brown CS I created a layer for the cut up tissue box piece. Before adding it to the card front, I added some ribbon and the sentiment. The sentiment is a gifted to me die with both shadow and word and I have no idea of the brand. I added strips of the same brown CS to the side and then added the enamel dots which are from Waffle Flower.

It is a more vibrant looking card in reality than it appears in the photo. A very easy card and I quite like how it turned out.

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

lavenderhousecreations

butterflies galore

Welcome back to challenge #270 here at Cardz4galz and Helen has chosen the theme of Wings, (butterflies, fairies, birds etc. As you can see I went with butterflies and used a new StampinUP hybrid folder for my design. I went over the folder with 2 different ink colours and ran it through. I cut the panel diagonally and added them to the card front. Next time I’ll make sure the colours are more evenly spread in the folder but I still like how it looks. Using the die with the folder a second time, I ended up with the large butterfly and I used an ink cube over the raised parts to give it some colour. A gold pen for the body and some pops of color dots finished the card.

I’ve left off a sentiment for the time being as I’m not sure how I shall use the card. Its also a somewhat busy design and I’m not sure if a sentiment will look nice or be too much. I’ll cross that bridge later.

We look forward to seeing your designs in our gallery and hope you have a lot of fun creating.

Thanks for joining me today, you and your time are appreciated.

lavenderhousecreations

fly high …

This is a second CAS card that will work for the current challenge at Seize the Birthday #320- CAS with Dies. I felt like trying something that included this flourish stamp from Hot off the Press. I had used the feather and sentiment stamps but never this particular one. Once it was stamped I added the sentiment at the bottom and made my own ‘on your birthday’ strip using my computer. The two birds are from a set by the Cat’s Pajamas and I used the matching dies to cut them.

To be honest although I like the set, I find the dies very challenging because it is hard to see the placement. To solve this I die cut the birds, place the entire piece onto my stamp apparatus and add the cut pieces back into the space. It is easier to stamp the images after they are cut than to do it any other way.

After adding a few embellishments I decided it was finished. Then I added the square panel to the black layer and onto the card front. Its a simple card but very effective in black and white. The little jewels add just enough sparkle to highlight the flourish but they don’t show that well in the photo.

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

lavenderhousecreations

hinge fold get well card

under the hinge
inside the card

Welcome to another challenge here at Double Trouble. Our theme this time called Scrapper’s Guacamole and you should use 3 colours from the ROYG BIV colour wheel, 2 pattern papers and a dry or heat embossed element. To earn another chance to win you can enter TSOT with something that works for the sketch. Just be sure you are entering without accidentally back linking.

I chose to do a get well theme because I have a friend who is not well at the moment and this should cheer her up. My patterned papers are from SSS, my stamps and dies are from MFT with one from Catherine Pooler. I’ve had this MFT set since Covid and have only used one or two stamps from it until now. My colours are reflected in the card stock – yellow, PP has various colours, red, green and pink pencils and alcohol ink pens for colouring the images and my embossing style uses heat with gold flower centers and an embossed Get Well sentiment. To be honest, I almost forgot the embossed element and had to scramble to add it so I used a Wow embossing pen on the flower centers and heat embossed them as best I could considering the card was already assembled at that point. The get well sentiment was also a last minute addition.

For anyone wishing to make this style card, I used a tutorial found at Lisa Curcio. She gives several samples and her printed project sheet makes it easy to do.

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

We look forward to seeing your cards in our gallery, have fun and good luck.

lavenderhousecreations

Chocolates anyone

We are in need of a thank you card, and As You See It is asking for candy, so I decided to combine the need with the challenge.

I saw something briefly where a crafter was making paper chocolates and I thought what a good idea. Somehow I missed saving it, and of course when I went to look again, couldn’t find it. That said, my chocolates are roughly based on what I saw.

Using my Hero Arts Infinity dies and some scrap, chocolate coloured, CS I cut 6 hearts in 2 sizes. Using some foam tape I put those pieces together. Pulling out some very old embellishments that look like sprinkles I chose the colours I wanted and glued them on top.

I thought about making a heart chocolate box, but decided I preferred a square box so I used a window frame (no idea of the brand) to die cut my piece and added foam tape to the back for dimension. In retrospect, it would have been easier to die cut several layers and glue them together, but we live and learn and it is something to note for next time. After cutting a 5″x5″ card front I added the window piece to it and then I carefully added the chocolates, tucking them in as best I could. For my center and sentiment I die cut a gold piece that fit across the entire frame and added a smaller copper piece, it matches some of the sprinkle colours, and then cut another white piece for that. I stamped the words and using some copper coloured Recollections EB I heat set it. An unbranded bow die set was used to cut a bow in copper and to this I added a tiny StampinUp heart embellishment. The white piece was a bit too white so I used an inking sponge with Lost Shadow ink to soften it. All in all, I’m very pleased with the result and my hubby is thrilled as he is going to be giving it to our nurse practitioner when he sees her later this week. She deserves this thank you, as she was the one who did her due diligence and got him checked out. We feel that the outcome could have been an unwanted and serious heart attack as we had no idea that it was his heart giving him trouble.

We’ve had another dry day with a bit of sunshine, so were able to get outside and walk a little. It is good to be in the fresh air even if only for a short time. All of us, including the dog, need to lose some weight so once we are sure my hubby is completely stable, we will be concentrating on a diet plan.

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

lavenderhousecreations

thinking about you

Hello again from Double Trouble where challenge #209 awaits you. Our recipe this time is 3- layers, including the card base, 2 images excluding the sentiment and to use a CAS style. You can use any colour but I personally prefer CAS with white space so that is what I used. As always you are welcome to to use the sketch from TSOT, but be careful not to backlink.

For my card I used a regular card base and added a layer of patterned paper. On a separate piece I stamped my image using a stamp from Nellie Snellen, which is bigger stamp but I only used a small section of it when it was dry enough to cut. I used an unbranded rectangular die set to cut the aperture from a linen look CS and embossed the edges of the frame. I cut the piece diagonally added foam tape and then adhered it on top of the pattern piece. I inserted the stamped image into the frame and added a die cut bow which is my second image and gives me a total of 4 layers as well. One small embellishment on the bow and a sentiment strip finishes the card. The sentiment is from Creative Expressions I think. The label on the storage pocket is damaged so I’m not 100% sure.

I have a friend who is struggling a little at the moment so this card will go to her. Thanks so much for stopping by, I appreciate you, your time and any comments you leave for me. We look forward to seeing your creations in our gallery – Good Luck.

lavenderhousecreations

Rhapsody in Red, not a valentine

partly open card
closed card

The challenge is all about using reds and I decided on this design and papers for the As You See It, Challenge #365 – Rhapsody in Red. There is a recipe included so I ensured I got all the ingredients as well.

Firstly I chose my papers using a small paper pad from a dollar store. Having seen something like this on Pinterest that also had measurements and a tutorial, I took a closer look to see how best to proceed. The demonstrator explained her process and I followed it mostly, except that I wanted borders around my papers so changed it up a little bit. Once I had my strips ready I chose a neutral matte old gold card front and added them as you see. I die cut 2 hearts, one in white CS and one in Vellum using a set from Memory Box. Actually before I cut the vellum one I used a stamp from a Crafters Companion set already on my desk. I then stamped the floral sprig in Barn Door Distress Oxide and then heat embossed it with a clear powder. Once I was happy with it, I die cut it and attached it to the white one. I hope the vellum can be seen. I did try several coloured pieces behind it, but the white looked best. In my bits and pieces box I found a gold heat embossed sentiment which I fussy cut and added to the heart. And I also added a small bow. The heart is popped up on foam tape. The inside panel was stamped using a Hampton Arts set with Aged Mahogany ink, and I also added more red floral sprigs in a couple of places. The embellishments are from my stash and I used the bigger gems so they would show up more.

Thanks for spending time with me today. I appreciate that you stop by and also any comments you may leave.