Flower Pot

It may not be a catchy title but when you see the image, you won't help but smile!

This is another card I enjoyed making from Debbie Moore's Shabby Chic Garden Bookazine.  It took a bit of patience from me as I needed to wait for my Pinflair Glue Gel to dry but my patience was finally rewarded once it was complete.  

This was also my first go at using Print Magic by Debbie Moore.  It is an ultra fine embossing powder that I sprinkled onto the flowers and set with a heat gun.  I have had this product for months but not yet used it.  I recently saw Debbie using it on C&C TV and thought, I must have a go at using this.  

I admit to also having a collection of Debbie Moore bookazines still untouched.  They are like a keepsake item really, full of ideas, papers and toppers.   Now that I have started using the Garden Bookazine I may well have to indulge myself and buy another copy just to admire it.

You are probably interested in knowing how the flowers are held up.  I have used silver plated copper wire 0.80mm which I curled around a knitting needle (15cm length) before inserting it into a pierced hole on the fold of the card.  I then glued it in place and waiting for that to dry before gluing the flower heads in place.  

The card would benefit from a sentiment such as "Get Well Soon" but since I haven't decided who to give it to, I will wait before I do this.

Let me know what you think and if you would like to make one yourself, then grab a copy of this wonderful Garden Bookazine by Debbie Moore.

Easel Card

I couldn’t wait for this Garden Bookazine from Debbie Moore to arrive.  From the moment I glimpsed the contents of it, whilst watching Create & Craft TV, I knew I would love all the elements inside.  The colours are warm, yet soft and work so well together.  I've discovered some great ideas using different card styles and decided my first project would be a double easel card.  Instructions come with the free CD but this is how I made it.

I used an A5 card and laid it out in front of me in landscape mode.  I then marked the center position of the card along its longest edge and cut to the fold of the card.  Since my A5 card is 21cm in length I made a cut line mark at 10.5cm. This produced two equal halves on the front half of the card.  

I then needed to cut off some surplus card in order to have the two pieces square in shape.  I therefore measured 10.5cm from the fold line to the edge of the card and marked my cutting line (You can just make out the hatched markings showing the area to be cut away). This left me with two squares measuring 10.5cm.

I then scored each of these two halves from the point where the cut meets the fold to the outer corners to create triangles.  Tip: Ensure you place the folding line from the center to the outer edges on both halves otherwise the toppers will be facing away from each other once you have put a crease in your fold.  Fortunately I got this right on the first attempt!  

I used the papers provided in the bookazine to back the card and then decorated with the topper and sentiment.  The flowers were made from scraps of leftover paper with the use of my punches.   I wish I had made the hat 3 dimensional now but hey, there is always another occasion since I have a permanent supply of toppers and matching papers on the CD. 

 Thanks Debbie, I am really pleased with the end result.  

Aspirations

I was thinking the other day how nice it would be to become a member of a design team and have a chance to play around with all the latest new stamps and products.   Then by happy coincidence I stumbled upon an ad for new design team members wanted by Creative Expressions.   

Although the closing date is Friday 16th September and I don't have a cat in hell's chance of being organised by then, I did realize that I will require an active following on a blog and/or social media and post at least once a week.  Another reason to get blogging I thought!  I liked the fact that previous experience on a design team wasn't necessary as they are looking for people with real passion for crafting and I think I have this in bucket loads.

Motivation

This month I decided, as a member of Crafter's Companion to enter their monthly challenge. The August challenge is Animals and since I have just been working with their Barkley Christmas Papercrafting CD I had just finished a card I felt worthy of entering.  Whilst trying to upload my image I realized that all the entries had been linked via member's own blog sites which made me more determined than ever to complete the setting up of my blog page. So this this morning I started out refreshing the look I started out with.  I feel much happier with it now and determined to start blogging away.  I welcome any hints and tips from readers of my blog because it is still work in progress but now to the fun bit.    Here is a card I made.

I printed the image onto pearlescent card stock which gave it a lovely finish and suited the softness of the image.  I recently purchased some Embossalicious embossing folders (Christmas themed) from Crafter's Companion and used the one with the stars for the background.  The flowers, leaves and mistletoe have been cut using my latest dies from Tattered Lace which are Winter and Festive Florals.  I have used them a lot since purchasing them.  They cut so easily and have been my "bestest" buy this month.