365 Cards - Day 254 - Card as Ornament

This one's a bit tricky to photograph - it's pretty basic - white card, two identical pieces slotted together and stands up by itself. Or indeed you could pierce the top and hang it up, and thereby actually fulfill the challenge (oops!)

365 Cards - Day 329 - Postcard

I think Pam was a little surprised how few people went for this challenge.  Still better late than never!

This is exactly postcard sized, it is made from a purple Liberty and a yellow Selfridges plastic shopping bag, with pieces cut to more or less the right size then ironed/ fused together using an iron between two layers of baking parchment and then I've free-machined (feed dogs down and darning foot on) the stitching, with a layer of Stitch'n'tear on the back (just to make sure it's stable).  Here's a pic of the back:

And despite my best intentions, it's still not been stuck onto a postcard...  But will be eventually.

If you want to know more about this sort of sewing technique - Gwen Hedley's book Surfaces for Stitch: Plastics, Films & Fabric is a really good book with some projects but mostly techniques so you can find out how to do it, then apply it to what you've got.  Gwen teaches textiles in the UK, and probably overseas too.

I did a course with her at Missenden Abbey to learn the skills to do this for one of my City & Guilds Embroidery finished pieces.  It's based on skeletons, and I'm still not convinced by it... Still mum likes it and has it up in her house, I think it probably needs framing (and the top droops which needs sorting out). Anyway, I love the surfaces you get with sewing on fused plastic.

365 Cards - Day 276 - Angel

More catchup, more peeloffs, more naffness chortle. I'd rather the sentiment that came with it had been more faith orientated, but it is what it is.

365 Cards - Day 8 - Super Sketchy Sunday

Yes I know it's not Sunday today, it's a catchup. And with this one, I've finally finished the first week's worth of challenges. Of 1-7 March 2009. Well, better late than never! Quite a simple one this: Puffin Crafts run taster sessions and then sell-off sets of materials that are spare from them, which in this case was two Christmas puddings, so I made them up into a card for the Sketch for Day 8, mounting them on a red then a black square of card. The pudding itself opens up for you to write a greeting, so it's not a card that stands up by itself, it leans gently instead.

365 Cards - Day 275 - Red & Green

This might be looking rather familiar, in that it's the same layout & sentiment as Day 285 and the same size, but on a different backing paper... It is however Red & Green and a different card, so it counts for this challenge. Also, it's catchup so no-one's going to be arguing (I hope!)

365 Cards - Day 285 - Peace

And yet more from my catchup session.... This is an idea I had last Christmas, but it didn't really work back then, although it does now! The paper is some unnamed 10p a 12"sq sheet from Puffin Crafts, the sentiment is an Inkadinkadoo stamp 606 959.X. Card is 5"x5". And the flocking is using the stamp with PVA and an initial sprinkling of Model Railway makers tiny woodchip flock then (and this is the bit that now works) you very carefully paint over the sentiment with a thick line of PVA again and bury it in flock. Otherwise it looks patchy.

In theory it's quite simple, in practice it takes ages for the second layer of PVA to dry and you get lots of bits dropping off everywhere. Still, once it's done it's rather lovely. Sorry for the poor piccies, there's not much light today and I want to get the mammoth catchup session posted.

365 Cards - Day 207 - Own Patterned Paper

Same catchup session from November as Day 259, but not posted until now This time the snowflake stamp is Personal Impressions P1444S, but the rest of the tecchy details are as Day 259. I made 4 each of these notelets (5"x4") as sometimes I think it's quite nice to send people a set of cards as a present..... (and also because I wanted to see how many cards I could get out of 4 sheets of 6"x6" paper)

Not that I have actually made or send many/any sets yet, but am working on it!

365 Cards - Day 280 - Red & White Stripes

Ok so, part of my mammoth catchup session of yesterday. This challenge was to use red & white stripes (like a candy cane), and this was the closest paper I have.... Then inside I've used a larger version of the spotty paper. Not hugely different to the layout of the Day 299 card with the snowman wrapping paper.....

365 Cards - Day 122 - Wrapping Paper

So, I was putting together today's Challenge and thought hmmm I remember a challenge for wrapping paper that I've not done yet....

So I made this one with the same paper. It's very simple but rather effective I think. I do like using contrasting papers on this sort of card because it looks really pretty when on a shelf.

Apologies for the poor photography angles!

365 Cards - Day 299 - Keep it to yourself Holiday Card

OOO the excitement... No not because it's Christmas Day (although that is quite exciting), but because I'm actually posting a card on the Challenge Day (well 11th hour but still)!

Mind you there won't be much excitement later, I got a bit carried away with card making yesterday and didn't quite get round to making Christmas dinner. Nevermind, there's only me & the cat and we had our family Christmas last week in Northumberland so it's not like I'm going to be upsetting anyone special, hmm a new trend, Boxing Day dinner maybe? After last year's fiasco with the shot-filled pigeon, I'm playing it safe with a chestnut and mushroom suet pudding (much tastier than it sounds, from the Waitrose website)

Anyway, I digress, the card should be a holiday card without the sentiment on the outside

Which I made from two rolls of wrapping paper I got in the January sales (yes Waitrose again), I didn't actually buy it for cardmaking but they are very similar and just a slightly different scale snowflakes which adds interest. I've popped various elements, but a bit carelessly as the popping foam peeks around the edges. Lucky I'm not trying to sell my creations!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

365 Cards Day 170 Card doubling as something else

This challenge is from August, and I made it back in September but didn't get round to posting it. The challenge was to make a card that doubles as something else, in this case a box. Which when you take the lid off, becomes a three tiered flappy card with a christmas tree in the middle and snowflake confetti...

All done using the English Paper Co Christmas pack (I bought a load in the sale - so this Christmas is purple purple purple chortle).

Largest box dimension is 7cm square (so you have 5 squares all 7cm square cut out of a single piece of card like a maltese cross and scored), middle layer is 6cm square and inner layer is 5cm square - the tree has a hmm is it a radius? not a circumference? anyway the measurement across the middle from one side of the circle to the other which probably has a name but I don't know what it is - is 5cm also which geometry makes about 4.5cm high (don't ask me, I guessed and fiddled until it worked with scrap paper!)

I don't have a pattern for it, Jayne at Puffin Crafts had made a big one with the tree made out of folded over ribbons and a larger gap between layers and she had toppers in each layer. I looked at it for a while then went home and made this little version with folded over paper for the tree.

PS Sigh I've just looked at everyone else's and it's supposed to be something else that's useful. Ooops! Oh well too late now, and anyway it was months ago, I doubt anyone will be checking!

365 Cards Day 125 It's a Snap

And yet another catchup (from July) although I did actually do this card a couple of weeks ago, I forgot to post it.
The challenge was to use some sort of closure (ribbon, snap, magnet) etc on the card, but I saw this card in an old magazine that the nice owner of Puffin Crafts gave me (she was clearing out her old magazines) - it's from an American magazine about 5 years old - which had a pumpkin on each of the 4 flaps and just the sentiment inside. I really like the idea that the card itself is the closure (you do it like the flaps of a cardboard box to hold them shut).

So I used English Paper Co papers again (same set as with the stars/ baubles/ trees - days 79, 67 & 26 respectively) - and I'm rather pleased with it as the Puffin Crafts card is stiff enough that it stands up like a little tunnel all by itself when open.

365 Cards Day 242 Ribbon Frenzy

So today's challenge, and for once it is actually today! is to use 7 different ribbons on your card. So inspired by the rebel DT Gloria, I actually used 8 different colours, 3 times each. I suspect 24 ribbons is going a bit beyond the 7, but never mind! I wrapped the ribbon lengths around a piece of foam board with the end colours also wrapped around the top & bottom edges to make a sort of rainbow topper (ribbons courtesy of a mixed pack from Crafty Ribbons of Blandford Dorset). It's all mounted on card from Puffin Crafts (East Dulwich - they were closing down but aren't any more which is great) with an Inkadinkadoo stamp Peace on Earth on which I used pretty pastel glitter green flock.

Sounds vile huh, but I think it turned out quite well!

365 Cards - Day 147 - Scraplift

And yet more CatchUp (the last of the 5 from a single Little Claire Peel Off Stickers sheet). The challenge was to scraplift someone else's card. I got this idea watching Helen Meighan's demonstration at The Craft Barn Lingfield Surrey this weekend. It's not exactly a card she did there, more of an homage! Anyway, donkey and crib backed with buff card, star backed with yellow, matted onto russet and then black card - all from offcuts from Puffin Crafts, except the yellow which is ancient yellow stock from a WHSmith pack from about 9 years ago.

365 Cards - Day 119 - Silhouette

Still more catchup. This is no4 of the cards from the Little Claire PeelOff sheet. This is the bits that were left over when I took away the outline used for Day 147. It wasn't very clear so I outlined it in black pen but the pens I have aren't great and bled a bit. So a great idea, but the actuality isn't so marvellous (hence I'm not doing the other leftover sihouettes until I've got a pen that doesn't bleed!) Then the border is snow from the same sheet, corners and infill bits.

365 Cards - Day 24 - Nature

More CatchUp using the Little Claire Peel-Off sheet (Card no3) - the theme is nature and I suspect it was supposed to be real nature ie a photo, but nevermind! This one was quite complicated, I stuck red card underneath the scarf and nose and green card under the trees and buff card under the fawn's body. which took ages to trim down and get right. Then matted it onto dark chocolate brown and the same red as the scarf. Holly leaves are same green card. The bits I didn't manage to trim very well I darkened with a black pen to tidy it up.

365 Cards - Day 21 - Lean on Me

Another CatchUp using Peel-Off Stickers (Little Claire). I think this is 3 bears in Santa hats which appear to be leaning on each other. Job done! I used a piece of buff card under the Peel-Off and then coloured in the 3 bears and their hats with Letraset ProMarkers (Red, Cocoa, Cinnamon and Sandstone) which made their hat bands and bobbles sufficiently light not to need whitening. Lots of ProMarker layers though. And matted it up on buff again then russet then black. Again it's 4"x5".

365 Cards - Day 18 - Green

Catch up time again. I went to The Craft Barn's demonstration weekend (Lingfield Surrey) and was inspired by Helen Meighan's Peel-Off Sticker demonstration. Her technique, at least the one she was demonstrating was to stick the Peel-Off to coloured paper and then fussy cut around it and then glue it onto the card stock. This 4"x5" card is one of 5 I've made today out of a single sheet of Peel-Off stickers from Little Claire. There's probably bits for another 2 cards of the same size plus oddments left over but I'm saving those for another day.

Anyway, this is a late entry for Day 18 using predominantly green. Which sort of fits, as in of the colour there is there, most of it is green! The coloured card used with the Peel-Offs is part of a bargain pack of off-cut card from Puffin Crafts in East Dulwich.

365 Cards - Day 80 - You're so plaid

Hmmm, plaid. Turns out I've got quite a lot of it, mostly in the English Paper Company's 144 sheet bumper pack used for yesterday's challenge - there's a very nice plaid background with gingerbread men on top.... But I chose to use this green one instead. Which I think is probably English Paper Company also, but a 12" sheet. Or rather small bits of two x 12" sheets.

And I've used model railway grass/flock on 4 of the trees. It's a bit tricky to explain what this looks like, it's like very small bits of wood, coloured pink, yellow and dark and light green. And is an absolute pig to get it to stick down thick enough even with lots of PVA.

The sentiment inside says Peace on Earth and is flocked using the model railway grass - well I say flocked, it's very badly patchy flock so there's no photo of it - I need to get the PVA out again....

As usual, it's a 5"x5" card. It's also not a washed out turquoise, it's dark and mid greens.

365 Cards - Day 79 - Monday's Manufacturer

As you all may have worked out already, I don't really have much paper that's ready decorated by a manufacturer, but I do have a pack of 144 sheets of 6"x6" Christmas paper from The English Paper Company (whose website doesn't seem to be working, but that could just be IE8 which is somewhat annoyingly stopping me from looking at a lot of blogspot 365Cards entries). This was of course in the sale, and works out at 2p a sheet - bargain!

Anyway this is one sheet of what might be snow and a third of a sheet x2 for the box & star - which I've layered up with stickies to give a bit of a dimension. All on a 5"x5" card.