Golden Wedding #2

Although I started this card several weeks ago it was finally completed just a couple of days before the celebration - and turned out completely different from what I'd had in mind! I wanted to make something really special for my sister and brother-in-law using some of the newer Nestability dies which are far more intricate than previous sets (also the largest dies are *much* larger). I started to copy a beautiful card seen on YouTube but in the end gave up out of sheer frustration because the dies just would not cut properly...and by making many attempts I ended up running out of the special cream-flecked-with-gold card that I wanted to use as the base card with accents of matte gold on top.  I thought it might be the gold that was causing the problems - certainly in the past I've found that mirri card has a plastic film on top which doesn't always cut cleanly - but later I found a long thread on SplitCoastStampers with many complaints about the sort of trouble I had had. Also many suggested solutions, most of which I already did such as using a metal shim and also waxed paper for easy release; actually, it isn't releasing the die cut that's difficult, it's getting it to cut in the first place! My beloved Cuttlebug is about 6 years old but shows no signs of wear, cutting other dies without any problems; unfortunately the platform is too narrow to turn those largest dies through 90* for a second cut which some have found helpful. The final suggestion, which I have yet to try, was to spritz the card lightly with water before cutting, so I'll have to try that next play time. It's such a shame, because the dies are beautiful....

Anyway, having abandoned my ambitious plans I ended up with something much more akin to my regular 'plain and simple' style. The panel is indeed one of those cut with the Nesties; words are by Britannia dies (stuck down with micro dots by Letraset: so glad I found a mention of those on a forum because I've used them for years but forgotten them for a while). I remembered when we celebrated our Ruby Wedding 6 years ago that I was told ivy stood for constancy in the Victorian language of flowers so that was easy choice of border. The ivy corner is by Joanna Sheen, also the extra ivy spray along the bottom which is rather special as it's one of a pair of mirror image sprays as requested by members on Joanna's forum. So nice that she has the personal touch and actually takes note of what her supporters say - I haven't met her but she really is a lovely lady. Oh, and the numbers are from a Cuttlebug alphabet.

I did make a birthday card before this one but have yet to transfer the picture to my laptop - it had to be photographed rather than scanned and was uploaded to DH's desktop; he'll transfer it for me via a flash drive....when he can find it....

Poinsettias for Christmas

It's certainly been a week of red flowers: I've been out several times selling poppies for Remembrance Day and made this Christmas card in between. The stamp is from Joanna Sheen and the flower from a die set by Marianne, the first I have tried. It isn't as deeply embossed as I would like so I'll remember to add another shim or two next time, but I'm pleased with the layout. I saw samples of the flower when visiting a fantastic new-to-me craft shop with friends last week but having bought it I discovered afterwards that it is also available in a smaller size which might look better on this size card. Ah, well, I'll just have to find an excuse for visiting my local craft shop and see if they have that one in stock, and meanwhile I'll make larger cards! I have bought sheets of red and green card specially for cutting the flowers (I have enough yellow for centres) so I will set up a production line and see if I can increase my total number of cards completed in a short space of time. Unfortunately although the stamp is excellent and gives a good crisp image it took me a long time to colour with Promarkers. I'm not very happy with the greens I used and may go back to the aquarelles I was getting to grips with before succumbing to the Promarkers eveyone was raving about....I do not delude myself that any tool will ever make me an artist!

Yesterday's other card

My mojo may have returned after being AWOL but it didn't like being worked too hard! Sarah's card with the butterflies wasn't very elaborate and didn't take too long to make, so I thought I would continue the good work and make a card for a friend's birthday next Wednesday. Oh dear! It seems I'm unable to concentrate if I have time in hand....I was fairly satisfied with the final result, although it might have looked better with a symmetrical design, but I sweated gallons before I reached that point.

First I picked up the pad of autumn papers I bought recently. Anyone who reads this blog semi-regularly will know I'm an autumn nut and I tried hard to come up with a good idea, but it just wasn't right for this particular friend who is a dainty pink and blue person rather than a striking yellow and orange one. So the papers went back in the drawer. I suddenly thought of the willow pattern china stamps by Joanna Sheen which I've had for a couple of years and used only a few times on ATCs. There was my blue! And including the big plate gave me an excuse for using my new Eyelet Nesties as well - the largest was a perfect fit. So far so good.

Then it was downhill all the way, or do I mean uphill? Nothing was quite right. I tried a MS border punch with similar eyelets but got the spacing wrong the first time and couldn't make the second attempt fit anywhere. I then stamped more of the china as the background using Versamark ink, looked at the square mid blue card thus produced, added the strip of ribbon and felt it was all wrong, so I cut the front off and tried it as an easel card, sticking that same front onto dark blue. No, it needed a light edge - and besides, the end of the ribbon on the back showed - so I unstuck it (being thankful I'd only used a glue stick and not my tape gun), cut a white mat and remounted it all. Oh, and at some point I was trimming slivers off edges because I realised that the finished card was going to be a hair's breadth too big for the available envelope, which it was anyway so went into a much bigger one folded over. No, I didn't attempt to make one the right size...

Still with me? We now have an easel card with blank inside and no support for the front edge. I think it took another half an hour minimum before I fixed the final piece, with the jugs, like the plate, stamped in Brilliance Mediterranean Blue. It only took three attempts to add a small insert sheet with a punched border at the bottom (those MS punches really do not like single sheets of thin paper and it's high time I remembered) and the best happening of the day was not smudging the stamped greeting.

Now all I have to do is remember to post the thing in good time.

Two new cards, and some musings...

I made a couple of birthday cards today, my first this week. They are made in the same style : both measure 6"x5" (15cm x 12.5cm) with the front folded back on itself.The green one is for my niece in America (Jamie's mother, for those who have read about my star card) who has made her own little English garden in Delaware and will, I think, appreciate the sepia stamped sundial by Joanna Sheen. The stamped greeting is hidden by the front flap and is next to the picture. The leafy paper is from my stash, origin unknown, and the words on the Nesties are from a clear um stamp, also of unknown origin.

The crane stamp on the red card is by Hobby Art and the coin by Personal Impressions (both are UK companies), embossed with gold detail EP and the crane is matted on gold. The paper on the inner panel is a beautiful oyster satin which I bought in New Zealand last year. This is the first time I have used it....although I have several sheets I'm being very frugal so I don't use it all up! I added a plain white piece with a decorative punched bottom border on the hidden inner panel.

I deliberately had a break from crafting this week, partly because I've been busy with something else but also because I felt dissatisfied with the cards I made for challenges last weekend. That was my own fault for leaving them until the last minute (I'm a champion procrastinator) and having to rush them, but I wanted to think about what I was trying to achieve by entering the challenges. We each have our own style - there's a category on Split Coast Stampers called 'Clean And Simple' which I think describes mine quite well (kind critics have used the words 'elegant' and 'stylish' about my cards which I should love to think also fits them). I'm not artistic, although I think I have a good eye for colour, and I can't handle lots of fussy embellishments or glitz: a narrow border of mirri card or a dab of silver Stickles is just about as bright as it gets! I thought that by committing myself to entering a few challenges regularly it would stretch my imagination and take me outside my comfort zone, because I do know I tend to stick with a design and risk becoming boring; however I have come to the conclusion that I don't have a flexible imagination and I'm a leopard who doesn't want to change his spots, so from now on I will enter challenges only if I can make a suitable card in my own style. If I can't, I'll either wait for another week or enter a different challenge.