Pug Love Valentines Card

 

Materials:

Kraft card

dark brown Bazzil card

"You and Me" Sweet Nothings Collection by Kaisercraft
Pug Love digi by Mo Manning

Donna Salazar's Rose Creations die by Spellbinders

Prismacolor pencils

baby oil

paper stump

scissors, adhesives, etc

I just adore my dogs.  You've seen in movies the way that wealthy women pamper their poodles and pugs, well I'm not quite that bad, not quite.  Mostly I think because they are Mastiffs and at eight months old (giant puppies) they are 80lbs, so they are way too big to pick up and carry around with me, but I think if I could I probably would!

This cute little digi by Mo Manning called Pug Love is a pretty close representation of what my dogs looked like as wee little pups.  I've used Prismacolor pencils, but instead of using an odorless solvent to blend I experimented with baby oil to see which I prefer.  Still undecided on that.

This card is using the layout at Mojo Monday this week, a nice simple one but that suited me as this card is intended for a man for Valentines Day and you know what they think of all things frilly and frou frou.

I'm also entering into Mo's Challenge Blog as the theme this week is "My Favourite Things" and this card includes my favourite colours (creams and browns), my favourite animals (my puppies) and it's for my favourite man (my partner).

Teddy Bo Milk Cartons

Materials:
Kraft card
Newsprint by Kaisercraft
Frayed Burlap Distress Ink
Teddybobea_Tabs_002 digi aka "Three Little Piggies"
Prismacolor pencils
novelty bulldog clips

I had been wanting to have a go at making these adorable little milk cartons for a while now, and receiving my Teddy Bo digi was the push I needed to get me started.  The digi comes with three panels, which are perfect for the side of the cartons.

I've coloured the little bears with Prismacolors, I am finding them harder and harder to put down.  They seem much more forgiving than the Copics, although my thumb was complaining quite a lot after colouring these three.

The cartons themselves are made from Kraft card, I used a template I found online as a guide and adjusted the measurements to suit myself.  Each panel of the carton is 2 3/4 inches wide by 4 1/2 inches high.

The background paper is by Kaisercraft.  It is the reverse side of a paper called Newsprint, and it has cute dictionary sayings.  Everything has been inked with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink.

 

I originally planned to give these as Valentine's Day gifts, but I might end up filling them with Easter eggs instead.  These were so quick and fun to do!

Challenges:

Teddy Bo Challenge:  Anything Goes

Make It Monday:  Always Anything Goes #73
Simon Says Stamp:  Anything Goes

A Very Special Gift

Last year when I hurt my thumb I went into a kind of hibernation.  My life was so drastically affected by such a small thing, I can't even begin to imagine how people who suffer major, life altering disabilities cope.  I was only out of action for 10 weeks, and I knew at the end I'd be back to normal, I am so grateful that it was a minor injury and not something permanently debilitating.

During that 10 weeks I missed 3 Christmas Crafting assignments, and a Christmas Card swap.  The ladies on the design team got together and swapped cards, but I wasn't able to participate.  That didn't stop them from including me and they arrived this week from the UK.

I love getting packages, and I opened this one eagerly.  I have never received a hand made card and I was excited to see the work from the talented gals on the design team.

Arline, our incredible co-ordinator at Christmas Crafting!, made this beautiful white on white card featuring the Snowman by Raymond Briggs.  The sparkle on this card is just beautiful, both on the background and as an accent around the centrepiece and sentiment.  You can visit Arline's blog Arline's Allsorts to see more of her beautiful work.

Arline (Senior) created this wonderful and warm card.  The metallic accents sparkle and the digi of the two little bugs warming by the fire is adorable.  You can visit Arline's blog Arline's Arty Attic to see more of her cute creations.

Meg made this stunning aqua and white card featuring James the Bear by Lilly Of The Valley.  Lots of layers and textures make this card a visual treat, and the detail is incredible.  You can visit her blog Bit's and Pieces to see more of her work.

Debbie created this beautiful card featuring a digi by Mo Manning.  I adore Mo's illustrations and Debbie has coloured this one to perfection, and the entire ensemble is stunning.  You can visit Debbie's blog Fairy Bluebell's Craft Adventure to see more of her work.

This was such a treat for me.  To hold the cards, to feel the weight and textures, to ooooooh and aahhhhhh as my fingertips traced over all the textures and details.  I feel in awe and so inspired by the fabulous cards sent to me, and so blessed to be a part of such a caring and creative team.

On top of all of that I got a fabulous package of crafting goodies from Arline that included a LoTV rubber stamp, a dozen or so charms and several yards of different ribbons.

Thank you ladies, for such a special gift.

Little Devil Tilda

Materials:
Magnolia rubber stamp Devil Tilda
Copic markers
large matchbox or matchbox die
black, red and white card
Hearts and Stars texture plate by Fiskars
silver crochet yarn
silver heart charm
Rock Candy Stickles
silver gel pen

In Australia we celebrate Valentine's day, but it's a day exclusively for lovers, to give a gift on that day is a declaration of romantic interest.  You won't see kids at school handing out Valentine's favours to class mates, or to their teacher.  We don't give token gifts to workmates, or friends.  Such a shame that we are reluctant to expand this day to include all our friends and loved ones. 

I made this little treat box with a girlfriend in mind, so I kept it cute and sweet and will fill it with chocolates for her so that it's an appropriately platonic gift.  To make it a little more romantic you could use a real matchbox and include a sentiment similar to "You light my fire". 

Challenges:

Simply Magnolia:  Anything but a card
Magnolia-licious:  Valentine inspired
Make it Monday #72:  Anything goes 
Craft Your Passion:   In the bag/box

Crochet Snowflake

I didn't put all of the decorations I made during the year on the tree, I was a little concerned at the 6 month old mastiff puppies finding them tasty treats.  I did add a few of my favourites, high up on the branches where I thought they would be safe.  The decorations that received the most comments were by far the crochet snowflakes.  They were beautiful, delicate and glittering as they wafted around gently in the air conditioned breeze.  This year I want to make a few dozen more, for both my tree and as gifts for my family, and by far my favourite site for fabulous patterns is Snowcatcher.

There are dozens of beautiful patterns to be found there, all of them free for personal use.  If you would specifically like the pattern I used for this snowflake you can find it here.

Finishing

Print the above image out onto ordinary paper. Tape the piece of paper to a sheet of styrofoam. Tape a piece of baking paper or wax paper over the top of that. This creates a non stick blocking template. The above grid allows you to easily line up your snowflake spokes so they are symmetrical.

In a small bowl dilute a little white glue until it is the consistency of pouring cream. Saturate the snowflake and squeeze well to force out any excess. Make sure you are using rust free pins, and pin to your template. Give a sprinkle of glitter if you like, I like quite a bit as I use them on the tree and really makes them sparkle. Allow to dry for 24 hours and then remove the pins and peel away from the paper. You can re-use that printed template several times.

Tilda Gift Basket

Materials:
Kraft card
Cookie Dough by Kaisercraft
Spellbinders circles and scallop circle dies
Frayed Burlap Distress Ink
Magnolia Tilda with Spoon rubber stamp
Copic markers
border punch

This project felt really good to make, as it's my first attempt at colouring in months.  My thumb is still quite rigid so my technique is a little different, but I was still relatively pleased with the results I got.

I followed >this< tutorial for putting the basket together.  The measurements included in that tutorial are in centimetres, and my Scorpal is in inches, so I cut my 12" x 12" Kraft card down to 10.5" x 10.5" and scored it at 3.5" and 7" on each side.  Any measurement divisible by 3 would work, e.g. for a smaller basket cut a 6" square and score it at 2" and 4" on each side.

Before assembling I used a heart shaped border punch by Fiskars on the uncut edges, and I used the same punch to create the handles.  All of the edges have been inked with Frayed Burlap distress ink.

Challenges:


Magnolia-licious Highlites - Anything Goes
Magnolia Stamp Lovers - use Kraft paper
Stampavie & More - Hearts

Beary Christmas Easel Card

 

It's been two and a half months since I sliced the end off my thumb, and finally that bandage is off!  There's still some healing to be done, the thumb itself feels like it has a mega case of the prunes, like it's been sat in water this whole time.  It's very sensitive to touch, and any pressure on the pad still brings discomfort, and after being bandaged straight for 10 weeks the tendons have shortened and it's hard to bend, but the bandage is off!  And that means I can start picking up some crafting tools again *doing-the-happy-dance*

The January challenge for Christmas Crafting! is to make an easel card, and boy it feels good to be able to contribute again this month.  I still don't have all my dexterity back so I had to limit myself to something fairly basic, but this gave me the perfect excuse to go through my stash of "Card Buddy" cards from Aimee Asher Crafting. 

Card Buddy's are sold as a set of downloadable files that you print on your own computer.  You cut them out and assemble them to create cute-as-can-be cards in no time at all.  Best of all they are under $2.00 each, which is less than the cost of a generic Hallmark card, and you get to print off as many as you want, and always have them around for last minute emergencies.

At first I felt a little guilty at doing something so 'easy' but then I thought, you know, we all start somewhere, usually with limited supplies, or limited time, or limited capabilities for various reasons, and why should that stop us from being creative? You shouldn't feel guilty about making something that is quick and easy, because at least you are making something!

Anyway, that's it from me today, it feels sooooo good to be blogging again.  I won't be back in force for a little while yet, but it felt amazing just to be able to do something!

Happy New Year everyone, may your year be a creative one!