LOTV James Bear

Hello,
Today I have quite a simple card to share with you, I prefer to keep to a CAS style for male cards. I used an image from one of the Lili of the Valley coloured art pads, this one is from the James and Jenny Bear pad, I think it's a lovely image that could be for many different occasions. 
I die cut the image from the pad and matted onto kraft card, the papers are also from LOTV, I stamped the sentiments onto the same kraft card and used some string to embellish. I used a Martha Stewart punch to add some interest down the left side and finally die cut some faux buttons.
I really liked the colours on this card, they wouldn't probably be the usual colours I would go for, but I felt they complimented the image really well. 

Products used:

• Art pad, sentiments and papers all from LOTV
• Dies - MFT Die-namics pierced rectangles - Die-namics buttons
• Punch - Martha Stewart PATP Cherish
• Kraft card - Crafter's Companion Neenah Desert Storm (this is meant for colouring, but I like the light shade of the kraft and keep dipping into it!) 

Thanks for visiting my blog today, I hope you like my card, I have been inspired to enter the following challenge:

Lili of the Valley Monthly Challenge - June - Male or Sporty

For A Great Dad

Hello,
Today I am sharing a decoupaged card for a change, using yet another fab House Mouse Design. As it's Father's Day next Sunday here in the UK, I thought it was appropriate to go with a male themed card. I know it's not Autumn yet, but the last card was Christmas, so I am working my way back through the seasons!

To start, I have used a sheet of decoupage from Joanna Sheen's House Mouse Autumn collection, which is sadly not available on her site any longer.  I used my Spellbinders dies to make a shaped card and I used the same die set to make a mat with Coredinations cardstock. I then cut an aperture with a Spellbinders rectangle die and sanded down all the edges to reveal the core colour. I layered the aperture over the decoupage to frame the image. I then made these lovely leaves with dies and distress inks, to give the leaves a bit more dimension, I turned them over after I had inked them and used a ball tool to make them pop out a bit more, rather than being flat. I have done these leaves before and love the way they turn out. I added some stitched ribbon and a die cut button from kraft card, which I also distressed. I stamped a sentiment onto kraft card and again distressed the edges. Finally I added some brown card Candi to give a finishing touch to the corners. 

 You can see the layers of the decoupage clearer on this picture. 

Products used:

• Spellbinders Dies - Grand Labels 1 - Rectangles
• Impression Obsession Dies - Leaves
• House Mouse Decoupage - Joanna Sheen - Autumn
• Coredinations Cardstock - Vintage Collection
• Brown Cardstock - Papermill Direct
• Sentiment Stamp - Woodware - Larger Tie Set
• Kraft Card - Joy Crafts
• Distress Inks - Peeled Paint - Spiced Marmalade - Vintage Photo - Walnut Stain - Aged Mahogany 
• Die-namics Die - Buttons
• Ribbon from stash
• Card Candi - Craftwork Cards

I have been inspired to enter the following challenges:

1. House Mouse and Friends Monday Challenge - Lots of Layers
2. Ooh La La Creations Challenge 158 - Father's Day/Male
3. The Cutie Pie Challenge Blog - 71 A cute one for Dad

I hope you like my card and would be grateful for any comments you leave. 

Peace On Earth

Hello people,
You are probably thinking that I have lost it today, Christmas.......at the beginning of June! What can I say, I felt the urge to make a Christmas card and felt inspired to join in some of the Christmas challenges out there in blog land. So here is my card using yet another gorgeous Lili of the Valley stamp, this one is called Peace on Earth, she is very adorable. 

I have coloured the image using Distress Markers and added some glamour dust to her wings and around her hair. I matted and layered onto some very lovely papers, might NEED another pad of these papers. I felt the papers didn't need to be matted onto yet more card stock and so I used my quicky glue pen and glamour dust and went around all the papers and the image to give some depth and texture. I made the poinsettias by stamping onto vellum using a Versamark ink pad and then I heat embossed using a glittery white embossing powder. I then cut out the poinsettias using my Spellbinders dies and pinched each petal before layering up. I used large clear beads in the centres of the poinsettias using a blob of Pinflair to keep them in place. The sentiment is also a LOTV stamp from the set Christmas circular sentiments set 5. To finish I used some pearls, a charm and a silver ribbon that I picked up in Waitrose sale after Christmas a few years back, I always know these bits and bobs that I acquire will come in handy sometime!  

 A view from a different angle, you can see the poinsettias better in this picture. 

Products used:

• Image & Sentiment stamps - LOTV
• Colouring medium - Tim Holtz Distress Markers
• Poinsettia Stamps - Heartfelt Creations Petite Poinsettia
• Poinsettia Dies - Spellbinders Layered Poinsettias
• Papers - First Edition Silent Night
• Embossing Powder - Heat it up Snowflake Tinsel (This is one of the first embossing powders I ever brought, so not sure if it's still available) 
• Glamour Dust - Joanna Sheen
• Pearls - The Hobby House
• Creative Expressions Large Beads - Joanna Sheen

I have been inspired to enter the following challenges:

1. Winter Wonderland Challenge - No Red or Green 
2. CHNC June Challenge - Anything goes as long as it's Christmas