Grand Madison French Doors, Garden Theme, Rabbits, Nature

I haven't made a card like this before.  I needed a card with the spine 'face up', but didn't want it to fall over from the weight of the design or to do the 'splits'.  So...  I've scored twice along the bottom and folded in, then out to create an inward 'v' shape, gluing the two end flaps together and then securing them into place.  Seems to have worked so that's me happy :)

Here's the finished design...

I've used the Impression Obsession Distress Brick/ Cover a Card Background, stamped it with Brilliance Pearlescent Chocolate ink and then used a Tim Holtz Paper Distresser to roughen the edges before 'ageing' with a mix of Distress ink (Peeled Paint) and Memento (New Sprout).

The tree is a McGill Dimensional Lever Punch called 'Tree Branch'.  I had great fun punching out and gluing all the different pieces needed for this cute little tree.

I cut and glued together 3 of the Poppystamps Grand Madison French Doors to give some strength to my open window, then aged it with a mix of Walnut Stain and Vintage Photo Distress Ink before mounting on foam pads.

One of the bunnies is a punch by Martha Stewart (Sitting Bunny).  The other (Impression Obsession, Rabbit Set) is sitting in the inverted cut out from the Poppystamps Grassland Border.

I've used the Poppystamps Meadow Leaf and the leaf from Memory Box Fabulous Phlox as the foliage, adding some shading to the Poppystamps Garden Pots and Buckets to give the card some added dimension.

Some plain white butterflies from Martha Stewart (Pop Up Butterfly Punch) and Memory Box (Peaceful Butterfly Wings), plus one very big white flower (McGill Star Flower/Paper Blossoms Punch) and I was done.  I did try adding various embellishments to the centre of the flower and tried all manner of colours, but even plain white just seemed to clutter it up.

Here's the same card from a different angle...

...  and the back...

I just LOVE making 'window' cards.  Can you tell?

This is my final entry for the latest Poppystamps Challenge...

Update...  21/10/2015

Added some clear Morning Dew Drops that I didn't have (or even know about) at the time.

Here's the new picture...

Serendipity Bird Frame, Sympathy, Butterflies

I've had some Mulberry paper in my stash for a while now, and decided to try and use it for another 'window' card over at the Poppystamps Challenge.  After all, I've got plenty of 'left overs' from my other two window designs.

Here's the inside of the card...

...  and the outside...

The Serendipity Bird Frame and the Oval Frame (Poppystamps) are new to my collection this week.  I've used them as the main focus of this card, along with the Bird on a Pussywillow Branch (Frantic Stamper), leaves from Meadow Leaf (Poppystamps) and butterflies from Blissful Butterfly Border (Memory Box), Peaceful Butterfly Wings (Memory Box) and Pop Up Butterfly Punch (Martha Stewart).  Some of the butterflies have been embossed and rubbed with silver gilding wax.

This is in fact two small (9cm x 9cm) Kraft cards, glued together.  The backing paper is from Heartfelt Creations and is called 'Frosty Blanket'.

This is a very subdued colour palette.  If you have the time, please let me know what you think of it.

Hope you're having a good day :)

Acetate Window Card, Vintage, Birds, Flowers

You know how some cards come together really easily?  ...Well, this wasn't one of them!

Let me show you what the finished card looks like...

I really struggled getting the colours to compliment each other...

I've used the brick embossing folder again (Sizzix/Tim Holtz), rubbed over gently with Gathered Twigs distress ink and cut out the centre to glue into place the Memory Box Peaceful Butterfly Wings background.  As you can see I cut it twice, using scissors to 'free' some of the butterflies as well as making 3 of them stand out from the Stormy Sky distress ink background.

To age the Sizzix/Tim Holtz Window & Window Box die (window box not used) I used a Brilliance Moonlight White (Dew Drop) ink pad to daub on the colour haphazardly to the plain white card.  Some careful use of Gathered Twigs distress ink in places and the job was done.

I cut a second window die and then made an acetate sandwich - window, acetate, window...  glued it all together and once dry, used foam pads to mount into place.

The Bird on a PussyWillow Branch die is by Frantic Stamper.  I added the Poppystamps Nestled Bird to it this time, glued on some flowers, added centre embellishments where needed and finished by adding 2 Poppystamps Meadow Leaf dies for some greenery.

I'm including this card in the latest Poppystamps Challenge...

I hope my Mother-In-Law likes it as my husband wants it for Mother's Day!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Arched Window Card, Bird on a Branch, Textured Brickwork

I haven't posted for a while.  Half term came and went...  and my daughter's been ill a lot this past month or so...

Anyhow, it gave me time to have a bit of a craft sort out and I decided to take the plunge and have a go at making some window cards for the Poppystamps Challenge.

This is what I came up with...

... and for the inside...

I started out by using a Poppystamps Small Gothic Window die on a piece of white cardstock.  After embossing with a brick design (Sizzix/Tim Holtz), I used that card as a template to draw onto the card base, carefully cut with scissors and voila - a 'see through' window.

I cut a further 2 windows out of black card and rubbed them with some silver gilding wax, then glued everything into place - using foam pads under the brickwork and being careful to line everything up as best I could.

The Bird on a PussyWillow Branch is from Frantic Stamper, the leaves and flowers are Memory Box (Botanic Frame); as is the branch (Woodland Branch).

The largest butterfly was cut, embossed and rubbed with silver gilding wax (Memory Box, Blissful Butterfly Border).  I did the same with the tiny front butterfly (Martha Stewart, Pop Up Butterfly Punch).  The butterflies on the inside were cut from Memory Box, Peaceful Butterfly Wings.

Hope you like it :)