Time for a wreath card

Another commissioned card and another wreath.  I haven't made one for a while and I do love making them.  I was asked for blue, turquoise and purple with a friend's sentiment.  I used lots of different Card-io stamp sets for this one.  Making the wreaths is such fun building up the flowers and leaves.  Knowing when to stop is the trick!

 

Beer and ivy

Another commissioned card today for my regular customer.  They seem to have a lot of male friends who like beer so I bought the last orders set from Car-io when I placed my last order.  I really need more inspiration for using it but thought as there are some leaves in the beer set I would team it with the ivy stencil.  I think it works ok but not over the moon with this one. Hope she likes it.

 

Finally another Christmas card

This is only my fourth Christmas card I have made so far this year which is a bit slow so I need to get a wiggle on and get some made.  I decided to try a Winter scene with the Card-io tree stencil I recently bought.  I am really pleased with how this turned out.  I used chipped sapphire and salty ocean distress oxides.  I used it it very lightly around where I wanted the moon to be.  I made a circle stencil with acetate and a small circle die and used white ink for the moon.

I added some lines to the tree using a black fineliner pen and created the scene using Card-io stamps.  The new texture stamps which I used for the grass are absolutely invaluable and if you like Card-io stamps and haven't bought these I urge you to do so.  I am using them a lot as they really add so much to the scene.  I used the grass stamp from the set, masking it off in places.

Under the ivy

Thanks for your lovely comments on my pocket hugs both here and on Facebook. I find nowadays I very often get more likes and comments on FB than on here, probably because it is so much quicker.  I really appreciate those who take the time to visit my blog as I know how much time it takes to visit and comment.  I cut out several more yesterday as I sold some already.

I have another Card-io card to share today.  I used another new stencil, which I coloured with Distress Oxides.  I am really loving these and ordered three more.  I managed to sell some of my part used distress inks, blending tools and rotating stand as a job lot on Facebook.  I had several I never use so would rather sell them and buy the oxides.  I have kept all the ones I do use.

I created the scene using a Lawn Fawn mini cloud die and salty ocean distress oxide.  The greens are rustic wilderness and mowed lawn.  I used some of my new Card-io stamps to make the scene.

New stencil

So I unexpectedly had some crafting time yesterday and had another try at using my new tree stencil from Card-io.  I said in an earlier post I had watched a Youtube tutorial from Laura Wenn, one of the Card-io DT.  I was pleased with some of my first effort but not entirely happy, certainly not good enough to put onto a card.

So I had another go.  I discovered repositional tape runner which is a revelation for making these cards.  I used it on the back of the stencil and it held it in place much better than using bits of washi tape as I had done before.

I learnt a lot of tips from the tutorial, some I liked and some techniques I didn't so ignored those this time.  The tutorial had a little boy under the tree but I decided to go with hares.  I made a stencil for the moon using a circle die and a piece of acetate.

I could have added some shading under the grass and hares but as I was happy with it didn't want to mess it up at the last minute.  I will definitely be having another go with different colours.  I also bought the ivy stencil so hoping to try that out on Saturday.  

One of the best purchases was definitely the texture stamp set which I used for the leaves, grass and flowers.  This is a must have for Card-io fans.  It adds so much to the picture.

Card for a friend

A friend of mine lost her Mum so I wanted to make her a sympathy card.  Her Mum was 96 and had a fall so was taken into hospital.  Unfortunately after being in there for a little while with arrangements made for her to go home with 24 hour care she died in hospital.

I think sympathy cards should be kept fairly simple and I wanted to make a personalised card for my friend.  She loves nature and helps to rescue hedgehogs so I made a simple wreath card and added a hedgie to the bottom.  The sentiment is Inkylicious.

I ordered some more stamps, stencils and inks from Card-io after seeing so many lovely cards on theor Facebook group.  I haven't had time to use them yet though.  I have been busy sewing, chores and sorting out my stuff ready for my next craft fair on Saturday.

Yesterday we had a trip out for back massages and lunch and today we are visiting my Mum, going our for lunch and then food shopping.

 

Last Mother's Day card

This is the last of the Mother's Day cards for this year.  This was another of the three a friend asked me to make.  I went for a soft lavender and blue colour scheme which I really like.  Again I created the sentiment on the laptop and used Card-io stamps all around it.  The 7" card gave me scope to use some of the larger flower stamps.

 

Mum's Mother's day card

My new stamps arrived from Card-io just in time for me to make a card for my Mum.  I wanted to make something very different from previous cards for her.  I created the background using distress oxides and all the stamps are from various Card-io sets.  

One of the sets I bought is a new textures set and I will be using this a lot.  It adds so much to the card like the grass and leaves on the trees.

 

A wreath within a wreath

I was asked to make 3 Mother's Day cards for a friend, one of which I already shared on here. As this is a 7" card I decided to try stamping a wreath inside a wreath.  I created the sentiment on the laptop and then stamped around it using Card-io stamps.

We had a lovely visit to Mum's yesterday.  We took her out for a nice roast dinner. I will share her card I made tomorrow.

 

Fairy friends

Another Card-io wreath card.  I love trying out different colour combos as I have a lot of small coloured ink pads.  This time I decided to use the fairy stamps with the lovely sentiment which is also Card-io.

 

Hares in the countryside

Nothing much to say about this one as it is another Card-io wreath card.  The stamps inside the wreath were from one of the stamp sets I bought recently.  I used distress oxides again for the background and the MFT small cloud stencil for the sky.

There are some lovely new Card-io stamps now out so I am waiting for my order and looking forward to experimenting with them.

 

Another Card-io card

Another of the wreath cards I made on Wednesday.  I coloured the background with distress oxides and used the MFT small cloud stencil for the sky.  

We will be up early this morning for my first craft fair of the year so fingers crossed it goes well.

 

Commissioned Mother's Day card

The lady who orders from me every month asked me to make a Mother's Day card for her mother-in-law.  I wanted to try out this design but it looked better in my head than it turned out.  I printed the sentiment from the laptop and then used Card-io stamps to create the design.  I quite like it but not as much as I hoped but she was pleased with it so that's what matters.

 

Friends and Wellies

I had a really good day in the craft room yesterday and another play with my Card-io stamps/  I bought the set of wellies in my last order and thought they went really well with the friend's footsteps sentiment.

We are going to Prima Rosa for lunch with friends today so I am taking some of these cards to sell in there.  The rest will be for my upcoming craft fairs.

 

In the frame

I really liked the way I framed some wreath cards recently, see Mar 2nd post.  I decided to do another but instead of a sentiment in the middle I created a scene.  I used torn paper and distress oxides for the background.  All the stamps are Card-io.

 

In the countryside

Another play with Card-io stamps and a very different scene this time.  I am enjoying trying different things with them.  I coloured the card with mowed lawn and rustic wilderness distress oxides then sprayed it with water.  I then created the scene using various Card-io stamps adding a little more of the rustic wilderness for shading.

With the cost of postage rising again next month I am trying to create more flat cards.

 

Happy Birthday Graham

Today is my hubby Graham's Birthday and I have to think hard about what card to make him as I like to try to do something different every year and I don't buy many stamps nowadays. I did however recently buy some more Card-io stamps with some Christmas money. These stamps are from the Beside the Sea stamp set.  It's the first time I have used them and am happy with the result.  The couple are from one of the Christmas sets.

I made a square stencil from acetate and coloured the sky using distress oxide salty ocean and a MFT mini cloud stencil.  The sea was coloured with the same distress oxide mixed with chipped sapphire. I then covered it with a white shimmer chalk and added a few swirls with a white gel pen.  I used fossilized amber distress oxide for the beach adding a little orange from a small ink pad.  I coloured the bits of beach hut with sparkle pens.  Unfortunately the teal one came out rather dark.

We are going to Bury St Edmunds for the day.  I hop the Abbey Gardens will be full of Spring flowers.  Then tonight we are going for a carvery with friends.

 

Framed wreaths

I decided to try something a little different with these two cards. Instead of backing them onto coloured card I diecut scalloped circles in the card and framed the wreaths.  All the stamps are Card-io.  I added some liquid pearls to the orange flower centres.

The coloured card is dark purple but looks black on my laptop screen.  It was very dull yesterday when I photographed these which didn't help.  I have been making a few of these but just sharing these two.

 

All that glitters is snow

I tried something different with this card. I made a circle stencil from acetate to create the scene.  I used torn paper and chipped sapphire distress ink to create the sky and snow.  The stamps are Card-io of course.  I added some berries using liquid pearls, Stickles and a sentiment stamp I found in my stash.

 

Thank You

This is the card I made to go with yesterday's present.  I know Kate likes Card-io stamps so I made a wreath card and used an old wooden sentiment stamp.

Really nothing else I can say about this card.  No doubt more different wreath cards will be appearing from time to time on here.