Alphatag Swap - A

This year I am taking part in a tag swap between members of the Chocolate Baroque Guild. There are almost 30 of us taking part. The idea is that we produce a tag for each letter of the alphabet using mainly Chocolate Baroque stamps or stamps and other products sold by them. My theme for A was architecture.

Like a lot of us, I struggled to get a good picture at this murky time of year, so I have posted a couple of pics here. One darker which I think shows the detail a little better.

I started by stamping the arch from the Echoes of Italy stamp set  and then sponging a brick effect onto my tag around the arch using Versamagic chalk inks. I then embossed the gate onto some Crafty Individuals Italian themed paper and cut it out and decoupaged it onto the main image. I added shading onto the bricks of the arch with Coloursoft pencils. I cut out the little road name from the same Italian themed CI paper and added a thin embossed border around it to add definition. I added the words from a Beeswax stamp.  That isn't from CB, but it was so perfect I couldn't resist! I finished by punching lots of little leaves from the same paper pad and gently inked the edges with DIs and added them like they were trailing down the wall. My final touch was a piece of sari waste ribbon.

I am not sure who got my tag, but I hoped they liked it as much as the one I received from Mickey which was also an architecture themed tag using the antiquities plate from CB.

Thank goodness it is Friday

Elaine

Button up!

Isn't it amazing it is February already - where is the year going? Today I wanted to share a work in progress, not papercrafts this time though.

Now I have seen a lot of button necklaces about, jewellery is one of my weaknesses. When I went to the Sandown Park craft show, I was seduced into buying some bulk buttons on the Fantastic Ribbons stand on a show offer - three huge bags for £10, that is apprently almost 600 buttons.

The chap on the stand was making a simple necklace threading buttons onto narrow ribbon and making a double sided design. It looked so simple. When I got home and spread out my buttons though I realised he must have been using two holed buttons and most in my packet were four holed - I needed to rethink. I sorted my buttons into sizes and matches and then got some wire and started to weave it all together in sections, joining them up as I went. I still just have to add a few more to get the length right and a clasp, but overall, I am rather pleased to have this necklace which cost me about £2 for the buttons.

I think I could get hooked!

Have a good day

Elaine x

A spotty card!

I love little cards and I love ladybirds. So when I saw these ladybird stamps on the new Fragrant Honeysuckle and Rose Tree stamp sets I thought of a small card design!

I stamped the ladybirds in Versafine and then coloured with a marker. I added Glossy Accents over the top as you can see it makes tham pop out nicely. I felt the card needed a little something extra so I added a few spotty buttons and then a few more! The sentiment is from the useful CB Celebration words set to be found here. This set is one of quite a few CB stamps about to be retired and is currently on sale, so head over to the website for some bargains of beautful, not to be missed stamps.

Hope you are having a great weekend.

Elaine x

Golden rose tree

This week three new gorgeous spring floral stamp plates have been released over at Chocolate Baroque - see them here.

I used the rose tree stamp for this card. I embossed the tree onto dark green card in gold and painted the leaves with a green mica based reinker. I cut out the tree with a large oval cutting die. I restamped the tree canopy onto white and embossed with a ruby EP and coloured the roses with a red mica reinker. I then cut out all the roses and decoupaged them onto the golden tree.

I mounted the panel onto a gold background. I am very fussy about gold card. I am not very keen on mirri card, instead preferring this pearly gold effect that reminds me of laqueur. I found this card in a huge sheet in Paperchase in Tottenham Court Road. I love that shop, but I have to restain my urges as you could spend a fortune there!

I finished off with some fine flourishes die cut using a Sizzix die which is very fine and rather fiddly, but is worth the effort.

Do pop over to the DT blog to see what we have all been up to with these stamps, dreaming of spring.

Elaine

Another baby card

Happy Sunday everyone. Hope you have a nice day planned. I have a day at my desk , some of it making samples for an upcoming demo in February and some of it work! Never mind! Yesterday I had a day of indulgence as I went to the Creative Stitch and Craft Show at Sandon Park with a friend. Topped up with some essentials like double sided tape and card for matting and a few treats too, some new stamps I didn't know I needed but I did (you know the feeling) and a couple of Memory Box dies I had been hankering after. Too much temptation and not enough money as always, but I suppose learning some restraint is good for the soul!

Anyway here is my card for today! Another baby card which couldn't be more different from my last! This one much simpler and I was so pleased with it I made two! The first one a blue version was made to celebrate the arrival of my lovely crafty friend Lesley's grandson Charlie. I haven't met her daughter Jenna and her husband, but we all like to celebrate the joys of our lives with each other so I wanted to send them a card.

I stamped this Sugar Nellie Little Cotton Rabbit image onto watercolour paper. Now I know I often mention my love of rabbits and it was while I was surfing for rabbit related blogs I came across the blog of Julie Williams, the most talented knitter you can imagine. Julie knits these most perfect cotton rabbits and I can only dream of getting my mitts on one, because they are in such incredible demand she has to set up a lottery to choose the people who can buy them. So I have to satisfy my yearnings with a peek at Julie's lovely blog from time to time which you can find here! Julie knits as a way to unwind a little (if you will pardon the pun) from the pressures of being mum to a little boy with autism. She also supplies hand knitted gorgeousness to a number of shops. So I was delighted to find Sugar Nellie had made some of Julie's little rabbits into rubber stamps. Sadly I think these may now have been retired.

Anyway back to the card. I coloured the image with Coloursoft pencils and then cut it out and mounted it onto a kraft card blank. I added a sentiment from an unknown stamp, which I bought unmounted from E Bay. However, I think I have since see a Hero Arts version which is very similar. It is an image of a vintage pram and these are just the words from it. Obviously, the version I made for Charlie's arrival was in blue, while this was shades of pink.

Elaine x

Is it springing?

Nature seems to have got the idea it is spring round here which is a little crazy. There are primroses and daffodils in flower, catkins are bursting forth, although the snowdrops seem a little reluctant. I even saw a magnolia tree in flower at New Year and the birds are singing their heads off.

We have had some amazing sunsets and with the last few clear nights it has been light when I have left work which is heartening. This morning though, we had the most incredible frost. It lifted quickly and I only got a couple of pics of these frosty topped teasels when I dashed outside in my slippers with the camera!! I love teasels they are so architectural.

To celebrate the hope of spring at least here is a card I made quite a while ago with some lovely stamps from Chocolate Baroque. Anyone who knows me well knows I adore rabbits, we have had some very special pet buns, but every year we manage to get one or two wild ones to hand feed from us in the garden which feels very special.

I used a little wooden heart and some lovely paper daises to add a little extra. I shaded using my favourite Adirondacks. Sorry if I have shared this one before.

Looking forward to spring really springing!

Hope you are having a good weekend.

Elaine x

A baby card

This is a card I made for a friend that had a baby back in October. This is not my normal style, but suited the recipient very well and was really appreciated.

This is another 8 x 8 easel card. The image is a Mo Manning digi stamp called Baby Flora I think, coloured with Promarkers. The main papers are DCWV Sweetness collection. I decorated with a range of paper flowers, punched butterflies and leaves, delicate lace, pink ribbon and gems. I computer generated the baby's name and date of birth. 

Elaine