Beautiful Card Designs Made Easy

January 26, 2014

Mounting Your Stamps

Hi Everybody,

At the end of last year I added a short video with some  Tips for Stamping   to help some new ladies who had asked for help.

I have also been asked how to make rubber stamps stick to an acrylic block and so that has been the subject of another video.

The little image here is from Lili of the Valley  and is one of their cute animal range.

But in the video I use a grey rubber sheet of  Sentimentals Verses from  Crafters Companion 

You can cut  all the stamps out first individually if you prefer ... but to add the whole stamp sheet to the mounting foam is far easier to cut out.

You are going  to have some waste whichever way  you do it and this  is no more  wasteful  than any other way ... but it is a whole lot easier especially if you have dexterity problems.




 Just make sure that you don't cut into the stamp itself and spoil the image or verse that you are cutting out.

Clean the stamps when you are done and then store them safely.  And there are many ways to store them the choice is yours.

I have many of my  smaller stamps in CD cases, but the storage that I use in the video keeps all the stamps from one rubber sheet together on one plastic storage sheet  in one storage box ... and then I add the picture of the stamps to the box as my reference and I know what is in there whenever I need to use them.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx



January 25, 2014

New flowers ...

Hi Everybody,

This pale blue card is using flowers from a different maker.

They are from a lady who sells her flowers via Facebook and you will find her page at .... Petal Lu 

Her flowers are all hand made and to order and they are so delicate.

I asked for pastel shades and that is what I have and they are very pretty.

I have added fine glitter from  Glitter Magic  to the flowers and they sparkle in the light.

I have also added some teardrop Diamante into the corsage for a more fancy look.

So here is the first card made with them and I love it.

The dies used are listed below and the effect is really pretty with this mix.

The lace border is created from Moroccan Accents and I have laid the ribbon on the top of some real lace running across the border.

The sentiment is from   Crafters Companion     and I have stamped and embossed it  with turquoise "Wow"  embossing powder and it looks good.

Watch out for more cards using flowers from Petal Lu in some of the other colors in my collection.


More tomorrow...

Hugs xx





January 24, 2014

Flowers again (sigh)

Hi Everybody,

Well would you believe it ... flowers again.  This is me back in my comfort zone  and now I am happy again ...

And this card is really pretty in a deep purple and white with lots of layering and lacy panels.

The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts  and they have been sparkled with glitter from Glitter Magic

The ribbon is from my "Stash" and there is a pearl buckle on the ribbon loops but you can't see it in the photo.

I have lined and  decorated  the inside and added lots of Gun Metal pearls from Want2Scrap

The card is a Hinged card created from the Grand Labels.

So I think there may be even more flowers on tomorrows card.

The dies I have used are listed at the bottom ... but shop around for the best deals.

 Don't forget Save On Hobbies for some good deals  and a name that many people are sending me for UK deal is  ...   Icon UK  and guess what ... I have just ordered the new 5x7  Mystical Embrace from  them and can't wait to get it and play

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx


January 23, 2014

Remember This ???

Hi Everybody,

This is the card I added a few days ago as an easy card to make ... using just an embossing folder and the matching die.

It was  a nice enough card when it was done ... but for me ... well if you read my pages regularly you will know it is not enough.

You see my problem is I can't leave things alone and I have to keep going back and picking at things.

Change a bit here ... add a bit there ...I am sure you know what I mean.

And so after looking at this card for a day or two ... and not really being excited  by what I saw ... I had to go back to it and do a bit more

Out came the flower basket and the "Bling"  box and after placing things around and seeing what went where I went to work.

And this is what I ended up with and it looks really elegant in real life.

And all this ... I might add ... was  in the early hours of the morning.

I haven't added the list of dies  ... because I did that on the original post  ... but here are the other links for supplies.

The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts  and they have been sparkled with glitter from Glitter Magic

I changed the black pearl for a larger pearl cluster that I bought in a  pack from the local craft shop.

I pushed  two small decorative pins into the knot and there are about 50 in a box from Dunelm Mill.

The satin ribbon is from Mei Flower  and all the beautiful Diamante is from Want2Scrap

And so after messing about for an hour and a half I had the card I liked and went off to bed as happy as Larry for some sleep.

And a sleepy voice said to me .... "What time do you call this ...."   Oooops !!  Er  3.45 am

More tomorrow...

Hugs xx


January 22, 2014

From just a pencil ...

Hi Everybody,

Todays card is  a stamped  Bebunni image from Crafters Companion 

It  has been achieved with the Spectrum Noir ... CR4 CR6 CR11    to get the shading on the heart ... and then a plain and simple HB pencil.

Just a pencil ... and we all have those lying around.

By varying the pressure on the lead the different shades can be added and then with a paper stump I blended the shades.

I lightly went around the image with the pencil and then used  my finger to simply smudge the shadow.

The result is quite pretty and I made it into a card using some papers that came free with a magazine.

But after all this coloring and a distinct lack of flowers on yesterdays card I think I shall have to revert back to my comfort zone and get busy

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx