my Crafty Corner

Cards and other handicrafts made by Jean Straw

Wednesday 27 May 2015

Cute and Cosy

Hi again, I am here with a quick post today. My regular readers will know that we had a new member added to our family last week and I showed you the card that I had made to mark the occasion. Well I had also been knitting a papoose which I fell in love with as soon as I saw it in a knitting magazine. I it is only suitable for a very new baby so I was trying hard to get it finished in time as we knew the baby would be delivered two weeks early. I just managed to get it done,  and gave it to my Granddaughter the weekend before she went into hospital. I hesitated to show it last week as it looked a bit odd laid out the table as you will see from the photo above, but yesterday my Granddaughter e-mailed this photo with baby Lorena in it.   Doesn't she   look cute and cosy?                                                  
I used the yarn recommended in the pattern, a machine washable 4ply baby wool so it is lovely and soft. It is knitted all in one piece, which was surprisingly long, then the bottom end is folded up and stitched at the sides and the top cast off edge folded in half and stitched to make the hood. then stitches picked up round the edge to make the ribbed finish.

Thank you to all who visit here and for your comments which are all really appreciated.
Jean

Monday 25 May 2015

A Robin for Rudolph

Hi, I hope you all get a bit of sunshine for the bank holiday today. Although this is called a Spring Holiday it is also 25th which means once again it is Rudolph day at Scraps of Life with Scrappymo and this the card I have made for this time.
The stamp I used is from Hobby Art and I stamped it with Memento black ink and coloured it with Promarkers. I added some Stickles Stardust to highlight the snow and glossy accents to give the berries a bit of shine. I cut the image with the largest die in the Spellbinder Exquisite Circles set and dusted a little Tumbled Glass DI to the background while still in the die. The red mat cut with a Spellbinder Marvelous Squares die is a Brusho coloured piece from a previous play time. I fixed these two pieces together with ds tape. I cut and folded the 15 cm square base card from some red cardstock. The backing paper is from a Dovecraft  christmas pad cut to leave a thin red border. I added some green ribbon and a green snowflake button before sticking it to the card. The mounted image panel is fixed with thin foam tape. The greeting is stamped onto a snippet of the backing paper and cut into a circle by hand using the inside of a small circle die as a guide. The red mat is cut from a snippet of red card with the same die, and the snowflakes cut with an Xcut punch from another snippet of silver glitter card.
I am entering this at Scrappymo's Rudolph Day Challenge - Anything Christmas,
and as I used a few little snippets I am also entering at Pixies Snippets Playground - Use Snippets.

Thank you all for visiting here today and for your comments, I really appreciate them all.
Jean

Thursday 21 May 2015

A Joyful Day

Hi again, the joyful day of my title happened on Tuesday of this week when our third little Great Granddaughter made her first appearance in the world. Today was also joyful for me as I went to visit them in hospital and had a lovely cuddle with the tiny bundle of joy.

Below is a little photo of her taken this afternoon,
just two days old.











Now for the card that I made for her happy Mum and Dad.
The image I used is from Hobby Arts, stamped with black Memento ink onto smooth white card  and coloured with Promarkers. I then die cut it with a die from Spellbinders Elegant Ovals set. I made a white 15cm square base card and covered the front with a deckle edged square of blue card cut slightly smaller to leave a tiny border. The pink layer was cut a bit smaller again and I used a corner rounder punch on the top corners and a Joanna Sheen Signature die to cut the lace edge at the bottom. I wrapped some spotted blue ribbon around this before sticking it to the card, and then I added a bow to the front and a little baby shoe charm. The image panel was added using thin foam tape. The new baby stamp is a little magazine freebie, and I matted it up on matching card and cut three little daisy flowers with an X cut punch for the top corners. I shaped the daisies a bit with an embossing stylus and added tiny pink gems to the centers. I used my Cuttlebug  for the die cut pieces so I am going to enter this at  Cuttlebug Mania Challenge - Ribbon
and at   Crafty Boots - Ribbon or Lace.

Thank you for visiting here today and for your comments, I really appreciate all of them.

Jean

Saturday 16 May 2015

Bluebells

Hi everyone I hope you are all enjoying some nice weekend weather. It is beautiful here today, with nice warm sunshine. There is quite a strong breeze but not enough to make it feel chilly.
The card I'm showing you today was inspired by our garden which is full of bluebells at the moment. In the past we have tried to dig some of them up but it seems the harder you try the more they grow and I do really like to see them, so now we just let them do their own thing and they are beautiful.
The stamp I used is from Chocolate Baroque stamped onto white card with black Memento ink. I used Derwent Coloursoft pencils blended with Sansodor for the colouring, and a pale grey Promarker at the base to ground them. I trimmed the image and matted it onto blue card. The base card is a white 15cm square and I stamped the grasses in the left hand corner using another Chocolate Baroque stamp and Brilliance Pearlescent Ivy ink. I fixed the bluebells in place and added three blue pearls to finish.
A nice quick post for you today. I am entering this at Stamping Sensations - Flower Power
                                                                                     The City Crafter - Focus on Flowers
                                                                                     Retro Rubber - May Flowers
Thank you all for visiting here today and for your comments, I truly appreciate the all.
Jean



Monday 11 May 2015

Feathery Birthday

This card was made for my niece and I know she will like the colour combo, although it's not my favourite. I have used the Hot Off The Press stamps, stencil and die that came free with two magazines last year. I started by cutting and folding an A4 sheet of white card to make a 15cm square base card. I then cut cut some red card to make a mat slightly smaller than the card front, and stuck it in place. I used a snippet of smooth white card left from another project and placed the feather stencil where I wanted it and applied some black Memento ink from an old ink pad ( because I didn't want to make it too dark ). I then stamped over it with the detail stamp and Versafine Satin red ink.  I stamped it again onto copy paper and cut it out to make  a mask to cover the feather while I stamped the random dots with a Denami designs stamp and the Memento ( new pad this time ) and Versafine inks. Next I stamped the detail stamp again with Versamark ink onto a snippet of black card and embossed it with WOW white EP, and used the matching die to cut it out. I then stamped the solid feather with the red Versafine ink onto a snippet of white card and over stamped it with the detail stamp and black ink, and then die cut it. I stuck the black feather with DS tape slightly overlapping the stencilled one, and then fixed the red one with thin foam pads for a little extra dimension. I matted this onto black card leaving a very narrow border, and then wrapped red ribbon around it at the base of the feathers. I used a separate piece of ribbon to tie the knot in front, and stuck this whole panel onto the red fronted card. To finish I stamped the greeting with a Hobby Art stamp and some tiny black gems. I apologize for the poor angle of the photo and the way it makes the birthday word look so askew. I admit that when I saw it on the screen I went and checked it out IRL and it is in fact going slightly uphill, but I don't honestly think it is as obvious  as it looks here.
As I have used a few snippets I am going to take it over to Pixies Snippets Playground where there are some Sheena Douglas stamps on offer as a prize. There is still time to enter, and all you need to do is use a snippet or two in your creation to join in.
I am also entering at, Moving Along With The Times - Birds and Feathers.
                                  Stamps and Stencils - Three of a Kind I've used three feathers.
Thank you all for visiting here today and for your comments, I really appreciate them all.
Jean

Thursday 7 May 2015

A First Anniversary

Hi all, I can hardly believe it but it is a year ago today that my grandson and his wife were married. Here is the card that I made for them.
Green is their favoured colour, so I started by cutting a panel of this shaded green card so that the colour faded from left to right. I used a Memory Box die, Butterfly Heart, to cut slightly above the centre, and then punched a flower border with an X-cut edge punch. I folded all the butterfly wings upward a bit and the then stuck the whole panel onto some dark green card. I tied some striped green and blue organza ribbon around the mounted panel and tied a bow at the side. This was then fixed to a white 5" x 7" base card. The greeting was stamped with a Woodware stamp and Memento Olympia Green ink, and the card was finished with some rather nice sparkly pale green gems from my stash.
 I am entering this in the following challenges:
The Sisterhood of Crafters - Monochromatic
Ruby's Rainbow - Anything Goes
Crafty Boots - Things With Wings.
Thank you for visiting here today, and for your comments which are all appreciated.

Jean

Friday 1 May 2015

Butterfly and Lace

This card was made for a friends' birthday and also with Mrs A's Butterfly Challenge in mind. The theme this time is Butterfly + L for Lace.
The base card is a white 15cm. square and the backing paper is from LOTV. I trimmed the paper using a deckle edged blade in my cutter and lightly inked the edges with Shabby Shutters DI. The green lace has been in my stash for ages but it was a good match for the green in the paper. I tucked the edges of the lace and the pink ribbon behind the paper before sticking it onto the card. I stamped the butterfly onto the card and also onto a snippet of white card with Brilliance Lightning Black ink.  I coloured the white one with Promarkers and then cut it out and brushed it all over with a clear Wink of Stellar pen. I stuck it over the butterfly on the card using silicon glue to raise the wings slightly. I tied a bow with the pink ribbon and fixed it in place with a glue dot. The little leaves were cut from light green pearlised card with a Britania die. I trimmed them down and tucked them under the ribbon and glued the little white and pink ceramic flowers over them with glossy accents. To finish I stamped the birthday greeting with the brilliance ink.  The greeting and the butterfly are both Chocolate Baroque stamps.
That's it for tonight, I hope you all enjoy the holiday weekend, and that the weather warms up a bit again too.
Thank you for taking time to visit here and for your comments which are really appreciated.
Jean