A pair of shoes today! The patterned papers are from my 12 x 12 Mambi Happy pad,and i die cut the shoes from glitter cardstock ( american crafts brand). I have also done some foiling with the Go Press and foil machine ( couture Creations) The Happy Birthday pieces are Dusty attic and foiled, and I also foiled the oval with a couture creations metal stamp specifically designed for foiling. Some flowers and ribbon bows and these two were complete! I have had a relaxing Easter break,prepared all my May lessons, and yesterday Joe, Nathan and I went for a drive up to Mt Lofty Botanical gardens. It was a beautiful day weather wise, and we all enjoyed strolling up and down the paths where we saw the leaves on the trees turning their autumn colours. Til tomorrow…..
Tag: nature
Couture Creations C’est la Vie ( final for now)
This is the final in my Couture Creations C’est la Vie collection for now at least, and I have used a couple of the bits and pieces that are available with the collection, but the main thing here is the embossing folder which is also available as part of the collection. I tried a couple of different things on the embossed cardstock so this is truly one of Helen’s experiments! I used a Versamark ink pen to ink the wavy line and then heat embossed it with gold embossing powder. this technique needs a little more perfecting on this style of card but the “not so perfect ” look would be fine on a shabby chic card. I used some Antique Linen distress oxide ink on a sponge to colour the lower part of the embossed cardstock. I added random white flat backed pearls to the top part of the cardstock. At the moment I have my mind on May lessons, and will only be happy when I have a couple completed, so all crafting for the next while will be about that!Til tomorrow…..
another stenciled background..
Todays card is made with pieces of cardstock that I was experimenting with. I took some white cardstock and stenciled through a Kaisercraft stencil with Liquitex iridescent medium. It leaves a lovely pearly pattern on my cardstock. To make the card I just used whatever was on my craft desk which happened to be some Prima bits and pieces and a die cut fence and white ribbon. This morning we went and picked up a new puppy who we have called daisy, and at the moment she is getting to know our other puppy Luna. They will be best mates, I am sure, at the moment they are running around the back yard! Til tomorrow…..
Kaisercraft Oh so Lovely revisited..
There is a story behind today’s card…When my son Daniel was home at Christmas he mentioned that a friend in his office wished she could have come home with him so that she could spend some time in my craft room and learn how to make cards, so before Daniel went back to Sydney I made up a bit of a kit for her and this card was the prototype of the kit I sent for her to put together. She has since made it and sent me a photo of her proudly holding it! In two weeks today I will be sailing the blue seas, but when I get back I will send her some more kits. Anyway, I should mention that this paper collection is Kaisercraft Oh so lovely ( an old collection but beautiful)and the associated collectables. For now I am off to prepare tea, til tomorrow….
Stampin Up Waterfront stamp set…
Staying with my new Stampin Up purchases I made this card for my dads birthday at the end of this month with Stampin Up Waterfront stamp set. there are endless possibilities with this stamp set, I just have to find the time to sit down and discover them all! For this card though, I did the background with Distress oxide ink pads, ( love the chalky finish) and then stamped with these Stampin Up inks…Tranquil tide,lost lagoon,always artichome and summer starfruit. I used my stamp press to position the stamps exactly where I wanted them to stamp ( how did we mange without one?) I have been busy this morning catching up on chores around the house so that I can spend a little time in the craft room preparing April classes, so that i am a little ahead when i head off on my cruise at the end of this month. Not long now! til tomorrow….
Go Press and Foil chipboard shapes…
For todays card I die cut a birdcage out of chipboard from a very old sizzix die that I had. I tried foiling normal cardstock but it is just a little too thin and requires lots and lots of shims, so I decided chipboard is the way to go!. I also foiled a kaisercraft bird wooden piece. The butterfly is just punched out of some foil cardstock I had.I die cut memory box lorelia leaf die, and added some flowers and a ribbon bow . The background papers are from kaisercraft Rose Avenue. Today is Nathans birthday so we are off out to celebrate! til tomorrow…..
A Box ( or 2) of Butterflies!
I made these two cards for family birthdays, and I used Graphic 45 Natures Sketchbook 12 x 12 papers. I have done a you tube clip on how to make these super easy box cards, they fold down to fit into a normal sized envelope, I posted one and it arrived safe and sound! The link to my you-tube channel is over there on the right hand side of my blog, ( you may have to scroll down a little bit to get to it). I fussy cut lots of butterflies from one of the 12 x 12 papers. I have spent this morning working on December classes, one more to go and I will  have all my classes for the rest of the year sorted! Where has this year gone? I also spent a bit of time die cutting some scrap card to try out some new dies that have been on my craft desk waiting for me to try out! Til tomorrow…..
Graphic 45 Natures Sketchbook
I have had this paper collection for a little while but haven’t had time to create with it because I have been busy with Cjristmas cards, but I had to do a spring challenge and thought this collection…(graphic 45 Natures Sketchbook) was perfect. The papers used are from the 12 x 12 range and I fussy cut some butterflies,added a ribon bow and inked around all my edges with distress tea dye ink. This afternoon is all about clearing my desk to make some room and to start thinking about December lessons! Til tomorrow…
Shabby Chic..Helen style!
Before I start this morning I just want to let my American followers know I am thinking of them all, the ones in the East who are battling with Fire, and the ones down south who are battling with the aftermath of one Hurricane and bracing for more…my thoughts are with you all.
I am determined to master Shabby Chic. I love shabby, but I am struggling to get to the point where I can say I have succeeded, but I will continue to practise, and show you my progress. This card has a lot of product but a lot of it was put together with bits and pieces left on my work table from other projects so i didn’t prepare anything new for this project except for the background layer which was a piece of A4 white cardstock. I painted it with a light watered down layer of Gesso,and used a texture template to add some Liquitex Light modelling paste. When that was dry I tapped some tea dye distress ink over the raised bits and sprayed randomly over the whole piece with Prima Color Bloom Cotton candy spray mist. All that remained for this step was to cut to size, distress all the edges and ink with more tea dye distress ink and attach to the card front. decorating…. a strip of lace under one of the layers, a Prima Bird, a flower made with sizzix bigz 3d flower die and old book pages, memory box Lorelai leaves die,kaisercraft wooden flourish foiled in silver, pearls , Prima hessian leaf,and flowers. Til tomorrow…..
Kaisercraft Golden Grove..
Continuing on with the Autumn themed challenge,this months kaisercraft release fitted in perfectly, and here are 2 cards I made with that range. I embossed a piece of cardstock with a stampin up embossing folder for the top card, and added a few of the collectables from the range, and sprinkled sequins. For the lower card I fussy cut lots of pears ( my husband loves pears and this will be his birthday card) did some paper layering and again sprinkled a few sequins. I am on track with all the lessons I need to come up with,just have a couple more to do for the cruise, and one to thinbk about for the village ladies, so I might have a break today from the craft room, and catch up on some reading this afternoon..it’s been a lovely morning while I was working but it has become overcast now and think some rain is on it’s way..all good for the garden…til tomorrow…
Helens Card Designs 