Month: February 2016

A Stampendous Review

On By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Stampendous4 Comments

Welcome back.

This week I have a couple of cards made using a Stampendous cling stamp and coordinating die set.  Stampendous was one of the first companies that I bought stamps from over 20 years ago and I always liked them as they had some beautiful images.  As I was cleaning out my craft room I found the old catalogue and the images are still lovely and it is interesting to see how fashions have changed over the years.  I picked this set up through Facebook because I loved the image and the hummingbirds in it.

However, I was very disappointed with this stamp and die set.  The image did not stamp clearly and crisply and the dies did not cut very cleanly.  I used a Fiskars stamp press and I know this is a big stamp, but I had no problems stamping the large Fuchsia stamp from Heartfelt Creations and getting a crisp clear image.

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However, I was able to make a couple of reasonable cards out of this image but I won’t be making any more which is a shame.  The image is beautiful and at the moment I have these pink Bower Vine flowers outside my kitchen window and they always give a good show.  I have coloured with copic markers and used flower soft for the centre of the flowers for something different.

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Materials used:

Cardstock – CTMH White Daisy, Pear and Pomegranate

Ink – Memento

Copics – Pinks and greens (sorry I think I have packed up the chart I have – will try and remember to update this later!).

Stamp – CTMH Framed (NLA)

Flower soft

I have finally got myself a Cricut Explore Air and today I had some fun with some SVG files.  I can’t wait to show you what I have made with it.  I can’t believe I didn’t get one earlier – they are so much easier and better to use.  So watch this space….

Have a good week and Happy Crafting.

Patricia

Tutorial on cardstock weight for Heartfelt Creations Stamps and Die Sets

On By patriciamanhireIn Heartfelt Creations6 Comments

Welcome back.

This week I have been playing around with different weights of cardstock making flowers using the Arianna Blooms stamp and die set from Heartfelt Creations.  I now have a selection of Heartfelt Creations products in Gift Hutt and I was very impressed with the quality of the products – in particular the paper packs.  The papers are just beautiful and easy to just make cards and scrapbook layouts without any embellishments.

I have been using up my CTMH cardstock (mainly White Daisy which is just under 220 gsm) to make the flowers but I have found that the cardstock is a fraction too heavy for making the flowers – or it could be that my hands have been very sore lately as well).   You can get some dimension but it tends to go a little flat.  Here are some samples I have made:

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I then went to Lincraft and got some Canson cardstock (Azure) that was 160 gsm thick and this time I was able to get a really good shape for the flowers and they were also easy to make rosebuds as well.

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Here is a comparison between the CTMH White Daisy cardstock and the Canson lighter weight cardstock.  As you can see the White Daisy cardstock has flattened out a little while the lighter cardstock still has more dimension.

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I then just die cut the flowers on the same cardstock and after sponging the outside with Glacier ink and the inside with Canary inks from CTMH I wet the flowers.  The petals were scrunched and then left to dry.  I found I had to be a little careful to make sure that I did not rip the card but it was pretty strong.  I was very happy with how these flowers turned out.  They came out with a more shabby chic look.

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Finally, I had a really difficult day the other day, and so to help me relax I made this card using the bottom flowers and I was very happy how it turned out.  The colours worked so well together.

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Here are some other examples that I have made for the class next Sunday.

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Materials used:

Cardstock – CTMH White Daisy, Canson Azure

Stamp – Arianna Blooms

Dies HC Arianna Blooms, Raindrops on Roses and the butterfly and edge is a Joy Craft die

Inks – CTMH Glacier, Canary, Black, Tim Holtz Victorian Velvet, Chipped Sapphire

Paper – CTMH Kaleidoscope

Bling and pearls from my stash.

I will be following up a lead tomorrow to check out some cardstock to carry at Gift Hutt as I will run out of CTMH cardstock eventually.

I look forward to meeting everyone at the class next week.

Have a good week and Happy Crafting.

Patricia

Embossing Fun

On By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking2 Comments

Welcome back.

Just a short post as I should really be working on an assignment and doing some business planning.  Plus my craft room is getting packed up ready to move to my new place.

Today I am featuring a couple of cards using some gorgeous embossing folders and a mix of different dies.

First up I have used the All Occasions embossing folder which is highly sought after in a Facebook group that I belong to.  I managed to get this one through a de-stash page on facebook and I was very happy to get it.  I have teamed it up with a Memory Box die Cherry Blossom that I have coloured with copic markers.  The tag is from Spellbinders Nestabilities Scallop Circle set and I have used the lovely stamp from the Framed stamp set which is no longer available from CTMH.  That has to be one of my most used stamp sets as the sentiments are so versatile.  The ribbon is from my stash and the bling is from CTMH.  Cardstock used is CTMH White Daisy and Pixie.

Best Wishes Obsession Impression

Here I have gone back to the white on white theme again with this card.  I love the flowers and dragonflies of this embossing folder from Couture Creations – Hearts Ease.  I have trimmed a piece of cardstock to fit inside the embossed frame and used my CTMH ruler to make the stitch dots.  The butterfly is the Pippi butterfly from Memory Box and the flowers are from Marianne Creatables LR0107.  The sparkles are from CTMH along with the sentiment again from the Framed set.  Once again I have used White Daisy cardstock from CTMH.

#White on white elegance

I hope you like my new cards which are for sale at Gift Hutt.  My cards are proving very popular there which is great.

Have a good week and Happy Crafting.

Patricia

A Bit of Old and A Bit of New

On By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Heartfelt Creations4 Comments

Welcome back.

Thank you for the lovely comments on my last post.  I am pleased to say that the wedding card sold very quickly in Gift Hutt and it will make a very special card to keep for the wedding couple.

This week I am featuring a couple of cards using up some of stash.  The first card features some apricot/orange lilies that I picked up a while ago at a local Emporium.  The die cutting and embossing make a very elegant background for the flowers tied with a simple bow.  It was amazing the difference the embossing made on the CTMH Sunset card.  It hasn’t been embossed along the grain, but I like the effect on the embossing with a little white showing through.

#Spellbinders

Materials used:

Cardstock – CTMH White Daisy and Sunset

Die – Spellbinders Nestabilities Timeless Rectangle, Nestabilities Labels Eighteen

Embossing folder – CTMH Damask

I have used a piece of vellum ephemera inside the frame to add a different look to the card.  The embossing helps the frame stand out more and I have used ribbon from my stash.  This card has also sold very quickly in Gift Hutt as well.

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Materials used:

Cardstock – Colonial White

Dies – Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels Eighteen, Fancy Framed Tags Two

Embossing Folder – Couture Creations Tied Together

Ephemera from my stash

Ribbon and pearls from my stash

Stamp – CTMH Framed (NLA)

Ink – CTMH Desert Sand

Finally I have made some flowers using the Heartfelt Creations Ariana stamp and die set.  I have used a basket die cut that I purchased many years ago and sponged it with a combination of CTMH cashmere and desert sand inks.  I have sued ribbon and lace from my stash to complete this card.

#Heartfelt Creations

Materials used:

Cardstock – CTMH Pixie, Colonial White, White Daisy, Buttercup

Stamps – Heartfelt Creations Ariana Blooms, CTMH Just to Say…

Dies – Heartfelt Creations Ariana Blooms, Spellbinders Fancy Frame Tags Two

Inks – Pixie, Canary, Black

Embossing Folder – Quatrefoil

CTMH Gold glitter gems

Basket from my stash

Lace from my stash

Ribbon from my stash

I am really enjoying using a combination of different products and I hope that you are enjoying my creations.

Heartfelt Creations products are now on their way to Gift Hutt and will be available for purchase soon.  I am really excited about having them at Gift Hutt and will be doing classes on using these amazing products as soon as I can.

Have a good week and Happy Crafting.

Patricia