Category: Art

Pink Sunrise Lilies

On By patriciamanhireIn Art, Heartfelt Creations, Spellbinders8 Comments

Kia Ora and Welcome Back

Today I am featuring something a little different from my usual cards.  I have been inspired by John Lockwood and his amazing creations.  Please visit his website here for the instructions on how to make this hexagonal frame here: http://johnnextdoor.blogspot.co.nz/2014/05/what-difference-year-makes.html?spref=pi

I have made the lilies using the Heartfelt Creations Sunrise Lily stamps and dies on foamiran.  I was happy with how the flowers turned out but foamiran is still a work in progress for me.

For the base of this I have used Sizzix hexagonal dies rather than measuring out the hexagons as John as done.  I embossed the smaller die and then cut the hexagon with the larger die.  I have still cut the tabs etc the same as what John has done but I thought this was a quicker and easier way of doing the base and it worked perfectly for me.  However, it is really important when cutting out the larger die size to measure with your ruler to make sure the edges are even to allow the base to sit evenly.

Have a good week – don’t forget to check in on Wednesday for the exciting release of the new Beary Fun Retreat Collection from Heartfelt Creations!

Ka Kite Anu

Patricia

Signs of Spring

On By patriciamanhireIn Art, Photography4 Comments

Spring is definitely in the air when the cherry blossoms come out and I was thrilled that this this photo come out well.
I am very busy at the moment with moving into our Make Shift shop this weekend, so haven’t had a lot of time to make cards. My next post will be a cardmaking 101 for the new CTMH consultants who haven’t done a lot of card making with Creative Memories. One day when I get more confident and I can sort out camera angles etc I will look at making some how to videos of my cards. But in the meantime I will stick with what I know and use photos.
I hope you all have a great day.
Happy crafting
Patricia

Chantilly Meets You Are My Happy Stamp set

On By patriciamanhireIn Art, Cardmaking, Close to My Heart, Crafts, Stamping19 Comments

Hello again

I had such a good response to the post on the folded card I thought I would try another type of architectural card.  I was inspired by a lovely card by Julie Butler (a friend who is a Stampin’Up Demonstrator, but we won’t hold that against her as she is a very talented paper crafter) which also won her a challenge as well.  Congratulations Julie.  Well deserved as it is a gorgeous card.

Here is her version:

http://papercutsjulz.blogspot.co.nz/2013/09/12-saturdays-till-christmas.html

She said it was easy so I thought I would go back to Beccy’s blog to see if she had some instructions for one.  I found this step card which appeared to be the closest to what Julie had done.  I can see that this is the base card and there can be a number of variations like what Julie has done.

Beccy has a number of different types of cards to make and I will be slowly going them them to see what I can come up with.  Here is her link again:

http://beccysplace.blogspot.co.nz/2010/03/technique-class-trifold-cards.html

For this card I have done a simple centred step card using the fabulous Chantilly papers and the ‘You are My Happy‘ stamp set which is still available for $15 this month if you purchase $75 in products.  This is such an amazing stamp set and so versatile and the sentiments are really uplifting and is great for our spring down under with the weather getting warmer (sometimes).

Any way here is my version:

Chantilly step cardFor the flower I have stamped two flowers from the You Are My Happy stamp set onto Colonial White cardstock and fussy cut them out.  I have used the Cotton Candy alcohol marker to colour in the small trim and then put them together.  I used my new tool kit to shape the flowers to create some extra dimension.  For the centre I have stamped the small flower flower from the same stamp set onto Buttercup cardstock and fussy cut this out for the center.  This was topped off with a pink glitter gem.  The sentiment at the bottom was trimmed off the decorative paper.

I love using the ribbon stamp from the Cricut Artiste Collection as it can be stamped in so many colours to complement my projects.  It goes really well with the Chantilly Collection.  Actually I am really loving how all these stamps are interchangeable for all my projects.  I end up taking one from this stamp set and one from that stamp set to finish my cards.

I have found that it is easier to cut and decorate all the pieces before assembling the card just in case I make a mistake.  For each layer I have decreased by 1/4 inch on each side of the piece.  A good trimmer is essential as it makes this task so much easier.  I no longer use my pencil, ruler and eye to make my cuts.

The materials I have used are:

Colonial White Cardstock

Cotton Candy Cardstock

Buttercup Cardstock

Chantilly pink papers

You are My Happy stamp set

Cricut Artiste collection stamp (for the ribbon)

Cotton Candy ink

Buttercup ink

Pink glitter gems

This is a very pink card (it is my favourite colour!), plus it tones in well with my blog background, so my next post will feature some very nautical cards that will (hopefully) celebrate Team New Zealand winning the America’s Cup.

Have a great day everyone and Happy Stamping

Patricia

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Exciting News!

On By patriciamanhireIn Art, Cardmaking, Close to My Heart, Crafts, Die Cuts17 Comments

Hello there

Today I am really excited to announce that I have won a challenge through diecutcrazymag.com.  The challenge was for any papercraft project which included die cut flowers.  I had a couple of cards that I had done and emailed them off thinking nothing more of it until I got an email from Stephanie Shock from diecutcrazymag.com to say that I had won.  Imagine my surprise and it really didn’t sink in until today when I received my prize which was a Sizzix Susan’s Garden Tool Kit – thanks so much Die Cut Crazy.  I am going to get a lot of use out of this set.  It looks great.

I think this is the winning card that I sent in:

Cream and gold cardI have also been asked to contribute to a magalogue for Kalsbeek Crafts which I was really excited about.  They are looking at putting my cream on cream and white on white cards in their magalogue (a cross between a catalogue and magazine) with instructions on how to complete the cards.  Thank you Toni for asking me to contribute.  You have been great to deal with and your service has been nothing short of fantastic.

This has all happened prior to my joining up to Close to My Heart (CTMH).  Due to the terms and conditions of my contract with CTMH I will only be using CTMH products from now on.  I will be using a Cricut machine and the wonderful cartridges from CTMH to make more cards, scrapbook layouts and great 3D items.  I am really looking forward to these new products and what I can create from them.

Have a good day.

Happy crafting

Patricia

 

The Final Countdown to Close to My Heart New Zealand

On By patriciamanhireIn Art, Cardmaking, Close to My Heart, Greetings, Scrapbooking3 Comments

Hello

I would like to welcome all my new followers to my blog and I hope that you enjoy coming on my creative journey with me.  I would also like to thank those who take the time to read my posts and also leave comments as well.  I really appreciate the feed back that I am getting.

I was very excited to receive an email this morning from Close to My Heart informing me that we are very close to the launch in New Zealand – the first week in September to be precise.  I can’t wait to start and am starting to de-stash in order to have space and money for my new CTMH products.  The Cricut cartridges look so awesome and I am very impressed with the cards and scrapbook layouts that are coming through from the Australian consultants.

In the meantime I have been doing some scrapbooking and cards.  I am getting through my son’s album and I am now up to his 3rd birthday.  I have used the It’s a Boy stack pack to complete his second year and I am waiting for the cricut cartridges to make some titles to complete them and then I will post a few pictures on here.  I love the colours of this stack pack and they went very well with the photos of James.  I am looking at doing his next album using the Pro-player WOTG kit.  The colours are great and I love the coordinating stamps and shapes that go with it.  It is more appropriate for an older boy as well.

I have also made some more cards for Make Shift.  I haven’t done many get well cards so I have made these using up some of my stash and am pleased how they have turned out.  I am a little disappointed in my Chloe die from Memory Box though.  The cut shape doesn’t seem to pop out quite as easily as my other dies.  I will keep persevering with it and see how it goes.  Anyway, here are the cards:

Get well card - love this combination of yellow and red Love the combination of red, grey and yellow Love this combination of yellow, white and dots Red and white simplicityMaterials used are:

Fiskars flower punch

Memory Box die – Chloe

Cuttlebug embossing folder – Swiss dots

Stampendous Get Well Stamp

Kaisercraft greeting stamp

Red and Yellow scrap cardstock

Stampin’Up ink – Real Red

Bling from the local $2 store

Marianne Creatables flower and leaf set – sorry I seemed to have mislaid the name of this die.

Coloured paper from my stash

I am pleased with the colour combinations and the simplicity of these cards and I hope that you like them too.

Have a good weekend everyone and Happy Crafting.

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Black and White Photo Challenge :Texture

On By patriciamanhireIn Art, Digital Art, Photography9 Comments

Welcome

I have been inspired to join this Black and White Photo Challenge by my friend, Amanda from Unique So Chic.  She has been doing the most amazing things with her photos and photoshop so I thought it was time for me to give it a go.

So here are my efforts:

Raindrops on geraniumsFor this image I chose a photo of rain drops on geraniums and changed it to black and white.  I then used my Memory Manager’s Filters/Stylise function to create a negative embossed effect.

I did the same for the next photo of a daisy and the embossing was a lot stronger on the single flower.  The little raindrops have come up a lot stronger in this image and actually I feel that this has come out a lot better.

DaisyFor my last effort I have used the Filter/Surface and Frosted Glass function.

Daisy in the WetThis has made the daisy look quite fuzzy, but the raindrops still stand out.

I can see this is going to be challenging which will be good for me to stretch my imagination and do something completely different with my photography.

I hope you enjoy my efforts.

Have a good day and Happy Snapping.

Patricia

http://sonelcorner.wordpress.com/2013/08/05/black-and-white-photo-challenge-texture/

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Rugby Father’s Day Cards for Make Shift

On By patriciamanhireIn Art, Cardmaking, Creative Memories, Greetings3 Comments

Hello

Wow, we are getting so close with Make Shift opening for the public.  It has been a lot of hard work, but it is going to be so worth it.  I would like to thank my fellow Collective Members who have been amazing in their commitment and resourcefulness to help get this dream up and running.  It has been an incredible journey and I would love to think there is far more to come as well.

We have Father’s Day coming up next month and living in a rugby mad country  I have made some special themed cards for Make Shift.  In New Zealand, the All Blacks are our national rugby team and in the process of de-stashing I found some All Black stickers that I had bought to do some All Black layouts after we won the Rugby World Cup in 2011.  (James took so many photos of the victory parade that I ended up doing a photo book instead!)  These stickers became my inspiration for some cards instead and I am pleased how they turned out.  I kept to a simple black and white theme as it emphasised the clean lines of the stickers which meant they were very quick and easy to make.  I have also chosen the sentiments so that the cards could be suitable for both Father’s Day and birthdays.

Here they are:

All Blacks card All Blacks Card All Blacks card All Blacks card All Blacks cardBefore going on to listing the materials used I would like to make a special mention of where I get my base card stock from.  Because I make lots of cards I do not have the time to cut, score and fold all the base cards, so a few years ago I discovered Cardmakers in Christchurch.  Nicky and Joe Arts provide a huge range of basic cards, bulk supplies, die cut cards and many other essential supplies for cardmakers.  They have been amazing with their service, which has been even more remarkable since the earthquakes in Christchurch meant they were unable to access their premises in the Red Zone.  Despite this massive disruption I have always had my cards delivered promptly and they will give you extra cards when you order a bulk supply of cards.  They do deliveries overseas as well so please take the time to support them by visiting their website and checking out their great deals at:

www.cardmakers.co.nz

Materials used for these cards:

Cuttlebug embossing folder – swiss dots

Peelcraft All Blacks stickers

Peelcraft stickers – silver lines

Creative Memories Epoxy stickers – Enchanted

Stampin-Up stamps – Best Dad Ever

Memento ink – black

Black and White Cardstock.

Have a great weekend and Happy Crafting

Patricia

 

Golden delight

On By patriciamanhireIn Art, PhotographyLeave a comment

I have been saddened to hear off all the incidents around the world – Spain, Italy, Switzerland and Florida. My thoughts go out to everyone that is affected by these tragedies. I hope this photo helps send a little cheer to everyone out there in blogosphere.
I was a little concerned as my daughter is travelling over in Europe at the moment as had been in Italy last time I heard from her. I was really pleased she rang me today to reassure me she was ok.
I hope you all have a good day and Happy Snapping.
Patricia

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Spring ray of sunshine

On By patriciamanhireIn Art, Photography5 Comments

We have had the most amazing weather over the last few days and the daffodils are starting to come out in the garden which is lovely. It is so heartening to see the bright splashes of colour after all the grey and drab days of winter. Soon there will be more flowers and the days will get warmer and longer and then it is the downward ride towards Christmas and summer.
We have had some more earthquakes but I haven’t felt them, but I know a lot of people are getting quite nervous. We certainly are getting an idea of what the people in Christchurch have been through in the last 3 years.
I hope this photo cheers everyone up and helps them get through the week.
Happy snapping.
Patricia

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Tears of Spring

On By patriciamanhireIn Art, Photography8 Comments

Welcome
We have had a torrid time of it lately with severe storms and just recently an earthquake on Sunday night. Fortunately, we have been very lucky but it has been a wake up call to remind us that we are living in the Shaky Isles.
However, yesterday I noticed that the daffodils are starting to come and heralding the onset of spring. We still have another month to go before we are officially in spring but it is heartening to see the signs of the seasons changing and that we are heading towards better weather.
I think this jonquil is called Early Cheer and it certainly does cheer us up with their colour and scent.
I hope you all have a great day.
Happy snapping
Patricia

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