Wednesday 27 December 2017

Not Older, Just Better

Hello there my crafty friends!  Today's card offering is a result of a day of play just to see what sort of new looks I could come up with.  I found this one very interesting so I decided to make it into a full card.  I started with a piece of clear acetate and dripped some of out Intense Pigment Stains on to it.  I used the Rich Crimson and Sunflower Yellow.  I added another piece of acetate and sort of mushed them around (technical term! LOL), allowing the stains to blend, but not completely cover the acetate so there are clear areas left.  I left it aside to dry, then added a piece of coconut white card behind it so you see white areas.  I cut the Alphabet Grid and just used the grid, not the letters and added it to the top.  I made a multi layered white frame from the Double Pierced Noble Squares and added it with foam over the background.  I accented the corner with  the Pinwheel Floral dies of varying sizes and the leaves.  I added Iced Snow to the flowers for a bit of sparkle.  I stamped the sentiment and cut it out with the Lavish Accented Hexagons, adding a decorative base for it to sit on and mounted it in the centre of the frame.  White on white mats were used to complete the card.  The finished dimensions are 7 1/4" x  7 1/4" in size.  All for now, Sue x












                                                        Follow my blog with Bloglovin

95 comments:

Pam said...

Beautiful card Sue, cheers me up on a cold dark wet morning. Stunning cheery colour.
Julia was superb on Hochanda last night, she always shows an alternative way to use your dies but advocates your work so well. They had a £10 voucher code if you spent over £30 so I had to take advantage, it would have been rude not to lol.
Ann, I hope your brother decides to drive an automatic car, it will give him so much independence which he misses at the moment. He is lucky to have you so close.
Elaine,I'm so glad your Christmas lunch out was so lovely, hope the Boxing Day one lived up to expectations too.
Linda, welcome to the blog. I think most crafters struggle to get the mats and layers right. I started by not trying to put too many on till I got the hang of it. It will come with practice.
Everyone seems to have really enjoyed their Christmas period, so many lovely stories
I'm at work today then off till Tuesday, hooray. My SIL and nephew are coming to stay till New Years Day. Means lots of family visits and days out so happy times a-coming. My nephew is 15 so fits in well with the twins and Rachael and adores Luke, they all get on so well. He said visiting his family up North makes his Christmas, bless him.
Keep well and warm everyone, enjoy your rest periods. Thinking of all poorly and missing friends, their carers and families too.

kittyedavies47@gmail.com said...

Morning Sue.
Thank you, A very pretty and bright card on this very snowy morning.
Well the snow means I am stuck inside so it is a crafty day.
Take care and have fun keep warm Kitty.

Beverly Fuchs said...

Hello Sue,

What a stunning card today. The background and the colors are fabulous. I really like how you have done the background, really gives you an eye-catching one that really stands out against the white.

Have a wonderful day.

Beverly

JAO said...

Fab bright card Sue.

KarinsArtScrap said...

wow stunning card Sue and fab background

gr karin

PharmacyMichele said...

Gorgeous card, beautiful background.

Michele

DeCor said...

Stunning card today Sue. Love how you used the alphabet grid over your beautiful background. Snow here. Keep warm.

Marion Scott said...

What a wonderful background Sue, so bright and cheerful.
Marion S x

Steph Cotterill said...

Hi Sue. A beautiful vibrant happy background that shows the beauty of the dies so well it's simply gorgeous.
Sending love and hugs in my 3rd attempt of commenting xx

Janice K said...

Good morning Sue,
I love the vibrant colours in this design, a stunning card.x

Unknown said...

GM Sue. Very energising. Love it.

Val V said...

Good morning Pam, Happy New Year to you and your family. We can always rely on you to come up with something different. Just love this card. Thank you so much

Clai01 said...

Hi Sue

A really lovely and bright card. I've decided in the new year to use and experiment with more green, yellow, brown and orange products and pink, purple, blue, red, black shades and the metalics as not my immediate go to colours first. Or to try to mix them more and experiment with coloured mixed media backgrounds. Enjoying Julia's techniques today on Hochanda. xx

CraftySuetoo said...

Good morning Sue. A very vibrant card, love the description of "smushing" the acetate together. Santa was very kind and brought me several of your dies, including some of the industrial collection so I can't wait to play.
Wheelybad, wonderful to hear from you and so pleased to hear about Mr's new job.
Pam, glad you could get the Hochanda discount code to work, it wouldn't accept it when I tried! Have a great day everyone! Sue xxx

Jan on the Fosse said...

Good Morning Sue
I love mushing too it's great to see how the different colours come out together.
This card is so bright and stylish.Love it.
Jan x

hollyberry said...

Beautiful card. Love the colours of the background,so bright and vibrant.

TDQ Karen said...

Beautiful colours and love the flowers xx

Anonymous said...

Hi Sue, a lovely bright card this morning, very cheering.

Barbara V

Muriel said...

Hello Sue and all
Love this bright background and the grid- how effective - and the flowers too of course
Plenty to look forward to with your non C designs Sue, we are very lucky.
You summed it up beautifully again Pam, thank you
Hugs
Muriel x

Chris Curry said...

A cheerful card with a sentiment to make you smile. Lovely. I have the alphabet grid die and these gorgeous flower dies too. Going to get busy today 😀. Thank you Sue. Have a good day.xxx

hazel young said...

Beautiful card and sentiment xx hazel

Narrowboat girl said...

A lovely, bright, vibrant card Sue. Love the background colour & an interesting way of using the alphabet grid to make a window

margaret driscoll said...

Hello Sue
A nice bright card today so happy!
We have snow today too!
Love Marg

Barbara Gosden said...

Hi Sue
A beautiful card.
B xx

Pussycats said...

Good Morning Sue and all. Beautiful card this morning ... The bright colours behind the Alphabet grid work so well and the flowers are stunning.
Crafty hugs and well wishes to all...... Wendy

Izzy said...

Hi Sue,

Love how you created that warm, glowing background and then topped it with the Alphabet Grid window, very clever... and then kept the rest of the card white with just some Iced Snow dripping off the flowers...gorgeous card!

Izzy

karenlotty said...

Beautiful card I was a very lucky lady and got the alphabet grid for Christmas So guess what I’ll be playing with later

Yvonne H said...

Good morning Sue,
A beautiful bright & cheery card today. Yvonne xx

BenteS said...

Gorgeous card with a great background :))

Croquet Queen x said...

Hi Sue,

Beautifully bright!

Krafty Runner x

nattyboots said...

Hi Sue
Lovely card great mushed { love this word } background it is just stunning , beautiful flowers and leaves too.

Hope you all have a lovely day ,i will try to catch up with you all at some point today ,the boys are coming over to say goodbye to Diva Dot ,so it will be busy here for a while .
Take care everyone
Hugs to all
Elaine H X

Rosemarie said...

Morning Sue. What a great card. Will definitely have to try this technique. I have woken up to snow today, so no going outside for me.

Pam, I hope you enjoy your visitors, have fun X

Love Rosemarie X X

Rosemarie said...

Morning Sue. What a great card. Will definitely have to try this technique. I have woken up to snow today, so no going outside for me.

Pam, I hope you enjoy your visitors, have fun X

Love Rosemarie X X

Val Jones said...

Love the background Sue. What a great new technique to try.
Such a pretty card.
Love Val in Spainxxx

Unknown said...

Morning Sue
A beautiful card today will try technique.
Catherine V94 xx

Unknown said...

Dear Sue and Happy Crafters,

I love this card! It makes me feel like I'm on my way in to the spa. Those warm tiles practically glow and the frosty flowers show how cold it is outside. Who knew that you could drip color on acetate and smush it around with another piece of acetate! I can't see how the colors could possibly dry, but WOW!, what an effect!

Welcome to the group, Linda Morgan. If you email Sue at americansue1@gmail.com, she'll answer your questions. You might be seeing the one layer on every card that has bigger pierced holes than you can get with the double pierced frames. Sue does that by hand with a piercing ruler and a pointy tool. Occasionally she'll demonstrate again on one of her videos. You could try searching her YouTube videos for piercing. Or maybe piercing tutorial or piercing ruler. But yes, trying to figure out which two dies will give you a frame of a certain width makes my brain all tangly. (Okay, this is cutting the outside of the inside, and this is cutting the inside of the outside.) Sometimes I just pick two and see what happens.

Congratulations Pam on the wild joy of living when everyone's together for laughing and eating. And you don't have to work again until next year!

Happy Birthday Jean Z! Are you relieved they didn't name you Carol, Star, Holly, Noelle, Angel, or Felicity? You apparently have many people who love you!

Love and huggles,
Donita

lydia jordan said...

Morning Sue,
Beautiful card. Just had a look back over the past couple of days, what a treat.
Hope you had a wonderful Christmas.
Lydia
X

June Smith said...

Morning Sue and all Wilsonettes, oh this is really lovely today Sue, I would like to try that technique.

Pam I reiterate all you have said. Enjoy your family time.

Sorry short blog today, spent a;; day yesterday in bed and all night, got up this morning still very weak, think it is the flu coming, keep going hot and cold. had porridge yesterday morning and 2 biscuits in the evening to take my medication (have to take with food), anyway I am off back to bed later.

Stay safe, healthy and happy, hugs, June Smith xxx

Jess Watson said...

Morning Sue, lovely happy sunny looking card today, love how you have done the background, the flower die is going to be a must for me, they are gorgeous.
Have a lovely day everyone, take care,
Jess xxx

BridgetCG said...

Hi Sue, what a brilliant card, love the background and a fab sentiment, looks like a beautiful sunrise, of which there is no sign this morning. Have a great day everyone. Bx

Tressa said...

What a fabulous bright and cheerful background to greet us on a dull day. Beautiful.

I had originally planned to travel home today after Christmas up north but was invited to stay on. Just as well I realised this morning when me sister in law told me the local roads I would have travelled on are blocked by snow. Hope it is cleared soon. Take care in the Midlands any of you who have to be out and about.

Teresa

Rose in Chester said...

Hi Sue,
This is a wowser card and right up my street as regards colours and sentiment. I cannot believe I "lost" your two sets of Hexagon dies - they're somewhere in the craft room and I thought they were right by my side but when I wanted them, there they were NOT.
Today is a real tidy up job, my work area has gone down to about 15 sqa.in.
Hugs, Rose

Crafty Cruiser said...

A really bright and stunning card this morning.
The colour really pops out beautifully
Doreen R

hettygarlick said...

That's lovely Sue and a great sentiment!

Pat S Witney said...

Hi Sue
Great card today. Not to sure I'd like thus intense colour. However, it's a good job we don't all like the same thing isn't it.

Anonymous said...

Hi Sue

I rather like this background! The rest of the card is pretty good too! Wonderful how just a white card is transformed with a coloured background.

Heather R Oxfordshire

Yorks butterfly said...

Morning Sue, lovely card and you have just reminded me that I still haven't ordered the Pinwheel Floral Dies, so will have to sort that fairly quickly.
Wendyx

Craftychris said...

Ooh this is absolutely stunning! Awesome background which looks so cool behind the grid die. I adore the bright colours xxxxx

Jean Z said...

Hi Sue, Beautiful card. Yes Donita Naylor I have a great family it's so nice when you get what you want. One of my Daughters deals with it all as she is a crafter so she knows what to get, nice to be loved xxxx

June Horrocks said...

A stunning card sue I love it the background is beautiful showing off the beauty of the stamps love it xxxxxx thank you sue love always
June Horrocks xxxxxx

Kiraneries said...

Hi Sue, a beautiful card. You have made a beautiful window and I love the corner flora spray.

Sandy G said...

Hi Sue
What an unusual background. It’s a lovely card. Thanks for sharing.
I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. I can’t believe it’s all over!
Have a great day everyone.
Hugs.

Fluffycat said...

Hi Sue, I wish my play days resulted in something like this card, it is lovely. I love the colours and it is a great way to use the grid (still on my wish list) and the pinwheel flowers are gorgeous. Santa said they were out of stock but he hasn't stopped looking so I may get a New Year gift :-) I recorded Julia's shows and hope to get to watch most of them today while I am cutting out all my new dies.

No snow ere today just a bright blue sky, sunshine and a very heavy frost. Please take care if you have to go out but better still just stay in and craft.

Marie - how thoughtful of your gift givers to include the transport for you, enjoy your shopping.
June Smith - I hope it is just a bad cold and not the 'flu and that you feel better very soon.

Frances

sandieann21 said...

Lovely card, Sue, and a very interesting technique to try.

CraftyJo said...

I like that!

stitchingranny said...

Wow - well its different, though to be honest I am not sure about the colour for my own taste. However there are lots of people out there and many of them will love the colour, so just a matter of choice. The rest of the card is beautiful. Amongst the lovely dies I received from my son and his family and my daughter, for Christmas, were both the Pinwheel Flowers and the Spiral Flowers so I am going to be doing some series playing within the next week or so.

Hugs Helen xxx

Margaret R said...

A lovely card with a vibrant background
Margaret xx

Pat L said...

Hi Sue
I love the warm glow from your mushing technique, makes a great background for the alphabet grid, super card and thank you for sharing. I made a birthday card yesterday with the stitched hexagons, I think these are going to be my go to dies for quite awhile

June Smith hope you feel better soon
Jean Z belated happy birthday
Marie how nice that your gift cards include transport so that you can spend them

Sending love and hugs to everyone
Pat

Kate's Cards said...

Well I love your playtime card! xxx

Lynne L said...

Hi Sue fabulous card I love the gorgeous colours you've made wish my experimenting tubed out like that!
June Smith do hope you'll feel better soon
Sending good wishes to all

Anonymous said...

Hi Sue - I wish I could come up with such amazing ideas! I love this background and the colour is so warming and the flowers so pretty. Sending best wishes
YvonneMayxx

theresa w said...

Hi sue and lovely wilsonettes x
Lovely bright vibrant card sue x gorgeous colours x
June hope you feel better soon x
Theresa w xxx

Lynn Dalby said...

Hello Sue.

I think this is a lovely clean and simple card. I like the sound of your background technique and the colour. Thanks for sharing.

Best wishes

Suzzette Yandle said...

I like your "mushed" technique of pigment stain onto clear acetate.

Patricia Howarth said...

Hi Sue, I love your background, it looks so effective through the windows.
Lots of love from Patricia xx

Helen Bell said...

Hi Sue and everyone

This is a gorgeous card! I love the vibrancy of the colours contrasted with the crisp white card. I have bought some of the intense pigment stains, but not used them much yet, though I did try the shaving foam technique with them, and liked the effect. I hope I have these two colours as I love what they create. I’ve bought 5 so far, but can’t remember off the top of my head which colours, though bluebell springs to mind. I definitely would like to buy the alphabet grid though, it was on my list, but so many others were too......

So glad everyone has had and is still having a great time. Love to all.

June, hope you feel better very soon. X

Love Helen xxx

Unknown said...

To My Wonderful Dear Friend Sue,
Thank You For Sharing Today’s Exquisite Card I Just Love The Tremendous Techniques, You’ve Used
I Have Loved Julia’s Shows On Hochanda So Far Really Interesting/Exciting Backgrounds Incorporating
Your Stupendous Cutting Dies.....
Products Used In Today’s Card ✨
“Creative Expression Coconut White Foundation Card”
“Creative Expression Cosmic Shimmer Specialists Dries Clear Acrylic Glue”
“Creative Expression Mounting Foam”
“Creative Expression Acetate”
“Creative Expression Self Adhesive Flat Backed White Pearls”
“Creative Expression Cosmic Shimmer Iced Snow”
“Creative Expression Cosmic Shimmer Specialists Intense Pigment Stains Rich Crimson/Sunflower Yellow”
“Creative Expression Sentiment”
Star’s Used In Today’s Card 🌟
“Sue Wilson’s Alphabet Die Set” (From The Expression Collection 1 Cutting Die)
“Sue Wilson’s Double Pierced Square Die Set” (From The Noble Collection 10 Cutting Dies)
“Sue Wilson’s Pinwheel Floral/Foliage Die Set” (From The Finishing Touches Collection 8 Cutting Dies)
“Sue Wilson’s Lavish Accented Hexagon Die Set” (From The Noble Collection 10 Cutting Dies)
Sue, You Started Today’s Card With A Piece Of Acetate Then You Drissled Some Of The Intense Pigment Stains
On To It, You Used “Rich Crimson/Sunflower Yellow” You Then Added Another Piece Of Acetate On Top, You Mushed
This Around Allowing The Pigment Stains To Blend Together, But Not Completely Cover The Acetate So There Is
Clear Areas Left.
You Placed It To One Side To Dry, Then You Added A Piece Of Coconut White Foundation Card Behind It So You
See The White Coming Through You Cut Out “The Alphabet Grid” You Used Just The Grid Not The Letters Then Placed
It On Top, You Made A Multi Layered Coconut White Frame Using “The Double Pierced Square Die Set”
From The Noble Collection You Added Mounting Foam to The Back Of Your Frame Then Placed It Over Your Background
Sue, Then You Accented Your Luxurious Card By Adding A Floral Arrangement To The Bottom Left Of The Card,
You Used The Unique “Pinwheel Floral Die Set Which Also Comes With Foliage, You Cut Out Various Sizes, Then Added
“Iced Snow” To Add Glitter To Your Exceptional Card, You Stamped Your Sentiment Then Cut It Out Using
“The Lavish Accented Hexagon Dies” Adding A Decorative Base By Using Acrylic Glue You Placed This Into The Centre
Of Your Card You Added White/White Mat/Layers Plus Your Famous/Signature/Piercing To Complete Today’s
Masterpiece Thank You For Sharing Sue...................
Take Great Care My Wonderful Dear Friend Sue,
Wonderful Warm Fond Wishes To Colin Also Heather, Plus Sam & Family
Sue, Lots Of Love Also Huge Hugs 🤗
Love From Sam xxx
Sue, Today I’m So Very Excited We’ve Booked Both Our Holiday’s To Mauritius For 2018 (Something To Look Forward Too)

Dawn Holben said...

Sue this is amazing, ooh i love the background colour.

Eunice said...

It is amazing what one can create when just messing around!!! BEAUTIFUL!!!!

Ann Topp said...

Good Evening Sue. Late comment today . Your card is lovely Sue so warm looking while we are freezing cold up here in Leeds. Beautiful colour and work. My brother had a lovely day with us yesterday. He stayed till 10 last night and really enjoyed the company. Hope everyone else enjoyed boxing day.
Thankyou Pam and all for your kind comments regarding my brother.
I am hoping to go shopping at the weekend with my Christmas money. I might get my lovely hubby to drive me over to Barnsley to have a look in Icon. They sell all Sues dies along with other brands.... but I have to have a limit that unfortunately I can't exceed.? ?
Kind regards Ann Toppcards Leeds

Lisbeth said...

Hi Sue. Love the background and this gives me a theme for my New Years resolution - to spend some time playing as you are right, you never know what you may come up with until you give it a go.

Lisbeth

Jackie T said...

Hi Sue this is a stunning card I love it. I hope you had a wonderful time at Christmas. Take care. Hugs Jackie

P Austen said...

Hi Sue, Lovely card today. Sorry I haven't been in touch since Christmas Eve, but couldn't get onto the web. Glad everyone appears to have had a good Christmas. Not been back long so off to have something to eat, then a good night's sleep;hopefully. Hugs xx Pauline xx

Barbara said...

Gorgeous card Sue!!!!!
The background is a mazing and I love all the layered frames.

Nanny Jo said...

WOW!!! What a splash of colour!! It's a brilliant, beautiful card, Sue, and it makes me want to play with inks! :) That touch of sparkle on the flowers, and the multi-framed finish makes it the perfect card for me!!
I am going to have a scroll through your blog for inspiration....my dearest friend gave me the entire set of Industrial Chic dies for Christmas!! What an absolutely wonderful friend she is.
Happy New Year to you all. Jo xx

Maria said...

Evening Sue and everyone
Lovely card today and let me also say a thank you for showing us all the
other Christmas cards over a few days, they are all lovely.
Hope you had a fabulous Christmas with the family.

Wonderful to see most of you had a great Christmas and got some lovely
dies and stamps to play with, happy crafting .
Wheelybad- so nice to see you back, take care and hugs to you and Billy
Elaine- sending you and the family special hugs
June- wishing you better, take care
Marie- enjoy spending your gift cards, Hope you happy in your new home.
Special hugs to Pam, Tina's,Laine,Lorraine,Ann and to all who need one
warm hugs to you all, Maria x

Netty The Runner said...

So bright and cheerful Sue.
Annette x

Alice (scrAPpamondo) said...

Wonderful card!!

Theresa said...

love that background, hugs xx

Princess Pixie! said...

Evening Sue
What a gorgeously vibrant beauty x
Love this card but will admit to being a little sad at the prospect of having to wait for more Christmas cards x
Feeling a little worn out due to making merry!! It has been lovely having mum and dad here. They head back to Newcastle on Friday. We are going out for lunch tomorrow then a lazy night chilling in front of the telly (again) x
Wheely bad - so lovely to 'see you'. Hugs x
Sending happy thoughts and lots of love to everyone x
Take care
Crafty hugs
PP
Yvonne x

alimecca said...

Hi Sue,
Stunning card - that background is so vibrant ,it's fabulous!
June hope you feel better soon,
Sending love and hugs to everyone, stay safe and warm, Alison xxxx

Brenda said...

Hi Sue,
What a beautiful card. The background is gorgeous.
Hugs Brenda xxx

sued99 said...

What a lovely bright card. Really great for cheering up a cold wet winter morning. X

Myra said...

Hello Sue,
Today’s card wouldnt be a favourite of mine colour wise as I’m not a fan of orange! I wouldn’t buy Tonic Products as they would upset me in my Craft Room! Just call me daft! Maureen will!
However I’m intrigued by the technique and the card is lovely apart from the orange!! Sorry!
Sorry too I didn’t make it in yesterday. The family were all here and it was hectic but fun!
Sorry not to have read the comments but I gather Wheely has popped in! Great news!
Love to all,
Myra ( Friend of Maureen) xx

ahappycrafter50 said...

I love the background including the colours you chose.
Jan
Northampton

Yorkie girl said...

Good evening Sue and everyone
Sorry for my lateness in commenting Sue to be honest I forgot to pop back this afternoon
I love your Wednesday card that background is amazing
Pam I will echo your comments today thank you for keeping us up to date enjoy having your visitors to stay I am sure you will
June ohh no. So sorry to read you are not well I know you had your flu jab so I hope it is just a bad cold mind you that’s bad enough Please take care sweetheart xx
I send my usual good wishes and hugs to everyone
Take care folks
Theresa Gxx

Betty McAlister said...

Hi Sue. Gorgeous bright card. Love your choice of colour. Xx

Pawprintx4 said...

I think Donita got it right...this card reminds me of Mexican tiles. I do love the bright orange with the white.
I watched Julia yesterday and had to buy the background set as I had none of them. Like Pam said, with $10 off, it would have been rude not to go for them. Can't wait to get them. Julia made some fantastic backgrounds for her sample cards. She is fun to watch.
Have a great day, everyone,
Stephanie K
SC/USA

Latenight SandyH said...

Gorgeous card. That background is amazing and the flowers are beautiful.
June, hope you are feeling better soon.
Take care everyone.

CCM said...

Hi Sue,
So bright and beautiful.Love it.Your technique sounds interesting.I am not sure that I will get anything close to this if I try it... Your orange background warmed up the day, thanks.

Warm hugs from cold Toronto to you all,
Still a newbie to Craft / not longer the newest, or the only across the pond Wilsonette
Carmen-Dorothy

Jan.moogie said...

Sue this is amazing and those flowers WOW love them, seems like I need more dies, woohoo. hugs xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Owlish said...

Hi SUE
I love the colours on this card and the layout is gorgeous
JOY Xx

Marie from Longridge said...

Another lovely card Sue. I think that reading all the comments every morning before I do anything else is becoming a habit that I may have to curb. Sometimes I'm still sat at my PC when my Daughter in Wisconsin Skype's me at 12.30 pm. For her of course it's 6.30 am. and we usually chat for half an hour (arn't I lucky!)
June, I hope you are feeling better and I'll send healing hugs to all who need them and perhaps even those who don't LOL
Bye for now.
Marie P.

ursula said...

Wow what an amazing card, those background colours are so vibrant, gorgeous...a great idea to try...a beautiful beautiful card...luv Ursula xxxx

Fikreta said...

its amazing card!