Orphan Cards

Hi there bloggers!  This is probably the most controversial post I do all year, but it is sort of a tradition that on the last day of the year, I post what I call my orphan cards.  These are some of the cards that I made throughout the year that just didn't sing to me when there were done.  Sometimes, I have a vision in my head of what I think they will look like and they just don't.  Sometimes, the colours aren't working together for some reason.  Often, I just didn't have something to work with that could have made the difference.  Whatever it is, here are my Orphan cards for 2013.  They never made the blog because I wasn't happy enough with them, but they need a good home, someone to love them and nurture them.  So if you would like a chance to win my Orphan Cards, please leave me a comment today and I will draw a winner and post the name on Friday.  I do want to say, however, that I leave for Florida on Thursday so the task of posting these out has fallen to a coworker.  She may or may not be able to find every one of these cards so it may be a partial shipment this year.  What do you say, do you want to be a foster parent?

One more quick note before I wrap up the year.  Many of you will remember that I did a demo up in Scotland this past July.  I got a lovely email this week from both The Papeterie in Aberdeen and the charity called Archway that we raised money for.  It seems that we not only hit the target goal of raising £5,000, but we smashed it to bits and raised over £7,000!!!  That is due to both the efforts of the small staff at The Papeterie (four people) and their special money raising events, the charity card auction we did on the blog as well as all the DVD's that were sold from the demo day in July.    I want to say a great big thank you for all of your help to surpass that remarkable goal!  The monies raised will allow Archway to maintain the services and opportunities it provides for it's respite care.  I can't thank you enough!  You are an amazing bunch!   All for now, Sue x

Oops A Daisy

Hello bloggers!  I have had a few requests to show this one on the blog so here it is.  I have to admit that I am rather fond of this one myself, but I just love black and white cards.  I stamped the open daisy from the Taylored Expressions Oops A Daisy set on coconut white card with a black archival ink pad.  Next I covered it with a sticky adhesive sheet.  I peeled the backing paper away and then covered it with Iced Snow for a blingy effect.  You can see it nicely in the close ups below.  Next I cut a Grand Square frame and I used one of the in between sizes to emboss a bit of detail into the frame.I added mounting foam to the back of the frame.   I cut four of the Filigree corner die from Becca Feeken and attached them to the underside of the square frame.  I attached the frame over my blingy stamped background and trimmed off any excess around the edge.  Next I stamped my sentiment from the set and cut the ends into a fork and matted it with a thin black mat.  I glued it into place across my frame.  I stamped two of the daisies using a clear perfect medium pad and heat embossed them with white detail powder.  I cut them out with the matching die set and adhered them to the edge of the frame, slightly overlapping my sentiment tag and each other.  I added some small 3mm flatback pearls to the centres and some Diamond Sprinkles.  I made a double white pierced mat for the card to frame and finish it nicely.  Finished dimensions are 7 3/4" x 7 3/4" in size.  All for now, Sue x

Turn Your Face To The Sun

Good Sunday morning!  How about this one for a sunny way to start the day!  I just love this sunflower set, I remember the first time I ever saw a sunflower growing in a field and I couldn't believe how big it was, I was in absolute awe over it!  I had a bit of a play with the background on this one.  I'm sure you can spot it but I used the shaving foam technique to achieve this one.  I used Wild Honey, and Bundled Sage reinkers on the shaving foam.  I swirled it with the back end of a paintbrush until I was happy with the pattern, then dipped my white card stock into it.  I used a ruler to wipe away the excess foam to reveal the pretty pattern left by my swirls in the foam.  I dried it good, then stamped the Moroccan Lattice background stamp over it using a clear Perfect Medium pad.  I heat embossed it with white detail powder.  I wrapped a piece of moss green vintage ribbon around the side of the card and taped the ends to the back.  Next, I stamped my sentiment on white card and cut it out with the Vintage Bracket and Labels dies by Becca Feeken, making sure that the sentiment was to the right of the label shape.  I inked it with Wild Honey Distress ink while it was still in the die.  I stamped my sunflower, coloured it with Distress markers and cut it out by hand.  I mounted it on foam and attached it to the left of my sentiment. I cut a tag from the same set and used it to peek over the top and bottom of my label shape before attaching the piece to the centre of my card.  I tied a messy bow out of the vintage ribbon, added a Bakers Twine bow and finished with a light brown Dazzler in the centre.  I finished the card with a double white mat with my signature paper pierced inner layer. Don't forget, if you like it, you can pin it to your Pinterest boards.  The button is at the bottom of the post.   Finished dimensions are 6 3/4" x 8" in size.

Now for the Sunday Comment Game winners.  This week's winners are:

Tracy Stitt!!!
Janette MacArthur!!!
Ros Hodgkins!!!

Congratulations all!  Please email me at americansue1@gmail.com to confirm your address and claim your prize.  All for now, Sue x

You Are On My Mind

Hi crafters!  This card shows a different way to use your stamps to create unique background looks.  I started with the Lavish Corner background by Justrite Stamps.  Using the Picket Fence Distress stain, I dabbed it all over the background stamp.  This gives you a less defined look to your stamps than say a dye ink or even a heat embossed image, but none the less useful.   I stamped it on black card for a sort of faux chalkboard look to it. On any other colour card, it would look very much like a water coloured background.  Next I cut it into three strip and mounted it with foam on a piece of white card (I did leave a small edge of the black card around the image so it looks as if it was matted with black before cutting into threes).  Next I stamped my sentiment from the What Defines Us set and used the pretty flourish under it.  I cut it out with the Vintage Labels Six die set.  I cut a frame for it using two sizes in the Vintage Labels Five in Ruby Red card.  I cut an inside frame for it using the next size down in the set and cutting it from black card.  I mounted it with foam pieces over the sentiment.  I accented the card with some melted flowers made from white silky crush ribbon leftover pieces, topped with a black pearl in the centres.  I added a small bow tied from black jute twine and scattered the flowers across the card in a diagonal.  The card was finished with a red mat, then a double white pierced mat and some flatback pearls.  Finished dimensions are 7 1/4" x 8" in size.  All for now, Sue x

Bless Your Heart

 Hello bloggers!  I hope everyone is well rested and relaxed after a few days of holiday cheer!  I know that I am!  Today's card is a quick little number that uses the Vintage Alphabet Soup Background by Justrite Stamps.  I stamped it on black card with a clear Perfect Medium pad, then heat embossed it with black detail powder.  I cut an Elegant Labels Four frame out of periwinkle card and glued it to the stamped background.  I stamped the sentiment from the What Defines Us stamp set and cut it out with an oval die.  I used a blue felt tipped pen and dotted all around it to add some detail.  I matted it with Vintage Labels Five in periwinkle.  I added some detail to the focal element with the Vintage Bracket and Label die cut in coconut white card.  Using some of the blue felt from the Blossom felt pack, I made two small rolled flowers with flatback pearl centres.  I used the leaves from the Bitty Blossom die set as accents.  I matted the piece with a thin white mat then a black mat before adding the double white pierced mat. Flatback pearls in the corners and focal element were added as finishing touches.  The finished dimensions are 6 1/2" x 8" in size.

Discover Your Wings

 Happy Boxing Day my crafty friends!  I don't know about you , but I certainly ate way too much yesterday!  It was really nice, though,  to see that so many of you were able to take a few minutes to stop by the blog yesterday, I really appreciated that.  I selected this card today because I was in the Coleman's warehouse in Rushden on Sunday and happened to meet Ann, the lovely lady that won the card on C & C when I demoed it.  She had the card with her, in fact, and was bringing it in to show the staff there.  It really made my day to see that she was so chuffed to have won it!  Thank you Ann for giving it a good home!  It really is a very clean and simple styled card, and flat for easy posting!  I stamped my sentiment on a piece of coconut white card (it is from the Oops A Daisy set by Taylored Expressions) using a black archival ink pad.  Next I stamped the butterfly from the Taylored Expressions set called Discover Your Wings.  I made a mask out of a post-it note, covered the butterfly and then stamped two more, one on each side of the original, slightly overlapping the first one.  I coloured all three of the butterflies with Distress Markers, using a waterbrush to lighten the colours a bit.  I used a fine tipped black felt pen to dot a butterfly trail to the edge of the card.  I covered the card with a piece of sticky self adhesive sheet and trimmed it to the edge of the card.  I peeled the backing paper off and covered the entire card with Diamond Sprinkles for a soft bling to the card.  You can catch a bit of it in some of the close ups below.  I finished the card with a double white mat with a pierced inner layer.  Finished dimensions are 6 1/2" x 8 1/4" in size.  All for now, Sue x