Light Tomorrow With Today

Hello blog friends!  These new dies called Crosses Two are part of the collection on offer this time.  I know it is a very specialised type of die but aren't they lovely (and not just because they have a lattice design to them either!).  I have to say that the type of card that most people tell me they have to make most often besides birthday cards are either wedding or sympathy.  The Crosses Two work beautifully for both of those needs.  I have put them together with the Bitty Blossoms and a couple of my own flowers creations too.  I like the eclectic mix of flowers as I feel it gives a card a bit more interest.   I added a bit of tulle and pearl string from my craft stash too.  I cut two of the crosses, one in a slightly darker shade of grey to act as a shadow.  I added some Diamond Stickles to the left side as a highlight to it.  I know the colours are a bit sedate, but I liked the way the cream and slightly darker shade in the background paper look against the graytones. I finished the card with lots of dots today.  Silver dots on the smaller focal piece and silver  dots on the background edge.  A tiny pearl spray was added to the top to balance the flowers.  A bit different than my usual label shapes, but I hope you like it!  All for now, Sue x

Sewing Collage

Hi guys!  How is this one for different?  From frilly to a grungey-ish distressed sewing card.  One of the die sets that is on the shows are Sewing Elements by Nina Brackett.  Sewing stuff is very popular at the moment and these have been so much fun to play with too.  I got to pull out my stash of fun buttons for this one!  My background paper was kraft card that was printed with a ruler background so I just had to use it!  I did a bit of stamping behind it with some new sewing stamps that are on the show too.  The ornate scissors are part of that set and I stamped and cut them out and mounted them up a bit.  I stamped my sentiment and cut it out with the new Swatch label set.  I used the thread die to cut it out and wrapped it with some twine.  I added a piece of hessian across the background and a selection of matching buttons to create a sort of sewing collage piece.   I finished it off with a big bow from one of my favourite new ribbons, our striped grosgrain.  Not to have a naked bow, I topped it with a large black button and a piece of natural twine.  I did distress all the edges of my card with my scissors, hopefully giving it a more vintage look (at least that was the plan!)  Not my usual style, but I hope you like it!  The shows start today at noon so I hope you will tune in to see the rest of the samples!  All for now, Sue x 

Flowers For A Friend

Good morning all!  Clearly if you like really frilly detailed dies and floral elements, you are going to just love the dies on offer starting Friday at noon on Create and Craft.  I was really in my element with these dies as they are so my taste!  The base of this card was done using a Heartfelt Creations die which is manufactured for them by Spellbinders.  It is a lovely, lacy, intricate die that has so many possibilities!  I have used it here to lace my vintage ribbon through as an accent.  The floral spray up the side is composed of the new Spiral Flower Three and the Bitty Blossom dies.  They look really lovely together too I think.  The spiral flower is a rather large flower compared to the others, but I like the way they work together to give a really pretty spray.  I stamped my sentiment on the pale pink background card and added a spray of pearl swirls.  I used a white pin to do a bit of faux stitching around the top of the card.  I paper pierced the bottom layers of matting to frame the entire card.  Just to let you know, the mix of dies this time is quite varied and not all of them are as frilly as these.  I hope you can tune in and take a look at them, but I will show another peek tomorrow at some that are completely different!  All for now, Sue x

First Sneak Peek

Good morning everyone!  Here is a sneak peek at one of my fav cards from the upcoming shows.  The dies from these shows are quite varied so you are in for a roller coaster ride for the next few weeks in terms of different samples that I will be posting on the blog.  I had hoped to demo this one, but we will not have the micro beads on the shows this time and that is what I have used on the flowers.  This is a relatively clean and simple card but I think that is what appeals to me about it.  It looks very crisp with the white embossed background.  I used the So Trendy Embossibility folder to achieve the chevron looking embossing.  Aptly named because we saw so much at CHA that had a chevron design to it.  I love the way it looks as it gives a really nice deep emboss.  I used a strip of green polka dot paper from KaiserCraft for my background accent piece, with a small black mat to set it off a bit.  I made two flowers using the new Spiral Three flower die template, but I beaded them over the raspberry coloured card with the micro beads.   You can see a better pic below in the close up of these.  I added an accent from one of the Heartfelt Creations dies that comes with their rose die.  The leaves I used are from the Bitty Blossoms dies that are also on the show.  I added some black rhinestone swirls, the sentiment and pierced around the edge to finish it off. 

Beaded Lattice

Good morning my friends!  I am headed back home today and I'm back on C & C on the 30th for the POTW shows.  I thought I would wrap up the parade of lattice cards this week with one of my favourite ones.  For this one, I started with the Regal embossibility folder for my background.  I layered it up on a couple of pieces of card (milk colour) that I scored around the edge instead of piercing just for a change.  I used the same embossing folder, but the other design on it this time, for the piece of gold card behind my lattice motif.  This is the same lovely gold from a few days ago, but again, it just doesn't photograph very flattering.  I cut two Damask motifs and added them to the two opposite corners.   I used the adhesive sheets on a piece of milk coloured card and then cut out the lattice motif, peeled the backing paper off and poured the clear micro beads over it.  I cut a Moroccan accent out of the gold card to layer up between.  I then stamped my sentiment

and covered it with my adhesive sheet, cut the lattice accent piece, then peeled off the backing sheet and covered this piece with clear micro beads as well.  I cut three Moroccan borders and made two flowers from them by rolling and gathering them using redline tape to stick them.  I added some gold leafs cut using the damask accents.  I tied a large bow using the new gold silky crush ribbon and added a gold button from my craft stash.   A couple of decorative pearl pins finished off the bow as well as the card.  Hopefully the past three days posts have given you some completely different ideas for my lattice motifs and accent dies.  Hope you have enjoyed them.  I still have several cards that I haven't posted yet from previous shows, but I think it is time tomorrow for a sneak peek for the shows that I will be doing starting Friday at noon.  If you want to have a peek, be sure to check back tomorrow morning!  All for now, Sue x

Patterned Lattice

 Hi everyone!  Another lattice sample for today!  I wanted to see how it looked with decorative papers this time.  I stamped my sentiment then I cut the lattice motif out of some blue patterned paper (I believe these papers are actually Stampin' Up papers from my craft stash) and matted it on a faux nestie of cream card that I made by tracing around the die itself and hand cutting it out.  Use a bit of 400 grit sandpaper to take off any rough spots. using a coordinating decorative paper, I cut some of the Moroccan accents pieces and four corners.  I used the corners to hold hands with the accent piece.  I mounted this atop my lattice motif and mounted the sentiment on the very top.  I used a bit of black soot ink to highlight the sentiment before taking it out of the die too.  Using a piece of cream crocheted ribbon, I wrapped it across the middle of the card over some decorative striped card.  I cut one Moroccan border and cut it into pieces to tuck under my crochet ribbon on both sides.  I made a couple of ribbon roses out of the white silky crush ribbon using my redline tape technique.  I used a piece of white seam binding which I dyed to match my paper with tumbled glass distress ink and a tiny piece of white grosgrain ribbon to make a messy bow base for my flowers.  I put four large half pearls in the corners and filled in the edge between them with pearl PVA glue dots.  I rather like the contrast between the large corners and the small dots myself.  What do you think of the patterned paper look?  All for now, Sue x

Kraft Lattice

Morning all!  I was trying to create a completely different look with my Lattice dies with this one.  I have used mostly black card and  kraft card, coupled with a few other natural elements.  I stamped my sentiment on kraft card and cut it with the lattice motif die and inked through the die with black soot distress ink to bring out both the lattice pattern and highlight the sentiment.  I cut another one from black card and cut it in half to mount to the outside edge as a shadow accent.  I used a patterned kraft card as a background and did a messy sewn edge on it, overlapping the lines a few times.  I cut a piece of hessian and removed some of the strands to loosen the weave and mounted it behind my focal element.  I had several grungeboard swirls in my craft stash.  I painted them with black Eco-Green brand paint and mounted them on the bottom of my card.  I added three flowers, one was made from cotton hemp ribbon which I fringed before rolling.  One was made from the new silky crush ribbon which I rolled and the last one was one of our zipper flowers.  I used some of the suede leaves with them.  The entire piece was matted on to black card which I added some black PVA glue dots around the edge as a frame and accent.  Hopefully this may appeal to those of you which like a little edgier style.  I liked the fact that the dies could work well in this style as well as others.

It's Sunday so you know what that means!  Sunday Comment Game Winners!  Today's winning names that were drawn were:

CraftygasheadZo!!!
Christine Hussey!!!
Jane Stillman!!!
Ladies, you must email me at americansue1@gmail.com to confirm your address and claim your prize!  Thanks to everyone for leaving such amazing comments, I really appreciate them!  All for now, Sue x
 All for now, Sue x

A Variation On The Fancy Nesty Tutorial

Hi guys! Today's card is a variation on the fancy nesty tutorial that I did last month.  Using the large Splendid Circle die, I taped it in place at the centre edge of a piece of card that was cut to 8" x 11" with a score for folding in the middle.  I scored the card at the centre of the die above and below the die to the edge of the card.  After placing it on my base plate, I covered the die with the cutting plate only up to the score lines.  In other words, half of the die was left uncovered as I ran it through the machine.  This allowed half of the die to be cut all the way through the card, while the other half was left uncut.  I used my tan mat to cover and emboss the entire die.  Using a ruler and a craft knife (and a craft mat underneath), I cut the section of the front of the card where I scored the line, leaving the rounded half circle that was originally cut by the die.  I used several of the Damask accents to cut shapes out of the card behind the embossed section of the circle die.  These cut out the piece, but I put them back into place and taped the edges from behind so they would leave a pretty embossed design in the front of my card.  I added a background piece of card to hide the tape when finished.  I also cut a damask border so it would peek out from behind my backing piece as an accent.  I used the same border to emboss the design on the inside of the card also.  I cut one of the Moroccan accents to layer up on the circle.  I stamped my sentiment and cut it out with the smallest splendid circle and layered it on top of the circle focal element.  This one is definitely a card you could use for anyone.  Change the dies, colours and sentiment and it could be for any occasion you chose.  All for now, Sue x

Another Concertina Card

Hi everyone!  I wanted to do another accordion (sorry, concertina) type card when I made this one.  I had previously done this type of card using the lace doily die set last year.  I thought that the new Moroccan dies would look great that way also, but I wanted to keep the card a bit more simple this time.  I am always restricted to what I can use to make samples with depending what is on any given show.  This card I think really needed some scrolly stamp on the bottom part of it, but alas, I did not have any to use.  It looks a bit empty to me so I wasn't completely happy with the finished card  but not quite orphan status either!  In hindsight, I think I should have moved my sentiment to the bottom and just made a fancy medallion on the top, oh well!  What I really liked was this paper which did not photograph well at all.  The bottom card is the prettiest shade of metallic gold that I have ever seen.  It is some discontinued Scrapbook Sally card that I had and I love it.  I am not big on metallics at all.  They just seem to over power whatever I use them on, but this has the most luxurious understated gold shimmer I have ever seen.  Such a shame you cannot get the true sense of the colour from my pic. It almost looks like Kraft card in the picture.   The striped background paper has a similar gold stripe in it as well.  Please use your imagination here!

As for the topper, I cut two of the large Moroccan motifs and folded them by scoring down all the sections.  You cut to the centre and then fold it back and forth all the way around.  Do two like this and glue them together to get your base for the topper.  I used several pieces of foam on top of it before adding my next piece which was a smaller Moroccan die cut out of the gold card.  Next I stamped my sentiment and cut it out with one of the tiny Moroccan dies and added it to the top.  I wrapped some sheer ribbon around a piece of cream card and put it through the ribbon buckle (I wished I had used the micro beads on it as I think that would have looked very pretty here)  I used my ribbon piece as a divider between my sections.  I added some black swirls to the top and bottom of my focal element.  Paper pierced the edge to complete the card.  I hope you can use the topper idea and make a card that really siongs to you!

While I am on the subject of paper piercing, I have been getting quite a few emails asking me about it.  I use the Tim Holtz design ruler which has holes in it.  I line it up with the edge of the card that I am going to pierce and I anchor the ruler to my the outside of my card using push pins stuck into my foam mat.  You have to have a foam mat under your card so the needle on your piercing tool has somewhere to go as it pokes through your card.  I always start two holes in from the edge and end two holes in from the edge.  I find that this gives the most even edge around my card.  It doesn't always line up perfectly, especially if your cutter is a bit wonky like mine.  Sometimes I will have to make small adjustments as I go along so it will come up even at the end.  I always hold the ruler as I go even though it is anchored too as there is always a tiny bit of play in it. 

The other question that I have been asked a lot is about the stamps.  I am connected to Creative Expressions and all the producst that I use (unless I state it is from my craft stash) are from Creative Expressions, including every stamp set I use.  The one exception is the decorative papers.  If you are interested in where to purchase any of the other products, you can go on their website and look up the product and they will list the retailers that have purchased those products from them.   There are several competing distributors that carry the same products for retailers, such as Spellbinders and Ranger products.    If you like what I do, please support me and ask your local retailers to order the products I use from Creative Expressions.   Please feel free to email me if you have any other questions.  All for now, Sue x

Sunshine And Laughter

Hi everyone!  I thought that I had already posted this card, but I can't seem to find it on the blog anywhere.  I really like the simplicity of this design, but yet it still has some fun stuff that I love too (ribbon, beads, flowers, swirls, etc.)  I started by embossing the background with an embossibility folder.  Then I added a strip of gingham paper in a sort of tattered rose shade.  I stamped my sentiment on the gingham, taking care to get it straight.  You really have to be careful when stamping on anything lined as it will easily give away any crookedness!  I cut a lattice border out of milk coloured card which I used to separate the two pieces of my background.  I wrapped some cream seam binding across the two near the bottom and added a big messy bow that I sprayed with water and scrunched for a shabby chic look.  Using a couple of shades that matched my background, I made some beaded rolled flowers.  I covered each piece of the card with a piece of the self adhesive sheets, then I cut a large circle and spiral cut it all the way to the centre.  I peeled off the backing paper and added a small punched circle to the centre then dipped it in my micro beads.  The reason I added the small punched centre is bow.  I cut four damask accent leaves and inked then with antique linen while in the die.  I added these as accents to my floral element.  I added a large pearl swirl across my embossed background.  Finally, I finished my card by added Cosmic Shimmer pearl PVA glue dots around the edge.  I have included a close up of the beaded flowers for you to see below.  Hope you like it!  All for now, Sue x

Gold And Black Joy

Good morning ladies and gentlemen! Too formal?  I'm looking for a new greeting or two as it keeps it a bit more interesting long term.  What do you think?  I have gone back to the decorative background paper that I fell in love with from Hobby Lobby in the States.  If your colour isn't great on your monitor, this set of papers is all in black and gold, mostly non metallic, but there are a few of them that have some metallic gold in them too.  I love the fact that the pattern is small, perfect for card making.  I see many papers that I like but the pattern is always so large that it becomes difficult to use on a card.  I would love these paper manufacturers to start doing smaller patterns, maybe it's just me though. 

 I split the background in to three panels with two small side panels and one large panel in the centre.  I cut two different dies of the ribbon buckle set, one marge and one smaller.  I fed the ribbon through one side of the larger one first, then through the entire smaller buckle, then through the other side of the larger buckle.  The ribbon ends were secured around the back of the centre panel only.  I cut two damask borders to go along the sides of the two smaller side panels.  I stamped my sentiment and cut it out with the large Splendid circle die.  I inked it slightly with antique linen, which is actually lighter than the colour of card that I used, but it becomes a shadow on it more than a distinct colour which I like.  I cut a slightly larger circle in black as a mat  (you could use the splendid circle to make a faux mat if you don't have the right size of  circle to use).  I mounted them both on 3D foam above my ribbon and buckles.  No paper piercing today, but rather decided to use the new gold Cosmic Shimmer PVA glue to make dots around the edge to complete my card.  Hope you like it, it's an easy one, but a useful general layout for any occasion.  All for now, Sue x

I Like Your Style

Good morning my friends!  I'm switching styles today to show you one of the new vintage dressform cards that I have done.  These will be featured on Create and Craft on March 24th in a show that Julia Watts is doing for Creative Expressions.  I made this card the last time I was at my Mom's but couldn't show it then as we hadn't released the stamps or the clear micro beads!  So much that I had to keep to myself then, but alas, no more!  Unfortunately we are out of stock on the micro beads but hope to have some more in stock in time for Ally Pally! Keeping our fingers crossed for them!  I used a lovely new embossing folder for this card.  It is called vintage dressform and it is made by Couture Creations, which is a line that we are now carrying.  I embossed it then went over the top lightly with some Tattered Rose distress ink to give it a hint of colour.  I distressed the edges of the card with my scissors and used a bit of Antique Linen around the edges. I stamped my sentiment in the upper corner.   I pierced the mat layer below it and background sorted!  I stamped my dressform using a black archival ink pad, placed a piece of our self adhesive sheet over it and cut the image out.  You can see through these sheets so it isn't too difficult to do.  I peeled back the liner and dipped it into my clear micro beads.  I mounted it up on some 3D foam pieces in the corner of my background.  You can see the micro beads nicely in the close up below.  I made a shabby chic bow using the vintage ribbon in raw silk colour and scrunched it up using a bit of a water spritz.  I added a button and two crystal stick pins and attached it to my card with glue dots.  I added a spray of swirly pearlies across the card for an accent and voila, I was done.  The entire card was done in a flash.  Great if you need one in a hurry! Don't forget to tune in to see what Julia does with these stamps on the 24th!  All for now, Sue x