Quilled flower pot!

Ok, I've been really busy working on a quilling tutorial but I've managed to put together a quick card today with some of the quilled flowers I've been making. I love this color combination of turquoise, yellow and white, so fresh!

The polka dot paper is from The Digichick. The scallop square was ready made. I used Creative Inspirations Paint in turquoise to stamp the text background. This paint is just great for stamping, I used a fine sponge to dab it on, you need very little. This turquoise color is really vibrant. I drew a little sketch for the pot shape and used it as a template to cut out the patterned paper.

The quilled flowers were really simple too, check out my previous tutorial for the large daisy flower. The smaller daisies are just the centre of the larger flower repeated. The small flowers are simple heart shapes. The stems are crimped quilling strips in scrolls and loops. I added a little stitching detail on the sewing machine around the edges and I added a little tag and organza ribbon to finish. Quick and fresh!

Supplies:

Paper/Cardstock: White card, Polka dot paper from Girl's Best Friend Paper Pack by Quirky Twerp from the Digichick, white scallop square
Stamps: Anna Griffin In the Garden
Paints: Creative Inspirations Paint Turquoise
Other: Quilling papers in pistachio, daffodil, white and yellow, quilling slotted tool, quilling crimping tool, glue, foam pads, double sided tape, white thread, sewing machine, scissors, yellow organza ribbon.

Shimmer butterfly...

I had so much fun making this card, I love butterflies, a touch of pink and of course a little shimmer! It's for the Creative Inspirations DT sketch challenge, have a look at the Creative Inspirations blog for all the other amazing cards created by the design team.

The great butterfly shape is a template from Cardmaking & Papercraft Magazine Issue 76. The lovely floral pink paper and the stripe paper are Granny's Parlour digital papers from The Shabby Princess. I used Creative Inspirations paint in Pink Highlights to paint some of the stripes. I love the color Tutu Pink, such a perfect pink! I used this to pick out the details in the floral paper. I used this same paper to make the butterfly. The smaller butterfly is a piece of lace between two layers of white tissue paper with PVA. The text paper is from an old Wildflowers book that I scanned and printed. I used a little green blending chalk on it and sponged some Evergreen paint on the edges. I used the same green to stamp the sentiment.

I wanted the butterfly a little larger so I came up with idea of using loops of pink satin ribbon to add a little more to the butterfly wings. I attached these with double sided tape. I used Tutu pink again to paint some white flat backed pearls. I painted a few strips of white quilling paper in Pink Highlights paint, left to dry and made a few quilled scrolls.

I added a little stitching detail in pink on the sewing machine. I used a scallop cutters for the edges of the pink floral paper, I didn't stick these down flat, I lifted them up slightly (like the wings of a butterfly), this way you catch a little shimmer from every angle! I carefully painted two lines of Blush paint next to the stitching. I added a few more pearls and some ribbon to finish!

Supplies:

Cardstock/ Paper: White card, digital papers from Granny's Parlour at The Shabby Princess, scanned paper from vintage wildflowers book printed
Stamps: Anna Griffin sentiments
Paints: Creative Inspirations Paints in Pink Highlights, Tutu Pink, Blush and Evergreen
Other: Blending chalks, sponge, scissors, scallop cutter, paint brush, glue, double-sided tape, pink thread,  sewing machine, foam pads, flat backed pearls, white quilling paper, quilling tool, tweezers, sage green stitched ribbon, dusky rose satin ribbon, piece of lace, white tissue paper, PVA, butterfly template from Cardmaking & Papercraft Magazine Issue 76.

Teapot card

Yes, it is a teapot shaped card! I made this for The Shabby Tearoom challenge 'Embrace the white' (you could use white or cream and one other subtle color). I decided to go with cream and a pale sage color. I had been playing around with some teacup and teapot shapes anyway, so I thought I'd go with that theme. * (My card made it into the Terrific Top 3 at The Shabby Tearoom! So delighted.) *

I sketched a simple teapot shape and enlarged it on the computer. I used this as a template to make my card base. Once I had the shape cut out I added the striped sage paper at the top and bottom of the card. I softened the edges with a little pale green blending chalk. I used Creative Inspirations Paint in Winter Frost and added a little detail to the edges with a paint brush. The shimmer really added that little something extra to the card. I gathered a piece of cream lace by hand and glued it to the card, I attached a little garden twine over this to make it a little more secure.

I stamped the Anna Griffin sentiment in sage and softened the edges with chalk and added the same detail with the Creative Inspirations shimmer paint around the edges. I made a couple of tabs from pale green satin ribbon and attached some old buttons on top. I added a couple of bows, a piece of fringed trim and some flat backed pearls to finish. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out!

Supplies:

Cardstock/paper: Pearl cream card, green stripe digital paper from the Digichick
Stamps: Anna Griffin sentiment
Ink: Versa Magic Sage
Paint: Creative Inspirations Paint Winter Frost
Other: Lace, pale green satin ribbon, buttons, blending chalks, fringe trim in cream, flat backed pearls, garden twine, double sided tape, paint brush, glue, scissors, blade or scalpel.

Some real vintage cards

I was going through one of the boxes my gran left us after she passed away (a long time ago now) and discovered a lovely collection of old cards in a fabric covered box. I love looking at old cards to see how the styles have changed over the years. Anyway I thought I'd share a few of them with you, so I scanned a few of them.

I love the text in this one, really thoughtful. 'Keep the joy of spring-time ever in your heart, and in the sun of gladness may the shadows all depart.' The color combinations are really striking too and I love the flower selection, some of my favourites primroses, bluebells, forget-me-nots and even some buttercups! A really lovely card.

I had to include this one because my gran just loved dogs, especially Scotty dogs and Old English Sheepdogs.

The illustration is really nice in this card, really cute. The text again quite thoughtful with real meaning behind it.

There is some really lovely detail in this fine illustration. The black print is slightly raised with almost an embossed feel to it. I love the way the gate is open in the image, leading you into the card. The colors are really subtle, which give it an elegant feel. Exquisite.

I had to put this one in because I just love roses. This image is just gorgeous, I love it. The colors are really soft and warm, quite a romantic card. I like the way they used the deep red ribbon to pick up the color of the red roses.

It's funny how trends repeat themselves eventually, here we have sweet birds, fresh blossoms, lace detail and scallop edging! I really like the shape and layout of this card, I can see the slight Art Deco influence of the period. This card is just as interesting on the inside as it is on the outside!

I hope you enjoyed looking at these cards as much as I did. We can learn quite a lot from the past. I'm very grateful to my gran for keeping these lovely cards. They're in such great condition too. I will treasure them, as much, I'm sure as she did.

Paper pieced Spring flowers!

I did say I was loving paper piecing, so here's my next creation using this technique. It's also for the Picking up the pieces challenge at Moxie Fab World . I used Button Flowers digital stamp by Nina Brackett as a template for the flowers, the fab papers are from Mind's Eye Spring papers pack that came with Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine UK (Issue 75). I made quite a few cards using these papers and I still have loads left! I simply cut out each petal in a different paper and glued them onto some white card. Once dry I cut them out and bent the petals forward to give them a 3D effect.

The butterflies background paper is a digital paper from the Ready for Spring set at the Digichick. The base card is white card and I used some blending chalks to add color. The sentiment I did on the computer and printed out. I used a light blue blending chalk on the edges. I added a little detail to the polka dot paper with a scallop cutter.

I added a little stitched detail on the sewing machine around the edges of the card, on the stems and leaves.  I hand-stitched the circles as the flower centres because it would have been a little tricky on the machine! I added a little pale blue (almost turquoise) grosgrain ribbon, some buttons and a little garden twine to finish.


Supplies:


Stamps: Button Flowers digital stamp by Nina Brackett at Squigglefly
Cardstock/ Paper: White card, Ready for Spring set at the Digichick, Mind's Eye Spring papers pack that came with Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine UK (Issue 75)
Other: Blending chalks, foam pads, glue, scissors, pink thread, sewing machine, scallop cutter, pale blue/ turquoise grosgrain ribbon, text printed out from printer, garden twine, buttons.

April Showers...

Well it rained a lot yesterday, all day in fact and it reminded me of what my mom always says at this time of year, 'April showers bring forth May flowers'. So that was my inspiration for this fun card!

I thought I'd try my hand at a little paper piecing, LOVING IT! You'll definitely be seeing more of that from me. I first discovered it at Moxie Fab World . The umbrella is made up of different pieces of paper from the Mind's Eye Spring papers pack that came with Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine UK (Issue 75). The background papers are from the Ready for Spring set at the Digichick, the umbrella shape is also from this set. I really love the raindrops paper, it was just perfect for this card.

Of course I had to add a little quilling, I was going to use some digital flower stamps but I thought these cute quilled flowers worked better. I picked the colors out from the umbrella. I wanted the quilled flowers to really stand out so I picked a similar tone as the background paper for the foliage, I used my crimping tool for the foliage. I added the butterfly at the end, I made it from two heart shapes and an eye shape, I squished it around a little until I got the right shape! The text I just printed out and added some soft blending around the edges with chalks.

I added a little sewing detail around the edges on the sewing machine. The base card is white and I used blending chalks to pick up the colors of the papers to color the frame. I used a soft scallop at the bottom of the card. I added a little pale green satin ribbon to finish.

With all the rain we had and with sunshine forecast for the weekend, I'm hoping for lots of May flowers in the garden!

Supplies:

Cardstock/ Paper: White card, Ready for Spring set at the Digichick, Mind's Eye Spring papers pack that came with Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine UK (Issue 75)
Other: Blending chalks, foam pads, glue, scissors, quilling papers, quilling slotted tool, quilling crimping tool, white thread, sewing machine, scallop cutter, pale green satin ribbon, text printed out from printer.

Simple Quilled flower Tutorial

How to make a simple Quilled Daisy 

As a lot of people are new to quilling I thought it was best to start with something simple. This simple daisy is very easy to make and can be created in a variety of colors to embellish your cards. I prefer to glue it together before I add it to the card, as it’s easier to move around until you get your layout right. If you find making the coils a little tedious try making them while you are watching TV, this is great if you have a lot to make, I keep mine on a little plastic box lid, you will be surprised how many you can make in an hour! With all your coils made you can go and enjoy making your card!

Tools and Materials 

Quilling paper – standard width (1/8”) 

Quilling slotted tool 

Tweezers (it saves a lot of frustration!) 

Glue stick (I use this for gluing the coil closed as it dries faster) 

PVA (for gluing the quilled elements together) 

Damp cloth or baby wipe (for keeping your hands glue free!) 

How to Make 

1. To make the coil, I usually use half a strip of paper. Place the end of the paper into the slot; roll the tool with one hand while keeping the strip taut with the other hand.  

2. When you reach the end allow the coil to loosen slightly like a spring then remove it from the tool. 

3. Glue the coil closed with the glue stick (you can use a toothpick to apply the glue if you want), hold in place gently with the tweezers for a few seconds until nearly dry.

4. Make five coils of the same size in your chosen color. These will make your five petals.

5. To make the coils into teardrop shapes simply pinch them at the glued joint (you can do this with the tweezers if you want), this also helps to hide the join. Make five teardrop shapes from the coils you made.

6. Make a peg shape in yellow by rolling a tight coil (you don't release it before gluing) using a 1/2 strip of paper, then glue it closed while it's still on the tool. Gently ease off the peg from the tool.

7. Now you have all the components for the daisy made, they should look like this. 

8. On a piece of acetate or any non-stick surface, arrange the teardrop shapes evenly to make the daisy, glue two petals together using a tiny dot of PVA, then glue the remaining three together. 

9. Once the two sections are nearly dry glue them together, there should be no big gap in the centre. 

10. To finish add a dot of PVA to the centre of the flower and add the yellow centre on top. 

After making a few coils you'll soon get into a rhythm of doing it, you'll probably develop your own style of making them too. Lots of people are curious about quilling, I hope you'll give this simple flower a try, quilling is such a great craft to learn and great to use in your card making. Have fun!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! This is my first year having a little Easter tree at home, we'll definitely do it again next year because we had so much fun making all the decorations and it looks so cheery in the kitchen!

I got the branches from my mom's garden and trimmed them a little into shape. Most of the decorations are made from salt dough (you could use clay if you want) but I wanted to use what I had around the place. I used a small cookie cutter to cut out the shape for the gingham and quilled decorations. For the others, I drew the shapes on paper and then made a template from a sheet of foam. I cut around these on the dough with a kitchen knife. I used a small flower fondant cutter on the bird ornament to achieve the pattern. Once they had dried out and cooled after being in the oven I gave everything a base coat of white paint (I used acrylic paint but emulsion is good too.) You can then paint them whatever color you want and seal them with a coat of PVA or varnish when you're finished decorating them. The gingham is tissue paper with a gingham pattern on it that I brushed on to the shape with PVA. I used paper daisies and daffodils to decorate some of the ornaments. I made a few quilled flowers in pink and white to attach to the gingham shapes.

The fluffy pearly egg ornaments (Isabelle's favourite!) are real eggs but I'm not too good at blowing eggs so I carefully cut a small cap off them ( I used the contents of course! We made the little cupcakes) I painted them white, then added a coat of Creative Inspirations shimmer paint and a little glitter dust. I glued a strip of picot ribbon to the inside then carefully hid the missing cap with some fluffy trim!

There's one of my little quilled Easter cards there with one of my gran's teacups and some primroses from the garden. In the large image there's a matching gingham origami box that I added a little ribbon handle to.

Hope everyone has a lovely Easter...

Vintage bunny card

I forgot I had this vintage bunny picture on my computer, I downloaded it ages ago. I thought it would be perfect for a vintage inspired Easter card. I also made this for the 'Lets Get Scrappy' Week #3 challenge at The Shabby Tea Room.

I raided my bits and pieces box for the background papers, lace and ribbon. I focused on peach and gold tones to give this card a nice warm feel. I added some stitching detail using the sewing machine in warm gold thread. The stamped green frame is from Anna Griffin In the Garden set. I painted the outer frame in Autumn Wheat Creative Inspirations paint.

The bow detail is a piece of lace gathered in the centre, a satin bow on top and a little bow made from a piece of garden twine. I sewed these together by hand to make them a bit more secure before adding them to the card.

The sentiment is from Studio G and I used blending chalks to soften the edges. I used foam pads to add the sentiment and layered bunny image to the card.

I really like how it turned out, I have a real soft spot for bunnies (who doesn't) and it was a really nice image to work with.

Supplies:

Stamps: Anna Griffin In the Garden, Studio G Clear stamps

Ink: Versa Magic Tea Leaves

Paint: Autumn Wheat Creative Inspirations Paint

Card/Paper: White card, Anna Griffin Paper pack Old Paris Palette, floral paper Sugarplum Paperie Tiny Princess at the Digichick

Other: Scraps of lace, braid trim, peach satin ribbon, blending chalks, foam pads, glue, scissors, needle and thread, soft gold thread, sewing machine, garden twine.

A few of my paintings!

I'm not sure if I mentioned it before but I love to paint. I used to be a full time artist before my darling Isabelle came along. The style of painting I do is photo realism, it's quite time consuming and requires a lot of hours and daylight. At the moment I don't have the time it requires to commit to it but I will definitely return to it in the future. 

That's why I started making cards, it fulfills my creative needs but doesn't demand hours of work. I can pop over to my desk and do half an hour here and there, and I get a good bit done when Isabelle goes to bed.  I'm really enjoying it!

Anyway, I thought I'd give you a little taste of my paintings. As you can see I love painting roses and garden scenes. I've visited a lot of beautiful gardens all around Ireland and I've a great collection of photos. If you'd like to see more of my paintings I have an online portfolio at Artvitae.

Bouquet Card

I made this card for the CIDT color challenge at Creative Inspirations. Lavender, green and yellow were the colors in the challenge, a really nice combination. Check out the Creative Inspirations blog here to see all the other amazing creations by the CIDT. This card is also for SFC #42 Flower Power at Squigglefly.

I decided to make a birthday card with a cute bouquet of flowers attached to the card. I love the Button Flowers digital stamp set by Nina Brackett at Squigglefly, so many uses! I printed five flowers onto white card and painted them using Creative Inspirations paint. I wanted a nice tonal range in the colors of the flowers, so I used three different shades of paint, Light Purple, Lavender and Amethyst. I used Mellow Yellow for the buttons, such a lovely soft color! I painted the tips of each flower in Amethyst. When they were dry I cut them out and gently pushed the petals forward to give them a 3D look. I painted some wooden skewers and the leaves in Evergreen for the stems.

For the card itself I used lavender card as the base and added the polka dot digital papers to the top and bottom, I used a strip of satin ribbon to cover the join. On the sewing machine, I went around the edges in lavender thread.

For the bouquet holder, I just cut out a triangle of lavender card, folded the sides and added some tabs to attach it to the card. I covered this in a paper doily that I painted in Lavender Creative Inspirations Paint. I added a little picot edged ribbon and a lavender bow.

The tag is just white card stamped with Anna Griffin sentiment in green. I sewed around the edges and painted the border in Mellow Yellow. I painted a white flat backed pearl in Lavender and added this detail to the tag. I used foam pads to attach it to the card.

I love how it turned out, the flowers give a great dimension to the card and the shimmer of the paint really adds that something special. The flowers are not attached to the card, they sit snugly in the holder, the recipient can pop them in a vase on their desk if they want!

Supplies:

Stamps: Button Flowers digital stamp by Nina Brackett at Squigglefly, Anna Griffin sentiments
Ink: VersaMagic Tea Leaves
Paint: Creative Inspirations Paint in Lavender, Light Purple, Amethyst, Evergreen and Mellow Yellow
Cardstock: White card, Anna Griffin Paper Pack Old Paris Palette, green polka dot digital paper from Attic Treasures Collection at Scrap Girls, lavender dots paper was a free download
Other: Foam pads, glue, scissors, satin ribbon, wooden skewers, paint brush, hole punch, flat backed pearl, doily, lavender thread and a sewing machine.