Red and White Wreath

 

Very quick post to show you the wreath I made for my office door! Gone for a more Scandinavian feel in red and white papermania papers. A colleague has already posted it's pic on facebook and twitter so it must have gone down well :-)

Hope you like it.  The gold version on my house door will follow shortly.

Helen x

A Christmas Wreath (Julkrans)

Hej hej (Swedish for hello!)

This weekend I had the pleasure to go and visit some lovely friends in Lund Sweden. It was starting to feel a lot like Christmas as we visited a traditional crafts fair, and tried lots of festive Swedish foods like saffron rolls and sampled different kinds of glögg :-) .  Other highlights included popping into visiting the cathedral and walking in on a concert rehearsal of Mozart's Requiem which was sublime, and getting a warm welcome at a local church.  I must admit I love Swedish design and some of the crafts at the fair were amazing. I'm a sucker for all the red and white, and wood carving, paper star lights and little elves.

So it was a bit of a risk taking a homemade present as a thank you to my friends, but thankfully I got a great idea from my friend Nicky from craft group of a paper wreath. She made one here in black and cream, and it really is stunning.  As a Stampin' Up demonstrator Nicky always has some great ideas so it is definitely worth looking at her blog http://www.cavaliercrafts.co.uk/

Well here is my version, which I made with a polystyrene ring, Anna Griffin Christmas papers, and a whole bunch of pins.  I was a bit worried that the pins would set off the alarms at airport security but thankfully they didn't.  It was just me that had to go through the body scanner!

They liked it that much it went straight up on the door. Phew... Here's a close up of the ribbon and the paper curls.

I've plans to make a few more as Christmas presents so you might see them popping up here again in different colours.

Vi ses snart! (Swedish for see you soon)

Helen x

Seaside cards for the men using Clarity Stamps and ProMarkers

I know it is always a bit difficult making cards for men. Since I've invested in some Clarity seaside and lighthouse stamps the cards I've been making have seemed to go down pretty well! I've also been developing my promarker style and love using them for moody backgrounds, landscapes and seas and have really enjoyed using them in a bit of a different way to what we normally see on crafty cards.  Some other examples can be found here and here. To me they are just another medium to exercise my love of colour blending to achieve depth and atmosphere.  Let me know what you think - would love to hear your comments...

Anyway, here's the first - a 60th birthday card for a friend who loves messing about on boats!

Decorated with a bit of faux suede cord tied in a reef knot (can you tell I was a girl guide!) and a little punched and stamped 60.

Close up of the colouring. Having just got back from Anglesey, the sky and sea are pretty accurate - not exactly Mediterranean blue in this climate!

The second card is for my cousin who moved to Anglesey last year and being a rocky island there are plenty of lighthouses around the coast.  So Barbara's lighthouse stamp was perfect!  I wanted to achieve a bit of the stormy atmosphere around the lighthouse that we often get there so lots of dark blues and greys.

There is a lighthouse just of Penmon Point (one of my favourite places on this enchanted island) which really inspired me - wonder if Barbara has been there too?!

Not sure if he's got it yet but hope he likes it!

Would to hear what you think of these cards. I know I don't have many followers but I do appreciate everyone who takes time to to look at my little creations.

Helen x

Dandelion Fairy

Anyone who has visited my garden knows that I am quite a fan of the humble dandelion (well that is my excuse as to why there are so many in the lawn!).  It is a cheery little plant though and the buzzy bees seem to like them, and they are friends with my favourite little daisies :-).  So I just had to get the Dandelion Fairy stamps from Clarity Stamps, and I had the excuse to make this card for my lovely friend Karen on her birthday. I've been dying to post the photos but it's taken ages for us to meet up... Anyway, here it is:

The stamped images are created with a Versamark inkpad and dusted with Cosmic Shimmer powder - I tried about 3 different types of powders, embossing etc until I got the detail I wanted. Here are a couple of close ups:

Karen being a bit of a perfectionist and finishing off her cards so well, she needed a matching insert as well!

Anyway, so glad we got to meet up, do crafty shopping, compare notes on new purchases, and of course have coffee and cake! Just what we both needed I think (best not mention the dress that forced me to buy it in Laura Ashley though - naughty dress)...

Bye for now,

Helen x

A little box of blessings

It is so hard to find contemporary Christian images or quotes in the crafty world.  Most look so old fashioned or ugly, but I finally found some really cute stamps.  I wanted to make some notecards for a friend of mine who is a really big encourager who sends little  notes to her friends all over the world.  The art of the written word has not been overtaken by email in her world! So here are the cards.

And a close up of the images which were coloured with pro-markers (of course).

They were just crying out for an little box so out came the Envelobox board again, along with some lush Amy Butler paper from K&Company from my stash, topped with some satin ribbon and a cute peg.

I'd like to make some more of these little notelet sets as presents so watch this space...

Helen x

40th Card for a Man

I'm never sure what to do for cards for male friends and family.  But my crafty group friend Tamara seems to always make some nice clean and simple male cards and I'm sure I remember seeing something like this style on her blog but can't find it but click here for the rest of her blog as there are some fab card ideas there :-) Hope you don't mind, Tam! 

Anyway it went down well with my work colleague so I guess that all that matters.  And guess what, it is green - funny that!

Papers used were Papermania secret garden ones which I haven't used in so long.  Thanks for the inspiration Tam, and hope it inspires others.

Helen x

A Gorjuss Stepper Card

Earlier in the year I got invited to a Teddy Bears Picnic (they are not just for little girls, although there were quite a few there as well).  The organiser, who happens to be one of my closest friends, had a birthday this month so I just had to use the Gorjuss Girls stamp with the little bear.  So cute!

I added to the image to a stepper card similar to my previous one .  The pretty paper is Kate Knight, and the flowers are craftwork cards (as usual!).

Here's a close up of the flowers on the stepper.

It has been coloured with my trusty Pro&Flex Markers.She's such a nice stamp to colour as the image isn't too fiddly.

Such an embellished card needed an extra special envelope.  So I had to whip out the Enveloplus Board from Crafters Companion. Such an easy tool to use to make super envelopes like this:

At least it made a bit of a first impression and the card was very much appreciated. Hope you like it too!

Helen x