Cuttlebug down!

I had a bit of a calamity a few weeks ago ...... my Cuttlebug C Plate cracked 

 

**insert sad face**

 

.... then the more I used it, the more it cracked, then finally it became unusable. 

 

**insert very sad face** 

 

So the search began to find a replacement plate .... 

 

**insert surprised face**

 they don't make Cuttlebug any more!!! ...  

 

I have had my Cuttlebug since about 2008 and it has been the most reliable crafting tool ever!  I was absolutely astounded to see the price of replacement machines on the market now!

Thankfully, I was able to find a replacement set of plates on Amazon, so I took the opportunity to replace my B Plates too, as they were quite worn and had a definite 'bow' to them.

 

Shiny new plates!

 

Now back to my cardmaking ..... I need to pull my finger out for Christmas Cards.

 

 

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Thanks so Much

Having another play with my new Spellbinders Be Bold Blooms dies ..... 

 

I am really enjoying playing with these dies and die cuts.

 

 

 

I started with rummaging through my offcuts/snippets ..... and made a selection of colours that I thought might work well.  I die-cut the flowers and leaves multiple times in multiple colours and then set about making up various combinations of flowers, stems and leaves.

The background is left over from a previous card - I think that might be the last of the gorgeous dark blue. I used the Waffle Flower A6 Layers die to cut the cardfront to the perfect size.  

Playing with the layout is lots of fun. 

 

A final touch of bling added randomly around the card ...... if you call playing with the positioning for a good 5 minutes before deciding on final layout random LOL

 

I am really pleased with the way this card turned out .... especially considering it is made entirely with snippets/offcuts (except the white 300gsm cardbase).
 

Linking this card with the following challenges:

Snippets Playground Challenge $493

My Time to Craft - #547 - Thank You 

The Flower Challenge #97 - Thanks

Creative Knockouts #534 - Thankful

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Hello there

Time for another swap card - my October swap - which was late ..... again :(

1 card using stamps

1 card using the TicTacToe

Card #1 was made using a combination of stamps and patterned paper.  I have been going through my stash in an endeavor to use up what I have.

I had made several 'card topper' elements a while back using some stamps and designer papers, so I decided to utilise these elements.

The 'dancing lady' was stamped onto DP and 'paper pieced' onto square card topper, bordered by Green Pearl cardstock, all cut with Spellbinders Square dies - I love the fact they fit together so nicely.  The left panel was made by layering DP onto pearl cardstock, then attached to the front of the card with double sided tape.

 

Sentiment was stamped then cut out with Spellbinders Ovals, layered onto green pearl cardstock oval - added to front of card with 3D foam dots.

 

The square topper was added to front of card with 3D foam dots and a final touch of 'kindy glitz' added to image, and 3 gems added to bottom.

 

A very simple card which came together fairly quickly..... once I had gathered all the elements.  The colour scheme was influenced by the TicTacToe card.

 

 

Card #2

Using TicTacToe - bottom row across - Yellow/Birds/Embossed Panel

In my stash I found an embossed panel - I do believe it was from a swap I did many years ago where we sent and received a selection of embossed card fronts.

I lightly swiped yellow ink across the raised bits.  I was going to add the embossed panel directly to the front of the cardbase, but it didn't look right.  I then thought about adding it to a yellow layer .... yes!   

So I trimmed the panel slightly smaller, then because of an oopsie where I forgot to put the lid back onto my black ink ........ I had to rescue it by swiping black ink around all of the edges .... 

 

The bird image was a freebie stamp included in an Ultimate Crafts Magazine.  It was stamped in black, heat embossed and then coloured in using Copics. 

 

It is certainly not quite what I had in mind when I started, but it is a finished card and has been now received by my swap partner.

 

Linking Card #2 with:

Inkspirational Challenge #328 - Layer it 

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Birthday Boys

We have a regular family gathering for all the August-September-October birthdays, usually some time in October, and this year was no different.

I made a two cards for the Great-nephews, Lucas (10) and Archie (8) - the boys are growing up so fast!

Card #1

Card #2

  

Both backgrounds were handmade by ink-blending a rainbow of colours, then put through the Cuttlebug with a different embossing folder for each card.  After embossing, I smudged some inks over the raised bits to make them stand out.

 

I then stamped and heat embossed the sentiment, then cut it out using the matching dies.  Sentiments were cut out multiple times, so that the sentiment could be layered together for added dimension.

 

The balloons & tags (Spellbinders)  were die cut using my stash of 'snippets/offcuts' and I used some very old 'letter stickers' to add the names and the numbers.

Two cards came together fairly quickly and easily :) 

 

Items Used:

Spellbinders Dies, Ranger Distress Inks & Altenew Inks

Cuttlebug machine, Provo Craft embossing folders (Number Collage & Happy Birthday)

 

Linking with the following challenges:

Card #1

 Allsorts Challenge #804 - Anything goes 

 Snippets Playground - #492

Card #2

Die Cut Divas - use a die cutting/embossing machine

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

World Cardmaking Day - 5th October 2024

I had a bit of a car accident on 17th September 2024. Thankfully, I was not hurt, but it is proving frustrating being without my car and relying on Mr Fixit to run me around.  I am not comfortable driving his car, which is a V6 Holden Commodore, as it is just so big.  My car is being repaired, so I am without a car for the next 8 weeks or so. 

Anyway .......  back to World Cardmaking Day :)

I think it is such a fun idea having a day dedicated to cardmaking  LOL so I took the opportunity to have a play with some of my recent purchases.

 

I have been keeping a lookout for Spellbinders Be Bold Blooms dies ..... usually they are over A$35 depending where you get them from, and with the added cost of postage, it makes it a very expensive purchase.   I was lucky enough to come across a great deal on Amazon - A$23 with free postage!  SOLD!

 

 

I started with rummaging through my offcuts/snippets ..... and made a selection of colours that I thought might work well.

 

I die-cut the flowers and leaves multiple times in multiple colours.

I then set about making up various combinations of flowers, stems and leaves.

Once I had finished that, I then sorted through my stash of cardstock for the background, and I finally settled on the dark blue that was in my 'off-cut' bin. 

My 'go to' cardbase is A6, which is half of an A4, folded in half.  I used the Waffle Flower A6 Layers die to cut the cardfront to the perfect size.  

 

Playing with the layout was lots of fun.  I chose to stick fairly closely to the sample in the packaging for my first layout, while I got familiar with the blooms.  I have some pre-foiled/pre-cut sentiments that I have had for absolutely ages and was quite pleased that one of them worked with the layout.

 

A final touch of bling added randomly around the card ...... if you call playing with the positioning for a good 5 minutes before deciding on final layout random LOL

 

I am really pleased with the way this card turned out .... especially considering it is made entirely with snippets/offcuts (except the white 300gsm cardbase).
 

Linking this card with the following challenges:

Snippets Playground Challenge #490

Beautiful Blossoms Challenge  #21

As You Like it Challenge:  Fave card shape & why

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.