Hi everyone.  Popping in with a quick card today.  Unfortunately the card I’ve made is a little confronting for me.  I am making these more and more these days, and I have less than 12 months before I’ll be receiving cards with the very same number on them…  <sigh>

I used one of the frames from the Heritage Frames 1 set.  The detail of these frames is amazing, so requires very little in order to dress them up.  Here, I’ve applied a couple of coats of Glimmermist.

40

And a close up:

40 - close up

That’s all for today!  Hope you’re week is going swimmingly (Victorians may pardon the pun – we’ve had a LOT of rain).  ha ha

Annie xxx

Hi all

Here’s a couple of Artist Trading Cards I made for a recent swap meet using some beautiful frames.

This first one has a little fairy girl emerging from the frame….

I covered the frame in PVA Glue, allowed it to become quite tacky and then pressed some joss (funeral) paper all over it to give it the gold metallic look. Then I rubbed some Antique Linen Distress Ink into it with a sponge to give it a lovely aged look.

For the second ATC, I used the frame to contain an image of another beautiful fairy and added some butterflies to look like they are just about to take off….

The frame on this ATC was given exactly the same treatment as the first one, just because I love doing it!!!!…and also because it suits.

Hope you enjoyed looking at these two ATCs.

Belinda

Hi everyone!  I don’t know about you, but I find it very difficult to make masculine cards.   My shabby chic style doesn’t really “fit” the more minimalist style that suits masculine cards.  However, I keep trying because, like it or not, I do have men in my life who require cards from time to time!

When I saw the “Vintage Car” Laser Cut, I immediately thought it would suit a Retirement card.  So, I got out the acrylic paints, and this is the end result.  What do you think?  Masculine enough?

Happy Retirement

I hope you’re all having a fantastic day.

Annie  xxx

Hi everyone!  Over the past couple of days I’ve had the pleasure of working with some of the newest Laser Cuts.  The “Ornamental Birds” are adorable!  The swirls, the etching, the endless possibilities for altering… <sigh>  I’m one happy girl!!  These little beauties just suit my style of cardmaking to a tee.  So, without any further ado, here they are!

This is gonna be  long one, as I got pretty carried away!  Just warning you…

Mr and Mrs

I painted the branch/scroll with my new favourite Glimmermist colour, “Choc. covered Cherries”.  The bird has been inked with Brilliance ink, as I find it doesn’t cover the etching, it still leaves a margin there so I was able to paint the etching with Acrylic paint.  I’ve outlined the bird with KindyGlitz and given him a touch of bling for an eye.  This little fella is Ornamental Bird 2.

Happy Birthday

This is Ornamental Bird 5  .  He was covered with a couple of layers of “Dreamsicle” Glimmermist, then the etching was painted with acrylic paint.  The Happy Birthday Laser Cut has also been given the Glimmermist treatment.  Addicted much??

Congratulations

This is Ornamental bird 1.  He’s been inked with white Brilliance ink, and the branch painted with acrylic paint.  The etching is also acrylic paint, and I’ve finished him off with some KindyGlitz.

close up

I’ve included a close up so that you can see more RW Lasercuts in detail.  I’ve layered an acrylic flower and a little heart Laser Cut on top of the flower.  I am thrilled with how this one turned out!

Congratulations on your marriage.

This card is my favourite out of all the “Ornamental Bird” cards.  It hasn’t photographed too well, but it’s a dreary, rainy day in Bendigo today.  This one is Ornamental Bird 3.  I left him naked, but painted the branch with “Simply Khaki” Glimmermist.  This particular Glimmermist always looks divine on the Laser Cuts, as it is pretty much the same colour so it just adds a subtle “glimmer”.

Close up

I’ve painted the etching with black acrylic paint.  Hopefully you can see the subtle shimmer on the branch.

Baptism

Ornamental Bird 4 is the lucky last today!  This is a very simple card, but when the Laser Cuts are as stunning as these, sometimes I reckon less is more when it comes to the card face.  The sentiment and the branch are both painted with “Choc. covered Cherries” Glimmermist (again!!), and the bird has been inked with Brilliance ink.  I left the etching unpainted this time, and I like it!

Phew!  There you have it.  The Ornament Bird family in all their glory.   I’ll be back soon with something very different from these guys!

Annie  xxx

Hi everyone.  Have you noticed that the days are getting just a little bit longer?  As much as I love the colder months, I’m really looking forward to Spring, and getting out into the garden.  I love my veggie garden, but it’s a tad boring over winter when there are not as many options as the warmer months.

Speaking of gardens and all things “nature”, here are a couple of cards that I made yesterday, using tree/plant laser cuts.   The Spring Tree is one of my all time favourite Laser Cuts.  Both Laser Cuts have been painted and then blinged up with a spot of glitter.  They are very similar cards, but hey, I’m just getting warmed up after almost a month away from cardmaking!!

Make a wish

Just wanted to say

That’s all for today.  I’ll be back soon with some amazing new Laser Cuts.  I’ve been swooning over them ever since they arrived yesterday.  I am almost afraid to use them, they are so gorgeous!

Annie xxx

Hi everyone!  I am back.  I have been making cards today, and boy does it feel good!  I hurt my back about a month ago, and it’s made sitting down for any length of time almost impossible, so I was MIA for a while.  Today, I decided to test the waters and had a great time playing with all my stuff.  Laser Cuts and Glimmermist, how I’ve missed you!

Wanna see what I’ve done today?  I had some “made to order” cards to finish off, as the deadline was rapidly approaching.  The customer wanted a couple of cards for her daughter’s wedding.  She wanted the colour scheme to be burgundy and silver/grey, as this is the colour theme for the wedding.  The wedding card sorta speaks for itself, but the second card has a lovely story behind it.  I’m sure she won’t mind me sharing.  Her daughter and her future husband have one child together, but her partner has 3 children from a previous marriage.  The bride’s mother wanted a card (basically the same as the wedding card) to give to her three new “grandchildren”.  She wanted a four leaved clover as an embellishment as it symbolised the number 4 – she wants them to know that she now considers herself to have 4 grandchildren, not just one.  Awwwww!  Anyway, she’s coming to pick them up tomorrow night, so I hope she’ll be happy with them.

Welcome

Wedding card

The Laser Cuts have simply been inked with Brilliance silver ink, and the “Welcome” laser cut has had two coats of Dazzling Diamonds Glimmermist.

It’s so good to be making cards again.  I have some more that I’ll share with you very soon.

Annie.   xxx

Hey there

Thought I’d share a couple of layouts I completed for the July Kit Of The Month over at Abundantia’s Gold.  As the post title suggests I have used the Toffee Birds set and I have crackled them!

For this first layout I applied Versa Color Atlantic ink over the whole surface of both birds to get a really good even coverage. Once that had dried, I then applied a thick layer of Crackle Accents using a paintbrush. Of course I had to give each bird a tiny bling eye!!

For the second layout, SAHM (Stay At Home Mum), I first rubbed in some Tim Holtz Distress Ink Shabby Shutters using a sponge before applying the Crackle Accents quite thickly again with a paintbrush. Did you spy the little teapot? Isn’t it adorable. That is one of the ATC Miniatures and it has received the same treatment as the Toffee Bird.

Thanks for looking and I’ll see you again soon.

Belinda

How lovely is this..

test

My apologies for stepping away from craft talk but I wanted to share something special.  I was given the link to this video advert on facebook and just had to share it as much as I possibly could.

Autism comes in different forms and the one that has affected my family is Aspergers.  Our 13 yo son has Aspergers – we have always known, and he is an absolute delight to have in our lives.  But this message is more poignant to me because just recently we realised that my husband also has Aspergers.  It isn’t always blaringly obvious but having the awareness of it now makes life so much more enjoyable and far less frustrating because awareness is knowledge and knowledge gives you the ability to accept differences.

I have never allowed my son to be ashamed of his differences but be ever so proud of them and what they mean in his life and ours.  It’s just unfortunate that others see differences as something that should be ridiculed or attacked.  If there were more children like my son, the world would be a far better place.

Autism Closer to Home