Mojo Monday - #335 Steampunk and burlap

Nothing like a bit of steam punk and burlap :) The moment I saw this week's Mojomonday challenge I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it.

This is really my type of card,  I even managed to sneak a little signature twine in :D

Here is this week's sketch if you fancy a try yourself, worth a visit to see all the other innovative entries [click here]

Mojo Monday - #331

I don't mind admitting that I've had a bit of a creative block when it comes to card making recently an seemingly lost my confidence after a Chritmas crafting burnout. What better way to get my Crafty Mojo back than to take part in a MojoMonday challenge?

I was in need Valentine's day card for next week and this challenge provided the perfect excuse to make one early, get my creative juices flowing and use up some of my scraps at the same time?

Here is this week's Sketch from Julee if you're feeling inspired to have a go yourself, and check out all the other lovely entries [HERE].

Mojo Monday #287

After a really long day yesterday I was in need of some 'me time' and usually that means locking myself in my craft room or opening a bottle of wine and watching a girlie movie. However I was lacking craft inspiration and as I'm on a health kick I decided against the wine, lol. Rather than attempt to keep working on one of my current projects I decided to open my scrap paper drawer and just have some fun making a card for this week's Mojomonday competition. Here is the original sketch:

I mostly used scraps from my MME boys crazy stash, as I love the colours, and distressed the edges with Brushed Corduroy, Ripe Persimmon and Broken China. I used my Spellbinders Gears dies for the red and orange cogs. The sentiment was stamped on lined Kraft using Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black I even experimented with my new Fiskars eyelet setting tools as the embellishment detail. I substituted the scalloped circle for a flattened bottle top to which I added a punched circle of the scrapbook paper and filled with resin for a glossy finish. Finally I added the twine for some texture. Here is the finished card:

  

Check out all the great entries at Mojomonday#287

 

Mojo Monday #282: Baby Arrival Card

Seems like forever since I headed over to MojoMonday for a bit of a crafty challenge. I've been soo busy with the kids and I've been helping a dear friend of mine with her wedding invitations, and when I do need to make a card my brain has been a little scattered lately, so what better way to top up my crafty mojo than a Mojomonday challenge? Mojo Monday 282 to be precised. It's the last Monday in the Month so it's circle or square time :) This week's sketch was designed by Julee, and it is both simple yet striking.

 

 

 Isn't it a nice to have someone else worry about the layout while you just need to experiment with colours, patterns and textures? Often I get the colours and a vague idea about composition and have to spend the majority of my time experimenting with layout. I needed a card for a family friend I grew up with in Hong Kong who has just had a baby, and had this fab paper just waiting for the next little bundle of joy to appear.

 

 

I used the fab alphabet scrapbook paper (can't remember who it's by, might be MME) as my main feature and the added kraft card and the reverse of the gears card I used in my last post. I stamped the little feet image using Ranger Archival ink in coffee and aged the edges with Distress Inks: Broken China and Vintage Photo.

 

Please excuse the quick photoshop job on the latter half of the name, I always like to include the baby's full name as a keepsake and so I've obscured it for the family's privacy.

 



Get well soon Laura: A Mojo Monday Card

A friend of mine had the misfortune of falling down the stairs yesterday - luckily nothing broken but tendon damage and crutches are definitely fun. So I decided to make her a 'Get well soon' card.

 

 

This had to be a quick card as I wanted to take it around today, so I used the Mojomonday sketch #263 from the Halloween card as my basis. The card was made using cardstock from K&Company's paper stack 'Poppy Seeds' and distress inks: Peacock Feathers Dusty Concord and Broken China. Dies are from Spellbinders and X-cut.

 



Happy Halloween!!!

This is my first ever Halloween card, its not really a tradition to give them in the UK but then I managed to get my hands on the Fall set of Seasonal Distress Inks and was looking for an excuse to try them out.

 

 

 

I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch as a template, I tried to utilise my love of old book pages as much as possible so I could play around with some of the new inks (here I've used Distress Inks: Ripe Persimmon, Seedless Preserve, Black Soot and Antique Linen). I also tried out my new 'Sew-easy' kit on the edges - which wasn't as 'easy' as I'd hoped but I shall persevere, and if I ever get the hand of it I shall post a tutorial.

 

 

 

I decided to enter this card in the NMWC Halloween Creations Challenge and one of the requirements of the challenge was to use an image as the focal point, luckily I got the chance to borrow this amazing spider stamp from a friend. It's part of the 'Tim Holtz Stamp Halloween Blueprint Set'. I accented the 'spider' with Stickles in Black Diamond, and cut the stamp out using my circle punch, this is framed with a Spellbinders Picot Circles die-cut and handmade paper page rosette.

Mojo Monday #261: Christmas

Here is my second card for the Mojo Monday competition this week. I went with a Christmas theme because it's getting to be that time of year AND it was a great excuse to break into my new Spellbinders Heirloom Ornaments (2010) set.

 

 

 

I also got to use my favourite Christmas sentiment stamp and (now, my reinker has arrived) I got to use lots of Brushed Corduroy and a bit of Aged Mahogany, and it wouldn't be a card from me at the moment without a page from an old book and a button (in this case a Marianne Creatables.

 

 

Here is the lovely sketch by Julee, why not head over to their site to check out all the amazing entries - some great inspiration there for all styles and techniques of cardmaking :)

Happy Birthday Emily! A Mojo Monday card.

It's my cousin's birthday today! Happy Birthday Emily! I decided to make her card but wasn't sure where I wanted to go with it until I realised it was Mojo Monday. I like this weeks sketch and have made two cards using it this week.

As Emily is a teen I put my trusty Brushed Corduroy down and steered myself towards the bright end of my Distress Inks range including my brand new Peacock Feathers (from the Spring limited editions), Milled Lavender, Dusty Concord and a little Broken China.

I also used a few distress techniques I've not tried before including scrunching up a plastic bag and flicking water. The scalloped edge on the circle is hand cut with Scallop Scissors from, the circle is from a 2inch X-cut punch and the tag is a die cut from a Sizzix scallop combo set. The dot paper (which continues on the inside) is from a paper stack from K&Company called Poppy Seeds.

I'm fairly happy with how the card turned out. I think the 'emily' letter could have been larger - I think I may need to invest in some larger font stamp sets, not to mention Birthday sentiments!



First Christmas Card of the year (inspired by Mojo Monday)

Well, I'm not normally one for starting my Christmas cards early but with sets of Christmas tags under way for Etsy I'm feeling a little festive and what better way to get my creative juices flowing than to take part in a challenge, using Mojo Monday's sketch as a basis for a new design. I really liked this weeks sketch, think I'll be referring back to it for some future projects.

 

 

 

Here's how the card turned out, I use my trusty distress inks: Brushed Corduroy, Walnut Stain, Victorian Velvet and Aged Mahogany, the stampers (in ranger archival ink: jet black) are from my new set of 'Lost and Found Christmas' stamps by My Mind's Eye, the card base is a 6x6 Kraft card. The rosette is made with a distressed doily and an old page of a book, and the embellishment is a flattened beer bottle cap with a snowflake circle with room for a name (for when I finally decide who's getting this card).

 

 

Here is Julee's sketch, isn't it pretty? I'm looking forward to using it again when I have circle dies and materials at my disposal :) Check out all the other fabulous enteries HERE