Birthday card

 I'm sharing a birthday card that I made for a friends birthday.

Any leftover handmade flowers from my projects go into my flower box below and sometimes I will just sit and make flowers whilst watching TV. This also saves time and makes it easier for me to plan projects when I have some flowers made up.

I would be interested to hear how other crafters file their digital downloads for crafting.

With a paper kits, you can see what each one is, but with a digital download, especially in PDF format, it is just a file with a name that doesn't take up space in your craft room.

I enjoy all the benefits of crafting with digital downloads but I also want to know what is in each kit without having to open each file to search for a particular paper or topper that I may want to use, especially as I have so many files from various designers.

So, what works for me is I have a craft journal with a snapshot of each kit. At least that way I have a pretty good idea where a particular paper, topper is without searching my hard drive

Sometimes you forget some of the beautiful designs you collect along the way and just haven' t had time to create with.

It may sound like a laborious task, but I have been doing this for quite a while and each time I get a download kit,  I just add it on.  You can just see part of a page above.

I have also done this with just my flower dies. I cut them out when I buy them and place them on an A5 page which goes in one of my craft journals. It also encourages me to make more use of what is in my craft stash more.

This particular kit I am using today is one of those I have been meaning to use from Opulence by Design Crafts. It was a members gift for Patreon users and is the Perfect Panels Set Petal Perfection Kit  which was released  toward the end of 2024 and it was designed as a card sketch kit.

It's such a pretty kit and I have only used a few of these papers which would also look beautiful printed onto rice paper for other projects.

These roses were left over from a previous project and I used the digital florist - All eyes are on me rose along with these little flowers from the Steampunk Florals collections - I've added gold Stickles glitter glue to the centres of these blooms.

I thought these flowers would work well with this beautiful kit and die cut the largest panels for my topper. The rest of the panels I have saved for another project.

I used my clear glitter shimmer pen to highlight areas of the  backing paper and also used my Sakura twilight gelly roll pen to edge the layers of my card.  I normally do this as it leaves a fine iridescent shimmered edge on the layers and is also great for highlighting too.

I've also made a boxed envelope for my card which will be hand delivered.

Thanks for stopping by today to view my little crafty space.

Opulence by Design Crafts have a fantastic variety of digital download kits for your crafty needs as well as a mini blog for inspiration too. They also have a variety of crafting booklets for those who can not print their crafty designs too.

Have a great week, whatever you have planned for yourself.

Happy Crafting

Challenges

Paper Funday - Pastel colours

A Perfect time to Craft - AG

Beautiful Blossoms -flowers

Crafts Galore - AG

Love to scrap - AG

Decorated Notebook

I thought I'd share a little project that I made before Christmas .  A decorated notebook that I made for someone who needed cheering up.

I used an A5 vinyl backed notebook that I had bought ages ago marked down in the sales and covered it with some rice paper that I had.

For the front of the book,  I chose this fab stamped Festival Dollies image from Dolly Dimples Crafts.  Colouring has never been a strong point for me, but I muddle through.

I do love this stamp set and have used it quite a lot and think 'Hope' is my favourite of the 3 dollies in the set.

I've also sewn some small metallic seed beads to the front of the elastic on the cover.

On the inside cover I added this lovely Mermaid digi image from JMC Designs and paired it up with some stamped images that I have also coloured in.  I thought the stamped sentiment was very apt for the notebook.

Finally, on the inside of the back cover another stamped sentiment.

Hopefully the notebook will come in handy and brighten her day.

Every path in life has a bridge. The journey is crossing over it to the other side.

You are never alone, as someone, somewhere, will leave a light on for you...

You just need to look for it...

Have a great week, whatever you have planned for yourself.

Happy Crafting

Challenges

Path of Positivity - AG/New Project

Addicted to stamps - Any occasion

Try it on Tuesday - Add some Text

Pammies Inky Pinkies - AG

Sweet Stamping - Bright & Beautiful 

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to you all, and I hope it's a brighter, kinder one too.

It's been a while since my last post, and since I've crafted too, so I'm starting off with a blog challenge.

I spotted this beautiful image on the Gecko Galz Monthly card challenge this month, which inspired me to use it.  My initial intention was to use it on one of my boxes, as I have one that is the perfect size, but since this is a card challenge and I'm a slow crafter, the box will follow. 

I die cut my flowers from some fancy wallpaper that I acquired from one of those well known hardware stores. I love the texture of wallpaper for making flowers, and I've added some vintage dyed pearls in the centre of my blooms.

I've also layered my image onto gold embossed miri card and added a printed sheet from one of my Tattered Lace download collections.

Finally, adding a hint of shimmer to my image with a clear glitter pen. I like the Spectum Noir pens as they don't flood the brush with glitter.

One of the bonuses of digital downloads is that they mix & match with whatever you have in your craft collection, and you can also resize them to condense that design.

I've missed not having a printer, and I can tell you that I'm happy with my new Canon Mega Tank Inkjet so far, which has replaced my Epson EcoTank.  It's certainly an improvement on the old one.

I enjoy participating in these challenges, and think that I just need to be a bit more organised in my crafting head. I appreciate all the creative, inspirational content that these blogs and challenges continually provide, so I will endeavour to support them more.

Have a great week, whatever you have planned for yourself.

Happy Crafting

Challenges

GeckoGalz - Monthly card challenge  - Winner

C.R.A.F.T - ATG

Creative inspirations - ATG

CD SundayPlus - ATG - Winner

Crafts Galore - ATG

Love to Craft - ATG

Christmas Cards

I thought I'd share a few of the Christmas cards that I have finished making.

I don't make many cards for the festive season and these ones won't be going in the post.

I love foxes and opted for this ever so cute Festive Friends topper digital download from Opulence by Design Crafts. There are 4 toppers to a sheet with sentiments and I layered this with mirror card and added a sheet of Festive Grunge backing paper which you can just see peeping out from behind my card. This is a beautiful design that would make a fabulous festive card on its own.

I die cut my poinsettia from some faintly patterned vellum that I found in my craft stash and also embellished with the easy cut ivy  leaves  and some extra die cuts.

For this card I have just used a festive Spellbinders embossing folder and added a few leaves from another download collection. These always come in so handy for other projects and I'm always looking for foliage to accompany my blooms. These leaves were from the Chalky Wonders Clematis collection also from Opulence by Design Crafts.

For my third card I used Amelia the topper and sentiment download from one of the Pom Pom & Posies collections. She is my favourite from their Christmas collection. I've added some die cut frames and repeated the layout as before.

I have also used a clear overlay glitter pen on my poinsettia to lift the red cardstock and add some shimmer.

I've also added it to the background of the toppers as its soft enough to add shimmer without overpowering and used my gel pens to highlight.

My last card is a different colourway but I have used the same format as before and  added a white gel pen to highlight on the topper. The downloadable topper sheet comes with 4 beautiful toppers and sentiments and these would also work perfectly on winter birthday cards too.

All my cards also have personalised inserts inside and I've made box envelopes for them too.

Thanks for stopping by today to view my little crafty space.

If you want more inspiration from Opulence by Design, follow the links below

They have a beautiful selection of digital kits and crafting sheets that can be mixed and matched with your crafty stash.

 opulencebydesign - YouTube

or Instagram Opulence ByDesigns

Have a great week, whatever you have planned for yourself.

Happy Crafting

Challenges

Festive Friday - bright colours/ephemera/patterned paper   Festive Friday Favs

Try it on Tuesday - Get ready for Christmas   Top 5

Allsorts - Christmas Cards  Top 7

CD Sunday Plus -Christmas

Little Red Wagon - Gold  Featured Project

Halloween Card

I'm sharing a Halloween card that I made for a friend

I used this cool Spooky Girl stamp from IndigoBlu and coloured her in with alcohol markers.

For the background, I used distress inks and added some second generation stamping around the edges with some Visible Image stamps.

My pumpkin is already sitting my garden (with an LED tea light inside this evening) much to the interest of all the birds today.

Have a great rest of the week, whatever you have planned for yourself.

Happy Crafting

Challenges

A Place to start - pump it up for pumpkins  Rising Star

Make it Monday - Halloween Colours  Special Mention

Pammies Inky Pinkies - ATG

Stamps&Fun - Halloween

Crafty Calendar - Halloween   Top 3

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers - S is for Spooky

Crafty Catz - Halloween 

Crafty Rocket - Halloween

Park Hopping My Happy Place - Halloween  Top 3

Fun kids card

 I'm sharing a fun themed Super Mario birthday card that I made a my friend's little boy 

Trying to think of something different every year can be a challenge when you make cards but I came across some free download pages on Pinterest for children's parties that I thought I could use to create this card.

I have seen other variations of a card like this online and think it's a fun idea for a pop up kids card.

I printed a sentiment onto card to attach to my main character, which will then go in the pocket on the front.

I decoupaged the question mark on the pocket to add some dimension  and added some faux copper brads.

For the background I used a cloudy sky backing paper that was a free digital download from one of the Tattered Lace collections.

I carried some of the features over to the inside of my card and added  some studded letters for the birthday boys name.

I'm finishing off with a few pictures from the mischief makers from my garden.

The squirrel eats his share of the monkey nuts that I leave out and then buries the Jay's share in my garden, if its not quick enough to pick them up.

.....sometimes they get forgotten and start to grow in my pots!

I've left this 'monkey nut' to grow next to my Rosemary 

We've noticed a pair of Jays with a youngling in the garden  this year which is promising for this normally shy bird.

And this is Kiera, she loves to visit my garden and sit behind my pond, watching all those birds that she'd love to catch.... when she's not trying to eat their bird food.

Have a great rest of the week, whatever you have planned for yourself.

Happy Crafting

Challenges:

Dragonfly Dreams - Birthday

Krafty Chicks - Masculine 

A Place to start - circles

Lets Craft and Create - Layers

Birthday card Clematis

 A  birthday card with some blooms to share today that I had made for my sister-in law.

For my card I have used the Chalky Wonders Clematis PDF digital download kit  by Opulence by Design crafts.

There are a lovely selection of flowers and leaves in this beautiful kit and I decided to print one of my layers on a piece of satin paper.

It is worth having a play with your printer settings and mediums that you print on to see the different results that you get.

Saying that, I have an Epson Ecotank and hadn't intended to change the printer settings when it came to printing the flower sheet, but when I looked a little closer at these printed flowers,  I actually liked the darker hue to the blooms and decided to go with it for my project even though this is not the original colour on the design.

I've edged my blooms with a little purple ink to add some tone and green for my leaves. They have been gently shaped to look more natural.

I've also added  some 1cm pink organza ribbon and blue string pearls. The flowers have just had a touch of shimmer from a clear overlay sparkle pen (I think it was one of Crafters Companions brush pens).

Checkout a few of the links below for Opulence by Design Crafts for some great inspiration on their designs and tutorials too. They have a varied selection of kits and crafting sheets and a freebie section that you might what to download too.  Beautiful designs that makes crafting easier.

opulencebydesign - YouTube

or Instagram Opulence By Designs

I do love a clematis. I have three in my garden now, pale pink, cerise and this vibrant purple one around my arch.

I love to seeing the bees going from flower to flower and was fortunate to catch the broad-bordered bee hawk moth  flying around my garden early one evening, they are really quite striking.

Areas for nature to thrive in are becoming smaller unfortunately.

Have a great rest of the week, whatever you have planned for yourself.

Happy Crafting

Challenges

Beautiful Blossoms - Flowers

Triple B - Blooms

Love to Craft - AG

Allsorts - Pretty Flowers 

Krafty Chicks - AG

Tic Tac Toe - any colour - pinks /free - flowers /sentiment - birthday