christmas card in a box

card in a box is my favourite design at the moment.

so easy and so cool

so i figured i may as well do a christmas one too :)

 here i used the partridge in a pear tree set combined with the stars punch and some non-traditional christmas dsp

 the sentiment i stamped out and added to a circle made with the circle thinlits and yes...i did fussy cut out those pears, partridge and around the leaves...sigh...and lets just say quietly that it might be a while before i do that again lol

here's the back of the card for the writing and you can also see how i have added punched out shapes to the bottom of the base using small star punches and a variety of tiny circle punches too

cheers ears

pop up christmas card

sssshhhh but i have to let you into a secret

this card has a "design feature" aka "i-stuffed-something-up"

i wonder if you can figure out what it is?

 the cover is using bearing gfts coloured with blendabilities and some masking and brayering.

inside though....

 i have made it a pop up card!

 i added a sentiment cut up around the base and layered trees around the background.

here's the actual mechanics of how i did the pop up part-just a small strip of card folded into 4 even pieces  to make a square and stuck down. 

easy

cheers ears

bearing christmas cards

slowly very slowly getting through my christmas card list

 here i used the the bearing gifts stamp set and my blendabilities

then i used some post it notes to mask the image and make the moon so i could then brayer over it in a variety of blue inks. 

i tried making a mask from the stars border punch and it kinda worked but images weren't as crisp as i wanted...hence the extra stars from glitter card :)

 i like using non-traditional colour combinations so have gone for a daffodil/turquoise/gumball/red/tangelo mix.

the inside flaps  (man what dodgey photography-apologies lolol) with sentiment and plenty of space for writing or a family photo.

cheers ears

simple christmas card

love the blendabilities from stampin up

they are fab for colouring in details in cards

here is patridge in a pear tree stamp coloured in with a dash of bling.

all this colouring in is making me forget my punch art

oh no......

ugly sweater card

i often see families wearing hideous jumpers (aka sweaters) at christmas

and marvel at their terribleness

when we were given the challenge at the creative crew this month to design a gatefold card using the scor-pal i immediately thought of said sweaters and decided to re-create one using the scor-pal

and figured it would be an interesting wya to showcase the scor-pals many uses

 so here you can see i have used all three plates-metric, 

diagonal (red) 

and the borders plate

 i also added some bakers twine to try and get that knitted look going.

there is some white gel pen on some of the score lines-i swapped them around so some are sticky out adn some are sticky in iykwim?

 plus some little punch circles (cupcake punch) and some white craft ink to help those sore lines pop out a bit.

the jumper is the "gate" in the gate fold design.

you can also see the metric scor-pal plate in the vertical lines on the white card

hope your christmas jumpers are nicer than this!!

cheers ears

snowmen candles

you know when a fellow craft friend makes something soooooo cute you have to have it now

...right now!!

well my friend corrie did that to me today

she made some very cute snowmen candles and waved them right in front of me on her facebook page

and i was hooked

i wanted them

i wanted to make them

right now

so i did

and here they are

aren't they adorable?

you should soooo make them

cheers ears

simple paper christmas decorations

i recently made some REALLY simple christmas decorations from card

cut out 16 strips of card 20cm x 1cm and then 16 strips of card 5cm x 1cm

each lot in different colours

i stamped on mine but when it is finished you can't really tell unless you do it in a really bold ink

glue the ends of the longer ones and stick together to make a tear drop

next bit involves a hot glue gun and the way cool adhesive sheet from su.

blob a circle of glue in the middle

then stick all 16 tear drops down-i did it in a star pattern.

after that stick the other strips in the middle of the tear drops

stick another big blob of hot glue down and attach a scallop circle

flip it over and do the same

you can just stick circles down in different colours to finish off

or you can make it a bit fancier like i did and place an ornament punch on the front a la 3-d

then add glitter

because...well...you know...

GLITTER ROCKS!!!!

cheers ears

how to make cookie cutter christmas ornaments

ssshhh christmas is coming

keep calm it is still at lest 2 months away

mwahahahahahahaahahahhahhaah (insert hysterical crafters laugh)

so i have been wanting to make these ornaments for like forever after seeing them on the evil pinterest*

*evil because it wastes so much of my time pining so much pretty cool stuff...sigh....if only pinning was an occupation...sigh....

anyways back to reality

$3 for 8 different metal cookie cutters from the reject shop and some left over dsp and bits and pieces and this is what i came up with

to attach the dsp to the cutters i sued crystal effects. i drew around the cookie cutter with a pencil, cut it out about 1 mm from edge. then added crystal effects and stuck the dsp to the sharp side of the cutter and left them to dry upside down (paper side up if that makes sense?)

then when dry i punched the holes out 

(make sure you do this at this stage because it is REALLY hard to do this once you have decorated them...cough cough...ahem don't ask me how i know...swear words were involved that is all)

i attached buttons etc with glue dots and sued a bit of crystal effects as well.

okies

cheers ears

don't go chasing waterfalls

lalalalalaalalallalalaaaa hmmmmmmm

yeah those are totally the real words huh?

anyways back to reality and not my audition for x-factor

i made a waterfall card today

actually i made 4 of them (for a swap)

i love these cards but loathe them as well

why?

because i sit and dither sooooooooooo much about what the design will be.

truth be told i am not completely happy with these ones

but i have run out of time so meh...apologies to those who are getting my swaps this month

have a gander at them and tell me what they need

 flat card

pulling tag so waterfall effect happens

 final square with all squares pulled down

the colours i have used is based on the just add ink challenge for this week

which uses 

okies cheers ears

wondrous wishes christmas card

although this is a retired stamp set now, 

it is still quite a nice one

you can leave it plain, partially coloured in or all coloured in depending on your fancy or time.

although i no longer have the stamp set i am still selling these cards along with many other christmassy things at yarragon markets every 4th saturday, at the german school christmas fete or online via here or facebook-just email me for price and postage details.

cheers ears

ornament card

quite like the new ornament punch

and the stamp set that goes with it

for a different coloured themed christmas card try blue/silver/white this year

here i have used some pool party and silver embossing powder with the stamps as well as using the marker to stamp technique on another

simple easy cards

cheers ears

ps i am doing these as a stamp-a-stack in october. contact me clare@crafty-cow.com for class times, prices and dates if interested.

o holy night

o holy night

a new stamp set from the 2013 seasonal catalogue

a stamp with loads of words on it

and i like it :>

 have tried and gone with a vintage look with it and combine it with a bit of a chalkboard look as well...

vintage chalkboard...

that works..

right??!!

  

 sparkley glittery leaves made with just plain whisper white and glitter not the glitter card which would also work-i just don't like using it on those small fiddley little dies

 matching tags

some suede flowers and seam binding ribbon

total package of card + gift box + tags

doing it as a christmas class if interested

i have a special deal going if you ahve friends lololol

contact me at clare@crafty-cow.com

cheers ears

merry christmas from the crafty cow

hi all

we are currently chillaxing 

(yes that IS a real word in australia!!)

while camping in beautiful outback australia

during our christmas holidays

check out miss 2 by our tent and the lovely outback sunset

we are away for 3 lovely weeks on a road trip from 

sydney to adelaide 

(to catch up with friends and family)

and back

that's about 2000 kilometres if you are wondering

no craft

no tv

and just the big boy with his i-pad :>

take care over the festive season and looking forward to getting all crafty again in the new year with you all

customized xmas decorations

sooooo easy

soooooo quick

and they look good too!!!

 master 6 insisted on posing with his one!!!

check out that tongue!!

 so each year i make/buy a xmas ornament for each kid

i date it and put their name on it so they have a collection of decorations all of their own to use when they finally move out of home and have their own celebrations

i know some of my favourite xmas decorations are the ones my parents kept of mine from my childhood.

so how did i make them?

firstly i got a silver bauble and tied a silver bell to the top.

then i tied a ribbon around the middle and added a silver snowflake to the ribbon with a glue dot

then i added a glittery silver letter ( for their name)

lastly i added a tag in the shape of a love heart with the date on it 

took me all of 20 minutes and cost me maybe $1 each at a push

frosty the snowman

so over at the creative crew this month we have been given a sketch to follow

as soon as i saw this i groaned because me and circles are not friends

we do not get on creatively and never inspire each other

so this was a hard one for me

but....when i turned it around...well...then we had some ideas

it totally looked like a snowman to me so that was what i went with

frosty was made using the following punches

13/4" circle-head

lace ribbon border-snowflakes

square-hat

owl-heart, eyes

3/4" circle-mouth

large circle die-tummy

i also used a snow inspired embossing folder for the background that i sponged with silver ink and stamped the sentiment from inviting down the bottom