I recently realised that although I’d updated the galleries with my Christmas cards I hadn’t actually highlighted them in a post so here goes. This is the first instalment of batch made cards. I have been batch making my Christmas cards for a number of years now. Because of the numbers involved ( over 100 ), I try to keep the designs as simple and easy to reproduce as possible. I’m laughing as I write this as my first batch proved to be anything but simple, but they were such a lot of fun. I saw the stamp set Christmas Green Things Sprouts (CS250D) by Hobby Art Stamps and fell in love with the cute fun designs. There were loads of great examples using the stamps on the hobby Art web site. I decided not to go for a detailed background, I thought it would be a lot easier to leave it white. To save spoiling my cards blanks by making mistakes, I opted to avoid masking techniques and stamped three of the sprout designs out, numerous times, on sheets of card stock and heat embossed them with clear embossing powder. I used Tim Holtz distress re inkers in various shades of green to watercolour the images. I then added glossy accents to the eyes and noses. I stamped out the various sprout ‘toppings’ i.e. Santa hats, icing and holly etc onto card, heat embossed and water coloured those too adding glossy accents to finish off. I spent many an hour fussy cutting all the sprouts and toppings, whilst watching tv. I decided on my design layout and using my stamp press, I positioned the stamps for the sentiments, the sprout arms and legs and the fork where I wanted them to be on the card fronts. I marked where to place my card blanks so that they would all be exactly the same, then I stamped all of the card bases and heat embossed them. I water coloured the forks and the shoes and added glossy accents to the hands, feet and forks. I then glued the individual sprouts into place adding either a Santa hat or icing and holly. The 3 different sprouts and two different toppings gave me 6 different finished designs. I made 72 in total. They were great fun to make and were very well received. I have a few left over sprouts to play with this year too.

This is a simple but elegant card, the design of which was specially requested. My friend’s daughter and son wanted a special card which included photographs for their mum’s Fiftieth birthday. The design is a copy on one I made for my friend’s daughter to send to her best friend a few years ago. She specifically asked for the same design for her mum. I have to say it looked really lovely in white and rose gold. I changed the butterflies for a slightly more contemporary design by Poppy Stamps. I used Sizzix Opulent card stock in rose gold using the pearlescent to back the butterflies and layer the numbers and letters, the mirror finish for the sentiments, photo mats and main mat and the glitter finish for the leafy flourish. I finished off with Tonic Nuvo rose triad gems.

Not many couples are lucky enough to be able to celebrate being married for 70 years. It’s a really special occasion that deserves a special card to celebrate. I was asked to make 2 cards, one for my best friend and one for her sister in law to send to the same happy couple so they had to be different. They looked back at my previous makes and chose the following designs. For details of the dies used etc click on this gallery link ( Anniversary special dates ) then click on the relevant thumbnail picture in the gallery and you should get a full size picture with all details below it.

The safe arrival of a new baby is definitely a reason to celebrate and what better way than by sending a hand made personalised card. My sister’s step son welcomed his first born and so I made them one of my Keepsake parcel cards. I also made a card for my sister and her hubby to send too. To view details of dies etc used follow the links in this post to the gallery and then click on the relevant thumbnail pic.

Many people struggle making cards for men. Maybe because of this, I have a wealth of dies and stamps for ‘masculine’ cards. My dilemma when card making is not the gender of the recipient, it’s their relationship to me. Every year I need to come up with different design ideas and I try to utilise new card folds whenever I find ones I like. My New favourite, as regular visitors will have gathered by now, is the Pop up Easel Block card I first saw on Sam Calcotts Youtube channel via pinterest.

Here are two cards made for my eldest daughter’s husband and my youngest daughters partner, both using the above mentioned card fold but in different sizes and with different themes. For information on dies, stamps etc used and to see full size images, just click on any of the small images.

My pop up cards have proved to be really popular with friends and family especially the pink prosecco and rose wine versions. Generally they are all made to similar dimensions. I have, though on occasions, made larger versions. This is a larger version of the prosecco card made for a good friend to send to her daughter on her very special 50th Birthday. Glossy Accents and rose gold glitter card adds to the luxury of this showstopper card. For details of dies and resources used and full sized images just click on any of the smaller images.

What a great way to deal with those occasions where the card shops fall short. Joint occasions celebrating more than one thing at the same event. No need for two cards when you opt for handmade. This card was made for the baby of our friend’s daughter, and while you can’t see the inside, I wrote two verses, one for the birthday and one for the naming day. Personalisation also makes this bright colourful card extra special too.

The birth of a baby is a magical and very special event in the life of the parents and the family. Keepsake parcel cards are the most popular card I am asked to make. There are subtle differences that make each one a unique memento of baby’s birth. Here’s one of my recent makes. For Details of dies etc used and full sized images just click on any of the smaller pictures.

I just fell in love with the free stamps that came with issue 109 of Creative Stamping Magazine. I chose to work with the hexagon stamps first using yellows and greens and added glossy accent highlights. My sister’s birthday was coming up and the hexagons made me think of bees. Not long after the ‘punny’ sentiment came to mind. Hence the design of the first card using one of my now favourite card folds the Pop up Easel Block card. The Tattered Lace Freda Frog die was perfect for what I had in mind, I printed and cut from the charisma downloads. The bee was made using Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 4 Pack 663852, Bee by Lisa Jones and the sentiments using Bright Rosa Sentiment dies snipped to create the words ‘hop’ and ‘bee’. I used nesting hexagon dies to cut out the stamped hexagons. I had quite a few of the hexagons left over and when I needed to send a card to a crafty friend who has been under the weather, I thought the bright colours would cheer her up. The ‘Thinking Of You’ sentiment was die cut using a Card Making Magic die set.

When my special men celebrate their landmark birthdays it calls for an extra special card. I love trying out new card folds and the Pop up Easel Block card as demonstrated by Sam Calcott https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXwMfMt-HGM is fast becoming a firm favourite of mine. I had 2 special cards to make, one for my nephew’s birthday and one for our Godson’s 30th birthday. I have some brilliant large number dies from Crealies which are perfect for special ages cards. For details of dies and materials used just click on any of the smaller pictures below.