Crafting @ Eighty

 Hello! In my last post a couple of days ago I showed a card for my brother that included a decorative panel using "living circles". I mentioned that I had learnt about this through an online session with stamping friends.  The panel on his card was a lot plainer than how I usually decorate with them.  So I thought I would look out a photo of one I made before & show it to you. I took this photo before adding any wording, which I left until I knew who it would go to. Take care & happy crafting.

 Hello again. Today, I have the second of my recent makes to show you. This time the card was for my brothers birthday. Even after all these years of making my own cards I still find it difficult to make cards for men. Usually a card can be made around the interests of the person the card is for.  My brother is one of those people who has interests - for example he loves his motorbike - but he is awkward & doesn't particularly like them on cards when he actually has one to ride. So, I had a long session on Google searching for quick & easy cards for men.  Pinterest had lots too. Anyway, here is what I finally made. not sure I was inspired with all the searching I had done, everything was just in my craft room --     The "Happy Birthday" embossing folder is very useful & can be used in many different ways. The thing is that now I have to remember who I  have used it for so that I don't repeat myself. 😀 Last year, in an online session with some stamping col

 Hello again everyone. After another long gap between sessions of creativity, due to my health,  I have some cards to show you. The first one is a card I made for a stamping colleagues birthday; I made the background by spritzing a couple of Brusho pigment colours. In hindsight I should have made the front on a separate layer, as the Brushos bled through to the inside which meant I had to make a complete covering inside layer. Not a problem, - it would just have been neater. The stamp is one of All&Creates designs - I just have a couple.  I wasn't completely happy with the front until I had the idea of a "scribbly" border. I hope she liked it. Another to show you over next couple of days. Please leave a comment - or just say "hello".  It's so that I can see if anyone is actually visiting me, although the statistics seem to say I have one or two people popping in. Take care & happy crafting!

The card I have to show you today, which is 3 days later than I said I would (it appears tomorrow possibly does never come 😊), was a challenge from one of my Rubber Stamping Clubs I used to take care of. The challenge was - Embossing.  Simply that. But it does open the door to quite a few techniques if you sit & think about it first. Here is my card; The base card is a folded white card approximately 7" x 9". I ran a piece of white card through a large embossing folder that has holly sprays on it, & inked it with green Distress Ink.  Next I embossed another piece of card with a poinsettia frame in it & inked that with red Distress Ink.  Finally, the topper embellishment. I firstly inked the Poinsettia stamp with Versamark Ink leaving the stamp on the ink pad to keep it moist. Next, I heated a pile of gold Embossing Powder on a heat proof mat & when it was melted placed the stamp into it.  I gave it just a little pressure to ensure all the stamp was impressed

Good heavens! I can't believe it has been 2 weeks since I last wrote a post.  Will have to make up for that over next few days. Today I sat & worked on another tangle tile from Sanntangle designs. This needs a steady had which, unfortunately, I didn't have today. But I persevered & the result is not too horrendous.  The centre square is divided into 4 squares, but I didn't get them even, although I don't think it notices too much, thankfully. I am going to try it again when, hopefully, my hand is steadier & I might even add some colour. I also made a Christmas card a couple of days ago that used various embossing  techniques.  Will blog about that tomorrow.