Evergreen & Pine Cone Wreath Card

It's been a very busy and exciting week here, thanks to my friends Jennifer and Justine we had a deluge of template sales, which was fabulous, and we've had some lovely comments and recommendations by happy customers. The name of the Facebook Page has now changed to Cook's Cards & Crafts, if you haven't given us a like yet please do.

We like to listen to feedback from customers and as such we had a few suggestions for tweaks to the templates and we've took them on board because they were fab ideas, the new look templates will launch on Saturday when Jennifer of Jennifer Kray - Paper and Stuff will be doing a Facebook Live using our templates! To celebrate we've given Jennifer a set of the new style templates to give away and she's put together some other goodies, so tune in for your chance to win.

I've been making lots of different wreath cards, this is one of the latest and I'll add some others to the blog each day this week. I've now been trained by Simon in the art of using the 3D printer and he's got a second printer up and running and we have plans to add another very soon, which increases the production by a lot 😁

Stamping this card was so quick, took me 10 minutes, I used 5 stamps but the darker green 'Northern Pine' stamp I stamped twice on either side of the design so 6 x 8 stamp impressions. Doing it this way you can quickly make a batch of cards really quickly, stamp all of the first stamp on all your panels, switch to your next stamp and repeat until you are happy with the design.

For this card I used Memento Dewdrop inks in the following colours: - Bamboo Leaves, Cottage Ivy, Northern Pine, Rich Cocoa and Espresso Truffle, but you could use any colour inks you choose. After I'd finished stamping I decided to add some texture to the card, so I ran it through a snowfall embossing folder and I love the effect it gave, I'll be using that a lot for this years cards.

Since I posted a link to a close up of this card on Facebook, I've been asked by several people where the stamps came from, I used a set that came free on Issue 27 of Creative Stamping back in 2015, but as luck would have it, you can buy the stamp set from Craft Stash for an amazing £2.99 look for the Creative A4 Woodland Stamp Set. I've linked to it here, but please be aware that the link is an affiliate link and if you make a purchase I get a percentage of the sale, but it doesn't cost you any extra.

I finished this card off with some 'berries' made for Tonic Studios 'Autumn Red' Nuvo Drops, I followed the fab tips on Jennifer's Beginners Guide to Nuvo Drops tutorial and my drops came out perfect. I did them on a leftover piece of the waxy backing from my 3D foam pads. Experience has taught me that adding Nuvo drops direct to a project can sometimes result in a nightmare so I air on the side of caution now and make them first and glue them on later lol! To finish the card off I added a die cut sentiment using red foiled card to the centre cut using the Sue Wilson 'From Our House to Yours' die and to finish the card off I decided to round two of the corners off to echo the curve on the wreath.

if you're interested in seeing how I used the Woodland Stamp set back in 2015 then follow the link to see my stag card, keep in mind the cards were created 3 years ago now and I was only just getting started in stamping and colouring lol! That's all from me for now, pop by again soon when I'll have some more cards to show you using our wreath builder templates and don't forget to join Jennifer at 7pm Saturday 20th October for her Build-A-Wreath Stamping Facebook Live.

Review: Neenah vs Craft Perfect Colouring Comparison

In my Halloween Coffin Cards post the other day, I mentioned that I was going to share some tips based on what I discovered whilst colouring the images for my latest batch of Halloween cards, it boils down to another of those I'm so totally rubbish at this, lets give up moments.

Perseverance and a new tack meant that I discovered that it wasn't me being rubbish at the colouring, but it was the cardstock I was using for the job!

I started off using Neenah Classic Crest Solar White card stock that I got from Crafters Companion and My Favorite Things Hybrid Ink pad 'Black Licorice' which works for both water based markers and alcohol based markers.

When I started to colour I was getting frustrated when within minutes the markers were bleeding outside of the image and at that point I wasn't really laying down lots of colour. I tried again this time with Hero Arts 'Intense Black' ink that is specifically alcohol marker friendly and once again the markers bled out of the image and once I'd laid down a darker colour to add depth to the image and I went to blend in, it was dry and wouldn't budge. At this point I was about to chuck in the towel and have a sulk, instead I channeled by Grandad and went and had a cup of tea and thought about the problem.

As I sat sipping my brew I mulled over what I'd done, on the product description for Crafters Companion Neenah it says "This high quality Neenah Classic Crest card is ideal for use with all alcohol based colouring mediums. " Having read that, again I figured it had to be me at fault, I tried again and pressed on and as you can see from this photo CC Neenah card stock is not an ideal card stock to use with Tonic Nuvo alcohol markers!

I decided to have one last go, but this time I opted to change the cardstock to Tonic Craft Perfect Ultra Smooth cardstock, and the difference was incredible! I did the same darker grey line for shading on the Craft Perfect that I did on the Neenah, but on the craft perfect it blended out like a dream, the colours didn't bleed outside the image (see the grey on the Neenah witch's hat) or merge in to each other. Working on the cardstock was different as well, the markers glided across the card and it was easy to control laying down of the colour.

Lesson learned, it wasn't me fluffing up, it was the cardstock that wasn't suited to the markers I was using! If I get time over the next few day I'll try using Promarkers and Spectrum Noir Markers on both lots of cardstock and compare the results. That said, in future when I'm colouring with Nuvo Markers I'll only be using Craft Perfect card stock.

Again I'm thrilled with how the final card came out, my colouring and fussy cutting are getting better and I used up bits from the Maybe Someday box to make the card. A while ago I die cut one of my Tim Holtz dies 'Birch Trees' and I used some black Starlights paint to colour it, when I'd finished and it had dried I decided it was too dark for the project I was working on, so I didn't use it. The panel at the back was another panel I made when I was experimenting with Distress Stains a couple of weeks ago. When the panel was dry I embossed it my Tim Holtz 3D embossing folder 'Lumber', when I accidentally put both pieces together they looked perfect and screamed turn me in to a Halloween card lol! So I did, I have pumpkins on the brain lol!

A Diffusion of Fragrant Findings

Not Craft Related, but it kind of is because what I'm about to say is an extension of my crafting, I like making things like room sprays, homemade pot pourri and things like foot soak fizzies and bath melts and I love making natural scented things for the home, that sentence made me think that I haven't shared some makes for herbal first aid goodies that I gave as gifts to friends and family a few years ago, despite promising some of you that I would, so I think I will very soon!

Before I get distracted, on to my reason for posting this, many of my friends know that I'm a big Yankee Candles fan, but I think that from now on I will not be buying anymore scented candles or wax melts of any description! That sounds like an epic statement to make and I guess it kind of is, but since I got an Aromatherapy Oil Diffuser its made a big difference to my well being on several levels.  I was actually looking at apps and gadgets that work with Alexa and noticed some Diffusers amongst the gadgets.

They are Smart devices, with WIFI built in so I can control the diffuser from an app on my phone, you can get none smart versions, I'm just a gadget geek lol! If anyone is interested the one I picked up is made by a company called Renpho and cost £16.99 Wifi Smart Diffuser it only holds 120ml's of water, when we get the next one I'm going for its bigger brother that holds 300ml.

I did a lot of research and discovered that a diffuser could maybe help with my chronic sinus problems, I was in the midst of yet another bad sinus attack and when they flare up they usually last 3-6 weeks sometimes less and sometimes more. So Si treated me to one,and within two days of using the diffuser the sinus infection was cleared up! I couldn't believe it I was expecting the usual weeks of misery and after just 2 days I have no pain above the bridge of my nose, the inside of my nose doesn't feel dry and irritated and the nasty smell I get (like a used ashtray) has gone!

I'm so happy with this little misting maestro that we're going to get one for the bedroom and one for the living room and the candles and oil burners that use candles will be going once they have been used up and I won't be buying them anymore, sorry Yankee candles, its been good but the romance is over. With all my years of working with essential oils, I didn't know that using a traditional oil burner (one with a tealight underneath) isn't such a clever thing to use with essential oils, the heat changes essential oils chemical construction and it burns away their therapeutic benefits as well!

Cold diffusion doesn't destroy the therapeautic complex constituents in essential oils like heating them up does, instead it distributes them into the atmosphere of the room so they can work their micro particle molecular magic and you get 100% of the benefits of the oils. They don't just make a room smell nice though, here are some of the benefits I've discovered...

Diffusing oils like Chamomile, Lavender, Cedarwood and Sweet Orange 20-30 minutes before bedtime can dramatically improve and support the body’s natural sleep cycles and combat sleep issues like insomnia, racing thoughts, and stress.

One of my favourite blends mixes the deep 'earthy' aromas of Vetivert EO with the florals of Lavender and Roman Chamomile, its a deeply relaxing blend that will help soothe your mind before sleep.

Diffusers are also great for use during times of cold and flu because they put much-needed humidity into the air which can help relieve dry sinuses and cough. Try Eucalyptus and Thyme blends during cold and flu season!

Not that anybody snores in our house, no sireeeee! But in the event that any body did, I've read that a diffuser in the room can help with snoring, it moistens the dry membranes on the nose that can contribute to snoring.

If it doesn't stop the snoring at least the person being kept awake has some pleasent smells to try and help them fall back to sleep. If I find any evidence that it works for this reason I'll update this post.

If like me you suffer from brain fog and fuzzy thinking (thank you Mrs Menopause) then essential oils like Rosemary, Basil, Lemon, Cypress, Lavender, and Frankincense can help to promote deep concentration, mental clarity, and improved focus. Oils that are high in sesquiterpenes like Frankincense and Sandalwood are especially good for increasing oxygen and blood flow in the pineal, pituitary, and hypothalamus glands which help support mental health and acuity, these essential oils are also known to help clear brain fog.

Another benefit of a diffuser can be witnessed during hot weather and boy could I have used this nugget of information a few months ago, diffusing oils like Peppermint, Spearmint and Lavender and other oils with refrigerant properties - refrigerant means that the oils have a cooling effect; and can help bring down external body heat - can keep you cool! And speaking of hot weather, a diffuser can help keep those pesky flying bugs at bay, diffuse essential oils like Citronella, Lemongrass, Geranium, Eucalyptus and Lavender can help keep pests at bay.

There are so many other benefits, the main one being you don't get carcinogens in the air you breath in like you do with candles. I'm using only 100% pure essential oils in my diffuser, no artificial fragrances in sight, and just plain old cold water from the tap. If you're unsure about what is in your tap water used filtered water or bottled spring water to fill up your diffusers tank.

Keep an eye on quantities, too much essential oil can cause headache, migraines, dizziness and nausea so don't put too much in, the old adage less is more is worth keeping in mind.

For your blends add the following per 100ml of water: -

100ml - 3-5 Drops
200ml - 6-9 Drops
300ml - 9-12 Drops
400ml - 12-15 Drops
500ml - 15-20 Drops

You can add a few more drops but don't add too much, its also beneficial to mix heavy aromas with light ones so if you're using Patchouli oil then add something to lighten it like Sweet Orange or Rose Geranium oils takes the heaviness away as some of the heavier scented essential oils can be rather over powering on their own.

This week's blends since I got my diffuser have included: -

Peppermint and Lavender EO's - That combo was diffused when I had a headache and the cooling vapour really did help.

Rose Geranium, Sweet Orange & Lavender EO's - I was a tad stressed at the beginning of the week and that blend really helped me destress and relax. A bit of music and lovely aromatic wafts of fragrance and I was chilled in about 30 minutes.

Pine Needle, Clove, Cinnamon & Sweet Orange EO's - There has been some slight sniffling going on and both Si and I have woken with a scratchy throat so I've been diffusing this blend with all its anti-viral and anti-bacterial goodness today to help purify the air from any nasties that may have got in lol! The bonus for this one is it smells like Christmas which along with some xmas tunes in the background is going along with my Xmas card making rather nicely :)

I love that I can select colours as well I'm finding that I'm gravitating to the deeper pink and purple hues at the minute, my happy colours. I've actually enjoyed writing this, I got to put my herbal hat on and tap in to my knowledge of essential oils and herbs, if anyone is interested in more recipes and combo's leave a comment and I'll add something to the blog soon. I'm off for a spot of CraftAroma Therapy now in my yummy smelling room, enjoy the rest of your day 😁

Halloween Coffin Cards 🎃

I should apologise for the large amount of Halloween cards that are going to appear on my blog over the next few weeks, and I  know its a bit early for some people, and that some people don't celebrate Halloween at all, but I love Autumn and all the things that are associated with the time of year, the colours, aromas and of course Halloween 👻🎃

It gets to the end of August and my inner 'Autumnite' starts craving anything that tastes like apple & cinnamon and loves filling the house with the scent of berries, spices and homemade cinnamon swirl bread. I make cards and decorations for the house, I don't send so many cards though as not so many people celebrate Halloween, so if you do and you'd like a card let me know 😍

On the halloween theme, late the other night I had the notion to make some Coffin shaped cards, the shape appealed to my Halloween loving dark side, my warped sense of humour had decided that a hammer and nails on the front with the sentiment 'Nailed It!' would be amusing, not to everyone's taste but I think some of my Gothy friends would be amused by the card, although as I created I strangely enough never got round to making that one. After that thought, my mind started playing with other ideas of how I could decorate a coffin card for Halloween, alternate Valentine's cards etc.

But when I tried to sort out the dimensions for making my own coffin shaped card blank boy did I have an EPIC fail! I decided that I'd try and buy some pre-cut card blanks so did a google and discovered that nobody sold Coffin shaped card blanks, you can get treat boxes, but not card blanks, somebody is missing a trick there! So I soldiered on as best I could and I ended up with a passable coffin shape but it was rather wonky looking, I decided at that point and take the win and head off to bed.

The next morning, I decided to have another go, maths and geometric are not my strong suit, they are my kryptonite in fact, and I dread having to use them, the surrounding area can quickly becme festooned with colourful language when I try lol!

I think during my second attempt I cursed a little louder than usual and my brilliant man heard me and came in to the room as I was struggling again to make the shape a reality. He asked me what I was trying to do, so I explained and he went away and used his talents to create a 3D print a coffin shaped template, plus a template for cutting the mat for the coffin which also has a cut out area to enable me to do some inking or add some texture paste to the design. Saying I was a happy bunny is putting it mildly, with the template, what I'd struggled with for several hours, I achieved to make several card bases in minutes and that included cutting the card stock to size, scoring down the middle, laying on the template, drawing round it, and cutting it out!

The first card created used a panel from my Maybe Someday box, I'd created it back in May 2016 when I was making some cards for my brother, I didn't like the colours at the time but loved the panel so put it to one side knowing one day in the future it would be useful.

The cute bat stamp is from Sugarpea Designs and is called 'Fang-Tastic', I got it last year but until today I haven't used it. Truth be told, because I didn't have a matching die I was worried about using it. Turned out I didn't need to be as my fussy cutting is really improving 😄 I used Tonic Nuvo Marker Pens to colour the image and also Tonic Craft Perfect Ultra Smooth cardstock to stamp the image on. I stamped the image using Hero Arts 'Intense Black' which is brilliant for alcohol markers.

The moon is also part of the Fang-tastic stamp set and I stamped that with Silvery Shimmer Delicata ink and then added some clear embossing powder on top.

My next coffin card I used a technique that I've wanted to try for a while after seeing Jennifer McGuire do it, but I thought I'd fluff it up, I die cut the Lady Death skull die that I got off Ebay and added Versamark Ink, then a layer of Ranger 'Rose Gold' ink.

When it was dry I added more Versamark and embossing powder, and followed that 4 times until I ended up with a piece of cardstock that looked like enameled metal. To say I was chuffed with the result is another understatement, I've done a lot of surprising myself creatively this week 😀

The sentiment for this card comes from a Graphic 45 set 'Rare Oddities Set 2' that I got a few years ago, again heat embossed using the same embossing powder as the skull. The addition of some black & white bakers twine using a trick that I picked up from Kristina Werner I poked a hole with my pokey tool in the crease of the card and threaded the twine through the hole, wrapped it around a second time and tied the bow.

My final coffin card to share today is I think my favourite, my colouring is really starting to get better and I'm getting a little better at shading after watching Jenn Shurkus's video on using Copics. Granted I didn't use copics, they are way out of my price range at the moment, but are definitely on my wish list! 

The background again came from my Maybe Someday box and was created a while back using Gelatoes on black card stock and some silver gilding wax was added to highlight some of the detail. At the time I was experimenting and it didn't work as well as I expected it to, but I hing on to the piece nethertheless.

The images are from a My Favorite Things set called 'Witch Way Is the Candy?' there is a matching die set for this card but I don't have it, so I fussy cut the images out by hand and used a black Memento Marker to colour round the edge, it works like a charm every time. My shading is still a little off, but its definitely improving, I'm also limited to what colours I have, but I'm hoping that I'll be able to acquire more in the future. I do have some other cards and tips to share but this has already turned in to a mammoth post so I'll write another post over the next couple of days. Not many Halloween cards left to share now, well maybe there are lol, I have started working on some Xmas cards tonight and some gifts, more on these soon, for now I'm away to my bed to dream dreams of pumpkins, witches, and things that go bump in the night! 🎃

3 Sisters for Halloween

You know yesterday I posted about not being able to finish projects, well guess what? Despite having a pile of unfinished projects to finish, my brain had a bright idea to make a set of Halloween cards, that has morphed in to making more of them with different sentiments and colour ways and from there I fished out a santa & sleigh silouette die and I'm going to make a set of Xmas cards using xmas colours and sentiments.

I got the dies a while back and hadn't gotten around to using them (nothing new there lol), whilst I was sorting out some things I came across the unused dies and thought it would be good to make use of them with Halloween not being far away now YAY! I sat for a while wondering what to do with them, I new I wanted a bright background utilising distress inks, but I wasn't sure what to do beyond that. I have a couple of small drawers with embossing folders in, I started to look for suitable Halloween style embossing folders and guess what? Tim Holtz aside - which I didn't want to use for this project - I discovered that I had absolutely NO halloween folders, tons and tons of Xmas and floral affairs but no halloween!

Not to be put off I looked again and found several tree embossing folders, the one I chose is by Darice called 'Tree Trunks', it was still in its packaging and had never been used! I wanted to have a moon in the background, but wasn't sure how, I didn't have any circle stencils large enough, so I cut a circle free hand from a Post It note. I inked Mustard Seed Distress Ink on 3 pieces of card if different places, then I popped my Post It Mask on the yellow and inked around with Carved Pumpkin Distress Ink.  I added some Wilted Violet Distress Ink to the bottom layer and was pleased with how it looked, I gave each panel a spritz with water and blotted it off and whilst still damp I ran each piece through the Big Shot in the embossing folder.

The sentiments I used are from two sets the 'Happy Halloween' sentiment is from a Craftwork Cards set called 'Spooky' and the other two are from a My Favorite Things set called 'Witch Way Is the Candy?'. I stamped in Versamark and used WOW! 'Opaque Bright White Super Fine' embossing powder.

Of the 3 cards I like this one best, not sure why, although I put the wrong sentiment on it, this one was meant to go on the card with the witch holding the raven lol! I was going to put dimensionals behind the witches but it created too much shadow which made the focal points lose their clarity, so I glued the images to the card front after first giving the 'moons' a covering with Nuvo Aqua Flow Glitter Gloss pen to add some shimmer.

The best thing is I now have 3 cards for my box and all of them were started today and FINISHED today and I have ideas for making other cards using the same techniques. I have a couple of Flying Witch dies and a Halloween village style die, so I'm going to have a play with them tomorrow, I'm already working out in my head what colours to use. I may make a few birthday cards in this style as well, not everyone likes flowers and cute cats after all 🐱

Card Makers Block

Last night I sat with a desk full of "parts" that I'd made over the past few weeks, and after 2 hours in the craft room, all I managed to do was die cut some leaves for yet another idea I've had and shuffle this bit with that bit and decided that actually it didn't look like I wanted it to anyway.

I posted a photo on Facebook last night (see below) because I felt a little overwhelmed, I see people creating several projects a day, working on massive design team deadlines and crafting while they are really under the weather, I chastised myself because I couldn't make just one card and boy did I ever be a Debbie Downer on myself.

I logged on this morning to discover that a fair few of my crafty friends suffer from low mojo, even those on design teams, over my morning coffee I read what they had posted and replied and came away feeling a lot better, thank you to everyone that responded 😘

This photo shows some of the potential projects I was struggling with last night, I like the individual components, but can I get them to meld together in to a completed card, can I heck! I just couldn't move forward with anything, so I left my desk, moaned on facebook and then went to bed lol!

And low, I got up this morning, and after sipping my morning coffee whilst browsing Facebook I went back to my desk and an idea of how to complete one of the projects hit me and I have now finally finished the 'Wicked Ancestor' card above! It had me stumped for a while, you can see parts of it in the photo. I made the embossed background after playing with a couple of shades of distress stain and my new media mat, I added some shimmer and stopped.  Whilst I was playing with the stains I dyed the seam binding with some Carved Pumpkin Distress Stain, I was so chuffed with result, even though I've seen Tim and several others do the exact same thing on YouTube, its always magic to me to try something that I've seen a 'professional' do and get as good as them results even if its something simple like dyeing a piece of ribbon lol!

I've been trying to complete this project for 2 weeks now, but nothing would work, looking at some of the other projects this morning I think I've figured out why I'm having a problem with Tim Holtz and some other American dies and stamps! Their designs are based on American card sizes mostly A2 (4.25" x 5.5"), I like to work with mostly 6" x 6" and UK A6 (4-1/8" x 5-7/8") card bases and the embossing panels don't look right on either of those sizes, unless you put them to one side and then you have a void that has to be filled somehow, or in the case of the A6 chop the card down to make it smaller. So despite trying, I can't get it right unless I make my own card blank USA A2 size.

This morning it occured to me that I could make my design into an easel card and I'm really pleased with the way it turned out. For the ancestor image (it isn't one of mine, oh how I wish it was lol!) I found the image on the internet, printed it out in black and white and then added a wash of Carved Pumpkin distress stain over the top, I made a frame using dies from the Sizzix Tim Holtz Baroque die set and glued the image to the back of the frame.

I used a sheet of paper from the 8" x 8" Halloween Kraft Paper Pad by Tim Holtz as a background for the panel and the raised piece and sentiment section. I scored a piece of black card to make an easel card and I had previously embossed the distress stain coloured panel with the Sizzix 3D Botanical embossing folder.

The little pumpkin charm was an ebay purchase, I've bought some cat charms, snowflakes and other pumpkins. I gave the pumpkin charm a couple of dabs of Valencia Alcohol Ink to change the colour from silver to this orangey copper colour which I think goes well with the coppery orange metallic cardstock that I cut the Wicked sentiment from the TH Sizzix 'Vintage Spirits' die set. I'm really pleased how well this card came together, despite my inability to make any progress recently on lots of the projects I started. I'm hoping that this will be the start of my getting a little bit more productive and that my xmas and halloween cards will materialise very soon, I'm so grateful for my friends and the support they gave, you know who you are xxx