Snowflake Christmas Card

Every year Christmas manages to sneak up on me! You'd think by now I'd have cottoned on, but come the beginning of December I'm always astounded by how close the big day is.  I have managed to make a few Christmas cards though.

This card is based on an old design that I made with white and Kraft card.  The snowflake is actually a doily (Couture Creations Cecily Doily), but I thought that it looked very much like a snowflake and would look great against a snowy background.

I cut the doily in half and placed each half at the top and bottom of the card.  I added a few pearls to some of the circles within the doily for a bit of extra prettiness.  The "Merry Christmas" sentiment is from another Couture Creations set - Merry Layered Stars.

This design, although simple does take a bit of time to complete because of adding small dots of glue to the doily die cut and sticking on the pearls, but could easily be modified to make it quickly reproducible.

• At first I created the background using paint splatters on blue card, but to save time I used a graphics program to create my snowy background. Download it here. 
• Use a double sided adhesive sheet with the doily die cut or a brayer to apply the glue to save time
• Use self-adhesive pearls or pearl enamel drops (much less fiddly than loose pearls).

I have an extra Cecily Doily and Merry Layered Stars set on eBay if you'd like to recreate this card:

Get the Cecily Doily Die
Get the Merry Layered Stars Die Set

Redbubble Holiday Card Design Challenge

A few weeks ago Redbubble hosted a series of design challenges and I decided to enter.  The brief for Week 1 was to create a vintage-inspired card or pattern artwork.  This was my submission:

"Eat, Drink & Get Hammered" Greetings Card

...and I was chosen as a runner-up!  You can read the post on the Redbubble blog here.  Or better yet, head over to my Redbubble listing and take a closer look.  Buy multiple greetings cards (they don't all have to be the same) and get a discount of up to 50%.

This post contains affiliate links.  If you click on a link and subsequently make a purchase I will receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Freebie Friday - So Special Card Front

This post contains affiliate links which means that if you follow the links and then make a purchase I will receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

I'm a bit of a craft supply junkie - whether it's physical or digital products my house and my hard drive are chock full with supplies that I love, but hardly ever use, but shopping for craft supplies is only half the fun.  There's joy to be found in the making too, so I'm making a concerted effort to use what I've got.

A little while ago I downloaded the graphics pack 'Herbaceous Greens'.   It is a set of watercolour greenery - branches, foliage and individual leaves - as well as 9 seamless patterns.  I used it to create this lovely A6 card front, which you can download for free from here (personal use only please):

You Are So Special A6 card front - Free Download

If you like the look of the set you can get the complete pack for just $1 (until the end of October) from The Hungry Jpeg.

DIY Decoupage

If you read this blog then you'll have noticed that I'm partial to downloading graphics and fonts.   Well, with all the weekly freebies available and the occasional purchase I've amassed a LOAD of digital images and graphics.  Rather than leave them to gather cyberdust I decided to try my hand at creating my own decoupage. 

Working from the base image of a floral corner I removed parts of the image in stages; the base layer had the flower arrangement with leaves, for the second layer I deleted the leaves, for the third layer I deleted more of the flowers and for the final layer only a single flower remained.  I looked at where the elements overlapped as a guide to creating the layers.  My Brother Scan N Cut made quick work of cutting out the layers.

It makes a really pretty card with the arrangements placed in opposite corners and finished off with a simple, stamped sentiment.  Preparing the images did take a little time, but now that it's done I can achieve the same result again easily as well as being able to resize the elements to suit different projects.  This is something I'd definitely try again with other images of floral arrangements.

Quick and Easy Hanging Heart

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My friend came to me a few days ago to ask for my help to make a last minute teacher gift.  She requested a hanging heart that said "Athrawes gorau" (Best Teacher in Welsh) and personalised with the teacher's name and her son's name and featuring the colour purple.  

To make the heart I cut five hearts from white 300gsm cardstock, and one from Kraft card.  I punched holes in each of the curves at the top of the heart then stuck all the layers together using PVA glue 

with the Kraft heart at the back.  (I used my ScanNCut to cut the hearts but a die would also work.  If you don't have a die cutter or cutting machine I recommend using a square or a rectangle.)  To prevent the stack from warping I put it under a heavy stack of books as it dried.  When dry it feels very sturdy - like chipboard.

Meanwhile I found some pretty digital background paper and in a graphics program I used the heart template as a guide to place the text before cutting it out with the ScanNCut and sticking it to the top of the heart stack.  Incidentally the fonts that I used for the teacher's name and the sentiment are Old Emma Decorative and King Basil (which I love).

To finish I printed out some flower and leaf graphics, cut them out and added them to the heart.  It's not very clear from the photograph, but I printed three of each flower, cut each one gradually smaller than the last and then layered them up to add some dimension and make them more interesting.  I threaded some thick string through the holes to create the hanger.

Download free floral graphics here and here.

Freebie Finds - Free Graphics and Fonts

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Welcome to my weekly(ish) round-up of font and graphic freebies floating around the web right now.  If you're into digital crafting or creating digital art then these free resources are worth seeking out.  Most come with commercial licences so that you can create products to sell, whether they be print-on-demand patterns and designs or to create physical craft products, but be quick as they are generally only available for a limited time.


Creative Fabrica have just released a brand new free graphic bundle*, featuring 16 graphic packs including watercolour florals, cute cat illustrations, various SVG cutting files and more.  It's definitely worth taking a look at.  

Free Graphic Bundle Vol 5 | creativefabrica.com

This Street Scene Builder* would be perfect for 'New Home' greeting cards.  Adjust the scale and colours to create your own unique urban landscape artwork.

Street Scene Builder | creativefabrica.com

Over at Creative Market I'm loving 'Contemporary Graphic Huge Set Vol.1'.  It's a bumper set of 100 graphic elements that can be combined in any way you like to create abstract designs that could be used to create framed artwork, greetings cards, background papers, t-shirt designs and so on.  

Contemporary Graphic Huge Set Vol 1 | creativemarket.com

At Design Cuts you can download 'Watercolor and Chalkboard Patterns, Vintage Papers and Textures' a set consisting of watercolour patterns, a chalkboard pattern, a marble pattern, vintage paper and a texture.  The great thing about the Design Cuts website is that they also provide a tutorial to give you some ideas about how to use the free designs.  

L'amour est la cle

When it comes to craft supplies I'm a hoarder.  I can't bear to part with the smallest scraps of paper or a bit of ribbon that came with a gift or some old cardboard that could be used for some project or other.  So in an attempt to destash I decided to make a heart wall hanging out of old cereal boxes that I've been putting aside for a while.  

I made a large heart template on a piece of A5 card and then traced around that on the large panels of the cereal box.   After cutting them out (4 of them) and punching holes so that the finished piece could be hung, I stuck the 4 hearts together to get a thick, chipboard type of effect.  I also used the heart template to cut a heart from a piece of woodgrain effect paper.  NOTE - I suggest placing the heart stack underneath something heavy to prevent it from warping as the glue dries.

I cut the flowers with my ScanNCut using a pattern that I designed myself and coloured them using Spectrum Noir alcohol markers, before layering them together.  The leaves came from another die set.  I also used some Katy Sue Flower Soft for the flower centres. 

I gave the padlock die cut the same treatment as the hanging heart in that I layered up several die cuts - 5 from plain white card and one from gold mirror card - to get some dimension.  I then went over the front and sides with copper gilding wax to take away the white edges. 

The lettering was die cut using Sizzix Brush Alphabet dies and then I added a few freehand hearts to finish it all off.  I decided to go with French as it was a present for my (French) friend's mother.  To finish it off I used some thick string, which gave it a bit of a rustic feel.

In case you're interested in any of the supplies that I used:

• Sizzix Brush Alphabet dies: upper case / lower case
• Tattered Lace Lock & Key dies
• Layered Flower SVG file - download for free
• Wood background papers*
• Coloured wood grain digital papers*

*affiliate link

Freebie Finds - Free Font and Graphics Downloads

This post contains some affiliate links (denoted by *). If you follow the link and subsequently make a purchase, I will earn a commission.

Welcome to my weekly round-up of font and graphic freebies gracing the web right now.  If you're into digital crafting or creating digital art then these free resources are worth seeking out.  Most come with commercial licences so that you can create products to sell, whether they be print-on-demand patterns and designs or to create physical craft products, but be quick as they are generally only available for a limited time.


At The Hungry JPEG there's a free font bundle worth $104 available to download.  The bundle consists of 25 fonts in a variety of styles with a few bonus graphics thrown in as well.  In order to access the download simply share the deal via Facebook or Twitter.

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At Creative Market one of the free goods of the week is "Herbaceous Greens" - a watercolour, hand-painted foliage clip art collection consisting of 62 individual elements plus wreaths, arrangements and seamless patterns.

Herbaceous Greens - Watercolour Clip Art Set | creativemarket.com

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Also at Creative Market are these adorable Summer Posters,  They would make great thank you/ greetings cards for teachers.  You could also take the designs into a graphics program to manipulate the colours or add additional elements.

Summer Posters | creativemarket.com

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Over at Creative Fabrica I discovered the "Manbow" font*.  It's a fun, art-decoesque font that comes with various options such as dots, stripes and shading.  I have quite a few art deco dies and digital images, so I expect to make good use of this.

Manbow Font | creativefabrica.com

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And finally, although not quite freebies, there are some great $1 deals* to be had at Creative Fabrica like this set of 4 graphics packs by PrettyGrafik.  These would be great for summer projects, kids' parties and also posters, clothing and soft furnishings for kids. 

PrettyGrafik 4-pack | creativefabrica.com

And in case you missed the offer deadline, you can still get each of the 4 graphics - Luau Party*, Super Hero*, Super Hero 2* and A Mother’s Love* - for $1.50 a piece.

Society Sunday - Inspired by Music

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I recently attended a concert to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the City Voices Cardiff choir, which is what has inspired today's Society Sunday picks.

"Lost in Stereo" is an unusual composition but very compelling.  I'm not entirely sure what's going on, but I like it.  It definitely stood out from the crowd.  

Lost in Stereo Art Print

I love this piece - "Nature Guitar Record".   It makes me think of the harmony found in nature.

"Nature Guitar Record" Wall Tapestry

"Music" is a simple, but bold composition.  I like the duality of abstract and form.

"Music" Canvas Print

The composition in "Sight Reading" is so clever - the way the the placement of the birds looks like musical notes on a stave.

"Sight Reading" Framed Art Print

"Beat of Your Own Drum" is my new work.  

"Beat of Your Own Drum" Art Print

Get 25% off all wall art with the code ARTNOW (offer ends midnight PT 9th July 2018).

Freebie Finds - Digital Crafting and Design Downloads

This post contains some affiliate links (denoted by *).

There are so many great font and graphic freebies to be found on the web.  If you're into digital crafting or creating digital art then these free resources are worth seeking out.  Most come with commercial licences so that you can create products to sell, whether they be print-on-demand patterns and designs or to create physical craft products, but be quick as they are generally only available for a limited time.

Over at designbundles.net the freebie of the week is a gorgeous set of 16 Mermaid Texture Digital Papers.The colours are a deliciosus combination of shimmering purples, pinks, turquoise and blue. 

Download for free or if you have missed the deadline make a purchase.

Offer ends in:

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Next, CACTUS PARADISE vector set on PIXELSURPLUS.  A set of 30 vector cactus illustrations and 2 seamless patterns (email sign-up required to download).

Cactus Paradise vector illustration set

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The Nordic-style NORTHERN WOODLAND ANIMALS* set on Creative Fabrica is so cute!  Consisting of 14 vector animals, 30 vector landscape elements, a wreath, a landscape and a seamless border, the set definitely reminds me of Christmas, but could definitely embody any occasion or time of year by adjusting the colours.

Offer ends in:

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Redbubble Round-Up: Inspired by Spanish Tiles

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So it's been a minute! After a longer-than-I-realised break I'm back for another Redbubble Round-Up.  I just uploaded a brand new design inspired by the intricate designs found on Spanish tiles, so this week's round-up features my new design and other Spanish tile inspired artwork.

So, here it is - "ST Entwined" by Merry Makewell Designs.  It's a gorgeous seamless pattern in teal and white that looks great on pretty much everything!  The photo shows the design on a floor pillow.

ST Entwined floor pillow

"Traditional Portuguese glazed tiles" is an actual reproduction of a traditional Portuguese tile pattern.  As the tiles form a repeating pattern it works really well with fabric items, like the tote bag.  I find this particular shade of blue very calming.

Traditional Portuguese glazed tiles Tote Bag

I like the use of two tones of blue, plus a tiny splash of colour in "Portuguese Tiles Quatrefoil Pattern".

Portuguese Tiles Quatrefoil Pattern Duvet Cover

From a tiny splash of colour to this lovely combination of pink, blue and yellow in "Old Floral Tiles":

Old Floral Tiles spiral-bound notebook

And finally, I like the combination of coral, orange and turquoise "Spanish Tile Vivaciouse".  The majority of Spanish/Portuguese style tiles that I have seen have been in blue and white.  The vibrant pops of colour really lift the whole design.

Spanish Tile Vivaciouse iPad Case

Majestic Unicorn

My creativity has been on hiatus.  There is a reason for this - my attention has been elsewhere.  You see, it all began with Black Panther, which led me to find out who Danai Gurira was, which led me to the Walking Dead where I boarded the Good Ship Richonne and sailed to Binge Watch Island.  I followed a trail that led me to the rabbit hole that is fan fiction which I promptly fell so deep into that I'm surprised I can still see daylight!

Anyway, I'm determined to claw my way back out and regain some sort of balance in my life and get back to making and creating in some capacity.  After catching up with my blog reading list I decided to join in with last week's Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Animal Magic.  I cut several star garlands from gold mirror card to create the backdrop and then overlaid nesting stitched edge oval die cuts in white and gold.  Finally I used the Tattered Lace Majestic Unicorn die for the focal point.  

Society Sunday - Cherry Blossom

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I noticed some reports on the news about the arrival of cherry blossoms in Japan and its associated celebrations, which is what has inspired this edition of "Society Sunday".

My first pick is "Sakura & Fat Birds", featuring my favourite colour palette.  The artwork is clean and simple and the colours are fresh and vibrant .  Plus I love those plump birds!

"Sakura & Fat Birds" art print

Next up, a traditional Japanese-style illustration - "Cherry Blossoms - Pink".  Simple and understated, but very pretty.

"Cherry Blossoms - Pink" rectangular throw pillow

Do you change your home decor with the seasons?  I like the idea of that, but I'm a bit too lazy to actually do anything about it.  But if I ever got my act together I'd consider these window curtains featuring "Sakura Love - Grunge White".  They would be perfect for a Spring/Summer revamp.  The flowers are actually images of embroidered blossoms and branches which results in an interesting visual effect..

"Sakura Love - Grunge White" window curtains

Pretty, delicate, soft; that's how I'd describe "Cherry Blossom #3".  There's something so calming about this image.

"Cherry Blossom #3" art print

Cherry blossoms are generally pink, but in "Sakura Blue" the artist has rendered them in blue hues.  The colour palette and the ambiguous nature of the placement of the blooms, where one ends and the next begins, gives an overall effect of viewing the blossoms through water.  

"Sakura Blue" art print

From today (25th March) until the end of play tomorrow (26th March) PST you can get 40% off throw pillows, 30% off tapestries and + art prints and 25% off everything else with the code HELLOSPRING, so it's the perfect time to head over to Society6 and get everything that you need for a Spring revamp.

Redbubble Round-Up: Portraits

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For this week's round-up the theme is "portraits".  I've picked five works featuring portraits or faces. 

First up "Black Gold" by Igson.  I can't remember where I first saw this, but as soon as I did I fell in love with it.  She looks quite regal, but at the same time she's giving a pretty fierce side-eye as if to say, "Don't try me!". 

"Black Gold" Poster

Next, "A Female of Past - I Admit".  The artist says that is a portrait of an old love, though if asked by a current girlfriend, he says that it's Rosario Dawson.  I like the use of green ink - it has something of a comic book or graphic novel feel to it.

"A Female of Past - I Admit" canvas print

This next piece reminds me of one of my favourite pictures of myself, where I was sitting in much the same pose.  I like the way that the subject is relatively sharp against the much softer background, and the artist has captured the sheen and drape of the silk material beautifully.

"Portrait of a Woman Reading a Book in a Comfy Chair" Art Print

This lady reminds me of Princess Jasmine from Aladdin. Her eyes really pop against the muted tones of the rest of the picture.

"Ambre" metal print

Finally, another piece by the same artist behind the book-reading woman above.  This "Classic Portrait of a Woman With Flowers in Her Hair" reminds me of Cuba and the Caribbean for some reason.  Perhaps the remnants of some movie imagery that I've seen along the way.

"Classic Portrait of a Woman With Flowers in her Hair" poster

Which do you like best?

Black and Gold

Back in September I bought some nesting triangle dies, but I've never used them! I knew I wanted to use the triangles to cover opposite corners of my card and I had recently seen some products from the Crafter's Companion Black and Gold Collection, which inspired the colour scheme.

I decided to use a black card base and cut the triangles from gold mirror card.  To add some interest I embossed the gold mirror card using the Crafter's Companion (CC) 3D Lace embossing folder (which I love but have also never used since I bought it!) and the black card with another CC embossing folder - Blooming Vines from the Country Garden collection.  I added some black flowers to the triangles, but they were a bit lacklustre so I added a few highlights with gold pen.  The sentiment is a Tattered Lace die that came with one of their magazines.

I used the off-cut from the die cut triangles to make a similar card.  This time I cut the flowers from gold card and the sentiment from black card.

Which do you like better?

Society Sunday - Spring

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If you missed Society Sunday last week, sorry - I didn't forget, I'm just working to a new schedule.  From now on I'll be posting every other week.

I am so over Winter and ready for a change of season.  The days are already getting longer, which has lifted my spirits no end and inspired this week's theme - Spring.

First up, "Spring Blossom" by yours truly.  I LOVE the view of bright blue sky through foliage or blossom.  I took this picture on a crisp, Spring day at about this time last year. 

"Spring Blossom" Tote Bag

The colours of "Spring Butterfly Love" are very me.  The nebulous quality of the background adds some drama  and I like that the butterflies look a little bit other-worldly.  It looks great on a greetings card. 

"Spring Butterfly Love" Greetings Card

From rich colours to monotone and "The Thrush and a Promise of Spring".  I'm a big fan of the pen and ink style.  This piece really captures the fecundity of late spring.

"The Thrush and a Promise of Spring" Art Print

Another piece that has echoes of foliage against sky, which is probably what drew me to "All Over Again...".  Also the softness of the colours, and one of my all time favourite colour combinations - pink and teal. 

"It's All Over Again..." Wall Tapestry

And finally, "Spring 3 Blossoms".  I like the limited colour palette and the stylised flowers.

"Spring 3 Blossoms" Art Print

Head on over to Society 6 and take a closer look at these pieces and other works by these artists.  Today (11th March) get 25% off everything with code SPRINGAHEAD and 25% off Wall Art on Tuesday (13th March) with code LETSHANG,

Redbubble Round-Up: Sky

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I found that I was struggling to keep up with my posting schedule so I've decided to change Redbubble Round-Up day to Saturday and also to do a post every other week.  This week the theme is "sky".

I love looking up at the stars in the night sky and Lake Tahoe Galaxy captures the magic of stargazing. 

Lake Tahoe Galaxy by stickersnstuff

Moody, stormy skies are one of my favourite skyscapes.  I like the turbulence and play between light and dark in "Lightning In The Sky 1".

Lightning in the Sky 1 by Zachary Golus

I love the whimsical quality of Terry Fan's art.  Several of his pieces feature a blend of the nautical and the astral, like this work "Ocean Meets Sky".

Ocean Meets Sky by Terry Fan

I was drawn to the magical quality of this next work, "Our Secret Harbor". Wouldn't you just love to be on that boat, under that starlit sky, with the lights from the clifftop dwellings twinkling as you float by?

Our Secret Harbor by Aimee Stewart

And finally, "Praying For Rain".  I love the shade of the blue and the lone cactus silhouette against the twilit, mottled sky adds some drama.

Praying For Rain by HDTaylor