Judith Maslen Workshop - 28th September 2019

We completed two new patterns - as usual - today and I enjoyed the making of them both equally.  They are very different in style.

They are both finished and ready to be mounted on cards. I haven't decided what colour card to use yet so that is partly why I haven't finished them completely.

The first card is called 'Ribbons'  Pat no. jm132.
Judith explained the background to her design and it is based on a Japanese 'Noshi'.
Originally this was a bunch of reed, tied in the middle and represented 'humility'.  Now 'Noshi' is a bunch of ribbons, usually given for good luck, or to decorate a gift.

Here is 'Noshi'.

The second card is called 'Bells across the Snow' and is Pat no. jm131.  Again I haven't finished the presentation.

 I need to be able to see a bit better before I can mount them on matts that are straight so I will show them off again when that has been done.
xx

A birthday card for a special lady.

I used Tatty Ted from my Docrafts Digital Designer programme.  There are some super decoupage and pyramage designs on the CDs and in fact, I have printed out several to work on over the next few weeks whilst I stock up my go-to box.

I liked this one as it was cute, but not too fussy, especially as I do not know the special persons taste very well yet.  Here it is.

Just three simple layers of decoupage and two matts. I added a little Wink of Stella to the flower centre and some special gems to the die-cut flowers in the corner.

p.s  I have had some good news.  My second cataract op is now on September 30th. I don't have to wait as long as I thought I was going to have to. I was told it could be three months. So pleased.

Carol
xx

Parchment Butterfly Balloon

In a desperate need to find out what parchment I can do with one cataract done and waiting for the other to be done I fished out a project I had seen in the Parchment Magazine with the intention of doing it someday. 
It is called 'Butterfly Balloon'. Designed by Alla Terpugova in the Talent Spotters section in the July 2017 edition. I have done my own thing by using Pergamano Multi Grids Nos: 31 and 17 for my butterflies and a very new (arrived this morning) flower die from Marianne Craftables for the flowers on the edge of the basket. I used some special gems by Habico for the butterflies bodies. 
The parchment was coloured by using patterns from various craft CDs. I loved making this and stuck at it until I finished.

More stitched Christmas cards for 2019

I have managed to finish off the last of my stitched cards for this Christmas.  In all I have now made 64 cards of different styles  but not as many parchment as I would have liked . Hopefully both cataracts will have been done in time for me to make some before Christmas.
Anyway here are the 9 I have just finished.

My favourites are Nos: 5 & 6 - the two star cards. Even as you are stitching them you don't think that the pattern is going to look as good as it does in the end.  The colour combinations can be endless.

I now have some ATCs to get on with.  Nothing too complicated until I am less like a Pirate with one good eye.
Hugs
Carol
xx

'Blinged' to the max

At our last parchment lesson, we had a choice of projects and I chose to use a Groovi plate called - Tina's Floral Layering Panel. In fact, there are two panels on the plate -  each 13cms x 6 cms.
I have made what I call a three-panelled cross-over gatefold card. I googled to see what they were really called and apparently I got it right first time.

Here are a couple of photos of the finished card:

The top and bottom panels are as per the Groovi plate but the middle panel has some of the bottom panel design with a few bits from other sources. The sentiment is also from a Groovi plate.
The edging on the panels was done with a Pergamano half-square tool with embossed lines and the panels have been attached by matching tiny brads to the teal glitter card from my stash.
I then went to town on the Bling. On the sentiment panel, I used some fabulous crystal gems from Habico - purchased from the Art of Craft. The smaller gems were all from a selection pack I bought from Amazon.
It was a fiddly and time-consuming project but thoroughly enjoyed and has given me ideas for future projects.

Carol
xx