November Mood Board and Christmas tags

Hello again! Donna here, and I’m excited to share with you what I’ve made with the November mood board.

I smooshed Distress inks onto watercolour paper to create the background, building up the layers until I was happy with the result. This background could easily be made using Distress oxides too.

I then stamped the leaf three times on white card stock before heat embossing the with gold. I fussy cut the leaves leaving just a tiny margin of white around the outside.

I tore some vellum into pieces to mount each of the leaves onto. I love the look of torn edges. Once I had glued the leaves onto the vellum, I put a little glue on the back of the vellum only where the leaves were because the glue shows through vellum and can wreck the look. I glued these to the card, starting in the centre.

So, are you going to enter the November mood board challenge? It's such a beautiful board, it seems a shame to miss out! Don't forget you can win a store voucher if you're the winner. 

Share your entries here.

Next, I have some very simple Christmas tags for you. So many of the Christmas packs have Ephemera and die cut shapes, and I've used these to make some tags. I cut the tags using a die, and layered greetings and pictures on top, sometimes popping part of the image up with foam tape. Here's a look at the set of tags.

Here are some close ups of the tags. You can see the dimension in the tag below, created by raising the top berries.

This Santa's face made me laugh. He looks completely frazzled and overworked, but he's pressing on!

This tree took the whole tag, and then some, but I like the way it hangs over the edge.

It's always a pleasure to share with you what I've been up to, and I hope you are inspired to get crafty, either with the mood board, or making some Christmas tags.

Until next time, may you enjoy the approaching Christmas season,

Blessings, 

Donna 

Instagram: donnadoll74

Super Mums and Cute Girls

Hello again!
Donna Lewis here, back with some more cards using some of the fabulous papers from Shop and Crop. This time I'm featuring the Cute Girl range from Crate Paper.
This collection includes the most gorgeous paper I've ever had in my hands. The printed vellum from the range was so gorgeous that I could only bring myself to use a little piece of it. Does anybody else have this problem?
I chose to die cut circles from the paper and then I attached them by stitching vertical lines. I haven't tied off the threads, as a card won't get the same rigorous use as clothing and I like the look of the hanging threads. When stamping on vellum, I always emboss, otherwise the ink will still be wet, even after 24 hours!

Here is a closeup of the stitching, showing the lines I drew on the card to help me line the circles up neatly.

You might be surprised to see what I used to sew the card! This machine was my grandmother's and now has pride of place in my house, where I use it quite often.

This welcome card is made from the gorgeous houses in the crate paper range. The welcome banner has been cut by partially die cutting Kaisercraft letters. I placed the top plate of the cutting machine so that it didn't quite reach the bottom of the letters. I then cut between the letters with a craft knife. The middle layer is another lovely Crate Paper which I tore to make the hillside. Finally, I covered the houses on the Crate Paper background paper with clear Wink of Stella and then added some Glossy Accents to some of the houses to make them pop. I like to have a welcome card handy for new arrivals to our little patch of the world to help them know how welcome they are. It's a great way to meet new neighbours.

This cute card is a real collage of so many different elements. The cute girl is from Crate Paper. Perhaps she is the namesake for the Cute Girl collection? I have added a paper doily, strips of three different washing tapes, as well as a Washi heart in the bottom left. I used a Kaisercraft die to cut the stitched edge to the centre panel with the girl. This card is actually inspired by some of the amazing scrapbooking pages that I've seen on the Shop and Crop blog.

Here is a close up look at the stamping on patterned paper below. It really adds a lot of interest to the stamps to have the interesting background.
The great thing about these double sided papers is that you can stretch your supplies. For example, the green hills on the welcome card are the same paper as the stamped arrows below. Also, the girl above has the beautiful soft pink background paper on the back. I have linked all the papers I've used that are available in the Shop and Crop online store, so if you click on any of the blue text, it will take you directly to that item in the store. Don't forget that if you use the code DL5 you can receive $5 off your purchase on these or any products at Shop and Crop.

Finally, have you had a go at the April Inspiration Challenge yet? There's still time if you hurry! Look at the gorgeous vibrant colours for the challenge! I've made a card inspired by the colour palette, and I really enjoyed using a colour scheme that was out of my usual comfort zone. 

Here is my take on the challenge. I've Copic coloured a magnolia stamp by Altenew as my main focus, and have layered up the background for added interest. Why don't you pop over to the Inside Inspiration page on Facebook and check out the fantastic entries so far? 

Have a great weekend everybody. Hopefully you'll get a chance to get crafty. 

Donna    xxx

@donnadoll74

donnaisplayingpaper.wordpress.com