Cards for Mother's Day

Hello there. Welcome back to my blog.

On 8th May, we will be celebrating Mother's Day. Its a day to give 'thanks' to our mothers (whether biological or not),for all they have done and all they continue to do for us.

Today's 2 cards are dedicated to these wonderful women. The cards were both done for friends of mine. I had a lot of fun doing them. Of course my theme was flowers.

A puzzle of a Scene- The first Card

The first card I used a stamp from Impression Obsession and colored it with Kuretake Gansai Tambi paints. These paints are so creamy . It was the first time using them. Then using My Favorite Things Die-namics Inside Out Oval stitched Dies I made 3 overlapping cuts. Then placed double sided tape under the pieces and put the puzzle of a scene together....
I then cut a piece of yellow striped cardstock with Stitched Landscape dies and adhered it to the bottom of the card to complete the design.






I so loved the way this card came out....


The second card- A scene of continuous flowers

I quite enjoyed this card as well. I used flowers from the Penny Black Blooming Garden stamp collection. Lovely , lovely collection of stamps. Again I pulled out the Kuretake paints to give these flowers a lovely feel.






Hope you liked my two designs and please leave a comment, I would love to hear from you!

100 days of Christmas Cards- Day 15

Welcome to the 15th day of Christmas cards. It is a real challenge to be able to do so many cards.

Todays card features a poinsettia in bloom. It is so pretty.

Using the penny black 'glorious' poinsettia die , I cut the shape out of red and green cardstock. With the green die cut I snipped off the leaves of that poinsettia and stuck them onto the red die cut shape. I added some yellow rhinestones for effect.

From W plus 9 seasonal sentiments die, I die cut the word 'hope' from the green cardstock and added a white heart from previously die cut pieces. A previously embossed red strip of cardstock was added to the edge of the card for added colour.

I hope you enjoyed today's card and I look forward in seeing you back here tomorrow.
Dont forget to leave a comment.

100 days of Christmas Day 12

Hi there welcome back everyone to Day 12 of 100 days of christmas cards.

Todays card features one of my beary friends delivering a gift. This card is great for a little girl or teenager.

The stamp features crafter's companion beary merry christmas. Its a cute stamp easy to colour. Using nicholas peerless watercolour paints I painted the bear...I love the peerless paints. I then stamped the greeting in black and embossed a blue sheet of cardstock.

I added a blue ribbon to complete the look.


Hope you liked today's card and I look forward to seeing you back here tomorrow. Don't forget to leave a comment!

100 days of christmas Cards Day 8

Hi there everyone. Thank you for taking time to look at my creations. For the 8th day I featured a very simplistic card.

I used cardstock with a cardinal on a branch. Using the lawn fawn circle stitched die, I created an opening for the christmas greeting. A red border was added to enhance the beauty of the card.

This just goes to show that a card can be made really simple but beautiful.

My Ist day of christmas shopping

Welcome back everyone . On the 6th day of christmas my true love gave to me.... A shopping trip for christmas goodies.

Today my card features a very stylish young lady shopping for christmas gifts. Its called the first day of shopping as I used this stamp a couple more times in different settings so it represents different days of shopping. This day I imagine her walking past a very artsy place...one thats not afraid of colour...hence the pink semi curved piece that represents a pavement.

The stamp is from the penny black collection. It took me about 3 tries before I was able to paint it to my liking. By the fourth try I just said to myself...just feel the colours and let it flow. I have a tendency to over think every thing so I spend alot of time trying to decide if this would look good on a card and if someone will like it...I am trying to change all that and 'let go and let it flow'.

The image was coloured using Nicholas peerless water colour paints in shades of yellows, pink, red, purple, shades of blues and green. I stamped my greetings and added some bling rhinestones. I then added a die cut semi circle at the bottom using some pink glitter card stock I had there for a while.

I hope you like my design and that it makes you reminisce about some of the joys of christmas.

See you tomorrow for my 7th card...hmmm I wonder what will it be?

Keep reading and leave me your thoughts by adding a comment.

Bearing many gifts

Hi everyone! Welcome back...I hope everyone is in their own happy place because I am...doing what I love the best..tah dah..... making cards.

Day 2 of my 100 days of christmas ...I have come bearing gifts. Its a very bright and colourful card and at its centre is a bunch of gifts layered over each other.

The gift boxes stamp is one from the deep red cling stamps family. It features two gift boxes - one decorated with polka dots and the other with stripes, which I stamped on spare card stock, painted using peerless watercolour from the peerless water colour bonus pack of 40. I then 'fussy cut' the gift boxes images and laid them out on the card before I stuck them using glue and double sided tape.

Just a little heads up....I cut the watercolour sheets into small strips and laid them out on cardstock with their names written on the bottom as described on a blog or class I read or did...can't remember which but its a great suggestion. My fav colours are daffodil yellow, turquoise blue,chrome orange, alizarine red, gamboge yellow and grass green.

I added some glitter glue...you can use any one from your local art and craft store. The accent pieces on the bottom of the card is crafters companion green pearlescent card stock I bought years ago (just found a scrap of it so I used it...again some old with the new)and bazzill's gold foil card stock.

Its been a blast. Thank you for reading and see you tomorrow for the 3rd day of christmas.

Don't forget to leave me your comments.

A simple Joy to the World

Welcome back everyone! I am so excited because ...its Christmas Time Again!... my favourite time of the year. I have put together about 100 cards to celebrate the season. My very first card is entitled 'A simple joy to the world' where I blended new products with old ones.

When I first began making cards I used a lot of stickers which I thought was the only way to make my cards look bright and beautiful. Now I use stamps since learning some of the techniques including how they can be used to make backgrounds etc. I have a few stickers left over from a couple years ago and I often incorporate them into my designs from time to time.

This card "a simple joy to the world' is one such card. I used some cardinals left over from my sticker stash to complete my composition of a woodlands retreat. The red ribbon is to add some more colour to the card as I used the dark chocolate simon says stamp cardstock for the woodlands frame. Then using my Joy to the world Stamp I can't quite remember where I bought it many years ago but its a little stamp that comes with an angel. I never used it before now...but its a cute little stamp.

Actually thats part of what my project is about...using stamps in my stash...Anyway enough babbling ..Thank you for stopping by . Please leave me a comment and show me what you've been working on as well.

Happy Holidays!

'One of a kind' Cards vs 'Repeat designs'

ONE OF A KIND VS REPEAT DESIGNS

Whether you like to receive cards, send cards or design cards, I am sure you've been asked on many occasions about your preference for 'one of a kind' or 'repeat' design. 

For me the answer is definitely a resounding 'One of a kind' cards ...you know... different designs every time. I love to play with all of my card making tools and resources. Love the adventure ...don't you???

ONE OF A KIND CARDS

From a designer point of view for me..... its refreshing,its exciting...its challenging and I love challenges. I love to see things as an adventure as I try not to take life too seriously all the time (just some times). I tap into my inner child to explore the world of fun in my card making process.

Thats why I will be celebrating 100 days of christmas starting
23rd September and ending 6th January 2016 with a new card design every day...you may find that some of the stamps were repeated but still its a different card.

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For the person who is purchasing the card they often tell me - its like what no one else has, so its unique. You have captured the essence of the recipient and so on and so on.

They feel special and also proud to be giving someone a card that they would not find on any other shelf. 


REPEAT CARD DESIGNS

To argue for the Repeat card designs - they are easy to do as the design has been done and sells well ,therefore it takes less time to make.

You can still personalise these cards by adding a name or special greetings to the inside or outside  (for handmade cards). Does not require any design skills or any additional thought to go into the design....No hassles, no mistakes....

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The Purchasers....

There are people who dont care too much for design. For them...it should just be appropriate- birthday, wedding, christmas etc Voila! they buy it...No thought goes into whether the recipient would like it or how they would feel to get a card such as this. 

Its a purchase to get the job done...give a person a card for a certain occasion. There is nothing wrong with this...Its a choice!

Now that I have given you the two sides of the coin which one are you?
'One of a kind' or a Repeat design...? 

What are your thoughts.....Leave a comment!

(Just a little note- I am currently on a break from card making as I am out of the country so I thought I would discuss a few questions that I have been asked to comment on several times in the past. So if I sound like I'm babbling its probably left over pina colada in my system. )

Life is a beach at retirement!

Hi again...welcome back to Rendesigns. Hope you had a great weekend. Today I decided to add a card that I did for my sister's friend. Its a retirement card. The card was done like a book with 3 pages. The concept was not mine but I adapted the concept to what I had in stock and designed the card around it. The first page was the front of the card which said 'Happy Retirement', 'Life is a beach' and 'I am the happiest retiree around' for which I used an Art Impressions stamp of a woman on the beach sipping a drink...

The overleaf of the front page was a set of balloons for each department where she worked, to sign their names.I added a bit of paint and glitter to the balloons

The second page was the message which again I did not write but I designed the look of it. (I normally write my own messages for my cards but if someone wants to write their own message I let them!)

The overleaf and next page were simple and designed for persons to write 'well wishes' on them.

I think it went well....Let me know what you think by leaving a comment on my blog

Sympathetic Sunday

Welcome back! Today I thought I would change things up bit and post a slightly different card. The only stamping done was the message 'With Sympathy' I did this card for a friend whose dad has just died and I thought I would share it with you. For me it is easier to do Sympathy cards geared towards women or for a family which includes women, as you can do flowers but when its for a man I like to try and see what I can come up with... So this is my card for today...... Let me know what you think...

For the message 'With Sympathy'

Crazy in Love

Hi there again....Welcome back to rendesigns. Today my card is entitled "Crazy in Love". As I said, this month I am featuring cards by randomly choosing stamps in my stash.... I love this cute little stamp by Stacy Kay...it was fun colouring with markers I found in a little art store here in Trinidad. Its a pack of 20 fabercastell markers. About 20 years ago I started colouring with markers with my sister who is now deceased. I never picked up markers after she died in 2003. She was way better than I was. This is a card she drew and coloured with markers and colour pencils, that I found recently.

Beautiful isnt it..... Told you she was very talented. So this is me trying markers again......

The card was coloured in a combination of markers, water colour pencils and water colour paints. Hope you like. Dont forget to leave me a comment.

Other products used were

Thanks for stopping by!