Phoenix Inspirations

I have been trying to stretch myself recently - creatively. In a recent card swap I was sent a certain amount of materials which I had to use. They included die cuts, mesh, gems and cotton. I was stumped for a while but not one to give up I set out to find a style of card first. I thought about an easel card and then decided to go a bit further and do a twisted easel card. Great I thought - perfect. But then I thought what if ........... and then I made this Instead of a flat panel I made a box frame. Around my frame I added the mesh and inside it I stamped my panel with images from Stampin' Up's Papaya Collage. The die cuts were added along with the gems and the cotton twine. Now for the base. More mesh, more die cuts and gems and to prop up the easel a square panel stamped with Papaya Collage. I don't usually make cards with this much on it - I'm a clean and simple kind of crafter however, every once in a while I surprise myself!...

Last week saw my February Tuesday workshop and the theme was 'Two Step Stamping'. To help my ladies understand what I meant by this I prepared some examples There is a bit of glare on the photo 'cos I laminated them and they will now be stored in my stamp index for future reference. After we had done a bit of practicing with and without a stamp positioner, I then demonstrated the Twisted Easel Card. Garden Greenhouse seemed to be the favourite - one lady loved it so much she has borrowed my set! I chose Bird on a Branch, this is a set form last year's Mini Catalogue which is now retired - but I love it. I also used a bit of Vintage Vogue too. It is essential to use a stamp positioner with this set as it is very difficult to stamp the three images by eye. The colours I used are Cameo Coral, Not Quite Navy and Very Vanilla. Here is a view from the side. This next week is another of my workshops and I will demo-ing some Brayering techniques - one of my favourite things...

Do you remember my Twisted Easel card of a couple of weeks ago (take a look *HERE*)  - well I've been having a play with the concept. Have a look This has two panels that angle into each other and it really isn't that much more difficult than making a card with a single panel. I used the Just Believe stamp set and the colours Very Vanilla, Baja Breeze and Chocolate Chip. Now not one to stop there - I went a step further ..... This one still has the two panels facing each other but it has a front facing panel in the middle too. This one was a bit more tricky as you need to shave a sliver off the sides of the middle panel to prevent the side panels snagging it. Again I have used Just Believe but this time used Cherry Cobbler and Always Artichoke along with the Very Vanilla. Now I have another idea to take this even further - but that is going to take a lot of time and card stock - so stay tuned. Bye for now - Jacqueline xx.

I love making easel cards - they are relatively easy to make and are very effective. The one I have made today is a little bit different though. Instead of the front looking face on - it twists to the side This what it looks like flat The flowers come from the gorgeous Vintage Vogue stamp set along with the sentiment from Simply Said and the colours I used were Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Old Olive and Certain Celery. The card however is not Stampin' Up but from a pad I bought a while ago from Lidl - £1.99 for 25 sheets - bargain! Tomorrow is my first workshop of 2011 and we are going to be making a Butterfly Suspension Card so if you pop back then I might have some samples to show you - bye for now - Jacqueline xx.