Polymer Clay Journey

So my life has moved away from card making to illustrations, calligraphy and now polymer clay charm making. I had never really had an interest in clay or 3d modelling until I wanted to make a little fairy garden for my son in our garden. 

After looking at the high prices for little items such as doors and chairs I thought ' I could make that better, cheaper and it would probably be fun' and so the journey began.

A couple of months later and I've been emerged in the polymer clay charm making madness. I've even tried to make my own jewellery...something I thought was too intricate and time consuming for me,,  but here we are and I've learnt a lot of new skills!

I regularly update my crafty shenanigans on Facebook so please visit my page to stay updated Rachaels Crafts n Gifts

So expect more polymer clay and other randomness which is pretty normal from me, hence the name of my blog!

Happy Birthday for my man

Here's a birthday card I made for my partner last week. I made it pretty much the same way as my mothers day card, but with more masculine stamps and inks :-)

I'm entering this card into the Simon Says Stamp Challenge; Happy Birthday.

I started by using the Creative Expressions chevron stencil with broken china distress ink. the background was then distressed with broken china and old paper with a gradient. I used a die cut from the Lovely labels set from Clearly Besotted Stamps to use as a mask and then started stamping cogs (free stamps from a magazine) with different colours, adding second generation stamping to add dimension.

A sentiment from Clearly Besotted Stamps 'Say it in Style' was stamped in the middle with three colour co ordinated sequins to match the cogs.

Belated Mothers Day

Belated mothers day!

Its been busy around here lately so I haven't had much time for blogging or crafting. Although mothers day gave me the the 'excuse' to spend some quality time on some special cards for a couple of special ladies :-)

I was inspired by Virginia's post here (from her card blog called Yes Virginia) to make a silhouetted sentiment with colourful flowers as the main focal point. What's not to like for mother day, eh? I didn't want to copy Virginia's card completely so I started by choosing some suitable flower stamps and matching colours (memento dew drop ink pads). I used stamps from Indigo Blue Freebird and Kaisercraft Madame Boutique stamp sets. I added a light background using the Creative Expressions Ivy background mask with old paper Distress Ink. 

 The silhouette for the sentiment was made using a die cut from the Clearly Besotted Stamps Lovely Labels die which was stuck in place with a little washi tape (good ol' washi!). the sentiment was from the lovely labels stamps that match the dies. The card was finished off with some sequins (any excuse really!)

I have entered the above card into the Virginia's View Challenge: Stencils. I had actually made this card before I saw this challenge but thought it would fit nicely :-)

This second Mother days card (for the mother-in-law) I had a bit of fun with. I haven't tried the vintage chic look for a while so thought this would be the perfect chance. I had a few card toppers and papers piling up that came from some card magazines. The card toppers were made by Kaisercraft and the floral paper was from the Cardmaking and Papercraft magazine.  

I started by cutting the floral paper to size and distressing the edges with vintage photo. The lace piece was added and then the paper was attached tot he card blank with foam pads. 

The card toppers were added next and then I used the opposite side of the floral paper to stamp the sentiment 'mum' from the Dovercraft urban stamps collection. The paper was distressed and the opposite edges curled. the sentiment was then added onto the card and some pearls were added as subtle bling.

All round I think it turned out OK :-)

Elegant Butterflies

Yay finally got as chance to play with my new elegant butterfly and lovely labels stamp and die sets from Clearly Besotted Stamps. With just a quick card made the other night I already have many ideas lined up with the use of these sets.

I'm entering this card into the Clearly Besotted Challenge. The theme of this months challenge is 'In Flight' and since I LOVE butterflies and recently got new butterfly stamps and dies....you see where I'm going this!

 I started by using some tiny butterflies in coordinating colours to make a background on card stock. This background was then die cut using a frame die. I loved how these frame dies make a lovely 'embossed edge' around the frame. The middle oval was then die cut and a sentiment with a couple of butterflies stamped on top. The frame and sentiment were layered onto the blank card using small foam pads.

 I die cut all the butterfly shapes and inked up my corresponding stamps with two inks. One colour in the middle or main bit of the butterfly and another colour for the edges of the wings. I really liked this effect.

The finished butterflies were then layered onto the card using foam pads (again!) I added a bit of bling with some small green gems to the two larger butterflies.

I am very happy with the way this card turned out and hope other people like it :-)

Ink Pad Guides and FREE downloads!

Here is what I've finally come up with to use as my ink pad guides. I has struggling to check ink pad colours against each other from their case alone as the stamped image always seems to come out a slightly different colour to me. Looking at the ink colour on paper is always much better.

Please excuse the horrible photo quality!

The first one is a simple generic guide that I wrote my own titles into so that I could add to it as I went along

The second guide I found using google search, it isn't one I made so I will not share it. As you can see, my distress ink stash leaves much to be desired.

The last one is my memento dew drop guide, which is basically the same as the generic guide but with all the ink pad names applied already.  

So here are the downloads and I hope they may be of some use to others :-)

Ink pad guide here

Dew drop Ink pad guide here

1st birthday with bling

So I got asked to make a birthday card for a first birthday with lots of leopard print, sparkly bits and I was told the inspiration was big fat gypsy wedding. Its not my usual style but thought the challenge sounded like fun!

I stamped a pink leopard print patten onto vellum and overlay a lighter pink paper. a couple of ribbons create a central point to the card. The sentiment and name are stamped at the top and some colour coordinated sequins are added for 'bling' 

This was actually quite an enjoyable card to make, coming out of my comfort zone :-)

Granddads Birthday

Not sure if its just me, but I struggle with making masculine cards, especially for older gentleman. Anyhow, I wanted an excuse to use my new birthday numbers stamp set from Clearly Besotted Stamps and think this used them quite well.

I started by choosing some masculine colours and stamping a numbers background on card stock. This numbers background was then die cut out but then I decided to distress the negative space with the same colours and then die cut slightly larger to make a frame. The numbers and frame were then attached tot he blank card using foam pads for dimension. As these elements were quite striking I opted to use a simple sentiment underneath in black archival ink.

We bought my granddad a new pen to replace the last pen I brought for him over 5 years ago. Unfortunately, about a year ago the barrel broke on the pen but the repair costs would be about the same as a new pen. We then wrapped the pen in some paper Leo decorated, which I think my granddad appreciated. Its nice to get the little one involved and i think it looks better than store brought wrapping paper sometimes :-)