CASE me a Christmas Card with Michelle Lupton

It's that time of year again when Michelle Lupton organises her CASE me a Christmas Card Event. This year she has invited around 80 crafters to join her and there are a series of hops on Instagram and YouTube with prizes on offer. My hop is today on instagram and you can find me there at @debpamment

I got to CASE the fabulous work of @donnamikasa and this is the card I chose. I used the sponged background, different sized die cuts, large sentiment and foliage elements. Of course I had to add some coloured images too! These cuties are Little Elf Kippa and Little Elf Tippi by Mo Manning. Please be aware that the links for these images are for a store that will be closing soon! Mo has a new store open HERE, but she is happy to move images to the new store if requested once these links expire.

Another Little Christmas Bauble

 

Last year I used one of Mo's images to make a little Christmas bauble for my tree and I took step by step photos. This year I couldn't go past one of Mo's new angels to create a new bauble. You can check out how I did this HERE

For this bauble I used Choir Angel Beli and the digital paper that comes with her. She was printed at 2" high on copier paper and coloured with copics. I didn't want to print her on regular blending paper as that wouldn't curve around the bauble as well.

I do plan on completing the set with the other 2 angels Mo has in her new store, I just need to source some new bauble blanks first! Hopefully I'll have them done by Christmas.

Joyful Fairy by Mo Manning

When I saw this fabulous image called Joyful Fairy I knew I wanted to colour her up and frame her for my sewing room. She really appeals to the patchworker in me 😃

I decided to give her some dimension by layering the patches in her skirt, her wings and her ponytail. I glued each piece on just at the top and then curled them up. It really looks so much better IRL! 

The beautiful background paper is included with your image purchase.

And here she is all framed up and hanging on the wall.

Love Is by Mo Manning

How cute are these two! The image is Love Is by Mo Manning and is currently available on Mo's Patreon Page. Mo is currently setting up a fabulous NEW shop though - there are some gorgeous new images there - do yourself a favour and go check it out HERE!

A Special Anniversary Card

Today I have a very special 60th anniversary shutter card for you. I love the reminiscing of past and present and how the couple still love each other, even after 60 years.

Now I'm not sure why I did this to myself but I saw a tutorial yesterday on YouTube for this style of card and headed off into a rabbit hole to try it myself, and I got it done with only 90minutes to spare before my posting time!!!!

It's a fun card but PRACTICE putting together the mechanism BEFORE you start cutting up your images, I'm SO GLAD I decided to do this as I may not have had a card to showcase today otherwise!!!

The images I have used are by Mo Manning and have both been cropped. The bridal couple is Wedding Couple B and the elderly couple are Jack & Ginger.

In the video below you can see the mechanism in action.

Duke Done Differently

As with many crafters I enjoy all sorts of different crafts. One I enjoy is quilting and recently I saw a fun technique called collage quilting where fabric scraps are your colouring medium. I then went in search of a few YouTube tutorials on the techniques and thought it would be fun to try. My next issue was finding an image to use. Of course being on Mo Manning's Dream Team made me wonder if a digi mage could be used. Like with anything out of the ordinary it's always good to check with the artist if your technique is an acceptable use of their artwork. I was delighted when Mo agreed to my request and I decided to use the gorgeous Duke, partly because he reminds me of my dog 😉

I printed him off at just over 12" tall, transferred the lines to a piece of fabric and got to work. The plan was to use up scraps from my fabric stash and that's why he ended up blue - but I'm so happy with it and learnt a lot along the way. The fusible I had hiding in my craftroom was quite old and didn't always stay ironed down so I ended up using a decorative stich along the edges of the fabric pieces, not the way a true collage quilt is made but I was happy with the result anyway. I added wadding and a backing, did some more quilting to sandwich the 3 layers together and finished off my piece with binding. I now have a cute soft wall hanging ready to go up.

Here's a little idea of the steps the process took me. 

My sincere thanks to Mo for letting me use her artwork this way.

Ilana by Mo Manning

Today I'm bringing you a card using Mo's gorgeous Ilana image. There's just something so wonderful in the way Mo poses her images and I love the sweet cheekiness of this adorable girl.

Using striped DPs is always fun as you can orientate the stripes in different directions to really enhance them as a design element.

Spring Awakening by Mo Manning

Today I'm bringing you a fabulous Mo Manning image called Spring Awakening which is available free from Mo's Patreon. 

Here in Australia it's the Winter Solstice today, which means we're halfway through Winter and hanging out for Spring to come, so I'm living vicariously a little here 😀

King for the Day by Mo Manning

Recently I have been doing some men's card by request. Today I'm bringing you this one using an image called King for the Day What bloke doesn't love a good lounger and being in charge of the remote.

I used some papers that created a lounge room backdrop and added a masculine sentiment to finish him off. 

Fishing by Mo Manning

Here's another requested card for an man, my brief was anything "boating" related. This time I've used Mo's Fishing image. This is another image that has been around for some time but is still a fabulous choice when making a card for a man. 

I find men's cards need to be a little simpler in design but the sponged sunset background and scalloped frame seem to work well.