A blog devoted to the cards I make in my tiny upstairs space. When my sister stays there, she calls it an "artist's garret". I'm not an artist, but am an enthusiastic cardmaker - hence the title "Cardmaker's Garret".
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Saturday, 14 June 2025

Non-traditional Forest for Peace on Earth

Peace on Earth's new mood board inspired me to step outside my comfort zone and go with very non-traditional colours.  I chose the top right hand picture of the non-traditional coloured Christmas tree decorations.  And the little turquoise reindeer on the right hand side of that image inspired the reindeer in my card.

I smooshed a bunch of scraps of mixed media cs in colours close to the mood board image.  Then die cut the trees from them.  I arranged them on the card base and layered the reindeer circle die cut over them.

There's lots of other inspiration from our Peace on Earth design team.  We'd love to have you join us.

 








Supplies:
Stamps - Art Impression sentiment
Ink - Distress Oxide Pine Needles, Peeled Paint, Picked Raspberry, and Mermaid Lagoon
Paper - white linen cs, mixed media cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - Impression Obsession tree dies, Memory Box deer circle die

Monday, 9 June 2025

Joy with Cardinals and Poinsettias

I'm not good at using large dies but having seen so many great cards using the Penny Black Joy die, I broke down and bought it a while ago and am finally getting around to using it.

I  stamped the image of the cardinals and coloured with coloured pencils, then trimmed it to fit behind the "o" of the die cut which I cut out of green cs.  I used a stitched rectangle die to add interest to the edges of the card.

I'm linking it up with Try It on Tuesday ("Things with Wings") and Word Power (the sentiment is the focus of the card).

I had enough of the sheet of green cs left from cutting out "Joy" to make an A2 card base - I don't very often use coloured card bases so it was fun to think of what to add to it.  

I put the poinsettia stamp in my MISTI and inked it up with various mini Distress inks and Memento Dew Drop inks, spritzing, stamping, and reinking until   I was happy with the results.  I trimmed it with a Sizzix die, added it to the green card base, and added a green TH Christmas sentiment sticker and some gemstones.

I'm linking it up to Addicted to CAS ("Florals") and Twelve Months of Christmas ("Only One or Two Layers"),

  

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Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Serendipity cardinals
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - white and green cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Penny Black Joy die, coloured pencils, Lil Inkers stitched rectangle die

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Penny Black poinsettia
Ink - various mini Distress inks and Memento Dew Drop inks
Paper - green cs, watercolour paper
Size - A2
Accessories - TH Christmas sentiment sticker, Sizzix die, gemstones


Wednesday, 4 June 2025

Recycled Dog, Grateful Horse, and Die Cut Swag

The Paper Players challenge is to recycle something on our cards.  As a dog lover, I often receive store-bought cards with dogs on them.  I received one on my last birthday with a beautiful black lab on it.  Good friends of mine have a black lab so I decided to recycle the lab to make a Christmas card for them.  


I have some old double-sided stick-on flourishes.  I arranged them in the corners of the card and added multi-coloured glitter to them.  Finished off with a die cut sentiment "joyful" - exactly how I would describe my friends' lab!

Cardz 4 Guyz wants to see a masculine card in blue.

I sponged a background with various blue Distress inks and layered my die cut over it, popping the body of the horse up a bit with foam tape. The whole panel is popped up on the card base with fun foam.

And a "threefer" today.  52 Christmas Card Throwdown wants us to use dies or punches.  I made a card with lots of greenery die cuts that I cut out of small scraps of various green cs - therefore I'm also entering it at the Snippets challenge.  And linking up with Cut It Up - anything goes with die cuts.

I die cut several different pieces of greenery out of various scraps of green cs.  I splattered them with white acrylic paint and arranged them on white cs dry embossed with a pine sprig embossing folder.  I wrapped bakers twine around my focal panel and made a bow from it.  The sentiment is stamped and die cut with a narrow banner die.


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Supplies for card 1:
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - dog off of a store bought card, double-sided stick-on flourishes, multi-coloured glitter

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Memory Box sentiment
Ink - various Distress blue inks
Paper - white cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - StarLit Studio Horse Country die, fun foam, foam tape

Supplies for card 3:
Stamps - unknown sentiment
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper - white cs, scraps of different green cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Sizzix embossing folder, TH greenery dies, sentiment label die, red/white baker's twine, white acrylic paint


Sunday, 1 June 2025

Die Cut Birthday, Die Cut Bird

My youngest sister (I'm the oldest of four) is turning 60 in a couple of months!  Hard to believe.  So when I saw the Shopping our Stash "By the Numbers" challenge and the Inkspirational Challenge "Celebrate", I was inspired to get her card made.  It's also being linked up at Cut It Up (anything goes with die cuts) and Sisterhood of Crafters "Flowers".

Using the old SU Elements of Style floral stamps, I stamped some in white and heat embossed them, then watercoloured them just in shades of blue, colouring the background as well. Then stamped some in black and watercoloured just the flowers and leaves. Using a hexagon die, I cut out sections of each.

I watercoloured a scrap of watercolour paper just with shades of blue and die cut the sentiment and the numbers.

I ran a scrap of plain watercolour paper through a floral embossing folder and die cut a hexagon out of it.

I cut a focal panel very slightly smaller than the card base and cut one hexagon out of, then glued it to the card base. I arranged the floral and embossed hexagons on it and glued the "60th" into the cut out hexagon and the Happy Birthday on the top. I added a few green and blue gemstones.

Sticking with the theme of die cuts from one of the challenges for my first card, I've made this card for 52 Christmas Card Throwdown "Use Die Cuts".  It's also for Time Out Challenges "Your Favourite Winged Thing" - birds are definitely my favourite!  And Try It On Tuesday "Things with Wings".

I die cut the bird twice out of watercolour paper and glued it together for more substance, then painted it with my watercolour paints.  I added it to a dry embossed panel, and topped it with a die cut gold frame and a die cut sentiment banner.
 


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Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - SU Elements of Style
Ink - off white cs, watercolour paper
Paper - off white cs, watercolour paper
Size - A2
Accessories - white embossing powder, watercolour paints, floral embossing folder, hexagon die, Happy Birthday die, number dies, blue and green gemstones

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Rosie's Roadshow sentiment
Ink - Ranger Red Geranium
Paper - gold and white cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - unknown bird die, watercolour paints, Darice stars embossing folder, Spellbinders square dies, stitched banner die