25 December - Christmas Day

This week's Crafty's Hazelnut's Challenge is 'Anything Goes' and Hazel is asking for cards which haven't been seen before or a new card for next Christmas.  This was a card I made last month, but hasn't yet been seen.

I used Versafine Black Onyx to stamp the Woodware 'Christmas Date' stamp onto white pearlescent card and embossed the image with clear embossing powder.  I then cut around the image, layered it onto red mirri card and used Promarkers to colour the holly and numbers.  I layered a square of red Marianne Design paper (a magazine freebie) onto red mirri card and attached it to the card blank.  The image was attached with foam tape.  To finish, I used Diamond Stickles on the snowflakes and Glossy Accents on the holly berries.

Kath x

Wee Love You Bunches

Another horrid wet day.  My OH is decorating the living room and insists he doesn't need any help so I've decided to make a start on birthday and anniversary cards for next year.   This card uses a Wee Stamp which was a freebie in a magazine earlier this year - I've followed the CAS - Colours and Sketches sketch to make the card.

I used Tuxedo Black Momento ink to stamp the image onto white pearlescent card and then coloured it with Promarkers.  I cut two squares of green/purple paper and layered it onto green paper.   The image was also layered onto green paper.  These papers are fabulous, although I've no idea what make they are as they were a Secret Santa present.  I used double sided tape to attach the squares to the front of a square card blank and foam tape to attach the image.

Kath x

My Five Favourite Christmas Cards

I've just come across Debby's blog and she is asking crafters to choose 'My Five Favourite Christmas cards' - there is also a chance to win some candy.  These are the five cards I have chosen and the reasons I have chosen them:

This Christmas Wreath was for a colour challenge - I wouldn't normally have chosen these colours but I was pleased with the finished card.

My OH bought this cute Bella stamp for me - I've used it several times but liked it layered onto the dark green heart paper for my sister (she liked it too!).

This Patchwork Christmas Tree was the first time I had tried paper pieceing - and I'm now hooked as it's a great way of using paper snippets.

This Carol Singing card was for a challenge - a traditional image with non-tradiitional colours - it was made from a recycled image and I liked the non-traditional colours

This Blue and Green Christmas Tree was the design I chose for my 'quick and easy' cards and made 20 in one evening using oddments of green paper for the trees and various colour papers and gems for the decorations.

Kath x

Congratulations

My Christmas cards are all written and delivered, presents are wrapped and under the tree - probably a good job as it's Christmas Eve!   It's time to start making birthday and celebration cards as my card box is empty.   This week's Less is More is a recipe challenge and the recipe is 'Drinks'.

I used Imperial Purple Versafine to stamp the Woodware Champagne Celebration stamp and Hobby Art sentiment onto white pearlescent card.  I then embossed the images with clear embossing powder.  I used a Woodware Squared Corner Cutter to punch the corners of the card.  This was layed onto purple mirri card and then onto a square pearlescent card blank.   The image was coloured with Promarkers.  To finish, I added Diamond Stickles to the champagne bubbles and Glossy Accents to the hearts.

Kath x

Girlie Christmas Tree

One of the cards I've made this week is for a friend who loves pink - it also fits well with this week's Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge which is to 'make it girlie'. 

I placed a Woodware silver bubble tree peel off onto white pearlescent card and layered it onto silver mirri.  Pink paper (a magazine freebie) was layered onto silver mirri and attached to the card blank - the topper was then attached to the front of the card.  To decorate the tree I used pink and purple pearls and rhinestones, and pink and purple Stickles. To finish, I coloured the pot and tree trunk with a pink Promarker and glossy accents.

Kath x

With all our Love Sister

I've spent most of this week wrapping Christmas presents and making boxes to disguise gift cards.  I've also started to make my 'special' cards so was pleased to see that this week's Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge is to make a card for someone special - this is the card we're going to send to my sister.  As the card used paper and mirri from my snippets drawer, I'm also paying a quick visit to the playground with Pixie's Crafty Workshop.

I stamped Wild Rose Studio's 'Bella in Pot' stamp onto white pearlescent card.  I coloured  the image with Promarkers and used Diamond Stickles for the snowflakes.  This was attached to red mirri card.  I attached a strip of green/gold paper to red mirri and attached it to the front of the card.  The Bella image was attached using foam tape.  To finish, I used a gold peel off greeting.

Kath x

Welcome to Your New Home

I've just had received a note from friends to let me know their new address, so I've made this quick 'New Home' card.   As the papers are from my snippets drawer, I'm also in the playground for Pixie's Crafty Workshop.

I used my Woodware Crafty Edger on a scrap of dark red paper and attached it to a white card blank.   I then attached a strip of green 'house' paper.  The sentiment is from Hobby Art's General Greetings - which is one of my favourite greeting sets - and I used Olympia Green Versafine ink.  Very quick and simple, but I was pleased with the result.

Kath x

Santa with wine and mince pie

I'm going to enter this card into Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge 'For a Man or a Boy' and also for the Winter Wonderland 'One for the Boys' challenge which must show an image of a boy or man.

I used a Crafts Too 'Swirl Frames' folder to emboss white pearlescent card and trimmed it to size.  I cut the oblong from the middle of the frame and attached the Kanban image to the rear of the embossed card.   This was then attached to dark red mirri card and a white pearlescent card blank.  To finish, I attached peel-of silver stars to the frame.

Kath x

We Three Kings

This week's Winter Wonderland challenge is 'While Shepherds Watched or We Three Kings'.  I found this black sparkle Three Kings peel-off in my oddments drawer and thought it would be perfect for the challenge.    As the pink/purple/black are contemporary colours for a Christmas card, I've also entered this card into the Sparkles Christmas Challenge which is 'Contemporary Colour Combo'.  I'm back in the playground this week for Pixie's Crafty Workshop as all the papers came from my snippets drawer.

I attached the peel-off onto white pearlescent card and layered it onto purple mirri card.  I then layered snippets of pink spot and pink checked paper onto purple mirri card and attached it to the front of a white pearlescent card blank.  I covered the join in the papers with pink/purple stripe paper and a strip of black sparkle peel-off which I had saved from the edge of the peel-off sheet (I hate throwing anything away!).  I then attached the topper to the card front. 

Kath x

Humphrey and Snowman

I made a second card to share today using a coloured Humphrey image which was a magazine freebie this month.   As I have used dies and punches I'm going to enter it into this week's 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown embellishment challenge.

I used my Classic Large Oval Nestabilities die to cut the image and Lacey Oval die to cut red mirri card.  I layered a scrap of green/blue snowflake paper (I think this is a HOTP paper) onto red mirri and attached it to a white card blank.  I then attached the topper to the card.  I used Woodware snowflake punches to cut large snowflakes from white vellum and small snowflakes from blue vellum.  These were then attached to the card.  To finish I added small white pearls to the centre of the snowflakes.

Kath x

Patchwork Christmas Tree

My Mr & Mrs card won the Woodware July Challenge and I had £12.00 to spend in my local craft shop (Japonica, Exmouth).  I was a bit like a kiddie in a sweetshop, but chose three lovely Christmas stamps.  One of them was the Large Patch Tree stamp which I used to make this card.  I'm going to enter this into Pixies Crafty Snippets challenge - this is my first time in the playground!

I embossed a piece of white pearlescent card using my Crafts-Too 'Twinkle' stars folder and then layered this onto a scrap of dark green card and then onto a pearlescent white card blank. I stamped the Christmas tree onto white card and cut around the shape.  I stamped the tree onto various snippets of green/red/fawn papers and attached them to the Christmas tree shape.   The heart was stamped onto dark green card and attached to the pot.  The Christmas tree was then attached to the front of the card.  As the card has used snippets,

Kath x

Popcorn the Bear

This week's 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown is a sketch (I find sketches are great when I want to make a card but my mind has gone blank!).  This card was made by following the sketch and using oddments of Popcorn the Bear papers.

I layered cream script paper (not a Christmas paper, but the colour co-ordinated with Popcorn) onto silver mirri card.  This was then attached to a square card blank.  I die-cut circles from scraps of Popcorn paper and also one from blue snowflake paper (all magazine freebies)  These were attached to silver scalloped mirri circles.  I used Majestic Blue Versafine ink to stamp the sentiment onto the blue snowflake paper - the sentiment is from Hobby Art's 'Christmas Greetings' set.  I used a Woodware snowflake punch to cut two snowflakes from the silver mirri card.  I assembled the card following the sketch layout.  To finish, I used a white Sakura glaze pen to highlight the snowflakes on the sentiment circle.

Kath x

Carol Singing

This week's Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge is 'Carol Singing'.  I used an upcycled image from one of last year's Christmas cards.  The colours I have chosen also fit with this month's Christmas Cards All Year Round challenge - 'to create a card using non traditional image with traditional Christmas colours OR a card with a traditional Christmas image using non traditional colours'.  I chose the traditional image with non traditional colours - purple and cream.

I layered cream snowflake paper (a magazine freebie) onto purple pearlescent card and attached it to a square card blank.  A strip of purple snowflake paper was attached to purple card and attached to the card front.   I used Nestabilities to cut the image and a scalloped purple circle.  These were then attached to the card front.  Imperial Purple Versafine was used to stamp the Hobby Art sentiment.  To finish, I added two purple nailheads to the top right and two to the bottom left of the card.

Kath x

Thinking of You

This card was made for the Less is More 'Silver' colour challenge.

I used my Woodware Crafty Edger on one edge of a square of silver mirri and attached it to a white pearlescent card blank.  I cut another piece of white pearlescent card and attached it to the top.  The silver rose image was attached to the left side of the card.  I attached the 3D elements to scraps of card, cut out the individual pieces and used silicone glue to attach them to the card.  To finish, I attached a silver peel-off greeting to the card.

Kath x

Three Wise Men

I made a 'Nativity' card for this week's Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - the challenge can show any facet of the nativity.  I decided to use a Three Wise Men topper from Kanban.

I layered gold mirri and Kanban Snow Red background card onto a pearlescent card blank.  I attached a strip of star paper onto gold mirri and attached it to the card.   The topper was layered onto gold mirri and then attached to the card front with foam tape to add dimension.

Kath x

Skating Bears

This week's Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge is Fun and Games and I used a teddy bear image from Making Christmas Cards magazine. 



I cut the image with a circle die and attached it to a scalloped circle which w(a magazine freebie) onto a square of turquoise card and attached it to the card blank.  A strip of co-ordinating paper was attached across the card and the image was placed in the middle.  To finish, I attached two red nailheads to the top right and two to the bottom left of the card.

Kath x

Santa with Presents

Another upcycled card was this lovely picture of Santa with a bag of presents.  I made this card for both the Christmas Cards All Year Round September Challenge which is 'Christmas Presents' and for the 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown Theme Challenge for 'Gifts of the Season'.

I cut the image into a square and attached it to red mirri card.   This was layered onto Hot off the Press dark red vintage paper and red mirri, before being attached to the front of the card.  The snow on the roof was already glittered, but I added Diamond Stickles to the snow flakes and coloured the stars with a Sakura gold metallic gel pen.  To finish, I applied white Fun Flock to Santa's hat and coat.

Kath x

Lilac and Lace

This week's Winter Wonderland challenge is to use 'Lilac and Lace' and I used a lilac/purple paper from the Making Christmas Cards magazine.

I layered the Merry Christmas paper onto purple mirri card and attached a strip of white lace around the left side.   This panel was then attached to a white Centura pearl card blank.  I used Imperial Purple Versafine ink to stamp the Inkadinkadoo greeting stamp onto white pearlescent card.  I then embossed the image with clear embossing powder.  The image was attached to purple mirri and then to the card front.  To finish, I coloured the stars with a Sakura gold metallic gel pen and attached two purple rhinestones to the top right and two to the bottom left of the card.

Kath x

Cats and Flowers

It's 'Theme' week on the Less is More challenge and this week it's to incorporate an oval.   I've recently bought some Little Claire Designs peel-offs, so decided to use one of them for my card.

I cut an oval from white Centura pearl card and embossed the edge.  I placed the cat peel-off onto the oval and cut the peel-off to fit, this was then coloured with Promarkers.  I placed the oval onto a pearlescent card blank using 2mm foam tape to give some dimension.  To finish, I added a greeting and two paw prints to the card.

Kath x

Christmas Bella in Pot

My final card for today is for Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge 'For a Child' and for Sparkles Christmas Challenge 'Sparkle and Bling'.  I used a lovely Wild Rose Studio 'Bella in Pot' stamp for the card.

I used Memento ink to stamp Bella onto white pearlescent card and used Promarkers to colour the image, which was then attached to red mirri card.  I attached green flower/holly paper (a magazine freebie) to red mirri and a strip of red stripe paper to another piece of mirri.  These were then layered onto a square card blank.  I used red Stickles for the holly berries and Diamond Stickles for the snowflakes.   I used a Quickie Glue Pen and Stampendous Fun Flock to add the fur to Bella's hat.  To finish, I added two red gems to the top right and two to the bottom left of the card.

Kath x

Christmas Sleeping Cat

This week's Winter Wonderland challenge is 'Christmas Pets' and can feature either dogs and/or cats.  This cute sleeping cat with his Santa hat is from my upcyling box. 

I attached a square of pink spot paper to a red mirri card and then attached a scrap of pink snowflake paper to more red mirri.   The cat image was also attched to mirri.  I layered the images and then wrapped a piece of red/silver ribbon around the larger square before attaching it to my card blank.

Kath x

With Sympathy

I made this Sympathy Card with my Woodware Wheat stamp and then saw that this week's Less is More challenge is for a one layer card featuring 'Foliage'.   I hope that wheat will count as foliage!

I used Versafine Imperial Purple ink to stamp the Wheat stamp on the left of my square pearlescent card blank.   As this is a large stamp, I stamped it off the side and bottom of the card.  The sentiment is from Woodware's Salutations stamp set.  I then used clear embossing powder to emboss the image.   A simple card, but I think it suits its purpose.

Kath x

Christmas Bell

This week's Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge is Christmas Bells.   I've recently watched a demo for paper piecing and thought I would try it with my Woodware Holly Bell Stamp and my paper snippets.

I covered a white card blank with dark red paper and added a strip of co-ordinating paper across the square.   The Holly Bell was stamped onto a piece of white card - I masked the top of the bell as I wanted to add a ribbon bow and not the bow on the stamp.  I used my Woodware squared corner punch on the corners of the white card.  I stamped the bell onto gold spot paper, the ribbon onto gold check paper and the clanger onto dark brown paper.   The holly leaves were stamped onto dark green paper.  After assembling the various paper pieces, I attached the square to the card front and used a black Sakura Glaze gel pen to add dots and dashes around the edge.  To finish, I added three white pearls and a dark green bow.

Kath x

For a Couple

This week's Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge is to make a card for a couple.   I found this pretty image in my upcycling box, and thought it would be perfect - the image was already glittered.

I cut the image from the centre of the old Christmas card and decorated the corners with my Woodware squared corner punch.  I then mounted the image onto a scrap of pale blue pearlescent card.  I used my Woodware Crafty Edger with the Star Party cassette to cut a piece of brown paper from the Prima Botanical collection - not a Christmas paper but a freebie that matched the brown in my image.  I wrapped a piece of blue glitter ribbon around the paper and tied a knot around the ribbon.   The paper was then attached to the bottom of a square cream card blank.  I then attached the image to the top half of the card.  To finish, I attached some of the stars to the top corners of the card.

Kath x

Merry Christmas to You & Yours

This week's Less is More challenge is 'Tearing' - this can be in any form and can be subtle or bold.  I've never torn papers before - I'm more of a ruler and straight lines crafter - so this was something new for me!

I used Crimson Red Versafine to stamp my Inkadinkado stamp onto white pearlescent card.   This was then layered onto crimson card.  I attached a strip of green patterned paper across a square pearlescent card blank and then attached a torn strip of striped paper across the top.  I used foam tape to attach the sentiment panel.  To finish, I decorated the stars on the sentiment panel with Diamond Stickles.

Kath x

Christmas Nativity

This week's Winter Wonderland challenge is 'Photo Inspiration'.   The photo is gold and there is a nativity scene, so I decided to incorporate both into my card.

I covered the square card blank with dark blue paper which had small white stars on it as this matches the sky in my image.   I then attached a square of dark brown mirri card in the centre.  I used my Woodware Crafty Edger with the Star Party cassette to cut a piece of gold glitter paper - this was attached across the card over the mirri (I used a couple of scraps of mirri, so this strip covered the join).   I then attached the nativity image (saved from one of my last year's Christmas cards) onto the mirri.  To finish, I used some of the Star Party stars to decorate the top of the card.

Kath x

A little bird told me ...

This week's Less is More challenge is a one layer card and must feature either fur or feathers.  I decided to choose feathers.

To make the card I used my Woodware Birdsong stamps.  I used Memento black ink to stamp the branch across the top half of a square card blank - stamping just off the card.  I then stamped two birds - one was stamped to sit on the end of the branch and the other just above the branch.   The sentiment was stamped under the branch to balance the image. I then coloured the image with Promarkers.

Kath x

Blue and Green Christmas Tree

This week's Less is More challenge is to use 'Blue and Green'. 

I stamped the Woodware Holly Tree stamp onto green Raspberry Road paper and stamped the star, holly leaves and two pots onto blue Kate Knight paper (the papers were all magazine freebies).  I cut around the tree and one of the pots (cutting the sides straight to remove the bow) and attached them to a white pearlescent card blank. I attached the star, holly leaves and the bow (from the second pot) to thin white card and cut out the shapes before inking the edges with a black Promarker.   I then used silicone glue to attach them to the card.  I used dark and pale blue gems to decorate the tree.  To finish, I drew around the swirls with Diamond Stickles.

Kath x

Home

I wanted to make a quick card for a friend who has just moved to a new home, and thought these freebie papers from Making Cards magazine would be perfect.

I cut a square of backing paper and mounted it onto dark green card as this highlighted the green of the houses.   This was then attached to a square card blank.  I then layered the topper onto dark green card and attached it to the card front with foam tape.

Kath x

Fishing You a Happy Birthday

I made this card for a card swap with the theme 'Card for a Child or Teenager'.  As I'm still trying to reduce my 'things I'll use one-day' drawer, I decided to use this Kanban decoupage picture.

I had still got some of the backing card to match the decoupage, so I layered that onto a white card blank.  I then used silicone glue to assemble the decoupage layers.  To finish I attached a sentiment to the top of the card.

Kath x

Less is More Christmas Tree

This week's Less is More Challenge is 'Sewing'.   I decided to make a stitched card and used a free template from Form-a-Lines.

I downloaded the template and attached it to a piece of white pearlescent card.  I then used my pricking tool and mat to transfer the pattern to my card.  After removing the template, I followed the instructions to stitch the card.  I used DMC threads, a single red thread for the baubles, a double green thread for the tree and double gold thread for the star.  I attached the white card to red Moondust card and then onto the front of a white pearlescent card blank.

Kath x

Christmas Wreath

I made this card for both the Winter Wonderland (Pink and/or Purple PLUS Aqua and/or Green) Challenge and the 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown (Wreaths) Challenge.

I layered green paper from the Cosy Christmas Collection (a magazine freebie) onto purple pearlescent card and attached it to the front of a white pearlescent card blank.   I used Versafine Imperial Purple ink to stamp the Woodware Bubble Wreath onto white pearlescent card, embossed it with clear embossing powder and used the Woodware Squared Corner Punch.  I cut a small slit into the card just above the top of the wreath and attached a piece of purple ribbon, fastening it to the rear of the card.  I mounted this square onto purple pearlescent card and attached to the front of the card.  To coloured the baubles with Promarkers and rhinestones, before applying Glossy Accents to the Promarker bubbles.  To finish, I attached a small purple ribbon to the top of the wreath.

Kath x

Merry Christmas

This month's Sparkles Christmas Challenge is a sketch.  The holly image is upcycled from one of last year's Christmas cards.

I cut around the image and attached it to red cardstock.  I layered green spot paper to red cardstock and then attached it to my card blank.  I cut three strips of red card and used my Woodware Squared Corner Cutter punch to cut small indents into one end of each strip.  Following the sketch, I attached the strips to the card with double sided tape and the holly image with foam tape.   The red sentiment was cut from another old Christmas card and attached to red cardstock before being attached to the bottom of the card.  To finish, I attached three green pearls to the ends of the card strips.

Kath x

Mr & Mrs

I made this card for the July Woodware Sketch Challenge.

I attached a piece of pink glitter Spring Feast paper to the front of a white pearlescent card blank.  I stamped the champagne glasses from the Woodware ‘Getting Married’ stamp set onto an oval of white pearlescent card using Versafine Black Onyx ink and embossed it with clear embossing powder., before colouring the image with Promarkers.  This was attached to a scalloped circle cut from a sheet of red and gold Magenta paper.  I used my Woodware Crafty Edger and Antique Floral cassette to cut a strip of the Magenta paper and then attached a piece of white ribbon around the paper.  Following the sketch, I attached the strip of paper across the card and used foam pads to attach the topper to the left of the card.  To finish, I applied dots of Diamond Stickles on the champagne bubbles, Glossy Accents to the flower centres and three small clear rhinestones to the ribbon.

Kath x

Less is More - Gold Card

This week's Less is More challenge is to create a 'Gold' card.  I've decided this is a good time to start making my Christmas cards, although I want to use up oddments from last year before buying anything new this year.  Using my left-overs, this is the card I made.

I attached a gold Christmas scene peel off onto white Centura pearl card and then layered it onto gold card.   This was then attached to the front of a white pearl card blank.  'Merry Christmas' peel offs were added to the bottom of the card.  To finish - and to give the card a bit of sparkle - I used Diamond Stickles on the ground, tree, house roof and snowflakes.

Kath x

My Favourite Stamp

I made this card for a card swap with the theme 'My Favourite Stamp'.  The stamp I have used is Hobby Art's 'Floral Display'.  I have used this stamp for my Get Well Soon and Just wanted to say ... cards on this blog - and many more cards as well.  It's so quick and easy to get a pretty image.

I stamped the image onto white Centura pearl card and die cut it into a circle, this was then attached to a scalloped circle of lavender card.  I used lilac/dark lilac coloured pencils for the flowers, two shades of green for the leaves and gold for the flower centres.  I attached a square of lavender card to the card blank and then attached a square of Raspberry Road lilac stripe paper.  I used my Woodware Crafty Edger with the Antique Floral cassette to cut a length of green paper.  This was attached to the bottom of the card.  I attached the die cut circle to the top left of the card.  I then used Versafine Imperial Purple ink to stamp the greeting - the sentiment is from Hobby Art's General Greetings set.  To finish I attached two lilac rhinestones to the top right and two to the bottom left of the card.

Kath x

Wishing you Happy Tomorrows

This card was made for a sketch card swap - I followed the sketch and used some Nancy Watt papers and toppers which were a magazine freebie.

I used a Denim Blue Promarker to ink the edges of a piece of blue spotty paper and attached it to the card blank.  I cut a strip of striped paper from the same collection and used the same blue Promarker to ink the edges and then attached it to the right of the card.  The edges of the sentiment topper was edged in a Buttercup Promarker and I attached it to the centre of the card.   As the flowers were on single sided paper, I glued them to co-ordinating spotty paper and then cut out two large and two small yellow flowers and one large and one small blue flower.   I shaped the petals, used the Promarkers to ink the edges and then attached them to the card.   The flower centres were also cut from the same papers.  After attaching them to the flowers I used Glossy Accents to make them look like pearls.

Kath x

Buddleia Birthday Card

I saw the Making Cards Vintage Collection magazine when I was on holiday and loved the freebie papers - they are so pretty.  I made this quick card for a friend's birthday.

I cut a square of dark pink Moondust card slightly smaller than my card blank and attached a square of buddleia backing paper with the flowers in the top left.   I tied a pink spot ribbon around the right side of the card and tied a bow around the ribbon.   This was then attached to the front of my card blank.  The sentiment is from Hobby Art's General Greetings set and I used Versafine Imperial Purple ink to stamp it onto a piece of the pink backing paper.   This was attached to dark pink card before being attached to the card with foam pads.  To finish, I put a spot of Diamond Stickles in the centres of each of the buddleia flowers to add a little sparkle.

Kath x

I've passed Unit Five - and I'm going on holiday!

I've heard from assessor Jackie that I've received a Pass Credit for Unit Five, this is for my Baby Girl Gift Cot, Bird Box and Butterfly Magic Box.  Thank you to everyone who has left feedback for me!

We're going on holiday tomorrow - off to Norfolk and Suffolk for two weeks.   Hopefully the weather will be better than it is in Devon at the moment!

Kath x

Butterfly Magic Box

For my final 3D object for the Certificate in Papercraft I've made a Butterfly Magic Box.  I made this following the tutorial on the Magic Boxes website. 

I cut two squares from an A4 sheet of Moondust card, one of 190mm for the box and one of 82mm for the box lid.  I then scored the larger box 74mm from each side and the smaller box 20mm from each side.  I cut the corners from the larger box and folded along the scorelines.   To make the lid I snipped all four corners, trimmed the excess and fastened the corners with tacky glue.  To decorate the inside and outside of the box (both are the same) I used a turquoise and red Hot off the Press paper (a magazine freebie) and attached this to a 300gsm card to make the box sides heavy - this weight helps the drop when the lid is removed.  I stamped the butterflies onto thin white card and coloured them with Pastel Green, Amethyst and Antique Pink Promarkers.  After cutting out the butterflies I stamped the reverse.   They butterflies were attached to the end of a thin strip of acetate - the other end of the acetate was slotted through slits in the square patterned base.   When I was happy with the height of the butterflies I cut off the acetate under the patterned base and attached the ends with tape.   This was then attached to the inside of the magic box.  I then used Diamond Stickles on the butterflies so they will catch the light when the box is opened.

As this is to submitted for the Certificate I would welcome feedback or suggestions for improvement, please.

Kath x

Bird Box

I made a Bird Box for the 3D unit of the Certificate in Papercraft - this was using a template which is designed and created by Nicole Heady.

I printed the template onto cream Centura Pearl card and covered the base section in Hot off the Press Soft Nostalgia lemon/pink flower paper.   The roof was made from brown paper from the same collection which was also glued to the Centura Pearl card.  I used my Buttercup Promarker to distress the edges of the bird house before assembling it with Tacky Glue and then used my Walnut Promarker to distress the edges of the roof.   I used my Nestablilities to cut a scalloped circle to decorate the hole in the front of the bird house and made a loop from pink/white baker's twine which I coloured with an Ivory Promarker - this was attached through two small slits in the roof section.  I attached one side of the roof to the bird box with Tacky Glue - the other side was left unattached so a gift can be placed inside the box - small pieces of velcro fastened the roof section.

I used a topper from Making Cards magazine to decorate the roof.   To make the flowers I used my Woodware 1" circle punch and cut this into a spiral.  I used my quilling tool to roll this and then used Tacky Glue to attach it to a small blossom shape - also made with a Woodware punch.  The leaves were punched from a scrap of turquoise paper using my Woodware grass punch.   I made flowers and leaves to decorate both the roof and the front of the bird box.

As I am going to submit this for assessment, I would welcome feedback, please.

Kath x

Me to You Birthday Card

I wanted to make a birthday card for a young girl and decided to use the Me to You papers which were a magazine freebie.   I have also entered the card into this week's Less is More challenge to make a card for a baby or child.

I attached a strip of patterned paper to a piece of purple card and then tied a lilac spot ribbon around the bottom.   This was then attached to the left of a white square card blank.   I used foam pads to attach a teddy chipboard to the patterned paper.   To finish the card, I attached a small dragonfly to the bottom of the card.

Kath x

Floral Inchies

I made some floral inchies for a swap - this was to make four inchies with the theme of 'flowers'.

I cut four one inch squares from a scrap of green card.  I then stamped a large flower onto pink rose paper from Raspberry Road Designs - the stamp is from Hobby Art's 'Anna's Collection - Special Wishes' set.  I cut around the edge of the flower and cut it into quarters - these were then attached to each of the green squares.  I then used a Sakura gold metallic gelly roll pen to make dots on the flower stamens.  I attached all four squares to a larger square of white card before sending my swap, so it's ready to be placed onto a card.

Kath x

Baby Girl Gift Cot

I've just finished making the first item for my 3D unit of the Certificate in Papercrafts - a baby girl gift cot.

I used a template available to students of the Craft Qualification Centre and printed it onto Centura Pearl card.  I covered the ends of the cot with pink flower paper from a Fizzy Moon paper pack and I coloured the inside of the cot with Brilliance Pearlescent Orchid ink pad to co-ordinate with the flower paper.  I inked the edges of the cot shape with the Orchid ink pad - this not only covered the white edges but will also draw the eye away from any less than perfect cutting!  I used Fizzy Moon toppers and glitter ribbon to decorate the cot and also added two small lemon brads to the ribbon.

The box section was covered in lemon/pink spot paper and then assembled following the instructions with the template.  I used a lemon brad as a handle for the drawer.   This was then attached to the cot sides.  I used lemon/pink flower paper from the same Fizzy Moon paper pad as a 'blanket' on the cot and cut the edges with Fiskars Victorian paper edgers.

Kath x

Just wanted to say ...

I enjoyed making my One Layer Card, so I've made another one to submit to the Less is More Challenge.  As I don't have many stamps, one of the biggest challenges was finding three stamps which worked together, but this is what I made.

I used white Centura Pearl to make my card blank.  All the stamps are Hobby Art - I used Floral Display (one of my favourite stamps) as the main image and added a sentiment from the General Greetings set and a small butterfly from Anna's Collection - Special Wishes.    I used coloured pencils to colour the flowers and butterfly so the pearlescent card showed through the images.

Kath x

Less is More - Use Three Stamps

It's time to start entering challenges!   This week's challenge on Less is More is to Use Three Stamps on a One Layer Card.   This is a real challenge for me as I'm not too confident with my stamping and rarely stamp directly onto a card.

I stamped the flowers from Woodware's Floral Doodles stamp set onto a square white card blank.   The sentiment is from Woodware's Salutations stamp set and my third stamp was a small 'doodle' from the first set.   I then coloured these with Orchid, Leaf Green and Gold Promarkers.  I was pleased with the result and may submit another card before the end of the week!

Kath x

I've passed Unit Three!

I've had a message from assessor Jackie - I've been awarded a Pass Credit for Unit Three!  This was for the Get Well Soon, Floral Doodles Woodware Challenge and Bear on Motorbike cards.

Thank you to everyone for feedback on these designs.

Kath x

Bear on Motorbike

I wanted to make a card for a young boy's birthday which had a cute image and also an iris folded design, so this is what I came up with.

I made a card blank from Ivory Centura Pearl cardstock and attached blue Moondust card.   The scalloped square was already embossed with dots and had an aperture in the centre, although I made it a little larger so it was the same size as my iris folding template.   The iris folding papers were scraps of beige, gold foil, red and blue sparkle papers and the iris centre is a piece of gold holographic card.  This was attached to the card front and I placed small gold peel-off dots in each corner of the square.  The Bear on Motorbike is from a Craft Creations die cut sheet.  I layered it with silicone glue so I could shape the pieces and, when dry, I attached it to the bottom of the card.   The greeting was from the same sheet and I mounted it onto blue Moondust card to match the layers on the card.

I'm going to submit this for the third card for Unit Three, so would welcome any comments or suggestions for improvement.

Kath x