Happy St Patrick's Day!!

Waving Hello and wishing you all a very happy St Patrick's Day with this easy card make.   I’ve designed this one so that it can also be used as a simple ‘Good Luck’ card as it bears only the word ‘Lucky’.  If you look carefully you will see it has 6 regular 3 leaf clovers and a special ‘Lucky’ 4 leaf clover to give a magic number totalling 7.  So it’s a Lucky 7 card too, so that’s plenty of Good Luck to send to a friend.

 Step By Step:

1. I took a Dovecraft 6x6 white card blank to use as my base card with the fold running along the top.  From the 6x6 My Guy paper pad I cut a square of triangle geo patterned paper approx. 5 5/8” square and adhered to card base using double sided tape.
   
2. To create the mat panel, I cut Dovecraft White Laid card to measure approx. 4 7/8” square and matted it onto a square of First Edition textured cardstock in green that measured 5 1/8”, to give a small border all around.
   
3. I cut the clover shapes using my Cricut Explore (My DS link is here if you wish to use it: https://uk.cricut.com/design/#/canvas/37629120 )  but these are simple shapes and easy to draw a 3 leaf and a 4 leaf in pencil onto card and use that as your template to draw around. (The leaves look a little like heart shapes so perhaps use a small heart to help you). I cut the 3 leaf clovers from My Guy papers, 2 in orange, 2 in polka dot, and 2 in the black, grey, yellow pattern papers from the pad. 
   
4. Using a Light Grey First Edition marker pen outline around the inside edge of the leaves to give a subtle definition. Then glue 3 three leaf clovers across the top of the white panel and 3 across the bottom of the white panel.
   
5. Using the FE Alphabet set, diecut letters to spell ‘LUCKY’ from black card and glue across centre of white panel, leaving space at right for a clover.
   
6. Cut the 4 leaf clover from FE textured card in green.  Using Dovecraft glitter glue in Gold, outline the 4 leaf clover and also outline around the green card panel.  When glitter glue is dry mount main panel to card front at an angle using 3D foam pads.
   
7. To finish, add a green adhesive gem to 4 leaf clover and attach to card front using a 3D foam pad to give height, so it looks like you can just pluck the clover from the card.
   
   
   
   Products Used:
   Simply Creative FSC Paper Pad 6x6 My Guy
   Dovecraft White 6"x6" cards & envelopes
   First Edition Premium Textured Cardstock – 12x12 Papers
   Dovecraft A4 White Laid Card
   First Edition Dies - Varsity Alphabet
   First Edition Twin Markers - Greys
   Dovecraft Christmas Basics Glitter Glues - Gold and Silver
   Dovecraft Christmas Basics Gems - Reds and Greens
   
   All products are from +Trimcraft Ltd  and this project also appears in my Trimcraft DT Gallery link here: http://www.trimcraft.co.uk/projects/121715/lucky-clover-or-st-patricks-day-card-with-simply-creative-my-guy-papers
   
   
   
   
   
   
    

You make my Heart so very Happy

Hello I'm back to share another make with you, this one is a DT project for Trimcraft.  I’m in love with these gorgeous First Edition Love Story papers from +Trimcraft Ltd .  

The canvas and wood effect papers and a theme of love gave me the idea to create a little Birdhouse shaped card.  This could be a Valentines or Anniversary make or to send to someone ‘just because’.  

I created the card shape using my Cricut Explore but you could easily cut a simple house shape by drawing in pencil onto a card blank and cutting with scissors or craft knife and decorating as you wish.

Step By Step:

1. I designed and cut the birdhouse and 2 birds on my Cricut Explore using Design Space subscription, I can share my DS link with you here: https://uk.cricut.com/design/#/canvas/36107737  Which will give you access to my design file so you can cut everything as I have done, all is sized ready for you to load the mats and just press ‘go’.
2. Using Dovecraft A4 Kraft Card I cut 2 identical pieces to form the front and back of my card base. (Scoring a short way down the back piece and folding before adding glue above the score line creates the join, you may prefer to do this after the front papers are on ).
   
3. I cut an extra front card piece from FE Love Story checked pattern canvas effect paper and adhered to Kraft card front.  Inking edges with red ink and then black ink to add definition.  I then cut the smaller front panel from Love Story Wood effect paper inking the edges as before and adhering to card front
4. I cut 2 roof section parts from brown arrow patterned paper in the Love Story pad, inked with red and black inks as before and then added to card front using 3D foam pads to layer up both sections to create height.
   
5. The heart sentiment ‘You Make my heart so very happy’ was cut out of the Love Story papers, inked around as before and then edges in Dovecraft ‘crystal’ glitter glue.  When dry it was glued to card front towards the top of the birdhouse.
   
6. I cut 2 birds from heart patterned paper.  Each bird consists of 2 layers and I inked around all the parts using red ink and black ink as before, adding extra black to colour the beaks and legs. This time also outlining with Dovecraft glitter glue in ‘Crystal’ to add extra sparkle.  When dry I shaped the pieces in my fingers and layered up using 3D foam pads.  I added 1 bird (flying) to top of birdhouse allowing wings & beak to overlap, and the other bird (with legs) to bottom RH side of birdhouse allowing the tail to overlap.
   
7. Using the FE Foliage Die set I cut 2 leafy fern pieces from floral pattern Love Story paper and die cut 3 small flowers using the FE Flowers die set.  Inked all pieces with red and black inks as before and shaping in my fingers to give some texture / movement before adhering to card front at bottom LH side.
   
8. To finish I coloured 2 small clear gems with FE black marker for the birds eyes and added clear adhesive gems to centres of flowers, heart sentiment, and to decorate roof section of the birdhouse.
   

Products Used:

• First Edition 12x12 FSC Paper Pad Love story
• First Edition 6x6 FSC Paper Pad Love story
• Dovecraft A4 Kraft Card
• Dovecraft Christmas Basics Gems - Clear
• Glitter Glue Box - Pastels
• First Edition Dies - Foliage
• First Edition Dies - Flowers
• Cricut Explore Machine

All materials are from +Trimcraft Ltd and this project also appears in my Trimcraft Design Team Gallery Link here:http://www.trimcraft.co.uk/projects/121410/you-make-my-heart-so-very-happy-first-edition-love-story-papers

Wicked Wishes...with Papermilldirect

Hello, this week the +papermilldirect DT have been working on Halloween makes and I have this card to share with you.  There are some fabulous shades of cardstock in the Papermilldirect colours range just perfect for Halloween makes like my favourite Purple Grape along with Bright Orange, Apple Green and of course Black.  I created this little shaped card by using one of the Halloween images in Cricut Design Space, I duplicated the base layer and flipped it, moving it up against its mirror image and overlapping it before aligning both shapes along the bottom and then selecting ‘weld’ to form the base of a shaped card that can be folded in half. 

If you’d like to make this card this is my Design Space link which means that you don’t need to do the mirroring and welding steps at all, it is already done for you and all the pieces are sized, colour coordinated and ready to just press ‘go’.  When you have the pieces cut out, just score and fold the purple base card in half to form the card base, layer up the other shapes and glue together using a clear drying glue and decorate as desired.

 

When using my Cricut to cut images I often like to add some detail to what would otherwise be ‘flat’ shapes.  For this design I chose to use some embossing folders through my manual die cutter machine.  You can see the embossed detail adds more interest and makes for a more tactile card.  For the Sentiment of ‘Wicked Wishes’ I used a collage embossing folder.  I also used some Stickles glitter glue in ‘Mercury Glass’ to edge around the words and added some dots of Liquid Pearls in a black colour.

To decorate the hat part of the card I added different sized gold and silver sequins, filled the star cut-outs with the Stickles glitter glue and used it to outline the green star too.  Little dots of black Liquid Pearls were added to the centres of the sequins, star and also on the green hatband, along with dots of Stickles glitter glue.  It's fun to experiment with embossing folders and I like to mix and match electronic cutting with other techniques. What do you think? Are you working on Halloween designs?   or using embossing folders?  Why not share your makes over on the papermilldirect facebook page, we'd love to see them, Angela x

Materials:
Purple Grape Card - Papermilldirect
Bright Orange Card - Papermilldirect
Apple Green Card - Papermilldirect
Black Card - Papermilldirect
Cosmic Shimmer glue – Creative Expressions
Stickles ‘Mercury Glass’ – Ranger
Liquid Pearls ‘Onyx Pearl’ – Ranger
Tim Holtz ‘Collage & Notebook’ embossing folders – Sizzix
Gold & Silver sequins
my Cricut Design Space link: https://uk.cricut.com/design/#/canvas/32014804

Papermill Design Team:
if you have a moment, please do pop over and check out the other papermill teamies blogs and see what they got up to this week: 

• Barbara 
• Lisa 
• Ruth 
• Sylvia 
• Sandie
• Nessa 
• Nicole
• Papermilldirect Inspire Blog  

Be Your Own Sunshine...with Papermilldirect

Hello!!  Today I'm sharing one of the two designs I've made using this week's Papermilldirect Special Offer Tangerine card.  This card uses the Cricut Explore (another post will feature a card created with a manual die-cutter and dies).  So first up is this little Layered Quote which uses the ‘Be Your Own Sunshine’ quote set from within the subscription images in Cricut Design Space (or the intricate quotes cart or image set if you have that instead). I sized this design to measure approx.  5” x 7” so that it would fit a 5x7 envelope as a card or can be used as a small display piece as I have done here.  You can of course cut this one as large as you wish for displaying.  (I have provided my Design Space link below if you wish to cut to the dimensions I have used).

 The design consists of 3 layers, the main image has been cut from this week’s special offer ‘Tangerine’ cardstock.  Using Cosmic Shimmer clear drying glue I added blue denim effect paper behind the girl silhouette to add a pop of extra colour and interest, blue being a great contrast to orange colour tones. Just for a little extra definition I did edge the sections that make up the girl figure with a Versa Mark pen, it's quite subtle and  I highlighted the word ‘Sunshine’ using detail sparkle in ‘White Shimmer’ and left to dry.
When dry I assembled the quote design as follows,  using double sided tape to adhere the Daffodil yellow card (middle layer) onto the Bright Orange card rectangle (bottom layer).  The top panel of Tangerine was then carefully positioned on top using 3D foam pads to give height and depth to the image.  I really like the zingy colours teamed with such a bright and cheery sentiment.
    
Materials Used:
Tangerine ‘ Special Offer’ card - Papermilldirect
Daffodil Yellow card - Papermilldirect
Bright Orange card - Papermilldirect
Denim effect paper is from Me To You Tiny Tatty Teddy paper pack
Detail Sparkle ‘White Shimmer’ – Imagination Crafts
Versa Mark Pen (optional)
Adhesives Used: Cosmic Shimmer ‘clear’ glue, 3D foam pads, double-sided tape
Cricut Explore  - my Design Space Link: https://uk.cricut.com/design/#/canvas/31695738

Papermill Design Team:
if you have a moment, please do pop over and check out the other papermill teamies blogs and see what they got up to this week: 

• Barbara 
• Lisa 
• Ruth 
• Sylvia 
• Sandie
• Nessa 
• Nicole
• Papermilldirect Inspire Blog 

Click Logo to go direct to papermill

Autumn Wishes... with Papermilldirect

Waving hello and welcome to another Blog post, Autumn is now with us and crafters find lots of wonderful inspiration with all the colours that brings.  

This week over at +papermilldirect  the special offer is a really nice A4 size 270gsm Ivory Stucco card, I have a particular liking for the textured cardstocks and this Stucco effect is especially nice, very similar to the hammered effect.  This week you can get your hands on a small box of the Stucco for just £4!! it is also available in the Midi box size too at just £11-50, but be quick as I believe there is only a very limited amount available (link here:)

I thought the lovely texture of the Ivory Stucco card would work well to create this autumn themed card with the help of my Cricut Explore. (DS link below)  You can see that although it’s a textured card it cuts very cleanly and is able to take a sentiment written directly to it.  I used an A4 sheet of Ivory Stucco to create a card base measuring approx. 5.5” wide x 7.5” high, this size fits into a C5 envelope.  The 270gsm of the Stucco card means it is perfect to create a sturdy card base and carry embellishments.

I used my Cricut Explore and images from within the subscription to design this leaf pennant focal point with extra leaf and an acorn design.  I have included my Design Space link below so that you can create this card too, everything will be sized and colour co-ordinated so it is all ready for you to cut.  The card base is included in the design just remember to insert a black pen into the pen holder so that your Explore can write the sentiment for you.  I have ‘attached’ the sentiment to the card shape and so it is all ready to press ‘go’.

After cutting you should have 1 base card (Ivory Stucco) with sentiment ‘Autumn Wishes’ written upon it, 3 layers to the Pennant, 2 layers to the leaf and 2 layers to form the Acorn. 

Score and fold the card base in half so that the sentiment is on the front of the card.  Glue the layers of the pennant, leaf and acorn together on top of each other to form the 3 shapes, I used a clear drying glue to make this easier and give a neater finish.

To add some extra definition I outlined the cut out sections of the brown card using a versa mark pen, I did the same to the leaf and to the acorn to add some extra detail, if you don’t have a Versa mark pen then you could use a marker, chalk, or ink, or leave it plain if you prefer.

Take the Pennant Shape and add a length of Jute ribbon across the top and secure the ends on the back using double sided tape.  Wrap 2 lengths of paper twine or cream coloured twine across the top of the Jute Ribbon and secure ends on reverse side.  Add 3D foam pads to the back of the pennant and attach to card front near to the top, so that it doesn’t cover the ‘Autumn Wishes’ sentiment.

Add 3D foam pads to the back of the leaf and acorn and arrange on top of the jute ribbon, adhere when happy with placement.  I also added some of the waste pieces of card cut from the inner leaf and the pennant background to add some extra interest.  To finish I glued 3 sequins and a little bow of paper twine.

Materials Used:

My Project Link: https://uk.cricut.com/design/#/canvas/31387757  - Cricut Design Space

Ivory Stucco 270gsm Offer Card –papermilldirect

Mocha Brown, Ruby Red, Buff, Forest Green,Apple Green – Colours – papermilldirect

Cosmic Shimmer Clear Drying Glue – Creative Expressions

Double Sided Tape, 3D Foam Pads

Papermill Design Team:
if you have a moment, please do pop over and check out the other papermill teamies blogs and see what they got up to this week: 

• Barbara 
• Lisa 
• Ruth 
• Sylvia 
• Sandie
• Nessa 
• Nicole
• Papermilldirect Inspire Blog 

On your (Book) Marks, get set, Blog!!

 Hello!!  I'm back in blogland after an extended break, lots of things going on here, summer holidays, daughter's 18th,  and poorly family members meant I didn't quite get around to blogging, however I am now pleased to be back and raring to go.  I have quite a few projects to blog about over the coming days and I do hope you will join me for those, but first I will start with this week's +papermilldirect  post. 

This week the Special Offer is a 230gsm Black Card and for just £3-50 you can snaffle up a small box containing approx. 80 sheets!!  Black card is very useful, I like it to add subtle definition to designs but also it can have great impact and contrast, it's a colour that should be in every crafters stash and especially so with Halloween coming up, so I'd grab this one whilst it's still around at this special price. (link here :)

This week PMD Design Team have been working on the theme of Bookmarks and you will find lots of ideas over on the Inspire Blog and on the Teamies own blogs, we also have a new member Nicole joining us and we look forward to seeing more of her beautiful creations  (Blog links below).  

I have created a Fairy Tale themed bookmark using my Cricut Explore and images from within the subscription (mostly 3 birds on Parade for those who use the cartridge based machines).  I cut a simple book mark shape from papermilldirect White Hammed card to measure approx. 2 3/8" wide x 6" long  (you could of course make any size to suit the books).  I like using the hammered effect card as this adds texture and interest and creates a sturdy base to add elements to.

I chose the Fairy Tale sentiment layered image and the fairy bird with a crown and wand, using the onscreen mat to help me size them to fit onto the bookmark shape.  I also searched the images for star themed photo corners as these would fit the theme.  I made use of the star shaped 'waste' too by adding them around the bird. 

The decorative elements have been cut from various shades within the papermilldirect colours range.  All the PMD colours work really well together and cut perfectly on the Explore being 240gsm they are a great weight for layered images too,  I chose to use Daffodil Yellow, Raspberry Pink, New Lilac, Baby Pink, Purple Grape for this project.  Assembling the layers with Cosmic Shimmer clear drying glue helps to give a neat mess free finish and allows a little 'wriggle room' to help get things lined up, very important if you are doing a quick last minute make late at night as I was :D

Once the images were layered I added them to the front of the bookmark, again using Cosmic Shimmer glue.  I then added extra sparkle with White Shimmer Detail Sparkle glue and the stars have extra shimmer in the form of Glitter Jewels in Iced Snow which i sprinkle into the wet glitter glue before shaking off the excess and leaving to dry.

To finish, I made a hole in the top of the book mark and threaded through some silver ric-rac ribbon and sheer pink ribbon tied in a bow.  This made a pretty, feminine bookmark, you could make an alternative version featuring characters such as pirates, wizards or popular cartoon characters, these would be ideal to accompany a gift of a book too.  Although I have used my Explore to help with this project, bookmarks can easily be made by using any crafty stash you have to hand, card and paper scraps, dies, stamps, templates, maybe drawing your own designs, they are fun to make and you can theme them to match the style of books. 

Materials Used:

White hammered Card
Coloured card: Daffodil Yellow, Raspberry Pink, New Lilac, Baby Pink, Purple Grape
Cosmic Shimmer Clear drying Glue - Creative Expressions
White Shimmer Detail Sparkle - Imagination Crafts
Iced Snow Glitter Jewels - Creative Expressions
Silver Ric-Rac & Sheer Ribbon from stash

Papermill Design Team:
if you have a moment, please do pop over and check out the other papermill teamies blogs and see what they got up to this week: 

• Barbara 
• Lisa 
• Ruth 
• Sylvia 
• Sandie
• Nessa 
• Nicole
• Papermilldirect Inspire Blog 

Click Logo to go direct to papermill