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

A New Home...... With papermilldirect

Hello again, sorry I'm running a little late with my blog post, but you should still have time to take advantage of this week's Special Offer over at +papermilldirect.

This week it's a lovely shade of Orange paper at 160gsm, and you can get a pack of 30 A4 sheets for just £2-25!!  Why not pop a pack into your next order, it's the perfect shade for summer crafting projects. (Link Here)

This week the Design Team have been working on ideas for New Home cards and I have a new make to share with you. For this project I created a 5 ½ “square card base by scoring and folding papermilldirect Buff cardstock and positioned it to use in ‘tent position’.

The sentiment of ‘A New Home’ was created in Cricut Design Space and sized to fit comfortably along the bottom of a 5 1/8” square of White Linen cardstock. I used the Cricut Explore to cut the correct size piece from the White Linen and the ‘attach’ function to ensure the writing remained as I had planned it in the preview screen. A Cricut pen in ‘Midnight’ was used to write the sentiment and it came out extremely clear and even on the Linen texture of the card. 

 I then inked around the edges of the Linen panel using distress Ink in ‘Broken China’ which is a nice blue colour and just tones down the bright white at the edges helping to co-ordinate with the blue toned elements in the house design. The panel was matted onto a slightly larger square of Post Box Red and then positioned centrally onto the buff card front using double sided tape to adhere each layer.

A basic house shape with a window cut-out detail was cut from Buff card, a door and roof details from Pale Turquoise card and a little window box and heart from Post Box Red card.

I ran the Buff house shape through the Big shot using an embossing folder with the ‘mosaic’ design which I thought gave a good enough impression of brick or stonework. Lightly swiped across the raised embossing with ‘Tea Dye’ distress ink applied with a small piece of foam. The ‘Tea Dye’ colour is a pale browny colour and just adds a little subtle definition to the embossing.

I also ran the Turquoise card shapes of door and roof and the red window box shape through the Big Shot using a ‘dots’ embossing folder. A versamark pen added a little detail to these pieces. A small piece of pale lemon vellum was adhered to the back to cover the window cut-out. I did add a couple of score lines to give the impression of window panes.

The Buff house shape was attached centrally using 3D foam pads to the card front evenly spaced just above the sentiment. The door, Roof detail and Window box were then added, again using 3D foam pads to add height and interest, along with the red heart to provide the ‘chimney’.

2 heart shaped buttons in blue and red were layered up and attached to the house using Cosmic Shimmer glue to provide a strong bond. A little red gem for the door handle provides the finishing touch.

This is a fun and relatively simple design which you can simplify by omitting the embossing and inking if you prefer. You could make in different colour schemes and handwrite or stamp the sentiment; it would also be fun to add a number to the door or extra details to personalise.

Materials Used:
Papermilldirect cardstock in White Linen, Post Box Red, Buff, and Pale Turquoise
Cuttlebug Embossing Folders ‘Mosaic’ and ‘Swiss Dots’
Heart shaped buttons, small piece of lemon vellum
Distress Inkpads in ‘Tea Dye’ and ‘Broken China’
Versamark Pen
Cricut ‘Midnight’ pen (or sentiment stamp)
Adhesives: Double Sided Tape, 3D Foam Pads, Cosmic Shimmer (clear drying) Glue

 

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
• Craig 
• Nessa
• Papermilldirect Inspire Blog 

 

Click Logo to go direct to papermill

 

Making Gift Boxes with Papermill Direct

Waving hello and welcome to another week, another month in fact  and another blog post from me.  This time the +papermilldirect DT theme is Gift Boxes and I have created two different styles which will work for all sorts of occasions.

But first, of course, I have Special Offer News, this week is it a rather sumptuous 270gsm Emerald card stock, such a beautiful green colour I expect this one will sell out quickly especially at just £3-96 for a small A4 box size.  Link Here:   

Thanks Gift Box
This little pear shaped gift box is easy to fill and secure using the two little holes at the top to thread ribbon through. The cutting file is found within the subscription images available within Design Space (or if you have the cartridge and / or a different Cricut machine, the cartridge is called ‘Fancy Boxes’). I chose Papermill’s Raspberry Pink card to create a bright gift box and the letters cut out to spell Thanks show the contrasting panel. I chose to cut the inner panel in a pearlescent white paper and then ran it through my Big Shot using a Dots embossing folder to add some texture to the words. The box is easy to put together and features a choice of two cutting files, one is a single piece to fit a 12x12 card and the other is in 2 pieces so it can easily be used with A4 card. I chose to use A4 and only needed to add a strip of double sided tape to one panel to assemble. To finish I added one large clear adhesive gem at the top and 3 smaller clear gems along the flourish just under the Thanks wording. The top of the box was thread with sheer white organza ribbon and tied in a bow.

Candy Box Gift Box
The sweetie shaped Candy Box has been cut on the Cricut Explore using a cutting file purchased from MyScrapChick, (files are on special offer at the moment for just $1). I chose Papermill’s Pale Turquoise card for the main body of the gift box. The software cuts the score lines for you, or you can do as I did and change the cut score lines to basic score lines that use the Cricut Scoring Tool, I prefer the look of the score line. The Candy Box file comes with a straight edged wrap but I wanted to add a more decorative effect, so I searched the Subscription Images and found a lace border which I then resized to fit the box. The lace border did have extra eyelet holes in the centre but I decided I would prefer it plain, so I easily removed them by simply selecting some basic circle shapes to fit over the eyelet holes, when all were covered I selected ‘weld’ and the circles disappeared leaving me with the plain inner to the lace that I required. I cut the lace wrap from papermill's pretty pearlised paper.

Once cut I went over the score lines with a bone folder to crease a bit more firmly and then assembled the box using a little cosmic shimmer glue. Using distress ink in ‘Broken China’ I inked around the blue card to emphasise the shape a little. The lace border was attached around the centre using double sided tape and a strip of patterned paper cut from 'Bright Spark' collection was added on top. To finish pink & white twine was doubled up and tied in a bow at each end.

Materials Used:
PMD Raspberry Pink Card - Papermilldirect

PMD Pale Turquoise Card - Papermilldirect

PMD Pearlised Paper - Papermilldirect
Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder
Clear sparkly adhesive Gems
White organza ribbon, Pink & White Twine 

Double Sided Tape, Cosmic Shimmer GlueDovecraft Bright Spark patterned paper
Broken China Distress Ink

Cricut Explore
(Pear shaped Thanks Box file from Subscription Images)

(Candy Boxes cutting file from MyScrapChick) 

(Lace doily wrap created in Design Space from subscription Image)

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
• Craig 
• Papermilldirect Inspire Blog 

Quick & Simple Birthday Card - with Papermill Direct

Hello, welcome to this week's Blog Post with +papermilldirect  a little later than usual due to the Bank Holiday.  Hope you all managed to make the most of the weather.  

Before I forget, I must tell you about this week's special offer, it's a lovely Light Ivory Pearlised 120gsm paper and if you pop over to Papermill's website you'll see some ideas for using it.  Available in both small and midi size boxes starting from £13-20 (40% saving) Link Here:

It's also Half Term holiday here and a busy time for most of us. So this week my Card project is a really quick and simple Birthday card.

Sometimes you just need to rustle up a quick make for a birthday card, perhaps your son or daughter lets you know at the last minute that they need a card for a classmate? In these situations I tend to rely on my Cricut Explore, I know I can switch it on, select a card and away I go. There are some really great image sets / cartridge selections included within the subscription, I have used one of these called ‘Simple Everyday Cards’ to create this simple but effective birthday card which would be suitable for boys of any age I’m sure. 

Creating the card is simple, the image set gives you the cut out card and also the square shape to back it with, just resize it to suit. I chose to size it to fit a 5” x 7” envelope so it could go straight into a ready made envelope. There is also an envelope included in the design set should you wish to cut your own).

I chose the Happy B-Day dinosaur themed card front and the Explore cut the design quickly, the cut outs mostly dropped out of the card by themselves, the wording just needed a gentle nudge. I chose Bright Orange card for the front and used white hammed card behind the cut-out to give a textured look to the dinosaur skeleton. Double sided tape was used to attach the back panel to the card front and I added a green lidded googly eye to the head to add extra interest and a little movement.

This is a quick and simple card to make, yet fun and colourful. It uses a minimum amount of materials but if you have more time you can add extra embellishments, perhaps add different colours behind the cut outs, add a name and / or number and make in larger sizes.

Materials Used:
Papermill direct Bright Orange card
Papermill Direct White Hammered Card
Double Sided tape
1 googly eye
A little cosmic shimmer glue to attach the eye
Tools Used: 
Cricut Explore with subscription images

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
• Craig 
• Papermilldirect Inspire Blog