Looking forward to Spring with Papermilldirect

Brr where did my promise of Spring go?  okay so the sun keeps teasing us briefly and then dashes away again, leaving it still really cold here at the seaside.  I am still wishing for Spring and working with yellows is certainly helping get me in the mood for Easter.

Before I get onto sharing my DT card, I thought I would let you know about this week's special offer over at +papermilldirect If you like blue then you are going to love 'Sapphire Blue' it's a really beautiful intense inky colour and as it is 105gsm it is going to be perfect for sitting behind the cutouts and fretwork that is so popular right now.  It is also easy to manipulate and so it would be perfect for your origami, paper folding projects, and creating flowers too especially as you can get a 50 sheet pack of A4 for just £5-50!! 

The Challenge over at Allsorts Challenge blog is any occasion other than Birthday, and So looking ahead to Easter I thought it would be nice to make a little card featuring an image from one of my favourite seasonal stamp sets.  I love these cute little chicks carrying their Easter eggs on their backs.  I stamped them with black memento ink and coloured with promarkers.  I quite often stamp onto papermilldirect white linen card as i really love how it gives the stamps a more sketchy feel rather then harsh edges I think it made these little chicks look extra fluffy and cute.

I also used papermills Daffodil Yellow and Buff cards to create my mats and layers for a simple colour scheme.  The sentiment is from a set by Clearly Besotted and I think the lower case and font work quite well with the image.  I used 3D foam pads to mount the layered panel and also the stamped panel to the card front, to add some extra interest and dimension.

I have a liking for Ric-Rac ribbon, there I said it out loud!!  there is something really just rather nice about ric-rac, even the name is fun, and the zig-zaggy form always makes me think of stripey Easter eggs and so it was the natural choice to add to my card, I chose blue and white and found a wooden button that would match, carefully threading it with blue paper twine and tying it in a bow. 

Materials Used:  

 

Daffodil Yellow, Buff - Colours Range - Papermilldirect

White Linen Card  - Essentials Range - Papermilldirect 

'Spring Day' 30-099 stamp set - Penny Black

'Sweet Little Sentiments' stamp set - Clearly Besotted

Summer Sun, Pastel Yellow, Tequila Sunrise, Artic Blue, Baby Pink, Pastel Green, & Pastel Pink - Promarker pens 

Tuxedo Black - Memento Inkpad

Blue Ric-Rac, White Ric-Rac, Wooden Button, Blue Paper Twine - from my crafty cupboards  drawers

Adhesives - Double Sided Tape, 3D foam pads

Challenges Entered:
'Any occasion Other Than Birthdays' Challenge over at Allsorts Challenge Blog
 

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  
Sylvia  
Sandie  
Sharon

Craig 

Love and be Loved!! with Papermill and Visible Image Stamps

We are well into January now and crafters I'm sure will be working on their Valentines projects.  Have you checked out  +papermilldirect's new seasonal landing page 'Valentines'.  Don't forget to also check out the 'Special Offers' section too, a brand new offer has just been added,  20 sheets of 250gsm Black Card for just £4-00

So with the Valentines theme in mind I thought it would be nice to combine some stamping and colouring along with my cricut explore this week. 

The base card was cut on the Explore using papermilldirect white linen card and Post Box Red card.  I love the texture of the linen and along with the red, it's a classic Valentine combo.  Using a grey pen I added some faux stitching detail around the edges of the white card front, sort of stitches with dots that I hoped echoed the rivets on the Tin Man.  Using the sentiment stamp of 'Love and be Loved' from the set, I stamped with black Memento ink into the heart aperture area of the red card.  I then attached the white heart aperture panel to the red card base using 3D foam pads to create depth.

The 'Oz Tin Man' stamp set is really cute  and this was my first chance to play with it.  (there are other characters in this series by +Visible Image which celebrate 75 years of Oz) Using black Memento ink, I stamped the Tin Man and his little clockwork heart onto smooth white card and coloured with Promarkers.  I kept the shades subdued with just a few greys, pale blues and dashes of red shades. (unfortunately it was a dark dull day when i took the pics so I used my daylight lamp and not sure if it washed out the colours a bit but hopefully you can see some colouring :D)  I then carefully cut around the Tin Man and Heart and added them to the card front using 3D foam pads.

For the inside of the card I used the white linen heart shape that was cut from the front panel, it gave a co-ordinated look and was ideal size for the sentiment.  It's nice when you are able to use the shapes that would normally be discarded.

For the finishing touches I added some red faux gems in heart shapes and a little trim of red & white bakers twin tied in a bow.

Materials Used: 
White linen Card, Smooth White Card - Essentials Range - Papermill Direct Post Box Red Card - Colours Range - Papermill Direct  
'Oz Tin Man' stamp set - Visible Image Stamps 
 Promarkers
Grey Glaze Pen - Sakura
Bakers Twine and faux gems from my craft stash
Adhesives - Double Sided Tape, 3 Foam Pads
Tools - Hougie Board to score and Cricut Explore for base.


Challenges Entered: 
I'm going to enter this card in the 'January - Show & Tell' over at Visible Image's facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/visibleimage/photos/

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  
Sylvia  
Sandie  
Sharon

Oh Baby it's 2015 - with Papermilldirect

So I spent the last days of 2014 and the first days of 2015 in a kind of cold / flu bug hell.  I was so tired and poorly I fell asleep before midnight and totally missed the heralding of a New Year.  Now I'm feeling much better and (fingers crossed) raring to go!!  So to kick off the new year we are celebrating new life over at +papermilldirect our theme is Babies!!  (Why not pop over and check out the Special Offers section, this week there is a rather yummy 'flecked lilac' 240gsm A4 card on offer at just £6 for a small box, along with some other goodies you may have missed)

There's also the launch of a Valentines section which also introduces some brand new Cardmaking Kits!!  

Now back to the theme of 'Babies' and I have seen a few of these block style cards over the years but have never actually got around to making one, so I put that right and here is my first one, it also ties in nicely with the 'Something New to You' Challenge Theme over at Country View Challenges.  I am using a brand new Die Set and also making a new to me style of card, what a great way to start the year.  (as always links and materials lists are at the end of the post).

The base card was created using White Hammered card and the sections were scored using my trusty Hougie board.  I inked around the card and each section using a pale pink distress ink.    Next came the fun part of decorating.  I used dies to cut small scalloped squares and some heart shapes from Baby Pink card & Raspberry Pink card and again inked around edges with pale pink ink, adding a faux stitch detail with a white Pergamano pen.  I used dies to cut alphabet letters to spell BABY from Raspberry Pink card and added them to the Baby Pink card squares.  Squares were then adhered to the blocks card using double sided tape, I used 3D foam to attach the layered heart to give some height.  

The baby girl image was stamped onto Smooth White card and coloured with promarkers, a little glitter glue was added to highlight the lace trim. Then the image was cut around and attached with 3D foam.  Pale pink faux gems & pearls were used to decorate the front squares. 

For the top panels I added 3 more of the Baby Pink scalloped squares and decorated with a button, heart, and a white bow.

I'm quite pleased with the way this first attempt turned out and also the fact that I could actually get 2 of these from 1 sheet of A4 card makes these quite economical to make, as you can decorate with whatever you have to hand. These little blocks cards (I sometimes see them described as Stairs too) can be used for all sorts of occasions and they fold flat to fit into envelopes too, making them ideal for postage.  (just be careful with height of embellishments)  Now I need to make a Baby Boy one or maybe a Twins one, or a Birthday one?  decisions, decisions  :D
 

Materials Used: 
White Hammered Card - Essentials Range - Papermill Direct
Raspberry Pink Card & Baby Pink Card - Colours Range - Papermill Direct
Spun Sugar Distress Ink - Tim Holtz
Baby Stamp (from Die & Stamp Set) Collectibles COL1313 - Marianne Design
Layered Hearts (from Die & Stamp Set) Collectibles COL1307 - Marianne Design
Alphabet Dies - Varsity FEDIE007 - First Edition
Square Dies - Lacy Squares Nestibilities S4-295 - Spellbinders 
Tuxedo Black Ink - Memento
Vanilla, Blush, Pastel Pink, Baby Pink, Blossom - Promarkers
White Pen - Pergamano
White Shimmer Detail Sparkle - Imagination Crafts 
Button, Enamel Dot Hearts,White Bow, & Faux gems - Trimcraft
Adhesives - Double Sided Tape, 3 Foam Pads
Tools - Hougie Board to score and Big Shot to cut dies.


Challenges Entered: 

'Use Something New to You' - Country View Challenges 
I'm using a brand new alphabet die set and a brand new to me style of card :)

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  
Sylvia  
Sandie  
Sharon

Have a Wonderful Day!!

Whilst looking through my stamp sets I found a set of Penny Black Hedgehogs that haven't been used for ages, love these cheeky fun images and thought I would use them in conjunction with this fabulous White Linen card from papermill direct. which is from their 'Essentials' range, to create a Design Team project for them.  (materials list, links and challenges entered are at end of post).

For my card I chose the popular White Linen and teamed it with bright Raspberry pink.  I scored and folded the White Linen to create my card blank, and to die-cut with a scalloped circle and a lattice trellis background die.  I love the versatility of the Linen Card, and the texture is subtle but makes a big difference to the overall look of your projects.  

 

I like to stamp and colour onto Linen Card too, and that is what I did with my little Penny Black hedgehog stamp.  I also stamped a greeting of 'Have a Wonderful Day' onto the linen and die-cut it into a little tag.  My image was coloured with pro-markers and some stickles glitter glue was added to the centre of the flowers to give a little sparkle.  4 white card candis and a raspberry ribbon provide the finishing touches. 

I think Linen card really is an 'essential' part of every paper crafters stock.  It can have lots of uses from formal through to fun creations. 

Tomorrow I will show a card that features another of the 'essentials' so I do hope you will pop back.  I would love to hear any comments or feedback and I am always happy to answer any questions. Happy crafting!!


Materials Used:   
White Linen Card - Papermill Direct - Essentials

Raspberry Pink card - Papermill Direct - Colours
Penny Black stamp set, 
pro-markers to colour, 
dies to cut circles and lattice background, 
stickles glitter glue, card candi, pink ribbon.

Challenges Entered: 
Sisters of Craft - August Anything Goes Challenge
http://thesistersofcraft.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/sisters-of-craft-august-anything-goes.html

Why not pop over and see what my fabulous papermill teamies have got up to this week?:
Barbara
Lisa
Ruth
Sylvia
Sandie

Sharon

Post Pals

I recently heard about something called 'Post Pals' and joined a group on facebook set up by Claire  the lady that runs Jellypark digital stamps. She has very kindly offered free images to be made into cards and then sent to sick children and / or their siblings.  you can find the group on facebook. https://www.facebook.com/groups/495638457181446/

Post Pals is an award winning charity set up to send cards, letters, emails and little gifts to seriously ill children and their siblings in the UK and is supported by Children in Need and the Princes Trust, you can find out more about their work here http://www.postpals.co.uk/

I thought the whole idea was wonderful and signed up with Claire's group, received my first digi image and got to work on my first Post Pals card.

I printed the image out onto Cream Linen effect card, as I just love that texture, it adds extra interest to the image. 

Coloured with pro-markers and cut around the image, so i could attached it to the main star dimensionally with 3D foam pads.  

I made a card base by scoring & folding Mocha card,
die-cutting stars in various sizes from different colours of card  and added faux stitching with a white pergamano pen.

Die cut some letters to spell out 'hi' and added to one of the stars.  Patterned paper and string of stars from my crafty stash.

Materials List:
Digi Image - Jellypark
Cream Linen, Mocha, Sky Blue, Spring Green, Christmas Red cards - Papermill Direct
White pen - Pergamano
Promarkers & string of card stars from stash

One of the nice things about Post pals is that you can read each child's story, you get to learn a little about them and their world, and choose which child to send your card to.  Some children have siblings and they may also like to receive a card (or gift) too.  I have already chosen the child I'm sending my card to and will be posting it out later to hopefully put a smile on his face.

If you'd like to get involved, why not check out the links above, or comment below and I'll be happy to help.