For Mother's Day my lovely daughter presented me with a wonderful selection set of 8 paper tapes from Paperchase, from their 'Taking Tea' range. Obviously I squealed in delight at the sight of this scrumptious set, the box even has a serrated edge so you can easily cut the tape too. Now some mums would love chocolates, flowers or other delights for Mother's Day, but my daughter knows exactly what her mum likes. I love that she goes with her heart and not with the commercial bombardment of what the advertising world say mums should want. (one year she presented me with a wonderful cacti). To be honest this mum would settle for a hug and some special time with her children.
Anyway back to the Paper Tapes, my daughter said she bought them so I could use them in my crafting as she had seen me using Washi Tapes before. I already had in mind what I would do first with these tapes, I had originally planned to make a simple striped Easter Egg shaped card with Washi Tapes, so instead I used these Paper tapes.
Here is a simple way to make a lovely Easter Egg shaped card, using just card and some paper tapes.
The Materials and Tools to start with.
Using a sheet of white Pearlescent cardstock for my base, I cut 2 egg oval shapes using the largest die in the set. Next I chose just 2 patterned tapes (and in 2 different widths) from the set of 8 and proceeded to stick them at an angle across the front of just one egg shape. Taking care to space them evenly and cutting the edges flush to the card edge with scissors. Then taking the 2nd white card oval, I scored a line approx 1" down across the top of the egg shape. adding 2 lines of double-sided tape above this line and cutting off any overhanging. Before sticking the 2 sides of the card together, it is a good idea to just cut a little strip of card off the bottom of the plain card back, this will allow the card to stand up. (only do this to rear piece of card - keep the front shape intact). Then just line up the front decorated card piece to the back piece carefully before pressing down and sticking the 2 sides together. Hey Presto a standing card!!
Next Step is to add the ribbon & bow decoration. I took a sheet of Teal coloured card stock, from Papermill Direct, as this would be a nice contrast to the pink shades of tape I was using for this card. I ran the dies through my big shot and then again using the embossing mat to add the embossed detailing to these particular die-cuts. Sticking the ribbon part to the card front with double sided tape and again trimming off the excess so everything lies flush with the card edges. Assemble the bow pieces using adhesive, I prefer a fast drying acrylic glue such as cosmic shimmer glue or Tattered Lace detail glue as these grab quickly and dry clear to give a more professional finish. When positioning the bow on the card, do bear in mind the dimensions of your envelope, I chose to overhang the card edge a little, this gives more interest to the shape, but still enabled it to fit into a 6" square envelope.
You can see from the pic that i also made an alternative version, using 2 other colours from the pack of paper tapes and different coloured card (Papermill's Spring Green) for the ribbon and bow.
Materials List:
White Pearlescent Card from Craft Stash
Teal coloured card - Papermill Direct
Taking Tea set of 8 Paper Tapes - Paperchase
Detail Glue - Tattered Lace
Double Sided Tape from craft stash
Spring Green card (for other egg colour) - Papermill Direct
Tools List:
Big Shot
Easter Egg nesting dies - Xcut
Finishing Touches Classic 3D Bow die set - Creative Expressions (Sue Wilson)
Scissors
Scoreboard & crease tool
Of course you don't have to use dies to cut your shapes, you can draw a
simple oval or egg shape and use that as a template for the basic card
shape. And you can use real ribbon and tie it in a bow instead of using
the dies. I just had the Egg dies already in my stash and also wanted
to try out a new set of ribbon / bow dies. I did notice that these paper tapes stuck really well to my pearlescent card, washi tape is a lot less sticky, so if using washi tape you may need to use plain card instead of pearlescent.
Monday, 7 April 2014
Tuesday, 1 April 2014
Finally got around to .....
Yes, I finally got around to creating a Baby Boy version of my elephant shaped 'New Baby' standing card, Although to be honest it would work for both and suit a nursery in these shades as a pretty and fun keepsake :)
This time I gave it a more vintage feel by using papers with a more distressed look and inking the edges with Distress Ink in 'Tea Dye'.
The card was created by drawing around my elephant templates in pencil onto pastel blue card. Using my favourite trusty scissors I cut 2 of the large 'mummy' and 1 of the 'baby' I then covered the shapes with 2 different papers from a HOTP collection 'Soft Nostalgia', all cut edges were then inked around.
Ears were hand-cut from a good quality wool blend felt, using a little glue only alongside the inner curve of each ear, this adds interest and allows the ears to be moveable. Out came the Big Shot next which I used to die cut 4 little scalloped hearts, I also cut 4 blank hearts from the blue card to back my patterned paper with. (I like them all to be sturdy). Inking again around the die-cut hearts and the little 'New Baby' sentiment helps to pull the elements together. 2 little pale blue faux gemstones for the eyes in different sizes to suit the elephants and the card is almost complete.
Next job is to score the remaining plain blue 'mummy' shaped and attach to the back of my card. I'm not sure why I leave this part til last, but it is my preferred way of working, so there must be some method in my madness :D The little baby elephant then has a little 3D foam tape applied and is positioned alongside the mummy elephant.
This is another design that always makes me smile. It may be a simple design to look at but it takes time and is relaxing to while away just cutting and inking.
And here is a pic of the original 'Baby Girl' version, which was re-homed a while back. Just to show the pretty pink :)
Materials Used:
Pale Blue Cardstock
Soft Nostalgia' papers -Hot Off The Press
Pastel blue felt - Sew Sweet
New Baby Sentiment - Craftwork Cards
'Tea Dye' Tim Holtz Distress Inkpad
pale blue faux gems - from stash
Double sided tape
Detail Glue - Tattered Lace
3D foam tape
Tools Used:
Scissors for handcutting
Craft Knife for those hard to reach areas of the design
Big Shot & heart die for the little hearts
This time I gave it a more vintage feel by using papers with a more distressed look and inking the edges with Distress Ink in 'Tea Dye'.
The card was created by drawing around my elephant templates in pencil onto pastel blue card. Using my favourite trusty scissors I cut 2 of the large 'mummy' and 1 of the 'baby' I then covered the shapes with 2 different papers from a HOTP collection 'Soft Nostalgia', all cut edges were then inked around.
Ears were hand-cut from a good quality wool blend felt, using a little glue only alongside the inner curve of each ear, this adds interest and allows the ears to be moveable. Out came the Big Shot next which I used to die cut 4 little scalloped hearts, I also cut 4 blank hearts from the blue card to back my patterned paper with. (I like them all to be sturdy). Inking again around the die-cut hearts and the little 'New Baby' sentiment helps to pull the elements together. 2 little pale blue faux gemstones for the eyes in different sizes to suit the elephants and the card is almost complete.
Next job is to score the remaining plain blue 'mummy' shaped and attach to the back of my card. I'm not sure why I leave this part til last, but it is my preferred way of working, so there must be some method in my madness :D The little baby elephant then has a little 3D foam tape applied and is positioned alongside the mummy elephant.
This is another design that always makes me smile. It may be a simple design to look at but it takes time and is relaxing to while away just cutting and inking.
And here is a pic of the original 'Baby Girl' version, which was re-homed a while back. Just to show the pretty pink :)
Materials Used:
Pale Blue Cardstock
Soft Nostalgia' papers -Hot Off The Press
Pastel blue felt - Sew Sweet
New Baby Sentiment - Craftwork Cards
'Tea Dye' Tim Holtz Distress Inkpad
pale blue faux gems - from stash
Double sided tape
Detail Glue - Tattered Lace
3D foam tape
Tools Used:
Scissors for handcutting
Craft Knife for those hard to reach areas of the design
Big Shot & heart die for the little hearts
Labels:
baby,
elephant,
felt,
HOTP,
inking,
new baby card,
shaped card
Location:
Hornsea, East Riding of Yorkshire, UK
Friday, 28 March 2014
The Duck is Back!!
No I've not gone entirely Quackers, well maybe just a little. I'm referring to my Duck shaped cards. I have been making these cute little guys for a few years now and noticed I didn't have any spare in stock. So could I find my handmade template? No of course not, I searched everywhere and was just about to hand draw another when I thought why not use the cricut mini, then I can design it and save it so I don't lose the template again, and not only that but I can also enter a 'Challenge'. More about that at the bottom of this post.
So here's my new 'Get Well Soon' little ducky design.
Starting with the yellow card base, which has been covered with quality linen textured yellow paper and cut into a duck shape, the cut edges have been inked with 'orange' pan pastels to add definition to the shape. (I have sealed the pan pastel to avoid colour transfer)
Little Ducky has a little 3D wing that has been made as per the main card and attached dimensionally to give interest.
Ducky has a bright orange beak cut from orange Funky Foam and a googly eye for expression.
The duck even has a little bandage on his wing, the bandage has been made from handmade paper which i have folded and wrapped about his wing, and is topped off with a little tag with a little bakers twine bow. The tag has the wording 'get well soon'
So here's my new 'Get Well Soon' little ducky design.
Starting with the yellow card base, which has been covered with quality linen textured yellow paper and cut into a duck shape, the cut edges have been inked with 'orange' pan pastels to add definition to the shape. (I have sealed the pan pastel to avoid colour transfer)
Little Ducky has a little 3D wing that has been made as per the main card and attached dimensionally to give interest.
Ducky has a bright orange beak cut from orange Funky Foam and a googly eye for expression.
The duck even has a little bandage on his wing, the bandage has been made from handmade paper which i have folded and wrapped about his wing, and is topped off with a little tag with a little bakers twine bow. The tag has the wording 'get well soon'
Materials & Tools Used:
Yellow Cardstock, Yellow linen patterned paper, funky foam, handmade paper, bakers twine, jewellery tag & googly eye, all from current craft stash.
Cricut Mini and Cricut Craft Room Basics (in CCR) to cut the main Duck image
(wing and beak cut by hand)
Challenges Entered:
Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog - FCCB Challenge #203 Bye Bye Birdie
Labels:
challenge,
cricut,
duck,
get well,
shaped card
Location:
Hornsea, East Riding of Yorkshire, UK
Wednesday, 26 March 2014
A Butterfly of a different colour
Following on from my butterfly, butterfly post, I thought I should share the 'other' version. Using the same pattern / template but changing up the colour combo creates a different feel to this butterfly card.
I do have a liking for the Chocolate, Orange, Teal colour combo, (and chocolate oranges I must confess :D) So here is what happened when I teamed up those shades in butterfly form.
I used card from Papermill Direct in 'Mocha' and 'Teal' shades, which I purchased as part of a pick n' mix selection box, these are really good value and allow you to try out a variety of card colours and weights, (believe 4 selections in a box). The papermill card is lovely to work with and cuts so well in the Cricut Mini, you get a nice 'clean' cut. (and I'm still using the first blade that came with the machine back in November time). I tend to use the 'medium' card setting and only adjust down if I'm cutting thinner paper.
Accompanying the papermill cardstock on this outing is some pale blue pearlescent card, seen between the 'mocha' and the 'teal', and also pearlescent white card seen just inside the white scrolls on the top layer. The patterned paper is from a 'First Edition' 8x8 paper pad called 'New Leaf'. I added stickles glitter glue in 'Mercury Glass', and some faux half pearls. On this version I also used Card Candi from Craftwork Cards. I had the orange Card Candi in my stash but used my promarkers to colour white Card Candi into a lovely mint green colour. Now I'm feeling hungry, Chocolate Oranges anyone? :)
Materials Used:Mocha Card - Papermill Direct
Teal Card - Papermill Direct
New leaf 8x8 pad - First Edition
White & blue Pearlescent cards from own stash
Mercury Glass - Stickles Glitter glue
Self Adheshive Faux pearls
Card Candi - Craftwork Cards
Tools Used:
Cricut Mini- Provocraft
I do have a liking for the Chocolate, Orange, Teal colour combo, (and chocolate oranges I must confess :D) So here is what happened when I teamed up those shades in butterfly form.
I used card from Papermill Direct in 'Mocha' and 'Teal' shades, which I purchased as part of a pick n' mix selection box, these are really good value and allow you to try out a variety of card colours and weights, (believe 4 selections in a box). The papermill card is lovely to work with and cuts so well in the Cricut Mini, you get a nice 'clean' cut. (and I'm still using the first blade that came with the machine back in November time). I tend to use the 'medium' card setting and only adjust down if I'm cutting thinner paper.
Accompanying the papermill cardstock on this outing is some pale blue pearlescent card, seen between the 'mocha' and the 'teal', and also pearlescent white card seen just inside the white scrolls on the top layer. The patterned paper is from a 'First Edition' 8x8 paper pad called 'New Leaf'. I added stickles glitter glue in 'Mercury Glass', and some faux half pearls. On this version I also used Card Candi from Craftwork Cards. I had the orange Card Candi in my stash but used my promarkers to colour white Card Candi into a lovely mint green colour. Now I'm feeling hungry, Chocolate Oranges anyone? :)
Materials Used:Mocha Card - Papermill Direct
Teal Card - Papermill Direct
New leaf 8x8 pad - First Edition
White & blue Pearlescent cards from own stash
Mercury Glass - Stickles Glitter glue
Self Adheshive Faux pearls
Card Candi - Craftwork Cards
Tools Used:
Cricut Mini- Provocraft
Friday, 21 March 2014
Butterfly, Butterfly.....
Something so special about butterflies, don't you think? In the crafting world they tend to be used mainly as embellishments, little accents to set off a design. Lots of colours, layers, pretty, sparkly, beautiful.
I have always had a bit of 'a thing' for shaped cards. know I have made butterfly shaped cards in the past and they have always been well received by the recipients. So I thought it was time to revisit the shaped butterfly card.
I've always been a very 'hands on' crafter, getting blisters because I'd fight with heavy cardstock and scissors or craft knife to hand cut my designs. Nothing wrong with that and I can spend many hours just cutting. But recently I bought a new little toy, having always shied away from the electric cutters in the past, I realised that actually, there was no reason why I couldn't bring this technique into my crafting. So here is the Butterfly Card that I made with the help of my new little toy, the Cricut Mini.
There are 5 to 6 layers of quality card, textured card and designer papers that make up this beautiful butterfly, I took inspiration from some beautiful Purple Corded paper I espied on the Papermill Direct website, it was a limited edition and I just HAD to have it!! I think it added a lovely texture and rich colour to the Pink & Purple theme, and it cut extremely well on the cricut, using the 'medium cardstock' setting, I could have tried the light setting but I thought the lovely deep corded effect would cut better on the medium setting and it did, first time!! The card didn't really need lots of patterned paper, so I settled on a subtle design from a 'First Edition' paper pad for the top layer. Added accents of stickles glitter in 'Star Dust' and delicate faux half pearls to provide the finishing touches. This design and colourway has been very popular with my customers, I should make more but at the moment I'm selfishly keeping the remainder of that purple corded for myself, for those moments when you just NEED to stroke paper, and besides it's purple!! did I mention it was purple? :-D
Materials Used:
Purple Corded paper - Papermill Direct
Birdsong 8x8 pad - First Edition
Pink Bazzill Cardstock
White Card & white Pearlescent paper from own stash
StarDust - Stickles Glitter glue
Self Adheshive Faux pearls
Tools Used:
Cricut Mini- Provocraft
I have always had a bit of 'a thing' for shaped cards. know I have made butterfly shaped cards in the past and they have always been well received by the recipients. So I thought it was time to revisit the shaped butterfly card.
I've always been a very 'hands on' crafter, getting blisters because I'd fight with heavy cardstock and scissors or craft knife to hand cut my designs. Nothing wrong with that and I can spend many hours just cutting. But recently I bought a new little toy, having always shied away from the electric cutters in the past, I realised that actually, there was no reason why I couldn't bring this technique into my crafting. So here is the Butterfly Card that I made with the help of my new little toy, the Cricut Mini.
There are 5 to 6 layers of quality card, textured card and designer papers that make up this beautiful butterfly, I took inspiration from some beautiful Purple Corded paper I espied on the Papermill Direct website, it was a limited edition and I just HAD to have it!! I think it added a lovely texture and rich colour to the Pink & Purple theme, and it cut extremely well on the cricut, using the 'medium cardstock' setting, I could have tried the light setting but I thought the lovely deep corded effect would cut better on the medium setting and it did, first time!! The card didn't really need lots of patterned paper, so I settled on a subtle design from a 'First Edition' paper pad for the top layer. Added accents of stickles glitter in 'Star Dust' and delicate faux half pearls to provide the finishing touches. This design and colourway has been very popular with my customers, I should make more but at the moment I'm selfishly keeping the remainder of that purple corded for myself, for those moments when you just NEED to stroke paper, and besides it's purple!! did I mention it was purple? :-D
Materials Used:
Purple Corded paper - Papermill Direct
Birdsong 8x8 pad - First Edition
Pink Bazzill Cardstock
White Card & white Pearlescent paper from own stash
StarDust - Stickles Glitter glue
Self Adheshive Faux pearls
Tools Used:
Cricut Mini- Provocraft
Location:
Hornsea, East Riding of Yorkshire, UK
Saturday, 15 March 2014
Crafty Folk Shop Of The Week - VerasTreasures
Apologies I'm a little bit late with this weeks 'Shop of The Week' post. But they say better late than never, so this week it is the turn of VerasTreasures. This shop, owned by Pixie is such a pretty shop to browse. She has a lovely vintage styling going on and the photographs have been carefully taken to truly capture that vintage feel with such beautiful settings.
In the shop you will find lovely vintage items perfect for afternoon tea perhaps? Pretty china cups, cake stands, and even vintage aprons and linens. I didn't realise that there was also a lovely selection of Vintage downloads perfect for crafting too!! I spotted old postcard and photograph styles. I will certainly be popping back to check out this section for future craft projects. You can see for yourself at https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/VerasTreasures.
And again, as part of my SOTW promoting, I have created this Treasury for VerasTreasures, my theme inspired by the lovely items in the shop and includes 2 of them. I chose items to complement this theme from other Craftyfolk Team members, there are a lot of lovely items to discover, just click the pics :)
In the shop you will find lovely vintage items perfect for afternoon tea perhaps? Pretty china cups, cake stands, and even vintage aprons and linens. I didn't realise that there was also a lovely selection of Vintage downloads perfect for crafting too!! I spotted old postcard and photograph styles. I will certainly be popping back to check out this section for future craft projects. You can see for yourself at https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/VerasTreasures.
And again, as part of my SOTW promoting, I have created this Treasury for VerasTreasures, my theme inspired by the lovely items in the shop and includes 2 of them. I chose items to complement this theme from other Craftyfolk Team members, there are a lot of lovely items to discover, just click the pics :)
'You're Invited, Home for Tea' by pollypurplehorse
A Treasury for and inspired by VerasTreasures, the Craftyfolk team Shop of the Week. :)
Labels:
craftyfolk,
downloads,
SOTW,
tea,
treasury,
verastreasures,
vintage
Location:
Hornsea, East Riding of Yorkshire, UK
Tuesday, 11 March 2014
I LOVE Stamping!!
I LOVE stamping!! There I said it out loud, but it's true and needed to be said. I think most crafters that work with paper, card, etc start out stamping and then either lose their way or get so amazed by new products on the market that they meander away from the path of stamping.
I've made a lot of cards lately that could be described as CAS Clean & Simple styling. Something about those crisp white card bases and regimented patterns. But every now and then, I rebel!! I get out the inks and get messy.
One of my favourite Stamp companies is Visible Image. I love their quality and the unique designs and so when i saw the brand new sets from the 'more than words' collection, I knew I had to have 1 or 2 or 3 (I ending up buying 3) I believe I do have another on the way but that's another story :)
I chose the 'Thank You' set to work with, has a lovely verse and is very versatile with the flower head stamp included which is great to make backgrounds as well as focal points.
So I planned to not plan my card!! I just assembled some basics from my craft stash, like distress inks, archival ink, gilding flakes, water spritzer etc and set to work.
First I thought I'd make a sheet of patterned card. I blended dabs of distress inks in 3 colours all over a white piece of card, taking time to blend the colours all over. Used 2 main colours of Spiced Marmalade and Worn Lipstick for larger areas and used the Tea Dye to help blend the two together. Then I thought I'd have more messy fun and filled a spritzer bottle with water and gently sprayed it randomly over my newly coloured card. I left the water droplets for a few seconds before blotting with tissue. You can leave the water longer if you want a more dramatic look of course.
When the card was dry, I stamped the flower head from the set all over it randomly, using the 2 main colours of the distress inks.
A sentiment verse from the set was stamped onto a panel of white card using Black Archival Ink, and finished the panel with a couple of stamped flower heads to match the base.
After trimming my background cards to size to suit my design and the 6x6 card blank, I then dabbed gilding glue around the edges of both sheets and applied the gilding flakes. Love doing this, it's extra messy but worth it, especially when you 'burnish' the flakes to reveal their variegated shades.
I wasn't finished stamping though, I decided to 'stamp' a couple of the flower heads in gilding glue and gild them too, helping to bring the sentiment panel and background card together. I thought the card still needed something extra to balance the black, and so I used the 'Thank You' stamp from the same set and stamped in black at the top right and bottom left of the card.
Then just a little matting and layering with my favourite black cardstock (papermill) and the card was complete.
I really like the look and warm 'feel' of this card, and the 'thank you' repeated twice is like saying 'thank you, thank you' and gives extra meaning to the sentiment, I think?
I need to get my 'Challenege Mojo' back and so I am going to enter this card in Visible Image's March Challenge
http://visibleimage.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/use-your-favourite-visible-image-stamps.html
Which this month is all about using your favourite stamps, and this new range of stanmps is currently my Fav!!
Challenges entered:
Visible Image - March Challenge - Use Your Favourite Visible Image Stamps
http://visibleimage.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/use-your-favourite-visible-image-stamps.html
Shame my camera work does not truly reflect the gilding flakes, they catch the light and provide extra interest to the card.
Materials Used:
White stamping card from Oakhouse Studio
Distress Ink pads in 'Spiced Marmalade' and 'Worn Lipstick', also 'Tea Dye' to blend
Black Archival Ink
Black card from Papermill Direct
Gilding glue
Gilding Flakes in 'Brighton Pier'
White 6 x 6 Card Blank from Craftwork Cards
I've made a lot of cards lately that could be described as CAS Clean & Simple styling. Something about those crisp white card bases and regimented patterns. But every now and then, I rebel!! I get out the inks and get messy.
One of my favourite Stamp companies is Visible Image. I love their quality and the unique designs and so when i saw the brand new sets from the 'more than words' collection, I knew I had to have 1 or 2 or 3 (I ending up buying 3) I believe I do have another on the way but that's another story :)
I chose the 'Thank You' set to work with, has a lovely verse and is very versatile with the flower head stamp included which is great to make backgrounds as well as focal points.
So I planned to not plan my card!! I just assembled some basics from my craft stash, like distress inks, archival ink, gilding flakes, water spritzer etc and set to work.
When the card was dry, I stamped the flower head from the set all over it randomly, using the 2 main colours of the distress inks.
A sentiment verse from the set was stamped onto a panel of white card using Black Archival Ink, and finished the panel with a couple of stamped flower heads to match the base.
After trimming my background cards to size to suit my design and the 6x6 card blank, I then dabbed gilding glue around the edges of both sheets and applied the gilding flakes. Love doing this, it's extra messy but worth it, especially when you 'burnish' the flakes to reveal their variegated shades.
I wasn't finished stamping though, I decided to 'stamp' a couple of the flower heads in gilding glue and gild them too, helping to bring the sentiment panel and background card together. I thought the card still needed something extra to balance the black, and so I used the 'Thank You' stamp from the same set and stamped in black at the top right and bottom left of the card.
Then just a little matting and layering with my favourite black cardstock (papermill) and the card was complete.
I really like the look and warm 'feel' of this card, and the 'thank you' repeated twice is like saying 'thank you, thank you' and gives extra meaning to the sentiment, I think?
I need to get my 'Challenege Mojo' back and so I am going to enter this card in Visible Image's March Challenge
http://visibleimage.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/use-your-favourite-visible-image-stamps.html
Which this month is all about using your favourite stamps, and this new range of stanmps is currently my Fav!!
Challenges entered:
Visible Image - March Challenge - Use Your Favourite Visible Image Stamps
http://visibleimage.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/use-your-favourite-visible-image-stamps.html
Shame my camera work does not truly reflect the gilding flakes, they catch the light and provide extra interest to the card.
Materials Used:
White stamping card from Oakhouse Studio
Distress Ink pads in 'Spiced Marmalade' and 'Worn Lipstick', also 'Tea Dye' to blend
Black Archival Ink
Black card from Papermill Direct
Gilding glue
Gilding Flakes in 'Brighton Pier'
White 6 x 6 Card Blank from Craftwork Cards
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