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 

Easter Hare Card with Papermilldirect

 Well the snow has gone, we only had a little but it was bitterly cold along the coast here, and now the sun is shining and birds are singing and it looks to be a spring-like day from my view across the park.  So looking forward to the warmer weather, we are all working on our Spring projects this week over at the +papermilldirect DT.  This week's special offer is a gorgeous 300gsm card in 'Dark Chocolate Brown - you can get your hands on a small A4 box for just £6.  I expect this one will be especially popular as it reminds me of those Chocolate Easter bunnies, yum!!  Speaking of which, do check out Lisa's project using this offer card. (all links at the bottom of the post).

So onto my Easter project this week, I thought I'd play with the Cricut Explore and create an Easter Egg shaped card in pastel colours. Nothing too complicated but it features a Folk Art Style Easter Hare.  I often make these hares and layer different coloured card behind the panels to create different looks, this time for a simple clean look I have kept to using just the New Lilac card to accent the cutouts.  Absolutely love this shade of lilac.

I cut the Card base from White Hammered card then 2 smaller layers from Daffodil Yellow and Pale Turquoise, nesting them evenly on my card base.

A length of Blue & white gingham ribbon I found in my craft drawers was attached across the front and I added a bow.

Then I used the White Linen card to cut the Easter Hare, I do love the slight texture the linen effect gives to the white shape.  Using the New Lilac for the back layer of the hare, so that it shows through the cut out design gave a clean, simple and fresh look. I attached the Hare to the card front using 3D foam pads.

Faux Stitching was added around the outside of the card using a Sakura Glaze Pen in blue, a pale lemon felt flower was added on top of the lilac flower cut-out, and there's a couple of adhesive pearls to finish.

Materials Used:  

 

Daffodil Yellow, Pale Turquoise, & New Lilac - Colours Range - Papermilldirect

White Hammered Card, & White Linen Card  - Essentials Range - Papermilldirect 

Blue pen - Sakura Glaze Pen

Felt Flower, Gigham Ribbon, adhesive pearls - from my crafty cupboards  drawers

Adhesives - Double Sided Tape, cosmic shimmer glue, 3D foam pads

Tools Used: - Cricut Explore using Design Space (although it can be cut on other Cricuts too)

Challenges Entered:

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 

Heart Valentines Easel Card - with papermilldirect

Waving hello and welcome to my Blog, I'm trying to get it a bit better organised and will be adding more links and tutorials, so please bear with me as I'm learning as I go. :)

So onto this weeks post and I have news of another fabulous +papermilldirect Offer just launching - it is a 250gsm Lakeland Green Cambric Embossed card, and for just £6 you can snap up a small A4 boxful.  (we also have a brand new member joining the Team - you can find out more over on the website).

The Design Team have again this week been working on their Valentines projects and I have one to share with you.  I thought as I had done the 'grown up' valentine last week I would make a 'cute' design in tradition colours and I am entering this one in the February Challenge over at House of Cards as the theme is 'LOVE'. (as always materials list and links are at the end of the post).

So here is my Heart Shaped Valentine Easel Card featuring my favourite Bumble Bee die set.

 I cut the Easel base card from Papermilldirect Christmas Red card using Framelits dies, cutting smaller mats from the white card and embossing them with a 'bubbles' design embossing folder.

The bumble bee was cut from Black and Daffodil yellow papermill cards.  A touch of white for the eye area and a touch of grey for his legs.  I used pale yellow vellum for the wings and added a little sparkle to them with detail glitter.  I thought I'd add a little to give him a twinkle in his eye too ;)

 I cut 6 small red hearts and stamped them using black memento ink with various sentiments from the Marianne Collectibles set,  the bee is holding the 'Honey' one and the others read 'Love', XoXo' and 'Sweet'.  3D foam pads were used to mount the completed Bumble or Honey bee to the card front and also the 3 hearts at the top.  2 of the bottom hearts were adhered flat to the card and I raised one with 2 layers of 3D foam to create the 'stopper' for my easel.  

 The card folds down to fit into an envelope. I suppose I should really refer to him as a 'honey' bee :D

Materials Used:  

Christmas Red, Black, Daffodil Yellow, & Grey Card - Colours Range - Papermilldirect

White Card  - Essentials Range - Papermilldirect 

Hearts, Scallop Framelits Die set - Sizzix

Bee Die set - Go Kreate

Dies & Stamps set COL1307 - Marianne Design

Bubbles Large Embossing Folder from the Summer Set - Sizzix

Detail Sparkle in 'White Shimmer' - Imagination Crafts

Adhesives - Double Sided Tape, cosmic shimmer glue, 3D foam pads

Tuxedo Black Ink Pad - Memento

Pale yellow Vellum

Tools - Big Shot for Diecutting & Embossing


Challenges Entered:
'Love' - February Challenge - House of Cards Challenge Blog
 http://houseofcardschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/february-challenge-love.html

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 Heart Valentine with papermilldirect and Oakhouse Studio

Waving hello and welcome to this week's +papermilldirect DT post. We are all still busy with our Valentine's Day makes, but before I share mine, I must tell you about this week's special offer card which is a sumptuous 300gsm called 'Teddy Bear Brown' you can get a small box of A4 for just £6!! Do pop over and see what Barbara has created with this offer card, links at the end of this post.

So what did I make this week?  Well I'm not really the pink & white kind of Valentine Girl, Purple is my colour of passion and since I am quite fond of using the papermilldirect black I thought I'd team the two together to create a dramatic Valentine's card.

I have this gorgeous heart stamp from Oak House Studio that I discovered last year and have used it a few times.  I love the detail and it's versatility and so I stamped it using versamark ink onto papermilldirect smooth white card, before gently blending over with a Violet coloured pan pastel to create the main focal point.

I then used the stamp again, this time quickly and randomly onto regular white card and the idea was to not be as precise, to give the background a more out of focus effect.  I then stamped the word 'Love' a few times also in versamark ink before swiping over it all with the violet pan pastel.

I cut mat layers from papermilldirect black card and sprayed with 'Glorious Gold' ink-in-a-bottle and set aside to dry whilst i then sprayed over my pan pastel heart panels.  I sprayed extra onto the main Heart to try and get a few larger 'splodges' of the gold.  This is a fab spray ink and gives lots of shimmery detail.  Love the effect not only on the Violet but the extra dimension it gave to the black card too. I matted again with just a touch of white to set off the centre panel and then mounted everything onto a white card base created by scoring & folding papermilldirect white card.

I just added a sheer antique gold ribbon and metal heart charm to finish. 

Materials Used:  

Black Card - Colours Range - Papermilldirect
White Card Smoth - Essentials Range - Papermilldirect

White Card  - Essentials Range - Papermilldirect 

Walesby Heart Stamp - Oak House Studio Glorious Gold Ink-In-A-Bottle (metallics range) - Oak House Studio

Violet Pan Pastel - Pan Pastels

Ribbon & heart charm from my craft stash
Adhesives - Double Sided Tape, cosmic shimmer glue
Tools - Hougie Board to score card base, guillotine to cut panels

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

More Valentines and a Special Offer card - with papermilldirect

Hello again, welcome to another blog post with news of this week's special offer card from +papermilldirect.  This week it is a really nice textured card ' Harvest Buckram Embossed' and is just £4 for 20 A4 sheets.  I think this is such a great cardstock to work with as it not only has a lovely texture and colour, but it lends itself well to electronic cutting, manual cutting and is sure to be a fave for those cute Valentine's makes as well as those classy elegant makes too.

You can see what the rest of the Design Team got up to with this week's card, by clicking the links at the end of the post, but here are my designs for this week:

I was thinking of a simple elegant make that wouldn't be too time consuming or complicated and so I came up with this Valentines Card and Gift Tag.

I created a card base from papermilldirect Post Box Red and cut a mat from the Harvest Buckram card.  The decorative die is from Tattered Lace, and is cut from the smooth cream card.  The alphabet dies are new to the market from First Edition, I cut each letter from Post Box Red card, the script style worked well with the die cut elements.  I simply positioned the letters across the centre of the card spanning the 2 diecut pieces and added 3 faux gems in red to finish.

The gift tag again uses the Harvest Buckram but this time I have used it through the Big Shot to show how easy it die-cuts.  It is the same die as used on the card above, but I have cut into it to remove some sections.  I have kept the colour scheme the same teaming it with Post Box Red card and Cream card.  Antique Gold sheer ribbon to finish.

Materials Used: 
Harvest Buckram card - Special Offer - Papermilldirect  

Post Box Red Card - Colours Range - Papermilldirect
Cream Card Smoth - Essentials Range - Papermilldirect
Script Alphabet dies - First Edition
Double Delights die -Tattered Lace
Ribbon & faux gems from my craft stash
Adhesives - Double Sided Tape, cosmic shimmer glue
Tools - Hougie Board to score card base, and Big Shot for die cutting


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

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