'Explore'ing a Wedding Card ...with Papermill Direct

Hello and welcome to this week's blog post, the theme for the +papermilldirect DT this week is 'Weddings' and I have a wedding card to share with you today. (as always links are at the bottom of the post)

I know the Linen cardstock is very very popular and this week the special offer is a lovely 300gsm Grey Linen available in a small box for just £4-40, (link Here) it's a beautiful soft shade of grey and I couldn't wait to have a play with it.

I created this Mr & Mrs Wedding Card using the Cricut Explore and Design Space software. I used this project to learn how to create my own sliced and welded overlay panel for a card but also it could be framed to create a picture gift. 

I started by selecting a square shape and resizing to approx. 6” square. I then selected a heart shape and resized to fit inside the square by positioning it on top of the square and aligning it both horizontally and vertically before ‘slicing’ the heart from the square. Remove the inner heart shape and discard. I used the Mr & Mrs sentiment from within the subscription images and discarded all the layers except for one, clicked off the ‘padlock’ icon so that I could stretch the sentiment both vertically and horizontally, aiming for the bottom of the M of ‘Mr’, and the outer edge of the S of ‘’Mrs’ to overlap the heart shape that had been cut away. When happy with position I selected ‘weld’ to attach the pieces into one. 

 For the scroll flourishes, I searched for ‘swirl’ within the subscription images and selected one to use, which I copied to create 3 no.. I then again unlocked the ‘padlock’ icon to allow each swirl to be manipulated into the desired size and shape to fit into the heart aperture. I used one at the bottom and one at the top left and top right of the sentiment. Again the swirls were positioned and orientations altered so that they overlapped slightly the heart area before selecting ‘weld’ to permanently attach them. I worked with each swirl separately. When finished the entire panel is in one piece and creates the overlay for this card design. I added a little line detailing around the edges to frame the heart using a scoring tool and scoreboard, The front overlay was then mounted onto a square of ‘Grey Linen’ card using 3D foam and I created a back panel also from the ‘Grey Linen’ card. To finish I cut 2 small hearts from ‘grey linen’ using a much smaller version of the same heart shape as before . 3 small clear adhesive gems decorate one heart and larger clear gems were added to each corner of the panel.

Materials Used:

Plain White Card – Papermill Direct
Grey Linen ‘Offer’ Card – Papermill Direct
3D Foam (regular and clear)
Clear sparkly adhesive gems in 2 sizes.
Tools Used:
Cricut Explore (with Design Space Software)
Scoring Board and tool

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 

Saying my Thank You's in Bright Pink!! with Papermilldirect

Hello, welcome to another week and another blog post.  The weeks seem to be flying by and I still can't believe it's May already!!  My daughter will soon be finishing her College course and my son will be starting his final year at Primary School after the summer holidays, where on earth does the time go??

This week I've been working with the new Special Offer card at +papermilldirect  , a really bright and cheery pink called 'Bright Pink' of course.  It is 160gsm and available in an A4 pack of 30 for just £2-25 - Link Here: 

I decided to make 2 cards on the theme of 'Thank You'.  The first is this fun 'Thanks a Melon' card:

I started by cutting the layered sentiment and melon shapes on my Circuit Explore. Although the melon shape is very simple and could easily be cut by hand and a stamped or die cut greeting added for those without a cutting machine. The Bright Pink 160gsm offer card cut cleanly and easily in my Cricut Explore using the same Cardstock+ setting I use as standard (although my blade is probably not as sharp as it was). I also popped the pink melon segment through my Big Shot to emboss it with a Dots design so you can see it is a very versatile weight card.

The melon layers were assembled using 3D foam to give height and the sentiment layers were adhered using clear drying Cosmic Shimmer Glue. I thought the Bright Pink worked really well with the green cardstocks and along with the rounded rocking base it created a fun way to say Thank You.

For my 2nd Card I created a different style of Thank You card, again using the Bright Pink offer card to create an elegant look. This time teaming it with Ivory Linen and a touch of Spring green to lift the pink. I do love pink and green together.
The bright pink panel overlay was cut on the Cricut Explore, again you can see how cleanly it cuts even with my blunt blade. I layered the overlay onto a panel of Ivory Linen cardstock to give a touch of luxury and texture to the design. The completed panel was then mattered and layered onto PMD Spring Green card to give a small border all around and then the whole front was mounted onto a card base made by scoring & folding Ivory Linen cardstock.

The sentiment of ‘Thank You’ was also cut on the Explore, This time I used the PMD Spring Green as the contrast and added a shadow layer of the bright pink adhering with Cosmic Shimmer glue before mounting to the card front with 3D foam pads to create height.

Using a Fiskers 2” butterfly punch, I punched a butterfly from Spring Green Card and added sparkle to the wings by applying Detail Sparkle in White Shimmer. I added 3 pale green adhesive gems to the body and also 3 more to the top left hand side of the card front to finish.

Materials Used For Melon Card: All card is Papermilldirect – Bright Pink ‘offer card’, Teal, Spring Green, & Black card.
Adhesives – 3D foam Pads, Cosmic Shimmer Glue
Cuttlebug Embossing Folder 'swiss dots', 
Cricut Explore using Design Space subscription images and sentiments

Materials Used for Overlay Card: All card is Papermilldirect – Bright Pink ‘offer card’, Ivory Linen, & Spring Green card
Adhesives – 3D foam Pads, Cosmic Shimmer Glue
Fiskers - 2” Butterfly Punch
Imagination Crafts – Detail Sparkle in White Shimmer
Pale Green Adhesive gems

Cricut Explore using Design Space subscription images and sentiments

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 

29 Again!! with Papermilldirect

29 Again!!  no not me, but that was the inspiration for this week's make using +papermilldirect cardstocks.  The Team were working on the theme of 'age' cards and I went with a kind of 'anti-age' vibe just for fun :D

First news of this week's Special Offer, a rather gorgeous shade of Turquoise in a 250gsm and you can get your hands on a small A4 sized box for just £4-50!!  I'm thinking  this one will be quick to disappear, so grab some whilst you can - you'll find it in the Special Offer section Link Here:

Okay, back to being 29 Again, I do like how that sounds ;)

I created this card using my Cricut Explore to cut the Flamingo and ’29 again’ sentiment.  The card base has been created by scoring and folding PMD black card.  Panels of PMD Raspberry Pink and PMD White Seal Embossed card have been matted & layered onto the card base and also a separate card panel to display the Flamingo. 

The flamingo is a simple 3 layered shape comprising PMD Black, PMD Raspberry Pink, and PMD Baby Pink.   I love the contrast of the black and white against the bright pink and decided to go minimal on the embellishments to make the most of the striking colours.   

I die-cut some corner flourishes from the PMD Black card and used them to help frame the sentiment and used Clear Sparkly Adhesive gems to highlight the black words.  The eye of the Flamingo is a black sequin with a faux adhesive pearl, and a couple of clear adhesive gems decorate the body.   

 To finish I added a trio of Black adhesive gems to the top right of the flamingo panel and another trio to the bottom right of the base card.  I thought I would make use of the fabulous texture of the White Seal Embossed card which is on Special offer, but the White Linen, Leather, or hammered would work equally well or you could emboss PMD plain white with a decorative pattern to give a different look.

Materials Used:

Black, Raspberry Pink, and Baby Pink card - Papermilldirect

White Seal Embossed (offer card) - Papermilldirect

Adhesives: Double Sided Tape, Cosmic Shimmer Glue

Cricut Explore (Design Space software)

Black & Clear sparkly adhesive gems, black sequin, faux pearl

Dies to cut corner flourish

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 

Cards for Men with papermilldirect

Hello and welcome to another blog post, this week the Team have been working on Cards for Men.  I think it can be harder to create cards with a masculine feel as we can't automatically add the pretties in the ways that we are used to.  This week I have been playing with silhouettes, creating a strong image with lots of contrast and getting back to a simpler cleaner overall look that I think will work well for the men in our lives.

Before I show you my designs this week, I must tell you about the new improved website over at Papermilldirect, not only improved navigation and filters to help you find what you are looking for, but the popular pick & mix boxes can now contain the Essentials as well as the Colours ranges, so you can pop in your whites, ivories and colours, whatever you wish into one box, and if going for the Mega Box you can now get up to 10 different picks!!  If you're popping over for a sneaky look then don't forget to check out the Special Offers too, as a new one has just been added today, it's a 300gsm White card at just £14 for a Midi Size box.

Okay back to the cards,the first one 'Just Relax' is the feature of a step-by-step Tutorial which you can find published over on the Papermilldirect Inspire Blog today (Click HERE for link).  I have included lots of step-by-step photos and also the link to my Design Space file if you wish to cut this one on your Cricut Explore.

Materials Used:
Link to Tutorial: https://www.papermilldirect.co.uk/inspire/post/just-relax-tutorial-to-make-a-male-themed-card-using-the-cricut-explore
Plain White, Black, Sky Blue, Daffodil Yellow cards - Papermilldirect
White Seal Embossed (Special Offer) - Papermilldirect
Double Sided Tape, Cosmic Shimmer Glue, 3D Foam Pads
Versamark Inkpad (optional)
Oakhouse Studio Stamps (optional)
http://www.oakhousestudio.com/ourshop/prod_3672656-Sunshine-sentiment-and-texture-set.html
Cricut Explore
Link to my Design Space File:  https://uk.cricut.com/design/#/canvas/27213517

My 2nd Card  has also been designed in Design Space software and cut on the Cricut Explore. I quite like the look of silhouette’s to give a strong image and contrast, especially for Male themed Cards. This design could be used for all sorts of occasions, or just to say ‘Hello’. It features a man on the telephone and I thought it would be fun to add a speech bubble and the sentiment of ‘hello’. I have used black and white for contrast but also thought the Ivory linen would provide an interesting textured background and along with the Sky Blue Card, it also gives a slightly retro feel.

I created a 5 ¾ x 5 ¾ “square card blank by scoring & folding PMD A4 Plain White card. Matting a square of Ivory linen onto a slightly larger square of black cardstock and then adhering to the card front with double sided tape. The layered sentiment has been assembled using cosmic shimmer glue and attached directly to the card at the top right hand side. The layered silhouette has also been assembled using cosmic shimmer glue but attached to the card front using 3D foam pads to give extra height and interest to the design. I think these would make great notecards in sets with a variety of different colour cardstocks from the PMD Colours range to contrast with the black.

Materials List:
Plain White, Black, Sky Blue, and Ivory Linen card - Papermilldirect
Double Sided Tape, Cosmic Shimmer Glue, and 3D Foam Pads
Tools Used:
Cricut Explore & Design Space software
Free and 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 

Welcome Little One - with Papermilldirect

Hello and welcome to this week's Blog Post, The Design Team have been working on the theme of 'New Baby' and I have a simple 2 colour card to share with you this week.

But first news of the Special Offer, which this week is the very lovely and very special 230gsm White Seal Embossed card and is available in A3 as well as A4 sizes starting at just £15 - you'll find it in the Special Offers section of the website - Link Here:

Flourishes and swirls are quite popular at the moment in card making, so I thought it would be nice to use them to create a simple 2 colour design to welcome a baby girl.

The card base has been created by scoring and folding Papermilldirect white hammered card to create a base to accommodate the 7” x 5” panel. The front layered swirl pattern has been cut on the Cricut Explore using a cutting file by Birds Cards, and a sentiment from within the Cricut Design Space subscription.  (as always materials list and links at bottom of post)

The layered panel was resized to measure 7” x 5” and the sentiment was easily resized to fit the oval panel on the front. I choose PMD plain white and baby pink cardstocks for the panel and sentiment. 

Cosmic Shimmer glue was used to glue the white swirl part to the pink swirl backing and then the whole panel was mounted to the card front using 3D foam pads to give height and depth to the cut outs. I also used cosmic shimmer glue to layer the sentiment and again attached to the card front using 3D foam pads.

Pale pink organza ribbon tied in a bow and some pale pink adhesive gems provide the finishing touches.

Cutting Files Used:
Swirly Frame 5 by Birds Cards - http://www.birdscards.com/swirly-frames-5-6/
(please note that all ‘Birds Cards’ files are for Personal Use only)

Welcome Little One sentiment – Cricut Design Space

Materials used:
Plain White Card - Essentials Range - Papermilldirect
Baby Pink Card - Colours Range - Papermilldirect
White Hammered Card - Essentials Range - Papermilldirect
Cosmic Shimmer Glue
3D Foam Pads
Pink Organza Ribbon
Pink Adhesive Gems

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 

On Cloud Nine ... with Papermilldirect

Happy Easter to you all, my sister and little niece are visiting this week and so it's been lovely to see the children playing together and enjoying a little Easter Egg Hunt.  Lots of chocolate and treats and family time and so not much time for crafting, but I have a card to share with you today.  It's my turn to work with the +papermilldirect Special Offer this week and when I saw it, I thought wow isn't that a beautiful shade of blue!!  

It's called 'Sea Blue' 120gsm and is available at a Special Price of just £2-70 for a 30 sheet pack of A4. You will find it in the Special Offers section over at Papermilldirect. (link here:)


The Sea Blue 120gsm is such a bright and cheerful shade, I thought it would be perfect to use for a happy themed bright card.
Card base is Papermilldirect Plain White card, scored, folded, and trimmed to create a 5.5” x 5.5” card blank.
 

I used the ‘Sea Blue’ as the main colour for this card; it was perfect to represent a bright blue sky. PMD White Hammered card was used to give a hint of fluffiness to the clouds. Keeping with the bright colour scheme I chose PMD Raspberry Pink and Apple Green to create the Kite, attaching with 3D foam pads to give height.

The Sea Blue was also great to cut in my Cricut Explore, you can see how cleanly it cut the wording. I added a little Stickles to the lower edges of the clouds and small sparkly blue gems to finish.
Cloud Nine, clouds and kite cut on the Cricut Explore using files from with the Cricut Subscription which I resized to suit my project.

Materials Used:
Papermilldirect Sea Blue 120gsm Offer Card, Plain White, Raspberry Pink, and Apple Green card.
Adhesives Used: Cosmic Shimmer Glue, Double Sided Tape, 3D Foam Pads
Stickles in ‘Frosted Lace’
Blue Sparkly adhesive gems

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 

Save The Date - with Papermilldirect

Hello and welcome to this week's Blog Post, and I have news of another +papermilldirect Special Offer for you:

This week it is the White Felt Embossed cardstock, a  popular choice as the unique texture lends itself well to all styles of crafting ranging from the clean & simple to spectacular inkiness. A huge Mega Box of this card in A4 size is available at a special price of just £41 whilst stocks last, you'll find it in the Special Offers section of the  website (link here:)

The Design Team have been looking ahead to the Wedding season for our makes this week, and I have a 'Save The Date' card to share with you.

The base card has been created by scoring and folding Papermilldirect ‘Ultra White Pearlised’ card and has then been trimmed down to 5” x 7” standard card size.

I used SVG cutting files from Birds Cards (as always links at bottom of post) to create the layered ‘Retro Rose Panel’ front,  importing into Cricut Design Space along with the ‘save the date circle’ SVG file. Within Design Space it was easy to resize and also ‘weld’ the 2 images together to create a single cut panel piece. The Ultra White Pearlised card cut very cleanly in my Explore and the delicate sparkle adds a touch of luxury. The decorative panel was backed with the second layer of the Retro Rose cut file cut in PMD ‘New Lilac’ cardstock.

The sentiment aperture is backed with a square of white vellum, then a co-ordinating panel of patterned paper (looks a little like confetti) has been attached behind it secured to the rear of the outer frame of the sentiment, this ensures no glue is visible through the delicate vellum part. The assembled panel has been attached to the whole of the card front using strong double sided tape.

To finish Adhesive pearls in 2 sizes have been added around the sentiment panel.

Materials Used:
Ultra White Pearlised card - Papermilldirect

New Lilac card - from the Colours range - Papermilldirect
Vellum (own craft stash)
Lilac dotty patterned paper from First Edition ‘Paper Flowers’ collection
Adhesives used: Cosmic Shimmer Glue, Double Sided Tape

Cutting Files used:  (please note these are personal use only files)

Card Cover 17 (Retro Rose Design) - http://www.birdscards.com/

Save The Date Circle, both by Birds Cards - http://www.birdscards.com/

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