Sunday, 1 January 2017

Beau Papier by Craftwork Cards

Happy New Year everyone!

I have had a break from making Christmas Cards for 2016 and turned my attention to finishing making cards from my Beau Papier paperkit from Craftwork Cards.  

Here are the cards I have made over the last leading up to Christmas.

This first one I kept very plain because I didn't wish to cover up the attractive paper.  The die I used is Petite Striplet - Jubilee by Sue Wilson.

I used the die on the white cardstock first.  I then cut the coloured card to size.  I placed this card behind the aperture and with a pencil drew through some of the areas that had been cut out with the die to give me an idea of where the striplet frame should sit.  I was then able to cut this to fit perfectly. 


This next one is one of my favourites.  I was down to the last few flowers and labels and came up with this concept in blue and pink.


Here I have used an edge die from Spellbinders and the heart is a Tattered Lace die.  I think it is one that would work well in the fold of the inside of the card.  These cuts were made using my Ebosser machine.



The next card I used the same edge die using the new Gemini.  I also had a new heart die from Sara Davis (Crafters Companion) Love and Romance Collection.

I have only used the machine a few times and found the pressure is a little too good.  I say this because it has left indentations on my magnetic sheet and also the plastic shim behind it! 

If you look closely you will see buckling on the card around the heart.  This happened when I used the embossing mat.  It also crushed the white card where I had the cuts made with the Spellbinder edge die.  I didn't like this very much and had to cover it over with the pink card. 

I may switch back to my EBosser machine if I can't get the quality cut I am after. The other niggle is that the white cardstock is picking up the outlines from the magnetic sheet of dies I have used previously.  Honestly, a few days use and I am quite disappointed.  What can I say that is positive about the Gemini.  Well, let me see, well I like the thinner embossing plates.  They make it easier to use.  


Here is a very simple card.


I really like this one.  The background paper is really versatile.  The dies are again from Spellbinders (the tree) and the houses are from Crafters Companion.




Another simple card with a little parchment craft thrown into the mix.


This is another favourite card I have made. I frayed the edges of some quality hessian cloth, put a topper on the top with a label and die cut an owl.


I think this card says it all.



And again here.




I used some cotton cloth on this card. It teams up well with the Kraftcard.   I used a die to cut Birthday Wishes and then set this within the topper having cut out Birthday Wishes first.  I love the colour combinations of the light brown and cream.


This is an Ege'able die from Crafter's Companion.  The button is so lovely, can't think where it came from.


Hello, simply gorgeous!



A couple more owl cards.



Pretty in pink.


Take some cotton fabric, lace and flowers and create a lovely card.



I was wondering what to do with my large butterfly and came up with this concept.




I had some lovely 5x5 cards to use with this kit. First in blue and then....


in pink.  This is a Spellbinders die.


With the paperkit came some card boxes to use as envelopes for those bulky flowers. These rolled flowers are great.


Here is another bulky one.


And not just any old card box. They matched the papers in the paper pad.  This one was decorated by me using a die by Crafter's Companion die.  I had 14 of these boxes in three different styles matching the paperpad.


Another simple card - is it too plain or do you like it as it is?  It definitely needs to sit in one of the box envelopes.



I found some cupcakes that matched the pink paper so I used my die from Crafters Companion Edge'able die and created this card.


More cupcakes that matched the 5x5 cards that came with the kit.


More mixing of odds and ends to create this lovely card.



Another little 5x5 card.




I have had a count up and realise that I have made 60 cards from this one paperkit.  I have four sheets of paper left over, a few paper flowers and sentiments.  

Not bad value for a paper craft kit consists of a paper pad, die cut toppers, sentiments, banners, flowers and 12 concept cards. Thank you Craftwork Cards. 

The rest of my collection can be found here


Note:  I prepared this blog entry a week ago and set a date for publishing it (today).  Since then I have been using my Gemini everyday and had better success as I have taken out the magnetic mat when embossing and this has made a better finish to the project.  Now I just need to replace the original magnetic mat and embossing mat that I damaged.




















































































Thursday, 22 December 2016

Twist and Pop Christmas Cards

This is a new style of card that I came across a month or so back and have no idea what it is referred to as.  I thought I could make a template on my Silhouette so I could make more in the future.   They are A6 in size and fold completely flat.

I think the style must have become popular because Hunkdory have now produced a collection of these to make up.  They seem good value to. They have named them "Twist and Pop".


 Here are the cards I made from my collection.



















Wednesday, 14 December 2016

Die'sire Create a Card Christmas "Cut in" Dies

Here is a collection of cards I have made using these dies.  I think I could do with the new Gemini as I did struggle to cut these on my Craftwell Cut "n" Boss machine.  However, I can't simply replace my Die Cutting machine for the sake of it so I shall have to be careful what cardstock I use with them as they don't particular cut well on heavy weight cardstock and this has been most disappointing. 

I don't own the complete set of eight, just these four as used in the card samples below.
 



I created the background template using my Cameo Silhouette so that the side panels were the right size for the small Christmas Tree dies.



I felt there was something missing from this card until I had the idea to use some vellum behind the cut out.  Now I am happy with it.



I found some dies that complimented this snowflake die in my collection.  It is likely to be a Sue Wilson die.



Another almagamation of Sue Wilson dies were used in making this card.  I prefer the decorated tree in this sample.



As you can see I put a solid background behind this die.  I am wondering if they look fine without any sentiment or maybe a little odd!


This sample doesn't have a velum background.


Or this one.  Even though I had a few problems with the cutting, it helped when I purchased a metal shim.  Off all the dies I own and despite the problems I have experienced in getting a clean cut, these are amongst my favourite Christmas dies and I hope you like them to.

Sunday, 11 December 2016

Sheena Douglass - A Little Bit Festive Christmas Stamps


Stamping and colouring with inks and pens is what this collection is all about.  Here are four cards I have made with this stamp collection; each have a vintage feel and look.



















Wednesday, 7 December 2016

Chloe Christmas Stamps

Today I am sharing with you a few cards I have made using stamps by Chloe.  These require the use of Embossing Ink and powders.  I like working with the WOW Embossing Powders.

Some useful tips on stamping and embossing:

Be sure to use an anti-static bag over the surface of the cardstock before stamping.  This ensures the Embossing Powder only clings to the card stock where the Embossing Ink is.  Brush off any excess with a fine paintbrush or gently blowing.   

Before melting your Embossing Powder try leaving your heat gun running for a few seconds to get it warmed up.

When using your heat gun don't keep it too long in one place.  As soon as the Embossing Powder begins to melt, move onto the next area.







This last card is an inside out card.  I have used Chloe's stamps to decorate on the front along with some of the Stylish Silhouettes I had from Hunkydory.  These snowflakes were covered with silver Embossing Powder.


You get a big surprise when you open this card as you can see by the picture below.




I was thinking that I could the Die'sire Christmas 5x2 Christmas sentiments as panels on either edge.  I have seen this on sample cards and it looks amazing.  Perhaps Let It Snow and With Love would look great.

Sunday, 4 December 2016

Hunkydory - Little Book of Bird Song

These postcard size images are perfect for mounting onto Mirri card and creating your own toppers.  The come in a series of mini-books by Hunkydory.  Each book contains 144 pages of beautiful quality images on 150gsm paper and are perfect for handcutting your own decoupage elements as you get repeats.

You can find the complete collection here on the Hunkydory website.  And a Click Here to get your Mirri Mats!

This is how I have used mine.  Here I have trimmed them to fit inside a frame.





You see how they can be used in different ways as card toppers.


This image is framed on two of the corners.


 The next four are cut to fit inside my favourite Spellbinders Christmas frame die.








 I am sure you will agree the images are absolutely divine.