Fancy Fold Cards

Last Friday morning saw me heading back up the coast to Pages 2 Scrap to teach a Fancy Folds class.  In this class, the ladies were making three cards - a Tri-fold Shutter card, an Easel card and a Gatefold card.

 We started with the hardest one first, the Tri-fold Shutter, as there is a bit of measuring, scoring/folding and cutting involved, and you need to be as precise as possible otherwise it won't close properly.  As it took a bit of time, we came back later to decorate it.

The second card we made was the Easel card, very easy to construct.  In fact the hardest part was deciding which design to put on the front.

The third and last card we made was the Gatefold card.  This card is held closed by a bellyband but when open, stands beautifully and looks lovely.  (I have a photo of this too, but the computer is not playing nicely!)

You may notice that the Tri-fold card looks different in this photo then in the top one - this is because I find it is easier to have two samples of each card in class, especially if there are more than  four people.

All the papers used in this class were Kaisercraft "Secret Admirer" collection.

The ladies all had an enjoyable morning crafting away, much better then being out in the miserable wet weather!

Happy crafting!

Yes, I'm still here .....

Just thought I'd pop in to say "yes, I'm still here ....." .  I've just been rather busy in the last week or so designing cards for my next couple of classes, writing up instruction sheets (with photos, which takes me twice as long as writing the instructions, and then I still have to ask for help) and some shop samples. 

I've also been trying to make some TARDIS cards for the Doctor Who Convention which is on this coming weekend.   Each one takes a while to construct, especially the window frames, so my offering isn't going to be very big, but you never know, I may even get some orders.

I have to say though, I don't mind one little bit being busy, as I'm doing what I enjoy most, making cards!

Tomorrow I am teaching a Fancy Folds class at Pages 2 Scrap at Tuggerah, staying the night with my BFF and then I get to play in a Dylusions class on Saturday morning, before coming home - can't wait!

Happy crafting!

I give my heart to you ....

Now I know I'm a few days away from Valentine's Day, but I was making this for the Stampotique Designers Challenge, the theme of which is Red, Pink & White.  Red and pink are not colours I usually put together but in this instance I thought if one of the colours was used sparingly, it would work out.

The heart was stamped on Thursday morning while playing in a Dylusions class at Alice in Paperland, but I don't know the name of the set it came from.  However, I stamped it with the intention of using it in this challenge although at the time I had no idea of how or what it would look like.

I started off by using aged mahogany Distress Ink over the entire tag and then spritzed with water and let it dry.  Next I stamped "Mela" from Stampotique onto white cardstock and coloured her with fired brick and old paper Distress Markers before carefully cutting her out.  The heart was coloured with spun sugar Distress Marker which was spritzed with water and paper towelled off, which left a lovely pale pink.   I liked the idea of tucking the heart under her arm and then all that was left was to add a caption.  Some fibres were added to finish off the tag.

Shhhh ...... as long as my DH doesn't read my blog (and he doesn't very often), he may be receiving this as my Valentine.

I'm entering this in : Stampotique Designers Challenge                                                                                            Tim Holz' 12 Tags of 2013 February
                               CASology.blogspot.com.au

Happy crafting!

Tag Cards

The first class I'm teaching at Alice in Paperland this term are "Tag Cards".   The original idea for these cards came from the Graphic 45 blog as a free tutorial towards the end of last year, and I thought they would be ideal for a class.  So I made two of these cards, lots of layers and a bit of fussy cutting, but fun to made nevertheless.  BUT, they are too big to fit in a regular DL envelope and I really don't like having to make my own envelopes.

Onto the second version which has been scaled down a bit and will fit into a DL envelope.  The first one is together, it just needs a pearl brad and ribbon.

The second is still a work in progress, but it won't be long until both samples are finished.

The papers are all from Graphic 45 "A Ladies Diary" collection, which is one of my favourites as they are so elegant and take you back to a bygone era.

Happy crafting!

Never-Ending Card on youtube

Two posts in one day, that would have to be a first for me.

And now for something different ...... each month Alice in Paperland sends out both by snail-mail and email, a newsletter letting everyone know about upcoming classes, specials and any other news items.  Included in each email newsletter is a youtube video which demonstrates or teaches a new technique or card.   This month it is my turn, and I'm showing how to make a Never-Ending card.  I came across this card a few years ago when visiting www.creativeoperation.blogspot.com - there are lots of great ideas on this blog, so have a look.

These cards definately have a WOW factor and are lots of fun for the recipient to enjoy as they keep opening the card until it gets back to the beginning again. 

So grab yourself a hot or cold beverage, and hope you enjoy how this card is made. 

Happy crafting!

Edit:  If you're having trouble with the sound, open the link to youtube, hopefully that will fix the issue.

Curly Owl Tag

Since it was the beginning of a new year, I decided it was time to have a new name tag.  This is primarily for work,  but also gets used at other times especially when I'm on Welcomers at church.  I do have an official name tag for church which is fine but a bit ho-hum and I'd much rather have something more interesting.  It also makes a good talking point which is quite useful at times.

When I was creating the last page in my little journal, I got to thinking that the Curly Owl would make a really good name tag - nice size, easy to see, and can hold my name under his/her wing.

Curly Owl was stamped, spritzed, a bit of white Sharpie pen on the curls, and the green ears and feet added (from the journal's owl).  With pink beak and pink & blue eyes, I think this has to be a 'girl' owl.  I find a little peg attached to the back with double-side tape a really good way of wearing this tag, no pins to push through fabric and stab me in the finger, has to be a bonus!

I feel very encouraged by all the lovely comments that have been left recently, so a BIG thank you, from me to you!

Happy crafting!

Home to Roost

I've almost finished my little 6" x 6" book and have been trying to carefully spritz the pages before and after the predominantly white Christmas page to try not to have the colours bleed through.  I now realise the benefits of using heavier weight paper, and this little book was obviously not designed for using inks.  Oh well, it was sitting in my stash and I was just starting out using Dylusions and I've had so much fun along the way.  Can't wait to start playing in my Dylusion journal !!!

I carefully spritzed this double page in Lemon Zest, with the paper towel at the ready to instantly mop excess ink (and no colour bleeds - sigh of relief).  To decorate the page I stamped "Curly Owl" from Victoria's Secret and the flying owl SU "Owl together now" (discontinued)  onto ivory cardstock and spritzed with Vibrant Turquoise, London Blue and Crushed Grape, and cut around each image.

 
I stamped the branch from "Owl together now" for the Curly owl to sit on, and continued stamping around the edges of both pages.  For a bit of extra colour, some Fresh Lime ink was painted onto the leaves.

I then stamped the owl again and coloured his eyes and beak yellow and blue, and his ears, wings and feet turquoise.  I fussy cut around each bit and glued his wings, eyes and beak into place.

Each owl was glued in position - a nice vibrant owl without worrying about colour bleeding!

In case you are wondering, his ears and feet were used for another owl, which I'll show you tomorrow.

Happy crafting!