Various things have got in the way of finishing the Online Card Class: Extraordinary Embossing Folders. Eventually, I got annoyed moving the kit from one end of the studio to the other and decided to get on with the course again, if only to be able to put everything away! Day 3 combines dry embossing with dies. Again, I’ve made use of what I have to emulate the course makes and have benefitted from the loan of kit from one of my valued Studio guests.
Dear reader, you may recall that I’m not a fan of ‘anything goes’ card challenges. Many entries to the two challenges I contribute to are not clean and simple, despite this remaining a requirement of the ‘anything goes’ theme. Well, this week at Less is More, we have our monthly ‘anything goes’ challenge – do play along with us, but keep your design clean and simple! Without a defined subject matter, I struggled to get inspiration but came up with this sympathy card after rummaging through some unused die sets:
Oh boy… somehow I have managed to avoid/not get round to making a shaker card. For the uninitiated, a shaker card typically has glitter/confetti/hundreds and thousands in a clear window that, well, shake and mix when the card is moved. The latest challenge at AAA Cards is to use a stack of macaroons as the colour theme for a clean and simple card, with the option to make it into a shaker card. So, without further ado, I present my very first shaker card:
Just a quick post to show you an exploding gift box that I made using the First Edition ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ 12×12″ paper pad available from craftlabel.com (at the time of writing, it appears to be half price!). The box is die-cut using Simply Made Crafts Die Set Medium Exploding Gift Box | Set of 11 available from craftstash.co.uk. It features four boxes that fall sideways when the lid of the main box is opened. The fifth box in the centre isn’t included in the die set but is relatively simple to measure up and make.
It’s a shape challenge at Less is More this week, with the theme being ‘hexagons’. I chose to use a honeycomb die for my shapes and used both the positive and negative elements to make two cards. I had a master sheet that I had coloured with inks and paints during the Creative Jumpstart course at the beginning of the year which I used to cut the shapes from.
Here are the cards:
A little while ago I reviewed a box of goodies from The Paperbox Ltd. Today, I continue the review showing a few makes along with some notes.
It has been 18 months in the making. Well, may be a couple of weeks in the actual making, but with lots of gaps! This is my first (and possibly last) double wedding ring quilt, made as a wedding gift to good friends. I missed the wedding deadline, and their first anniversary, but managed to get it finished for Christmas.
Yesterday’s class was all about die cutting and how to use them in backgrounds. Now I’m not that much of a fan of die cuts, especially the confetti that covers everything with the really intricate ones. I decided to use a different approach, and cut out my cards using my Silhouette Cameo and designed my own shapes inspired by the dies used in the class.
The first is coloured with ProMarkers, and the second shaded with Picked Raspberry Distress Ink. The third is just the white cut out on a cream card – I think it’s a rather classy clean and simple design.
This month sees my swan song as my term on the Creative Expression’s design team comes to an end at the end of September. But what a ending – this month I’ve been sent the fabulous new set of Sue Wilson dies and stamps to play with, including these gorgeous filigree Vintage Bauble dies. I’ve done them in two colour ways for inspiration and rather like them, even if I do say so myself and don’t overly go for frilly things!
To download a step-by-step tutorial and kit list, click here.
Every now and then I’m asked to work on specific projects under a publication embargo – so the blog goes quiet as I’m furiously working but can’t show you anything 🙁
Today’s post is an example of such projects – they feature the Cordoba die cut set from Creative Expressions, designed by Sue Wilson. Sue herself has approved their publication, which is around a month after I made them, so apologies if I don’t quite remember all the steps!
Creative Expressions have produced a fantastic range of dies and stamps by Sue Wilson – I’ve been given the Spanish inspired design ‘Cordoba’ to play with. This card is the first I produced with the three piece die set.
You will need:
Creative Expressions Cordoba Die Set
Creative Expressions Singles Set of 2 stamps: Perfect Poppy
Creative Expressions Self Adhesive Pearls: Cream (3mm & 5mm)
Cosmic Shimmer Specialist Acrylic Glue
Foundations A4 card: Rich Plum / Milk
Ranger Perfect Medium Pad: Clear
Ranger Distress Ink Pad: Seedless Preserves
– – – = – – –
This frame is inspired by the colours in the Cordoba Mosque, rich blues and golds. The image in the background is a doorway in that very mosque. The frame itself is built up with 5mm foamboard, with the die cut pieces layered over, and thin strips of card pushed round to cover over the thickness of the board. Finally I shaped real brass sheet round the whole thing to create the outer frame.
You will need:
Creative Expressions Cordoba die set
Creative Expressions Woven Leaves Pre Cut Stamp
Cosmic Shimmer Embossing Powder: Bright Gold Metallic
Foundations A4 Card: Cobalt
Ranger Perfect Medium Ink Pad: Clear
Walnut Hollow Metal Roll: Brass
