New Beginnings

Perhaps one of your New Year's Resolutions to use up more of your crafty stash?  If so, this card may provide some inspiration as it shows what you can achieve with just 2 sheets of card and a small offcut of vellum from your stash when combined with your existing dies and punches.

Card Recipe:
Tools: Tonic Window Die, Tonic Studios Window Box Die,  Tonic Studios Gothic Square Die, Tonic Studios Simplicity Dotty Border Punch, Tonic Studios Butterfly Border Punch, Tonic Studios Corner Rounder, Kushgrip Art Knife, Tonic Craft Tacky Glue, Grand Calibur, 
Paper and Card: Stardream card, opalescent vellum

Many followers of my blog will know I have a bit of an obsession with my domed window die, and this time I've combined it with the coordinating window box die. Unusually for me, I've kept things very clean and simple with just two soft shades of cardstock.

I made the blind from a small offcut of pearly vellum, punched with the Simplicity Dotty Border Punch, and pleated a couple of times, then trimmed to fit the window. 

Although this card is simple to make, just a few added details, which take moments, I think makes all the difference.  In this case, it's been achieved by adding a small scattering of tiny butterflies and flowers (the "waste" from, respectively, the Butterfly Border Punch and Daisy Circle Die, and cut from offcuts of card).

Here's one final look at how I've used dies, punches and old stash to make this week's card....

Happy Crafting!

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Red Door & White Wreath Christmas Card

Why is it that a Red Front Door is festive, whereas any other colour is just plain wrong?  I understand why post boxes are red, and obviously a robin needs a red breast, and even Rudolph a red nose.  However, I have no idea why a Christmassy door just has to be red, but it does!  Anyhow, I hope you like my festive Red Door and White Wreath Christmas Card.

Card Recipe:
Paper and Card: Centura Pearl White card, Red Linen textured
Tools: Tonic Studios Floral Crafters Tool Kit, Verso Tiara Corner, Domed Window, Window Box, Christmas Cracker and Branches Dies, Grand Calibur 
Embellishments: double satin ribbon, pearl strands, rhinestone crystals, crystal button, handmade hatpins

First of all, I wanted to give you a nice close-up of the new Tonic Studios Verso Tiara Corner Dies. These dies have a separate outer cutting edge, meaning you can choose whether to cut out the entire corner as a die cut, or create a laser-cut finish into the cardstock (which is what I've done).  Hope you can pick up the lovely embossed detail too.

Now, I think it's important to be able to use your dies in lots of different ways, without your cards looking the same.  Dies are an investment so it's important to get lots of use from them.  This festive Christmas card was created from a variety of dies but only the sentiment was actually a Christmas die!

I made my Christmas Wreath by using die cuts from my Window Box and Branch Dies. As I wanted quite a compact wreath, I cut some of the sprigs in half.  I used eight of each design and shaped the sprigs with my new Floral Crafters Tool Kit to create dimension and depth.










It's been a while, but my beloved hatpins have made a return, along with a bling-tastic rhinestone button.  I've combined this with a cheery red ribbon and ribbon bow.  Speaking of ribbon, that's the theme for this fortnight's challenge over at an Oldie But A Goodie, or you could use Lace or even combine Ribbon and Lace!  Ribbons and lace are staple items in my craft stash, so I never have a problem finding an item to use over 6 months old when the theme is this fortnight's challenge.  If you have lots of stash to use up, why not pop over to the challenge and join in the fun.
Here's one final look at my card, can you guess that I used my domed window die to create the door?  I will be posting a tutorial on how to do this in the near future.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Crafty Calender - All Things Christmas
Paper Crafting Journey - Bling it Up

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Too Cute to Spook - Halloween Window Card

Every year, I take part in a Halloween Swap on a Craft forum that I belong to, and it's one of my favourite swaps of the year.  However, as Halloween is just once a year, I try to not spend too much cash on craft stash just for that occasion and today's card is a case in point.  The only exclusively Halloween element on this card is the main stamped image, everything else has been adapted "spookify" it!
Card Recipe:
Stamps: Inkadinkadoo, Joanna Sheen's House Mouse
Tools: Tonic Studios Doomed Window Die,  Tonic Studios Window Basket Die  Tonic Studios Label Die, Cameo Silhouette, Grand Calibur
Colouring Mediums: Versmark Ink Pad, Versafine Black Ink Pad, Promarker Pens, Cosmic Shimmer Mist, Moon Glow Embossing Powder, Distress Ink Weathered Wood
Paper and Card: WRMK, Textured, Joanna Sheen's Elegance Satin, Velvet Paper, Opal Vellum
Embellishments: Tooth pick, foliage, silver-tone charm, string, bakers twine, crystals

To create the stamped scene, I cut a piece of stamping card slightly smaller than my window die, and punched out a 1" circle mask from a post-it note. I checked the position of my mask against the window die cut, then lightly coloured the stamping card with weathered wood distress ink.  After removing the mask, I stamped my witch using Versafine black , so that she appeared in silhouette against the moon.  Finally, I spritzed the entire image lightly with cosmic shimmer mist.

As this is a window scene looking from the inside to outdoors, my vellum blind needed to be proud of the window.  I cut the decorative edge with my favourite gothic border punch, and created the velvet "pelmet" by die- cutting some velvet paper and cardstock with the window box die that coordinates with the window die (but turned upside down).

They say that necessity is the mother of invention and as I do like making my own embellishments, and I had fun creating this witchy-broom as a bespoke Halloween decoration.  I used some sprigs of floristry foliage, which I pressed into my Versamark ink pad then coated in gorgeous two-toned moon glow embossing powder (midnight pewter obsidian).  When I heated the embossing powder, my craft room was filled with the scent of pine.

I glued the now midnight-black sprigs to a wooden tooth-pick and wrapped some rough string around the join - et voila - a very witchy broom.  

If you like to see how I created my All Hallows House Mouse, have a look at my original Scary House Mouse blog post.


You can also see how I used my Tied Together embossing folder and Black Soot ink pad to create my Halloween textured "wallpaper" from a piece of purple patterned paper.

The pumpkins were cut on my Cameo Silhouette, I like the curly fronds.  The silver-tone spider was an Ebay find, I just added the crystal to the centre and suspended it from a thread of Halloween Bakers Twine.












Here's one final look at this spooktacular card...

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Christmas Door & Wreath Card Tutorial

As promised, I have produced a step-by-step tutorial on how to create the Christmas Door and Wreath as shown in my Red Door and White Wreath Christmas Card, using a window die and various foliage dies. 
At the end of this blog post, I have added a downloaded pdf of the instructions.

To make my project, I used Tonic Studios Domed Window Die, Window Box Die, Branches Dies and your choice of die cutting machine (I used my Grand Calibur).  Other supplies included red linen textured card, white centura pearl card, wet glue, foam pads, low-tack tape and basic craft tools.



Door Tutorial

Step 1 - Cut and emboss the top of the Door
Cut a piece of card 8cm wide by 29.7 cm long, then cut this in half so you have to pieces 8cm x 14.85.  Secure the window die to the top of the one of these card pieces with low tack tape. Place on your cutting mat so that half of the bottom "panes" are hanging off the end, then cut and emboss as normal. 

 You can see below that the die has only cut out the top arch section and the 2/3rds of the square paned section.














Step 2 - Repositioning the Die
Next, move the die and reposition it, slotting the half bottom square panes into the upper square panes - you can feel when it slots into place.  Secure with low tack tape.  Place onto your cutting mat so that now its the top of the die that is off hanging off the mat and cut and emboss.

Step 3 - Making the door
You will now have the basic door shape and the little waste pieces from the die (they are not waste though, so don't throw them away)!  Take your spare piece of red card, lay your door shape over it, trace around it with a pencil and cut out inside your pencil lines (you want your hand-cut piece to be marginally smaller on all sides).  Don't worry about making this shape look pretty, it's going to be completely hidden so you won't see any wonky cutting!

Attach a small metal brad to act as the door handle.  Now comes the fiddly bit.  Cut narrow strips from 3D foam pads and stick them to the back of the door panel (I find that tweezers can help with this).  Although it is very fiddly, you will get a better result if you can stick foam to the central sections as well as the outer edge.  Remove the backing from your stickies, and I find it easier to keep the die cut on the mat and position the backing panel over the stickies.  Only press down when you are happy that your backing panel is correctly positioned.

Finally, place a small dob of wet glue onto the back of the "waste" pieces.  Using tweezers, inlay them into the door.  Using glue rather than double-sided tape allows you to easily move the pieces around until they are exactly in place.  And, viola, your door is complete.

And, every Christmas door needs to be dressed with a festive wreath!

Wreath Tutorial

Step 1 - Cut and emboss the top of the Door
Cut a piece of card white centura pearl card into strips 3.5cm wide by 29.7 cm long, then cut this into 3 lengths, repeat until you have eight lengths and an offcut.  You will also need some more offcuts for the branch die.  Use low tack tape to secure the strips to the foliage section of the Window Box die and use the small leaf die from the Branches die (or use any mixture of foliage dies you may have).
Cut and emboss, then repeat this step eight times

You will now have eight sets of foliage.  You also need a 5cm wide ring cut from card (I used a set of circle dies but you could just trace around a shape and roughly cut it out as it will eventually be completely obscured).  Trim the foliage as shown below and shape using Floral Crafters Tool Kit.

Dab a small dot of wet glue to the front end of the stem of the branches die cuts and adhere these to the back of the ring.  This will help give the wreath a very opulent fullness when completed.  Don't fuss too much about spacing, but to help get things fairly evenly spaced, I start by placing 2 sprigs opposite each other and then work round filling in.  Next place a blob of glue to the bottom, back of the ivy sprig and stick to the front of the ring, spacing evenly and slightly offset from the sprigs already in place.  Finally add the leafy sprig, tucking the stems in behind the ivy.  Using tweezers really helps with placing the sprigs

Give your wreath a bit of a shaping tweak with your fingers to create fullness, then decorate with rhinestone crystals, glitter glue and a festive bow.

I really hope you've found this useful.  You can download a pdf of this step-by-step photo tutorial on making a door and Christmas wreath here.  

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Clean & Simple Monochrome Window Scene Christmas Card

This card is most definitely a departure from the norm for me!  It's the launch of the new theme over on an Oldie but A Goodie Challenge and this fortnight it's Clean and Simple Christmas.  I've also got details of an exciting competition from Tonic Studios with a chance to win a prize worth £300.

Card Recipe:
Stamp: Kanban
Colouring Mediums: Versamark Black Ink
Paper and Card: Neenah White, Crafter's Companion Matt Black
Tools: Tonic Studios Window Die, Tonic Studios Christmas Sentiments, Embossalicious Embossing Folder
Embellishments: rhinestone crystal!

The main image is a Kanban set of stamps, the deer are separate to the main tree image, and I used a masking technique to stamp the baby deer so she appears to be peeking out from behind the tree.  I think that little baby deer is just sooo sweet!

Isn't this just such a gorgeous image?  It's really suited to a CAS card, as it just doesn't need adornment.

The window is one of my favourite dies from Tonic Studios, I'm currently going through a phase of window scene cards, I think they are so effective.  I didn't use acetate on this occasion, as I've kept the feel of the card quite matt.  I think that this would definitely be a suitable card for a man.

I made my main mat using Crafter’s Companion Regency Damask 8" Embossalicious Embossing Folder.  It's very hard to pick up embossing on matt card in photography, I hope you can see it here.  I very much like this range of 8" embossing folders, they are the perfect size for me, and this particular pattern is one I reach for time and again.

I finished the card off with a simple sentiment cut with one of my Tonic Christmas Cracker Sentiment dies and just a few tiny crystals to accent the holly berries.

So I have two exciting competitions to let you know about and what's great is you could combine entries into both with just one card.  

So first of all, do pop over to an Oldie but A Goodie and join in with our Clean & Simple Christmas Card Challenge for the chance to win a $21 prize from Bugaboo Digi Stamps.

Secondly, Tonic Studios have just announced a fabulous prize competition on their Facebook page, with the chance to win £300 of Tonic products.  Take a look at the Tonic Studios Card Competition here.

There are different rules for each competition so do check them out.  For example, for an Oldie but a Goodie Challenge, I've used the following items that are over 6 months old on my card: Embossing Folder, Stamp, Window Die, Ink Pad, cardstock, crystals.  For the Tonic Studios Card Competition, you need to use a Tonic product and I used my Tonic Window Box Die, Tonic Christmas Sentiment Dies and my Tonic Super Trimmer.  Obviously, I'm not entering (not allowed) but I do hope you will join in the fun on both challenges.  Here's one last look at my CAS Christmas Card.....

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'Charming' Silver, Black & White Christmas Dress Card

Hello Blog Friends, I hope you like today's card, 'Charming' Black and White Christmas Dress Card! I always struggle with monochrome cards but I have to say, I am quite pleased with this one - let me know if you agree?

Card Recipe:
Stamp:Kanban
Tools: Tonic Studios - Mannequin Tag Die Set; Tres Belle Base Die Set; Domed Windows Die Set, Free Christmas Tree Die, Grand Calibur
Colouring Mediums: Versafine Ink Pad, Distress Ink Pads, Versamark, WOW embossing powder
Paper and Card: Stardream, Pearlescent White, Flocked Card, Velvet Paper
Embellishments: Organza Flocked Sheer, silver-tone Christmas Charms, rhinestone crystals, 3mm double satin ribbon.
It's our new challenge over at an Oldie But A Goodie and this fortnight the theme (picked by Natali) is 'Charming - use a Charm'.  Now whilst the inspiration for this card came from my brand new Tonic Die Sets (Tres Belle Square and Mannequin Tag), all the elements actually on my card are well and truly over 6 months old!  So, if you have lots (or even a little) old stash to use up, come on over to an Oldie But a Goodie and join in with this fortnight's theme with a chance to win a lovely prize.  So let's have a closer look at some of the elements on this card....

As soon as I got my Tonic Studios Mannequin Tag Die Set, I knew I wanted to make a dress card.  I started this card with the intention of making a dress-shop window with the dress behind the window.  However, once made, my dress was so full, it needed to go in-front of the window, so the whole concept of the card changed.

I made the dress by die-cutting 3 circles of a gorgeous swirl-flocked organza sheer fabric.  The circles were layered and gathered together to form the dress skirt.  I made the bodice by tracing around the bodice of the mannequin die and cutting it out before covering the top in a double layer of organza.  I stuck the skirt to the bottom half and used a narrow strip of double satin ribbon to hide the join.  A few rhinestone crystals added some bling for Christmas!

There were three stages to creating the stamped window scene.  Firstly, I wanted the effect of falling snow, which I did by tapping the end of a brush in Versamark Ink and tapping this onto my stamping card, before heat-embossing with opaque white embosssing powder. I then punched out a circle mask and coloured the rest of my stamping card with Black Soot Distress Ink. Finally, I removed the mask and stamped my Santa with Flying Reindeer in Versafine Black Ink.

I die-cut my window from white cardstock and backed it with an offcut of acetate (from some packaging heading for the bin!), before lining up my Christmas Sky scene behind it.

On this occasion, I've inlaid the window into my background card, it adds a stage to making your card but gives a more realistic finish.

Isn't the little stocking charm just so sweet?  But not as sweet as my Christmas Tree die cut - and that's because this die came for free (and there's nothing better than free) with a card-making magazine!

My photography doesn't really show this to well (apologies) but the damask background has been created from my new Tres Belle Square Dies, cutting a layer of black velvet paper and backing it with white pearlescent card.  

A second silver-tone charm, this time a pretty snowflake, adds to the 'Charming' theme over at an Oldie but a Goodie, do pop over and join in with this fortnight's challenge, they are always great fun and the perfect excuse to dig out old stash to use up.





So here's one final look at my card

This card was showcased in the following challenge:
Die-Cuttin Divas - Anything Goes Pin It Now!