Challenges
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
Icecream Card
The challenge this week at Card Camp was to create a card using neopolitan colours - pink, brown and white. Well, I was instantly transported back to my childhood when Mum used to bring home a 4 litre bucket of neopolitan icecream from the shops. What joy! The only problem was all that darned pink icecream that was left after we'd scoffed the rest. You know, it's only now that I'm a mother myself that I wonder why she didn't just buy one tub of chocolate and one of vanilla... I really must ask her.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
June Christmas Cards
The June challenge over at Christmas Cards All Year Round was to create five cards with a design of your own choice - anything goes! I drew this little berry branch a couple of weeks ago and thought it would look lovely for Christmas. Teamed with the black and red colours the overall design has a very oriental air I think.
Double Gatefold Card
At my card club recently we did a shoe box swap where we brought along card kits we had put together for the other members at our table. The idea was to pass the kits around so that everyone made a card from each person at the table, resulting in a nice little stash by the end of the day. I decided to make this double gatefold card using punches, butterflies and patterned papers.
Requirements:
A4 cardstock base (8 1/4" x 11 3/4")
Patterned paper 8" x 3 3/4"
Two strips of green patterned paper 8" x 2"
Small offcut of white cardstock
Vine punch (I used a Martha Stewart punch)
Lattice border punch (I used a Martha Stewart border punch)
Small flower punch (I used an EK success punch)
Self adhesive pearls (I used Kaisercraft pearls)
Paper butterflies (I used Collections Elements Creative Butterflies)
Sentiment stamp (I used Stamping Up Sincere Salutations)
Score board and score tool
Foam mat
Ink pad
Double sided tape
Small foam dots
Wet glue (I used Glossy Accents)
Glue pen (I used Zig Squeeze and Roll)
1. Use the score board and scoring tool to score the cardstock at 1 7/8", 3 7/8", 7 7/8" and 9 7/8". Fold the card in the following way, from left to right: mountain fold, valley fold, valley fold, mountain fold. Open the card back out.
2. Use the border punch to punch a decorative edge down both short sides of the cardstock.
3. Use the vine punch to punch two vine strips from the green paper.
4. Put glue on the back of the stems of the vine (don't worry about adding any glue to the leaves), and adhere the vines as close as possible to the punched edges of the card.
5. Ink the edges of the 8" x 3 3/4" piece of patterned paper and adhere it to the centre panel of the card - you will have a little border around all four edges.
6. Stamp a little sentiment on the bottom of the panel to the right of the centre panel.
7. Punch 10 - 12 little flowers from the scrap of white cardstock.
8. Place the flowers on the foam mat and shape each by pushing a stylus down firmly in the centre of the flower until the petals fold upward.
9. Use wet glue to adhere the flowers to the vine. It is best to group them randomly and offset the two sides so that when the card is closed the flowers aren't all in one place. Add a pearl to the centre of each flower.
10. Cut out two or three butterflies. If you don't have printed butterflies you could stamp and colour some in or download some of the free digis or clip art from the internet.
11. Apply a couple of foam dots on the back of each butterfly wing. Add some wet glue down the centre of each body.
12. Press the butterflies on to the vine in various places. The body should be flush with the card while the wings will be raised by the foam dots.
Fold the whole thing back together and you're done! The card should fit nicely into a standard DL sized envelope or you could get super creative and make your own.
copyright Beccy Muir 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
The Fair Came To Town...
Last weekend the Papercraft Fair, known in my house as the wandering Shangri-La, rolled into Brisbane to tempt and delight paper artists. Among the purchases I made were these gorgeous little chipboard houses complete with embellishments and in one of them, a shadow box.
So, the plan is this - to create seasonal houses to hang on my walls for Christmas, Easter and a few in between. I figure if I make the plan known I might actually have half a chance of getting it done!
Sunday, June 19, 2011
A-Frame Card
Okay, I have to admit that I feel kind of sheepish making a full tutorial about these types of cards since they are so basic to make, but hey, I'm whole heartedly committed to the cause!
1. Begin with an A4 sized piece of cardstock. Cut the cardstock in half longways so that you are left with two long strips. (I'm fairly sure that "A4" is not an internationally recognised paper size, but the measurements are approximately 21cm x 29cm or 8¼" x 11¾").
2. Now score and fold the cardstock in half so that it resembles an A-Frame or a sandwich board.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Birdhouse With Heart and Bow
Free Printable #152
Copyright Beccy Muir 2011
This is the birdhouse image used in the Z-Fold card tutorial. I've also included the coloured version that was done with copic markers. Feel free to use either on your handcrafted projects.
Copyright Beccy Muir 2011Thursday, June 16, 2011
Technique Class - Z-Fold Card
I really enjoyed making this card because it was quick and easy but had a really interesting look to it when finished.
1. Start with a sheet of A4 cardstock - the completed card will fit nicely into a DL sized envelope.
2. Cut a section from the top length of the cardstock at an angle. You can make the angle as shallow or as steep as you wish, but out of interest, my cut goes from the top right hand corner to 2" down from the top of the left hand side.
3. Score and fold the card into three equal sections. Starting from the shorter edge I measured and scored at 3 7/8" and at 7 3/4" then trimmed a tiny amount from the longest edge to make them all even. The first fold is a mountain fold, the second is a valley fold.
4. Then it's a simple matter of decorating your card blank. I scalloped along the top edge, added some patterned paper, ribbon, picture and a sentiment.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Cherry Branch
Free Printable #151
This is the cherry branch I used on the aperture card I made a few days ago for one of the card fold tutorials. The coloured version was done using copic markers - feel free to use either for your own personal creations.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Technique Class - Aperture Card III
This technique is a little trickier than the previous two, and in my opinion, doesn't give quite as nice a finish as the easier techniques that have less bulk in the front of the card. You will often find these card blanks pre-cut and folded in craft stores but it is possible to do it yourself with a few basic tools.
1. Start with an A4 sheet of cardstock folded into three equal sections.
2. Cut a hole, or aperture, from the middle section. This can be in any shape you wish and in any position so long as the cut doesn't cross either fold line.
3. Now you can decorate from the back of the aperture. I chose to add a mat and then some spotted craft coloured paper, which I secured from the back.
4. Add some adhesive to the back of the first panel, then press the two sections together. The patterned papers will now be hidden inside the front of the card.
5. Once you have sealed the front closed your card will look like an ordinary card blank ready for decorating.
6. Decorate with embellishments and stamps as desired.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Technique Class - Aperture Card II
It might be somewhat of a stretch to call this an aperture card, but hey, we're going to do it anyway. To make this card was so simple that I don't need to write up a full tutorial for you, it just involves a card blank with a picture and some patterned paper mats with holes in them. Adhere everything together and... voila! You now have a very simple aperture card.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Technique Class - Aperture Card I
Okay, so basically we're talking about a card with a hole in it, and surprisingly I actually have three different methods for putting in that hole depending on how much work you want to do, how big your cardstock is and what sort of effect you're after. Here's the first method...
1. Start by decorating the front of your card blank as desired. Keep it fairly simple at this stage as you can add more embellishments at the end.
2. Use your favourite tool to make a hole through the front of your card.
3. Add your embellishment or stamped image through the hole in the front of the card, making sure you avoid any overlap with the edges of the hole. Your embellishment will be visible from the front of the card, but will actually be on the inside.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Sunday, June 5, 2011
"This Life" Album
I really love white on white when it comes to papercrafting. It always looks so pure and clean to me, plus I think you can use it for many different occasions since you aren't suggesting a theme with colour. It also means lots of texture to add interest and help separate the different elements.
I made this 8" x 8" album using Whisper White cardstock from Stamping Up, lots of ribbon, Prima flowers, handmade flowers, pearls and some gorgeous lace I had picked up in a haberdashery.
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