Quick Christmas Cards

How are we all doing with the festive preparations. Personally I have not stopped for seems like weeks, and am definatly flagging now. Just the wasjing, ironing and cleaning to do - HOORAY (not my most favourote jobs).

Like, I bet you all needed just a few extra christmas cards too, and these are what I rustled up. My craftroom now is in complete dis-array and I have amazed myself at how messy I can be. I should really take note when I am constantly telling the boys to their rooms !!

Some Christmas Cards & Tags

As usual I am behind in the making of my christmas cards this year, making my customary slow start. For some reason I have a complete mental block when it comes to festive makings. I have 2 boys that talk endlessly about christmas, I have the tree and decorations up, and even (dare I say it) presents all bought and wrapped. But i still need to hit on those one or two christmas designs that will get me going.

I did however make these. The first 4 panel decoration started out as a card but, I liked it so much that it landed on my mantelpiece, and there it is staying. It did inspire however the scaled down version, and I was also particularly pleased with the gift tags too - made with Tim Holtz distress stains and inks and my favourite christmas stamps.

Right, I feel better now having updated you all. Now its time to rustle up a dinner from the last of the freezer food (waiting to restock next week for christmas), the bath and bed for the boys and hopefully another round of christmas cards for me. I am on a roll today and feeling quite chuffed with myself, having wrapped presents this morning and even managed to book myself that long awaited hair appointment next week. This year it is all about planning as Anthony works away now for 2 weeks at a time, and now not due back until the 22nd - and its up to me to get all the preparations sorted. The deadline for me is also the 22nd/23rd (apart from the last bits of cleaning), then we are all officially on holiday!

Merry Christmas to you all if I don't make it back before then and many good wishes for the New Year. xxx

I have entered the gift tags into this weeks challenges on the Sugar Creek Hollow blog. A lovely blog that is concerned only with all things vintage in crafting, and a site that I will continue to visit many more times.

The start of Christmas

Although it has been a while since I posted last, I have still been creating. As well as the items I am sharing with you now, I have busy sewing and making curtains and blinds for the last remaining windows downstairs that were not dressed. As my eldest son put it 'we are now boarded in'! and it is lovely and cosy now to be able to shut and draw the curtains and blinds against these cold dark wintery evenings. As I chat with you now, the hail is coming down again for the umpteenth time today!

I wanted to start the countdown to Christmas with some special advent calenders, as gifts for my Niece Elena and the children of a friend.
I bought the advent calender kits from Kaisercraft, and decorated them with Basic Grey Nordic Holiday paper, Kaisercrafts Silly Season paper and My Mind Eye traditional christmas paper.
Each kit started out flat packed like this,

Using the Basic grey paper I created this fresh looking calender for Elena,

For my friends children I created a vintage looking calender with the MME paper, and then with the Kaisercraft paper proper traditional colours. I left them to choose who wanted which as they were both suitable for a boy and a girl.

I tried to make the central collage as dimensional as possible, and for the MME and Kaisercraft calenders I used the cricut Imagine to cut out the elements.

As a finishing touch before sending them on their way, I added a little festive chocolate to each of the drawers as a small treat and aide the passing of the days towards christmas.

I think they were all well received as a welcome surprise in the post. Next year I will make 2 more for my own boys, who this year were treated to Lego Star Wars calenders each (now I have even more Lego laying around on the floor and being sucked up in the hoover!)



 Thank you for taking the time to look.

Birthday cards worthy of a mention

Stephen had some brilliant cards for his birthday, and they are worthy of a post for themselves.
This is Mum card and sums Stephen up perfectly, he is most definatly a little scalley wag (a term that makes him laugh).

The inside of this card is perfect too, and being in pirate character Stephen has 'trekked through the house' using the map to find treasure - older brother patiently in tow dutifully joining in.

The other two handmade cards that are also worth a mention are made by my Aunt Rita. Rita makes lots of cards that are so detailed and amazing, and supplies cards to another aunt who sends them onto us. The first card is also great for Stephen because like any 4 year old, monsters and spaceships are an important part of their day - what is life all about if they haven't got an alien to chase and defeat !! ;-)

Rita puts alot of thought and effort into her cards especially the colouring and is a huge fan of the copic pens.

All of these cards will be going into the ever expanded box of cards that I cannot throw away once the birthday/occasion has passed.

THANK YOU.xxx

YOU'RE 4 TODAY - Happy Birthday Stephen

Today is Stephens birthday, and unbelievably he is 4 - where have those years gone.
Stephen has grown up and changed alot over the last 6 months, and we are entering a new phase in his young life and he is definatly developing his own unique personalilty.

I am really pleased with my card (actually its more like a scrapbook page as it is 12 x12 inches.)
Again using my new Buccaneer cartridgefor the Imagine, it wasn't too hard for the idea to come together.

What I do like doing at the moment is printing the Imagine images straight onto patterned paper. Like I did here, the shipwrecked ship in the background is printed on to paper loosely resembling the atmosphere under the sea.

 With the help of distress inks and distress stickles, all the images come to life.

To highlight the flag, I outlined with a gold Krylon pen, and added the toothpick (stained with walnut stain distress ink)

 

I'd like to say thank you very much for Stephens cards and presents.

 

Ahoy there !!

This is just a quick post with a birthday card I made quickly for a 10 year old birthday party. It was the perfect opportunity to use the Imagine cartridge, Buccaneer.
The images print beautifully, but they really come to life when you start inking the edges and distressing the paper. Taking inspiration from many pirate films I have watched (and my own little four year old pirate character running about) it is a pleasure to work with this cartridge.

Happy birthday Mum

For all the fancy folds and techniques and papers we have- sometimes the best creations are those simple ones.
I love this card that Stephen made for the him and Tom to give to nanny for her birthday.  Stephen chose all the elements, and embossed the card himself (he is only 4 and can use the cuttlebug), after he coloured in the character from one of his favourite TV programmes, octonauts.

Here is Stephen using the cuttlebug, in a true crafters style, spread out all over the floor !!



Extended Folded Frame Card

As a follow on to the last post, explaining how to make the folded frame - here is the original card, that prompted me to detail the instructions.

As a theme, I have tried to picture the seasons, using Tim Holtz distress inks and images from Clarity Stamps. The paper is from Tim Holtz Idealogy range, Vintage Shabby (again, can you tell I'm a fan ), and was perfect for this project.
 Because these paper stashes have been put together to incorporate all the paper popular paper sizes used in paper craft - the co-ordinating patterns where available in the sizes I needed. 12x2" for folding, 6x6" for the insert and hinge, and the ATC sice (3.5x2.5") to create the seasonal topper.

Here is how the card came together as whole, from the beginning

Basics put togther first, and then inked with Victorian Velvet distress ink, to unite all pages.

Toppers where created using various distress inks and Clarity Stamps

These were the basic components for each seasonal theme, before being assembled on the page.

Hope you like it, and fancy having a go yourself. It really is quite straightforward once you get going.

Folded Frame Card

I have been busy trying something different, and working on some special projects for special people, and will share in time, so as not to spoil any surprises.

I used stamps in this project that I have had for years and with promarkers they have been given a new lease of life. I am really pleased with the colouring, and discovered that it is so true, that if you get the right paper, shading with the promarkers just sort of happens.

I had the idea to try this because I caught the end of a show on Create & Craft with Mel Heaton, who created a beautiful sample and had just demonstrated how to make it.
As I only caught the very end of the demonstration and saw her final creation, I set about working out how to make it - it took me an evening (and many sheets of scrap paper).

I was quite chuffed with the results and it is another unusual idea for a mini album/scrapbook. Its also a great idea for a really special birthday for someone
I have attempted here to explain how it is made, because honestly it is not as complicated as it looks.

Take a piece of square paper and score at the 1/4 intervals, both horizontally and vertically. So for this 12x12 sheet, the score lines are at 3", 6", 9" & 12".  Score also the diagnal lines as shown.
 It is worth scoring all lines on both sides of the paper, with a bone folder, to help with the folding later on.

If you are using a double sided sheet of paper, set the paper down on the table with the pattern you would like to be seen, table side down.
Fold down each corner to the first diagnal fold, and for the purpose of this explanation I have stuck these corners but there is no need. Also I have labelled each 1/16th (individual squares) to try and help the folding process coming next.

Set the paper with the folded corner at the top, and the labels in the configuration above. If you have scored and folded on both dised of the paper the next folds will happen easier - manipulate the folds so that the 2 triangles labelled 'A' lay down covering square 'B'.  The contrasting colour of triangle 'C', will be facing upwards.
See the next photo so show how you paper should look at this stage.

You should be at this stage, having made the folds at the first corner.
Move the paper round and fold each corner in the same way. Ensuring that the 2 'A' triangles fold downwards onto their corresponding 'B' square.

Your paper should look like this after 2 corners have been folded.

When you have folded all 4 corners, your paper should be looking something like this.

When flat make sure all folds are crisp with a bone folder and this will help the paper keep its shape. it will not lay completely flat at this stage and it may be worth putting it to one side with a weight on top (I put mine under my glass mat) to carry on to the next stage.

Measure and cut a square of contrasting cardstock that is just a few millimetres smaller that the square shape of the folder paper. Insert this square under the corners of the folded piece, in a 'photo corner' kind of fashion. It is this that will make the whole piece keep its shape and hideaway the folds in the centre.

So that you can make a double folded frame (as below), you will need to make a hinge. Measure the length marked 'x' in the photo, and use that measurement to cut a square of co-ordinationing cardstock.
Make 2 score lines, about 0.5mm apart, either side of the point to point diagnal line. Again make the score lines crisp with a bone folder.

Insert the hinge within the folds of each folded frame, so that it is almost hidden. With the frames in front of you you will see where the hinge needs to sit, and give you the double frame as below.

Well done if you have reached this stage. You can go on to create another 2 folded frames and hinges to give you 4 hinged frames. You can link as many folded frames togther as you require. Work in multiples of 2 so that you will always have a from and back.

This design is a lovely way to display multiple photographs, or sample of stamp sets or even tell a story. The possibilites are endless and a lovely way to use the gorgeous 12x12 scrapbook papers you have collected.

Why not use 8x8 papers that are available to make little handbag sized albums as gifts, or a lovely reminder for you to carry holiday snaps.

I hope I have managed to explain this for you in a clear way, and you enjoy making something different.