Thursday, April 30

Vintage Roses

I recently purchased these gorgeous rose stamps by Altenew... and my goodness, they are fabulous!  I warn you now, if you decide to buy a set make sure you set aside several hours just to play with them... oh, and plan to get inky!  The sentiment stamp is from my "Beautiful Friendship" set.
 

Tuesday, April 28

Scrap Card #15

The scraps that I used for this background don't have a lot of colour in them, so I decided to keep everything else quite neutral too.  Unfortunately the card ended up being a little more sombre than I'd anticipated.  It's probably better suited to a sympathy card than a celebration.
 
 

Wednesday, April 22

New Release: Seasonal Windows Set

The full Seasonal Windows set contains all four windows as well as six mix and match sentiments.  I have also put together smaller bundles with just one window and one sentiment for those who only want to purchase a single season.
 
Seasonal Windows Set

Autumn Window

Spring Window

Summer Window

Winter Window

 
Christine used the Spring Window for her creation.

 
Judy used the Summer Window for her first card... 
... and the Winter Window for her second.

 
Petra created two cards, the first features the
Spring Window and the second uses the Summer Window.

 
Shirley created four cards using each of the four Seasonal Windows.
From the top - Autumn, Spring, Summer and Winter.

 
Anesha created this card using the Spring Window...
...and she also made this amazing fabric hanging... 
...as well as a Summer Window card!

Sunday, April 19

Tutorial - Double Slider Card


Double slider cards aren't the simplest cards to put together, but the effort is definitely worth it.  As my 11 year old son put it, "they are all kinds of cool!"  Double sliders are interactive cards that have a simple mechanism that causes the bottom tag to slide out when the top tag is pulled.  It's quite exciting when you slide one for the first time!
 
 
1.  Start with a piece of card stock measuring 6" x 12".  This will result in a card that measures 6" x 4" when closed.
 


2.  Place the cardstock horizontally (longways) on your scoreboard and, starting from the left hand side, score at 33/4", 73/4", 113/4".  Fold along each score line.  The 1/4" piece along the right hand side will form a little tab for holding the card closed.


 
3.  On the second panel from the left, measure and mark the middle point between the two score lines.  Use the mark as a guide for cutting a half circle with a large circle punch.  I used a 11/4" punch, but you can use one that is slightly smaller or larger if you wish.  This cut out will make it easier to grasp the tag.
 
 
 
4.  Cut a piece of soft plastic measuring 13" x 2".  I used a cellophane bag but you could use a shopping bag or a piece of plastic from some packaging.  The plastic needs to be fairly strong but also flexible enough for movement. 

 
 
5.  Wrap the piece of plastic all the way around the first panel of your card and secure it with some double sided tape.  It should be loose enough to slip around the cardstock with ease, but not so loose that it's baggy.

 
 
6.  Now it's time to make your tags.  Cut two pieces of cardstock measuring 33/4" x 53/4" and decorate them as desired.  Add a tag pull at the top of your first tag - I used an eyelet and a piece of ribbon - remember not to decorate too far down the bottom as this is where it will be secured to your card.  Conversely, don't decorate too high up on the second tag as your efforts won't be seen.

 
 
7. Close the front panel that has the plastic strip around it.

 
 
8. Place a piece of double sided tape at the TOP of the plastic strip.

 
 
9.  Make sure your tag is facing the right way up, and then flip it over.

 
 
10. Press the tag onto the plastic making sure the edges of the tag are parallel with your card.  Slide the tag right down to the bottom of the card so the edges line up.

 
 
11.  Open the card again.

 
 
12. Add a piece of double sided tape at the BOTTOM of the plastic strip.  Notice that the first tag I secured is still lined up with the bottom of my card, and I have lined up the second tag with the top edge of the card.  Use it as a guide for where to place your double sided tape.

 
 
13.  Secure the second tag, face up, on the piece of plastic so that the top edge is flush with the card and the side edges are flush with the first tag you placed.

 
 
14.  Valley fold the 1/4" tab at the end of the card and apply a piece of double sided tape along its length.

 
 
15.  Now you are going to fold the card up and secure it by tucking the little tab inside and securing it to the other section of the card.  Make sure that you don't accidentally adhere the tag too!

 
 
16.  Now have a go at pulling on that tag.  You might need to wiggle it a bit at first, but then both tags should run through smoothly.  If they don't, go back and check that you didn't get the tag stuck down with the little tab in the last step.

 
 
17.  All that's left is to decorate the front.  Have fun!