Scrapling for June

Hello
Here in my corner of Hertfordshire it's not raining (at the moment) - and there's even some sunshine.  Mind you, I'm not sure how warm it is as the furthest I've been is the doorstep to get the milk!
I sat down to make something for my Sketch File project yesterday and as my mojo had upped and left I struggled finding things I wanted to use.  
So I decided a slightly different approach was needed and grabbed a scrapling from the box where I keep offcuts.  I'm sure you know, but just in case, a Scrapling is made from the strip that's left when you cut a 14 or 15cm square card from a sheet of A4.  You end up with a long, roughly 7cm strip which you fold in half to get a tall, skinny  card.

This shape always forces me to think a bit differently about what to use, placement and overall balance - somehow it's a gentle nudge when inspiration is lacking.  

I chose a couple of papers to make the panel from, and then decided to keep the whole thing really quick and simple.  

Info

Scrapling: Ribbed Kraft card (PDA Woodward)

Papers; Summer Crush 6x6 (Maja Designs)

Butterfly Die (Apple Blossom)

Tab feature is hand-cut

Narrow Satin Ribbon

Pinks and Blue gems (Anitas)

The June 2016 Sketch
I "squeezed" it, then used the ribbons to echo the larger rectangle

That's it for this time, thank you for visiting

On Your Travels

Hello
Well....it's not rained here today (yet), so that is something.....
It was my turn to choose a theme for the Daring Cardmakers this week, and despite the weather, the holiday season is getting into it's stride. So I went with a travel theme:

On Your Travels

You can take the theme wherever you like - modes of travel. suitcases, places you love, or would love to travel to - its up to you. 

 So whether you're heading off on a jaunt, day-dreaming about distant shores, or travelling no further than a deckchair in your garden, we'd love you to join in and share your journey with us

We hope you'll find inspiration in the cards the team have made to share with you this week, you can see them all HERE  

I ended up making a couple of cards this week.  The first one uses a favourite template of mine, am old-fashioned suitcase, which I cut in two sizes, and then altered to make a third in the style of one of those lovely vintage vanity cases.  The cases having a vintage feel pretty much chose the papers for me - Graphic45's "Come Away With Me"

Info

All papers  "Come Away With Me" 6x6 and 8x8 paper pads (Graphic45)

I made a luggage label from some Kraft card, and used stamps to add the ink splodges and passport style stamps - not being a stamper I didn't have any ready made shapes to use so just made the best of what I did have to simulate what I was after.  

The cases are cut with the Silhouette Cameo 

While making the first card my thoughts went a-wandering, remembering some of the journeys we've made and the places we've travelled to. I was also glancing out of the window and watching the ran relentlessly hurling itself down, and finding I needed the room light on to see what I was doing......which sent my thoughts to sunny beaches and blue skies....and a "wish you were here?" idea - notice the question mark? - well of course,  if a magic carpet could have whisked me to revisit that Fijian beach I'd definitely have been shouting "yes, yes, yes PLEASE!"

 Info:

I used one of our holiday photos, adding the wording using Paint Shop Pro before resizing and printing  

I created cutting files for the parasol and anchor using images from free colouring pages and cut them with the Sil-Cam 

The shells and starfish are cut from papers in the "By The Sea" 8x8 paper pad
(Graphic45).  Some of the shapes are raised on little pieces of chipboard

I've used Ice Stickles glitter glue to add highlights to some areas

Do you see the two lovely sailing ships anchored offshore?  One of them was the gorgeous "Spirit of the Pacific" tall ship we spent a few days sailing on.  We spent the nights at the beach, sleeping on mattresses on the ground in "bure" - straw huts.  There were a couple of open roofed showers and loos, and a "big bure" where food was taken and local people came to meet and entertain us.  One evening we all went across the hill to their village to meet them there.  It was a wonderful experience!

Mind you arriving at the rather nice hotel we were staying at for the next leg of our trip we did feel like a couple of scruffs in desperate need of a good hot shower!

Right, enough flights of fancy for one day!

Thank you so much for coming by, please leave a message, I'd love to hear from you - and please join in with the challenge, we'd love to see where your travels take you!

Dan's 16th

Today I'm sharing a card made for my nephew's 16th birthday.  I hadn't a clue what to use for the focus element or image this time, so I decided just to make  large numerals and use those as the main feature.

The June sketch from The Sketch File is great for stuff like this - its a simple, clean LO that lends itself to using the shape elements in lots of different ways - Brenda has been suing it brilliantly to add to her Christmas card pile, and I must remember this LO when I start making mine!

Boys seem to like the colour orange, so I teamed that with simple black and white dor my colour palette, and used a couple of embossing folders to give a bit of extra depth.
I SilCam-cut the large numerals 4 times in white, which I glued on top of each other, and once in black for the top layer.  I then added a thick coat of Glossy Accents and left them to dry overnight before adhering in place

Info:

White card blank

Bazzill card[ black, White and Orange

Embossing folders: Numerals - Cuttlebug, Brick Wall - Darice

To get the longer brick wall piece I ran through once, then moved the card along, matching the pattern before running through the ebosser a second time

Printed sentiment and name tab

Ribbon and square orange brads from my stash

Glossy Accents

This Sketch:

I used it more like this version, but mirrored!

That's the lot for today - I hope you like it and will feel inspired to try out the sketch for yourself, we'd love you to join in with us.
Thank you for looking

Who's Your Friend?

Hello
Thank you for visiting, it's lovely to see you ;)

Today is Friday, so it's a Daring Cardmaker Day - did you know that we have been setting challenges for10 years?  That means there's a lot of cardmaking inspiration to be found on our BLOG, the latest of which is today's challenge set by Nat:

"My challenge for you is all about the fluffy, furry, not-so-furry, feathered and even scaly creatures that share our lives and homes.

As always we look forward to seeing what you come up with - whether it's man's best friend or something very exotic!"

Well, Hubby and I don't have any pets.  As a kid growing up we had a couple of dogs, a budgie and from time to time a couple of goldfish would come home after visits to the fair! 
So what should I do for this dare?  I reckoned I could "adopt" a pet so I hunted through the cut-files for Craft Robo and Silhouette Cameo that I've made over the years and when I came across this cute rabbit, I decided he'd fit the bill perfectly

Info:

Background stencilled with aqua ink using "Mini Window Screen"

 (Crafter's Workshop)

I made a frame from a matching shade of Bazzill card using a couple of square dies from my favourite stacking set (Tonic)

The flowers and leaves are cut with various dies (Joanna Sheen Signature Dies, Spellbinders, Cheery Lynn)and also on the Sil-Cam

White Rabbit is  Sil-Cam cut, as is the Hoppy Birthday sentiment.

Tiny black gems for the rabbit's eyes, plus various pearls and dots for the flower centres 

It's the first time I've used this fab stencil, and I love it - it will be turning up a lot, I think! 

 
That's all for this time, thank you so much for visiting, I hope you'll take a minute to pop over to the Daring Cardmakers Blog to see what the rest of the team have made - and of course, we'd love it if you'd join in with us this week!

Have a great weekend

A Rose for Gez

Hello!

I'm back from a little holiday down in Kent and East Sussex.  We had a lovely time and definitely made good use of our English Heritage and National Trust membership cards this time!  It's an area we've passed through often, but rarely stopped in to explore for any length of time - and boy, is there lots to see and do - and despite our best efforts, there's still plenty left for another visit ;)

We also managed to catch up with some of our rellies while we were down there too which was really lovely.

Anyway, while I was away it was my lovely crafting friend Gez's birthday, so I had to get her card made and in the post nice and early.  I decided to use the second stencilled piece I made for a recent Daring Cardmakers challenge, and also tie it in with the current LO from The Sketch File

June "Blocks" Sketch

I swapped the large rectangular block for a gorgeous large rose, which I sat on a copper coloured fancy mat shape, a bit like one of the alternative LO suggestions

 

Info:

Smooth White card blank, 

Extra of same card for stencilled background

There's more info on the ink and copper foil background HERE

Aqua Bazzill card

Copper pearlised card (PDA Woodward) 

SU large Blossom punch for flower

Leaves from a Joanna Sheen Signature die

Fancy shape for matting the flower by Creative Dies (Craft Stash UK)

Banner shape is hadn-cut

Aqua pearls, Copper metal shapes (Imaginisce)

A couple of shades of Stickles Glitter Glue for highlights on the flower

It's absolutely ages since I made one of these roses, which is a shame as I do love making them and they (usually) turn out so well!  Mind you, they are quite "fat" and you do have to cross your fingers that they survive the postal system!

That's the lot for this time, thank you so much for coming by - I hope you'll leave a message

Sea Life

Hello
       hope your week is going well so far.
Today is the launch date for a new sketch on The Sketch File Blog, so I'm sharing my first card using the new LO.  It's a nice, simple LO consisting of different shaped and sized rectangles, though you're free to use other shapes instead, of course.

Here's my first  card using the "Blocks" sketch, and papers from an 8x8 Graphic45 paper pad

As well as the Graphic45 papers, there's a bit of Royal Blue card to add some contrast.

  I twisted a few strands of natural twine together to make it more rope-like and tied a large knot in it.  I was going to make it more of a sailor's knot, but I didn't make enough to do that.

The shell and starfish elements are cut from one of the papers and raised on chipboard scraps for dimension, and I added a few little pearls to look like.....pearls!.

Here is the basic sketch, which as you can see I rotated 90 degrees for my card

Hope you like the card, and the sketch too - it would be lovely if you'd try using it for your own crafting this month
Thanks for looking

June Elemental

Helloooo
    how has you week been?  The weather has been horrible on our side of the country - rainy, windy and so cold we had to turn the heating up again and go back to the thicker duvet. Not funny - especially as I keep reading about how lovely it is in more westerly parts of the UK.

Anyway, Sharon cheered me up a bit with her Daring Cardmakers challenge this week as it gave me

"...... as it's the first Friday in the month that can only mean one thing - our monthly elemental inspiration pic.

Please choose 3 elements from the pic as the inspiration for your card

 (suggestions: colour palette, ribbons, cactus, plant pots, geometric shapes, metallic tape, bricks, balloons....)"

For my card I went with the colour palette, the balloons, and the triangle mosaic pattern - I also included the brick style pattern used for the copper wall tiles to give a bit of texture in the white space at some corners

Info:

I made a stencilled background using Mini Kaleidoscope (Crafters Workshop) stencil and an aqua ink (Colourbox Cats Eyes), leaving a lot of the space white

Replacing the stencil I rubbed on PVA glue in some areas, and working quickly removed and cleaned the stencil then added some leafing foil in copper to the still-tacky areas.  

Once completely dried, I used a stiff paintbrush to remove any unwanted copper foil 

Having cut down the stencilled piece to the right size for the card blank, I used a brick pattern embossing folder (Darice) just on parts of the white space in the corners., then inked all around with various shades of aqua ink

The balloons are either die-cut, punched or hand-cut circles and ovals, inked with various shades, then some were given a layer of Glossy Accents (Ranger) and some left plain.  

I didn't have the right colour twine for the strings, so I inked that to match too

The sentiment is a tiny home-made decal sticker (Crafty Computer Paper), the white and copper card tags are hand-cut

I actually made two background pieces using the same techniques and materials just to make sure I got something I could work with once it was all dried.  Using these foils is a bit tricky and messy and I didn't want to have to get them out again because it went wrong!

Here's Sharon's wonderful Inspiration Picture - there's loads of stuff in there to choose your elements from, and you can see how the DT responded HERE

That's me done for this time, I hope you'll leave a message - it's always good to know you're not talking to yourself ;)
Thank s for visiting

Card, Box, or Both?

Hello, it's a lovely day here today - I wonder if it will stay that way for the whole w/e?  Surely not!  It's a Bank Holiday Weekend, after all!
 
It's Dawn's turn to set the challenge at The Daring Cardmakers this week, and this time its definitely more of a technique challenge as we've all been making box cards.
These are the cards that fold flat to go in an envelope but then pop out to make a 3D box, with flaps that flop down to show all the embellishments hidden inside.
I really enjoy making these, but tend to get a bit carried away!
This time I went with a nautical sort of theme and made this

 Info

There are loads of tutorials for the basic box-card structure on the 

web, like this one HERE

Once you know it works, it's pretty easy to make then to fit whatever envelope you want to use.  It may mean you need to use a couple of sheets of card and have more than one  tab to join the  pieces with, but really you can go mad and make them however you like.

Inside the box you need to add some spacer bars, which are simply strips of card cut and folded to fit inside.  These stabilise the box when it's standing open and are used to attach your embellishments to.

I took a photo looking into the box so you can see the "innards"

This is a big card when it's flat - it measures about 20cms square when folded flat. I used the envelope to work out how to cut 2 A4 sheets of card, making sure to add a couple of cms extra for the tabs

I used a selection of 12x12, 8x8 and 6x6 papers from Authentique and 

Graphic 45 for this project.  

Embellishing pieces;

Die-cut stickers from the paper sets;

(eg. anchor, ship, 'by the sea' on back piece)

Hand cut from some of the flat papers;

(eg. shells, 'By the Sea' banner, Lighthouse)

Own templates cut on Silhouette Cameo;

(eg. Windsurfer, beach ball)

Dies;

(2x yachts) 

Printed images

(eg. Ship's wheel, Dolphins, Lifebelt)

The team have made some wonderful cards this week - there are loads of ideas showing how versatile this style of card is.  Maybe you've seen them, but never made one - well, this week we give you the perfect excuse to have a go!

Thank you so much for popping by today, I hope you'll leave a message - I'll always make a return visit to your own blog as it's always fun and inspiring to see what other crafters make
All for now

 

Footie

Hello, Good to see the sun is making an appearance here now - it was avery dingy, damp start to the day though!

My card for The Sketch File this week is a football themed card, and I've been delving in to the big box of really old dies again to make it.

 Info:

The inked 'square' background is made using a couple of different green inks, and a torn paper mask

Die cut elements:
 Trophy - Sizzix
Football Strip and Football - Quickutz

White rectangular panel is embossed with footballs

(footballs embossing folder - not sure, might be Crafts Too)

The scarf is handcut

Sentiment is a homemade decal sticker

(Dry Decal Printer Paper - Crafty Computer Paper)

Here's the sketch

 I used the rotated version

I think this idea would work for various sports and hobby themed cards - although the sketch uses the same 3 items, we don't have to ;), it's all about creativity.


Anyway, I hope you like it, and also hope you are inspired enough to come and join in with us this time on The Sketch File

Thanks for looking, please leave a comment!

Rainbow Road

http://daringcardmakers.blogspot.co.uk/

Hello from a much brighter Hertfordshire today.  It's been a bit grey for a few days but the sun is shining this morning - maybe Lythan's challenge for The Daring Cardmakers worked some magic....

Paint the Rainbow

It's Lythan here this time, and its a bit dismal down here in Devon at the moment so this weeks dare is really brightening me up. I would like you to make a card featuring a rainbow or using rainbow colours - you don't have to use them all but they do need to be in the right order!

Check the blog [HERE] for some fantastic inspiration to get 
your imagination going

  Well, this one must really have fired up the imagination as several of us made a couple of cards to share rather than just the one - mind you, in my case it was more about trying to make something that worked as well on paper as it did in my head ...... and I'm not sure I succeeded in either case!

In my head this didn't look quite so"busy" and maybe I should have taken more note of Lythan's guideline that "...you don't have to use them all but they do need to be in the right order."

Or maybe I should have made the final "Enjoy" word stand out more - but its a bit too fine and fiddly to use multiple layers, or even dimensional glue

Info

Smooth white square card blank, plus extra of the saem card

(both PDA Woodward)

Zigzag panel is stencilled on separate piece of card using Versamagic inks

(Chevron stencil - Prima)

I inked up an extra sheet of card with blocks of the same colours for

 die-cutting 'Enjoy' word

(die 'Enjoy' - Creative Expressions)

The words were adhered in correct rainbow order onto the card blank and then a strip cut from the stencilled panel to fit the remaining space.  I used a border punch on this strip rather than leave it plain

(Broderie Anglaise border punch - EK Success) 

"your special day" is pc generated and the panel matted on black card

I thought I could do something with the remaining scraps of inked up pieces of card, and in my head saw a rainbow arc of butterflies.  My issue this time was making the arc look right - I didn't like any placement of the butterflies that I tried, so in the end abandoned the rigid arc design idea and just let them there butterflies do their own thing!

Info

White card as before

Embossed square for background and dimensional interest

(Embossing Folder - Petite Dots 6x6 - Crafters Companion)

Sentiment is pc generated then die-cut, red circle also die cut

(Nested Circles die set - Tonic)

Butterflies are the smallest size from the Butterfly Trio die; they are adhered only down the bodies so the wings can stand away from the card

(Butterfly Trio die - Memory Box)

The tiny hearts are the 'waste' saved from the first card

The tiny gems are iridescent and catch the light, shining in different colours 

(Gem Wheel - Anita's)

its definitely worth heading over to see all the cards this week - the blog looks so bright and cheerful and is stuffed full of lovely rainbow ideas

That's it for this time, thank you for visiting, it would be great if you'd leave a message, it's always lovely to read them

Stars

Hello from Sunny Hertfordshire!

My card for The Sketch File this week was made for the birthday of one of our nephews. and as I think it's often harder to make cards for the grown up nephews than it was when they were small (and it was hard enough then!) I chose to keep it simple with a stylish black, white and silver colour theme.

 Info:

The starry background is stencilled in black ink

(Starry stencil - Memory Box)

Die cut Black and Silver squares, with the silver one trimmed down slightly for a narrower border

(Nested Squares die set - Tonic)

White rectangular panel is embossed with stars

(Stars embossing folder - Cuttlebug)

Black and Silver stars are die cut, some are solid shapes, others "open", created by taping one die inside the other evenly before cutting

(Nested Stars die set - Die'Namics)

HAPPT letters, die cut 3 times in black and adhered on top of each other, then once in 

white for the top layer

(set of HAPPY letters in different fonts - Memory Box)

"Birthday" is pc generated; printed in black ink on white card

Here's the sketch

I like the way this one went together, and I think it may be popping up again soon!  I wonder how many times I can get away with it though?
Hope you like it, and also hope you are inspired enough to come and join in with us this time on The Sketch File

Today's London photos are of Tower Bridge and the Tower of London

My, it was such a busy day, the whole area was packed! 

We were lucky enough to be on the embankment when the bridge was opened to let a big ship through - unfortunately it was one of those ugly cruise ships rather than a pretty "tall" ship, but you can't have it all, and it was good to see it go as it had been hogging the view over the river as it was moored alongside HMS Belfast! Hubby took this photo, managing not only to get just a tiny glimpse of said ugly boat on the other side of the bridge, but also no hint of the number of excited people there were taking photos!

Finally a couple of evening shots - just so pretty!

Thanks for looking, please leave a comment!