Family Favourites

If you saw the "Tool Shed" programmes on Create and Craft this past weekend you might have seen some of the things I made using a couple of the Crafters Companion "Create a Card" dies.

These dies are just fab!  What they don't do is cut any sort of outline shape - instead they cut all the little shape details and a centre piece out of the card stock, then with a second pass through your machine they emboss more of the pattern.  This means that you can actually cut the pattern anywhere you like on a piece of card, with the only limitation being the size of card your machine will take.

For instance, if you have a machine that takes A4 card, you can put the design in the centre of an 8x8 card blank just be leaving the card blank open then carefully placing the die in the centre of  what will be the front of the card ( a few bits of washi tape will help to keep it in exactly the right place) and running through your machine.
Fold the card and it's ready to embellish - though if you like a clean and simple style, it won't take much of that  as the designs are so pretty and intricate already.

I wanted to try something a bit different with the dies, and as the centre apertures make the perfect frames I thought a zig-zag album might work.  I'm lucky enough to have quite a big collection of old family photos through some family history research I've done and I thought they would be perfect for using in this album

The book is constructed from folded and die cut pages which are overlapped and then inserts of coloured cards are slipped between the layers.  I assembled the book leaving the upper layers unglued so that I could just slip the photos in and then seal the edges. 
As the book folds out completely and there are photos on both sides, it is all kept together with a ribbon that is fixed on the back cover then tied at the front

 










 
I used Centura Pearl with a Hint of Silver card for the cover pieces and white Bazzill for the pages.  The coloured inserts behind the pages, and the extra coloured die cut "pages" are Coredinations card.

All the dies used are from Crafters Companion - I've used:

Create a Card Precious
Create a Card Extravagance
Chantilly lace Stamping Frame
Also from Crafters Companion: 

Centura Snow White with a Hint of Silver
Coredinations card in two shades of purple

Collal Glues

I wish I'd checked the photos before I sent this off - I'd have taken better photos - or got OH to do them for me ;)
I should probably have set up the bigger photo cube to do them in as the one I usually use is a bit small to show off the album and all the folds.  Hey ho, maybe one day I'll remake it for myself and learn from my mistakes........yes, I can hear you saying it....."that'll be the day"!

Thanks for popping by, I hope you like my album - please leave a message, it's always lovely to hear from you!

Create a Card - new from Crafters Companion

I've been playing with a couple of the brand new "Create a Card" dies from Crafters Companion Die'Sire range over the last few weeks.  They've just been added to the website and today at 12noon they'll be launching on Create and Craft TV    ( Sky 671 Freeview 3Virgin 748 Freesat 813 or watch on your pc http://www.createandcraft.tv/ShowGridView.aspx?showId=2433117)

Here's a quick peek and some of the things I've made with these great new dies.
They don't cut out an external line so you can use them in many different ways.

 Using the  "Create a Card" Extravagance die

 Using the  "Create a Card" Precious die

 

 

Do (craft) and Die (sets)!

Well - where did that week go then?
So much for creeping in and adding my card just a couple of days late for last week's Daring Cardmakers' Fairy Tales challenge - I finally uploaded it yesterday - I'll show that in a minute.  First though it's this week's rather exciting one.
Our lovely and incredibly talented Beckie Dreyer is also a designer for DoCrafts, and this week arranged for each of the DCM team to receive a nice package of  DoCrafts/Xcut goodies.  There were papers and die-cut sheets from the Gorjuss range, and various sets of shape and alphabet dies - so we have a wide range of DoCrafts products to show off on the Daring BLOG this week,

The challenge this week is a simple one;  

"Die-licious"

all you have to do is use die-cuts on your cards. - especially Xcut dies if you have them (but don't worry if you don't, just use your favourite dies instead)

Join in with us and you could win an Xcut alphabet die set....

I was thrilled to bits when my giant jiffy bag arrived to find a set of nesting circle dies - the biggest is a humongous 8" diameter!  I know that this die set is going to get a lot of use.  Also in the nag was a rather curvaceous alpbabet die called "Alice" and a sheet of Gorjuss girl die-cuts.
Here's my card

 I used the second largest circle folded in half to make the rocker base, then cut away the part I didn't need with another of the circle dies. 
Next I glued to pieces of card together, then taped 2 of the circles onto it (with washi tape to keep them in place) and cut to create the (red) frame section
The moon was made by cutting a circle from glitter card with a smaller of the dies then using the same die to take a "bite" from it

So I think I gave the cutting performance of these dies a good workout and I'm so pleased to say they did brilliantly well - coping with double thickness Bazzill and even a couple of different sorts of Glitter card - often the nemesis of many dies!
The "DREAM" letters were also cut  from glitter card and I was really impressed at how well the die cut all those fiddly curvy shapes - just once through the ebosser and they popped out nicely
The little girlie die-cut sheet has several pieces so you can build up your design decoupage style - the pieces I used all came out from the sheet really well, with no little teary-taggy bits to spoil the image. She's very sweet and she doesn't have a head shaped like a potato like some do.... ;)

Also used:

Chantilly Lace Doily Stamping Frame - Crafters Companion

2x flowers made using a Marianne die, plus 1 coiled rose

Leaf punch - Nellie Snellen

3x Star punches

Silver cord, Jewels, Bazzill card, Glitter card, Lokta paper for flowers

 Here is the die set you could win by joining in this week

Find out more and see all the fab cards the team have made using their DoCraft and X-cut goodies by clicking HERE

So now a revisit to last wee's challenge which was all about Fairy Tales

I based my card on the story "Ruplestiltskin"  I think I liked this story because at the end he screams "A witch must have told you" and stamps his foot so hard that it goes through the floor - at least it does in the pictures I remember from my Ladybird book!  I will admit to still stamping my size 3 every now and then.......

Papers are from Maja Designs

Die is cut down from a Spellbinders Labels

Spinning Wheel is my own template cut on the Silhouette Cameo

Aslo used: raffia (for the straw), Gold thread, Lace, Gold ribbon. Pink pearls

I'll be back over the weekend with some Crafters Companion projects - there are new dies launching on Create and Craft at the weekend........

Thanks for visiting

Textural

Last week was the TV launch of the latest goodies from Crafters Companion.  We'd been working with the fab new Embossalicious folders for a while, but a few weeks before the launch a new CD Rom and some new sets of the Semtimentals stamps were also added into the mix.

So there's a bit of a mix of projects that just use the new embossing folders and others that have the other new things included too.

There are a lot of things to share, but don't panic, I'm not putting them all on one post - if I spread them around they'll last longer won't they?!

Heart and Flowers card

 From Crafters Companion:

Embossalicious 6x6 Decorative Heart

Centura Pearl Hint of Silver

Other:

Vellum, Glamour Dust Glitter, Pearlescent Aqua card, Prima and other Flowers, Mulberry Roses, Pearl Spray, Mulberry Lilies, Aqua Dewdrops. Peach pearls,  Velvet ricrac, Butterfly punch

Comfort Jumper Card

 From Crafters Companion:

Embossalicious 8x8 KnitOne PurlOne

Embossalicious A4 Cable Knit (scarf)

Blue Coredinations card

Other: 

 Yellow and Red ink pads

“get well soon” is PC generated, “warm wishes” is cut using Craft Robo

Metallic Background, Flowers and Tag card

 From Crafters Companion:

Embossalicious A4 Cable Knit, Die'sire Spring Cd rom

Die’Sire Sentimental Stamps ~ Nature, Die'sire Quilling Sunflower large

Centura Pearl Hint of Silver, Coredinations card

Other:

Embossing coloured with metallic Gelatos

Quilled Sunflower cut from a baby wipe

Other flowers all from the cd rom, little tag covered with Glossy Accents

Brads, gems, thread, Glossy Accents

Vellum Rococo Card

 From Crafters Companion:

Embossalicious 6x6 Rococo Frame

Die'sire Spring Cd rom

Die’Sire Sentimental Stamps ~ Ornate

Die'sire Quilling Sunflowers large & Small

Coredinations card

Other:

Card layer and vellum layer both embossed

Flower petals embossed and inked before forming the flower

Pinky-red cord behind flower

Cable Knit Pillow Box 

 From Crafters Companion:

Cable Embossalicious A4 Cable Knit

Die’Sire Quilling Sunflower – Large

Die’Sire Quilling Stamen

Other:

Digi-printed patterned card, Pillow box shape cut out and lines scored before embossing

Flower centre made with beads dropped into Glossy Accents.  Embossing on box inked over while flat

That's all for this time, thanks for looking

Cable Knit Pillow Box

The latest new goodies from Crafters Companion are released this evening at 9pm on Ideal World.
The DT have been really busy using all the new embossing folders, papers, Stamping Frame dies and brand new additions to the Sentimentals stamp range, along with our old favourites the quilling dies.

For this pillow box I cut and scored the pillow box shape, then ran it through the ebosser using the A4 "Cable Knit" embossing folder to get an all-over embossed design.  I used a few shades of turquoise  and aqua inks over the raised design, then once the ink was dry I folded and adhered the box into shape.
The wrap is made from some of the gorgeous paper designs on the new CD,  As well as patterned papers there are absolutely loads of embellishments ready for you to cut out and use on your projects - the little coiled rose centre for my quilled flower is one of them.

Tools and Materials

All from Crafters Companion: Embossalicious A4 Cable Knit

Die'sire Spring Cd rom (papers and embellishments)

Centura Pearl Hint of Silver

Die'sireQuilling die - Rose, large

Here's the info for this evening's TV launch

I know it's shocking to blog two days in a row, but I'll be back tomorrow with my card for The Sketch File - there'll be a sneak peek of that later today on The Sketch File blog though....

Thanks for visiting

CHA Sneak Peeks 2

 Two more sneak peek at the new A4 embossing folder designs from Teresa Collins which will be released at the CHA exhibition in the USA.  
It's all very exciting to be part of - even if it is only the minutest, teeniest weeniest bit imaginable!

Cabbage Rose

This Cabbage Rose folder has such a glorious, bold design that keeping it all very simple seemed the best way to go.  I used Faded Lipstick (I think) Distress Ink, applied directly to the upper side of the embossing folder.  I quite like the uneven shading you get this way because of the "watered silk fabric" look you get. Peeking in at the corner of the photo you can see a rose made with Crafter's Companion's Die'sire Quilling Rose  (Small) 

Dotted Chevrons
Another flower in the corner of the next sample, this time it's the Die'sire Quilling Lace Flower.
The embossing folder is another gorgeous chevron design (see yesterday's post for the Twill Herringbone chevrons), this one is called Dotted Chevrons and is also by Teresa Collins, and I've embossed some  lovely Centura White with a Hint of Silver card

 

Teresa Collins: Dotted Chevrons
Stamp: Die’Sire Sentimentals: Memories are Made
Dies: Die'sire Quilling Lace Flower, Cameo Stamping Frame and Circle Doilies

 All these products from Crafter's Companion 

Just a reminder that you can join Crafter's Companion's very own Leann Chivers live from CHA on Create and Craft TV at 4pm (GMT) on Saturday 11th January to see some fab new products, including the Teresa Collins Designs Collection of eBosser A4 folders I've shown a couple of here.  

Hope you like today's sneak peeks!

Christmas Round Up and a First CHA Sneak peek!

Happy new Year!
Okay, that's a teensy bit late, but sometimes it takes a while to get back into the blogging routine, doesn't it?
("What blogging routine?" I hear you say....)
So before I get on to the exciting Sneak Peek things for CHA here's a quick Round up of some Christmas photos as I've very much neglected my poor old blog over the last few weeks - and not in a small way due to the said CHA things!
Please click on the photos  for larger images

 

We went for a Purple red and Gold theme for our tree and parcel wrapping and I loved the way it worked:

This is the card I made for Hubby - all the while I was making other things I was wanting an excuse  to make these paper baubles!

And just one last photo of Christmas makes - because I forgot to take photos of all the other boxes and gift card wallets etc that I made. oops!
Here are some shallow gift boxes made using the WRMK Envelope Punch Board.  They were a bit of a pain until I found a tutorial even this dumb blonde could make sense of!  Definitely need more practise with this little gadget though.

Okay, so on to the exciting stuff!  Over in the USA it's the time of the year when all the crafting folks get very worked up and excited because its CHA show-time.  This is the exhibition where all the Craft companies show off all their new goodies and announce to the world what they think the trends will be for the coming year.  Eventually it all filters through and we get to buy all those new tools, paper and pretties for ourselves - usually this filtering process takes quite a while - especially for the stuff to arrive in the UK shops....but this time I've been a little bit luckier and thanks to Crafter's Companion I've already had the chance to use some of the Teresa Collins Embossing folders that will be released in the next few days.  We've just been "given the nod" that we can blog some Sneak Peeks" of the things we made with the brand new A4 folders, so here are my first two sneak peeks

First up - and my favourite of the  things I made, this one uses the About Time embossing folder.  I embossed patterned paper, then swept black ink over the embossing to highlight the clocks design. I embossed some cream card and chose one of the larger clock faces to shade with lots of Distress Inks and some Versamagic Gold ink, then again used black to highlight the embossing before cutting it out.. 

 The second sneakie for today is a wall hanging using the gorgeous Twill Herringbone embossing folder.  I created the rainbow stripes using paint Shop Pro and printed it onto Centura Pearl "Hint of Silver" - I used the same card for the embossing and I love how crisply the embossing design works on this gorgeous card.

Sentiments on both of these are from the Crafter's Companion "Memories are made" stamp set.
Now then, that's about it for this time - but you may be interested to know that you can join Crafter's Companion's very own Leann Chivers live from CHA on Create and Craft TV at 4pm (GMT) on Saturday 11th January to see some fab new products, including the Teresa Collins Designs Collection of eBosser A4 folders I've shown a couple of here.  

That's it - well done if you got right to the end ;)  
Back soon with more Sneak peeks
Thanks for looking

 

Cherrylicious

 One of the cards I made with the latest batch of gorgeous Crafters Companion embossing folders has been shown on their FaceBook page today, so I thought I'd blog it here too.

I'm really lucky to be a member of the Die'sire Design Team for Crafters Companion - as I get to play with lots of lovely dies, embossing folders and other goodies from Crafters Companion and their other manufacturers and suppliers
I've made this card using the Embossalicious 6x6 folder "Cherrylicious"

Info:

Centura Pearl card was embossed with Embossalicious 6x6 folder "Cherrylicious"

I then inked the folder with red ink and embossed some plain white card and vut this panel down to fit over the same patterned area on the larger image.

Both panels were matted onto red card

Sentiment was pc generated

Wide ribbon with silver sparkly bits, Red satin ribbon

Tools:

Embossalicious 6x6 folder "Cherrylicious" from Crafters Companion

Circle punch for sentiment

Red circle cut with Craft Robo

If you are on FB it would be great if you could pop over to the Crafters Companion page and leave a message ;)

Thanks for visiting