New toys, part 2

I wrote last Friday about the new Zig Clear Colour Brush Markers I got recently - here's some tips about them.

Before I began, I looked at the whole raft of 48 Markers sitting in their box and wondered how to identify the colours. They're stored with the brush and almost clear cap upwards and the plastic colour 'guide' is on the other end. Useful and quite an accurate colour match, but I didn't want to have to tip all the pens out in search of particular colours.

This is my solution, quite similar to how I also marked my Pro Markers, except that I could use little round ready made sticky dots with the alcohol inks, the Zigs were too wet and meant that the 'sticky' was lost.

First of all I wanted a colour swatch - I split mine up onto two 4.25" x 5.5" pieces of TH Distress Watercolour cardstock so they'll slot into the Zig box:

Here they are, side by side. 'Scuse dreadful writing, I had a plastered up finger at the time. Hint, I was wise enough to write in pencil, and did have to rub out a couple of mistakes along the way. I kept the markers in the same 'running order as they're stored in the box' BTW. One other tip I'd offer is to leave a few spare slots as I have - for example, Loll says that the red marker blends out to a pinkish colour, so I'll likely be looking for the dark red marker at some point.

One thing you will surely spot is the load of browns and greys in the set - too many I suspect. But, it seems to often be the way that sets of markers are sort of 'padded out' and the 48 marker set did work out at great value against buying the markers separately!

At the same time as I was colouring the swatch, I also did this:

Scribbled little squares of colour, which you can see on the right. Then, using a normal office filing single hole punch I punched each colour out and popped the coloured dot on top of each pen using glue (I used Collall All Purpose glue and it worked fine, my other option would have been Glossy Accents or similar - no doubt you have your own favourites).

And this was the result - half way through, and I just plodded on and did one row at a time:

I'm sure others will already have thought of this solution but thought it worth sharing anyhow :)

So far, so great with the markers! And I now wonder what took me so long to get them of course.

Cuttlebug Mania Challenge - 'Monochrome'

Time for another fortnightly challenge over at Cuttlebug Mania - and this time the theme is 'Monochrome'. Having discussed this, it isn't just shades of black/white/grey - it can be colours with a little bit of white/black if you wish. I went for the colours option - any excuse to use some pink snippets :)

You do have to use a manual die cutting/embossing machine for Cuttlebug Mania entries (it doesn't need to be a Cuttlebug but it must be manual, not electronic). And, you can't mix the two, it must be all manual please. Then make your entry, link into the challenge, link to the challenge in your own blog post and and make sure that you also say what products you used for any die cutting/embossing.

Our sponsor is Crafty Sentiments Designs (more details about the prize over on the Cuttlebug Challenge blog) and this is the card I made:

I used:

- 4.75" x 4.75" square white card blank

- snippets of pink card for the 'quilting'

- first I cut the outline piece from pearlescent pink card using the MFT 'Quilt Square Cover-up' die and backed it with double sided adhesive sheet, leaving the backing on but each of the patchwork slots then had a nice sticky surface just waiting for the patchwork pieces

- die cut a further three pieces of pink card in different shades and popped the pieces in place where I wanted them to go

- peeled off the backing behind the completed patchwork to reveal the self adhesive sticky sheet and mounted that onto a piece of pink card, which I then trimmed down to size

- wrapped some natural twine around the patchwork panel  and stuck it onto the card front

- stamped the word 'Hi!' using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink and a stamp from the Stampendous 'Happy Messages' set 

- die cut the sentiment using an X-cut 'mini die - gift tag die and left the tag in the die while I outlined it with little faux stitches using a Stabilo Fine Liner

- hot glued the label in place

- slotted a piece of doubled natural twine through a pink button and tied a bow

- hot glued the button onto the label

I think the secret of working with this die is to use the adhesive sheet as I did and also to try to keep the patchwork pieces together within the die cut shapes to be sure to pick the right ones for the framework you already cut - some of the pieces do vary!

The photo (OCD strikes again) has slightly picked up the white inner core of the patchwork frame, making it look a bit as if there are gaps - in fact the pieces fit really snuggly, sigh :( One to remember here in future, use card stock without a white core!

I got the design idea from this blog, by Barbara Anders. She's on the MFT DT and has some wonderful cards to see - looks as if the card I CASE'd has had its image deleted from her blog though. Thankfully it was still on the MFT site and it's still worth hopping over to see her work!

Why not make a snippets entry using some of those monochrome snippets you must have lurking - making sure you do some manual machine embossing/die cutting of course - then you can enter both at the same time :)

Di
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It's a puzzle

Ever since I bought the Woodware 'Jigsaw Piece' punch I've had my eye on a few jigsaw dies. Last week I had the time, inclination and well-being (yippee!) to spend time in a branch of 'The Range', which opened at the end of last year, not too many miles from us. Ha, I just checked exactly what date they opened and 'shoo nuff' it was mid-November when I was just a tad laid up :)

I spent quite a while wandering round their craft section needless to say and my eye fell upon this die by DoCrafts called 'Jigsaw Pieces'. BTW, I don't keep the packaging when I buy dies, they're all stored in A4 ring binders on magnetic sheets within strong (side opening) plastic file pouches - and are recorded on white card sheets in the front of each binder:

Anyhow, I replaced my eye from where it had fallen on the die (as you do) and quickly grabbed it as it was all on its lonesome and needed a good home.

I can see loads of uses for this die, I was itching to use it so my card isn't overly exciting - but one thing I subsequently thought could be fun for kiddies would be to use a main image on the front of their card and then included a repeat image inside the card, die cut into the nine piece jigsaw, perhaps with the pieces popped into a little cellophane bag, for them to assemble following the front of the card as a guide?

Anyhow, here's my first play:

I used:

- 5" x 5" square white card blank, tent style

- piece of white card stock which I embossed using Cuttlebug's 'Swiss Dots' folder. The folder isn't quite as wide as I wanted so it was a case of moving it across, running through again and then using a ball ended tool to 're-emboss' where some of the dots had been flattened, groan. Then trimmed it to size and glued onto the card itself

- in my box of Kanban goodies I found a square birdie image with a frame just a teensy weensy bit smaller than the outer edges of the die. Without separating image and frame, backed them with double sided adhesive sheet (the medium strength stuff) and coloured three of the flowers using Whispers markers

- time to play with the new die (DoCrafts 'Jigsaw Pieces, which is approx. 4" square) - just taped in place on the adhesive sheet backed image with low tack tape and run through the Cuttlebug

- had a snippet of black card handy as I wanted that to show up the jigsaw cuts a bit and assembled the pieces which were backed with sticky adhesive from my earlier trickery - one at a time onto it, leaving just a little gap between each one

- trimmed the edges of the black card away and then mounted it onto a piece of SU 'Real Red' card as a frame

- popped it onto the card front using thin sticky pads - job done!

Whilst typing this I thought of another way you could include a little jigsaw in a kiddie's card, just cut each piece in a different colour for the card front and also for your little puzzle to include in the card. Good for kids colour recognition and a great way to use up snippets too :)

It's been a windy old day here today/yesterday (Monday) - I'm sure I spotted a neighbour chasing his shed roof down the road and the whole house here has been whistling, creaking and groaning - despite all the insulation, well sealed windows and such. I absolutely hate wind, and I don't mean that sort - the gales and gusts are so unforgiving!

So, it's up to Sarn as to whether the newly formed tradition of the Playground Pancake Day Race goes ahead or not. I hope it does - Parsnip is poised with his huge plate, and a spoon and fork, at the ready :) I'm standing by with the First Aid kit and a fire extinguisher!


Di
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'Congrats' shaker card

After more years than I care to remember, finally bit the bullet and had another try at making a shaker card. My one and only try previously was a disaster but I was driven by all the lovely shaker cards on so many blogs right now - as well as a free gift with Simply Cards & Papercraft magazine, issue 145 :)

If you want the die, back copies of the magazine can be found on line if you just Google the name and issue number of the magazine.

Followed the magazine instructions pretty closely, added in a couple of tips along the way - and this was the end result. It's pretty simple and will be fine for either a Wedding or Wedding Anniversary I should think. It's an optical illusion if you think the champagne flutes are standing on top of the background paper - they're die cut into it - amazing what a bit of shadow can do:

I used:

- 5.75" x 5.75" square white card blank

- a piece of white card, topped with a sheet of patterned paper from the Wild Rose Studio 'Wedding Bells' paper pack. The swirly patterned paper just had a few darker swirls and a couple of doves in one corner - perfect for what I wanted!

- then used a full covering of standard grade double sided self-adhesive sheet to fix the paper to the card before doing a small amount of trimming to just slightly smaller than the card front

- next die cut the two champagne flutes into the patterned paper/card - using the free die (it's a single flute BTW) from issue 145 of Simply Cards & Papercraft

- flipped the die cut sheet over,  added a piece of acetate across the die cut area using strong red line tape and swiped it over with an anti-static embossing pad 

- added a couple of little silver sparkly snippets of card behind the acetate on the stems/bases of the champagne flutes

- then it was time to face my nemesis - the dreaded foam tape. My one and only previous attempt all those years ago had ended up with the sequins sticking round the edges of the shaker aperture - such a disappointment :( But this time I had a plan!

- I crept up on a new roll of Stick-It 10mm wide foam tape (1mm thick) when it wasn't looking and patted just a little bit of talcum powder on either side of the roll to take away the stickiness along the edges yet still leave the 'body' of the tape nice and sticky

- snipped a length of the sticky foam tape and then cut it down the centre. In truth, the foam tape is fairly narrow to begin with but I knew that I would be working quite close to the top edge of the card and wanted to be sure to leave space for more tape later on in the process

 - then for each glass I removed the backing strip which meant I had two sticky sides to the foam tape and then added it right around the bowl and across the top of the champagne flute making sure that the lightly but now non-sticky talc coated edge faced into the die cut aperture where the sequins would be going

- sprinkled a few iridescent sequins into the flutes and then covered each of them with a snippet of white card

- added the whole panel to the card front using more foam tape and this time I left the backing strip in place as I added the foam tape to the edges of the 'shaker panel'

- die cut the word 'Congrats' (using a die from the Penny Black 'Hooray' set) from a snippet of the silver sparkly card which had been backed with Stick-It adhesive sheet and popped it in place on the bottom right hand side corner

- final touch was to add a little scattering of iridescent sequins around and between the champagne flutes, using Glossy Accents and a cocktail stick

One very happy bunny here - it worked!

Here are the little hints and tips I'd picked up about making shaker cards:

- swiping an anti-static bag across the inside of the acetate layer (which will have the sequins up against it) helps to ensure that your shaker 'bits' move more freely

- a few places offered the tip of using a little touch of talc on a cotton bud around the edge of foam tape once it's been fixed in place to stop the sequins from sticking to the sides. I went one step further and gently rubbed a very fine whisper of talc right across both sides of a new roll of foam tape. I'm sure it's quicker in the long run with less chance of talc smears on the acetate. I then popped the roll of tape into a card packaging cellophane bag before storing it in with my other tapes and glues etc. - I used baby powder so it smells of bath time in the nursery!

- and my final tip is one I stumbled across when looking at on line videos on the subject of making shaker cards. I wonder how many folk struggle with curves, circles etc. when fixing foam tape in place? And it's all down to the rigidity of that backing strip which protects the foam tape! If you remove it before sticking the foam tape down you can shape the tape so easily - what a simple tip! Of course you have to work quite carefully with it as you will get sticky fingers - but, as the seasoned crafter who was singing the praises of this tip said, 'why didn't I think of that one before now?!'.

BTW, I only just got away with using the 1mm thickness foam tape and the slightly cupped sequins. Would need thicker tape or two layers if adding seed beads into the mix :)

Di
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Cuteness overload

The current challenge over at Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge is 'Cute' or 'Anything goes' and I'm also entering into Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra for January - where it's always 'Anything goes'. 

I wanted to use some new stamps and matching dies, Taylored Expressions 'Critters on Ice', brought by Santa. I ended up stamping, colouring and die cutting the images one day and then made them into 11 cards the following day. For a couple of days the craft room seemed to be over run with sweet little skating 'Critters'. These are some of the results, I made two of each of these ones:

I'll save the others for another day, and I confess that the idea of the critters doing their 'balancing act' is freely available on most websites that show the stamps and dies for sale.

I used:

- 4" x 6" white card blanks, two are side opening and two are tent style

- white card stock, embossed using the brilliant Stampin' Up embossing folder 'Softly Falling', recently sent to me as a gift by a lovely blogging friend. What's great about the folder, on top of the graduated density of the falling snow,  is that it's perfect for 6" square cards too!

- layered the embossed white card onto the card fronts then had a play around with the elements I wanted to use

- first I die cut trees from Centura Pearl card stock (backed some with 'Stick-It' adhesive sheet) using the Memory Box 'Arboscello Tree' die. Then I was quite ruthless and chopped all the leaves and some branches off to reduce the tree to a Winter skeleton.That tree die owes me absolutely nothing, it's so versatile and just owning that one die covers a lot of options for trees on cards throughout the year

- next I added the trees to the card fronts and popped a little 'pond' over the very bottom of the trunk. The pond was just cut free hand from a snippet of white card which had been covered with clear iridescent sparkly film

- next I stamped the sentiments using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink and a stamp from the set. Die cut them using a Lil' Inkers 'Stitched Rectangles' die and fixed them onto the cards using thin sticky pads

- and the fun part was making up the little stack of 'critters' added using thin sticky pads

- more below about the die cutting. The critters were coloured using Pro markers and  Letraset Ultra fine nibs with a tickle of clear Wink of Stella on the ice skates and the penguins' hats 

Making 11 cards in total has put me a bit ahead in the Christmas card making target of 12 per month, doing a happy dance/hop here :)

Warning, picture heavy bit coming now with a 'how-to' - just in case any of you are pondering using some of the stamps with matching dies that are so 'in' right now. I don't always buy the dies to match but sometimes you can see that particular stamps really would be tricky to trim round - and that's why I bought the dies for these little stamps. Doing the actual die cutting varies hugely, depending on how the dies line up. Some, such as the Tim Holtz 'Bird Crazy' ones line up right to the very edge of the stamped image and are easy to place ready for die cutting - with the help of removable sticky tape. Some dies are made 'solid' rather than just the frame, and those can be really tricky to accurately place over an image. Others, such as these ones, leave a white border around the image. For a long time I resisted the 'white border' idea as it just didn't look right to me - I guess over time I've seen so many used by other bloggers that I've come to accept them. Even though they're 'frame' dies, it's still a bit 'hit and miss' lining up the dies onto the stamped images - well, it is for me!

This is a tried and tested way to die cut any images - be they solid dies, cut right to the edge of the image dies and even those that come with the fancy little circular tags on that supposedly help you to place the dies (Whimsy stamps used to do those and I still could never line them up properly). I'm sure there are lots of demos on You Tube etc. but I took some photos as I was die cutting using what I call the pretty much infallible 'template method' to show how it's done.

First of all, stamp and colour your image(s) and set them aside. Then find some scrap card to make the template(s) and cut your die(s). I like to use coloured snippets as the difference between the template and the white card border around the image shows up best. I cut one template for each die in the set - and labeled them to keep in the die packet with the dies for another time:

Next you place the template over the image you want to die cut, make absolutely sure it's positioned correctly/evenly all around the outline and secure it in place using removable sticky tape. Then you use the corresponding die and sit that into the slot - just wiggle it a little bit and you'll soon know when it's sitting snuggly in place. Hold it there with another piece of removable sticky tape and then run through your die cutting machine using your normal sandwich.

Carefully remove the sticky tape die and template from the image - and you will be left with this:

Of course, it's much more productive, if a little tedious, to have a stamping, colouring and die cutting session where you end up with more than just the one finished image ...................... and this is what I meant by the place being over run with little 'Critters on Ice' :)

But, the following day, every single one was used - more examples of the results will follow, once they stop skating round the desk here!

Edit: Many thanks to Loll for pointing out that the current challenge over at Simon Says Stamp is 'Create With Critters' - so I'm entering over there as well. 

Di

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Football fan's card

Phew, this is a last of a little run of male cards I'm pleased to say - I always struggle and am much happier making pretty things :)

This card was for a little neighbour's 7th Birthday, yesterday. He's mad about football (aka soccer elsewhere) and follows his Daddy in being an Arsenal supporter:

I used:

- 7" x 5" white card blank, tent style

- slightly smaller black border panel

- made the football by using SU's 'Honeycomb' embossing folder and white card as well as some black card. Snipped a few hexagons from the embossed black card and added them onto the white embossed card before running it through the Cuttlebug with a circular die (one from the Tonic Studio's set I keep banging on about)

- then I cut a couple of strips of Kanban 'Green Grass' patterned card and snipped the top edges to look a bit like blades of grass

- cut a panel of Kanban's 'Blue Sky' patterned card just a bit smaller than the black panel

- stuck one layer of the grass strip about 1" from the bottom of the sky panel, added the football and then added the other grass strip over the bottom part of the football so it went right to the bottom of the sky panel. I know, I possibly wasted some sky precious patterned card but it made the whole thing much more robust

- as usual, I'd left a bit of an overhang when adding the grass strips so trimmed each layer as I went, back to the edge of the sky backing card

- next added the black panel behind the sky, grass and football panel then stuck it onto the card blank front

- all that was left was to add the wording using peel off stickers for ease - some are silver ones coloured with a yellow Peel Off marker pen

- almost came unstuck next, I wanted to add Arsenal's current badge/logo. Found and resized an image and then the printer kept screaming it had a paper jam when I was doing a test print. Called the in-house support team who was also stumped, poking here there and everywhere in the printer with no sign of a paper jam. And, for some reason as we were giving up and ready to try it on another printer I just idly lifted the entire printer up to peek underneath - and there was the jammed piece of paper. Just think, if we'd given up and ordered a new printer - the asses ears would have been waving high here when we discovered the jam as the printer was moved to make way for a new one! Moral of the story? Leave no stone (or printer) unturned :)

- having resolved the printer issue (and having had help from in-house support team to bring the logo to a more true red as by this time I was almost running round the walls here), printed it on matt photo card and trimmed round the shield. That left the white cut edges of the card which I just ran a gold calligraphy pen round before adding said shield to the card with a thin sticky pad - phew

Making that last bit took longer than the rest of the card! And I did giggle - when he first saw the card almost finished Len remarked 'Like it. You're really on the ball kiddo with that one'. Then there was silence before we both cackled at the unintentional pun! Nut case.................who also sends his huge thanks for all your lovely Birthday wishes the other week!

By the way, I did spot this idea for the ball in a few places on line. Another use for that SU embossing folder!

Di
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Origami Christmas Trees

I spotted Carol L's origami Christmas tree card in the Playground recently and just had to have a try for myself - it wasn't until I'd made up six trees that I realised how similar the papers I used are to Carol's as I was looking at a tutorial using totally different papers! Anyhow, this is my version and I know hope that Carol won't mind:

I used:

- 3.75" x 3.75" square white card blank

- backing card by 'unknown', but very similar to Kanban and I got enough to cover the front of six card blanks from one A4 sheet

- paper from the Raspberry Road 'Christmas Collection' paper pad, free with QCME magazine three years ago

- then I followed THIS tutorial, making a mistake along the way - sigh. I cut the largest squares wrongly along one side (yes, I was making six cards the same at once!) and as a result had to scale down each square to one quarter inch smaller all round than the tutorial says. It still worked but what a dumb thing to do!

- after doing all the folding I assembled the trees onto strips of narrow paper which had a length of red tape liner down them - that made it easier to hold things in place. Then I finished off the bottom ends with slightly wider strips of paper to match the tree as little 'trunks' and tucked the top strips up into the bottom layer

- at this point I felt the trees were too 'bouncy' and although it wasn't clear in the tutorial I then carefully added little strips of red liner tape to hold the very back of each tree to the layer in front. That made them more robust yet still left the dimension of the folded down points sitting there free

- next I added the gold star peel offs to the top centre of each card - much easier to do it that way round as it then gives you a centred point underneath which to place the Christmas tree

- took the risk and added three strips of red line tape to the back of each tree - it's unforgiving if you get it wrong but it was the surest way to fix the trees in place - and it worked fine, thanks to that centrally placed star

- had already measured and trimmed the trunks down to size before sticking the trees in place so it was just a case of adding the sentiment banners - bought from Lakeland Limited back in the Dark Ages

Little word of warning though, they will only go through my letter postal gauge with more encouragement than our postal service allows, so it's either large letter postage or making sure they're for hand delivery only.

And another six cards went into the box! Am almost at my target now so am able possibly to spend more time on family cards than usual - we'll see!

Edit: this was written a few days ago, since then I feel like I've had a foot run over by a steam roller and am spending a lot of time lying with said foot in the air :) 

Less than a handful of you know what's going on, for those who don't, it started with a big toe pain a week ago and built up to a full-orchestra crescendo over the weekend. And it wasn't just the piccolos gently playing - it was the big bass drum in full blast!

Current theory is that it's gout (not just reserved for old men then!) and absolutely agonising. On a scale of 1-10 it's a 10+ for sure. And that's from a gal who's had umpteen pretty awful injuries over the years. Have been whipped off some statins pills that I always thought were rather suspect when I reluctantly started them three months ago - and am now hoping for relief - ASAP please!!! 

So, this is a plea to please be patient about your lovely prizes if you won this weekend just gone - right now I can't walk let alone put a shoe on to drive the car! Am padding around when absolutely necessary on crutches with bare feet but will do my best just as soon as am more mobile.

Also, it's a heads up that am not sure how I'll handle the Snippets Playground right now. I have a cosy nook on one of the sofas with cushions under knees etc. and my foot in the air plus a baby laptop to keep in touch - problem is that I can't sit at the main desk for very long at all, crafting is very much out of the window - plus the little laptop is quite slow. So, if my commenting is erotic erratic right now - that's the reason.

 Err, also, I keep falling asleep due to the strong painkillers ................. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Di
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Penny Black and More October challenge - Warm Autumn colours

The current challenge over at Penny Black and More is  'Warm Autumn colours'. Such a lovely theme and this is my entry:

I used:

- A6 cream card blank

- a dark brown mat, cut from a snippet of course

- backing paper from the My Mind's Eye paper pad called 'Sunshine'

- Penny Black stickeroos from the 'April in Paris' sheet - I think it should be Autumn in Paris as the colours are so rich and Autumnal on all the stickeroos. Little tip, I stuck the whole strip across the patterned paper and then trimmed it in situ, from the back with scissors - simple but useful idea, at one time I'd have tried to cut it to size first (you live and learn)

- wrapped a couple of snippets of aubergine wide organza ribbon and narrower satin ribbon down the left hand side of the patterned paper before sticking it to the dark brown mat

- then adhered it to the card front before tying a couple of snippets of the same ribbon into a knot. Another little tip, I always tuck a little piece of  red line tape underneath the knot or bow to stop it from moving about

A quick card but I do love the 'depth' in those stickeroos! No sentiment, this is just a card for general use.

Di
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Cuttlebug Mania Challenge - Anything Goes

Hi folks! The Cuttlebug Mania Challenge is back after our Summer break, with a nice and easy theme to settle you back in - 'Anything Goes'.

All you have to do is to use a manual die cutting/embossing machine (it doesn't need to be a Cuttlebug but it must be manual). Then make your entry, link into the challenge, link to the challenge in your own blog post and and make sure that you also say what products you used for any die cutting/embossing. We're a nosey lot and do like to know just what you've used :)

The sponsor for this challenge is Craftie Charlie:

Here's my offering:

I used:

- 7" x 5" white card blank, tent style

- a layer of SU's 'So Saffron' card stock, embossed across the centre using a Quickutz folder called 'Flowers' - one of the very first ones I ever bought

- then I topped and tailed the panel with snippets of SU's 'Wisteria Wonder' topped with snippet strips of Pink Petticoat 'Wild Blossoms' paper. Using the folder cross ways was a good way to leave some nice flat space at the top and bottom ready to cover with the patterned panels

- the images are all from Stephanie Barnard's The Stamps of Life set called 'Cookie', and I stamped them using Memento 'Gray Flannel' ink

- coloured the images using Faber Castell Polychromos pencils and Sansodor blending solution - the wee doggie is based on Stephanie's own little Maltese dog named Cookie, but it's also very much like a Bichon Frise with a 'puppy cut' :) I deepened his nost and eyes using a black fine line marker and the stamp image actually has a darling bow on its head - which I covered with the party hat this time round

- next I die cut Cookie and the party hat using dies from the matching set - for some reason you don't get a die to cut out the parcel, but in fairness it's less intricate and was easy to fussy cut

- the sentiment, which is also included in the stamp set, was die cut using a die from the XCut 'Speech Bubbles' set 

- the die cut elements were then all popped onto the embossed panel using thin sticky pads. So that the hat lies level I used sticky pads for the top part but used narrow red line sticky tape along the bottom edge where it overlapped Cookie's head

- final touch, added some clear Wink of Stella to parts of the hat and also the bow/ribbon on the parcel 

Here's a little tip you might already know about - to do with die cutting stamped images using the matching dies. There are more and more of these sets about right now, I dithered for ages before buying this particular set due to the white margins - but am so glad I did 'cos Cookie was whimpering to be bought!).

Let's say you've stamped and coloured your image, and now you want to line up the matching die properly. This is how I do it:

I took all four dies from the set and cut a card template from each one (used snippets of course!) then discarded the inner part and kept the outer part. I only did all four shapes to save time in the future.

Here you can see that I've got the hat template on the right, awaiting it's turn to be used. On the left is the doggie template, positioned as I want it over the stamped image (see the darling little bow on Cookie's head that I mentioned earlier?) and held in place with Scotch clear removable tape.

Next, I slotted the actual die into the 'slot' of the template - and also taped it in place. If you wiggle the die into place it will let you know when it's positioned properly :) Then you just die cut as normal, both the image, the template and the die will run through your machine fine.

I kept all four templates and just popped them into the packet with the dies - which are also stored along with the stamp set. Normally I store dies on magnetic sheets but find it's best to keep matching dies and stamps together.

And my Scotch tape does look a bit grubby - that's because I'm a bit mean and re-use the pieces until they're past their sell-by date :) A good place to store them is either partially and lightly stuck to a plastic filing tray as I do - or even on the handle or side of your die cutting machine. 

So that's my DT card for this fortnight's Cuttlebug Mania challenge - it would be lovely if you come and play, it's also an ideal opportunity to combine your entry with a Snippets Playground entry - two for the price of one! I do spot quite a few Playmates now joining in with Cuttlebug Mania :)

Di
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Less is More Challenge - 'Snippets'

I've been sitting on a BIG secret for weeks here, first of all, it's a very special Birthday for Chrissie over at 'Less is More'. 'Happy Birthday' Chrissie!!

The next part of the secret is that this coming week's theme for the LIM challenge is 'Snippets' - and Sarah kindly asked me to be their Guest Designer!! Wahoo, and then panic set in of course. Much running round the walls and chewing of nails here. And that was Parsnip little white fluffy bear, forget about me!!

We all know that it's not always that easy to make a snippets card whilst keeping the card clean, crisp and having plenty of 'white' space - but it is 'doable' I promise:

I used:

- 5" x 7" white card blank

- then I stamped the sentiment using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink and a stamp from the 'Good Friends' set by Hero Arts - I do usually stamp sentiments first, purely to save spoiling a finished card which could have taken ages, with a smudge or whatever :) And it IS straight I promise!

- next I masked off a panel across the card using Scotch removable tape, plus some Post-its for good measure, before adding clouds using a duster brush, Tim Holtz 'Tumbled Glass' ink pad and an A6 stencil by Dutch Doobadoo called 'Clouds'. It's fine to use this stencil on bigger cards, just remember not to go right up to the side edges before moving it across a bit

- then came the snippets fun :) I first of all die cut the balloon from a snippet of black card using a fabulous Joanna Sheen Signature die called 'Hot Air Balloon'. I'd backed the black card with 'Stick-It' adhesive film which did make the whole process much easier. I then stuck the balloon onto the cloud panel - my measuring had worked a treat as I wanted the gondola itself to be against the white background rather than the sky

- next I lined up six little snippets of card and backed them with 'Stick-It' adhesive film. They were literally just little strips of snippets so I did have to take great care to make sure I cut and lined up them properly when cutting out the little panels, one by one, sigh :( Never choose the easy route of course!

And here's a tip - after I'd stuck the black outline die cut of the balloon onto the card front, but before adding the coloured panels - my OCD kicked in. Even the microscopic width of the cut around each panel could have meant some white card peeking from behind - so I inked around the inside of each panel with a black Whispers marker! It made the visual lining up of the die cut panels much trickier I must admit, but with the aid of a really strong pair of specs and my daylight lamp it was feasible and of course when properly lined up they do sort of 'slot down' into place :) And no 'white bits/bikini marks' as they say :)

Thank you so much to the LIM Team for asking me to be their guest designer and for choosing the theme 'Snippets', you really totally amazed me there. And of course, once again, I hope that you, Chrissie, 'Have a fantastic day' - as the sentiment I used says :)

OK Playmates, it would be great if you try to join in with Less is More, I'd be thrilled to see some LIM snippets cards in the Playground.

AND, of course I don't normally do a blog post on a Saturday, but I will be back tomorrow with the Snippets Playground write-up plus a pretty good prize selection - all linked to today's card :) Snigger :)

Di
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Quick and simple Christmas cards

The current challenge over at Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge is 'Deck the halls' and I took it literally with the sentiment I used:

I used:

- A6 white card blank

- backing frame using a snippet of SU's 'Real Red' card stock, glued onto the card blank

- the white layer was embossed using SU's 'Square Lattice' folder, glued onto the 'Real Red' layer

- the image is a pre-coloured one from LOTV's lovely little Art Pad #15 called 'Furry Christmas, which sadly looks as if it's discontinued as well as being out of stock now. It's been on sale at 50% off recently (I bought mine ages ago though) - and LOTV's website says 'when they're gone, they're gone'.  A real shame as there are some lovely images in the pad :(

- die cut the image using a Spellbinders 'Labels Eighteen' die, ran a ball ended tool round the cut card while it was still in the die and then stamped the words 'Deck the halls!' onto the panel using Memento 'London Fog' ink and a stamp from the Personal Impressions set called 'Many Greetings'

- attached the image panel to the card front using thin sticky pads

You know what's coming next - yup, I made a further two exactly the same whilst I was at it!

I know that I keep mentioning 'thin sticky pads' and thought maybe I should clarify what I mean. The ones I buy are made by Ultratape and are 25mm x 12mm and the best price I've found recently here in the UK is 99p per pack/sheet of 40 with free postage. Even if you can find them in Hobbycraft, they come at £2 per pack! Being thin (only 1mm thick), they do cut up easily for decoupage and also allow you to add a single layer as I did today for a bit of dimension - which will still slip through that pesky postal gauge slot!  

Of course this is also for Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra too - where it's always 'Anything goes'. 

AND, this is also my second entry for Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge where the theme right now is 'Tree'. Yay! :)

Di
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Cuttlebug Mania Challenge - Tic-Tac-Toe

The current challenge over at Cuttlebug Mania is 'Tic-Tac-Toe'. From the grid below, just choose a straight line - horizontal, vertical or diagonal - and away you go:

Then all you need to do is to make your entry using a manual die cutting/embossing machine, it doesn't have to specifically be a Cuttlebug machine BTW, say in your post what products you used to die cut and or emboss, link to the challenge in you blog and then add your link to the Cuttlebug Challenge HERE. This fortnight we're being sponsored by Digi Scrap Kits who are donating a prize for the winner, and of course there will be three runners up as well.
So, from the Tic-Tac-Toe grid I chose the bottom horizontal line for my card - baby theme, use ribbon and include a bird die cut/make your own with die cuts. Luckily I had a fairly new set of dies here with a darling little stork in, just shouting to be played with again - and this is what I made:

I used:

- 5" x 5" white card blank, tent style

- background card is SU's 'Pink Pirouette', trimmed just a bit smaller than the card front and the corners punched with a Woodware 'Fancy Corner' punch

- then I stamped the sentiment using Memento 'London Fog' ink and a lovely stamp from LOTV's gorgeous  'Set 61- Quotable' stamps, bought the other week when Kath and I met up at LOTV for a mooch and a natter :)

- the dies are from the Little B 'Baby' set, with the stork cut from a snippet of white card and the 'precious bundle' from a teeny snippet of SU's 'Pretty In Pink' (the card snippets had been backed with 'Stick-It' adhesive sheet before die cutting) - and I added a little dot for the stork's eye, using a black fine liner

- then attached the pink gingham ribbon by just wrapping it across the front of the pink piece of card and adhering it underneath each side using ultra sticky tape

- once the card was assembled I then added a little pink gingham bow on top of the strip of ribbon

A couple of tips about the ribbon today.

First of all, I do like to use ultra sticky tape to attach ribbon onto the back edges of card which is going to be stuck onto a card base. For ages though, I struggled with placement of the piece of card onto the card base, even using Collall glue, 'cos once the ultra sticky stuff touched down it hung on in there fast! So, now I put a little strip of ordinary sellotape over the area where the ribbon is stuck with that ultra sticky tape before spreading Collall glue about the place, on the card back and over the sellotape. it works wonderfully and allows the whole piece of card to be gently manoeuvred into place.

Secondly, still on about the ribbon. Quite often, as on this card, I make the bow separately - not even wrapping the ribbon around the ribbon strip as I often find the bow then wants to sit sideways on :) So, I made the little bow on its own then decided where I wanted it to sit. Before sticking it in place I took a little piece of thread and used it to tie and then knot round the strip of ribbon to 'pinch it in' - just as it would be if a bow had actually been tied around the ribbon. A very small detail I know, and probably not so important on this particular ribbon, but it does look much better if the ribbon is quite fine (organza say) and your knot in the bow is quite small compared to the width of the ribbon itself. OCD strikes again!!

So, here endeth the lesson - why not come and play over at Cuttlebug Mania?

Di
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And amidst all the racket

....and also 'cos apart from making teas and coffees there wasn't much else to do, I sat in my craft room with time to play :) The first challenge I wanted to enter is Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge, where this week's theme is 'Something beginning with P'. I rootled through last year's Christmas cards, kept to upcycle, and found loads of ones with penguins on. I know, pretty obvious choice really:

I used:

- 6" x 6" square white card blank

- backing paper from LOTV's 'Frosty Christmas' paper pad

- penguin image was die cut using what I think is a Sizzix die (one of the first I ever bought) and then mounted onto a white Centura pearlescent card backing, which had been hand cut after tracing round the outside of the die. A quick whizz round the edge using a silver Calligraphy pen

- the sentiment also came from the original card

- the bottom left corner is more white Centura pearlescent white card, die cut using a Memory Box die called  'Snowflake Corner' and a new secret weapon - more details are below

- the scattered snowflakes were punched using Woodware snowflake punches and a snippet of white card which had been covered with clear sparkly film

- final touch, different sizes of clear sparkly gems were added to the snowflakes and the corner

And, today I have two 'hints and tips' for you:

1.  First of all, the 'new secret weapon'. I bet most of us have some intricate dies which drive us crazy when trying to neatly glue them onto projects? I've tried all sorts of tricks including using glue pens, very fine nozzle glues (such as Cosmic or Glossy Accents) - and my Xyron machine. Now, much as I really love the Xyron, those of you who have one will know that with an intricate die you will have a layer of sticky 'gloop' within the gaps. I can usually remove this using SU's adhesive remover 'eraser' - but, with a very detailed die such as I used today it's a loooong process and so I would normally resort to a glue pen or similar.

But, last week I stumbled across a new product online, on Kath's blog (All That Glitters) - ordered some and used it for the first time on the corner die cut. And I'm 100% converted!

It's very similar to normal double sided adhesive sheet, but with the added advantage that it's got very thin protective sheet on either side of a 'micros thin' layer of glue - very much like the Xyron glue film in fact. But, the beauty is that you just cover the wrong side of the piece of card you intend to die cut with a piece of the adhesive sheet, then die cut it of course in the usual way - and there are no gloopy bits! I think it's best to have your project sitting there ready for the die cut as when I removed the die cut from the die the second layer of protecting paper came away really easily ( no poking about looking for an edge to start off the peeling).

The sheets come in packs of five, called Stick It Die-Cut Adhesive sheets, in two sizes from Craft Obsessions. More or less A4 and A5 sizes.

If you can hang on, there will be a couple of packs of the large size coming up in the Playground shortly :) Oh, and I have no connection at all with the product - just wanted to share a brilliant new invention which has been endorsed by Ken Oliver. I bet Spellbinders wish they'd thought of it first!

Edit!! I just spotted that Kath over at All That Glitters is giving away some of these sheets, all you have to do to be in with a chance is add your name to the linky thingy bob over HERE. And, like me, Kath will post internationally.

2. My second tip is also to do with sticky stuff, a tip I also found it on the internet but can't remember just where, otherwise I'd give credit. The individual snowflakes used today were stuck on using Glossy Accents. Until recently I really struggled and almost always had to clear the nozzle with a hat pin before starting a fresh session with the stuff. Not so now though!

The routine is, when you've finished using Glossy Accents just follow these steps:

a. Squeeze the bottle until the glues rises right to the top of the nozzle.

b. Wipe the nozzle and top with a baby wipe, at the same time releasing the pressure so the glue sinks back down.

c. Give the bottle a couple of taps on your worksurface to make sure it's properly settled.

d. Replace the cap as usual ready for your next, hopefully trouble free, use.

Of course my card is also for Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra, where it's always 'Anything Goes'.

Di
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Just saying 'Hello' card

It seems like ages since I used a Penny Black Stickeroo on a card, so the other day I set out to put that right:

 I used:

- 7" x 5" cream card blank

- Penny Black Stickeroo from the 'petals and poetry' sheet

- beige and brown card stock from one of the first paper pads I ever bought back in the Dark Ages, by K & Company called 'Classic K McKenna'

- I used the beige 'hessian' card as a background mat and to frame the Stickeroo

- the brown layer, from the same pad, looks a bit like leather. I embossed it using a folder called 'Bon Jour' by Couture Creations. The card is double side printed and I'd already guessed that the core might show once it was embossed - sho nuff, I was right! So I just lightly rubbed over the leafy pattern with fine sandpaper

- the peach ribbon came from the ribbon box

- sentiment is a discontinued Elzybells one, stamped onto a snippet of the 'hessian' card using VersaMagic's 'Hint of Pesto' and then punched using SU's 'Modern Label' punch

Here's a tip I posted about a while ago, which some of you just might not have seen.

It's a sort of swatch, for punches :) Not every single one that I own, just those used for sentiments so I can try it against the card and of course against the stamped sentiment (or even the unstamped one) to check for size and shape. I used Shrinkles shrink plastic (the frosted one) 'cos that was all I could lay my paws on in here then wrote the names of the punches on in permanent ink and rounded the corners - they were lethal sharp before that little extra step.

This is the swatch:

 

And this is one of the templates against a sentiment when I was choosing which sentiment went with which punch.

I keep my unmounted Elzybells sentiments in separate little polybags with a stamped slip showing the actual sentiment - they're then all shoved into a bigger poly bag so I can grab them easily. Nothing fancy but it works for me :)

Di
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Playing with THAT landscape die again and making snow globes

The other day I posted a card using a Memory Box 'Modern Landscape' die and one comment really set me thinking. ScrappyMo said '....I saw this die on pinterest with your blue sparkly background card forming the sky and just a bit of the die with the house...all set inside a snow globe die'. Sooooo, I looked for the card on pinterest and couldn't find it but I did stumble across Memory Box Snow globe dies for sale.

Pardon me if you already have a snow globe die but it struck me that the dies were not much more than a circle plus a basic stand for the globe - and I could save some pennies so this is my take on a snow globe:

And this is how I did it:

First I selected one round die and two oval dies - they're Nesties and the oval dies are the 'next but one' in a set to give enough 'chunkiness' to the stand. Circles would be too 'rounded' - and in fact even bigger ovals would give a gentler curve. The Memory Box 'Modern Landscape Border' die is also poised to be die cut.

The oval dies lined up on silver mirri card, ready to cut, held in place with lo-tack tape. Snigger, and my paws reflected holding the camera!

The die cut oval 'frame' was then run through my SU 'Holiday Frames' embossing folder - any folder would do just as well, I just liked the scroll effect :)

I then cut the blue sparkly circles and the sticky backed landscape pieces. Now, here's a tale against me - two in fact! Firstly, when I struggled the other day I sure hadn't been patient enough 'cos by running the landscape border die back and forth through the Cuttlebug several times I did get a brilliant cut in the end - and the sticky backing peeled off perfectly.

Then I added the white card with the landscape border already cut onto the blue circles and ran them through the Cuttlebug, carefully lining up the circular die again. IF I'd been brave enough it would have been much quicker to adhere the white landscape to the blue sparkly before going anywhere near with the circular die - but this way I got the exact positioning I wanted, and can use that for future reference.

 And now you see why I did two 'globes'. The silver oval will yield two stands :)

Like so - just by halving the oval and then snipping a bit from each side - probably about an inch at most but that depends on what sized globe you have of course:

And back to how the final product turned out:

I used:

- A6 white card stock

- blue sparkly and shiny sticky back paper and silver mirri card for the globe and stand

- white card, backed with double sided sticky sheet (just ordinary)

- sentiment stamped using Personal Impressions'Many Greetings' by Kirsty Wiseman and Brilliance 'Mediterranean Blue' ink pad

- 'Frosted Lace' Ice Stickles on the trees, house roof and along the 'horizon line'

- and, 'cos a snow globe should have realistic snow, some 'Polar White' Flower Soft as well - glue'd on with Crafter's Pick 'Incredibly Tacky Glue'. It's great stuff and (shame on me) I'd forgotten I even had it until I discovered that the Pinflair glue had gone solid (from years of neglect since I had a craze using Flower Soft). It's made in the USA but is available over here.

If I'd had more dies, or more patience, then am sure the stand could be improved upon - but it's not really a million miles away from the Memory Box die set :)

Plus, imagine stamping little scenes instead - I can see some fun times ahead :)

Edit: I woke up in the middle of the night, thinking that another solution for the stand might have been staring at me from a shelf all day yesterday:

Yup, it's Stampin' Up's 'Word Window' punch. Obviously you'd have to slice part of the 'globe' off so it looked as if it's on a flat surface - but I just hopped out of bed here, ran into the craft room and held the little template from my punches swatch over the card above. It would work I'm sure - and be faster!  Wahoo - something else to try :) 

Di
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Gilding flakes and an apology

Apology first - to those who were, ahem, misinformed about Poliflora and the shortage affecting sticky products on my post of yesterday - which was of course April Fools Day. I washed my mouth out with soap then went and stood on the naughty step for a couple of minutes hours. But, thank you for taking it in good part :) And here's how justice comes back and bites you - the Crafters Companion sticky tape runner I was using whilst making today's card only went and broke on me - wasting half the contents. That'll larn me!

OK, gilding flakes - I've had a couple of pots of these for absolutely ages, over 18 months now. Frankly, I opened one pot when I got them, took a quick peek and before I could close the pot they were jumping everywhere - so that idea got put on the back burner.

But, I've been watching a Barbara Gray DVD and yesterday felt compelled to have a try. I'd forgotten that Elizabeth used this technique way back in 2011 - plus by coincidence Maggie used gilding flakes the other day. There was a great tip from Maggie as well - rub a little bit of talcum powder into your hands before working with the flakes! And the very first thing to do is to empty the pot into a much larger container before even starting to play I found :)

This is the result of my first attempt - even though the photo makes it look a bit like a barrel :)

I used:

- 5" x 7" white card stock

- image was stamped using black StaZon ink onto a piece of double sided adhesive sheet. I think, by its very nature, stamping onto sticky sheet doesn't give as crisp an outline as card - but, hey, I was playing, OK? The stamp is a Hobby Art stamp, called 'Tree Scene'

- then, the stamped image was covered with a piece of acetate - over the already exposed sticky

- the backing was peeled off the self adhesive sheet on the reverse side of the image, and then the fun really began

- I covered all that sticky sheet behind the image with 'Variegated Red' gilding flakes,  by Crafty Notions (in truth they're gorgeous shades of gold and copper) and rubbed 'em in first wiv me finger and then with an Indigo Blue scoochy sponge

- next, the flakes were covered with more sticky sheet and stuck onto card then trimmed to size and sliced into three before being mounted onto black card (and that's the point at which my glue runner jumped up and bit me in the b*m for being a bad girl earlier in the day)

- the sentiment is from SU's now discontinued stamp set called 'Sincere Salutations', stamped with Memento 'Tuxedo Black'

And wahoo - I'm just in time for this week's male card 'Seize the Birthday' challenge, following this sketch:

Hope you all had a lovely Easter break, and also that I'm forgiven.

Di
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