Wednesday 21 January 2015

Another upcycled Christmas card

Having moaned that not many of this last Christmas's cards really lending themselves to up cycling - what does Hazel do over at Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge ask us to do? Up cycle, recycle, re purpose or use something free! So I scrabbled round in the box of saved cards and came up with this:
I used:

- 6" x 6" square white card blank

- backing paper from the My Mind's Eye 'All Is Bright' paper pad - chosen as it went well with the colour of the church in the image that I wanted to use. Plus I worked it so that the word 'Christmas' in the design shows and means no need for a sentiment as the card is probably busy enough

- the image came from a  shop bought Christmas card, die cut using a Spellbinders 'Labels One' die -it's a lovely sparkly image ( on the snow especially) which doesn't show up sadly in the piccy :(

- then I die cut a frame using a Spellbinders 'Luscious Labels One' die, glued behind the image and then glued the whole topper onto the card - using Collall glue - still in love with the little bit of maneuverability of course

- the baby blue pure silk ribbon (sigh, this makes such gorgeous bows) is from The Ribbon Girl, tied in a bow and adhered to the card using the glue gun

- finishing touch, an already glittered snowflake shaped button (from Hobbycraft, bought eons ago), just with a bit of iridescent cord tied in a bow and then glued onto the blue bow using the glue gun. Thereby making this a card which will not go through the normal sized letter slot - but hey-ho, sometimes it's worth it :)

This should have been a quick card to make, but I hit a huge pot hole in the road snag that's probably worth sharing.

I'm not sure how many of you may have seen (on blogs and YouTube) tutorials about the reasonably new idea of using tumble dryer sheets to remove all the fiddly bits from dies?

I spotted that Enfys of 'Going Buggy' had done a tutorial HERE and it looked a really great idea just to run your newly die cut piece of card, still in the die, through your cutting machine with the die face down onto folded tumbler dryer sheets. Quite magically the 'dross' from the die cutting should stick to the dryer sheets leaving you with a clean die plus your cut shape all neatly minus any little clinging pieces.

I'm a big fan of Enfys and she made it look so easy, so whilst doing the Sainsbury's run at the weekend I picked up a box of their 'own brand' tumble dryer sheets and tried out this new 'wonder technique'.

Now, it could be that Sainsburys dryer sheets are much moister than others. Folk do recommend you buy the cheapest from places such as Poundland or a Dollar Store, and also that you experiment a bit as perhaps you need only three folded sheets instead of four. But, I was horribly disappointed for the following reasons - the card shape didn't release from the die at all and I ended up poking bits out of the metal die once I'd managed to remove the shape, the shape itself seemed to be damp but I soon realised it was almost oily and also looked greasy and a bit discoloured - and to add insult to injury the cutting plates were left icky and needed a good wash.

So for me, right now, it's a thumbs down :( As I've said, perhaps less moist/oily sheets would be a vast improvement but needless to say I threw the test die cut out and reverted to good old waxed paper, which always works a treat.

I'd love to hear if any of you have had real success trying this out - especially as it looks such a great idea. And if you did have success, where (in the UK) did you buy your dryer sheets?

And I'd also like to add this card to Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra for January.

Di
x

31 comments:

  1. Hi, I love your up-cycled card. I'm with you, not too many of mine are reusable. To answer your question, yes I did do the dryer sheet method. Did it work, yes, however it really mucked up the plates and the back of the card stock looked awful. I also tried using used sheets and that worked ok, but not great. I was really hoping the process would be a great success cause getting the bits out of the dies isn't fun. I have pretty good success with the Spellbinder tool.

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  2. Love how you recycled it! I also used some dryer(tracing) sheets for intricate dies and it work so well, really helped me a lot. I too enjoyed Enfy's beautiful work, tutorials and her coloring is stunning:)

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  3. Love your recycled/upcycled/unicycled card ! With reference to your Sainsbury's tumble dryer sheets - I read somewhere that tumble dryer sheets can be used on card stock when stamping to get rid of all the static etc. Sounded very reasonable since these sheets are antistatic. Well, don't try it with Sainsbury's. As yousay they are very moist and greasy but you don't actually notice at that point. . I stamped my image, sprinkled with embossing powder - and the embossing powder was well and truly stuck all over the sheet - what a mess!!! Lesson learned! Maybe I'll try with some extremely cheap ones. Christine xx

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  4. Oops, thanks for the warning Christine!

    Anyone want an almost full box of tumble dryer sheets? :-(

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  5. Lovely upcycled card you've inspire he to look my Christmas cards some I've thrown out but kept others

    Anne

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  6. What a fiddle. Your card looks great on spite of it. If you live in a hard water area you can use drier sheets for cleaning your shower screen! They work well for that. I've used them for preparing to dry emboss but I won't bother trying them for heat embossing. Sounds messy.

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  7. aww this is stunning love the colour match with the bow and the sweet button on top!
    Lucy x

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  8. Very pretty recycled card and I love how you got the paper to show "Christmas" and do the sentiment work for you! Another pretty die too!

    I've had no luck with wax paper and haven't tried the tumble dryer sheet thing . . . I just use release foam! It's not perfect but is better than nothing!

    Hugs, Sarn xxx

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  9. Gorgeous card and you know I will approve of the MME paper - my paper of choice!
    The tumble dryer sheet has eluded me so not seen it, and I doubt I would try it now. I have tried wax paper but not 100% chuffed at that either. Down to me old trusty pokey tool then!
    Hugs
    xx

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  10. Hi Di this is a gorgeous card. I have kept some of my Christmas cards to up-cycle. I haven't tried tumble drier sheets but I do use wax paper that works fine for me. The other day I dropped my Faux Quilled Leaves die on the floor by accident but everything popped out beautifully. I wouldn't recommend this as a regular method though. Hugs Jackie

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  11. Bootiful Miss . just bootiful.
    Twern't me Miss coursing trouble. I got no hinternet so can't possibly be me.

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  12. What a stunning recycle! It's that gorgeous beautiful bow that dazzles my eyes and I love the glittered snowflake on top! I just saw a video this morning about the dryer sheet trick, and haven't tried it. I may give it a shot in the future, who knows?

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  13. Lovely design this one Diane, such a lovely scene and I love the lush bow
    hugs Jacee
    Simply Paper Card Design

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  14. Your recycled image Di is gorgeous and l like that you have created another of your amazing card love the ribbon and the snowflake too!! xx

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  15. Hello Di,
    I just had to come and take a closer look at your card after seeing it pop up on my blog list - Wow....gorgeous!

    Isn't it just so annoying when people make things look so easy and when you come to try it out .........grrrrr!
    I always find this at craft fayre stalls watching the demos.

    Haven't tried the tumble dryer sheets but I don't think I will now - thanks!
    xx

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  16. Lovely card, Di. The recycled image is pretty and that bow is gorgeous. Regarding the drier sheets - you could just try wiping your die with one before cutting out, you might obtain better results. Another possibility is to rub the die with an anti-static pad before use ... seen this demonstrated and it appeared to work perfectly well. Hugs, Elizabeth xx

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  17. Lovely upcycled card Di, I didn't save any of mine :(. I too bought 'own brand' dryer sheets, but alas have heard too oily, and needs to be 'bounce' or similar. I may try actually using them as intended first, or failing that will try them on my shower screen! Lots of tips here, and will try Elizabeth's ideas too! xxx

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  18. Great card and fab die and feeling extremely jealous of the lovely bow.
    Well done for trying, the World loves a tryer but in this case if at first you don't
    succeed, jack it in, as I am sure you have.

    Kath xx

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  19. Such a gorgeous way to upcycle, Di--love this card!

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  20. I think this is a really lovely card. I always like pale browns and blues together. I have to admit I haven´t even looked through my cards yet for salvageable bits, but I saw Hazel´s challenge so I did mean to make the time. I still might!
    I haven´t tried the dryer sheets but I am happy with the waxed paper I bought with my last order from Lakeland, so I am sticking with that. (No pun intended!). Kate x

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  21. I love the image you rescued to use on this card. It looks so pretty on the die cut you made and the snowflake on the bow just makes it perfect. I was having so much trouble cutting out some dies last week. I forgot about the wax paper and tried it again but no luck. I have an order in for a metal shim plate and hope it gets here quick. I need it for Valentines. I don't use dryer sheets so I haven't tried it to release the bits.

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  22. What a sweet scene and a beautiful frame!

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  23. This is a beautiful card Di! I love that frame you used, so stunning and the card you recycled is just a beautiful scene. I had heard of this technique with the dryer sheets, but haven't tried it yet myself. I have heard the cheaper the dryer sheets the better. I'm sorry you had such a hard time with it. I have used the wax paper technique though. I have some cheaper dryer sheets in my laundry area, so I will have to try this and see how it goes for me. I don't think they are cheap ones, so it will be a good way to see if what happened to you happens to me! Hugs, Brenda

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  24. Fab card, great recycling... upcycling....whatever you want to call it!
    I sometimes (when I remember!) give a die a quick swipe with a damp (not soggy wet!) baby wipe...this seems to help release the paper, still end up poking bits out though!
    Thank you for putting me out of my misery about the identity of Parsnip...I shall be able to sleep tonight. Hopefully I won't have any nightmares about small white bears being attacked with umbrellas.....
    Chris
    x

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  25. I like your card and one would hardly know that is s store bought card tucked in there as you've done it up so fabulously. As for dryer sheets, they ain't the end-all, be-all whatever-all they are touted to be. In fact those moist ones are known for leaving greasy spots on clothes! I know you aren't doing laundry with them but when it comes to dryer sheets and crafting all the things I've ever tried with them are epic fails. Wax paper is a tried and true to get the die out. The fiddly bits? Poke 'em!

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  26. Now this image fits my perception of an English village church at winter time. It's lovely, and the S/B die set it off wonderfully well. As did the background dp! Fit this image just fine. That's a lovely shaping to the soft blue bow...it looks quite elegant, as opposed to just the 'standard shape bow'. The glitter snow button was a nice detail touch too. Well done on your recycle Miss. On the dryer sheet, I've had friends who have tried, swear it works great. But I think the key is really to use the cheapest sheets that don't have the 'fabric softener' as heavily embedded. I personally have not tried as yet, 'cause I've not had time to pop in the local Dollar store. I was interested to read your experience with the technique. I would have been unhappy at all the pokeys and then having to clean the die. I know the wax paper usually works very well...but I frequently forget to use it, until I have to grit my teeth when the die doesn't release and I smack myself. I should write on the die storage to use the wax paper! (But I don't!). TFS & Hugs. (PS..just saw PJ's comment about the spots on clothes, I've had that happen too. It can leave a surface on the dryer vent screen as well, so I scrub off the screen with a brush & water periodically if I'm using the sheets. I try to do the softener with the wash cycle.

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  27. Your card is beautiful. Why do my remade ones never look this pretty????!!! What a lovely creation.

    Thanks for the info abt the dryer sheet. I hadn't ever heard of doing that. I just use waxed paper like so many others. I appreciate you bringing up this topic because the experience of others was very interesting to read, also.
    <3 J

    jwoolbright at gmail dot com
    HerPeacefulGarden.blogspot.com

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  28. Glad you found something. Thanks for entering both of my CHNC challenges with your lovely crafting - hope to see you again soon. x

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  29. A great up-cycled card, very pretty. So sorry to hear about the dryer sheet fiasco, thanks for the warning though. See you again soon at CHNC Extra.

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