Wednesday 23 February 2022

Zigzag card

I've been the lucky recipient of some of Sarn's wonderful 'zigzag' cards in recent months and finally had a go at making one the other day - winging it slightly. By the way. the pinkish hue is from a glorious sunset when I took the photos in late afternoon natural light:

And a sideways peek, where you can possibly see the card folds a little better:

I used:

- 11.5" x 4" piece of white card stock

- scored across in one direction at 4", 8" and 9.75"

- folded the zigzag shape along the crease lines - using a Teflon bone folder to get sharp creases * see note below

- picked out a piece of patterned paper from Craft Consortium's Craft Paper from their 'Ink Drops' collection - called 'Ocean'. More about the papers below ** - they are luscious!

- cut a patterned piece for the main panel of the card measuring 3.75" x 3.75", plus one for the smaller front panel measuring 3.75" x 1.5"

- glued the patterned papers in place, using Collall All Purpose glue

- then die cut the sentiment using a snippet of Tonic Studios 'Craft Perfect' pearlescent card in 'Majestic Gold' and a Poppystamps 'Playful Hugs' die and glued it onto the front panel using a glue pen

- die cut the spray of leaves using another snippet of the same pearlescent gold card and a Memory Box die called 'Botanical Stem' (first spotted over at our Darnell's blog I think - such a lovely delicate die with embossed veins, I love it!) and glued it in place using a glue pen

I do have Yupo, a wide variety of acrylic colours as well as gold and silver metallic mediums to try and emulate some of the fabulous Yupo work done by Loll - but these papers called to me very loudly! I like quick and easy if I'm honest.

This card was fun to make and very quick - if you ignore the ditched card base that I totally ruined when I messed up the score lines. That situation is being resolved with a better large score board - more pennies.

* Used 300gsm white card for the base card and did have some serious issues making it fold with a sharp enough crease - even using the bone folder with threat and intent! My instinct is that 250 gsm weight, which I have loads of, would be more 'malleable', although for normal 'rigid' cards, 300gsm is my choice of weight normally. I made my card 4" square to fit in a bought envelope but you can vary the width as you wish. On hindsight I would possibly have made my final card with smaller measurements for the 'prop up' part of the card. But at that stage I was still guessing really - until Sarn kindly sent me a couple of sets of measurements for my next try!

* The papers used are made by 'Craft Consortium' and they are absolutely stunning! They're a UK brand, and they make loads of gorgeous papers - however, I think these are amongst their top ones, for now. The designs are based on the effect of alcohol inks on Yupo - with some 'faux' gold streaks. It's the faux gold (albeit not truly shiny so don't let the sales talk on websites fool you - I didn't and already knew what to expect) that really makes a lot of these double sided papers stand out from the crowd, I ended up buying three different pads - greedy little monkey! The papers come in pads of 6" square (and apparently even 12" square in some of the colours!). They will be great for 'camouflage sentiments' I can see.

The original idea was to still use shiny gold mirri card for the die cuts but in fact I realised that the Tonic pearlescent gold card is truly a more subtle and better look/match with the slightly muted faux gold streaks on the particular background paper I chose to use.

By the way, I just discovered that Top Topper Shop is a really good place to buy these papers in the UK and they do the papers in packs of just 10 sheets for £1.25 if you would like to have a play with a little selection of their packs but don't want to buy a full pad of 40 sheets! Clever idea. I ordered something else from them on Sunday and it was dispatched the following day.

I make no apology that I do overshare at times, which may help you if you spot something of interest to you. It's not a secret so why hide it? Also, this blog is still very much my own record for 'future reference and re-makes' as well. 

So happy to be able to share this in the current weekly Allsorts Challenge #664. I was so determined to join in with one of my favourite weekly challenges but haven't always managed (usually need a week to decide and a week to make!) The challenge theme is 'I love ....'. What a totally brilliant theme - and of course I love die cutting (my collection of dies is HUGE, yet there's always that additional new one that I NEED, sigh). Plus, I adore patterned papers. To be fair I have far too many. In my ongoing sort out in here, there will be a serious culling and dumping of old patterned A4 papers and many of the paper pads which only contain those 'meh' and rather dated looking papers that I bet we all have. Styles have changed so much and ...... it's a bit like updating your wardrobe! ☺

Am also nipping over to join in with Darnell's NBUS Challenge #35. Am so determined to use all my NBUS stuff, at least once in this lifetime, that I now first reach for the NBUS basket - before even beginning to seriously think about making a card!



26 comments:

  1. Very pretty card, and lovely colors extended from your sunset too! I have never made one of these step cards, maybe one day...
    Congrats on going for the NBUS first! We all need to, I'm afraid

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  2. Your not fooling me Miss Di with that "made it in time" comment, I rather suspect you've heard rumours from a certain bad influence in the Playground. No names mentioned but bet she let on one of our son's recently completed work on a Treehouse up our Spinney and your thinking along the lines of a class stay over exchange?

    All that apart I am so happy to see you at my Treehouse, sorry Allsorts challenge and with a very pretty card with an interesting fold. Thank you for taking time to join us, much appreciated as know your busy. Love to Dudley as well.

    B x

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  3. LOVE your pretty zigzag card with the gorgeous background paper and lovely tree branch. Brilliant NBUS die-cut sentiment too.

    Thanks for the shout out - I was happy to help you with the measurements.

    Hugs, Sarn xxx

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  4. What a lovely long and interesting post to accompany this super card - some temptations here too I fear 😉 but it is great to know where to source items if they take my fancy.

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  5. Absolutely beautiful Di love the backing paper the layout is amazing and gorgeous dues used love it x

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  6. Totally gorgeous card Di - yes those papers are lush and you are quite right the pearlescent card gives just the right amount of sheen while being very classy - love it!! And bless Sarn helping you with the measurements ... she has helped me too with so many hints over various things. Thanks so much for sharing with us at Allsorts challenge this week
    Pauline xx

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  7. This is a great shaped card Di, and I love the watercolour/AI look to the background paper with the die cut leaves over the top in that softer gold colour which go beautifully. x

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  8. Hi Di this is a gorgeous card. I love the design. Take care. Hugs Jackie

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  9. This is just so beautiful, love the design and the papers/dies you chose. Thanks for taking part in my challenge theme of I love at Allsorts this week.
    Lynn x

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  10. Beautiful design love the delicate colours you have used. thanks for joining us over at Allsorts Challenge blog this week. Good Luck and we hope to see you again soon. Alison DT

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  11. Fun folding, so beautiful and love the delicate design and colours!
    Hugs

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  12. Gorgeous papers and love that pretty, simple fold. Yes, it's your blog so be as wordy as you like. I am so glad when I sometimes check back on my blog that I have explained my process, as it is a real help if I want to try things again LOL. Hugz

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  13. A brilliant card Di, and love the pretty papers. A great design. Hugs, Carol S.xx

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  14. WOW! Very elegant card. Love the color combo and the design.

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  15. What a wonderful card, I love the shaape and the lovely golden leaves that you've used.

    Sue xx

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  16. Beauitful card Di and I really like the fold too. Great tips and places to buy too, thanks - I think hahaha
    Faith x

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  17. I can relate to sorting through the paper stash. For those "meh" papers, I use the back side of them for small die cuts or sentiment panels or punched bits that get colored, but I go through one paper pad at a time and that's a slow process. Love this pretty card with that gorgeous background! Just beautiful!

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  18. I too think your card is gorgeous. Love the blue and gold. Just lovely!

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  19. Fabulous card die, great fold and what beautiful paper. I've never heard of a Teflon bone folder..... is this something I need? My plastic bone folders seem to get scratched quite easily. Just wondering if the Teflon ones don't get marked. xx

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    1. Hi Liz! The Teflon bone folder is brilliant! I've had mine for a few years now and it's as good as the day I bought it. I love that when you run it down the fold of a card round side of the folder) it doesn't leave any sort of ridge. Not cheap but well worth the money. Amazon have quite a few if you search for CrafTreat bone folders. Mine was branded but doesn't say who makes it! Sarn bought hers after me and here's the link - looks like you get two for £10 which is a brilliant deal. https://vintagepaper.co/products/teflon-folder?_pos=1&_sid=742d1041c&_ss=r Di xx

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  20. What a wonderful card Di - love the soft background paper and the gorgeous die cuts. When you purge your papers, may I suggest you give them to a local pre-school - they welcome that sort of stuff with open arms - as I discovered when I purged last year
    Stay safe
    Blessings
    Maxine

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  21. I never do different folds, but enjoy seeing them. This turned out great with the beautiful paper & dies! Glad you could enjoy a sunset as I know there's been a lot of bad weather!

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  22. Congratulations on your win over in the Allsorts Challenge. x

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  23. Such a serene and soothing design with that beautiful faux alcohol inked paper. I really like the subtle gold swirls and your choice of a pearlescent gold card for the trim and die cut was perfect. A subtle shine is so elegant. I join Liz in congratulating you on your win over at Allsorts as well. Was excited to see your name as the winner!

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  24. What a fun card fold Di and those papers are just beautiful. I love this card, love those die cuts as well. I'm glad you preserved with scoring of this thick card, I hope the new score board works out well for you in the future! Hugs, Brenda

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  25. Very elegant card. Love the gold leaves and sentiment on that gorgeous patterned paper. Thank you for sharing with us at NBUS.

    Prudence
    NBUS February Guest Designer

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