Angelic Christmas!

Well, it’s that time of year again! Every year I say I will make all of my Christmas cards in October, and even get some batches made up to sell, but every year, time gets ahead of me and I end up running around like a mad woman trying to fit everything in!! Work has gone crazy busy at the moment too, so it’s been really difficult to get to my craft desk at all, let alone get some video tutorials done! But I had great fun doing this card, so I really must try to fit some more in this week ;0)

My little angel was printed onto gesso prepared c.s. which enabled me to hit the ink with clear e.p. before it dried, but unfortunately, the gesso didn’t quite agree with my copic markers. That’s to say, they’re not damaged in any way, but they just didn’t blend as nicely on the gesso as they would’ve on the gel acrylic prepared c.s. So, note to self – only use matte gel medium for preparing c.s. in future, just use gesso for texture!

I just love all the glitter on this card. I’m not usually one for lots of glitter, but Christmas is a great time to really go for it on the glitter…

The video is below. Now, I’ve asked Santa for an HD Camcorder this year (Santa is otherwise known as my Hubby!!) so these videos will potentially be higher quality in the New Year, enabling me to zoom in more on the detail. But for now, I hope this is enough for you to see what I’m doing. Please hop over to my YT Channel to rate and subscribe!

Thanks for watching!

Card Design/Sketch Booklets

 

Today’s video is for something a bit different. I got fed up of having all my card designs/sketches all on random post-it notes or scrap bits of paper all over the place, so I decided to create a little booklet that I can take with me wherever I go, to jot down the designs whenever I get them. Which can be at absolutely any random time or place, let me assure you! LOL!

I’d been thinking about creating something like this for ages, and then Kristina Werner created something similar for herself, which gave me the incentive to stop being lazy and get to it! Kristina’s design wasn’t quite what I had in mind, nor did it make best use of the A4 paper size we have here in the UK, so I took the plunge and designed my own. Click here for the PDF of my inserts (from A4 paper).

Both booklets have ‘flat’ designs on the front cover, so when you’re doodling on the inside left-hand pages, you’re not drawing over the lumps and bumps of 3d design work on the cover. Also, this booklet will be travelling about in my handbag a lot, therefore, it needs to be durable! I have also considered covering the whole cover in sticky plastic to give that extra durability.

Below is the video and as usual, please view it in HQ (click on the button in the bottom right-hand corner) and go over to my YT channel to rate & subscribe! Thanks for watching! ;0)

30 Today to a special friend

I spent quite a lot of time on this card as it was for a very special friend. I specifically didn’t video it, as I wanted to play about with my new distress inks and not have a camera above me watching every move I made. I quite enjoyed not having the distraction – it was nice to just go to my craft room and craft! Total enjoyment…

And I really did have loads of fun making this card. It’s one of my most favourite cards that I’ve made of late! The background started out as a plain sheet of white card and I just built up the pattern with clear e.p and distress inks. Same with the ‘30’ topper.

The flower I made from scratch from a 6” strip of patterned paper. The pink strip was a pattered piece of paper I added to using distress inks and white gen pen doodling.

We had a great day celebrating Liz’s birthday with her – loadsa love to you Liz!! xx

Good Old Grandad!

I had done a video for this card…but it’s never made it to the editing stage. But I figured I can’t make a video for every card I create – there’s just not enough time! So I will just talk you through what I did instead.

This area of the card has been embossed with a cuttlebug folder, but I added a twist. Before placing the patterned paper into the folder, I rubbed one side of the folder with some versamark ink. This ensured that all of the none embossed bits (i.e. not the raised stuff) got inked, meaning that when I took it out of the cuttlebug I could hit it with some clear e.p and heat emboss it. The overall effect was that the depressed bits looked almost wet where the e.p had ‘pooled’. You could increase this effect by using UTEE.

I then cut this to size, added another contrasting piece of patterned paper from the same paper stack and stuck to the base card, inking in orange around the top patterned paper. I tied a thick piece of ribbon around the join and tied it off the edge of the card using string.

The sentiment was a combination of chipboard letters and white gel pen handwriting on card cut using the Labels1 Nestibilities dies, adhered to another slightly larger label from the same set and mounted onto the card using 3d foam stickers. The addition of 3 green eyelets to balance the card and the card is complete.

Quick Triangle Box tutorial

 

These boxes are so popular at the moment, and I can totally see why – they are so ridiculously simple and easy to make! You don’t even need a template to cut around, just a rectangle of your favourite patterned cardstock and a few score lines as shown below:

Dead easy! I've used papers from MyGrafico - (Tyka Patterns & Chocolate Mint Papers) they also have a great selection of Halloween and Christmas papers, making this project a great way to wrap a simple gift like sweeties or even something more personal, like jewellery. Digi papers are great because you can print them out on exactly the right weight cardstock/paper for the project you're doing. This was perfect for this box as the rigidity is necessary to protect the gift. Most patterned paper just wouldn’t cut the mustard for this ;0)

You could also be more adventurous and cut out a window and cover with acetate on the inside before assembling. This would give a great ‘peep-hole’ if you were filling with sweets. You could also print on both sides of the cardstock if you were doing this, so that the colour would show through the window.

The tutorial video is below. If you enjoyed this tutorial, I’d love if you could leave a comment or a link to a project that this has inspired you to make – it would be great to see what you’ve made! Please hop over to my YT channel to rate & subscribe. Thanks for watching! ;0)