Enthusiasm Does Wane :(

I'll readily admit, I've not had a lot to do with my blog for a while.  I don't know about anyone else, but you just kind of have times where you don't feel like being creative or you just want to muck around without purpose.

That said, I did achieve stuff!  So I'm going to share a few pictures with you :)

I gave origami a try and love it :)  I'm not brilliant at it, but I've only been doing it for a couple of weeks.

I made a few cards but not much - took a break to build up creative juices hehehe  Gotta get stuck into the Christmas Cards again, though!!  Eek!

If you want instructions for anything below, let me know and I'll create a special post.

So without further ado:

 

A butterfly :)

 

A crane :)

 

Pig and cat finger puppets :)

 

One of those origami jumping frogs - I just added googly eyes and a curly tongue :)

 

A geometric ball thing - not very hard, took me a couple of hours or so ... looks amazing!

 

A lilly :)

 

A Star Masu Box :)

 

A Tatu Purse - you pull two triangles on opposite sides and it opens up and then easily goes back into place.  I have made another that I have filled with glitter and scatters, and have stamped a greeting inside, that I want to incorporate into a card somehow :)

 

I got some freebie embellishments with my Cardmaking, Stamping and Papercraft magazine so threw together a couple of quick cute cards :)

 

I felt creative today and so decided to make a card that looks like a pinboard :)  Could probably use some refinement, but for an on-the-spot concept, I think it came out ok!  AS you can probably see, I tiled the cork - I only did this becauase I was working with scraps.  Naturally you could just cut one piece to size.

 

It's been school holidays, too, so my son and I made a papier mache Volcano!  Was fantastic fun to build it together and then I just filled it with bicard soda and gave my son cups of vinegar mixed with red food colouring!  AWESOME!

 

 

 

 

Happy Chilling!

 

Dani :)

Updated: Welcome Zahlia :)

 

So yesterday I became an aunt for the second time :)

Welcome, beautiful little Zahlia!

So, naturally, the first thing I do is dash out to my nearest scrapbooking store (45 minutes away).  Yes, I braved the papers and actually picked some out - am quite proud of this because picking patterned paper frightens the heck out of me!  I knew I wanted butterflies so just went for it!

This is the quick and simple page I made for my sister - I did the same thing when my other niece was born :)  I don't put the photo on there - I just think that if it's going to hang in their house, they should pick their favourite picture or picture that best suits!

As you can see, I didn't do too much with it.  It has a very busy background so wanted to keep things as simple as possible.  I just adore the pretty fabric flower and the skeleton leaves!

And here is the card I made!  (for those who saw this page previously, yeah it's a different card - I can't stop fussing!!)

I heat embossed the pitter patter stamp with silver and fussy cut in a circle around it.  Then I used a punch to make a bigger circle in pink.  The edges of both were distressed, no inking.  Stuck them together , affixed 4 skeleton leaves to the back in a sort of fan and then stuck it all onto the bottom right corner of the page!

Added some bejewelling, some teeny tiny paper roses and embossed the Rock-a-Bye directly onto the top left corner of the card.  Punched the botton left corner to soften it and to stop it from looking so neglected :)
Easy peasy and pretty!

Happy Families!

Dani :)

When I Should Be Sleeping

WHAT I DO WHEN I SHOULD BE SLEEPING...

Here I sit, so bleary eyed that I'm seeing triple.  I have been booted out of bed by a sick child, snoring husband and snoring dog!  So rahter than nap on the couch, what do I do?  Make cards!

Just some very simple ones and I admit to a bout of middle-of-the-night laziness so didn't get step by step photos of them - trust me, you won't need it :)

My Button Card

Simply string together some colourful buttons and stick them down the card!  I have wrapped the string around to the inside of the card and covered them with a large "sticker" I created with my mini xyron.

Then I stamped my greeting and surrounded it by my favourite mini buttons and some jewels!  Done!

My Swirly Card

I have a set of stamps I used that are of a whole lot of swirly designs - I just stamped the ones that I thought looked best!  Stuck on a couple of little flowers (the ones pictured are actually brads), some jewels and a greeting.  Finally, I layered it with contrasting card and that's that!



Sugar n Spice Card

This was one of those cards where I had so many ideas that they started to merge - and I like it!  It's got sweet and it's got spice :)  Plus it's quick and eye catching!

Put black card through the cuttlebug with embossing folder.  To give the card some more "gloss", I ran a black ink pad over it.  Wrapped some purple ribbon around, wrapped some sheer ribbon (with a buckle) around the purple ribbon.  Attached to the card with foam tape.

Cut out butterfly with cuttlebug, bejewelled and applied a ribbon.  Stick to the card with foam tape.  Attached this to the main card and inked the edge of the card in an eye-catching colour!  Done :)

Happy brainstorming!

Dani :)

Apron Card

 

SWEET LITTLE APRON CARD

Bear with me, I've not charged my camera battery yet!  So this is all photographed with an iphone - yuck!

I have seen these cards here and there on the internet and think they're just gorgeous!  I'd love to be creative enough to create little rolling pins and such for the pocket, but for this first attempt, I dont think I'll push my luck :)

This is a card that would be great for people who love cute things, love cooking or love gardening.  I put a thank you message on it because it looks, to me, like a card that is perhaps ideal for for someone whose home you stayed in - an acknowledgement of their hospitality!

So first of all, Google (or create) a template of an apron.  Fold your main card in half and place the template along the fold and cut around it.

The first thing you want to put on your apron is the loop for the neck.  You can use either ribbon or cardstock / paper for this.  In this instance I have used paper.  I cut a strip of card 15cm x 1cm and secured to the top front of the card, in a loop (see above), with double sided tape.

On top of the neck loop, put a decorate "frill".  I used a border punch and some white cardstock to create mine, but you could also use some lace for a more 'authentic' look.  To fit my apron, I created a border punched length of card that was 6cm x 2.5cm.  Apply more double sided tape to the top of the apron and attach the frill.

Now cover the front of the apron with double sided tape and lay it face down onto the back of the patterned card you will use for the apron.  Make sure that the top edge of the card is exactly where you want it at the top, because you can't trim around the detail you've already put down!

If you want, you can use the template to cut out an apron shape and stick it on, but I find this quicker and less likely to be stuffed up by crooked applications or edges that don't quite meet.

Cut around your card ink the edges (carefully, lightly across the top so that you don't ink the frill - or if you plan ahead better than me, ink the top edge before you stick it down!!).

Now it looks a lot like an apron :)

Pocket time!

Cut out a rectangle of a contrasting cardstock colour - mine is 8.5cm x 6cm.  Round the two bottom corners.  On the back, mark 1cm down on both sides of the pocket.  That is the stopping point for the double sided tape you will place around the edge of the pocket.

You can now stick the pocket onto the front of the apron.

What I thought would be cute is an insert (for a message), for the pocket, that can be pulled out.  I incorporated the pocket "frill" into this.  I had the frill 8.5cm x 2.5cm.  I cut out cardstock that matched the base card (5.5cm x 6cm), rounded the corners and stuck it to the back of the frill, with mo more than a 1cm overlap.

I put another strip of paper that matched the apron (1cm x 8.5cm) that I placed along the bottom of the frill with an overhang of only a millimetre or two.  This was just to make it look a little nicer.

Stamp or write a greeting on the little card.

Slide the insert into the pocket.  It's starting to really come together - we're on the home stretch now!!

Now, if you're into sewing, by all means (before attaching the pocket!) stitch the edges of the card!  However, I'm a little "sewing challenged" so I drew my stitching on - around all edges of the apron and pocket.

Now that's done, it's time for decorating!  Go crazy and decorate your apron :)

There we go - a cute little apron card! :)

Happy Baking!

Dani :)

Cascade Card

MOTHER'S DAY CASCADE CARD

Since Mother's Day is fast approaching, I thought I'd try and create something a little special.

Being a Pinterest Junkie, I had seen gorgeous cascade cards absolutely overflowing with flowers and butterflies and ribbons and detail.  But I hadn't attempted it because that made me nervouis - whenever I go for insane complicated detail, it comes off looking like crap, frankly!

So, I decided to at least give cascade cards a go but keep them fairly simple - I think it still looks cute :)

PS:  My camera battery was flat this morning so the step by step photos were taken with my iphone - they'll have to do!

 

First I took two pieces of card 15cm by 26cm.  On one of the short ends, I marked a spot 8cm from the bottom.  I them trimmed from a top corner on a diagonal to the 8cm mark.  This is essential for the "cascade" look (taller at the back, shorter at the front).

I then folded each piece of card in half (as you can see in the picture above) and then found the half way mark on either side of the fold and ruled a line from top to bottom.  I found the halfway mark of those lines, marked it, and cut to that halfway mark.

IMPORTANT:  you need to cut the slits in the paper from the TOP of one piece of card and front the BOTTOM of the other so that they can be slotted together.

Erase the lines you've drawn.

 

Now you need your coloured/patterned paper to begin dressing up the card.  You need a piece for each visible section of the card, so TWO (2) of each of the following:

• 5.5cm x 13.5 (you then want to reduce the length of one side to 12cm, sloping just like the main card)
• 5.5cm x 12cm (you then want to reduce the length of one side to 10.5cm, sloping just like the main card)
• 5.5cm x 10.5cm (you then want to reduce the length of one side to 9cm, sloping just like the main card)
• 5.5cm x 8.5cm (you then want to reduce the length of one side to 7cm, sloping just like the main card)

Very important to remember when making the two sets that one set will slope to the left and one set will slope to the right!!

I then inked the edges of the pieces with a similar coloured ink.  I've gone for the messy look because...well...honestly, I slipped!

Now you stick them on!  You have to have the two smaller sized pieces stuck on the OPPOSITE side to the taller pieces bceause once it is folded and slotted together, those are the sides you will see.

Before I stuck everything on, I actually assembled the card and then put a pencil dot in the middle of each visible section so that I knew which to paper and which to leave blank.

That said, if you want the back to look pretty too, you could just do twice as much of everything!

 

Assemble the card!!

To make sure that it stays in place once it was sitting right, I cut out a 10cm x 10cm piece of patterned paper and used double sided tape along either side of the join at the back of the card and stuck the paper to it.  This stops it all from wriggling.

It also means that only the middle of the 10x10 piece of paper is stuck down - I avoid sticking down edges when working on a fold, to ensure the card still opens and closes as it should.

 

Next, cut out butterflies and/or flowers with Cuttlebug / punch / whatever.  I stuck them together ( see above) and adorned them with jewels.

 

Next, stick them onto your cascading card along with a selection of other flowers.  What flowers and what layout of them you have is up to the individual - I hope you're all less chicken than me and have that wonderful ability to go crazy and be creative!

And you don't just need to stick stuff to the front of the panels, you can stick stuff to the back as well to add to the dimensional look of the card!  As this was my first attempt, I kept it simple.

Next punch out 3 scalloped circles (or just 3 circle!) and gently, lightly pat some ink of a similar colour around the edge to give it a nice mottled look.

 

I used my computer to print out some little circles with Happy Mum's Day on them (one word on each).  I did "Mum's" instead of "Mother's" so that I could keep the font a reasonable size and consistent between the three circles.  I made the lines around the circles, and the font, a similar colour to the scalloped circles.

Stick the circles onto the scalloped circles.

 

Now it's just a case of completing the assembly!  Since I was keeping it basic and not wanting to overflower it, I filled little annoying gaps with some little jewels and pearls.

What you can do with these cards is limited only by your own creativity!  (as you can see LOL)

Happy Cascading!

Dani :)

 

UPDATE!

6 May 2012

My second attempt - slightly more compact and much more flowery :)

First iPhone Post!

Having a muck around with blogging from my iPhone!

Following on from my layered butterfly card, my mum said a butterfly mobile would be cute for my niece-on-the-way.

Challenge accepted!

Here is a prototype I'm starting with and refining:

Layered Butterfly Card

LAYERED BUTTERFLY CARD

Butterflies are a sure-fire way to guarantee a cute card!  Who can resist them??

 

This design makes use of my beloved cuttlebug (which I just don't use enough!!) - but if you don't have one, you could recreate something like this using a large punch instead.  See what's out there, get creative!

 

One of the things you'll need is clear acetate, which you can usually find in online scrapbooking stores.  I've even been known to use the "throw away" plastic sheet from new acrylic stamp sets!

It's not the end of the world if you don't have any, I just think it's a nice way to jazz up the layering a bit!

Cut a square bigger than your cuttlebug cutter and run it through your cuttlebug - for the acetate you'll probably need to run it back and forth through the cuttlebug several times becauase it's pretty strong stuff.

 

 

You will also want to run a patterned piece of cardstock as well as a block colour cardstock through the cuttlebug with the butterfly cutter.  These make up your three layers.

 

 

Because the acetate doesn't cut as easily, you will probably need to do some quick tidying and cutting - I found that the more detailed end of the butterfly (with the feelers) didn't cut out like the other end.  It's pretty cruisy to finish the cutting job because it's cut through most of the way already, which helps guide your scissors.

 

KINDY GLITZ!!!  I love this stuff hehehe

I like to squirt things like kindy glitz and paints into  plastic disposable spoons.  It keeps things neat.

Now you're going to glitter the heck out of your acetate butterfly!  Use a brush if you want, it all depends on the look you want.  Personally I smear the stuff on with my finger most often because it gives better control (especially when glittering edges of things), can give a good textured look...and I like liberal sparklies!

Take a coffee break while the glitz dries :)

Next, ink the edges of the cardstock butterflies.  I like to use something very similar to the cardstock colour to add some depth without it being too OTT - a nice shadowy effect that softens the cut out.  As you can see, I've also gently bent the wings (delicately at the edge of the 'body' - do NOT fold) on the patterned and acetate butterflies. 

 

 

Once that's done, stick the layers together. As with pretty much everything, I use a thin double sided tape - in this case, right down the middle of the body.  Don't put tape on the wings (except underneath the block coloured butterfly) because those are the visible layers!  And don't worry if you can see the tape through the acetate - it gets disguised by a few rhinestones anyway.

Now choose your sentiment stamp and stamp it onto a scrap piece of paper and cut out closely around it.  Also use a scrap piece of paper to plot the shape you want for the "glitter trail" behind the butterfly.  By doing that on scrap paper, you can move things around and figure out your layout.

Once you've got that sussed out, stamp your card for real, stick your layered butterfly on, and stick the rhinestones on in your chosen pattern!  When you stick the butterfly down, the bottom layer (the block cardstock) should remain flat on the page - this is the only butterfly that should have its wings stuck down.

Don't forget to put a few rhinestones along the body of the acetate butterfly - it adds a little je ne c'est quoi to the butterfly as well as hiding the tape beneath it.

Now gently tease up the layers of the butterfly so they sit the way you want - Done!!  Quick and easy and cute :)

Happy Card Making!

Dani :)