Feel The Love

My sister is turning 31! Granted I'm a smidgy bit older but I couldn't resist being cheeky!

Made with Cuttlebug and stuck down using my little xyron :) very simple, very quick, very cheeky!

Collage Owl

 

Mini-Card:  FUN FOR BIG AND LITTLE KIDS!

Threw this one together today, felt like making something a little bit fun :)

1. It's pretty simple really:
2. On white paper (I used normal copy paper), scribble with a watercolour pencil, then roughly spread the colour around with an aqua brush (or brush and water) so that you get a wash with the scribble still visible in it.  Alternatively you could just use a patterned paper, it's up to you.
3. Once the paper is dry, tear out an owl body shape so that the edge of the owl shows the white tear of the paper
4. Tear some rough wing shapes out of newspaper or a book, create eyes with small circle punches or use googly eyes
5. Glue a stick to your card and hovering just above the stick, glue your owl pieces onto the card.  Draw a beak, 'feathers', ear detail, and legs onto the card
6. Roughly cut out little leaves and stick them on the card around the stick to create a tree branch - I created the paper for the leaves the same way that I created the paper for the owl
7. Apply your greeting however you want!  I liked keeping the "torn" theme going.  My greeting was simply printed from the computer and cut out.

Done!

Happy Hooting!

 

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 :)

Black & White

 

ROCKIN' THE MONOCHROME!

When making cards, there's no denying that the monochrome look can have a terrific impact - it can  be eyecatching, sexy, classy, modern, masculine (or feminine!), and fun!

And there's no reason you can't tie that into your stamp colouring as well.  If you're  fan of using copic markers, the impact is incredible.  I use watercolour markers, a little more subtle but still fantastic!

I went for cute and fun in this card :)  I think it would appeal to girls in the 10-13 age range :)

I started out by stamping my image and colouring it with various shades of black, grey and white.  To boost the impact I did colour the skin properly and added one element of red, in the cherry, to make the picture pop.

I used only THREE pens in this colouring:  black, red and skin tone.  Any actual black colouring, I used the black marker directly on the card.  Grey was achieved with the black pen, but painted on with an aqua brush (click here for instructions).  I used the pen-tip of the marker to add texture to her hair.

I finished her off with a little jewel on her bow :)

I got a piece of black card with a faint design to back my coloured image.  You could probably use flat black but I think a faint design adds something.  At the other end of the scale, anything with a clear pattern will be too busy and your picture will be lost.

I distressed the edges of the backing card to relax the style and add some definition to the edges (the other side of the card has a design on white so it worked well because when I distressed the edges, the white showed).  I then mounted my image onto the card with foam tape, to give her lift.

I then mounted my image and card onto patterned paper (black pattern on white) that is only a little smaller than the size of my overall card.  The patterned paper I chose is flocked and also has a little shine to it - gotta love textures!

I added black ribbon to break up the pattern a little.

And to finish it off, I stuck the patterned paper onto my base card and inked the edges of the card with black - again to continue the relaxed feel of the card, but it also helps add some definition since you have laid white paper on white card.

I made a little tag - this one I cut out with my cuttlebug, but you could always cut out a rectangle and snip the corners at an angle at the end with the punched hole to give it a tag look.  I used bright red ribbon to embellish the tag, continuing the theme but not overdoing the red.

I then gave it one final touch:  a black heart on the tag with a little red jewel in it!

Happy Monochroming!

Dani :)

Book Card

WHEN DOES A CARD LOOK LIKE A BOOK?

Just had to make a faux book :)  Saw a pic of one in passing and decided to try and make one up as I go along!  So the below instructions are how I muddled my way through it - no doubt there are better/easier ways!  I patched and coloured as I went and am still happy with my cute little book :)

It is a very fiddly project, but I think it's worth it for something a little different!

I started with a piece of white card, 14.5 x 8.5cm.  On the back of it, I used a ruler and pencil to mark lines on every side at the 1cm mark and the 3cm mark.  You can see I tried lots of ideas, it's a mess, but nobody will see it!

What you're making with this is the inside of the book - the 'pages' - essentially a little white box.  the folds along the 3cm lines will make the walls of the box and the folds at the 1cm lines will form a little lip that will be used to attach the "pages" to the book cover.



Now trim, cut and fold as above picture shows.  Easier to show than describe!  What you trim off is the small squares in the corner and the small rectangles beside them along the long edges of the card.

Along each "wall panel" (on the visible side), you need to rule a series of lines (in black, grey, brown, gold, silver - whatever works for you) very close together and matching as well as possible at the corners.  This is to make the box look like the bound pages.

Just as when you make a box, apply glue or double sided tape to the large square tabs and fold the sides up and fasten.

Fold over the 1cm lips that have the additional tabs (on the short ends) and fasten the tabs inside the box.

Fold over the 1cm sections on the long sides to complete the box.  Set this aside.

Now we move onto the cover.  You need a piece of chipboard 15.5cm x 20.5cm.  Score 9cm in from the ends so that you have two 9cm sections and a 2.5cm spine.  Gently fold to make sure that it's even and that the box sits comfortable inside it with overhang of about 0.5cm around it on the covers.

It's ok if the chipboard breaks up along the folds, it will be hidden (and held together).

Cut a piece of patterned cardstock 18.5 x 23.5cm, this will cover your book.  Stick the spine down with double sided tape first, making sure it's centred.



Now you need to fold up the cover before sticking the rest of the cardstock onto it.  If you don't, it won't have the freedom to fold afterwards.  When sticking the cardstock down, smooth from the spine across to the other side.

Ok, I'm first to admit, this is where things got a little dodgy for me.  I trimmed it up the same way that I would contact a school book., however this wasn't much good when I'm trying to hide the chipboard.  But anyway, this was what I did (above) and folded over and stuck down each edge.  THEN, because there were bits showing, I cut little triangles to hide grey sections where the cardstock didn't meet properly.

See?  Still not perfect but I'll tell you a secret - I dodgily fixed up any more exposed areas later on with a pen of a matching colour! LOL  PLEASE - if you know exactly how to do it neater, do THAT instead of my way!!  I was playing by ear :)

For the visible inside cover (inside the front cover), I cut some patterned cardstock with a design that would compliment the cover but stand out on its on.  This piece was cut at 9cm x 15.5cm but I did trim a couple of mm off the top and side so that it wouldn't go quite to the edges.  I inked the edges with an ink that matches the cover and stuck it inside the front cover of the book.

I also then inked every edge of the book, inside and out, including the exterior spine.  This just gives it a little boost!

I decided a bookmark would be a sweet little addition for my book and so stuck this on next.  It was a length of ribbon, about 30cm long (give or take), with a knot tied on the end and a charm threaded onto it.  I stuck this down a few mm from the spine, taking it about halfway down the cover to anchorn it well.  What you have hanging out needs to be long enough to go over a 2cm wall of your box, down the entire front and hang out the bottom of the book by at least 2cm.

Next I got some scraps of cardstock, about 8cm long and stuck them roughly to the back of the box (onto the lips).  This is to provide more area for the glue to grip and hold the box on properly.

Stick the box onto the back inside cover, pressed right along the spine.

I used a standard crafting glue, but if I could go back, I think I'd use hot glue.  Better hold, faster drying.  Anyway, I applied more glue to the spine of the book and then held it shut, making sure the box was still firmly pressed against the spine and sitting where it should.

I then sat something on it that was heavy enough to hold it shut firmly but not heavy enough to squash anything...and left it overnight to dry properly.  The problem area you need to make sure sticks properly is the spine.  You only want the front cover to be able to open and close.



Once dried, I completed the inside.  I cut a piece of coloured paper to fit the front of the box.  I then found a crappy book I had lying around and I cut a page out of it!  I trimmed it down and stuck it in the centre of the box.

Now, using double sided tape, the book mark is stuck down along the inside edge of the box and left to dangle at the bottom.

And finally, I applied the greeting.  Mine says "Many dreams to live ... Many adventures to have ... Many stories to share ... Have a Wonderful Birthday!"

Now you can decorate the cover however you want!  I kept mine minimalist as usual :)  A flower, some pearls and a greeting, "Life's Sweet Journey" (I wanted it to sound like a book title).



Done! :)

Happy Book Making!

Dani :)

Ice Cream Card

DELICIOUSLY SWEET

ICE CREAM & WRAPPER CARD

Full of apologies already - my camera battery is flat and I can't find the charger so I can't do a step by step photo instructional.  I took this photo with my iphone in the middle of the night - it will have to do!  FYI:  That bow is actually a pretty pastel yellow :)

Anyway, it really is a simple card!

Ice Cream

1. 2 pieces of coloured card 5cm x 8cm each - round the corners
2. 2 pieces of white card 5cm x 8cm each - round the corners
3. Pick your "eaten corner" and use a round scalloped punch to make a "four tooth" bite mark on the coloured card and a "three tooth" bite mark on the white.
4. Line up and stick each white piece to their pink piece
5. Stick a paddle-pop stick to the back of one ice-cream piece using double sided tape.  Cover the back of the stick and the icecream with more double sided tape and then line up the other icecream piece and stick them together
6. Trim if necessary.

Wrapper

1. One piece if coloured / patterned paper/card 7 x 22
2. Fold the coloured paper in half and test that the icecream will fit - trim if necessary
3. At the open end (opposite to the folded end), use a decorative edge punch across the edge, per the above photo.  At the folded side, round the corners.
4. Place double-sided tape along the sides and stick the folded paper together to form a pocket, with an opening at one end (the decorative end)
5. Ink the edges
6. Create your greeting (for both icecream and wrapper) on your computer, print and cut out.

From there it's up to you how you want your greeting to look and how to embellish your wrapper and icecream!

Gently slide your icecream in its wrapper and it's ready to sweeten someone's day!

Happy Desserting!

Dani :)