Thursday, June 29

Finished!

I am happy to report that, apart from a few tiny embellishments, I have completed the altered notebooks I've been working on for the past couple of weeks. It took a little longer than usual to dry between coats of gesso, paint, spray inks and varnish, mostly because the weather has been so cold and overcast. Happily, they are now done and I can move on to my next project.

Tuesday, June 27

Beautiful Memories Mini Album

I was very sad when our local Kaisercraft outlet store closed down, but as with most clouds, there was a silver lining in the form of a huge pre-closing sale. I was lucky enough to pick up the "Mermaid Tails" range of 12"x12" papers as well as the matching die cut pack full of great images and word shapes. This week I used them to create an 8"x8" mini album titled "Beautiful Memories" that's full of inspirational quotes, pretty colours and loads of pull out tags.

Sunday, June 25

Another Sneaky Peek


Just a few more days until our new
digital stamp sets are released!

Friday, June 23

For the Boys...

Today I want to share a couple of masculine themed cards I made using the Smooth Seas clear stamp set and some fabulous papers from Maja Designs.


Thursday, June 22

Sweet Delights

My favourite digital stamp set from the upcoming July release is called "Sweet Delights". It features beautiful fresh fruit along with several coordinating sentiments that you can use to create fabulous cards for friends and relatives. Check out the sneak peeks below...








In store from July 1st

Wednesday, June 21

Saturday, June 17

Seahorses

I really wanted to create a pretty card using just the die cut edging you see here, however, it was much too fragile to form the base of a card without some support. I did try, but found the edges would fold and crumple when I tried to stand the card open, so I settled for a black card base instead. Looking at it here, I think I might need to add a little more colour to the seahorses before I send it to the recipient, they're a bit too subtle against the background.



Wednesday, June 14

Gesso...

I've finished the second stage of the altered notebook project, which is to add a coat of white gesso over the tape, texture paste and embellishments I glued on a couple of days ago. I'm always amazed how different the project looks once everything is the same colour... suddenly it's all about texture, shapes and shadows.


Monday, June 12

Tutorial - Altered Double Display Card


I had an email from a lovely lady named Ann, who wanted to create a card based on a picture she found on the internet. After much fiddling, researching, measuring and many failed attempts, I think I finally managed to figure out the design, which to me, looks like an altered version of a double display card.
As you can see, it stands open beautifully making it perfect for those extra special occasions where you want your cards to be displayed for all to see. And believe it or not, it will still fold into a nice 6" x 4" card that fits perfectly into a standard envelope.


TEMPLATE

1. Begin with a horizontal piece of card stock measuring 12" x 6". For this particular card, I find it much easier to do the scoring before the cutting so I'm going to start there.


2. Following the template above, lay your card horizontally on your score board and start scoring 1" from the left hand side but just 1" down. Score again at the bottom, coming just 1" up. 

3. Now score at 2" from the left hand side, all the way from the top to the bottom. Score again at 4", all the way from the top to the bottom.

4. Start scoring at 5" from the left hand side, starting at the top and coming down just 1". Score again from the bottom, coming just 1" up.

5. Now turn your card around 180 degrees so that the left hand side is on the right. Repeat steps 2, 3 and 4 so that you have the same score lines on both ends of the card stock. Refer to the template to make sure all your score lines are in the correct place.


6. Time to cut. Using a trimmer or craft knife, make a cut between the bottom of the first score line right through to the bottom of the fourth score line at 5". Your cut should be horizontal and measure 1" from the top edge. Refer to the template for correct placement.

7. Make the same cut at the bottom of the card, starting at the top of the first score line and ending at the top of the fourth score line.

8. Turn your card 180 degrees and repeat steps 6 and 7 so that you have the same cuts on both ends of your card.


9. Time to fold along all the score lines. Use the photograph below to determine the placement of valley folds and mountain folds. It doesn't matter if you fold the wrong way, just push the fold back in the other direction. Press all the creases firmly with a bone folder.


10. Cut two strips of matching card stock measuring 2" x 6". These will be adhered to either end of your card to make solid panels.


11. Decorate the two strips of card stock as desired. I used some white card and pretty patterned paper.


12. Use glue or double sided tape to adhere the strips to either end of the card, taking care to keep the adhesive only on the panel indicated below. If the adhesive is placed on any of the other sections of your card it will not open properly.


13. That's it, you've completed the base! Now all that's left is to decorate the centre keeping in mind that the card is designed to stand open and show off whatever is inside.


Stamps:

Saturday, June 10

(Almost) Altered Notebooks

I'm in the process of altering a couple of A4-sized notebooks - one will be a gift and one is for me to jot down notes when I'm in meetings. So far I have added the base texture with tapes and paste, and also glued down the embellishments that will hold all the lovely colours. When the glue dries I'll be adding a coat of gesso before going wild with sprays, inks and paints... my favourite part!


Thursday, June 8

Mmmmmm Chocolate...

Can you guess what I had on my mind when I was making this card? I think the colour of the card stock definitely gives me away! Sadly, there isn't any chocolate to be had at our house right now so I'll have to settle for a cup of coffee and some crackers.


Stamps: Just Desserts by Beccy's Place