Speedy Recovery

Demo season not kicked off yet, so I'm playing with non Trimcraft products. 

This is a Woodware stamp, One of their singles. And we have a friend going in for an Op so this seemed the perfect use of the flower. Something a little like Zentangle with my white signo pen. 

And some Sizzix curly flourishes. 

Winter Wonderland Reindeer Stamp

Rather than colouring him in I have inked him in. 

Stamp the reindeer onto a post it note and onto your card. I then cut out the reindeer with a knife being careful to keep the outside area intact so any small cuts were on the Image itself. 

To get the light yellowy areas I used watercolour pencil and water brush and whilst it was still wet, clear embossing powder and then my heat gun. 

This means that this area will resist the brown ink which I add next. 

Place your post it mask over the reindeer so that only his body is showing. Sponge the Dovecraft natural pigment ink pad using a make up sponge through the mask. 

Then emboss with clear powder using the heat gun. 

For the scarf I stamped on some of the Winter Wonderland patterned paper. Cut out the scarf. I then added some watercolour pencil to alternate stripes and then embossed with clear powder and heat gun. 

This stamp also has some lanterns and a little holly wreath. I used the bigger of the lanterns, stamped on to frosted shrink plastic, coloured lightly with watercolour pencil and then shrunk. 

Here he is ready to go onto a card 

Technique coming out on the road with me too. Check out Trimcraft website for demo details. 

Caroline x

Christmas Tree made with Paper Rolls - fab with small prints

• Take a piece of 6x6” paper and cut in half. Do this with 4 or 5 different designs so that your paper rolls will be a mixture of designs.

• All your paper rolls will be 3” long. You then need 9 rolls, starting at ½” and increasing in size by ¼” with each roll. I'm showing the first few all in the same paper in this example but when I make the trees I vary the designs, laying them out as I go to check how they contrast. Another top tip I learnt was, use stripes vertically not as I have here - cut this way you would lose the stripe once rolled ;-)

• Using a wooden Kebab stick and your thumb curl the paper along the 3” length a little. Then put double sided tape along the edge furthest from your stick. Now roll the bead nice and tightly.

• Complete with all 9 rolls. When finished lay them out and measure how tall the tree will be on the card. I then cut High Bond Tape to this length and lay it on the prepared card bank as if it were the trunk. You can add a couple of other strips at an angle if you like, to help hold the rolls. Starting with the longest paper roll, place them seam facing down up along the 'sticky trunk'.

• Decorate with gems or pearls – Dovecraft Back to Basics do both to match the papers - and then hand draw on the trunk and faux stitching around the white card if you wish.
• And away you go...

Rose Garden

Love the Rose Garden pad: it's made some gorgeous projects. 

But this 12" page has kept looking at me. 

Running a class on paper flowers on Monday so this sheet and others are now punched to pieces.  

We're gonna have some awesome pots of flowers. 

Bit of aged edges and mix and match and there you go. 

More flowers to follow. Looking forward to experimenting with the texture of the canvas sheet and the crackle look from the large rose page. 

Bouquet pop-up

Made this card today for a friend's birthday, and put a pop up inside.

For anyone who has made bird beak pop ups inside a card as a child or with their kids - you'll see where the idea for this one has come from....

And here are a few tips on how I did it...

The main Card is taken from the First Edition 8x8" square paper stack. Fold it in half and you get a perfect DL size card. Use a punch to round the corners and decorate with other pages from the scrummy stack..

Then cut another sheet to 6.5 x 6.5" square and fold in half, pattern side facing in. This will be your insert and will be what you cut the pop up into.

The photo below shows the reverse side after you have done three steps:

 1 - whilst folded draw two pencil lines. The lower one is 1" across and 3" up from the bottom. The higher one is 2" across 3" up from the first line.

 2 - with the card still folded, cut along both pencil lines with scissors. Open out.

 3 - with an embossing tool and ruler score a cross between the two pencil lines i.e. top left to bottom right etc.

Now open out the sheet and crease along your score lines. I run my finger nail along the score line as I push the pop up into place. Work all creases gently before you fold the pop up into place.

Don't stick the lining in place yet. Complete all the decorating first.

Photo below shows you that I have stuck a scalloped circle of acetate behind the pop up, so that I can attach flowers with brads so that they appear above the 'paper wrapping'.

You can add punched leaves, and more flowers inside too if you wish. Just keep testing that wherever you place them you can still close the card shut ;-o

When all is decorated (I added a punched heart behind my flowers, and stitched crochet cotton from Bouquet to tag) you can stick the lining inside. Put double-sided tape on the outer edges, not on the centre fold - you want that to have a little give as the card opens and closes.

Hope the pictures and explanation are helpful.
Good luck to anyone trying this sort of pop up for the Trimcraft Theme Challenge.
Details on www.trimcraft.co.uk/forum

Caroline

One way to Pop

The theme challenge for June on the Trimcraft website is Pop Ups. 

 So here's my card to get you started and a video with tips on making the pop up involved. 

http://youtu.be/La7mNweaKJc

More pop up ideas to come soon. 

Caroline

Birds and Bees and Butterflies too!

Over on the Trimcraft website, I've set the Theme Challenge for March.
Anyone can join in and there is a prize. Closing date is 1 April.

Every shop I look in and my wardrobe too, seem to house clothes and scarves with little critters on. I am wearing my black and cream Lola Rose Bird Scarf as I type.
I just keep falling in love with this trend in the shops.
So I've been having a go at repeating it on my cards. I started off doing multiples and then went on from there.

The Theme is called - Birds and Bees and Butterflies too!

Here are my samples...

 



I'm gonna start working on next month's challenge now, as there will be a video to go with it, giving you some top tips. Details will be posted here and in the Trimcraft forum at the start of April.

Caroline x