Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Beautiful Butterflies

Just a quick post today. I have had a manic couple of weeks so I thought I would show you one of the demo samples I've been making for the last couple of months. You can find my tutorial for this project  here : Surprise Box Tutorial

 In the last few days I have demoed in Cork, my baby girl has turned Thirteen, she graduated from school last night and her last day in junior school is today so it has been a bit  manic around here lately!!!

I have used the Papermania Capsule Bexley Black 12 X 12 papers to cover the box. The Anitas Dimensions Wings - White  were popped onto the top of a strip of acetate, a small score at the end of the acetate gets hidden under a little Papermania All Ocassion Sentiment.  All finished off on the outside with another Sentiment and a beautiful big Dimension Wing Butterfly.

Happy Crafting everyone.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Fathers Day - Shirt & Tie Tutorial

This is a great little fold that I found about 3 years ago and I use it for loads of different male cards. It works as a full card embellishment or as little ties across a card. I have even used them on a banner to spell out Happy Fathers Day or Happy Birthday Dad.

,So I think it only fair that I you from the start that the paper is going to change throughout this tutorial. I found the photos I had taken a couple of years ago for a tutorial handout which I gave out at some of my demos and then my computer crashed and I lost half of my photos and this is what I have managed to rescue along with some more updated pictures!!! LOL. Well you would hate it if I just did a normal straightforward tutorial...........where would the fun be in that!!!!

Ok so this tutorial is about having a bit of a play. Have a couple of practices on printer paper to get into the grove of the folding. Every time I make this tie it looks a bit different and it all depends how much you fold back the paper. After you have given it a go a few times you will know yourself what look you like.

Lets get started:

You need a square piece of paper – any size so long as it is square. For a tall card I use a square 5" x 5" and if its an A6 card I cut smaller.
Flip it over with the patterned side facing downwards. Draw a diagonal line from one corner to the next.
Fold the paper from the tip of the corner down the central line you have drawn (as in the photo). Then repeat this for the other side
Now turn the paper to face you like the photo below.
Take the tip and fold it back on itself . Take a guess as to how far you turn it back. Just eyeball the photo below and give it a bash!! Most times I aim for between the two side points .
Now take the tip and leaving about a 3/4" gap (around 2cm) fold the point back again (see below) This small section helps to form the knot in your tie.
Turn back the tip of the point again about 3/4" (2 cm). Seriously if you start taking out your ruler for this I will get mad!!!!. Eyeball it, guess it, take a risk. Its only paper so just give it a go!!!!
This is how it will look from the front.

This is what it should look like from the back.
Now take the right side of the paper and fold it back along the center line.

Right now this really is the "give it a go part". Push tesection shown below down and outwards (it will be sticking up) You are trying to get a kind of squared off look. This really is just practice...........promise.
Now follow all the steps above and do the same to the left side of the paper
The back of the tie will now look like this (kinda......sorta.....lol)
This is what your completed tie will look like.
Now take your card and at the top make a mark at the center point. Draw a line about 3cm down from that mark. Now cut down this line with your craft knife. Rub out the pencil mark.
From the bottom of the cut to each top corner of the card score a line (see below)
Now fold these pieces back to create your shirt collar.



Curve these collar pieces with your fingers. Do this gently so as not to crease the card.
Place double sided tape on the back of your tie and stick it up to the end of the cut and snug under the collar. 
Pierce a hole near the tip of each of the collar point sand place a brad in. You could alternatively use gems. Next Place 3D foam under the collar (I just use one circular foam pad under each side of  the collar) and stick them down.
 Now all you have to do it add a greeting.

Well I hope you give this a go. A little bit of practice and you end up with a fold you can haul out and use for any male card you are stuck on!!!!

Happy crafting everyone :)

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Build a Landscape Stamps

My Friend Christine is a Freelance Designer, Docrafts Demonstrator of both Cardmaking and Jewellery and an amazing Artist and then to top it all off she designs her own stunning Build a Landscape stamps.  I just had to show you the four sets she has given me to play with. I can't wait until the Summer comes around and I have more free time so I can get a chance to start creating projects with them.

Sadly I am one of the many crafteres out there who find it impossible to draw a straight line so to be able to draw your own stamps is just amazing to me. Christine's Blog address is http://christinescraftyart.blogspot.ie/ and you can buy her stamps at http://www.christinescraftyart.com.
 

 I have so many ideas for these stamps, especially the last set they are totally my cup of tea and as for the corner stamp in the top set I just can't wait to get going on projects with it.

Hope you like them as much as I do.

Happy Crafting Everyone :)



Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Lucky Lucky Me

So I thought I would do a short post so I could show you some beautiful items I have received lately from my fabby crafting demo friends.

This first one I received from Ann at my demo on Sunday at the Art and Hobby in Nutgrove. She has done everything from making the box to all the stunning designs. I have been told Ann is an amazing Calligraphy teacher and you can see it in this gift. It is completely precious and I had to photograph it ASAP so I could (a) show you and (b) eat the chocolates!!! Ok, ok I admit to munching the chocolates whilst typing this post.....lol. Ann thank you so much for this stunning gift I adore it.
 
 
 
My second item I received and have to show you is a stunning card I received from one of my favorite crafters Daniel, he made this for me when I received one of my Blog awards. He is 12 years old and has an amazing talent. I predict that in the next five years or so Daniel is going to rock the craft world as he has a brain that just never stops working with regards to designing and can take a card fold and dress it with papers and embellishments and make it into a masterpiece. Daniel has his own blog at http://latestcraft.blogspot.ie/. He is a mini Tim Holtz in the making. I have displayed this card on my mantlepiece from the day I received it and its now got pride of place in my Studio as I totally love it.
 
Happy Crafting Everyone.

Friday, June 1, 2012

New Home Card Tutorial



This is a really quick New Home Easel card. I downloaded the papers from  freedigitalscrapbooking.com. Its a great site and I have to say I think the spotty paper is Yummy. The stripes on the roof have been cut to 15cm and run through my fab little crimper just to give them some texture. The door is cream card also downloaded from the above site and a brad is used for the handle. This is then placed onto brown card to act as a door architrave. This only shows on 3 sides to make it a bit more realistic.

You will need to decorate all your pieces before joining them all together. So just browse through the tutorial first to get an idea of what you have to do.

Right, lets get going: The first few photographs will show just the putting together of a basic Easel card and then we tweak it to make it into a house :)

I am doing this the quick easy way so I am just going to use 2 square cards to put this card together.
Take the cards and fold in half on the pre-scored line.
Now take one of the cards. Open up and fold one of the sides into the center fold as shown in the photos below.
 
 
You now have the base of your easel.

Take the second square card and cut neatly in half.
Take your easel base and put glue on the bottom section as shown below. I am using a glue runner here for ease but I would normally use double sided tape to ensure everything stays on securely
Attach one half card you have just cut to the card. I usually do this by lining it up with the full card spine so that if it doesn't fit neatly then I can just take a bit of the bottom or the side to straighten up the card. In this case it really doesn't matter as when you put the roof on it will cover any gaps left at the top.
This is what your card will look like now.
Take the piece of card you have left over and cut it diagionally to create your roof.

Take your Easel card and attach double sided tape or glue to the top section of your front piece of card (section nearest the spine)
Attach your roof.  I do this by lying my card up against the lines of my board so that I can then place my roof along a straight line to get it all even
Now take the second triangle and cut a section off this to create a little holder to help keep your house standing upwards when displayed.
 
Place 3D foam onto the back of this piece. Place them more to one side then the other. On my original card as I was using a dark paper I used black foam so it wouldn't be obvious on the card.
Now place this piece onto your card. Where you place it is up to you. It all depends on how you want your house to stand. Place the part that has the 3D foam on it close to the front of the card. This means that if the house slips slightly underneath the holder than it won't catch on the foam and wreck your card.
 
Done and Dusted..................yeahhhhhhh.

Happy Crafting Everyone.