Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays
I apologise for not having an original design today but I have been battling a nasty upper respiratory tract infection that has resulted in my probably fracturing a rib. So I have not been able to do a lot of crafting, but rest assured I will be back in full force next year.
I would like to take the time to wish everyone a happy, healthy and safe Christmas and New Year.
Happy Crafting
Patricia
Hello there
I felt this title was really appropriate after being shaken about over the last day or so. We had another big earthquake – this time it was 6.6 yesterday afternoon and then we had a series of aftershocks of over 6 about 5.30 pm. Very unsettling! The aftershocks have continued today and although I don’t feel most of them there are still some good sharp jolts. I am getting to know the light fittings in minute detail as they are a good indicator that we are having another shock.
However, we cannot live waiting for the big one to come so hence the mantra “Keep Calm and Keep Crafting” so I have continued to keep crafting. We are very close to making a special announcement for Make Shift so I have to keep working hard making cards. Today I am going to focus on one card and show you how I have made it.
Here is the completed card:
For the base card I have used a lovely cream linen finish card from www.cardmakers.co.nz.
I then embossed an A5 sheet of cream metallic cardstock with the Nellie Snellen embossing folder HSF005.
The embossed card was then trimmed to 10 cms by 14.5 cms to fit onto the base cardstock with a small edge around it. I find that my CM personal trimmer is great to get a good square cut. The cardstock I buy from the Cardmakers is slightly larger than the A5 cards, which is good as I like the layered look of the embossed card over the base card. It gives it an extra texture and dimension.
I then die cut the lovely oval frame from Marianne Craftables CR1204. This is a beautiful frame that comes with a flower as well. It sits in well with this embossed folder.
I then die cut all the embellishments out of the cream metallic card. I have found a heavier weight of card better for most of these embellishments. I have used Metallic quartz board from Direct Paper 285 gsm for these die cuts. For the roses I have used a lighter weight metallic paper from the local $2 store as this paper is much easier to roll up for the flowers.
The dies I have used are:
Marianne Creatables Branches LR0151
Marianne Creatables Ivy – LR0206
Marianne Creatables English Rose LR0162
To adhere the branch I have used my CM adhesive pen as it has a fine nib but any good adhesive pen would work.
I trimmed the bottom of the branch and placed it to follow the curve of the oval frame.
Unfortunately the photo of this placed on the frame has been corrupted and I am unable to show you this step.
I then placed the ivy over the flourish and here you can see the flourish on the frame.
The rose leaves were then placed over the ivy and branch.
The roses were made by using my quilling tool to roll the die cut flowers into a rose shape and using a quick drying glue to hold them into place.
The roses were then glued into place over the rose leaves and ivy. Here are some close up images.
To finish off the card I have placed a Peelcraft greeting on the oval. Here I have used a ‘happy anniversary’ greeting as I need to make some anniversary cards to add to the range of cards for Make Shift. But an elegant Happy Birthday would be lovely as well.
Once again here is the finished card:
Depending on the greeting used this card could be either a landscape or portrait card.
Before gluing everything together I played around with all the elements to ensure that I ended up with a pleasing arrangement.
I love the simplicity of the cream on cream and the metallic finish makes this card very elegant. It could be suitable for a lot of occasions depending on the greeting and die cutting numbers in gold could personalise this even more. (I am so looking forward to getting my Cricut and CTMH Cricut cartridges to add a greater dimension to my cards – couldn’t resist putting this in as we have a date to start on 1st September).
Here are another couple of variations including a cream and gold card using a gold base card:
The dies have been purchased through www.kalsbeek.co.nz. They have a great range of the Marianne Creatables and Craftables products and many more products to make fabulous cards. I have found their after sales service to be excellent.
Despite a couple of reasonable aftershocks I have finally managed to finish this post so I hope that you have found it useful and easy to follow.
So don’t forget to Stay Calm and Keep Crafting
Patricia
Hello
I would like to welcome all my new followers to my blog and I hope that you enjoy coming on my creative journey with me. I would also like to thank those who take the time to read my posts and also leave comments as well. I really appreciate the feed back that I am getting.
I was very excited to receive an email this morning from Close to My Heart informing me that we are very close to the launch in New Zealand – the first week in September to be precise. I can’t wait to start and am starting to de-stash in order to have space and money for my new CTMH products. The Cricut cartridges look so awesome and I am very impressed with the cards and scrapbook layouts that are coming through from the Australian consultants.
In the meantime I have been doing some scrapbooking and cards. I am getting through my son’s album and I am now up to his 3rd birthday. I have used the It’s a Boy stack pack to complete his second year and I am waiting for the cricut cartridges to make some titles to complete them and then I will post a few pictures on here. I love the colours of this stack pack and they went very well with the photos of James. I am looking at doing his next album using the Pro-player WOTG kit. The colours are great and I love the coordinating stamps and shapes that go with it. It is more appropriate for an older boy as well.
I have also made some more cards for Make Shift. I haven’t done many get well cards so I have made these using up some of my stash and am pleased how they have turned out. I am a little disappointed in my Chloe die from Memory Box though. The cut shape doesn’t seem to pop out quite as easily as my other dies. I will keep persevering with it and see how it goes. Anyway, here are the cards:
Materials used are:
Fiskars flower punch
Memory Box die – Chloe
Cuttlebug embossing folder – Swiss dots
Stampendous Get Well Stamp
Kaisercraft greeting stamp
Red and Yellow scrap cardstock
Stampin’Up ink – Real Red
Bling from the local $2 store
Marianne Creatables flower and leaf set – sorry I seemed to have mislaid the name of this die.
Coloured paper from my stash
I am pleased with the colour combinations and the simplicity of these cards and I hope that you like them too.
Have a good weekend everyone and Happy Crafting.
Hello
Wow, we are getting so close with Make Shift opening for the public. It has been a lot of hard work, but it is going to be so worth it. I would like to thank my fellow Collective Members who have been amazing in their commitment and resourcefulness to help get this dream up and running. It has been an incredible journey and I would love to think there is far more to come as well.
We have Father’s Day coming up next month and living in a rugby mad country I have made some special themed cards for Make Shift. In New Zealand, the All Blacks are our national rugby team and in the process of de-stashing I found some All Black stickers that I had bought to do some All Black layouts after we won the Rugby World Cup in 2011. (James took so many photos of the victory parade that I ended up doing a photo book instead!) These stickers became my inspiration for some cards instead and I am pleased how they turned out. I kept to a simple black and white theme as it emphasised the clean lines of the stickers which meant they were very quick and easy to make. I have also chosen the sentiments so that the cards could be suitable for both Father’s Day and birthdays.
Here they are:
Before going on to listing the materials used I would like to make a special mention of where I get my base card stock from. Because I make lots of cards I do not have the time to cut, score and fold all the base cards, so a few years ago I discovered Cardmakers in Christchurch. Nicky and Joe Arts provide a huge range of basic cards, bulk supplies, die cut cards and many other essential supplies for cardmakers. They have been amazing with their service, which has been even more remarkable since the earthquakes in Christchurch meant they were unable to access their premises in the Red Zone. Despite this massive disruption I have always had my cards delivered promptly and they will give you extra cards when you order a bulk supply of cards. They do deliveries overseas as well so please take the time to support them by visiting their website and checking out their great deals at:
Materials used for these cards:
Cuttlebug embossing folder – swiss dots
Peelcraft All Blacks stickers
Peelcraft stickers – silver lines
Creative Memories Epoxy stickers – Enchanted
Stampin-Up stamps – Best Dad Ever
Memento ink – black
Black and White Cardstock.
Have a great weekend and Happy Crafting
Patricia
Welcome back to my blog and thank you for taking the time to visit my blog and leave comments. I really enjoy getting your feedback.
Here is some more cards for Make Shift and this time I tried to keep to a very simple colour theme. I love the look of cream on cream, gold and cream and white on white with lots of different textures and shapes. Plus I have added a little bling with some gold glitter cardstock to add some sparkle to a few cards. My Cuttlebug has had a good workout with the embossing folders and die cuts to create the different textures and patterns. I have also purchased some dies to make my own flowers and find that they add a different dimension to my cards.
I have used a few different companies to create these cards and the materials I have used are:
Memory Box dies – Cherry Blossom, Chloe, Pippi Butterfly
Spellbinders dies -Fantastic Flourish One, Fancy Framed Tag Two
Fiskar punch – flower
Marianne Creatables – English Rose (LRO162), Branches (LRO151), Ivy (LRO206), Lord and Lady (LRO211)
Marianne Craftables – CR1204
Embossing Folders – Nellie Snellen – HSF004 (oval frame) and HSF005 (rectangle frame)
Peelcraft Stickers
Kaisercraft pearls
Stampin’Up greetings
Ribbon from my stash
I hope that I have remembered all the materials I have used. As I have said before I am working through all my stash so that I can start fresh with Close to My Heart products.
I hope everyone has a great week.
Happy Crafting
Patricia
Welcome back.
I have been busy going through all my stash and found these gorgeous papers that I bought years ago when I first starting scrapbooking. They are from K & Company and the pack is called Hopscotch. I have no idea if they are still available, but the papers make beautiful cards. I have already done a couple of layouts of my ballet forms from many years ago and will perhaps keep a couple of papers for layouts for my daughter for when she did ballet. I managed to match up the colours with various cardstock that I had already and I am really pleased with how they turned out. For most of these cards I have distressed the edges and that has helped with making the different papers stand out more from the backgrounds. The little pictures of flowers, butterflies and tutus have been fussy cut out from the paper. These cards have been easy as the paper and colour coordination was made easy by using the same range of papers.
I am sure these will go down a treat at Make Shift.
Here they are:
Materials used for these cards:
K & Company Hopscotch 12 x 12 pad
Creative Memories Cardstock – Pink Shimmer
Bazzill Cardstock – Bling (sorry not sure of the name)
Peelcraft stickers
Kaisercraft pink pearls
Stampin‘Up greeting
Versamark stamp pad
Gold embossing powder
Creative Memories Place-n-Punch – Blossom
Creative Memories Custom Cutting System – circles.
Tim Holtz Distressing Ink – Victorian Velvet
I am really excited to be going to Auckland tomorrow to find out more about Close to My Heart and also get my hands on some of the products. I can’t wait to join up and start having workshops at Make Shift.
I hope you all keep well and safe and Happy Crafting
Patricia
Welcome back.
I am looking through all my stash to try to either use it up or put it on a de-stash facebook page before I start with Close to My Heart. I have a mix of different products from different companies and lots and lots of different papers so I will probably take some of these to use up at my Crafty Angels group when we do some papercrafts next term.
With these cards I have used a burgundy card from Stampin’Up (sorry I don’t know the name of the colour as it came in a pack that was on special – I have been told it is Rich Razzleberry by my Stampin’Up friend Julie Butler) and white cardstock and used embossing folders and Memory Box dies to create these cards. I even sneaked in some stamping as well. I took these cards to the library where I take a card making session and sold a couple of cards before I could even get them put aside for Make Shift.
Here they are:
Materials used:
Memory Box dies – Cherry Blossom, Phloe, Pippi Butterfly
Dienamics Die – Fancy Flourish
Stampin-Up Stamps – Cottage Garden
Creative Memories Custom Cutting System – ovals
Cuttlebug Embossing Folder – Elegant Frame, Swiss Dots
Peelcraft stickers
Purchased sympathy stickers.
White ribbon and button from my stash
I have just purchased a Cricut Expressions 2 and put it on layby so won’t be picking it up for a while. I am not sure how long I can hold out with this as it is going to expand my creative horizons so much! I have been watching videos on You-Tube and can’t wait to get started. Next week I am off to Auckland to learn more about Close to My Heart and get the chance to get my hands on some of the CTMH products which I am really looking forward to. We have been really fortunate that we have got this opportunity to move forward with. I really feel for the CM Consultants in Canada and the United States who may not have the same opportunities.
Have a good day and Happy Crafting.
Patricia
Hello there.
Welcome to all my new followers and thank you to all those that visit and take the time to comment and like my posts. I really appreciate the feedback.
I am back to showing some of my cards that will be available at Make Shift when we open. I don’t know about you but sometimes I find it very difficult to make cards for teenage girls who are not into the flowers or butterflies or all things girly. So when I was in the local $2 shop I found these really cool layered stickers for these cards. I have made use of my CM border maker to make some borders as a contrast so the cards are quite edgy and not soft or feminine at all. I think the contrast between the deep pink and black is kind of cool as well. Anyway, here they are:
The materials I have used are:
Bazzill card stock
Plain black cardstock
Creative Memories Border Maker – hexagon and banner cartridges
Peelcraft stickers
Stampin‘Up greeting stamps
Couture Creations Drink Me embossing folder
I am really looking forward to going to Auckland in a couple of weeks to check out the launch of Close to My Heart in New Zealand. I am drooling over the cartridges for the Cricut machine and am scouring Trade Me for some bargains. I like using my Cuttlebug, but it will be nice to have an accurate cut each time and be able to layer the images and stamps together. It should add a whole new dimension to my crafting.
I hope everyone has a good weekend and I will catch up soon with some more cards and/or photographs.
Happy crafting
Patricia
Welcome back
I have been really busy making lots of cards for our new pop up shop, Make Shift, that we are looking to open about the beginning of August. I am looking at doing a wide range of cards for to cater for everyone, but some cards have been easier to make than others. I love feminine cards with flowers, but that is not going to interest everyone so I have been using a wide range of products and papers to make lots of different cards.
For this range of cards I have purchased one sheet of gorgeous paper with foil accents and was able to make 8 cards out of this one sheet of paper. I love the colours in this paper and have kept the cards fairly simple to highlight the simple, naive design of the paper. I managed to match up the paper with the Creative Memories It’s a Boy embossed cardstock – lime green and Creative Memories Taffy Cardstock.
The materials I have used with these cards are:
Creative Memories Shape Maker – square
Creative Memories Square Maker
Peelcraft stickers
Stampin‘Up greeting
Scorepal
Creative Memories Tape Runner
Creative Memories Rotary Trimmer
Kaisercraft Pearls
As you can see these birthday cards can be great for any age – but probably more suitable for the ladies or girls.
I will keep posting more photos of my cards as I complete them to show the wide range that will be at the shop.
I hope you all have a great week.
Happy Crafting
Patricia
Today is Mother’s Day and it is a chance to reflect on how important mothers are in our world today. They provide unconditional love and support to their children and are the glue that holds families together.
I have created this card for all the mothers in the world. I have used the 2013 Anniversary Digital Kit and used the colour coordination feature to change the colours from blue/green to my favourite pink. I hope you enjoy my offering.
Happy Mother’s Day
Patricia