Pop-up Princess Card

I've recently discovered a British crafting magazine called "Papercraft Essentials" (http://www.papercraftessentials.co.uk). Each issue comes with freebies (papers plus some sort of embellishments). I don't particularly like the style of most of the cards shown but the techniques and explanations are just excellent!

I wanted to make a special birthday card for my son's friend and I found the perfect project in the magazine, issue #43. Not only is the card pretty impressive but it also made use of severl of my favorite things - cricut, cuttlebug, and glitter. The card closes flat and is held shut with a chain, but when opened the castle inside pops up.



So, how to make this fun & impressive card?

Step by step (all measurements metric):

1. Create your card base by scoring a 15x30cm piece of cardstock at 5cm, 9.5cm, 10cm, 20cm, 20.5cm and 25cm.

2. Create a pop-up using cricut Design Studio software and the Paper Doll Dress Up cartridge. Select the castle and stretch to 10.472cm by 5.527cm, and cut. I then embossed the castle using the Fiskars stone texture plate and my cuttlebug. Score-fold at 5cm, 7.5cm and 10cm on either side of the centre.

3. Concertina-fold each side so the centre section sticks out to the front, then glue the ends to the card (careful to line up the folds).

4. Decorate as desired. I used the Paper Doll Dress Up cartridge to cut out a paper doll, clothes and accessories. I added some glitter and bling to the crown and dress and stamped a cute little pumpkin carriage (Snag 'Em Stamps) behind the castle.

Crop for Kids 2009 - summer crop

What a wonderful treat! This past Saturday I got to spend an entire day scrapbooking with friends, thanks to the "Crop for Kids" organizers. Jacqui, Leslie & I took part in the summer crop (sort of a warm up to the weekend-long crop in October) and had quite a good time. We each won a door prize that we liked and I was even productive! I tried to use more patterns and techniques so I feel pretty good about my efforts. I managed to get several pages completed which brings me almost up-to-date for 2009 (let's not talk about pre-2006 though).

This first layout is for Phil's 46th birthday. Note the 2 PP's! And I added black & yellow brads for interest. The tags for the title were coloured using copic marker to achieve the same off-white tone as the paper.




This 2-page layout covers a recent visit we made to the Boundary Bay Airport air show. Again, I used a bold PP. I also used copics to colour the title cloud and the tags. The cloudy effect was accidental at first but I liked it so much that I continued it for all the tags. I also used my new Cricut to cut the "ready set go" words for the tags. The font is from the Disney Mickey Font cartridge. I really like how the colour in Luke's shirt is picked up in the paper and embellishments (again, a total fluke).





I'm busily finishing off and photographing the cards I made so will post those shortly. As well, I will get pictures of the make & takes up as a couple were pretty cute.

Cute purse gift card holders

My DS were invited to a birthday party for a pair of sisters this past weekend. I absolutely love shopping for little girls so was excited to hear what present ideas the boys had. Imagine my disappointment when they said the girls wanted a gift card to IKEA (they are saving for a kitchen playset). Well, had to make the best of it and so decided to make a very fancy gift card holder for each girl.

This is what I came up with:





I started with a purse template that I modified from a few ideas found on split coast stampers. I used some pretty embossed PP for the purses and then embellished with felt ribbon, ribbon handles and lots of Stickles glitter. I used some cheap flowers (bought at Walmart) and coloured them to match with my Copic markers. The edges are liberally glittered with matching Stickles. The flaps are created with EK Success border punches and are held closed with velcro. The gift card pocket is revealed when the purse is opened.

I'm pretty pleased with the result - pretty, sparkly and fun. The girls were pretty pleased with purses. More so than with the gift cards, actually!

Forgetful, not lazy

I've have been very forgetful about adding stuff to my blog (why bother when almost no one reads it?). But for my faithful reader, Jacqui, here are my latest creations.

I've been having lots of fun experimenting with all my Copic markers (I just can't seem to stop buying more colours). I have a couple of Penny Black stamp sets that work beautifully with the Copics. I also got a free pack of paper in a crafting magazine so I tryed out some patterned papers I wouldn't normally use. Check out all the patterns and layers on Grumpy Kitty in particular!


A "Just because" card made for my niece Jamey.


Grumpy Kitty card - sentiment reads "I may be difficult ... but I'm cute". I quite like the contrast between the flowery papers and the grumpy cat. Like he's thinking "what the heck am I doing on this girly card?" I distressed the edges of the papers quite a bit to soften the contrast.


Balloon Kitty

Crazy for Copic

I took my first class the other day in using Copic markers. I have been dieing to try these (probably because there are so many to buy) but have held off until I actually knew something about the markers. Well, 2 hours of classtime and I am totally hooked. My collection of markers has already grown to an embarassing size (as has my Visa bill) but I have been experimenting and really enjoying them so that's OK.

Here is my first card which was created in class (Clipper Street Scrapbooking):





I started out with just a couple of pens in purple and green and created these images.








This card was created on some left-over glossy cardstock and class-a-peels. The marker ink didn't fully absorb into the paper which left a kind of mottled appearance which I just love for the bird. The leaves were also done with class-a-peels and the glossy cardstock but then I cut them out individually and overlaid them using some pop dots for extra interest.

OK, I've taken this from CraftyJack's blog (who saw it on Marcia's Blog CiaB's Crafty Times). Let's see how I'm doing! :) Feel free to copy and post and link back here! All those things I've done in my life are BOLD. 48 down! Although I must admit there are a few I never hope to try.
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (if school band counts)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked (does it count if your dad picks you up and you knew he would the only one driving that way?)
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted (I have to include this one even though it was a pencil sketch)
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie independent movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar (recommend not trying this one - blah!)
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone (does nose count?)
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Reduce, reuse, recycle

This Christmas I used gift tags from a Costco set. They were quite nice and it seemed a shame to throw them away after one use. So, in the spirit of being "green", I decided to reuse some of the tags & their components for next year's Christmas cards.





I have a shoebox filled with recovered items including ribbons, cord, images (like the snowman and tree images in these examples). I should be able to make most of my cards for the coming Christmas using these materials.