A few demos coming up

Papermill offer card

Plain and simple tonight to highlight the beautiful dark blue card which is on offer at the moment form Papermill. 

 It's only £4.50 for approximately 80 A4 sheets!

I have used it to make the actual card base and also to die cut. The dies used are Tonic Studios Antique frames and the Bird.

Punch and Stamp flower examples

I've just finished my new boards showing some of the flowers you can make with the Tonic Studios Punch and Stamp sets so I thought I'd post them here as a reference.

You'll notice I have called each board by the box name but added "etc"...that little "etc" is very important because you can see that I have made lots more flowers than the ones named on the boxes. That is because, when I was designing these sets I tried my best to think of lots of different ways to use them. There are more than what I have photographed and you probably can think of more for yourself but I hope you like these and enjoy the sets you have..

These are little fuchsias made with set 2....not on the board because I had no room for any more.. :)

SET 1

SET 2

SET 3

SET 4

Mixing it up...

I don't often have time now just to make a card "for the fun of it" but this is one  - and has come together in stages in between lots of other things.

Firstly, I thought I'd have a go at designing a shape to cut out on the Silhouette...don't look too closely, it's not perfect but I'm happy with it for my first attempt :). I'm probably crazy for sharing this beginner Silhouette stuff but I reckon there are other novices out there and some folk who might be interested because they are thinking of buying one ..

These are the 2 outer shapes cut from cream hammered card and kraft card (both form Papermill Direct).

Then I took out the inner shape and embossed it with Swiss Dots embossing folder before replacing it in the centre.

All the rest of the detail on the card was created with Tonic Studios punches.

I used the Delicate Lattice border punch for the bottom border, the Multi Detail butterfly at the top right and flowers made with the Punch and Stamp sets ( 701e and 702e) in the centre.

The beautiful floral paper is from the Tonic Birds on a Branch paper pad

Dandy embossed card offer at Papermill

All the white cardstock on the card above is the Dandy embossed card from Papermill which is on offer this week. It has a lovely subtle texture which is perfect for the actual card base, die cutting punching and also stamping. The offer is an A4 small box of this 270 gsm card for £5.00 

I have used the Tonic Studios Indulgence Elegant Vine Square die as the base with one of the Fuchsia stamps coloured with Promarkers on foam pads on top. Then I added some little Classic butterflies round the edges.

Using Tonic Verso dies "in the card"

I've made a card using the Gothic Border square die set from Tonic Studios with the Peruvian Lily, Evening Primrose, Corncockle Punch and Stamp set.. the instructions are below.

Where do you get your inspiration for crafty projects from?

I was wearing this dress and sandals a couple of days ago and finally realised that crafting had got a hold when I kept looking at it and thinking ....mmm, lovely colours for a card....I could use my self adhesive cork....and gems... Oh dear. It might just be the heat!!..

Here are the instructions for this effect...

1. Place the patterned Verso die centrally on the front of the card ...on top of the Multi purpose platform  and one cutting plate.

2. Place the other cutting plate on top of the die making sure that the edge of the plate is level with the fold of the card - NB..this is VERY important, otherwise you will have a deep crease line on the card.

3. You may need to use a shim (extra layer of card). Place this directly on top of the top cutting plate. Pass through the Big Shot once or twice.

4. The result is a pattern cut into the card front. I have placed it on top of a piece of black card so you can see the finished effect.

5. Success!!

6. You can then do the same with the smaller die to create a pattern in the centre. 

Remember to place the top cutting plate just up to the fold :).

Enjoy :)

Punch and Stamp Instruction boards

I'm adding photos of instruction boards which I made to show the easy steps in making the flowers which are named on the Tonic Studios Punch and Stamp sets. I will also be adding lots of photos of many of the different flowers which you can make from the sets which are not named on the boxes but which can be created by twisting or stamping the petals in different ways - just by using your imagination.

Set 1   700e

Set 2  701e

Set 3   702e

Set 4   703e