Papermill offer - white leather embossed card

It's time for another great offer from Papermill. This week it is the beautiful leather embossed card which I've used to make the wallet cards and pillow box in the photo above.

The card is 230gsm  - it die cuts and folds like a dream.

You can buy a small box for £5.00, a midi box for £13.50 and a mega box for £32.50
Check out the offer page HERE

You should have a look at the Papermill blog to see the lovely cards the other Design Team members have made...lots of very novel ideas!

I know lots of you really want the Tonic Studios header fold dies which I've used (I don't blame you!) but they sold out in record time and will be replaced as soon as possible. Watch this space!

You can see some more beautiful cards made with this card by the other members of the Design Team..
Barbara
Sandie
Sylv
Lisa
Angela
 

We've all gone pink! Giro d'Italia fever

 It seems like everything has turned pink overnight here - I was actually relieved to open the loaf and find white bread inside!

If you didn't already know, the Giro d'Italia opening presentation is taking place at Belfast City Hall just now and the race will be heading our way on Saturday. Just as well I don't have to go into Belfast for the next couple of days and our own place has lots of road closures too. It will be lovely to see the bikes (I hope!) but, as you can see from the photos, the sky doesn't look a good colour :(

Even the "White Monk" roundabout at Whiteabbey has been painted pink..

The gates of Stormont.

Most of the shops in our area have got bicycles which have been sprayed pink in their window displays...all donated by the local council :)

Creating backgrounds with Letraset Aquamarkers

I've been having a look at some of the different backgrounds it's possible to create with Letraset Aquamarkers - from pale washes to vivid patterns. 

I've chosen a mixture of blues and green shades to complement the Trimcraft Santoro Mergirl stamp as I wanted a seaside type of colour effect.

You'll need

Letraset Aquamarkers

Watercolour paper

Water mister/spray bottle

Glass mat/craft sheet

(coarse salt granules)

A.

1. Aquamarkers, mister and watercolour paper on a glass mat.

2. Using the larger brush tip, scribble ink from the markers onto the glass mat.

3. Spray with water.

4. Place the right side of the watercolour paper firmly on top of the ink.

5. Turn it over and you will have a pale coloured background.

B.

Using more ink and less water gives a deeper background. You can experiment to see the results.

C.

1. This technique also works with the Metallic markers.

Scribble the markers onto the glass mat.

2. Mist with water.

3. Place the paper right side down into the ink and swipe it around a little.

4. You can swipe it through the water and ink several times to get the coverage you want.

D.

1. I've used Blue and Green Metallic Markers with very little water to get a spotty type of background.

2. Then I added a little more water and pressed the paper into the ink again to give more coverage.

E. ..Adding salt.

1. For the "salt effect" I inked the glass mat with Blue and Green Aquamarkers and added lots of water.

2. The paper was pressed into the wet ink.

3. While it was still very wet I sprinkled some coarse salt on top and left to dry.

You can see the salt just beginning to work.

4. The salt is starting to create patterns with the ink.

5. Leave to dry and remove the salt to reveal the end pattern.

Now you can use your chosen background paper to mat and layer onto your card.

I've coloured the Mergirl image with Promarkers to complement the Aquamarker background.

 I have used Dovecraft Glitter card behind the stamped image and background paper.

 Curiosity Corner Twine and washi tape.

A bow made with Dovecraft Glitter card and a Dovecraft brad.

Adding texture to projects

Reeves pastes can be used to great effect on both cards and scrapbook pages. In this post I'm showing how I used it with a beautiful stencil to create a textured element on a scrapbook page.

You'll need a stencil

(I have used "IVY" by Lefranc & Bourgeois)

Reeves Modeling paste

Reeves Artists' Painting knife

Letraset alcohol ink

(masking tape)

1. Protect your work area with a glass cutting mat or a craft sheet.

2. Squeeze some modelling paste onto the work surface and  add a few drops of ink.

3. Mix these together with the painting knife.

4. If the paste is not the shade you want just add some more ink until you are happy with the result.

5. Tape the stencil to your page with masking tape making sure it is flat. I have added a little piece of paper below part of the ivy where it would be easy to go over the edge. You'll notice that I have left the backing paper on the stencil - you can remove this but I often leave it and use the grid as a guide.

6. Spread the paste over the stencil  - keeping it as smooth as possible.

7. Check that it is smooth before you remove the stencil from the page.

8. Remove the masking tape and stencil cleanly to reveal the embossed pattern on the page.

You will have a beautiful velvet-like embossed pattern on the page.

Now you can use this as a backdrop for your scrapbook page.

I've used a page from the 12 x 12 Trimcraft Santoro paper pad for the base with lots of elements and papers from the Trimcraft Curiosity Corner range to decorate the page.

 A bird from the "Wooden Elements" inked around the edges and a wing which was handcut from the Curiosity Corner 8x8 paper pad.

Paper and washi tape.

Doilies, wooden element, accordion stickers, twine and buttons.

Washi tape and twine

Sister card

It's amazing just how quickly you can make a lovely card using dies and the beautiful new sentiment dies from Tonic Studios are a great focal point. I've used the "Sister" die from the Family Members die set on this card. I cut it twice (once in black and once in white) and glued it over plain and patterned scalloped circles with a background cut with the Florid Circle base die. The flower is made with the Carnation, Sweet William, Peony Punch and Stamp set.

You can catch the next show with the new dies on Create and Craft today at 2.00pm 

Ruth  :)

Donegal Stationery today

Some of the ladies who came to today's demo at Donegal Stationery, Letterkenny, where I was making cards with Tonic Studios dies and punches, Trimcraft Santoro and Promarkers.

Thanks to Bernie and staff who always look after me so well and also to everyone who came along and made it such a great day! 

Eileen :)

After everyone had gone I was treated to scrummy apple tart and tea before heading home.

The craic is always great with these ladies and I'm looking forward to the next trip already :)

New sentiment dies from Tonic Studios

Wow! The header fold dies sold out really fast! And no wonder - they are really beautiful and versatile.

At that rate I would imagine the gorgeous new sentiment dies will not last too long either. These are fantastic for making a statement on a card as they are "just the right size".

The next show on Create and Craft is this evening at 9.00pm so don't miss it :)

...and don't forget (anyone in Ireland), I'll be demoing at Donegal Stationery, Letterkenny, tomorrow and would love to see you there:)

New Tonic Studios Header and Sentiment dies - TODAY!

The gorgeous new Tonic Studios header and sentiment dies that everyone has been waiting for are just about to be released on Create and Craft ....in half an hour, at mid day!!

There are two beautiful sets of header dies (but obviously you can use them for much more than headers) and lots of really useful sentiment dies.

Make sure you tune in ....and the blog will be updated regularly over the next few days to show you lots more ideas for using these new dies :)

Navy linen card offer from Papermill

 Papermill offer alert! This gorgeous  Navy Blue linen embossed card is on offer this week.

I've made a very simple (but hopefully elegant) card to show it off in its true light.

 The card is 220gsm and you can buy a small box of A4 card for £4.50
That's approximately 80 A4 sheets for only £4.50.

 I've added a double punched strip of white hammered card  - punched with the Tonic Studios Elegant Drape Intrica border punch and added some buff and more navy in the centre.

You can see some more beautiful cards made with this card by the other members of the Design Team..
Barbara
Sandie
Sylv
Lisa
Angela