Craftwork Cards Magic of Christmas paper Christmas house

Hello and welcome to my last Christmas post before Christmas. I'm design elf Katrina, I have the amazing job of showing you what you can make and do with the wonderful products the Fruit Pixie sells.    Christmas is just days away now and I thought it would be nice to show you a little house I made using the beautiful Craftwork Cards Magic of Christmas paper kit. I love to make these houses, in fact I have a whole village of little glittery houses that comes out at Christmas and has lights in them to light up their windows. You can buy battery operated LED lights now on the high street that make you houses look magical.     

I cut the base of my house using my Silhouette Cameo but you can find templates to print out free on the internet and you can also buy dies these days to make beautiful little houses.

The way I make my houses is to cut the base in plain card stock then cut the same again in the paper you wish to cover it with. I cut the constitution tabs off of the paper cuts and also cut along the fold lines as it's easier to cover your folds with ink after then get paper to curve neatly around a corner. I always decorate the house flat, then when you are happy with the look construct your house.

 To make the window frames I cut the house again in white card then cut the windows out leaving an even frame around them and  stick them to the house, then fold it up.

Don't forget the door knob, I used a sticky gem.

Also you can decorate the back too, I chose not to for this house.

The roof can be covered with a different paper to the walls. It can also a great place to add lettering or sentiments  too.

Of course no Christmas house could be complete without snow and sparkle. 

All this house needs now is its lights. You can use the battery tea lights but I find they are not strong enough to light my houses up so I use the battery operated fairy LED lights. Of course I don't need to tell you but for safety DO NOT USE A REAL CANDLE OR TEA LIGHT! 

These would be such fun to make with children, I would cut out all the pieces in different colours and paper then let them build up their own Christmas house. Great for a Christmas Eve activity.

Well there we are, my last Christmas post for 2016.

Can I take this opertunity to say a big thank you for reading my posts this year and wish you a very happy Christmas.

Join me after Christmas for more fun with paper, card, paint and ink!

Happy Christmas!

               Love Katrina 

 

Craftwork Cards Frozen Forest Christmas decoration

Well, our tree is up and decorated and it is really looking like Christmas is on its way!    Today I have a lovely Christmas tree decoration I have made using the Craftwork cards Frozen Forest kit. The toppers are perfect to make this decoration with. The plastic baubles are available on the high street, I got mine in Wilkinsons.  

I chose 2 of the toppers, one of the animal ones then for the reverse I have one of the sentiments. I cut them out with one of my dies and then stuck them together.

 

 I then put some of the beautiful Cosmic Shimmer Ice crystals to look like snow onto the flat topper. Then, keeping it flat, I stuck one half of the plastic bauble to the front of the topper using a wet glue and left it to dry.

 

Repeat for the other side, making sure the baubles hanging holes match up.

 

 

I added some wire worked onto a loop, a bow of ribbon and Christmas embellishment.

 

I also made a box using the same papers so I could give it as a gift.

 

Do have a look at this beautiful paper pack. You can find it in the shop here -

 

http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/craftwork-cards-8-x-8-collection-pack-frozen-forest-26360-p.asp

 

The Cosmic Shimmer ice crystals here -

 

http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/cosmic-shimmer-glitter-jewels-iced-crystals-19428-p.asp

 

 

Frozen Forest Christmas card

Another Christmas project. This time I am using the Craftwork cards Frozen forest collection available from The Fruit Pixie. This would work wonderfully well if you want something, like me, that would make seasonal Christmas cards but you also have winter birthdays to make for too.      The kit has the usual contents. A beautifully designed paper pad that is 8x8 and matching toppers. This time round ones with animals and scripted sentiments and some lovely pennant shapes too. Of course it also has the signature Candi, these are a pearl white.     I always find so many things to do with these Craftwork cards kits and this is no exception. So to start with I have a Christmas card to show you.

I have cut the card blank on my Silhouette Cameo but the sweet deer topper and striking black backing paper is from the kit. I just needed to add some snowflakes ( don't ask me how many different snowflakes I own but I have a HUGE amount but I will deny everything 😄 ) And then of course add a Happy Christmas to finish off.

You can find this beautiful kit in the shop here 

http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/craftwork-cards-8-x-8-collection-pack-frozen-forest-26360-p.asp

   

Sparkle Christmas card and stamping and embossing help

Here is my beautiful sparkling Wreath card using the lovely stamp by Woodware that I have designed for The Fruit Pixie. The stamp is a clear cling stamp so you will need a clear block to attach it too. These blocks are re usable so you only need to buy them once. You then take the clear stamp and peel it off the packaging and attach it to you block. Place your block on a level surface, stamp side up and apply the ink evenly across the whole stamp using light taps. You should always apply the ink to the stamp, don't push the stamp into your ink pad or you will just end up with an inky mess and you will wast a lot of ink.   Then turn your stamp over and gently press it onto your card. Always keep one hand in the middle of the stamp block at all times to stop it rocking. Gently press over the whole stamp to push the ink onto the card, you don't need huge pressure or you will squash you stamp and the image will be blurred. Small stamps don't need as much pressure as large ones. Each stamp is different so I always try out a stamp on scrap paper to see how much ink and pressure you need to get a good image before I apply it to my project.  If it's the first time you have stamped I would recommend stamping on a separate piece of card to your project and then cutting it out, either as a topper or cut around it, that way if it doesn't quite go to plan you have not spoiled a card you have worked for hours on. The more you stamp the more confident you will get.  The great thing about clear stamps is you can see through them so you can place them exactly where you want them. After stamping wash them in soapy water and leave them to air dry or use a stamp cleaner. Once dry put them back on the packaging and keep them in a cool dark place. If your ink has stained your stamp don't worry this happens, they will still stamp well. Once you have mastered stamping you will want to have a go at heat embossing, which is what I have done on my card.

To heat emboss you will need an embossing ink some embossing powder and a heat gun. For this card I have used a red tinsel embossing powder I have had for about 15 years or more so the powder will never go off!

To heat emboss you ink up your stamp with an embossing ink and stamp onto your card. Then cover your stamped image in your embosssing powder as you used to do glue and glitter as a child. It's a good idea to have a scrap piece of paper under your project so you can pour the excess powder onto it then back into the pot. You will notice just how little you will have used. Give the card a good few taps to get the excess off the card. If you have trouble with  embossing powder sticking to other areas of you card try wiping an anti static bag over your card before you stamp, it really dose help.

You then need your heat gun. Now they may look like a hairdryer but they don't blow like a hairdryer and get much hotter. If you use a hairdryer you will just blow all the powder off your card, nothing else. Now as I said the heat gun dose get hot so if your card is small you might want to hold it using a peg so you don't burn you fingers and of course don't let children do it. 

Turn your heat gun on and let it just run for 10 seconds or so to get hot, every heat gun is different and you will get to know yours. Once it is running hot hold it over a part of your image and wait for it to melt, it won't take long and once it has melted to a smooth surface immediately move on to the next bit. Keep going until it is all melted to a smooth shiny surface. Don't keep it on a melted part or it will melt into the card and don't wave it over the image or it will not melt evenly. Leave to cool before you touch it. If you find places where it hasn't melted then just go back in and melt it down.

This process is mesmerising, no matter how many hundreds of times you see it happen it is still magic!

So perhaps have a go at stamping or embossing if you have never tried it before it dose open up a whole other world. Or if, like me you haven't done it for a few years, get out your embossing powders and play with them. 

You can find all you need for you card in the shop 

The Woodware Berry Wreath stamp -

http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/woodware-clear-magic-stamp-berry-wreath-26345-p.asp

Acrylic blocks -

http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/acrylic-block-5-x-3-12-10780-p.asp

http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/acrylic-block-6-12-x-5-10776-p.asp

 Embossing Ink for you stamp -

http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/embossing-inks-407-c.asp

Embossing powders -

http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/cosmic-shimmer-embossing-powders-312-c.asp

An anti static bag wiped over the card before you stamp and add you embossing powders really dose stop the powder from sticking where you don't want it, so only on the ink!

http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/woodware-magic-anti-static-pad-23796-p.asp

If you have any questions about stamping and heat embossing please ask me, either by email or here or on The Fruit Pixie face book page and I will do my best to help.

.        

The magic of Christmas card

    The Fruit Pixie, who I design for has a lot of wonderful Christmas dies and I have used one of them from Couture Collections and Spellbinders to make this cute card. The merry Christmas die is one of my own.  

The base for this card was cut on my Silhouette Cameo but you could quite easily use a standard card base and get the same effect.   The background paper is from the Craftwork Cards Festive Chalkboard paper pack.         To give the buildings their glow I cut the die out in grey card then using scraps of yellow and orange card I stuck each piece to each individual building and trimmed the coloured card down. I then used my clear glitter pen to give it some sparkle. For Father Christmas I cut in once for the base colour in red then just covered the specific areas with the corresponding coloured card. So brown for the reindeer, gold for the sleigh runners etc then trimmed the and glued them to the respective places. It sounds a lot of work and I admit you wouldn't want to make 100 of them but it is enjoyable and looks great in the end. You can find the thing I used in the shop here - Sizzling house die - http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/spellbinders-die-row-houses-23756-p.asp. Father Christmas die - http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/couture-creations-dies-649-c.asp Craftwork cards Festive Chalkboard paper pack - http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/craftwork-cards-8-x-8-collection-pack-festive-chalkboard-25677-p.asp  

     

Bicycle birthday card

    I know we are rushing towards Christmas at what feels like top speed but I thought I would just stop to take a breath and make some cards using the Craftwork Cards Blackboard set before I start on the Christmas ideas.

   This is another great set from Craftwork Cards this time using a black background throughout. Now I don't use black really in my crafting but they released a Blackboard Christmas kit last year and I must admit I really enjoyed using it and the cards look lovely. So do give this kit or the Christmas one which is available in the shop too, a try they do make beautiful cards and, as all Craftwork cards kits, are so easy to use.

   This kit is the same as the others with a pad of papers, die cut toppers and a bag of their Candis

 For my first card I chose the bicycle paper in the pad. Their papers are designed so well, you can use the image on the paper by itself, as I have done here and there is still plenty of the paper to use in another project.

As you can see there are lots of other pastel colours you can use to compliment your image, I chose the soft duck egg blue from the Core-dinations range.

I chose one of the backing papers and backed it with the same colour Core dinations card.

Another of the papers in the pad has lots of little icons you can cut out and layer.

Then to finish off I used one of the die cut sentiments in the corner.

Add some spots of glitter pen and some shine on the berries using the a glaze pen and you are done.

You can find this kit in the shop here - 

http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/craftwork-cards-8-x-8-collection-pack-chalkboard-25681-p.asp

The Christmas version here - 

http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/craftwork-cards-8-x-8-collection-pack-festive-chalkboard-25677-p.asp

You can find ideas for using the Christmas version of this kit here - 

http://thefruitpixie.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/chalkboard-christmas-cards.html

and 

http://thefruitpixie.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/festive-chalkboard-christmas-countdown.html

and here - 

http://thefruitpixie.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/craftworkcards-festive-chalkboard-from.html

The Core Dinations card here - 

http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/coredinations-super-assortment-nostalgia-15491-p.asp

The card bases here - 

http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/50-craft-uk-6-x-6-card-blanks-white-14478-p.asp

 Hope you like this card and have a look at the kits, they are something different to play with.

Something Wicked art journal

This year on the AJC ( Art Journal Caravan ) we had a Halloween journal to work in on the days leading up to Halloween. There was a challenge for each day with something to either use in your page, like a quote, or inspire you to write in your journal. Here in the UK Halloween has only taken off in a big way in my adult life so having no real childhood memories to journal about, plus I was away in Vienna for a week of it so had limited equipment to play with, I mainly chose the quotes and arty challenges to do. I also picked and chose my challenges rather than doing them in order use to being on holiday.  The Journal itself I made using watercolour paper for the pages and then a stif card to form the covers.    So here is my finished journal - 

This was my front cover, we had a few titles to chose from. I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut the letters

 

 

                              Page 1 is one of the poems given to us all hand lettered and then filled in using die cut bats and stars.  

                        Two challenges here. My potion for happiness and then on the right another saying all hand lettered   

                       The page on the left is an altered photo made into a witch,on the left another saying hand lettered with a lovely         witch cut with my Silhouette Cameo   

Now this was such fun, we had to write a story and then insert icons now and again. I used to love these as a child!

 

 

Another hand lettered page using die cuts I did using my Silhouette Cameo.

 

 

 

For the page on the right we had to use a reverse stencil. So I cut a 13 out with my Cameo and the put it on my page a used spray inks and then added to it using crayons.

The right page's challenge was you favourite Halloween film. One of mine is, as you can see, The Fearless Vampire killers which is a really funny film.

 

 

Then the last page, the challenge was a quote from Poe, of course it had to be The Raven. How can you possibly have Halloween without The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe.  

 

Then the back cover. The 31 is the 13 I used as the reverse stencil switched to make 31.

 

I think you can see how much fun I had working in this journal. The Art Journal Caravan is full of gems tike this so do have a peek at it if you want to journal but are not sure how to start or want something a bit different to do in your journals.

 

                                                                        http://shoptangiebaxter.com/

Halloween Frame

 A very Happy Halloween! Today I have a mixed media frame to show that I have made for The Fruit Pixie using the new Halloween stamps from Stampendus and the MDF frames from Creative Expressions.

         I decided to colour her using paper piecing. For those who don't know paper piecing is, it's a way to colour your stamped image by using different papers. So for this image I stamped the image to a skin coloured card then I stamped her again onto a purple paper and cut out just the coat part of the image. I then stuck it to the skin coloured image. She then had a purple coat. You keep doing that onto different papers or coloured card until you have the effect you want. A small sharp pair of scissors really help with this.

    Once I had complicated the girl I cut her completely out from the background. I still wanted her on her background so I stamped it again but this time I cut away the Halloween word. This was because I wanted to make the whole image fit in my frame and it was a tiny bit too big. So I stuck the Halloween word back onto the background to make it fit into the frame.

    I then painted my MDF frame with black paint and using some of the Creative Expresions waxes to highlight some of the areas.

 I then took my PVA glue and drew some swirls with it over the frame. Then before it dried I tipped some Frantage black glass glitter over the top.

Once it was all dry I could stick my stamped image to the backing of the frame and the stick the frame over the top.

         There, all done and ready for Halloween.

                        You can find the stamps in The Fruit Pixies Etsey shop -  https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/470878048/haloween-sprite-cling-stamp-pixie-elf?ref=shop_home_active_51          

                                    You can find the MDF frames here
 - http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/creative-expressions-mdf-690-c.asp

                                    You can find the wax here -
          http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/creative-expressionscosmic-shimmer-gilding-wax-678-c.asp

                                       and the glitter I used here -
http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/frantage-crushed-glass-glitter-black-18299-p.asp

Halloween card

The Fruit Pixie who I proudly design for had some lovely new Halloween stamps in. I started using the Stampendous Halloween Chains and the Halloween Brackets to make this card

 I love these new stamps by Stampendous! They stamp beautifully and I find stamps like these really handy to have, you can use then on the card as I have here or inside as well. They would also look cool around the address on the envelope or to make Halloween party invites. Because they are neither for girl or boy they have so many uses. They would also be really handy for scrapbooking or project life.

I took 5 inch square card in white. I then put the 3 stamps ( all the stamp strips are separate ) onto my block, you get 4 stamps but the other stamp has a little spider on it and is made to be used virtually. I stamped them 4 times and then coloured in the little icons. 

The purple card spider webs were punched out using a Marther Stewart punch. 

The sentiment stamp is the Stampendous! cling Halloween Brackets stamp which I stamped onto white card and cut out. I then stuck it onto orange card and cut it out again leaving a small amount of the orange card showing.

To finish the card off I added some dabs of my glitter pen and sponged some purple ink around the edge.

There we are, quick easy and fun but still a stylish card to send out.

You can find these stamps and much more at The Fruit Pixie - 

http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/

Colourful bunting

I have been making bunting as a project for The Fruit Pixie. All the products, except the large letters, are available through The Fruit Pixie shop.

    For the base of my bunting I used the Creative Expressions MDF Bunting which I then covered with the papers and words from the Craftwork Cards Bohemian Dreams.

   Here is a close up of each piece of bunting -

I made up 2 rosettes which I made in the same way as I showed on the post for the Craftwork Cards Rosette cards and added buttons to them. The rose and stamp are from the Craftwork cards Bohemian paper pack as is the butterfly. The dots are Craftwork cards Candis.

As you can just see on this one I painted the sides some of my bunting with a red paint, others in blue. I then covered it with paper from the Craftwork cards Bohemian Dreams. The large letters are chipboard ones I have had for years at home which I painted . I cut hexagons using a die out of the different papers in the Bohemian Dreams paper pad and added a stitch look with a fine liner pen. The words are also from the paper pad as is the little stamp. I then added buttons and a lemon Dahlia cabochon along with some more of the Candis.

Here are more of the papers cut into hexagons along with some more of the collage pieces and words, also from the paper pad. I also used a button and this time a blue Dahlia cabochon.

On this one you can see the stitching I drew around the hexagons I cut from the paper. I also used more collage bits and words found in the paper pad as well as a lime Dahlia cabochon and some more of the Candis too. 

  

Much the same was used again, paper from the paper pad, buttons and Candis and this time a white Dahlia cabochon.

For the final piece of bunting I again used paper from the pad to make the rosettes, a butterfly from the kit too as well as some of the collage pieces cut from the papers and a few Candis. 

To thread the bunting together I used several ribbons that matches the colours of my bunting to give it a festival look. It hangs in my craft room by the window and the ribbons flutter nicely in the breeze.

This is a lovely project to make and I think these papers really lend themselves to it with their bright cheery colours. The pad also has lots of lovely words that also worked so well with this project.

You can find the papers I used here - 

http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/craftwork-cards-8-x-8-collection-pack-bohemian-dreams-25673-p.asp

the buttons here - 

http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/button-assortment-brights-9821-p.asp

the Dahlia Cabochons here - 

http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/beads-76-c.asp

All sorts of ribbon here - 

http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/ribbons--trims-ecfb8nproducts179curpage-2-179-c.asp

Cutterpilla Crop Trimmer review

Today I am going to do something I have never done before, review a product I have bought myself.

 I decided to invest in the new Cutterpilla Crop Trimmer. This is the smaller of the 2 Cutterpilla trimmers that are on the market as I write this review. I say invest because the price is quite high for a craft trimmer but it comes with a lifetime guarantee for the blade which sharpens itself each time you cut with it, so technically you should have this trimmer for many years to come. That is what they say but how good is it ?? Well it arrived this morning and I have put it through its paces.

   For those who don't know me, let me tell you a little of my crafting background. I have been paper crafting now for over 25 years. For the past 10 years it has become my addiction and I craft at least 4 days a week, designing for 3 small companies as well as making all my own cards and anything else I can think up. I will use anything I can get my hands on, crafting mainly mixed media altered art style craft. So as you can see my tools get used a lot and have to cope with many different materials.

 Over the years I have had 5 trimmers which all except the Woodware rotary trimmer I have now, have either broke or the blades have been taken off the market as the trimmers get redesigned.
     I have loved my Woodware trimmer but they have now redesigned that one too The problem with it was the blade housing. It was large and would over time get loose so it eventually didn't cut straight and then falls off, which happened to my first one. The one I have now is starting to work loose too, so I had started to look for a new trimmer. It is very unlike me to be the first to buy something in my crafting group of friends but I was impressed by this new trimmer and so took a deep breath and bought it!

     To replace my Woodware trimmer for the new model would cost between £15 - £20 and you need to replace the plastic cutting strips now and again, they are about £2 for 2 strips, so not expensive.
 
      I paid £62.99 for my Cutterpillar Crop which also came with 50 sheets of 12x12 card from Create and Craft ( I am in their club with gave me my 10% discount. It would be worth you joining if you wanted to buy this trimmer from them ) There is nothing else I would need to buy for this trimmer except the batteries for the light which don't come with the trimmer.

    So the trimmer - Sorry about the dark pictures I took them during a thunder storm!

It comes in its own carry box with a nice handle on the top for storage or taking to your clubs etc

It comes with instructions but to be honest all you need to do it lift it out and pop some batteries in.

The first thing I noticed was how heavy it was! The metal parts are very good quality. I am not sure about the plastic part, especially the arm that lifts out. It feels quite thin and I am worried it will eventually break. Only time will tell with that. 

They tell you not to pick it up by the metal bar, which is hard not to do, as there are gears under it which guide the blade. If you try to pick it up on the side where the arm is then the arm gives way a bit too, so its best to go top and bottom. All little things to get used to.

So then I took it upstairs to my craft room to cut things!!

It has an extremely bright strip of LED lights down the cutting side which shows you where the blade cuts. As I get migraines I am not sure how long I can use those for as they are soooo bright but when you are cutting 12 inch paper it dose help a lot.

So to the cut .......It is amazing! So smooth, a tiny amount of pressure needed and the cut is dead straight. Unlike a rotary or v blade cutter that you use pressure from the top to cut, this one you just push from the side and along. I say push but you need the smallest amount of pressure to make it cut. The blade is well protected too. This would be a great trimmer for you if you have found other trimmers hard to get to cut.

So what would it cut?

I tried - 

Card about 280gsm

scrapbook paper

acetate

wax paper

cardboard box card ( the box it came in )

thick packaging card 

A fibrous decorative paper ( the purple stuff in the photo )

Foam core board

It cut them all like a knife through butter! Even the foam core board which I couldn't believe!!

This was how thick the thickest card I could find, cut no trouble! In one cut.

This is foam core, its a sandwich of card, foam and card. Very light but thick. It's the material they make architects models with. Cut amazingly! Again in one cut.

The reason it can do these thick materials is there is no strip to hold your paper etc down. I have read some reviews that said they didn't like that because the paper slipped when they cut it. I can understand that but it dose have the huge advantage in being able to cut thicker things and I have not had a problem with paper slipping so far.

As I mentioned it has an arm to pull out so you can cut 12x12  paper and card. That locks into place smoothly and is easy to read. What about cutting a particular size piece of card though? How easy is that??

I cut a 3 inch square, which I found easy as it had a square grid on the trimmer so you can square your card up nicely.

It was also accurate too when I checked with a ruler

How about cutting 12x12 as a full piece??

This is where the light really did come into its own. You could see where it cut easily and it cut the whole length of the 12 inch side, no problem.

What about the quality of the cut though? Dose it feather the card??

I have tried to photograph it, The card I cut is the purple piece, it is as clean as a whistle. I have even got the magnifying glass out to look at it and I can't see any feathering. It sharpens the blade each time you cut with it so it should look like that in 10 years time too.

Well there we have it. There are a few things that will take a little getting used to but that is the same for all new tools. 

Overall first impressions, I really like it. Its easy to cut with, cuts many different things and has a very clean cut too.

Pros - 

*An easy gliding cutting motion using hardly any pressure.

*Sharpens its blade every time so no blades to buy ( lifetime guarantee )

*Cuts straight and clean every time due to gear system.

*Nice grid on bed of trimmer so easy to measure.

*Cuts many different materials with the same clean cut.

Cons - 

*It's heavy but that's because of the quality metal in it

*Difficult to pick up, perhaps I just need to get used to it?

*Quality of the plastic used appears thin and I am worried about the arm breaking but only time will tell on that one.

*You need to measure at the top of the trimmer as there are no markings at the bottom. I have always measured mainly at the bottom of my trimmers but you can't do that with this one due to the way the blade works, it doesn't cut right the way to the bottom of the trimmer bed. Again something different to get used to and as I cut sitting down might be difficult.

So quite difficult to find fault. I admit this is just a first impression review but overall I am pleased I jumped in and bought it and I am looking forward to using it for many years to come.

If you are thinking of getting one and have a question you would like to ask me please email me and I will give you my honest answer. It is quite a lot of money for a trimmer but at the time of writing this review I am pleased I did.

Thanks for staying with me to the end, I know it was a bit of a long one but I hoped it helped.

Knowledge digital pages

Kyrsty Scrapbook Designs has another new digital kit out. Its part of a regular themed collaboration by all the kit designers at Mischief Circus, This time the theme is Knowledge.
You can find it here at Mischief Circus - http://www.mischiefcircus.com/shop/product.php?productid=23901&cat=&page=

 I am one of Kyrsty's designers and so here are my 2 digital pages for this kit

Rosette card

 It's been a while since I posted last as I have been battling my migraines again. Unfortunately the worst thing for me to do while I am in a migraine phase is look at a back lit screen like a laptop or tablet. Now though I am on the mend and able to post again!

   So today I am going to show you how I made this really fun card using the Craftwork Cards Bohemian Dreams kit for The Fruit Pixie who I design for.

These rosettes are very easy to make and you can make them any size you like. The only thing you need to keep in mind is the larger the rosette the wider and longer the strip of paper needed but you can easily stick 2 strips together to get the length you need. I would do that after you have scored and folded them.

OK, to make your rosette you will need a strip of paper, a score board ( you could use a ruler to measure and then fold but it dose take a bit of patience to do that but it can be done ) and some wet glue.

First cut your strip of paper, this one is about 1 inch wide, place on your score board, I am using a Hougie Board on the cm side.

Score down each mark and then fold up as shown. Now if I wanted a larger rosette I would use a wider strip of paper and score and fold a second or even third strip and then stick them together.

Glue your folded strip into a circle using a wet glue as shown. I do mine so the pattern you want for the front is on the outside of the circle, you will see why in the next step. Then cut 2 circles of card or paper. These circles are the top and bottom of your rosette and give you a base to glue the rosette too. I have the larger one on the bottom and the small one on the top. You can use any scrap card for the bottom as it won't be seen but the top one needs to be from a coordinating paper or card as it will be seen.

Take your larger circle and put a generous amount of wet glue onto it and put it to the side but within reach. Then the bit that some people find a little tricky, take your rosette and using your fingers push gently out and down on the top of the circle. Your rosette will then fold down flat. While keeping your fingers on the flattened rosette bring your glue covered circle in and place glue side down onto the middle of your flattened rosette. If you let go it will spring back up again, if that happens just do the same as you did before to flatten it again. That is why you have the back on the inside of your circle. If you change your mind or forget that bit you can turn them over carefully but they can sometimes fight back!!

I then put something on top of the rosette immediately to hold the base in place for it to dry.

Once it has dried you can turn your rosette over and glue the other circle onto the top. I still put a small circle onto my rosette even if I am going to add a button or other decoration as it helps stabilise the finished rosette.

So that's how you make your rosettes, all I did to make up my card is make several rosettes in different sizes using the different papers in the pad, of course the are all double sided which gives you so many choices!

I used a couple of the papers as a background and then layered up the rosettes and added some buttons.

To finish off I also added some of the Candi that comes in the kit using tiny foam pads and one of the sentiments from another of the papers.

I was really pleased with this card, so bright and summery!

You can find the Craftwork cards Bohemian Dreams paper kit in The Fruit Pixie shop here - 

 http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/craftwork-cards-8-x-8-collection-pack-bohemian-dreams-25673-p.asp

A wonderful selection of buttons here - 

http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/buttons-34-c.asp

3D foam that fit the Candi here - 

http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/stix-2-3d-foam-pads-black-2045-p.asp