Lots of Labels Z-Fold Card

This will probably be my last blog post for a couple of weeks. I'm sure you will all be too busy to be reading my blog. Thank you to those who HAVE been reading, though.

This card uses the Lots of Labels Framelits Dies and is quite stunning. All credit goes to Dawn Griffith whose video inspired me to make this card; the photos in the instructions are screenshots from Dawn's video - I will put a link to the video at the end of my instructions. Thank you, Dawn, for allowing me to share your card with my readers.

Dawn's Card - so pretty!

How the card looks when closed (sorry it's a bit blurry)

Materials

·         6" x 12" coloured cardstock (card base)

·         6" x 6" patterned paper (card front)

·         3" x 12" contrasting cardstock (fold mechanism)

·         6" x 6" plain cardstock (inside panels and front label; white, vanilla, or any other light colour cardstock)

·         Rhinestones or other embellishments, as desired

·         Optional: 2” of coordinating ribbon.

Equipment

·         Paper trimmer

·         Bone folder 

·         Adhesive

·         Lots of Labels Framelits Dies, or other similar nesting dies

·         Big Shot 

·         Stamps

·         Ink pads

Instructions

1.      Cut all of your cardstock/patterned paper as follows:

·         Card base: 4¼" x 11" and score at 5½".

·         Paper (card front): 4” x 5¼".

·         Fold mechanism: 2½" x 10” and score at 2” and 6”.

·         Inside panels (x 2): 3¾” x 2¼".

·         Front label: 3” x 5”

2.      Adhere the paper to the front of the card. Be sure to put some adhesive in the middle of the paper so that when the card front is die-cut the pieces will stay together.

3.      Use the largest size Lots of Label Framelits Die (4¾" x 2⅞") to cut out a piece on the front of the card. Place the die centrally on the card front (but open the card so you only cut the front).

Centre the die

4.      Use the second largest Lots of Labels Framelits Die (4-1/16" x 2½") to cut out the front label for stamping using the 3” x 5” piece of plain cardstock. 

5.      Stamp the front label and inside panels as desired. One inside panel is for a stamped sentiment; the other is to write on; you can use them either way around.

6.      Adhere the inside panels to the two long sides of the fold mechanism. The photo below shows the front label as well, but it is not yet attached to anything).

7.      Adhere the front, stamped label to the die-cut piece from the front of the card.

8.      Lay the fold mechanism flat with the labels showing, then close the right-hand side so that the stamped panels are inside and the smaller flap is opened out (this will go to the front of the card); apply adhesive to the top pieces of the z-fold mechanism (these are the front and back of the piece). 

Add adhesive the two sides showing in the picture on the right

9.      Place the fold mechanism into the card, right up to the scored fold of the card. This will allow it enough room to open up without getting caught. 

10.      Close the card and hold down the little flap with your fingernail, then position the front die-cut into the hole on the front of the card. It will attach to the front of the fold mechanism. 

11.      Attach rhinestones or other embellishments, as desired.

12.      Optional: attach a small piece of ribbon to the left of the front label, using Glue Dots. This gives the recipient something to hold when opening the card. (See photos of the cards below).

Examples

This is the first one that I made - the colours look a lot better in real life.

I have made this one for my son's wedding next month.

It's a little tricky at first but is quite easy once you know what you're doing. If you would like to watch the video, click here: Dawn's Video

Thanks for reading, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a safe and healthy New Year.  I'd love to see photos of your cards. You can always post them (or any others) on my Facebook page: Country Craft.

See you next year!

Artist Trading Cards (ATCs)

This is going to be a blatant ad for a group that I run on Facebook. This group is called PCA ATC Swap Group, an off-shoot of Paper Craft Addicts (PCA), a group that I inherited a while ago. Neither group is a Stampin' Up! group; indeed no buying, selling or recruiting is allowed in these groups. They're just a place to show off your creativity. 

So, what's an ATC? It's an Artist Trading Card (the blog title may have given it away already). Basically they are single cards (like a card front) measuring 2.5" x 3.5" and created to a theme. Participants make enough copies so that everybody gets one, usually a minimum of 6; 9 is a good number because then you have full page of ATCs if you're storing them in trading card sleeves - more on that later. Generally it's no more than 9, unless there are more than 9 participants and you want one of everybody else's. Each person keeps one copy for themselves and posts the rest to me with a stamped self-addressed envelope. Once I receive all of the ATCs for that month, I sort them so that each person gets one of everybody else's ATCs, then I mail them back. Sounds complicated, but it's not really.

Our group has a different theme each month, and every few months we add an extra challenge of using a particular technique or material or whatever. The ATC swap has been going since August 2014 and we've had quite a few themes/techniques/people over the years. I won't bore you with all of them, but I will show you the ones I made this year. We put the group on hold in August this year due to low numbers of participants, but we're going to start it up again for January, so I hope some of you out there might like to give it a go next year (that's why this is an ad).

January                    February                     March

January 2017 - School. I used SU Black Chalkboard cardstock (long retired but I am a hoarder) and I wrote on it with a Chalk Marker (the first SU thing I ever bought, back in 2013!). I glued some strips of Kraft cardstock around the outside and used a corner punch. It's supposed to be an old-fashioned school slate.

February 2017 - Fashion. Some of you will recognise one of the Beautiful You stamps. I used the Watercolour Pencils to colour the dress and hat, die cut an oval, then foam mounted it over two mats and finished off with a gold star.

March 2017 - Teddy Bear (added challenge: monochrome). I printed out a cute teddy bear image from the Internet, coloured it with Watercolour Pencils and SU Blendabilities then foamed-mounted it on a background of DSP. I added a few little bling spots as well. Monochrome was harder than I thought it would be!

April                     April (#2)                      May

April 2017 - Crime. This one was fun. I printed out all of the elements and fussy cut where necessary. I used Crystal Effects on the magnifying glass to give it a glass-like effect. Unfortunately someone pulled out of this month, at the last minute, so I made an extra set. I printed out the background (combining the top of a book and a photo of Agatha Christie's books), then printed out two more book covers (Murder on the Orient Express & Death on the Nile) and foam mounted them over the corresponding image in the larger picture. It was a pretty basic ATC, but I didn't have a lot of time for this one.

May 2017 - Fairies. Stamped the image from the Fairy Celebrations stamp set and then coloured it using ink and an Aqua Painter. Added some bling to finish it off.

  June                           July                         August

June - Landmarks (added challenge: map background). I printed pictures of landmarks and added country and 'postage' information to each. I used the retired Stamp Punch to punch them out and foam mounted them onto a map background. I really like this one, if I do say so myself, lol.

July - Snowmen. I chose this theme because we really don't get to celebrate snow very often in Australia, and it was Winter at the time. I punched three different sized circles and added some pale blue ink to them (using a sponge dauber - doesn't really show in the photo). Glued the circles onto the ATC, added some facial features and buttons, drew a mouth and arms, and voila!

August - Hats. Stamped the hats from the Guy Greetings stamp set in different colours, then foam-mounted the sentiment.

So, as you can see, you can make a big effort, or keep it simple, it's really up to you. The thing I really enjoy about ATCs is seeing how different people interpret the theme. It's quite interesting.

Here are just some of the group photos...

November 2014 - Movember

These were fun - mine is the "Half a Mo" on the lower right.

June 2015 - Royalty (with lace)

Such a variety here. Mine is the purple one in the middle of the bottom row, I used a stamp for my lace component.

January 2016 - Summer

Really bright and summery! Mine is top right, with the shells.

Now, I hear you asking, "But what do I do with all these ATCs?" Good question. Some people (like me) put them into trading card sleeves (like footy cards) and keep them in an album - it's great for ideas and techniques. Others use them to make cards. I made an extra couple in February this year so I turned them into cards. One person gave some of hers to the local school to use however they saw fit.

 Our group is only available to Australia residents, due to time and postage constraints. If you live in Australia and would like to join our little group, please let me know. You don't have to participate EVERY month, you can come and go as you please. Hopefully I will see some of YOUR ATCs soon!

OnStage Local, Melbourne, November 2017

Kieran and I had a very busy month in November. We started off by travelling to Adelaide for my future daughter-in-law's Hens Day/Night. The next day we drove to Melbourne for a week of visiting relatives, seeing The Book of Mormon (very, very funny) and Aladdin (for the second time this year) and culminating in Stampin' Up!'s OnStage Local. It was the first time for both of us and we had a ball! Lots of presentations of new products coming in January, plus the Sale-A-Bration goodies for next year as well.

It started off with a video presentation from Salt Lake City in Utah where OnStage Live was happening, then plenty of exciting new 'toys' coming soon. There were Prize Patrols plus other freebies including a cool bag and even a special coffee mug.

This is me with my Prize Patrol prize.
We weren't allowed to show the actual item until later

This is the cool coffee mug

 We had a yummy lunch followed by the opportunity to play with some of the new toys! First off we decorated a sweet little giftbox, and made a card.

These Silver Mini Gable Boxes will come in a pack of 10. They come flat but are very easy to 'construct'. We used Sweet Soiree Specialty DSP (lots of foil highlights on the papers) and the Cake Soiree Stamp Set.

This is a fun new suite. It uses the Bubble Over Stamp Set, Bubbles & Fizz DSP and Bottles & Bubbles Framelit Dies. The stamp set and dies will be available as a bundle with a 10% saving.

 We watched some more product demonstrations (some by video and some live) and then got to play again. This time we made some tags and another card.

I love this suite! The Fruit Basket Stamp Set and Itty Bitty Fruit Punch Pack (both available as a bundle, 10% off) and the Tutti Frutti 6" x 6" DSP. I was very fortunate and excited to come home with this bundle.

This card used the Petal Palette Stamp Set, Petal Passion DSP, Petal Passion Embellishments (cute metal leaves and flowers) and Whisper White Organza Ribbon.

 After we got back home to Woomera, I had some more play-time with some of the new items that we were given at OnStage or that we bought straight after (a benefit only available to OnStage attendees).

It's the Tutti-Frutti bundle again (stamp set plus a pack of 4 mini punches). I stamped the fruit onto a plain piece of Whisper White cardstock then punched out a few pieces and foam-mounted them with Dimensionals. So, so cute! The sentiment is also part of the set and I used the Duet Banner Punch (141483).

Another card using the Bubbles/Bottles bundle. The food is from the Fruit Basket Stamp Set and Picnic With You Stamp Set. The sentiment is from the Picture Perfect Stamp Set, coupled with the Everyday Label Punch (144668) and the Starburst Punch (143717), both of which are available now. I added some Lemon Lime Twist Mini Striped Ribbon as well.

This one uses the Bottles/Bubbles bundle and Lemon Lime Twist ribbon as well, plus the Pretty Label Punch (143715). The sentiment is from the Picture Perfect Stamp Set again.

Thanks for reading!

Pinwheel Embellishments

And here we are, finally, the pinwheel embellishments. These are really easy to make and look quite fancy on the front of your cards and other creations. You will find that after you making a few you can knock out a whole bunch of them very quickly and keep them for future projects.

Finished pinwheels, unattached.

Materials

·         Two pieces of coordinating patterned paper (approximately  3" x 3" of each design)

·         Plain cardstock to match your paper (approximately 3" x 6")

Equipment

·         Paper Trimmer 

·         Adhesive

·         Grid Paper 

Instructions

1.     Cut your patterned paper. You need 4 pieces of each design cut to 1¼" square (8 squares in all).

2.     Cut two pieces of plain cardstock 2⅝" square.

3.     Use the Grid Paper to place one plain cardstock square as a diamond, lining up the points with the bold lines. Apply a small square of adhesive in the centre of the second piece and position it squarely on the diamond, creating an 8-point star. Make sure your adhesive doesn't go to the edges or your pinwheel will stick to the Grid Paper. If you plan on making a few pinwheels, you might want to make some pencil marks around the corners of the top square (on the grid paper) so that it's easier to line them up.

4.     Take one of the small paper squares and place a small piece of adhesive on the back. Position it onto one point of the star, leaving a small border. Then place a square of the other patterned paper onto the next point, overlapping the first piece.

5.     Continue alternating squares until you reach the last piece. This piece will need to be placed partially under the first piece to complete the pattern. You will have to lift the first up to get the last one in place (that's why you only want a small amount of adhesive on this one). You can go back and add more adhesive  to all of the squares if you want but it probably isn't necessary.

6.     Finish off with a brad, button, bling or whatever in the centre of the pinwheel, then place it on your card or gift box. You could even stamp a sentiment onto a small label and place it in the middle of the pinwheel.

Examples

You can just place  the pinwheel onto the front of the card with some coordinating DSP in the background

Add some ribbon for contrast

Add a sentiment on a label

Stamp directly onto the cardstock

      As I've mentioned previously, I made some of these to place on the front of the Small Gift Boxes (see last week's blog). The boxes are only 3" x 3", so I had to make the pinwheels a little smaller. To do this, I made the squares 1" x 1", and the backing cardstock pieces were 2⅛" square. You can basically make them any size you want! Just choose the size of your squares, then double the squares' measurement and add ⅛" for the backing cardstock.

      Here are some of the smaller ones on the gift boxes.

You can position the pinwheels so that the points are straight up and down, as on the two on the right, or turn them just a little as on the two on the left.

So, I hope you think that these were worth waiting for! Until next time, happy crafting.

Small Gift Boxes

Hi folks. Thanks for waiting so patiently. Life is returning to normal now following my surgery and then a 10-day trip to Melbourne to visit with relatives (including my 89-year-old mother) and to attend Stampin' Up!'s OnStage Local. OnStage was a great day.

Anyway, more about those later. Today I want to tell you all about the small gift boxes that I've been making. I had an order from a friend (who sells hand-made jewellery at markets) for 50 Christmas boxes and I didn't think I was going to get them done in time (my friend is in Melbourne so I was taking them over when I went). But I managed to get them made and now I will show you how it's done. These are some that I made earlier this year, some using retired product.

Some floral gift boxes.

Some more of the ones I made earlier.

Equipment 

      Paper Trimmer

      Bone Folder 

      Small Scissors 

      Strong adhesive 

      Punches or Framelits/Thinlits Dies (NB A Big Shot is required for dies) 

     

Materials

          Plain cardstock 12” x 12” (for the box and drawer) 

          Patterned paper (for the front of the card)

          Plain cardstock in a light colour (for the inside of the card)

          Embellishments, as desired

      Glimmer/Foil Paper (optional)

      Ribbon (optional)

      Washi Tape (optional)

       

Method

1. Cut cardstock 3" x 12"; score at 3", 4”, 7”, 8” and 11” and fold all inwards, using the Bone Folder to ensure a crisp fold. This piece will form the box and card.

Score on the red lines

2. Cut another piece of cardstock 4⅞” x 4⅞” and score 1” in from all four edges. Fold all inwards again. This piece is for the drawer.

Again, score on the red lines

3. Using the drawer piece, cut opposite sides to make tabs, as marked in blue in the diagram below left. Then cut and remove the bits in blue in the diagram below right to taper the four tabs.

         

Cut on the blue lines

Cut the Vs and remove the blue pieces

4. Fold the sides up and tuck the four tabs inside the drawer. Adhere them with Fast Fuse. Punch out a circle (the pictured one is 1¾"), fold it in half and attach it to the front of the drawer.

I usually use the same DSP for the circle as the one on the front of the box

5. Using the larger piece of cardstock, adhere the first 1” tab to the other 1” area to form a box with a card front as shown below.

6. Cut a piece of DSP 2¾” x 2¾” for the front of the card, and a piece of plain cardstock for the inside of the card. Decorate the front and inside of the card as desired.  You may find it easier to adhere these front panel and the inside panel before your form the box. Just fold the box so you know where to place the panels. The drawer is great for small gift items like jewellery or a treat, like lollies.

These two boxes show how they look closed and open.
Use a strip of DSP or Washi Tape as a highlight inside.

8. OPTIONAL: Cut a piece of ribbon about 20" long and glue it to the top of the box prior to adhering the plain cardstock. This allows you to tie a bow in the front of the drawer.

Place the centre of the ribbon at the centre of the BACK of the drawer

These are some that I made a couple of years ago, with bows

Here are the ones I made this year for my friend, 

Close ups of some of the Christmas ones I made.

I used the Starburst Punch for the large circular backgrounds, and other punches for the focal piece. On some I used the Pinwheels that I'd made earlier.

So, that's it. They look a little tricky at first, but once you get the hang of them they are quite quick to put together. To make the 50 boxes I cut out all of the cardstock and patterned paper first, then punched out the pieces I thought I'd use, matched to the paper if possible, and then put them all together in a production line. 

The pinwheel tutorial will follow soon. Thanks for reading.