Christmas Leftovers (Part 2)

Here we are again, the gift that keeps on giving! more bits and bobs from the box marked 'I don't know what to do with that scrap of paper (button, ribbon scrap, trinket, die cut etc) right now but I'm sure it will come in handy someday!'

I do love the freestyle collage style which I must admit I find quite difficult but it does get easier once you start to get your head around it. I had so much fun last week that I made 3 cards at once so I hope you don't mind if I spread them out a bit?

This card again features a die from Paula's Winter Moments range, namely the Winter Elements decorative strip which is another one of those super-useful dies which you will be reaching for time and time again. The sheet music comes from Tim Holtz' 8 x 8 seasonal paper stash pad.

I started by scrunching up scraps of black and white card before using them to die cut the two snowflakes. The white snowflake was distressed using pale blue paint applied with my fingertip and the black snowflake was gently rubbed with silver gilding wax.

I trimmed the music score and scrunched the edges before lightly distressing with a sanding pad I also cut out the' peace definition' which I created using my PC and printed onto graph paper. I attached both to a white base card alongside a strip of blue patterned card.

I picked out a scrap of  pink ribbon and threaded it through a jewelled buckle before attaching the snowflakes with assorted brads. Finally, a few tiny 2mm pearls around the grey snowflake and I'm all done.

Next week (Christmas Day) Part 3!

Teenager Christmas Card

Teenagers love very specific things. They like bright colors, glitter, big necklaces, make up, interesting textures... And sometimes they find our crafting boring. So today I created a Christmas card especially for them. It has a little beat of what they like: It is bright, it has glitter and a really big embellishment, it has a background with an interesting texture... Ok, it has no make up, but I would accompany my card with some nice make up kit as a gift ;)

Supply list:

• 657900 Sizzix Big Shot machine
• 658623 Sizzix Framelits Die Set 5PK w/Stamps - Trees, Leafy
• 658616 Sizzix Sizzlits Decorative Strip Die - Winter Elements
• 658620 Sizzix Framelits Die Set 9PK w/Stamps - Charms, Winter
• Cardstock: Black, red, glitter
• 658627 Sizzix Textured Impressions Embossing Folders 2PK - Winter Leaves Set
• Ribbon
• Pearl
• Stamps
• Staz'on ink
• Distress ink
• Foam squares

Happy Monday!

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A los adolescentes les gustan cosas muy específicas: Los colores brillantes, los brillos, los collares bien grandes, el maquillaje, las texturas interesantes...y a veces encuentran las cosas que hacemos a mano un poco aburridas. Así que hoy he creado una tarjeta pensando en ellos, que tiene un poquito de lo que los gusta: Es brillante, tiene un gran adorno, un fondo con textura interesante... Vale, no tiene maquillaje, pero yo eso lo pondría en un paquetito bien mono como regalo para acompañar mi tarjeta ;)

¡Feliz lunes!

Christmas card and tag - Unusual colours

Hi Everyone! This is Anna.

The two installment of countdown to Christmas is here! I hope you enjoyed last week. As a reminder, the plan is to share a new Christmas project made with Sizzix dies each week.

Here are the card and tag I created using some items from Winter Moments collection. Unusual colours for Christmas cards but I really like the result!

I love how they look together and I love this snowflakes! Aren't they great? Ok I think they are great! The die gives you more different snowflakes! They are super detailed and look awesome layered up like this. A little strass in the center is perfect.

Tip: use this design with different patterned papers to completely change the look of this card.

I hope you enjoyed my project today. Have a great week end, see you next Friday!

 

Items used:

Sizzix Big Shot Machine Only (Powder Blue & Teal) (657900)

Sizzix Framelits Die Set 8PK w/Stamps - Snowflakes #2 (658622)

Sizzix Sizzlits Decorative Strip Die – Winter Elements (658616)

Sizzix Embosslits Die – Charm, Circle (658617)

Sizzix Textured Impressions Embossing Folders 2PK – Winter Snowflakes Set (658628)

Sizzix Bigz Die - Tattered Florals (656640)

Sizzix Bigz Die - Artist Trading Card (656332)

cardstock: white, light pink, pink, kraft

patterned paper: Prima - Paper Wishes and Dreams – 11:11 – 970024, Prima - Paper Wishful Thinking - Dreams Blossom - 970352

polka dot fabric

white fabric

snowflake charm

button

strass

glue, hot glue, foam board tape

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Per le amiche italiane! :)

Ciao! Ecco un nuovo appuntamento con Anna.

Ecco la seconda parte del countdown per il Natale. Spero vi sia piaciuto quello della scorsa settimana. Ecco la card e la tag che ho creato con alcuni prodotti della collezione Winter Moments ed altre fustelle.Colori insoliti per il Natale, ma volevo provare qualcosa di diverso e il risultato non mi dispiace.

Per realizzare la card ho embossato i fiocchi di neve sul cartoncino rosa, ho ritagliato un angolo del fiocco di neve più grande per infilarci un rettangolo di carta fantasia e la scritta con l'augurio. Ho completato con un altro rettangolo a pois e una striscia fucsia nel centro. Ho creato un fiore bianco di stoffa tagliando diverse forme di fiori poi sovrapposte e l'ho abbellito con un bottone e un charm. Infine ho aggiunto strass qua e là.

Per la tag ho incollato due strisce differenti (di carta fantasia e stoffa a pois) al centro della tag base. Ho quindi sovrapposto un cerchio Charm di carta kraft. Ho sovrapposto alcune forme di fiocchi di neve, incollandole con scotch spessorato, per dare volume e tridimensionalità. Ho terminato con uno strass al centro.

Spero vi sia piaciuto il mio progetto oggi. Buon fine settimana, ci vediamo venerdì prossimo!

 

Materiali:

Sizzix Big Shot Machine Only (Powder Blue & Teal) (657900)

Sizzix Framelits Die Set 8PK w/Stamps - Snowflakes #2 (658622)

Sizzix Sizzlits Decorative Strip Die – Winter Elements (658616)

Sizzix Embosslits Die – Charm, Circle (658617)

Sizzix Textured Impressions Embossing Folders 2PK – Winter Snowflakes Set (658628)

Sizzix Bigz Die - Tattered Florals (656640)

Sizzix Bigz Die - Artist Trading Card (656332)

cartoncino: bianco, rosa chiaro, rosa, kraft

patterned paper: Prima - Paper Wishes and Dreams – 11:11 – 970024, Prima - Paper Wishful Thinking - Dreams Blossom – 970352

tessuto rosa a pois

tessuto bianco

charm fiocco di neve

bottone

strass

colla, colla a caldo, scotch spessorato

Snowman Gift Tag

Hi everybody! September is already here and as everybody is in the "back to school" mood, I'm already thinking about Christmas. Have you already seen Paula Pascual's amazing collection Winter Moments? This is an Europe Exclusive range and I love every single one of these dies!!

All dies in this collection are very versatile and there are so many creative possibilities. Today I'm showing you how to make a Snowman Gif Tag. Enjoy the video!

Supply list:

• 657900 Sizzix Big Shot machine
• 658611 Sizzix Framelits Die Set 9PK - Tags #2
• 658621 Sizzix framelits Die Set 6PK/Stamps - Flowers, Star
• 658622 Sizzix Framelits Die Set 8PK w/Stamps - Snowflakes #2
• Music stamp
• Distress ink
• Craft,White, orange and green cardstock
• Green ribbon
• Green pearls
• Black fint tip marker
• Adhesives: Liquid glue, foam squares, glue dots

Happy Monday!

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¡Hola a todos! Septiembre ya está aquí y mientras todo el mundo está en modo "vuelta al cole" yo ya estoy empezando a pensar en Navidad. ¿Habéis visto ya la estupenda colección "Winter Moments" de Paula Pascual? Esta colección es exclusiva para Europa y a mí me encantan todos y cada uno de los troqueles. La verdad es que son muy versátiles y hoy os voy a enseñar cómo podéis hacer un muñeco de nieve con ellos. ¡Disfrutad del vídeo! 

Materiales:

• 657900 Sizzix Big Shot machine
• 658611 Sizzix Framelits Die Set 9PK - Tags #2
• 658621 Sizzix framelits Die Set 6PK/Stamps - Flowers, Star
• 658622 Sizzix Framelits Die Set 8PK w/Stamps - Snowflakes #2
• Sello de partitura
• Distress ink
• Cartulina craft, blanca, naranja y verde
• Cinta verde
• Perlas verdes
• Rotulador de punta fina negro
• Adhesivos: Adhesivo líquido, foam adhesivo, glue dots

¡Feliz lunes!

Freedom!!!

Making display projects for Create and Craft shows is both fun and time consuming. There is no brief to work to so we can choose the colours and materials we see fit. Having that bit of creative freedom makes the process all the more pleasurable.

The flip side is having to create so many projects in such a short time which is why having such great dies to work with helps enormously. We have looked at Paula Pascual's Star, Flower Framelits w/Stamps set from her divine winter moments collection, and I told you about how well they were recieved on our recent Create and Craft shows. My other favourite set from the shows is Framelits w/Stamps- Snowflakes #2 (658622) which sold out pretty quickly.

As regular readers of this blog will by now know, I could make Christmas cards all year round happily and one of my favourite motifs is the humble snowflake. This set is super versatile and you can use the stamps and dies independently or together.

This card features a background made by stamping onto kraft card with a watermark ink pad and sprinkling Clear embossing powder over the image before setting with a heat tool. The snowflake itself was created in the same way before being cut out using the corresponding Framelits dies before being layered together with 3D foam pads. The Background was then attached to the face of a pink, patterned base card before being finished with a length of ribbon.

For this card I stamped the legend 'Merry Christmas' onto a rectangle of red card before tearing away the base. I then used a red ink pad to stamp my snowflakes onto ivory cardstock, finishing with a pearl accent in the centre of each. I mounted the red card onto an ivory base card before attaching the snowflakes with a 3D foam pad.

I love black and white cards and this one is so simple to make. I used my PC to print the legend 'Butterflies are winter's snowflakes' onto white card, folded it in half and added a folded strip of black card. Next, I stamped the snowflakes onto black card using a watermark ink pad before sprinkling with glitter embossing powder and setting with a heat gun. I then die cut the stamped images using the corresponding Framelits dies and mounted them together using 3D foam pads.

This card features both the flowers and snowflakes without the stamps, The frame is Frame, Scrollwork from the new Indie Craft Festival Range. I die cut the frame,flowers and snowflakes from a patterned blue/green card and set about adding colour using some of my favourite distress ink before attaching all the elements together and decorating with adhesive pearl accents in the centre of the flowers/snowflakes and adding a jewelled accent to the bottom of the frame. I measured the centre of the frame and used my PC to create the phrase before printing onto the green patterned card. Finally, I mounted the frame onto teh base card using 3D foam pads.

What a sell-out!

I return to you fresh from another great show at Create and Craft. The response to our Sizzix shows has been fantastic and there is another one in the pipeline for the end of the month (details to follow).

The fastest selling item on the show was the Framelits w/Stamps Set - Flowers, Star by Paula Pascual (658621) as I confidently predicted (Nice to get it right for once!!!).

We saw this set used to great effect in last weeks blog, but such was the response from the Create & Craft viewers I thought I would show you a few more things made with what is rapidly becoming one of my favourite sets. Why do I love it so much? Simple, it's so versatile you can use both the stamps and dies independently or both together to create some wonderful effects.

When people who design craft projects for a living design the dies too, then versatility and functionality are top of the agenda that's what makes Paula's work so timeless and classy. It is almost impossible to make a bad card....Trust me, I've tried

Having a Winter Moment!

The Winter Moments to which I refer is actually the name of a Range of Sizzix dies and folders designed by the wonderful (and also pretty talented!) Paula Pascual. Anyone who has taken even a passing interest in my blog will know that it is never too early to make Christmas cards, Boxing day is a good time to start in my opinion!

The Idea came from something I saw in a local shop, an idea which I was able to recall thanks to the wonders of modern technology (camera phone!). 

The finished card in no way resembles the Welsh love spoon which inspired it in the same way that my best ideas rarely come from within the craft industry itself. with the busy lives we all seem to lead these days it's so important to record ideas and inspiration before they are snuffed out by something more or, as is usually the case, less important.

The Sizzix products I used are below, click on each one to link to the website:

• Sizzix Big Shot Starter Kit - 658300
• Framelits Die Set w/Stamps - Flowers, Star By Paula Pascual (658621)
• Framelits Die Set w/Stamps - Trees, Leafy By Paula Pascual (658623)
• Sizzix Sizzlits Alphabet Set - Antiqua Capital Letters (658337)
• Sizzix Bigz XL Alphabet Die - Block Talk (658563)

I started by die cutting the letters L, V and E from red glitter card, Next I cut three flower shapes from Red and green glitter card. Using a stylus tool and a moulding mat ( the Susan Tierney-Cockburn tool kit is a must in our design room at the moment!) I added dimension to the small and large red flowers by applying a stirring motion in the centre of each before mounting all the flower elements together finishing with an adhesive gem in the centre. I used the flower in place of the letter 'O' to form the word 'LOVE'. Next, I arranged the letters and measured along their length.

At this point I turned to my PC and typed the phrase '....and best wishes this Christmas from the Hughes Family' before printing it in red onto a 16 x 22cm sheet of quality heavyweight white card (I always use Inspire Me Papers) The phrase measures 13cm the same as the word 'LOVE'. Once the base card was folded I carefully attached the word/poinsettia one at a time.

Here are a couple more created using the same principle, the word Christmas was die cut using the Block Talk Die which is one of my current favourites for obvious reasons! If you love the flower/star dies, and let's face it, who wouldn't? they are accompanied by a fabulous set of coordinating stamps, which is staggering value. and the other great thing about them is that you can use them all year round!

Love Home Decor

As my first Christmas collection for Sizzix is hitting the stores, I can finally share one of the projects using one of my favourite dies that I have designed, Love, Phrase 658625.

I started by die cutting with my Big Shot between 8 and 10 Love Phrases, one layer at a time, using chipboard or mount board. Then, I glued each layer together, I like to use wet glue and apply it all over the die cut.

After I attach each and every layer, I make sure that it is well attached everywhere and that it is flushed to the bottom. Once that I glued all of the layers I make sure that it sits on its own, if not, you can sand the bottom to make it more smooth and/or add more layers.

This step is completely optional. As a bit of a perfectionist I like to smooth all the edges to create a more solid effect. So I apply a thin layer of Grunge paste and flatten it out around all the more visible edges. After all the paste has dried, I sand it a bit to make it completely smooth.

I like to use acrylic paints to cover the whole phrase. For this particular project I decided to give it a bit of shabby chic look, so I use white paint to give it a bit of a white wash look, and then I used  Treasure Platinum rubbing gently all over the front.

And here it is, in my front room. I love it!

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Como mi primera colección de Navidad para Sizzix está llegando a las tiendas, por fin puedo compartir un proyecto usando uno de mis troqueles favoritos, Love, Phrase 658625.

Comencé troquelando con mi Big Shot entre 8 y 10 LOVE, utilizando aglomerado de carton o tablero de montaje de uno en uno. A continuación, pegué cada capa a la anterior, me gusta usar pegamento tipo Tacky glue y aplicarlo por todo el troquelado.

Después de pegar cada capa, me aseguro de que estén bien conectadas en todas partes y que estén niveladas por abajo. Una vez que todas las capas están pegadas me aseguro de que se sostiene por sí mismo, si no, se puede lijar la parte inferior para que sea más suave y / o añadir más capas.

El siguiente paso es completamente opcional. Como soy un poco perfeccionista me gusta suavizar todos los bordes para crear un efecto más sólido. Así que aplico una capa de pasta de Grunge - o cualquier pasta de textura - y utilizo un espátula para alisar todos los bordes que sean más visibles. Después de todo la pasta se haya secado, la lijo un poco para que sea completamente lisa.

Me gusta usar pinturas acrílicas para cubrir toda la frase. Para este proyecto en particular, decidí darle un look Shabby Chic, así que utilicé pintura blanca para darle una pasada no uniforme y luego usé Treasure Platinum Rub utilizando mis dedos como pinceles aplicándolo muy suavemente por todo el frente.

Y aquí está, en mi sala de estar. ¡Me encanta!