Lest we Forget

This Sunday morning, I will be at the Remembrance Day parade in my home town of Llangollen. Both of my boys have marched in the parade representing the local Boys Brigade for many years and I have many friends who have served or are still serving in the armed forces.

The Poppy is one of the most versatile and adaptable flower shapes when it comes to creating something from scratch. I put my thinking cap on this morning and came up with a new way of creating that iconic shape using my trusty Framelits circle dies.


I started with 3 colours of dotty paper and three circle dies before cutting them out with my Big Shot machine. Using a pair of scissors, I cut away little nicks in the edge of the orange and red circles and cit the black circle into a spiral. Next, I used some shaping tools and a foam mat to add some dimension to the red and orange circles.

Using a pair of tweezers I curled the black spiral from the outside to the centre to form the centre of the poppy. Using  one of the Framelits dies I cut a dark green dotty circle and cut away two leaf shapes (see Die Cutting 101 for more techniques at http://www.sizzix.co.uk/101 ). I then used the shaping tools to mould the leaves into shape and added nicks in the edges using my scissors.

Here is the final card, quite simple as it should be.

 

Happi Days

Here I sit, morning sunlight slanting through the window in a nation gripped by Olympic fever and I couldn't be more Happi!

I know what you are thinking "Happy is spelt with a 'Y' you idiot!". Not today; today we spell it with an 'I' because I am actually referring to the new range of Sizzix Bigz dies and just the mere thought of them makes me happy with a 'Y'..... confused?

Hopefully the images below should help to dispel any confusion. The Happi range features over a dozen Bigz dies featuring some of the cutest artwork you have ever seen. Some of them were on a QVC show recently and sold out in seconds, mainly thanks to Angela's beautiful applique work.

Below are a few free-standing cards made using simple folding techniques which you will find explained on the website at http://www.sizzix.co.uk/101 

the first two cards are made using the Single Fold Technique, the second using the Concertina Fold Technique and the three at the bottom using the Standing Fold Technique. Hope they make you as Happi as they make me.