Tuesday 29 July 2014

Confetti Shaker Card ...

What a busy week we have had already and it is only Tuesday!  Whilst you are all enjoying this lovely sunshine we are thinking ahead to Christmas and have had lots of new Christmas stock arriving this month and next which we are trying to load up onto the website as fast as we can.  

We have also been busy chasing suppliers for Christmas stock deliveries which were supposed to be here last week and have still not arrived yet.  Those of you who have ordered any of the new Christmas Trimcraft ranges will know what we mean.  This stock was supposed to be here at the beginning of last week.  The latest update is that it will be here next Monday as Trimcraft have not received it yet.  I am sorry for the delay, I know that quite a few of you have ordered something from at least one of the ranges.  We will continue to chase the manufacturer and will dispatch your orders as soon as we can.  We have part dispatched orders where possible and will complete your orders for you very soon.  Thank you for your patience!

Anyway as I needed a little break from Christmas I thought that I would share a little shaker/confetti card using one of the new Cottage Cutz dies ...



The base card is from a pack of Kaisercraft C6 cards (black).  This can be set aside for the moment as the rest of the design is created on a second piece of black cardstock which measures approximately 95mm x 135mm.


On the second piece of black cardstock I created an aperture by using one of the Spellbinders scalloped circle Nestabilities (S4125).  Before running it through the Grand Callibur I held it in place with a small piece of Stencil Tape {note: the stencil tape is low tack but for extra security I still press it onto the back of my hand a couple of times before using to remove a little more of the adhesive and I tend to stick the tape to the card in the area of waste (i.e. here on the part of the card to be thrown away) just in case!}


Once the aperture is cut using a circle punch and some sheets from the Tropical Textura Cardstock pack I punched circles and positioned them around the card to create polka dots {I took this photograph and then actually moved the colours around before sticking them into place for the final card - which is why you can see different colours on the final design}.  When you are happy stick them into place with a tape runner and trim.




The confetti in the card is created using the Textura cardstock again and a tiny heart punch from Woodware.



Instead of using acetate for the shaker part of the card I used a cello bag so that the card would lie flatter and there would not be any need to use foam tape. 

Take all of your punched hearts and drop them into a cello bag. Roll the edges of the bag and hold down with a tape runner.  Make sure that the cello bag is large enough so that you cannot see the edges through the aperture of your card but not too large that it overlaps the edge of the black card.


Set the confetti bag aside.  

For the next stage I used the Birthday Candles die from Cottage Cutz and cut it from white cardstock.  I used small pieces of the Tropical cardstock  and with a glue pen stuck these to the back of the candles to add colour.

{I completely forgot to take a picture of this stage but you can see the coloured candles on one of the photographs below to get an idea as to what they will look like once coloured - this stage is a little fiddly but worth it!}

  

Take the confetti bag and stick is to the back of the black card as shown.  You can also see in the picture above that I then went ahead and stuck the candles onto the cello bag through the aperture at the front. Once the confetti bag is stuck into place you can add a piece of yellow cardstock from the pad to neaten everything up and to help the confetti show up on the final card!


Finally I used the IN012 In'Spire celebration die to cut out 'happy birthday' from some of the tropical card in the Textura pack.  This was stuck to white card, trimmed and stuck into place.

I always like to think of other ways to use products to get maximum use and I realised that from the other words in the die set 'thank you' and 'you & me' you can make the words 'to you'.  I cut these from a coordinating colour , trimmed the letters and stuck into place.  

This black and yellow piece of cardstock is then stuck to the base card with tape and a white gel pen finishes the design.



Hope you like it, I'm back off for some more Christmas now.

Don't forget about our competition to win the Public Library paper pad on the newsletter - the competition closes soon.

Happy Crafting!


Thursday 17 July 2014

Vintage Bird Thank you card ...





Today we have a card to share using the new Bird with Flowers die from Cottage Cutz, the new Public Library papers from October Afternoon as well as a few other goodies.

There are quite a few piccies to this post as I have a technique to show you which will explain how to get a hand drawn effect from your stamps!


To begin you will need to create the bunting effect which sits behind all of the other pieces on the design:

Take a brown card like one of the new Natural or Kraft packs of square cards from Kaisercraft and using a Distress ink pad (we used straw)ink up the bunting from the Pennants stamp set from Kaisercraft.

** BEFORE you stamp the bunting onto the card stamp the image onto a piece of scrap paper to remove some of the ink.  Then stamp onto the card as shown in the picture above **.


Repeat the process again (inking then stamping onto scrap paper before stamping on to the card).  Line the Bunting stamp up to complete the curved line of flags.


Don't worry at this stage if your bunting is not lined up perfectly ... you can see from the picture above that mine is not a perfect curve, just work with the curve of the stamp as best you can!


Take a good quality gel pen (one with a good flow of ink - we used a Sakura white gel pen).

Trace around each flag with the white pen.  I also traced some of the pattern on those flags which had detail (you do not have to worry about every little line - just a suggestion of the pattern will do).  You now have a row of bunting that looks as if you have drawn it!

**Of course if this technique is not for you stamp and emboss it with your heat gun!**


Take the Bird with Flowers die and cut it three times using coordinating papers from the Public Library paper pad.

I used the dark turquoise image as the base. Using a pair of sharp scissors or a knife cut the bird from the polka dot image and the flowers from the remaining image and stick them onto the base (turquoise) bird using a glue pen. N.B. I edged the bottom of the bird before sticking it to the rest of the cut out pieces with a little peanut ink


Once the bird is complete stick it to a piece of white trimmed cardstock with the glue pen and again edge this with a little ink.  Mount onto a piece of patterned paper from the pad and edge with pinking scissors.

This is then stuck to the card with foam pads.


The border at the bottom of the card was created using an old Martha Stewart border punch from my craft box (We do not stock Martha Stewart and more but we can still get them - if anyone wants one give us a call or send me an e-mail and we will order one especially for you!)

Punch out the border from cream paper in the paper pad and stick this to a coordinating piece of darker paper.  Trim and stick to the bottom of the card.


To create the flower, punch three flowers using the Buttercup punch from McGill (N.B. After I took the picture I changed my mind and swapped the pink flowers for a yellow! - I have also photographed a brad here as I was originally going to use this but at the last minute decided to use a button to keep in with the 'vintage' theme!)

Edge each flower with the peanut ink, pinch each petal to give a little more dimension and stick together using double sided tape or glue.  Remember to rotate each flower when sticking to the one below so that all of the petals from the three flowers can be seen!


Add a button to the center of the flower and using a black gel pen add some dots to the petals to create detail as shown in the picture.

The flower is then stuck to the card so that it overlaps the bottom border and the raised bird image.  Remember to use part foam and part double sided tape so that the flower sits balanced on the card!

Leaves were punched from coordinating paper using a leaf punch from McGill and stuck into place.


Finally I inked up part of a 'Thank you' stamp from the Special Wishes set from Woodware (To stamp up the part that you need - stamp the whole stamp and wipe off the areas that you don't need with a damp and then dry piece of kitchen roll).

Stamp onto white cardstock, trim and add to the bottom of the card (with another strip of coordinating paper just below it).


And there you have it ... a Vintage bird card with a hand drawn effect.

Enjoy!








Monday 14 July 2014

Ahoy there ...


Happy Monday to you all ... I hope that you are enjoying the lovely weather!

We are officially on Summer holiday here at the Philpott house.  The girls broke up from school last week and we are keeping our fingers crossed that the sun will continue.  

I was so busy last week that I did not get time to get any projects posted for you so today I have three projects to share using the new Ahoy There collection from Carta Bella. 



The collection contains papers as well as stamps and a die set.



The 'Sea' card above starts as a brown square card (mine was 14.5cm x 14.5cm). 

Using a collection of the smaller stamps from the stamp set stick these onto an acrylic block.  You can then use this and a black pigment ink pad (a pigment ink pad will give you a crisper stamped image than a dye based ink) to stamp a 'wallpaper' effect all over the base card.

Use the base of the boat die to cut the scalloped border at the bottom of the card.  Adhere to a strip of white cardstock and then add to the bottom of the card (all of the patterned papers used were taken from the 6x6 paper pad).


Use another piece of patterned paper from the pad to create a strip sitting just above the scalloped border (overlap the edge of the paper onto the scallops slightly for a neat finish).

Use some red and white twine as shown and stamp 'hello there sunshine' from the stamp set to complete the bottom of the card.


 On a separate piece of cardstock, stamp the lighthouse from the stamp set (using Rocket red ink) and use the die as well as patterned papers from the kit to create the boat (N.B. you will need to cut the boat die twice to get two sails).  Add a little peanut ink around the edges and stick into place. The word 'Sea' was cut from brown cardstock (same as base card) and stuck into place.  

You will find it easier to stick all of the small pieces for this card with a glue pen.

Trim the white cardstock and edge the corners with a corner rounder.  Edge with ink again and add to the card with 3d foam pads.

 

The bunting was created by cutting small triangle pieces (freehand) and sticking them to a piece of white card.  Trim around the bunting leaving a white edge and stick to the card so that it crosses over the white panel (remember that you will need to use 3d foam to stick the bunting to the brown side of the card and double sided tape/glue to stick it to the white panel so that it is balanced).





The adventure card begins as a standard size A6 card which is covered with coordinating papers from the paper pad.  The lighthouse is stamped onto white cardstock with rocket red ink.  Trim leaving a white edge and stick to the card.  

Add some of the twine to the spine of the card.

'Adventure' is stamped onto white cardstock, trimmed and mounted onto red paper before trimming and adding to the card with foam pads.

Use the dies to cut the ship's wheel and anchor.  Both pieces are edged with cocoa memento ink.  Use a star jazzy brad to the middle of the ships wheel (you will need to fold the stems of the brads back onto them selves behind the wheel so that the back of the brad does not show through from the front).  Add some red and white twine to the anchor which is then stuck to white card and trimmed.  Stick the wheel and anchor to the card using a mixture of foam and the glue pen.



 Finally add some 'v' shapes for the seagulls and stitched effect with a black gel pen.






The simple 'Sea' card was created using a card from the new Harmony Card Stack  from Authentique paper.



The new card making stack is just beautiful.  The stack contains 18 cards which are already scored for you.  All you have to do is simply tear a card out of the pack using the perforated edge, fold along the scored line and add your embellishment/s. Great for when you need to make a 'quick' card!

I used one of the swallow designs for this card.


Using a large circle punch and white cardstock from the Textura Black & White cardstock pad punch a circle, edge with an ink pad and add to the card.  Add a stitched effect around the edge for added detail with a gel pen.

Cut the boat die from white cardstock and then stamp over each piece with images from the stamp set.  Edge with ink again and stick to a piece of grey card from the Textura card pack. Trim and stick into place.

Finally add some red and white twine around the spine of the card, cut the word 'Sea' from black cardstock (again in the Textura pack), adhere to white card, trim and add to the final design.




Hope you enjoy! I'll be back soon with more projects!

Sunday 6 July 2014

Summer Sale now on ...



The Summer Sale started at Philpotts this weekend.

We've added a Special Offer category as well as Clearance section to the website.  We will be adding new items to the Sale each week and the Sale will continue until the end of August whilst stocks last.

You'll find lots of bargains so pop on over and take a peek when you get chance.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and I'll be back with some more projects next week!

**********************************

Thursday 3 July 2014

In our thoughts ...



Sometimes you need a Sympathy card when you least expect it and today is one of those days for the Philpott family.


The card is made using:

Woodware's Butterfy Medely Set
Woodware's With Sympathy Stamp
Woodware's Going to Seed Stamp
Black Brilliance ink pad
Memento Peanut Brittle ink pad


The butterfly is stamped onto a separate piece of cardstock and trimmed before sticking to the card.

You may not be able to see from the photo but the 'With Sympathy' sentiment is raised up with foam and a 'v' is cut into the right hand side of the banner.


The card is simple rather than 'fussy' and will carry lots of love and hugs all the way to the recipient!

I'll be back soon with some more projects on a little lighter note but for now enjoy the sunshine!
xx