Philpotts

Thursday, 19 September 2013

Creations with Apertures #1 ...

We all love to make aperture cards because they look just that little bit extra special ... Of course there are many brands of aperture cards on the market that have the usual oval, circle, square or rectangle cut out of the front ... but ... if you own a few punches or dies and a die cutting machine it is really easy to create your own unique aperture cards.

Over the next week I have several aperture cards to show you which have all been created with either punches or the Spellbinders dies.

Today's card is a floral aperture card with a patchwork effect.

You will need a selection of floral punches or dies to be able to create this card. If you are using punches remember that unless you have the type of punch that can punch anywhere on the page you will be restricted by how far into your card your punch will go. This will determine where you place your punch to create your flower apertures.

Once you have created your collection of flower apertures, edge around each flower with a small running stitch effect (using a gel pen). I also added some free hand cut triangles for bunting and used some letter stickers from my craft box to create the sentiment (small letter stamps would work just as well).

Once you are happy with the front of your card you can move inside to create a patchwork effect using coordinating papers.

When cutting your papers you will get a better result if you use a paper trimmer or a knife and ruler to ensure that you get a straight line. Otherwise the papers will not 'line up' when you add them to the inside of the card and the overall effect will look less professional.

Work all over the inside of the card adding papers (and checking that papers do not join each other within the aperture area as you do not want to be able to see the joins through the flowers when the card is closed).

When the patchwork effect is finished add a zigzag stitch across the joins of paper.

I also added a small square of white card so that I could add a message at a later date.

Close the card and add another running stitch with the gel pen around the inside edge of the flowers to define the flowers a little more.

Finally add a button in the center of each flower and the card is complete.

I hope you enjoy having a go!

Look out for the Craft Newsletter which will be sent out tomorrow (Friday) with details of our FREEBIE GIVEAWAY this weekend.

If you do not receive the Newsletter already you can sign up on the home page over at www.philpotts.com

Friday, 13 September 2013

'Tis the Season ...

... to start thinking about those Christmas cards.

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On Wednesday I mentioned the lovely City Sidewalks range from Pink Paislee. I actually had two Christmas cards to share with you but time ran away with me (as always) and so I did not get chance to show you.

So here is the second Christmas card using some of the City Sidewalks range as well as a little of the Aspen Frost range from Basic Grey

PROJECT TIME

(you can view the shopping list by clicking onto the links in the project guide)

This little card is really quite simple to make ...

Two pieces of patterned paper are added to the bottom of the card with double sided tape. N.B. the red striped paper in the middle is actually red Trendy Tape from Queen & Co.

The snowmen, which are from an Artemio Christmas Stamp Set were stamped directly onto the base card and again onto patterned paper. The scarves have been coloured with a distress ink pen (Barn Door) and the shadow on the snowmen was added with a Tumbled Glass distress ink pen.

The snowmen were trimmed (I cut the arms off when trimming). They have then been adhered to cardstock and trimmed again (leaving a little border of card around each snowman).

The trimmed snowmen are then positioned over the snowmen which have already been stamped onto the base card and stuck with foam pads to add a little dimension.

To finish the card add a little sentiment and a little doodling with a black pen!

Hope you enjoy!

******

Wednesday, 11 September 2013

Christmas Cards ...

Now that the weather has changed and the nights are getting chilly I am starting to get a little festive. The girls have started to watch Christmas movies and I must admit to having started watching some of the Christmas food programmes on the television.

If like me you are starting to think about Christmas and Christmas card making. I have a little project to share with you today which use our lovely City Sidewalks from Pink Paislee.

PROJECT TIME

The card today uses one of Woodwares 8" x 8" cards and some of the City Sidewalk range of Christmas papers from Pink Paislee.

I drew a template for the Penguin and his little bindle (nap-sack).

The detail was added with a white and black gel pen and the blue ice under his feet was created with a Distress ink marker.

I drew a template for the sign and added some letters to suggest the distance to the North Pole. I used some larger letters (which had been in my craft box for many years) for Amy's name and backed these onto coordinating paper.

A little stickles glitter glue and a little doodling and the card is finished.

You can view the City Sidewalks range from Pink Paislee here

*** Hope you enjoy ***

If you have not already signed up to the Newsletter sign up now for more information about the City Sidewalks range and for details of how you can get hold of FREE City Sidewalks products.

Monday, 9 September 2013

We're back ...

Well what a lovely Summer it has been. It all seem so long ago now that the girls broke up for their holidays. I really do enjoy the girls company and look forward to time with them when they are not at school. I'm already looking forward to the Autumn half term ...Crazy, I know!

The Summer was so busy for us that I hardly got chance to post any projects at all. Things are still busy this term but I am determined to get Blogging again so that I can share projects with you. You may have also noticed that we are working harder to get newsletters out on a regular basis to keep you up to date with all of the new stock that is arriving. Last week we saw a bumper load of Spellbinders arrive into the warehouse. Most of it has already gone! With prices as low as £15.50 for the Nestabilities including delivery I can see why so many of you want to get in before stock runs out.

If you do not already see the Newsletter you can go to www.philpotts.com and sign up on the home page (the newsletter is different to this Blog). It will let you know what new products have arrived as well as providing information about offers etc. You might also like to know that not only are our prices usually cheaper than rrp's but we also have free shipping if your order is over £8.00. This week there is also a chance to get your hands on some free pearl cardstock.

PROJECT TIME

For those of you with Birthday cards to make, here are a couple of suggestions ...

The presents for this card are created using a 2" square punch but you could easily cut patterned paper to 2" x 2" on your paper trimmer.

The bows on the top of the presents are punched out using a Starburst punch. The starburst has been tucked behind the paper square and the whole thing matted onto white cardstock. This has then been trimmed and mounted onto the card with either double sided tape or foam pads.

I created a little template for the balloon and the 'reflection' on the top of the balloons was drawn in with a white gel pen.

The sentiment 'Happy Birthday to you' has been added with foam pads for extra dimension.

[TRY: creating this design with Christmas colours and replacing the balloons with 3 sprigs of holly sitting just above the sentiment. OR: add a holly wreath to the top half of the card]

The second card uses the same balloon template as the first.

The banner is created by cutting a banner shape from a spare piece of cardstock. Do this carefully with a knife and not scissors as you will actually need to keep the 'leftover' piece (the piece with the banner cut out of it and not the banner itself).

Add some repositional adhesive (I used Zig 2 way Glue) and position onto the card where you would like the banners to be. This will create a mask so that you can add colour to the card in the shape of a banner.

Take a neutral dye based ink pad (e.g. Memento or a Distress Ink Pad) and with a sponge dauber, a cosmetic sponge or a little cotton wool use a circular motion to add the ink to the card through the mask. I added a slightly darker brown a the edges to add a little dimension. Repeat 3 times and at various angles as shown.

Once the ink is dry, stamp the sentiment over the top of each banner and add the balloons. A little detail was added with a black gel pen.

ITEMS USED