April 14th, 2012
I’ve added 5 new card making projects to the Craftsite
Gallery. Irene, in particular, has been very busy with 4 cards to her credit and there’s a delightful card from Mary too.
For those of you who still have a die cutting machine on your “wish list” rather than in your craft room, you’ll be pleases to see that 3 of the cards can be made without one.
For the card below, made using
Spellbinders Shapeabilities Moroccan Motifs and Moroccan Accents, you definitely need a die cutting machine. The intricate detail of these dies is absolutely amazing.
Although the pretty card below uses a die cutting machine it is only for the little tag where the peel off is placed so could easily be made by cutting out a shaped tag instead.
The card is also made using the
Die Cut Foiled Toppers Blooming Frames – Lilac and Pink. These card making toppers are beautiful and consist of a printed card and a sheet of printed acetate where the acetate is layered over the printed card to give a lovely and unusual effect.
As always, the full instructions for making these and the other 3 new cards are all in the
Gallery.
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April 9th, 2012
We have 3 more Spellbinders Shapeabilities for all those who have die cutting machines for card making whether it be the Cuttlebug, Big Shot or Grand Calibur. Ooh, these ones are just lovely.
First are the new ribbon buckles Shapeabilities. There’s a total of 9 dies of different shapes, sizes and intricacies designed to take different widths of ribbon. We’ve cut some from Stardream card – which would be just perfect for coordinating with your wedding stationery - and glitter card and they look gorgeous.
The other two new sets of Shapeabilities dies can be used alone or together – Moroccan Motifs and Moroccan Accents. Inspired by the architecture of Morocco (hence the name) the are really intricate dies but they cut and emboss easily.
There are 6 different dies in Moroccan Motifs and 7 in Moroccan Accents including a fabulous long border die that will create a border for an A5 card.
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April 6th, 2012
This Spring Kanban have brought out a lovely range of clear stamps for card making. As they are Spring themed these sets of clear stamps have a strong floral theme and there is Wildflower Garden, Vintage Rose, Floral Scrolls, and Spring Bloom sets. In addition Kanban have created this wonderful butterfly set called Spring Butterflies and a sentiments set entitled Spring Thoughts.
At only £5.25 a set these stamps are excellent value for money.
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April 4th, 2012
We are always intrigued when we something that’s a little bit different in card making so our eye was caught by these card making kits from Pinflair. Based on the artwork of artist and illustrator Staf Wesenbeek the pictures are an absolute delight.
Each kit makes 1 card. The kit contains the card, the decoupage sheet and an envelope to fit the finished card. The card making kit is easy to use. The card comes with 3 sides – a back, a right front and a shaped left front. The main picture goes on the right front and then the decoupage pieces are built up on the shaped left front to give the effect shown below.
The decoupage does need to be cut out but as you are cutting along straight edges with either scissors or a craft knife then it should be easy enough to do for most people.
When we made up the sample cards for the web we used photo glue for the main picture on the right hand side and the base picture on the shaped left hand side then built the picture up on the left hand side of the card pyramid decoupage style using 3D foam pads.
There are 6 designs of card making kit to choose from: Barrel of Flowers (shown above), Blue Arched Door, Bonnet Broom Watering Can, Door Lantern Steps Pots, Floral Cottage Hydrangeas, and Flower Basket Garden Chair. Each one is as pretty as the next and all cards are made up in the same way as described above.
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April 3rd, 2012
What a lovely week it was last week and I imagine a lot of people took all there card making equipment onto the patio and finished off their Easter cards (not long now till Easter) and grabbed the sunshine while they could.
I decided on a bit of self pampering. First a new hair cut and colour – took years off me – and then a wonderful weekend away in Newcastle. Now most people will know as soon as one heads out of Northumberland going south the first place one comes to is Newcastle so we didn’t go far but a break is a break no matter how close or far. With all that sunshine we could have been abroad on one of the Costas.
Living so close it’s easy to forget what a magnificient city Newcastle is. We even crossed the bridge to Gateshead and viewed Newcastle from the far bank and visited The Sage. The Sage is magnificient and the acoustics sublime – we can’t wait to go back there again.
I’m so pleased we went last weekend as today it is chucking it down, the wind is howling, and we’ve been told that snow is on it’s way. Not that the wind, rain, or even snow will bother me because I came back to find that the new Spellbinder’s Shapeabilities and M- Bossabilities had arrived, along with some new Marianne Creatables, the Tim Holtz Core-dinations, and a gorgeous new paper pack from Prima. So I’m happy to stay indoors and play with the new products.
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March 30th, 2012
I never cease to be surprised with what people do with our card making supplies. Think about our masks and bird houses isn’t the first thing that comes to mind – unless you’re Sarah, that is.
With the coming of Spring and the twittering of birds in her garden, Sarah decided that her wooden bird house looked as if it had seen better days and was sorely in need of a makeover.
First she painted it giving it a lovely bright new coat of white paint. Once the white paint was dry, using some blue paint and the Mica Mask – Blossom she added pretty floral touches to the bird house.
Then as a final touch, Sarah glued some of the smaller blue buttons. As this bird house is the perfect size for blue tits the colours and embellishments seem appropriate. We only hope the little birds appreciate Sarah’s efforts.
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March 29th, 2012
We have 3 new card making projects for you to try.
The first card uses pretty coordinating papers – Stardream Amethyst, Royal Purple Skin, and purple striped paper from the Kaisercraft Magic Happens pad – and sparkly gems to create a very card. A die cutting machine such as the Cuttlebug or Big Shot is used together with Nestabilities Labels Ten and Picot Edge Circles to create the die cut shapes.
The second of our 3 card making projects is an easy make card suitable for a beginner and is a large card – A3 Stardream card creased to form an A4 folded card.
Backing card, which comes with the die cut card toppers and border used for the card, are simply mounted on the card using photo glue then a few flowers from the Paper Flowers – Bridal Shades are added using mini glue dots.
The final card also uses a card topper and accompanying backing card teamed with a pearl border.
Full step by step instructions for all the cards can be found in the Gallery.
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March 27th, 2012
Decorative stickers make easy card making so they are just the thing if you are a beginner or need a card in a hurry.
Our two new ones couldn’t be more different. This one comes just in time for the main wedding season and will make delightful wedding day cards.
There are 12 separate stickers on this sheet and you can either use them singly or arrange some together to build up a picture on your card. The stickers are full 3D and some have faux gems, sequins or are decorated with glitter.
The second set of stickers is ideal for anyone who loves wine and. if your Dad is a wine lover, will be perfect for Father’s Day. The champagne bottle and glasses could be used on an anniversary card or for some other extra special occasion.
There are 11 stickers on this sheet which again can be used separately or together and you should get several cards out of one sheet. Also on this sheet are little extra stickers die cut on the backing sheet. Why not add one of these to the inside of your card to jazz up the insert?
Not only are these decorative stickers 3D and self adhesive but there is an extra dimension to them. When peeling them off the sheet lift the sticker slightly and you will see that the backing paper under the sticker is die cut. Peel the sticker from the backing sheet before sticking on your card and you’ll have a greater 3D effect.
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March 26th, 2012
Our range of Nestabilities seems to just keep on growing but they make such beautiful mounts for embellishments and really add that extra special touch when cardmaking or scrapbooking.
First of all is the new labels – Labels 25 which are great for larger cards as the largest die measures approximately 6 inches x 3.75 inches.
The other 2 new ones have intricate fancy edgeing. The first is the Romantic Rectangles and the second is the Splendid Circles. Both sets have four dies in the pack.
Sometimes with the more intricate dies they may not cut cleanly on the first run through. This is not a fault on either the die or the machine you are using. Spellbinders advice is to simply give the die a half turn and run it through your Big Shot or Grand Calibur again.
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March 25th, 2012
From Kanban comes a whole new range of card making toppers for Spring 2012 that are really delightful. Many have the appearance of a watercolour painting and are sure to make some enchanting cards.
Many of the card toppers come with a co-ordinating A4 high quality printed backing card in the pack so all you need do is mount the topper using glue or foam pads, add an embellishment or two such as ribbon, gems, or a flower and your card is made.
The wonderful thing about card making toppers is that you can make a professional card with the minimum of effort so these are ideal for anyone beginning card making.
Take a look at this lovely roses one with its pretty coordinating backing card.
All the card toppers are die cut, although you may need to snip the retaining pieces with scissors, and all are foiled in either gold or silver foil or pearl foil in a shade that compliments the picture.
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