AUSTRALIANA DIES

SIMPLE CARDS WITH AUSTRALIAN DIES

Two very simple cards feature this week.  The first, with the die positioned on the inner panelbehind the oval cut-out has been made with the Ultimate Crafts "Small Grass Tree Tag" set which includes not only the grass but two oval nesting dies as well.

The second is also from the Australiana range and shows an example of how the Old Farm Card tag set can be used.  In this instance the set includes the wagon, a separate wheel, and two nesting tag dies.

At the time of writing, both die sets were available from Regal Craft Cards, which is where both the base cards were purchased.

TWO MEN ON A FENCE

MULTI-USE TWO MEN ON A FENCE CARD

This is sort of a five and a bit minute "wonder" - it certainly won't take too long to make.

All you need is a base card from Regal Craft Cards and the Paper Roses die (which can also be ordered from them), a little white ink and some paper.

I put down the lightest green paper first and then lay the straight edges of darker green at an angle each side just slightly over the top, and trimmed to the edge of the card.  That way you don't have to measure or cut neatly!  I fussy cut a hill from dark navy cardstock, and die cut the men, stuck them in place and then sponged in some white clouds.  Technically "sponged", I actually used my index finger which I find worked just fine!

That's it.  You could easily add a greeting if you wanted, either on the bottom edge or in the sky space, and you could send the card for just about any occasion - everything from birthdays to greetings from Tasmania, to Fathers' Day.  Add a heart in the middle (the gender of the folks on the fence is not clear) for Valentine's or engagement, or stick down a couple of bunnies in the paddock and a tiny egg or two for Easter.  There's lots you could do with this basic design.

LAYERED DIE-CUTGREVILLEAS

CARD WITH DIECUT GREVILLEAS

I think that this is another one of those cards that looks much nicer "in the flesh" than on screen but.......

The die set is from Ultimate crafts (ULTI57478) and includes the two frames as well as the grevillea.  At the time of writing Regal still had some in the shop.  They are always happy to post any of their stock, even if it does not appear on the website.

I've cut three grevilleas from different pearlised metallic papers, added highlights with metallic pens and then mounted them on Kaiser papers.  Stickers, a ribbon strip, punched circles and a little pre-made bow were added.

Finishing touches were rounding the cornerS of the Regal Kraft base card, and inking the edges with sepia ink.

This is a floral card that isn't overly feminine so it would be suited to just about anyone, including frineds who live overseas as there aren't that many dies available that feature Australian flowers..

CHRISTMAS GREETINGS FROM AUSTRALIA

CHRISTMAS GREETINGS FROM AUSTRALIA

If you haven't already taken care of the Christmas card situation for overseas friends and relatives, you need to start giving the situation some serious thought now.

As time is of the essence, another quick card from Sharon is in order.

Regal make these Australia cut out cards in three colours - white, green and ivory, so all you need to do is pop some pretty paper in the aperture and embellish if desired (Sharon has used a paper poinsettia and leaves from Green Tara).

This card has been made in traditional Christmas colours but you could go for an outback palette of ochre, gold and burnt orange if you wanted something really different, and add a die-cut Australian animal or plant (Ultimate Crafts make some good ones) as embellishment.

Regal do some state cards as well, so if you want to be very geographically specific its worth contacting them to ask about availability.  I know that there are certainly Tasmania cut-outs.

TEXTURE PASTE TASSIE

TASMANIA WITH TEXTURE PASTE

I used a couple of products from Regal Craft Cards to make this card which would be good for a Bon Voyage greeting.  The first was one of their square singlefold textured white cards, and the other was their Tasmania cut-out, which I used as a stencil.

I applied a thick coat of modelling paste through the cut out, and used a butter knife (I do own little palette knives but they were at home in the drawer) to add texture.   I could have used some acrylic paints to add colour but liked the simple blue and white effect.

The greeting is from the Ultimate Crafts Australiana pad, and has been coloured with Tombow pens.

TASSIE DEVIL EASEL CARD

TASSIE DEVIL CONGRATULATIONS

An often overlooked source of card toppers are postcards!  This fearsome fellow is from Tas Postcards and Souvenirs.

An extra fold has made one of Regal's 3 panel square cards into an easel so that he sits up on display.  The circle that keeps him upright is made from paper clay using a combination of techniques - first it was made light green by colouring with a green marker onto a little white ball of clay and then mixing it through by kneading.  I rolled the clay out, pressed it onto an embossing folder and left to dry, the die cut into a circle and brushed over with a black ink pad.  It sounds complicated but if you work step by step its easy!

The card just squeezes through as standard thickness and as paper clay (Magic clay) is very light, doesn't weigh too much so you could send this as a special greeting from Tasmania, although I think that a pre-schooler might like it for their birthday too! I've added a "Congratulations" peel off sticker, honestly just because it was in the cupboard......you could add your own greeting with either a sticker, a computer print-out, stamp or die-cut to suit the occasion.

KANGAROO STAMPED CARD

CARD WITH A KANGAROO 

We make lots of reindeer cards, and rabbit cards. There are robins and lions and bears......but it's nice to know that there are some products out there that feature Australian animals.  This kangaroon stamp, which is from a Darkroom Door set, is a great example.

I've stamped it onto craft card with black ink and just added a tiny bit of colour with a brown pencils.  The other products used are Australian too - the paper is from Ultimate Crafts Australiana series, the embossing folder (inked after use with brown ink) is from Kaiser,  and the card is, of course from Regal Craft Cards!

I haven't added a greeting but it could be anything from a birthday card to a bon voyage to a notecard to an overseas friend.