FIVE MINUTE BIRDS AND LEAVES

SUPER QUICK ALL-OCCASION CARD

Just to prove I do make cards occasionally..........
This is a five minute wonder.

The birds are made with a Martha Stewart layering punch, and the leaves have been cut using a Couture Creations die.  The same sort of design could be constructed with a number of different dies/punches.  The front of the card is shortened and the back panel bordered with strips of the colours used on the front.  I've just used plain papers.

The card is Regal's Kraft brown square singlefold.

The longest time needed is to get the strips on the back lined up straight but if you are organised this will literally take a couple of minutes to complete.

STICKERS ARE QUICK FOR CHRISTMAS

CHRISTMAS ANGELS

When you are running out of time, stickers come into their own as card toppers.  These Sparklelight angels from Regal are a little different to the usual Christmas offerings.  The sticker was made to look a little more formal by mounting it on layers of card. The colours chosen were found in the stickers

The embossing folder came with the Cuttlebug and the die used to cut the vine is from Couture Creations .  Basically it was a matter of adding what was at hand!! Oh yes, and some little rhinestones too, because you can never have too much sparkle (?!)

LAST MINUTE CHRISTMAS TREE CARD

LAST MINUTE CHRISTMAS TREE CARD

Just one card today - made by Janet and perfect for the last-minute card maker.  She has cut branches from one of the Kaiser Basecoat papers and decorated them with a little Snowtex and pearls.  The star is punched from shimmer paper and the trunk from plain brown.

The card base is a "Natural" singlefold from Regal craft cards..

There's still a week to go before Christmas so don't give up on the idea of handmade cards - there's still time if you start RIGHT NOW!!

SUPER QUICK CHRISTMAS CARD

LAST MINUTE CHRISTMAS CARD

OK, time is moving on and if you haven't started your Christmas cards yet, something quick is best.

Tania has used a Sparklelight card from Regal as the base and added strips of paper, hole punched leaves. stickers and red rhinestones.

All in all, once you've assembled the materials you should be able to complete this in five to ten minutes!!

THREE MORE CARDS FOR CHRISTMAS

THREE MORE CARDS FOR CHIRSTMAS

Here are the last of the cards I'll be including from Marilyn's demo.  All three use Regal cards as their base.

The ornaments on the first card have been fussy cut from Kaiser paper and mounted on punched squares.  Some have been raised with mounting tape to add dimension.

The middle card is gold with three pockets made with decorative papers fixed with doublesided tape.  The words have been cut from patterned paper and baker's twine used in the holes.

The last card is a green triangle tree, decorated with peel off stickers, with a split pin star on the top, and presents cut with a Martha Stewart "gifts" border punch from shimmer paper at the bottom  five minutes work but with a lot more impact!!

CHRISTMAS STAR CARD

If you get started now its not too late to make a card or two like this before Christmas.  Tania has used Kaiser papers and rhinestones, a die-cut star from Regal and some peel off stickers to great effect here.

The base is a Regal square white textured card.

FRIDAY UPDATE

We've had our last demo for the year, but we're already planning ahead for next year.  If you have any good ideas for classes or demos we'd love to hear them.  We have our little schedule cards out for 2014 (yes I know, its unprecedented!!)   The February demo will be on Monday 10th.  More details soon.  The first class will be on Tuesday 04th February and it will have a "tea party" theme (sorry cards only, no real cakes), but will look at the techniques of paper piecing, iris folding and covering a shaped card.  The demos as usual are free, and the cost of the class (maximum 10 participants) is $20.00 which included all materials (except the usual kit of pencil, double sided tape etc).  If you're extra keen you can book (with payment) now.  The class for March will be Storybook cards (essentially making a little mini scrapbook) with Janet and I'll let you know the date soon.

For now though coping with the demands of Christmas is pretty much a priority.  If you still need to make cards have a look at the selection on the blog or pop into the shop and hopefully we'll be able to help with some last-minute card making ideas.

 As usual, there will be some new weekly specials to look at over at the Regal Craft Cards website tomorrow, including the ever-popular white textured square cards at a really terrific price.

I'll be posting some of Marty's cards from the recent demo during the next few weeks, too so check back each week for new card ideas.

THREE QUICK CARDS FOR CHRISTMAS

Three Quick Cards for Christmas

PARCHMENT CRAFT CHRISTMAS CARD

PARCHMENT CRAFT CHRISTMAS CARD

Jane Ash made this beautiful parchment craft card, using a pattern from the Christmas Treasures book.  Jane is one of Regal's mail order customers from WA so it was lovely to see her in person when she visited the shop last week.

Wouldn't it be amazing to get this for Christmas!!

(Parchment paper, tool and the book are all available on the Regal website.)

SECRET GARDEN COLLAGE CARD

SECRET GARDEN COLLAGE CARD

Tania has used a square card from Regal Craft Cards as the base for her beautiful collage, based on the Graphic45 Secret Garden Range of Papers.

The lace has been punched, and the components "fussy cut". The backing cardstock has been lightly inked around the edges to add dimension.

This really pretty card illustrates how important assembling various elements is to the success of the final product.  There aren't a lot of itmes used to make this card - just a lot of imagination.
\
Thanks to Tania for sharing!!

CHRISTMAS CARDS IN NON-TRADITIONAL COLOURS

THREE CHRISTMAS CARD IDEAS IS NON-TRADITIONAL COLOURS

Three more cards from Marilyn this week - and some good ideas if you want to do something a little different from the usual red, green and gold.

The first card features hole punched squares in shades of blue, with a diecut silver tree decorated with blue rhinestones.  All the materials are available at Regal.

The second card combines pink Kaiser sparklets with border stickers on a standard white textured card - simple but effective.

The third card is equally quick to make - a picture placed behind an arch window card from Regal with the addition of blue lace "curtains".

CHRISTMAS TREE EASEL CARD

CHRISTMAS TREE EASEL CARD

Roma Bunyard made this card as part of the Easel Cards class she taught at Regal earlier on in the year.  It combines the clever use of die-cut shapes with one of Regal's gold foil Christmas trees, used as a backing for a tree picture.  Roma has finished off with just the right amount of "bling" to produce a really memorable, but achievable Christmas Card

CHRISTMAS IDEAS FOR DL CARDS

IDEAS FOR DL CHRISTMAS CARDS

Here are some more ideas from Marilyn's October Christmas Card demo.

The first two cards show a different way to present Sparklelight 3d die cuts (available from Regal Craft Cards).  The wreath and Santa are incorporated into the overall concept of the design.

The patterned papers are from Kaiser.  The panels on the door are backed on plain black paper and mounted with foam tape to add additional dimension.

Similarly the panels on the third card are made by cutting the image into four and mounting it onto forest green so that you seem to be viewing the scene out a window.  Santa's foot in the middle card has been tucked under the patterned paper to give the impression he is climbing out of the chimney.

All the base cards are white textured or white smooth DL cards available from Regal Craft Cards.

CHRISTMAS CARD WITH THREE BAUBLES

DETAIL

A Tuesday bonus......Marlene Exton brought his beautiful card into the shop and has been kind enough to allow me to share it with you.

Marlene has layered circles back to back for the bauble, added some adhesive leaves andcoloured some metallic trim with red permanent markers to add a little shine.  She has added detail with her sewing machine, and finished the project with a rub-on greeting.

The base card is a "Natural" square from Regal Craft Cards.

THREE BAUBLES

QUICK CALENDAR IDEAS

TWO QUICK CALENDAR IDEAS

These Regal Calendars are a great idea for Christmas gifts - what else can you get now days for under $2.00?!!

They have slots to fit a 6 x 4 photo or craft creation and a gold foiled border.

We've just popped a postcard in one and made up a 3d for the other.  How easy is that!!!

CHRISTMAS CARDS

AND NOW...BACK TO TRADITION

Marilyn made these traditional cards as part of the Christmas Card demonstration she did for Regal Craft Cards back in October.  All of them are based on Regal craft cards - from left to right the large square cut out, white textured DL and forest green square.  She has used some of this year's Kaiser papers for decoration.

Note especially how Marilyn has filled the aperture of the square cut-out card with diagonal rows of folded paper - super simple but very effective.  Also how a sense of life and movement has been added to the other two cards by placing the elements at an angle, rather than straight.  The blog will be featuring more of Marilyn's cards in the weeks coming up to Christmas, and as I mentioned before I'll be posting on both Wednesday and Friday until Christmas!!

SPARKLELIGHT CHRISTMAS CARD

SPEEDY SPARKLELIGHT CARD

Its time to be thinking about making Christmas cards.  There is a happy medium to be found here.....cards with a definite handmade look without too much time to construct is ideal.

Here is one example.  The Sparklelight backing card (from Regal) already has finely etched detail and a solid silver square for decoration.

The feature panel has been made by cutting a Sparklelight topper into pieces and backing each with white card. The first layer is placed at an angle to the solid square.  The top layer is straight and secured with some double sided foam tape to add a little height.

Its not quite a five minute card but shouldn't take more than about ten minutes to complete if you have all your supplies at the ready.

Unfortunately the picture doesn't do justice to the shine and shimmer or the Sparklelight products,

BOX ZIG ZAG CHRISTMAS CARD.

FRONT OF CARD

Tania has shown her usual attention to detail in decorating this box zig zag card (available from Regal Craft Cards) with some pretty Kaiser Christmas papers.  She has cut a simple Christmas tree to match the colour of the base card and added further decoration with peel off stickers, rhinestones, and a bow.

INSIDE

CALENDARS AND CHRISTMAS CARDS

CHRISTMAS CARD WITH MOTIF

FUSSY CUT CALENDAR

DL CALENDAR CARD

Lynne Armstrong has made some lovely Christmas cards and calendars.

Apart from the clever use of patterned papers (mainly from Imaginisce), and Regal calendars there are two other very good ideas.

The first is the pretty motif - made from pleated paper and topped with quilled petals and a rhinestone.  The second is the clever way Lynne has scored and folded the calendars so they will fold flat for posting, but sit upright and stable for display.

CALENDAR - SIDE VIEW

BURGUNDY FAN CARD

FAN CARD WITH ROSES

Lorraine has a real talent for producing elegant cards and this is no exception.  She has used a base from Regal for the main body of the fan, but has decorated the edge with "Cuttlebugged" burgundy card, edged with a lacy sticker.

At the bottom she has cleverly used one of the push-outs from the Regal fan aperture cards, inked the edged and decorated it with some hand-rolled roses with gold and white leaves.

White satin ribbons complete the project.

TWISTED EASEL

TWISTED EASEL

Roma has used a Regal three panel square card as the base for this twisted easel card.

There has been a great deal of attention to detail gone into this elegant example.

The main panels are patterned black/grey papers matted with red.  A narrow silver sticker surrounds both panels.

The heart pattern on the easel is adorned with pearl hearts.  The greeting is a topper mounted onto red and white oval matting and adorned with a rhinestone set into a silver split pin. The whole unit has been mounted with double sided foam tape for dimension.  A double tied bow completes the panel.

The base features a double mated triangle lifted with foam tape between the first and second layers.  The greeting is a heat-embossed stamp and a sparkly heart diecut has been added as an accent.  Hidden underneath the front panel is an additional pearl heart.

Whilst this card appears deceptively simple, card makers will appreciate each of these special touches.  This is not a five minute card but the results speak for themselves.

SPARKLELIGHT 3DS AND DOILEY CARDS

Sparklelight and Doileys

Betty Hipworth made these lovely cards using Sparklelight 3D sheets from Regal Craft Cards, and was kind enough to allow me to share her work with you.

She has taken the time to remove all the "loose bits" from the pre-made doileys and the result, as you can see, is really worth the extra efffort involved.

Betty made the card bases from Bazzill cardstock and has finished her work with peel off corners, borders and stickers.

TISSUE BOX HOUSE

PAPERCRAFT TISSUE BOX

We still sell these cardboard tissue box blanks at Regal.  They came about when (for those of us who can remember), everyone was padding picture frames, photo albums and all sorts of other things with wadding and then covering them in calico and lace.

I kind of have the feeling that its only a matter of time before that comes back into fashion again BUT in the meantime.........if you use masking tape instead of stitching to secure the base pieces together, there's lots of fun to be had decorating the house blanks with scrapbooking paper and diecuts.

It can still function as a tissue box cover, as you can see from the photo above, but would look cute up on a shelf just as decoration for its own sake.  It would also be a good project for older kids on holidays.  (I know I'm a bit late in this regard, but its not too early to start planning for the long hols ahead at Christmas!!)
The boxes are not on the website but if you come into the shop (or ask Vanessa on-line) we can find them for you - I think they are only about $3.00 each.

Just a note too re: Regals weekly special - this week there are small square white textured cards, horizontal folds with butterfly cut outs and a choice of three different inserts!!  I've just been on holidays and come back to find the Kaiser October release (which includes another set of Christmas papers) and some new Sparklelight 3Ds, amongst other things.

We have our next demo, which features Marilyn Donald showing lots of quick and easy Christmas Cards on October 24th.  There are still some vacancies for the Parchment Craft Class on November 01.  Please get in touch soon, if you are interested in attending.

MONOCHROMATIC HEART CARD

MONOCHROMATIC COLLAGE HEART

This card by Tania is a perfect illustration of why you don't always have to use a huge palette of colour to achieve a striking result.

Tania taught a "Collage Cards" class earlier on in the year at Regal, and this is a great example.  She has used papers (Kaiser), ribbons, lace, a pearl, a paper flower, chipboard shapes and ink to achieve this result.

If you are stuck for inspiration, why not put together a group of single coloured bits and pieces from your craft box and see if you can assemble them into a memorable card.

If your work ends up a masterpiece, why not scan it and then you can print out copies to use as card toppers in the future.

TINY EASEL GIFT CARD

TINY EASEL GIFT CARD

Roma has used her dies to cut a folded flower base card and then added a front easel panel in the same shape to make this cute gift card.

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, Roma recently taught an easel card class at Regal, and this was one of her examples.

 Bigger is not always better, and this little card is very sweet.  It could even sit  open on top of a flat wrapped gift instead of a bow or rosette.

LAYERED SPARKLELIGHT TRAIN

SPARKLELIGHT TRAIN CARD

Marilyn had a brainwave when she saw this Sparklelight Pyramex train.  Instead of stacking the layers, she slid each slightly to the left which, coupled with the way Sparklelight reflects (sadly not visible in the photo), gives the card a wonderful sense of motion.  

The layers have been placed onto a silver DL basecard from Regal.  If you wanted to add a greeting there is clearly room at the left, however it looks rather good just the way it is!!

GIFT BOX / PHOTO CUBE

GIFTBOX/PHOTO CUBE

 Regal make an inexpensive gift box/photo cube base that is great for decorating in lots of ways.  With Christmas coming up it is ideal as a favour box.  The example shows it with a bag of sweets but I think for our Christmas table I'll make one for each person with some lollies and little gifts plus the poppers, bad jokes etc that are part of our celebrations instead of (or maybe as well as) our usual Christmas crackers, the contents of which are almost always disappointing!

These are also about the right size to present some small-scale Christmas cooking such as rum balls, coconut ice or even a small Christmas pud' or muffin, for those people you don't buy for but still want to remember (I'd say e.g. work colleagues but I don't want to raise any false expectations!!). 

The cubes are a good way to use up a lot of the little bits and pieces you probably already have such as stickers, diecuts, rhinestones, pearls etc. or alternatively go all out and buy some fabulous papers and make a series of co ordinated keepsake boxes for the Christmas table.

FRONT VIEW - CHRISTMAS CUBE

CHRISTMAS CUBE - INSIDE

PHOTO DISPLAY

Another way to use the boxes is to display photos - Lois has just popped a postcard and some stickers on here by way of example, but I could imagine a decorated tower of fabulous family shots or views from the latest holiday.  Cubes are a lot more interactive that a flat album - I've noticed from the ones we have on display that a lot of people pick them up and look at all the surfaces. 

A photo cube would also make a great presentation box for an 18th birthday with photos from baby to adult or for an anniversary. 

For some occasions you could cut card to size and have people write messages to be included inside the cube E.g. leaving a workplace, hen's night (?!) etc

18TH BIRTHDAY?

As long as you used a battery operated candle  you could also put vellum over the "windows" and make a decorative tealight holder.

The uses are endless!!!!!!! Each side of the cube measures about 9cm and the windows are a little over 4cm square.

TEDDY BEAR EASEL CARD

SPARKLELIGHT TEDDY EASEL CARD

Here at last (and as promised some time ago) is one of the gorgeous cards Roma Bunyard made as  part of the class she taught at Regal featuring easel cards.

Roma has constructed this one out of diecut scallop circles.  The "stop" is made from a split pin inside a circle of the same card as the base to echo the holes in each scallop.  All the card is inked with gold which ties the design nicely to the shiny Sparklelight teddy and butterfly.

You'll no doubt be pleased to know there are lots more of Roma's easel cards yet to post, and I will be doing so in the upcoming weeks

PINK CARDS - A SELECTION

LIMITED EDITION PINK CARDS

Regal are doing some limited runs of special edition colours at the moment, and the current offering is this very hot pink!!  None of us really use pink as our "go to" colour so it was a challenge.  Some examples of what we (Tania, Heather and Lois) came up with are here.  It was actually quite fun to step out of our usual way of doing things.  Just in case you'r interested...the frangipanni flower was cut from two layers of the backing paper and shaped in the palm of my hand.  A pearl and tiny piece from a border sticker finish off the middle.  Tania has cut the white flower motif from flocked vellum and used a Martha Stewart border punch for the edging.  Lois has combined spotted organza ribbon with a pre-made bow.  The other two cards use topper sheets.

BIRD COLLAGE CARD

BIRD AND BUTTERFLY CARD

Trudy Meijer kindly brought this card in to share. She has used papers from the Kaiser Curiosity collection, reassembled as a 3d collage on one of Regal's square natural cards.  Its such a pretty card, anyone would be excited to find this inside when they opened the envelope on their birthday.

TUMBLING SQUARES

TUMBLING SQUARES BIRTHDAY CARD

How's this for an easy but effective card.  Marilyn has cut out squares in a variety of papers, varying colour, pattern and texture.  The top layer has been fixed with foam tape to add dimension.  Corner and border stickers and a peel-off greeting complete the card.  The base is a "Natural" single fold from Regal Craft Cards.

This design would do for any occasion, simply choose the appropriate paper, card blank and stickers/stamps.

VINTAGE CARDS - PERFECT FOR FATHERS DAY

VINTAGE CARS

You can almost see the car zooming off the page in this card made by Marilyn.  It would be ideal for Father's Day.  The car images are from a Sparklelight waterfall card sheet (available from Regal).  Marilyn has added some tartan ribbon, mounted over some scrapbooking paper and attached with a star split pin.  Taking the red from the ribbon as inspiration, she has then mounted the car pictures onto red card.  All the elements are assembled on a square white singlefold card from Regal Craft Cards.

ARUM LILY CARD

ARUM LILY CARD

The gold foiled oval cut-out card and the "blister" covering that I've used in this example both come from Regal Craft Cards.

The backing paper is green marble (or marmor) writing paper and the lily has been made from a rough petal shape with a "V" cut in the bottom.  The edges of the V are slightly overlapped and secured with thin double sided tape which shapes the flower and adds dimension.  Before taping I added a tiny strip of coiled yellow.  The large leaf is the same petal shape, pleated to add texture, and the stems and little leaves are just folded strips.

The "blister" cover protects the finished flower if it is to be posted.  I've left the front very plain, and as such it would be suitable for a Sympathy card.  The same design could be made in different colours and "dressed up" for many different occasions.

"SEW SWEET" CARD

SEW SWEET CARD

We're featuring one of Janet's cards again this week....and she is still using that sheet of Bo Bunny paper from her last couple of examples.  This time she has teamed it with a Kaiser flocked paper backing and a dress-form from Dazzles "Sew Sweet" sticker sheet.  Three little buttons and a bow complete the card.

Regal sell a range of square base cards suitable for this project.

SCALLOP CARD

SCALLOP CARD

Marilyn made this weeks super-quick card.  The  base is from Regal Craft Cards.  It is one of their scallop edged white textured three panel cards.  (Also available in ivory).

The front panel was covered with burgundy "Embossed Bloom" paper, with one flower "fussy cut" from the main sheet to feature on the top.  The edges of hte top panel were inked with burgundy ink  A peel on sticker was coloured to co ordinate and adhesive rhinestones added to complete the card.

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS CARD

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

Another pretty card from Janet this week, featuring the same sheet of Bo Bunny paper used in the card we showed the week before last.  She has cut out the "Count Your Blessings" panel, mounted it onto stiff cardstock and then secured it onto one of Regal's limited edition Pacific Blue single fold cards. Janet has used  foam squares to add dimension.

 Butterflies in two sizes have been cut from Botany paper and layered.  Baker's twine embellishes the mounted panel. The doiley has been lightly inked, and  three pre-cut paper flowers with added rhinestones complete the picture.

 Once again, there are lots of ideas here that might be useful when undertaking your own card making projects.

STAMPED TREES

STAMPED TREES

Tania has made an elegant card with just a few features that can easily be achieved in a tight time frame.  The trees are a Rubbadubbadoo stamp, the greeting is a peel of sticker.  The corners and borders have been cut from layers of card and edged in black ink.  A button with a string tie completes the project!

VINTAGE ROSES CARD

VINTAGE ROSE CARD

Janet made this lovely layered card using a variety of products and techniques.  The base is a square Botany card, and the background paper comes from the Bo Bunny range.  The flowers are from Kaiser.  Note how Janet has coiled the stems of the little roses for added effect.  The butterfly motif has been fussy cut from the same sheet of paper as the background, and the peel off sticker has been coloured with an alcohol-based marker to tone in with the rest of the card.  The blue flowers are part of a ScrapFX chipboard shape (which originally included a butterfly and larger swirl), which has been painted.  Further highlighting has been added with glitter glue.  Hopefully there is a lot of inspiration here!!!!

NOTEBOOKS

NOTEBOOKS

These lovely notebooks were made by Lynne Armstrong in her notebook and card class.  The covers and pads are available from Regal - they aren't in the catalogue but you can contact them for details, if interested.  Lynne used Graphic 45 paper to decorate the covers and made the flowers.  Offset layers of flowers were stacked, a sunburst punnch was used to make the stamens and the whole stack was secured with a split pin, before sptritzing with water and scrunching to shape.  Lynne used Distress inks to colour the edges.  When the flower is dampened the clours "bleed", introducing the lovely shading to the pale cream (Milli Vanilla) petals.

FLOWER BASKET CARD

PINK AND BLACK FLORAL BASKET CARD

Who would have thought that one of Regal's square black singlefold cards could end up looking so cheerful.

Tania has dressed the card up with several layers of paper and made a feature with a basket cut with a Marianne Craftable Design die and decorated with little pink EK Success "flower power" punched flowers.

The whole card is finished with a strip of stripy ribbon and a hand-tied bow.

Instead of pink, you could substitute the receiptient's favourite colour!!

QUOTE CARD

QUOTE CARD

A really simple card suitable for men or women this week - the quote is from a sheet of Graphic45 paper.  Start with an ivory Regal Craft Card, add some matting, some mesh, three paper flowers a few black rhinestones and some punched circles (tucked under the straight edge to make the scallops) and there you are!!
I'm including this in the 5-minute card category as its not at all complicated, although you might have to have all your materials at the ready and work at an impressive pace to get it finished in this time!!