EGYPTIAN PYRAMID CARD

EGYPTIAN CARD - FRONT

I made this card a while ago for a demo, so it includes a few tips techniques that you can use more widely in your other cardmaking.
- You can shape your 3Ds by gently rubbing the middle of the reverse side in the palm of your hand until the edges start to curl a little. This adds dimension but also hides any foam tape/silicone glue that is underneath.
-Use the colours in the card topper as a guide for what colours to use elsewhere in your card.
The colours do not have to be the most obvious ones.  In this case I've used the gold, green and red from the band on the hat and frame around the central motifs.
-Decoration doesn't always have to be stacked on top.  It can also go underneath - in this case I've punched four windows and lined up the paper underneath (It also means you don't have to measure the paper accurately, and you can chop out the mistakes made in other projects and still use your paper.
-Do remember that a single fold card has a front, a middle and a back, and all of these surfaces can be decorated.  In this case I've used colours from the front of the card, edging from the 3D sheet (available from Regal Craft Cards) and a few cut into a gold insert to convey the idea of a pyramid.(Actually this time of year, its looking a bit like a Christmas tree......but as I said, this was a card made to illustrate a few different techniques that you can use for all sorts of things, not necessarily to make "as is", although, really it does look a bit like a pyramid in reality!)

EGYPTIAN CARD - INSIDE

NEW DIES

I walked in the door at work this morning to find a big box of new dies, so I thought I'd do a quick post to let you know that the Padova collection from Ultimate crafts (nature themed), Floral layers, and the Intricutz "Perfectly Petite" little doiley dies are in, so you have today and tomorrow (Wednesday) if you want some NOW....otherwise Regal Craft re opens on Monday 4th January so we might see you then!

STEPPER CARD IN KRAFT AND WHITE

Kaiser made the paper, Regal made the base card, but Janet added the creativity to make this elegant floral stepper card.

Using the paper as as guide, she has centred pre-made paper flowers onto the bottom border.  The cut-out doiley doubles as a background for the large white flower.  The greeting also comes from the paper collection.  The only addition is some narrow cotton lace.

Lace can be a bit tricky to attach but Janet has neatly finished her embellishment by securing the ends underneath the paper topping the card.

I really love the  simple colour combination of natural and white - the contrast serves both well.

POSTSCRIPT...Janet says, that nice as the card is, it wasn't her who made it....Tania says it wasn't her.....its a mystery.......if anyone wants to "own" the card, let me know and I'll do an update...
PPS..The mystery has been solved.  Trudy Meijer just popped in to let me know that she was the craftsperson in question........sorry Trudy, and thanks for your lovely card!!

LAST MINUTE CHRISTMAS CARD

CHRISTMAS STAR.

Clearly, if you are still making Christmas cards you don't want to be spending hours on the activity this time of year!!

This isn't quite a five minute card, but it is a good one to do on "a production line" i.e. make 8 or 9 at a go, and you'll have them done in no time.

The base is a small square textured singlefold card from Regal Craft Cards.  Choose quality cardstock, it makes all the difference to the final result!  The cards come with envelopes so you don't need to hunt around for those.

The card is topped with a square of gloss silver (it actually looks bluish) card and then with some patterned vellum.  Use doublesided tape to fix the vellum under where the star will go, that way you don't have to use extra time to attach it with split pins, spray glue or hidden edges.

The star is also from Regal and is made of thick shiny card.  It has been embossed with a folder - chose an all-over pattern that doesn't have a "right way up" so you don't have to spend ages positioning it in the folder.  If you use one of the larger folders you can do a couple at a time.

Pop a star split-pin in the middle of the star (make a little hole with a needle or piercer first) and attach it to the vellum and gloss card before sticking the whole lot onto the base.  You can add a little double sided tape to the star first to hold it in place, if you like (it's probably a good idea) but you don't need much as the split pin will do the hard work.

If you have an extra couple of minutes add an insert with a stamped greeting to the middle.  If not, just write your message inside and off you go!!

This will be the last Wednesday posting for the time being, but the regular Friday posts and updates will continue and if there is anything special to share or I find a little extra time(!) there will be a few random "extras" as well.

HOW TO MAKE AN EASY EMBOSSED BORDER

3d ROSE WITH EMBOSSED BORDER

If you want to add a little bit of decoration to your base card but want to keep the main motif (in this case a 3D Sparklelight rose), then how about using your scoreboard and embossing tool to add some borders?

I've just used the envelope insert to achieve a 45degree angle and drawn down each line on the board - equal numbers of lines in each corner.  There are endless variations of how this can be done of course - its up to you.  You can use any colour as a base card, but for maximum impact you really can't go past smooth white!

If you don't have a scoreboard you can achieve similar results using an embossing tool in the channel of your slide cutter or even with a tool and ruler on top of a soft mat (you can get mats made specifically for embossing, but a firm mouse mat would do).  The latter won't be quite as effective as the cutter channel, which in turn won't be quite as good as the scoreboard, but its worth giving both a go with some scrap card to see if you like the results.

MERRY CHRISTMAS CARDS - 3 VARIATIONS.

MERRY CHRISTMAS  CARDS

When Roma brought these cards in to show us, I really hoped that she would say "yes" when we asked if we could put them on the blog.  As you can see, it was.

I was keen to share these cards, not just because they're lovely (which they are) but to illustrate how one basic design and a single die can be used to achieve three very different effects.  The cards on either side feature different colour schemes, ribbons etc and the one in the middle not only has some very shiny red holographic paper as the backing for the ornament, but some cute little 3D critters in the background!

The "Merry Christmas" die from Craft Concepts is ideal for these larger cards and can even be used separately as a hanging ornament. These examples are A5 size, which makes the images large and clear (and quite tactile) and just right to make a big impact!

Now, here's a nice surprise, Roma just popped by, with another card, so I can revise the post's title to "4 Variations".  The new card (which so new the glue is still wet!) features an embossed white circle, a snazzy glitter card background and a silk flower.  Thankyou Roma!!!!

ART DECO LADY PYRAMEX CARDS

CARDS FEATURING ART DECO LADIES

Couture Creations have been releasing some really lovely dies lately.

I have my share of image-specific dies (including just about all the recently released Australiana ones), but I find that the ones I go back to time after time are the nesting dies, frames, backgrounds and borders!

As you can see from the examples, this doesn't have to be as boring as it may sound.  As soon as I saw these dies I thought they would be the perfect accompaniment for these Art Deco ladies (both available on the same Sparklelight Pyramex sheet from Regal Craft Cards).

I've made both designs up on some shimmer card 10 x 15 cm (4 x 6 inches) so that all I have to do to finish is add a bit of bling and pop them into a Regal photoslot card.

CHIRSTMAS CALENDAR CARD

CHRISTMAS CALENDAR CARD

Here's a good idea for a card and gift in one, and best of all, given the time of year, it won't take you forever to make.

Regal sell the pre-made stepper base cards and the little calendars.  All you need to do is add the decoration.

Sharon has added some cheerful Christmas papers, stickers and rhinestones, and a cute owl button to her example.