LAYERED SILHOUETTE CARD

FRONT VIEW

SIDE VIEW

This card takes a little while to construct, but is not as hard as it perhaps looks to make.

Start with a three panel card from Regal craft cards, and choose three dies, each smaller than the other (nesting dies are fine but they do not have to be the same shape to work).

Position the largest die on the front panel and cut.  Next position the second largest die on the middle panel.  (The card is folded as an accordion), so that it is within the window on the front panel.  Fix it with removable tape if you want to be sure that it won't move, then run the (open) card through your machine.  Repeat the process, using the smallest die for the back panel.

Now decorate each panel with die cuts, so that some of each sits over the edge of the cut out (so you will have to use fairlys tiff card)  When the card is open a great deal of dimension is added to the design.  In this example I've kept it really simple, fixing  some rainbow parchment to the back panel for a "sunset/sunrise" and used black "silhoette" shapes - grass in the foreground, a branch and leaves in the middle and a tree at the back.  You can however, join two or more three panel cards together and add as much detail as you like to the picture, including coloured images so make a really complicated card or, just a cool design to sit on a shelf at home.

This example is a made as a sympathy card with handwritten text.  I hate my writing as much (if not more) than most people seem to, but it's perhaps the occasion when  a personal touch is most needed and  feeling self-conscious about it is nearly as important as conveying the message you want to send.

FRIDAY UPDATE

Just a quick note to let you know that new stock arriving at Regal this week included Scoreboards in two sizes, quilling boards, bow makers, and craft mats.  Not as "glamorous" but still worth a mention is that we finally have precision tweezers back in stock too! Don't forget that Indian Window cards remain on special for the rest of the month and there are always lots of treasures to be uncovered in the Bargain corner.

REGAL THREE PANEL HEART CARD

Regal Craft Cards make three panel cards in a variety of colours with a heart cut-out (supplied with the card)

Tania has used a Forest Green base card (XHE11), and plain papers to construct a sweet card "Just for You."

FRIDAY UPDATE

It was lovely to catch up with such a lot of people at Regal's 20% off sale yesterday - thanks to everyone who made it such a successful day.  Congratulations to Bev Colgrave who won the weekend for two at Platypus Park Country Retreat.

Its a bit damp and bleak outside in Launnie - in other words the perfect weather for crafting so why not duck out and grab some supplies!

In the south of the state I know how much worse it is than here and that at the moment its just a matter of getting through the weather event you're experiencing.  Our thoughts are with you.  Stay safe!

VINTAGE POSTCARD PYRAMAGE

PYRAMAGE USING VINTAGE POSTCARDS

Regal craft cards have lots of vintage postcards, and photoslot card bases too, so this takes a lot of the work out of making these cards.  Both examples use sets of nesting dies. 

Choose the focus of your cutting - in this example the baby's face, and the man and two children, and make sure that the smallest die (placed cutting side down) frames this area nicely.  Position the rest of the dies evenly around the smallest.  You can use as many dies as you like (and will fit) but three is about right for this size of postcard.

Use removable tape (or magnet) to keep the dies in place and run though your cutting machine with whatever stack you usually use for die-cutting.  Carefully remove the pieces.

Replace the pieces, using double sided foam tape or silicone glue to add increasing or decreasing height. The baby shows the pieces stacked up so that the face is the highest point, so the first (larges) die-cut went in with one piece of foam tape, the next was stuck in using two, and the third using three.  The man and children, was stacked the opposite way so that the design was inverted with the people in the centre at the lowest point, and the border dies getting progressively highter, so that you end up looking into the picture. 

Its hard to see the three dimensional characteristics of these cards from the picture, but have a play, you'll be pleased with the results, which are always quite effective (with not nearly as much work involves as there appears to be!)

COLLAGE CARD WITH ELEPHANTS

ELEPHANT COLLAGE CARD

Marilyn has chosen a "natural" theme for this collage card, featuring a picture cut from Fab Scraps paper, matted on red and then black card

She has selected brown and white buttons, woven cord, decorative ribbon,paper leaves and a real skeleton leaf, and then assembled them on a Regal Craft card base.

This card would be suitable for all sorts of occasions - everything from birthday to fathers day to bon voyage!

You may not have the specific materials used for this example (although most of them are available from Regal Craft Cards), but the general idea can be used more widely.  Find a picture you like from scrapbooking paper, or a sticker, a stamp, a diecut or whatever, and then rummage through your craft supplies and assemble a pile of products that suit the theme.  After that its just a matter of playing with all the elements until they come together on a way that makes you smile!