FRIDAY/MONDAY UPDATE

Hi, tis I, Marilyn reporting for duty again.
This will be the last time for a while as I go in to have a knee fixer upper on Wednesday so will be out of action for a bit. While I was away last week Janet has put out the card of the month on display. I am always amazed how 4 or five people can see the same card and come up with 4 or 5 totally different ideas. There are some gorgeous ones to check out.
Don't forget we still have heaps of el cheep a reno dies to pour through as well as the fabulous Paper Rose selection. This would make a  great Christmas Gift I know I would be happy to receive.

CHURCH WINDOW CARD

CHRISTMAS CUT OUT CARD

How's this for a quick Christmas card idea.  Regal make a wide variety of three panel cut out cars.  This one is XNO14 - church window, but there are Christmas trees, bells, holly, and lots of other novelty shapes in addition to more usual shapes such as rectangles, ovals and hearts.  Have a look on their website for the full range.

Although you can use these cards in a variey of  ways for iris folding, stitching, photos and more, this card illustrates a simple example that you can make quite quickly using decorative paper inside the aperture, a cut out shape on top (the gold bell is available pre-cut from Regal but you could diecut something yourself) and a sticker or, as in this case, a "lef-over" from a 3D picture.  As an alternative to the latter you might want to consider an alternative die-cut, flowers,a bow or some pre-made embellishments.

FRIDAY/MONDAY UPDATE

As you may have noticed this is Monday and not Friday I didn't forget I was just away. This is Marilyn reporting to duty. Heather is once again away on holidays so I'm stepping into the breach.
The card above is either done by Sharon or Tania not sure which and neither are here. This card is made from ruly truly corks and give a quirky look for your cards. There are 2 other examples in the shop to see.  Somebody brought some into the shop so there are heaps here for free.
There are lots of fabulous new dies from Paper Rose in the shop and I have had to give in and buy one. I got the kookaburra on a branch and I intend to put a red hat on it for Christmas.
There are lots of lovely ones to choose from.
Not  sure if you are aware but Heather is retiring come Christmas so maybe you would like to pop in and wish her goodbye.

CENTRE STEP CHRISTMAS CARDS

CENTRE STEP CARD - EXAMPLE 1

These cards look quite complicated but fortunately aren't as difficult as they look because almost all the components are available aready cut.

The red stepper cards are from Regal Craft Cards (STE5).  (They are also available in white).  The silver tree is also from there, as are the clear Christmas Greetings, which in the first example, has been stuck onto acetate, and in the second onto silver card, so they "pop" off the card.  The photos really don't do justice to the three dimensional nature of these cards.

I was away when these cards were made, but I know that Marilyn made the example with the tree so I'm guessing the first example, featuring the deer and tree die (Paper Rose) is her work too?
(I'll let you know if I'm wront.)

CENTRE STEP CARD - EXAMPLE 2

Quick update to today's update.....PS3 (white textured photoslot cards in 50s) are back in stock at Regal too!  Yay!!!!

CHRISTMAS CARDS WITH SPARKLELIGHT STICKERS

CHRISTMAS CARDS WITH SPARKLELIGHT STICKERS

When time is of the essence, stickers are a really handy addition to your cards.  You can, of course, just put them on the front of a single fold card and use them "as is", but if you have a little extra time you can give your cards a special individualised look.

Marilyn has made these two Christmas cards which illustrate how, with the addition of a few papers, stickers and ribbon, you can make cards that have a little more craftwork in them but no so much that you wouldn't still have time to make several before Christmas arrives!

A good range of Sparklelight stickers and lots of different coloured base cards are all available from Regal Craft Cards.

CHRISTMAS CARDS

JUPITER SHIMMER CHRISTMAS CARDS

If you haven't already made your Christmas cards, here are a couple of pretty examples (made by Tania) for inspiration.

The limited edition Jupiter Red base cards are available from Regal Craft Cards.  The embossing folder and papers are by Kaiser, but you could substitute them for any other papers that  co ordinated with red shimmer card.

Use the dies that are already in your stash for further embellishment, or treat yourself and come into Regal for some new craft supplies!

GUMLEAF STEPPER CARD

3D GUMLEAF STEPPER CARD

Sometimes you don't want to give a formal gift, but would like to give more than just a card.

For those occasions why not whip up a calendar and card in one.  All the ingredients for this example are available from Regal Craft Cards.

You'll need:
CAP 1 a small calendar padX
STE1 a pack of side stepper cards
HA109  Gumleaves stacker sheet
A small piece of decorative paper, foam dots and some adhesive (I use doublesided tape).

You can call into Regal's shop on Wellington Street, Launceston or find them on-line.

Z FOLD OVERLAPPING CARD

SITTING OPEN

TOP VIEW SHOWING FOLD

FOLDED FLAT

This is a very simple variation of Regal's three panel card, which is easier to show in pictures than to try and explain in brief......but as we have the pictures I'll give it my best shot!

Fold each of the side panels in turn over the middle panel, adding an additional fold, half way so that the edge of the panel lines up with the original fold (i.e. the edge of the card). The card edges (see the small picture at t he top) will look like they have a Z shaped fold, and the overall card will appear as a gatefold card.  Add any background papers at this stage.

Next, using a set of nesting dies (any will do, but I've used stitched circleds cut a shape that does not overhang the sides of the card (I've done this out of gloss red).  Using removable tape, centre a smaller die in the middle of the shape and run it through your die cutter so that there is a hole in the middle. Stick this shape half over the edge of the left hand folded panel of your card

Using the same die (or a smaller one) cut another shape.  I've used black gloss this time.  You could use the circle you've just cut out if you want although I think a contrast looks nice.  With your card folded shut, centre the smaller shape so that it sits inside the first shape, and stick it down.  It will be approximately half on and half off the folded edge of the right hand side.

Add whatever decorations take your fancy at this stage.

This card looks fine folded flat (see small picture above), and is easy to post like this, but it sits really nicely with a great three-dimensional effect (see large picture).  It could easily be adapted for any occasion.

A SIMPLE SYMPATHY CARD

A simple sympathy card idea - ink around the edges of nesting dies in various shades of grey (or whatever colour you chose), blending as you go.  Add a die-cut circle, birds and greeting, cut the panel to 10cm x 15cm, and slip it into a photoslot card.

If you prefer to use brighter colours, you could also condsider replacing the birds with butterflies.

STITCHES CARDS - part two

........and here are two more examples of the Stitches cards from Regal Craft Cards!  (See last week's post)

TWO DIFFERENT "STITCHES" CARDS

STITCHED CARDS FROM REGAL CRAFT CARDS

I probably don't need to write too much about how to make these cards because a close look at the photos will tell you how they have been made.

Janet (top card) has collected  a variety of themed items to make a baby card, whilst Maz has fussy cut and shaped some patterned paper for her thankyou card.

Both have used Regal's "Desert Haze Stitches card" (XTH2) as a base.  I think I've probably mentioned before how versatile these cards are.  You can achieve a very effective result  in quite a short time as well as using up a lot of those little bits and pieces kept "just in case."

This is also a great card to make with young crafters or beginners as a great result is almost guaranteed.

Chose a theme and have fun!

SPIRELLII GREETING CARD

SPIRELLI CARD

It's probably obvious that this card makes use of scalloped circle nesting dies.  (You can  experiment with different shapes and scallops).

I've taped the end of  some thin metallic thread to the back of the circle and threaded it between the scallops to another gap, a few spaces away, and then just continued to thread all around the circle until each has been filled.  The closer the first distance the bigger the hole in the middle will be.  This technique is known as Spirelli.

I've  used Kaiser paper for the back (unthreaded) circle, border and greeting, and inked some white gloss cards with a variety of pinks for the light and dark circles.  The smalled one has a heard die-cut from the middle and is mounted on foam tape to add depth. 

You have almost certainly guessed that the base card is from Regal Craft Cards.  If you want to make a more "masculine" version, why not go for cogs instead of scalloped circles and change the colours.

STITCHED CARD

Regal Craft Cards make these nifty "stitched" cards already printed so that you can get straight to the fun part and decorate them.

Tania has selected black and gold as the dominant colour theme, which matches very well with the flax base card. and has put her nesting dies to good use to add the decoration.

These cards are a great way to use up all those little pieces of paper that you just can't bear to throw away, and can be modified to suit the interests of the receiptient of the card.  Someone who enjoyed sewing for instance could have a card with pins, needles, fabric scraps, buttons etc.  Someone who enjoyed woodwork might enjoy nails, washers, die-cut tools etc.

Why not buy a pack and have some fun!

SUSPENDED DIE-CUT CARD TO SUIT ANY OCCASION

DIE-CUT BUTTERFLIES

This will take you a little bit longer than five minutes - but not much.  It's more the technique than the card (which I found in Regal's Bargain Corner) I wanted to show this week.

 Just pick a singlefold card, cover the inside right-hand panel with paper (I used plain lime green but you could use patterned paper). 

Die-cut a hole or two in whatever shape takes your fancy .  (At risk of stating the obvious, I chose two sizes of circle).

Now choose dies, that just fit over the edges of the cut apertures, so that there is enough to glue to the front of the card, but so that most of the die is over the hole,  Cut them out, fix in space. 

The finished card has a lovely 3D effect when it is opened or displayed in this way.  I used butterflies but you could equally well use tools (hammer, saw etc) or flowers, or words or anything really, as long as they fit with the holes that you cut.  As a result, you could make a card like this for any occasion!

DOODLING WITH DIECUTS

ADD SOME PATTERNS TO YOUR DIECUT

I've used a Uniquely Creative die as the feature of this card, but any die with open spaces will do.
Cut out your feature from black cardstock (its often easier to do this after mounting it onto double-sided Jac paper or similar) and stick it onto a smooth plain singlefold card - Regal Craft Cards have a great variety of colours, but I've stuck with traditional and chosen  "white smooth" (PL2).
Grab a pen with a fine tip - I used a Zig Millenium pen (also from Regal) in .03 black, but you could use any colour or even mix it up a bit and use more than one.
After that just doodle a different pattern in each of the sections and your done. 
I wouldn't claim this as "Zentangle" but how about relaxing doodling for all ages?  Its quite fun to do, why not give it a go.

FATHER'S DAY TOOL BOX CARD

Following along from last week's Father's Day card is another example from Sharon.  She has used the same little die cut tools (Two different sets of dies are available in the Regal Craft Cards catalogue) mounted on strips of acetate to make this fun box card which would do equally well for Father's Day or a birthday. 

There are lots of templates on-line for box cards and you can change the size to fit whatever you would like to have popping out of them, and that is limited only by your imagination!

Sharon has covered the box with sticky-backed silver checkerplate paper, leaving gaps and adding split pins to give the impression of drawers.

The greeting sticker at the back is also available from Regal.

FATHER'S DAY CARD

FATHER'S DAY CARD

With Father's Day just around the corner, why not make a card for the occasion, or help your children/grandchildren make one for a special man in their life.  Sharon's card would fit the bill.

She covered a plain Regal singlefold card with decorateive papers.  The piece with the torn edge could be replaced with sandpaper or cork if you want to add more texture.

The die-cut tools are attached with little split pins.  Paper Roses tool dies and the split pins can both be ordered from Regal Craft Cards.  Just add some sticker letters to spell "DAD" and your done!

PIANO CARD

PIANO CARD

This is Sharon's take on the "piano card" format - Kaiser pattened paper, with a fussy cut top to the Regal single fold card and an arrangement of various elements on the top, along with a greeting. 

You could modify this by adding acetate to the front so that the card could sit up for display, or by putting all the decoration on the front panel, if you wanted to.  If you fancied turning this into a more "masculine" card E.g. for Father's Day, just substitute the flowers for leaves,musical notes, cogs or omit all together (Or... if your man loves flowers leave it as is!)

If you can't find piano keyboard paper its a reasonably simple exercise to cut a couple of strips and make the keys.  Ink the edges with black ink for extra definition.

LAYERED HEART CARD

CARD FRONT

Here is a super simple card idea to use up some of those small paper scraps we all accumulate (or at least those of us who hate to throw things in the bin). Simply choose your favourite nesting die (or the one most appropriate to the occasion), and cut out each size with a different co ordinating colour and stack them.  This card has been made with a flat stack, but you could use foam dots to add dimension if you wanted, and/or ink the edges of each shape.

I've embossed the front of a smooth white singlefold card (PL2) from Regal craft cards, and added a greeting sticker, a pre-made bow and three little rhinestones to finish.

It could be a 5 minute make depending on how quickly you can die cut - remember if you're using the same brand of die you can cut more than one piece at a time.

If you add an insert you will have to allow a few minutes more.f  I found a once-loved and now hardly ever used hole punch in the drawer and used it to decorate a plain pale pink insert,which was secured to a slightly larger piece of paper in a darker shade.  Both pinks were the same colours as the plains used on the front of the card.

INSIDE THE CARD

SIMPLE ACCORDIAN CARD

CARD FRONT

This is a fun variation of a flag book.  I've basically scored and folded the central panel of a black three panel Regal craft card into an "accordian", and stuck simple die-cut flowers to either side of each fold.  It's important to remember that flowers on the front of the fold will tilt forward, whilst flowers on the back will tilt backwards so you have to position them so that they swing freely - a little practise run with removable tape is a good idea before you fix them more securely in place.

As there is so much going on inside the card, I've kept the front very simple - just some decorative paper that reflects the shape of the die, a couple of ribbons (the black one secured under the patterned panel to hide the ends) and a silver charm.

I guess you could use this card for a lot of different occasions, or you could just sit it on your shelf for a cheery decoration.

INSIDE THE CARD

FAIRY CARD

CARD FRONT

It's easy to focus on the front of a greeting card and forget that there are at least two panels inside and one on the back as well that all invite decoration.  Janet has gone one step further by using a three panel card and adding a variety of papers and elements from Kaiser;s "Fairy Garden" range to produce a really sweet fairy-themed card.

The largest die on the front is also from Kaiser - the "whimsical circle frame".  Other elements have been fussy cut and mounted with foam tape to add dimension.

This would obviously be a lovely birthday card or maybe a very special greeting from the tooth fairy?

INNER PANELS

3D FLORAL BOUQUET WITH EMBOSSED FRAME

3D FLORAL BOUQUET

Unfortunately, this picture probably doesn't show this card to best effect, however I'll explain the technique so you can get the general idea.

I began with a piece of paper featuring lots of flowers (some in repeat) - this one's from Kaiser- and fussy cut several elements from it.

I used two square dies, one placed inside the other, in conjunction with a rubber mat to emboss a frame on the front of a square white singlefold card from Regal (SPL1).

After that I arranged the cut-out flowers, leaves and butterflies on the card, and before sticking them down, shaped them (you can use a tool and a mat but I just used the palm of my hand and my fingers).  I added further dimension by positioning one cut flower over another of the same type and using various combinations of flat double sided tape and foam dots to achieve different levels.

As I mentioned, the card looks a lot better in reality.  The actual construction of the card is quite speedy, but arranging the "bits" can take some time if you're that way inclined!

HEART CUT-OUT CARD WITH FLOWERS AND BUTTERFLIES

DOUBLE HEART CARD

Spring is in the air (or am I just being overly optomistic).  In any case here's a pretty card by Marilyn to get you into the spirit.

She has taken a textured white heart cut-out card (HE1) from Regal Craft Cards, and used both the aperture and the heart.  Decoration is added with lots of hole-punched flowers in various sizes and some butterflies fluttering around. Kindyglitz, glitter glue has been used around the outside of the large hearts to finish off.

Since die-cutting machines have become the go, a lot of us have a drawer (or two) of neglected hole punches.  Why not get them out and play and remember why we all thought they were so good in the first place!

DOUBLE LAYERED TEABAG FOLDING CARD

SIMPLE TEABAG FOLDED MOTIF

This card is a lot simpler than it looks to make.  Start with a singlefold white craft card (PL1 or PL2) from Regal Craft Cards.

Assemble the motif by selecting 8 plain paper squares for the back, and eight double-sided squares for the front.  The actual size doesn't matter too much as long as it fits onto the card base you have selected.  (1 1/2 inches and 1 1/4 inches could be a size to try)

Fold and unfold each square along the diagonal, then fold the sides to the crease to make a kite shape.  Take your time with this bit as accuracy here makes a bit difference to how easy the next bit proves to be.

Assemble the eight plain "kite shapes"so that the edges lie next to each other and they make a "circular" motif.  After you've arranged them so that they are fairly evenly positioned (i.e. so you don't end up with either a big gap or not enough space at the end), stick each down with a piece of double sided tape.  Repeat with the smaller squares, and position one motif on top of the other, and stick down.  The split pin in the middle is optional but it does help to hold all the shapes together and hide and slightly dodgy bits where they are supposed to join in the middle!

Arrange a greeting and some patterned backing paper (perhaps, as in this case, the same paper used for the smaller squares), and there you are!  I've just talked about this with a fellow crafter and agreed that there are a lot of words here for something that is very easy to do and would take only a minute to demonstrate, so if you'd like the "in person" demo, pop into Regal and I'd be happy to show you!