Say Hello To The Wallace Family

 

     This month's optional twist at The Paper Funday is 'Family', this is the Wallace Family by Lavinia Stamps. Did you know a group of hedgehogs is called an 'array'?

     The main image panel was started with a leaf print taken from a media plate onto water colour card. I like smooth card but there is less buckling with watercolour card when using paint or fluid ink.

     Using a stamp press the Wallace family were stamped with Versafine ink three times to get a good coverage.

      A little black pencil under each hog grounds them before a light dusting of Distress Ink across the bottom of the panel adds a hint of green. There is a narrow black mat layer to make the hogs pop but when put over a plain white card blank it didn't look right, so using the same Distress Ink I stamped around the edge of the card blank and blended the edges too.

     The image panel was then put on foam tape before being added to the lightly decorated card blank. A greeting was needed but it had to be something simple. A single layer die cut looked alright but I wanted it raised, this one has no room to add foam pads so I cut it out four times and glued the layers together to form a 'chipboard' like greeting.

     The Paper Funday is an anything goes challenge but we always have an optional twist, this month it's 'family', so pop over and join us with your papercraft creations whether they're family or not.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Dream Valley - #269 Four Legged Friends

Simon Says Stamp - Masculine

Critter Crazy - #62 Anything Goes with a Featured Critter

Stamping Sensations - Anything Stamped/option Flora or Fauna

Summer Lantern Birdcage

     The new Summer Lantern from John Next Door is great for small gifts and party decorations. The inserts from the Pop Box die sets also fit this new die giving you even more ways to decorate.

    

     The bird inside the cage was die cut in Shrink Plastic, but like a nitwit I was so keen to shrink it I forgot to colour it first, thank goodness for alcohol markers.

     The wings were stuck on with some very strong glue, then I threaded some nylon twine through the wings ready to be hung in the cage.

     A cage full of flowers would be rather nice too and maybe a little more trimming to make a opening door.

     The cage was cut in silver mirri card, I used the fancy floral die from the new lantern in the roof but used the square grid window from the Christmas Pop Box on the sides. With a rule and a sharp knife I cut some of the bars out of each window to make it look more like a cage.

     Once assembled I cut a square of Kraft card to go on the floor of the cage so it looked a little more like the paper my Mum used to put in the Finches cage many years ago.

     The roof was pulled together with some silver ribbon tied off in a bow, then I added some silver cord so it can be hung up.

     It looked a little bare on top so I added some leaves and a flower with a hint of blue to match the bird.

     There are so many things you can do with this little lantern and being able to use some of the dies you may already have makes it a die set worth having.

I would like to enter this project in the following challenges:

Through The Craft Room Door - 12th April Anything Goes

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - #180 Anything Goes

Creative Knockouts - #449 Wings and Things/Furry Friends

Creative Fingers - #229 Anything Goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies - #2216 Anything Goes

Ares Quilted Leaves

 

     This was made with two new die sets from John Next Door, Vintage Leaves and Ares background die. Die's can be used for embossing as well as cutting as long as you use a silicone mat and the right sandwich of plates for your machine.

     I cut a rectangle of off white card to the required size, then using various Autumn colours I cut the leaves. The leaves were stuck down on the card with a good strong PVA glue and left to dry.

     Once dry I put the background die on top of the card and ran it through the embossing machine. My machine is a little worn so the rollers are slack, for my own machine (Bigshot)I used the following sandwich, from top to bottom.....Cutting plate, die, card, silicone mat, cutting plate, one cereal packet card, base plate (no tab sheets). You will need to try this on scrap to find the ideal sandwich for your machine before you try it on your project.

     Once you have mastered your own machine you can use many different dies to 'quilt' with. This can be very effective if used under the same die cut background as the raised areas fill the gaps and give a perfect 'quilted' look.

     To mat and layer this I used some of the same card used for the leaves, not wanting to use too much of this precious card I gutted the layers, cutting out the middle part that will never be seen and isn't required for support.

     A layer of double sided foam tape around the top card before going onto the bottom layer gave it a little height.

     For the greeting I wanted something raised but this one was too thin for foam tape. The answer was to cut it once in the gold and three more times in white card, then stick them all together with the gold on top, making the greeting stand tall and solid.

     This makes a nice card for a man, still colourful but no flowers, it could be made in shades of blue or green and still be effective.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Gem Of A Challenge - #8 Anything Goes

Happy Little Stampers - April Anything Goes with Dies

Craft Rocket - #91 For The Boys/Men

The Male Room - #161 Dry Embossing

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - #179 Anything Goes

Allsorts - #671/2 Masculine

Crafty Catz - #590 Anything Goes

Mum's Dragon

 

     This months optional theme at The Paper Funday is April Showers, there's no rain on this one but the flower would make a perfect umbrella. The image is by Lee Holland, it is available as a digi stamp, although this one is an acrylic stamp.

     I stamped with Versafine black ink on smooth white card a couple of times, my colouring is not great so I thought I should have a spare just in case.

     My Mum is Welsh so the dragon had to be red rather than green. I used watercolour pencils and a water brush to colour him in.

     The image panel and mat layer are cut with a notched square die set and mounted on to a dark green card. I kept it all flat as it had to be posted and I didn't want any hiccups to delay it's arrival.

     The Paper Funday is an Anything Goes challenge with an optional twist, so whatever you have made with card or paper is fine with us.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

613 Avenue Create - #202204 Anything Goes/option April Showers

Send A Smile 4 Kids - Cards for Mum's/Special Ladies

The Fairy and The Unicorn - Anything Fantasy Goes

Crafting Happiness - #122 Anything Goes

A Tree For All Seasons

 

   The new Tree Of Life die set from John Next Door lends itself to much more than card making. I love making 3D projects and this was perfect to use with the Stepped Lantern for a seasonal terrarium.

     

     Using Kraft card I cut four trees and folded each one in half. The next step was to glue the trees together in pairs.

     While the trees were drying I cut the Stepped Lantern in acetate, with a black card base and assembled it.

     To get the tree to stand up and stay strong I added two thin strips of Kraft card to the bottom of the trunk before gluing the two sides together to form a complete tree.

    

     For Spring I die cut lots of pink flowers with one of the dies in the set, shaped them and glued them all over a quarter of the tree. I didn't add leaves as many trees flower before any leaves appear.

     The next section was Summer, a healthy covering of green leaves in several shades, all shaped and glue onto the branches.

     Using the same leaf die I cut lots of leaves in Autumn shades, shaped them and glue them onto the tree.

     For Winter I used some flock and a little Flowersoft, both in white. 

     I cut a base to go inside the lantern and made a slit in the centre. I passed the extra tabs on the bottom of the tree through the slit and glued them on the underside, I also added glue around the trunk on the right side of the base.

     Once the glue was dry and the tree was firm on it's base I inked, with green, the half that was under Spring and Summer. Using some flock and Flowersoft from my stash I decorated the 'ground', adding fallen leaves to Autumn and snow to Winter.

     When the tree and base were dry I gently slid them into the terrarium, gluing the 'ground' to the base. A little check on the tree to tidy up any stray decoration and make sure the inside of the acetate was clean before using a length of cord to seal the top.

     Die cut ivy was then used on the top to add some interest to the outside.

     It was a little fiddly in places but not as complicated as you might think, the main thing is to make sure the tree is standing firmly on it's base, you don't want it falling over once inside the terrarium.

I would like to enter this project in the following challenges:

A Perfect Time To Craft - #3 Anything Goes

Classic Design - #3 Anything Goes

Daisy Chain - #61 Use Dies

Happy Little Stampers with Dies - Anything Goes with Dies

Love To Craft - #67 Anything Goes

The Four Seasons - Anything Goes Spring

Gem Of A Craft - #6 Anything Goes

Spring Blooms

     Today is the start of our March challenge at The Paper Funday. We are an anything goes challenge with an optional twist, this month it's Spring.

     My chosen digi image is from Eureka! Stamps called Frame Full Of Flowers. It comes as a line drawn image ready for you to colour, but as my colouring skills are pretty basic I chose to work it another way. 

     I did colour an image but it didn't look very good so I decided to just fill in the background areas with black to make the flowers and foliage pop. Having coloured an image I had something to use as reference on this one, trying to pick out what was a leaf rather than background was much easier.

     Just black and white was nice but it needed a lift, so I used a gold glitter gel pen to highlight all the flower stamens. I also cut off the rope border that surrounds the image to mount it on black card.

     To make it a little more Spring like I used a bright yellow mat layer for that pop of cheerful colour. Mounting it on a white card didn't look quite right, it took away from the image, so I used a Kraft card instead.

     A very simple card made with a pretty digi stamp, hopefully proving that if you are like me and not so good at colouring, you can still use them to create individual artworks.

     Please pop over and join us at The Paper Funday with your creative projects, we would love to see what you have made with paper and card.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Crafts Galore Encore - #97 Anything Goes

Crafting Happiness - #121 Anything Goes

Paperminutes - #733 Spring

Paper Funday Hugs and Kisses

 

     A new challenge begins today at The Paper Funday, it's anything goes but I have chosen to follow the optional twist of Hugs and Kisses.

     This is made with a mix of old and newish dies from John Next Door. The old die is the cut out heart in the middle, it's from a set that goes well with the pop out box. This has been cut into the front of a DL card blank so that the purple card behind can be seen.

     The newer dies are the strip dies used to make the edging at top and bottom of the card and the embossing on the silver satin card. To use dies as embossing templates is easy and it gives them yet another use. Place a silicon embossing mat under the card you wish to emboss, place the die on the card and run through the machine, you will need to adjust your 'sandwich' - for my machine I use two pieces of card from a cereal box with my clear plates, leaving out the 1 & 2 shims.

     Each silver heart has a scalloped edge purple heart underneath to tie it in with the card liner. It looked a little bare so I used some silver peel off borders to bring in a little more silver, I have lots of peel offs in my stash so it's time to use\them up. I don't feel it's cheating, I know if I tried to stamp a long border like that it would fine until the last bit so at least this way it looks even.

     The Paper Funday has lots of inspiration for you so please pop over and take a look, then come and join us with your creation.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Shopping Our Stash - #463 Heart and/or beets

International Art & Soul - #126 All About Love/Hearts

Use Your Stuff - #440 Embossing