Patchwork Circles

      Nesting dies aren't just for matting and layering, this is made using one circle die from the new John Next Door nesting die set, plain circles. There is a stitch dot nesting set too, plus several other shapes.

       There are fifteen circles cut from four different double sided patterned papers, all the same size. To get the sides folded up evenly I used a square die sat over the circle to guide me, I did not put the square through the machine to crease them incase it went wrong, I did it by hand.
       Using a square of matching paper for the base layer I marked the centre with a faint pencil line, this gave me the place to stick the first circle. Before sticking the circles down I did a mock up to see what looked best, I also took a photo of this mock up so when I started to glue them down I would still get them just where I wanted them.

      There are two open areas within the pattern where there is no circle stuck on, this gives two little feature points. For those features I chose to use the Starflower die, cutting from some of the same paper set I made several flowers and also cut a couple of leaf shapes, which were coloured with a touch of green ink.
      With a flower spray in the bottom corner I balanced it out with a tiny butterfly in the opposite corner. Each little flower has a tiny pearl in the centre. matted onto a narrow layer of satin silver paper gives a subtle shine before going on a white card blank.
      The little circles are a good way of using up scraps, as long as you have enough that will tone together and the beauty of using double sided is the little flaps are colourful too.


Materials List    Available from your local craft shop
PCD206 - Plain Circle nesting die set
JNDAD001 - Starflower die set
JNDAD002 - Starflower Leaves die set
JNDAD008 - Small Butterfly die set
Strong PVA Glue

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

613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes/optional geometric papers  - Top Rocker

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes

CraftyHazelnut's Patterned Paper - Anything using patterned papers

Happy Little Stampers - Anything Goes With Dies

Spring BBQ

     Making cards for men can be a bit of a challenge but with this bench/bridge card die set from John Next Door it's easy to come up with ideas, here's another one. You will find John's basic assembly video here.

      The base for this card was cut from white cardstock, approx 250gsm, but the shelf was cut from black card.
      Before sticking it all together I covered the base card with sky backing paper and the long 'bridge' panel with grass backing paper.
     Each side of the card has a small strip of black card added to make a shelf for the BBQ. The main shelf was cut down in height to give a gap underneath to show grass, it was then stuck on the outside of the main strip. Two tiny wheels and two small doors with mirri handles were added to the front, plus four tiny brads for knobs.
      The coals on the BBQ were made using alcohol markers on white card, covered with a small die cut mirri grid and dabbed over with black acrylic paint to knock back the shine.
      All the tools were cut from mirri card, those with wooden handles had the handles added from kraft card. The bottle of wine is the chopping board cut in green card and trimmed to look like a bottle, with a tiny scribbled label added.
      There is plenty of space to add a greeting or more tools and bottles, adapt it to suit your recipient. If this is not quite for you then pop over to Not Just Cards to see what else you could make.

Materials List    Available from your local craft shop
JND083 - Bench (Bridge) Card die
JND086 - Kitchen Tools die set
JND087 - Kitchen Tools stamp set
Strong PVA Glue

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

Southern Girls - Anything Goes

Creative Moments - Anything Goes/option Something to look forward to - BBQ with friends

A Bit More Time To Craft - Anything Goes

Love To Craft - Anything Goes

Let It Snow At Christmas Craft Creations

      Welcome to my first project for the newly formed Christmas Craft Creations challenge, we were Christmas At Sweet Stampin' but a few changes had to be made. So we now have a new name and some new DT members which means we can bring you even more Christmas inspiration.

     This months theme is Use A Stamp, so have a rummage in your stash and see what Christmas stamps you can find.
     I have used a stamp from JustRite that's been in my stash for years, it's one of those ones I had plans for but didn't get round to using.
     The stamp was inked up with pigment inks in dark blue and a touch of purple, it didn't quite according to plan but I rather like the mottled look.
     The next thing was to trim around the edges to leave a thin white border, then raid the stash for some dark blue card for a mat layer.

     I hunted through lots of Christmas stamps but couldn't find a 'Let it snow' that looked right, so I changed tack and used a die instead. This one is a Memory Box die cut in a strip of the same blue card as the mat, trimmed to fit across the middle blank band.
     I had to trim a 7x5 card blank down a little as this stamp is short and fat. It lacked sparkle so I have stuck some tiny gems in the middle of most, but not all, of the snowflakes, including the die cut one in the sentiment.
     As Christmas Craft Creations we will be having a monthly theme, but they are quite broad so you will still have plenty of choice to work with. Please pop over and have a look at our lovely new blog, meet the new DT members and pick up some inspiration before you come and join us.

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

Christmas Crafts All Year Round - Snow Buddie/Anything Christmas Goes

CraftyHazelNut's Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes

The Holly and Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes

Merry Little Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes

Down In The Forest

     A variation on the bench/bridge card, this time just using two parts of the die set to make a different fold.

      Using green card I cut the main body of the die set and the long front panel, this long front panel was then cut in half along the length. Both of these bars will need to be folded at the halfway point and at the three quarter point.
      Before sticking anything down I printed off a woodland scene to use as my backing paper. From this I cut four of the small panels and one large square panel. The square panel has had two narrow slits cut into it at the top and bottom, this is so that the backing paper will cover the card bars that make the fold.
      Once all parts were ready for assembly I stuck the two bars on the base panel, one across the top and the other across the bottom, both with the full half at the front.

      With these bars in place I stuck the backing papers on, making sure the slits in the square piece sat over the bars to hide them.
      For the Silver Birch trees I used John's Woodland Trees die, cut in white card and coloured at random with green ink for moss. I had to trim the trees to fit but made sure I had enough ground at the base to hold them firm.
      The little birds and animals are odd dies I have in my stash, I think they might be Xcut mini dies. The sentiment plaque is one of John's from a die set that matches some tiny sentiments, it was stamped and cut, then coloured before removing the die so I got a tiny white border around it.
      This card will fold flat for postage, you just have to take care with the trees. I have loved using this die set, there aren't many production pictures for them as I was so carried away I forgot to take them as I went along.


Materials List    Available from your local craft shop
JND083 - Bench (Bridge) Card die set
JND141 - Woodland Trees die
JNDAD003 - Mini Tags die set
JND0013 - Everyday Sentiments stamp set
I-Zink Dye Ink -Verveine
Strong PVA Glue
Animal & Bird dies
Green Card

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

Try It On Tuesday - Beauty Of Nature

Lemon Shortbread - Anything Goes

Arty Divas - Anything Goes

Mix It Up - Anything Goes/optional Fancy Fold

Shades of Grey

      This weeks tag challenge from Albright of Diss is monochrome greyscale, monochrome is shades of one colour so it could be blues or greens, etc. this one has to be black, white and greys only.

      It took a while to decide what to make, then I remembered an old Woodware stamp of a flower that looks like it's been zentangled.
      I stamped in Versafine black on to a white tag, then covered that flower with Stix2 masking sheet. The amazing part about this is the last time I remember using the mask with this stamp was July of 2017, the mask was stored on the back of the laminated stamp packaging, it still worked! It took a little time to gently peel it off the packaging but it was perfectly alright to use, now that has to be value for money when it lasts that long, thank you Stix2.

      I stamped the second flower and covered that with another stored mask, then I stamped a few separate leaves to fill in some of the blank spaces.
      With all masks removed I had to decide the best way to colour this. It is recommended that you stamp in Memento when using alcohol markers, oops, I had used Versafine. I left the tag to dry thoroughly and then started with my markers, it didn't run, phew! I have a full set of Graph It pens so I chose the Natural Grey set numbers 0-7, there are numbers 8 & 9 but they're very dark and as this was stamped in black I thought it would be dark enough without them.
      My colouring is pretty basic, I am not very confident with these pens but I have tried to get some shading in there and as I'm bashing my stash then I at least have to try. The small background areas have been coloured with the palest grey so that any white areas on the flowers stand out more.
      I know it's meant to be shades of grey only but I had to sneak a tiny hint of silver in there to lift it a little, this I did with a Stix2 2in1 glue pen and some cold foil. The ribbons are both organza, one silver and the other coloured black with another alcohol pen. It actually looks better than I had hoped, imagine putting that on a red card blank for a striking greeting card.

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:

Crafty Gals Corner - Flowers

Lemon Shortbread - Anything Goes

International Art & Soul - No Focal Image

The Artistic Stamper - In The Garden

Something Fishy

     Another bench card made with John Next Door's new die, this time something a little different. There are so many different ways this die can be changed, it's great as a base to work from.

    The basic assembly video is here, but this card has a few differences. You will need one base section, one long front section and three bracers, all in black card, plus one shelf in kraft card.
     The base section has the front flaps cut to form long tabs, see photo. The long front section has been cut into two thirds for the bottom and one third for the top, these long bands will wrap from one side to the other to hold it all together.
      There is one bracer in the bottom to support the shelf and two across the top to hang the fish from. The shelf will need trimming down at the front to fit inside.
      For the background panel I printed a free aquarium scene I found on line, reduced to scale. Using some of John's foliage dies I cut green weeds and mounted them on tiny folded tabs so they stand up for display but fold flat for postage. The shelf already looked like sand so I left that alone but it could be decorated to look like stones if you so wished.

      The fish are all cut with tiny dies that some of my friends hunted down at a craft show a few months ago, the big ones cut from coloured card and the little shoal from silver mirri.
      To mount the fish I used redline tape on to small tabs of acetate that hang from the top bracers, two bracers makes for better positioning and it makes it stronger too.
       When the bottom shelf is lifted the tank will fold flat....but all the water runs out!! Just checking to see if you're read this far.
      There are so many fabulous ideas out there that have already been made, search bench or bridge card to find them. If you are on Facebook take a look at 'Crafting with John Next Door and Crafts Too' where you can see all the samples made by Lockwoods Angels.


Materials List    Available from your local craft shop
JND083 - Bench (Bridge) Card die
JND056 - Ferns die set
JNDAD016 -  Elderflower die set
Redline Tape
Strong PVA Glue
Fish dies - Craft Emotions
Acetate, black card, kraft card

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

A Bit More Time To Craft - Anything Goes

Love To Craft - Anything Goes

Crafts Galore Encore - Anything Goes

2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Must Feature A Creature

Crafty Animals - Anything Goes