Oundle In Bloom

     Believe it or not this was the first idea I had when I saw the Oundle die set, a nice big, bright tissue flower and it had to be yellow. I think it was the honeycomb style centre that did it.

     I spent a little while rummaging through my stash but eventually found a small stack of coloured tissue, luckily there was some yellow left. I used one sheet folded into twelve layers, which I die cut all at the same time.

     Using PVA I put a small drop of glue in the centre of each petal and rotated them as I stacked them. Once dry I gently pulled up each layer until they were all fluffed up, then I opened the out again until they looked like a multi layered flower.

     For the centre I cut the honeycomb type piece in black and cut it out with the small octagon shape. Using gold mirri I cut another small octagon and embossed it with the same honeycomb type die.

     The raised areas of the mirri sat happily in the holes of the black card making it easy to slot together and glue.

     I smothered the back of the octagon with PVA and nestled it in the centre of the flower, fluffing up the petals afterwards to make the flower tidy.

     For the background I used two shades of green, one die cut with the main body of the die set, the other as a flat backing.

     I wanted a tiny gold mat layer to offset the gold centre, not wanting to use a huge piece of gold that would be hidden I cut out the centre for use on another project.

     With the mats and layers done I added them to a Kraft card to keep it all looking natural. I put a mid size dollop of PVA on the back of the flower and popped it in the middle of the card, I had to hold it down for a short while as the tissue wanted to lift it back up.

     I needed a little something to add to the card but didn't want to use a greeting, I chose a gold butterfly in one corner to break the symmetry.

Materials List   (available from your local craft shop)
JND171 - Oundle die set
JNDAD008 - Small Butterflies

S57262 - 3D PVA Glue from Stix2

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

All Fun - #18 Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes

Crafty Sentiments Designs - Anything Goes

Happy Psychedelic......

     Another new die from John Next Door, this one is called Haddon. There are two panels in the set so you can build your own repeating pattern, a good unisex die, just change your colour scheme to suit.

    

     For this one I chose to use black as my main cover colour, with a psychedelic background underneath.

     I cut the panel twice to make a black square, well almost square, I made it square by allowing a little more black each side of the pattern.

     The background is something I found in my stash, I have no idea where I got it. I'm sure there must be something out there similar, you could make one with alcohol inks.

     The centre panel was cut using one of the shapes from the Woodford set, then cut with one of John's word dies and a decorative die from stash.

     All die cuts were then backed with the same backing card, I chose the best bits for each cut to get maximum effect.

     The centre panel was then mounted on a gold mirri layer cut with another die from Woodford before going on foam in the centre of the card.

     The black panel is matted on gold mirri and then on to a white card blank, the rest of the greeting will go inside the card, it may be birthday, it may end up being something else, whatever suits the occasion.

Materials List   (available from your local craft shop)
JND173 - Haddon Panel die set
JND172 - Woodford die set die set

JND182 - Stencil Sentiments die set

S57262 - 3D PVA Glue from Stix2

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

Krafty Chicks - All Occasions 

Seize The Birthday - Birthday/ optional texture

Watercooler Wednesdays - Masculine

Stencilled Oundle

     This is another of the new die sets from John Next Door, he named it Oundle, the home of the Hochanda studio. I love this set, it has so many different possibilities with a beautiful shape at the heart of it all.

     I decided to use the background die and the frame die as stencils, I used Lucy's trick and put a magnetic sheet under my card so the dies wouldn't move when I was colouring. I also masked off the outside edge to keep it clean, Stix2 stencil tape is perfect for this.

     Once the card was all masked up I put the dies on and began to colour with Distress Ink using one of the amazing blending brushes from CraftsToo. I am so impressed with these brushes, they don't lift even the most delicate mylar stencil when colouring.

     To get the chequered look I cleaned off the die and turned it over, turning it round didn't change the direction of the stripes, and inked again.

     After removing all the tape I trimmed the card and die cut the centre shape, I also die cut the centre decorative die from a piece of teal card to go under the centre hole and embossed a piece of silver mirri to go behind that.

     You can use these dies to emboss as well as cut, it's just a case of changing the 'sandwich' in your machine and using an embossing mat, a soft rubber like mat that will absorb the pressure from the dies edges stopping it from cutting through the card.

     All the pieces were stuck together which looked OK, but not quite nice enough. The answer was to die cut a frame in white card and mount this with foam over the stencilled frame.

     Luckily I had in my stash some teal card that matched the ink colour perfectly, sadly I have no idea where it came from so I'm using it sparingly. A mat layer of this teal card, with the centre cut out for another project, was added before going on a white card blank.

     Using the Chrysanthemum die I cut from silver paper and made two flowers, one large and one small. Lesley's twigs are cut from silver mirri and the Aster Leaves were cut from the piece that came out of the mat layer.

     I have started to use square cards with the fold at the top, like John does, as they stand well and look better on the mantle with full focus on the front rather than at an angle. I thought it would slide down and collapse but if you use a good card weight it doesn't budge. 

Materials List   (available from your local craft shop)
JND171 - Oundle die set
JND187 - Twigs die set

JND117 - Chrysanthemum die

JND175 - Aster Leaves die set

CAT013 - Blending Brush set of 3

S56994 - Low Tack Stencil Tape

S57262 - 3D PVA Glue from Stix2

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

Crafty Catz - #523 Anything Goes

Creative Fingers - #195 Anything Goes 

Love To Craft - #51 Anything Goes

The Sisterhood Of Crafters - Lots Of Layers     Top 3

Woodford Vellum Window

     The new Reveal card die set from John Next Door has a 5inch gatefold as it's base, this goes perfectly with the Woodford die set that he released at the same time.

     Using the the two strips of what I think looks like Moroccan tiles, I cut a pattern in the doors, I did the same to two more pieces of card ready to line my doors. 

     On the inside of the doors I added some lilac vellum, it has a tiny stripe in it so I had to make sure both doors matched. Once the vellum was stuck down I added the two extra panels that I had cut, making sure to line up the pattern so the light would shine through.

     Although the pattern was pretty the doors looked a little plain, so I added some tiny silver holographic peel off dots from my stash.

     On the inside of the card I die cut the main Woodford die without any outer or inner cutting edges, just the pattern. Again I cut another panel just the same so I could sandwich some more of the vellum between them, paying special attention to the stripes in the vellum.

     To mount the greeting panel I used some grey card and a piece of lilac marbled paper and two of the centre dies in the set. This shape is so pretty but would also make great masculine cards. The greeting is die cut from silver mirri so it matches the outer dots, bringing the whole card together.

     It's not as fussy as it looks because the dies all line up so well, making it easy to create a pattern. On the window sill with the light behind it it looks rather nice. There will be a few more of these made for the card box, but I will leave the greeting until it's needed, it's always good to have a few cards put by.

Materials List   (available from your local craft shop)
JND170 - Reveal Card die set
JND172 - Woodford die set

S57262 - 3D PVA Glue from Stix2

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

UnstampaBelles - Thank you  Mum gave me my first creative inspiration

All Fun Challenges - Anything Goes

Dream Valley - More Than One Fold

Lemon Shortbread - Anything Goes

Seasonal Music In The Bag

     Christmas Craft Creations have a new challenge starting today, this month it's anything with music. As we get closer to the festive season I start to think of decorations and gift packaging rather than cards, so for my project I have chosen to make a gift bag that could be used for a December birthday if needed.

     I started with a large piece of watercolour card and a Chocolate Baroque stamp called Hark The Christmas Rose. I stamped it with Versafine Onyx black ink and began to paint it with Ditress Ink Crushed Olive. This was following an inspirational project by one of the Choc B design team, Rachel.  I loved the colours she used as it's so like the Hellebores growing in my garden.

     For the leaves I used Distress Ink Forest Moss to make them darker than the flowers. I was going to add some pale colour to the background but I knew I would probably make a mess rather than improve it so I left it alone.

     The stamens were coloured with Distress Ink wild Honey, but to add a bit of shine I used a Stix2 glue pen and some of their gold foil to the stamens.

     I trimmed the image panel and mounted it on some olive green card that's been in my stash for ages. This all lokked OK but it needed a gold mirri mat layer to make it zing.

     Mounted on to a Stix2 Kraft Gift Bag, with no greeting added it makes it either a gift bag for a winter birthday or for a seasonal gift.

      There is a lot of inspiration over at Christmas Craft Creations to help you and this month we also have a prize for the lucky winner, please remember to use our challenge logo in your post or you will not qualify for the prize.

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

Sparkles Christmas - Vintage

The 12 Months of Christmas - Anything Christmas/optional colours

CraftyHazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas

The Holly and Ivy - Anything Christmas

We Love Chocolate Baroque - Anything Goes     Top 3

Castle Reveal Card

 

     Today is the launch of a new die set from John Next Door called the Reveal Card, it has internal sliding doors that reveal the back panel when the front doors are opened.

      The outer cover and the inner sleeve were die cut from grey card to look like stone. To get some texture and increase the stone look I used an embossing folder, but as I didn't want an all over texture I used the open folder and a ball tool so I could be selective on where I embossed.

      For the inner sliding doors I cut from light brown card and stamped woodgrain in a darker brown. I did find with the inner doors I needed to cut a tiny bit off the height to aid sliding, this may be because I fixed the window sleeve a little to tightly, I would suggest you check yours before gluing.

     For the reveal I cut an arched window in the sleeve and added some ivy for a splash of colour and interest.

     The image is a piece of my artwork from a few years ago which I thought went well with the castle theme. I placed the window over the image and held it with clips until I had the image in just the right place, then I stuck the image down.

     The window sleeve was then stuck down in the centre of the back panel. I slid the doors in place and held them together with a small piece of stencil tape while I stuck them in place, this made sure they would still meet when the card was shut.

     For the front cover I used the 3D embossing folder called Quilted Blocks, I though it looked like an old studded door. Using Kraft card and some Distress ink to dirty it up, one embossed piece of card was enough for two door panels.

     For the hinges I used a Sizzix Tim Hiltz die and cut from Kraft card, to make them look a little more metallic I used Distress ink for the rust and gilding wax to look like brass.

     For a castle I thought the doors should have brass studs, so I used a pearl pen from Dutch Doobadoo, it's similar to pearl drops. 

     I was going to cut the hinges off at the edge of the card but they wrapped around to the back and met in the middle so beautifully, so I stuck them down.

     To help my doors slide a little more easily I added a gentle fold down the back, this means that the doors have less tension on the inner sleeve when they move, making it all run more smoothly.

     John has made a video to show how this card is put together which you can see here. For my card I didn't use foam tape, I scored a second fold very close to the first, both top and bottom of the sleeve to make a tiny tunnel for the doors to slide through. 

     I strongly suggest making this up in basic card to get the feel of it before you use your best card. Bear in mind that a textured card may make a difference to the slide of the doors, as will anything raised on the back panel behind the doors, this is speaking from experience!

Materials List
JND170 - Reveal Card die set
PCD304 - Quilted Blocks 3D embossing folder
JND129 - Mini Ivy die

656632 - Sizzix Tim Holtz Hardware Findings  (retired)

S57262 - 3D PVA Glue

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

613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes/ optional Winged Things

Challenge Up Your Life - Dragon or Kite     Top 3

Crafter's Castle - Anything Goes

The Fairy and The Unicorn - Anything Fantasy

2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything With A Critter

The Dream Factory - How To Train Your Dragon     Top 3

Winter Wishes

      As it's getting closer to Christmas I've been trying out some new, to me, techniques. Colouring through a stencil isn't new but it is when you use one of the new blending brushes from Crafts Too, they really are amazing little brushes for stencil use.

     I chose three shades of blue Distress Ink to go through my Sweet Poppy stencil, being metal they are nice and heavy but the soft brush is still perfect for getting into all the little bits. I also followed Lucy's tip about using a magnetic sheet under my cardstock to stop the stencil moving about...thanks Lucy.

     The moon is masked with some of Stix2 masking sheet die cut in a circle and tucked under the stencil. I also masked off all around the stencil because I wanted a wide white border.

     The stag is a Lavinia stamp, stamped in Medieval Blue VersaFine Clair. I used a stamp platform so I was able to stamp him three times to get a very dark image.

     The Winter Wishes was cut with some Tim Holtz dies and backed with some silver paper, using paper rather than mirri card means there is no lump under the words.

     I went through most of my blue card stash to find the right shade, I even tried the VersaFine pad, but it just wasn't quite right until I went over it with an alcohol marker.

     Matted onto the blue layer and then onto a white 7x5 card blank it's still thin enough to go as standard post, which if you're sending out a few helps keep the cost down.

     Not Just Cards is exactly that, not just cards, you can join us with any project you have made. Please pop over and take a look at all the inspiration from the DT and our lovely challenge participants.

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

ABC Christmas - V=Vixen (deer)

CraftyHazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas

Crimbo Crackers - Anything Christmas

Merry Little Christmas - Anything Christmas

Allsorts - Winter Scene or Snow

Lavinia World - Anything Using A Stamped Image