The Paper Funday Maiko

 

     Welcome to this month's project for The Paper Funday, a digi stamp from StarStampz called Maiko In Spring. 

     

     I printed the stamp twice on smooth card, I should have payed more attention to the size as the finished card ended up being A5, so that's by hand delivery on that one!

     I cut out one Maiko ans set her aside while I coloured the background piece. Using a sponge and some Distress Inks I added blue and greens to the card, a colour wash would have buckled the card so it had to be something dryer.

    

    As the edges of the Maiko might be visible I coloured her with the same alcohol pen I was going to use on the top image, but only arouns the outside edges. I coloured the cutout Maiko and added a few touches of silver to her kimono, which sadly don't show up in the photograph.

  To add some texture and make the tree more interesting I dug out my stash of Flowersoft. Using tiny dabs of PVA i aimed for where I thought the flowers might be.

     Once the glue was dry I tapped off any excess Flowersoft and mounted the background on to some dusky mauve card, then on to a thin layer of dark blue. I was going to put this on to a white card blank but the white blank took away from the image so I chose to use a piece of dusky blue card to make a card blank.

     The Maiko cutout was then mounted on foam before going onto the background, like this she now stood out from the blossom on the tree.

     The card looked a little empty around the edges so I added a knot made with Mizuhiki cord to lift it slightly.

The Paper Funday is an Anything Goes with paper challenge, it also has an optional twist, so please pop along and join us with your papercraft project.

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

Crafting Happiness - #145 Anything Goes

Creative Fingers - #259 Anything Goes

Gem Of A Challenge - Wk15 Anything Goes

Summer Rain

 

     This month at The Paper Funday we have two sponsors, this design is from Sheeski Designs - Shopping In Yorkshire.

     I saw a sample on Sheepski's Etsy page that caught my eye, the simplicity appealed to my level of colouring skills, I chose to use blue instead of black but the basic idea is similar. This was done with a mix of alcohol marker brands, it doesn't seem to matter how many pens you have, finding the right shade is a task in itself.

     A simple mat layer cut with nesting dies helped give the card some curves and finding a fabulous piece of patterned paper from Clarity really finished it off. There is no greeting at present, this will be added when it's needed, although I quite like it without.

    Please pop over to The Paper Funday to see all the inspiration from the team and have a look at some of the great images from our sponsors.

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

Creative Fingers - Anything Goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies - Anything Goes

Love To Craft - Anything Goes

Bowled Over By Paper

      The Paper Funday's challenge this month is as usual Anything Goes, but the twist is to make something that is neither square nor rectangular. A 3D project seemed the way to go for me, so I broke out the Spellbinder die set Vintage Hexagon Bowl. There is a really good video tutorial on You Tube to walk you through assembly which I found very useful, especially when it came to the stitched edges.

    

      To start with I cut out all the panels using two 12x12 sheets of double sided thick paper. At this point I began to think about durability, after all the work I was going to put into this bowl I wanted it to last.

      To make my bowl stronger I used project acetate on both sides of each panel. As this acetate is thin I was able to cut two sheets at a time but the holes didn't punch out cleanly so I had to use my Crop-A-Dile. A bit tedious but well worth it and it did punch through four layers at a time.

     

     With the paper sandwiched between two sheets of acetate I started to crochet around the edge of each panel, it didn't take as long as I thought it would. I used a #20 crochet cotton on this one as that's what I had to hand, I would say if you are using a larger thread number you may need to make sure you have plenty. 

     Sadly I don't think the tutorial tells you just how much thread you will need as it may vary, just make sure it's a full ball or several matching skeins.

     To make up the bowl I set it out on the worktop and moved the side panels around until I was happy, then took a picture to refer to.

     Sewing up was very quick and easy as I had left long tales as advised in the tutorial

     This bowl came out around 4inches tall, 5inches at the bottom and 8inches at the top, perfect for sweets, pot pourri or as a small hamper.

     The Paper Funday is a papercraft challenge, not just cards, so please pop along and join us with your papercraft projects.

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

A Place To Start - Anything Goes

Crafting From The Heart - Anything Goes NO Cards

Crafting Happiness - #143 Anything Goes

613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes

Creative Fingers - #256 Anything Goes     (Top 3)

Embossing With The Paper Funday

 

     Welcome to my contribution to this month's The Paper Funday Challenge, this month our twist is Embossing - Hot or Dry, or both if you wish.

     I chose to dry emboss with a Tim Holtz embossing folder - Elegant. I have inherited a large craft stash for my mum so it seemed right to use some of it on this project, Clarity papers caught my eye but I can't tell you which set it comes from, sorry.

     There were a few areas of damage on the piece I chose, so I cut it down to a 4inch square and ran it through the embossing folder. I have a Bigshot so for my machine I used the base plate, the folder and one clear plate, the 3D folders are much thicker than the ordinary ones so you'll need to adjust your sandwich according to your machine.

     Once embossed I used a little silver Pebeo gilding wax on a hard foam pad to add highlight to the raised areas. I left it for a few minutes then gave it a gentle buff with a soft cloth to get a nice shine.

     I wanted to have a coloured mat layer under my patterned paper but nothing in my stash was the right shade, so I made my own. I cut a square of white card and used an alcohol marker to colour the edges, no need to do the whole card as only the edge will be seen.

     After sticking the embossed topper to the mat layer I then cut another mat layer in silver paper and mounted that underneath on foam tape.

     Once stuck onto the white card blank I went in search of a suitable greeting. My card stash needs lots more birthday cards so after a little rummage I found some greeting toppers, the birthday one wasn't quite right so I used a Best Wishes instead. Mounted on foam tape and tucked in the top corner finished this card off and with the colour scheme it could be for a man or a woman.

     If you haven't been to The Paper Funday then please pop over and take a look at all the lovely inspiration you'll find there, then come and join us with your project.

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

The Paper Players - PP638 Tic-Tac-Toe  (last row down)

Can You Handle The Pressure - Anything Goes Embossing     (Top Winner)

Pammie's Inky Pinkies - #2317 Anything Goes     (Honourable mention)

Love To Craft - #74 Anything Goes

Taking A Break

      I'm taking a little break at the moment, sadly crafting has to take a back seat for a few weeks but I shall return soon. 

Doodle Wreath

This months challenge at The Paper Funday is as always Anything Goes with a December twist of Holiday Time. This great digi stamp is from Varada Sharma, called Doodle Wreath.

     The larger card was made by fading the image to 50%, then laying the full strength image over the top and turning it 90degrees. Sounds complicated but believe me it's not, I'm not very tech savvy atall, all done in a basic version of Photoshop.

     The faded image I coloured in light green and the darker in dark green, I think it gives it some depth. A little Distress Ink Bundled Sage around the edge helped knock back the bright white. All the berries were coloured with a Christmas Red Stickles.

     A thin mat of red mirri card helps the red berries stand out a little more, this was then mounted on foam on a white card blank.

     The small card was inspired by the way a png image has a black background when viewed in my photo package, I rather liked it for a more masculine card. Again changed in Photoshop with a little tech support from my son, once he explained about a paint bucket symbol it made sense, choose the bucket, choose the colour and click where you want to tip the bucket!

     The berries on this one were coloured with red Liquid Pearls but this time I used plain red card for a mat and a silver peel off greeting to finish it off.

     Digital images are great, you can change the size, orientation and play around with them to achieve different effects. To see what else can be done with them pop over to The Paper Funday and have a look at the DT samples.

I would like to enter these cards in the following challenges:

Winter Wonderland - Anything Christmas Goes

The 12 Months of Christmas - #95 Anything Christmas Goes

CraftyHazelnut's Christmas - #623 Anything Christmas

The Holly and Ivy - Anything Christmas

Christmas Mini Journal

 

     This little journal was made using the new Mini Living Hinge from John Next Door. The previous hinge made an A5 journal from an A4 sheet, this one is half the size so it makes a cute little A6 journal from an A5 sheet. 

     There are many options when making books with this hinge, this is just one of them, using it in it's most basic way to just cut a hinge into one piece of covered card and folding it over.

     The cover was made with a sheet of 1mm greyboard, covered both sides with decorative papers from a magazine freebie. This paper was glued onto the greyboard using a PVA glue and a brayer to smooth out any bubbles, before leaving the board to dry overnight weighed down under some books to stop it buckling.

     I have marked the centre of my hinge die on the back using a Sharpie pen, I found it helps me line everything up more easily.

     To encourage the fold I found easing it over a strong cardboard tube helped to prevent any sudden slips resulting in creases and cracks, the tube is from a roll of tinfoil.

     While I was planning the contents I left the folded cover with a couple of large rubber bands round it to hold it while the fibres settled down and got used to their new position.

     

     To put one booklet in the journal I chose to use an envelope type section on the back cover to hold it, this means the booklet can be changed once full without having to discard the whole journal.

     The flaps on the sides were folded over the outside rather than inside to make it easier to slide the booklet in and out, with a bracket style cut to make it look nice and to ease the placing of the booklet. This pocket was then stuck onto the back cover with redline tape.

     To make the booklet I used 10 sheets of copy paper cut in half, giving me 20 leaves. The booklet cover is a piece of double sided scrapbook paper which was nice and firm. I have been shown how to make these booklet by Clove Bindery, it's a great way to make custom sizes with whatever cover you wish, please feel free to pop over and ask Wendy how, she's very helpful.

     Inside the front cover I have added a small wallet for odd little bits like receipts or tickets. The outside is decorated with one of John's baubles dies stuck over a long length of green ribbon, there is double sided tape under the ribbon on both back and front to keep it in place but not on the hinge as it needs to move a little.

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

Jingle Belles - Anything Christmas Goes

Through The Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

International Art & Soul - Ch#148 Winter

The Holly and Ivy - Anything Christmas

Country View - Anything Christmas

Die Cut Divas - Anything Winter or Christmas

Sparkles Forum - #158 Dies and/or Punches

Kraftin' Kimmie - Anything BUT A Card