Thursday 7 June 2018

Creative Circle June Blog Hop - New Catalogue Debut Favourites


Hello and welcome to the Creative Circle June Blog Hop. We're showcasing the new Stampin' Up catalogue debut favourites. One of my favourites is the new Sweet Storybook bundle on page 160 of the catalogue and so glad it arrived just in time to start to play with it and am excited to share with you. Purchasing it as a bundle is a definite must to create the most sweetest and effortless window scene with the dies as well as getting 10% off. 

Here are the set of cards that I've created and oh my goodness it was so much fun, that I've created three hehe. The sample on the catalogue was a great inspiration and and just by adding patterned paper, ink blending as well as a 3D element can create so much variation. The stamp set is photopolymer layering set and makes it quick and easy to line up and create a finished coloured image. I have used additional copic markers to colour in the grasses and mouse ears as well as some blue sky shading. The coordinating dies greatly helps to create the window panels and allows for more creativity with the set. Using a stamping positioning tool such as a Misti or the new SU Stamparatus  helps to create multiple cards and images with ease. 

These are the first two cards created as inspired from the catalogue sample. 

To construct the tri-fold card I cut and scored two card fronts as pictured below and joined them to make a gate fold opening. The card is 8.5 inches x 5.5 inches scored at 4.25 inches or folded in half to create two A2 side folding cards measuring 4.25 inches x 5.5 inches.

The second one is folded the other way and placed inside with the other flap within. Please see last pic example to gives a better overview. 

Outlined images and sentiments have been stamped with Memento Tuxedo black ink and is alcohol marker friendly. Colours used are Old Olive and Pear Pizzazz for the leaves. Melon Mambo and Real Red for the flowers and mushroom. Sahara Sand for the mice. Ranger distress ink - Shabby Shutters used with a mini round ink blending tool. The colour is similar to the SU Lemon Lime Twist. 


This card uses a retired SU holiday patterned paper left over from a previous project and just love the colour and foliage design on the reverse side that suited the theme. Using patterned paper greatly changes the feel and design of the card and can truly personalise it.


Thank You sentiment used inside.


For extra fun, I created a shadow box card using Lawn Fawn's Shadow Box die and perfectly frames the scene so well. The Shadow box folds flat and can be easily mailed out. The same colours used with the exception of the card stock and ink blending used for the sky background. I haved used ranger distress ink Broken China for the sky background and Wild Wasabi cardstock for the shadow box base. The mushroom has been hand cut and was easy enough and creates even more depth to the scene.


I hope you have enjoyed and found inspiration. I really love this set and was a lot of fun to create. It has so much potential and the die cut window panel can be used in many different ways. By changing up the greeting or combining with other sets will definitely get more creativity and use from it. Be sure to continue to hop along from the list below to see more creative inspiration from the design teams amazing projects. Thank you so much for stopping by, until next time - Happy Crafting! :) 



Friday 1 June 2018

Papercraft Business June Challenge #7 - Oldest Patterned Paper

Hello and welcome to the Papercraft Business June Challenge #7. The theme is Anything Goes and optional: Use your oldest designer paper for an extra entry to win the prize! The winning prize is Believe in Yourself die from Lawn Fawn.




Click here to enter the challenge.

The oldest designer paper I have in my crafting stash is this beautiful Japanese origami paper. I've had this for a long time now probably over 10 years lol. I bought it from an Art store and was sold as single A4 sheets and don't know the actual brand sadly. I love Japanese art and the papers are just exquisite. I have a quite a few origami papers and love both texture and the gold foiling on them. They're too beautiful to cut up and this challenge has certainly made me come out of my comfort zone hehe. This is the pattern I used, it's only half of it as I've used the other half on the finished card. 


I have also used some Japanese inspired rubber stamp sets: Darkroom Door - Japanese Calligraphy and the Geisha image from Judi-Kins which is quite an old stamp.  I have also used the Circle Card thinlits dies from Stampin' Up! to create a flip card that opens up like a Japanese screen to showcase the gorgeous paper. The Layering Circles framelits dies from Stampin' Up! were also used and coordinates perfectly with the circle window panel.


The geisha image has been stamped with Simon Says Stamp Intense Black that's copic friendly and have coloured in the hair accessories and part of the kimono with Copic markers keeping the same colours as the patterned paper. The image has been hand cut out and have used a circle die just a bit smaller to the circle on the card front and have just partially die cut the base of the image. 

Behind the geisha is the Japanese Calligraphy set that has been silver heat embossed and  die cut out using the Layering Circle framelits that is the same size as the circle panel window. The same Japanese calligraphy image has been used in the inside panel and trimmed to fit. 

The geisha has been mounted with fun foam  to add dimension and as an embellishment, I have attached a gold tassel with gold bakers twine and placed that behind the geisha to neatly hide the twine and for it to hang down. 

On the reverse circle panel window behind the geisha, I have used the 'peace' kanji character from  Japanese Calligraphy and have white heat embossed for an embossed resist ink blending using Broken China and Faded Jeans Ranger distress inks. The same circle die has been used to die cut to leave a white border around it. 

Here is the card from the inside standing up and opens up like a Japanese screen. It's such a great way to display and show the lovely patterned origami paper. 

The gold circle is from another Darkroom Door set called Kimono Vol 2 and has been added as design feature to emulate a seal or signature and ties in with the exisiting circle window panels. 

I hope you have enjoyed and found inspiration. This card was so much fun to create and kind of a bespoke piece. It was also a great way to finally use this paper as I was hesitant to cut it up and so happy how it turned out. I look forward to seeing what you create using your oldest patterned paper for the challenge, it's a great time to start using them and show them off - old becomes new! Thank you so much for stopping by, until next time - Happy Crafting! :)