Tulip and Friends

Hi Guy's,

I'm really loving my new DVDcd roms from Docrafts. They cover just about every occasion and these two cards are made using tulip and friends.  I needed to make a special card for my best friend's BIG birthday ( half a century, OMG ) but couldn't decide which one to use. See what you think.

This first one says it all, a Big card with a Big cake for a Big birthday. I used an 8x8 card for this one with the free size decoupage. That's what I like about these latest dvd's, you can decide what size and how many levels without having to print out the whole sheet, as with some of the other cd's. They're all separate. Love all the backing papers too, really pretty and girly without being over the top, subtle. I inked around all the edges with Tim Holtz milled lavender, as is mandatory, isn't it? I think it adds that finishing touch. The flower is the Spellbinder daisy and I used the same pattern as the backing papers to make it. As you will have noticed, there is no number on this card. That's because I decided to use my other choice.

 

I think this one is definitely more suitable for my best bud. What other way should you spend your 50th birthday, than relaxing on a chaise longue with champagne in hand. I used pretty much the same ingredients as I did for the cake, with the addition of the 50, which was cut out in holographic card on my Cricut. Not sure what font I used, just as long as it was quite chunky I didn't really mind. The with love greetings tag is from cardart papercrafts. I love their tags and banners because you can get them in every colour for every occasion, and they're reasonable. I got to use my glitter on this one too, lovely...... Hope you like 'em.

see you soon,

Jools. xx

Peony Cottage

Hi Guy's,

I wanted to do something a bit different from greetings cards, they say a change is as good as a rest, don't they? I started having a look around the web for some ideas, when I spotted this project on SVGCuts. It's a little gift box in the shape of a cottage, and I loved it, so I downloaded the file and decided to have a go.

The first box I attempted, my prototype if you like, was very similar to the one demonstrated on SVG's website. I made a couple of mistakes, not serious ones, but I know they're there. Can you spot them before I spill the beans?

I put the window frames too high, they should be flush with the step. This means the roof, or box  lid, doesn't go down far enough.  There's a little gap under the gable end. I didn't realise until much later, and by then the quick drying glue was a bit hard!!!  You can't really see it from this view, but I know it's there. Here's a view of the box open. 

I didn't realise the second mistake, until I went to watch the tutorial again. The re-inforcing bar ( the lilac strip on top of the roof which covers up half of the roof tiles!!! )  should be on the INSIDE. When I put it on I thought it looked out of place, but again, the glue dried very quickly, so it had to stay where it was.

 

I think the possibilities for different themes is endless for this little cottage, as you can see from my second attempt, my 'Gingerbread Cottage'.

To be able to make this cottage, you will need software which enables you to import and use SVG files with your Cricut. There are a couple on the market, the one I use is Sure Cuts A Lot 2.

I think the hardest part of the whole process was deciding which bits to cut out in which patterns, etc. All the plain trims, roof tiles and gable end, were cut using plain Papermania 12 x 12, 240gsm card. I'm going to try my next one with Core'dinations. Can you imagine a little seaside cottage using the whitewash card, the edges would look lovely sanded and distressed. Anyway, I digress, there are lot's on the market.

The patterned parts were printed on supersmooth paper using various CD's. The lilac one was mostly printed from the Docrafts Tatty Ted, Me to You cd. That's my fave cd at the moment, LOVE IT!.

The patterns for the gingerbread house come from two different sources. Clipart fairy for the background papers, I love her style, and finally, MCS Crystal Sparkles for the gingerbread men. I distressed the edges using Tim Holtz distressing inks in various colours. The card looked too stark and bright without distressing. Fiddly but enjoyable.

That's about it, hope you like them.

Jools

xx

Cards for the boys

Hi everybody. Been a while since my first post, must try and make time and get into the habit. ( How many times do we make that excuse? ) Anyway, been busy making a few cards for family and friends, so thought I'd share a couple with you, hope you like them.

September is a really busy month for me, does something special happen in December???  :) To make matters worse a lot of them are for males, don't you just love doing cards for the boys.

This one is for my son-in-law's birthday and he's crazy about the grand prix, ANY grand prix. So I found a picture on the web and imported into Craft Artist. I used the eraser tool and rubbed out the driver's eyes, found a photo of my son-in-law and inserted his eyes.
 

Voila, what would have been a boring card, turned into a more personalised one, and a bit more interesting ( and they'll think me really clever )  I must say, I think he looks the part. Wonder if they'll notice, my sister didn't.

This next card was for a colleague at work. She wanted a card for a male friend's 40th birthday and said that he had a bright red BMW. Didn't have to look much further did I, I love it when people give me the ideas for the card.

Decided on an easle card for this one, I must say, most of my cards are easel cards at the moment, I enjoy doing them and I think they give you a lot of scope. Loads of room to put embellishments on too, such as ribbons, buttons, hat pins, flowers, card candy, gems, need I go on, I think you get the gyst. I suppose that may be one of the main reasons BOY cards are difficult, you can't really cover them with bows and flowers, but I digress.

I made a chequered flag type backing paper and tiled 40 all over it in both red and black, using MCS professional,  absolutely  LOVE that graghics programme. The numbers were cut out using my Cricut expression and holograph card, any font really, I just wanted nice bold letters. Finally, the main body of the card was cut  out using Spellbinders grand nestabilities dies, labels 1. The main image was  mat and layered onto holograph card to match the numbers, and to finish, a stop bar using the smaller nestabilities, again, mat and layered onto holograph card.   Quite simple really, but I put it into a box to make it a bit more special and was told he loved it.

See ya soon.

Jools. x