Using Up Your Paper Stash Part 1 - 6 x 6 Papers Part 2

Hi Crafters

Well I am really enjoying this series and making the projects.

Today I have a pretty hexagonal box that can be used as a favour, gift or if Christmas you could hang them on the tree, and a lovely mini book. 

First the Hexagonal Box 

This was seen on the Posh Paper Ladys channel, however I have altered the sizes a little to make the most of the page. With her box you cut off 3/4" on one side, but I do not like to waste anything.

Take one sheet of paper, this is better if you use a heavier paper or card stock.

Score at 7/8", 1&6/8", 2&5/8", 3&1/2", 4&3/8", 5&2/8"

Turn and score at 1" top & bottom 

On the side panel that you will use to stick down and make the box the smaller panel measuring 6/8", cut off the top and bottom corners

On all the other score lines cut up to the 1" score line as these will form the base and lid.

glue the side panel together.

Line up the bottom panels to form a solid hexagon and then fold opposite flaps and glue down until the base is glued together completely. Using a wet glue will allow you some wiggle room and time to shape the hexagon properly. Allow glue to dry.

Fill the box with goodies, Chocolates, sweets, makeup, jewellery etc

Glue down the top flaps in the same way as the base. and decorate with ribbon

The flaps are a little fiddly, but overall this projects is a great way of using up those odd pages of 6 x 6 and does not take much time to complete. 

The little mini book

There are many mini books out there, but this one uses 6 x 6 papers and any  embellishments or stickers, so a great tidying project.

 I should say this book is based on one I saw made by a lady called Septeria 18 on YouTube.

Take your page and fold in half , turn and fold in half the other way.

Next part is not difficult but took me several views to get right.

With your sheet flat on the desk cut the left score line to the middle 

Turn your page so the cut line is at the top 

and glue the crease to your left of the page and down the side of the bottom left quarter.

Then turn your page back to the cut line on the left and fold up the page. You should now have a little pocket on the right side and your cut pieces on the left Fold in the page and then the outer page to make the booklet clip all the corners 

Decorate with stickers or however you wish. You could use little journal clips, stickers, vellums, mini frames etc 

Here are my finished mini books. I used a pad purchased from the Works which was double sided and some spare stickers left over from a Create and Craft card kit. 

I think they are so cute and will be giving them away as Happy Mail when I post anything out.

Dee

Using Up Your Paper Stash Part 1 - 6 x 6 Papers Part 1

Hi Crafters

Here we are with a new series of ideas on how to use your paper stashes. Although this is all about using what is in the cupboard, hopefully it will also give you project ideas, so even if you do not have 8 x8 pads or 12 x 12 pads to use up keep stopping by for paper projects over the next month.

We all buy papers that catch our eye, some because they are on offer some we love so much we take out look at and put back in the cupboard for those special projects, and the result in the end is a lot of paper pads in the craft room waiting to be used. I have recently tried some new companies and so have tried to use up the old pads to make room for the new.

I will start with the smallest and work up.

To use up 6 x 6 pads I love to make the pages into envelopes, put the envelopes together and then add a stack to a board outer cover to make into a box file. I posted this item on 27th May if you want to check this out.

Next I want to share with you a lovely little gift/swap project I saw from the Posh Paper Lady, on YouTube.  

This is a very cute little gift bag made from 6 x 6 papers 

Inside using papers from the same pad so they match, there are 4 little notelets 3 x 3 and I have made the envelopes from copy paper on my envelope maker. and then another piece of 3 x 6 to which you add copy paper cut to 2.75" x 5.75" fold in half and place inside the cover. I have stapled the pages in but if your staple does not have room to reach the middle of the booklet you could always stitch the middle.

The bag is made by scoring the pages at 1&3/8" on 3 sides and 3/4" on the fourth side. If your papers have a directional print, the 3/4" score line needs to be at the top of the paper.

On sheet 1 cut all 4 corners off 

On sheet 2 cut up to the score line on each corner but do not cut off 

fold all your scored lines 

At the top of each page fold over the middle section (3/4") and glue down

On the bottom of the page put the centre pieces over each other and glue down

Glue the square flaps and fold in and then glue the side flaps down to make the little bag

The last pieces to glue down are the 2 little top flaps. 

You can use more 6 x 6 papers for your envelopes or copy paper as I did. Either use a die or if you are using an envelope maker cut the papers to 5 3/8" square and score at 2 3/4". 

I used garden papered wires that come on a mini reel to make the handles and these are attached using hot glue gun, you could use cord, ribbon or handles off  store bags (recycled) 

If you need clearer instructions check out the video on YouTube. 

These make lovely little Thank you gifts or swaps with crafty friends or why not give them to friends and family when you can visit. 

I will definately be making these for Christmas stocking fillers and no doubt will post my Christmas versions later in the year. I have bought some 6 x 6 First Edition Christmas pads while they were on sale.

Back later in the week with a tiny hexagonal box that you can use for favours or little gifts made from one sheet of 6 x 6, also a lovely little mini book.

Dee

Washi Tape & Using it

Hi Crafters

This is the last post about items received during isolation. I was going to to another shaped card but then the Washi Tape arrived that I ordered in April and of course that got my head into uses for the Washi Tape and I just had to try a couple of ideas. So here are the results and then next week I will start a new series of posts about using up your paper stashes.

It had been so long since I ordered the tape I started with YouTube to get ideas, most of which were about using it for decoration.

So here are a few of them

• Cover the end of your pencils and pens. Great if your children have a habit of sharing or lending their items. By decorating the end it not only makes a cheap pen or pencil look good, it is easily recognisable.
• Decorate your Journal pages, and folders.
• Decorate any drawers or storage boxes to give them a lift, The thing about Washi Tape it is removeable so this is a good way of changing your look
• Cover Plastic wallets to make pretty folders for keeping receipts etc

Whilst I liked these ideas I wanted to use my tape on my paper projects so I checked out a couple of ideas and then went in my own direction.

As I love the soft hue that Washi Tape gives I wanted to use it for more than the background pages. 

So I took  a scrap piece of paper and covered the very pale blue paper with my mauve/pink washi Tape.

I then ran a couple of dies through my BigShot to see if it cut out. 

The results were very good and I decided to use them to make my cards

The beauty of using the tape for your embellishment and background is it all matches perfectly so you do not need to coordinate embellishments with card

I then chose my card, I used scalloped white cards for the base and a piece of white card for the front with a piece of mauve background card. 

On card No I, I took the background card and cover the edges in matching Washi Tape, I then laid 2 strips of matching thinner washi tape to the top white card, and laid a butterfly in the cross section

I finished this with a couple of strands of pearls just to add some bling and make it pop a little .

Card No 2, I did the same background but this time added 2 dragonfly embellishments and left the background card plain, but added bling to the corners.

Here are the finished cards 

The Washi tape I used came from AliExpress and I bought 3 sets, 2 floral and Seascape. They cost approximately £2.50 a set

 

To edge a background card I covered the sides with overlap and then cut the corners as I would if making a box, to keep the corners tidy. Then folded over the edges

 

 

 

 

This gave me the a pretty panel for matting

As the Washi tape goes through the die cutting machine well when stuck down firmly onto paper stock I thought I would also try it on vellum for embellishments

Back next week with my new series
Using up your stash of papers
Stay safe and happy crafting
Dee

Dies, Stamps & Stains

Hello Crafters 

I have been away a few days from posting as I had a few things to catch up with. Todays post willintroduce some new stamps, dies and my review of the Tim Holtz Stains that I mentioned in my last post.

Lets start with the Tim Holtz Stains as this was the first part of my journey to making my card

I first tried the stains when I saw them on offer at Craft Clearance. I use Tim Holtz Distress Inks, although I am not good at blending with them, despite having several blending brushes and tools. However, I do love the shaded background look thy can produce. As they were on offer I bought a few and tried them out. They are simple to use, ( I recommend seeing Tim Holtz video on YouTube for all the techniques to use them) but as he shows in the video the colour can be appled easily and built up to the depth you want for cover of the background or edging to your card. As they seemed to work well I thought I would purchase some more colours and now have a good selection of about 8 pots. 

More dies and stamps have been arriving through the post and I selected a stamp to try. 

As it is a stamp with a Shabby Chic look and flourishes I thought I would have a coloured background to my card and stamp out the image in solid barely black ink. The stains were a little dark for the work but I tried a new technique I have seen and this made the colour more subtle. If you are not great with blending or using water colours the following technique is going to be very useful.

Take you inks and (distress pens, inks pads or stains) rub them over a piece of plastic, any smooth surface will work, I used an old polly pocket that I was going to throw out, build the colours from the bottom of your plastic sheet. I went from green base, to turqouise to a blue at the top. SPray with water and then lay your card over the inks. I loved the finish on this. 

When it is dry stamp your image. This is best done in a stamp platform, I have the Tim Holtz platform, and this is especially useful when the stamp is new and the card may be warped a little from water.

This stamp being new it took several attempts to get the full image cover, and perhaps it would have been better in a darker black but I like it with a softer look. 

I then took out various dies and layered the image before placing onto a 17cm square scalloped edged card 

Here are all the items used 

The bird stamp image was first cut out in the oval picture frame the largest of a set of 5 dies

Then from the set of scalloped oval dies I cut the 6th out of 10 that was just bigger than the picture die, I cut this in white card, and then the next size up again in silver card

Back later in the week with a new project. This time no dies just embossing boards. 

Future projects to include:

Using up your various paper pads

Using your home printer to print your paper to make gift bags and embellishments 

Different ways to recycle old books and pages.

Dee

More New Dies - Paper Roses

Hi Crafters 

The postman has been busy during isolation and I must have been a good girl as I have had lots of deliveries.

I have not had time to use all the items recieved but as I do I will post my makes to share ideas with you.

Here is a great post day.

These all came from AliExpress, several different sellers, but all arrived  together. Items purchased through AliExpress are obviously taking longer to get here from China and the delays have been worse for items purchased in April and early May, some of which are still outstanding. This is the down side of buying from China. However I have been crafting for a long time, there are few 'must-haves' nowadays and so I am happy to wait for the purchases i make, to get the savings.

Todays makes are cards I made quite quickly using 3 new dies in this batch. They have the name Paper Roses on the packaging and I think this is an Australian company.

 

As you can see, when I get a delivery I check off the items from the order and give feedback and then prepare the purchases for the craft box. Dies are stored on a magnetic sheet which is put into a double laminated pouch ( I found how to make them on YouTube and they work brilliantly ). 

These dies were around £3 each and are approximately 6" x 2"

I decided they would look good on DL cards and so cut my A4 sheets acordingly. These cards have been made to try out the dies and not with a particular project in mind, so are fairly simple, just cutting and layering.

Here are the results:

The daisy band makes a lovely spring card, and I have used it for a Birthday.

The gathering of birds on a branch is cute and the bird bodies emboss a little, I have used a metallic greeting, Thank You,  which is difficult to read so here is is on its own. You can see some of the definition on the feathers

The last one is the poppies. This die cut had a sister die depicting an Australian soldier, and is obviously used a lot for Anzac Day in Australia. It would make a great remembrance card and I have used it for a sympathy card here. 

Back tomorrow with a demo on using the Tim Holtz ink stains 

Happy Crafting and stay safe.

Dee  

New Week New Products

New Dies 

New week new products

 Let’s start with a die or two. I love anything to do with the sea and todays post is about this Seahorse edging die, and another die from the same range with a mouse.  I purchased them on Ebay,  they came from China  and are unbranded, although it looks to me like a die from a well –known company. It is always interesting to see how well it cuts as there is little redress if you find it does not cut well.

To be honest I am not the world’s most patient person. I am happy to put a die through a couple of times turn it over and run it again, I also have a Precision Plate for intricate die that works with my BigSHot machine, if a die has not cut well using this process it gets rejected. Life is too short to waste time on dies that look a mess by the time you have managed to remove all the bits that should have cut off.

The mouse die came first and I ran it through a couple of times. It has a tiny section that does not cut well, you can probably see it on the flower stem, but I really think that if I had turned it over and moved the die along a section it would be a very clean cut, so this has passed the test.

Next we have the Seahorse and this was a great success, worked well first time with  just a couple of runs through the machine. I love this and will use it for cards and notelets and also for decorating the sides of boxes and gift bags

 The only problem with both of the dies are the size . The mouse is 16cm high making it too big for an A6 card and too wide to put through most standard machines, while the seahorse die is even larger at 17cm, as these are edging dies that means if you are cutting the edge of a card the cutting plate needs to be more than 17cm wide, a lot of machines are 15cm wide, so be aware of this when purchasing.

Back soon with more purchases, some great Tim Holtz stains, as well as Cosmic Shimmer Embossing Crystals, more dies and embellishments. 

Whilst it is lovely to share these great finds with you all, I wonder if you would like to see projects from new craft items or larger projects such as a Step by Step series on making a Memory Book. Let me know if you have a preference. 

Dee

Scrap Card 2

Hi Crafters

As I said in  my previous post, I have tidied the desk after finishing the card making series and part of the tidying up resulted in some new makes from the scraps on the desk.

Scrap Card 2

This card is a Step Card 

This was a strip of card left over after cutting down a scalloped card for another job, it had good length  but  was under 4" wide. I could have put it in the scrap box as it was but folded it in half and then thought if I fold it again it will make a step card. I made the scalloped edge at the front and then considered design.

This was not going to be large enough to use any of the Christmas bits, so I  went into my scrap box and found some stickers from Penny Black, I have literally had them years, they are lovely vibrant stickers, and I felt they would suit this little card well. I chose an oriental sticker sheet and cut 2 stickers down to fit the areas, that was the background done. On my desk were the dies purchased on Ebay with the half-circle and butterfly dies from Tattered Lace. These were waiting to go on a magnetic sheet, so I used the butterfly dies and some scrap paper to cut them out.

The back of the card is plain white and any message can be written on here. The whole card folds flat and measures 3 3/4" x 4" if you measure to the top of the butterfly. I will need to make an envelope for this and will probably use a sheet of 8 x 8 from the pad so the envelope will match the butterflies.

I have now been able to tidy the desk and can put the Tattered lace dies away, having placed them in a laminated folder, which I make using 2 laminating pouches. They make excellent die folders and I can protect the dies (which are on magnetic sheets) while they are stored in boxes. 

 The picture also shows the placing of the half circle die on the folded A6 card, ready to put through my Big Shot.

Back soon

Happy Crafting 

Dee

Coming Up

Hi Crafters

Here we are! a card making series behind us and new projects in front of us. So what next.

Well during the weeks of card crafting I have recieved several deliveries of new craft items,

Dies

Paper Pads

Screw Rivets (I can hear the questions from here)

Distress Stains

Embossing Folders

Embellishments 

Most of these were bought from clearance lines, and during lockdown I have also purchased a few items on Ebay as I have been browsing the web.

So over the next few weeks I will be sharing with you some of the makes and techniques that these purchases have inspired .

My first share, are makes that used up some of the oddments of card and embellishments made whilst bringing you the card series 

Scrap card 1

Christmas Joy 

This was made from a piece of left over white card that I cut down to make an A6 card

I then cut the the side with a half circle scalloped edge die. This complete set of tattered lace half circle dies were purchased on Ebay from a lady having a clear-out, in another purchase I bought a set of Tattered lace butterflies from her. 

I then went through the die-cuts I had made for the Christmas cards and wanted to use the JOY die. This has religious connitations and as I have some Church going friends it would make a good addition to the Christmas card stack.

Its a lovely simple die that cuts easily and says a lot with a little die.

The only new item I used was the backing paper taken from an 8 x 8 Creative Expressions pad. To get one sheet to cover both sides I folded it on the diagonal, (thats what you call thrifty crafting).

I then went to my scrap box and found some coordinating paper, white card and silver card, cut them to size, mounted them together and topped it with the JOY die.

Here is the result 

It's surprising what you can make from the bits left over. I also added another greeting to the inside :

This whole card fits into an A6 envelope and is ready to use.

Another post soon , so keep coming back and if you like what you see please press the FOLLOW button at the top of the page. 

Dee

Congratulations to the Winner

Congratulations to Beryl 

Who won all the cards made in the Back to Basics series 
I will be delivering them next week.
Thank you to those of you who sent in a comment and went into the draw.

As well as making papercrafts to share with you on my blog, I make to sell at Craft Fairs. This year Craft Fairs will not be available or if they are they will look very different. 
I wonder how other crafters are disposing of their crafts, and how all the charities that benefit from crafts made can be supported. In previous years if I hold a Workshop I will make a donation from the profits, to St Margarets Hospice and hopefully next year I will be able to get back to donating. 
In the meantime I have had to alter my purchasing habits (I no longer need to buy for 10-15 crafters) just me. The cupboards have been tidied and items prepared for selling when I can find an outlet

Occasionally I will be offering free items made for my blog, or if the item is available to buy on Ebay I will let you know. 

Happy Crafting 
Dee 

Back To Basics Week 5 Christmas

Hi Crafters

Here we are the final post for this series. Lots of cards made and shared.

I do not make a lot of cards generally but this series may change that.

So week 4 was Shaped cards and todays card is one of my favourites. The pop-up box card 

There are various styles that are based on this design. The square box, the Tuxedo shape and the one I have done is oblong. 

The white and silver colour used for the card makes the picture less defined, but the theme is winter trees and penquins. 

I hope the lighter background helps and you can make out the die cut trees and white penquins walking along the front of the card. The silver tree is a die that has Christmas greetings cut into the shape with plain white trees surrounding it. Whilst the poinsettia trim and penquins on the tabs are silver metallic card.

I also made a Z card using the Reindeer die again and with Polar bears. I have a family member who loves Polar bears and so this will be their Christmas card this year. 

                              

By placing the reindeer on the front the Greeting goes across the Z section. Then on the right side of the Z, I have placed a bar across to join up with the card side and allow more bears to be walking in the middle of the card. The square of white card on the right side is for any message or greeting to be added.

I have enjoyed bringing you this series, Please keep looking in as I have new projects planned.

During the last four weeks I have recieved new dies and craft items that I would like to share with you, and have already planned new projects to make. If you have any comments, or questions please contact me, or if you would like to email me with any pictures of your own projects you can do this in the comments section.

Back soon with the results of the draw and a hint  of what is to come next week.

Dee

Back To Basics Week 5 - Christmas

Hello Again

Today is Wednesday so it must be Die Cutting day.

I Love using my Christmas Dies, I usually get carried away cut out lots of different shapes and backgrounds and have fun putting them together. I tried this method for this card but had trouble getting a whole card from the pieces.You know somedays the ideas just won't come. So instead I sat and decided the design, and then cut the paper layers and dies to fit.
So here is the second attempt

This card was made from a 7" scalloped base card
1 piece of mat silver metallic card 13.5cm x 16.5cm
a mistletoe and poinsettia 'create a card' die (cut out the centre of the card stock)
1 piece of mat silver metallic car 10cm W x 12cm H
which holds my favourite die cut Reindeer/Greeting

I could have used the first 2 pieces and added a poinsetttia flower and leaves, so the 2 base mats are very versatile, but of course add thickness to the card increasing the postage costs.
If you look back to September 2019 there is a post using the reindeer die onto a preformed and decorated card, with no additional layering, very quick and easy to make and ideal for sending to family and friends where cards have to be posted, si perfect if you make 50 plus cards. Look out for  printed or embossed Christmas cards on Ebay or in the sales if you have a favourite die this woudl work with.

Back tomorrow with the last card in this series. The Christmas Shaped card.
Dee

PS Don't forget to make a comment if you want to be in with a chance to win the cards made in this series. You have until 5pm Friday 10th July. Two people are in so far. 

Back to Basics Series - Week 5 Christmas

Hello Everyone

Here it is Tuesday in this final week of Back to Basics
Following the format for this week  we are covering the stamping and watercolour cards made in week 2.

 I struggled with this a little and made a card with holly around the A6 card. It was double stamped to give a slight shadow , and although I liked it I thought it more suited to an invitation and did not think it did the genre justice, so started again.
                                                     

I then decided to try a tile card, this was a bit of an experiment but in the end I was pleased with the result. 

This is another 7” square card so the tiles are all 2” squares.

I used shimmer paints to give the background colours, some had brush strokes and some I placed the colour onto a tile and dabbed it onto the card with some kitchen paper

I then used a set of stamps that gave me images of the right size. I think they came with a magazine, and were just the right size Robin, Reindeer and Greetings. I placed the greeting in the middle tile, embossed 3 of the tiles with snowflake designs and stamped the others with Christmas Robins and Reindeer. To add some more interest I tied a bow around the mirra card before sticking it to the  base card.   

Back tomorrow with Die Cut Christmas 

Dee  

Back To Basics Christmas Week

Hi Crafters

For the final week of this series of Back to Basic card making, I am using the style of cards made in the previous weeks to make Christmas cards. Lots of Crafters start their preparation for Christmas in July and whether you do or not, if you have little ones at home for the summer, who love to craft,  it is a great time to get them started on all the cards they will need for school friends. 


So week one was all about embossing your cards.

So here is my Christmas card made using embossing techniques 

So for this card I used 3 different embossing folders

The first for the background – this was a CraftsToo  folder. Hidden under the wreath is a frame. You could use this folder on its own, add a greeting to the frame and layer it on the silver mirra card, but I have used a ProvoCraft embossing folder and die set to make the wreath. With this set you cut out the wreath first then pop it into the embossing folder to get the holly leaves embossed. Although it has a ribbon on the wreath I added a fine red ribbon for a touch of colour and the centre pearl is a flat backed button.

The embossed greeting is from a Cuttlebug EF. It has various greetings down a page of A6. I make a couple and cut them up to add to projects.

All of the embossed pieces were layered onto a piece of silver mirra card and then I used a base scalloped 7” card folded the front back and added the topper.  

This is the card that is in the giveaway bundle. 

I have a large number of embossing folders and often add another as if I see one I like as they are very useful to add background interest. As most of the ones I by are from £3-£6 they are an economic addition to the craft stash.

Just to give you more ideas I will add another made at the same time. 

If you enjoy making flowers, which I do, then embossing folders can be the background for a super quick card.

Tuesday's post will be a Christmas card using stamping and watercolour techniques

Wednesday - Die cutting

Thursday - Shaped Cards

Friday my post will be a wind up of the series and perhaps I will have a some pictures of the samples that did not make the cut.

Please post any comments by 5pm Friday to be in with a chance to win all the cards made for the series. They will all come with envelopes, you may need to add your own greeting, before adding them to your card folder, ready to use.

Happy Crafting

Dee

Week 4 Back to Basics - Shaped cards cont'

Card 3 & 4 of Shaped cards 

Card 3 The Simple easel card 

This is basically a square card with the front scored on the diagonal 

You then cover the front with layered papers and decorate, and line the inside of the card with matching papers

If you use a 6 x 6 card you can use your papers from a 6 x 6 paper pad to mat the top pages

This star wreath is perfect to decorate this shaped card as it balances the decoration.

I have made flowers from the same papers to add to the wreath.

There is also a hummingbird circle die that would work well, or simply use a flat circle die, and glue half down to the half page

You will need to put some dimensions to the back of the greeting when placing it on the inside, as this will allow the front page to sit up when opened. I have added the greeting to the diagonal line of the inside page, to make the card line up, but you don't have to.

This card folds down to post.

Card 4 

This last card is an old design and one of the first shaped cards I ever made. You can buy nesting dies to cut out pages  of a book then layer them and decorate. But I make mine using an embossing board. Many years ago there was a designer team called the Glitter Girls and they designed a range of boards that had grooves in which you ran around the grooves with a stylus. There were usually several layers that could be built up to form the finished shaped card. At one stage I had about 10 of the boards and when dies came in I sold them off on ebay. I missed the Bookatrix board and decided to buy another on Ebay, and this is what I used to make this card.

I have layered cream card and gold mirra card and then made the flowers to and cut out the leaves to complete the design . The pages are cut by hand, and this is made easier by the embossed border on each page.  To get the open page look, roll the pages over a rolling pin or tin of hairspray to bow them. Glue the pages in the centre only. The flowers were the longest job, but by making them for the project you can coordinate colours. The centre small page is perfect for your greeting. I have made this for an Anniversary, and there is room on the right side to write your message 

This card will require a box to present it but worth it to complete a special card.

Don't forget to leave a comment on any of the cards to be in with a chance to win all the cards in this series. 

Next week is the final week and will be all about using altered card designs made over the past 4 weeks, for your Christmas cards.

Dee