Back to Basics No2 - Pinwheel card

 Card No2

Pinwheel Card

This is a cool card as it folds easily for posting and when folded acts similar to a never ending card as you can keep turning it over to reveal the next section.

Again this card is basic in construction and requires no special tools, you can make it with ruler and scissors although I am sure most of you will use your cutters and scoreboards. 

For this card you need

4 pieces of card cut 5” square score each piece at 1 1/2” 

4 Layering pieces of paper - 4 3/4” x 3 1/4”
4 Side layering pieces 4 3/4” x 1 3/4”

Glue the 1 1/2” panel of one sheet and lay another on the table, wrong side up and with the narrow part to the right. 

Place the glued panel up to the score line on the piece laid on the table. 

Repeat for the other 2 panels and then add the panel from the first sheet to the last sheet to form the pinwheel 

Next glue your panels to the sections of the card

Add a piece of plain card to one of the panels for your greeting

You can see from the top photo I added an oval cream piece to complete this card

When you lay the card down it folds flat to post.

This is a simple card to make just cutting and gluing, and produces an unusual and striking card

Here is my second attempt of the same card with a slightly different finish. I have cut the outside corners of the base cards and also the layering panels, to produce a softer look while the colour is much more striking. This card would be ideal for someone who likes their surfing or beach holidays. I have added a silver die-cut Happy Birthday and a plain side panel to write your greeting 

I mentioned in my introduction to this series that when I did a trial run and then made my final version I would post both. With this card the trial was done on quality card from a digital kit by Gi Kerr (Happiness in Crafting on Etsy) and then I wanted a brighter card and used the basic card pad from the Range to make this second card. I think the pinwheel design is good with a bright stand out base colour. 

Hope you are all crafting along with me.

Dee

Back to Basics Card Making - No1 Diamond Point Card

 Card Folds and Styles 

No1 Diamond Point Card

This is the first time I have made this card although I have filed 2 examples to try.  I decided to make it my first card in this series because it looked fairly straight forward and does not require a stack of tools, so anyone with some card stock can have a go. That is what this series is all about, getting back to basics, making cards and enjoying your paper-crafting. I have gone off the track from cards for quite some time now and although I check out new designs with good intentions, I do not make a lot. However you can learn a lot about paper folding, making embellishments, presentation and mixed media as well as stamping, embossing and die-cutting all from the humble card. We all need cards at some point and during lock-down what could be nicer than receiving a hand-made card or note let. 

With school holidays about to hit us this is a great time to get crafting with the children. If you want to be really organised its a great time for them to make their Christmas cards for friends, particularly if you have  a stash of last years papers for them to use. 

As this is going to be a series I thought it would be a good time to use some card and papers in my stash. It is a 12 x 12 double sided pack and has some very pretty papers, at £2.99 for the pad it is ideal for trial runs, and experimenting, I always keep a couple of these pad in my stash as they are so handy. They are also thick enough to make boxes and gift bags.

For this card you will need 

1 6 x 6 card  (you can use any size but you would need to adjust the sizes of the layering pieces to fit your card
1 piece of 12 x 12 card stock will make 2 cards
Greeting and embellishment of your choice 

 So I started by selecting coordinating card and papers 

The card stock was an A4 pad of mixed colours with a pagination in the colour and they are more unusual colours, but it went well with the pad so i am using this as the base card. I think it was a bargain Ebay buy, and originated from Create and Craft but not 100% sure.

To make the card:

Cut the A4 card to 6” x 11.5” and fold in half to make base card

Cut a piece from the paper 5 3/4” square and  another 5 1/2” square

Now mark the centre of the bottom edge of the front of the base card and cut from the pencil mark to the top right hand edge.You can do this with a cutter or run a pencil line and cut with scissors. Repeat to the left side. You will have the the 2 pieces (that you can see on the right) to put back on the front. 

Place the 5 3/4” square onto the bottom section of the card. 

Take the 5 1/2” square mark the bottom middle as before and cut to the top left and right, The piece left should sit perfectly on the top triangle. 

To place the 2 triangles of card back onto the main card to complete the diamond front I found it easier to place on the mat and finding the centre and find the middle from the point to the outside edge and place the triangle onto front so that one side is on the middle point and the other side on the edge of card. And the point of the triangle sits at the top of the card. Once you have them lined up and are happy place a pencil mark on the back of the triangle where they cross the point and then glue from the line to the point before adding them to the card.  You can line these triangle with the pieces cut from your papers which will fit perfectly but I wanted the contrast of the plain white back of the card so left them unlined.

I then added a sentiment to the centre and decorated the side with some simple ribbon flowers. 

To complete card I cut another triangle to place on the base of the card where you can write your greeting. 

Here is the completed card. It is quite simple and effective, and quite easy to make, I must admit my first attempt was not quite right but only because I cut both my layering papers at 5 3/4”, and this did not fit well on the points whereas cutting the second square for the top triangles at 5 1/2” works perfectly.

You an try experimenting with different colour ways, I like the contrast and would make another one in stronger colours leaving the top triangles plain again, also one with more geometric patterns for a masculine card would be good again in bold colours 

Hope you have a go at this card and I would love to see your results. Just press the follow button at the top of the page and you can comment and send me your pictures. 

Dee

Hello and a look ahead to July

 Hi Crafters

Just a quick post today to introduce you to the theme for July. Over the past year I have widened my paper-crafts to include gift bags, boxes, journals and ephemera, and I love construction and adjusting ideas  and templates to my own version, but I have made few cards recently and so I went back over my files to see what card projects I have made and became quite nostalgic about my creations. 

I also realised that like everyone who crafts, the more you do the better the finished project, and that led me to thinking, would these cards look different now, and would some of the techniques I have learnt in the last couple of years seep into the cards I make. So July will be all about card making. 

As we are going back to basics I will start with cards that require little if any special tool, so they would be perfect to make with little ones during the summer holiday.

As I started to prepare for my first couple of blogs I realised that although I am an avid crafter, and have taken classes as well as attended them I do not always get everything right first time. And I certainly do not remember every fold and design I have done. I do keep a file on my computer with categories of makes and a project number and I try to add a photograph of the finished item (although I am not always that organised) and even then I cannot always follow my own instructions. If that is you don’t beat yourself up about any of that, that what YouTube is for to remind us how to make those lovely projects we enjoyed making, and will no doubt want to try again in another couple of years.

One trick I have learnt is to keep some cheaper paper pads in the craft stash to use for trial runs. This is so useful for the first make of any design and stops that sinking feeling when you make an error.

If it does not turn out right first time, use that as a learning tool, try a second time with the tweaks you need to make and using those special papers, so you can enjoy the process. It is hard to throw anything away but if the papers your used for the trial cost 15p instead of your special papers at 50p, you may feel more inclined to bin your errors. 

During July if I make a trial sample for any of the cards, I will show them on the post as well as the final piece. 

As this is the last day of June I will finish this post with some pictures of the Album I made for a new Great Nephew.

I used the envelope style sleeve card centre, and the papers covering are from an 8 x 8 pad by K & Co.

Album Finished

Inside Cover with mini book and tags 

                                                   Next double page with folder                                                                      slipped into side pocket

2nd Double page with concertina mini book for small photographs 

3rd Double page layout

                                                            4th Double Page layout 
                                                            Booklet on the left and Tags                                                                     on  inside cover 

This picture shows the four photo mats inserted into the sleeves where other memorabilia can be tucked and photographs stored  

The pull out concertina booklet for small photographs 

This concertina booklet is held together with a beaded paperclip. Of course all the flaps can be used for photographs front and back as well as the inserted photo-mats. More can be made to store in the sleeves. So the album should hold 30 photographs. 

Dee

Making Pretty Dangles for your pages and spines

 Hi Crafters

My last post for July and I had to share my recent makes for the journals and books I have been making.

I must give all the credit to Natasha at Treasure Books for these. I watched a brilliant video on 6-7 types decorated pins and so this is just the beginning of my journey with these embellishments. 

Some of these are beads added to paperclips, some added key-rings, then I have used the handles on the binder clips and the jump-rings added to claw clips. The pearl drop is added with a jump ring to the decorative piece of a Gucci perfume bottle, which I kept when he perfume was finished thinking one day I will find a use for this, and sure enough it makes a great dangle for  a handbag or album. 

Natasha has a lot more offerings and I will add the link below. 

https://youtu.be/s6XadBfFIWo

Once I had watched the whole video I could not wait to get out and source some beads. I found the blue beads and lovely purple crystal style beads at my local Hospice shop and scooped them up brought them home and took them apart to make my journal embellishments. 

So you will need a pair of pliers 

Some jump rings 

If you have then some key ring or claw clips

Paperclips and these can be any sort I am using 4 different styles in my makes above.

Some bead jewellery that have the links in them. This can be earrings, bracelets and necklaces, although necklaces often offer the best value because you have the length to use as you wish. Just think about how you are going to use them and if they are suitable. I did not find any flat charm or token style necklaces so will keep a look out for them to try another day.

I will keep revisiting the video and trying new ideas. I like the chairs closure for a book and albums. I have also been given some lovely pieces from a friend , who kindly tidied her jewellery box and let me take anything she no longer used, I only took pieces that I could use, but it may me think more laterally as she had several glass pendants that were very pretty and which I thought I could use to embellish box tops and gift bags. 

I made a recycled jar to hold my makes and I will post this when I do a recycle month. 

Happy Crafting and I am back next with back to basics - Card making, different folds and styles to add to your repertoire.

Dee 

 

Journal Embellishments/Closures

 Hi Crafters 

Just a very quick show and tell today. 

With all the journals I have been making recently I have naturally checked out a couple of different embellishment videos and am going to share some with you over the next few days.

The first one is a simple clip that can be used to brighten up the page as well as hinge a pocket or tuck area. The beauty of this clip is it can be made from the scraps of your project.

As you can see these are basically a piece of card with the corners cut and then a 1” circle punch has been used to punch a circle to sit on the top. If the card is light weight either layer it up twice or place on a piece of cardboard (recycled cereal box etc) and then layer with the circle 

 

Here you can see how I have used it on a envelope folder page. This clip has been added to the page by by making a hole on the page, positioned so that the split pin allows the end to turn around over the tuck-in panel so that any tags or papers slotted into the panel are held in place with the clip. The clip is then turned around the other way to allow the papers to be removed.  

This is not my idea, I saw this on a video by Gi Kerr, on one of her Freebie Fridays, as I belong to her facebook group. If you like her videos on YouTUbe think about joining this group as you get great tutorials and free downloads to make the item in the tutorial. 

Back soon with some lovely dangles for your album/journal pages and spine. 

In the meantime I am keeping busy with a mini album for a new baby. 

Dee 

Envelope Folder 3 - last one for now.

 Hi Crafters

Here we are with the last of the envelope folders for the time being. I have really enjoyed making them and they are reasonably quick and easy so are perfect for happy mail or thank you’s and you could add a gift card to one of the pockets for a present. 

This is using 3 envelopes instead of the previous 4, and I have made a decorated clip as a closure

 For this folder I used Gi Kerrs “Cherry Blossom Garden” papers which I print on 120gsm card. On the inside pages I did faux stitches, but have not yet decorated it at all because I am not sure what I am going to use it for. 

As you can see I have staggered the semi-circle for access to the envelope  storage area. 

On the outside I have used the stronger Prints and around all the pages and papers I have distressed the edges with a coordinating rose tint.

 The clip has been decorated with 2 pearl beads and a crystal butterfly on a jewellery finding. 

My next posts will talk about the different journal clips you can make to decorate pages and spines of your mini books and albums.

Dee 

Envelope Folder 2

Envelope Folder 2 

Hi Crafters and thank you for dropping by

I appreciate you taking the time to check out my blog and hope you get some ideas and inspiration and try some of the makes yourself.

Today I am showing your the second Envelope folder made from the square craft envelopes given to me.

After putting one together with 4 envelopes I was on a roll, they are so addictive and I immediately made another, this time  i decided to use the last flap as a closure and add a  popper. 

The papers I used for this one are really pretty and called Vintage Roses they come from The JournalBoat on Etsy, and form part of a journal kit.

The kit includes matching tags, pockets etc so embellishing the pages is really easy. For any of these envelope folders/books you need to measure the envelope and cut 1/2cm off the measurement to cut the papers. So these envelopes are 13cm square and the papers were cut 12.5cm square.

Using the kit I am able to add matching tags & mats as well as heart embellishment, postcards and mini envelopes 

I love it and am totally addicted now.

Happy Crafting

Dee