Browsing Tag: Handmade Cards

Materials Needed

• With Love Banner Angel and Love Angel rubber stamps
• Backing papers from Angels Background Papers Designable - hearts, yellow haze, plaid
• Backing paper from A Patchwork of Papers – Plum haze
• Water colour pencils or pens
• Inkpad or chalks for edging paper
• Making Memories Mini Blossoms neutral
• Brads
• Bookmark tassel or ribbon or fibres
• Scallop circle punch 3”, Plain circle punches 2½” and 1”, Corner rounder punch or scissors
• Cuttlebug set of four Flowers dies. Die cutting machine
• Bind it All machine. Wire for binding – white - 5/8”
• PVA glue. 3D foam pads
• Greyboard or heavy duty cardstock A6 (4” x 6”)
• Good quality 120gsm photocopy paper for inserts
• A5 Cardstock - piece of ivory card for greeting card
• White printer cardstock for bookmark

1 - To make the Angel Notebook. Using the hearts design paper cut two pieces 7½” x 6”. Centre the grey board or heavy duty cardstock on the reverse of the backing paper and glue into position using PVA glue. Spread the glue evenly over the cardstock to prevent any bubbling in the paper. Allow to dry.

2 - Using your craft knife and ruler remove the corners of the paper diagonally on all four corners leaving about ¼” past the edge of the cover. This serves to keep your finished corners tidy.

3 - Using a scoring tool or embossing tool score round the edges of the cover to help the paper fold more easily.

4 - Glue down all the edges onto the back of the cover making sure they are well secured and allow to dry. When completed, gently tap the corners onto your working surface to give them a rounded finish.

5 - Cut two pieces from the plaid backing paper slightly smaller than the cover of the book. Glue to the inside of the covers. This will hide any fixings you may want to add and keep your notebook tidy.

6 - With the plaid side facing measure the centre point on the narrowest sides top and bottom. Lightly pencil in a line to join both points. This will be erased later.

7 - This line will give you the exact position to place the cover into your Bind-It-All and is matched up with the centre mark on the machine.

8 - Punch both covers being careful to check that your patterns are running in the same direction back and front. Erase the pencil lines.

9 - Now you can prepare your embellishment for the front of your notebook. Cut one 3” scallop circle from the plaid patterned paper. Cut one 2½” plain circle from the yellow haze paper. Ink the edges of the circles to give them some dimension. Stamp your chosen image and cut it out. I masked off the sentiment on the banner and replaced it with my own.

10 - Stamp inked with mask in place.

11 - Mask removed before stamping onto paper.

12 - Stamped image.

13 - Colour the stamped images to suit your project. Mount onto 3D foam pads. Glue the circles to the front of your notebook and place the angel towards the top of the circle giving room for the sentiment at the bottom. Cut several small flowers from your plum haze paper using the second largest flower from your Cuttlebug set, plus one from the third largest die. Alternatively you could use a flower punch. The flowers will sit better if the plum haze design is printed onto cardstock. This helps to give it more body for mounting onto your project. Cut a 1” circle from the yellow haze paper. Using your computer print your chosen sentiment onto the yellow circle, ink the edges and glue to the largest Cuttlebug flower that you cut previously. Apply a piece of 3D foam to the back of the sentiment flower. Make up the others using your mini flowers and join together with a brad. These can be placed on the front of your notebook as an added embellishment. It helps if you cut into the die cut flowers slightly and curl the petals a little. Attach to the front of your notebook.

14 - To complete your notebook, cut and punch your insert pages. Using 20 pages of good quality photocopy paper 120gsm in weight cut 80 sheets from A4 paper to measure ¼” less in length and width than your covers so that they will sit inside the covers when the notebook is bound. To punch the inserts use the same method as for the covers – this will keep them lined up perfectly. Using a section of 5/8ths” binding wire for this size notebook (you will need six complete ‘loops’) lay the covers and pages in this order: 1 - back – right side facing. 2 - front – wrong side facing. 3 - pages. Hook the wires through the punched holes with the closed edge facing you. Check that you have your patterns the right way round before you complete this section.

15 - Set the Bind-It-All to the correct depth - 5/8ths” using the guide that comes with the machine. Insert the spine of your book into the Bind it All and press firmly to close the wires.

16 - Your notebook is complete.

17 - To make the coordinating greeting card score and fold the A5 piece of cardstock to make an A6 card.Round off the two corners at the bottom edge of the card front and back. Cut a 3” circle from the plaid background paper. Cut a 2½” circle from the yellow haze background paper. Ink the edges of the circles with ink and mat them together. Stamp and cut out the Angel image. Colour to suit your project. I used water- colour pencils. Take a piece of the heart background paper ¾” x 1¾” and round off the edges on one side only. Mount onto the plum haze background paper. Round off the edges in the same way. Attach a flower cut from the plum haze paper to a mini MM flower (neutral) with a brad and secure to the tab you have made through both layers of paper. Position the mats onto the centre of your card (landscape orientation). Glue the tab onto the top left hand side of the card.

18 - Make a matching bookmark 55 x 170mm (2¼” x 6½”). Print the yellow haze background from the Littlest Angel set onto cardstock. Stamp an angel image onto cardstock – I chose the’ Love ‘angel. I cut round the image and coloured her to suit the project. Using your computer print your chosen sentiment or verse on the bottom half of the bookmark to allow for positioning your angel image later. Punch a hole at the top of the bookmark and round off the corners with your corner punch.

19 - Using 3D foam pads attach the angel image near the top of the bookmark. Attach a tassel or toning ribbon or fibres through the punched hole.

• Cuddly Buddly Daisies rubber stamp set
• 2 A4 sheets of white card - Extra pieces of white card for matting
• Silver mirror card
• Yellow textured card
• Translucent vellum paper for insert
• Cuttlebug Swirls Embossing Folder, Flower Dies set of four
• Versamark inkpad
• Silver embossing powder
• Decorative corner punch
• Yellow satin ribbon 3mm, Piece of organza ribbon
• Bookmark tassel, ribbon or fibres
• Safmat – for greeting (a stamp or peel off may be used)
• 3D foam pads
• General crafting tools – cutting mat, ruler, knife, adhesive, scoring board, hole punch, pencil

1 - To make the card. Take an A4 sheet of textured white card. Score at 2 7/8” along short side. Turn and score at 2 7/8” along second short side. Fold using a bone folder to help keep the edges neat. If you have a scoring board, use the line marked A4 Gatefold to achieve the same result. Punch the four corners with a decorative corner punch.

2 - Cut one piece of matching white card to 3¼ x 4” and two pieces to 2½ x 3½”. Using your Cuttlebug embossing folder, emboss the larger piece of card. Using your Cuddly Buddly large daisies stamp, stamp and emboss the image in silver onto one of the smaller pieces of card. Repeat for the second piece. Using your pencils or markers lightly colour the images.

3 - Cut out the two forefront daisy heads from one of the stamped images. Decoupage these onto the other image using 3D foam pads.

4 - Stamp, colour and cut out the smaller daisies from your stamp set - 2 large and one small image. Decoupage the large daisy head as before and attach to the bottom right hand side of your gatefold card.

5 - Attach a piece of the narrow satin ribbon round the stamped daisy topper and secure to the back with double-sided tape. Take a small piece of the satin ribbon and tie in a knot on the front of the card. Repeat the ‘faux bow’ with your chosen second ribbon.

6 - Cut two pieces of your silver mirror card 3 ½ x 4¼” and 2¾x 3¾”. Mount the white embossed card onto the larger piece and the stamped image onto the smaller one. Now attach the matted and layered stamped image onto the embossed image with 3D foam pads. Now that your main panel is complete, attach it to the left-hand side front of your gatefold card about 1½” from the top of the card. Make sure you only glue the side that is to be attached as you want to be able to open your card!

7 - Prepare your insert on a piece of vellum 5¾” x 8”. Using your computer (I used Word) and the basic shapes facility, draw two rectangles in the form of a cross. Fill the images with a light silver colour (R 186 G 186 B 198) and select ‘No Line’ for both rectangles. Print your chosen verse or sentiment over the cross by using ‘Insert Text box’. Again select ‘No line’ and select ‘No fill’ as well so that the verse is superimposed on the cross. Print onto vellum paper making sure that the image starts 1½” down the page and attach to the inside of the card using vellum tape or carefully applied glue stick along the top edge. The placement of the image is important so that when the card is closed it isn’t seen behind the stamped panel on the front of the card.

8 - Finally, print the sentiment ‘Easter Blessings’ in the silver colour onto Safmat. Cut it out and gently burnish into place. You can also use a stamped greeting or a peel off if you prefer. Your card is finished.

9 - To make the bookmark. Take a piece of yellow card 18cm x 17cm. Fold it in half to measure 9cm x 17cm. Mark it as shown in the picture and cut out the rectangles indicated by the hatched lines. Erase any pencil marks that may be still showing.

10 - You can choose to keep the cross shape opened or closed at this stage. I chose to have it closed and glued the two sides together. Start with a piece of white cardstock measuring 16 x 16 cm. Fold it in half to measure 8cm x 16cm.

11 - Cut a second cross shape as indicated in the photo. Separate the two pieces as you will need one for the back and one for the front of the cross.

12 - Using your Cuttlebug embossing folder emboss the white crosses with the swirls pattern. As this shape is longer than the actual folder, I have included a photo of the method of embossing the final piece of the cross shape. Glue one white cross to the front of the main shape centrally and repeat for the back of the cross.

13 - Cut two flower shapes with the Cuttlebug flower dies, the largest in yellow and the smaller in white cardstock. Using your computer, print the verse or sentiment onto the smaller flower. Ink (or use a brush marker) the edges in yellow. Mat the flowers together and place in the centre of the cross.

14 - Stamp and emboss the large daisy stamp from the Cuddly Buddly Daisies set in silver. Colour and cut out the central prominent flower from the image. Glue to the bookmark.

15 - Finally punch a hole at the top of the cross and affix a tassel or toning fibres to complete it. If you have decided to keep the cross as an opening version, just punch the hole only through the front side of the cross. Your bookmark is now complete. I hope that you enjoy making your Easter projects as much as I did.

©2008 Edna Taylor

Hi Everyone!

I’m delighted to let you know that I’ve just finished an assortment of twelve new designs for you and that each of these new designs is available in three formats - Digi Stamps, Rubber Stamps and 3D Decoupage sheets. There’s six new Cuddly Bears images and six new Cuddly Critters images for you to choose from so I hope there’s a little character or two amongst them to make you smile.

The 3D Decoupage sheets have been saved as high quality .jpg images which allows you to use them as they are or crop details and enlarge them for even bigger or solo images. I’d just like to say a special ‘Thank You’ here to my Mum who’s being having a fun time making up samples with the 3D Decoupage sheets for me to share with you.

The Digi Stamps are saved as transparent .pngs and can be re-sized to suit your particular projects and also overlaid onto your background papers. I like to print out the Digi Stamps on my inkjet printer and then colour them with my Tim Holtz Alcohol and Distress Inks, I’ve been getting great results this way and absolutely no bleeding of the printed inks, even when printing onto the cheapest of cheap 80gsm copy paper (I like to test to the limits!). Other ways to confidently colour inkjet printed images are with crayons and alcohol markers. Waterbased inks and paints can be used but success will vary on the type of paper or card you’re printing onto so it’s good to experiment. If you’re using a laser printer or a waterproof inkjet ink then watercolouring will be a doddle.

Speaking of Tim Holtz Alcohol Inks … 24 NEW colours have been added to the range plus a fantastic new double ended refillable marker pen that you can fill with your Alcohol Blending Solution or your favourite colours. Also new from Tim Holtz is the flexible and highly durable 12×12 GrungePaper.

Issue 4 of Creative Cardmaking Magazine was late coming to the stands this month due to a serious technical hitch at the printers but we’re pleased that all is well again and it’s now arrived safely with us.

Do check out our ‘When It’s Gone’ section in the shop too if you’ve got a few spare minutes as I’ve added a load of new clearance lines to it and there’s some great bargains to be had at knock down prices!

And finally … we’ve got a new Fabulously Crafty Friend who’s joined us in the cottage, the very talented Trudy, or as friends call her ‘True’. True has a wonderful eye for colour and layout and her stunning cards include the most inspiring sewing machine stitch detailing and the fanciest inserts I think I’ve ever seen! You can see more cards by True in the Crafty Friends Digi Gallery and look out for more of her fabulous creations in the days and months to come.

That’s all from me for now - Keep Creating!

Hugs n Smiles,
Kim

Hi Everyone,

Oh Wow, seems there’s been a touch of magic at work around here lately! I’ve teamed up with the amazingly talented children’s book illustrator Kim Sponaugle (yes, that’s two Kims now) and we’re delighted that the first members of our cuter than cute Fairy Fun Family are now ready to say ‘hello’ to you. We’ve got … Baby Fairy, Book and Cake Fairy, Grandma Fairy, Shoe Fairy and the sporty Tennis Fairy. Each fairy is available as a rubber stamp, a 3D Decoupage Card download and we’ve added eight sets of downloadable papers too. But this is just the start! More Fairy Fun Family members and other charming characters are managing to escape from Kim’s sketchbooks so keep an eye out for them too over the coming weeks and months!

Following the huge popularity of Susi’s super easy Alphabooks and Numbercards Printables and Cuttables, the printables range has been extended and a new rich ’Berries’ colour has been added. These sets are ideal for masculine cards toning in beautifully with the Country Gents and Local Lads downloads and are equally suitable for ladies cards too.

New in the shop are this month’s Creative Cardmaking and Making Cards magazines. These monthly magazines are each packed with ideas and inspiration for your cardmaking … and there’s some nifty free papers included too!

New too are the Mulberry Paper flowers by Petaloo - we’ve got lots of packs in a rainbow of tempting colours and styles that we think you might quite like too!

Also new in are the new Tim Holtz metal adornments - book corners, leaves, tiny attacher (a poshe name for a mini, mini, stapler), safety pins, etc.

All in all, lots of new goodies and lots more to watch out for. Have a great day, keep well, and …

Keep Creating!

Hugs n Smiles
Kim

Creative Cardmaking, Issue 2 has just arrived in stock. This 84 page, full colour monthly magazine published by Practical Publishing is packed full of inspirational card making projects plus sixteen extra pages of free printed papers and two plain sheets of vellum.

Also new in the shop are some beautiful new ribbons in bright and cheery springtime colours. We’ve added some dinky ribbon rolls from American Crafts and some By-the-Metre Metallic and Guipure Lace and funky Lacey effect ribbons. More ribbons will be added over the next few days too as we wade our way through the rolls that surround us!

Our Fabulously Crafty Friends continue to delight us with their creativity and stamping and papercrafting skills and we’re thrilled to share with you Sonia’s Cheery Teddy’s Patchwork Heart card and Alison’s handy Grown with Love Post-Its Memo Board. More new projects by the ladies can be seen in Gallery 1 - Look out for Sonia’s wonderful little paper streamer finishing touch on the heather and aqua coloured Highland Pup card!

Keep Creating!
Hugs n Smiles,
Kim

It’s ’still’ Teddy Time here at Cuddly Buddly Crafts and again I’ve re-drawn some of the old favourites as rubber stamps and have added some new faces too. The new characters that I’ve added are some everyday ’Super Stars’ teddy bears - a Police bear, Firefighter, Doctor and Nurse, who join the Fairy, Princess, Cheerleader, Clown, Builder, Cowboy and gallant little Knight and Rainy Day Bear. The stamps can all be used individually but for double the cuteness try grouping them together for some adorable furry line-ups. To go with these stamps and to help you round off some corners and fill in some spaces I’ve also drawn a set of ‘Five Stars’ corners and icons which have a stitched patchwork effect to encourage some real funky colour combos.

Other new arrivals at Cuddly Buddly Crafts include some luxurious Prima Flowers - Windsor Roses, Scribbles, Caboodles and Bonnet Blooms and an exquisite new cardstock from Core’dinations called Whitewash which is available in 12×12 and 6×6 stacks. New in the Craft Basics section are some Candle Making moulds and waxes for creating your very own shaped tealights and in the Stencilling aisle we’ve popped on five brand new Erica’s Embroidery and Embossing stencils (Flower, Heart, Owl, Birdhouse and Butterfly).

And Finally … and certainly not least … we’ve added lots more cards by my Fabulously Crafty Friends to Gallery 1. Oooh, and a little reminder to you all that you’re very welcome to join in with our monthly Prize ATC and Card Challenges on the Forum.

Keep Creating!

Hugs n Smiles,
Kim

Hoorah! The waiting is over and we’re thrilled to let you know that Susi’s Alphabooks and Numbercards are now available in Pink and Blue Printable formats for all of us who don’t own digital cutting machines. There’s plenty of space on the ‘pages’ for you to add embellishments, journaling and some sparkle, so in no time at all you can create your own little masterpiece.  Who wouldn’t be thrilled to receive such  a fantastic card on their special day!

Also new in and brand new to the scene is the Creative Cardmaking magazine published by Practical Publishing. With a cover price of only £3.99 for 84 pages and 16 additional pull out printed papers and die cuts this inspiring new magazine is already proving to be an popular choice with cardmakers.

Talking of inspiration, our Fabulously Crafty Friends, Alison, Edna, Gail and Sonia have come up trumps again and we’re so very, very pleased to be adding more wonderful card ideas by them into our Gallery #1. Do please check out their cards, these ladies really do create little works of heart.

Well, that’s about it for now, keep well, keep warm and Keep Creating!

Hugs n Smiles,
Kim & Friends

Way back at the beginning of December I created a project for an advertorial magazine supplement called ‘Designer Cards’ which is periodically issued as a freebie with ‘Simply Cards & Papercrafts’ magazine. Not wanting to make the project look ‘old news’ for the magazine readers I’ve sat on the project for a couple of months but the magazine’s on sale now so for any of you who aren’t regular Simply readers, here’s … one I made earlier!

List of materials required;

Cuddly Buddly Rubber Stamps - Teddy & Rose and Floral Greetings.
Cuddly Buddly downloadable paper - Patchwork Papers - Pink.
Watercolour paper.
Bazzill Papers Bling - String of Pearls and Diva.
Ranger Archival Inkpad Black, Glossy Accents and Liquid Pearls.
Tim Holtz Distress Re-Inkers.
Lace, Ribbons, Prima Got Flowers, Mini Brads.
145 x 145mm square greeting card blank.
Circle Cutter, Brush, Distressing Tool, Paper Piercer, Mini Mister filled with water, PVA glue.

—

1 - Stamp the images onto watercolour paper. Cut out Teddy & Rose stamped image into a 75mm circle and colour as desired using Distress Re-Inkers and a paintbrush. Distress Re-Inkers inks can be used direct from the bottle, mixed on a palette and/or diluted with water.

2 - Distress the edges of the Teddy circle using a distressing tool and pierce a dotty border around the inner edge of the circle. Colour the stamped Floral Greeting image and cut out. Highlight areas from both stamped images with Glossy Accents and set aside to dry completely.

3 - Cut a 90mm and a 105mm circle from each of the Bazzill Papers. Lightly spray water onto the outer edge of each circle to soften the paper. Push and pinch the edges of the circles to create a soft ruffled wavy edge. Apply Liquid Pearls to the outer edges of the circles and smear it a little using your fingers. Set aside to dry.

4 - Cut out background paper and lace and attach to the card base.

5 - Adhere topper roundel layers together and fix securely to card base. Assemble ribbon bow with Floral Greeting and adhere in position on card with topper roundel.

6 - Cut out four corner pieces from Bazzill Bling, distress and gently colour the edges and attach to card. Attach Prima Flowers to the card front. Apply Liquid Pearl dot highlight details to the four corner pieces. Set aside to dry. Print out an insert, trim to size, score, fold and attach to inside of card.

Keep Creating!

Hugs n Smiles,
Kim



Numbercards is the companion set to the Alphabook Cuttable and contains everything you need to make unique birthday number cards for any age; numbers from 0-9 plus ‘nd’, ‘rd’,’st’, ‘th’, ‘happy’, ‘today’. Each number or word has a base card and mat. Also included are the words ‘birthday’ and ‘wishes’ each with its own mat.

As in the Alphabooks set the standard size of a page is 252 x 145mm so they will work well together without needing to resize. Included in the set is a pdf file with illustrated instructions on how the ‘6 today ‘ product shot card was made - I have also included the original gsd design file which shows how the numbers and layers are lined up.

To make the ‘6 today’ card I used papers and elements from the Rainy Day Bears, Sunny Day Bears and Preppy Papers Designables. The centre of the number 6 is backed with acetate to form a window with microbead ‘waves’ and a cheeky Ted from the Sunny Days set is peeping out from behind the number.

Tip: To neaten the back of the base card, flip the matting layer and cut in printed paper!

So no challenge is too great - from a 007 card for your Mr. Bond to great grandma’s 100th you can do it all!!!

Have fun creating!

Susi

—

Gail’s ATC Challenge on the forum.

I thought it would be a nice idea for the previous challenge winner to pick this month’s theme, so without further ado, here is what Alison has chosen;

February theme is to be Animals.

So the main image is to be a Cuddly Buddly animal stamp or downloadable image. Alison would also like a touch of glitter please, remember, you don’t have to swap your atc’s to enter the challenge … but it would be nice.

The Prize - Two Cuddly Buddly Stamps and a 6×6 patterned paper pad are up for grabs for a randomly selected winner.

Good Luck!

Gail

Here we are into another month. January went so quickly!

I would like to see this card made without patterned paper! THATS RIGHT, NO PATTERNED PAPERS!

For a change lets work on a rectangular card. 7×5, A5 or A6.

Please use coloured card, or just white, gold or silver mirror card, embossed, stamped or painted with inks, pens, paints, chalks, etc. The choice is yours.

The main image can be anything sold in the Cuddly Buddly Shop, (except patterned paper!) so, rubber stamp, download, flowers, stickers, peeloffs.

Lets see what you can make of this. This month’s prize will be a 6×6 patterned paper pad and 2 Cuddly Buddly rubber stamps of your choice.

And, the WINNER in the January Card Challenge is … Craftyliz……. Well done Craftyliz, you have won rubber stamps to the value of £20 from the CB shop. Please email Kim with your choice of stamps and your postal address.

The winning card is what I imaged this sketch would look like, with the added bonus of decoupage. It was very hard to chose a winner as all the cards had something about them that I liked.

Good luck in the new challenge - we look forward to you joining in with us on the forum.

Linda x