Crafter's Companion - Botanical Garden Cut & Emboss Folder

Two projects today using the Botanical Garden Cut & Emboss folder from Crafter's Companion. One is a card, and the other a box.

For the card, I inked the folder with Bundled Sage Distress Oxide, and then cut it out from pale green card. The brick effect through the aperture is created using AALL & Create Stencil #38 Cracked Walls 2, and Antique Linen Distress Oxide onto cream card. The flowers are using Elizabeth Craft Designs 1638 Garden Notes Crocus.

For the aperture box, I used Centura Pearl Snow White Hint of Gold card, with Elizabeth Craft Designs 1590 Garden Notes Grecian Windflower.

Click on the image to see the video demo, and please feel free to follow me here on my blog, or on FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest.

And I now have a YouTube channel where I hope to add my video content to in the future. Would love it if you could subscribe. 

Thank you for popping by and happy crafting, 

Cxxxx

Lace Butterfly

Today I am sharing my lovely Mum's 80th birthday card. She's not one for fuss and bother, but a special birthday calls for one of my special 8x8 boxed cards.

I have used A3 Fresh White Centura Pearl to create the base card and the box. The patterned paper is Craft Sensations 12x12 Floral and Basics Paper. I bought this from The Range - it's my go to place for cheap but gorgeous 12x12 patterned paper pads.

The butterfly is an old 6x6 Crafter's Companion Create-a-card called Lace Butterfly. It's really pretty - and the wings of the butterfly lift up.

The pretty mirror card is from Chloe's Creative Card 8x8 Mirror Card Pad in Sugared Pastels. It teams up perfectly with the patterned paper.

The lettering is Julie Hickey Designs Sweet Pea Alphabet, and the numbers are from an Elizabeth Craft Designs Planner Essentials set called Retro Number Trio. As the name implies, there are 3 different sizes of number dies included.

You can't see it from these pictures, but I always add decoration to the inside of the box. I usually use offcuts left from making the card and box topper. I added a couple of butterflies in there using Trimcraft Butterflies dies.

Thank you for popping by. 

Please feel free to follow me here on my blog, on FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest.

And I now have a YouTube channel where I hope to add my video content to in the future. Would love it if you could subscribe. 

Happy crafting, 

Cxxxx

Foldback Gatefold Card

Today I am sharing a foldback gatefold card, with a belly band. I have used some brown and cream card, with a beautiful copper toned Centura Pearl from the Metallics pack. The video demonstration can be accessed by clicking the picture below (it's the first 45 minutes from the FB live). 

To make the card, I have used a piece of card 4 3/4" wide by 5 1/4" for the back, and two pieces 5 7/8" wide by 5 1/4" for the gatefold sides. These two pieces need to be scored at 3" from one end, and 3/8" from the other. This small end sticks around behind the back piece of the card.

 

The decorative pieces on the front are cut with Precious Marieke: Cuddling on the Farm - Wheat Border. You get one die for the flowers in the set, and I cut this out multiple times in the cream and coppper. I used a small circle punch to cut the centres out of the copper to put on the cream. It's a bit time-consuming - but well worth the effort.

For the inside, I have used the Chicken Wire Frame die set from the same collection. The main die cuts out the frame, and leaves you with a decorative piece which I have cut in half and used on the inner panels. I cut it in copper too, and just used that central piece for layering. The other die that comes with the set was used to cut the cream pieces for the inner panels and the centre - a place for your sentiment.

For the belly band, I used a piece of card that was the length of an A4 sheet, and 1" wide. This was scored at 2 3/4" from each end. When folded, the ends don't quite meet so you need to fix a small piece of card behind this. I put this at the front of the belly band as it would be concealed by the bow. Use red liner tape to fix your ribbon to the card.

Slide this over your card to keep it shut.

Thanks for popping by, and I hope I have given you a little inspiration. Feel free to follow me here on my blog, or on FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest. For all the videos, pop over to the Hixxy Studio YouTube channel to subscribe. And FB lives are streamed on both the YouTube channel and the Hixxy Crafts FB page. The main items I use can be found on the Hixxy Crafts website - have a look under the Hixxy Studio tab.

Happy crafting!!

Cxxx

Flower Corner Gift Bag

Hello. Today I have a gift bag to share. It's just a standard Kraft gift bag that I have decorated to use for a Thank You present.  I have layered Centura Metallic card from the Precious Golds selection, with Kraft card and some wood effect paper from one of the Crafter's Companion 12x12 paper pads. 

The Flower Corner die (which includes the two bees) is from Jeanine's Art Humming Bee collection. I have paper pieced some of the Centura into the flowers. 

Thanks for popping over to have a look. Feel free to follow me here on my blog, or on FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest. For the videos, pop over to the Hixxy Studio YouTube channel to subscribe. And FB lives are streamed on both the YouTube channel and the Hixxy Crafts FB page. The main items I use can be found on the Hixxy Crafts website - have a look under the Hixxy Studio tab.

Happy crafting,

Cxxx

Leaf Vine

Today's card uses Precious Marieke's Leaf Frame, and Elizabeth Crafts Clematis dies. I cut the frame twice from Centura Pearl Hint of Silver. I used a patterned paper with a purple border underneath. The sentiment is from Trimcrafts First Edition Sentiments set.

Thank you for stopping by my blog. If you would like to see a video demonstration of the card, please click on the photo to take you to the Hixxy Studio YouTube channel.

Happy crafting,

Cxxx

The last of the Christmas Cards

These are the final two cards to share from my Christmas makes. They were batch made for my groups of friends, using my lovely new Tim Holtz Stamping Platform.

The first is a Crafter's Companion stamp called Floral Festivities. I stamped it with Crafter's Companion Harmony Waterproof Ink in Pebble, and used the Spectrum Noir Crystal Clear Sparkle pen to "colour" it in. The base card is Centura Pearl Hint of Silver, and I used some gunmetal grey pearl card from my stash. 

   

I also embossed some plain white card with a very old A4 Crafter's Companion Snowflake folder, to create a layer with texture.

The other card uses the same materials, but the stamp is Papermania - Stockings.

   

I hope that all of you have a peaceful day, however you are spending it.

Happy Christmas,

Cxxx

Christmas Create a Cards

We're still on the Christmas theme over at Use Your Craft Stash, and I am still playing with my old Crafter's Companion 5x5 Create a Cards. These two are made using the 5x2 sentiment dies that came with this set.

I've used Centura Pearl again - in purple and teal - and made a tag and a small card.

Happy crafting,

Cxxx

Christmas Cheer

 It's almost December, so we are going to have a Christmas theme for the next few weeks at Use Your Craft Stash.  For my first share, I have a pop out card, made using some old Crafter's Companion Create a Card dies. I have used "Christmas Cheer" with the Christmas Tree, and the 5x2 sentiment "Season's Greetings". 

I used a combination of Centura Pearl Snow White Hint of Gold and Centura Pearl Chocolate card. The base card is just a little larger than 5x5.

Despite the strange times this year, I hope you are starting to feel a little festive. 

Happy crafting,

Cxxxx

Fuchsias

Fuchsias are one of my favourite flowers, and I have a few in the garden. So, as this week I am working on "F", I decided I wanted to include them in my project. That way I cover flowers and the colour! I also decided to make a Fold Over Box, following the sizing guide from Beccy's Place.

I have never made fuchsias before, so found a great tutorial from Archana Joshi. I was surprised at how straightforward they are to make, and how effective they look.

So, you need a rounded petal flower and a pointed petal flower. Archana uses punches, but I don't have them and after rummaging through my dies, I found these old Crafter's Companion Classiques dies called Forget Me Not. The most Fuchsia colour I could find in my inks was Picked Raspberry, and I decided to use Distress Oxide. This is for the outer part of the flower and needs inking on both sides. For the inner part of the flower, I used Spun Sugar, but only inked the central part.

    

One of the interesting things from the video, is the detail for the stamen. One of the stamens needs to be longer than the rest - and this one should be white. I used a bit of wire to secure them together, and wrapped it in a bit of green floral wire. This might be better done afterwards, but I though it might give a bit of stability. The inner part of the flower needs to be like a cup - and although she used foam, she didn't heat it. I did heat it as it kept the cup shape better. The outer part is shaped using a very small ball tool. I didn't have one that small so used the end of my Crafter's Companion quilling tool. You move the ball from the tip of the petal to the centre of the flower.

  

I love that she showed how to make a bud too. I started with some green floral wire as this is much stronger than the wire I used for the stamens. I didn't have any white floral tape, so used (as she suggested) white tissue paper. You then thread on the flower top, and use glue (I used a hot glue gun) to stick down each petal in turn. 

 

  

The next step is to wrap the piece just below the flower in white floral tape or, in my case, white tissue paper. This is then coloured with the same ink as the flower. The same is done with the white part on the bud. I would highly recommend watching the video as it was so helpful and I am so pleased with how these turned out. I shall definitely be making them again. And also checking out more of Archana's tutorials.

  

For the fold over box, you need a piece of card 10"x10" and two pieces 6" x 9". I used A3 Centura Pearl Hint of Gold.  The two smaller pieces are scored at 3" on one side. The small panel provides an overlap for the spine, and these are stuck together.  The box is scored at 3" on all sides, and cut and folded up.

      

For additional F's (and E's) I used a Fairy topper from Crafter's Companion Faerie Poppets CD, and Fussy Cut a couple of the layers. The Embossed card is (although it doesn't show very well) the paler pink card that I mat and layered with.

 

In her tutorial, Beccy shows a way of fastening the box, but I chose to go with fuchsia ribbon. This was taped onto the inside of both sides, and the covered with the decorative mats and layers. including the fuchsia coloured card, the pink embossed card, and a patterned paper from the Faerie Poppets CD.

    

The outside of the card , and the outside and inside of the box were decorated in the same way.

 

The Faerie Poppet and the Fuschias were added to the front, with a bow and some pearls.

So, there you have my Fuchsia Fold over box with Fuchsias, Flower Forming Foam, a Fairy, Fussy Cutting and elements from the Faerie Poppets CD. 

Happy crafting!

Cxxxx 

Hats - Go Large!

There's always fads and fashions and trends in any area - and one of the most recent in the craft world was the hat easel. I resisted for a while, but then decided to have a go myself. I found some instructions on Positively Papercraft - with two different posts sharing instructions and videos for construction and for two different hat boxes.

I decided that I wanted to go much bigger than this, so I have adapted the sizes  - but pretty much followed the assembly. I didn't bother with the fancy boxes - but did make a box to deliver it in - more details later. I really relied heavily on my Spellbinders circle and scalloped circle dies - both the ordinary set and the Grand set - which I have had in my stash for a very long time. The measurements that I mention are in relation to these dies. 

To make this (at this size - which is just over 7"), you will need 2 sheets of A3 card for the easel base. I used Centura Pearl card from the Pastels pack. I used one sheet and cut a long strip off - 15 1/2" x 2 1/2" - you will need this later. The rest of this piece of card was scored and folded at 8 1/4" and then the base was cut with the largest Spellbinder circle die that I have - 7 1/4".  Once cut,  one side of the easel was cored a 3 5/8".

Please note: some of the photos are of another hat easel I made as I didn't take many photos while making this.

The strip that was cut needs to be scored at 1/2" and 2", and then notches cut into it as shown below.

This will form the sides of the hat, and is attached to a circle of 4 3/4" diameter as shown below.

It's then all about assembly. I started by decorating the hat top as I found this easier to do before sticking in onto the large circle. I used strips of patterned paper 1 1/4" wide to go around the hat top, and then went round with ribbon. I added a 4 1/4" circle in a patterned paper to the very top

You need another 7 1/4" circle for the top of the easel card - which serves as the brim of the hat. On this one I added a 7 3/8" scalloped circle in green, a 6 1/4" circle in orange, a 5 3/4" circle in the patterned paper, and a 5 1/8" scalloped circle in the original Centura Pearl. Onto this, you glue the hat top.

For the easel base, I used the same size circles and scallops as above, but added another green 4 5/8" scalloped circle. In other ones I have made, I have added another 3 3/4" circle on the top of that - but didn't do that here.

For the sentiment/stopper, I used a green 2 3/4" circle, an orange 2 5/8" scalloped circle and the sentiment was stamped onto a 2 3/8" circle of the Centura Pearl. For other ones I have made, I started with a 3 1/8" scalloped circle of the original card I made the base from.  The sentiment was stamped in Stazon - Cactus Green and sentiment is from an old Crafter's Companion Sentimentals stamp set.

I then decorated the hat brim with bow in the same ribbon as I used before, and then some flowers I made using Flower Forming foam (see my post here).

I did make a very simple box for this. I used two 12x12 sheets of Core'dinations card and used my Big Score to score at 2 1/4" all the way round. I have made 5 of these in total, and I will share the other designs as and when I give them to the recipients throughout the year - one is not until December - but the next one is only a few weeks away. 

Happy crafting!
Cxxxx