It's the final countdown....(to Christmas!)

Hello crafty peeps and welcome to my crafty nook. First of all I'd like to sincerely apologise for not adding any posts to this blog in over a month! I swear I blinked and a whole month disappeared. If you click on my Facebook link regularly you'll have seen that I have been doing a bit of crafting but at the moment there's very little I can actually share. Oh before I forget well done to all the winners of the National Cardmaker Of The Year competition which finally announced the winners in issue 151 December of Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine. I mentioned the NCOTY comp because part of the stuff I can't share with you is the two entries to the other big cardmaking competitions, the closing dates of both were last month. Unlike NCOTY, if you enclose a SAE with your entry then they will send it back after a few months and I shall share my entries on this blog  when I get my entry back. For at least one of the comps I can't share before I get my entry returned as I was in that much of a rush to get it sent (both entries ended up going Special Delivery - it cost a small fortune!!) that I didn't have time to take proper photos of the project. I'll be totally honest with you, the projects are my weak spot, I don't make many paper projects as I like making cards the most so making two very different projects in a relatively short time was rather challenging. It's something I'm planning on addressing next year.

Another card I've made but can't share is the dolphin themed box card that I've made for my sister-in-law Sue, it was her birthday on the 28th but Chris hasn't gotten around to taking it to her yet which is a little vexing. Susan loves dolphins and as soon as I saw how to make an exploding box card I thought dolphins would be perfect for one and I spent rather more than I should have buying different sized dolphin dies (didn't intend to truth be told but I have a really hard time envisioning sizes of things based on their measurements, I ordered a couple of sets from ebay and they turned out to be tiny lol - I really need to keep a ruler near the computer in future). Once Chris has taken the card to Sue's I'll be able to share it on here.

One card I can share is a decorative corner card please click on this link to see the original idea -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxdMHZE9NPE . I've changed the size slightly so it's an A4 sheet of card cut to 16.4cm by 29cm (and a smidge), it's basically the exploding box size but you don't score or cut to make the flaps. The way I've done it means you don't have to mess around making a hinge to stick the two edges together. You score at 7cm, 14cm, 21cm and 28cm. The 1cm and a bit flap at the end is stuck to the other end to make an open ended box. I wanted to make a quick card so some Hunkydory toppers proved very useful for this project and I teamed it with some Hunkydory paper. The main topper is fixed to the corner of the box shape using two 1.5" die cut circles which are scored in half and added either side of one of the corner score lines, the other halves of the scored circles form a platform for the topper to rest on and allows the card to fold flat assuming it's lined up correctly.Please click on the above link for more detailed instructions on how to make this card.

Decorative corner card using Hunkydory papers and toppers

Folds flat for easy posting and fits into an A5 envelope

This style of card is great if you have a lot of pre-made bought toppers like I have as you can decorate it as simply or as complicated as you wish and still get a lovely result. It's also a good card for those oops I forgot it's your birthday tomorrow moments as the card base itself is quite simple to make. I'm planning on making a few card bases up in advance so I can add decorative paper and toppers for those last minute cards I might need.

I won't make a promise to blog every day leading up to Christmas but I am promising to blog on a weekly basis from now to the New Year. I'm very behind with my Christmas cards and handmade gifts this year so I'll have a lot to share in the next 30 days.

As always if you have any comments or questions then I'd love to see them so please leave them in the usual places and until next time - keep crafting!

Love and crafty hugs,

Sarah xxxx