The Cards For my Card Designer of the Year Entry

Hello crafty peeps - welcome to my crafty nook! In my last post I shared with you all the project for the card designer of the year competition (closing date Friday 21st November 2014). I seem to be one of those crafters who needs a tight deadline to feel creative and if I'm honest when I was studying with the O.U. I tended to leave my essays until the last possible moment too, so it's no surprise to find that I've only just finished the two cards that I needed to make to complete the entry.

8" x 8" Katy Sue Simpler Times "Just A Note" card

My first card took ages to make because I kept messing it up! I love this Katy Sue Simpler Times stamp and I was lucky enough to get it and three others for the bargain price of  £1 each in the Mega Sale last July. The images are really cute and stamp like a dream! I stamped this image using Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 300gsm white card stock. The stamp isn't quite as wide as the 5" x 5" card so I drew a black line using a Letraset fine liner pen either side of the stamped image. The image was then coloured in using ProMarkers in a variety of colours (if you'd like to know what colours I used please leave a comment below) I added white detail using a white gel pen. The sky was coloured in using Dovecraft "Brights" chalks a product that I've had for many years but haven't really used up to now. I mounted this image onto black card and cut it so that there was a very thin border all around. I layered this piece on a 6" x 6" glitter card taken from DCWV "The Twinkle Glints" stack. I added this layer to a piece of black card cut to 7.5" x 7.5" and then mounted this onto a scallop edged  8" x 8" card blank. I stamped the sentiment from the stamp set onto white card and mounted it onto black card to create a thin border. I used black foam tape on the back of the sentiment and added it to the top left corner of the main image (confession time: I originally stamped the sentiment straight onto the sky part of the image but it went wonky!) finally I embellished the sentiment with three clear gems. To finish the card I stamped the image again inside the card blank using Memento "Summer Skies" ink pad, then stamped thinking of you over it using Memento Tuxedo Black ink.

Acetate Accordion Diamond fold card

This card looks complicated but is really easy to make as its just a few scores and a bit of folding. I made this by scoring an A4 sheet of 200 micron acetate in thirds (I have a scoreboard that came free with Papercraft inspirations magazine and it has a score line for a zig-zag/3-fold card which is perfect for this initial fold) and folding the side panels in half again but in the opposite direction to the first folds. My first instinct when I was working out how to make this card was to fold down the outer panels but you actually need to fold the middle panel top corner over diagonally so its side edge meets the inner score line of the side panel (its like folding the page of a book over to mark your place - not that I'd ever do that! *tongue in cheek* lol) make sure you burnish this crease well with a bone folder. Open the fold out and push the middle crease down while pressing on the diagonal creases - this is how the diamond shape is formed. Repeat with all the corners top and bottom until you have a diamond shaped front panel and two flaps angled at the back - the accordion part of the name refers to the fact that if you pull on the back flaps the card moves like an accordion. I wanted to keep the card simple so I cut two panels of docrafts Papermania "Madame Payraud's Collection" paper to 2.7" x 8" and adhered them to the side panels leaving a slight border, the remainder of the patterned sheet was just big enough to cover the central panel so I cut it into a long diamond shape. I added strips of textured white card stock to the back of the outer panels because as it's acetate you can see the sticky tape and it looks ugly. However due to the way it's folded it's hard to see the inner panel so I didn't bother covering up the back. I die cut a Crafter's Companion Die'sire Classical Frame out of black card stock, then added a panel of DCWV textured white card stock taken from a 8" x 8" All Occasion scrapbook kit in a stack, leaving a thin black border, this was then glued to the front of the card making sure that the circles slightly overlapped the sides of the panel at the top. I die cut a large stitch flower out of black card stock using Lil' inker designs stitched flowers dies and a smaller flower out of textured white card. I layered these together and added a large clear gem to its centre. I adhered the flower to the centre of the white panel and added medium sized clear gems to all four corners of the white panel. Finally I added large clear gems on the four outer corners and on the diamond points. One of the best things about this card is that it fits into a DL sized envelope.

I hope you've enjoyed looking at my latest cards, as always if you have any questions or comments please leave them below. If my instructions on how to make the acetate card are unclear I will post a step by step photo tutorial on request.

Now that I've finally sent off all the competitions I shall be concentrating on Christmas, so until next time - keep crafting!

Love and crafty hugs,

Sarah xxx

Note Holder Box Entry for Card Designer of The Year 2014

Hello crafty peeps, welcome to my crafty nook! It's not that long since I entered the Papercrafter of the Year competition and the deadline for the next big comp the Card Designer of the Year 2014 is rapidly approaching - it's non-stop at the moment! As usual just as I need it my card mojo has vanished and I'm struggling to find something new to make without resorting to buying more stuff. As I usually do when inspiration is thin on the ground I visited YouTube and checked out some of the subscriptions I'm signed up for and although most of the videos are for Christmas/holiday cards and projects I did find a rather nifty project on Splitcoaststampers, a "fold over box" by Liz Walker. Liz's box was Christmassy (not surprising at this time of year) but I decided to make mine into a holder for memo papers to keep next to the telephone. As I want it to be on display all year round I made a non Christmas themed box.

Top of Note Holder Box

I used a sheet of My Mind's Eye double sided cardstock from a range called "Just Dreamy", I've had it for YEARS so I don't imagine you'll be able to get hold of it still but any double sided card will do. In the end I used a second sheet for the mats and flowers but you only need one sheet to make the basic design. For a really good tutorial pop over to YouTube and look up Splitcoaststampers and fold over box, but if you want to stick with me then here goes. I cut my card to 9"x6" and scored it long side at 3" and repeated with more card so I ended up with two 6"x6" panels with a 3"x6" hinge. I attached the two hinges together using a strong glue so I ended up with a something that looks like a binder. To make the box to go inside the binder, cut some cardstock to 10"x10" and score each side at 3". Cut to inner score line and trim off part of each tab then stick to the inside of the flaps to create the box shape - use a really strong wet glue and either keep a hold of it until it sets or use paperclips to anchor the two pieces together until it dries. Decorate the outside and inside panels of this box.

Inside Box (with note paper)

I found the lid a bit flimsy once I put it all together so I added a panel of black card to the inside of the lid, then I centred the box and stuck it down using more strong wet glue. I cut two strips of ribbon and added them to the centre of the lid and the base of the Note Holder using Anita's Tacky Glue. I matted more of the double sided card onto black cardstock and added these to the lid and the base covering up the glued part of the ribbon, using more strong glue.

I cut some flowers using Lil' inker designs flowers die in the patterned and black card, then diecut two swirls out of more black card using a Craft-Too "Swirly" Die Cutting & Embossing Stencil. I layered different sized flowers together to make the flowers (see photo) and added Sparklet Stickers from The Works to the centres. I added these flowers to the top left corner of the front using strong wet glue and slid the swirls under two of the flowers as shown adding a few drops of glue where needed. I embellished this front with a few black gems and some Craftwork Cards Black card candi. For a bit of shimmer I highlighted the black areas with either clear Wink of Stella or black Wink of Stella. Finally I cut sheets of paper to size and tied them together with waxed cord along with a pen. The finishing touch was to tie the ribbon in a bow.

Side view of Fold Over Box

Here are a few more images of the finished project - many thanks to Liz Walker of Splitcoaststampers for the original idea and tutorial - please check her out on YouTube, it's worth a visit.

I hope you've enjoyed my version of Liz Walker's Fold Over Box and I'd love to see what you come up with. As always if you have any questions or comments please feel free to leave them in the section below and until next time - keep crafting!

Love and crafty hugs,
Sarah xxx