Cards using Paperbox cardstock.

So, full disclosure. A few weeks ago I had an email from the people at  Paperbox.They wanted to know if I'd be willing to make some cards from their cardstock, and blog about them. I've bought their cardstock before and always been happy with the quality, so I was ok to do that.

They sent me some cardstock and paper, in mainly pastel shades.





There was also a sheet of non shed glitter card in silver.

The first card I chose to make used a cover die featuring hearts, which I die cut from a sheet of Pale Pink Pearl card. It looks a little paler here than it actually is, I'm finding the contrast from the TH mat does that to colours. I also cut a matching sized sheet from the Silver Non -Shed Glitter card to go behind it.

I matted the two sheets together, and mounted them on to a topfold base card, notecard size, which is roughly 5¾x 4¼. I create that by cutting an A4 sheet of cardstock straight down the centre, lengthways.

 To finish it off I die cut an Anniversary sentiment from the Pale Coral Pearl card. I cut it 3 times, and layered them up for some extra impact.


This card would be great for Weddings & Engagements too, as well as Valentines day, and you could change up the colours for the occasion.

Next up I made a simple Birthday card, again using die cuts, and these are great for a fast card when you need one quickly.

  Again this uses a cover die- I *think* this may have been from Papertrey- but I've had it a long time. There are many similar dies available though.
 I cut it from the Non Shed Glitter card, and it cuts really easily.
 One tip here, I've used non shed glitter card before, and it seems like the glitter is a plastic type of coating on the cardstock. Now what we call 'cutting dies' don't really cut, as they have no sharp edge. They sort of 'crush' their way through cardstock, but with any sort of acetate/plastic/ plastic coating, in places they can stretch it rather than cut. I've found that when you have pieces to poke out, it's better to push them through from the front, then if any parts are still attached, it won't pull the parts that remain away, leaving bare cardstock. Go gently, and it's all good.
 Back to the card, and I found a piece of alcohol ink background in my stash, so I added the die cut- for this I use Multi Medium Matte applied with a fine tip nozzle- then cut it down to the same size as the die cut.
 To the back of this I added a piece of fun foam to give the card a little dimension. I mounted it onto a card blank made from Pale Blue cardstock.
 The sentiment is from Elizabeth Designs, and is a nice big sentiment that works well on this type of card. I cut it 3 times from pale blue card and layered them up using the Matte Medium, which I also used to add the sentiment to the card front.

For the last two cards in this segment, I switched to Baby cards.

 All the small die cuts were cut from the Glitter card, then colour added with Promarkers. This is a great way to make your embellishments match your card, as the Non Shed Glitter Card takes colour from Alcohol Markers, Alcohol inks, even your Distress inkpads really easily.

You do need to give it a little drying time though.

All the dies were bought from The Range, they have a huge selection of small dies, all priced at £1, so they are well worth a look next time you visit.

Starting with the boy card, I took a 5" square card blank, and covered it with some Gingham Vellum from my stash.
 Next I used the  Pastel Blue Matte card and the Aquamarine Pearl card to die cut two sizes of Stitched Squares, (The Works).




 I layered them up using double sided tape.
To the backs I added a small square of fun foam to add some dimension.
I mounted them to the card front with DST again.


Two shades of blue were added to each die cut, then I mounted them using Matte Medium.




























For the girl card, I used a different patterned paper for the front, and as it had a heart design, I used some Stitched Heart dies to  cut the layers.






This time I used Pale Pink Pearl and Pale Coral Pearl.


The images were coloured the same way as the boy card.















I will do a few more soon, as I still have cardstock left, so look out for Part Two!












So, I can say that the cardstock has been lovely to work with. The colours are good, and the quality of the cardstock is excellent. It's a good weight, and suitable for folding into card blanks, or for matting and layering. They all die cut beautifully, even the Non Shed Glitter.
 I'd also add that they have a huge range of finishes and colours, and also do swatch books of the various cardstock groups, which is a great way to see what you are ordering before you buy.

Wedding Anniversary card

Yep, this week saw our 9th Wedding Anniversary, and this is the card made for Beloved Hubby.
 It features a UTEE embossed heart, and also a sentiment die cut treated the same.

The card base is an 8" square one, and the design is matted onto some black linen cardstock, cut to size on my Rotary trimmer with a deckle blade, to match the card base.






The heart was die cut from thick card using an old Red Sizzix die of a large heart.
 I applied red pigment ink, then a single layer of red embossing powder, one from Moonglow Two Toned powders, called Hollyberry Red/Gold.
This was followed with 3 or 4 layers of UTEE, with Versamark ink being applied before each coat. It is possible to add the UTEE without the Versamark, but you have to work quickly, and it's risky, as the heated UTEE is VERY hot, and sticky.  Safer to let it cool, Versamark, then add another layer of UTEE.
 You can use normal clear EP if you don't have UTEE, but you will need more layers.

Plan A had been to include some Mica powder, which you can sprinkle lightly onto a UTEE powder layer, then carefully melt with the heat gun.

You need to hold the gun higher than normal, to let the UTEE start to melt, so that you don't blow the Mica powder off. When you are finished with the UTEE layers, the Mica seems to have drifted down through them. Unfortunately, the original heart was cut from a smooth white coated piece of thick card, and by the next day the embossing had started to shrink away, and the more I tried to fix it, the worse it got!

 This is what it looked like with the Mica powder, and some WOW! Coral Beach Sparkle Glitter added. It's much more red than the coral the name suggests..

It worked fine on the words die cut, so it was clearly the cardstock I used for the heart.

This die cut sentiment is from Tonic Studios. I can only find it available on E-Bay, so I'm guessing it's discontinued.

 Here was the original, all finished. You see the dimple on the left of the heart? If that happens, just heat again with the heat gun until it melts. You can also heat it and sprinkle a few grains of UTEE on it, then continue heating.










The 9 comes from a Tim Holtz set called Mini Numeric. Coated in Gold Pigment ink, then gently stamped into the top layer of UTEE whilst still hot. Because the UTEE is still liquid, you need to take care not to move the stamp as you press it in. Be gentle, you do not need to press as firmly as you would when normally stamping.
Leave for a few seconds, then lift off, and your number/image will be permanently set into the UTEE.
If it does go wrong, you can wipe away the ink with a baby wipe, although a little may remain, then remelt and try again.

The heart and sentiment were added to the card front with some dabs of Pinflair Glue gel. You may want to place some acrylic blocks on top whilst it sets.
The Peeloff sentiments for Happy Anniversary were added when the heart was set, 2 on each side, with a tiny peeloff heart between them.

Indigo Blu Anniversary Card

 A change from Christmas Cards for once!
 It was our 7th Wedding Anniversary earlier in the week, and when Hubby spotted this stamp at Happy Stampers, I knew it was perfect for an anniversary card.
 I stamped out the image, from Indigo Blu, a few times, using different inks, as I wasn't sure how I was going to add colour.

 I tried the water & Distress Inks, but this particular cardstock didn't want to co operate, so eventually I went with Promarkers.




 After I'd done the colouring, I cut a very rough mask from one of the failed images, and used that to cover the owl whilst I brushed on some DI Tumbled Glass around the main image, fading it out gradually.

Matted onto a light brown cardstock, trimmed to leave a narrow border, then onto a sheet of dark brown card, which was cut longer than the main panel, so I could add the sentiment. This is from the Phill Martin Scribbled Sentiments set.









I matted that onto the pale brown card again, then positioned it below the image panel, then trimmed that down to leave the same narrow border.
















 I folded a sheet of A4 gold card for the card base. A couple of acrylic black hearts added to two corners, and it's done.
 It would be simple to just mask off the 'Owl always Love you' part of the stamp, so it does have other uses.

WOYWW #280

Morning all, and yet another Wednesday is here. Scary how fast this year is vanishing, isn't it? This is my desk shot for the week, joining up with our (freshly holidayed) Julia at The Stamping Ground.
 Still plodding along with the Christmas cards, I've trimmed all the stencilled toppers now, trees, Noels and some baubles. Next up will be some stamped ones, using the tree stamp, from Inkylicious, just about visible on the right.
 By the way, the stencils I've been using are all Dreamweaver ones.

One thing I have done, is quickly go over the top of them with a stiff stencil brush, or a toothbrush, which removed any loose glitter. So should be less shedding when I make them up. I do sparkle quite nicely though!
And an update on the Gold embossing paste- don't know whether it was the daylight in my room, or my eyesight, but the new pot turned up this week, and it dries out exactly the same, and they both now look like gold! Go figure.






A card I made last week, for my Beloved Hubby, as last Friday was our 5th Wedding Anniversary.

The hearts are a Visible Image stamp, the one stamped and heat embossed in silver also had a little silver glitter added. The words are a stamp from Inkylicious. I added various red shades with a colour duster brush, and by swirling a darker red over the hearts, I achieved a nice shadow effect.

 I managed to pick up a chest infection last week- started Wednesday with a bit of a sore throat, that had gone Thursday, and it felt like I was getting a stinking cold, or flu. Unfortunately, that really went downhill on Thursday night, and I ended up having a couple of asthma attacks in the night. Never, ever had one before, and I don't think I've ever known anything so scary. Ended up at the docs on Friday morning, he put me on a nebuliser in the surgery, as I was struggling to breathe, and I have antibiotics, a course of steroids I finished this morning, and an inhaler.So we didn't go anywhere over the weekend, Hubby had intended us to have a day around Stratford, but as I couldn't walk the length of the room without gasping for breath, that didn't happen.Seems to be clearing up now, fortunately, as next Tuesday I'm due to start my Chemo/radiotherapy. At least it happened before that, rather than during.Went for blood tests on Monday, ready for the start, and on Wednesday I have to go see the Occupational Health Nurse at work, prior to starting back, which I intend to do on the 27th, just doing half shifts for a couple of weeks to see how it goes. Just a case of trial and error, really, as I have no idea how I'm going to feel once the chemo/radio starts.I shall make adjustments if necessary- doing less, or even being signed off again, if its too much. We shall see. 


Finally, a cause for some celebration.My youngest son, Mikey and his girlfriend, KT announced they are engaged! Apparently, they got engaged on 14th August (our Birthday), but have only just told everyone.
This pic was taken when they were having a day around the Bull Ring Centre in Birmingham, Mikey is the one on the right- wonder who he gets his dress style from? The guy in the pic was some promo thing going on. And yes, that's the closest Mikey ever gets to smiling in a photo, lol.

 I would dearly love to go to the Hobbycrafts at the NEC in November, 6th -9th, which is in four weeks, but I shall wait till closer to make a definite decision on that, again depending how I feel. It may be a 'decide on the day' sort of thing.
And one final AAARRRGH! Slipknot and Korn have announced they will be touring in January, they will be in Birmingham at the end of January, (27th) and we can't book tickets!  My main surgery should be at the beginning of the new year,so have no idea what the date will be, or how I will be by the end of the month. But short of needing to drag a drip with me, I shall be doing my damnedest to get there, lol.

Weddings and Anniversary

A couple of recent cards for this post, One made for a couples Civil Wedding, and  a card for my Beloved Hubby for our Wedding Anniversary.
 Hubbies card is based on the design for our Wedding Invites, using the same colours and fold.

Instead of our initials, I stamped and heat embossed the number 4 , as its our fourth anniversary.











The second card was asked for by a friend at work, for a gay couple of her friends getting married, as she couldn't find anything suitable in the shops.

 I used a Chocolate baroque stamp, Harlequin Rose, that had been stamped onto Transparency film, then glittered. I layered it over some gold card embossed with hearts. Some Wedding vellum and white ribbon on the left, and dry embossing from a Glitter Girls Embossing board on the right. Finally added a few half pearls to the embossing, and a couple of satin hearts to the image.

Wedding & Anniversary Cards

 Two cards made this week, the front Easel card for a Ruby Wedding Anniversary, and the Silver & White at the back for a Wedding Acceptance. Not something I've been asked to make before.
 The Wedding Acceptance uses the Memory Box dies La Rue heart, and the matching Grand Heart for the backing. I die cut the Grand Heart from white pearl card, and the La Rue overlay from a silvery paper. A few silver & white flowers were made using the Tim Holtz strip die, Tattered Flower Garland. I used a mix of silver, white & vellum for those and filled the centres with seed beads.The Bride & Groom are the Stampendous stamp, At the Altar, stamped once onto black card for the groom, then onto white pearl card for the bride, and finally onto vellum to cut out the overdress. I added a little Diamond Stickles to give her dress a bit of sparkle.
The Lattice background is a Quickutz folder, Diamonds & Dots.

 The Easel Anniversary card uses the same folder, and hearts. The flowers on here are a mix of Tims Tattered Florals Movers & Shapers, and Tattered Florals Bigz die. I like that you can mix all these flower dies together and get an endless variety of flower shapes & sizes. Dark Red ribbon was wrapped around the Lattice before matting onto dark red card, and the sentiment was computer printed and cut out with Nesties Labels 4. I had one set of these, the large, but ended up eventually getting the small set too, which gives less of a margin between the layers. Sometimes I felt the gap was too big between the layers on the single set.

WOYWW #193

Well, back at work for a week, and I've re-discovered what its like to not have enough hours in the day. I haven't posted for a whole week, I think because I blinked and it was Wednesday again.Not only Wednesday, but half way through February. C'mon, slow down a little, please? Valentines day tomorrow- AND three birthdays on it as well. A friend, a nephew and my youngest son Mike. Which he hates, by the way. Sharing his birthday with Valentines Day. I do tell him its entirely his own fault. He decided he was going to arrive 3 months ahead of schedule!So, on to the desks. If you want to join our Wednesday(ish) wander around, snooping into peoples craft space, pop over to The Stamping Ground, where our famous hostess, Julia will welcome you with open ( Mr.Linky) arms.
This weeks desk then. Completely unedited, uncropped and definitely untidied.

 

We have a Tim die, Tags & Bookplates, my Rotary trimmer complete with babywipes, an Anniversary card for a friend, a second one partly done,glasses, rotary cutters that I've been using to make more strips for my Quilt along with a new blade, pins & tailors chalk.Bits of tin foil. No, I haven't been at the chocolate, I was sharpening my border punch!Pencil, ruler, tiny scissors and scalpel and lots of scrappy bits from the punching.Just at the back you can see a wooden block, from Opitec.

Actually there are two of them. Better view here. I used to use cutlery drainer thingys for all these bits & pieces, but I still had to keep foraging for stuff. These are great for all my embossing stylus (should that be styli? I wonder) scissors, pokey things and stuff. I see the spoon I use for UTEE too. The one at the back is full of various pliers & wire cutters. That is what these are actually meant for, storing two handled tools. They're not too big, so don't take up as much space as the drainers.


I shall be posting a UTEE project later in the week, meanwhile, a sneak preview:

I'm on 6 till 2 this week, so I shall schedule this, and link up when I get back.

Quick update on the faulty Distress Re-Inkers- two replacements arrived last Friday! Definitely ace customer service from Ranger.

Anniversary & New Baby

Two cards here, I pictured them side by side as its not easy to tell the size of the baby card without something to compare it to. The Anniversary card is a standard A4 sheet of card folded. The Anniversary & new baby were not for the same person, by the way!

    
The New Baby was for a work colleague leaving to have her first baby, so I made an A4 sized card, which gives plenty of room for everyone to sign. I buy a pack of A3 card from Staples for doing these. Its not particularly thick, so I add a sheet of A4 card to the back, and by the time it has papers etc on the front, it is perfectly sturdy. The punched panel uses vellum punched with two different X-cut border punches, Looped Fringe & Doily Dots.                           
 I'm actually very impressed with these border punches, they give a nice crisp cut and are really easy to line up, although I always do this by flipping it over to double check. I used a pale blue, a blue gingham and then a darker blue vellum, and added a knotted ribbon over the top. The decoupage teddy is matted onto Nesties Labels 8, and the sentiment was computer printed onto vellum and then heat embossed with silver powder. I matted that onto a piece of white card overstamped in Brilliance Pearlescent Blue with 'Precious Baby ' a u/m word collage stamp from Artifacts (The Stamp Bug). Finally added a few punched & layered flowers, with Stickles centres.


The Anniversary card also has a panel punched with the Doily Dots border punch, and is wrapped with black & red ribbon. The background paper is from a Dovecraft pad,called Charcoal Prints. The Rose Heart stamp is from Chocolate Baroque, stamped and embossed in Gold, and coloured with H2o's. I added a clump of paper roses and red and blck feathers, and secured it with silicone glue. The sentiment was stamped and embossed in gold again, onto a small tag and tied onto the ribbon with some red cord.