Author: luciegcards

Semi Shadow box card

Good morning friends!

It’s time for a new Crafts-U-Love Design Team post! This month I received the amazingly intricate Organic Tim Holtz background die *  and a pack of paper by the Paper Boutique *.

I immediately started pondering a way of showcasing the beautiful die with the papers… and here’s what I came up with – I’m calling this my semi shadow box card! I knew I wanted to raise the die cut background and while I probably could have used a couple of layers of foam tape, I decided to adapt a pop-up shadow box card. There are tons of tutorials online – Jennifer McGuire has a super video here,  but I decided to create a quick step-by-step too!

Step 1 – Die cut the background die on watercolour paper

As this die is incredibly intricate, I used a metal shim when I ran this through my cutting machine. . You can see that this background die doesn’t create a frame, so you can easily create a bigger die cut panel if you want one.

 

 

 

Step 2 – Colour the image using distress inks

I chose a few distress inks which I smooshed onto a craft sheet, diluted with water and started to colour. So relaxing!

You can see that I didn’t poke through all the waste pieces at this stage as I prefer to colour with those in situ. At the end of the process, I removed all the spare pieces and coloured any bits that I had missed (there’s always the odd branch here and there!).

Step 3 Create a frame and prepare a card back

I chose a piece of paper from the Paper Boutique pack and cut a frame for the die cut piece from it. I used this frame as a guide to create the back of my card which I cut to the same height. I added 3cms to the width of the frame for the base as the two sides would be folded twice.

I then made four scoring marks on the card base – 1cm and 2cms from the left and right side.

 

Step 4 Score along card back twice on each side

Although I do have a scoring board somewhere, I find it easier to use my trimmer to score card stock.

 

 

 

 

 

Step 5 Fold in the sides of the card

I then folded along the score lines to create a ‘Z’ on each side. I folded inwards at the 2cms score line and then the other way for the 1cm score line.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 6 Attach the die cut panel to card back

Before attaching the panel, I added some more paper to the back of my card to provide even more of a contrast for the die cut.

I added some strong adhesive to the sides of the panel – I always reach for Scor-tape which is super strong and has stood the test of time for my cards!

 

I then added the frame on top of the card and finally adhered the Thank You die cut from Creative Expressions to finish off my card.

Although it is only half a box card, it really is amazing stable and I didn’t need to used anything to prop it up!

Thanks for stopping by!

LucieG.

Products marked with a ‘*’ were sent to me by Crafts-U-Love for this DT assignment.

Wavy Easter Eggs

Hello everyone!

I’m still making my Easter cards and here’s one I created today using the Simon Says Stamp Peeking Chick dies.

I embossed the background using the background using the Simon Says Stamp Circle Doodles Embossing Plate. I created some blended ink panels using Altenew inks and an Echo Park stencil before cutting out the Simon Says Stamp Wavy Egg. Many thanks to Laura Bassen for her post-it note trick to keep those wavy egg pieces all together!

I then cut out the Simon Says Stamp Peeking Chick from some yellow cardstock and adhered it to my card.

Finally I added a Poppystamps die cut sentiment and a few stars to finish off the card.

I’m entering this into the current Simon Says Stamp Flickr challenge – die cutting.

Thanks for stopping by!

LucieG.

Along the Edge

Hi there!

It’s time for a new challenge at AAA Cards! The theme for this fortnight is ‘along the edge’ with the optional twist of sewing. Our sponsor is Stamplorations.

I had originally planned to use one of my pretty edge punches that I have been hoarding keeping hold of for the past decade. Although I happily moved to wafer-thin dies some time ago, I have never been able to part with my punch collection. I think it’s because I invested so much in them at the time. I remember how difficult it was for us in the UK to get hold of those Martha Stewart punches when they first came out…. and how I used to love looking at them in person whenever I went to craft stores in the US.

Yes. Well, that’s a nice memory…. because I very quickly remembered WHY I was so happy to move to wafer-thin dies.

Punches are a complete nightmare with thicker cardstock. I really tried with one beautiful edge punch which got stuck on multiple occasions… and accidentally fell into the bin at one point. I fished it out.. but it’s fair to say that my romantic memory of punches has been eroded and quite a few punches will be finding their way out of my house imminently!

So I turned to my die collection – lots of choice there and requiring MUCH less elbow grease! I chose the Cascading Hearts die from Technique Tuesday. I didn’t want to fill in all the hearts as I liked seeing the white of the back of the card through the open hearts. Instead I added some patterned vellum to just a few of them.

The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp.

My team mates have come up with some beautiful cards which are on the AAA Cards challenge blog. We are also joined by the talented Michelle from Seashell Creations – she has some beautiful cards on her blog!

Thanks for stopping by!

LucieG.

Easter Bunny Basket

Happy Friyay!

Today I’ve been playing with a few of my Poppystamps dies to create another Easter card… well it is that time of year!

I paired a die from the Country Baskets set with the new Peek a Boo Bunny. The bunny is attached to a square frame which I cut off but I stuck his little paws onto the basket because they are just too cute!

To finish off the card, I added a sentiment from Clearly Besotted and a few eggs from an old Marianne Designs die.

I’m entering this into the current Poppystamps challenge which is all about things that make you happy in the garden – and hey, bunnies and Easter egg hunts bring a lot of happiness!

Thanks for stopping by!

LucieG.

Easter Papel Picado

Hi there!

Today I’m playing with another new background die – the fabulous Hero Arts Papel Picardo die!

I decided to create another Easter card using older stamps from Simon Says Stamp and the current palette for the Color Throwdown challenge (mint, aqua, dark pink and green).

I’m also entering this into the Simon Says Stamp Flickr challenge (anything goes) and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge – no designer paper!

Thanks for stopping by!

LucieG.

 

Waltham Easter Egg

Hello everyone!

I’m playing along in two challenges today – the Case This Sketch challenge and the Memory Box April challenge where the theme is clean and simple.

I chose an ‘oldie but goodie’ Memory Box die that I have had for many years – the pretty Waltham Egg and coloured it with my Zig brushmarkers before adding some highlights with my Prismacolor pencils. I then added a generous coat of Pixie Dust, which hopefully you can see a bit of in the second photo!

I adhered it to a couple of die cuts to provide some dimension, before sticking it onto an oval base that I had smooshed with Tumbled Glass distress ink.

I added some Basic Grey papers as per the sketch challenge and carefully stamped the sentiment from Simon Says Stamp. Finally I added some tiny Nuvo drops.

Thanks for stopping by!

LucieG.