“Bejewelled” Card Inspired by Helen Allen

Now updated with videos.

My blogging and Youtube buddy, Helen, has again inspired me to make a card after she’d uploaded one. This time it is her “Bejewelled Card” – this is not really my style at all, but I decided to try it because I needed to make a birthday card fairly quickly, and it’s always good to stretch the envelope occasionally (no pun intended!), to think outside the box, and to make something one wouldn’t usually make.

As Helen says, this card design is easily adapted to different styles, with different colours, for different occasions. I decided to make a pretty girlie version.

The first picture shows the materials I used for this card – I forgot to put in the titanium white acrylic paint.

Following Helen’s instructions, I spattered the base card and the piece for the topper (far right and centre in the following photo) to create an interesting background. I didn’t have the iridescent paints that she used, but I mixed some acrylics with iridescent medium.

The result wasn’t all that shimmery, but once the card was finished it was fine. I didn’t find the spattering as easy as Helen – I didn’t have a nice long-bristled soft paint brush, and I think my paint might have been a bit too thick. When I’d finished, I found a lot of spattering all over the stuff at the back of the work surface – I hadn’t realised I was missing the card altogether a lot of the time!! I think I definitely need more practice at this.

On the left in the photo above is a piece of the purple card, that I used to clean off all the excess paint from my palette and brush. The blue was a very strong colour so there’s very little purple in it, but I like the waves, or clouds, that the pattern has generated, and this piece will go into my backgrounds folder for future use.

The following is a closer shot of the topper piece, with its spatters.

This is the spattering on the base card.

Here’s a close-up of the waves/clouds background piece – I’m really pleased with how this turned out!

As well as creating that piece, I cleaned off the brush on my scratch paper, which is now looking like this.

It needs a few more layers before I’ll be satisfied with it!

In my stash, I have quite a collection of used gift wrapping paper – I keep this if it’s interesting, or has motifs that can be cut out. This is one of my favourite sheets, which you can see I’ve already used – it is slightly shimmery and has lots of gorgeous cut-out-able butterflies! I decided to cut some out for this project.

Here is the topper piece, complete with its sparkles – a mixture of tiny cup sequins, little silver stars, magenta-coloured gems, and Stickles. It really is very sparkly indeed, and of course this doesn’t show up properly on the photograph!

Here’s a detail of the sparkles, and they do look slightly more sparkly here.

Ages ago when I was having some fun with my Dylusions sprays, I saved some scraps of kitchen paper which were gloriously coloured with these inks, and I decided to use some of this on this project. Some of the pieces were quite stiff, as I think they have got some gel medium on them. Also in this photo, you can see the butterflies that I cut out of the wrapping paper.

Before cutting the butterflies out, I stuck them down onto a piece of scrap card to give them a bit more body, using regular matt gel medium. I painted some iridescent gel medium over the top for some extra pearliness, and then cut them out.

Before attaching these embellishments, I matted and layered the topper onto some greenish-grey shiny card. I didn’t want to use mirror card or anything to dominating, but just wanted a subtle border for the topper.

Here is the finished outside of the card, with the butterflies and Dylusions papers attached. I stuck all of these down with hot glue. I flipped the butterfly wings up off the surface, and I then added a good blob of Pinflair gel glue under each butterfly wing, to stop them getting flattened, and left the whole thing to dry overnight. (By this time the birthday was over, so I sent her an e-card and promised the “real” card would be on its way soon!)

The next day I completed the inside of the card and the envelope. For the sentiment, I chose one of the Stampin’ Up “Perfectly Penned” sentiment stamps.

After inking the edges of the inside of the card with Picked Raspberry Distress Ink, I stamped the sentiment using the same ink.

I chose three butterfly stamps from the Stampin’ Up “Papillon Potpouri” set.

I used the Picked Raspberry Distress Ink to stamp a couple of these inside the card.

I inked the edges of the envelope and stamped some more butterflies into the corners. After this I sprayed the envelope with some fixative just in case it got rained on in the post.

I made an envelope liner from some more of the butterfly wrapping paper.

Here is the finished card and envelope.

Helen – I hope you like my interpretation of your “Bejewelled Card” – I was pleased with how it turned out, and who knows, I might do this again! It was fun to do, and the result is beautifully girlie!

I have made two videos on the making of this card:

Fan-Tastic Birthday Card

I haven’t blogged for quite a while because I’ve been suffering a bit of a dip health-wise, and was hoping I was finally climbing back out of it, when I got a stomach upset last Friday which laid me low over the weekend. Today, however, I’m feeling a lot better and have been in my ARTHaven for a good long session, and actually completed a project!!!

Next Sunday is my cousin’s birthday, and I always try to make her a card, as she’s been an expert card maker for many years and I try my best to impress!

This year I decided to do the fan card I’ve been wanting to make for ages. Last year I bought a set of fan stamps which I haven’t really used yet. The first step was to fold a piece of black A4 cardstock to an A5 portrait card, and I stamped 3 of the fans on with Versamark, which I then heat-embossed using black embossing powder.

I stamped one more on a separate piece of card, this time using gold embossing powder, and I cut this out and stuck it onto a further piece of black card to strengthen it, trimming it to the fan shape.

I picked out the design using bright pink acrylic paint, and when this was dry, I covered it with Ranger Glossy Accents, and while this was still wet, I added some purple gems, using some larger ones for the fan handle.

When it was all dry, I tied a bow around the handle, using some thin pale gold ribbon. I found a gold cup sequin and a slightly smaller pink cup sequin, and glued these together, placing yet another gem in the centre, and stuck this to the bow, and then covered the whole surface of this little button with more Glossy Accents.

I recently bought a 5-in-1 punch off Ebay, which is very versatile, and can be placed anywhere on the paper or card because it has no hinge, but works with magnets. You can punch corners, borders, squares and rectangles, two sizes of circles and an oval with this punch. They make several different designs but I chose the one called “Honor” which I particularly liked.

These pictures show how the punch pieces engage. The four metal circles surrounding the punch on each part are the magnets.

On this next picture you can see the guides printed on the base piece, which you use to line up the work once you’ve punched the first part. You continue to move the card around after each punch, following the particular guide for the shape you’ve chosen. Each one has small coloured projections which anchor the punched card in place.

It’s an extremely clever design and works very well – it is fairly hard work to punch with as you have to make sure you push down firmly, and absolutely vertically, which means you really have to stand up to do it, but it makes a really satisfying “crrrrunch” as the punch goes through the card!

I used this punch to make the small-sized circle in the centre of the card, punching it from some pink cardstock, which I then distressed with Victorian Velvet distress ink to start with, and then Dusty Concord (this is my latest Distress Ink and I absolutely love it – PURPLE!!! I love purple…) I used my wonderful Inkylicious Ink Dusters – those gorgeous brushes for inking which are so soft and delicate to use – you can do the fancy punched edges of paper or card with them without damaging it.

To finish this circle, I stamped the middle with a script stamp I’ve got, using Victorian Velvet distress ink, and glued it down onto the card with Pinflair photo glue. When this was dry, it was a simple matter to rub away the excess from the edges and from the punched detail.

The whole embellished fan was then stuck down onto the circle using foam pads to give some dimension. To save on my foam pads, I cut an inch square of mounting board to support the middle, as this wouldn’t be seen from the side.

I heat-embossed the Happy Birthday text using gold embossing powder onto more of the black cardstock, and matted and layered this with a small piece of gold mirror card, and then some more of the pink card, distressed as before, and this was also stuck to the card using foam pads.

The final touch on the outside of the card was to decorate the corners with my new 5-in-1 punch.

I made the card insert from white 100 g/sm paper, and printed the sentiment “Have a Fan-Tastic Birthday” inside on the computer, using Edwardian Script font in purple (48-point, as far as I remember) – yes, I know, a bit naff but I couldn’t resist it!! (My hubby groaned…) I distressed the corners of the outside of the insert using the same colours as before, so that the colour would show through the punched corners of the card.

The inside of the card insert was distressed around the edges using the same colours as before, and I then used the fan stamps again, this time using Victorian Velvet distress ink. The card insert was attached to the card with a strip of double-sided tape on the inside of the front of the card, close to the fold, so that when you open the card, the insert opens as well.

On the plain white envelope, I distressed the edges to match, and then stamped a couple more fans, using Victorian Velvet distress ink. The hand-writing on the envelope and inside the card was done with a matching purple gel pen.

Hope she really enjoys her Fan-Tastic Birthday card!

Embellishments…

Making this card, I thought it would be a good idea to make up a collection of embellishments to go in my stash. I’m going to cut a series of circles and ovals, using my new punch, and distress them and maybe stamp a background onto them, and then add a variety of things, such as more stamped shapes cut out, with added embossing, painting, Glossy Accents, gems, etc. etc. to co-ordinate with the colour of the circle or oval. I thought it would also be nice to make some up using paper flowers as well, and maybe some embossed sentiments etc.

A relatively plain card could be made up, maybe with some Cuttlebug embossing and/or distress inks, or maybe some self-coloured stamped embossing as on this fan card, and with the addition of a bit of ribbon, these cards could be made up quite quickly.

My big stash of cards that I made after the last craft show, with inking over an embossed resist, have nearly all gone now, and I need to make up some more! My mum has also asked if I’d make her some more cards to send to people as she’s finished the ones I made her for Christmas in her Stationery Box, so I think this will probably have to be my next project after I’ve finished our nephew’s wedding present, before I start my experimental art work that I haven’t yet had a chance to begin (there’s always something that has to be done, isn’t there!!).

So… watch this space, and we’ll see what we come up with.

I found some real bargains on Ebay last week, including some simply gorgeous brads… Take a look at these!

When I opened the box they looked good enough to eat – like sweets! Good thing I’m on a diet, isn’t it. The seller sent me a lovely message that I so identified with – she said she loves brads and hates to use them up! I know exactly what she means. I’ve got quite a few lovely bits and pieces that I’m reluctant to use because I like looking at them and don’t want to part with them! Silly really… Some of these brads are going to be used for the centre of some flowers I want to make. I’ve been trying to think of a way that I might be able to make my own fancy brads but haven’t come up with anything 100% satisfactory yet; there are one or two ideas on Youtube but nothing that grabbed me particularly.

Hoping I am now going to be well enough for a while to spend lots of time in my ARTHaven. I’ve got some exciting new ideas to try, some of which I’m hoping to incorporate into my current project, our nephew’s wedding present.

Handbag Box

We went out for lunch yesterday with our special family friend, Margaret, together with my mum and dad, and I had a small bag of choccies to give her, and thought it would be nicer if they were in a box made by me, as she always goes to a great deal of trouble to cook a lovely meal, and she is such a good hostess and does so much for us!

Having looked around online, I found a couple of gorgeous templates for boxes in the shape of a handbag on Mel Stampz’s blog:

http://melstampz.blogspot.com/2008/09/j-is-for-jeweled-purse-boxes-for-abc.html

http://melstampz.blogspot.com/2008/12/note-top-purse-templates-cardstock-blog.html

Mel has such fabulous stuff on her blog and has a lovely humorous way of putting things – she’s well worth following!! I always enjoy her blog. I decided to make a combination of these two designs and this is what I came up with.

This is the box with the flap closed. I made a fastener out of a piece of gold elastic, attached at the top to the brad fastening the embellishment onto the flap, and at the bottom it hooks around another brad.

This is the box with the flap open, showing the lining. If I do this again, I am going to cut the lining in one piece, rather than lining the flap separately, so that there is no join.

The box was made from chocolate brown cardstock and lined with some patterned scrapbooking paper I had. Mel suggests an 8 inch long piece for the handle, but I made this 12 inches long, because if it was shorter, the flap would not open fully enough for me to get the bag of chocolates in and out. I cut one piece 12 x 1 in from the brown cardstock, and then another, 12 x 3/4 in from turquoise cardstock to match the flap of the bag and glued this on top of the brown so that 1/8 in showed either side, which made it stronger as well as more decorative. The edges of the turquoise card were inked with Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink.

I have taken these templates and created svg cut files which I have uploaded to my Microsoft OneDrive (details on the left-hand side of my blog). Mel asks that anyone who makes up these templates credits her blog, so I have added a “read-me” file to this effect.

In order to make the lining, I have not made a cut file; next time I make this box, after attaching the flap to the back of the bag with glue and brads, I am going to glue it onto a piece of paper somewhat larger than the back of the box and the flap, and then trim this down to the size of the outer part, and then make up the box. The sides of the box are not lined, and I don’t think the front really needs lining either, because the inside will usually only be viewed from the front, in the same way as a lined envelope.

I embossed the front of the bag with my ScorPal, and then added some hotfix gems. For the flap embellishment, I used a small scalloped oval shape (one of Penny Duncan’s shaplie files) to which I attached a pink silk flower which I’d pulled apart, inked with Dusty Concord Distress Ink, fixing it with a brad, and I then added a few hotfix gems to match the front of the bag.

This is such a fun little box – I love boxes in the shape of different things, and they make such a nice little gift, really special, and they bring a lot of joy. I definitely want to make more of these! Thanks Mel!

My New Wheels – Christmas Bling and Other Add-Ons!

Before I take off the decorations (I know, I know – they’re supposed to be taken down on 6th January but I’ve been too tired and too busy!) I thought I’d photograph my new wheels with their Christmas bling. I didn’t go to town with the decs quite as much as last year because I didn’t feel well enough in the run-up to Christmas for anything very spectacular, but I felt a yen for purple this time. I put on my original black sparkly spoke guards:

Here’s the front frame, with purple and silver tinsel, and one set of LED lights. The battery and switch are concealed in the bag underneath the chair.

Finally the back frame, to which I have added some baubles and the other set of LED lights. Their switch is hidden in the nifty little pouch that Quickie so thoughtfully added to my posh new upholstery!

Following on from previous posts about my new wheels, you can see the power add-on installed, with the battery pack on the back, and its cable going to the LH wheel. The spoke guards cover up the wheels nicely – they have huge hubs containing the motors, which are not very attractive. They are still quick-release (in theory) but they are so heavy that I can’t manage to take them off myself, and my hubby has to do it, not that we do take them off very often, because we have a ramp in the back of the car so that the wheelchair does not need to be disassembled when we go out. Really the only time they have to come off is to change the spoke guards.

The bag underneath is the “Wallaby Catch-All” (lovely name!) that I got from Advantage Bag in the USA for my old Rolls Royce:
http://www.advantagebag.com/wheelchair_underseat_catchalls.htm
Unfortunately these are all designed to fit wheelchairs with a lower frame, but my new Helium doesn’t have this, so the bag is too high and doesn’t hold enough. I have plans to adapt it by adding sides to it, and moving the Velcro straps to the top of the sides. This will also help things not to fall out – a few months ago I bought something while out shopping, and when I got home, it had gone, having presumably fallen out of the side. I need to do this alteration soon, because there’s another craft show coming up, and we all know I’m going to be Stocking Up again!! I must have a rummage in my fabrics boxes in my ARTHaven and see if I’ve got any suitable strong black fabric.

There doesn’t seem to be any equivalent to the Catch-All available in the UK; there are plenty of bags which hang underneath, but these have limited capacity for an enthusiastic shopper like myself, and one who likes to carry her whole life in her handbag!! I also need to carry my fleece blanket in case I get cold, my camera and my water bottle and various other odds and ends.

I’ve got a great deal to catch up with since Christmas, so I don’t know when I shall get round to putting the new bling on my New Wheels. I’d like to have done it before the craft show at the end of the month, but I don’t see that happening. Anyway, watch this space…