Glimmering Sleigh Ride

Sometimes I can be a real doufus. For weeks now I have been admiring other peoples cards using the Jingle All The Way stamp set and Sleigh Ride edgelits, and kicking myself for not ordering them. Then the other day I finally noticed the edgelits in amongst all my other framelit dies... I'd completely forgotten they were in a square envelope instead of the more regular rectangular envelope. I was still a doufus though, as I hadn't ordered them as a bundle to get the coordinating stamp set! Annoying as that was, I was determined to come up with a card that rendered this mistake a moot point. Glimmer paper to the rescue!

This style of card is called a bendy card, which I hadn't seen until the Holiday catalogue came out and it seemed everyone was using the Sleigh Ride edgelits for it - they are wonderfully suited to it! The tutorial I looked at was written by Beccy Muir, though I changed it a little so I could use an A4 sheet of cardstock. I'd been wanting to use the black glimmer paper for a night sky ever since I ordered it, and finally I had the perfect project for it. From there I thought it obvious to use the Dazzling Diamonds glimmer paper for snow, and then the silver glimmer paper for distant snow... and well, I needed purple on the card too but alas there is no purple glimmer paper. So the Wisteria Wonder layer didn't feel left out I gave it a spritz with the retired Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz.

This is what the card looks like laying flat.

And here it is opened. You probably still can't really see the shimmer on the Wisteria layer, but it looks a little speckled. I haven't sorted out a sentiment for the inside yet, I tend to do that to most if not all my Christmas cards in bulk just before I write on them. Once the tabs are placed into the slits the card stands up on it's own.

Both the black glimmer paper and the Sleigh Ride edgelits are on the Holiday catalogue retiring list, so it you are thinking of buying them you'll need to get in quick as they are only available while stocks last!

Today's colours:

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Wiggly Spinner

Another Partytime related post, this one is a card I made based on something demonstrated at Partytime. Technically it's two somethings since I made two cards that are slightly different...

They probably look like pretty standard cards, but have a look from side on:

The ever fabulous Teneale Williams showed us a variation of the spinner card, where part of the card wiggles rather than spins across the card. Mine is also a variation on her demonstration, where the mechanism was behind a large panel. Having made a few spinner cards in the past, I know how many dimensionals you can go through to make them - especially if you are like me and worried about them getting squished in transit so put them on it lots of places... What I thought with this one is: if the hole that allows the movement is completely hidden, there's no reason you can't have the supporting layer also be hidden.

These shots should give you an indication of the range of movement. Would you like to know how it's done?

These are the basic pieces: your moving part, the supporting layer, and a piece that stops the moving part from going through the hole in the supporting layer. As Teneale demonstrated, it's just a piece of cardstock folded with a coin attached at the bottom so it's weighted. Thinking about it afterward, you could possibly make it like a regular spinner card with just a disc (typically also a coin) being attached on the other side of the supporting layer. I think doing that way would give it the ability to spin right round on the spot, but since I planned on having the balloon string attached to the card that wasn't necessary for this card.

See how the circle in the supporting layer is larger than the dimensional? Room to move! The larger the hole the more movement you will get, and the more careful you will need to be with the placement of everything so the supporting layer isn't exposed.

And then with the pendulum piece in place. I trimmed the corners on this one to make certain it also wasn't going to be exposed, although I could have also just attached it a little higher.

Moving the supporting layer around to show the range of movement. It's limited by the size of the circle, and with a pendulum on the back that also bumps into the dimensions for attaching the supporting layer. In theory just having a coin on the back this wouldn't happen.

Well within the edge of the balloon - shouldn't have a problem with it showing from the front once attached to the card!

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

It's astounding, I am blogging (and time is fleeting)!

Finally back with a new project to share. This was Tiarna's birthday card this year, and I usually try to make something a little more interesting than your average birthday card when it comes to my kids - inspiration permitting! They have been getting into Doctor Who quite a bit so I decided to try my hand at making the Doctors' TARDIS.

I based my design on the original TARDIS (yes, there has been more than one) as I had better reference pictures for that, but I wanted to incorporate the woodgrain texture that is more prominent on the current TARDIS. I also would have prefered Brilliant Blue for the cardstock (turns out it has a use!) but I didn't have any left so made Pacific Point the new TARDIS Blue. I did make a few other changes such as simplifying the St Johns Ambulance logo, the wording on the phone door sign, the sign across the top, and the windows (the two corner windows in the bottom row on each door should be frosted and the others clear) - I just could not think of a way to pull them off without throwing off other aspects of the construction. The light on top is a bit of a disaster, I kept putting off dealing with it in the hopes a brilliant idea would come to mind but alas that still hasn't happened!

In the above photo you get a better sense of the 3D nature of the card (click on the image to see it full size). I wanted the sign across the top and the base/step at the bottom to be more prominent, and they also help to keep the card shut. They are essentially little boxes that were fiddly to make and attach and are a little worse for wear a month on. The top of the TARDIS slopes back towards the light with Dimensionals along the bottom holding that section up and a tab at the top folding under so it is nearly flush with the back of the card.

And as it turned out, the scale wasn't too bad for the Doctor & K9 action figures she received!

Two things I really wanted to achieve with this card: it had to be gate-fold so the doors opened in the middle as the real TARDIS doors do, and it had to be bigger on the inside as the real TARDIS is. Turned out that was probably the easiest bit of the card!

The card was an absolute hit, which I was pleased about as you can probably imagine. Only thing is I have to come up with something else for the next child's birthday in less than a weeks time... meep!

Most supplies by Stampin' Up!
Cardstock: Pacific Point, Basic Gray, Whisper White, Basic Black, brushed silverStamps: Woodgrain
Inks: Tempting Turquoise, So Saffron
Accessories: White gel pen, dauber, Crop-o-dile, silver gel pen, biro

Shaelea's Birthday Card

Yesterday was Shaelea's birthday, so for the last few days I have been working on her card, another castle one - this one being based on the castle in the latest Barbie movie (though I made this pinker for Shaelea). I took quite a few liberties with the back row, there was just so many darn turrets and little things I simplified that a lot but it's still quite effective.

Construction was much the same as Hogwarts, using textured cardstock and making one side of the concertina fold longer than the other to push the castle more upright. One thing I did differently for this one compared to the previous two (the other being the Beauty and the Beast castle) was to use the double rectangle punch for the battlements and to punch windows into the castle walls and cover them from behind... trying to attach all those fiddly little windows so they are straight is tricky! I did the Beauty and the Beast roses along the outside castle wall because I couldn't think of an easy way to do the fountains.

Here is the card folded up so you can see how the concertina folds stager. This one also fits in a 15cm square envelope.

All supplies by Stampin' Up!
Cardstock: textured Pink Pirouette, textured Regal Rose, Basic Gray, Certainly Celery, Creamy Caramel
Stamps: none
Inks: Pink Pirouette, Certainly Celery
Accessories: 1" circle punch, Word Window punch, horizontal slot punch, double rectangle punch, cutter kit, daubers, Certainly Celery marker, Regal Rose marker.

Cinema Saturday #41 or Tiarna's Birthday Card

It's astounding, time is fleeting... sorry, wrong movie! But you are caught in a bit of a time warp here! Cinema Saturday #41 was Chamber of Secrets, and ever since I did the Beauty & The Beast castle card I was wanting to do a more realistic castle version, which all tied in nicely with Tiarna's birthday coming up... I got started but took quite a break from this card and only just finished it 11pm Saturday night, with Tiarna's 10th birthday being on Sunday. Here is the card I made for her:

Even though Tiarna has just recently read the LOTR books (and a LOTR themed card would have tied in nicely with this weeks Cinema Saturday movie), she has been a Harry Potter fan since she was 18 months old. There was no way I could make a card that included all of the Hogwarts castle, so I went through images I have on my harddrive and picked a section (the section to the right of this image) that would be relatively easy to replicate (though I of course took some liberties). I made two main changes to the construction of this card from the Beauty & The Beast one, the most obvious being to use textured cardstock instead of plain. This gave it more of the rough brick look, it is also thinner so less bulky when you have a lot of layers and the card is collapsed (this one still fits into a large square envelope, but only just!). I also used textured cardstock for the roofing, however it is turned inside out so the less textured side is showing and you get a contrast in the textures. The other change I made was a structural one: it was hard to get the castle to stand upright on it's own, the nature of the basic concertina fold meant it was always tilted backwards. For Hogwarts I lengthened the sides that weren't going to have cardstock attached to them, so those that did have cardstock attached would stand pretty much vertical.

Tiarna loved her card, but I have just remembered that I had stamped and coloured an owl for Hedwig that I had intended to use on this and forgot to put it on... so shall have to do that and see how long it takes her to notice ;)

All supplies by Stampin' Up!
Cardstock: Going Gray, Going Gray textured, Bordering Blue textured, Basic Gray
Stamps: none!
Inks: Going Gray, Old Olive, Garden Green
Accessories: Word Window punch, Horizontal Slot punch, 1/2" circle punch, 1" circle punch, cutter kit, dauber, scoring blade on paper trimmer
Show watched while creating: Aus v Eng limited overs cricket

...and because I am not quite ready to have a post without Karl Urban...

Cinema Saturday #36

This weeks Cinema Saturday movie was Beauty and the Beast, with the required element being a fairytale theme. Initially I was at a loss as to what to do for this movie, we don't have it on disc so I wouldn't be able to watch it again to get inspiration. But then I saw Jaimee's card and it reminded me of something I had been meaning to try for ages. I had bought a kids "things to make and do" book with the intention of giving it as a present, but also thought there were some good ideas for my cardmaking in it. This was one of them... so book recipient, please over-look that it is now slightly second hand!I'm pretty ecstatic about how this came out! I had intended it to fit in a large square envelope, but now that I have finished it I am not sure it will... I haven't tested it out yet. It does fold up flat for postage, but I wanted it big so I could get some details in.
Here's a side view so you can see the concertina-style base that all the elements are stuck to. The scoring wasn't as precise as I had intended, so I have had to prop the back up a bit for photos, but I've already figured out a tweak so that the card won't need propping up, and the elements will sit pretty straight (rather than all tilt back).
And now a shot from the right. The Baja Breeze moat was cut using the cutting tool of the Cutter Kit. The edges were sponged with Baja Breeze ink. The drawbridge and entrance are large Tag punches with details drawn on with marker.
Above you can see some of the details on the towers. The shingles are stamped - the only stamping on this card! Windows are, appropriately enough, done with the Word Window punch. I've drawn on random bricks with my Pink Pirouette marker. This is the main thing I would change with the card - I had intended on using textured cardstock but completely forgot to pull it out. I realised my mistake only after everything was cut, so thought this solution would be the best alternative. I think the textured cardstock would give enough of a texture to make do for brick work. Oh well! The notches were cut out with the now retired 1/4" square punch - made the job so easy! The Spiral punch would probably also work really well, especially on something of a smaller scale. I also did some masking and sponging to help add some apparent dimension. The tower in the background has been shaped with a tag punch.

Along the front of the castle wall I drew some vine-type things with little Regal Rose dots for flowers. This is probably verging on more of a Sleeping Beauty card than Beauty and the Beast, but I wanted to work in some sort of rose. You can also see a bit more masking, sponging and hand-drawn bricks down here too.

All supplies by Stampin' Up!
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Certainly Celery, Baja Breeze, Close To Cocoa, Going Gray, Basic Gray, Regal Rose
Stamp Set: All Scallops
Ink: Regal Rose; Pink Pirouette and Baja Breeze for sponging
Accessories: Certiainly Celery marker, Regal Rose marker, Close To Cocoa marker, Basic Gray marker, Pink Pirouette "marker", sponge dauber, Word Window punch, small tag punch, large tag punch, 1/4" square punch, Cutter Kit

Tea For You

Here is my second piece from the Inklings cyberstamp, a card and a teabag holder. Since I already had the Afternoon Tea paper and matching cardstock out I stuck with it for this one, although I opted for an image from Say It With Scallops for the front of the card.
And inside is the tea... Afternoon Tea to boot, LOL. What was an interesting coincidence to me was that the day that Margaret set this challenge for us and I made this was the same day that one side of the family have a cuppa in the morning, wherever they are in the world, to remember a family member on her birthday, who died in her sleep when she was only 3.

All supplies by Stampin' Up!
Cardstock: Soft Sky, Chocolate Chip
Stamp Sets: Live Your Dream, Say It With Scallops
Inks: Groovy Guava, Soft Sky
Accessories: Afternoon Tea paper, scallop square punch, Chocolate Chip taffeta ribbon, dimensionals, sticky strip (for inside flap)

Harmonic Pocket Card

(ok, this post could possibly qualify for the Lamest Blog Post Title In The World... you get that sometimes!)

Recently the Inklings had their October Cyberstamp, this time hosted by the lovely Kylie. Kylie designated the theme of the whole night to be Christmas, which suited me fine - I was right in the mood for it! Our first challenge was to create a pocket card, which is something I had never quite got around to doing. I pulled out the Holiday Harmony DSP (hence the post title) and based my pocket around that. After sticking it all together I felt it was lacking something, so I added the rub-on sentiment and it was done! The patterned Artichoke piece above the ribbons is tucked into the pocket.

All supplies by Stampin' Up!
Cardstock: Purely Pomegranate, Holiday Harmony paper
Stamp Set: none!
Inks: none!
Accessories: Purely Pomegranate stain ribbon, Mellow Moss taffeta ribbon, EAstern Elegance rub-ons, 3/16" corner rounder
Shows watched while creating: House, Fringe (warning: since Ch9 have stopped airing this there are bound to be spoilers on the Fringe homepage)

Swirly Spinner

Last night was the September Inklings Cyberstamp, this month hosted by Lin Mei. This card was for the second challenge, to create a spinner card. Like many of the other Inklings, this is something I have thought of doing for quite some time and never got around to it, so it was great to have it on the "to do" list. I decided to use Priceless and So Swirly together again, and I am so happy with how this card came out I may just use it for Shaelea's birthday card! The colours were supposed to be ones from a Kristina colour challenge that I missed, but once I got creating I forgot that she had specified Very Vanilla and I had used Whisper White... oh well!
The idea with spinner cards is that part of the card spins along a track. Unfortunately, my pictures don't really reflect that... I didn't even attempt taking an "action shot", but I failed to realise that the butterfly was pointing in the same direction after it's bit of a spin!

Almost all supplies by Stampin' Up!
Cardstock: Regal Rose, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Stamp Sets: Priceless, So Swirly
Inks: Certainly Celery, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink
Accessories: Chocolate Chip marker, Regal Rose marker, scallop circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, word window punch, dimensionals, 5c coin
Show watched while creating: Aussie women's wheelchair basketball team winning bronze against Japan at the Paralympics

Tiarna's Howler

Saturday was Tiarna's birthday. She's a mad keen Harry Potter fan and has been since she first watched Philosopher's Stone when she was 18 months old. After years and years of dragon cards I decided to go with something a bit different this year, and made her a Howler. I first saw this on Melanie's blog about a year ago, however I have made mine a little different. The base is a 12x12 sheet of Real Red textured cardstock (I went with textured because it is a little thinner than the normal cardstock) and inside is a 21cm square of printer paper that isn't completely folded in the fortune/chatterbox/cootie catcher way (ie the last folds into the middle are not done). I had decided to stick the top and the bottom together in the middle (using sticky strip), so I trimmed the paper that was to stick in there a bit to take out some of the bulk, cut the teeth and stuck it in. This does mean that it won't lay flat but that's ok since I wasn't posting it. The tongue is a bit of 5/8" Real Red grosgrain ribbon.

As cool as Tiarna thinks her card is, I think it is all in the delivery... I think she would have fallen off her chair if someone hadn't been standing on the other side as the Howler told her off for not opening her presents (did you know father's can face inquiries at work over that?).

Pop-up naturally

This is another card made for the Inklings cyberstamp. Challenge 1 was to make a free-standing pop-up card. I have made these before, but it took me ages to decide on what stamps I wanted to use! The images have been stamped with StazOn Jet Black on Ivory Naturals cardstock, then watercoloured with inkpads and an aquapainter. Colours used are Buckaroo Blue, Old Olive, Morning Marigold and a touch of Chocolate Chip and True Thyme for the branches. The base has been stamped with the fern image using Certainly Celery and Old Olive inks. Olive organdy and gold cord used for a finishing touch.

Peaceful Pop-Up

I've wanted to make one of these free-standing pop-up cards for years, but always thought they'd be a bit tricky. Last night I finally bit the bullet and had a go... and it really wasn't that hard, they are a lot easier than they look. I found instructions on Dawn's website, but I ended up looking at a few of them for different photos etc (though the two glasses of Kahlua may have had something to do with that too). This is what my card looks like "closed":
And here it is "open":
I've used Lovely As A Tree and Many Merry Messages sets for my main images, along with Finest Flourishes and Sweet Spot for some finishing touches. The tree, sentiment and flourish have been stamped using Brilliance Pearlescent Ivy (after yesterday's blingy card I stepped back a bit to just shimmery), and I used VersaMark to stamp the circle around the tree top, then applied Brilliant Gold Pearl Ex. The tree is topped with a star punchie. Cardstock is all shimmery stuff though I'm not sure of the brands now, it was bought from Eckersley's a few months back and efficiently stored on the table...