January Papermaze Kit - Part 1

Lynn here today, with a new kit for the new year. The January kit is now available in the shop or on the website. Plenty of wintery papers, embellishments and cardstock to create Christmas, new year and winter themed layouts. I have used several die sets to make embellishments for these two layouts.

Before looking at how the layouts were made, here is what you will find in the kit:

Patterned Papers:
49 and Market - Cottagecore - Moments
Carta Bella - Winter Wonderland - Snowy Swirls
Echo Park - Cool Wood Grains - Pale Wood Grain
Mintay - By The Lake - #05
Simple Stories - Simple Vintage Fresh Snow - Cabin Fever & Chasing Snowflakes

The photo below shows both sides of the papers:

Embellishments: 6 x 6" Mintay Snowflake Vellum, 2 Craft Consortium - It's Gnome Time 2 x snowflake charms, 7 x 49 & Market Color Swatch Inkwell - Ticket Essentials, Simple Stories Simple Vintage Fresh Snow - 7 x Floral Bits & Piece, 25cm navy organza ribbon, Prima - the Home Baker 1 x rose, Crate Paper silver glittery acrylic heart, Carta Bella 12" Winter Wonderland  Washi Tape and 49 and Market Moonlight Garden strip of Wishing Bubbles and Baubles.

Bazzill Basics Cardstock: Rain Forest and Pigment (in kit). Moody Blue, Bark, CS White and Pear (in extra matched Bazzill Pack).

Winter Wishes - My first layout for this month features my daughter and her baby girl in Greenwich Park, on a wintery day in December. Lots of work with Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits dies on this layout.

I selected the SS, Cabin Fever paper for this layout and used the whole sheet as the backdrop.

Using the Vault Winter Wishes die set, I cut a lot of snowflakes from a pearlised cream cardstock, and placed them randomly over the page. From the same die set, I cut the parts to make up a pair of ice-skates, using some of the Bazzill from the kit and other colours and some metallic silver, from my own stash. I inked the cardstock with some Distress Inks. I threaded some DMC cotton thread through the holes to make boot laces. I tied two tiny bells to the boots, and hung them from a brad placed near the top of the page. The boots were stuck in place with some foam pads.

The Photo was mounted onto more of the pearlised card, and then again onto Moody Blue Bazzill. I tied some raffia around the base of the photo and attached one of the snowflake charms from the kit.

For the bottom right corner of the page, I created a sledge using the Vintage Sled die set. Again, I used more of the same cardstock, bells and metallic card. I made extra foliage using this die set to add to the ice-skates, sled and a small cluster under the photo.

My title was created with more dies - the Bold Text - Christmas set, together with more of the Moody Blue Bazzill and cream pearlised card. I mounted one set of letters over the other to create a shadow. I added embellishment with some SS Simple Vintage Fresh Snow Cardstock Stickers from my stash and Floral Bits & Piece from the kit.

Capital Yacht Club - The photos on this layout were taken in Washington DC at the yacht club on the bank of the Potomac River. A very cold, crisp but sunny winter day.

I cut two strips from the EP Pale Wood Grain, 12" wide and 3" deep. These were stuck to the top and bottom of a 12" x 12" sheet of scrap paper. The centre was filled with a 12" x 6" piece of SS Chasing Snowflakes paper, with the snowflake side up.

The join between the papers was decorated, by cutting several pieces of scalloped edging (Funky Nordic Sizzix Thinlits die set), with Pigment and Moody Blue Bazzill. My photos were also mounted onto both these sheets of cardstock and arranged onto the layout, I raised one photo up with foam.

I made a small tag with the Tag Collection Sizzix Thinlits die set and the Pigment Bazzill. I added a little Baker's twine to the tag and tied this into a bow. My journalling was written onto this tag.

In an effort to use some of my older stickers, I found a few sheets of alphabet stickers from Basic Grey to match my papers and photos. I embellished the layout with the tickets from the kit, a few more stickers from my stash.

Finally, I scattered water droplets and pinkfresh Studio Jewels over the page.

That's all for today, I will be back with another pair of layouts from the January kit soon.
Thanks for looking,
Lynn x

Vault Winter Wishes - Sizzix Christmas Cards

Hello, Lynn here today to share some Christmas cards I made using one of the Vault Christmas Sizzix Die Sets from Tim Holtz. I added in another of Tim's die sets and some 3D Texture Fades. Then got busy creating backgrounds with some multi media.

I used:

Sizzix Tim Holtz Thinlits Die - Vault Winter Wishes
Sizzix Tim Holtz Thinlits Die - Merry and Bright
Sizzix 3D Texture Fades - Arched, Brickwork, Lumbar, Quilted, Sparkle and Woodgrain.
Distress Oxide Inks
Distress Inks
Tiny Bells
DMC Crochet Cotton
Watercolour Paper
Card Blanks and Envelopes
Selection of cardstock and metallic cardstock scraps
3D Foam Pads

      

For each card I trimmed a piece of watercolour paper to measure slightly smaller than my card blank. I placed a selection of colours of Distress Oxide ink onto a messy mat. spritzed them with water and ran the paper back and forth through the colours to create the background for the card.

While the paper was still slightly damp, I place it into the 3D Texture Fade folder, and passed it through the Sizzix Big Shot. Then this was set aside to dry off completely.

I highlighted the embossed patterns by rubbing over with some Distress Inks and a blending tool.

With the Winter Wishes Die set, I cut two ice skates, heels and blades and three snowflakes,  from a selection of the scraps of cardstock and metallic card I had collected together. I also used the Merry and Bright die set to cut the phrase in metallic card.

I applied the snowflakes to the background, overlapping the edges in places and trimmed off the excess. This was then stuck to the front of the card blank.

I added the greeting placing it as seen in the photos.

Next I made up the ice skates, stitching the crochet cotton through the tiny holes in the boots to make them appear to be laced up, leaving enough cotton to tie on the bells later. I placed one boot over the other at a slight angle so you can still see they are a pair. Then I tied the laces together in a knot. I threaded a tiny bell onto each lace, then tied the laces together into a bow, and trimmed the ends off neatly.

With 3D foam pads applied to the back of the ice skates, I attached them to the centre of the card.

Here is a closer view of each card.

That's all for today. Back with more for Christmas soon.
Lynn x

December Papermaze Kit

Hello, Lynn here today with the Christmasy December Kit. Although the papers are all from winter or Christmas collections, at least one side of most of them can be used to create non-Christmas layouts.

Here are the first two layouts I have made with a Christmas flavour.

 This is what you will find in the kit.

Patterned Papers:
Carta Bella - Farmhouse Christmas collection - Gift Tags & Poinsettia Floral
Simple Stories - Winter Cottage collection - Season of Wonder & Let it Snow
Simple Stories - Jingle All The Way collection  - December Details
Photo Play - Christmas Cheer collection - Silent Night
Bazzill - White OP & Ruby Slipper

Reverse sides of papers

Embellishments
12" Washi tape, wooden star, 3 heart heart brads, Prima holly, tree stamp, 2 paper roses, exclusive acrylic shape & Crate paper pine branches.

Extra Bazzill Cardstock Pack - Aspen, Fig Swirl, Jetstream & Walnut

Merry & Bright - I found this colour slide picture of my sister by the Christmas tree with new Pinky and Perky toys - Christmas 1964. Brought back memories of our childhood home and Christmases.

I chose the Ruby Slipper Bazzill as a border for the layout and gutted it making a frame of 2.5cm. Then I trimmed the 'Silent Night Paper to measure 28cm x 28cm (I cut the two edges away from the baubles). I hand stitched over the bauble strings with some silver embroidery thread. Then I inked the edges of the paper before mounting it over the red frame.

The washi tape was applied across the page, about 7cm up from the bottom. I mounted my photo onto some of the Ruby Slipper Bazzill.

I found an MDF bauble and with some acrylic paints, I made it look like the baubles on the paper. Then added a coat of Glossy Accents. Once dry I attached a length of silver ric-rac, a silver ribbon bow and two tiny silver bells. This was stuck into position with 3D foam tape, the ric-rac is taken to the top and it held in place on the back with some tape.

I wanted to use the Fig Swirl Bazzill for my title and journalling, but I needed most of this for the next layout so I cut a piece 23cm x 23cm and set this aside for later. I also used scraps of Ruby Slipper for title and journalling. I cut the Words 'Merry & Bright' using Sizzix Thinlits - Shadow Script Christmas die set. The date was cut using my Cricut and the journalling strips were hand written.

Before cutting three tiny parcels from the 'Season of Wonder' paper, I gutted it to make a frame 4cm deep, and set this aside for the next layout too. Then I fussy cut the parcels and added them to the bottom right of the photo. 

Nutcracker Lego - Last year we purchased and made this Christmas Lego to add to our collection. 

For this page I have already trimmed the Fig Swirl Bazzill and the wide, red and white spotty border form the 'Season of Wonder' paper. Next I trimmed the Aspen Bazzill to 24cm x 24cm, and gutted this to make a 2cm frame. Then all three were mounted onto one another.

My photo was mounted onto some Walnut Bazzill, but again most of this was required for another layout, so first I gutted the whole sheet to give me a 2cm frame, then with a piece trimmed to 26cm x 26cm I gutted it to make another 2cm frame. I set both these frames aside for later.

I cut two fir trees using the Sizzix Thinlits Woodlands die set, and set these to the left of the photo.

By placing all the embellishments onto the papers and re-arranging them until I was happy, I added a few light pencil marks where they would be glued in place later. Then I removed them and using the tree stamp from the kit (upside down) I stamped fronds in green so they would hang down from under the embellishments. 

To embellish I used a some bits from the kit - the wooden star, and the two paper flowers. I added a few more red and white flowers, some fabric holly leaves and a twig wreath from my own stash. I fussy cut two poinsettia blooms from the 'December Details' paper and added a few dots of Nuvo Crystal Drops (Dandelion Yellow) to the flower centres.

I wanted to use some of the tags from the 'Gift Tags' paper, but again needed the wooden plank side for another layout, so I cut a 25cm x 25cm piece and set this aside. From what was left I cut four tags and punched holes in the top of each one. These were threaded onto narrow red ribbon and placed along the layout weaving them in among the other embellishments.

Finally I used some of my Basic Grey letter stickers to create the title and the year. 

That's all for part one. I will be back with two more layouts in a few weeks.
Have a good Christmas
Thanks for looking
Lynn x