Saturday, 5 January 2008

Okay something a bit different..

So today we have something a bit different for you. We often get emails asking how certain things are made. So i thought we would show you how this card was made.


First i have a few things to say about it.

1. I added the brown flower after as after looking at the card for ages i decided another flower would be better. You can never have enough flowers!!! lol!!!
2. The image is backwards, when i figure out how to fix that i will!
3. The colour is not the best, but the days here have been so dark it is hard to get enough light.
4. I know this was not posted on sunday, but i am out all day 2m!!! lol!!!
Anyway i hope you enjoy and let us know whether you like it and we will do it again!!! And i have no idea why it has been put up twice, i cannot fix that sorry!!!




Thursday, 3 January 2008

97% complete!

Okay own up!!! how many if you have a ton of these sitting in your stash!!! Me personally i have at least 10 that i could find ( boy does my room need a clean!)

I love these but i have a hard time actually putting them on a layout. So i decided it was time that i did something with them and set in my mind to use them.

I discovered that they make a really good mini books, they are really quick and easy to do.
I sat down this morning and made this one for my son's grandma. We dont see her that often so i thought this was a really nice little present to send her. I also included my son in making this as after all it is his grandma!!! lol!!!

Please forgive the colour of these photos, but if you live in the UK you will know how dark it has been over the last few days and how hard it is to get a good photo!

THe little holes are really easy to make on all the other parts of the book. In fact if you have the basic Grey files the round one is the perfect fit!
I have left some of the pages blank for the recipient to add there own photos.




As you can see on the next part i let my son write his own message to her.


And draw his own picture...


Thanks for looking!!! try it yourself.

Tuesday, 1 January 2008

And the winner is...

Okay the time is up on the December sketch set by Amanda Probst.

We had some gorgeous entries but the winner has been chosen and it is a page done by Willow!!!


THis page is just outstanding. Willow email me your address and i will get your prize out to you.

THe other pages have been added to our reader slide show. Thanks to everyone who entered.

Check back in a few days for some some more challenges and inspiration and 'make a card sunday'.....
Wendy xxx

Friday, 28 December 2007

Last few days...

Dont forget you have until the 1st to enter the challenge to use the sketch below. You could win some American Crafts thickers!!!


Friday, 21 December 2007

Christmas pages!

SO that time is upon us and the shop is full of christmas papers, stickers and embellishments. But i have to say christmas pages are one of my nightmares. THe photos are terrible and do not match with the christmas papers are available. I normally turn all my photos to black and white to make it easier, but our design team girls Chloe and Angie used coloured photos in their christmas pages.

So feast your eyes on these......




And i wanted to say i hope you all have a wonderful christmas and we will be back after with new challenges and ideas for you.

Wednesday, 19 December 2007

Maze Book

Time is fast running out to finish off Christmas presents, but if you need a quick make as a gift why not have a go at making a maze book, it can be made and decorated in an hour.

Supplies
1 sheet 12x12 cardstock
Two 8.5cm x 8.5cm squares of thicker card or chipboard to make the covers
1/4" Ribbon, about 1 yard
patterned papers and embelishments to decorate

We will make the covers first
Take 1 of your 8.5cm x 8.5cm squares of thick card and cut 2 squares of your patterned paper about 10.5cm x10.5cm.

Glue 1 of your cardboard covers onto the centre of 1 of your squares of patterned paper, I found a wet glue to be the best for this.


Next we need to mitre the corners of the patterned paper. Cut the corners of the patterned paper a couple of mm from the thick card



Now we need to fold 2 of the edges of the paper in around the thick card, then open the edges back out and glue down, press the sides down making sure the adhesive has stuck the edges down firmly.

Fold in the little flap of patterned paper at each corner, just like you do when wrapping a present. This will guve nice neat corners.




Wrap the two remaining flaps around the thick card and glue down. While the glue is still wet, press along the edges of the covered thick card to square off the edges.


Repeat the above to create the second cover for your maze book.





Now you have made the covers, put them to one side and we will make the pages for our books.

Take your sheet 12x12 cardstock and fold in half, I used a bone folder to make the creases nice and sharp.

Then fold the free edge of the card back to the centre fold.



Do the same thing on the other side



Then unfold your sheet of card and it should look like the picture below



Turn your sheet of card so the folds lie horizontally, then we are going to fold the card in half again, repeating what we did before.


Then fold the free edge of the card back to the centre fold.

Do the same thing on the other side


Unfold the cardstock and you will see you have created 16 squares with your folding!


Now we have done all the folding we can create our maze book.

Take some scissors or a craft knife and make the cuts as shown in the picture below.





Now you need to fold your cardstock , start folding from the bottom left square. Keep following the folds and flip your pages over




When you have folded all the pages you are left with a nice little stack of pages


Now we need to put it all together.

Take your 2 covered card squares and place them side by side about 1.5cm apart, with the inside facing up.

Run a line of adhesive horizontally across the centre of each cover.

Lay your ribbon across the glue line so there is an equal amount of ribbon on either side of the covers and press down to make sure the ribbon is attached securely.


Now take your stack of folded card and isolate the first page.



Stick this page to your front cover, making sure you centre it on your cover, press down firmly to make sure the card is attached to the cover.



Now do the same with the back page and back cover






Your book is now ready for you to decorate





I hope these instructions make sense but if they dont and you have any questions just leave a message here and I will try to answer any questions
Deb x