Showing posts with label Cards. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cards. Show all posts

Wednesday 15 January 2014

Winner of Six Cards on the 6th!

Hello everyone! Jennifer here. Sorry it has taken me a little while to post the winner of the Six on the 6th Card Series that we held for the last five months of 2013. I am currently packing to move house and am feeling overwhelmed by boxes and junk (but very much looking forward to moving on Friday!).

Thank you so much to everyone who joined in with the series. It was so fabulous to see everyone's cards and I know I'll be checking back for inspiration when I start planning my 2014 Christmas cards! 

Without further adeiu, the winner of a pizza box stuffed with stash was...


Congratulations Jane! Please email Sarah at sarah(at)sjpapercrafts(dot)co(dot)uk telling her your mailing address so she can send the prize out to you!

Here's some of my favourite cards that were linked up during the series:


From left to right, starting top left, these cards were created by: Becky, Frances, Jenny, Jacky, Jane, Ruth, Nikki, Louise, and Lisa-Jane.

Thank you so much ladies! Lots of wonderful ideas and different styles to see!

Look out for some new exciting things that will be happening during 2014 here on the SJ Crafts blog! Along with our usual fabulous DT inspiration of course!

If you need inspiration for some everyday cards for this year then make sure you check out Louise's posts Part One and Part Two, which are full of gorgeous cards along common themes to get her through the year!

Jennifer x


Thursday 9 January 2014

Crafting Cards with a Common Theme - Part Two!

Hi! It's Louise back with my next set of four cards with a common theme - if you missed part one you can see it HERE!

I applied a similar process for my next set of cards, selecting some papers from the MME Lost and Found Record It 6x6 paper pad, a few rubber stamps, two Memento Ink Pads and two of the Studio Calico Mr Huey Mists.  

  • I worked on the inked backgrounds first. Using my son's Bart Simpson ruler (shushhh...he'll never know!!) I ran the edge through the momento ink pad and wiped the ruler over two of the cards.
  •  On the other two cards I used the chevron stamp for a stamped background.




  • Next I flicked drops of Studio Calico Huey Mist ink onto the cards.
  • Larger background papers were used on the two cards where I cut out frames from the 6x6 pad, with smaller strips used on the other two cards. The edges of all the papers were torn.
  • The flowers were stamped onto white card and cut out. These were adhered to the cards with foam tape after adding some white cotton to the back of the flowers for interest.  


Again, using a common theme, common colours and elements made another four cards came together nicely!



Making these made me wonder how you approach your card making?  
Are you like me and normally leave your card making to the last minute or do you have a stash waiting to be used?

If you leave your card making to the last minute, has this post inspired you to put together some common themed cards? 

If it has then please share your creations with us by leaving a link in the comments!

See you again soon,

Louise x


Louise is a mum of three boys and she blogs her life and crafting at Boys, Bugs, and Beautiful Buttons!

Wednesday 8 January 2014

Crafting Cards with a Common Theme - Part One!


 Hello! It's Louise here today, and before I share my creations with you I'd like to wish you all a very Happy New Year!

For many of us this is the time of year when we are all considering both our personal and creative goals for the new year. The biggest question I have asked myself is "to do or not to do...project life?"...and while I am still considering taking on such a big project I wanted to start the year making a selection of general greeting cards, so I have a small stock to pick from.

At the end of last year SJ Crafts announced the Six on the 6th Christmas Card Challenge. A challenge that I enjoyed immensely and one that inspired me to want to make general cards. When I made my Christmas cards for the challenge they all had a common theme and it is this idea that I am going to use again today.


I started off by choosing some papers from the Wild and Free Glitz Design 6x6 pad. I don't know about you but I struggle to cut into a sheet of 12x12 patterned paper to use on a greeting card, so these little 6x6 pads work perfectly and you normally get 2 sheets of each pattern, so it's a win win for me. Next I pulled together some rubber stamps that are very rarely (or never used), 2 Studio Calico Mr Huey Mists to complement the papers I chose, a black Memento Ink Pad, and a selection of gems.

I find it easy to work on card pieces, rather than the actual blank greeting cards, so I cut four pieces of white card a little smaller than the actual blank greeting card. I like the effect of the card stuck to the base card - if you wished to, you could add more colour by mounting the card. I chose to keep the fresh feel of the white card:


After I cut the card :-
  • I used the Memento ink to stamp a scrolled image to the top half of the card.
  • Then I flicked drops of Mr Huey Mist ink onto the card. You can see from the four cards made that when I do this there is no technique or precision. For me the ink goes where it wants to and I work with it.
  • Using two stamps I stamped the sentiments onto the card. Two of the cards I left blank so they can be used for any occasion.
  • Knowing that I was going to place paper bows across the scrolled image I added some Gems for that sparkle.
While the ink was drying I made the paper bows using a template I found on the internet (or HERE is a paper bow tutorial by another team member, Jennifer) I adapted the size of the template for the card, added some white cotton to the back of the bow for some added interest and then adhered the bow to the card using double sided foam tape.

By keeping a common theme for the cards they came together nicely!


I loved making these cards so much that I repeated the common theme by creating four more cards. Making all these cards means that I now have a nice stash of cards waiting to be used!

Stop by tomorrow to see the next set of four cards!

Louise x

Louise is a mum of three boys and she blogs her life and crafting at Boys, Bugs, and Beautiful Buttons!


Thursday 19 December 2013

Quick (Last minute!) Christmas Cards


Hi Jenny here today
How are your Christmas preparations going?
Not long until the 25th now!

This year, I seem to have got behind with all things Christmas and I have found myself in need of a few more cards. 

I thought I'd pop by and share with you some "super fast" cards in case you're like me and need a few last minute ideas!



I have used some of my Christmas dies to cut apertures behind which I have layered some scraps of Christmas papers. Then I have simply  layered this onto some coloured card and onto a card blank.



 I stamped a simple Christmas greeting underneath each aperture in black memento ink and added some stickles and flat backed gems as embellishments.


If you don't have a die cutting machine, you could achieve a similar affect using punches!


Have you finished making all your cards or are you needing a few more?

Happy Christmas!

Jenny x

See more of Jenny's cards over on her blog: Dragonllews Spot




Monday 2 December 2013

MME Cut Paste Flair Mum Card

Jenny's back again today with a pretty project to brighten up a grey December day! It's something a little bit different for Jenny too - there's not a promarker in sight! 

Jenny:


 I have cut a panel out of a standard 6 x 6 card blank and stuck the letters over the gap. I have used papers from MME Cut Paste Flair pad teamed with some black card I love how the soft colours really stand out against the black. 

I used the word art function in word to create the letters and numbers, printing them onto normal card which I then cut out and stuck onto my patterned paper. You need to use quite thick card to give the card front some strength. I have put stickles all around the edges of the letters and numbers to finish them off. I used my fiskers scalloped lace border punch for the bottom edge.


This gorgeous flower has been cut with Tim Holtz Tattered Flowers die from some of the pink ombre paper in the MME Cut Paste Flair pad I love the way this has allowed me to cut the flowers all from the same sheet but with the differing shades. I have used a Basic Grey Candy Button to the centre of the flower and gone round all the edges with stardust stickles.



Here's a view of the card slightly open, you can just about see another sheet of that gorgeous ombre paper this time in an aqua green shade.



Jenny is a busy Mum with three children and regularly blogs her cards and crafts at Dragonllews Spot

Didn't Jenny make a beautiful card? If you missed her Cut & Paste Flair Altered Diary be sure to check it out HERE!

Wednesday 16 October 2013

More Dapper Dan And vellum!

Hello! 
Louise back today with more Dapper Dan and vellum!
If you missed the other post, you can catch up on that here!

3. Vellum pockets. 

The boy's looked very smart after their back to school haircuts, so I took a quick photo outside the barbers, with their lollipops (They are still young enough to be offered a lollipop after having their haircut...and once upon a time the only way I could get them to the hairdressers.)

Initially I made the vellum pocket to hold my journalling in. As the page progressed I ended up filling the vellum pockets with tiny white hearts (you might just be able to make them out) and adding my journalling to a tag that I slipped behind the pocket.

Because my son is wearing a red t-shirt I used red as an accent colour. Did you notice the "Instagrammed" stamp...how cool is that!?

The pocket was machine stitched to the layout, filled and sealed with alpha stickers to make the title.






 4. Using vellum on cards.

Using a few scraps of left over vellum, I added it to a couple of cards made with the Dapper Dan papers.

As with my layouts I used the vellum as a background, layered it and punched the edge.


Like many scrapbooking techniques and tools, vellum seems to have come full circle.  I've spent the past hour working back through my albums to pinpoint the first time I used vellum on my layouts. I think it was around 11-12 years ago now. It looks as if, then red vellum was a firm favourite of mine.

I hope these layouts have inspired you to think about using the Dapper Dan collection to scrap your favourite boy(s) back to school or sports photos.

Dapper Dan truly is a wonderful collection designed especially with boys/men in mind. Thank you Sarah for letting me have the pleasure of working with it and capturing more memories.

Thanks for visiting the blog today - we'd love to hear your comments on vellum!!

Louise x

Supplies used in these projects can be found here: Dapper Dan

See more of Louise's crafting on her blog: Boys, bugs and beautiful buttons

Thursday 3 October 2013

Chalk Studio Part Two - Timeless Chalkboard!

Hello, Jennifer here with more projects using My Mind's Eye's Chalk Studio collection! Today I want to show you how timeless these chalkboard embellishments are. You can use them for any season, just by changing the papers and other embellishments you put with them! 

The below projects are all cards, but the same techniques can be applied to layouts and other projects.

First up is a card for Halloween. I've been taking my daughter Trick-or-Treating for the last couple of years with a group of mums and kids. One of the other mums (who loves Halloween), is due to have a baby that week, so she won't be coming this year. I'm going to send her this card to make her feel part of it!

Admit One To Spooky Town:


I don't have any Halloween supplies, so I used some orange patterned paper, black and white cardstock, a twirly corner stamp, and the awesome Chalk Studio embellishments to create the spooky feel - the lines surrounding 'Admit One' look almost like bones! 

The word 'spooky' is heat embossed with white embossing powder to give it a ghostly sheen, which is a great texture difference to the chalky label. I finished the card off with a few black pearls and doodled lines around them so they became spiders!

Next is a traditional-looking Christmas card...

Be Good:


The 'Be Good' sentiment on here really stands out with a Chalk Studio Label Sticker backing it. I love the Chipboard Elements banner along the bottom like a ribbon, it looks like the reindeer is jumping across some snowy ground at night-time! I also added a couple of pieces at the top left to resemble icicles. The black chalkboard elements really help the traditional reds and greens to pop from the page!

Finally, here's a card for Valentines Day, though you could use it to send a little love at any time of year...

True Love 4 EVA:


For this card I teamed the Chalk Studio items up with the Glitz Wild & Free 6x6 Pad and Giant Rhinestones. All the hearts were perfect! I amped up the chalkboard on here by layering a Decorative Frame on top of a Label Sticker. The glittery number 4 and the yellow dots made with a pearl pen stop it looking too dark. The 'Well Hello' sentiment adds a cheeky touch that makes me smile!

I'm really loving the chalkboard trend and I know I'm going to be using the embellishments up completely! 

Don't forget these ideas from my two Chalk Studio posts for how to use the embellishments:

  • Frame small photos (you could adhere one with foam dots)
  • Journal onto the Labels using a white gel pen
  • Push some chalkboard items right up to the edge
  • Add colour to the chalkboard
  • Layer a sentiment piece onto another embellishment
  • Heat emboss onto a Label
  • Use a chipboard border like a ribbon
  • Put chalkboard on top of chalkboard!

And if these cards have given you some ideas, you can still join in with our Six Cards on the 6th series to be in with a chance of winning a pizza box filled with stash! There's a couple of days left on the current linky, and a new one will be here on the 6th of October!

Jennifer x

Check out more of Jennifer's layouts and cards at her blog Jennifer Grace Creates.

Tuesday 6 August 2013

Introducing Six Cards On The 6th!

Hello! It's Jennifer here, and today I am very excited to be able to introduce to you a new series here on the blog: 'Six Cards on the 6th'!
Now, I know it's only the start of August and the sun is shining, but in the craft world we usually start to mention and think about the "C" word about this time of year!! Yes ... I do mean CHRISTMAS!
Each year, I vow to make ALL my cards and despite my best intentions and my efforts, each year I fail. I start off well and get organised and make a few cards in the summer and then have a last minute rush early December. Each year it's the same. This year will be different!

To encourage myself, and you, to get cards made in advance, we're holding this blog series. Each month from now until December, on the 6th of the month, there will be a post filled with Christmas card inspiration for you! 

You will be able to link up your own cards at the end of the post, you can do this anytime throughout the month, and we'll come and take a look to get more inspiration from you!

If you join in with the series at any time, or if you just want to help us spread the word, it would be fantastic if you can copy this button into your post or sidebar! You just need to select all the text in the box below the image, and copy that either into a html gadget (or text widget) in your sidebar, or into the html on a blog post. Then the button will appear and will be linked back to the series - your button won't have a box underneath!

 photo Sixon6thbutton200pix_zps673fb713.jpg


So, to start us off, here's some inspiration from me - and there's some cards by Sarah further on in the post too.

I pulled together this kit to work from. We encourage you to pull together a kit to help you make six quick cards - it really cuts down on decision-making time, and makes things easier for you! I used lots of scraps and leftover from last year's collections, even some that were negatives of shapes I'd cut or punched last year:



All I added to it were the card blanks (mostly A6, with one 6x6" square), a couple of scraps of white card to stamp sentiments on, and a few gems!

Here's the six cards I made:







Having the kit together in front of me made it easy to piece together the scraps to fill up the card blanks, and by using at least one piece of ribbon and at least one wood veneer on each card it meant they all had a variety of texture to keep them interesting!

Here's Sarah's set of six cards:


Gorgeous aren't they?

There's more details over on Sarah's blog.

What are you waiting for? Go and pull together a kit of a few papers and embellishments, and make 6 quick Christmas cards. I promise getting them started so far ahead will make you feel better! Once you've finished them, put them on your blog, or take a group photo of the set and upload it to a photo gallery, and leave a link below so we can come and check them out!

I hope you'll join us on the 6th of each month now until December and make 6 cards each month - you'll have a lovely pile of hand made cards all ready to write and send at Christmas.


Thursday 11 July 2013

Crate Paper "The Pier" (Part Two)

Hello! Jennifer here to show you more projects using Crate Paper's The Pier collection!
If you missed my first project using The Pier, including a video with 10 tips in 10 minutes, you can see it here!

The first project I want to show you today is the layout I made as soon as I got my hands on the collection. I really enjoyed using it for a happy, vivid, beachy page! It's about my daughter and her friend turning each other into mermaids with sandy tails...

You are a Sandy Mermaid Layout
 

I love the 'Carousel' background paper. The big chevrons are really trendy, and the rainbow colours are so cheerful and summery!
  
I've had fun using all the little bits and pieces in this collection, including the little pinked circle stickers from the Labels Stickers sheet - it's so easy to tuck and layer the different pieces around each other.



 
Next is a more subtly-coloured page, still sprinkled with lots of details...

Safe Harbour Layout


I like the 'b' side of the Frozen Treats Paper. It's a dark kraft pattern (darker than it looks in the product image), which is great because it's something a bit different which adds a timeless feel to my page. Howver, I didn't want to use it for the whole background as it would have been too dark, so for the bottom half of the page I used the 'b' side of the Sunshine Paper. That helped my title to pop more from the background too - the Funkidori Thickers are so twirly and charming!

I like using geotags at the moment, like this one from the Mini Alpha / Accent Stickers Sheet - they look great if you use pop dots to stick them on, and make sure you have a nice pattern peeping through the hole at the top of the geotag.


 
 
Finally here's a couple of cards, starting with a bold and fun birthday card which was really quick to make...

Good Day Sunshine Card


I simply stamped my sentiment onto one of the Summertime Cut-Outs and layered it onto a bit of the Heatwave Paper, a Splash Cut-Out tag (with ribbon added), some Ephemera and some gems (and a bit of glitter tape). I'm sure this will brighten someone's birthday!
 
 
Summertime Sweetness Card


I used some of the pale and gentle pieces from the collection to make this fresh card. The suns and hearts were punched from the Washi Paper, and I finished the card with a scattering of white and gold Liquid Pearls.

That's it from me and The Pier Collection, though you'll spot more of it popping up on my blog - as this is one of those collections where I know I will use up every last little scrap!
 
Thanks for stopping by today!
Jennifer x

Friday 26 April 2013

Joy Fold Card Tutorial

 
Hello and a very Happy Friday to you!
It's Jenny here today  with a tutorial to show you how to make a Joy Fold card.
This is a great design when you want to make a special card for someone or something a little different!
 

 
To start off with you will need 2 different sizes of card blanks.



  I've used a 135mm square and a 96 mm square card blank.
Take your biggest card and cut half of the front piece off. 
This is shown on the bottom card in the photo below.




Next you need to pretty up your card blanks I've used papers from My Minds Eye - Collectable - Memorable 6 x 6 pad. You will need to cover the fronts as well as the insides of both card blanks. You can create a small border if you wish by matting and layering.




Now position the smaller card blank on top of the larger one as above and stick down.
The front of the biggest card blank (the piece you cut in half earlier) closes over the back of the smaller card blank as shown below.




Next you will need to attach something to the front which will act as a catch to hold the front of the smaller card shut. I've used a sentiment to hold mine closed but you could use some other kind of embellishment. I've raised my sentiment up on foam pads to allow room for the front to slide under it.




Here's my card closed up ready to decorate. I have used some Penny Black Stickers on the front and again on the inside. The only other thing I added to mine was some self adhesive pearls.




I hope you might have a go at  makingthis style of card ... if you do I would love to see it. Why not leave a link in your comment to your card made following this tutorial so we can pop by and see it!
 
The S J Crafts Design Team have all been busy making samples for our Brand New Sketch Challenge which is coming very soon .... and there's a prize for one lucky sketch challenge entry! So keep an eye out for that!
 
Have a wonderful day!
Jenny x
 
See more of Jenny's crafting over on her blog : Dragonllew's Spot
 
 
 



Tuesday 23 April 2013

My Minds Eye Collectable Birthday Card

 
Hello!!
 Jenny here today to share a card that I made using some of the papers from My Minds Eye - Collectable - Memorable 6 x 6 pad.
 

 I kept the card very simple to show off the gorgeous colours in this pad - lots of pinks / aqua / pale yellow and lime green. I cut the circles with nesties and inked the edges with distress inks just to soften them against the harsh white background I used the following colours Antique Linen, Worn lipstick & Iced Spruce. The White has been embossed with my swiss dots folder. The image has been stamped directly onto the patterned paper and I coloured it with my promarkers. I made a rolled flower from some scraps of paper and added some self adhesive pearls to finish it all off.
 
I'll be back soon with a tutorial to show you how to make a "Joy Fold" card!!
 
Jenny x
 
See more of Jenny's fabulous cards over on her blog : Dragonllew's Spot 

Monday 25 March 2013

Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm Cards

Hello and a very Happy Monday to you!
 
It's jennifer back today to show you the cards I made with the Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm Paper pad and stamp set!
 
If you missed the layouts you can see those right here!
 
The papers have such cute designs for making cards with. I have two to show you ..... one is more dreamy, and one a bolder style.

 
The balloon stamp just goes so well with the cute cloud paper.
 
I scattered a few enamel dots, gems and some White Liquid Pearls.


For my second card I used the lovely spotty paper for a background to the little envelopes and added some Gold Liquid Pearls.
 
I can't wait to send these to someone and make their day!

Lucky Charm is currently in stock here!! I promise you'll find all kinds of uses for it!
 
Jennifer x
 
See more of Jennifer's crafting on her blog at: Jennifer's Jumbles