March Class Cancelled - will now take place on 23rd April 2011

Apologies - due to an unforeseen clash of bookings, the class for March has been cancelled.  The next craft class will therefore be in April.  The cards that were to be done in March are now likely to be done in May - going to be done on 23rd April 2011.

March 2011

This month's cards will be courtesy of Jackie.

The first card we will be making will be a gatefold card with a difference, and utilising paper flowers.

The second card will be a tri fold DL card.

Watch out for an updates on techniques after the class...

February 2011

Our cards this month are going to be just for the children (or the very young at heart). 

Thanks to Brenda, who is responsible for the project in February, there will be a choice of a nice pink and glittery fairy castle for the girls, or a handsome butch grey castle for the boys.  Both cards have decoupaged fronts, and are a real feature any little boy or girl will be happy to get for their big day. 

Also, whichever card is chosen, it will come complete with a compact envelobox, which will prevent any squashing.

Merry Christmas Crafters...

Wishing everyone a very merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year...

A sneak peek for January...

Our cards in January are going to be courtesy of Lynda.  Here is a sneaky peek at what we are going to be doing...

Our cards this month will be utilising punches and the cuttlebug.

November 2010

The last class of the year for the cardmakers will be an easel card, with a twist - project by Jackie.  Also included will be a set of Christmas recipe cards, to make this a combined gift/card.  The images are courtesy of Debbie Moore, and the Mince pie recipe is from Cooking for Christmas, by Josceline Dimbleby.

The card has its own box - made from festive red card.

 The recipe cards that sit inside the cunning pocket on the front of the card....

 The card, face on.

October 2010

This month, our project was courtesy of Brenda, and utilised the Arty Farty Bella Parasol template.  The side of the card was punched using a Martha Stewart punch, and a complementary panel was punched in the same card as used for the parasol.

Paper roses were used to decorate the top of the parasol, and it was edged with lace.

September 2010

This month we were spoilt for choice with projects provided by Debbie Williams.

The first was an easel card, complete with cute snow family and "button" embellishments.

The second was a decoupaged Christmas pudding on a springy base.  This fold is surprisingly easy and effective.  The key point to remember is that the card should be made from heavyweight paper or thin card.  Too thin and it isn't robust enough to stand up, too thick and it isn't malleable enough to successfully fold.



The final card was a decoupaged winter scene with cute little figures. 

Unfortunately, I seem to have lost the photo, so will have to take another one.  To be posted at a later date...!!

Another tip - Paper roses

This time, we are looking at a  rose made from a simple six petal flower paper punch.  All that is needed are three flowers punched out of whatever paper you choose.  Plain paper with the edges coloured in, pre coloured paper, or why not stamp a pattern onto your paper?

This tutorial by In 2 Crafting (another blog well worth a visit, with lots of hints, tips and inspiration) uses a 2" punch, but I have done it with a much smaller one and although fiddly, works out just fine.

This is what you can end up with:

I used plain paper, just adding a touch of colour to the petals using aquamarkers watered down.  The leaves aren't really rose leaves, but this was the only leaf punch I could find!

Additional touches can be added, such as a drop of glaze to simulate raindrops, or some quicky glue pen and glitter to just give it some bling!

Another tip... faux pearls

Sue Wilson demonstrated a really cool way of making your own "faux pearls" on create and craft tv this week.

Basically, you put dots of "dries white" glue onto waxy paper (I tried it with the strips from the back of wide double sided tape and it worked a treat!) and then when they are dry, brush them with mica pearlescent powder. Use the white, or any other colour mica powder you have - the result is amazingly close to the stick on pearls you buy. Sue recommends spritzing the finished "pearls" with water to set the powder.

If anyone is interested in other things she is doing/has done, you should check out her blog - this is a link to the faux pearls tip and there is also a photo of the aforementioned pearls...