Saturday 13 December 2014

Shake! Shake! Shake!

Hi there Friends ~

Christmas will soon be here, and as well as my Peace cards, [previous posts] I wanted to post some photos of this shaker card I just finished.

Firstly, let me say that this isn't my idea ... I borrowed this idea for a terrific Youtube video, by a poster called nasahi.

This is the link if you wanted to try this for yourself ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmZH7XxrHw0

But here is my version ...

I cut the star using a die, and glued the acetate onto the back of this, ie behind the front of the card.
 
To make the box, you simply add foam mounting tape outside the star, on the back  ... in a rectangular, or 'box' shape. Add the sequins, beads and sparklies, then close the box with what you want to show through the window ... in this case, I used an embossed panel of Swiss dots

You can just see the mounting tape here, underneath the Swiss Dots panel, this is what keeps your beads etc in the 'box'! When you put the card insert over this, it all looks neater.


Cut the panel for the front at the same time you do the star on the front of the card. I didn't do mine in two sections like the lady in the video ... but you can get a good impression on the cover panel if you run both through at the same time. Even if it's not cut right through, run it through the BigShot again to finish it off and it should be in the exact position you need to glue this coloured panel onto the card front. See below.


 
 
Add the silver star frame, and whatever embellishments you feel suits your card.






Here are two others that I've just finished! The 'box' that holds the embellishments could be any shape, but square or rectangular seems easiest ... but the front aperture doesn't have to match this . If you can make the 'box' at back fairly close in size to the aperture, but not so close that the tape shows, then your sequins and beads won't get so lost behind there, caught in corners etc.


Thanks so much for visiting my blog ... I hope your lead-up to the festive season is going well.
Try to eliminate as much stress as you can by handing over the worst jobs to others!! Adriana doesn't know it yet but this afternoon she's going to be chasing cobwebs from the outside eaves, and Kieran will be de-sticking the yard!
Always plenty to do when you don't use poisons and have a yard full of gumtrees!

Personalising Cards

Hello  Friends ~
Welcome to my blog.
So close now to Christmas and the New Year! Where did 2014 go?

I think one of my New Year resolutions might be to try and make this blog a little more exciting-looking!
Some of the blogs I visit are fabulous ... filled with colour ... yes, this definitely must go on The List!!

I wanted to share a couple of cards that I've done recently, the first one back in October for a friend's birthday, the second, a Christmas card for a friend in England.
The third, another birthday card for my son's best friend who has spent a lot of time with us over the years. He's an apprentice electrician, so his 21st birthday card was designed around that.

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This first card was for a friend who enjoys making cards and is very skilled at this. She is also a quilter ... arranges the music for her church ... and is a midwife at a large local hospital. She has a German Shepherd, and is a generally all-round, lovely person, so I wanted to make something a bit special.

I used Flat Fabio sprays from Lindy's Stamp Gang, and Dylusion Sprays by Ranger, for the background panels. This card was huge ... about  8" x 8" ... but I wanted to fit a lot on it, as she is such a busy person and has so many interests..


Fourteen quilter's hexagons, each one a word especially for her, cut from a Dictionary [copy], and 'stitched' onto the card.


This was the first time I'd used my new Arianna Blooms die and Stamp set from Heartfelt Creations, and I was pleased with the flowers. 

Each word a personal reflection of her life.

I love this musical die cut ... I wish I had more opportunities to use it! The background script stamp is  En Francais, from Stampin'Up.


The insert ... a little stamping and using the sections left from die-cutting the flowers as a stencil. I should have gone over those a second time with a smaller flower. Never mind... next time. The fan edging is a Martha Stewart punch called Deco Shells.

I knew what I wanted to do for this card, but the 'doing of it' was a bit tricky for me, so in the end, even as I was putting it together, much better ways sprang to mind.
I was pleased with the result though.

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The second card is for a friend who lives in Durham. His online name has the word 'Scotty' in it, so this gave me the ideas for this card. He also loves the beach and is a seaglass collector.

I've never used sequins before, but am finding they do a great job in 'lifting' an area and adding a bit of bling and sparkle, especially on Christmas cards.

This in the back of the insert [right side] ... when I added the insert, the left side panel was bare ... not for long.

A little Scottie dog heading for the beach through the snow ... yep! Perfect!
                                     
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And this last card was the one I made for my son's best friend. An apprentice electrician, and a thoroughly nice person! This took hours, but was worth every minute!
I hand-cut every single one of those windows with my Craft knife! I didn't have the stamp set then, but bought it soon afterwards. This is the My Hero set from Paper Smooches. A terrific set, their buildings stamp is way better than my cut-and-paste job, but I was glad to have been able to do it! There are also dies of city skylines, and these are DEFINITELY on my list.

'E' words for an 'epprentice' electrician! ... a bit of creative license.



Twenty-one light bulbs, hand drawn and glittered with Wink of Stella pen.


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I really like personalising the cards I make. You have to know someone either really well, or at least a few things about what they like etc before you can do this, but it's worth the effort, and pretty much guarantees that your card will be kept, at least for a little while, and that's always nice too.

I hope the lead up to your Christmas celebrations is going well.

Sending happy thoughts your way!

Virginia