Fun Fold Friday - Wild Cats

Hello from me for the last day this week. I really have pushed myself this week by using a stamp set that needs strong, earthy colour. Wild Cats and the DSP In The Wild calls for all of those such colours. from the soft greens to strong, earthy yellow, deep, dark red to a really rich dark green. I'm really pleased with the result even though it's not what I would usually do! Today's card is the same, I've used almost all of the colours that can be found within the papers which has really surprised me! 

I fully intended for today, a simple card with lots of white space. Not a chance! I made a double Z fold card using Basic White and Crushed Curry (earthy yellow) card. Starting with a piece of A4 card I cut it at 14.85cm high along the whole length of the A4. Scored it at 14.85cm and 7.4cm. Each fold was then folded to make the letter Z. For the front Z, I used the Crushed Curry. I cut a length 5cm high by 29.7cm long and scored as before. I added a piece of DSP to the inside square and the left hand front panel. The inner panel was fitted with an embossed piece of card which I embossed using the Animal Prints embossing folder.

 

To add some extra dimension, I embossed the yellow Z with the Animal Print folder then added the die cuts, tigers and sentiments.

 

 

 

Well, that's it from me for another week, Cary will return on Monday to show you her lovely cool crisp cards to inspire. Please stop by and see what she is creating for you. 

 

Thank you once again for popping by and until I return please TAKE CARE, STAY SAFE, BE WELL but just as importantly KEEP ON CRAFTING.

Gill xxx :) 😍😍😍

Fun FOld riday - Bamboo Beauty

 Welcome back on this very warm Friday. We are due for a 'mini heatwave' supposedly in the UK but with our weather as it is, I'll believe it when I see it! Using Bamboo Beauty stamp set again, today's card was inspired by one that I made for my daughter in law's dad, Roy, for his birthday last weekend. I'm not sure what the fold is called but it's a Z fold with a flap on the front of it. Call it what you like but I've had lots of fun making this one. Please click HERE for a link to the stamp set and all other products that I used on these cards. It will open the link in another page to save where you were.

 I found a retired stamp set from a few years ago called Party Panda. I thought that the card needed a little whimsical touch to it so I've added a few sentiments and Pandas to the card too.  

         

THE CARD BASE

I started with a piece of card 14.85cm by 27cm. (fig 1) I scored along the long edge at 10cm, 15cm and 25cm. Using a bone folder I burnished all of the folds really well in both directions. I like to burnish from both sides to make sure that the card will happily fold without tearing. If a fold is scored nicely and burnished in both directions, it will usually give a really good crisp fold. I then added a piece of card 14.85cm by 14.85cm. (fig 2) This panel is then adhered behind the 2cm band on the left hand side after I gently tore the front edge of the 2cm wide strip. I tore the edge as it gives a softer feel to both layers when adding another mat to it. If you should have any difficulties making this card? Please don't hesitate in contacting me as I would be more than happy to help you. :)

fig 1

     fig 2

  

fig 3 the folded card

 

 fig 4 the 'planter' 

Once the panels were decorated, I cut a piece of card 5cm by 12cm and scored that at 1cm, 6cm and 11cm. Again, the folds were burnished in both directions. I added DSP to the front and side of this with pieces 4.5cm by 4.5cm.I cut 3 strips of card 1cm by 7cm. These were then scored at 1cm on each side then these squares were fixed to the top edge of the 5cm high panel on the left hand side. The opposite side of these strips were folded in the opposite direction to the first side to enable the pices to stretch out when the card is folded. I find it easier to decorated with leaves/ flowers etc while it's not stuck to the card. See picture below. Once the leaves were added to the strips it was time to add the whole panel to the 5cm panel on the card. I started with the right hand side and fixed the edge to match the panel front on the other panel.

fig 5

fig 6

                     

 Tip... When adding the piece above, fold the 1cm flap under after placing adhesive on then fold the card in half at the mountain fold and fix the panel down into place.  

 fig 7

DSP and decorating

I used the In Good Taste Designer Series Papers and added a 14.4cm by 14.4cm mat to the front and the inside left front. 9.5cm by 14.4cm to the 2, 10cm wide panels and last but not least, 4.5cm by 14.4cm to the 5cm panel.

I used the Potted Succulents dies to add a little more texture behind the sentiment mats. I stamped in Crumb Cake then fussy cut several of the Bamboo sticks. The leaves were stamped onto the In Colour range of Vellum papers and of course I once again fussy cut them out. The vellum has a matt side and a shimmery side, so I stamped onto the matt side and they are shown in the shimmery side. 

My inspiration

 

Here is some pictures of Roy's birthday card. As with many fancy or fun fold cards, sometimes they may take a little longer than the norm but I hope that you think they were worth the time it took?

Well, that's it from me for this week. I do hope you have found some ideas for making your own cards in one way or another. Cary is back to share her creations next week so please remember to stop by and see what she has made. Until I return, Take Care, Stay Safe and Keep on Crafting :)  

😍😍😍

make It Simple Monday - Bamboo Beauty

 Hello again on this very wet Monday. The weather is supposed to be scorching for the UK at the end of this week so I will enjoy seeing the plants and trees fill up on the water as they';ll not get any next week! So, this week is the turn of Bamboo Beauty, a very understated stamp set in my opinion. The simplicity of these stamps is just beautiful. I thought I have done enough of the flowers for a few weeks so I'm going to go down the simple route this week.

Just an C6 tent-fold card base and a white mat is all that I have used for this very quick card. Just by stamping the 2 leaf stamps around the edges of the mat and leaving a space in the centre for the lovely message which brings the meaning perfectly to the recipient. Voila!

 

 

 

 

Watercolour Wednesday - Art Gallery

Hello again, I know I keep going on about the weather here but it is so up and down eveery day but today was an up day. The sun was shining and it was lovely and warm...until the thunderstorm! Thankfully, only a short hail storm. After that it's been lovely just crafting. Once again I am using the Art Gallery stamp set from Stampin' Up! and today's card I had some really good fun! Using a piece of water colour paper, I stamped the main flower in Versamark ink, then poured white embossing powder before heat setting it. Then I went mad with the colours and my waterbrush! I started with the soft shade of lilac using Fresh Freesia ink pad. I soaked the paper and generously brushed across the lilac. I didn't let it stay for long as I soaked it up using kitchen roll throughout. Then the lovely soft green of Soft Succulent ink. I only used a little of this keeping most of the green close to the edges of the flowers. Then finally, the gorgeous pink of Polished Pink ink pad. I started with a large brush and spread the colour across then added more detail within the flowers using a fine brush. I constantly dried the colour up as I went as I didn't want it to be too strong. 

 

 I wanted the paper to stand out so I matted it onto a piece of the Evening Evergreen card. The green is a really gorgeous dark alpine green and I think I succeeded in making it pop and stand out.

A strip of the gorgeous In Colour Ribbon in the Polished Pink and a bow, I think highlight the colours on the card.

A simple message for the front and inside completes this one.  What's the chance of my enjoying the rest of the sunny day? NIL! The tree surgeons turned up to attend to the trees in the meadow at the back of our garden. Fascinating watching them though!