Paper & needle crafts among other handmade things

I recently bought yet another pack of background papers - the one shown below - and among the many beautiful sheets there are a few with an Oriental theme.

I couldn't wait to use them and made this card. Isn't it so cute?

I used a technique called paper piecing and for those who don't know paper piecing consists of several cut out shapes that when assembled form a picture.

I used a Kokeshi doll appliqué template I downloaded from here.

 

I came up with the idea for these mini cards a few days ago and I'm very happy with the result.

Wouldn't they make perfect little Thank You notecards? I think they would or even gift tags!

To make these mini cards I used the 3 Sizzix die cuts shown below.

If you'd like to make a few of these just grab some card blanks already folded and line them up on the die of your choice using the photos below as reference.

Note: It's a good idea to experiment first with either damaged card blanks or with paper sheets folded in half. This way you can work out how to best align the card on the die to get the result you want.

The card I'm about to show you is not only very cute but also very quick to make.

And here it is, what do you think? Isn't it just adorable? I think it is

This card took almost no time to make and I only used very few supplies:

* a square card blank
* a square piece of cardstock the same size as the front of your card
* a sheet of printed paper with cute images (I used the Baby Paper Pack from Dovecraft)
* glue
* scissors

The first thing to do is to cut a square out of the cardstock and it should be the same size as the front of your card blank.

Cut a window on the cardstock. I used the Sizzix scalloped square shown below.

Frame the printed paper, glue it to the cardstock and trim.

As you can see in the photo below I distressed the cardstock a little by sanding it with very fine sandpaper. You should do this before sticking the printed paper to the frame.

Use the leftover printed paper and cut out any images you want to use as embellishments and glue them around your cardstock frame. Apply only a little glue in the middle of the image, this way the edges will slightly lift from the card making it look more 3D.

Here are some other cards I made with the same paper pack.

Note:You'll notice that on the blue and yellow cards I added some stitching with the sewing machine.

Hope you enjoy this cardmaking project

Hello,

Today I want to share with you how I made the pretty flowers I used on the 2 cards below. Please click on the pictures to see them larger.

   

To make these I used the Paisleys and Flowers embossing folders from Sizzix shown in the picture.

If you'd like to make some to use on your projects just follow the instructions below.

For the card on the left above I embossed 4 pieces of cardstock using the big flower in the middle of the folder.

This flower is made up of 4 layers and in the following picture the black lines show where to cut so you have the 4 layers as shown below. As you can see I distressed them a little by sanding the cardstock, you can also ink or chalk them if you prefer.

 

Pick up your first layer or largest flower and crumple it a little to shape it. I made a few cuts to further separate the outer petals and slightly curled them with the help of a cocktail stick.

Do the same to the other layers and stick them together using a dot of glue in the middle between each layer.

Now for the leaves, emboss a piece of green cardstock with the Paisleys embossing folder.

Again distress them if you like by sanding, inking, chalking or crumpling them and stick to the back of the flower. Finish off using beads or a button in the center of the flower.

To make the flower for the card on the right above I embossed 3 pieces of cardstock with the 3 flowers indicated by the black arrows in the picture below and then just followed the steps described.

I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial .

Paper distressing is a great and fun way of adding that special touch to your cardmaking and/or scrapbooking projects.

There are many paper distressing techniques and also many tools created specifically for this purpose, however it's easy to achieve the same results using items you already have.

Below are a few of the distressing techniques I like to use on my cards with a brief description of how they can be achieved. There's also a video I made showing some of these techniques and photos of cards where I used them.

Tearing paper

Depending on how you tear your paper you'll get a more or less uneven edge. If you tear the paper by hand you'll achieve a more uneven edge than you do if you place a ruler on the paper and tear it along the ruler. I've also recently found that the edges of my Fiskars templates are great to use as tearing rulers.

Sanding

As the name suggests you'll need a piece of sandpaper (I like to use sandpaper with a very fine grain) to sand your paper/cardstock.

I like to use this technique with embossed images as it helps to bring them out. Some coloured cardstock comes with a white or other colour core and sanding it brings out some of the core which in turn can help it blend better with the other colours/embellishments in your project.

Scraping the edges of paper

To do this you'll need a craft knife or if you don't have one a kitchen knife will do perfectly well or even the blade side of a pair of scissors. All you need to do is scrape along the edge of your cardstock to distress it.

Inking / Chalking

Distress your paper by smudging it with ink or chalk. This can be applied directly to paper or you can use a cotton ball or a small sponge to gently rub the ink/chalk where you want on the paper. If using chalk you'll get a more subtle look.

Rolling the edges of paper

Slightly curl the edge of the paper (I find this easier to do with the help of a cocktail stick) and then roll it between your thumb and middle finger several times going all around your piece of paper. Add little tears here and there if you want a more distressed look.

Crumpling

This has got to be one of the easiest distress techniques, all you have to do is crumple your piece of paper or cardstock and then flatten it. Again, depending on what look you're going for crumple the paper once or more until you're happy with the result. You can try sanding it so the creases show. To flatten use a warm iron (no steam) or place it in a book and leave for a few hours or overnight.

Below are a few cards I made where I used these distressing techniques. Please click on the images to zoom then in.

Blue background cardstock torn with ruler and then sanded. Brown dotty paper torn by hand and slightly curled. The stitching helps to add texture.

The edge of the golden card was scraped with a craft knife to give it a roughish look, perfect for a male card.

Background paper inked around the edge with blending chalk.

Sanded embossed image bringing out the white core of the cardstock.

In this card staples were used to create the corner effects.

Another sanded embossed image. The stitching around the edge of the cardstock adds an interesting texture.

Card made with strips of paper torn by hand and stitched together.

The edge of the background paper was distressed by scraping it with a sewing pin.

The flowers on this card are made from circles of cardstock that were crumpled several times to give them a distressed look.

The video below helps illustrate some of the techniques described above, I hope you find it helpful.

Hello everyone,

This will be a new monthly feature here on my blog. I thought it might be fun to post a collection of pictures from projects done a year ago with links to 1 or 2 of the tutorials/templates/patterns I posted at the time. I hope you enjoy these monthly time capsules as much as I enjoy creating them

Here's my first time capsule from a year ago this month.

Here are the charts to make the lovely crochet butterflies shown above.

Also, on my last post I included a little poll for you to vote on your favourite granny square from the ones shown. So far, 12 of you have voted and this is how the results stand at the moment.

4 votes for granny square # 2
3 votes each for granny square # 3 and # 5
1 vote each for granny square # 1 and # 4

Thank you to all those people  who took the time to vote on my poll. If you would like to vote too please see the post below this one where you'll find the poll and a sample of the granny squares in question.

I've finally finished my no-sew throw and I love it. I never thought I'd be able to finish it but 368 crochet hexagons later here it is  

What do you think? I know I made several mistakes but that just adds character I think

Now, Alex wants one too and I've been playing with a few ideas I had for granny squares. The granny squares below are all my own design except for # 3 which I made from memory based on a square I saw in a book.

Alex seems to like #5 best. For a bit of fun I created a poll below for you to vote on your favourite granny square (these colours aren't necessarily the ones I'll be using).

Granny square #1

Granny square #2

Granny square #3

Granny square #4

Granny square #5

 

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to show you the keepsake album I made for my niece's 3rd birthday, my sister called me yesterday saying M. was delighted with the play food items I sent her and she now has the task of choosing photos from her daughter's 3rd birthday party to put them on this album. What do you think?