It's Elusive Images again and Nestie dies

Although it's Tippy Thursday when I normally answer any questions and bring you tips, news and ideas, today I'm going to show you one of the cards that I submitted for the EIDT. This card is displayed on the Elusive Images Design Team Blog, along with other beautiful artwork from my new team mates, and although many may have seen this tutorial, many of my new readers may have missed it. So, with no more ado.....here it is.....


I think I have found my way in stamping!  This is what I like doing....

composing pictures with stamps on lovely paper.     

The stamps are from 2 sets of Elusive Image stamps: Daisy Butterflies and Eastern Grasses - absolutely great artwork giving perfect images. 

On DP from HOTP, I've overstamped the images in Adirondack Coffee ink to enhance the background. 

I made the topper with the same stamps and coloured the background with DI's and then triple embossed.

The insert....using a Nestie Label One and the same stamps

My finished card.....

 I have Andrea to thanks for her support and encouragement to stamp - when I met her 2 years ago I couldn't even stamp onto scrap card without smudges.  Thanks Andrea, I owe you!

 If you're a new reader to the Cupboard - perhaps from the Graphicus Guild or lover of Elusive Images, or the owner of a die cutting machine, I hope you've enjoyed your visit and that you will return as I've more projects following soon.  If you would like to follow my blog you will find the link on the sidebar, I'll be delighted to have you on board (pehaps I should say in the Cupboard?)  I'm happy to answer any of your queries on my work or help with any problems you may have with your Bug - just leave me a comment.

Thanks for dropping by - enjoy your day!

Message to Sharon of Oz

Thanks Sharon for contacting me, I cannot reply because you haven't left a contact pm nor is your profile available. The answer to your query regarding the sale of Elusive Images stamps is yes.  Check out this link:
http://www.graphicus.co.uk/pages/default.aspx.  I will also be featuring a post on wire and beads as you requested some time in the near future.

I know I sometimes use initials in my posts, and I'm apologize if these are not clear.  If you check out the Glossary on the sidebar you will find explanations there. 

WOYWW

Good morning WOYWW'ers, before I show the the resulting mess of my productivity yesterday, I must thank you for the messages I received after my post about the EIDT. I was really touch that so many of you had taken the time to leave me a comment. Sometimes crafting can be a lonely hobby - sitting in a room, yes surrounded by lovely papers, stamps, inks, and things that you treasure and get enjoyment from, but nevertheless alone. My husband is patient (unless he is required to visit a craft shop), encouraging, but not really unable to understand the compulsion I have to craft, nor the mess I make - queue for photo....

For reasons of secrecy (it's all very exciting and you must watch this space so you don't miss the coming ????), I cannot - but would love too because I'm chuffed to bits with the stamps from Elusive Images that I working with.  This mess is from 1 day's crafting - and only part of the room!  As I turn around from my PC desk I cannot see one piece of free space.  My desk has spread to the window sill, chest, sofa, chair, bookcase, and floor.  BUT, I have completed two cards for my required DT commitment and its has been totally absorbing pleasure - today I'm a lucky WOYWW'er and I hope you are too! 

PS: I will show you the cards asap, but if you have not seen any of Glenda's artwork before, if you use the labels section on the sidebar you will be able to see my previous work.

Meet a Design Team Member of Elusive Images

Hi, I'm a very excited crafter today because I have been invited to join the Elusive Images Design Team. Pinch me someone, please! Tell me I'm not dreaming!

I have shown you stamps from Elusive Images before and I have to admit that I just love them. Stamping with Elusive Images stamps is a delight, the clarity of the images is excellent, the designs and styles various, and I'm sure you will enjoy seeing them. I have a challenge on my hands, but it will be a privilege to work with Glenda and all the talented crafters on the new DT. This is a company going places, so watch this space, I'll be back with some interesting posts showing some brill new stamps - in the meantime, when I come down from my high, I have some stamping to do!

Thanks for dropping by,

Crafts Too You embossing folders

Hi, today is the 26th July and in 6 months time it will all be over!  Yes, I'm talking Christmas.  As a rule I never start making Chrissy cards before October, but since I showed you the new folders from Crafts Too You last week, and some many readers showed an interest I thought I'd better put my festive hat on!

This is the 5" x 5" Crafts 2U Dots embossed on to a 6" x 6" card, and you cannot see the join!

This is one of the sections of the Crafts 2U Christmas Greetings - there are 6 in all.

They emboss well - this is on a glimmer card.

My first CC card for 2l10

All I've added is a Snowflake made with a Nestabilitie Create a Flake die. 

Very simple, easy to do in a hurry, but nevertheless .... you tell me?

This is a very quick post, just as my card.  Yesterday I was out all day playing bowls, sad to say our County lost to a better Dudley & District side, happy to say I managed to win my own game.  Time is flying and I'm really busy preparing something special !?!?!?   Tell you soon.....

Today is my mates Chrissie's birthday, so pop over and send her your best wishes as she has not been feeling well.   Happy Birthday Chris, hope you have a great day!

  

Marianne Butterfly Die

Hi, Sunday morning and where is the sun?  I'm off playing bowls today in a County Match at Halesowen and so this is a very quick post but I wanted to show you what I did with my failed aperture card. 

The cut-out became a stencil!  With the help of 3 colours of distress ink and a scrap piece of card......

this is the result. A good start for something??!?!?!??

Back tomorrow, win or lose, have a good day!

                                                                        

Craft Too you and Joy Craft Butterfly dies

Hi again, two in one day!  Think this is a first!!

Here are my new butterfly dies: 

The large blue die is by Marianne Designs - Creatables
The pink set of three are by Joy Crafts

I have cut and embossed the JC dies using a printed vellum.  You need to place a piece of scrap paper over the vellem as this give a crisp cut.  After embossing, I left the cut in the die and rubbed an ink pad over to show off the design.  The dies all have a  different pattern and you can see the sizes now they are cut.

This is the Marianne die.  Much bigger!  When cutting this die, I again used  vellum, but instead of scrap paper I used a DP, so getting 2 flutterbys!  Layered this is how they look.     I have been told that some of the Wizard machines don't like it, but the Bug (well my Bug) does!  I love this lacey look  - you could use it to make an aperture card and place a patterned paper inside in the same way as my tutorial card on Monday.  Think I'll have to have a go at this!  Edit:  Tried this - it didn't work, but I managed to do something with the cut out.  (See above post).

The sandwich :  A / C / die cut side up / vellum and DP / B

Enjoy your day.

Tippy Thursday and new Folders from Crafts Too You

News of new folders from Crafts 2 U.

Baubles

Greetings

Hearts

Sentiments

You can view details at Making a Lasting Impression (link on sidebar). 

I will be ordering these today and at a price of £3.99 and free UK postage until 25th July, and Christmas looming for crafters -  I thought worth investigating!

The folders are A6, and slightly bigger then Provocraft.  Although I have, and like this company's folders, their new idea of word embossing folders are new to me, so I will let you know how they work.

Realised I have not shown you my new dies from yesterday, I will try to do this later as an add on post.

                                                                         

WOYWW

Well it didn't take me long to mess up my tidy room!  I blame Liz for sending my order so quickly and (as you do) I quickly ripped open the box to see and touch my new goodies!

This is Megan's card to say thank you for her crafting gift - she is just turned 4 and I think going to be a crafter like Nan!  Julia, doesn't your gift look good and so useful too!

I'll show you my new dies in more detail tomorrow, but in the meantime excuse me I'm busy playing!

See you later on WOYWW.  (Link on sidebar for anyone interested in joining us - it's free - it's fun - and you meet some very interesting, friendly, talented crafters.)

Cuttlebug and Joy Crafts Daisies

Monday morning and back to work - well that's not really a true statement because I can't call crafting work - I should have used the words 'back to playing' instead!  Oh, goodie - I have missed my craftroom and my crafting mates in blogland - so hello all and thanks for your welcome home messages - it really is nice to be back and do you like this idea using your scoreboard to create a base card.....

Materials used:
A4 sheet of white linen cardstock
Scoreboard
Daisy dies from Joy Crafts
Provocraft Alphabet - Harmony
DP
Tag, ribbon, pearls

Take your A4 sheet and cut off a lengthwise strip of 62mm or 2.1/2" then with your scorebord make a centre fold on the A4 line. You now have a square card that measure 5.13/16"

Now you score two lines - on my EaziScore I used lines Box 2 and 4

Then scored again to make this effect 

Place card back on scoreboard and pencil mark centre on line 4 (or A4 Gate)

Now an apology - I forgot to take a picture of the front of the card!!!  BUT, this is how the card ended up.....I made an aperture card using the largest die from a set of Daisies dies from Joy Crafts. I placed the first die in the centre - you could guess but I used the pencil line as above - this made spacing the cuts much easier.  Then all I needed to do was to adhere my DP to the inside front, and.....

My finished card personalised with my bowling team mate's name using the Provocraft Harmony Alphabet.

I was left with 3 daisies!?!?!?!  Now, I don't like to waste anything, so.....I scored lines on the petals

made a tag, added the daisies and a number.....

and with another sheet of DP decorated the inside of my card.

Since Maria was not too keen on the idea of being 40 I thought this was a better idea than placing the numbers on the front!  However, I did tell her that there were worse things than being 40 - it could be her 50th!  As the saying goes .... "It not the years it's what you put into them that important!"  Happy Birthday Maria - have a great day today!

I have found that the Joy Craft dies cut with easy on my Cuttlebug and have not heard of any problems from my readers.  This company's dies are available from my supplier Liz (link on the sidebar) and this week (18th July to 25th) she is offering free postage on UK orders.

I told you this idea was adapable - you could use any of your small dies to create an aperture card.  I have used butterflies, squares, even Christmas trees - I'm sure you will tell me of others!  I will expand this idea soon because I think I know a way of using up even more leftovers and we all have these! 

Right back to my workdesk, it should be in a fine old mess by Wednesday for WOYWW - perhaps with something a bit unexpected?????   Enjoy your day!

I'm home!

Hi everyone, back home now after a fab holiday cruising in the Baltic. The weather was hot, hot, hot, and the seas calm, calm, calm. Have I been a luck girl or what!

Thanks for all your visits and comments, I will be catching up with you soon and a warm welcome to the new followers who have joined the Cupboard over the last couple of weeks. Tomorrow I have a tutorial planned that I think you will find useful, interesting and adaptable, but before that it's a matter of unpacking, washing and finding out where I'd had the stuff from in the first place!

So, back soon - have a good day!

Tippy Thursday- Impressabilities

Hi, thanks for dropping by, but I sorry to say that I have no tips for you today, just a little card from my experiments with the impressabilities dies.

The card base is embossed with my cut up impressabilities, and the flower is the Dahlia die.

If you have left any queries or comments I will get back to you soon - today I'm somewhere in the North Sea travelling back to Southampton and should dock tomorrow.  I'll be back posting on Monday with a special card for a special birthday girl! 

Have a great weekend!

Cuttlebug - Embossed Gift Card

It seems the custom now-a-days is to give money as a wedding gift, but a cheque in an envelope is a bit boring and basic, so I thought make a gift card for the bride and groom. Cuttlebug folders are ideal for wedding and anniversary cards, I use them frequently - Swiss dots, D'vine Swirl and Texture being my favourites. Whether you are giving a cheque or a voucher, for whatever occasion, you might find this useful.

I used:
4" x 4" Cream Hammer card
4" x 2.1/2" Cream card for the pocket
2" x 2" Cream card for the embellishment
4" x 1" Pink card for the contrast on the pocket
CB Textile Texture folder
CB Wedding folder - Bride & Groom
Fiskar border punch - Sunburst
Round edge corner punch
Chalk, ribbon bow and gem


Emboss the front of the card with the Texture folder and round the corners. Chalk the edges - if you know the wedding colour scheme this is always a good choice.

Emboss the 4" x 2.1/2" piece of cream card matching the pattern to the front embossing - this is worth doing as you will see later.

Emboss the Bride and Groom on the 2" x 2" and round the corners - lightly chalk the edges. I added a heart gem in the same colour. Mount on card with foam pads.

For the pocket on the inside, first punch a border on the already embossed cream card and glue the pink strip under the punched pattern. This is where matching the pattern is important. Tape the sides and bottom, (you don't want to lose that cheque) and stick to card. Trim and round corners. This folder looks great embossed or debossed so you get a good look on the front, and inside front of the card, the D'vine Swirls folder also works well. I added a single page insert with a message.

My finished gift card - I think you will agree that it looks better than a plain envelope.
As I mentioned before, you could adapt this idea for any money or gift token gift card, it's very quick and easy to make, and Christmas is coming!!!!

Tippy Thursday - Score Board

When I first started crafting the first crafting tools I purchased was my scoreboard.  - it called Eazi Scorer and I use it on nearly every piece of crafting I do.

I mainly make my own card size with the help of my board, but even though it scores all weights of cardstock and tells me where to score for the size I want;  there are times when you fold  the card and find that the card is sligthly squiffy.  If you have had the same problem here a little tip:

After scoring,

 push the card up against the lip of the board (or any square edge) and then fold and crease - and your card edges will be straight.

Recently I saw a board called a Hougie - I liked it at lot!  To start with it matches my little green Bug, and I can see it being  a very useful aid to measuring novelty cards because of the lines being in cm and inches, but there are no card size measurements on it if you make your own cards!  So it looks like me having to have 2 boards!  Isn't easy to find reasons to buy a new tool!

Cuttlebug Textile Texture Folder - Wedding Card

Hi, the Cupboard is full of ideas and techniques and some get lost on the back shelves!  This card is one I made in August 09, and since it is an usual design I thought I would re-posting it for all the new visitors that drop by for a look in the cupboard.  Hope you like it!

I have made a number of wedding and anniversary cards lately, and have received queries on how I achieved the lines below my embossing. This I do with a score board - it is one of the most useful tools I have.

This is my most recent card that shows how effective lines can be.

I first printed the words on to a 6" x 6" card and then embossed the top half of the middle section with the Cuttlebug Textile Texture folder.

Then used the score board to emboss lines to frame to pattern.

Again using the score board, I added lines to the heart shape for interest. It's difficult to emboss die cut shapes and at the same time retain the embossed edge which I like, so this was an experiment which turned out well.
My finished card with a few bits and pieces added - actually the bouquet took longer to make than the card, but, I did enjoy doing it! AND, isn't that what crafting is all about!!
Thanks for dropping by, look forward to hearing from you.

Friday Followers Gallery

I recently posted a tutorial on how you can extend square or rectangle dies to accommodate your stamps, and I was really pleased when I had a message from Max saying that she found this idea useful and had use the technique successfully.

This is Max's super card which I'm putting into my Followers Gallery, it is actually her second card to appear there.  Drop by and see her work - you will not be disappointed.

Thanks Max for trying this, you worked the idea well!