Christmas posting dates

As usual, Foil Play will be taking a break from posting orders over the Festive period. I will be despatching orders as usual until 14 December, so there is still time to make any purchases you need before Christmas.

The web site will be open for business over the festive period, but no orders will be despatched between 15 December 2010 - 3 January 2011. The first despatch date after Christmas will be Tuesday 4 January 2011. Any queries or questions over the festive period will be answered by 4 January.

Thank you very much indeed for your custom during 2010 - wishing you a very Merry Christmas and all the best for 2011!

Craftwork Cards Purple & Lime Christmas mini cards

I had fun making this selection of mini Christmas cards, which could also be used as gift tags.
The 4" x 4" mini aperture cards are from the Hunkydory Little Tweets collection - the purple colourway co-ordinated perfectly with the Craftwork Cards lime Christmas embellishments.
The card above uses a die cut from the Trim the Tree die cut collection, matted onto the centre from the Hunkydory aperture card.
The other die cuts are Craftwork Cards Trendy Trees die cuts, I've also used a Craftwork Cards Christmas greetings button on each card.
The Hunkydory Little Tweets mini aperture cards that I used are pictured above.

Craftwork Cards Purple & Lime Christmas collection

I had fun making this selection of 8" x 8" cards, using papers, toppers, tree die cuts, card candy and greetings from the Craftwork Cards purple & lime Tis the Season and Trim the Tree Christmas collections.
As you can see, the base papers are beautifully foiled, and only needed a few additional embellishments to make gorgeous cards.
Some of the other papers in the set are more suited to cutting and using in sections on smaller cards, so the pack is very versatile.
As you can see, I made co-ordinating pairs of cards, in reverse colourways. The lime has come out more yellow in some of the photos than it appears in real life.
I've used card candy to highlight elements of the background designs, and also to decorate the tree die cuts.
The only other elements needed to complete the cards were matching ribbons and a touch of bling.
The Craftwork Cards Tis the Season set of 8 x 8 foiled papers that I used to make these cards is pictured above.

Craftwork Cards Tis The Season cards

I ws organising my stash (as you do!), and after popping out all of the circular die cut greetings buttons from my Craftwork Cards Oh My Word sheets, it seemed a real shame to throw away the pearlescent card leftovers. I used them to make these two co-ordinating Christmas cards, with other elements from the Craftwork Cards purple & lime Christmas collections.
I trimmed the frames to fit two 6 x 6 purple cards (as I didn't have any lime card to hand!) then added some Fizzy Lime card candy, a topper on each card from the Tis the Season die cut sheets and co-ordinating greetings button. When applying the card candy, I took a tip from Dawn Bibby and stuck the foam pads to the card, then applied the candy - much easier than doing it the other way around.
The Tis the Season die cut topper sheets that I used are pictured above.

Kanban Woolly Bears Christmas cards

I made these two Christmas cards from the Kanban Woolly Bears Winter Fun die cut decoupage sheet. Rather than using all the layers as decoupage, I saved two of them to use as separate toppers, so I still have a spare bear for another card.
As you can see, the first card is a tent card. This is a great new style of card from Kanban, available in packs of cream & white, or deep colours. You just need to secure one flap with glue or tape, and the card is assembled, simples! The cards fold flat for posting and are easy for the recipient to unfold too.
I used Crafts Too Christmas 6" x 6" backing papers for both cards, rounding the edges with a corner chopper for the tent card. I also managed to part with a couple of snowflake brads to embellish the tent card.
I finished off the second card with co-ordinating ribbon and a Craftwork Cards greetings button.
The Kanban die cut decoupage sheet and blank tent cards that I used are pictured above.

Hunkydory Christmas & Woodland Elegance, Raindrop's Diary & more

A huge selection of new Hunkydory products is now in store at Foil Play - you may have seen many of these demonstrated on Create and Craft TV.
New products include:

• Christmas Elegance toppers & co-ordinating card;
• Other Christmas toppers;
  
• Woodland Elegance toppers & co-ordinating card;
• Raindrop's diary die cut decoupage kits;
  
• Christmas kinetic card kits; and
  
• Lots of cardstock & envelopes, including shaped cards and true 6" x 6" square cards (great for using with 6" x 6" paper pads)
  

Both the Christmas and Woodland Elegance ranges feature a selection of beautiful foiled toppers and foiled and deeply embossed card, in a range of beautifully co-ordinating rich colours.
I have also stocked up on existing designs, including Paper Laughs decoupage, although many of these have been discontinued now.
If you check out the main Hunkydory page at Foil Play, you can browse either by format (e.g. toppers, decoupage, pyramount) or by theme. As ever at Foil Play, p&p is free on orders over £5.00.

Christmas mini book with Kanban Elegance toppers

I made this mini Christmas book card using a couple of sheets of double sided 12 x 12 Basic Grey paper and a selection of toppers, including Kanban Elegant Christmas reindeer and poinsettia toppers.
I got the idea for the booklet from a gorgeous card made as part of a recent Halloween card swap on the Craft Telly forum. My much less elaborate version is made from two sheets of 12 x 12 double sided paper. Each has been folded in half, then corners folded in on themselves to make pockets, as in the picture below.
As the pockets were quite large, I used strong double sided tape on the inside, to close them up a little and make them a better fit for the tags. The tags were cut using an Ellison Scalloped tags die from co-ordinating papers, and I decorated them with toppers and ribbons from an Anna Griffin Christmas kit.
The Kanban Christmas Elegance toppers co-ordinated beautifully with the papers, I've used larger toppers in the middle of the book and smaller ones to decorate the second pair of pockets, below.
I don't have a binding machine, which would have achieved a more even finish. I bound the book by punching holes with my cropodile, after placing the binding wire along the back of the book and marking out the placement of the holes beforehand. I closed up the binding wire manually. I realised rather belatedly after making the mini book that it would have been much easier with a larger diameter binding wire.
The greetings panel stickers on the front and back covers of the mini book are also from an Anna Griffin Christmas kit.
The sheet of Kanban Elegant Christmas reindeer toppers that I used is pictured above.

3in1 stacker decoupage from National Crafts

3in1 decoupage is a great new idea from National Crafts (G18), now in store at Foil Play. There is a wide range of gorgeous images, suitable for a variety of recipients.
Each sheet is produced on top photo quality 250gsm decoupage paper and contains three beautiful projects:

• Project 1: Sepia or Mono corner step stacker (a new and simple three layer decoupage design)
• Project 2: Colour corner step stacker
  
• Project 3: Inkable topper created from the original image, for you to fill with colour using your professional markers.
  

Each sheet also contains co-ordinating banner elements, instructions and diagrams showing how to layer up the corner stacker decoupage. These are traditional decoupage sheets, so scissors are needed!

Christmas stamp themed cards using Dufex Pyramex

Angie made these clever and really unusual postal themed Christmas cards, using the Dufex Posting Letters Christmas Pyramex decoupage sheet.
As you can see from the close up of the card above, Angie also used a Craftwork Cards Christmas button greeting.
Instead of layering up the decoupage, Angie has used the layers as individual toppers, thus getting more cards out of the sheet.
The Dufex Pyramex sheet that Angie used to create these cards is pictured above.

Dandelion, Fabulous and Vintage Memories stamps from the Crafthouse Press

A versatile collection of new rubber stamps from the Crafthouse Press is hot off the presses at Foil Play!
The collection includes cute Dandelion designs, Fabulous cupcakes, lingerie and shoes, a selection of wedding words and something for men too with the Vintage Memories sport designs.

All of the stamps are ready trimmed and backed with Kling-On, so all you need to do is mount them straight onto an acrylic block. Each stamp also comes in beautiful packaging illustrating how it can be coloured.

Christmas Greetings cards with Kanban toppers

I made these cards from the Kanban Christmas Greetings die cut toppers sheet, a selection of beautifully foiled letter blocks, spelling out Christmas greetings.
The squares are quite large, so I decided to use 'PEACE' on an origami card, along with a couple of toppers from the Special Christmas Sentiments topper sheet. I used a selection of 8 x 8 inch Papermania papers to make the card. I blogged about a previous origami card that I made here, including a link to the video tutorial that I followed to make it.
I used a 7 x 10 inch card for 'NOEL', mounting the letters onto Kanban foiled card: Merry Christmas Wrap from the Snow Buddies collection and Merry Christmas Damask from the Winter Wonderland collection. I also used straight border peel offs over the join between the two cards.
'JOY' has been used on an A5 card. I used a HOTP backing paper and another section of the Merry Christmas Wrap foiled card. I finished the card with a Craftwork Cards greetings button and some card candy.
The Kanban die cut topper sheet that I used to make these cards is pictured above. Foil Play stocks a huge range of Kanban Christmas toppers and co-ordinating card and paper.

Craftwork Cards Christmas Die Cuts, flowers, Back2Basics cards and card candy

Some delicious new treats are now in store at Foil Play from Craftwork Cards, including the very contemporary purple and lime Christmas collection of die cuts, messages, card candy and co-ordinating 8 x 8 papers.
Foiled elegant and blocks messages have been added to the existing range of Oh My Word Christmas greetings, providing a touch of luxury and elegance for your cards. The new Christmas messages are foiled onto ice white pearlescent cardstock which can be coloured with pro-markers, ink pads or other media to co-ordinate perfectly with your projects.

Craftwork Cards greetings are usually retailed in packs of four sheets - at Foil Play the sheets are available individually, so you can put together the exact selection of your choice.
I have replenished stocks of card candy, and added new Christmas colours, including Holly Berries, Vintage Berries, Winter Blues and Fizzy Lime. If you haven't seen Card Candy before, it is a really clever idea - pearlescent and metallic shaped circles of card which are like brads, but without the legs. They come in a gorgeous array of colour co-ordinated packs with a generous amount in each. Stick them onto your project with either foam pads or silicone glue
Craftwork Cards flowers are die cut from pearlescent cardstock to make beautiful embellishments for your card and craft projects. You can use them plain, colour the edges or the whole flower, stamp onto them, add card candy or brads to centres, curl and shape the petals.
I've also increased the range of Back2Basics cards and envelopes available. The 6 x 6 elegant shaped card design pictured above is already proving very popular. A4 Digital cardstock is also new, perfect for downloads, colouring and stamping.