Origami Valentine card

I love taking part in the card swaps on the Craft Telly forum, especially the secret swaps, where we play guessing games on the forum to try to identify the sender of each card.
I made this origami Valentines card for a recent secret swap - and no one managed to guess that it was from me :-)
These cards look quite complicated, but actually the process is really simple once you get the hang of it.
I made the origami panels from a selection of red patterned 12 x 12" papers (which makes 6" square panels).
You can of course also use smaller sheets of square paper to make a more compact book.
Once the basic book was made, I had fun embellishing the inside with a selection of stickers, brads, chipboard and flowers.

The topper on the front is cut from GoCreate dies, I've added a ribbon to tie the card together.
I followed this very clear YouTube tutorial to make the card:

Video demonstration of how to use rub on foils

I've just come across this YouTube video featuring Corinne Brad, including a great demonstration (which starts at 4 minutes and 25 seconds in) of how to use rub on foils.



The pen that Corinne is using is very similar to the Tonertex Write & Rub glue pen, the Sakura Quickie glue pen also works in the same way.

Foil Play stocks a huge selection of rub on foils, available to purchase individually or in kits.

Kanban Autumn Garden cards part 4

This is my last selection of cards made from the Kanban Autumn Garden collection. I really enjoyed making them, although not much else got done over the weekend, an occupational hazard of crafting!
The top two cards are 10" x 7" cards covered with two co-ordinating backing papers. The top paper on each has been edged with Martha Stewart border punches. The top paper on the card above is a textured K & Co paper.
The other cards are all A5 in size, the one below is an A4 sheet of matt gold pearlescent card, folded in half. Other embellishments on the cards include foiled ribbons from the Kanban Autumn Garden Coffee sheet, card candy from Craftwork Cards on the top card, swirls cut using Ellison dies, bling and pearl gems and a Card Art greetings topper on the card above.
For the card below, I embossed copper pearlescent card using the Crafts Too leafy tree embossing folder. The backing paper is from Hot off the Press.
I used every topper from four die cut topper sheets to make the cards in this series of blog posts, I do still have a few of the foiled ribbon strips left over.
The Autumn Garden Sundance Trees topper sheet is pictured above.

At Foil Play you can pick and choose the designs that you like and will actually use, rather than investing in a huge kit and p&p is free if you spend over £5.00. If you already have a kit, you might like to stock up with a few extra of the designs you particularly like.

Kanban Autumn Garden cards part 3

I love these flamboyant butterfly toppers from the Kanban Autumn Garden collection. The large ones have an extra body piece with can be mounted with silicone adhesive or foam pads for a 3D effect. I used two butterflies to a card as I thought they made beautiful pairs, but you could of course use them singly and get more cards out of the topper sheet.
I've used mats made with shimmer pearlescent card and Cuttlebug embossing folders at the centre of each card (the corners have been rounded with a corner chomper), for the one below I added an extra mat from gold mirri card. I've used a sentiment from Craftwork Cards on each card too, with a mat cut using the smallest scalloped circle nestabilities die. The card above has foiled butterfly ribbons from the Kanban Autumn Garden Coffee die cut ribbons sheet.
The first card is made from the Kanban A4 foiled Autumn Leaves, Copper card sheet, with the header cut off and folded in half. The second is a 10" x 7" card covered in a K & Co background paper and the card above is a purple Kanban foiled A4 card. I've added a few bling and pearl gems to the embossed mat on this card.
The Kanban die cut topper sheet that I used to make the cards is pictured above.

Kanban Autumn Garden cards part 2

On first glance, I wasn't too sure about the Kanban Autumn Garden Teal Flowers topper sheet - it didn't seem quite as inspiring as the other topper sheets in the collection. However I soon changed my mind when I popped out the flowers and started having a play with them - I think they look gorgeous, especially with a bit of Bling added to the flower centres. I also love the teal colour. I managed to use every flower on the sheet on the four cards here :-)
For the top two cards, I've used a circle cutter to cut out backgrounds from a blue paper which toned well with the flower and tree toppers. The top card is 7" square (cut down from a 7" x 10" card), the second is 6" square.

The central tree on the top card is mounted onto mats cut from scalloped and plain circle nestabilities, and the corner flowers have been mounted in layers, to add a bit of dimension. I used double sided tape for the ones at the edges, 1mm foam pads for the ones in the middle and 2mm foam pads for the largest flowers in the corner.

The background mat for the second card is cut using a Nellie Snellen round die, and I've mounted the flower toppers around the edge of the circle mat with foam pads (1mm for the small ones and 2mm for the large flower). The butterflies were cut from gold mirri card with a Martha Stewart punch.
The card above is a 7" x 10" card, covered in a co-ordinating paper. Again, I've mounted the large flowers higher than the smaller ones. If you watch craft on QVC, you'll have guessed that I bought the recent Martha Stewart punches TSV in the butterfly option. The large daisies have been made using the fan deep edged punch back to back on a 2.5" strip of the same shimmer card that I used for the scalloped mat.
The last card, above is an A5 card, with a Hot off the Press floral paper backing and central mat cut with a Nellie Snellen die. The centre strip is from the Kanban Autumn Garden Coffee die cut ribbons sheet.
The Kanban Autumn Garden Teal Flowers topper sheet is pictured above.

Cards made with Kanban Autumn Garden collection

I've been having a play with some of the Kanban Autumn Garden collection sheets, here are a few of the cards that I've created with them so far.
I've used toppers from the Woodland Toppers Teal and Sundance Trees sheets, along with die cut and foiled paper ribbons from the Autumn Garden - Coffee sheet.
The base card for the top card is the foiled Autumn Large Peonies Sage, and for the card below, Autumn Berries Copper. For both of these, I trimmed off the header strip and scored and folded the card to make an A5 card.
I've used the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots and Crafts Too Daisies embossing folders to make embossed mats, and Nestabilities to make the plain and scalloped circle mats.
I added a little ribbon to the top two cards, other finishing touches include card candy and sentiments (I cut the gold mats for these using nesties) from Craftwork Cards, a liberal sprinkling of Kanban Bling on the fourth card and a Card Art greetings banner on the last card.
The fancy scalloped mat on the card below is cut using a Nellie Snellen circular die.
One of the topper sheets that I used, Woodland Toppers Teal, is pictured below.
The Kanban Autumn and Spring garden collection features a beautiful selection of die cut toppers with co-ordinating card, foiled card and die cut paper ribbons. Co-ordinating clear rubber stamps are also available, along with a CD containing over 300 diverse background designs and extras (including sentiments, borders and more).

Monochrome cards for men, with Craft UK die cut decoupage

In contrast to my last card, with which I went a little overboard on the embellishments, here are three simple, but effective cards, made using monochrome effect die cut decoupage from Craft UK.
I've used Nestabilities labels and Go Create dies to create mats out of black pearlescent card, silver and red mirri card. I've layered them up with self adhesive foam pads, to create a bit of dimension. The greetings banners are all from a Craft UK die cut A4 sheet of birthday sentiments.
I used a 5 x 7 inch textured effect red card for the top card, a tall thin card for the middle card and an A4 sheet of black pearlescent card folded in two to make an A5 card for the last card.
The sheet of Craft UK die cut decoupage that I used to make all three cards is pictured above. The designs are printed in black and white, with silver foiled highlights. The same design sheet is also available in a colour option.

Dufex Craft Products

Some sad news today, I was told this morning by my agent for Dufex that the company went into voluntary administration over the weekend.

This doesn't necessarily mean the end of the company, it is possible that it may be sold on to a new owner. It will probably be a few weeks before the final outcome is known.

In the meantime, I'm afraid that I won't be able to restock any Dufex products that sell out, at least for the foreseeable future.

I'll update the blog if I hear any further definite news.