Flying high...

Now that I've discovered the wonderful world of box cards, I keep coming up with loads of ideas that I want to try- so far this is definitely my favourite!

My colouring is not the greatest so I have signed up to a Skin & Hair class at Kit & Clowder. They ask you to colour an image before you start the class to compare to later on so I decided to colour a Mary Poppins digi that I love. I chose this because I had a great idea for a card so even though the colouring isn't brilliant, I think the card is.

Here it is...

I used a sheet of pale blue A4 cardstock to cut the box card base and then trimmed the flaps to just 5cm to show the base a little more. I used docrafts London dies to cut out 3 layers of London skyline and scored these to match the base of the box. I then attached them with plenty of double sided tape.

I cut DCWV blue cardstock (as it has a white core) to fit as mats for the flaps and back panel and then embossed them with a Clarity Stencils cloud design. I sanded back the card to show the white core through for the clouds and then edged each piece with white ink before adding to the card.

I then used scraps of blue card (from 2 card bases that didn't quite work) to make my interior supports for some clouds cut using the Cricut from some glitter card. I chose slightly different clouds from 3 different cartridges included in my subscription (Nate's ABC, The first few years & Groovy Times). I attached one cloud to the inside front of the box, 2 onto the 2 supports and one onto the back panel before adding the Mary Poppins digi, coloured with Spectrum Noirs & Promarkers, using foam pads.

I'm loving the fact that she's actually flying over the London skyline! :-)

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Fantabulous Cricut 'anything goes'
Crafts Galore 'stamp/digi' 31/7
Creative Inspirations 'anything goes' 8/7
A Blog Named Hero 'colour it in' 14/7
Catch the Bug 'anything goes' 19/7
Graph'It 'anything with an alcohol marker' 11/7

Super Sunflowers

I've been looking at 'pop up box cards' for a while and I really like the look of them however it wasn't until this week that I realised that they folded flat to go into an envelope. Now that I know that vital information (!) I thought I'd have a go at making one. I couldn't see the point before as how would anyone send it?

I've seen lots of people making them on the Cricut Explore Facebook page I'm a member of so I went back to those posts and looked at them a bit more closely. Everyone seemed to be recommending the templates at svgcuts.com so I went there. They have some brilliant designs for great prices and I got a set of 5 complete designs and 4 plain ones for less than £5. I started by making one of their set designs (floral box card) which I'm sure will get posted eventually but once I had the idea, I wanted to make my own design.

This is what I came up with

It uses DCWV papers, a sheet of 12x12 yellow cardstock and sunflower toppers (fake fabric flowers & chipboard). All of the small squares of patterned paper came from one striped 12x12 sheet that I cut down making the most of the different patterns. The taller front and back patterns came from another co-ordinating design. The different papers can be seen better in this photo.

The file from svgcuts cut out the card base and 2 inner topper holders. I used scraps of matching yellow card to create sticks for the flowers to stand out on.

I have made this card as a gift for the head teacher at my school. It has been a rough few weeks/month/year (!) and while some of us only have to deal with bits of it, she gets it all. She loves sunflowers so this will hopefully give her at least 1 smile tomorrow!

I am also entering this card into the following challenges:-
Crafting for All Seasons 'whatever the weather' 7/7 (sunflowers can make you feel sunny even on the wettest day!)
CRAFT challenge 'thank you' 2/7
The Pink Elephant 'anything goes' 7/7
Papertake Weekly 'anything goes' 8/7
Love to Create '3+ papers' 6/7
That Craft Place 'anything goes' 5/7

T.A.R.D.I.S.

Since I got my Cricut Explore, I have been a member of a fab Facebook group dedicated to helping each other out with any issues or good ideas we find. It's called 'let's learn cricut explore' and is well worth a look if you haven't found it.

A while ago, someone posted a photo of a brilliant doctor who card they had made using some svg's bought from a website I hadn't heard of before. The site is called Pretty Paper Pretty Ribbons and has a wide range of svg's available at great prices. I got 2 sets (the doctors and the doctors enemies) for less than £4 when converted via PayPal. They are quite complicated designs but the Cricut made it so easy.

The first thing I've made is this TARDIS shaped card. I have made one of these in the past but it took ages to work put all the sizes and cut everything by hand. This way was much quicker and neater.

I started by sizing the layered TARDIS to fit onto an A5 piece of card. I then copied the image, deleting all layers except the white base. I flipped this and then welded it to the base of the first image to make a shaped card base that would fit onto an A4 piece of card. I cut the other pieces from 3 different shades of blue as shown on both the image and the Cricut. I used double sided tape to layer up the different pieces.

The white windows are part of the design but the sign is not so I used one of the cut out sections as a template and drew onto some white card, cutting it slightly smaller to fit the aperture. I have left this blank as it would be perfect for a message. I also had to add the POLICE BOX label at the top by hand but I was lucky enough to win a Graph'It white marker a while ago and it was brilliant for this finishing touch.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Paper Shelter 'travel the world' 1/7 (I can't think of any other way to travel the world than in the TARDIS but please delete if it does not match your theme enough!)

Digi Choosday 'not a square' 8/7

Daring Cardmakers 'no scissors' 4/7 (everything done on my die cutting machine)

Crafty Catz 'anything goes' 3/7

Polkadoodles 'white & blue' 11/7

Caravan Holiday

I've been busy today making cards with some new goodies I got this week. I've been looking at the Polkadoodles Work and Play collections for a while so when there was a discount code on the Digi Choosday website this week I had to get them. Set 4 isn't yet available as a download so I just got sets 1, 2 and 3.

I made this card using elements from set 3

I really like these collections as they have pre-coloured digis as well as images that I can colour. I've used the pre-coloured option to make this card super quick. I printed the caravan to A5 size and the characters 9 to a page. I cut out the elements I wanted leaving a white border around the characters to help them stand out.

I then took a piece of A4 pale blue card and made a small stepper card using roughly 2/3 of the sheet. I attached some DCWV grass paper to the front step and then placed the deck chair man onto this step. I attached the caravan to the back step with double sided tape and used 3d foam on the lady.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Craft Room Challenge 'sun, sand & surf' 23/6
Crafting for all seasons 'no squares' 23/6
Graph' It 'blonde hair' 27/6
Digi Choosday 'pink' 1/7
Clear it out 'anything goes' 24/6
Cute card Thursday 'seaside' 25/6
Crafts Galore 'stamp or digi' 30/6
Crafting Musketeers 'stamp or digi' 30/6

Quad bike

I haven't had much time for crafting this weekend as I've been selling a few goodies at a local Vintage Rally. I made some tractor, train and car themed cards and they went down really well. I did manage to get in the craft room for a few minutes though and make this card.

It's a continuation on my plan to make at least 1card from each of my topper boxes (I think I've managed about 5 boxes now!)

I started with the circle Kanban topper of the quad bike, mounting it onto a mat I die-cut from a tread plate pattern DCWV paper. I wanted a background that reflected the muddyness of the topper but I didn't have anything suitable in my stash so I made my own. I cut a square of green card to just smaller than the 8x8 base card and then put some Walnut Stain distress ink onto my blending mat. I sprayed the ink with water and then laid the green card onto it to pick up the splattered ink. The damp ink caused the card to warp so I let it dry and then sprayed my table with a small amount of water and placed the back of my green card into the water. When it was slightly damp, I moved it to a dry spot and weighted it down with some paper pads. After a couple of minutes, it was flat again.

I attached everything to my base card, finishing with the speedo topper.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Crafty Cardmakers 'circles' 22/6
Digi Choosday '2 papers' 24/6
Papertake Weekly 'boys' 17/6
Cute Card Thursday 'so macho' 18/6
Penny's Paper Crafty Challenges 'anything goes' 17/6
Totally Gorjuss 'dad' 21/6
Love to Create 'anything goes' 22/6

and also the Creatalicious CT call which closes on July 15th- check it out here.

Potions class

Regular blog readers will know that I love anything Harry Potter and I've recently been crafting something for myself!

When I visited the Making of Harry Potter at Leavesden studios last year, I got hold of 3 house pennants (unfortunately the Gryffindor ones were sold out- good excuse to go back though!) and I've been looking for a way to display them ever since. I eventually found some large bottles in IKEA for just £1 each that were perfect. They looked a bit dull so I've Potterfied them a bit!

 The Skele-Gro bottle is an IKEA one, the 2 ribbed jars are from QD (the bigger one being only £2 which I thought was a bargain) and the smallest one was in a pack from The Range.

I started by using both acrylic and emulsion paints to coat the inside of the bottles. When dry, I added the labels which I found on Pinterest. The smallest bottle is ready for Felix Felicis (liquid luck) but doesn't quite have a label yet as I need to print out a super small version. I'm now on the lookout for more unusual jars and bottles and a box for a Bezoar!

I am entering this project into the following challenges:-
A Blog Named Hero 'not a card' 14/6

Fancy frills

This is most definitely a move away from my usual style of card and, to be honest, not something I'll probably repeat too often! I recently ordered 2 crafters companion die'sire embossing and cutting dies which is the first time I've bought such an item. I haven't had much time to play yet but it was perfect for the current Graph'It challenge entitled 'frills & fancy'. It can be good to take on a challenge and try something new but you won't see many cards like this on my blog! (I'm also not sure how the camera has made the central heart look pink as it's exactly the same card as the surround but...)

It was a pretty simple card to make with the die doing most of the work!

I took a piece of A4 pearlescent card and placed the die carefully at the top of what would become the front. I used my Grand Callibur to both cut and emboss the design onto the card. I then cut a piece of lace to slightly wider than the card and attached it to the back of a length of ribbon (with a heart buckle already placed) using double sided tape. I overlapped the lace to create the ruched effect and then attached the 'skirt' to the card with more double sided tape.

To create the hanging heart, I took the die cut heart and attached a small loop of invisible thread to it. I then placed a pearl onto the top of the heart aperture and used this as the hook for the heart to hang from. It is a very pretty card and I'm sure lots of people will like it, it's just a big departure for me!

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Graph'It 'frills & fancy' 13/6
Creative Inspirations 'anything goes' 10/6
Crafty Catz 'inspired by a song' 12/6- 'hanging onto your love' by Take That
Crafty Calendar 'petals and pearls' 4/7
Totally Gorjuss 'embossing' 14/6