Star of Wonder... with Papermilldirect

Hello again, today I'm sharing a quick Christmas card  I've made using this week's special offer card Canary Yellow from +papermilldirect . This is a lovely shade of yellow and being 240gsm is perfect for cardmaking, you can get your hands on a small box of A4 for the extra special price of just £3-50 whilst stocks last.

To create my card base I scored and folded an A4 sheet of PMD White Linen card and then trimmed it down to approx 5.5" square. The card will be used in 'tent' position with the fold at the top.

I thought I would test the Canary Yellow card in my Cricut Explore and created this 2 layered Christmas Star ornament shape, I chose the shape from the 'Quilted Ornaments' design set / cartridge, which is free if you have the subscription.   The intricate design top layer cut perfectly in my Explore and I cut a bottom layer from PMD Ultra White Pearlised to add a subtle sparkle, using cosmic shimmer clear drying glue to adhere the layers together.

Using my Explore and a black pen, I cut a square of PMD White Linen card approx 4 5/8" square and 'attached' some text to run along the bottom, the sentiment being 'Star of Wonder', I wanted to add a modern look and went with 'Wonder Star of Wonder Star' so that it stretched across the bottom of the white linen square.  I must confess that my black Cricut pen has run out and so I have improvised and am using a Black Pilot V5 pen instead which I am pleased to report has given a great result on the linen textured card.

A square of Canary Yellow card was cut at approx 5" square as a mat layer to add the pop of colour that will cordinate with the star shape, and the text square was adhered ontop using double sided tape.  I found some elasticated gold twine and wrapped it across the top of the card and secured the ends on the back with strong doubled sided tape.  The panel was then mounted onto the card front  using 3D foam pads to give height.

I wanted to keep a clean simple look to the star, as a lot of the design element is in the cut out detailing, so I just added a faux pearl to the centre and a few clear adhesive gems, before mounting the star to the card front using 3D foam pads.  I positioned the star at an angle and added a bow of gold fluted ribbon to the loop so that it looks as if the ornament is hanging from one of the strings of gold twine.

This was a really quick idea and quick to make, I was happy with how it turned out and how well this particular shade of yellow worked for a Christmas theme.

Materials Used:
Canary Yellow 240gsm - Special Offer Card - Papermilldirect
White Linen Card - Papermilldirect
Ultra White Pearlised Card - Papermilldirect
Gold Twine, Gold Ribbon, Adhesive Pearl and Clear Gems - from stash
Adhesives used: Cosmic Shimmer clear drying glue, 3D foam pads, double-sided tape
More ideas for using Papermilldirect cardstocks with a Cricut machine can be found by using this quick link here:http://pollypurplehorse.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/cricut

Papermill Design Team:
if you have a moment, please do pop over and check out the other papermill teamies blogs and see what they got up to this week: 

• Barbara 
• Lisa 
• Ruth 
• Sylvia 
• Sandie
• Nessa 
• Nicole
• Papermilldirect Inspire Blog  

Wicked Wishes...with Papermilldirect

Hello, this week the +papermilldirect DT have been working on Halloween makes and I have this card to share with you.  There are some fabulous shades of cardstock in the Papermilldirect colours range just perfect for Halloween makes like my favourite Purple Grape along with Bright Orange, Apple Green and of course Black.  I created this little shaped card by using one of the Halloween images in Cricut Design Space, I duplicated the base layer and flipped it, moving it up against its mirror image and overlapping it before aligning both shapes along the bottom and then selecting ‘weld’ to form the base of a shaped card that can be folded in half. 

If you’d like to make this card this is my Design Space link which means that you don’t need to do the mirroring and welding steps at all, it is already done for you and all the pieces are sized, colour coordinated and ready to just press ‘go’.  When you have the pieces cut out, just score and fold the purple base card in half to form the card base, layer up the other shapes and glue together using a clear drying glue and decorate as desired.

 

When using my Cricut to cut images I often like to add some detail to what would otherwise be ‘flat’ shapes.  For this design I chose to use some embossing folders through my manual die cutter machine.  You can see the embossed detail adds more interest and makes for a more tactile card.  For the Sentiment of ‘Wicked Wishes’ I used a collage embossing folder.  I also used some Stickles glitter glue in ‘Mercury Glass’ to edge around the words and added some dots of Liquid Pearls in a black colour.

To decorate the hat part of the card I added different sized gold and silver sequins, filled the star cut-outs with the Stickles glitter glue and used it to outline the green star too.  Little dots of black Liquid Pearls were added to the centres of the sequins, star and also on the green hatband, along with dots of Stickles glitter glue.  It's fun to experiment with embossing folders and I like to mix and match electronic cutting with other techniques. What do you think? Are you working on Halloween designs?   or using embossing folders?  Why not share your makes over on the papermilldirect facebook page, we'd love to see them, Angela x

Materials:
Purple Grape Card - Papermilldirect
Bright Orange Card - Papermilldirect
Apple Green Card - Papermilldirect
Black Card - Papermilldirect
Cosmic Shimmer glue – Creative Expressions
Stickles ‘Mercury Glass’ – Ranger
Liquid Pearls ‘Onyx Pearl’ – Ranger
Tim Holtz ‘Collage & Notebook’ embossing folders – Sizzix
Gold & Silver sequins
my Cricut Design Space link: https://uk.cricut.com/design/#/canvas/32014804

Papermill Design Team:
if you have a moment, please do pop over and check out the other papermill teamies blogs and see what they got up to this week: 

• Barbara 
• Lisa 
• Ruth 
• Sylvia 
• Sandie
• Nessa 
• Nicole
• Papermilldirect Inspire Blog  

Wishing you a Sparkly Christmas!!

Hello I'm back again with this week's +papermilldirect  post and I was hoping to post the details of this week's Special Offer but it seems it has sold out already!!  However if you pop on over to the Special Offers section there are still some other delights to tempt you, and perhaps a browse through the card and paper selections too?  (As always all links to materials, DT Blogs and Challenges Entered appear at the end of the post).

So onto my make for this week which is a little shaped Christmas card idea which has been inspired not only by the beautiful papermilldirect cardstocks, but by 2 new additions to my crafting stash.   The Little Claire’s snowman stamp (which I was lucky enough to win recently) and the Crealies Patchwork dies which I have had my eye on for quite a while now. 

I started off by using the large circle die within the Crealies set to die-cut 2 large circles from Papermilldirect White Linen cardstock, one for the card front and one will be the back.  The Crealies die set also comprises of nesting shapes that you can assemble to create different patterns (patchwork effects) to make your own simple or more involved designs.  I chose to keep it simple for my first test and used 2 of the nesting quarter circle shapes.  I cut the larger one 4 times from the PMD Ocean Blue card and the slightly smaller one 4 times from the White Linen card.  The sentiment of ‘ Wishing you a Sparkly Christmas’ was stamped onto one of the white linen quarters using black Memento ink, before stamping I took the clear stamp and curved it a little on the stamp block so that it would roughly follow the curve of the shape.  I then glued the smaller shapes on top of the larger ones using a clear drying glue as this allowed me a little time to ‘wriggle’ them into place.  I then glued the completed quarters onto one of the large White Linen circles, evenly spacing it out, using the clear glue again is very helpful to achieve an even space (there is also a downloadable template available to help with spacing the patchwork dies).  As it is a symmetrical design you can arrange the segments however you wish, I chose to position the stamped sentiment segment at the bottom.

To create the card blank, I took the other large white linen circle shape and scored a line across the top of the back a little way down, just over an 1”, I then cut a very small piece of card off the bottom, this will enable the card to stand by itself, unless you want your card to rock n’ roll, which is also a fun alternative I have used sometimes.  Add clear drying glue or double sided tape to the inside back section above the score-line and stick it to the back of your segmented card front, you should now have a circular card that stands up.

Using black ink to stamp the cute snowman image onto papermilldirect White Linen card, I then coloured with a variety of First Edition alcohol marker pens (all colour details below), extra details were added with a white pen.  When the image was dry I used a set of circle dies, a smaller one to cut the image and a slighter larger one to mat it, again using some of the clear drying glue to adhere.  3D foam pads were used to adhere the snowman panel to the centre of the card front, giving a little extra height and dimension.

To add some extra detail & sparkle to the design and to fit the theme, I used snowflake & star dies and added different glitter glues to each one, silver and crystal colours, also adding a tiny dab to some of the snowflakes in the stamped image.  I was quite pleased with how the new dies set works and look forward to more experimenting with them and I love the cute snowman stamp, it was easy to colour and having the matching sentiment in the set was really useful.  I do like stamping and colouring onto textured card and the Papermilldirect Linen card gives such a great tactile finish.

Materials Used:
White Linen Card – Papermilldirect
Ocean Blue Card – Papermilldirect
Clear Stamp - ‘Have a Sparkly Christmas’ – Little Claire Designs
Die Set - Modern Patchwork No. 1 – Crealies
Die Set – Circles Framelits #657551 – Sizzix
Die Set – Snowflake #2 – Cuttlebug / Provocraft
Ink Pad – Tuxedo Black - Memento
Alcohol Markers – First Edition
(Holly = 26 Jade, 16 Ruby, Hat = 02 Cool Grey, 03 Slate, Carrot Nose = 41 Satsuma, 42 Pumpkin, Hatband & Scarf = 21 Cornflower, 19 Baby Blue, Twig Arm = 49 Tan, Outline Shading = 01 Light Grey)
Glitter Glue – Crystal and Silver
White Pen – Pergamano
Adhesives – Clear Drying Cosmic Shimmer Glue, 3D Foam Pads

 Challenges Entered:
Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes Challenge - Link Here
Crafty Cardmakers and More - Challenge #149 Circular Cards - Link Here

Papermill Design Team:
if you have a moment, please do pop over and check out the other papermill teamies blogs and see what they got up to this week: 

• Barbara 
• Lisa 
• Ruth 
• Sylvia 
• Sandie
• Nessa 
• Nicole
• Papermilldirect Inspire Blog  

A Sweet Little Girl.....back to basics New Baby card with Papermilldirect

Hello, welcome to this weeks +papermilldirect  post and it's a bit of a back to basics card project.  This one is ideal for those that may not have Electronic cutting machines or manual die-cutters or punches.  It is also ideal for those that are maybe not as confident with inks and stamping and the colouring is easy with no tricky shading.  Or perhaps like me, you just fancy doing something simpler for a change.  The card is a simple design and you could of course colour your image using pencils or even paper-piecing if you prefer.  The design can also make use of any ribbons, buttons or flowers you may already have in your craft stash.
I started by printing off the downloaded Image set (details at end of post) onto Papermilldirect White Linen Paper, You could also use the White Linen Card if preferred.  The image set I chose prints 4 to an A4 sheet, so plenty to practice on if you want to test your colour combos. 
My Chosen Elephant image was coloured with alcohol marker pens in shades of pink by block colouring each section, so no shading to worry about.  I used 3 shades of pink for the elephant and a touch of yellow for the bow and inside the white flower.  The grass area was created by simply dotting randomly with the tips of 2 different green shades of marker.  I allowed the marker pens to dry fully before adding some extra details with a white gel pen.  It’s easy to add simple polka dots to areas such as the legs, tail and inside ears, for the body I doodled simple flower shapes, the white became brighter and more noticeable as the white ink dried and I added some to the white flower the elephant is holding.

 I trimmed the completed image panel down to approx. 3 ¾ “x 4 ¾ “and matted & layered it first onto a slightly larger piece of PMD Raspberry Pink card and then again onto a slightly larger panel of PMD Daffodil Yellow card using a combination of clear drying glue and double sided tape.  To complete the panel a pink ribbon was attached across the bottom and the ends secured onto the back using double sided tape.  A pale yellow felt flower was glued to the right hand side and topped with a pink button threaded with twine tied in a bow. 
To create the card blank, I took an A4 sheet PMD White Linen card in portrait position and cut down at approx. 5”, then scored and folded the piece in half to give a 5” x 5 ¾” card base.  The completed layered panel was then attached to the front using 3D foam pads.
I really liked the colour combination of pink and yellow teamed with the bright white of the card base.  Using Linen paper and card added texture and interest and Linen always gives such a lovely quality finish to your projects.

For more Baby Card inspiration using Papermilldirect cardstocks check my Blog Links (HERE)



Materials Used:
Baby Elephant – Digital Image set £1 – Pink Petticoat
http://www.pinkpetticoat.co.uk/digi_stamps_boutique/digi_stamps_baby_elephant/baby_elephant.php
(Download prints 4 elephants to a page or single images, includes with sentiments and without sentiments, Sentiments are ‘A Sweet Little Girl’, ‘A Sweet Little Boy’ and ‘Welcome Little One’)

White Linen Paper - Papermilldirect
White Linen Card - Papermilldirect
Raspberry Pink Card – Papermilldirect
Daffodil Yellow Card – Papermilldirect

Pink, Yellow & Green Markers - First Edition
(Sorbet (43) Candy (44) Pale Pink (46) Lemon (38) Pistachio (25) Jade (26))
White Gel Pen 0.7 – Pergamano
‘With Love’ Sentiment Ribbon – Belle & Boo
Felt Flower, Button, & Twine from stash
Adhesives:  Cosmic Shimmer Clear Drying Glue, 3D Foam Pads, Double Sided Tape

Papermill Design Team:
if you have a moment, please do pop over and check out the other papermill teamies blogs and see what they got up to this week: 

• Barbara 
• Lisa 
• Ruth 
• Sylvia 
• Sandie
• Nessa 
• Nicole
• Papermilldirect Inspire Blog  

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