Heavenly Crafts

Well, I am making an early start (for once!) on my 2013 calendars.  I give these as Christmas gifts, making an A4 size calendars for ladies, and a 4x6 desktop calendar for men.  So far, I have made the desktop calendars as I was able to use these calendar grids from Nibbles Skribbles:

These are really so easy to use.  They come as a png file and all you have to do is drag them onto your calendar page for the relevant month and resize as necessary - it took longer to sort out which photos to use than it did to create each page!  If you make your own calendars, then these are ideal.  You can find them at The Studio and the preview above is linked to the store.

This is what I ended up with (you'll have to excuse the poor quality of the photo as the lighting in my office is terrible.):




The cover page was just a photo with the title added, and you can see how the calendar is put together from the side shot.  I cut two pieces of card stock 4" by 8", scoring each piece at 6".  After binding using my Bind-it-All, the short ends were folded over and stuck together to form the base of the calendar so it would stand up firmly.

These are the individual pages - I've just used the jpegs here as I was feeling lazy and didn't want to photograph each page and then make the preview (in my defence, it has taken me nearly 7 hours to make this calendar!):  








I used Scriptina and Calibri fonts.

These calendar grids are so easy to use and it will definitely make my life easier when it comes to making the A4 calendars!  

Well, it's now 10:45 pm here, so I'm off to get a well deserved glass of red wine!  Happy scrapping!

2 solid papers

1 frame

2 flowers

1 star scatter

1 overlay

1 brad

1 tag

1 journaling tag

1 leaf

1 photo and

1 cluster

Later today we are off to see our eldest son and his girlfriend as they have just moved into a new home after several weeks (it probably seemed liked years to my son!) of living with her parents.  So, in honour of their new home, this is the card I have made them both:

In actual fact, this card is slightly different form how I envisaged it, as originally, there was going to be no black matting around the city image.  However, when I stamped a message on the inside of the card, I ended up messing it up (I know, how embarrassing is that?!!!) so decided to just use the top half of the card on a new A6 card and layer it!

It probably looks better layered anyway, so it all turned out all right, and since our son does not as yet have internet connection, there is no chance of him seeing this card before we get there later today......unless he checks on his phone, of course, although I am sure he has better things to do than check what his mum is getting up to!

I have also had the pleasure of working with another new kit from one of the designers at The Studio.  this time is is with Alive Again by jusme digital, and oh, it is lovely:


I love those greens and greys together, really effective and there are some gorgeous papers in the kit too :).  Well, this kit just called out for a card box with matching cards and envelopes.  I saw a pizza box tutorial (which you can find HERE) a while ago and have been longing to use this.  I used a sheet of A4 cardstock and printed 4 different cards on this using elements from the kit (I actually included 7 of the cards in the box) and made matching envelopes using a printed kit paper.  This is the finished box:




And here it is with the cards and envelopes:


I duplex printed two different papers on card stock and then punched out the flowers using to create the flower on the top of the box.  The envelops were basically cut out to fit the card (just rectangles scores on both long sides at 0.5" and then in the middle to fit the card, and 1.5" from the scalloped edge.I used a scallop edge punch on one side of the paper before I cut and scored it.  I left the cards blank inside so they can be used for anything (apart, obviously, from the one that has "happy birthday" on the front!)

I love this kit and Christine's other kits are just as gorgeous so why not pop over to The Studio to take a look?  The Studio are also having Designer and Layout contests, both of which I am entering, although where I am going to find the time I really don't know....still, you have to do something other than number crunching all day, don't you?!!!!

Well, I'm off to take a look at the Designer contest now and the pack for our trip up north so have fun whatever you are doing this weekend!

Happy Scrapping!

Well, this is one of the projects I had every intention of completing whilst we were on holiday but without my scoring tool, I was completely lost!  So, this weekend was an ideal time to catch up and get this finished, so after a couple of evenings work, here it is.  

I was lucky enough to have the chance to work with the July Project 365 kit form Digilicious Designs and it is truly scrumptious:

The polka dot paper is gorgeous, and the tags are just perfect.  I really love this kit.  Mind you, I've said that about the earlier six months' worth too ;)!

Anyhow, this is what I came up with:


I made the cover from A4 cardstock and covered it with paper on the front but inside, I used kit papers printed on card for added strength as the cardstock was rather flimsy for a cover.  The scalloped edged paper was made using a Stampin' Up! punch and the lace was bought whilst on holiday in Wales.  I used two pieces of lace and placed them back to back so the edges overlapped to form a solid line.  



It looks rather effective, doesn't it?

I finished the cover off with washi tape at the top and bottom. I think this may be Tim Holtz tape but can't be sure - I really need to start keeping a proper record of exactly what is in my stash so I don't end up buying the same thing twice, which I have done before (and I know I am not the only one who does this!!!).  I nearly bought a Stampin' Up! die that I already have last week - now that would have been an expensive mistake ;).

The inside pages were cardstock covered with the printed kit papers and embellished using elements from the kit:




These Project 365 kits are really just made for making albums.  They are gorgeous and the great thing with them being digital, is you can print them out to any size you want so can make a large(ish) album like this one or a small one using wages envelopes for instance.  I just love the adaptability of digital kits!

Well, the next album I make I am going to try and remember to take photos in the process as I am keen for as many people as possible to try these out!

Well, a glass of red wine is calling out my name now, so I am off to answer the call.  And before you ask, I do only have the one glass (and no, it is not a pint glass ;) ).

Happy Scrapping!

Well, we had a lovely relaxing time in wet Wales, and actually managed to avoid a lot of the rain, although there were several days when I thought we could be flooded out as the rain was so heavy!  I've transferred the photos to my hard drive now, so watch this space as I am sue to post some as and when I get the chance.  Unfortunately, I am now on a mammoth catch up to get all the work done I should have been doing whilst we were away.  the trouble with being self employed is that when you take time off, the work just does not get done so, of course, that means no fee notes are sent out and no money comes in....looks like I'm going top be extra busy for the foreseeable future ;).


Of course, what I really want to be doing is crafting and I did manage to make some cards whilst I was away.  I would have made more (I had plans to make several albums and some pencil boxes) but I ended up forgetting my score board and was at a complete loss!

This is the kit I had fun with though:

Isn't it gorgeous?  I love Aimee's kits and they just see to get better and better!  Those journal cards are lovely, and I was going to make something with those or the stackables (which are truly gorgeous ;)) but then I saw these:



I originally started off making cards, etc digitally, so did not have a lot of equipment (Big Shot, dies, punches, stamps and so on) to start off with, so I decided to make cards using just the kit and templates (but I did end up cheating and used some antique ribbon on one of the cards though ;) ).  After all, if all you have is the digital kit (which you can print as many times as you like), can you really make cards and stuff without adding anything or having to have all the necessary tools?

Well, this is the proof that you don't have to have lots of gadgets, ribbon,  buttons and so on:




Pretty neat, huh (and modest of me, too!!!)?  The bottom card was created using one of the templates.  I made a digital scrapbook page as you would normally, then scaled everything down to fit an A6 card,  transferred each paper and element separately onto an A4 image and then printed everything out.  I then had the long job of cutting everything out, which is the one thing that always seems to take the longest time!  You really do need decent scissors for this though, especially for the fussy cutting out, and I use the Stampin' Up! Paper Snips.  They are just about the best small scissors I have ever used!

Anyhow, I then used my original scrap page as a guide (although this was complicated by the fact that my youngest son was trying to play Minecraft on my laptop at the same time as I kept checking the scrap page ;)).  The final card is not quite as per the template and I put that down entirely to my son hogging my laptop!

The top card was made using slightly different elements and papers from the kit but this time with no template.

As you can see, whilst my cutting out is not 100% perfect (probably far from it unfortunately), it just shows you can make cards using digital kits which is an added bonus, as you will never ever in out of the digital paper and embellishments provided you don't delete the files form your hard drive ;).

Why don't you have a go and see what you can come up with?  You might even surprise yourself!!!  If you do use a digital kit to make real life cards, please leave a link in the comments so I can see what you have done :).

Happy Scrapping!

I can't believe it is over two weeks since I last posted! The time has flown by and yet again work has been busy, but this time, I also managed to fit some crafting time in, including helping at the Stampin' Up! demonstrator table at the Wrexham Artstamps Fair.  That was totally exhausting but such fun!

Since then I have been desperately trying to get this album finished.  I was using one of Christine's gorgeous Project 365 kits, this time the June one:

Isn't it gorgeous?  Mind you, I say that about every month's Project 365 kit as I love each and every one of them ;)!

Well, this time (just for a change) I decided to make an album and this is what I ended up with:


The above is the front and back covers, the first two inside pages ad some close ups of some of the elements in the album.  Just look at that bird - there is such depth to it, even though it is just printed on cardstock and cut out so is completely flat.  

The flowers on the front cover were made using Woodware punches - I have 3 flower punches (the same basic shape) in different sizes so they were ideal for this.  




And the above photos are of the remaining inside pages.  I used the notecards from the kit as journalling cards and then printed and cut out the elements to add to each page.  The ribbons, eyelets and baker's twine are from my stash and the album is made from kraft cardstock with the papers matted and the edges distressed for effect.  the whole idea for the album came from Kathy Orta at Paper Phenomenom.  That girl is sooo good!  this album was adapted from the Mini Album Canvas Art, although obviously, I only made the album (resized to fit the cardstock I had) and missed the canvas.

Oh, and the curled flowers in the top right of the above photo?  I printed paper in a circle shape (using Photoshop) onto plain white cardstock.  I then cut out the circle and cut it inside on ever decreasing circles so I ended up with one long circular piece of cardstock which I then curled up to make the flower.

Not bad, eh (and modest too as always!!!)?!!! 

I'm actually finding it easier to make these now so obviously, all the practice has paid off!  Plus I have my first commission!!!!  My daughter's boyfriend has requested one for his mum and is actually going to pay me too!  Woohoo!  Only trouble is, I need to find the time to make it now!

Well, that's all from me for now.  I need to crack on with work and also have a kit form Aimee Harrison that I need to get started.  I'm thinking of making cards and printing them out so no cutting and glueing this time around!  I honestly don't know how I will manage it....I'm sure to end up adding ribbon at the very least!

Happy scrapping!

I am ashamed to say that I have had this album finished and on my desk for over a week now, but just haven't found time to post all the photos and, wait for it, this is a first for me, as I have a video too!  Not, however, a video tutorial (I have those in the pipeline!) but just showing you the album in all its glory (well, I was pleased with it at any rate ;) ).


And exactly what, I hear you ask, is this album then?  Well here it is:

Isn't it gorgeous?!!!  I just love this, and I think my daughter has her eye on it too as the first thing she said when she saw it was that it was in all her favourite colours....if that wasn't a hint, I don't know what is!


Surprisingly enough, this was actually made using a male oriented kit, One in a Million which is a collaboration from Aimee Harrison Design Studios and Snickerdoodle Designs and, what is even better, is that it is the bundle is special offer right now too!




My eldest reckons I have trouble making male cards, etc. and judging by all the papers I selected from this kit, I reckon he is right!  I have a tendency to want to add flowers and butterflies to absolutely everything....


Anyhow, I thought I would show you how this was made and then you can all have a go and let me see what you come up with!  I got the idea from Susan Lui who part of the team at Graphic 45 (don't you love their papers and kits too?!!!).  Whilst she has a tutorial on her blog, this is my version.


Firstly, you need to sheets of  heavy weight cardstock 6" by 6".  I actually used an empty Cornflake box for mine.  Put double sided tape or glue one side like so:




Then stick a sheet of 7" by 7" paper to these.  I used one of the papers from the kit printed on A4 copy paper and cut to size.  If you cut the corners of the paper, you will find you can stick it down without adding too much bulk at each corner.  It also helps if you bend the paper round the bottom of the cardstock to help get a cleaner, crisper edge:






This photo really shows up the Cornflakes box nicely, doesn't it ;)?!!!


I then placed both covers wrong side up about one inch apart and stuck ribbon all the way round:






I actually went overboard and covered the reverse side too, although I needn't have bothered as almost the whole of the inside cover ends up being covered by the inside pages.  You can see above where I matched up some of the paper, but it doesn't show on the finished album. Of course, if I wasn't bothered about my ink cartridge running out (it ran out the next day!) I wouldn't have been scrimping and saving on the printing and would have printed a second sheet to so there were no gaps....but then if I had read Susan's instructions all the way through properly first, I would have known there was no need to cover the inside, sigh!


So then the next thing to make was the pages for the inside.  For this, I used two sheets of A4 cream cardstock cut down to 5 3/4" width.  Susan cut hers to 5 3/4" by 11 3/4" but A4 card is actually just a fraction smaller at 11.7".  I reckoned the 0.05" difference wouldn't matter!  the card stock was then scored at 5 3/4" and then at 1" intervals just on one side from there:






Then using sticky tape (I used the red stuff as it is stronger than ordinary double sided tape but you could use hot glue, PVA or any other strong glue) stick the two sheets of cardstock together with the creased sides in the middle:










You can see it is beginning to take shape already as the folds are where the inside pages will be stuck.


Then add more sticky tape like so:




Stick the front and back covers to these inner pages, making sure you get the covers the right way round (if you are using paper with the pattern in a particular direction, you don't want the back cover to be going the opposite way from the front ;) ).  This is what you should end up with:



I made the inner pages from sheets  of A4 card stock folded in half.  I then stuck them carefully to the spine folds:






You might need to hold the covers and spine carefully as the middle part of the spine has a habit of expanding out when you least expect it ;).  Then it really is a case of just decorating the album as you see fit.  You need to stick or glue the bottom parts of the pages together, but you can then use them as wallets to hold tags, photos, journaling cards, etc.

You will see I added another piece of cardstock (printed using a paper from the kit) to cover the spine of the album. 







This is my finished album:








These are the inner pages:












You can also cut a piece of cardstock 2" by 6", fold this in half and use it to go around the bottom of the page instead of using glue.  That way, you can also use this as a tag holder - the bottom two photos above just above shows you what I mean.


And, just in case you haven't been bored enough already, here's a video with my dulcet tones showing you the pages in more detail.  Please excuse all the umm'ing and err'ing.  This is my first video and I was nervous!  I also didn't appreciate just how difficult it was to keep things within camera range even after I spent what seemed like hours trying to place my tripod and camera in the right place so I didn't end up bumping into them whilst filming.  Oh well, guess things can only get better with the next video ;)!

I've been busy with all sorts of things recently, mainly work, but squeezed in some time to make my son a card as he has just started a new job.  It's kind of a mish mash of all sorts as it just grew as I was making it!  I started with some Tim Holtz paper and then crated a flip card using the Stampin' Up! Apothecary Art framelits:

The greeting on the back of the flap was a Stampers Anonymous stamp and then I added the ruler ribbon and created the edge on the card using the butterfly on the edge die.








I just love that Tim Holtz paper - maybe it is the accountant in me coming our or something, but I love paper with lines, dates, and numbers on and this had a combination of all three!


I've also been trying to get my Stampin' Up! blog  up and running.  After becoming a demonstrator back at the beginning of April, I seem to have done hardly anything, and time is moving on.  However, my mum and dad's wedding anniversary last month spurred me into creation and look see what I made:





Isn't that just scrumptious?!!!  More details are given on my Stampin' Up! blog (http://www.heavenlycrafts.com/stampinheaven/) so why not pop in over and take a look?  I'm also offering a fantastic bundle for sale:

• 12 sheets of Everyday Enchantment paper (this is on special offer at the moment and is only available whilst stocks last - if stocks run out, I will replace this with  12 sheets of Patterns Designer Series Paper in Lucky Limeade, Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Poppy Parade and Soft Suede);

• Ribbon and brad pack;

• One Classic ink pad (in your choice of Lucky Limeade, Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Poppy Parade or Soft Suede);

• Butterfly prints acrylic stamp set;

• 1 pack of A4 card stock (20 sheets, 4 in each of 5 colours - Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Lucky Limeade, Wisteria Wonder and Island Indigo);
• A4 card stock (40 sheets, Naturals Ivory or Confetti White );
• Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow); and
• Stampin’ Dimensionals.

All that for just £45 with free postage and packing - a real bargain!  If you would like one of these bundles, just email me (ldc012000@yahoo.co.uk) and you could have it all!


Happy Scrapping!