Dancing Diva!!

Firstly a big, warm welcome to my newest followers - Donna E and Donna A. Thanks for joining me here - hope you like what you see and will become regular visitors!

Today is my niece's 10th birthday!! Popped round to see her this morning and to give her her present - the last two books in the Lord of the Rings trilogy!! I loved reading them when I was younger (although not as young as she is) - and she has become interested in them since looking at The Hobbit at school. She has finished reading that - and has just started The Fellowship - and wanted to have the others ready and waiting!! 

One of her other loves is dancing - and she has recently been in a production at a local theatre! I was looking for a dancing image for her card. I really wanted a street dance style one - but struggled to find something I liked. So in the end I went for this lovely image I found from Anne Bodil. 

Her favourite colour is pink - so decided to mix that with aqua and brown for the overall colour scheme. The brown base card was embossed with Spellbinders Dainty Dots A4 folder, and I used Ovals, and Scalloped Rectangles to cut some of the papers for the matting and layering. The papers are all from my scrap box! 

The image is coloured with Spectrum Noirs. This is my first try with these markers - and I am fairly happy with the results. More practice is needed - but I'm getting there. The pens I used were:

Skin: FS1, FS2, FS3

Hair (and ground) : EB1, EB2

Clothes: CR2, PP3, PP5; BT2, BT3, BT4; EB5, EB6

I also used BG1 for a little shading around the image.

To tie the background in, I embossed another piece of white card with Crafter's Companion 8x8 Embossalicious Flower Power folder, and used PP3, BT3 and EB6 to colour in some of the flowers. 

I'd like to enter this into the following:
The Cutie Pie Challenge - Cute with Dies or Punches

Love to Create - Anything Goes for Kids

Having been working hard on a few things recently - watch this space for sneaky peaks coming soon!! And I shall be looking into adding Bloglovin to the ways in which you can follow the blog!! In the meantime, feel free to follow through Google or email - or even pop over to my Facebook page and give me a 'like'!! 

Back soon!! 

Cxxx

A little bit of Frou Frou!!

With many of the projects I do, I begin with a topper - a picture, image, or some sort of embellishment - and then use this to decide on colours etc. This topper was from the Frou Frou download from the Crafter's Companion website. 

I started with a papier mache box base, and painted it in grey - mixed from Eco Green White and Black paint. I then scraped Lime and Orchid paints over the top. Using a textured 1-ply serviette and Dove Grey Stazon, I stamped out Sheena Douglass' Ivy Paint Fusion Stamp, and Swirls from the Rose set. This was applied to the box with Matt Modge Podge. I sanded the edges of the box and inked them with Victorian Velvet DI.  

The rosette was made from the pink and green papers from the download. I cut two Chantilly Lace stamping frames from each, made a cut into the middle, and concertina folded them before sticking them together. This was topped with a pink button and pearl beads from my stash.

To finish off the top, I also used little green flower buttons and more pearl beads, along with a butterfly cut from the topper sheet.

On each side, I used a piece of pink card embossed with the Embossalicious 8x8 Rose Garden folder, and inked with Victorian Velvet DI. This was mounted onto a piece of the green paper, and the 'front' side was finished with more buttons and beads.

I would like to enter this into:

Crafts 4 Eternity - Anything but a card

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Cxxx

Flower Box!

I had a fab time at Pickwell Farm last Saturday, with the wonderful Julie Hickey! She had so many great projects for us to make. This is just one of them. When I saw what we were going to do, I just knew I had to make it for a good friend of mine who has been very poorly.

These box cards seem to be all the rage at the moment, and Craftwork Cards have made them really easy with pre-scored blanks. The papers and flowers are all from the Monochrome range. I have added some colour with Peacock Blue DI - and coloured white Candy to match. 

It's quite straightforward to make - once you know how - and Julie gave us some really useful tips to ensure that it would fold down (relatively) flat and fit inside an A5 envelope. 

Will blog more of the projects later.

Cxxx

Crafters's Companion Blog Challenge - Flowers

So, today sees the launch of the new look Crafter's Companion Challenges. Rather than being posted on the CC Blog, it will all be done through a new area on the Facebook page. Click here to visit the page to enter.

And that means that - at last - this is my first official blog as part of the Crafter's Companion Design Team. Haven't quite made it to the launch of a new product yet - but am happy to start with this project for our monthly challenge which this time happens to be Floral!!

I decided to make a little 5"x7" canvas and use this gorgeous image from the Rachelle Ann Miller CD (Kids at Play), which I printed onto Watercolour card to give it texture. I painted the canvas with Pebeo white paint - strange you might think as it was already white - but it brought out more of the texture. I then scraped a combination of Greengold, Tangerine, Naples Yellow, Cherry and Bright Pink over the top.

On top of this I glued a border cut from the gorgeous check pattern Co-ordinating Paper, using Die'licious Lace Border 4. I also fussy cut 3 of the red/orange flowers from the Embellishment section and pasted them down too. 

I printed more of the Co-ordinating Papers onto Satin Paper - making them double sided. I then cut out spiral circles, and wound them round a quilling tool. I edged them with Barn Door DI. The leaves are from Die'licious Leaf 2.

The sentiment is from the Sentimentals Range - Memories are Made, and was stamped onto Watercolour card with Barn Door DI. This is mounted onto a Die'sire Elegance Frame cut from Core'dinations Card (from So Mod). The image is also mounted onto this card. 

I finished off with pearls and ribbon from my stash - and edged the canvas with a mixture of Cherry and Black Pebeo paint.

And there you have it. There will be inspirational projects posted onto Facebook throughout the month (mine should be in there sometime - not sure when) - so plenty of time and ideas to get you motivated!! It will be wonderful to see all your creations. Remember - the Challenge will now run on Facebook (click here for the entry page) - and not on the old Blog Challenge page.

Be back soon!!

Cxxx 

Happy Mother's Day!!

I decided to make my Mum's Mother's Day card using the February download from the Crafter's Companion website. It's a beautiful combination of pinks and blues - really fresh! And the toppers are really 'unfussy' - if that's a word. And my mum's not one for frills and fanciness - although she does appreciate quality. 

I decided to have a little 'play' with some of my new Crafter's Companion products at the same time. I have never printed onto pearl card before - and have to admit to being a little sceptical as to how well it would take the ink. But, you never know until you try - so I had a go. I printed the blue dotty paper onto both sides of a piece of Snow White - Hint of Silver - Centura Pearl card. I used borderless printing to ensure the whole of card was covered as I wanted to make an A5 gatefold card. And I was really pleasantly surprised at the result!! This is definitely something I will doing again!! 

So, using my Ultimate (I have to admit that I still have the original and not the Pro version) I scored from each short side of the A4 card using the A4 gatefold line.

 

Pink paper from the download (printed onto Satin Finish paper) was layered onto pink card from my stash. I printed more of the blue dotty onto Centura pearl, embossed it (apart from the inside back panel) with my Embossalicious A4 Dottie folder, and layered this with blue card. This combination was used to cover the inside of the card, as well as the front two panels. I used Picked Raspberry and Faded Jeans DI's to ink the edges of the card and paper.

Having layered the topper onto a combination of the papers and card, I attached it to the left hand side of the gatefold. The flower is made from one of the doilies from the embellishment sheet, and several of the flowers layered up. The pearls and ribbon are from my stash. 

Now, along with printing onto Centura Pearl, I also tried something else out for the first time. Collall All Purpose Glue! And I have to report yet another pleasant surprise. Maneuverability in the first instance - then a good adhesion once it's dry!! And much quicker than tape!! 

I would like to enter this into:
Crafts 4 Eternity - Special Mums
Totally PaperCrafts - Think Pink

Before I go, welcome to my new followers - and if you're just passing by, please feel free to follow too!  And watch out for my first ever OFFICIAL Crafter's Companion blog post coming this week!! So exciting!!

Cxxx  

Do you believe in Faeries?

Another project from my Crafter's Companion DT application. This one is a canvas using another download from the website - Faerie Poppets.

There are 6 images on the download, but I particularly liked the colours of this image - really clean and fresh!! 

I started by covering the 8x8 canvas with a mixture of Eco-Green Butternut and White acrylic paint, I let this begin to dry and then added another layer in the opposite direction. By using a heat tool, I then created the cracks and splits. The scrape paint technique was then used to apply the Periwinkle and Lime on top.

The swirls on the background were created using stamps from Sheena Douglass' Berries and Poppies sets. I coloured onto them with Amethyst, Green Shoot and China Blue Promarkers and stamped them on the canvas. The borders were cut from Bazzill card stock using Spellbinders Triple Scallop Edgeability and an insert from the Ric Rac set. They were backed with green patterned paper, and glittered with Cosmic Shimmer Aqua Twinkles.  A larger piece of the card was embossed with the Embossalicious 6x6 Floral Frenzy folder, and used to matt and layer the image. 

The floral swirls and foliage are Spellbinders, and the sentiment is from the Tim Holtz - Just Thoughts set stamped with Seedless Preserves DI.

I made the flowers with my melt pot and a silicone mould, and the pearls and ribbon are from my stash. The final touch was to bling the Faerie up with some more Aqua Twinkles. 

I would like to enter this into:

Artistic Inspirations - Anything Goes

Eclectic Ellapu - Wings (Pink Challenge)

I would love it if you would like to follow my blog - either through Blogger or by email. Or if you prefer Facebook - then you can 'like' my FB page called Papercraft By Carole.  Don't forget to leave me a message to let me know where you have signed up - and I'll pop by and say thank you.

Take care,

Cxxx

For Auntie Doris!!

So, Monday finds me on the mend - but still not quite 100%. Need to get rid of coughing and I will be much happier. On a brighter note, here is another of the projects that made up my application for Crafter's Companion DT. A friend of mine had asked me to make a boxed card for her auntie's 90th birthday, so I went looking on the CC website to see what downloads they had that would work for a card for such a momentous occasion.

What I found was the 'Happy Everything' monthly download from April 2013. It had a beautiful combination of creams and lilacs - and with flowers to make too, it seemed perfect. 

I started with Lavender Centura Pearl card which I cut for the card base (8x8), and the box lid and base. 

I printed out the download onto Neenah cardstock. I had to do this twice to get enough backing paper and flowers to cut out. After cutting out the flowers, I coloured the back with my Primrose Promarker, as I didn't want any white to show once they were made up. I always use a quilling tool when rolling flowers like this, as I can get a tighter roll. If I want it looser, I encourage it to spring back and unravel a bit more. For the leaves, I used a Spellbinders foliage die, and inked with Bundled Sage DI whilst still in the die. 

The decorative semi-circle was cut from the Lavender card using Die'licious Chantilly Stamping Frame - which was then cut in half. The decorative border strip is from the download. Next, I debossed a piece of Ivory Centura Pearl with the 8x8 Regency Swirl folder, and mounted a piece of the decorative card (edged with Dusty Concord DI) onto this. Both of these were layered onto a piece of Spring green card, and a length of satin ribbon was wrapped around all three pieces. 

The roses card was inked on the edges and mounted onto a piece of Lavender Centura pearl that had been embossed with the 8x8 Rose Garden folder. Again, these were layered onto Spring green card.  

The bottom layer was a mat of Ivory Centura Pearl card, embossed with Embossalicious 8x8 Chantilly Corner folder. Lettering and pearls finished the card off beautifully.

The lid of the box was decorated in exactly the same way, bar the lettering. I always like to decorate the inside of the boxes too, so I embossed more Lavender and Ivory Centura Pearl, card from the download and ribbon. On the topper sheet, two images had little flowers on them. I fussy cut them out and mounted them onto a small Chantilly Stamping frame cut from the Lavender card.

Don't forget, you can now 'like' my Facebook page - Papercraft By Carole, or follow me on Pinterest, as well as here on my blog.

Be back soon!!

Cxxx