Slider Shaker Card - Seven HIlls Crafts Monthly Craft Challenge

Hello All! Well, I've been a busy bee tidying up my craft room to try to find some missing mojo, and I think I found it, so I'm using it to enter the Seven Hills Crafts Monthly Craft Challenge. With about 12 hours to go, Aileen would be so proud!

I got some new products only on Friday from Seven Hills - some slider elements and slider dies. I've been wanting to try out a pull slider for a  while and now seemed as good a time as any.

After watching a few YT videos (I found Nichol's very helpful), I gave it a go. I started with a panel of Neenah and cut out my little circles and the slider elemnt. I had pre coloured (Copics) and cut out the ship some time ago. I then took a piece of scrap Neenah I found in my stash, I measured it to make sure I wouldn't see it through the circles (port holes I like to call them!). I then took two of the slider elements and stuck them onto the pull tab and placed them into the slider. I attached the ship on top - I can't tell you how excited I was that it worked!!!

I stamped the sentiment on to the pull tab and wrote PULL on the end - here's a close up.

I then made a shaker pocket with my Fuse tool around a piece of card I'd watercoloured during the last 30 Day Colouring Challenge. I added my octopus and two shoals of fish and a whole pile of sequins before closing it up.

I then stuck a whole pile of sticky pads to the back of the panel, with some placed close to the slider tab so it was held in place, but not too much otherwise it wouldn't slide.

I stuck it down onto the shaker piece and then stuck it all on top of a top folding A2 (US) card. It shakes and it slides!

Here's a close up of the shaker element, and you have to tell me the recent film I was inspired by. I saw it in the summer with my eldest and LOVED it - I'll tell you underneath.

It was Finding Dory - can you see the clown fish (Marlin and Nemo), the blue tangs (Dory) and Hank, the grumpy octopus (or septapod as we discover, and which funnily enough this stamp is too!)?

I'm off to link it up to the challenge, and also to Pixie's Snippets Playground as I used loads of bits I had lying around - from previous coloured images to scrap Neenah.

Thanks as always for reading and I hope you have a great week!

Here is the list of supplies used in this card. Please note I DO NOT USE AFFILIATE LINKS.

*Neenah Classic Crest **110 LB** SMOOTH SOLAR WHITE Paper Pack 25 Sheets	Sizzix Big Shot Die Cutting Machine	Spellbinders Nestabilities Standard Circles Large	Lawn Fawn Slide on Over Dies	Slider Elements (TicTac)	Double sided foam pads	Ranger .5 Oz. MINI MULTI MEDIUM MATTE Glue Adhesive Paint INK41511	Quilled Creations PRECISION TIP Empty Applicator Bottle 317
WRMK Photo Sleeve Fuse Tool	Tonic Titanium Fine Control Scissors	Tonic Studios Maxi Guillotine	A4 Super Smooth White Card - 250gsm - 100 Sheets	Memento Tuxedo Black	Hobbycraft Clear Acrylic Stamping Blocks 2 pack	Glacier Sparkly Shaker Selection	Phosphorescence Sparkly Shaker Selection
Lawn Fawn Mermaid for You	Newton's Nook Message in a Bottle Stamp	Newton's Nook Message in a Bottle Dies	Copic Markers

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NBUS #7 - Using my Fuseable papers at last!

Hello, hello! Well we have returned from holiday and are getting back into the swing of things before school starts up again - the holidays have gone remarkably quickly. The Colouring Challenge ended at the start of August, but another of my favourite challenges, Darnell's NBUS [Never Before Used Schtuff] started on 27th and I finally got round to having a play with some of my NBUS. It's amazing what you can amass quite quickly!

My sister asked me if I could make a wedding card for her to give to a couple who are getting married soon. I decided now would be a great time to crack out my as yet unused Fuseable Papers. This is plastic paper that you can use with your Fuse tool for scrapbooking and card making.

I really loved it - it does melt and bond beautifully. I started by making a shaker pocket with a cheap plastic folder around the image I'd previously coloured as part of the 30 Day Coloring Challenge. I cut out some hearts from the paper and fused them onto the front. You do need to make sure you have a piece of paper in between the pocket sides when doing this otherwise the pocket will also Fuse together :). I then filled it with Sparkling Coral shaker selection from Lucy's Cards (it's now discontinued). I sealed it up and then got on with sealing it onto the Fuseable paper.

I took three sizes of squares, bigger than my shaker pocket and simply melted the plastic through the layers as you can tell by the photograph. It works well through two layers. The back layer I fused through the green spotty paper. It feels very secure.

I stuck the panel onto my card base with some strong double sided tape.

Below is a list of materials I used to make this card. Please note I DO NOT USE affiliate links :) 

Lawn Fawn Mermaid for You	Ranger Archival Ink Jet Black	WHSmith Watercolour Paper 12 Sheets - Art, Craft and Hobbies	Hobbycraft Clear Acrylic Stamping Blocks 2 pack	WRMK Photo Sleeve Fuse Tool	We R Memory Keepers - FUSEables Paper - Sweetheart	We R Memory Keepers - FUSEables Paper - Confetti	Crop-A-Dile Corner Chomper - 1/4 and 1/2 inch
Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolour Sketcher's Pocket Box Paint

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I am so thrilled I finally used this, so thank you Darnell as it's got me using my Fuse again as I hadn't had it out for a while. I'm mulling over some other ideas for using this paper and have been looking for some standalone dies like butterflies and hearts as I think they would work brilliantly on the front of shakerpockets.

I hope you'll feel inspired to have a go at giving your NBUS some love - don't let it sit all alone on the shelf and link it up below:

A-Fusing, A-Musing and A-Thank You!

Hello Avid Crafters! I wanted to first say Thank You to all and any of you who joined in with the Mind Crafternoon. Verity raised £400 for the Charity so thank you if you donated. It was good fun again and I look forward to it being an annual tradition.

I've been floored by a rather nasty stomach bug so my crafting last weekend until now hasn't been huge. I've been feeling a lot better lately and so got my Fuse tool out for another play and made another couple of Christmas cards to send off.

I absolutely love it, but like everything it requires a bit of practice to use it. I noticed when using it at first that the plastic split back open after I'd Fused it. It was like it wasn't melting the plastic enough, so this time I let it get really, really hot and left it for about 20 minutes before using it. It's not the kind of tool you can have lying around with children, so you need to be careful. I know there are special silicone holders, so I think I'll invest in one of those.

I pre-cut my backing card from white card stock using my SSS stitched rectangles, and because I didn't want the plastic sides to show I cut some frames from blue and green card to cover them up once I'd made the pocket.

I started by stamping the Create-A-Smile Wish in my Ranger dye inks - Lily Pad and Blue Ribbon - and the little 'we' in Memento Tuxedo Black. On the back I stamped 'you a merry Christmas' and hand wrote a note to the intended recipient. I wasn't too happy with the finish of the word 'Wish' so I went over it with my Spectrum Noir Sparkle pen in clear. It's like Wink of Stella but it has oodles more sparkle. I was given it by Dawn as a birthday present, but I have a feeling I might be buying more of them!!

I then got to work on the pocket. Using the metal ruler that comes with it, I Fused the plastic pretty close to the edge of the card so that I didn't have too much extra plastic and the card didn't slide around inside. I Fused three sides, then filled the pockets with some of Lucy's sequin selections. I then Fused the opening shut. I was wise to leave it so long to heat as it melted nicely and held up well. I then cut round the seal leaving a small border.

Not a brilliant picture, sorry, but you can sort of see the plastic seal around the outside. You also need a glass mat to use it on. I just have a cheap chopping board I bought at the supermarket for £3! 

I then glued the border on the outside with some glue tape - it's not actually that brilliant, so I'll use liquid next time - and the images I stuck on with glue dots. I had done them in during the October colouring challenge with my Inktense pencils. Those reindeer are hilarious - totally cool and Beatnik!

Supplies: White, blue and green card stock 240gsm; Inktense pencils; Ranger Dye Inks; Create A Smile - Make a Wish stamp set; Simon Says Stamp Shapes with Stitches; Memento Tuxedo Black; A4 Plastic wallets; We R Memory Keepers Fuse Tool; Little Things from Lucy's Cards - Winter Wonderland; Blue Topaz; Lime Cordial; Stick It! Permanent Adhesive Roller; Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen - Clear]

I do love the Fuse and have seen so many other things I can do with it. It has a really great price point - £19.99 where I got it from online - and I know I'll use it for shakers from now on. I love that there is no more mess from sticky tape!

Before I go, I just have to share that I fell off my seat when I checked the results of the Muse challenge #144 - I got an Honorable Mention - crazy time! Thank you so much to everyone who voted for me. Am so chuffed given how much great talent there was. I now have my first button on my blog!

Thanks for reading - that's all for now. Have a great week and hope you're all bearing up under the last minute Christmas card rush and present buying. I'm trying not to panic but I have loads more to do!!

 

Christmas - Already?

Hello, fellow Craftaholics! Can you believe I've made some Christmas cards? Me who never considers Christmas until after her birthday at the end of November? Well, issue 142 of Simply Cards and Papercraft landed on the doormat and as soon as I saw the stamps I had to ink them up (see Instagram for pictures!). It's taken me a couple of days to get round to finishing the cards, but here they are:

That snow globe was crying out to be a shaker card, and so that's what I made!

For the snowman card, I stamped the snow globe onto some white card using Versafine Onyx Black ink - it's my new pad, so I'm trying it out lots! I then cut a rectangle out around it using my Memory Box stitched rectangle dies. I then cut out the centre of the snow globe with a craft knife - if you have circle dies, check them first to see if they fit - definitely makes it easier. 

I covered the aperture with acetate and surrounded it on the back with foam pads. I then used my powder tool on the acetate to stop the sequins from sticking, put the last of my Glacier sequins in and attached a piece of watercolour paper that I'd previously made (see Instagram again!) to the back to secure it all in place. I then adhered it to an A2 card base which I'd covered with some Lawn Fawn Let's Bokeh paper. I glued the snowman into place and added the sentiment to the top - I also added a bit of Wink of Stella to the snowman, the snow globe and the sentiment - a bit? I.e. A lot!

For the other snow globe, I did much the same with creating the shaker section. I used two thicknesses of fun foam rather than foam pads, and used another of the stamps to create a background to the snow globe and added in a whole load of Pretty Pink Posh Clear Sparkling sequins that I won in Lydia Evans' giveaway. They are lovely sequins! I like how it covers the 'Let It Snow' and when you tip the card up, it reveals it.

[Supplies: Simply Cards and Papercraft Issue 142; Hobbycraft Premium White A4 Card 300gsm; VersaFine Onyx Black; Craft knife; Memory Box Stitched Rectangles Dies; Foam Pads; Fun Foam; Little Things from Lucy's Cards - Glacier Shaker Selection; Double Sided Tape; Sticky Red Tape; Pretty Pink Posh Clear Sparkling Sequins; Lawn Fawn Let's Bokeh in the Snow Paper Pad; Glitz Black and White Paper Pad; Wink of Stella Brush Pen; Wink of Stella 8mm Tip Pen; Caran D'Ache Metallic Pencils]

I then attached it to an A6 card base that I covered in some patterned paper I won in Liz McGuire's giveaway. I have won a lot of giveaways lately!!!

For the price of a magazine, this has fantastic stamps and there's even an embossing folder. I have a huge number of Christmas stamps now, it's unlikely I will need many more ever.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my ramblings. Also a huge hello to all of you who popped over to see me from Aileen's blog, Colour and Sparkle and from Liz's blog as well, I've really appreciated it. Look out for more Copic colouring next week. I haven't coloured for a couple of days and I have been missing it!

It's a boy!

Hello, crafty friends. I don't know about you, but I can't believe it's July already. June was quite a crafty month with the Daily Marker 30 Day 2. I'm sad it's over, because I had so much fun learning new things, but all good things must come to an end, and it's time I started turning all that colouring into cards! 

Over on Instagram (it's lovely, really lovely, so much inspiration and friendly crafters!) I shared some colouring linked to a baby a friend was expecting. I hedged my bets and did two lots, one in pink and one in blue. I'm not usually quite so generic, but sometimes inspiration is lacking! Anyway, it turned out to be a boy, by the name of George, so blue it is!

I stuck with simple and decided to make a shaker too - any chance to get those Lucy Abram's shaker mixes out!

Supplies: White Card Blank (14.75x14.75cm); ME Up And Away Stamps and Dies; Papermania 6x6 Papers Capsule Collection; Memento Tuxedo Black; VersaMagic Dew Drop Night Sky; Derwent Artists Pencils; Caran D'Ache Metallic Pencils; LF Large Stitched Square Lawn Cuts; Acetate; Double-sided Tape; Red tape; Adhesive backed Fun Foam; CB Sweet Little Sentiments; Lucy's Little Things Shaker Sequin selection Glacier; Joe and Flo Baker's Twine; Sellotape Double Sided Sticky Foam Pads; Ranger Multi Medium Matte; Bazzill Cardshoppe - blue; VersaMagic Dew Drop Aspen Mist

I started by die cutting a square of blue Bazzill Cardshoppe using two of the LF large stitched square lawn cuts to make a frame. I then attached a piece of acetate to the back of the square aperture to start the shaker section. I then hand cut a piece of adhesive backed fun foam to match the size of the frame, and stuck it down on the back of my blue card. Face down on my craft mat I then filled the shaker section with lots of Lucy's lovely sequins and things. 

I then attached some very sticky red tape to the back of the fun foam, positioned it face down on my craft mat and attached the card base on the top. I'm getting better at this the more I do and this one is not too squint!

I then attached some baker's twine to the back of the balloons and then to the monkey's hand. Then, with double sided sticky foam pads, attached them to the card front as shown.

The sentiment is stamped in Aspen Mist and attached with sticky foam pads. The additional sequins started by covering a slight smudge, but I added a few more so it wasn't quite so obvious! They are stuck on with the Multe Medium Matte.

Hope you survived the mid week heat wave - that'll be summer over now in the UK, we've already had torrential rain today!

Do enjoy your weekend, whatever the weather. Thanks, as always, for reading :)

Tea-riffic!

Hello crafty friends! Been a bit hectic this past week without a huge amount of time to do any crafting. We're away for a few days visiting family and also celebrating a big birthday for a really good friend. It's a birthday with a 0 at the end of it and this friend deserves a really good do. I'm sharing the card I made her with you today. She loves tea, so the Best Pun Ever from Lawn Fawn was just perfect:

[Supplies: Spellbinders Nestabilities Large Circles (I did not buy them from here, but they are no longer listed where I did buy them); LF Let's Polka 6x6 Paper Pad; LF Best Pun Ever stamp set and dies; LF Large Stitched Squares; Ranger Dye Ink; Ranger Glossy Accents; Wink of Stella 8mm Pen; Caran D'Ache Prismallo Aquarelles; CB Long Flag Die;]


It's a shaker card using the tea cups from the set and also some cupcake stamps I bought cheap in Hobbycraft, as the shaker elements along with some clear sequins. The tea cups were stamped in different Ranger Dye Inks, as was the tea cup on the outside, coloured using my Prismallo Aquarelle water colour pencils, then covered in glossy accents. The cupcakes have also been outlined using my Wink of Stella pen to add some sparkle. I encased them all in a square from my Papermania capsule collection cut using my LF large stitched squares, with the aperture cut using my Spellbinders large circles. I adhered it to the card with lots of fun foam. The background paper is LF Let's Polka. The sentiment is from the Best Pun Ever set stamped in Ranger Dye Pink Gumball onto the CB long flag die.

I really love this card and hope she does too. Thanks for reading and as always, have a fantastic weekend!

Hooray - You're Engaged!

Honestly, all these lovely people I know getting engaged, and I've got the trials of having to make a card ;). Of course, this latest lovely couple are just lucky enough to get one made with my new Hooray shaker die from Clearly Besotted - it is just yummy and fantabulous in one fell swoop....

I got some inspiration from the fabulous Clearly Besotted design team and gave another shaker card a go and am really happy with the results!

I took a basic card blank - C6 I think it is! - and trimmed another piece of white card stock to fit in the middle. I took some time to line up the Hooray die to make sure it was centred and level (not entirely convinced, but it's close enough!) and cut it from the card stock. I then cut it twice more, once from spare white card and once from some nice light turquoise, having put some Stick It! on the back before cutting. I then cut out the Hooray from each of these and put them to one side to make the shaker section.

I put some acetate on the back using strong red tape to cover the Hooray and adhesive fun foam to give depth and contain the sequins. I used some of Lucy Abrams Glacier selection - these are so beautiful! - and they obviously go well with the shaker dies she designed. With some strong red tape I contained the shaker part with another piece of white card stock, the same size as the shaker piece making it easier to attach to the card. I then attached the extra 'Hooray' words, one on top of each other, to give it depth and colour. I also then stamped the sentiment (should have done this first really!) from the Clearly Besotted Mr & Mrs set in Memento Tuxedo Black.

I then attached two thin pieces of Lawn Fawn Let's Polka paper to either side of the card before attaching the shaker section, to frame it.

Thanks as always for reading :)