Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Christmas is coming and it's time to start making the cards.

We are starting off with a shaker card that would be a great card to make 

to use up patterned paper left overs.

Sara has made this card using the new Sue Wilson sentiment die called

'Merry little Christmas' and die cut it in gold. It is then cut out again in a larger piece of white card so that the gold words could be placed inside the white die cut.

Sara used spellbinders circle nesting dies to create the shaker part and glittered around the circle,

we all love a bit of glitter at Christmas :)

Three different pieces of coordinating patterned papers are used for the backing.
From the Snowflake Edger die Sara has used the star border to cut out tiny stars for the shaker contents.

Some of the products used, are:

circle nesting dies

My Mind's Eye pad

Snowflake Edger

Sentiment die

mirror card

December 25th

Love the idea of this card that Sara has made using pieces of paper to make a present stack.

Sara has made each present box by using different colours of card and a scallop punch for a dainty white trim and made three sizes to stack on top of each other.

Ribbon is used over all three presents and a tag and charm attached to make a super and effective Christmas card.

You could use lots of left over pieces of card for this or has Sara as done,use the
My Mind's Eye accessories pad - Winter Wonderland, that comes with papers and tags.

With different papers you could make this a card for any occasion.

Products used are:

star dust

charms

date stamp

My Mind's Eye accessories pad - Winter wonderland

card blanks

Graphic 45 Christmas Envelope Album

Louise here!  It's only Sept I hear you say but I know lots of you are already thinking about Christmas cards and Christmas presents.  So I thought I'd share pictures of this mini Christmas album I made for a class we had at Sir Stampalot.

This would make a lovely keepsake to give to someone at Christmas for them to keep their special photos in thay they take over the festive season.

The front and back cover of this album is made from chipboard cut to 10cm by 16cm.

The papers used in the album all come from one 8x8 Graphic 45 pad called 

'Twas the night before Christmas'

Unfortunately this collection is now discontinued :(

but the format and layout of this album would work wonderfully with any paper collection - festive or otherwise :)

The pages in this album are actually envelopes created from the We R Memory Keepers envelope board and I have used one sheet of 8x8 paper for each envelope.

I have made four envelopes in the 3 1/2" by 5 1/2" (gladstone) measurement in patterned paper.

You then need to remove one of the short edges flap, then glue the rest down like you would a normal envelope. This will create a opening for your tag to go in.

I have made two 4" x4 "envelopes in black card and cut the one shorter edge the same as before.

This time I saved the piece that I cut of and punched a border along the long straight edge and then glued it back onto the front of the envelope. This creates a pretty detail to the envelope.

I have used postcards and tags all found within the paper pad to create pockets and pretty details through out the album.

Six tags have been die cut from the Tim Holtz tag collection set to slip into the open end of the envelopes, I did need to cut off a little bit of the length so that they did not stick out to far.

I added a little ribbon to each one.

Where I added a picture cut-out, or made pockets, I matted and layered with black card to make them stand out more.

The whole album is bound together using a Zutter book binding machine and with 1 1/4" wires.

You do need to think about where the holes will be when decorating each page so that you are not ruining a page by punching straight through a decoration with the bind it all machine!

I tied some off-cuts of ribbon around the binding wires to finish the album.

I have also added a little stocking charm tied on with string to the wires.

Products used include:

Zutter Bind It All

Tim Holtz Tag Collection

We R memory Keepers Envelope Board

Holly Punch Around Page

Chipboard

Black Card

Twas the Night 8x8 pad

G45 Secret Garden Mini Album

Today we have a mini album made by me (Louise) using Graphic 45 papers from the

Secret Garden collection.

The papers in this collection are beautiful and this mini album was made using just one 8x8 paper pad.

The Graphic 45 pads have what they call their 'signature' page, which is the main page depicting the whole colletion theme.  I used this signature page for the front and back of my album.
The album front and back covers are cut out of chipboard and measure approx 10cm by 16cm, the papers are cut a little larger so they cover the sides of the chipboard.

Each of the pages in the book are made from one sheet of the 8x8 paper.

I have used the We R Memory Keepers envelope punch board and made envelopes out of each piece of patterned paper.

In total I made 6 patterned envelopes using the 3 1/2" by 5 1/2" measurment which is marked Gladstone on the board itself.

I die cut 6 large tags to go in each envelope from the Tim Holtz tag collection die set.

In the 8x8 paper pad there is several pages that have lots of pieces you can cut out and use for tags and to make pockets, like I have done on the left hand side page.

The papers in this pad are so pretty and there are some little word cut out pieces you can use to decorate your pages too.

All the pieces that I have cut out, I've then used the Tim Holtz tea dye distress ink colour to ink around the edges.

I have also mat and layered these cut out pieces on ivory card so they stand out against the patterns of the base envelope and also inked those edges of the ivory mats too.

I have made lots of smaller tags too and little pockets feature throughout the album.

To finish and bind the album, I have used a cropadile punch and punched holes in all pieces so that I can put them all on two book rings to create the book. You do need to carefully align your pieces and also remove large tags from envelopes because you do not want to catch any when you punch.

When you are decorating a album like this it is worth always bearing in mind where you place decorations and try to avoid where you will be punching holes.

I have then added a selection of ribbons and lace to the tops of the tags throughout the album, great for using left over bits and bobs.

I really enjoyed making this album because it was a fun project without being too large a task.  It would be perfect made in any of the other Graphic 45 paper collections for a little gift, maybe for a new baby or a wedding keepsake.

Products used for this mini album, include: 

Scalloped Tag by Magnolia

Cropadile

WRMK Envelope Board

Tim Holtz Tag Die Collection

2mm Chipboard

Silver Book Rings

G45 Secret Garden 8x8 pad

Tea Dye Distress Ink

Ivory Card

What are the differences between US and UK models of the Tim Holtz Stamping Platform by Tonic (1707E vs 1708E)?

So what's the difference between the US model of the Tim Holtz stamping platform (1707e) and the UK model of the stamping platform (1708e)?

We have all waiting eagerly and there have been a lot of uncertainty about the nature of the changes/redesign.  Well here's what we've found out so far:

It appears that the only change we can see, is that there is a difference to the ruler meeting in the corner.

The UK version (1708e) has an enclosed right angle corner where the top and side rulers meet.  Additionally the rulers on this UK version, form a raised edge which you can use to butt your project up to.  These rulers/butt bar are moulded onto the platform (as if resting on it). 

Whereas the US version (1707e) has been redesigned so the top and side ruler are not joined up in any way and each ruler is flush with the base platform and not itself, raised.  So an additional raised lip has been added to act as the ‘butt bar’.

Here’s a picture comparison between the two models:




All coming back into stock soon : Tim Holtz Stamping Platform products.

If you are aware of any other differences please leave a comment, much appreciated.

Do you have a preference?

Enjoy the rest of the evening
- Janice

Owl and the Fox

Just a little something to show today made by me (Louise).

I made these cute owl and fox gift boxes using the Sizzix die called "Owl and Fox" by Jen Long.

I pretty much made them the same as on the front of the die set because I was in a hurry.

I have to say they are quick and fun to make and you can use up bits of card oddments.

My daughter gave these to her teachers, ten in total when she left school a couple of weeks ago, after sitting her final exams.

Each box fits three Lindt chocolate balls which was very handy as the gift and also very yummy!

Guess who over estimated how many would fit and ended up with spares?  Honest, wasn't done on purpose!!

They went down very well apparently - well whoo wouldn't love to recieve this as a gift (see what I did there - very cunning eh!)

And I know it will be a die set I will use again and again.

Here's the picture from the front of the die set and click on it to take you to more details:

Owl and Fox by Jen Long