Frou Frou final sneak preview

Today’s the day that we finally put you out of your misery. We have been teasing you all for the past week. The lovely Leann Chivers will launch an amazing new Serif / Crafter’s Companion cd rom Frou Frou on Create and Craft TV tonight at 8 pm.

The Die’sire Design Team and other crafty designers for Crafter’s Companion have been busy creating some amazing projects.

I’ve used my favourite didgi stamps to create these cards:

Martini Girl

Poker Face

Meet Miss Frou Frou

Love Letters

Shop Till You Drop

The past few days I’ve gave you sneak previews of the last 3 so today am going to showcase Poker Face and Martini Girl

Poker Face

The reason I chose this image is that it is a refreshing change to do something girlie that isn’t pink…prior to card making I never was a yellow and orange combination fan. However, lately is seems to be drawn to these colours, maybe because they are the colours of spring.

As with my previous samples I cut and coloured the poker face image with my Spectrum Noirs and my water colour pencils to achieve the desire look.

Now all that’s ready is to create a background for her…I selected the yellow backing paper with the beautiful paper Chinese lantern print. I wanted a stark and bold colour to co-ordinate and contract with the yellow’s and orange’s so it had to be black.  I loved the black border with the Eiffel tower and cut it out with my trusty craft knife. Added glossy accent over the Eiffel tower. To the right of this from the embellishment section I used one of the frames with a luxurious chandelier. As with the Love Letters card I added Wow Black Glint embossing to create some much needed bling.

From the embellishments I cut out the pre coloured images of flowers and bows but printed out the didgi image of the Chinese paper lantern and coloured. I added versamark to the flowers and the bows and added clear embossing powder to add some shine. I decoupage the 3 bows and added a black rose made using the Die’sire Rose small quelling die. Added pearls to the centre of the orange and yellow flowers and added black gems to the centre of the rose.

I matted and layered the images onto black card and the white co coordinating paper from the cd-rom with Chinese paper lanterns and added all the embellishments but I wasn’t quite happy with the final result…something was missing…on the poufy there was a braiding but it didn’t look quite right so using my embossing pen and coloured in the braiding and added gold embossing powder and heated and finally I was happy with the card.

  ---o0o---

The images on this fantastic cd-rom are fantastic for producing party invitations and at the time when I was trying to make my mind up of what to do with these gorgeous images, papers and embellishments a friend asked me to make party invitations…that’s when the light bulb moment happened…

So a party invitation it is using Poker Face…I normally stick to the normal square or rectangular card that just opens and folds but have wanted to try and a slider card, just searched on the www and found a template.

Once I had the size of the template I wanted to decorate the fronts. Using the Martini Girl image I wanted to do something in pink and turquoise. So I set about colouring her in. Once finished I printed out a further 2 copies of the didgi image and just coloured and cut out the bow on her dress. Then I just layered them up with my Collall silicon glue. Printed, cut and coloured the tray of drink and added glossy accent to the glasses.

For the background I cut a pink lace paper from the cd-rom with the Die’sire Grace Frame onto that I matted a section of turquoise lace paper from the cd-rom and then a gorgeous patterned paper from the cd-rom with hats, gloves shoes etc. I cut a pre coloured butterfly from the embellishments section and added some small pink gems to the body.

The Lets Celebrate sentiment was cut out and matted onto a piece of the same turquoise lace paper and small pink gems added.

The inside slider part of the card was made using the smaller frame from the Die’sire Grace Frame and used the same papers as on the front. A vibrant piece of turquoise ribbon was used to create the sliding motion.

I absolutely love this card and would definitely attend the party, if this is what the invitations are like I bet the party is going to be a night to remember.

Shop Till You Drop

After paper crafting my other hobby is shopping so couldn’t resist not doing a card with these fabulous images. Would love to have lived in the era when your purchases where wrapped in tissue paper and instead of a plastic carrier bag placed in a gorgeous box...So to recreate these days of long gone I immersed myself in a Parisian boulevard…

The main basis of the card is a shaped card available on the cd-rom and I added a spotty paper again from the cd-rom to create a square card.

I just love the chandeliers in the arched windows of the shop and just had to attack them with my trusty glossy accent…only after spending half an hour trying to de clog the tip. I think the end result deserves the effort.

 

Something was missing from the scene and eventually it came to me…it needed an ornate lamp post. I used a stamp from Kaiser Craft and stamped in black and added clear embossing powder. Once dry cut the image out with my trust craft knife. Added some yellow ink to the lanterns and again I added glossy accent to the glass panes of the lamps. I wanted it took look as though they where light.

The Lady was a didgi stamp and I coloured her with my basic dark set of Spectrum Noirs and my water colour pencils I set about colouring her in. Added glossy accent to her shoes and matching patent handbag. From the didgi stamps I coloured and cut another hat box and placed it under the existing hat box she was carrying using 3d foam pads.

Cut the little Scotty dogs out – no need to colour as they came out the printer in black and white.

Cut the flower planter out and the sentiment was cut out using the Die’sire Scalloped Tag die. Added some grey ribbon with silver edging. With a piece of pink and white bakers twine I attached to the back of the Scotty dogs and to the wrist of the lady to create the dog’s leash.

All the elements of the card are now ready to be assembled. 3d foam pads used to add dimension to the scene, but something was missing. So I left the card for a while and started on another project and eventually it came to me…it needed a sumptuous bow, so that’s what I did. I think it adds the much needed finishing touch.

Don’t forget to tune in at 9 pm tonight to see more amazing samples from the Crafter’s Companion Design Teams.

 

  

Love Letters…straight from the heart…

Another sneaky peak of the fabulous and frivolous release from Serif. Yesterday I introduced you to Tipsy. Unfortunately Tipsy is not available on the UK version, just the American I’m afraid.

So enough of what we don’t have, what do we have? Well we have the lovely Love Letters images. This section evokes a dark and romantic set of images that I felt lend themselves to setting the scene of writing a love letter in a glamorous French bedroom.

 

I printed out the didgi image and set about colouring her in. As I don’t have a huge selection of Spectrum Noirs I used them in conjunction with my water colour pencils. Thankfully my set of Dark Spectrum Noirs has lots of greys, perfect for colouring her in. On the more detailed lace sections of her dress I used a bog standard HB pencil to lightly shade these areas. Once I was happy with the colouring of the image I set about cutting her out with my trusty craft knife. I added glossy accent to areas of the desk as to create a lacquered furniture effect and her glamour slippers where given the patent leather look.

I then coloured and cut out the vase of roses and the little kitten, adding glossy accent to the vase and roses.

The mirror was coloured with my grey Spectrum Noirs and a silver pen. Cut the frame out and added a mirror board to the back to create a mirror.

The scene NEEDS a chandelier…every girl needs a chandelier (or two) in her life. I could have used the didgi image provided but I wanted to create a dramatic focal point. I purchased from my local craft shop a pack of pre cut wooden chandeliers. With my Watermark pen I coloured in the surface are and then with my Wow Black Glint heated the powder and this is the result…do you love it as much as I do?

The background/wallpaper was made from Co ordinations Vintage Collection and embossed with the Rose Garden 8 x 8 folder. After lightly sanding, with my cut and dry foam went over the raised image with pink ink…I wanted to create textured wallpaper. A strip of black card was added to make a skirting board and a pink from the Co ordination Vintage Collection was sanded lightly to make the carpet.

The Letters from the Heart sentiment was cut out using the large label from the Die’sire Scalloped Tag set. Stencilled round the edges with Tim Holtz Victorian Velvet ink. Bevelled the tag into shape and attached with Collall silicon glue and embellished with two small black pearls.

Now all the elements of the scene are ready the mirror and chandelier where added with Collall glue and the desk, lady and cat where added using foam pads to create a 3d effect.     

The matt and layers where made from Centura Pearl Snow White, pink and black card I had in my stash and a pink and white lace paper from the cd-rom. The corners where embellished with art deco shaped black gems.

I hope you’ll be tuned into Ideal World on Thursday 28^th April at 9 pm for the launch with the lovely Leann Chivers.

Meet Miss Frou Frou...

If you are a bit like me an prefer things a bit sassy to cutesy cutesy, then you are going to love this brand new stamp range from Crafter’s Companion. This sassy must have will launching on Thursday 28^th March on Create and Craft TV as Pick of The Week at 9 pm with the lovely Leann Chivers.

I have never really used many cd-rom kits but this one is right up my street…to be honest even if I didn’t like the images (which I must add I do) then I would buy it simply for the backing papers…so many gorgeous ones to chose from and the detail is amazing…lace…pearl embellishments…and that’s just for starters.

For those of you who aren’t aware Frou Frou was created by Kathleen Francour, artist, photographer and designer. From stationery and scrapbooking, to puzzles, books, three dimensional, fabric, crafts and home decor, her unique feminine creations are licensed by publishers and manufacturers worldwide.   

After trawling though the digi images and backing papers, embellishments, epiphany etc I eventually settled on this fun digi stamp image, however please note that this image WILL NOT appear on the Frou Frou cd-rom but is a Club Inspire Exclusive.

 

I wanted to create something a little bit different and wasn’t sure what I had in mind when I started but once I started to colour the image of the girl in the Martin glass my imagination was over flowing…unfortunately not like the Martini glass.

Being very new to paper crafting I haven’t yet built up a great collection of Spectrum Noirs so I had to supplement what colours I did have with my water colour pencils. I loved the combination of the two and where I thought it suited I also used gold acrylic paint – gold highlights on her hair and on the glass and parasol.  I just slowly and carefully started to build the colours up with the water colour pencils and my Spectrum Noirs and paint until I was happy with the finished image. Which I am quite happy to say I am…it’s so easy to get lost in colouring and painting.

Whilst lost in the colouring process my mind was buzzing with ideas of how to display her in all her frivolity…I wanted to capture an era of glamour, of cocktails and of fun. So after painstakingly cutting the image out with a craft knife (am no good with scissors when it comes to this sort of thing) I decided that the perfect backdrop to ‘Miss Martin’ (that’s what I call her) was a glamorous fan.

I didn’t want the fan to distract from the image – I wanted to make sure she was the focal point of the card. So I decided to make the fan out of velum, scored the folds with my Hougie Board and folded. Once I was happy with the size I cut small notched out to create a lace affect fan. Secured the bottom of the fan with red tape and wound some gold beaded thread round for decoration purposes. A fan isn’t a fan without a tassel so one was added with Collall silicon glue – the threads of the tassel where actually longer so I just trimmed them with scissors to the desired length. Then to add some bling I attacked it with some Spray and Sparkle, first a light coating of gold and then iridescent. Once dry I attached it to my pink card panel, which I made from Co-ordination Vintage with Collall silicon glue. I lightly sanded it and added behind the fan, an acetate flourish I had in my stash from K&Company and added some pink gems.   

Before adding ‘Miss Martini’ on top of the fan I added some Glossy Accent to the glass to create the illusion that it was reflective. The parasol was glittered using my quickie glue pen with pink and turquoise glitter. Once she was dry I placed her at an angle on the fan with Collall silicon glue. I added a small pink spotty bow, pre made pink roses and some turquoise gems and brad as decoration. The sentiment was cut out using the smallest label die from the Die’sire Scalloped Tags set.

Three layers selected. The pink was matted onto Centura Pearl Snow White with 3d foam pads. Then that was matted onto gorgeous stripy paper from the cd-rom. That was then matted onto a piece of Co-ordinations card from Roy G Biv and using my punch ruler punched a border round the edges. All the layers where then matted onto a card blank made from Centura Pearl Snow White.

Et viola

 

This new collection from Crafter’s Companion will be suitable for all ages…I can see it being used for Party Invitations, Bachelorette parties, home décor…the possibilities are endless. So get those Spectrum Noirs out and start colouring in…

  

Favourite Card...

Well it's day two of the launch of the new Die'sire embossing folders from Crafter's Companion.

Fantastic launch show last night on Ideal World with the crafty Leann Chivers. We new is was going to be busy, but wow did you snap them up.

Leann kindly name checked one of my cards. She very kindly said it was ''amazing'', ''one of my very, very favourites'', ''incredible'' and ''very beautiful''.

 

The card is a very simple and an easy card to do, so if you're new to card making it's a perfect project.

Select the card as you basis, I used some hammered cream card. I created a layer of pearalised pink card and onto that a patterned paper from K&Company. This paper is a floral pattern of brown and pink. I used this as the colour palette/theme of the card.

The main layer of the card is plain cream card which was cut to size. Using a Kanban floral stamp I inked the relevant parts of the flower. The flowers/petals in pink and the branches and leaves in brown by just simply stamping the ink pad onto the stamp. Once image was stamped, embossed with clear embossing powder.

Once the embossed image was dry I ran the image through my embossing machine in the Argyle A4 embossing folder from the Die'sire range at Crafters Companion...a hot favourite of mines and was a top seller on the launch night.

Using the Die'sire Lace Border 1, die I cut one strip in the same pink and brown floral paper from K&Company I used for my matt and layer and attached.

I used a piece of pink ribbon with the edge stitching in cream to pull everything together (and to cover the join). I attached the ribbon to the card with the thinnest of the ultra sticky red tape. Used by bow maker to tie a bow, tweaked it until I was happy with the shape and attached to the card. Chose a small pink button and threaded a piece of pink bakers twine through the centres of the buttons and tied, leaving a small tail at each end overhanging the button. Attached the button to the centre of the bow with Collall silicon glue. The bow was attached on top of the ribbon length again with Collall silicon glue.

Twist the tails of the ribbon into place and secure to the card with the thinnest of the red ultra sticky tape - love this look as it creates dimension to your card. A simple, yet very affective technique.

The sentiment was stamped onto a piece of the same plain cream card in brown ink and embossed with clear powder. The sentiment is from 'A Little Bit Sketchy A5 Stamp Set - Only words - From the Heart by Sheena Douglas. Once dry the sentiments was cut out by hand and attached to the card with Collall sillison glue.

And that's it...

I hope you enjoy making this card but if you want to get hold of the Argyle folder you'll need to be quick.

 

 

I Know Which Ones My Favourite...

Well at long last the new fabulous embossing folders in the Die'sire range from Crafter's Companion have FINALLY been launched...I hope you where glued to the TV!

As part of the Die'sire Design Team we where all sent a selected bundle of folders to create projects to show the folders off to their best.

Know if I 'had' to chose just one for my crafty desert island which one would I choose...?

After much deliberation I can say that one of my favourite...yes one of my favourite, much apologies but I can chose. It's like asking a parent to choose their favourite child.

Chantily Corner it is...This amazing 8 x 8 folder has a gorgeous and elegant corner embellishment.

 

 

Using gorgeous Centural Pearl Snow white silver, I embossed one corner and cut card to the desired size. Using Memento Galaxy Gold ink lightly brush on the raised areas with your finger, just a little at a time to build up the desired colour.

 

 

 

I selected a square Dollie and with Tim Holtz Tattered Straw and Walnut Stain dabbed on ink with a wet baby wipe to create an aged look.

 

The post card is from a die cut pack from Papermania and I again aged the edges with Tim Holtz, Tattered Straw and Walnut Stain. With my bone folder worked round the edges and turned the corners in to age.

 

The large and small rose postage stamp embellishments are from Graphics 45, Secret Garden 8 x 8 paper pack. Postage stamps cut by hand and edges inked.

 

The rose is made from the Die'sire small rose quilling die. Cream velum was used, aged with Tim Holtz, Victorian Velvet. Once quilled brushed the edges with the actual ink pad of Victorian Velvet.

 

Butterfly acetate is from Inkylicious and is coloured in Spectrum Noirs.

 

 

 

The gold scissor embellishments are from my crafty stash.

 

The corner embellishments where originally silver but with the aid of Versamark and gold embossing powder they now co ordinate with the gold colour scheme.

 



Now all the elements of the main part of the card are completed the Centura Pearl Snow White Silver is matted and layered onto a pink/peach and green layers, from Co-ordination Vintage collection.

All the elements are attached with the wonderful Collall silicon glue.

Cant wait to see what all you crafty Crafter's Companions creations x

Floral Wreath

My favourite project I created for the Die'sire Design Team (Crafter's Companion, UK) was a floral wreath which I have fallen completely in love with and was very reluctant to part with.

I used a very inexpensive polystyrene ring (I think I paid £2.00 for a pack or 2) as the basis of the wreath. I used polystyrene as I wanted something very light as to keep the weight down for hanging purposes.

Using the quilling dies, Blissful flower, Rose small and large and Sunflower small and large I set to the task of making each individual flower. This is an ideal project for all those scraps that we stash away hoping to use one day. Choose your colour palette and just start cutting. Now as I am relatively new to the world of card making I have never used a quilling die, but the lovely Leann Chivers has an amazing tutorial it has a tried and tested, fail safe way of quilling the flowers. Once you have die cut the flowers you can start to shape the petals in various ways - bone folder, embossing tools, spritzing with water to create a tattered shabby look or use fine needle point tweezers to mould the petals into shape.It's up to you to decide, why not try them all. Top Tip Number 1...combine different flowers together e.g. mix the rose with the sunflower and create different layers.

Top Tip Number 2...start making the large flowers first and place them on the polystyrene ring and position with pins, when you are happy with the number and location of the flowers, start gluing them to the ring. Top Tip Number 3...once you have glued the flowers to the ring place the pin through the middle of the flower to anchor them to the ring until the glue dries. Once dried carefully remove the pins. Once you are happy that you have enough of the large flowers start making the smaller flowers. Top Tip Number 4...not all the small flowers (or even the large flowers) need the central spiral quill as most of the small flowers will be used to fill the gaps (plus they look like buds and this speeds up the process). Again as with the large flowers I used the pins to anchor the flowers whilst the glue dries.

Top  Tip Number 5...you don't need to cover the entire ring as a the sides and back of the ring will not be seen. I just concentrated on the areas that you see, plus if you add them to the back it wont hang flush against a wall.

Now that you have added all your quilled flowers comes the best part...decorating the wreath. This is where you can go mad, or as minimal as you like. It's entirely up to you. I sprayed all the flowers with Crafter's Companion Spray and Sparkle Multicolour Glitter. I must let you know that prior to being part of the Die'sire Design Team I was a Spray and Sparkle virgin...but now,I just want to spray everything...it is amazing. Give it a try. Once sprayed leave 30 approximately 30 minutes to dry. Whilst it's drying you can start to think about what you are going to use to decorate your wreath. I used buttons and gems to decorate the centre of the flowers, along with decorative pins. To add dimension (and MORE sparkle) I used sections from a pink garland and glued to the wreath. The hardest part is knowing when to stop, sometime less is more, but sometimes not.

You can leave the wreath blank for if you're making it as a gift personalising the wreath makes it even more special.I used the Die'sire Scalloped Tags Die. I stamped the sentiment 'You Make Me Smile', from Sheena Douglass A Little Bit Sketchy - Only Words - From The Heart', onto Centura Pearl Snow White Silver card and embossed with heat gun. Once dry pass it through your cutting machine, leave the tag in the die and use as a stencil inking around the edges. I used Tim Holtz Victorian Velvet with Cut and Dry Foam. Remove the die, leaving a lovely faded look. Tie a small bow with some ribbon, attach to tag and tag to wreath. I used by Collall silicon glue to attach tag to flowers.

Using a long piece of ribbon (I chose to co ordinate mine with the bow on the tag) tied a bow in the middle of the length. Once you are happy with the bow you now need to attach it to the back of the wreath. Top Tip Number 6...Place the ribbon on a flat surface with the bow in the middle with the side sections hanging down. On the reverse of the wreath I added some red extra strong double sided tape and placed the wreath down onto the ribbon where I wanted it to be. Turn over and trim off any excess ribbon, use some extra strong tape to to ensure ribbon is secured to the back of the wreath. All that is now left to do is hang it up and stand back and admire...

As you can tell from this project I LOVED making the flowers and just to prove how easy they are to make my very un crafty husband even managed to make a flower, and yes I did use it.

I've made lots of more samples using the flower quilling dies for the launch shows on Ideal World and Create and Craft TV along with the new embossing folders and I hope to show you these over the coming days! The quilling dies are already available from Crafter's Companion website...go on you know you want the, and more importantly you NEED them.

Don't forget to tune into the launch show on Ideal World on Wednesday the 20th March at 9 pm and 11 pm and on Thursday the 21st March at 8 am on Create and Craft TV, and then throughout the day on both Ideal World and Create and Craft TV. I will definitely be watching, I hope you will to.

New Crafters Companion Dies and Embossing Folders

This card was showcased on Crafters Companion Facebook page so for those who liked this card here's a brief description of how and what I used.

The 'brief' and starting point of this card was to use the quilling dies and the new, soon to be released embossing folders. I love using craft paper (or brown paper) to make flowers as they crease and fold and react to water when spritzed. Using the small rose die I made 2 die cuts and with the large rose I also made 2 die cuts. Once removed from the die I inked the edges with a mixture of Tim Holtz Rusty Hinge, Walnut Stain, Scattered Straw, Victorian Velvet and Antique Linen just building up the layers of colour until I was happy.  I shaped the flowers with a large embossing tool. To create the centre bud of the rose on the reverse of the petals move your embossing tool in a circular motion, once all the petals are shaped add the red double sided tape or you can use the more traditional wet glue technique. For the large rose die cut on the right side move your embossing tool in a circular motion - so the small rose will turn in on themselves as you quill and the large rose die cuts will turn out on themselves as they are quilled. Once the flower was made I inked the edges with Dovercrafts Copper ink.

The leaves where made from craft paper and the image used was a stamp from Papermania Build A Rose stamp. Stamped in Tim Holtz Walnut stain and coloured using Tim Holtz Peeled Paint, Rusty Hinge and Antique Linen. Glossy Accents was added to veins on the leaves and couldn't resist some more bronze ink.

The backing paper of the card is from Coordinations Vintage Collection and was embossed with the new soon to be released embossing folder - you'll need to tune into Ideal World Wednesday 20th March at 9 pm to find out the full details...Once the page was embossed I lightly sanded with my sanding block. Once cut to size aged the edges and the raised sanded sections of the pattern with Tim Holt Rusty Nail using by inky dusters. Glossy accent was added to random raised section of the embossed pattern and then bronze ink was dabbed on random flowers to create highlights. With my Houggie Board scoring tool I ran the edges of the tool along the edges of the paper to distress and age.
Using a plain piece of paper I wanted to create an aged letter page. Using an Inkylicious stamp 'Latin Script' I stamped it in Artiste Chocolate (Docrafts) a few times. Using my inky dusters from Inkylicious I aged the page with Tim Holtz Antique Linen and Rusty Nail. With a wet baby wipe I then blotted the paper randomly to distress. The paper was then edged with cream crochet ribbon, which was inked slightly with Tim Holtz Antique Linen to calm down the newness.

The small tag was die cut from the Die'sire Scalloped Tag die and the paper was aged in the same was as above. Stamped with the sentiment 'For Your Kindness' from Just Rite, Grand Sentiments. Attached the tag with brown bakers twine and used Collall glue to raise.

The sections where matted and layered and the the rose, leaves, ribbon and tag attached. The fly was from a pack of embellishments. The hat pin was made using spare beads and pearls and attached with Collall silicon glue. Et voila...I think this card could be done in any colour way, shabby chic to colourful brights. It's definitely a card I will make again and the rose quilling die creates a realistic looking flower and the embossing folder is one that can be used time and time again. I know it will be a trusty favourite.

Remember and tune into Ideal World on Wednesday at 9 pm to see the full launch and the products in more detail with the lovely Leann Chivers.
Keep watching for more sneak previews....

A Sneak Preview

Hi, you may or may not know that I have very recently been selected to be part of the Die'sire Design Team (Crafter's Companion, UK), yey. So what exactly does that mean? I hear you ask. Well, to put it in a nutshell Crafters Companions let me 'play' with all their fantastic new embossing folders and dies before they hit the shelves.

Over the past 7 days myself and the rest of the Die'sire team have been frantically working away in our carfty spaces, creating fabulous projects.These dies and embossing folders are amazing, you MUST add them to your crafty stash. The folders are particularly wonderful as they range in size from 6 x 6, 8 x 8 and A4, yes I did say A4.

So when and where can I get my hands on the dies and the folders? Well I am happy to tell you that you wont have to wait to long. The lauch will take place on Ideal World on Wednesday the 20th March at 9 pm and then at 11 pm. Please make sure you tune in, but don't worry if you miss the show as they will be showcased the very next day, Thursday the 21st at 8 am then throughout the day on both Ideal World and Create and Craft TV. To complement these amazing embossing folders the team have also been experimenting with some of the beautiful Die'sire Quilling dies, and you will be amazed at the varied projects we all created and how effective they are...keep checking in for more sneaky previews.