Casology Challenge week. 269 entry

Well, here goes!

This is my first attempt participating in as challenge blog, so I'm sure it's far from perfect but you've got to start somewhere, right?!

I'm a massive fan of clean and simple cards and layouts so when I was looking for a challenge blog with a cas theme and stumbled across casology, I knew instantly this was the first one I'd try!

I love how the brief or cue card is just a single word! The brief or spec is so broad because the 'cue card' is just one word for you to incorporate into your design.

When I saw this cue card, I knew exactly what I was going to make! I took a C6 card blank and one of the cut out overlays from Craftwork Cards, keeping the design using white and gold only. I've adhered the overlay with 3D foam pads to create shadow and depth without adding anything extra to the card.

I've use die cut letters and double embossed them in gold as the main element on the card and then stamped some cute flowers onto vellum, embossed them in gold and cut them out, adhering them around the focal word.

Here's some close up photos of the different elements:

Hope you like it!

How to make.... a z-fold Card - an easy step-by-step tutorial!

Hi everyone - as promised I've done a z -fold card tutorial which features over on the Craftwork Cards Official Facebook Group! If you wanted to keep this is  a safe place, then head over to the group and there's a downloadable pdf of the tutorial - including the steps and photographs for you to save on your own device.

Click on the link to head over to the facebook group...... here

So, onto the tutorial. Here's a list of everything that you'll need to make the base and to decorate as I have here.

What you will need:

Julie Loves – AllWrapped Up Collection

148x148mm Square Card

Paper trimmer/Ruler and Craft knife

Adhesive

How to make the basic card:

Take your card blank, I’ve used a 148x148mm white card blank for this tutorial. Cut a strip 55mm from the bottom.

Take the larger piece and fold the front back to the fold of the card. Use a bone folder to help give you a crisp, clean fold. Then repeat with the thinner piece.

Flip the smaller piece of card as shown in the photograph below. This forms the basis of your Z-fold card. It is easier to decorate your card before gluing together.

To decorate the card as the beginning of this tutorial you’ll need to cut the following pieces of paper:

90x70mm stars paper

90x70mm red hearts paper

90x145mm pink stripe paper

53x145mm holly & berries paper

53x145mm Turquoise trees paper

Then adhere to the card as in the photograph below. Notice the large piece of card has been decorated on the inside and the thinner piece has been decorated on the outside.

Glue a small section on the front of the red hearts paper as shown below and stick down the long end of the thinner piece of card.

Open the card and glue on the small tab of the smaller piece of card, like this:

Then simply fold the piece covered the pink stripe back over to close your card and firm down. It will stick in place perfectly and sit flat every time! Your decorated z-card base is now completed and you can add any embellishments you wish!

I added:

·       A small NOEL tag on foam pads on the inside of the card

·       A framed sentiment on the front thinner piece of card – raising the centre on foam pads and the frame sitting flat on the card

·       2 layered, embossed poinsettia die-cuts. I curled them around my finger before gluing them together, then stuck them on the front and added smaller flower die-cuts and laurels around the large flower.

A small die-cut bow on the inside of the card.

You can adapt the tutorial by using different sizes of square card to start with or by cutting thinner or wider strips initially. Obviously you'd just need to change the measurements of the pieces of paper to decorate the card blank.

The papers I've used here are from this month's Julie Loves monthly subscription club.

This is one of my favourite card styles and suits a whole range of collections. Why don't you try it out!

Happy crafting!

A Closer Look At... Julie Loves Paisley and Petals

Hi Everyone! I hope you've all had a fantastic bank holiday weekend! Did anyone catch Julie Hickey's shows on Create and Craft yesterday? She did such a good job even though she was poorly!

This new collection was right up my street and I always feel so grateful to be on the design team and get to make samples with new collections before they go to sale. This kit reminded me of the retro daisy Craftwork Cards used to feature in a lot of their products many moons ago but revamped and in a truly Julie style. 

The stamps in this collection were out of this world, I even emailed Steph (Senior Designer at CWC) to tell her how much I loved them! They all work so well together, you can create so many different stamping combinations, using the colour combination from the Paisley and Petals collection or using different colour combinations, you can achieve so many different looks. This is what the stamps look like:

So I thought I'd show you a few of my finished sample cards and give you a few ideas on how I created them!

Starting with a nice easy card, I've made this card by cutting out the individual petals from the patterned paper and sticking then to the back of the sentiment, turning the sentiment into a main focal point on my card. I've used one of the tiny prints for the background and a strip of ribbon across the front the attached the sunflower I've made to the bottom right. This allows enough space to see the tiny print on the patterned paper.

Here, I stamped out the large and small flowers several times in colours of ink pad matching the collection and cut them out. 

I've also used a large circle die to cut a large central aperture in the front of my card and then laid the flowers over the aperture so all the flowers overlap slightly but leave gaps. I've stamped a few paisley images around the edge of the aperture then adhered the flowers to the front of the card.

Stamp a sentiment on white card and mount onto a piece of the blue floral patterned paper for the front of the card. I've used a large piece of the same blue floral patterned paper on the inside of the card and tied ribbon down the spine of the card. 

As a finishing touch I've used some liquid pearls to accent the flowers.

For this card I've used one of the sentiment postcards and layered it onto the deep blue paisley paper.

I've the cut out some of the beautiful hand illustrated blooms from the mustard colour paper and added these to the front of the card as if they're coming in from the edge of the card.

A few dots of gold liquid pearls around the blooms ties it all together nicely!

I've used a large circle die to cut an aperture in the front of my card, slightly larger than the embossed daisy tag. I've covered the front in the lovely daisy paper and cut out the aperture. 

I've then taken a length of white thread and secured it between a sandwich of two of the embossed daisy tags. Secure each end of thread to the inside of your card. Then cut a square of white card slightly smaller than your card and cut the same size aperture from it. This will go on the inside of your card and hide the tails of the thread!

I've added some soft pink ink, sentiments and bows the spinning element of the card and then a square of contrasting patterned paper on the inside of the card.

Here's some more of my finished sample cards with this collection, if you'd like to know how any of them were made please ask, I'd be only too happy to explain :-)

Happy crafting! I hope you enjoy this kit as much as I did - I'd love to see your makes!

A Closer Look at... Julie Loves Rainbows

Well I thought I'd share with you the samples I made for Julie's Create & Craft show on Sunday with her latest Julie Loves kit. The April kit was Rainbows and Oh. My. Word! What can I say - the colours are outstanding!! This is such a happy kit and an absolute delight to work with! It was so good, it sealed the deal on my decision to subscribe to the Julie Loves Creativity Box monthly subscription!! (I'll tell you about that another day!)

I love the project kit so much, there's everything you need in there and more! Everything co-ordinates, you can go for simple cards or more complex creations, you just can't lose.

So here's some of my samples for the show and a few instructions as to how I've made them, I hope you like them.....

This was one of my more simple cards, using the beautiful blue and green rainbow paper. I used a thin square frame from a second sheet of paper, rotated it to add a bit of contrast and give the effect of another matt and layer. I've taken 3 sizes of the butterflies and layered 3 folded butterflies for each one so they lift their wings - as if they're flying off the card!

I simply love these tent fold cards that open on the short side! They look so modern and just add something different to your project. To create the main feature on this card I've taken 2 foiled kraft artcards; I've cut an aperture in the oval one using a scalpel and layered it on top of the stems art card. I've used Kuretake Clean Color Real Brush pens (which are my absolute 'go to' pens) to colour the scalloped edge and the leaves. I've stamped 6 butterflies on one of the patterned papers and cut them out, layering each on top of another then simply tied a ribbon down the side.

This card was so simple and so much fun! It was excellent for using up those skinny scraps of paper which all of us keep but hardly ever use - we just keep them just in case. If you cover a piece of card with adhesive (I tried one piece with double sided tape and the other with tacky glue and both worked fine) then lay the strips of paper on diagonally. It will be different every time you make a different piece. Try different ways- go for a rainbow like I did above or just lay them down randomly and mix the colours for a completely different look! Really simply just added candi down the left hand side and one of the framed sentiments on the right hand side.

Oh goodness! I made this one using one of the new Reveal It designs! I used the Kuretake pens again in the same rainbow colours to draw stripes diagonally across the Reveal It, overlapping each colour slightly so the colours blend together. I've stuck a strip of the coloured Reveal It on top of a piece of rainbow paper and stuck them both to the front of the card with a framed sentiment. For those readers who haven't come across Reveal Its before - they are basically a coated cardstock with UV printed designs. The UV ink is completely clear and resists ink when you put it over the top. Personally, I find water based inks such as the pens or distress inks work best with them.

The last card I'd like to tell you about was using a Reveal It again but something a little different this time. I've coloured each individual rose in using the Kuretake pens in the same rainbow colours I've used in all the samples. Then I tried something a little different on the blank space (which I hadn't done before!) I used a black pen to colour in the blank space. I though it really made the colours and the roses pop off the page, especially when I mounted it on a piece of black card.

Here's the rest of the samples I made for Julie's show:

I hope you've enjoyed reading my blog post today and seeing my samples using the beautiful Julie Loves Rainbows Kit from Craftwork Cards. I've tried to put links to where I've got products from but if there's anything you'd like to ask about, or if there's something you like me to show you step-by-step, let me know, I'd love to know what you think