Using Julie Loves...Mandalas

Oh wow! What a busy few months it's been! I can't believe how long it's been since my last blog post! I'm so sorry!

So first of all we had my darling daughter's first birthday which I think took more planning than my wedding day! Seriously - more parties than the Queen - oh well, she deserved it :-) 

Then, shortly after the birthday celebrations I had a short spell in hospital while I had surgery to remove my gallbladder - told you it's been crazy!

So what better to get back into the swing of things than a play around with the latest Julie Love Creativity box which landed through the letterbox :-)

This month saw mandalas and oh my goodness they're amazing! Here's a few of the cards I made with the kit and I'll natter along the way to tell you what I did...

So this is one of my favourites! I've taken inspiration from the inky patterned paper and using a waterbrush and distress oxides to paint the foiled mandala topper. Super simple but really effective. Then mounted on a flag style matt and layer then adhered a foiled circle sentiment in the triangle space at the bottom.

This is another favourite (I think they're all favourites lol). So here I've done a really CAS card. Not added any colour to the foiled topper, just added a vellum banner across the front of the card and left it all black and white to really let the gold foiling show off. I've added the foiled circle sentiment to the front of the vellum banner centred on the mandala design. Then 3 pieces of card candi in the top right just for a tiny splash of colour.

This was a super quick card to make. I've matt and layered with the purple patterned paper and a square of black card then again left the foiled mandala topper plain, layering a sentiment on the front in the centre but this time adhering candi on candi fix foam pads all the way around the edge of the topper design to add some extra colour and to draw the eye in.

This is a super cool design! It looks like I've used loads of the foiled mandala toppers doesn't it?! Yet I've only used THREE! I've attached one complete with a sentiment in the centre and then the other two I've attached to the covered card front over the edge. None of the pieces that went over the edge were wasted as the pieces that were cut off are the smaller pieces that are also on the card front!

I really loved the inky patterned backgrounds. I'm not one for getting really messy so these are perfect for me! And because they don't have specific designs on them and the colours are so varied in this pad, they'll go with a whole range of other products too! BONUS!

There were embossed frames in the creativity box too, here's what I did with some of mine:

You can find out details of how to subscribe or buy some of the contents at www.craftworkcards.co.uk

Thanks for stopping by!!

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!