Monday, September 30, 2019

Colours of life

Colors of Life
This is a simple Birthday card i made for my friend and son who is pillar of strength to me. His Birthday is on the 10th of October and when i asked him his favourite colours he said Black and White. That is the reason why i named it colours of life.




I never thought I could make something in Black and White but I was able to turn out a simple layered card with embellishments all in Black and White.
I took a piece of white card stock and folded it in two. Then I took a piece of black card stock and using a unbranded die the frame was cut. The four corners of the frame were embellished with white  dots. In the middle is the white flower the shape which i love so much.was adhered to the  centre of the card using foam squares.
The black and white felt piece was store bought. I adhered the sentiment Friends using a stencil as i did not have a word die or stamp with the sentiment friends or friendship. I wanted the Birthday card to be different, Hence the sentiment Friends. It was adhered using foarm tape squares. 


These are the dies that i used. The big die is unbranded while the flower die is from a Stamping, embossing and die cutting set from Couture creations. 




Above is the stencil and embelishments i used.



I added a belly band. The width is the width of the ruler. i had a black butterfly which i fixed using liquid glue.Belly bands add the sparkle to any card.

Tip
If you don't have something dont rush and buy, just put your thinking cap and i am sure you can come with something creative. Crafting is all about happiness.

This card will be a part of my friends gift of a stationery set and another card with the happy Birthday sentiment. Once i make the stationery set will upload pix but please bear with me as i am not the best photographer. Sorry friends i am learning.
Thank you and Blessings


I am linking this card to
cats Pyjamas blog- Theme layersColors of life
The Male room Challenge Colors of Life
Colors of Life

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Recipe holder with a twist

Recipe Holder with a twistThe Recipe holder is a gift for my one and only daughter who is a chef.
It will be accompanied with a congratulations card as she is starting full time work next month in christchurch New Zealand. (My daughter, Grand daughter and I faced endless hadrships from 2013 and it is going to be real celebration in just a few weeks time. Believe me i am over the moon. It is simply Jesus who helped us through this rough patch. I lost my husband to a liver cancer and had to support both of them together with my mum and sister.
 Crafting is my greatest happiness apart from working almost 20 hours a day to ensure that they have the basics.( I have not seen any of you but all of you are a part of my family who showed the beauty with your voices, explanation, love and care.So My humble thanks to each one of you for holding my hand.) 

I used the supplies i had as crafting is all about happiness.





My craft guru is Dr Sonia and i often visit her blog to learn new things. The basic measurements are from her blog which i will link below.

Measurements
Cardboard
6*6 back
3.5*6 Front
2*6 base bottom

I took a bigger back panel as i wanted to be different and also use the additional space for decorating. I did the measuring and left the balance space for decoration using fruits from the fruitastic collection from Pinkfresh Studio.
My big back panel is an old card board which i decorated using corrugated paper and some gold color glitter tape. I dont know from where I bought it but fixing it was difficult and i had to use B 6000 liquid glue to adhere it to the base. I am happy with the outcome.( i used buy craft supplies and hoard earlier but not any more)




Backside of the back panel before pasting a A4 paper.


Front of the back panel. After i cut it there were jaggered pieces so to hide that i used the gold tape.
Then take three pieces of cardstock. Please take something a little strong or else it will tear when you score.
measurements
6*6 base accordian
 2 pieces of 3*6 side panel accordian folded.
Score all three pieces every half inch and accordian fold.
Still I dont have a bone folder or scoring tool. Therefore I measure and take a old pen with a pointed nib and score the cardstock using it and to keep my score lines straight I use a metal ruler. ( it is good when you start but having a score board and a bone folder will make life much easier. I am going to order mine using  gift cards i got from a Simon Says Stamp blog hop.)



Once you get everything ready start assembling take the back panel and paste the 6*6 base accordian folded piece using an adhesive. I use a glue that is very affordable but just does a pretty good job. I buy the big liquid glue bottle and fill it to small bottles for convenience of use.



 After attaching the front panel to the back.

Then slowly paste the two side accordians and this is how it will look. If pasting is done properly it interlocks and minimal glue can be used. My back panel is bigger as i wanted to decorate using some fruit dies from Pinkfresh Studio.



Take the 6* 6 front panel and decorate it the way you wish.
For the base of the cake tray i used the pinkfresh studio sweet treats die . I cut two bases in white and the third layer in pattern paper. The sweet treats also has a cup cake die. I cut some cup cakes and instead of coloring used some pretty stickers and ensured that there was dimension. Then i assembled four cup cakes on the tray.



 As i am still building my die collection I dont have many dies. The apron and the rolling pin were cut free hand. Mark my words i suck at drawing but i am taking baby steps at coloring and drawing thanks to all the lovely crafters who explain everything in detail. I pasted a pattern paper on the apron and attached a ribbon using B6000 glue.
I also cut a cup from a gift box and adhered it to the front panel as well as two kettles cut from pattern paper. I adhered them using double sided tape to get the dimension. I thought that cake and tea was a fantastic combination.


The border die is unbranded but i love it. Since it is intricate i had to take out the pieces which i did using a baby pin. I think a pokey tool will be handy but i love my pokey tool which is a safety pin that i put on my little grand daughters napkin when she was small.My grand daughter is my whole world.
After decorating the front panel it was attached to the back using liquid glue.
Some of the fuits in the background were colored using  gold and red gel pens and a green color felt pen.To add dots to strawberries i used a white gel pen.

I added separators to the recipe holder so that recipes can be kept separate and it will become handy when in a hurry. I reduced about half inch from both sides  when cutting the separators (3*5.5 inches). I left a piece on top to mention what is inside ie cookies, cakes, puddings, traditional etc. (when cutting the top piece if on one separator it is on the left the next one should be on the right. If having four separators ensure that two have the top piece on the left and the other two on the right. otherwise looking from the top and finding it will be difficult when your recipe collection gets larger.
Completed Recipe holder with the separators.

These are my precious dies from Pinkfresh Studio.








As i am very careful with my Cuttlebug cutting machine I ensure that i cut all the dies in one go for a project. It also saves a lot of time.




All the Pinkfresh studio dies were a gift for me from a blog hop I took part. Thankyou for selecting me as a winner.
This is my completed recipe holder with a twist.


It can be kept upright without falling as the back panel is thicker. If i feel that it is going to fall will attach a stand to it. I will be taking this and the card when i go to see them in December. I am waiting impatiently to get back.



Dr Sonias blog link
 https://cardsandschoolprojects.blogspot.com/search?q=recipe+card+holder

Her Recipe card holder is very detailed and you sure can learn a lot. I got the permission from her to submit this project for the challenge. She is very busy but never forgets to answer all my questions immediately. Thank You Dr Sonia the lovely human being par excellence.


Tips.
when i plan to do a project i take a dish/ plate and put everything on to that so that i dont have to get up many times looking for things and wasting time.If i know that i need many dies i cut them all together and keep them in a small container inside the dish. This also ensures that i don't lose anything.



Keep an old piece of cloth to wipe off the exccess glue etc from the fingers otherwise you are sure to ruin your project.

Keep a magazine . This was also shared by a blogger pal and when putting glue keep that piece on a magazine page glue and wipe off the magazine page. In this manner you don't damage the work surface.

The tape i use to adhere dies to the paper is very cheap . It is less than $1 but it does a very good job but i make sure to put the tape on the back side of the card stock.


I keep all my dies in the original packaging and everything is stored on the leaves of a file folder according to companies or themes.

I keep different scissors for cutting paper, adhesives etc so that i dont ruin my good scissors. Even if you clean the scissors after cutting adhesives there is a chance for it to get ruined. So keep a pair separately. 


This is the scissor i use for fussy cutting it cuts like butter and is less than $1.

I am a new crafter and i know the small things that come to my mind all the time of what to use and how to look after etc. So i am sharing what i know. I hope this helps.
Blessings and Thanks to all


I am linking this project to
Pinkfresh Studio Stamptember challenge using Pinkfresh Studio products.