Bobble Hat Man Card

Issue 3 of the Little Claire Magazine is on sale now and I have made this card using the stamp that comes free with the magazine. The leaves on the trees this Autumn were a lovely mix of colours and so I have tried to capture the colours on this card.

what you will need:
Little Claire Magazine issue 3 free stamp
Little Claire Dinkie Text Sending Smiles
Spellbinders Eyelet Squares S4-305 die
die cutting machine
cream card to stamp onto
black Versa Fine ink pad
Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink Pad
Hot Off The Press Cardmader`s Earths Palette Creative Pack paper stack
cream 14.7cm x 14.7cm base card
black card
red paper
hessian
colouring implements of your choice
Maple leaf punch 1" from side to side
black fine tip pen

Cut the Hot Off The Press paper to around 14cm.
Shade the edges of the paper using Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink.
Mat and layer the paper onto black card.
Stick the card/paper combo onto the base card.

Cut a strip of hessian to around 14.7cm x 3.5cm and frey the edges.
Stick the hessian onto the base card.
Using the leaf punch make 8 leaves from the cream card.
Colour the leaves and using the fine tip black pen draw the vanes on the leaves.
Stick 7 of the leaves onto the hessian.

Using the Spellbinder Eyelet Squares die and the red paper cut out a background frame.
Thread a string of hessian through the hole down the side of the die cut and allow the end to stick out, repeat this for the other three edges.
Stick the die cut background onto the base card at a jaunty angle.

Using the Little Claire stamp and the black Versa Fine ink pad stamp the image onto cream card.
Cut out the image and colour it in.
Stick the coloured image onto the card.
Make a triple bow using the hessian string and stick to the card.
Colour a piece of cream card yellow and cut out a circle using the ring binder hole punch.
Bevel the yellow circle and stick onto the centre of the bow.

Using the Little Claire Dinkie Text "Sending Smiles" and Have a beautiful day" and the black Versa Fine Ink pad stamp the sentiments onto the red paper.
Cut the sentiments out and stick onto the base card.
Stick the remaining leaf to bottom right hand corner of the card.

Christmas Village Card

Today is the launch of the Little Claire December stamp challenge and the theme is special Christmas card. I have made this card for my big sister and her husband and they have a very special place in my heart. This is the last Little Claire challenge of the year so good luck with your entry.....

The prize for this months lucky winner is........

£10.00 Voucher to spend on-line

what you will need:
Little Claire Christmas Village Scene stamp
Little Claire Dinkie Text Merry Christmas
6" x 6" base card
black card
white card to stamp onto
black Versa Fine ink pad
Hunkydory shooting stars background paper
copy paper to use as a mask
blue pastel chalks
Cut n Dry foam
Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Stormy Sky
Lea`bilities Poinsettia die 004
Marianne Creatables Poinsettia die LRD122
swirly accent die
Glamour Dust glitter
die cutting machine
wet glue
thin paint brush
fine tip black pen
colouring in implements of your choice
black liquid pearls
4 x faceted AB gems
ball tool

Cover the 6" x 6" base card with the black card.
Cut the Hunkydry Shooting Stars background card to mat and layer onto the black paper/card which is now stuck to the base card, stick the Hunkydory card in place.

Using the Little Claire Christmas Village Scene stamp and the black Versa Fine ink pad stamp the image onto white card.
Cut the image to size (about 12cm x 10cm).
Stamp the image onto copy paper and cut around the outline of the houses, thee owl and the moon.
Use the cut out images as a mask and secure onto the master image.
Using the Cut n Dry foam and the blue pastel chalks begin to shade the sky area of the image (I made it darker coloured in the top left of the image and lighter coloured around the moon).
Remove the masks and colour the rest of the image with colouring implements of your choice.
Colour in the trees with the fine tip black pen.
Using wet glue and a fine paint brush apply glue to the image where you want it to look like frost has formed (including the moon).
Cover the glue with the Glamour Dust glitter and shake off the excess.
Mat and layer the image onto black card and stick onto the base card.

Using the Lea`bilities Poinsettia die cut out 2 Poinsettia flowers (one lager than the other) from white card.
Using the Marianne Creatables Poinsettia die cut out 8 Poinsettia flowers ( lager than the others) from white card.
Using the Marianne Creatables Poinsettia die cut out 4 middles from black card.
Using the Tim Holtz Stormy Sky Distress Ink shade the centre of each of the Poinsettia flowers.
Apply wet glue to the shaded area of the Poinsettia flowers, sprinkle with Glamour Dust glitter, shake off the excess and leave to dry.
Apply the black liquid pearls to the tips of the black flower centres and leave to dry.
When all the pieces are dry assemble the flowers (the big flower has 4 sections and a middle piece and the rest of the flowers have 2 sections and a middle piece).
Stick a AB gem in the centre of each assembled flower.

Using the swirly shaped die cut 4 pieces from white card.
Stick the white swirly cut outs and the Poinsettia flowers onto the card.

Using the Little Clair Dinkie Text Merry Christmas select the "A little Christmas greeting just for you" and stamp onto white card.
Cut out the text and rub the edges along the black Versa Fine ink pad to define the edge of the sentiment box.
Stick the sentiment onto the card.

A Little Bird Told Me

Hello, well I have to confess that I haven't been crafting as much as I would normally at this time of year but I was hoping to move house before Christmas and suitably packing etc in preparation. Unfortunately I will not be moving until the new year but my thinking now is new year new start. Then my car broke and needed mending and I have started a new job oh and preparing for a family visit before Christmas. So much going on and something had to give and it was my crafting that took a back seat, and I do miss it. I was really glad for an opportunity to a blog project for Little Claire using this fantastic steam punk/zentangle digi stamp, it was a real joy to get back into my craft room and I hope that in the new year when I have moved house I will be able to make more time for my crafting and blogging.

I use Serif Craft Artist as my graphics program and if you have this program you can follow the step by step instructions below. If you do not have this graphics program you will still be able to print the digi stamp image but your instructions for achieving this may be different.

what you will need:
Little Claire digi Book Owl stamp
Little Claire A Little Bird Told Me stamp set
Inkylicious Latin Script stamp
Tim Holtz Alterations Tattered Florals die
die cutting machine
Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink & Cut n Dry foam
Tim Holtz Bundled Sage Distress Ink
14.7cm x 14.7cm cream base card
craft card
cream linen printable card
page from a book
green & red card scraps
colouring in implements of your choice
ring binder hole punch
1.5cm Hobby House dark red gingham ribbon
scissors

Load your printer with the cream linen printable card.
Open your Serif Craft Artist graphics program on your computer.
Select Blank Project from the Get Started section of the Start Up Wizard.
Select A4 from the Page Setup.
Select Done from the Digikit Browser.
You will now be taken to a screen with a representation of an A4 work sheet on it.
Click on the Insert tab in the tool bar, select Photo from the drop down box, select From File from the drop down box.
Now you will be taken to a browser box which will allow you to find the file where you have stored the Little Claire Book Owl image.
Select the image and click on the Open button at the bottom of the Insert Photo(s) box.
You will now be taken back to your work sheet and if you move your cursor to within the work sheet you will find it appears as a cross with a hashed box underneath, left click and at the same time drag down to the right and your image will appear.
You now need to re size the image so make sure that the ruler bars which run along the top and left hand side of the work area are in cm.
Left click on the ruler at the left hand side and drag (a red line will appear) the line until it reaches 9cm.
Click on the digi image and a blue box will appear, a grey box with cross hares is shown in the top left corner outside the blue box, click on the cross hares and drag the image to the far left of the work sheet so that the left edge of the branch is butted up to the edge of the work sheet.
Re size the image by clicking on the white square at the bottom right corner of the blue box and make the right hand leaf at the end of the branch touch the red guide line.
Move the image to the centre of the work sheet by clicking on the grey  cross hares at the top left of the blue box and drag the image to where you want it.
You are now ready to print off the image so select File from the toolbar, select Print from the drop down box, select the Print button at the bottom of the Print box.

THAT IS THE COMPUTER STUFF OVER, NOW TIME TO START CRAFTING..........

Cut the image to size making sure that it is 8mm from the right hand leaf to the cut line, 4cm from the left hand branch to the cut line, 1cm from the bottom leaf to the cut line and 6cm from the right ear to the cut line.
Tear a piece of paper (this torn line is going to be a mask for the shaded part of the card) and secure the paper to the linen card making sure that the edge of the tear buts up to the end of the branch.
Using Tim Holts Vintage Photo Distress Ink and the Cut n Dry foam apply a light shade to the exposed left hand side of the linen card.
Using the Inkylicious \latin Script stamp and Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink stamp the words onto the exposed linen card to make it look like a page from a book.
Remove the mask.
Shade the edge of the remaining linen card with the Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

Colour in the image.

Cut a piece of the Hobby House ribbon and make a V cut in the right hand side of the ribbon.
Stick the ribbon onto the linen card.

Using the Little Claire A Little Bird Told Me stamps and the Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink stamp the sentiments onto the linen card.

Mat and layer the linen topper onto craft card.
Stick the craft card and topper onto the cream base card.

Using the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die cut one flower from green card.
Shade the edges of the flower using Tim Holts Bundled Sage Distress Ink.
Cut the petals towards the centre of the flower with scissors and shape the flower.
Cut a  flower using a piece of paper from a book and the smaller of the Tim Holts Tattered Florals flowers.
Shade the edges of the flower with the Vintage Photo Distress Ink, shape the flower and stick on top of the green flower.
Punch a circle from a scrap of red card using the ring binder punch and bevel the circle.
Stick the red circle onto the centre of the flower and stick the flower onto the card.

Cut out 7 leafs by hand from the green card.
Tint the edges of the leaves with the Bundled Sage Distress Ink.
Shape the leaves and stick over the leaves which have been printed.

Little Claire December Digi Challenge

 

 

I have tried to be good and make as many of my Christmas cards as possible ready for posting and I think I have done it. This is one of the cards I did and I thought it would be a good one to post as my inspiration for the Little Claire December digi challenge, which this month is "favourite Little Claire digi stamp". I hope you are all ready for Christmas.......

 

This is the fantastic prize that you could win if you are lucky enough to be picked, so GOOD LUCK.

 

5 LITTLE CLAIRE DIGI STAMPS OF YOUR CHOICE

 

 

 

what you will need:

Little Claire we 6 cats digi stamp

Little Claire dinkies text Happy Christmas

First Edition Nordic Christmas 6" x 6" paper pad

6" x 6" base card

white card to print onto

colouring in implements of your choice

green card scraps

red card scraps

Gina K Designs corner dies - rounded corner die

Marianne Creatables Poinsettia die LRD122

die cutting machine 

dark red 5mm dark red satin ribbon

Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink

Rounded corner punch

black Versa Fine ink 

White Opal Liquid Pearls

Glamour Dust

3 red gems

scissors

medium hole punch

3/8" hole punch

 

Cut the 6" x 6" base card down to 6" wide by 4 1/2" wide.

Stick the green and white paper from the First Edition Nordic Christmas pad onto the base card (remember to line up the design evenly along the top and bottom edges).

Round off the right hand corners with the corner punch.

Cut the Christmas trees paper form the First Edition Nordic Christmas pad to roughly 3" x  4 3/4".

Draw a curved line along the right hand side of the Christmas tree paper and cut out with the scissors.

Shade the right hand edge of the Christmas trees paper with Tim Holts Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

Stick the Christmas trees paper onto the left hand side of the base card, trim to size and shade the remaining three edges with Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

 

Load your printer with the white card.

Open up the Serif Craft Artist program on your computer and select "blank project" from the Get Started section.
Select A4 portrait from the Page Set Up section by double clicking on it.
Craft Artist will now take you to a page with digi kits on it, click on the Done button at the bottom of the digi kit browser to close it.
Now you should be looking at a representation of a A4 work area.
On your A4 work space you will notice two rulers above and to the side of the workspace and if yours is like mine it opens by default in cm so to change this hover your cursor in the corner where the two rulers meet and right click, select inches from the drop down box.
You need to draw guide lines so move the cursor to the left hand ruler and left click and drag the red guide line out to 2 1/8".
Left click on the insert tab at the top of the screen, select photo from the drop down box, select from file from the drop down box, select the Little Claire we 6 cats digi stamp from the place you filed it which will be displayed in the insert photos box, click on the open tab at the bottom of the box.
A cross with a box beneath it will appear on your work area, left click and drag the cursor, as you do the digi stamp image will appear.
Select the image by clicking on it and you will notice a box appears around the image and a grey box will appear at the top left corner of the image.
Click on the grey box and drag the image to the area on your work sheet where your guide line is and place the image to the left of the guide line.
 The image needs to measure 2 1/8" from the bottom of the left hand cat to the bottom of the right hand cat so re size the image by hovering the cursor over the white square at the corner of the image till a double headed arrow appears, left click and drag the image to the correct size ie between the edge of the work area and the edge of the guide line. If you need to adjust the size further repeat the last steps with any of the white squares.
Once the image is the correct size move it to a more central position on the work sheet ready for printing.
Click on the file tab at the top of the screen and select print from the drop down box, select properties from the print pop up box, select photo from the properties pop up box and then select OK from the tab at the bottom.

Cut the image to size (about 2 11/16" x 2 11/16") and colour it in.
Round off the corners with the corner punch.
Very lightly shade the edges of the topper with Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink.
Cover the edges furry parts of the hats with Liquid Pearls White Opal, sprinkle with Glamour Dust, shake off the excess and leave to dry.
Stick the image topper onto the card.

Using the Gina K Designs rounded corner die and the green card cut 3 corners.
Cut into the corners to make a frame for the top and bottom of the topper and stick into place.
Using the medium hole punch make 3 dots, bevel the dots and stick onto the card.
Using the 3/8" hole punch make 3 dots, bevel and stick onto the card.
Using the green card and the Marianne Creatables Poinsettia die cut 1 of the lager poinsettia.
Using a scrap of the green Nordic Christmas paper and the Marianne Creatables Poinsettia cut 1 of the smaller Poinsettia.
Shade the edges of the Poinsettia with Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink, shape the flowers and stick together.
Add 3 red gems to the centre of the flower.

Using the Little Claire Happy Christmas and Christmas Hugs x text and the black Versa Fine ink pad stamp the sentiments onto white card.
Cut the sentiments to size, shape the ends and shade the edges with Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink.
Cut 2 pieces of red satin ribbon.
Stick the ribbon onto the card where the Poinsettia will go.
Stick the sentiments onto the card over the ribbon but still allowing the ribbon to show.
Stick the Poinsettia onto the card.
Trim the satin ribbon to size.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Little Claire Bees Knees Card

 

This is a card I have made using the Little Claire Bees Knees stamp set and apart from the cute little images I have used paper scraps that I had in my stash box and a load of punches (I love using punches).

 

what you will need:

Little Claire Bees Knees stamp set

5 6/8" x 5 6/8" cream base card

craft card

cream card

good quality white card to stamp onto

Bird Song 8" x 8" paper pad - green leaves

black Versa Fine ink pad

Tim Holts Distress Ink - Vintage Photo

colouring in implements of your choice

1 1/2" circle punch (or die)

scissors

ring binder hole punch

various printed paper scraps

various punches (hearts, flowers, butterflies)

pearl gems

silver Sekura gelly roll pen

 

Cut a piece of craft card to mat and layer onto the cream base card and stick into place.

Cut a piece of the Bird Song green leaves paper to mat and layer onto the craft card which is already stuck onto the base card and stick into place.

 

Cut apiece of cream card 4 1/2" x 4 1/2".

Mat and layer the cream card onto craft card.

Using the 1 1/2" circle punch and your paper scraps punch out 6  circles.

Using the Little Claire Bees Knees stamp and the black Versa Fine ink pad stamp the images onto good quality white card.

Colour the images with colouring in implements of your choice.

Using scissors cut out the samped images.

Stick the circles and the stamped images onto the cream card square.

Stick the circles square onto the base card at a jaunty angle.

Using your stash of punches and your stash of paper scraps begin punching out shapes to stick onto the circles.

Arrange the shapes onto the circles until you are happy with how they look and then stick them into place (I gave definition to my shapes by folding the hearts and butterflies down the centre and rolling the centre of the flowers with a ball tool).

Paper piece the heart on the bee hive and the flower by stamping the images onto printed paper and then cutting around the desired part of the image and then stick the cut out printed paper onto the stamped image.

Draw a sparkly silver line down the centre of the butterflies and place pearl gems at the centre of the punched flowers.

 

Punch out 6 dots from your scrap paper using the ring binder punch and bevel the dots using a ball tool and a piece of foam.

Stick the dots onto the card (I use hot glue to stick the dots onto the card as it makes a solid bond with the card and fills in the void under the dot, but it is a messy job and you have to be quick and accurate).

 

Stamp the sentiment "You really are the Bees Knees!" onto craft card using the black Versa Fine ink pad.

Cut the sentiment out and shade the edges using Tim Holts Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

Stick the sentiment onto the card.

 

 

 



 



Little Claire Special Offer

Little Claire have given everyone an early Christmas present today and it is a fantastic 30% discount on everything. Head on over to their shop and when you have decided what you want to buy (this may take some time as they have so many fabulous things) simply proceed to the checkout and type in the code GAP30. So go on give yourself am early Christmas treat.

Little Claire November Stamp Challemge - Christmas in White

 



 

Good morning and I hope you have all survived the wet and windy weather we`ve been having lately. Little Claire have launched their November stamp challenge and the theme is Christmas in white. I was looking through the entries for last months competition and I have to say the standard was high but I especially liked the entries by Jane`s Journal so I suggest that you have a look at her blog which is filled with fantastic creations and how to make them.

These are the prizes that you could win if you enter the competition, aren't they fantastic and so useful.

It includes :

A selection of Little Claire Snowy papers

Little Claire 'Robin & Snowdrop' stamp set

One pack of Bling Stones

One pack of Pearl stones

One pack of White Adhesive Lace

 

This is the card that I have made as part of the Little Claire design team and it is really easy to make but it does require a lot of dies and these are expensive pieces of kit so I would suggest that if you don't have a particular die that I have used then have a play with the dies or punches in your own stash. The main thing with this card is to make layers of embellishments because you don't have a lot of colour to hold your interest.

what you will need:
Little Clare Three Sparkly Snowmen stamp set - snowman with Owl and Robbins
Little Claire Dinkie Text Merry Christmas
14.5cm x 14.5cm white base card
Tattered Lace Essentials Circles dies No 10 & 11
Marrianne Creatables Frame & Swirls die - just the lager swirl
Lea`bilities Poinsettia die 004
Marianne Creatables Poinsettia die LRD122 - just the middle stamen
large trellis background die
die cutting machine
black Versa Fine ink pad
score board
orange paper
small circle punch
colouring in implements of your choice
wet glue
fine paint brush
Docraft Glitter Strips glitter
4 x small AB faceted gems
foam pads

Cut a square of white card 13cm x 13cm.
Score the card using a score board making vertical lines (remember to make the space at the outer side of the end scores equal).
Mat and layer the white scored card onto the orange paper.
Stick the mat and layered paper/card combo to the centre of the base card.

Run the large trellis die and the white card through the die cutting machine (I don't know what this die is called or even who makes it because it was one of the first dies I ever bought, that was years ago and the packaging is long lost but this is a picture of it and it is still on sale because I see it at craft fairs).

Stick the cut out frame onto the centre of the base card.

Using the Little Claire snowman with Owl and Robbins stamp from the Three Sparkly Snowmen stamp set and the black Versa Fine ink pad stamp the image onto the white card.
Take the Tattered Lace Essentials Circles die No. 11 and secure it to the white card so that it will cut out a circle with the image nicely placed within it.
Run the image and die through the die cutting machine.
Colour in the image with colouring in implements of your choice.
You now need to make a frame for the lovely image so take the Tattered Lace essentials Circles die No 11 and put it onto the white card. Place the Tattered Lace Essentials Circles die No 10 within die No 11 and make sure it is central to die No 11 (you may wish to secure the dies with low tack tape to make sure they do not move). Run the dies through the die cutting machine.
Stick the frame over the top of the image.
Using the wet glue and a fine paint brush apply wet glue to the bottom of the image where you would find snow.
Sprinkle the Docrafts Glitter Strips glitter over the wet glue, shake off excess and allow to dry.
Stick the image onto the base card.

Create 2 swirls using the lager swirl die from the Marrianne Creatables Frame & Swirls die and white card.
Cover the cut out swirl shapes (one at a time) with wet glue, cover with Docrafts Glitter Strips glitter and shake off the excess. Allow to dry.
Stick the swirls to the bottom left of the base card.

Using the Lea`bilities Poinsettia die 004 cut out 3 layers of the Poinsettia from white card.
Shape the Poinsettia petals by running a ball tool or something similar down the centre back of the petals and rubbing around the right way round centre of the flowers.
Assemble the flowers.
Using the orange paper and the centre stamen from the Marianne Creatables Poinsettia die LRD122 cut out the stamen.
Stick the stamen to the centre of the Poinsettia.
Stick a faceted AB gem to the centre of the Poinsettia.
Stick the Poinsettia onto the base card.

Stick the remaining 3 AB gems at the corners of the large trellis cut out.

Using the black Versa Fine ink pad and the Little Claire Merry Christmas dinkie text stamp the text onto white card.
Cut the text out.
Cut out 2 small dots using the small hole punch.
Stick the dots onto the sentiment banner.
Stick the sentiment onto the base card with foam pads.



























Dandelion Friend Card

This is what I was doing at the beginning of the week when the wind was howling down the chimney and blowing all the leaves off of the trees, and it`s made using the new Little Claire dinkie Dandelion stamp. I like my character stamps but sometimes it is really nice to use a simple stamp to get a stylish/classy result. Its easy to do and once you've had a go at this technique you will want to use it over and over again so have a go......

what you will need:

Little Clair dinkies Dandelions stamp

Little Claire dinkie text Happy Birthday Mrs Lovely

black Versa Fine ink pad

Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink

white base card 15cm x 23cm

copy paper

white card

black paper

craft card

page from an old book

small hole punch

medium hole punch

string

Black fine tip pen

flower die 3.5cm across

flower die 2,5cm across

die cutting machine

black brad

Cut the base card down to 12.2cm x 17.5cm.

Mat and layer the craft card onto the base card.

Using the black Versa Fine ink pad stamp the Little Claire dinkies Dandelion image onto white card at least 1.5cm from the side of the card and 2cm down from the top of the card.

Tear 4 wide strips from the copy paper.

Stick the strips together with tape to make a frame for the stamped image but make the frame longer than the stamped image because you are going to lengthen the stems of the Dandelions.

Using low tack tape secure the frame over the stamped image.

Shade the edges of the image using Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink (Use Cut n Dry foam and dab the foam into the ink and then onto some scrap paper to remove excess colour, using a small circular motion begin to work from the edge of the frame into the middle of the image and always work away from the frame so as to not tare or fold back the edges of the frame).

Carefully remove the frame.

Lengthen the Dandelion stems using the black fine tip pen.

Cut the card to 10.5cm x 16cm.

Cut 3 pieces of string long enough to wrap around the bottom of the image card and tie a knot where you want the flower embellishment to sit.

Wrap the string around the image card at the bottom making sure that the knot sits where you want to place the flower embellishment, fan out the strings to the left of the knot and secure around the back of the card with tape, cut off any extra string.

Secure the right hand strings around the back of the card with tape and cut off any excess string.

Mat and layer the white image card onto black card.

Using the old book page and the two flower dies cut out the flowers.

Shade the edges of the flowers with Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

Shape the flower pieces and lay the smaller flower on top of the lager flower, make a hole at the centre of the flowers with the small hole punch.

Make a hole on the white image card where the knot is.

Place the black brad through the holes on the flower die cuts and through the

white image card and spread the legs of the brad at the back of the black card.

Stick the image topper onto the base card.

Using the black Versa Fine ink pad stamp the Little Clare dinkie text "You`re a lovely friend" onto white card

Cut the sentiment out.

Shade the edges of the sentiment wit Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

Cut 2 small circles from the black card using the small hole punch.

Stick the black circles onto the sentiment banner.

Stick the sentiment banner onto the base card.

Cut 6 circles from the black card using the middle size hole punch.

Stick the black circles onto the base card.



Make a Wish Card

what you will need:
Little Claire Floating Dandelions Paper Stack - yellow
Inkylicious Make a Wish stamps
6" x 6" base card
black Versa Fine ink pad
Tim Holtz Mustard Seed Distress Ink
Cut n Dry foam
yellow pastel chalks
grey satin/pearl paper
black paper
darker grey paper
Tattered Lace Essentials Circles dies - No 11 & 12
die cutting machine
Tonic small butterfly boot punch
1/4" wide grey and white spotted satin ribbon
1" wide white organza ribbon
1/4" wide white organza ribbon
black button embellishment

Using the Tim Holtz Mustard Seed Distress Ink and the Cut n Dry foam shade the edges of the Little Claire Floating Dandelions paper stack.
Mat and layer the yellow dandelions paper onto black paper.
Mat and layer the black paper and dandelions paper combo onto grey satin paper.
Make sure that the yellow dandelions paper is shaded darker at the bottom, cut a piece of the white 1" organza ribbon and secure it to the mat and layered papers about 2 3/4" from the bottom of the papers to the top of the ribbon (remember to wrap the ribbon behind the papers and secure with tape).
Cut a piece of the 1/4" grey and white potted satin ribbon and secure this to the card about 2 1/2" from the bottom of the mat and layered papers to the top of the ribbon, secure the ribbon around the back of the papers as before.
Stick the papers/ribbon combo onto the base card.

Cut out a circle from the white card using the Tattered Lace Essentials Circles die No 11.
Stamp the Inkylicious Make a Wish images within the circle (remember that you can bend the stems of the dandelion clocks into a suitable position when placing the stamp onto the acrylic block).
Shade the edges of the circle with yellow pastel chalks.
Using the Tattered Lace Essentials Circles die No 12 and the darker grey paper cut out the circle.
Stick the stamped image circle onto the darker grey circle (remember to off set the white circle so that more of the grey circle is showing at the top).
Stick the circle toppers onto the card.

Make a bow from the 1/4" white organza ribbon and stick it onto the card.
Make a bow from the 1/4" grey and white spotted satin ribbon and stick it on top of the organza bow.
Stick the black button to the middle of the bows.

Stamp the sentiment using the black Versa Fine ink pad and the Make a Wish stamp onto the darker grey paper.
Cut the sentiment out making a ribbon tail shape at the beginning of the words.
Stick the sentiment onto the card.

Using the Tonic small butterfly boot punch make 1 butterfly from the darker grey paper and 2 butterflies from the grey satin/pearl paper.
Bend the butterflies wings back along the butterflies bod.
Stick the darker butterfly to the card within the topper circle and the other two butterflies to the top left of the card.

Cupcake Tree Picture

 

 

 

Little Claire are launching their November digi stamp challenge and the theme is "anything but a card" and this is a little picture that I have made as part of the design team. It is such a sweet digi stamp and it was really fun to make. I hope you are inspired to have a go for yourself and enter the competition and if you do you could win this lovely prize.............





 

 

FIVE DIGI STAMPS OF YOUR CHOICE

 



 

 



 

what you will need:

Little Claire Cupcake Tree digi stamp

printer

Serif Craft Artist graphics program or a similar graphics program

your choice of background

Hobbycraft 5 3/4" x 5 3/4" stretched canvas

120gsm white linen print paper

white copy paper

good quality mat print paper

Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Tumbled Glass, Mustard Seed, Dusty Conchord, Shabby Shutters

Cut n Dry foam

black fine tip pen

pink faceted gems

Liquid Pearls - White Opal

mauve coloured ink pad

black Versa Fine ink pad

pale green colouring in pen

 

I use Serif Craft Artist as my graphics program and I will take you step-by-step through the process of creating the image but if you do not have this graphics program don't worry, your program will do the same things but unfortunately I can not walk you through the process.

 

On your computer open up the Serif Craft Artist graphics program.

From the start up wizard double click on the "blank project" at the left hand side of the screen.

A  page set up will appear, in the "regular" box at the top of the page double click on the "A4 portrait".

The Digi kit browser box will now appear so click on "done" at the bottom of the page.

Now you have a blank A4 work area to place your design onto.

My Craft Artist always has cm as default ruler guides and we need to change this to inches so at the top left of your screen you will see a point where two rule bars meet, hover the cursor over this point until it changes from an arrow to a hand and then right click, select inches from the drop down box that will appear.

Hover your cursor over the left hand ruler and left click and drag at the same time to create a guide line. Drag the guide line to the 5 1/4" measure on the top ruler. Repeat this action with the top ruler dragging the guide line down to 5 1/4" on the side ruler.

You now have guide lines on your work area. These guide lines can be moved or removed at any time and will not print onto the finished work.

You need to have a file on your computer which contains your background image and this can be a file from a image CD or it could be one you have purchased from the Serif Daisytrail online shop or you could do as I did and make your own background and scan it to create a PDF  file (I made this image using alcohol inks and acetate).

Click on the insert tab at the top of the screen, select photo from the drop down box, select from file from the drop down box, a window will open containing the files on your computer, simply select the file/image you wish to use in your project and click on open at the bottom of the box.

You will now be back at your work sheet and your cursor will have turned into a white cross, left click and drag the cursor diagonally and your image will appear in the box you are creating.

Your image will appear within a blue box with cross hares at the top left corner, left click on the cross hares and drag the image to the top left of your work space.

You will see white boxes at intervals along the edge of your image (these are re sizing points), hover your cursor over the bottom right square until the cursor becomes a double ended arrow, left click and drag the square until the image is the same size as your guide lines (if your image is not a square shape simply repeat the re sizing process with the white squares along the edge of the image until it is the required size). 

The background image will have a grey box at the top left corner, left click on the box and drag the background image to the centre of the work sheet (you can also left click any where on the image and drag it).

Move the guide lines to the edges of the background image by hovering the cursor over the guide line until the cursor turns into a double ended arrow, left click  and drag the guide line into place.

Click on the edit tab at the top of the toolbar, select copy from the drop down box, *click on edit from the tool bar, click paste from the drop down box. You have now duplicated the background image but you can not see it because it is on top of the original image.

Left click on the image and drag to butt up to the side of the original image with no white showing in between* (if the edges of the image look odd or don't line up you can flip the copied image and this may look better - click on the arrange tab in the tool bar, click on the flip vertical or flip horizontal button from the drop down box).

Repeat from * to * another three times and arrange the copies around the original image to form a + shape.

 

You will have downloaded the Little Claire Cupcake Tree digi stamp when you bought it and it will probably be in your download folder, I would recommend that you create a new folder for your digi stamps and put the Cupcake Tree in this folder and any other digi stamps that you may have.

Click on the insert tab on the tool bar, click on photo in the drop down box, click on from file in the drop down box, you will now have a file location box open and you must find the Cupcake Tree file and click on it (it will change colour), click the open tab at the bottom of the box.

As before with the background image you will be taken back to the work sheet  and the cursor will appear as a white cross, left click and drag diagonally to make the image appear.

Re size the Cupcake tree image to 5 1/2" from the top of the tree to the bottom of the tree (you may wish to use guide lines to help with this).

Move the Cupcake Tree image to where it needs to be on the canvas (I made my little bird on the branch wrap around the side of the canvas so if you want to do this make sure that the bird on the branch is outside of the right hand guide line).

You now need to make the Cupcake Tree image partially transparent so that you can see the background image through it and this is done by left clicking on the Transparency slider bar at the right hand side of the screen, slide the bar till it reads 53%.

 

Now you need to make the sun so using guide lines make a box 2" square any where on the work space.

Click on the arrow at the side of the shapes tab on the tool bar, select the circle shape from the drop down box, black cross cursor to the top left of the guide line box that you have just made, left click and drag until you have filled the box with a circle.

Whilst the circle is selected click on the yellow colour from the squares at the right hand side of the screen, amend the colour by clicking within the triangle in the colour wheel at the right hand side of the screen.

Click on the format tab in the tool bar, click on filter effects from the drop down box, click on feather in the filter effects box and move the Blur slider until it reads 8.25%.

Move the sun to behind the Cupcake Tree image.

If you want to save this work I suggest that you do it at this stage.

 

Select the Cupcake Tree image by clicking on it and make it totally transparent by moving the transparency slider to 100%.

You are now going to print the background image so load your printer with the 120gsm white linen print paper.

Click on the file tab at the top of the task bar, click on print from the drop down box, (you should see the name of your printer in the printer box) click on the properties tab, in the properties box select photo and click on the OK button at the bottom of the box, click on print at the bottom of the box.

When your print comes out of the printer re load it back into the printer exactly as it was loaded before (this is really important because you are going to over print onto the same piece of paper and if it is not in the right place it will not look right).

Your Cupcake Tree image should still be selected even though you can not see it and now you must return the transparency slider bar to 0% so that you can see the image.

One by one select the background images and delete them by pressing the delete button on the keyboard.

Print the Cupcake Tree image onto the already printed background.

 

Load the printer with copy paper and print the Cupcake Tree image.

 

You are going to print the recipe wording so delete the Cupcake Tree image and the sun image behind it.

**Click on the text tool tab in the tool bar, bring the cursor down onto the work sheet and begin typing the word** Recipe, move the cursor over the word and right click, select text from the drop down box, select character from the drop down box, click on the arrow at the side of the font box and select Vive, type 52.88pt in the size box, click the OK box at the bottom.

Repeat from ** to ** and type the words for a purrfect day.

Move the cursor over the text and right click, select text from the drop down box, select character from the drop down box, click the arrow at the side of the font box and select Studio, type 27.53pt in the size box, click the OK box at the bottom. 

Move the two texts until they are suitably arranged.

On another part of the work sheet write the words

1 x worries away cat,

1 x cupcake tree,

add time to enjoy,

sprinkle with sunshine

Select the words and as before select Troutkings BTN in the font box and type 32.54pt in the size box.

Print the text onto good quality mat print paper.

 

THAT IS THE SCARY STUFF OVER WITH (NOT SO SCARY REALLY) NOW FOR SOME CRAFTING

 

Remove the canvas from the Hobbycraft 5 3/4" x 5 3/4" frame.

 

Cut out the printed paper to fit the frame but remember to leave tabs on 4 of the edges (as you would do when making a box).

Roughly hold the cut out printed image over the wooden frame and cut one of the sides which has tabs on so that it wraps around the side of the frame and onto the back of the frame. 

Mark the paper where it will need to be cut and with scissors cut to size.

Apply wet glue to the edge of the paper where it will stick to the wooden frame and hold in place till the glue sticks.

Glue the tabs in place and repeat for the opposite side.

Cut away the excess paper and glue the two remaining sides in place.

 

Using the Tim Holtz Distress Inks Dusty Conchord, Picked Raspberry and the Cut n Dry foam shade the edges of the canvas.

Using the mauve coloured ink pad stamp your swirly stamp image around the left hand side of the canvas (be careful not to press on too hard as the canvas is hollow at the centre).

 

Take the image of the Cupcake Tree which you printed out earlier onto copy paper and cut out the cupcakes and stick onto the canvas image.

Colour the bun cases with a pale green pen.

Add the White Opal Liquid Pearls to the top of the cupcake images to represent icing and allow to dry (you may need to repeat this process three or four times to give the required height).

Add a small faceted pink gem to the top of each cupcake.

 

Cut out the recipe text which you printed earlier.

Using the Tim Holtz Distress Inks Tumbled Glass and Shabby Shutters shade the words.

Define the edges of the word blocks by rubbing a black ink pad around them.

Stick the words onto the canvas to form the recipe.

 

If you wish to hang the canvas from something you must apply a ribbon or some other form of hanging to the canvas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bunny Birthday Card

 

 

Issue 2 of the Little Claire magazine has been published and if you buy it for £5.50 you will get a cute little bunnie stamp, some fantastic background papers and some great tutorials. This is a card I have made using the stamp and I have to say it was a delight to work with such a lovely image.

 

 

what you will need:

Little Claire magazine issue 2 free Bunny Stamp

5 1/2" x 5 1/2" base card

Nit Wit Collections, One Birdie Lane paper pad - white flowery

white card to stamp onto

black Versa Fine ink pad

red paper

Creative Expressions Delicate Daisies Complete Petals dies

Tattered Lace Essentials Circles dies No. 8 & 9

die cutting machine

Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads - Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade

Cut n Dry Foam

colouring in implements

Tonic small flower boot punch

small heart punch

ring binder punch

Glossy Accents

faceted red gems x 3

golden beige organza ribbon 1 1/2" wide

Cut the red paper to around 4 3/4" and stick onto the centre of the base card.

Cut the One Birdie Lane paper to mat and layer onto the red paper and stick into place.

Punch 4 small hearts from the red paper and stick into place at each corner of the base card.

over the hearts with Glossy Accents and leave to dry.

Cut a circle of red paper using the Tattered Lace Essentials Circles die No 9.

Using the Little Claire Bunny Stamp and the black Versa Fine ink pad stamp the image onto white card.

Using the Tattered Lace Essentials Circles die No. 8 cut out the stamped image.

Colour in the image and mat and layer onto the previously cut red paper circle.

Stick the Bunny topper onto the base card.

Using the sentiment "Happy Birthday Lovely Lady" from the Bunny stamp and the black Versa Fine ink pad stamp the sentiment onto white card.

Trim the sentiment to size.

Using the Tim Holtz Wild Honey Distress Ink and the Cut n Dry foam shade the edges of the sentiment.

Mat and layer the sentiment onto red paper.

Stick the sentiment onto the base card.

Using the Creative Expressions dies cut out the daisies from white card (the smaller daisies have two layers and let lager Dasey has three layers).

Using the Tim Holtz Distress Inks Spiced Marmalade and Wild Honey and the Cut n Dry foam apply colour to each layered section of the daisies (I alternated the colours using one colour for one layer and the other colour for the next layer).

Stick the flowers together.

Stick the flowers onto the base card.

Using the ring binder punch cut out 3 circles from the red paper.

Bevel the punched circles.

Stick one circle at the centre of each flower.

Using the Tonic small flower boot punch cut out 3 flowers from the white card and colour each flower using the Tim Holtz Wild Honey Distress Ink and Cut n Dry foam.

Stick the flowers into place around the edge of the topper.

Stick a red faceted gem in the centre of each flower.

Make a bow from the golden beige organza ribbon.

Stick the bow to the base card.



Tree O of Birds dinkie stamps Card



Little Claire have a new set of dinkie stamps out and they are so sweet and understated. This is a card I have made using the new stamps ...... just lovely to work with.

what you will need:
Little Claire dinkie Tree O of Birds clear stamp set
Little Claire Dinki Text Stamp Happy Birthday Mrs Lovely
Little Claire Dinkie Text tamp To Loveley You
Prima Marketing Doodle Deux 6" x 6" paper pad - blue leaves & flowers
Magnolia Doo Hickey hearts border die
die cutting machine
5 7/8" cream base card
cream card to stamp onto
colouring in implements of your choice
red card
brown Memento ink pad
Tim Holts Distress Ink - Vintage Photo
Glossy Accents
brown craft paper
1/8" red satin ribbon

Cut the red card to mat and layer onto the cream base card and stick into place.

Cut the Doodle Deux blue leaves paper to mat and layer onto the red card but do not stick into place.
Cut the brown craft paper to 2 3/8", stick onto the right hand side of the Doodle Deux paper and cut to size at the top and bottom.
Shade the top, bottom and right hand edge of the brown craft paper with the Tim Holts Vintage Photo Distress Ink using the Cut n Dry foam to apply the ink.
Using the brown craft card and the Doo Hickey hearts border die cut a border strip.
Straighten off the strip by cutting the plain side down.
Shade the heart side of the border using the Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink and applying the colour with Cut n Dry foam.
Stick the straight side of the hearts border to the brown craft paper all ready stuck to the Doodle Deux paper and trim away the excess at the top and bottom of the border.
Using the Little Claire Tree O Stamps and the brown Memento ink pad stamp the image of the little bird with a heart on it.
Shade the stamped image with the Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink and then colour the heart red.
Using the Little Claire Dinki Sentiment stamps "To Lovely You, 100% Awesome and You`re a Lovely Friend" and the brown Memento ink pad stamp the sentiments onto the brown craft paper.
Cut a piece of the red satin ribbon long enough to lay over the brown craft paper and leave enough to wrap over the top and bottom of the paper.
Cut a smaller piece of red satin ribbon and tie it to the longer piece of pre cut ribbon.
Lay the ribbon over the join between the two pieces of brown craft card, wrap around over the edge of the paper and secure at the back with tape.
Move the knotted piece of ribbon to where you would like it to be and secure in place with a drop of strong glue and allow to dry.
Trim the knotted ribbon to size.

Using the Little Claire Tree O Stamps and the brown Memento ink pad stamp the images onto cream card.
Colour the images using colouring in implements of your choice making sure that the heart on the bird/heart image is coloured in red.
Make the border around the images extra thick and cut the images squares out.
Stick the images onto the base card at a jaunty angle and make sure that the bird/heart image is at the bottom of the card.
Add Glossy Accents to the heart on the bottom of the card and allow to dry.

Little Claire October Stamp Challenge - My Favourite Little Clire Stamp

Today Little Claire are launching their October Stamp Challenge and the theme is "Favourite Little Claire Stamp". I have to say that I do have stamps which I go back to time and again and I suppose they are favourites but I think that my favourite stamp is the last one I bought or the one I used on the last card I made. This is the card I made as part of the Little Claire design team and I got this lovely little stamp last week at the GNPE in Harrogate, I love the fact that it comes as 4 individual stamps.

If you have a favourite Little Claire stamp then why not make something gorgeous with it, send a photo of it into the competition and you could win these lovely goodies.......

 

£10.00 Voucher to spend on LC Website

 

what you will need:

Little Claire Lets do Lunch stamp

Little Claire Rebecca`s Really Useful Female Stamp Set

black Versa Fine ink pad

Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads - Wild Honey, Fired Brick, Ripe Persimmon

fancy square dies 3 1/2" & 4"

die cutting machine

6 " x 6" white base card

Do Crafts Garden Party paper pad

paper flower template from Pinterest

white card to stamp onto

orange paper

green paper

yellow paper scraps

colouring in implements of your choice

1 1/4" cream lace

1/4" yellow satin ribbon

Tonic small flower boot punch

small dragonfly punch

small hole punch

Cut a square from the white card using your fancy square 3 1/2" die (I have had my die many years and the packaging has long since gone so I do not know what make it is but I have seen that X Cut do a very similar die).

Stamp the Little Claire "Lets do Lunch"image onto the die cut square using the black Versa Fine ink pad (I used the flowers on the tree and the Tulips more than once to build the picture and fill in the space).

Colour the image in.

Cut a square from the green paper using the 4" die.

Mat and layer the image onto the green paper.

Cut the orange paper to mat and layer onto the 6" x 6" base card but do not stick it down.

Cut the green paper with small daisies from the Do Crafts Garden Party paper pad to mat and layer onto the orange paper and stick onto the orange paper.

Using the Garden Party paper which is white with large flowers on it cut to 11.5cm x 11.5cm.

Mat and layer the paper onto the orange paper.

Stick the papers at a jaunty angle onto the green daisy paper.

Cut the 1 1/4" cream lace ribbon so that it is long enough to secure around the back of the papers.

Cut the 1/4"yellow satin ribbon to the same length as the lace ribbon.

Stick the lace to the card about 2" up from the bottom of the papers at its middle and wrap the ends of the lace around the back of the papers and secure with tape.

Place the yellow satin ribbon over the lace and secure the ends of the ribbon around the back of the papers.

Mat and layer the topper and papers onto the 6" x 6" white base card.

I downloaded a free paper flower pattern from Pinterest and re sized the flowers on my computer and then cut the templates  out and traced them onto the Do Crafts Garden Party red spotty paper but if you cant find a template or don't like using Pinterest you could always use flower dies or shop bought flower embellishments. The largest flower is 3.6cm, the next flower is 3cm and the last flower is 2.2cm. You will need 1 x large flower, 2 x middle flowers and 1 x small flower.

Cut the flowers out and tint the edges of the petals using Tim Holtz Fired Brick Distress Ink and Cut n Dry foam to apply, bevel the petals.

Using the Tonic small flower boot punch and the yellow paper scraps punch out 4 flowers.

Stick the yellow flowers to the centre of the Garden Party dotty flowers.

Punch out 4 green dots using the small hole punch and stick a dot at the centre of each flower.

Stick the flowers onto the card.

Using the Tonic small flower boot punch and the Do Crafts Garden Party dotty paper punch out 4 flowers and 2 flowers from the yellow paper.

Punch out 4 dots from the yellow paper using the small hole punch.

Stick a yellow dot at the centre of each of the red dotty boot punch flowers.

Punch 2 dots from the green paper using the small hole punch.

Stick a green dot at the centre of the yellow boot punch flowers.

Stick the boot punch flowers onto the card.

Using the Little Claire Rebecca's Really Useful Female Sentiments Stamp Set select the birdie flower stamp and the sentiment of your choice and stamp onto white card using the black Versa Fine ink pad.

Cut the sentiment out.

Tint the edges of the sentiment using the Time Holtz Distress Inks Wild Honey, Ripe Persimmon and Fired Brick and applied using Cut n Dry foam.

Stick the sentiment onto the card. 

Punch out 2 dragonflies from the orange paper and stick onto the card.