Tutorial - Centre of Attention Fold

I love how a piece of cardstock can be transformed into a fabulous cards with a couple of cuts and a few score lines! Even better when they are 3D and can stand open for display.

TEMPLATE:

1. Place an 8" x 6" piece of cardstock horizontally on your score board, and score at 2" and 6".

2. Use a knife or trimmer to make horizontal cuts between the two score lines, 11/2" from the top and bottom edges of the cardstock. See the template for correct placement.

3. Place the cardstock back on the score board and score at the 4" mark, starting at the top edge and stopping at the first cut. Repeat at the bottom of the card, scoring from the bottom edge up to the second cut. See template.

4. Score vertically between the two cuts at 3" and again at 5". Refer to the template for correct placement.

5. Fold along the score lines to form your card base.

6. To decorate, you'll need four 13/4" x 53/4" pieces of patterned paper (2 for the front and 2 for inside), four pieces measuring 1" x 13/4", and two measuring 1/2" x 31/4". You'll also need an image panel for the centre measuring 21/4" x 31/4".

NOTE: To create a double mat, cut coloured cardstock using the measurements in step 6, then cut patterned paper 1/4" smaller in length and width.

FRONT:

7. Decorate the centre panel as desired. You can hang items over the sides of the centre panel, but only adhere them to the centre. DO NOT allow any elements to span the cuts as the card will not open and close properly.

8. If desired, create a belly band to hold the card closed for posting.

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By The Seaside

A squidgy octopus isn't usually my first choice when it comes to card making, but there are a few people in my life who absolutely love them, and their seaside environment. I guess their intelligence and unique appearance kind of make up for their lack of cuteness and cuddliness... although I, for one, would rather have a puppy!

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Cottage Garden

I used a stamping platform to build up all the different colours in this image, starting with the green ivy at the bottom of the fence and the tall green shrub at the side. It was fun to experiment with layering the different colours, and although some things didn't come out quite as expected, the result is still very pretty.

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Birthday Bird

Feathered Nest is the very first clear stamp set I designed and manufactured.

I still enjoy using the set, particularly with watercolour paper and distress inks. Add in a pretty embossed background, some sparkly rhinestones and a shiny, silver sentiment and you have a beautiful card for a special someone.

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Hibiscus Flowers

I didn't want to wait too long to use the flowers I coloured a couple of days ago. (Things have a way of going missing if I don't use them pretty quickly... stashed in a "safe place"... never to be seen again) I teamed the brightly coloured hibiscus blooms with some lush ferns for a fabulous tropical vibe, perfect for summertime birthdays.

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Just The Flowers

I'm always looking for different ways to use my stamps, dies, and other papercrafting items, and one of the easiest techniques is to selectively stamp parts of your images. There are a few different ways of doing this, such as masking on the paper, masking the stamp or even cutting the stamp into sections. Today I'm using little pieces of cardstock that are big enough for the part of the image I want to use, and then I'll use some small scissors to cut away the excess.

I want just the hibiscus flower from the Girls' Night set of stamps. I'm using water based ink to stamp on blending card so I can colour with my alcohol markers.

Pro-tip, colour around your image with marker before fussing cutting. This gives you a little more margin for error and makes for a tidier cut.

Now I have a collection of pretty flowers ready to add to my cards!

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Unforgettable

These little elephants are easy to colour and work well for lots of different occasions. I think this guy would be super cute on a baby card, or decorating the cover of a little photo book.

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Flowering Eucalypt

To make my eucalyptus branch look a little fuller, I stamped and coloured a second image, then fussy cut some of the leaves to position on the main branch as well as behind the image panel.

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Big Wishes

I've been enjoying some of my older designs, including this cute little elephant all dressed up for her ballet class. I've even given her some blue toe nails to match her tutu and head band.

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Year Long Challenge - January

This year I've set myself the challenge of creating a card a month using this little elephant image. I'll base each card on events that happen in the month they're created, although not necessarily for that particular occasion. For example, January has New Year's Day, but since I don't actually give away cards for New Year's, I'm just going to use it as inspiration. Can you guess what February will bring?

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Make 'em Pop!

Have you tried this technique yet? Bright colours on a dark background?

I personally prefer black, but you could also opt for a deep blue, green or purple.

Start by colouring the image or images and then add your background with dark coloured marker.

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Squishy Hugs

You don't always have to colour (or stamp) the entire image. Sometimes little pieces of the design can tell the story just as well as the entire picture!

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