Triple Scoop Icecream Cone

  

  

Originally Designed: 2011

Remastered: December 2017

Original artwork by Beccy Muir, all rights reserved. Images are for personal use and must not be copied, swapped, shared, resold or mass produced without the express written permission of the artist.

Icecream Card

The challenge this week at Card Camp was to create a card using neopolitan colours - pink, brown and white. Well, I was instantly transported back to my childhood when Mum used to bring home a 4 litre bucket of neopolitan icecream from the shops. What joy! The only problem was all that darned pink icecream that was left after we'd scoffed the rest. You know, it's only now that I'm a mother myself that I wonder why she didn't just buy one tub of chocolate and one of vanilla... I really must ask her.

Berry Branch

Originally Designed: June 2011

Remastered: December 2018

Original artwork by Beccy Muir, all rights reserved. Images are for personal use and must not be copied,

swapped, shared, resold or mass produced without the express written permission of the artist.

June Christmas Cards

The June challenge over at Christmas Cards All Year Round was to create five cards with a design of your own choice - anything goes! I drew this little berry branch a couple of weeks ago and thought it would look lovely for Christmas. Teamed with the black and red colours the overall design has a very oriental air I think.

Tutorial - Double Gatefold Card

At my card club recently we did a shoe box swap where we brought along card kits we had put together for the other members at our table. The idea was to pass the kits around so that everyone made a card from each person at the table, resulting in a nice little stash by the end of the day. I decided to make this double gatefold card using punches, butterflies and patterned papers.

Requirements: A4 cardstock base (8 1/4" x 11 3/4") Patterned paper 8" x 3 3/4" Two strips of green patterned paper 8" x 2" Small offcut of white cardstock Vine punch (I used a Martha Stewart punch) Lattice border punch (I used a Martha Stewart border punch) Small flower punch (I used an EK success punch) Self adhesive pearls (I used Kaisercraft pearls) Paper butterflies (I used Collections Elements Creative Butterflies) Sentiment stamp (I used Stamping Up Sincere Salutations) Score board and score tool Foam mat Ink pad Double sided tape Small foam dots Wet glue (I used Glossy Accents) Glue pen (I used Zig Squeeze and Roll)

1. Use the score board and scoring tool to score the cardstock at 1 7/8", 3 7/8", 7 7/8" and 9 7/8". Fold the card in the following way, from left to right: mountain fold, valley fold, valley fold, mountain fold. Open the card back out.

2. Use the border punch to punch a decorative edge down both short sides of the cardstock.

3. Use the vine punch to punch two vine strips from the green paper.

4. Put glue on the back of the stems of the vine (don't worry about adding any glue to the leaves), and adhere the vines as close as possible to the punched edges of the card.

5. Ink the edges of the 8" x 3 3/4" piece of patterned paper and adhere it to the centre panel of the card - you will have a little border around all four edges.

6. Stamp a little sentiment on the bottom of the panel to the right of the centre panel.

7. Punch 10 - 12 little flowers from the scrap of white cardstock.

8. Place the flowers on the foam mat and shape each by pushing a stylus down firmly in the centre of the flower until the petals fold upward.

9. Use wet glue to adhere the flowers to the vine. It is best to group them randomly and offset the two sides so that when the card is closed the flowers aren't all in one place. Add a pearl to the centre of each flower.

10. Cut out two or three butterflies. If you don't have printed butterflies you could stamp and colour some in or download some of the free digis or clip art from the internet.

11. Apply a couple of foam dots on the back of each butterfly wing. Add some wet glue down the centre of each body.

12. Press the butterflies on to the vine in various places. The body should be flush with the card while the wings will be raised by the foam dots.

Fold the whole thing back together and you're done! The card should fit nicely into a standard DL sized envelope or you could get super creative and make your own.

The Fair Came To Town...

Last weekend the Papercraft Fair, known in my house as the wandering Shangri-La, rolled into Brisbane to tempt and delight paper artists. Among the purchases I made were these gorgeous little chipboard houses complete with embellishments and in one of them, a shadow box.

So, the plan is this - to create seasonal houses to hang on my walls for Christmas, Easter and a few in between. I figure if I make the plan known I might actually have half a chance of getting it done!

Tutorial - A-Frame Card

A-Frames are so called because they resemble an upper case A when standing open. They can be made from any size of cardstock, although most card makers will usually cut a standard sheet of cardstock (A4 or letter) down the middle to create two long pieces.

1. Begin with an A4 (or letter) sized piece of cardstock. Cut the cardstock in half longways so that you are left with two long strips.

2. Now score and fold the cardstock in half so that it resembles an A-Frame or a sandwich board.

3. Decorate as desired.

Birdhouse With Heart and Bow

  

Originally Designed June 2011

Digitally Remastered September 2017

Original artwork by Beccy Muir, all rights reserved. Images are for personal use and must not be copied, swapped, shared, resold or mass produced without the express written permission of the artist.

Tutorial: Z-Fold Card

I really enjoyed making this card because it was quick and easy but had a really interesting look to it when finished.

1. Start with a sheet of A4 cardstock - the completed card will fit nicely into a DL sized envelope.

2. Cut a section from the top length of the cardstock at an angle. You can make the angle as shallow or as steep as you wish, but out of interest, my cut goes from the top right hand corner to 2" down from the top of the left hand side.

3. Score and fold the card into three equal sections. Starting from the shorter edge I measured and scored at 3 7/8" and at 7 3/4" then trimmed a tiny amount from the longest edge to make them all even. The first fold is a mountain fold, the second is a valley fold.

4. Then it's a simple matter of decorating your card blank. I scalloped along the top edge, added some patterned paper, ribbon, picture and a sentiment.

Cherry Branch

Originally Designed: May 2011

Remastered: August 2021

Original artwork by Beccy Muir, all rights reserved. Images are for personal use and must not be copied, swapped, shared, resold or mass produced without the express written permission of the artist.

Tutorial: Aperture Card III

This technique is a little trickier than the previous two, and in my opinion, doesn't give quite as nice a finish as the easier techniques that have less bulk in the front of the card. You will often find these card blanks pre-cut and folded in craft stores but it is possible to do it yourself with a few basic tools.

1. Start with an A4 sheet of cardstock folded into three equal sections.

2. Cut a hole, or aperture, from the middle section. This can be in any shape you wish and in any position so long as the cut doesn't cross either fold line.

3. Now you can decorate from the back of the aperture. I chose to add a mat and then some spotted craft coloured paper, which I secured from the back.

4. Add some adhesive to the back of the first panel, then press the two sections together. The patterned papers will now be hidden inside the front of the card.

5. Once you have sealed the front closed your card will look like an ordinary card blank ready for decorating.

6. Decorate with embellishments and stamps as desired.

copyright Beccy Muir 2011

Tutorial: Aperture Card II

It might be somewhat of a stretch to call this an aperture card, but hey, we're going to do it anyway. To make this card was so simple that I don't need to write up a full tutorial for you, it just involves a card blank with a picture and some patterned paper mats with holes in them. Adhere everything together and... voila! You now have a very simple aperture card.