Encore Set

Judy, Anesha and Karin have created some last minute Halloween cards using an old favourite digital stamp set called "Harriet". With her bucket full of gummy worms and her cute outfit, who could resist such a sweet trick or treater?!

Harriet

digital stamps

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Snowfolk

digital stamps

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Tutorial - Origami Square Fold Card

Origami Square Fold Cards are created from a single sheet of paper that is scored and folded down upon itself until it's just one quarter of the original size. A simple belly band helps to hold the card closed and provides a place for even more embellishments!

TEMPLATE:

1. Place an 8" square piece of card stock on your score board and score at 2" and 6". Rotate the card stock 90 degrees and score again at 2" and 6".

2. On each of the four sides of the card stock, score at the 4" mark, stopping when your score tool reaches the first score line. You should have a large, blank section in the centre of the card stock and 12 smaller squares around the edges. Refer to the template for correct placement.

2. Use the angled attachment for your score board so that your card stock is at a 45 degree angle (see photo below). Score from the base of each of the 4" score lines to the base of the next 4" score line to form a diamond in the centre of the card stock. Refer again to the template above.

3. Fold back and forth along each of the score lines to loosen the folds.

4. Bring all the folds up and into the centre of the card. Lay each section to the left, layering them one over the other until they come together and snap shut. (I have to admit, this was a tricky fold and it took me a good five minutes to get things to go where I wanted. I found loosening the folds as suggested in step 3 made things a little easier).

5. To decorate, you'll need fourteen 13/4" squares of patterned paper. Two of these squares will be cut on an angle to form four small triangles. You'll also need one 21/2" square for the centre of the card.

6. Once the card is folded, it has quite a lot of bulk, so it's a good idea to create a belly band to hold it closed. You can do this by wrapping a long piece of card stock around the folded card, snipping off the excess and gluing the band into a ring. Don't make it too tight or it will be difficult to slide on and off.

7. Decorate the belly band and the centre of the card as desired.

Stamps:

Joy To The World

Check out the gorgeous backgrounds Judy has created for the Three Kings from our new digital set. Both cards feature handmade backgrounds, but using different techniques and mediums. The first is ink that has been blended together to create a wonderful night sky, while the second uses a combination of different patterned papers to give the impression of a desert landscape and a star-filled sky.

Judy's Blog

Karin and the Kings

Karin has created two cute cards with the Three Kings set of digital stamps. To create her first card, she used portions of each image, individually framed, to resemble photo portraits hanging on a wall. A large sentiment along the bottom of the card ties everything together perfectly. The second project Karin made is in pretty jewel toned colours with a flash of gold along the border edges.

Karin's Blog

Everything Papercraft - Vellum

Traditional vellum (from the Old French vélin, for "calfskin") is mammal skin prepared for writing or printing through a series of processes that result in a smooth and durable product. Similar in production to parchment, vellum is generally considered to be of higher quality and most consistently made from the skin of calves, although sheep, goats and other animals were also used.

Modern imitation or "paper vellum" is made from plasticized cotton. Usually translucent, paper vellum in various sizes is often used in applications where tracing is required, such as architectural plans.

Paper crafters use vellum in a variety of ways including the creation of delicate embellishments, journaling blocks and die cuts. Despite its translucency it's quite strong and can be cut, folded and stamped on in much the same way as normal paper. Vellum is also the main paper product used in the art of pergamano or paper piercing.

Christmas Giving

Anesha has Christmas giving all wrapped up with a beautiful card and gift bag creation. She used the Three Kings to decorate the front of her beautiful holiday card and embellished with die cuts and deep blue card stock for an elegant creation. Her gift bag is done in lighter shades of blue for a soft and pretty look.

Anesha's Blog 

Judy's Poinsettias

Judy has created two stunning cards with the Christmas Blooms set of digital stamps. The first is in shades of pink and white and features one fully coloured flower and two with hints of pink and green for a fabulous contrast. Her second card has a beautifully embossed background of white cardstock with a base of soft yellow and deep red. Judy has generously provided a colouring guide of the pencils she used for her projects.

Judy's Blog

Hot Tip Tuesday

Use A Scoreboard

Scoreboards are one of the tools that belongs in every papercrafter's basic kit, and I highly recommend using one every time you want to fold a piece of paper, especially card stock. Not only does a score board allow for exact measurements without the hassle of rulers, pencils and markings, they also help to press the paper fibres into neat creases preventing most of the "cracking" that can occur when you fold a piece of unscored card. There's a very obvious difference between a piece of folded card that has been pre-scored and one that has not.

 

Many scoreboards have additional markings on the back for creating envelopes and special folds. You can often find tutorials on the internet for other decorative finishes using your scoreboard including borders, faux wood planks, and embossed patterns. Flip yours over to see if there's anything you've missed!

ADDITIONAL TIP: Don't be shy about adding your own measurements and guides for sizes you use regularly. If you look closely at my scoreboard, you'll see that I've used a permanent pen to add markings for A5 and A6 sizes. I do this on my guillotines, trimmers, rulers and other tools too!

Heaven's Perfect Light

Today I want to share a fun way to colour the Three Wise Men from our new digital set, Three Kings. I've used their flowing robes as a background to create a scene within a scene, and with a few basic tools it's pretty easy to do.

I started by opening the image of the three Kings in a Word document. Since I wanted to use their robes to create a scene, I actually widened the image to give me a little more horizontal space. I then used a blue pencil to colour my "canvas", which is the section I'll be using for the manger and night sky. I'm a visual person so it helps me to map out the area first so that I know where I'm working.

Next, I used a black pen to draw a little hill. As you can see, I only placed the ink over the areas I already coloured.

The stable is a very simple drawing... just four angled lines that cross over at the top. Again, I'm only adding ink to the blue areas of the robes.

The manger is also a simple design made up of a rectangle with a "leg" at either end and then some hay poking out the top. It's such a well known and well loved image that it's almost instantly recognisable to anyone who knows the story of the nativity.

Now I coloured the rest of the image, adding shadows to the blue I'd already coloured, and filling the remainder of the image with a beautiful deep red and a metallic gold pen.

The final step is to add white gel pen for the stars. Don't forget the large star of Bethlehem that sits directly over the top of the stable.

Stamps: