The Theme of Tonight….The Beauty of Simple Die Cutting - Project One

   Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved

Hello,Happy Friday! So as the title says the theme of tonight is the beauty of simple die cutting and including tonight we will be posting details on the individual cards featured in the photograph above over three nights. 

For these projects the cards have been made using a range of dies from Wild Rose Studio, Sweet Dixie and Creative Expressions designed by Sue Wilson. To start this project series off, I wanted to say that each of the cards was made using 300gsm smooth white card and each of the card layers (the coloured card and the white card) was stuck down using Scotch Double Sided tape. 

I thought tonight I would start with the Fairy card, shown in the photograph below.

   Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved

The die used on this card is part of a set from Sweet Dixie called 'Fairy and Butterflies'. As well as the fairy, there are also two butterflies that make up this set although we have not used them here. You can cut, emboss and stencil with these Sweet Dixie Dies, so they are good for working with. 

In order to create some texture we used an embossing folder from Creative Expressions called 'Sparkle Square' on about a third of the top white card and picked out the middle of the alternate squares by using Rangers Liquid Pearls in 'Mint Green'. I know I am biased but up close the Liquid Pearls look really beautiful against the white card.  

A piece of thin white card was stuck down using Cosmic Shimmer Acrylic Glue above the embossed part of the card, mounted on turquoise card creating a two tone look. To finish the card off we added a sentiment using a clear stamp from Wild Rose Studio, stamped in a Versacraft Ink Pad 'Baby Blue' to give some contrast.

Remember to look out for the other cards over the next two nights and on the third night I will be posting details of our next card workshop. Can you guess what the theme will be?

Dan

x

Bespoke Sparkle Anyone?

  Design and photograph World © Lyn Wilkinson - All rights reserved

We have a lovely rep called Tanya from one of our suppliers who we get all things Cosmic Shimmer from, to stock in the shop. When we first started looking at what to stock at Craft Boutique at 84, we knew we had to have Cosmic Shimmer as a brand and Tanya was the person who told us how lovely their Sparkle Texture Paste was to use and also how versatile it can be. 

For 2015, one of the new colours launched that we have on sale at the shop is called 'Polar White'. What makes this colour so versatile is that it has no hint of colour in it like 'Aurora Sparkle' and 'Frosty Dawn', it is just white so is great to mix with paints, ink refills and dry glitter to create your own bespoke colours. Also Sparkle Texture Paste no matter what colour it is, is always beautifully sparkly. 

The Iris in the card above was created using 'Polar White' texture paste, mixed with various PaperArtsy paints, for example the stem and leaves are 'Hey Pesto',  through a stencil. She did this on a piece of smooth white stamping card which she stuck to the scalloped card using Scotch Double Sided Tape.

The dark blue border is light weight card embossed and stuck to the card again using the Scotch Double Sided Tape and the sentiment stamp is from Wild Rose Studio and was stamped using a Versa Craft 'Pale Lilac' ink pad.

If you have never used Cosmic Shimmer's Sparkle Texture Paste in your craft projects, I would definitely say it is worth trying to create great effects.

Have a lovely weekend and happy crafting,

Dan.

www.craftboutique84.com

I Couldn't Leave the Boys Out….

 Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World ©  Danielle Wilkinson -  All Rights Reserved

I told you I wouldn't leave the boys out didn't I? So here I am with my second project using the 'Ornate Pram' Speciality Die from Wild Rose Studio. I used our 'Spellbinders Grand Calibur' to cut the die and again I have to say it did the job beautifully.

I used a smooth white 300gsm card for the base and also for the top layer with the pram die cutout. As I chose a pink and white colour theme for the baby girl card I posted on the blog on Friday, I decided to go for a blue and white colour theme for the baby boy card. As you can see from the photograph I used a blue and white striped card under the top layer and stamped the sentiment on white card also on top of a strip of the same blue and white card. I used 'Scotch Double Sided Tape' to stick all the layers. 

I die cut the 'Ornate Pram' in blue pearlised card along with another new Wild Rose Studio die for 2015 called 'Vivianna Corner', which as you can see I used on one of the top corners. To stick down the pram die cutout I used 'Cosmic Shimmer Acrylic Glue'. To stick down the 'Vivianna Corner' 

I used STIX2 foam pads, adding a 3D look to the project. 

The sentiment itself is made up of two stamps from Wild Rose Studio's 'Vivianna Greetings' clear stamp set, stamped with a Versa Craft 'Midnight' ink pad. I often like to create different layers in my projects to make them more interesting, so again I made this 3D by using the foam pads.

For the final touches this time I used some Creative Expressions 5mm white self adhesive pearls in the corner. In the centre of the wheels on the pram and the top of the 'Vivianna Corner' I added blue diamantes. Sparkly, I love it!

This card took a little longer to make than the baby girl card because as you can see it is bigger and there is more on it, even though the prams are in the same place on both. I just wanted to demonstrate that you can use the same die to create different looks.

Look out for a new project post on Friday night.

Happy Crafting!

Dan

You can find us at:
 'eightyfour' 
84 Nightingale Lane, 
Wanstead, 

London E112EZ 

Tel: 0208 530 1244  

www.craftboutique84.com

Introducing Wild Rose Studio

  Design and photograph World © Lyn Wilkinson - All rights reserved

Wild Rose Studio is a UK papercraft company owned by a husband and wife team, who you can tell from looking and working with their designs are passionate about creating beautiful products.

We have been stocking their Speciality dies and stamps since opening Craft Boutique at 84 last year and have received great feedback from our customers who have bought the dies and stamps from us.

A few weeks ago on one of my posts I said that I loved black and white together as a colour combination on all things crafty. Well I am also a huge fan of blue and white together as I always think it looks crisp and fresh and that was my inspiration for this card. The base of the card in the photograph above was made using smooth white card, 300gsm. I then added a smaller layer of card in a cornflower blue and topped that with smooth white card again and used the partial die cutting technique on this layer to create the butterfly which is Wild Rose Studio's 'Peacock Butterfly' die. To stick the different layers of card together I used Scotch double sided tape, this is a new favourite product of ours and one we have recently started stocking in the shop.

I then used another Wild Rose Studio die new for 2015 called 'Olivetti Corner', this worked beautifully on two of the opposing corners of the card adding a real ornate feel to it. Using Rangers Liquid Pearls in 'Baby Blue', I decorated the body of each of the butterflies and the tops of the wings and the flowers on each of the corner dies. 

Finally I stamped the Happy Anniversary sentiment using a Versacraft ink pad in 'Sky Mist' which I find is a versatile colour when you have introduced blues and greys into a project. The clear stamp itself is also from Wild Rose Studio and I like to use them when I do not want a sentiment to look too over powering, especially on a card.

I hope you have enjoyed your introduction to Wild Rose Studio. Look out for more posts over the next few weeks that will feature more of their Speciality dies and stamps.www.craftboutique84.com

Happy Crafting,

Lyn

Sheena's Perfect Partners

                                          

  Design and photograph world ©  Lyn Wilkinson - All rights reserved

Whether you are a fan of flowers or not when doing your craft projects, it is hard not to be a fan of the wonderful Sheena Douglass and her Wild Rose-Briar Stamp set and matching Wild Rose Die used on the card in the picture above. 

They are from Sheena's 'Perfect Partners' range and as soon as we saw them at the craft trade fair we visited in February, we knew we had to stock them. Not only are they easy to use, they are very versatile to work with and can be used to create some beautiful projects. The A5 unmounted stamp set includes 5 stamp images and 2 sentiments, retails at £9.99 and the die set containing 4 individual dies retails at £19.99. Both are available to buy from our shop in Wanstead (they will be on the website soon), we also stock other designs from the 'Perfect Partners' range.

To make the card, the images were stamped on Sheena Douglass White Smooth Stamping Card and  I used a Rangers Archival Wendy Vecchi 'Watering Can' ink pad for the stamping. If you have looked at previous posts on the blog you will know that there are times when I like to use a grey ink rather than a black which can sometimes look too harsh. I then cut out the stamps using our Spellbinders Grand Calibur die cutting machine.

For colouring the flowers and leaves I used various Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads working with a Tim Holtz Mini Ink Blending Tool, which is great because it is small and round and easy to work with. Some of the Distress colours I used were 'Scattered Straw', 'Mowed Lawn', 'Seedless Preserves' and 'Victorian Velvet'. 

To make the centre of each of the flowers I used Rangers 'Daffodil' Liquid Pearls. I glued the leaves directly to the card using Cosmic Shimmer PVA glue, but I wanted the flowers to stand out so I stuck them to the card using Stix2 foam pads to create a 3D effect. Finally I stamped a sentiment from Wild Rose Studio's Birthday Circles clear stamp set (there are 6 different sentiment stamps in the pack) using a Versacraft Ink Pad in Spring Green.

Sorry for such a long post but I really wanted to give you as much detail as possible.

Look out for another project on Tuesday night. Also we will be posting details this weekend on our upcoming card making workshop.

Happy Crafting.
Dan