Wednesday 21 December 2011

Patchwork cards

For the latest 'Papercraft Inspirations' I road-tested these cute patchwork designs. They're a great way to use papers from a matching collection, either paper or digital. I decided to print off some papers from one of my favourite CDs, Funky Hand’s Funky Seasons, to get a toning selection. The heart uses Summer Fun, the baby’s snugglesuit is Spring Walk and the house is Frozen Lake.

















It’s surprising easy to cut the shapes by eye, even if you need a particular angle to fill in a space – just place the paper over the gap and cut by eye. Or, you can stick a larger piece on and (carefully!) trim round with a craft knife. If you miss any bits, colour with felt pen – or, even better, start off with a patterned background so any gaps won’t be so obvious. Ideally, there shouldn’t be any overlap, as the faux stitching needs a flat surface to look realistic. I used a black pen for the heart, but as my other two pieces used softer colours I ‘stitched’ using a brown pen which I think looks better.

















I created topper pieces on the computer, with a border and greeting, then added the patchwork pieces to these. With the basic layout saved, I could change the colours and sizes quickly, so these designs would be good to make in quantity. Christmas may be nearly over, but a lot of ‘Thank You’ cards will be needed afterwards! To finish off my cards, I added some tiny yellow buttons to the baby card. For the house card, I trimmed a section off to make the roof, then cut a narrow trip of card with scalloped scissors to make the gingerbread edging before re-assembling them all. I also made a fir tree shape from the same papers, and cut a shaped trunk, to go alongside the house.

Tuesday 13 December 2011

Glittered parcels

This was the latest project I was asked to do for 'PaperCraft Inspirations' mag. The original project used stamps and embossing powders but I couldn't find my embossing stuff so I used glitter instead to decorate the little parcels and baubles. I love glitter!












The bauble card used a circle template and glue pen to draw lots of squiggles that were covered in glitter to make the ornament shape.













Folded triangle Christmas card

This is a very clever card from Papercraft Inspirations, which uses a single sheet to cut a triangle which is then creased and folded into an interlocking star.


















Unfolded, you can see a picture and greeting inside.