Meerkat Birthday Cards

These are the latest of my cards to be featured in PaperCraft Inspirations. The meerkat images are available as downloads at http://papercraftinspirations.themakingspot.com/blog/free-downloads-angela-pooles-meerkat-cards.

I used watercolour pencils to colour the meerkats, then trimmed clothing shapes from a pad of K and Co papers. One card has already been sent off for a March birthday, and the other is waiting for the right occasion!

New Baby cards

For Papercraft Inspirations, I was asked to make some cards featuring these really cute baby images. For the first time in years, I used coloured pencils, and I was really impressed by the pretty, soft colouring. Ribbons and lace were the only thing I could think of to go with babies, so I raided my boxes for pretty bits and found a Fiskars punch that created slots for ribbon in a strip of card. One blue and one pink - just right for a baby boy and girl!

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.

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.

Christmas angels

My latest creations for Papercraft Inspirations magazine. The stamps are by Lili of the Valley and are just adorable!

The papers are actually meant for summer birthdays, but the eight-ppinted petal shapes looked a bit like snowflakes, I thought, and I love the pretty pastel shades which went so well with the images.

The gift tag is particularly pretty, in very pale pink and blue, and would make a lovely tag for a winter wedding.

Pretty dresses

These are the latest cards I have featured in 'Papercraft Inspirations'. They're downloads from the website http://papercraftinspirations.themakingspot.com/. The pink one is decorated with flower stamps, gems, glitter, patterned paper. There's narrow ribbon and a flower at the waist.

The second one has a silvery bodice (Bazzill bling cardstock) and the skirt is covered with opalescent sequins of various sizes and shapes.The photo doesn't do it justice! The sequins were attached with Pebeo Crystal Touch in pale pink.

Apple cards

This was the fourth set of cards I made as one of Papercraft Inspirations magazine testers. I love paper piecing - it's such an easy yet striking way to create images. These apple cards use a packet of Christmas papers but the red and green checks look great for fruit.

The tiny buttons used as seeds came from a big packet I got in Poundland. The letters spelling 'apple' are from my big stash of leftover letters that I separate into little boxes - it was a bit of a bore to do initially but it's great for making up ransom-style titles.

The red heart button on the other card is from Doodlebug and the stamped letters are a tiny set by Studio g.

Fishy tales

For my third challenge, I had to make some fishy cards. The directions called for Fimo, and I did make one fish with Fimo, but I found the templates could work perfectly well with card too, and that didn't require any baking time. For fun, I photographed the card under a tree - the dappled light makes it look as if the fishes really are under water!

Flower card

This was my second challenge as Papercraft Inspirations tester, following the instructions for a card using stamps. I chanegd the colour scheme to a pretty fresh spring-like combination. The green paper is plain card stamped with leaves in two shades. The flower was stamped on lilac card with purple ink, and cut and shaped. I stitched the background white panel onto the card instead of using faux stitching, as I really like the extra texture which proper stitching gives.

Papercraft Inspirations Magazine

I was lucky enough to be chosen a while ago as one of the Papercraft Inspirations testers, getting to try new projects before they're featured in the magazine! It's been great fun, and a real privilege to see what's been designed for the magazine before it's published. My first make was a gem encrusted super-yacht card. It's paper pieced from the patterns in the May issue of magazine, but I changed the nautical colour scheme to an evening one of purple, grey and orange. As well as the wire on the waves that the instructions showed me how to add, I sprinkled the sky with stars and hung a garland of fairy-lights (tiny gems) on the ship.

Beaded card

I love stitching, so I actually like sewing on my cards - I know a lot of people prefer glue but I like the action of sewing as well as the certainty that nothing's going to come off! So I stitched some beads along the bottom of this card in between the swags of the paper strip behind, to look like trimming. The clear beads catch the light and sparkle, looking really pretty. The image may be vintage but it's lovely bright spring-like colours, which I enjoy!

Papercraft Inspirations Scallop-edge scissors

Just received a pair of scallop-edged scissors with my latest issue of Papercraft Inspirations magazine, and tried them out on a pack of Docraft papers. I often cut or tear a strip to go at the bottom of a landscape card, but I haven't tried a decorative edge like this before. The middle strip was rather similar in colour to the wider one, so I edged the inner strip with brown pen. A few flowers and a greeting finished it off - oh, and a glitter strip and gems. I do like my bling!

Crafty card

This one uses some die-cut shapes piled up in what's called Pyramage - like decoupage but not cut out neatly around the individual shapes, which makes it MUCH easier! I liked the fresh colour scheme, and the ribbons are something I usually add to all my cards. It's just too thick to go through the standard letter post so I needed to pay extra to send it!

Football card

Made for a competition that asked 'What does the World Cup mean to you'. Frankly, not a lot, but I enjoy seeing children playing their knock-about games in the park, and just having fun. So my card shows an abandoned picnic table and football boots, with bunting across a blue summer sky. The boots are buttons and the football is a stamp from http://www.kirstenlappingdesigns.com/

Easter card

An Easter card, made with the same rabbit stamp I used in an earlier post, but with the addition of purple and yellow as well as prange and green - a very Eastery colour palette! I like using ribbons and buttons, but I insist that my buttons are stitched properly - I don't like to see them glued on, without thread through the holes. I cheat slightly though by seweing the holes before I stick them down, though, so I don't need to sew through two layers of ribon and two layers of card.

Yet another cardigan!

This is the seventh (eighth?) cardigan I've knitted using the Devan pattern on www.knitty.com. I love the way this fine wool knits up into stripes and patterns all by itself, and the pattern is really a very simple one - it's the colour of the wool that makes it exciting. If you want to see all the different colours you can buy, look for Opal or Regia on www.getknitted.co.uk.

Sheep Seasons!

This was made for a competition

which wanted a card showing all four seasons. The sheep stamp is a Fiskars one, and I added seasonal scenery for each little picture, with lots of glitter and gems.

Spring bunny

This was a stamp that came as part of the January Do-craft goody bag. I like colouring in stamps, but I don't think I managed to get the colours here as intense as I wanted. The rabbit is matted onto green and orange papermania papers, and I added some gems as I usually do!

Pantomime card

This was made for a competition that asked for cards on a patomime theme. I have some lovely stamps from http://www.kirstenlappingdesigns.com/, and one of the princess ones looks like she is fleeing. So I used it and the shoe on cushion stamp from the same set, added a See-Ds clock (really a pcoket watch, but I trimmed it) and patterned paper to suggest a carpet and wallpaper background.