Blocks Card

I had recently made some Baby- Blocks Cards while working on baby projects for my cousin, then thought why not do the Blocks card for my next class, except that most people coming weren't interested in baby cards... So tried to change it a little and include the lovely Lotus Blossom & Irresistibly Yours dsp.

For more on the original Blocks cards check out papercrafter45 on pinterest.

Stamp Sets: Lotus Blossom & Kinda Eclectic
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Blackberry Bliss, Whisper White, Irresistibly Yours dsp & Adventure Bound dsp.
Ink: Crumb Cake, Blushing Bride, Rich Razzleberry & Blackberry Bliss
Punches: Elegant Butterfly, Bitty Butterfly, Postage Stamp & 1 1/4" Square.
Ribbon: Blackberry Bliss, Natural Chevron & Linen Tread.

This is the other side of the card (it's almost exactly the same), one of the main differences are the lotus blossoms, it is stamped in full strength colour in the bottom picture & half strength in the top two pictures. 

I love these colours on the lotus blossom; step 1. Blackberry Bliss, step 2. Rich Razzleberry, step 3. Blushing Bride.

Dad's Birthday card- World Map & The Open Sea Coloured with Blendabilities

It was my Dad's birthday this month, & since he likes old maps with ships and whales or some crazy old fashioned monstrous sea creatures on them ... this was the card I made for him (minus the sea creature). 

I am so disappointed to here that the Blendabilities have been discontinued, even though I had made this card before discovering this, I thought I would still share it anyway.

Stamp Sets: World Map & The Open Sea
Card stock: Naturals White, Whisper White & Soft Suede
Ink: Memento Black, Soft Suede & Basic Gray
Blendabilites: Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, Crumb Cake, Ivory, Natural, Bronze, Bermuda Bay, Soft Sky, Smoky Slate & Night of Navy.
Punches: 2 1/2" Circle
Extras: Linen Thread & Clear Embossing Powder

Colours used in the card.

Colouring the water.

Making a start on the land. Mapping out green & dry land.

Filling in the land & trying to add some mountains & ridges.

Sometimes you don't have the right colour for the job, but you can mix up your colours a bit. Try adding say a darker colour to your acrylic block, then picking up some of that colour on the tip of a lighter (or just different) colour marker, as you colour with the marker the darker colour will blend with it then fade out as it returns to the original colour. Note: If you do this, it is a good idea to scribble off all the excess colour on to scrap paper before you put the lid back on. You don't want to risk it staining the marker.

Staz-on Cleaner & wet wipes or paper towel will clean off any left over Blendabilities from the acrylic blocks.

This is what the map looked like after I added colour after colour & layer after layer.

I'm not even sure if I took a picture after every colour I used or if I've even put them on here in the right order, but you get the idea. There's no right or wrong way to colour with blendabilities, it's just a matter of practise, & as crafters we learn to hide our mistakes with embellishments... : )

Colour the ship.

The embossing process before the crackle effect.

After I had embossed the circle of card stock with the coloured ship at least 6 times, I put it in the freezer for about 10-15 minutes, then bent it and twisted it to get the "cracked glass effect".

Of course no old map would be complete without some sort of distressing.
I sponged all around the edges with Baked Brown Sugar.

 Cutting out the anchor can be fiddly, but it's worth the effort to be able to wrap some twine or thread through it like old rope.

To see the first card I made with the World Map & Blendabilities click here.

"Nappy" Baby Shower Invitations, Side Step Card, Spinner Card & Baby -Blocks cards.

My Cousin Tegan is pregnant with her third child (the other two are much older now), and my auntie dearest has asked me to make the baby shower invitations. The "Nappy" style seemed to be a favourite option, and as for the "peanut"...well that's pretty much the baby's nick name so far.

Then I was asked to do a card for the baby's birth & for the shower, so I made lots for choice, but she's taken them all anyway. : )

All 30 of the Baby shower invitations done.
(Instructions for the "Nappy" at the bottom of the page)

This was the sample I made to make sure they liked it before I went ahead & made all 30.
The insert was a bit small in this one so I made the others a little bit bigger, and this peanut was too big, so I made the others a little bit smaller.

Stamp sets: Holiday Invitation, Tiny Tags & Short & Sweet
Card Stock: Naturals White, Whisper White & Pool Party
Ink: Coastal Cabana, Pool Party & Sahara Sand
Tools: Simply Scored, Circle Punches & Corner Rounder
Ribbon: Pool Party 

MDS: Top line & stars

I don't usually make a lot of baby cards so I had to think about it, then I had to borrow some stamps too.
As you can probably tell I was trying to stick to the colour theme here.

Baby- Blocks Cards
Stamp Sets: Something for Baby,Button Buddies & Back to Basics Alphabet
Card Stock: Pool Party, Crumb Cake, Whisper White & Daffodil Delight
Ink: Pool Party, Crumb Cake, Smoky Slate Daffodil Delight & Pumpkin Pie
Punches: Square & Postage stamp
Framelits: Baby's First

For more on Blocks Card check out papercrafter45 on Pinterest

There's a little spot on the bottom to write a message.

Baby's Room- Side Step Card
Stamp Sets: Something for Baby
Card Stock: Pool Party, Sahara Sand, Whisper White & Daffodil Delight
Ink: Pool Party, Crumb Cake, Smoky Slate Daffodil Delight & Pumpkin Pie
Punches: Square & Postage stamp
Framelits: Baby's First

Spinner Card
Stamp Set: Short & Sweet +Two by Two
Card Stock: Crumb Cake, Pool Party, Soft Sky & Whisper White
Ink:  Crumb Cake, Pool Party & Memento Black
Blendabilities: Soft Sky, Night of Navy, Smoky Slate, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Crumb Cake, Coastal Cabana, Bermuda Bay & Pink Pirouette
Punches: Word Window
Big Shot: Chevron Embossing Folder & Circle Framelits
Extras: White Chalk Pen, Natural Chevron Ribbon & Pool Party Bakers Twine 

Nappy Fold Instructions

I basically just folded a piece of regular copy paper into the nappy, punched & tweaked it a little and went from there. Then I had to come up with real measurements so I could make the other 29 the same.

Start with a sheet of A4 cardstock & cut at 8 1/4".

You Should Have an 8 1/4" x 8 1/4" square.

Cut in half  Diagonally from corner to corner.

Now you can make two (unless you muck one : p )

Place the longest side of the triangle at the left edge of the score board & score at 3 1/4".

Just making sure you can see the score line : )

Turn & place the longest side at the top of the score board. Make a mark at 3 1/2" & 8 1/4".

You can use a pencil if you prefer, I just found easy enough to make the mark with the stylus.

I used my ruler to help with this score because it's on a bit of an angle & you won't be able to have the cardstock flush on any side.

Score a line between the mark at the top & the bottom score line.

Repeat on the other side.

Place a 2 1/2" circle on the corner of the two score lines & mark with a pencil.

(It's up to you how big & where exactly you want the leg hole.)

Use the 2 1/2" circle punch to cut out the semi circle you traced.

Don't throw it away yet.

Flip it over to the other side & match up the score lines ( especially the bottom -horizontal line). This will help keep the leg holes even (trust me).

Fold all the score lines in. 

You may end up with daggy leg holes like I have, but we can fix that.

Flip it over, now you can see just how much excess there is.

Use a pencil to trace over the excess using the curve from backside as your guide.

Open it back up, now you can see what needs to come off.

Just insert these excess portions back into the 2 1/2" circle punch & use the pencil mark as a guide.

Here you can see I've trimmed the excess from left side & it's much neater than the right side.

Use a corner rounder to trim all three corners.

The top two corners were a bit trickier, so I used a sanding block to smooth them over.

I used my grid mat as a guide to punch the holes for the ribbon.

The nappy is about 12cm, so between 4-5cm on the left and 7-8cm on the right.

You don't have to do this step if you're not fussy, you can just eye-ball-it.

Punch the two holes big enough to fit your ribbon through.

Lightly sponge the edges with Sahara Sand.

(it seems I had done this step punching the holes, not that it matters)

I used about 12-13cm of ribbon.

 Thread the ribbon from the outside to the inside, so you have a (smooth- untwisted) strip from the hole on one to the other & both tails on the inside.

How do I explain this bit... Now thread the tail ends back through the opposite side to which it came from.

This will create a loop between the two holes with the tails of the ribbon landing on the front.

You can drag  the centre piece of ribbon to help adjust & even out the tails.

Tighten the ribbon by pulling both tails outward at the same time.

Trim off any excess to tidy up.

...And that's pretty much it for the "nappy pouch fold" part of it. You could put other messages inside rather than an invitation if you like, such as congratulation & birthdays.