About Me

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My name is Natalie and I love anything to do with card/paper. I have been a papercrafter for many years now and I never get bored playing with all the wonderful products available. I've been married to my wonderful husband Nathan for 35years now and we are still very much in love with each other as the first day we met each other. We have 3 wonderful children and 5 gorgeous grandchildren so we have lots to be thankful for. Since joining Stampin' Up! in 2018 I've grown so much in confidence with myself and I even tackle technology, which for me is a huge step to have taken, but I'm getting there slowly.

Tuesday 25 August 2020

Sweetest time Christmas card



Hello again everyone I've been a bit abscent lately as it was my birhtday last week and also my husbands and we have been busy re designing our garden, not leaving me much time to concentrate on my crafting. Hubby is back to work today so I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things again yayyyyyy............ I do love my crafting and I miss it when I don't have time to get anything done..............

I've made a card using the really lovely 'Sweetest time' bundle which is great for cutting borders down the sides of your cards. So let's get started...... hope you enjoy.

Materials needed:


Whisper white thick cardstock

1pc - 6" x 8 1/4" score on the longside at 4 1/8" this is your card base
(I know your probably thinking why 6" well it's because I wanted to fit all of the die cut border in without any of it getting chopped off, your card will still fit into the Stampin' Up! C6 envelopes).

1pc - 15/16" x 3 1/4" for the sentiment 

Scrap piece for stamping and die cutting 3 x berries


Real red cardstock

1pc - 6" x 4 1/8" to die cut your border along both long edges for the front of card

Scrap piece to die cut 2 extra candy canes and circle sweets to add depth to your card

1pc - 3 7/8" x 5 3/4" for the inside of card


Shaded spruce cardstock

Scrap pieces to die cut 6 small leaves and 3 large leaves


Pear pizzazz cardstock

1pc - 1" x 3 3/4" for the sentiment

Scrap piece to die cut 3 x ferns


Real red sheer ribbon for tying 3 bows


Wonderful gems

2 x red/gold and 3 x clear/gold for front of card


Card recipe:


1. Cut, score and burnish your card base.
2. Cut both of your pieces of real red for the front and inside of your card, glue the inside piece into your card.
3. Die cut both edges of your front of card piece of real red card as in the picture below.



4. Glue this piece flat to the front of your card base now using wet glue.
5. Die cut the 2 x candy canes and 2 x circle sweets, give them a slight curl using a round pencil or something and glue them into place onto the front of your card, they go on either side of your card.



6. Die cut all of your leaves and ferns, stamp and die cut your berries using real red ink and then use wet glue to glue them into place on the front of your card.
7. Cut your pieces for the sentiment and give them both a slight angle at either end, stamp your sentiment using garden green ink and then give the piece with the sentiment stamped on a slight curl so you just need to place wet glue onto either end of your card piece, attach it to the green piece and this gives the senitment a bit of depth. Attach this whole piece flat with wet glue onto the front of your card.
8. Tie yourself 3 x bows with the ribbon and then glue these into place onto the candy sticks using mini glue dots. (you can if you prefer just tie 3 x knots instead).
9. Now place your gems into place on your card (I placed the clear ones in the middle of the circle sweets but you can place yours wherever you like).


That's the card complete I hope you enjoyed it, this bundle is a fun set to use I've made 2 other cards using it which are below for you to see and hopefully give you a bit of inspiration.





Thanks for hopping onto my blog today I really appreciate it happy crafting everyone.
Big Crafty hugs

Natalie xx

Please remember if you're placing an on line order with myself to use the Host code for the month that you're shopping many thanks x

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Product List
 
Paper Trimmer
[152392]
£23.00






Treat on a card in a box - Little treats

 



Good morning everyone, yes it's tuesday again and today i have something a little bit different for you all.
I've made a treat box on a card in a box. I wanted to share with you all how beautiful these little treat boxes are, and they're so easy to assemble once die cut.
So let's get started as there is alot to get through today.

Materials for the treat box:


Real red cardstock

1pc - 5 3/4" x 8 1/4" for the die cut treat box


'Tis the season dsp

1pc - 1 3/4" x 6"  cut on the longside at 2 3/16", 2 3/16", turn and cut 2pc at 5/8"
these are for the front, back and sides of the box.


Brushed metallic 12" x 12" cardstock

1pc - 2" x 2" for the die cut scallop edged circle


Thick Whisper White cardstock

1pc - 1 3/4" x 1 3/4" for the die cut circle for the sentiment


Wonder of the season ribbon combo pack

1pc - approx 8" for tieing our box shut and on to the card


Treat box recipe:

1. Die cut your treat box and fold and burnish all of the score lines.
2. Cut your dsp and glue to the sections of the treat box as below:


3. Die cut your scallop circle , stamp and die cut your sentiment circle and glue this onto the gold circle using dimensionals. This is now glued onto the front of your treat box flat using wet glue.
4. Tie your treat box shut using your gold thread. 

That's the treat box finished now we can move on to making a card for the treat bow to attach to.

Materials needed for the card:


Thick Whisper white cardstock

1pc - 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" for the card base
1pc - 5 3/8" x 5 3/8" for the front of card layer
2pc - 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" for the front and inside of card layers
1pc - approx 3/4" x 3 1/2" for the sentiment banner


Real red cardstock

1pc - 5 1/8" x 5 1/8" for the front of card layer
1pc - 5 1/4" x 5 1/4" for the inside of card layer
1pc - approx 3/4" x 3 1/2" for the sentiment banner


Shaded spruce cardstock

1pc - 4 7/8" x 4 7/8" for the front of card layer


Wonder of the season ribbon combo pack

2pc - green ribbon 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" for the front of the card
1pc - gold thread approx 8" for tieing the 2 ribbons together in the centre of the card


Gilded gems

5 x gems for placing on the front of your card


Recipe for the card:

1. Cut all of your pieces of card that you need.
2. Score and burnish the piece for the card base.
3. Glue sll of the layers in to place except for the 41/2" x 4 1/2" piece for the front of the card.
4. With your 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" piece you need to glue your pieces of ribbon (on the ends) one at a time, more to the top of the card, by using tear and tape (double sided adhesive tape) to the reverse of it, tieing the centre of it to form a nice pleat, using the 8" gold thread. Once you have done one ribbon do the second ribbon over the top to form a cross and then using the same piece of gold thread as for the first ribbon, tie the centre nice and tight in a double knot (this makes it look like a present when wrapped with ribbon), leaving the 2 ribbons tied together in the centre.
5. Stamp your sentiment onto the whisper white banner piece and then glue together with the real red piece and give it a slight curve using your bone folder. Punch a hole in the top of it and using the remainder piece of the 8" thread tie it onto the front of the card.
6. Now with the gold thread that is holding your treat box together tie the box onto the front of the card (make sure you have your treat inside the box before you tie it in place).
7. Glue your gilded gems onto your card where you would like them to be.

That's the card finished which leaves a box to made for it all to fit into.



Materials for the card box.


12" x 12" whisper white cardstock

1pc - 8 5/8" x 8 5/8" scored on each side at 1 1/2" for the box base
1pc - 8 3/4" x 8 3/4" scored on each side at 1 1/2" for the box lid
1pc - 3 3/4" x 3 3/4" for the box lid layer
Scrap piece to punch out your postage stamp


Real red cardstock

1pc - 5 5/8" x 5 5/8" for the box lid layer
4pc - 1 3/8" x 5 5/8" for the box lid sides


Wonder of the season ribbon combo pack

1pc - approx 24 1/2" for the outer edges of the lid
1pc - approx 12" for the tieing of a bow


Box recipe:

1. Cut and score both your base and lid pieces.
2. Cut all 4 corners like below



2. Glue your corners together on both pieces making sure you keep them nice and square.
Put your lid onto the base as this will make it a bit easier to assemble the rest of the box.
3. Cut all of your red pieces and glue them into place on the lid.
4. Mark the sides of your lid a 1/4" in from the top and the bottom. Now using tear and tape (double sided adhesive tape), place it all around the lid, sing your marks as a guide to keeping it straight and where it's needed.
5. Take the backing off of the tape and then starting from one of the corners glue your ribbon into place, have the beginning of your ribbon piece tucked around the corner to start with, keep the ribbon nice and tight, carry on glueing it into placeand then with a bit of tape on the reverse of the opposite end of your ribbon, glue it over the top of the first end you've glued into place and cut the end off to meet with the corner edge, this gives your ribbon a nice neat finish.
6. Cut your whisper white piece for the top, punch your postage stamp out turing it into a square by placing the punched out piece back into the punch and punching it again, using a piece of a post it note to hold it into the punch whilst you re cut it.

 
7. Now you need to stamp your postage image onto the layer piece of card and using your stamparatus (stamping platform if you haven't got a stamparatus), you need to stamp part of the image onto the punched out postage stamp so that it lines up. See below how I did it.

8. Glue this piece into place now using wet glue.
9. Tie yourself a bow and using glue dots glue onto the box lid.

The box is now complete and you should have a lovely gift on a card in a box to give to someone very special in your life. 


I've made it as a christmas box but you could have it as any occasion that you like, it would be lovely as a birthday gift and you could put an expensive chocolate inside the treat box along with some money. Hope you have fun making some of these up for yourselves for different occasions. 
I've also used the treat boxes and the really great card stand that Stampin' Up are selling to create a lovely advent calendar for christmas!!!




I've really enjoyed playing with this little treat box there are so many things that you could use them for.



Thanks for taking the time to pop and look at my blog I really appreciate it. Please do contact me if you'd like to ask any questions about todays project, any of the products I've used, how to shop with me or if your interested in joining my Stampin' Up team, I'd love to hear form you.
Take care till next time
Big Crafty Hugs
Natalie xx




Products used for todays project:
(click on any of the links and you will be taken to my shop to the item you clicked on)




















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Thursday 20 August 2020

SUOC 256 : Sketch challenge

 


Hello everyone, and welcome to another SUOC Challenge. This time it's a sketch challenge, and the sketch is from the annual catalogue page 94


I absolutely love this set 'Whale done'. We could choose either of these layouts and add a bit of a twist to it if we wanted. I've chosen to use the banner layout for my sketch challenge, so let's get started.


I've chosen to use the 'Beautiful Autumn'. It's got some very rich autumnal colours in it including copper. The papers are just exquisite and lend themselves to making a beautiful card.

Materials needed:


Early espresso cardstock

1pc - 10.5cm x A4 length (UK) score @ 14.8cm - card base
small scrap piece to punch out one of the leaves


Thick Very Vanilla cardstock

1pc - 10.2cm x 14.5cm front of card layer
1pc - approx 1.5cm x 5cm for the sentiment
1pc - 10.1cm x 14.4cm for the inside of card
Small scrap piece to stamp and fussy cut three leaf elements


Cajun craze cardstock

1pc - 9.9cm x 14.2cm front of card layer


Gilded Autumn speciality DSP

1pc - 9.3cm x 13.6cm front of card layer - foil side of paper
1pc - 2cm x 9.3cm front of card strip - otherside of paper
Scrap piece to punch out lots of the co ordinating foil leaves


Copper foil sheet

1pc - 5cm x 10cm to punch out a banner using the banner punch
Small scrap piece to punch out one of the leaves


Vellum cardstock

1pc - 5cm x 13cm to punch out a banner using the banner punch and tucking the excess over the back of the copper one to glue in to place.


Metallic ribbon

2pc - approx 16cm to tie around the dsp strip and dsp layer coming from both ends


Acorn trinkets

1 needed to tie on to the ribbon



Card recipe:

1. Cut, score and burnish your card base.
2. Cut all of your layers for the front of the card, glue the very vanilla piece and the cajun craze piece to the front of your card. Cut the piece for the inside and glue this in to place also.
3. Cut your dsp strip and glue in to place on to your dsp layer, now using tear and tape glue one end of each of your ribbon pieces to the reverse side of your layer and then tie them in a knot - incorporating the acorn trinket as you do so. Glue this on the front of your card flat.
4. Cut and punch the ends of both your copper piece and your vellum piece, emboss the copper one using the embossing folder, this will give the copper a slight distressed look.
5. Match your vellum piece up with the tails of the copper embossed banner and fold it over the top, glue to the back using tear and tape to hold it in place. On the front of the vellum banner you can use a bit of wet glue to hold it in to place by putting it where you will be placing all of your elements which will cover the seen glue up (I added the vellum as it gave a softer look but it does still look beautiful without it).
6. Glue the banner to your card using dimensionals.
7. Cut and stamp your sentiment piece.
8. Punch out lots of your leaves and stamp and fussy cut 3 x leaf elements.
9. Using tear and tape on the back of your sentiment take the backing off and fix some of your leaves on to it arranging them how you like, now using dimensionals glue your sentiment in to place.
10. Place some of your foil leaves and acorns on to the dsp layer, I used 1 dimensional for each of the acorns giving them more depth, but just a small amount of wet glue for the leaves.
Card finished, hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed creating it.
Take care till next time and keep crafting 
Big Crafty Hugs
Natalie xx



Products used:


















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Tuesday 18 August 2020

Beautiful Autumn bundle

 


Hello again everyone it's Tuesday again already and heading into the second half of August.  The weather thankfully has cooled down a bit in Essex which makes it a bit easier for concentrating, which to me is a bonus.
Today I've made a really cute 4" x 4" card using a beautiful bundle, which is actually called ' Beautiful Autumn' and what I really love about this bundle is that you get 3 x punches instead of dies.
So without going on any longer let's start the card, which is a relatively easy card to assemble.

Materials needed:


Very Vanilla thick cardstock

1pc - 4" x 8" score on the longside @ 4" - card base
1pc - 3 7/8" x 3 7/8" - front layer stamped with the seniment
1pc - 3 5/8" x 3 5/8" for adhereing to the back of the dsp


Gilded Autumn Speciality paper

1pc - 3 5/8" x 3 5/8" for the front of card
1 sheet for punching out leaves and acorns from


1 Gold hoop embellishment for the inner of die cut circle

Metallic ribbon for the front of card bow




Card recipe:

1. Cut, score and burnish your card base.
2. Cut your  pieces for the front of your card from your card and dsp.
3. Glue the piece of dsp to the same size piece of card and leave to dry.
4. Punch out all of your leaves and acorns that are neede from the sheet o dsp which has them all printed on.
5. Tie your bow ready to be placed onto your finished card.
6. Now that the dsp and card that you've glued together are dry you can die cut a circle in the middle using the 4th largest circle die.
7. Place the piece with the circle apperture cut out of it over the piece that you've cut for the front of your card ( 3 7/8" x 3 7/8") and draw very lightly where the apperture is, then take the apperture piece off and you can then see where you need to stamp your sentiment centrally.
8. Glue the 2 pieces together now and then glue them to the front of your card.
9. Run a little wet glue all the way round the inside of the circle apperture and place your gold hoop on to it, leave it to dry.
10. Carefully position your leaf and acorn elements in to place and apply glue once your happy with the layout of them.
11.Using a glue dot put your bow into place. And that's the card finished.

Hope you liked todays project it was a really lovely card to make and I think you could batch make these quite easily.

Thanks for popping by my blog take care.
Big Crafty Hugs
Natalie xx



Products used :













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Monday 17 August 2020

Snow wonder fun fold card - folds flat



Hello again everyone, I'm so excited to be sharing this beautiful fun fold card that I've case'd from a lovely lady on Youtube her name is Jan Mansor Brown and you can see her make this fold using a different dsp and punch on this link https://youtu.be/HRt_KMSzHd0
I'm going to show you as best as I can how I've made the card using the lovely 'Snowflake splendor' dsp and the really lovely 'Snow wonder' stampset from Stampin' Up!.
Hope you enjoy the make and give it a go as it's a really lovely, easy to assemble card and I think if you give it a go you will enjoy it.

Materials needed:


Whisper white thick cardstock

1pc of A4 Cut on the longside at 5 3/4" and then again at 5 3/4" these two pieces form the card base.
2pc - 1/2" x 5 3/4" for the 2 embossed side pieces
4pc - approx 2 3/4"x 2 3/4" for die cutting 4 circle frames (for the windows)
1pc - approx 3" x 4 1/4" for the stitched rectangle sentiment piece
1pc - 1 1/8" x 2 15/16" for the front sentiment layer
Scrap pieces to stamp and die cut your snowman and 2 x trees


Highland heather cardstock

1pc - approx 3 1/4" x 4 1/2" for the stitched rectangle sentiment layer
Scrap piece to die cut the label for the front sentiment


Snowflake splendor dsp

1pc - 5 5/8" x 6 7/8" cut on longside 2 7/8" then 1 1/8" then you have 2 7/8" left these pieces are for the front of your card and get glued in sequence so that your pattern matches up across the front.
1pc - 5 5/8" x 7 1/2" cut on longside at 4 1/8" leaving a piece 3 3/8" these pieces are glued onto the back inside piece again in pattern sequence.


Window sheets

2pc - approx 2 3/4" x 2 3/4" for the die cut circle window layers


Pool party sheer ribbon

2pcs - approx 16" to tie 2 x double bows





Card recipe:


1. Cut both of your card base pieces and then score 1 of them @ 1/2" on both sides and        3 1/2" on both sides.
2. Cut your dsp pieces, and keeping them in pattern order glue them onto the piece you've just scored in between the score lines and then glue the back inside pieces into place leaving a 1/2" gap along the lefthand side as this is where the front of the card will be attached eventually, and also leaving a small gap in the middle of the two pieces. Leave these all to dry before we die cut the circles out of the front piece, using the 4th largest die, you can do this by eye or measure where you want the appetures to be using a rule. (they're being cut into the centre of the 2 larger panels).
3. Die cut your 4 circle frames using the 4th and 6th largest circle dies together and then emboss them all through your winter snow embossing folder.
4. Die cut your 2 window sheet circles, using the 5th largest circle die, and using a small amount of wet glue around the edges of the reverse side of the appertures you've made on your card base, glue them carefully into place. Now you can glue your 4 frame embossed circles into place either side of both of the circle appertures ( being careful not to use too much glue as you don't want to get glue coming out onto your window sheet circles).
5. Cut and emboss with the embossing folder your 2 strips which can now be glued down the sides of your front card base piece.
6. Stamp, colour (I used Balmy blue, Highland heather, Soft seafoam, pumpkin pie and Real red Stampin' blend pens) and die cut your snowman. Stamp your 2 lots of trees having the back trees stamped in 2nd generation stamping, and then die cut them.
7. Glue your snowman and trees behind the windows using stampin' dimensionals, so that you can see them peeking through the windows.
8. Glue your side panel that has the embossed strip of card down it onto the side of the back card base piece that has no dsp on it, using wet glue.
9. Die cut your 2 pieces of card that are needed for the inner side sentiment, emboss the snowflake border onto the white piece using the embossing die within the die set, stamp your sentiment onto it and glue them both together flat, using wet glue.
10. Place dimensionals onto the reverse of your sentiment, being careful not to put them on the side where your front card side piece has got to slip under (holding your card together for standing up and releasing it to fold flat), glue into place.
11. Die cut your front sentiment label, stamp and cut your senitment and then glue the two pieces together flat using wet glue. Place 2 dimensionals down the centre of the reverse side and then glue this onto the front middle panel of your card.
12. Tie 2 double bows and glue these onto the front of your card using glue dots. Place some rhinestone basic jewels onto the embossed snowflakes on your inner side senitment and the card is finished.

Hope you enjoy making this card as much as I enjoyed creating it take care till next time.
Big Crafty Hugs
Natalie xx



Products used:
















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