Christmas Lantern re-dressed....

Finally got round to photoing the final Christmas Lantern with its proper lights in situ... and a few Champagne Foil die cut Seasonal Layers snowflakes added to finish...

Can't tell you how much better it looks with the tiny lights behind the lantern glass... albeit very fiddly to achieve... getting Tear n Tape behind the "lamp glass on the inside of the lantern" and then sticking the lightbulb on...

And I have to laugh at this final photo... as no way does it look purple in real life!! Cool White is (supposed to be) the look... 

My favourite Detailed Gates Christmas Card!

So I remade my Christmas Gates card that I shared here (with the Tutorial for you...) as I wanted to use the Boxwood Wreaths... and make it a quicker and simpler card in a class with lots of other projects going on...

Though luckily my brain kicked into gear before I attached the Boxwood Wreath as...with all that dimension... it would never have fit in a standard C6 envelope if I had... so the Christmas Around the World papers came out again... and a simple die-cut but flat wreath & bow was added instead...

And of course... luckily the Halloween Night papers are still in the Clearance Rack for us in Europe.. so the brick sheet in there made the gate posts really easy! I have to admit that more on their way to me and that I have bought a lot of these papers since they have been in the Clearance Rack...

Rest of the details are the same as the original ... apart from the Lanterns which are also care of the Christmas Lamppost dies... which are retiring (sniff! I am so gutted!)... but they are reduced in the Year End Sale by nearly £4...

Though the Full Bundle with the co-ordinating Brightly Lit Christmas stamps is still marginally cheaper if you want the stamps too...

And I will dash a few more of these off prior to my Christmas post... quicker to create than they look... and some already prepped and ready to go ...

Detailed Gates Lanterns...

Remember these cards... well it turns out that they aren't just a card after all...

Pop a tealight in with your card and the recipient can have a  beautiful lantern/light display too...

Just remember to wrap washi tape around your tealight to make it look so much more special...

Simples!

Finally back to normal scheduling time today so as to hopefully hit a few fellow demo's blog feed before they dash off to On Stage events around the world this weekend... see you there (in the UK!) and hope you all enjoy!

Anything But A Card for Global Stamping Friends Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to November's Global Stamping Friends Blog Hop... you are now in the UK with Amanda Bates at The Craft Spa...

Our theme this month is Anything But A Card... which is lovely as it has made me focus and get one of my December projects done a whole month early! So now the first ladies will be making one on Wednesday (just in case they were wondering!!!)

So I have a lantern for you using one of the fabulous large lanterns I found last year! So a matching set for my regular ladies... one for each end of their mantelpieces... 

A die cutting dream of a project... using Detailed Gate, Christmas Lamp Post and Hometown Greetings... all available with co-ordinating stamp sets in bundles with 10%... 

Plus Christmas Around the World & Halloween Night papers and a Boxwood Wreath with a Jute Twine bow to finish off...

But I have few admittances...

(1) This project was inspired by an amazing dome version by fellow demo Shannon Vanstone... though I couldn't find a dome as impressive as Shannon's so I had to alter details as I went along!

(2) My lantern has etched wording at the back that needs covering up... hence the die cut snowflake panel... 

(3) The actual lights I will use arrive on Monday... so I will finish off the project with some more sparkle & twinkle then... The lights used here are the same but have a ridiculously large battery box which is difficult to hide!

(4) I will personally use the double stamped gateposts in Graveyard Gates (as explained & used here) for gift re-makes... but I wanted to keep the project easier for some of my ladies (that panic when the Stamp A Ma Jig comes out!) and we still have the Halloween Night papers in the Clearance Rack here in Europe... so the brick paper sheet made these gateposts a breeze!

And now it is time to pass you onto the lovely Karie in the USA... I know she has 3 lovely projects to share with you...

And here is a Roll Call for you  -  if you prefer to hop backwards and forwards that way - or just in case of any broken links...

Global Stamping Friends Blog Hop Roll Call

1.  Kimberley Anne Morris

2.  Jenn Curtis Charles

3.  Jan Musselman

4.  Anastasia Radloff

5.  Amanda Bates (YOU ARE HERE!)

6.  Karie Beglau

7.  Courtenay Heuston

8. Ellen Woodbridge

9.  Amber Thompson

10.  Kristie Neal Walthall

11.  Tricia Butts

12.  Lisa Ann Bernard

13.  Amanda Farlinger

14. Erica Jones

15. Sarah McDermott

16.  Georgia Gaydos

17. Sharleen Luciano

Detailed Gate U Fold Card Tutorial for Fancy Fold Friday

So back to my Detailed Gates cards... I had an unexpected (and great!) night out on that Friday - so I had to suddenly stop my blog post mid flow...  And then it was a busy weekend! And then a very very busy week - or three!

But here is the card tutorial for you finally... which is slightly resized to fit the gate perfectly... sorry for the delay!

Craft Spa Card Recipe
Main Card - Smoky Slate card 21 x 8.6cm H (8 1/4" x 3/3/8" H)
Box Sections - Smoky Slate card 12.6 x 2cm H (5" x 3/4"H) & 14.2 x 2cm H (5 3/4" x 3/4" H)
Background Panel - Whisper White Card 14.5 x 8.1cm (5 1/2" x 3 1/8"H) 

Card Directions
1. Large Smoky Slate panel LANDSCAPE (long edge along top). 
2. Score at 2.5cm and 5cm (1" & 2")

3. Turn 180 degrees
4. Score at 2.5 & 5cm (1" & 2")

Where required (ie in the event of inner sections as in the Halloween Gate Card)...

5. Score narrower LANDSCAPE Smoky Slate Box Section panel at 0.8cm (3/8") from each side

6. Score wider LANDSCAPE Smoky Slate Box Section panel at 1.6cm (3/4") from each side

7. Adhere Box Section panels to each other 

8. Make stamped background panel and trim when LANDSCAPE to 2, 10.5 and 2 cm (3/4", 4" & 3/4")

9. Adhere trimmed background elements to 3 inner faces

10. Fold Card as Mountain, Valley, Valley , Mountain

11. Adhere Box Section panels to inside of card (where relevant - none in this card) See photos for steps 15-18 here for more guidance if necessary

12. Assemble the Gate across the Front  section

13. Double stamp the gateposts (above and below each other in opposite directions!) using a Stamp A Ma Jig stamp positioner. Cut out by hand & trim as necessary. 

14. Adhere to sides of card front. Decorate as required.

Please see my Full U Fold Card Tutorial here if you need more guidance and visuals as to what goes where for this type of card fold... and yes it does all fold flat to go in the envelope!

And here are the 3 Gate cards made so far... just click on the photo to go to the relevant post with more details on the decoration... Oh and another one out in my craft space for another day!

Christmas Detailed Gate & Hometown Greetings Card

And finishing off the 3 day series with one for Christmas... with a few extra stamp sets thrown in for good measure!!

And this time I remembered to take a photo off the little scene behind the gates... 

Whisper White panel white embossed with stars from Christmas Pines, trees from Lovely as a Tree and then brayered with Dapper Denim... and I have just realised something else clever about the Sponge Brayers... I don't have to mask the horizon... I have enough control over the brayer to form the horizon myself!

And finished off with a die cut Hometown Greetings church panel... with the lights on this time..!(Wink of Stella & Crushed Curry ink)

Gateposts and lanterns care of Graveyard Gates... which is the coordinating stamp to the Detailed Gate dies used for the gate!

And then I grabbed yet another stamp set & co-ordinating dies! At Home with You... for the trees in pots, the holly garland (door garland snipped at the corners to get a straight run...) and the Classic Label punched greeting...  

And finally finishing off with some tiny 1/8" Real Red Ribbon bows and Rhinestones as baubles on the trees in pots...

Detailed Gate & Hometown Greetings Wedding Card

Another day... another theme for the beautiful Detailed Gate... a quick and easy card for Mr & Mrs on their wedding day...

The same Bench U Fold card fold... but simpler than yesterday's more spooky card... as no extra box sections at the base... and just a simple die cut church scene to be seen when you peer through that gate...

The longer gate posts are created using the stamp in the Graveyard Gates set... just lining up & stamping one above another (in opposite directions!) to get the extra length... and then just trimming as required...

The inner decoration scene is just a simple trimmed Pool Party brayered Whisper White panel (though I could have used a Soft Sky panel to make the job even easier!)... with a Smoky Slate Hometown Greetings church border... finished off with some die cut Tranquil Tide trees....Forgot to take a photo before assembly... hence the strange shot below!

Front finished off with handcut Smoky Slate Graveyard Gate lanterns (though I could have used my die cut Brightly Lit/Christmas Lamppost ones instead) which are coloured in using a Clear Wink of Stella and Pool Party ink...

Plus a few Sheer 1/8" White Ribbon bows and a Smoky Slate Cheers to the Year greeting punched out using the Classic Label Punch

Introducing Detailed & Graveyard Gate...

Had to pop on and introduce my second favourite product in the Autumn Winter Catalogue, Graveyard Gate stamps & Detailed Gate dies ... available separately or as a bundle in both Wood Mount and Clear Mount.

You will understand more why shortly!

In the meantime... this is such an incredibly versatile product... and I have to say that I am cutting these beautifully without the Precision Plate.... just an extra couple of layers of paper with my replacement Big Shot platform is doing the trick... I know a few of you were worried about that!

So here is the product image... check out the lock and key dies... and all those chess pieces in the stamps!

And here are a few projects the Stampin Up! concept artists made for us.... I LOVE all of these... and I don't even make Halloween projects as a rule...

And click on the image below for the direct link to the video showing you much more...

Back with more on this product very shortly...