The Stove Card Tutorial & Online Extravaganza is Live!

I have had a lot of people ask for a Tutorial for these Homemade Kindness Bridge U Fold cards...

But before I start... the Online Extravaganza Sale is now live!.

Discounts off most Annual Catalogue products over three 2 day sales... So a great time to stock up! Deals from today, 23 November (Black Friday) through 28 November. Click here to go straight to the relevant products in the Online Store... And/or click here for more details...

So back to the card...Make one of the Bridge U Fold cards as per this Tutorial here...

Cut the Festive Farmhouse papers as per the background scene papers in the Tutorial... Note that these 2 stove versions are just using the 2 sides of the same piece of paper...

The hearth front  is just a 1/2" x 15.5cm (6 1/8") high strip of the wood effect Farmhouse Christmas paper stuck to a piece of 1/2"  x 15.5cm (6 1/8") high piece of Grey Granite card for strength

But add a 5.5 x 8.5cm (2 1/8" x 3 3/8") Whisper White panel, scored when PORTRAIT at 1cm (3/8") from either side. This forms the top of you hearth (and is instead of those centre/box panels at the bottom) and is stuck to the card at the centre/back.. so that the hearth top and front lift up and fold onto the back of the card.. so you can fold the card flat...

And add a 12x4cm (4 3/4"x 1 1/2")  piece of Basic Grey card scored when LANDSCAPE at 2, 5.5, 7.5 & 11cm. (3/4", 2 1/8", 2 7/8" & 4 1/4") Stick this "open at the sides box part" behind the bottom/front part of your fussy cut stove... and then stick the back to the back/centre of the card... lining it up so the stove legs sit on your hearth!

The stove is black embossed on Basic Grey - only one stove needed as you chop the bottom section off the chimney! (unless you want legs at the back too - as I have on the stripy green one!) Chimney goes on back of card, rest onto that "open box part"

Though you do need another Memento Black stamped stove onto Whisper White... for colouring just those kitchen paraphenalia parts & pie... including the towel! Reduces the fussy cutting/colouring timings...

Two 1/2" Circle Punched Basic Black circles for the hob... and some Basic Black marker or Stampin Blends colouring to finish... I have also added silver highlights using a non SU silver Uniball Signo pen on the tartan papered scene...

Hand cut a few log rolls from the Wood Textures papers...

And finish off with a stamped and die cut Winter Woods large tree... (the die that cuts out within the tree shape with the extra cuts!)

And a final tip for you... after opening up... I find that the hearth/stove/fold is better if I pull the hearth and stove down through the base of the card...and then push both up into position...

Dashing Deer in the Winter Woods...

Another little scene built using my favourite Winter Woods and Dashing Deer stamp sets... with some Rooted in Nature trees thrown in for good measure...

Click here for the card tutorial... though I added 2 hand-torn and glittered pieces of 8cm wide x 2.5cm high Whisper White to the back and central section too...

Set on A Twinkle Twinkle Paper background.... no sponging required!

Finished off with a 1 1/2" circle punched moon... and lots of Dazzling Diamonds Stampin Glitter....

Farmhouse Christmas Bridge U Fold Card for Fancy Fold Friday

Too good a card fold for a little scene with a house, trees and a fence not be used... Just perfect...

But first a quick update on classes and tutorials for my Farmhouse Christmas trio shared over the last 3 days... Wow... I have had such a lot of people contact me... that I felt I had to write up the Tutorials... so...

Live in the UK? Full multi project Tutorial file available when you purchase Farmhouse Christmas (or products to £40 value or more if you already have the set!) through my Online Store... but please remember to add the current Host Code to the field where prompted... Current Host Code to be found to the top right hand side of this blog page...

Not in the UK... or a UK demo? Just click on the Add to Cart button below to order and pay £5 for the Tutorial bundle. This will cover the Box Frame, Bakers Box and Bridge U Fold card shared 10-12 October - and will be in the form of a 15 page pdf document with lots of photos. Payment and currency conversions handled by Paypal. No Paypal account needed as Paypal or major credit cards can be accepted. 

And there are more class dates being arranged... though I am already booked up till 22 Nov...

So back to today's card... Click here for the Bridge U Fold Card Tutorial...and here for the Background Trees tutorial...

Think this is my last Farmhouse Christmas and Winter Woods with a touch of Merry Christmas to All projects for now... though more may come along as the stamps and dies will be out for classes on both October and November... so I could yet be tempted...

More Stampin Blends action for colouring... in Crumb Cake, Real Red and Pool Party... and another Vegas Gold Shimmer Paint daubed Farmhouse Christmas embellishment...

Oh... and yes the card does fold down flat for popping in an envelope and posting...

And remember...
Live in the UK? Full multi project Tutorial file available when you purchase Farmhouse Christmas (or products to an equivalent value-or more- if you already have the set!) through my Online Store... but please remember to add the current Host Code to the field where prompted... Current Host Code to be found to the top right hand side of this blog page...

Not in the UK... or a UK demo? Register your interest in purchasing the Farmhouse Christmas etc multi project Tutorial file for £5 by emailing me here .... and I will see what I can set up...

Merry Monday Dashing Deer & Winter Woods Bridge U Fold card

Thought it was about time I created a simple Fancy Fold Card to go with my set of sponged Night of Navy Dashing Deer and Winter Woods clean & simple cards...

So the old faithful Bridge U Fold card (for which the Tutorial is shared here) was the perfect format... creating a simple little 3D scene in moments...

See how I created the background scene here... though I won't add the snowflakes as on today's version next time... as they weren't necessary when I finished off with the "spindly trees"...which look even more stunning when adorned with lots of sparkly Dazzling Diamonds glitter....

See more details on the other cards here and here...oh and here...

Petal Passion & Palette Bridge U Fold Card

Apologies that yesterday's Happy Easter post was late... techno-bomb!!

Now who said these Petal Passion papers were just black and white!! Reckon that this card might be bright enough to dispel that myth...

U Fold card... aka Bridge Fold Card... for which the tutorial can be found here....  though this time I only used the one box section/insert for the birdie perch.... so that was scored at 1.5cm from each side from a 11.5cm x 2.5cm high panel...

Spotty papers coloured with Blends or Markers... back paper panel brayered with Pool Party and stamped with Old Olive marker thumped veins on Lemon Lime Twist inked leaves... and a couple of extra leaves stamped separately on Whisper White and then fussy cut... 

Memento Black Petal Palette stamped images with Stampin Blends colouring of leaves (Old Olive) and flowers (Rich Razzleberry & Pool Party) and then die cut with the Petals & More dies

And lovely die cut Petals & More frame in Pool Party (under the Classic Label punched Thoughtful Banners greeting to the bottom right hand side)

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!

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!

Bath with Champagne... Sunken Bench Fold Card!!

Can't believe I didn't share this card with you ages ago....  This is the alternative card I came up with for Karen's 50th birthday as another of our friends, Andrea had already made the Red Aga (Kitchen Range!) card for her.... click here for that card and the back story...

So I have more to tell you about Karen today.... not only is she a master baker... but she is rather partial to a glass of Champagne (or Prosecco when needs must!)

Hence the add of the champagne flute to both the Aga and the Bath card....

And yes this card does "sink down" so you get the bottom of the bath at the bottom of the card.... fun!

And then I had so much fun.... and went a bit mad... care of images I came upon on the Internet... a true one off in decoration!

As Karen likes a spot of Limoncello with her Prosecco...

But her first love from the bar is actually Bacardi and Coke!!

And she loves here Jo Malone... so on it all went... too much fun on my part....

Needless to say Karen loved her bespoke card... and the Bath Card and the Red Aga Card took pride of place at Karen's 50th Birthday party... though I am not sure all the other party goers understood the excitement over them!! But they did all learn a bit more about Karen!!! LOL...

I haven't completed the tutorial for the details of this version yet... but the tutorial for the Bench Fold Card Series ONE set of Aga, BBQ and Tool Bench can be yours by clicking here... it is the same card/fold...

Stamps used are Mixed Drinks for the glasses and Milestone Moments... Tap & shower spray care of the Adirondack Chair in the Seasonal Layers dies... unfortunately no close up photo taken at the time...

And yes it does all fold flat to fit in an envelope...

Petal Garden & Coffee Cafe Kitchen Table Bench Fold Card

Thought I would give you a break from Christmas and the Navy & White color combination today! 

And a quick share today... but a Fancy Fold for you as it is Fancy Fold Friday after all!  So a Bench Fold Card using both Coffee Cafe and Petal Garden papers ...

More details on the card decoration here... and/or click HERE to go and order the tutorial (s)... though please note there isn't a specific Kitchen Table one...

And a quick update on Joe and the knee op! Long day yesterday... huge bandage!!... but all went OK and he seems to be getting about reasonably OK when needs be... and the medication seems to be keeping the pain manageable so far- which was the bit I was most worried about for him... Plus he seems to be enjoying the shouts of Mum or Dad when he needs something!!!!

Sponging & Masking a little scene...

When I posted my DinoRama U Fold Card tutorial yesterday... I had some people ask me how I had created the scenic backdrop... so whilst I do not consider myself an artist in any way, shape or form... this is what I did...

And I have to admit that there is also another one waiting in the scenes... got to love those mountains behind a lake for a Christmassy scene!!!

1. Brayer Soft Sky across the whole panel. Don't worry about streaks and missing bits... they just add some texture!I  prefer a brayer for speed but you could use sponges...

2. Rip some pieces of scratch paper so you have undulating mountain peaks on one... and a raggedy straightish edge on the other. You will use both halves of the ripped papers.

Though note that you can't make loads of cards with one set of these papers... as eventually the ink bleeds through and ruins your scenic masterpiece!! I reckon about 3 cards with the one set... OR have a set for each colour... in which case rip through two at the same time so your shapes are the same!! Now why didn't I think of that before!

3. Mask your panel so you cover some sky area at the top and have mountain shapes about 1/3 of the way down... 

4. Grab your Wisteria Wonder ink pad and Stampin Sponge... and dab, smoosh, swoosh, wipe & swipe as you fancy to add colour and texture... I tend to lightly dab all over first and then swoosh/wipe at the peaks to add definition...

Move your masks along until the whole width is sponged...

5. Reposition your masks so that you have more peaks behind your mountains... this is where your 2nd torn half of scratch paper comes in useful to cover your first lot of mountains (though unfortunately I forgot to photo that in place! So please use your imagination...)

6.And sponge again...

7. Reposition your mask and apply more depth of colour to form the sides of some of the mountains...  again I swooshed/wiped down from the edge to add the depth... Little thing that makes a big difference!!

8. Position your 2 raggedy straight line masks to create a narrow horizon below the mountains and above the lake.... and sponge Pear Pizzazz ink over...

9. Voila land in front of the mountains...

10. Grab a Peak paper and raggedy straight edge paper and position at the sides to create hills...

11. Sponge with your Pear Pizzazz ink...

12. Now I carried onto create more of a scene but most of this gets covered up in this card fold...so optional! 

So place raggedy straight edge paper about 1" from the bottom

13. Sponge Pear Pizzazz ink over to create land in front of the lake...

14. Peak papers back on to create some more hills to the font of the scene...

15. Sponge Pear Pizzazz ink (definitely the least artistic bit of my little repeat scene!!) but works OK when cut up...

16. Ink up & stamp Old Olive leaves to the top right and left...

17. Cut as required (see yesterday's tutorial pt.8 for measurements)

18. Ink up & stamp your greeting on the central panel in Old Olive...

19. Assemble the card as per yesterday's tutorial... until you get to pt. 25 at the end...

20. Grab your card and embellishments.... and stick them all on... ... note that my Brontosaurus had his tail chopped and is rearing upwards (like a dog on back legs!) to achieve the Loch Ness monster look I wanted!

The Card Front Builder trees are die cut in Old Olive and then stamped in Old Olive using the Background Bits stamp for more texture (click here and scroll to the end of that post for a close-up pic)

All of the dinosaur, greetings and other images are in the No Bones About It set...

The 2 dinosaurs at the front in the shot above are inked up in a paler colour and then the stamp is stamped with the same Background Bits stamp inked up in a darker colour... adds great scales! 

So this T. Rex is inked up in Soft Suede and then stamped over with Early Espresso and then stamped onto card...

And this Stegosaurus is inked up in Pear Pizzazz and then stamped over with Always Artichoke. An Early Espresso marker on the fins finished the inking off and then he was stamped...

21. Dino Rama U Fold card finished....

Enjoy!