Every year I use some of the new dies we have in to produce lanterns. The bauble and star background worked well on a 5x7 face and the leaf used for autumn was used in the normal cube box that I do. This can also be done as a tissue box. I used an assortment of decorations for each face this time so that individuals can choose what type of box they want - everyday or Christmas.
Although we have done similar cards before this time I used a frame from the John Next Door collection.
This die come with layered dies to form scenes - these are the smaller images. I also looked at using the frame with strip dies from previous years.
The scenes can be built up in a concertina box or leave one side loose so you get a book effect.
For these I have used a snowflake tiered die from creative expressions and a tree stamp from woodware.
The missing baubles from my previous post were found on the full workshop board for the die cuts so I've
The full stamping board for this month is
Here I have stamped onto die cut bauble shapes, used a bauble stencil and also used a bauble media plate to create the bauble in which I stamped.
I then looked at using woodware new stamps - cosy birds and mittens
and for a closer look at mittens
Lots of different ideas for this month mainly centred on baubles but including other dies also. ......Just realised I don't have a picture of many of the baubles so that will come later. Meanwhile there are lots of other ideas here
These 3D embossing folders are from creative expressions again. With the bells I used the stencils that go with the folder for colouring - again trying out different products but the others were coloured from embossed image. I have coloured the folder first in some instances. In other cases I used inked card and then sanded the colour off after embossing.
Spot the differences on the 2 pictures - 3 have been varied from original although the white embossed image doesn't show up well here.
Another die this month from creative expressions which I have tried to colour and use in different ways
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For these I have been making my own templates so that I can get a variety of steps. You will have seen one with the boy and girl on my last post but here are some others.
Two of them feature creative expressions die sets but the middle one was just using anything I had already cut in my stash.
This is playing about with the dies from creative expressions papercuts range. Each shape can be used as a hanging decoration or as a card topper. In the case of the house I have used it as a complete card.
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some have been coloured using paper piecing method - others are coloured directly.
Thinking of Autumn I have also use the JND Oak leaf frame in a few different ways for Septembers workshops.
I had to come up with some different ideas to those in the magazine for workshop customers who had purchased the box set so I looked at using some of the different shaped cards - tiered cards, slider cards and others. Also I know some people don't like starting Christmas too early so I used the set for other occasions also. Many ideas will deal with all occasions - you just need to adjust the colour scheme.
Anyway these are some of the ideas I came up with..
anytime cards..
Sorry this is being posted later than I said but I have found foiling can be very temperamental . sometimes things work perfectly and other times they don't and this can be very frustrating. So some samples shown below are better than others!
I looked at foiling 3 ways and some of the results are shown with each
1. using transfer foils over different types of glues and gluepads
2. Using foils for stamping with the kaleido and a few stencils but they didn't work so well. Note I found the negative foil looked just as good in some cases so both ways are shown
3. using foils with my gemini foiling machine.
Looking at different materials we can use instead of card this month there is also the foam for flowers . These flowers can be quite dimensional so useful for other situations.
For some unknown reading I can't turn this image but Hopefully you get the ideas.
I have been sked to remind people about using fantasy film and fibre so here are a few ideas using each separately and then together.
This month I have used 2 of the Andy Skinner stamps in various ways. These are very popular stamps as can be seen on the creative expressions facebook page. Whilst the boy seems a boy I think the female image could be used for any age group
To add extra interest (and because I needed something different for my grandson who is only into books and screens) I used a tier card idea which we had done with Jane Gill on a Woodware workshop some years ago. (I also adapted this idea to use with some toppers for those who didn't want the stamped images.
Again looking at what I still have to sell I turned to my stencils for another summer workshops idea (not sure yet if needed for July or August). Here I have embossed the images using a rubber mat in my die cutting machine and then with the stencil in place I have inked them in using the fusion inks again. NOTE by embossing the image it raises the level making colouring easier and stronger. If I am just needing the image for a background rather than main image I will not emboss but ink through stencil with a brush so the metal doesn't destroy my foam applicators.
I have a number of Elusive image stamps on the shelves and I found 2 of the damask squares there so I thought if I open and use one for July's workshops then perhaps someone will buy the other.
They have been used with the fusion inks from crafts too in most cases but I have tried to vary the ways in which they are used
Here I have looked at using the bow die from JND in a variety of ways.
AS you can see there are 2 types of bow in this doe cut set which we will be using in our July workshops
These include a striplet die, daisy circle and a wreath with assorted colouring. These are other options for June's workshops
Workshops in June will feature the car dies and stamps by Sue Wilson. These can be used on their own or together and so I have looked at doing both. For backgrounds I have often used a cogs die from crafts too.
For these cards I have produced sheets using the fusion inks and then either used these as a background for die cuts or in other cases I have die cut from the coloured sheets.
The fusion inks give a lovely finish to the background card. Different ways of colouring the folders have been looked at. The first ones are using folders we have looked at previously but the second picture shows new folders
I should have another photo but will have to show those later
Here I looked at colouring with fusion inks with both metal and plastic stencils
May's workshops will focus on using the new fusion inks in all sorts of situations. So we use them with stamps, stencils, embossing folders and die cuts.
The stamping ones are shown here
Whilst doing cards for family members I revisited some of the different shaped cards that we can do and used them with various toppers I had that I don't particularly use any more. I have lots of these toppers in the shop so I thought this could be an idea for a workshop. Some I have linked with dies I have. Examples on my board are shown below (sorry for overlap) but there are many more ideas around the shop.
