Ellen and her Cake in a Pop Up Box

I've seen these Pop Up Cards all over the place in the Facebook groups I'm in and decided to have a go at making one. It's one of those cards that looks really difficult to make, but is actually really easy. 

When you pull the card out of the envelope it looks flat and unexciting.

But when you let it open it pops up into a 3D Pop Up Card with Ellen holding her cake as a nice surprise!

From above you can see the different 'struts' that go in the box allowing you to add dimension to the layers.

You can see this depth when you see it from the side.

Here's Ellen With Cake surrounded by the balloons I made and coloured with my Promarkers.

INSTRUCTIONS

I saw this YouTube video that showed me how to make it but used metric measurements with folds at 7, 14, 21, 28 cm along the long side and 7cm on the short side and trimmed it at 14cm.

I can see these card becoming addictive! They're so easy to make, but look as though they've taken hours!

Pencil Colouring - a real challenge for me!

This week's challenge at Through the Purple Haze Challenges is to Use a Pencil Coloured or Pencil Drawn Image. Now I'm no artist so a pencil drawing wasn't an option for me, so I rummaged in the cupboard and found my packs of colouring pencils - some of which I've had since childhood (and some of which haven't been used for nearly as long).

I decided to set myself a big challenge and created a scene using the adorable Backpack Friends which were a charity fundraiser from Saturated Canary combined with Rosey Walk from Make it Crafty - talk about giving myself an easy task eh?

This card has been full of new/ unusual/ challenging things for me.

For a start there was colouring with pencils. It's so very different from the Promarker colouring I normally do & I found it much more difficult to build up layers and shading and vibrancy. I think it came out well in the end though.

I tore the edge of the paper. You'll have noticed I'm naturally a neat and tidy crafter (in my results not in the house :P ) so this was totally different for me. For some reason I thought it would work with this image and  luckily I think it does.

The final really unusual thing for me was using dark brown card as the base. I'm not a fan of brown, but it works with the image. The photo shows it as darker than it actually it - it's actually a lovely chocolate brown which really compliments the image.

I cut the sentiment on my Cougar.

I really hope you like my creation. I'm looking forward to seeing your entry over at Through the Purple Haze Challenges x

Happy Birthday Tamara!!!!!!

Happy Birthday to You!

Happy Birthday to You!

Happy Birthday Dear Tamara!

Happy Birthday to You!

xxx

Today's a very special day! The wonderful Tamara - the amazing talent behind The Stamping Chef - celebrates her birthday! Now Tamara doesn't seem to enjoy her birthday so a certain Miss Betty of Simply Betty Stamps  decided to organise this surprise birthday hop for her and designed the gorgeous Rockin Birthday Cutie for her :D Tamara I hope you're beaming from ear to ear by seeing all the love for you. 

The hop started at the Simply Betty Blog  and you should have arrived with me from Kerrie-anne 

I was chatting to Tamara the other day and telling her about my friend's tradition of deleting the pesky first number off the front of our age and celebrate a much more fun birthday. As a result I'm wishing Tamara a very happy 4th birthday :P :P :P 

I decided to try one of the fun pop up cards that have been spreading around the Facebook craft groups. 

When you take the card out of the envelope it's flat and very plain looking.

But when you take it out of the envelope magic happens and the card opens up into a free standing pop up box!

This angle gives you a peek of the pop up base.

I've only tried this style of card once before and love the amount of depth you can create.

I designed the balloons myself by combining an oval and a triangle in SCAL3 and cutting them on my Cougar. I coloured them with my Promarkers and attached them to thin strips of acetate cut from plastic packaging so they looked as if they are floating.

Looking from above you can see how two slats are added to the inside to give different places to mount the balloons.

From the side you can see how much depth this gives to the embellishments.

I used this clear sentiment stamp from Fiskars which I thought was appropriate.

Here's a close up of Rockin Birthday Cutie, my balloons and my cheeky 4th Birthday celebration.

I really hope you've enjoyed my creation. Your next stop on the Hop is Floss

Here's the complete blog hop list x

SBS: http://simplybettystamps.blogspot.com/
Corinne Jones: http://wishuponascrap.blogspot.com/
Rachel Gillham Http://www.promarkerprincess.blogspot.co.uk
Christin Myhre http://www.christinmyhre.no
Vicky Fortier http://crafting-vicky.blogspot.ca/
Kerrie-anne Brown http://cardsbykerrie.blogspot.co.uk/
Lucy Gregg Www.loopylass2010.blogspot.co.uk
Floss Crabbe http://crabbiescards.blogspot.co.uk/
Summer Hills-Painter http://1craftypainter.blogspot.com/?m=1
Trish TheDish Sakulich http://scrappintillthecowscomehome.blogspot.ca/
Katya Bess http://www.kattyxotica.blogspot.com/
Irene Chapmon Sherman http://irenescardcreations.blogspot.com/
Vanessa Bland http://slightlytwistedbutterfly.blogspot.com
Louise Mann http://louisescraftycards.blogspot.co.uk/
Sheri Scraps http://Mammasscrappin.blogspot.com
Celina ScrapVamp Matthews http://ScrapVamp.blogspot.com
Michelle Petersen www.ladyofleisureink.blogspot.com
Emily Shroom http://emilyshroom.blogspot.com.au
Jill Hogg http://cuddlyscraftycreations.blogspot.co.uk
Kay Mowat http://kaym74.blogspot.com
Jackie Randolph http://papermoments.blogspot.com/
Darcy Schroeder http://craftingwithdarcy.blogspot.com
Tanja Charles: twistedteecrafts.blogspot.com
Veronica http://www.artbyveronica.blogspot.com/

Embossing - Two different ways

This week's challenge at Through the Purple Haze Challenges is something a different for me - the theme is Embossing and I decided to make 2 different cards. I used dry embossing and heat embossing on both, but with two very different results.

I saw an idea of using an embossing folder to make a white on white card on Pinterest and loved the effect. I adapted it and used 4 different embossing folders to give extra interest. I coloured Anna Belle Birthday Wishes from TiddlyInks in bright colours to give the card a real pop of colour and a nice contrast to the white base.

I embossed the Happy Birthday stamp from Fiskars with Versamark and red embossing powder and cut it into a flag shape and added a red backing to continue the pop of colour.

I used embossing folders from Cuttlebug (bird and circles) and Crafts Too (hearts and stars).

I coloured Anna Belle Birthday Wishes using my Promarkers:

Skin - Coral, Sunkissed Pink, Blush with Pastel Pink Cheeks

Hair - Cocoa, Henna, Chestnut, Walnut

Dress, Hat, Shoes - Red, Berry Red, Cardinal Red, Burgundy

Cake - Buttercup, Pastel Yellow

As a real contrast to this white based card I then made a really bright colourful card. This was nice and easy - I simply stuck strips of coloured paper to a sheet of white card and then ran it through my Cuttlebug Happy Birthday embossing folder.

I added a Stampin' Up sentiment from the current Sale-a-bration set and embossed it with gold Wow Super Fine Embossing powder.

Two very different cards, but I like them both and hope you do too.

We're looking forward to seeing your embossing entries over at Through the Purple Haze Challenges x

I'd like to enter this into Crafty Hands Embossed Background Challenge 

Wings

The challenge at Digi Galore this fortnight is 'Wings' We're sponsored by Pickled Potpourri Designs.

I had 'Fly' to play with. The girl on the swing came with the lovely sentiment and was beautiful in her own right so didn't need much adding. I decided to use a tree from the Stampin' Up Bold Branches digital stamp set and cropped it so just the truck and branches showed. I then positioned Fly so she was swinging from the tree.

I was going to leave the card plain and white, but then decided to have some fun adding colour with my Dylusions sprays! I love the results so much I couldn't choose which one I liked best so have included them all! They sort of show the change of time - daylight, sunset and twilight.

Sky Blue, After Midnight and Calypso Teal Dylusions with some mica shimmer spray

Sky Blue, After Midnight and Crushed Grape Dylusions with Mica Shimmer spray

This shows the shimmer the shimmer spray adds to the cards.

Lemon Zest, Squeezed Sunshine, Squeezed Orange and Cherry Pie Dylusions sprays.

I hope you like them - I'd love to hear your thoughts and look forward to seeing your creations with 'Wings' over at Digi Galore x

Annie in a Celebratory Mode - Encino Stamps

I had fun making this card using Annie in Celebratory Mode.

I used my Cougar cutting machine from Thyme Graphics to cut the card front so it was the same shape as Annie. I saw this idea on Pinterest and wanted to try it. I think it looks quite effective.

I embossed the card front with a stars embossing folder from Crafts Too. I then coloured the embossed stars with my Yellow Promarker to make them stand out a bit more.

The 'Celebrate with Style' is an acrylic stamp I've had for ages. 

I coloured Annie using my Promarkers;

Skin - Coral, Sunkissed Pink, Blush with Pastel Pink Cheeks

Hair - Tulip Yellow, Sunflower, Gold, Raw Sienna

Dress - Cerise, Shocking Pink*, Maroon

Necklace - Gold Gell Pen

I hope you like her x

'Love is in the Air' with Sassy Studio Designs

It's that time of year again and Love is the in Air over at Through the Purple Haze Challenges.

Our sponsor this  week is Sassy Studio Designs  and I chose to work with Elizabeth Laura Bennett. I don't normally work in a vintage style, but for some reason this design just popped into my head when I saw the digi.

 The Quote actually comes from Sense and Sensibility rather than Pride and Prejudice, 

but I thought it worked well with the 'Love is in the Air' theme.

I'm not sure of the make of the paper as it was in a bargain bag I bought, but I thought it went with the Regency theme. I printed the quote directly onto the paper

I used a bit of cream coloured cotton trim and coloured it with my Antique Pink Promarker so it co-ordinated with her dress.

I coloured Elizabeth with my Promarkers:

Skin - Coral, Sunkissed Pink, Blush with Pastel Pink Cheeks

Hair - Cocoa, Henna, Chestnut, Walnut

Dress - Cocktail Pink, Salmon Pink, Antique Pink

Gloves - Ivory, Satin

I really hope you like her and would love to hear what you think. 

I hope you come and join in the 'Love is in the Air' Challenge

I'd like to enter this into the following challenges:

That Craft Place - Valentine

Just for Fun - Love is in the Air

Craft your Passions - Love is in the Air

Kaboodle Design - Valentine Themed

Simon Says - Love Notes

Little Blue Button - Love

Love is in the air at Digi Galore - well Love is the theme of the challenge :D

Our Sponsor is Little Blue Button Stamps and I had Miss Lilly and Toby Sitting to play with.

I used cut the Viewfinder using the file available from the Silhouette Store. 

I coloured the back layer of the Viewfinder with my Promakers so you get a rainbow of colours as you spin it.

As you can see when it's open I left the Viewfind hanging over the edge so it's easy to turn.

I decorated the inside with burgundy card and heart ribbon. I don't normally decorate the inside of the card, but this one showed as the front is cut away. 

The stamp is from one of the new Stampin' Up Sale-a-bration sets. I embossed it with gold super fine embossing powder.

You can see the back of the brad I used to attach the Viewfinder.  I could have hidden it, but I thought it was small enough to be unobtrusive.

I really hope you like my card. I'd love to hear what you think & would love to see your entries using a digi stamp over at Digi Galore x

I'd like to enter the following challenges:

Kreativeinkauf challenge - Hearts