Barkley 4 Day Deal

If you loved Crafter's Companion's Barkley range the first time round you're going to love the new kit and collections launching on Monday 31st March as a Day Deal on Create and Craft! 

As well as three Hunkydory papercraft kits, this new collection will contain:
- A4 paper pad
- 6x6" paper pad
- A4 decoupage
- A4 toppers
- Epoxy stickers
- 2 x 5x7" embossing folders
- 6x6" acrylic stamp set

The 6x6 acrylic stamps make a fab addition to any other stamps you may already have in the Barkley range. For more information on existing Barkley rubber stamps visit: http://www.crafterscompanion.co.uk/characte.../barkley-c2782

So...with that in mind I thought I'd share a sneek peek at one of the projects I made that I'm calling my 'Barkley Box in a Bag'. Keep a look out on the Crafter's companion website where I'll be sharing a tutorial soon. The bags were decorated with the Rocker Cards that are on the Barkley Everyday CD, enabling you to make a really lovely gift bag and card to match.

(Blue or green must be seen LOL!)

Side view - a great place to pop sweets or a small prezzie!

Hope you like them! I'd like to enter them into the following challenges:


Creative Card Crew - Animals (Barkley the dog)

Totally Papercrafts - Beautiful Borders (the fab faux ribbon border which is printable from the CD)


Thanks for looking!

Back soon

Karen x

Crafter's Inspiration Issue 4!

Hi All!
Just wanted to tell you to look out for the latest edition of Crafter's Inspiration magazine which is launching this week from Crafter's Companion.

Packed with loads of goodies - including stamps, embossing folder, paper pack, video resource cd rom, paper craft cd rom and bead set!!! £50 worth of free gifts in total all for just £9.99 Get yours and make sure you don't miss out!

Bye for now Crafters! x

Secret Garden

Afternoon All!
Back with another post just to show you a couple of the pop up cards that I've been making lately. This pair were created using papers from the Graphic 45 'Secret Garden' collection.

These papers are fab for fussy cutting and give great vintage/shabby chic results.

Like my previous pop ups, they fold flat to fit in a 6x6 inch envelope.

The back provides the perfect place to pop your message.

Anyhoo... thanks for looking! I'd like to enter them into the following challenges:
Moving Along with the Times - Photo Inspiration (Spring colours/theme)
Creative Inspirations - Vintage/Shabby Chic
My Mum's Craft Shop - Easter / Spring
Best wishes
Karen x

Angelica and Adam Magic Box

Hi All!
Today, over on the Crafter's Companion Facebook Page I shared this 'Magic Box' that I created using images from the CD 'Angelica and Adam'.

I made the box from scratch and decorated it inside and outside with matching papers and decoupaged little cameos of the lovely characters in this collection.

The box opens out to reveal four little shelves to pop treats or sweets inside and then closes back up, topped with a lid.

Below I have included the measurements and quick tutorial for making a magic box.

First cut four pieces of card measuring 5in x 5in and score on all sides at one inch. Cut at the dotted lines to make tabs and then fold and glue into place to make four boxes.

Next, cut one piece of card at 13in x 4  3/4 in and score at 3 1/4 in, 6 1/2in and 9 3/4 in. You will now have four equal sections.

Take one box at a time and attach one in each of the four sections you have created. I used red line tape to hold them in place. Top Tip  - Attach boxes in the first and the last section and then you can judge where to place your middle two boxes. Check that they all fit without touching by folding the sides together so that the construction closes smoothly.

To make a lid. Cut a piece of card at 5 1/8 in x 5 1/8 in and score all four sides at one inch. Create the taps and stick together in the same way that you made the four interior boxes. (See note below in 'Extras' about making lid bigger.)

Extras

• You can now decorate the  interior boxes in any way you like and create decorated panels to glue to the exterior.
• For a closure - glue ribbon beneath the exterior panels so that you can tie the whole construction closed. I opted against the ribbon idea for this project as it was for a boy, so instead I added a fifth panel onto my exterior construction and added a magnet closure. The choice is yours! (See Below)

• If you add a few mats and layers to your exterior panels, consider making your lid slightly bigger than 5 1/8 in x 5 1/8 in to compensate. I would advise making the lid last so that you can ensure you get a good fit.
• Remember to place your exterior decoration lower than one inch from the top so that the lid will fit on!

Hope this helps. Any questions please ask!

I would like to enter this into the following challenge:

Moving Along With The Times - Make a Box and Decorate It.

Best wishes and bye for now

Karen x

Makey Bakey Mice and Exciting News!

Hi All!
Back today with another post and some exciting news!
A few weeks ago I entered some of my projects into the Crafter's Companion Design Team Call, then, woo hoo! Last week I found out I was lucky enough to get through! Like my other new teamies, I'm chuffed to bits and am really looking forward to creating more goodies with their fab products! Please find out more about the new team and their fab crafty makes here.

So...today I'm sharing a little Christmas trio that I created with one of my Makey Bakey Mice stamps, coloured with my Spectrum Noirs.

Makey Bakey Mouse Trio

Here, I made a cracker, triangular Christmas card and a triangular gift box, decorated with one of the cute images.

Close up of Makey Bakey Mouse

I embellished each item with punched snowflakes, gems and ribbon so that they all matched. Hope you like this idea. I'd like to enter them in this week's ABC Challenge which is 'E for Enclosed', Sparkles Christmas Challenge, which is to 'Use more than 3 Embellishments' (Gems, Ribbon, punched shapes), and Creative Inspirations 'Favourite Colour Combo' - mine is red and green.

Triangular Card and Gift Box

Anyway, back soon with more creations!
Best wishes and bye for now
Karen x

Fairy Wishes

Hi All!
I'm back today with a dinky card I made using the Crafter's Companion CD - Angelica and Adam. I used the images from the mini kit within the CD and customised them to fit my card.

I decided on a shaped card - cut using different layers of a Spellbinders 'Radiant Rectangles' die - and matted different sections of the paper (printed from the CD) onto shimmer textured cardstock from Papermania.

By diecutting the various elements I was able to pop different sections up onto foam squares to add dimension, and decoupaged the little fairy before adding glitter to her wings. Finally, I added gems and a sentiment from Craftwork Cards and decorated inside to match.

Hope you like this card which is suitable for big and little fairies everywhere! LOL!

I'd like to enter it into the following challenges:
Papertake Weekly - Bingo (Diecuts/Free/Glitter)
ABC Challenge- G is for Girls

Thanks for looking and bye for now
Karen x

Green Wellies

Morning All!
Just thought I'd pop by with my entry for this month's Spectrum Noir Challenge which is to use 'Green' on your project. With all this rain we've been having wellies have been regular footwear for many of us, and although there are all sorts of coloured wellies now, 'green' is the traditional colour, so I dug out this cute Mulberry Wood stamp showing a little bear relaxing after a spot of gardening with his green wellies on.

I coloured him in with my Spectrums, then layered him up onto various green patterned papers from papermania. I also die cut a lacey square out of embossed gold card and used the negative as a frame around him. The positive diecut I used as a spot to write your message inside the card.  I distressed the edges of the papers and then added gardening twine for a bit of a rustic look. To finish off I added a heart charm, sentiment and some gems.

Anyway, hope you like my little bear and his green wellies!! I'd also like to enter the card into the following challenges:
Spectrum Noir - Green
Paper Shelter - Anything Goes
Cute Card Thursday - What a Gem
Cards Galore Encore - Use a stamp or digi

Best wishes and bye for now
Karen x

What's New Pussy Cat?

Morning All!
It certainly is windy here in Wales this morning so I'm going to quickly pop this post on before I go and check if my washing is still attached to the line! LOL!

This week I was asked to make a 60th birthday card for a lady at work who is 60 later in the month. The only stipulation was that she likes cats, so this is what I came up with using the Joanna Sheen 'Ivory Cat's CD for the image.

I stuck to a green theme and made an easel card, printing the image twice to allow me to decoupage the windows. I punched a border with my Martha Stewart punch and added a couple of pearls to finish. Hope you like this simple yet effective card.

Thanks for popping by! I'd like to enter it into the following challenges:
Totally Papercrafts - Female Birthday with a number (60)
Crafty Creations - Happy Birthday
Crafty Fairies - Inspired by a Song Title - 'What's New Pussy Cat?'

Best wishes
Karen x

Spring Fairies

Hi All!
Been a busy bee crafting and then forgetting to post!! So here I am with a little Easter/Spring themed project that I made using Graphic 45's Once Upon a Springtime images.

I decided upon a 3D project and used some plastic eggs to create little fairy scenes within each egg.

 To ensure that there was a scene from every angle I cut egg shaped pieces of cream card, suspended upon wire running through the middle of the plastic eggs as a backdrop to the scenes. I then fussy cut my fairies and flowers, added paper flowers, ribbon, pearls and diecut shapes for decoration.

I even created little beaded dangles to hang from the bottom of the eggs. I then popped the finished pieces on my 'fairy egg tree', decorated with ribbon and a little bird to watch over them LOL!

I hope you like this little project. I really enjoyed making it but it was so tricky to photograph with the light bouncing off the curved eggs and them dangling about on the tree, so I hope you get the gist from my pics!

Finally, I added a few chocolate eggs around the base.

Thanks for looking - I'd like to enter this project in the following challenges:

My Mum's Craft Shop - Easter/Spring

Allsorts - Spring is Coming

ABC Challenge - G is for Girls

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Best wishes

Karen x

Boys and their Toys

Hi All!
Back with my second post of the day ! For a change I decided to make a card using a precoloured topper image from Kanban. It is often hard trying to create a man's card so I thought this vintage image was perfect to make an easel card.

I teamed the elements up with papers from Craftwork Cards 'Vogue' collection which matched perfectly, and brought the whole design together by using gold mirri card. I also decorated the inside to match.

Hope you like it - I'm hoping to enter it into the Creative Inspirations challenge which this week is 'It's a Boy Thing' and the 'A Little Bit Crafty' challenge which is 'Are We There Yet?'
Best wishes and bye for now
Karen x

Birds, Birds and More Birds

Back with a quick post. I was asked to make a simple box of notelets for a lady who likes birds but does not like a lot of fuss on her cards. I decided to use the Botanica collection which is new from Craftwork Cards to make these simple notelets and box.

This project used hardly any designer paper, so I made sure I added plenty of mats to create interest. I also added Glossy Accents randomly to some of the birds, which stand out better in real life.

Hope you like this quick and easy project. I'd like to enter it into the Crafty Cardmakers Challenge which this week is 'Come Fly with Me' - to use birds on your project.

Thanks for popping by!
Best wishes
Karen x