Cuttlebug pear core'dinations card and card making hints

I made this card some time ago and from all the cards I've made over the years, this is my favourite! It's a simple, elegant card that could be used for any occasion... however I like it so much that I haven't been able to part with it!

There were a few steps involved in making this card and I'll do my best to describe them, along with some handy hints :) 

Here are the supplies I used. You can find many of them in our online craft store :

- Core'dinations whitewash paper - Pistachio 

- two complementing green core'dinations cardstocks (from memory the darker one was called Parsley)

- Celery coloured ribbon

- 7 Gypsies Dax paper

- Gold and yellow ink

- Divine Swirl embossing folder 

- Tim Holtz' Scallops die 

- I had the rub on quote in my personal stash 

- Blank Card (about 12.5 x12.5 cm so that it would fit into our 13x13cm envelopes )

- Pear die cut (could use other fruit or diecut shape. Mine came from a Francheville pack I picked up on special at the local craft store)

- double sized tape and foam squares 

- sanding block 

Here's what I did:

1. Cut out my green whitewash paper to the size of the card and adhered it to the front of the card.

HINT: I attach all of my papers/cardstocks using 6mm double sided tape . I find that this way I don't get any messy glue around my working space or any paper warping.. It's also cheaper than using an adhesive roller...

2. Cut the parsley core'dinations cardstock to just over 3 1/4" (8.5cm) x 5" (12.5cm). Punched out the scallop pattern on one of the shorter sides using the Tim Holtz Scallop die. Trimmed the top of the piece so the height measured about 4 1/2" (11cm) and cut the width so that it had 6 full scallops.

HINT: When planning on having a punched edge on a card centre piece, always cut your cardstock a little bigger than the finished size you are after. That way you can cut between the pattern repetitions and have a beautiful finished looking edge..

3. Cut the patterned paper to around 2 1/2" x 3 1/4". Cut the light green cardstock to size, making it 1/8" wider and taller on all sides of the patterned paper.

4. Sanded the edges of all cardstock pieces. I added some detail to the whitewash card background using yellow ink, after sanding it. This made the edges more interesting and a bit brighter.

HINT: If you don't have a sanding block, you can easily use an emery  board to add a distressed look to the cardstock edges...

5. I layered and adhered my pieces: patterned paper on top of light green, then both on top of the dark green scalloped piece. 

6. I put a piece of 6mm double sided tape across the lower edge patterned paper (from one edge to the other) and adhered the ribbon to the card, tying a little knot.

7. I put this centre piece towards the left of the card, then I put my rub on quote on the right side of the card.

8. Now to the pear! I embossed it in my Cuttlebug machine using the Divine Swirl embossing folder. I inked the edges using the gold ink (a small cube one I had in my stash) and gently rubbed the ink over the raised pattern. 

HINT: If inking the raised pattern using this method, go over the pattern a few times pressing very gently. If you press too hard you will end up inking the de-raised parts as well..

9. When the ink dried I mounted the pear to the centre of my patterned paper using foam squares.

HINT: if you're working on a budget, instead of purchasing foam squares, you can use the foam tape that comes on a roll and just cut it yourself..

Keep smiling.. Till next time!

Eliza

Cuttlebug Challenge Entry

Cuttlebug Challenge is celebrating its 2 years, and for this week the challenge was to create a Birthday card with at least two layers. Here's my entry:

I used the Core'dinations cardstock for the background and the Core'dinations whitewash cardstock for the border layer under the embossed piece, both of which have been sanded along the edges and top to give it a more vintage look.

The Provo Craft Limited Edition Daisy Pattern embossing folder was used to emboss the flowers, which were adorned with small aqua gemstones.

The flower was created using a Sizzix die - the flower layers were cut out from fabric, felt and tulle, layered and decorated with a button. White grosgrain ribbon and a rub on by Finishing Touch Ideas finished off the card.

Dust Buddy by Core'dinations - Product Review

The Dust Buddy by Core'dinations is such a great product! Now there's no excuse to have dust all over your projects - you can now clean up all the dust and debris using the Dust Buddy and keep working on your project!

You can see the Dust Buddy in action in our Product Focus video:

Cuttlebug Thank You Felt Tree Card

I've been playing around with my Cuttlebug and felt, trying to create a technique that would let me create felt shapes that would easily adhere to fabric and paper. After a few trials I have come up with what I call 'Making felt iron-ons using your Cuttlebug machine'.. I'll soon post a tutorial on how to do this, but for now I'd like to share with you a card that I made using this technique - which also fits in with this week's Cuttlebug Challenge (using fabric in your project).

For this card I cut out the leaves and trunk from aqua and brown felt using my Cuttlebug and the 'leaves and stem' die from the 'Flowers' Cuttlekids four pack die set and attached it to the cream cardstock which I embossed using the Birds & Swirls embossing folder.




For the background I used the Aqueduct Core'dinations cardstock, which I embossed using the Swiss Dots embossing folder, then sanded the top and edges using my sanding block. I finished the card with cream grosgrain ribbon, a rub-on sentiment by Karen Foster Design and a Crystal Sparkles Brad by Trimmings.

Must say that I'm quite happy with the result!

~ Eliza