Swimming Mermaids

I recently had a chance to play with the new Under the Sea dies from Joanna Sheen, which included the lovely mermaid dies, one which is swimming and one sitting.  I really enjoyed playing with these dies as they could be bright and colourful and were also calling out to be used with movement.
The first card I made with them was using the swimming mermaid with a pull bar which, when pulled, made her 'swim' across the sea.

I used a couple of backgrounds from the One Summers Day CD which, although are meant to be of flowers, easily passed as coral and seaweed on the sea bed.
I started by sticking two seaweed die cuts from the Signature Die range to the front of an oval plastic dome and stuck this into an aperture I had cut to fit it in a piece of card with one of the backing papers stuck to it. I found it best to spray glue the papers to the card so it was securely stuck in place when you cut out the oval aperture.
The card base was covered with the same backing paper.
I cut a piece of the remaining backing paper, which again was stuck onto card, big enough to fit behind the oval and in position so the 'seaweed' and 'coral' were showing at the bottom. In this I cut a small slit, about 5mm wide, to go across the oval, making sure that it left enough room for the mermaid to still fit within the oval at the start and the end.
I then cut a piece of thick card about 1cm wide and long enough to reach slightly beyond the beginning point of the slit to the edge of the card, allowing for a 1cm overhang for the pull tab.
Wrap a very narrow piece of card around this strip of card, big enough to go around the strip and fold back on itself to give a butterfly fold. You will need one for the Mermaids head and tail. When happy with the position, attach in place to the pull bar, feed the 'butterfly wings' through the slit on the card and attach them to the mermaid.  She should now pull backwards and forwards on the card as you pull on the strip of card.
Put some glitter or sand in the oval and attach the card with the mermaid on firmly in place over the top, making sure it is completely sealed so the contents do not spill out.
Put foam tape on the back, making sure it does not interfere with the mechanism, as shown, and attach this to the main card front.

Finally, decorate the front of the card with the coral corner and fish, which are all part of the 'Under the Sea' die sets, having fun colouring them in bright colours.

Baby Shower Exploding Box

It was my sons girlfriends baby shower recently and I wanted to make something special that they could keep and would also double up as the 'wrapping' for her gift.
As we didn't know whether it was going to be a little girl or boy, I opted for a yellow colour scheme and also wanted to incorporate the theme they were having for the nursery which was going to be elephants.
Having looked at Pinterest for my inspiration, I decided to make an exploding box and used a couple of boxes on there as my main source of inspiration, combining the two for the look that was perfect for me.

Two of the sides we're joined together so they could be decorated as the nursery walls. I handcut the cot, making a small blanket to cover the base with a teddy bear at the bottom of the cot.  The cot was to also hold the charm I had bought as a present. 

The remaining two sides held messages and sentiments.

For the lid I used a bootie die from Joy Crafts and decorated around them with flowers and a plaque with the message 'Bundle of Love'

I was really pleased with the way it turned out and Mum to Be loved it too. Many thanks to the boxes that inspired me on Pinterest. 

Gnome Sweet Gnome

I was recently sent two dies from Tattered Lace for their new Paisley Parade collection which came out on Create and Craft last week.
The first die was the text 'Home Sweet Home', which, for some reason, immediately changed to 'Gnome Sweet Gnome' in my head!
This gave me a brilliant idea for my first sample, which was a toadstool shaped card with a sign hanging above the door.

I was really pleased with the way it came together and it also meant I was able to incorporate the other die I had been sent which was the Common Foliage.  Because of the size of the wording, it meant the card had to be rather large to be in proportion, so I started by folding a cream pearlescent A3 card in half and, keeping the fold at the top, shaped it to become the stalk. I then used a dinner plate to partially draw around on a sheet of A4 red card and cut around this, rounding off the two corners to become the toadstool roof. I used the Tattered Lace mini round dies to cut several white circles in varying sizes to stick randomly on the red card.

I hand drew the door and frame and cut out from white card, which I coloured with a Firewood Promarker and run through a wood grain embossing folder, before sticking it on the front of the house, using foam pads to slightly raise the frame. I then stuck a small gold pearl on the door to make a handle.

The sign was made by cutting a piece a cream card, big enough for the wording and running this through the woodgrain embossing folder and inking the edges using Frayed Burlap Distress Ink. I cut a slightly larger piece of card to layer this on, again colouring it using the Firewood Promarker around the edges that would show, and embossing in the woodgrain folder.  I layered the two pieces together and cut the wording out of white card, trimming down the 'h's' to become a 'n' and die cutting a 'g' from another alphabet die set I had. I coloured all the wording using the same Promarker and stuck it in place on the sign, adding small yellow gems to each corner.

I stuck a piece of twine to the back of the sign and, using foam tape, stuck it in position above the door at a slight angle.  I stuck a large gold pearl on the roof, where the twine would hang and glued the twine in place so it looked like it was hanging from the pearl. 

To finish it off, I cut two of the Common Foliage, and fixed them either side of the door.  Using the Tattered Lace mini blooms dies, I cut a few in white card and coloured them in different contrasting colours and stuck them to the foliage. 

I hope you enjoy having a go at making this card, although it may be a bit big to post!

Send more Chocolate!

Being a self confessed chocoholic,  it was quite apt that one of the dies I received from Tattered Lace a couple of weeks ago was the saying 'Things are getting worse, send more Chocolate'.

To begin with, I made a stand up plaque for the kitchen.

I used one of the House Mouse Gruffies stamp sets from Joanna Sheen called 'Bearytastic Day', which I thought went with it really well.

I cut the sentiment in half and added it top and bottom of the picture. 

I then decided to make a hanging wall plaque, using the sentiment as a whole and just using Tattered Lace products. 

  

The Easter Egg dies came from their advent calendar,  which I thought was good value, and great fun too - why should it be just the kids that can enjoy the countdown to Christmas! 

I was really pleased with the way both plaques came out.  They would both be fun additions to have in the kitchen. I hope you like them too.