Fiskarettes

I had a surprise package in the post today........ a pair of Fiskars scissors with green & pink coloured handles. The problem is I don't remember why I might have got them!!! I signed up to the Fiskarettes blog some time ago but for the life of me I don't really remember..... (perhaps they were giving the scissors away if you joined?)............I barely have time to post to my own blog never mind anywhere else. I thought the least I could do would be to display their blog banner on my side bar...........I wonder if they could design a slightly less blingy one for me?

I was lucky enough to win a wodge of Fiskars goodies a few years back (2005 Fiskars category winner) in "Simply Cards & Papercraft" magazine competition and here is the card that I won with. The woven background, cut with some Fiskars shapes scissors, was a real pain to get right and my "style" has definately changed.........for the better I hope? I certainly would not have had the nerve to send it in for this years competition, there a things that need changing on it most certainly......... Although I still like my bird house design and the cloth padded hearts I made from scratch.

There isn't a project I make that does not include one of their products somewhere in the process as the wodge of things included a pair of scissors that have a non-stick coating that are great for cutting double sided tape as the glue residue easily comes off the blades. .........not something I would have bought myself but as I have road tested them for 3 years I can highly recommend them. I have just tried the funky ones received today and they are great quality too......obviously not a cheapo freebie giveaway promo item..........having said that I do hope Fiskars don't expect me to rave on about their stuff on this blog because quite frankly it ain't going to happen on a regular basis because

a) I am not on any design teams so

b) I do not have any agenda's to keep to and

c) I do not work in the craft industry which means that

d) My job does not depend on it and

e) I do not own a business that sells Fiskars products!

When I feel the need to mention something......I will.........but one pair of free scissors does not a mouthpiece for Fiskars make. Sorry if this offends anyone but the blurb that came with the scissors was a bit OTT and quite frankly it got my back up!

P.S. I suppose that means I won't be offered any jobs with Fiskars in the near future then!!!

Hope you have a crafty day (with or without Fiskars products).

Excuse the rant today I'm having a red hair moment!! :))))

Card Designer of the Year 2008

The results are in & verified - ooh sorry sounds a bit like Strictly - from Simply Card & Papercraft Card Designer of the Year competition and what do you know, I came a close second (along with 9 others LOL:) ) Issue 53 has all the details and is in the shops now. I bought my copy on Saturday just to be sure before I put it on my blog. My prize arrived on Thursday and it was fun imagining what I might be able to do with all the goodies! I was especially happy with the Maya Road elements as most of them came in a tin! Don't know which I liked the best the contents or the tin!!!!! What a great Birthday/Christmas present and to cap it all Tim Holtz replied by e-mail (re: my win on 12 tags of Christmas) and actually took the time to say Happy Birthday it does not get much better than that.
I thought I would post details on how I made the card "Heartfelt Christmas Wishes" that is in the issue (and I am sorry to complain but I have to say the colour in the mag makes it look very washed out!), half the job is already done anyway as you had to send in written techniques.

Material list:

• K & Co Scrapad to Go Hannah papers red stripe & green tapestry
• Bazzill deep red cardstock
• PDA Crafts stardream, silver mirror, hammered white & countryside recycled chaff cardstock, also smooth ivory paper for insert
• Paperartsy Xmas Plate 1 & 3 “Christmas plum pudding” & “Holly border” stamps
• Adirondack Dye Inks – Bottle, Lettuce & Cranberry
• Papermania mini black sparkle brads
• All My Memories Expressions Accent Charms
• Cream embossed & green mottled cardstock
• Stazon black ink pad
• Plaid All Night Media Chalk
• Create and Craft Adhesive cabochon pearls
• Toilet tissue - Yes you hear right!
• Papercast mould
  

I designed the church and made a template for all the pieces in my Serif graphics programme then printed these onto the reverse of either hammered white card or deep red which were then cut out with a ruler & craft scalpel knife. I embossed a line on the outer edges of the red elements for a touch of definition before using the decorative scissors to cut the facsia boards, balcony and roof then add tiny pearl cabochons to the circular parts. I stamped the "Christmas plum pudding" word stamp onto the stardream card (it has a lovely shimmer to it) with black Stazon and cut out the arches for the windows and door. I think you can see it quite well here. I marked all the edges with black permanent marker for definition and assemble all the layers with 3D foam pads and silicon glue as necessary. A star punched out of cream embossed card was added to the spire.
I cut out an oblong of watercolour paper and used Fiskars corner rounder scissors to cut out inverted corners on the top edge. I stamped the holly border using Adirondack bottle ink on the outer edges & lettuce in the centre. After leaving to dry for a short time I then spritzed the whole area with water and used a brush to lift some bottle ink straight from the ink pad lid and added this around the edges of the paper, heavy in places and lighter in others (the colours merge for a mottled affect as long as the whole area is wet). I left to dry off a little and added a touch of the cranberry on the holly berries before leaving to dry completely. I then rubbed the bottle ink pad directly around the edges for some darker definition. I layered the watercolour background firstly onto stardream card (I love PDA Crafts I think it is essential to have a good supply of basic card & paper in lots of different colours to give a professional look to your work and whats more their customer service is excellent!) then silver mirror card, then red stripe paper and lastly green mottled card all of which had the top corners invertly cut with the Fiskars corner rounder scissors. Finally I attached the layered church embellishment and the metal heart.

I folded a piece of A4 chaff cardstock in half to make an A5 portrait card and creased with a bone folder for a crisp edge - actually it is a piece of wood with curved smooth edges, had for years, don't know what it was originally designed for! Perhaps I will take a photo and post it here and someone might be able to tell me? I cut a piece of mottled green card 21cm x 14cm and attached centrally to front of the chaff base card with double sided tape and cut a piece of green tapestry paper 19.7cm x 13.5cm to layer on top of the green.

The sentiment was printed on stardream card again (font Gigi) and a paper pricked border added along the top and bottom edge using a metal ruler & pricking tool spacing the holes every 2cm. (I only found out the other day that Tim Holtz has a ruler out that has holes already spaced out for this technique. Oh! How I wish I had had one of those!!) This was matted onto a piece of mottled green card and attached to the bottom of the base card with 3D foam pads. The decoration on the sentiment is a paper cast moulding which I made by laying toilet tissue, YES toilet tissue!, into a papercast mould wetting each thin layer well with water (about 20) and using a fairly stiff brush to push the tissue into the design, it was then left to dry thoroughly overnight. I bought the mould in Switzerland a good few years ago on a Christmas market trip and have been looking for more ever since. I knew I should have bought more but they were quite expensive! As long as the paper is really dry it will easily come out of the mould. Then all you have to do is trim off the rough edges and chalks were dusted over the design to catch the high spots. I cut two squares of red stripe paper and one of green tapestry each slightly smaller in size and used the corner punch all round. I layered these and added the papercast decoration on top before attaching to the sentiment strip with silicon glue.

I printed out the insert using my Serif graphics programme (font Gigi) it says "May your Heart and Home be filled with Christmas Cheer"and punched decorative corners before attaching to the inside with double sided tape.

Voila! My finished card.

Hope your week ahead is full of arty luck just as mine has been.

On Being Quiet

I know I have been quiet, but have been busy beavering away on my entries for the 2008 Card Designer of the Year competition that's running at SimplyCards & Papercraft. Have just finished taking photo's of them today and got them in the post. Only just in time as the closing date is Thursday 13th Nov!

I wanted all three cards to be just right and was really frustrated when my first idea did not turn out as well as I had hoped. Hence the glimpse of the H20 flowers in October did not make it to the final three. I'll post that card when the light is better to take a picture tomorrow. In the end I am pleased with my cards and can only hope, like everyone else who has entered, that they will catch the judges eye. Can you guess what my reject card might be of from this?