Fiskars Craft

Summery Seasons Greetings ~ Card a Day

Are you ready for some punchy fun making another non-traditional Christmas card?

I have a friend who LOVES flamingos, I love crafting with pink and orange and, at the moment I am addicted to Stepper Cards, so here's what happened...

This is the short, bottom front section of the card

Here is the folded front view

And lucky last is the open view, so that you can see the steps of this tall card.

I confess that I started with a Fundamentals Stepper Card Base (8 1/4" tall x just over 5 3/4" wide) - it is so much fun to have such a HUGE base to work with, instead of being restricted to what you can make out of a 12x12 sheet of cardstock.  The flamingo paper, brad and embroidered badges are all from the Kaisercraft Pina Colada collection.

Do you like the big lacy borders?  They were made using a combination of Scalloped Sentiment Border Punch and Lacy Doubles Interchangeable Border Punch Cartridge - the loops of these punches match perfectly.  I started with a dark orange Scalloped Sentiment layer then added a lighter orange Lacy Doubles layer.  To make the thick sections of pink lace, I punched out a strip using Lacy Doubles, cut along each of the lacy loops so that it was just the lacy section then adhered it down (painted on Helmar Professional Acid Free Glue using a fine brush).  Then I punched another pink Lacy Doubles layer and adhered it down, overlapping slightly so that you can't see the cut edges from the layer underneath it.  The bottom section was then finished with a layer of pink with a Scalloped Sentimetn border.  The tall top section was finished off with a strip of paper lace made by punching a 1 1/4" strip of pink on both edges with the Scalloped Sentiment border punch.  I look forward to using this lacy border punch combo again.

There is an orange XL Seal of Approval adhered behind the round embroidered patch to make it look like a little sunset.

Hope you enjoyed this summery card.  It will be posted December 1st and head on over to a friend in the USA to warm up her wintery Christmas.

Card a Day - another Stepper Card

Today I'm back with another Stepper Card......that the recipient can re-gift by adhering the front step down.....then re-gifting next year.....you can purchase these in Spotlight Stores...they are from the Fundamentals Range....but you could alos make your own...using cardstock that you may already have in your stash.

You could create this card using any papers that you may have...I used Kaisercraft Mint Twist Range.

I also used my Fiskars Trimmer and Fiskars Microtip Scissors.

                                              
 

These Stepper Cards are so easy to put together...you really don't need much time to create one...and they are just that little bit different to the normal card.....so why not give one a go this year.

Have you been enjoying our CARD A DAY FEATURE on here?

We still have more to come...so make sure you drop by again if you are after further Inspiration from our Craft Team.

xoxo

Lyn Dwyer

 

Aussie Christmas Wishes - Card a Day

How are you going with your Christmas card making?

I'm thrilled to say that I have just crossed another two off my list!!!

My brother and his family live in the USA and this year I am making some Aussie themed cards for each of the kids.  You may remember that earlier this year Bella released some fab Australiana stacks (in 3 different sizes, 12x12, 8x8 and 4.5x6.5") and I have enjoyed making lots of red, white and blue Aussie cards with them.  Luckily they are still available at my local Spotlight, so I got another couple of mat stacks and a pack of the Fundamentals PETITES Alphabet Stickers, the blue matches really well with the papers.  This 1st card was an 8x8" sheet trimmed in half.

Do you like the banner?

... it is actually the "waste" bit that comes off when you punch a Banners Away border with your Interchangeable Punch Cartridge!!!

The stars are the Fiskars medium Twinkle Twinkle squeeze punch.  I took a fine brush and painted Helmar Professional Acid Free Glue on all the stars and the banner bits and smothered them with glitter (do them one at a time, as the glue dries really fast), layered the stars with a dob of glue, stuck the banner bits down with some of the same glue then used foam dots to give the stars some dimension.

Here is the 2nd card, made using the smallest sized mat stack

Do you like the sparkly "red" gum leaves?

I punched a red strip of cardstock using Ivy League Interchangeable Border Punch Cartridge, cut to make a narrow strip, painted with glue and smothered with red glitter.  The alpha stickers are from my stash - I sanded off the glossy coating, inked them red, then used the same glue and glitter so that they matched the leafy border.  I used the same glue and fine paintbrush to stick the alphas down, as the self adhesive backing got a bit "distressed" by the sanding/inking/glittering process!!!

I added some red rhinestones to the trees to finish it off and make it look a little more Christmassy.

I now have two Christmas cards ready to post come December 1st - which is a first for me!!!  One more "Aussie" card to make and all three kids will get their Down Under Christmas wishes.

Hopefully there will be a kangaroo card hopping by here soon!!!

Thank you for dropping by and looking at my cards :)

More pink for October

Nothing like a bit of pink and sparkle to help celebrate an October birthday.

Here is the closed, front view of the stair step card I made for a niece

And here is the side view so that you can see the steps

I had SO MUCH FUN using my Fiskars Noteworthy Interchangeable Punch cartridge - they are fab punch designs and stack neatly, hardly taking up any space compared to traditional punches!!!  The music notes were from Fiskars too ... the one and only medium Music Note squeeze punch.

Of course I still love my traditional Fiskars border punches and used Kaleidoscope to make a sparkly trim and "disco" baubles.

The card base is the HUGE Stepper Card from Fundamentals - it stands massive 8 1/4" tall (21cm) and comes in a pack with expanding envelopes that allow plenty of room for chunky embellishments.  The sparkly pink paper is Pink Musk from the Bella Sugar Candy Papers Glittered range.  And where are these Ruby Rock-it / Bella / Fundamentals products from - my local Spotlight of course!!!  Most of these Fiskars punches are available at your local Spotlight or craft store too.

Wishing you all a creative weekend :)

Have you sent your punchy projects in yet? ... entries close 25th Sept

Debbie's interchangeable punch challenge closes on the 25th September, so you still have a couple of days left to get it finished and e-mailed in for your chance to win a fabulous Fiskars "True Love" stamp set.

If you missed it, here is the link to the challenge post.

I have started collecting the fabulous Interchangeable Punch Cartridges, so it was fun for me to play along and make some stepper cards to share.

Here is Daisy Chain, the cute cartridge that comes with the starter kit - front view

Here is the side view so that you can see the steps

The first cartridge I added to my collection is Ivy League - here is the front view

And here is the side view so that you can see the steps

The Interchangeable Punch is a wonderful innovation by Fiskars - the cartridges are easy to insert & remove, they stack neatly, hardly taking up any storage space at all AND they are beautiful designs too!!!

LOTS of other fabulous Fiskars punches were used to decorate these cards.  The sparkly flowers are the small Flower lever punch, large butterfly is Flit On By LE squeeze punch, the small butterflies are the small Butterfly lever punch, two different birds including LE Flight and LE Bird Is The Word squeeze punches, with the one sitting in the Branching Out squeeze punch nest having its' wings clipped off using my Micro-Tip scissors.  In case you're wondering how I made my punchouts sparkly, I ran them all through my Xyron Create-a-sticker, pressed firmly, ran around the edges with my Embossing Stylus, peeled off the clear layer then smothered them with glitter.

I hope you enjoyed the cards I have made using my Interchangeable Punch Cartridges and I look forward to seeing your projects being shared here soon ... don't forget, entries close 25th September.

What - you don't have an Interchangeable Punch yet???

Time for you to head on over to the Spotlight FaceBook page, print off your 25% off coupon and head down to your local Spotlight store with your coupon & VIP card and bag a bargain ... or two!!!

PS - Both cards were made using the Stepper Card Bases from Fundamentals (currently on sale at Spotlight in packs with expanding envelopes) and they stand a HUGE 8 1/4 inches tall!!!  The alphas are my 1st ever pack of DIY Thickers - you peel off the top layer and smother it with glitter, then peel off each alpha and apply it to your project.  We have three nieces with birthdays within ten days and I'm making them each a stepper card.  You have now seen the 1st two.  Sadly the alpha pack only has three p's, so I have improvised with the sentiments for each one - Happy Birthday, Celebrate and Party Girl, with Party Girl still in progress.

September Challenge ... just for FUN :)

Have you entered the September Paper Craft or Sewing Challenges yet?

There have been some lovely entries so far - you can check them out in the gallery - see the link on the left-hand-side of the Fiskars blog.

I was the lucky winner of the August Paper Craft Challenge but I was totally inspired by Debbie's sketch and made this 90th birthday stepper card this month just for fun.

This is the front, open view

Here is the front, closed view

And here is the side view, so that you can see the steps

You may remember that I posted about my Spotlight shopping spree the other day ... well I had SO MUCH fun making this card using my new Fiskars Lacy Doubles Interchangeable Border Punch Cartridge and my MEGA stepper card from Fundamentals.  The flat, folded card is a HUGE 6" square and even with this chunky rosette, it fits in the expanding envelope!!!

The paper is from the Bella Wedding collection, it is white with gold stripes and metallic silver stripes, perfect for decorating with metallic papers and bling.  The sparkly silver alphas are dimensional foam, from the Amy Tangerine collection made by Thickers.

Do you recognise all the other Fiskars tools I used?  I always use my green Self Healing Craft Mat and Finger-Tip Craft Knife, so as well as my new Lacy Doubles border punch, I used the Scalloped Sentiment Border Punch (for the outer ring of the rosette), a large Seal of Approval Squeeze Punch (scalloped circle), Flit On By Squeeze Punch (butterfly), Flowers Lever Punch and although you can't see it, there are two circles from my medium Round 'n Round Squeeze Punch, to hold the rosette firmly in place.

Hope you enjoyed this card and I look forward to seeing your entries for the September Challenges - you still have a couple of weeks to send them in.

Don't forget Debbie, I have posted my card just for fun, it is not to be included in the prize draw.

NEW favourites from Fiskars and Fynmark

I went shopping at Spotlight yesterday and spent some more of my birthday gift card money. 

I now have TWO new favourite crafting goodies in my stash!!!

From Fiskars is the Lacy Doubles Cartridge for my Interchangeable Punch - it is SO PRETTY!!!

From Fynmark is the Fundamentals Stepper card pack

After I saw these cards on Scrap-It TV, I have been annoying the lovely ladies at my local Spotlight and it was exciting to pick up two square card packs yesterday.  The tall packs are still on order for me but I am hoping the shelves will be filled tomorrow, as they will be 30% off - what a bargain!!!

I LOVE making different styled cards and have always been limited to such small step cards, only 4" high when using 12x12 cardstock.  These cards are awesome, a HUGE 6" high and 6" wide, with a 3" step.  Even better, they come with expanding envelopes, perfect for cards with lots of dimension!!!

Needless to say, I am having a wonderful Spring afternoon, sunshine coming through the window and the kitchen table covered with my new favourites while I create some birthday cards.  I hope to be back soon with some PUNCHY STEPPER cards :o)

In the meantime, I hope you all have a crafty shopping spree planned and I look forward to seeing your punchy stepper cards here soon too.

Sweet punching

I was super lucky to get the Cupcakes border punch on sale for 30% off at Spotlight this week and my sister-in-law's birthday was the perfect opportunity to give it a quick workout.Don't you just love the layers and layers of cute cupcakes?

Had heaps of fun making the candles too.  The first ones were made using 3x5cm strips of patterned paper, spritzed the squares with a little water, painted on a narrow strip of glue and rolled with a wooden skewer.  Then I cut some fibres with my Micro-Tip Softgrip scissors to make the wick, attaching it in place with another dob of glue.

My husband thought they were fire crackers, so I had to revise my design to make them in to tapered candles.  (I can give you the details of the template I made if you are interested.)
Here is what they looked like on the card

Her birthday was yesterday and she loved her card ... think I will use this design to make some more cards, as we still have lots more before the end of the year.

The Fundamentals card base is a 5 1/2" square, and yes, the packs are available from Spotlight, as that is where I got mine.

Happy Crafting :)

Tracy's August Challenge Entry

Have you finished off your entries for the Monthly Challenge for August yet?

I've had a few health issues and lost my crafty mojo for a while there, so I am really pleased to get my sketch entry completed tonight.

Here is what I gathered together when Debbie first posted the challenges
... but sadly I just couldn't work out what to do with these gold, silver & bronze medallions and brads!

A trip to Spotlight and seeing some vellum with a gold circle pattern printed on it had me inspired to make this card for my Grandpa for Father's Day.

Here is a close up so that you can see the printed design on the vellum ... it is quite pretty.  The vellum is secured in place using brads, with a dob of glue at the back behind the flowers to hold it down flat against the card base.

How many Fiskars tools do you think I used?

The answer is EIGHT - including my trusty green Self Healing Craft Mat and Fingertip Craft Knife (both currently on sale at Spotlight), 1/8" Circle Plier Punch (for the brads in each corner), XL Tag You're It Squeeze Punch (for the sentiment) Scalloped Sentiment Border Punch (for the flower stems) and last but defintely not least, a combination of large Round 'n Round, medium Seal of Approval & medium Round 'n Round Squeeze Punches (for the flowers).  Fiskars punches are currently on sale at Spotlight, a real bargain with 30% off!!!

The card base is from Fundamentals, yes, another purchase from Spotlight.  I really wanted the colours of my punched embellishments to match the card base, so I have to confess that I actually used a gold and a white cardbase to make the flowers and sentiment tag.  Don't worry though, the rest of the "punched" card bases will be used to make some more cards soon.

If you're interested in making ric rak with your Scalloped Sentiment Border Punch, here is how I made mine.  I started with a 3/4 strip of cardstock and punched along one side, then turned the strip around, offset the strip by one square on the punch, then punched along to complete the paper ric rak.
Thank you for visiting Grandpa's card - hope you enjoyed how I made it :)

Fiskars + Fundamentals = FUN, lots of fun!!!

Remember a few weeks ago when Lyn had us all playing along with her Olympics Game?  Well, I was one of the lucky winners and here is my Happy Mail - thank you Lyn, Fiskars and Fynmark :)

I could hardly wait to get creating with these pretty Fundamentals decoupage packs.  Started by popping out a set of the four different bird designs. 

You know how sheets of punchouts have those little dags on the edge where they are held in place?   Well my Fiskars Micro-Tip scissors were the perfect tool for trimming them all off.  Note to our awesome Fiskars designers - can you please make a pair with a curve for those hard to get at spots?

Now comes the fun part - layering all the pieces together to make cards with layers and layers of birds and foam dots for dimension.  The card bases are from Fundamentals too (I get mine from my local Spotlight store) and I found the squares to be the perfect size for these decoupage designs.

My birthday was a few weeks ago and I was super lucky to get a Spotlight gift card and you can never guess what I bought ... yes, the Fiskars Interchangeable Border Punch!!!  I confess that I LOVE IT :) 
The Ivy League cartridge was the very first one to get a work out today and here is a card using my new favourite border punch. 

This pretty bird design was calling for pink and peach and ribbons.

I punched out an XL Cameo Appearance for the sentiment on this card.  The bottom layer is blank and I will use some foam dots to attach the sentiment layer when it is ready to be used ... not sure who will be getting this card or the occasion, but when it is attached, the sentiment will have the same dimension as the bird.

Last but not least, this bird design was so elegant that I didn't need to add any embellishments to finish it off.


Here is a shot to show you the lovely dimension of these Fundamental Decoupage birds - each has at least three layers.

Each pack comes with enough designs to make 8 cards and includes a range of sentiment blocks too, so you can mix and match to suit any occasion.

Yes, I had lots of fun using my Fiskars scissors & punches, along with the Fundamentals Decoupage kits & card bases.  I hope you enjoyed seeing my cards and look forward to seeing what fun designs you create with these new kits.

PS - for anyone interested in punching around-the-corner using the Leaves border punch, I started with a 5 1/2" square, lined up the paper to the edge of the solid grey section of the punch and punched along the 1st side.  Flip the paper to match the design at the corners so that all you have to do is trim a tiny section using your scissors or craft knife for the perfect finish.  If you need to make a different size, just add (or subtract) in increments of 2 1/16".