Waterfall card for Polkadoodles

Hello lovely peeps

I've got a last card to show you from last weekend's Starfish and Sandcastles launch on the Polkadoodles Facebook page, along with a little tutorial on making a waterfall card.

First I made my toppers - the top one was a digi stamp from the collection which I coloured with Promarkers and Graph-Its. The next three were snippets of digi papers with part of the sentiment dragged on in Craft Artist & coloured to match (I also added digital emellishments to the last topper).

So, to make the Waterfall mechanism start by cutting a strip from the long side of a piece of sturdy A4 card, the same width as the toppers you want to use. I have four toppers which are 6.5cm square, so my piece of card is 6.5cm x 29.5 cm
 
The next step is to score and fold it - the first fold should be the same height as your last topper, and then add folds at 2 cm intervals, one for each additional topper. I have scored at 6.5cm, 8.5cm, 10.5cm and 12.5cm

 Add some double sided tape to each of the panels so that you can attach your toppers
(the picture below shows the piece I have used on my finished card - I printed onto one side of my A4 card before I cut off my strip and I have glued a matching piece of card onto the long panel)

Your last topper needs to go on the large (in my case, square) panel first, then attach the 3rd, 2nd and 1st (so your 1st topper sits on the fold which is next to the long back panel)

 Now turn the strip over so that the bottom topper is face down and nearest you. Glue on a piece of some more sturdy card which is wider than your strip and 2-3 cm high. This is the part that will be attached to the front of your card, I have decorated the front of mine.

Pierce some holes through each side for brads

Before I attach it to the front of our card, I'm just going to add an eyelet to the other end of the strip - this is the part that will be pulled.

Punch a 3/8" hole through
I have used a Fiskars Eyelet Setter which has a punch at one end and a setter at the other

Then put your eyelet through the hole, turn it over and set the eyelet in place (which basically means bashing it until the metal splits and grabs onto the back of the card)

I would recommend testing the mechanism at this point- place it flat on your desk with the longest part folded behind the toppers. Place a finger firmly over each of the holes we made in the wide strip and then tug on the bottom of the long strip that has the eyelet set in it. As you pull down the first topper should tuck in behind to reveal your second topper, then the second will tuck behind to reveal your third topper, etc.

Assuming that all works OK we can attach the mechanism to the front of our card. The only parts you actually want to attach are the sections of the wide strip that stick out from the sides (i.e. the parts we put the holes in). Place the mechanism where you want it on the front of the card and mark through the holes with a pencil.

Pierce holes through the front of your card where the pencil marks are and then place the mechanism back over the top, thread some brads/split pins through both layers and then spread the legs out on the inside of the card. This will hold it securely in place on the card while the recipient (or if they're an adult, their children) merrily push and pull the strip up and down several dozen times to reveal the hidden panels .

All that is left is to finish decorating the card.I have tied some tiny white 'rope' through the eyelet at the bottom to tie in with the nautical theme and covered up the wide strip and brads with lots of shells and crabs.

I'd cut a strip off the right-hand side of the card front, which reveals the inside of the card, so I have used a matching paper to cover this. I cut out some flags from one of the Design Sheets and glued them to the right hand side of the card front.

here's a little video showing each panel revealed as the rope is pulled down ...

  I would like to enter this in the following challenges:-
Allsorts #371 One for the Boys
Through The Craft Room Door - Always Anything Goes
QKR Stampede #199 Transportation
Julia Spiri Challenge #21 Anything Goes with a twist of *At the Beach or Sea*
Kitty Bee Designs #75 Summer Fun
Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge Blog #285 Anything Goes
Pile It On  #111 Moves Me (Vehicles) 
World Wide Open Design Team Challenge 11 Anything Goes
Tinker- Dream  #42 Journey/Vacation
Simon Says Stamp (Wed) Photo Inspiration

 

Thanks for stopping by,

Katrina x

Summer in the Garden for LOTV

Hello lovely peeps

There's another challenge underway at the Lili of the Valley Facebook page and the theme this time is 'Summer in the Garden'. You have until midday on Friday 15th July to enter for the chance to win some fabulous prizes.

 For my inspiration card I have used the Take It Easy stamp and coloured him in with Promarkers
Skin: blush, oatmeal, coral
Hair: Cocoa:
Deck chair: march hare, tan, cinnamon, tea green, denim,
Cap/book: pastel beige, khaki, umber
Drink: saffron
Dog & socks: ice grey 1/2/3/4
Grass: Graph'It:  8210

The branch is cut from a woodgrain paper (Trimcraft 'Boho Chic' pad) with a Memory Box die (Woodland Branch) and I've made a little sign to hang from it using one of the Teenage Boy Sentiment stamps from LOTV.
The rest of the diecuts are cut from Trimcraft "In the Clouds" papers/white card
Clouds - Joycrafts
Fence- Cheery Lyn
Foliage - Viva Tree by Poppystamps

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:-
Mod Squad Challenge - Lazy Summer Days
 Creative Inspirations #255 Seaside/Sunshine/Summer Holidays
4 Crafty Chicks  #306 Summer
Paper Shelter Challenge #256 Sunny Days 
Cut it Up #100 Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by, I'll try to catch up with you over the weekend if I can find time in between watching the British Grand Prix and the Wimbledon finals :D

Katrina x

Heart You for Leonie

Hello lovely peeps

 I'm back with another card sample using Leonie's new embossing folders.

To make my card background I dabbed 'Mountain Rose' and 'Butterscotch' Adirondack inks onto my craft mat and spritzed them with water. I dragged some Clarity card through the inks and then sprinkled rock salt on the puddles and left it to dry.

I drew some letters of the size I wanted and cut them out of white paper when I was happy with them to use as templates before I cut them out of coloured card.

Tip: to get the 'O' looking so neat on my finished card  I cut the middle out first using a zero die and then drew a bigger 0 around it with the same sort of 'line' width as the other letters. I also cut a heart out of white card with Leonie's Folk Heart base die. I ran all of these through the 'Growing Love' embossing folder and glued them in place onto the background.

The 'Love' stamp is from the new 'Love Hearts' stamp set and I have stamped it onto kraft card with Versamark and added white embossing powder.
I've finished off with some organza ribbon and buttons.

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:-
Through The Craft Room Door - Always Anything Goes
Crafting-With-Friends  #24 Anything Goes Always  
A Bit More Time to Craft  #23 Anything Goes
Not Just Cards  #33 Anything Goes (Always)  
Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge Blog #285 Anything Goes
Dragonfly Dreams  Anything goes

Thanks for stopping by,

Katrina x

Fintastic day

Hello lovely peeps.

We've had a bit of sunshine here today, which is a very welcome change from the grey skies we seem to have had for weeks.

I've got another card to share with you featuring the fabulous new 'Starfish and Sandcastles' collection from Polkadoodles. This one is a penny slider card and features Rocco, Winnie's new boyfriend.

I printed the digi stamp and boat in a size that fit my circle dies and coloured them in with Promarkers
Skin: Blush, Oatmeal, Coral 
Hair: Satin, Tan, Caramel
Water: Tea Green, Duck Egg
Shark Fin: Ice Grey 1-4
Boat hull & flag:  Meadow Green, Apple and Graph'It 5255

Next I printed one of the yummy background papers onto card and then printed the sentiment over the top (I did a quick test with copy paper first to make sure the sentiment went in the right place).

The card was cut down to 7"x7" to fit the front of my card and then I die cut a circle in the middle (a bit larger than the circle with Rocco on). I drew a cross in the middle with pencil to help me line it up properly.

Next I put foam tape on the reverse - make sure you leave enough room for the penny to move past easily. Also, you need to check that the foam tape is deep enough to allow for the depth of the penny, mine needed two lots of tape. Repeat for the centre circle.

I've rescued two pennies from an old card, so they're already stuck together with a round foam pad.

but if you're doing one from scratch it's easier to stick them together after you've glued the frame in place.

After checking that the bottom penny fit underneath OK I attached the centre circle onto the front of the card with some more of the background paper to cover up the white.

Because the pennies were already joined together I struggled a little bit to get the outside frame in place and sandwiched between the two coins. It's obviously easier to glue the top penny on after you've put the outer frame in place. In hindsight maybe I should have prised them apart and used a new foam circle to join them back together :D

To finish off I added a few cloud die cuts and glued the boat on top of the penny.

It slides around perfectly. Yay!

Here's the finished card

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:-
Passion For Promarkers Challenge  #352–In or beside the sea
Mod Squad Challenge - Nautical
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends  #37 Anything Goes
Deep Ocean Challenge #132 Colours of Summer
Double D Challenges All about the boys
I love Promarkers #312 Sport (swimming)
Country View Crafts' Challenge Have Fun with Circles 
Doodle Pantry  #19 Anything Goes 
SSS Work it wednesday use some wafer thin dies OR stencils in your project!
As You Like It Challenge Markers Inks or Pencils (& why) - Markers - They're a great tool for adding colour quickly and you can get very professional results when you start blending

Thanks for stopping by,
Katrina x

Fab new Polkadoodles collection

Hello peeps, hope you are well.
I would like to wish a very warm welcome to my new email follower, I'm thrilled to have you here.

There has been a launch party going on over the weekend at the Polkadoodles Facebook page for a fabulous new collection called 'Starfish and Sandcastles'.

We lucky girlies on the DT have had the VIP XXL collection to play with (also available as a CD).

The collection is choc full of gorgeous seaside images, papers and sentiments - you're spoilt for choice. As soon as I spotted the "You're fab!" sentiment though my first card was decided. I loved these lollies as a child and you know I like my puns.

I coloured Winnie in with a mix of Promarkers and Graph'Its and layered her up on one of the 'Not So Plain Janes' papers. I printed the top of the lolly digi onto white card and also two patterned papers, then paper pieced it before adding some brown beads for sprinkles (attached with Anita's Tacky glue)

There are a few fabulous weathered board papers in the collection but none in the colour combo I wanted, so I dragged the red, white & blue version into Craft Artist. First I chopped off the blue boards on one copy, then left just the blue boards on another which I then 'coloured' brown before merging them back together. I adjusted the transparency to fade it a little so it didn't overpower the foreground images.

And here's my finished card, complete with a real (washed!) lolly stick.

I would like to enter the following challenges:
Crafty Boots - Summer Time
Melonheadz Friends Challenge Off to the Beach
Star Stampz Challenge Here comes summer
Open-Minded Challenges #6 Seasons/Holidays
A Snowflakes Promise #25 Summer
Creative Moments #95 Anything Goes w/optional twist Summer 
613 Avenue Create  #183 Anything Goes w/Optional Twist: American Beauty - Add a Rose
Inkspirational #112 Anything goes with Red 
Eclectic Ellapu - Anything Goes or "life's a beach"
 Color Throwdown Color Challenge ctd399

 

Just Us Girls #350 Word - Summer

Thank you so much for stopping by,

Katrina x

Flowers For You

Hello lovely peeps

It's time for a new challenge at Crafty Calendar and the theme this time is

'Punches and/or Dies'

The prize is 2 digis of the winners choice from All Dressed Up

Here’s a short bio about Wendy:

Hi I am Wendy Burns I live in Nottingham UK with my husband and two children who have been the inspiration behind the characters, in particular my daughter who has kept me up-to-date with blogging and trends. I work predominantly within the textile children’s wear market, fashion and interiors.

I trained as a textile designer and although my work is digital based, I love to retain that hand drawn /sewn feel which I hope comes across in my artwork.

Digital stamps is a new challenge for me and the opportunity to work with the All Dressed Up Team and has been very exciting, in particular the creative way my characters have been given individual personalities by the designers .

All Dressed Up is a newly launched blog with an enthusiastic team who are passionate about stamping. The coordinators Anne Lise and Bettina along with an amazing design team are also known as The Dressy Girls.

We have a friendly Facebook page, regular blog posts, tutorials, challenges and freebies .The stamps can be purchased from the Etsy shop which is updated on a monthly basis.

We really are friendly bunch and would love to see your creations so please feel free to contact us and visit the All Dressed Up Challenge Blog.

So for my card I have used the gorgeous 'Flowers for You' and coloured her in with Promarkers
Hair: March Hare, Tan, Sandstone
Skin: Sunkissed, Budding Rose
Clothes: Ice Grey 1 & 2, Graph'Its 6110 & 6130
Bag & Flowers: Lime Zest, Budding Rose, Rose Pink

She's layered up on my card with papers from Lili of the Valley 'Timeless Victorian' (retired) and Prima 'Firefly'

The dies I have used are by X-Cut (circles), Memory Box (border) and Sizzix (greenery)

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:-
Crafty Gals Corner # 78 Anything Goes
Addicted to Stamps #129 Anything Summer
Dream Valley Challenges # 134 Summer Colours
Love to Scrap  #80  Anything Goes
A Snowflakes Promise  #25 Summer
Deep Ocean Challenge #132 Colours of Summer
Lemon Shortbread #18 Anything Goes (Always)
Creative Moments #95 Anything Goes w/optional twist Summer
Chocolate, Coffee & Cards #112 Girls of Summer
All Dressed Up #58 Anything Goes (Always)

Thanks for stopping by,

Katrina x

Pink Lemonade for Polkadoodles

Hello lovely peeps

 It's time for a new challenge at Polkadoodles and the theme this time is 'Use Ribbon or Twine'

I've been dying to use this gorgeous 'Antique Rose Print Burlap' ribbon that I bought from the Ribbons & Trims section of the Polkadoodles store back in January (it's not available at the moment but there are heaps of other gorgeous things in there). I've teamed it up with a flower I built using the Lemonade Fizz stamp soup collection.

I stamped the flower with Black Archival ink onto watercolour card and then painted it in with Pebeo Drawing Gum to protect it while I did the background. I mixed some Rose Red Brusho crystals with a smidge of the Purple in order to get the correct shade and just slapped it on around the flower (I wet the card first so that the colour spread out). I splashed on some white gesso and Buff Titanium paint with a wet paintbrush before drying it off and rubbing away the gum.

The leaves were coloured in the with a mix of Moss Green and Yellow Brusho crystals and I used Grey on the petals.

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:-
Creative Knockouts #148 All about the flowers
The Ribbon Girls June any image
The Crazy Challenge #225 R is for ... (ribbon)

Thanks for stopping by,

Katrina x