Floral Mask - Couture Creations DT

Whenever I feel like I'm getting stuck in a creative rut I like to create an off-the-page project to change it up and try some different techniques. This month I have decorated a paper-mache mask which is now a lovely display piece in my craft room.

1/ Start by purchasing a cheap mask from your local craft store, mine was about $5. Remove the elastic. Cover the mask in torn up pieces of old book paper using PVA glue, mod podge or a watered down polymer resin. This paper is quite thin so moulds to the shape of the mask easily. Once the mask is dry trim the edges to the shape of the mask and re-punch the holes at the sides where the ribbon will go.

2/ Fussy cut a number of butterflies and flowers from various Vintage Rose Garden papers. How many you cut is up to you and will depend on the size of your mask. I applied some Crystalina Glitzin' Glamour to the wings of the butterflies and highlights of the flowers for some added sparkle.

3/ To create the 3D flowers, using the scalloped circle nesting dies cut three circles of the three smallest sized die and two of the next smallest size. Make cuts leading towards the centre (only cut about 2/3 of the way in) from every second scallop. Spritz each circle with water and scrunch up into a ball, leave to dry. Once dry, gently partially unfold the die cuts. To create the big flower I used two layers of each of the two largest sized dies and one of the next size down. The small flower uses two layers of the smallest size circles and the medium flower uses the remaining four die cuts. Each flower is held together with a brad.

4/ Apply your trims. I have used lace along the top of the mask and twine along the bottom and around the eyes. I also used a border die cut from the Vintage Rose Collection along the bottom of the mask. This is attached to the inside of the mask, start at the centre/nose and work your way out to the edges to make sure the pattern is centered. Now is a good time to add your ribbon ties at the sides too.

5/ Adhere the die-cut flowers to the outer edges of the mask using foam tape. Layer up your fussy cut flowers and leaves on the left side of the mask. You may need to cut these down into smaller sections to get the best positioning for your mask shape. Once you're happy with their placement, place a pearl in the centre of each fussy cut flower. I variered the size of the pearl depending on the size of the flower.

6/ Adhere a butterfly in each corner of the mask above the die-cut flowers. 

Couture Creations Materials List:

CO723987 Vintage Rose Garden 12" x 12" paper

CO724045 Vintage Rose Garden border die-cut

CO723041 Nesting Dies, Scallop Circle

C0721998 Pearls Moonlight

C0721964 Foam Mounting Tape 12mm

 CO721986 Handheld Essentials, Craft Knife, Piercing Tool and Scoring Tool

First Christmas Photo - Scrapmatts DT

Continuing on with the Christmas fun, here is a layout featuring Harrison's first Santa photo! Harrison is very social at the moment and just likes being around people so he really wasn't too fussed by meeting Santa. Ben and I stayed with him just to be safe, plus we used to get Santa photos with just the two of us so this is a nice transition.

 

 

While my cards used older Christmas releases, this layout features two new release chipboard packs from Scrapmatts: CB1228 Christmas Ornaments 14 and CB1224 Holly 03. The Christmas tree charm in the top right is also from Scrapmatts (CH041 Christmas Trees #1).

 

 

Challenge YOUrself requires you to create a layout featuring a tradition. I know this is the first photo with Santa for Harrison but it will probably be the start of a tradition for him. I used the current sketch at Let's Get Sketchy as my design inspiration for this layout.

 

 

Peace Themed Christmas Cards - Scrapmatts DT

Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate the holiday. My Scrapmatts DT project for today is a set of three Christmas cards which have a 'Peace' theme. I find cards are a great way to use up paper scraps and I have so many different bits of Christmas papers lying around.

 

 

The Christmas tree on this card came pre-coloured in the green which made the whole card come together very quickly. I have used CB6079 Assorted Words 11 and CB6082 Christmas Trees 04.

 

My second card uses one of my favourite chipboard packs (CB1096 Reindeers 05) and CB1108 Words 24 Peace. Using gold embossing powder on chipboard is quick, easy and effective.

 

My last card uses CB6029 Christmas Trees 01 and CB6097 Assorted Words 19.

 

This card was also inspired by two current challenges. Just Add Ink had a fantastic sketch for challenge #244.

Scrapbook Boutique has a delicious cupcake Christmas tree as their inspiration picture. The loops on my chipboard tree reminded me of the swirls of frosting on the cupcake, plus I went with the green/red colour scheme.

 

Christmas Card - Couture Creations DT

Welcome back and Merry Christmas to you! I couldn't go past creating a Christmas project for December, especially with the fantastic range of Christmas die-cut and embossing folders Couture Creations produces.

Interested in creating a similar card? Here is how I made mine:

1/ Cut your card base from kraft cardstock. Mine is 6" x 8", scored in the middle to form a front 6" x 4". Ink the edges in a brown ink.

2/ Cut the front piece from off-white cardstock just a bit smaller than the size of your card. I used an embossed letterpress technique to create the background image. To do this, you need to lightly wipe embossing ink over the raised design of an embossing folder. Place the cardstock in the embossing folder with the right side facing the ink and run through your machine to press the embossing ink into the recessed areas. Sprinkle the cardstock with embossing powder and tap off the excess. Depending on how cleanly you swipped on the embossing ink you may now need to spend some time cleaning up the image. Just use a small paintbrush to loosen any embossing powder you want to remove. Once you're happy with the design heat set it and stick it to the front of the card.

3/ Stick a piece of ribbon down the left hand side of the card.

4/ Cut your sentiment from the Christmas Banners in craft cardstock. Use a gel pen to highlight the letters. Ink the edges with your brown ink. Use double sided tape to adhere to the card at the bottom, this will also hold the letters in place so they don't pop out.

5/ Place a floral cluster to the left of the banners.

6/ Die-cut some Pine Needles from green paper and adhere around the floral cluster.

Couture Creations Materials List:

CO723872 5x7 Bouncing Baubles embossing folder

CO723910 Merry Little Christmas Collection, Christmas Banners

CO723914 Merry Little Christmas Collection, Pine Needles

Multi-purpose heat tool

Trimmer

6mm double sided tape

 

Feeling Sketchy is having a 'free sketch' theme this month, so card design is eligible to enter. May as well enter this one and see how I go! :)

 

Couture Creations Creative Inspiration 6

Creative Inspiration volume 6 by Couture Creations is out now. I have a number of projects included in this volume again (including a tag which made the cover!) and wanted to share them. 

 

 

 

 

CO724004 Ornamental lace die – Bold Bouquet
CO723982 Vintage Rose Garden paper- Rose Header
CO724020 Vintage Rose Garden paper – Butterflies & Words
CO721998 Pearls Moonlight
CO721997 Pearls Pink Blush

 

CO724005 Ornamental lace die – Touch of Love
CO724019 Vintage Rose Garden paper – Florals & Time
CO721997 Pearls Pink Blush

 

CO724018 Vintage Rose Garden – Rose Borders
CO724017 Vintage Rose Garden – Butterflies & Stripes
CO723954 Sweet Accents nesting dies – Vintage Labels
CO723957 Sweet Accents nesting dies – Fancy Rectangles
CO724045 Vintage Rose Garden border die

 

 

CO724017 Vintage Rose Garden – Butterflies & Stripes
CO724046 Vintage Rose Garden papers
CO724044 Vintage Rose Garden papers
CO724041 Vintage Rose Garden papers

CO721998 Pearls Moonlight
CO721997 Pearls Pink Blush



Baby Girl Card - Couture Creations DT



My friend gave birth to a beautiful baby girl in late October so of course I had to make her a celebratory card! There is something precious about receiving a hand made card and often they come together quite quickly if you already have a set design in mind.

 

 

 

 Here is how I made my card, if you want to make something similar.

 

1/ Cut your cardstock to 6" x 8", scoring it halfway and folding to create the base.

2/ Cut a rectangle slightly smaller than 6" x 4" from CO724016. Ink the edges in a dusky pink and stick to the base cardstock.

3/ Cut a strip from CO723997 and stick in the centre of the card.

4/ Die cut the border piece CO724045 four times from white cardstock and adhere down the sides of the green strip. 

5/ Die cut the scalloped circle from CO724019.

6/ Die cut the circle from white cardstock and ink the edge with the dusky pink.

7/ Die cut the rocking horse. I used an Ultimate Crafts die but you could use the Couture Creations rocking horse  CO723518 from the Secret Treasures line if you have that. 

8/ Ink the edges of the rocking horse and cover with crackling medium. Leave this to dry for a few hours. My horse curled up during the drying stage, I put it under my embossing plates and ran it through my Big Shot a few times to flatten it out.

9/ Once dry, adhere the rocking horse to the cardstock circle with spray adhesive. Stick the circle to the scalloped circle. Place rhinestones in every second scallop and a pearl for the horses eye.

10/ Loop a ribbon as shown in the photo and stick to the card. Adhere the scalloped circle over the top using mounting foam tape.

 

Couture Creations Materials List:

CO724016 Vintage Rose Garden 12" x 12" paper

CO723997 Vintage Rose Garden 12" x 12" paper

CO724019 Vintage Rose Garden 12" x 12" paper

CO724045 Vintage Rose Garden decorative die

CO723041 Nesting Dies, Scallop Circle

Nesting Dies, Circle

CO721998 Gemstones

C0721998 Pearls Moonlight

C0721964 Foam Mounting Tape 12mm

 CO721986 Handheld Essentials, Craft Knife, Piercing Tool and Scoring Tool

 

Ultimate Crafts Material List:

ULT157225 - La Craftina - Rocking Horse (60.4 x 49.4mm)

 

My Baby Boy - Scrapmatts DT

Following on from the 10-day old photos of Harrison I shared yesterday, here is one taken last week. My journaling describes some of the early challenges we faced with breastfeeding, how we're working to overcome these and how much I enjoy post feed cuddles (which is when I took this photo).

There are so many different ways you can use chipboard but sometimes all it needs is a quick coat of paint like I've done here.

Scrapmatts used: CB5106 Chevrons 01; CB8001 Circles 01; CB4055 Assorted Words 09.

I was inspired by the sketch over at Challenge YOUrself this month. It's a fun challenge site which requires you to include yourself in the photo. 

ARTastic has set the challenge of doodling for November, I've doodled borders on all my papers and the chipboard circles.

Baby Display Frame - Scrapmatts DT

We received our professional photographs by Rachael Wilson Photography from the newborn shoot we did when Harrison was ten days old recently and I just had to create a display for them. Scrapmatts chipboard made the perfect accent pieces for this. It's strange to see him looking this small, he's grown so much in just three months!

 

 

Scrapmatts used: CB6095 Assorted Words 18; CB1129 Australian Federation Corners 07; CB6093 Ornate Frames 21; CB1209 Scrap Words 12; CB6055 Prams 01; CB5035 Hot Air Balloons 01.

 

The current theme over at Southern Girls Challenge is Let's Hear It For the Boys, so I'm entering this frame in their competition too.

Cherish - Couture Creations DT

 I am loving the new Vintage Rose Collection papers from Couture Creations. While I'm not normally a pink/green/flowers kind of girl, they have great designs which just beg for some fussy cutting. I have used lots of fussy cut flowers on my layout today which features four generations of my family.

 

Want to create a similar layout? Here's how:

1/ Cut your paper to size. I used Green Florals at 12' x 12', CO723984 at 10' x 10', Line of Leaves at 10.25' x 3.5', Rose Header at 9' x 2.5' and one of the postcards from Carte Postale. Distress the edges of all these papers.

2/ Run the Rose Header piece through embossing folder Velvet Tea Lights.

3/ Mat your photo on cream cardstock and distress the edges.

4/ Adhere all the papers as shown in the photo, raising the embossed sheet and photo mat using foam tape or cardboard.

5/ Fussy cut a number of different flowers from Time. Adhere them around the bottom right corner of the photo mat at multiple different heights as shown below. Pop Gemstones in the centres of the flowers.

 



 

6/ Paint your chipboard and adhere as shown in the photo.

7/ Cut the Siblings die from cream cardstock. Ink the edges of the boy and adhere to the photo.

8/ Add your title and you're done!

 

 Couture Creations Materials List:

CO723985 Vintage Rose Garden, Green Florals

CO723983 Vintage Rose Garden, Carte Postale

CO723982 Vintage Rose Garden, Rose Header

CO723984 Vintage Rose Garden

CO723990 Vintage Rose Garden, Line of Leaves

CO723998 Vintage Rose Garden, Time

CO723679 The Marriot Collection, Velvet Tea Lights

CO723743 The Metricon Collection, Siblings

CO721996 Gemstones Crystal

 

Love These Gorgeous Girls - Version 2

I originally shared this layout as part of my Scrapmatts DT work for this month. However, due to Harrison going through a grumpy stage I didn't get to quite finish it as I'd imagined it in my head. Today I would like to show you the new finished version, with some paint splatters, builders tape, buttons, crackle accent and journaling added. I also changed the photo over to black and white. You can see the original version here, let me know which one you prefer.

 

 

 

I was originally going to journal about my 30th birthday, which was when this photo was taken, but then I realised the girls meant much more to me than just one night. My journaling speaks about the support these ladies have provided me during my pregnancy (I was 26 weeks in the photo) and becoming a first time mum.

 

Now that I've added the journaling, I can also enter it into the current challenge at Once Upon A Sketch. The theme is "The women/girls etc in our lives...". I have rotated the sketch below counter clockwise to suit my photo.

 

Friendship Card - Couture Creations DT

I think it's always good to try new things once in a while to help you learn new techniques or styles. With that in mind, I have a created a very girly greeting card for my second project this month with a muted colour pallet. I hope you enjoy it and are inspired to try something new yourself.

 

 

1/ Cut your cardstock to 12" x 6", scoring it halfway and folding to create the base.

2/ Cut the middle panel out of the cardstock using the largest Square nesting die, ensuring you have centred this.

3/ Use the centre square piece to cut Touch of Love from the Floral Lace collection. Because this is such a delicate design I strongly recommend you use the Quick Release paper with this and run it through your machine a couple of extra times. Most of the design will then fall away easily, use your craft knife to get those last stubborn pieces. 

4/ Use your finger to rub Crystalina Glitzin Glamour over the heart and set aside to dry.

5/ Use the largest Scallop Square nesting die to cut the border from the green spots side of a sheet of Time from the Vintage Rose Garden paper (if you want to ink your border edges, now is the time to do it). I then used the same Square nesting die to cut out the inside of this and adhere it to the cardstock. Be careful when lining it up or you wont get a single solid border piece, you can always glue the scallops on individually if this happens.

6/ Cut a piece of vellum slightly larger than the window of the card. Run this through your die-cut machine with the Floral Lace die, however add in the embossing mat to your sandwich (you may need to remove one of the tabs, depending on how your machine works) so the design is embossed into the vellum rather than cut out of it.

7/ Use watercolour pencils to colour some elements of the design on the back of the vellum. I used a wet paintbrush to lift the colour straight from the pencil and applied a couple of layers to get a nice thick coverage so you can see it from the front of the card. The picture below shows you the back of the vellum so you can see which elements I have chosen to colour.

 

 

8/ Once your watercolours are dry, adhere the vellum to the back of the window. Adhere the white die-cut to the front of the vellum, I used spray adhesive for this.

9/ Adhere ribbon to the bottom of the card as shown in the photo.

10/ Cut the 'Smile' sentiment from Butterflies & Words paper from the Vintage Rose Collection and adhere to the centre of the ribbon.

 

 

Couture Creations Materials List:

CO723998 Vintage Rose Garden 12" x 12" paper, Time

CO724020 Vintage Rose Garden 12" x 12" paper, Butterflies & Words

CO724005 Floral Lace Collection, Touch of Love

CO723042 Nesting Dies, Square

CO723043 Nesting Dies, Scallop Square

CO721971 Glitzin Glamour glitter glue, Crystalina

CO723514 5" x 7" Universal Embossing Mat

CO723818 Quick Release Die Paper

 CO721986 Handheld Essentials, Craft Knife, Piercing Tool and Scoring Tool

 

Love These Gorgeous Girls - Scrapmatts DT

 

 Thanks for popping by to see my latest layout featuring Scrapmatts chipboard. I love this Leaf Spray design, which comes with seven pieces and is very versatile. I've also popped in a couple of Scrap Words which I've found can be used on almost every layout.

 

 

Scrapmatts used: CB4063 Leaf Spray 13; CB1189 Scrap Words 01

 

 

Christmas Card - Couture Creations DT

It's now October which means less than three months until Christmas! I'm sure there are a few organised crafters out there who have already made all their Christmas cards for this year. However, if you are like me you probably haven't even thought about it and will go through a mad rush of creating sometime in November or even early December. For this reason, I keep my Christmas card designs pretty simple so I can mass produce them. The trick is to include something in the card to introduce a 'wow' element to make the design pop and embossing is a great technique to achieve this.

 

 

Here are the instructions for re-producing the card above:

1/ Cut your cardstock to 6" by 8". Score halfway and fold to create the base. My green paper is 1/4" smaller than the base, and the cream paper 1/4" smaller again. The green banner is 3.5" wide, cut it to your desired length.

2/ Run the cream paper through the Bouncing Baubles embossing folder from the Christmas Collection. I have then gently rubbed a sand coloured ink pad over the top to really bring out the great bauble design.

3/ Using the Scallop Circle nesting dies, cut out a red background shape for your sentiment.

4/ Ink all the papers, including your sentiment die-cut, with red ink.

5/ Cut a set of Pine Needles from the Merry Little Christmas Collection.

6/ Adhere all the elements as shown in the photo. The scalloped circle is mounted on foam tape and the sentiment is mounted on top of that using more foam tape to add some dimension. My needles are only adhered under the sentiment so they can fold up a little.

 

Good luck with all your Christmas card creating!

Couture Creations Materials List:

CO723914 Merry Little Christmas Collection, Pine Needles

CO723872 Christmas Collection, 5x7 Bouncing Baubles

CO723041 Nesting Die, Scallop Circle

Foam Mounting Tape

   

Creative Inspiration #5 projects - Couture Creations DT

The free product showcase magazine Creative Inspirations #5 is out now. Check it out to see the new Christmas ranges by Couture Creations. I thought I'd also take the chance to show the projects I created for the magazine. Any ULT product codes are from Ultimate Crafts, a sister company. All chipboard pieces are from Scrapmatts, of course. :)

 

 

 A simple rustic card to showcase this lovely nativity die-cut. It also comes with a donkey shape I didn't use. Materials list: CO723903 Merry Little Christmas Collection, Nativity Scene; CO723686 Ambassador Embossing Folder, Large Circles; CO721981 Glitzin Glamour Aztec Gold

 

 

Christmas tags are so much fun and you can actually use them on presents. Materials List:CO723914 Merry Little Christmas Collection, Pine Needles; CO723902 Merry Little Christmas Collection, 3 Peace Doves; CO723723 The Van Roe, Royal Oval.

 

I can't find this card in the magazine but I loved both the die cut and the embossing folder. Materials List: ULT157179 Feliz Navidad Collection, Christmas Tree Flourish; CO723909 Merry Little Christmas Collection, Trio of Trees; CO721990 Gemstones Vintage Gold.

 

Lastly, a greeting card I letterpressed with embossing ink and then sprinkled with silver embossing powder. Took a while to clean up before heating. Materials List: ULT157175 Feliz Navidad Collection, Snowflake Frame.

 

Celebrating Special Occasions with Scrapmatts

I'm back with a new Scrapmatts DT post after taking last month off to spend some time with my new baby. Harrison Donald Tomecek was born on 5.8.14 and has consumed my life since that time. People tell me it gets easier after 6-8 weeks, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Right now though I'm managing on very little sleep and even less craft time. I did manage to whip up a painters tray as a Fathers Day gift for my husband though.

 

 

I love the variety of painters trays available (circles, hearts, stamps) and they are such an easy way to do an OTP project. Just pop in a photo or two, maybe a quote and embellish away!

 

Scrapmatts used: CB1078 Gears 05; CB1189 Scrapwords 01 and CB6094 Mini Tray Stamp 01.

 

My other project for this month was originally intended to be one of last month's projects, however my waters broke while I was working on it! I love doing Christmas layouts and find the Kaisercraft ranges work perfectly with the huge variety of Scrapmatts Christmas pieces available.

 

I have only used two chipboard designs on this layout but they are two of my favourite Christmas ones. The ornaments were coloured with distress inks and the stars have been embossed with gold.

Scrapmatts used: CB6081 Christmas Stars 02, CB1059 Christmas Ornaments 07.