Teddy Bear Aperture Card

I made this card from a "Premium Set" of papers

  

More of these sets will become available soon on Free Craft Downloads "Premium Papers" will be for members (people who are subscribed to the newsletter) 
This "Test set" can be found here  It is a Zip file which includes
4 backing papers
8 Inserts
1 each of decoupage / pyramid / reverse pyramid
2 frames
2 tags

To make the card in the picture I used
The Teddy insert_03_A6 insert ( printed on a sheet of A5 white card)
The teddy background _02 (Printed on an A5 sheet of paper)
The teddy_pyramid_01 (2 of these printed on A5 card)

I cut the white centre away from the insert and edged this with a Gold border peel off (a quick way to make an aperture card)
Then to the inside back of the card I stuck on the background paper and trimmed the edges
I cut out the pyramid sheets and assembled using silicone glue
when these were dry I stuck a short length of beading wire on the back of one and stuck the other to it so when it was suspended in the aperture  the teddy design was back to back.
I chose not to add a greeting to this card but will add one at a later date when I decide what the card will be used for

Decoupaged Fan Card

I made this card using a Fan Decoupage sheet From Free Craft Downloads

  

To make the card I used 

A slimline DL card in pale blue

Fan decoupage sheet (printed  three times on sheets of 6x4 photo paper)

Gold fancy border peel offs

2. Small gold fan peel offs

3. Small gems one each of Blue, Green and Purple (to co-ordinate with the colours in the fan)

I cut out and assembled the fan decoupage sheets

While the silicone glue was drying I worked on the base card

I put the gold fancy edged peel offs around the edges of the card

Then added the gold peel offs - one to the top left corner the other to the bottom right corner

when the  fans were dry enough to handle  I stuck them to the base card centrally down the length of the card and stuck the coloured gems on the base of each fan

I chose not to add a greeting to this card  this will be added at a later date when I have decided what occasion it will be for.

Log CabinCard

This card was made using a Pyramid decoupage  sheet I made up from a Public domain image

I used the following
1 piece of A4 silver card
Log cabin pyramid sheet
Log cabin backing paper (printed on  6x4  paper)
White border and corner and greeting peel offs
White ribbon with silver edging
3. Silver foil flowers  (2 large 1 small)
7 small clear gems

I printed, cut out and assembled the Log cabin pyramid decoupage
I folded the silver card in half to make an A5 size base card
To each of the four corners I added a white corner peel off and stuck a small clear gem on them
I then stuck the white ribbon across the middle of the card
When the assembled pyramid design was dry (I used silicone glue) I put it on a piece of the backing paper then cut it leaving a border of approx  1cm all around I then stuck white corner and border peel offs to the backing paper
This was then stuck on the white ribbon on the left hand side
I stuck the silver foil flowers on the right side of the ribbon the larger ones on the outsides and the smaller one in the centre  I then added a small clear gem to the centre of each of these
Just below the central flower  I stuck a "With Love" white peel off on the silver base card

A Quick Hello

I just wanted to say a quick hello and apologise for not having many projects on here for a couple of weeks or so 
I have been busy looking after My Mother who is not too well so have not had a lot of time for Crafting. 
She is in Hospital at the moment  so  I am able to do a bit of crafting now  - Hopefully in the next day or two  I will put a couple of cards on here
Thank you for continuing to visit Our Blog   I hope you have all enjoyed Christmas and are now looking forward to the coming New Year

Janet

Craft 4 Charity 2

The 2nd Craft 4 Charity disc is launched today and is available to purchase HERE

This year the theme is Music

You will find lots of great designs on the CD which have been kindly donated by some very well known and some new designers.

The people behind Craft 4 Charity  are special friends of mine and again I wish them every success with this fund-raising project as I know how much it means to them.  Once again the money raised will go to the Rett syndrome associationUK

Some of you may remember at the beginning of this year I did a blog posting showing you some cards I made from the 1st CD launched last year  (If you didn't buy last years disc check out the special offer for purchasing both discs at the bottom of the purchase page of the C4C site) This year I was asked to make some step by step card samples to be included on the disc

Here are the pictures of the cards I made details of papers used and how they were made can be found on the disc

This card was made from  a Funky Bears Contribution

This card was made from a Free Craft Downloads Contribution

This card was made from a Sharon Duncans Contribution

This card was made from a Diane Dorwards Contribution

This card was made from a DebBees Contribution

This card was made from  an Ohh La La Contribution

The next 2 cards are not included on the disc but are made from papers/ images on the disc

Another one made from a DebBees Contribution

Another one made from an Ohh La La Contribution

  

I hope these card examples encourage you to buy the disc It is not "just another craft CD"  but a very special one with monies raised going to a very worthwhile cause

Lady in Red Dress Card

This card was made with some backing papers I made and a decoupage sheet

The papers used can be found in the new  Decoupage and Backing sheets section in the Gallery on Free Craft Downloads  (This is where members can add sheets they have made) 
Decoupage sheet
Backing paper "weave"
Backing paper "curl"

To make the card I cut out and assembled the decoupage sheet 
using the settings on my printer I printed the weave backing sheet A5 size and the curl paper 5x7 size by doing this I had the sizes I needed for the card.
I stuck the weave paper to an A5 white card then layered the curl paper on top  I edged these with some border peel offs I had coloured with a peel off pen
I added the decoupage to the middle of the curl paper then stuck a "Just For You" peel off under it.

Happy Thanksgiving Day

Some lovely Thanksgiving Day Papers have been added to Free Craft Downloads this week along with a couple of   Thanksgiving Day Decoupage Sheets      I have made a quick card using a couple of the papers

 

To make the card I used the following papers
Thanksgiving 02 Decoupage

Thanksgiving 6 light Backing paper

Thanksgiving  9 light Backing paper

I printed out the Decoupage sheet,cut it out and assembled using silicone glue.
While it was drying I made the rest of the card by printing the first backing paper (6) 5x7 size this I stuck to a 5x7 plain white card then the second one (9) was printed 6x4 size and layered onto the first one.
I added some gold peel off borders around the edges of both background layers, and coloured some peel off fruits with a blue peel off pen.
I printed the wording "Happy Thanksgiving Day"  in Blue and gave it a lighter blue background  This was stuck to the centre bottom of the card
When the decoupage was dry I stuck it to the centre of the card and highlighted bits of it with glitter pens.

Happy Thanksgiving Day

Christmas Tree Card

The Backing Paper Builder   from Free Craft Downloads has had some new additions
5 New Christmas background templates to use in your papers
Also the ability to make papers 5"x5" and 6"x6" sizes

If you haven't tried it out before I hope you take a look and try it out (You will need to allow Pop-ups if you use a pop up blocker)
You can add your own wording on the backing papers -    A great way to make those cards a bit more personal

I made a 5 x 5 card using the Christmas Tree Template

I added the words Seasons Greetings, I put the paper through an embosser to emboss stars on it

 

 I cut out and assembled a christmas tree decoupage sheet I made

I added beads for candles and small foil circles for baubles
added a few foil stars to the backing paper and some "Red" holly leaves to the corners and a gold foil star to the top of the tree 
I went over the edges of the tree with a gold glitter pen for a bit of sparkle

2 Quick Cards

I have made these cards using the Kaleidoscope Generator available from Free Craft Downloads

I haven't used it for a while so thought I would have a play with it today It is very easy to use and gives you the option to save the tiles you have made or print from your browser (The better option is to save them)
It also shows that even if you don't like to do Tea Bag Folding you can still use the tiles to make cards

Card 1

For this I used a picture of some Purple Tulips which I uploaded to the Kaleidoscope Generator and had a play with until I was happy with the pattern. (Square 8 sector 4cm size)

I saved it  to my computer then printed it on to some Photo Paper
I used 3 of the tiles and left a white border around them when cutting from the paper.
I then stuck it to a 5x7 Lilac Card
To the centre of each of the tiles I stuck a small clear square gem put on an angle to make it a diamond shape
I added a silver fine line peel off to the outer edge of each of the tiles then a wavy edge silver peel off to the edge of the white part
In the top right and bottom left corners of the card I added some more of the square gems
I also added a silver vertical Happy Birthday Peel off
 

Card 2

For this card I used a picture of a lion face which I uploaded to the Kaleidoscope Generator and had a play with until I was happy with the pattern.

(Square 8 sector 9cm size)

I saved it  to my computer then printed it on to some Photo Paper
I cut out 2 of the tiles and stuck them on to the left side of a 5x7 size cream card
To the right of them I stuck a piece of beige mulberry paper
I printed out 4 of the lion face picture (6cm x 8cm size) and decoupaged them
I added a fine line gold peel off to the edge of the decoupaged lion them then added a wavy edged gold peel off to the edge of the tiled backing, then to each corner I added an amber coloured round gem
To the right hand side on the mulberry paper I put a vertical  Happy Birthday Peel off

Thank You Card

As well as the Saucy postcard decoupage we have a few more Floral decoupage sheets which you will find in the Floral section
I used the flower old pyramid sheet 

Another easy card to make

I cut out and assembled the pyramid design and added a gold border peel off to the edge of the oval shape I then put it on a pale green rectangular layer  I put this on  to a darker green card & added peel off borders to the pale green layer and Gold  peel off corners to the base card
A Thank you peel off was put on the top of the card

Saucy but Nice

Something a little different this week from Free Craft Downloads

Saucy Postcard Humour

A quick and easy fun card to make

This card is made as a 6x4 (15x10cm) size Gatefold card
I used one of this weeks Saucy decoupage sheets
I used  saucy_postcard2

I cut out and assembled the decoupage sheet but left off the top layer

When the decoupage was dry I stuck it inside the card








Then added the top layer  to the outer sides of the card  

 I stuck some thin ribbon on to the inner edge of the outsides of the card and put a clear flower gem over them   this is so the card will closewhen the ribbon is tied
To finish off I added a Just For You peel off to the left hand side on the front.

A "Chocolate" Card & Box

 One for the Chocoholics  

I have made this set using papers from Chocolate set 1  in the Recommended sets section on Free Craft Downloads

I chose to make a Birthday Card and a gift box containing 2 standard size chocolate bars

To make the card I used the template from the Set, one of the papers and the decoupage sheet. I printed the backing paper on white card then printed the template in draft on the reverse. I cut out and scored along the lines of the template
I cut out and made up the decoupage, and stuck it to the inner middle of the card. I edged it with silver border peel offs. to the corners I added some silver peel off corners
Then on the outer "Triangular" sides I added a vertical Happy Birthday peel off and a small flower gem to each side, and edged the triangular sides with silver wavy peel offs.

To make this gift box I printed one of the backing papers on a sheet of A4 white card then cut the sheet in half to make 2 A5 size pieces  On one of the pieces  I trimmed approx half a centimetre off one side of the length and the width
I measured in 2cm and scored lines around all four edges on both pieces of card
I folded and creased along the scored lines and cut in to the score line on one edge of each corner and stuck down using a wet glue  I held the corners in place with paper clips until they had dried properly. I did this with both sheets so I had a top and bottom of a box

I put the 2 chocolate bars inside and to the top of the box I added 3 small paper flowers with a "pull ribbon" on the stems of them
I printed the tags sheet and tied one to the ribbon I put a silver with love peel off on it

The finished items

Bell Card

If you get the Newsletter from Free Craft Downloads - Last week you will have seen that we are starting to add "Recommended Sets" 
These papers won't be new but will be sets made up from different sections giving you sets of papers that will go nicely together to make a card. (Obviously you don't have to use the recommended papers) but ideal if you don't want to go looking all over the site for papers or want to make a quick card.

  I chose  Bells Set 1  from the Christmas Sets  Section

I printed the  template on a sheet of white card  I then cut out the bell shape,
I printed the backing paper on some white paper then stuck it to the front of the card using double sided tape and again cut out the bell from the centre.

 I printed 2 of the bells pyramid design on A5 size photo paper and made them up
When the silicone glue had dried I  then glued them back to back with a piece of narrow gold ribbon in the middle. ( where there was some small "white bits" showing I just trimmed them )
I glued the ribbon on the top of the bell so the pyramid design was suspended in the aperture I then added a small gold bow over the glue so it wouldn't show.
To the gold ribbon I added some green foil stars and some foil holly leaves & berries to the top 2 corners.
At the bottom of the bell I added 3 gold foil snowflakes

Megans Christmas Card

This is the card Megan made today

I made the Christmas Tree decoupage Sheet and she cut it out and assembled it herself
She added some beads for decorations on the tree and a star gem for the top
Surrounding the tree she glued some small gold stars and put a "Happy Christmas" peel off at the top and a candle/holly peel off at the bottom

I think Megan did well with this - Hope you do too

Bon Voyage Card

A quick fun card made from decoupage and backing paper from Free Craft Clip Art which is a sister site to Free Craft Downloads

I used some of the Tommy Turtle Design set for this card

Decoupage sheet I cut out and assembled one of the larger designs and 2 smaller ones

Backing paper I printed a small piece of this paper (6x4 size)

The size of the card is a small DL I chose a green one to go with the Turtles design
Gold corner peel offs were used and gold lettering to say bon voyage
I roughly cut out a pond shape and stuck it on the card and edged it with a fine wavy edged gold peel off then I put one of the smaller turtles "in" the pond with the other 2 following

Penguin Birthday Card

For this card I used one of the Penguin Numbers decoupage sheets from Free Craft Downloads

I used a blue small DL size card and also used 2 of the Embossed Numbers backing papers
The ones I used were
Pale Yellow
Pale Blue
The Decoupage sheet I chose was Penguin 2 Blue

When I made up the decoupage I put a peel off Gold frame around the first layer and cut around the outer edge then cut out the other pieces and assembled using silicone glue.
While the glue was drying I started on the rest of the card
I cut out the backing papers to the size I wanted and layered them on to the card I coloured a silver Happy Birthday peel off in Blue and stuck that in the left hand corner then added a pale blue ribbon to the right hand corner.
Using PSP I cropped the penguin (layer 3 of the decoupage) and pasted it in a new document I did another and flipped it so I could use them to "hold" the main part of the decoupage (if that makes sense) Then decided to give them balloons to hold so used peel off ones which I coloured blue with a peel off pen

A quick and easy card to make

Christmas Wreath Card

Here is another card which can easily be made from the designs on the Christmas Booklet from Free Craft Downloads




I used the wreath & bells image (page 8 of the booklet)
I cut out and made up the pyramid design, then while the silicone glue was drying I took an old CD and glued it to piece of red card then used some fancy edged scissors to cut around it
For the base card I used an A4 sheet of dark green card folded to A5 size
I stuck the wreath / bells pyramid design to the centre of the CD then stuck that to my base card near the top
I added some "stickles - icicle" to the bells when dry it gives a nice glittery effect
I put a small silver bow on the top of the CD and a couple of bells peel offs to the top 2 corners
near the bottom I added a "Seasons Greetings" silver peel off which I had stuck to a small rectangle of red card and edged with a silver border peel off

I like the rainbow effect on the CD as it caught the light when taking the picture
Making cards like this is also a good way to use up all those old and unwanted CD's

Christmas Booklet

This week on Free Craft Downloads we had something a little different - Bob produced a "Booklet" with free downloads in which is available HERE The booklet contains some Christmas designs - You can use them yourself, or pass the link on to friends to use, you could print out the sheets and pass them on to friends, maybe someone who would like to get started in crafting etc
Whatever you decide to do with it - they are lovely images to use.


For my first sample I used the design on page 14

I printed it on photo paper then cut it out and layered it, I then stuck it on to a pale green background then a slightly darker green layer to this I added a fine line gold border peel off
I used the flakes 3 design for the backing paper and stuck to an A5 size card in the centre of each of the snowflakes I added a tiny blob of "icicles - stickles" it gave a nice effect and catches the light lovely Across the top I used a holly stencil and green/red glitter pens to colour in the holly design.
I also used the bells corners decoupage design from page 6 (just used 1 so the other can be made up and used on another card)

For my second sample I used the design from page 13

Again this was printed on photo paper, cut out and made up, I used flakes 22 design for the backing on this card
I added some silver mirri card to the back of the design then added a blue fine line border peel off.
To the snowflakes paper I added some of the "waste" dots (from peel off sheets ) randomly inbetween the snowflakes,
I added silver corners and silver fine line borders
Then stuck the design to the left hand side of the card and added a silver frame to the right side with "Seasons Greetings" inside.

A couple more samples will follow over the next few days

Halloween

I would like to share with you a few things I made using some of the ""Halloween" Papers from Free Craft Downloads and to show that a lot of the papers can be used for other things as well as for making cards with




I made some (Indoor) Halloween Bunting This was quite easy to make and is ideal if Children are having a Halloween party
I used 3 of the Halloween papers (I printed a few sheets of each) - they were
cat_halloween003_ls
cat_halloween003Ls_l
cat_witch_halloween001_ls_l
I printed them A4 size on white paper and folded them in half, from each sheet I got 2 Triangles I used the outer corners of the top edge as a guideline then brought them to a point at the centre bottom and cut out.
On the back of the triangles I put a strip of double sided tape then folded down the width of the tape and trimmed off the bits that stuck out
I used some black wool to attach the Triangles on to and removed the double sided tape to stick them down


Food tray
(again ideal if Children are having a Halloween party)
I used the cat_witch_halloween001_ls_l design which I printed on to white card cut a rectangle approx 28cm wide by 18cm high
then scored in approx 3cm from the edges and folded along the score lines then cut from the outer edge to the score line and stuck one side to the other (as if making a box base) These can be filled with a small selection of foods for each child


A gift bag for those "Trick or Treat" Treats
for this I used the cat_halloween002_ls paper and printed it onto a sheet of white card I used a template which I printed on the reverse of the card - cut it out and stuck together for the handle I used one of the strips of the Border sheet bats_halloween001 These can be filled with sweets and given to children as their treat






Paper chains
These were made using the border sheet I cut out the strips made a circle with one then threaded the others through and stuck down these can be used in the same way as the bunting.





"Pumpkin Lollipop"
Just for a bit of fun I printed one of the Pumpkin decoupage sheets as a 5x7 size and made it up just using the first 3 layers then stuck it to the front of a children's lollipop







Door curtain
To make this you will need to print several sheets of the Tbag tiles
I used kaleidoscope_20 and kaleidoscope_30
I used some black wool to hang them from you will need a few lengths of them to go across your door
Cut out the tiles and put 3 pieces of double sided tape on half the amount of tiles (one in the middle and one on each side)
peel the backing off the tape and stick the wool to the middle piece then attach another of the tiles on top lining up as carefully as possible alternate the designs along the wool leaving a gap between each until you have the required length (make as many lengths as required)

I'm home

I thought I would pop a quick Hello on here and let everyone know I am back
For those that don't know My Father suddenly passed away a couple of weeks ago after losing his fight with Cancer. It was such a shock after only being diagnosed 3 weeks before his passing.

I would like to say Thank You - To those who sent Cards and Flowers It was very kind of you to do so and they were very much appreciated.

I have a lot of catching up to do and will try and have a project on here by the end of the week

Thank you all for being patient while I was away.

Party Time

It's Party Time on Free Craft Downloads on Friday night

Bob has decided to hold a Forum Party at 8.30pm (British Summer Time) on Friday 4th September. There will be some games, and a few small prizes for the winners, it will also be an opportunity for members to socialise.

There are some new Decoupage designs on site this week as well so I have decided to make you an "Invitation" to the Forum Party.

The Invitation

I used
a 5x7 inch White rectangular aperture card
The Dog Sign Decoupage
The It's a Party Decoupage
A small piece of beige mulberry paper
Some Gold corner and border peel offs

I cut out and made up the Dog decoupage
I then did the same with the It's a party decoupage (I just used the first 2 layers)
While they were drying (I use silicone Glue) I stuck a piece of Beige Mulberry Paper to the inside of the aperture.
I added some Gold Corner peel offs to all four corners of the front of the card

When the Decoupage designs were dry I stuck down the Dog one on the mulberry paper in the centre of the aperture card.
The It's a Party one I layered on a small piece of the beige weave paper I had in my "bits" box and used a Gold peel off around the edge
I used some foam pads to stick it to the Dog decoupage so it was raised slightly

I made the insert for the card using Microsoft Publisher I chose the Brown colour scheme to go with the decoupage and the mulberry paper I used I then stuck it to the inside of the card (I quite like the way the colours darken slightly as they go from top to bottom)

The inside of the card

A Clearer Picture of the insert

Although I have used these designs as an invite to our "Forum Party" They are suitable for other occasions / types of cards as well.

If you make any cards using the designs / Backing papers from Free Craft Downloads it would be nice to see them in the Gallery You will need to be a member to post your pictures there.

If you would like to join us at the Forum Party you will need to be a member to participate.
All you need to do is Register ; await approval so it may be worth you Registering in advance.

Hope to see you there on Friday

Cross Stitch Owl

Something new from Free Craft Downloads this week

Cross Stitch Charts
There are a nice selection of Free Cross Stitch Charts for you this week
Bob has been busy

With each picture you get
The Picture
Pattern information sheet for 14, 16, and 18 count Aida
Chart
Thread key/chart


Cross stitching is a great hobby to have - it's very rewarding and therapeutic (it has certainly helped me through a difficult week)
These charts on Free Craft Downloads are very easy to follow and have full stitches so are ideal for beginners - they print out quite large on an A4 sheet so are easy on the eye as well - no more squinting trying to see what symbol a particular colour is

The Charts use "Anchor" threads but obviously you can use other makes of thread too
I used a combination of Anchor and DMC threads you can get conversion charts to help with thread numbers etc they sometimes say the colours may differ slightly but on the whole they match up well

I chose to do the owl simply because it was easy to do and I like it! It took me a total stitching time of five and a half hours some of you may be able to do it in less time others may take longer
Personally I don't take a lot of notice when charts give an approximate time for completion I prefer to take my time with them and enjoy doing them

The pictures below show the design in various stages

My Finished Picture

If you are interested in other free charts and hints and tips, projects etc.. We have a Cross Stitch section over on Free Craft Stuff
There you will find some sites which may be of interest to you

If you want to be kept up to date when new designs etc are added on Free Craft Downloads you can sign up for the Newsletter
If you have any questions about any designs etc or just want a chat in general you are welcome to join our Forum
If you have made cards using any of the designs and would like to show them in The Gallery please do, or you may prefer you own gallery rather than the general one (you will need to become a member in order to do so)

Interlocking Thank You Card

I have been having a look through some of the older papers on Free Craft Downloads and "rediscovered" the "Cloth" section There are some really nice papers in there
I chose two of them to make this Interlocking Thank you card

1 sheet of A4 white card
1 sheet of A4 white paper
2 sheets of A5 white card
2 medium size pink gems
6 small size purple gems
Cloth18 backing paper (printed on the white card)
Cloth 10 backing paper (printed on white paper)
Interlocking template (printed in draft on the reverse of the cloth backing paper
Flower1 Purple decoupage Printed on A5 card (2 copies)

I cut out the flowers and assembled them I used 3 layers, when I stuck the layers on I turned them slightly so it looks like the flower has more petals
To the centre I added a pink gem on each of the 2 flowers I made
I then left them to dry while I made the rest of the card
I printed the cloth18 backing on one side of the A4 white card then on the reverse I printed the template in draft and cut around the faint blue lines
I folded along the faint blue dashed lines then to the outer corners I stuck 3 small purple gems on opposite 2 corners I also stuck on the 2 Flowers and edged them with a clear sakura pen for a bit of sparkle
For the inside of the card I printed "cloth10" on the sheet of white paper then put it back through the printer to print the verse on it
I trimmed it to fit the centre of the card and stuck it to the card

The Finished Card