Father's Day Fishing Record

Well Father's Day is fast approaching here in the UK (21st June)
So I have decided that this weeks project with Papers from Free Craft Downloads will be something for Father's Day

I have made a Father's Day Fishing Record using last weeks fishing papers.
Sometimes it can be difficult to know what to make / give for Fathers day so thought of making this for those who enjoy fishing like my Father I'll find out if he likes it on Fathers day

This could also be made for a Birthday and for Women who like fishing too.

It is A5 in size
The papers I used were :
Fishing 2 sheets of A4 (printed both sides on white card)
Floats 2 sheets of A4 (printed one side on white card)
I also used 2 sheets of A4 plain brown card from my card stock
Some ribbon / string / something to tie the "pages" together
Embellishments of your choice for the front and for the inside if you want to add them inside)


I cut the "Fishing" Card in half so I had 4 A5 size pieces of card (punch holes with a hole-punch)
The Brown card stock I cut into 6 pieces - Approx size = 15cm wide x 8cm high




The Floats card I cut in to 6 pieces - Approx Size = 13 cm wide x 6cm high
I cut 6 smaller pieces of the brown card approx size = 8cm wide x 2cm high
I put the small brown pieces on the float card then added that to the larger pieces of Brown card






I then stuck it on the bottom of the A5 fishing card stick both sides and the bottom (don't stick the top down so you can put things in the pockets )
I added wording to the relevant pockets






I have made a simple "Record chart" to put in two of the pockets
I printed it landscape on A4 paper cut it out and Concertina folded it






I put 2 in each pocket ) So there is plenty of space to record "Catches"
I made them so they could be removed giving them the option of taking the chart out to add the information and also to add other charts to the pocket if needed

There are Three pockets to add photos and I added some plain paper in the pocket at the back for general notes





I tied the Record together with some mulberry string.
This idea could also be used for Football, Darts, etc by using relevant papers and making a chart

Parasol Card

When I saw this weeks "holiday" papers for Free Craft Downloads I thought of a Parasol - 2 reasons One being the little cocktail parasols you have for drinks The other thinking of sitting under a parasol enjoying a drink (maybe it should be an umbrella knowing the weather we have here )
I went into panic mode when I couldn't find my parasol template I searched everywhere - It was late so I decided to "sleep on it " and hope I woke fresher minded to remember where it was.
3am this morning I was sat in bed scribbling notes on how I could make one if I couldn't find the one I had

The papers I've used are
(Blue) Drinks 05 1 A4 Sheet (Trimmed to make a 5x7 size card)
(Yellow) Drinks 02 1 A5 Sheet
I also used
A bamboo skewer (trimmed to 12cm)
A piece of ribbon to wrap around the skewer
4 pony beads
Small bow

I decided to go with the Parasol I had an idea for
here it is :

To make the parasol I drew around a CD then cut the circle out I chose to cut it with fancy shaped edged scissors you could do it straight edged if you want to or do a scalloped edge using a small coin or something else circular

After cutting it out I folded the circle in half then in half again a further 3 times so you end up with a small V shape (16 sections)


I then cut along one of the lines to the centre then cut off 3 of the small sections so you end up with 13 sections


Glue or put double sided tape along the edge of one section and fix the next full section to it.
Put a strip of double sided tape on every other section I coloured the backing on the tape for you to see it easier




If you are using the paper I used or another paper with images on when you are working on your parasol make sure you have it the "right way" as when you fold in half - one half will be the right way the other upside down When your Parasol is displayed on your card you want the right way up to show


When you have taped them together it should look like this







Gently push the skewer through the parasol until about 3cm is showing at the bottom thread on your bead and glue
Thread 3 more beads on the top of the parasol and add a ribbon if you wish

Stick the parasol onto your card blank

You can either decorate the card further or leave it blank
I just typed out Happy Holidays and added it to the top of the card edged with a gold line peel off I also added gold border peel offs

Decoupage Castle

If you liked the Pop up Castle from last week on Free Craft Downloads then you should like this weeks Decoupage Castle.
It can be used on the front of the Pop up Castle card or if you don't want to make a pop up card you can use this decoupage on it's own.
This one is similar to the pop up one I made It is quite easy to cut out and assemble so ideal for a quick card,
For this one the papers I used were
foam 1 sheet A5 size
stones 1 sheet A6 size
grass 1 sheet A6 size
snow2 1 sheet A6 size
Castle Decoupage 5x7 size

I chose to print some of the papers A6 size as they fit on the size of the card better, and use less ink not having to print a full A4 sheet . If you choose to do a larger or smaller card then you may need a different size of paper

I cut out and assembled the decoupage and left it to one side while I made the rest of the card I chose not to cut out the windows as they were quite small so instead I went over them with a silver glitter pen they catch the light quite nicely but a bit difficult to see in the photo.

I took an A4 piece of white card folded in half to make an A5 card on to this I stuck the foam paper
I then trimmed the snow and grass papers and added them on to the foam paper stuck on the decoupage and I cut a wavy "path" from the stones paper and stuck it on the grass
Lastly I added some Silver peel off corners, a border and a Happy Birthday

Teacher Gift Set

This weeks Papers from Free Craft Downloads saw the start of "Professions"
Over the coming months various professions will be added. Teachers start us off. The papers feature The Patron Saint of Teachers - Jean Baptiste de La Salle. It's nice to be able to use something different rather than having to use Teddy bears in Gowns and Mortar boards

End of school year is coming up in a few weeks time and My thoughts turned to the ""End of term gift for Teacher" I thought this would be something nice for "Teacher" to receive and hopefully be more useful than the many boxes of chocolates they receive



The Design I chose to use for this project was Teacher 007

To make the pencil
1 pencil (you could use a pen if you wish)
1 tassel (made or bought - I used one I made)
1 inch strip of the Teacher paper


Put a strip of double sided tape on the pencil and another strip on the paper peel off one edge of the tape and attach the end of the tassel then attach the paper to the tape on the pencil , roll it up tightly and attach the other end



The notebook
1 hardbacked notebook (I used an A6 size one)
1 sheet of the teacher paper mentioned above



Measure the paper allowing some to overlap inside.
Gently score lines down where the spine of the book is. Attach with double sided tape or glue it down








On the front of the book I used one of Jean Baptiste's quotes "To touch the hearts of your pupils is the greatest miracle you can perform"
If you want to make the inside of the cover look neater after covering it just cut a piece of the paper to size and stick it on




The notepad holder
I used The Teacher 007 design which I printed on A4 white card
I bought a pack of 4 note pads 76mm x 76mm

On the A4 printed sheet I drew around a
Template I made

Then cut it out assembled it and put in
the note pads

I hope you will agree that it is a nice gift and suitable for Male and Female Teachers

There are many other designs on Free Craft Downloads you could use to make this set for various other occasions
If you haven't visited the site yet please do so
Happy Crafting

Pop-Up Castle Card

The following card is made using a template which will be available shortly from Free Craft Downloads.

If you receive the Newsletter you will be notified when it is available
If you do not receive the Newsletter and would like to / know when the template will be available you can sign up for it by clicking here

Papers I used for the castle template
Clouds 1 Sheet printed on A5 paper
Grass 1 Sheet printed on A5 Paper
Stone 3 Sheets printed on A4 White card
Stone2 1 Sheet printed on A6 Paper
Wood 1 Sheet printed on A6 Paper

To make the card:-
1 A4 sheet of card as the base card - Colour / design your choice (I used the stone design which is why I printed 3 sheets. If you choose a different design you will only need to print 2 sheets for the Template)
I used 2 A4 sheets of white card which I printed the Stone design on
then put them back through the printer to print the Castle templates 1&2
I printed the Clouds and Grass designs on to A5 size white paper
then printed the dark stone & the wood designs on to A5 paper


On the inside of the base card I put the clouds paper as a background and the grass paper as the base & cut out the castle designs and the bits to attach it to the card






Using a craft knife I carefully cut out the windows
I used the wood paper to cover the drawbridge and the darker stone paper to cover the tops of the castle






From this picture you will see how I have stuck the little U shapes to the back of the castle







Here is how it looks stuck to the back of the card








This is how I attached the front part of the castle to the back part using the little U shapes again









This is how the finished inside of the card looks It will now fold down flat to go inside an A5 size envelope








For the front of the card I used a castle decoupage which I made up and stuck to a piece of silver holographic card
Using a Blue peel off marker I coloured a Happy Birthday Peel -off in Blue and stuck it on
I also coloured in some wavy border peel off's and edged the holographic card with them



One of the things I like about this type of template is that it enables you to make a 3D card which can be folded and still be sent through the post a lot easier than other 3D templates that are around, and it is quite easy to make up

The version below may be more suited to a Girl

Papers used for this card were :-

Clouds 1 Sheet printed on A5 paper
Grass 1 Sheet printed on A5 Paper
Lilac Gingham 1 sheet printed on A5 paper
Pink Gingham 1 sheet printed onA4 Card (to use as my base card)
Pink Bark 2 sheets printed on A4 card (put back through printer to print both templates on)

(Same Decoupage was used for the front but the colour was changed from Blue to Pink)