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

Paper Weave Christmas Card

Remember Paper Weaving from your School days
Over under over under.......... under over under over

I thought I would make a Christmas card
I have quite a few "Scraps" of papers so thought I would use some of the strips to do some Paper weaving an ideal way to use your left overs.



I used the Bell front Template (5x7 size)
1 A4 piece of red card (folded in half and cut to 5x7 size)
scraps of Christmas designs papers

There is a good selection of Basic Templates and Christmas papers on Free Craft Downloads if you haven't already seen them or just want to refresh your memory

For my base I just used plain white copier paper you could use card if you wanted in a colour of your choice
The plain copier paper works fine as the strips of paper strengthen it as they are weaved through.
My base was 12cm wide by 14cm high
Leaving a gap of 1cm top and bottom, I cut 1/2cm vertical lines down the width using a craft knife
I cut 1/2 cm strips of the Christmas papers (the ones I chose were red bells and green candy canes) then started weaving them through the base
When I had finished I put a strip of double sided tape around the outer edge so it would stick to the Card
On the red card I placed the bell template so the bell was in the centre on the front and with a pencil faintly drew around the outline of the bell (you could leave the card A4 in size and print the template directly on to it then cut out)
Using a craft knife I cut around the bell then edged the aperture with a gold border peel off
Then peeled off the strip of double sided tape from the paper weaving and fixed it to the bell, if you want to neaten the back up then just put another piece of the same coloured card over it
I also edged the outer edge of the card with one too
In each corner I used some peel off bells and added a Merry Christmas peel off centred near the bottom

And there we have it - My first Christmas card for this year
You could use any of the basic templates and any of the backing paper designs to make similar cards

Oval Card

A flip card that doesn't flip

To make this card I have used the Oval Flip Card Template from Free Craft Downloads
This time I thought I would show that you can still use these templates even if you don't want the card to "Flip"

I used
Oval Flip Template
Bells 11 Backing Paper
Blue Bells Decoupage
I printed out the template then put it back through the printer to print the Bells 11 design on it
I cut out the Oval shape and around the outer edge of the rectangular bit but left the oval in the centre



Then I only cut out the top half of the oval shape then folded the rectangle in half
It will look like in this picture here on the left









You will see the very faint outline of the oval shape I used this as a guideline to add a silver border peel off around the edge of the oval

I decided to add the inner oval shape with reverse side showing so it was plain white and added a silver border peel off around the edge
To this I added the Bells Decoupage which I had made up

To finish off I added a Happy Anniversary Peel off
and a small peel off flower in the centre at the bottom

Lilly

While out shopping yesterday Megan bought herself a "Rag Doll" kit

Meet Lilly

The kit contained an unstuffed Doll, a bag of stuffing, a plain white t-shirt, some gems, fabric paint and glue. (Not bad for the reduced price of £2-50)

As Megan added the stuffing we decided it would be a nice idea to add some Lavender to the stuffing to make her nice and scented so picked some from the garden then continued to add the stuffing
I sewed up the seam at the back for her
She painted a flower on grass on the T-shirt and added the gems where she wanted them then left it to dry

Megan chose the name Lilly for her and asked me to put a picture of it on the blog

Megans Flip Card

Megan wanted a go at making one of the flip cards
She cut it out and made it up herself
The only help I gave her was cutting off the points on the cocktail sticks
and attaching them on to her card
Megan decided to cut off the corners of the rectangle in the centre so it would "look nice"
she wrote her own message on the back

I wasn't allowed to see it when she was making it
she wanted to keep it for my birthday then she realised I would have to see it on here
so said I could see it to put it on here then she would hide it until needed

More flip cards

These cards are made in the same way as the First flip card


This one was made using a Pink Gingham paper from Free craft Downloads
I made it as a Good luck card I left the reverse blank so a personal message could be added
I decorated it with silver peel offs and some gems. I coloured the tulip peel off with metallic glitter pens

This time I used a Backing paper (printed on white card) and an image from Crafty Robots CD. I used some foil flowers and added some beads in the centre

On the reverse of this I added a pale pink piece of card with a fancy border and added some oval beads to the corners I left it blank so the card could be used for any occasion and personalised with words of own choice rather than a verse

Crafty Robots CD

Flip Card

I really like this template and I was stuck for choice which papers to use with it each time I thought I had chosen the "right" ones I wanted to use others
The card is quite easy to make & if you have some pieces of card to use up you could do a plain or contrasting frame then use the smaller pieces of card for the rectangle



To make this card I decided to use the Fairies design from a little while ago on Free Craft Downloads
1 A4 size white card to print the Backing paper
1 A4 size Decoupage
I also used
2 cocktail sticks (with points cut off)
4 foam pads
peel offs
Flip Card Template
(This card will fit inside a 6 x6 inch envelope)

You will need to use a fairly thick card with this template (I used 300gsm card) as you don't want the frame to be floppy
I printed the template on one side of the card then turned the card over and printed the Fairy design I had chosen on to the other side


Cut the template out (you will need the inner rectangle as well ) the 2 small strips and the other rectangle
You will see 2 small dashed lines at the centre of the Frame - Stick 2 foam pads either side approx half a centimetre down from the line


Place the frame flat on your work surface then place one of the rectangles in the gap in the centre this is just an easy way to find the centre of the rectangle so you can stick on the cocktail sticks (I chose to stick them on with silicone glue you could use a wet glue)


Fold the frame in half along the dashed lines
leave the cocktail sticks to dry







Stick the small tabs on the bottom of the frame this will help stop the frame from splaying out








I added some double sided sticky tape to one of the rectangles to enable me to stick one rectangle to the other Remember to stick one the right way up and the other upside down so that when you flip/turn over the card it will be the right way up






I cut out and assembled the decoupage then stuck it in the centre of one side of the rectangle I also added some border peel offs to the edges








For the other side you could add another picture or a verse or something else of your choice I chose to add a verse










I trimmed the cocktail sticks so that one was level with the frame so not seen from the edge the other side I left approx 3/4 cm sticking out this you can hold to turn so the card flips over
when I was happy with it I put it in place and stuck the foam pads to the other side of the frame holding the cocktail sticks in place

Time permitting this week I will make a couple of other samples
and add the pictures on here

Tulip Card

On Free Craft Downloads this week we have a lovely set of Tulip Backing papers, inserts, tags and labels, a decoupage and a pyramid sheet

Tulips are one of my favourite flowers and even thought Tulips are more of a spring flower I love to see them on cards any time of the year
On a dull rainy dismal days like today - Wouldn't it make you feel better if you received a card with a nice bright tulip on it
If the weather didn't make you smile the tulip would





For this card I have used
An A4 sheet of pale green card
The Tulip decoupage
Tulip 05 paper printed A5 size
Tulip 08 paper printed A5 size
Some gold border & a"Best Wishes" peel off
2 Star gems
A small Green bow

I measured a rectangle shape 20cm high, 28cm wide on the green sheet of card,
Measure in from the left hand side 4.5cm and score a vertical line, then from the same edge measure in 9.5cm and again score vertically
Do the same from the right hand edge
Then from the first score lines score a line from the top & bottom edges to the middle of the outer section on both sides (hope I havent confused anyone here it is easy to do)
cut out the rectangle shape I used some fancy edges scissors to cut the "Triangluar" edges then fold along the score lines The "Triangular edges need to fold outwards and the inner score lines need to fold in. When folded this should leave a DL size card
(picture on the left is to show you the shape)


I cut out and made up the tulip decoupage while the silicone glue was "setting" I got on with making the rest of the card
I cut a piece of the yellow tulip paper and stuck it to the middle section of the card then cut a smaller piece of the green paper and layered that on
The Star Gems I had were blue so I coloured them in green with my peel off pens then stuck them to the outer edge of the Triangular sides so when the card is folded these are on the front of the card and put a gold border peel off along the straight edge
On the inside of the card I edged the papers with gold border peel offs and stuck a "best wishes" peel off on a scrap of the pale green card I cut off trimmed it to fit in the middle panel near the bottom and edged it with a gold peel off and stuck it on with a small green bow on the top right edge of it then added the tulip decoupage near to the top

Zodiac Card - Virgo

I've had a very busy week with yet another busy weekend & week ahead so am a little behind with this project.

A Thank You must go to Bob who himself had a very busy time last week and has another ahead of him this weekend
He still managed to find time to do these Zodiac papers / Decoupage for Free Craft Downloads
Thank You and have a great time at Ely Festival


We have the last Zodiac sign for you this week which is Virgo
There are now all 12 signs on the site

The Zodiac papers are listed under their individual names

For this card I have used

1 A4 sheet of Yellow card
Virgo Decoupage sheet
Virgo 2 backing paper
Virgo 6 backing paper
Gold peel - offs (a wavy border and thin straight border)
A gold bow
Some blue and amber coloured square gems


I folded the piece of yellow card in half to A5 size
Then cut it to an Octagonal shape
I made it so it would fit inside a 6 x6 inch (15 x 15cm) Envelope








I then cut out 2 smaller Octagonal shapes
One was 1cm smaller than the yellow card
Then the other was cut 1cm smaller than that one











I cut out and made up the Virgo decoupage
I decided I would colour in the Red flower with a red glitter pen
I coloured her feet with a light gold glitter pen so it looked like she has gold slippers on
I also went over the wording "Virgo" with a clear glitter pen
A bit hard to see in the picture but shines nicely when it catches the light



After sticking the Octagonal shapes and the Decoupage onto the Yellow base card I added some gold border peel - offs around the edges of each Octagon
I also added a thin straight line border peel off to the edge of the decoupage.
Around the edge of the Yellow base card I stuck on some Blue and Amber coloured small square gems
Then finished off with a Gold bow centrally at the base of the decoupage

Here is the Finished Card

If you like the designs on Free Craft Downloads and would like to receive Newsletter updates of when new papers have been added you can join the email list Here
We also have a forum which you may like to join
You can tell us about your crafting
Open your own gallery to show everyone your work
Ask questions or simply say Hello
You will be made very welcome

Mosaic Fish

This week I have been busy making cards for our Church Charity Coffee Morning,
I decided I needed a break from card making the other night and Glass Painted a mosaic fish which I thought I would add here for you to see.

I used the design from the "Simple Glass Painting" book By Cheryl Owen. There are some lovely designs in this Book I bought mine from Amazon a real bargain at 1p plus P&P

I decided to use the design on a 6x4 clip frame, in the book it was painted on a vase with waves on it I didn't want the waves so filled in with more squares where the waves should have been I outlined the design using Alan and Barrys Black outliner Then left it to dry.
(Apologies for missing the right hand outlined edge off the picture)







I painted the design using Alan and Barry's solvent based Glass Paints
The colours I used were, Orange, Yellow, Light Blue, Turquoise, Royal Blue, Purple, White (for the eye) and Clear. I used the clear paint to lighten some of the other colours




I enjoyed painting this and it was an enjoyable break from card making.



Rainbow Glass Transparent Paints

Rainbow Glass Outliner