More Big Shot Techniques

Well, I thought I'd better pop-in to share some cards and let you know that I'm still breathing. Not crafting much due to never-ending work and there are times when I feel I should just pack away my craft stuff and give it all up. However, I recently embraced sleep deprivation and put together some cards using my Big Shot. There seems to be no limit on techniques to try with this machine.

In the card above, I've used dry embossing through the Big Shot combined with heat embossing. I also stripe-embossed the satin ribbon in the Big Shot (with thanks to Angela Sargeant for this idea). I tried the "faux suede" technique (basically de-laminating cardstock into thinner layers with a rough surface by tearing, along with some scrunching and sponge-inking) and cut out the flower petals and leaves. A die-cut "Hi" finished it off but a stamped greeting would have done the job too.

Did you know you can emboss aluminium foil? Thanks to Clare McIllhattan for this idea. Clare's foil was smoother than mine...must get a tip on "how-to smooth" from Clare. And you can cut and emboss fabric with the Big Shot. Picture me in a local needlecraft store feeling like a fish-outta-water. Imagine the look I got when I told the saleslady (aka superb needle crafter) that I was going to cut up her lovely pink fabric into scraps and die-cut it into a butterfly for a card:



I sure do admire the works of needle-crafters. I just can't do it myself. Each to their own I say.

Next is a card front that has been what I term selectively embossed. I managed to leave the centre panel of the card un-embossed ready for stamping. Quite tricky but once I got the hang of it, I was away. I finished up stamping a solid daisy in white ink and using my pencils to add colour (termed "Black Magic" colouring within some circles).



Do you like the frame around the main image? I used two nesting dies through the machine at same time and dry embossed them afterwards to get the grooves in the frame. I snuck a little green "faux bow" in there too.

Anyway, hope you found this interesting. I'm currently helping my cherub with a school project and the best thing about it is using my alphabet die-cuts to make the poster title (I know, I'm easily amused).

Thanks for looking. Please get in contact if you have any questions.

Love from Crafty Kim

For the love of Pandas

I've always loved Pandas:

I very much enjoyed the the movie, Kung Fu Panda, and look forward to seeing its recently released sequel:

I also love punch art so I set about trying to create a punch art panda. I noticed that Pandas are quite round and not often clean. I pulled out my collection of punches; ovals, eggs, circles, balloons and after much fussing, not to mention some hand-cutting, I had a Panda! Many thanks to my friend Fran Turner who loaned her Bamboo embossing folder to me, making my Panda happily placed in a bamboo bush. Thanks also to my friend Kathryn Keith for her little dragonfly stamp which finished the card off perfectly.

Lastly, I couldn't resist sharing this photo with those of us who are old enough to remember Kiss (with thanks to Michelle Tondi for reminding me about this picture):

Thanks for indulging my love of Pandas (I hope to visit China one day to see them in their homeland), and hope you got a smile from it.

Love from Crafty Kim

Vellum Well Wishes

I designed this card at the request of my friend Dianne for some more ideas for using vellum. I do love Vellum but its transparency makes it tricky to stick down without adhesive showing so it is also a design challenge. In this card, the adhesive is hiding behind the ribbon.

The flowers are stamped and embossed in white on the vellum layer and the Always Artichoke leaves have been die-cut and stuck to the white matt.

A simple greeting and some rhinestones finishe it off. There's lots of nasty viruses going around so any number of friends qualify for this card but another friend, Carolyne, has ongoing health issues to persist with and I sent this to let her know I'm thinking of her.

Hope you're all keeping warm, it' been very frosty in Sydney-town. We have a cold house which is cool in summer but it never really warms up in winter before the day cools again.

Love from Crafty Kim

BigShot Tip with Square Lattice Embossing

For my blog readers who love their BigShot (or other embossing/die-cutting machine), I thought I'd quickly share another idea via this little gift tag I made to go with a birthday gift for my friend, Gerry. Often we emboss the background or mat/layer of a card but why not the main image? It adds extra texture and interest. Of course it works best with small uniform embossing patterns such as the Stampin' Up! Square Lattice folder I've used here, a close up for you:


I like this idea so much that I decided to give Gerry the embossing folder for her birthday :)

Better get me some sleep. Thanks for visiting.

Love from Crafty Kim

Doily Sympathy

Doilies have become very popular in paper-craft recently. Not all of them appeal to my personal taste and sometimes it can be hard to find the right-sized doily for use on a card front. But then I came across a die cut to make the above doilies.

Originally I cut the doilies from vellum but then struggled to find a good way to stick the vellum down (lots of cursing here in the craft room about the ineffectiveness of vellum spray). So in the end I went back to regular cardstock in a complementary colour.

I never met a purple I didn't like (yet) and it goes very well with silver. Being a sympathy card, I wanted a subtle look which I was aiming for with the silver butterflies. The base looked quite plain until I embossed it with the "branches" embossing folder. I'm not sure if I've pushed it to far with the rhinestone brad, again not wanting anything too flashy.

Anyway, hoping you've enjoyed your visit to my end of the crafting world. I'll be back as soon as I can with more creations.

Thanks for stopping by,

Love from Crafty Kim

Well Wishes for a Brave Friend

I made this card recently for a friend who faced major surgery and its associated pain / lack of mobility all while juggling her work, other health issues and care of two young kids. Not for the "faint of heart". In my estimation, she's done really well and will soon be back to a new normal.

For her card, I fancied making use of my new-ish Owl Punch. The possibilities for this punch are seemingly endless and for inspiration, I went straight to the queen of owl-punching, Kerry Bunting. What Kerry hasn't done with the owl punch probably isn't worth doing (but then again, I may have to retract that claim if she comes up with more great ideas).

I particularly like the little doctor's noteboard with its mini-clip. Another reference to the doctor's notepad is the border punch on the left. It's a bit hard to see but I've used my BigShot and an embossing folder to create a textured, cream-coloured background.

Thanks again to Kerry for her bounty of ideas and to you for stopping by.

Love from Crafty Kim

Flowers on the Fence

I'm back here briefly to show you a card I'd been wanting to make for a long time. It was heavily inspired by Karen Thomas of Luv to Stamp fame (one of my favourite card artists). When I first saw Karen's card, it brought back memories from my childhood - of neighbours' 5 foot timber fences covered with flowering vines. These days fences tend to be taller and the tops not so much in the line of a child's vision. I've pretty much CASE'd Karen's card, save a few changes due to not having the same supplies/tools.
I've used a woodgrain timber embossing folder and Tag Punch to imitate the fence. I sponged white ink over the embossed card to accentuate the texture. The butterflies, leaves and flower petals are cut from dies; in the case of the flowers, I've used multiple layers of tissue paper, all scrunched up, similar to this card. A greeting from Teeny Tiny Sentiments (so handy, if you only buy one sentiment stamp set, this is THE ONE) and the Word Window and Modern Label punches along with some Always Artichoke ribbon finishes it.

Thanks for popping by...

Love from Crafty Kim

Christmas Cuttlebug / Big Shot Cards

Well, it's been a while. Lots of reasons, mostly been busy with work and fun stuff like school holidays including a trip to Taronga Zoo where we saw new-ish baby elephants, and to Canberra for a few days visiting friends and Questacon, Black Mountain and Floriade. But feeling a bit shabby with a cold this weekend so I'll cut straight to it.

Here are the cards I've been teaching recently. This class was very popular. I wanted to show different Cuttlebug / Big Shot techniques. The first one is using sponging blocks to apply ink to the raised part of cardboard which has been embossed with embossing folders through the Cuttlebug / Big Shot machines:

The next one uses ink applied directly to the Lace Tree embossing folder. The tree is then cut out and mounted on to a matt sponged with ink in the shape of the tree:

I love the Kraft coloured card with red and chocolate.

The third card uses card stock that has a coloured core. Meaning when you emboss it and then lightly sand it with a sanding block or even sand paper, you get this look:

I dusted off my deckle-edged scissors to edge the Kraft card behind the greeting panel and decided I should use them more often. Quick and easy alternative to a border punch.

Last one was the fast bonus card. It is a clean and simple card. The wreath comes as a die and embossing folder pair. I've done it in both red and green card, then cut the ribbon only out from the red one before applying it to the green. The white gel pen just adds a bit of contrast and dimension. I used glitter glue to simulate berries but I think small red beads (glued on) may look better, albeit more fiddly.

Note the embossed border around the image and greeting? Not done with a folder, but with a scoring tool. This can really add interest to the card and it's so easy and cheap.

Well I'm off to cough and splutter elsewhere. I've made a few cards in my absence from here, just need to upload them to the PC. My card reader died so I'm back using a cable and it's soooo slow for the high quality photos.

Thanks for looking, hope your week goes well.

Love from Crafty Kim

The Embossing Class Cards Revealed

Just popping in quickly to show you in more detail the cards we made at my embossing class last month.

Here they are. The first one uses white embossing on vellum:


This second one uses a technique called emboss resist and also has a faux metal embellishment.


This last one (which looks better in real life - was rushing when I photographed), uses clear embossing and bleach.


Thanks to everyone who attended. I had a great night catching up with friends while we crafted. Hopefully you learnt something in the process :)

I have another class coming up at the end of this month, focusing on Flowers for Mum. But if you don't need Mother's Day cards, we will use different greetings to make birthday or get well or whatever cards take your fancy. I'll post more about it soon.

Love from Crafty Kim