New Year - New Storage

I hope you all had a great start into 2016. May it be a healthy, peaceful, inspirational and successful year.

I decided to end the year with layers of glue on my fingers - First Edition glossy deco mache glue to be precise (and I added so much glue to my fingers that I would not have left identifiable fingerprints anywhere ... in fact, I still found traces of glue on two fingers this morning). Two rectangular TJENA boxes from IKEA, which were originally white, were waiting to be turned into storage boxes. So they got covered in First Edition deco mache papers on hogmanay and decorated on 1 January.

The first box is for storing paper flowers (mainly paper cherry blossoms) and should be stackable with other boxes, so I added cherry blossoms together with some assessories to the front of the box.

The second box is for storing bus timetables. This box will be kept in a drawer with a frosted glass front hence the labelling on the lid.

Product lists and step-by-step instructions for both boxes are - as usual - in my Trimcraft gallery.

First Edition Paper Flowers

Today I would like to share a card with you that I created around the beuatiful papers from the First Edition Paper Flowers pads. Dies and stamps from Trimcraft's Santoro collections in combination with First Edition markers seemed to be a good addition.

A product list and step-by-step instructions for this card are - as usual - in my Trimcraft gallery.

Travel Excitement

First Edition Travel Notes - World Traveller

... but perhaps not quite as you might think. This excitement purely relates to crafting and to the new 'Travel Notes' First Edition paper pads. These are not just great designs in beautiful colours. I like especially that the double-sided papers offer so many options for plainer backgrounds and the so important matting and layering without the need to search for coloured cardstock in the ideal shades.

The papers are perfect in combination with travel or transport themed dies. I got the Joy! Crafts suitcase die a while ago, but have only used it once before this card. The Travel Notes papers are now providing the perfect background.

First Edition Travel Notes - Fly Away

All other dies used on the three cards featured in this blog post are by Trimcraft. The majority of them are First Edition dies, but I also used the Sweet Paris die set and the envelope from the Winter Woodland owl die set (those dies are not just useful for Christmas projects).

First Edition Travel Notes - Paris

If you are interested in the product lists and step-by-step instructions for these cards, just click onto the titles below the images. The links will take you directly to the corresponding pages on the Trimcraft forum.

Travel Notes

First Edition Travel Notes - Have a good Journey

Trimcraft are treating us to yet another set of great First Edition paper pads. 'Travel Notes' is the name of the newest addition to these high quality papers. The pads are coming again in the sizes 12" x 12", 8" x 8" and 6" x 6", i.e. the right size is available for every papercrafter.

 First Edition Travel Notes - Lock & Key

After an absolutely mental week it was nice to just have some fun with these new papers. I just added some gold metallic card, parchment paper, Tonic circle and scalloped circle dies and a 3mm adhesive pearl. All other products are by Trimcraft. For detailed product lists and step-by-step instructions please see my Trimcraft gallery. A click onto the title below the images will take you straight through to the relevant page.

Kaleidoscope

First Edition Kaleidoscope - Work in Progress

The new First Edition Kaleidoscope papers remind me so much of beautiful tie-dyed silk that I could not resist to create two cards with a sewing theme. Just good that there is a haberdashery set amongst the First Edition dies.

I needed just a handful of other products like large 3D foam squares from Dovecraft, black cardstock, 15cm square white card blanks, twine, adhesive pearls and glue gel for these cards. You can view the full product lists and step-by-step instructions by clicking onto the titles/links below the images.

First Edition Kaleidoscope - Silk

New Dovecraft Bohemian Collection

This week the brand-new Dovecraft Bohemian collection by Trimcraft landed in my craftroom. What a treat! The papers are colourful and absolutely gorgeous. There are designs with glitter effect and with gloss effect as well as pearlescent designs.

For today's card I combined one of the stunning designs with a wooden shape and lace ribbon from the same collection in combination with kraft cardstock. I also used First Edition tea party and border dies as well as pastel pink 3D Pearl Effects by Dovecraft.

You can find a product list and step-by-step instructions for this card in my Trimcraft gallery.

Dovecraft Value Paper Packs

Dovecraft Value Paper Packs - Tea for One

Trimcraft released a couple of Dovecraft Value Paper Packs not long ago. The papers are not only very pretty, are pleasing on the eye and can easily be combined with each other but they are also all double-sided.

Dovecraft Value Paper Packs - Have a Wonderful Day

The two cards in this blog post feature the 'Leyton' and 'Crowning Affair' papers in combination with textured black cardstock as well as die-cuts created with dies from various Trimcraft collections. Full product lists and instructions are available in my Trimcraft gallery. Just click onto the titles below the images to go directly to the project pages.

The World Outside the Window

Here is a card, which is a real First Edition project. It combines the First Edition window die set with papers from 'Paper Flowers' and 'The Promise' First Edition paper pads. And even the black textured cardstock is from a First Edition pad. The card blank and the adhesive gems are Dovecraft items, i.e. also Trimcraft products.

If you would like to re-create the card, you can find the full product list and instructions in my Trimcraft gallery. Please just do not enter the card into competitions or give the design out as your own.

Trimcraft Template for Ribbon Boxes

This week Trimcraft have posted a fantastic free template for ribbon boxes on their forum. It is designed for eight small reels of ribbon. And each box can be created from an A4 sheet of cardstock.

Here is my take on these organiser boxes. I have made a few, as I have had already boxes for larger reels but nothing for the small ones that were consequently just piling up in my craft room. Now they are all stored nicely and so much easier to use.

I kept the decorations on top of the lids deliberately flat, as this will allow me to keep the boxes on top of each other.

The 'ingredients' for the boxes:

* Free Trimcraft template
* Kraft cardstock
* Black textured cardstock
* First Edition border dies
* First Edition doily dies
* First Edition window dies
* First Edition tea party dies
* Crop-a-dile for punching the holes
* Quick drying PVA glue
* Toolbox essentials

First Edition Dies

Leaving Christmas projects behind (at least for a couple of months) it is now time to focus again more on the other Trimcraft collections and on some fabulous new products.

For the card, which I would like to share with you today, I indulged a bit in the brand-new First Edition die sets. I used the script alphabet set, the lock and key set and the border set. And as if this was not enough, I combined the die-cuts with patterned paper from the new 6" x 6" First Edition Sail Away premium paper pad.

A product list and instructions for this card can be found in my Trimcraft gallery.

Quick Christmas cards with First Edition papers

1, 2, 3, ..., PANIC!!! It is, of course, nice when Christmas cards are selling well and even the husband uses more cards, but when it is then the middle of December and you then realise that you have not sent any cards yet and only handed out one but are confronted with a serious shortage of Christmas cards for the own use then it is truly time to panic. And a solution needs to be found fast.

    

Just good that there are so many large sentiment dies on the market at the moment. Together with some metallic card, beautiful First Edition papers by Trimcraft and some metallic pearls or card candi they can really save the day. For the examples shown here I used a Sue Wilson die as well as the First Edition premium paper pads 'Gilded Winter'  and 'Vintage Noel'.

    

But the next few days will definitely be very busy ...

Going Maritime

Today I would like to share with you the first card that I created with the new First Edition paper pad 'Sail Away'. I deliberately did not want to 'overdo' the design in order not to distract from the beautiful background paper. Simple household string seemed to be a suitable addition to add an interesting but not overpowering feature.

The dies I used are a round die, a set of decorative round dies by Spellbinders as well as maritime dies by Marianne Design, Joanna Sheen and Die-Namics.

A product list and step-by-step instructions are again in my Trimcraft gallery.

Further new projects will follow over the next days.

New First Edition Paper Pads

Trimcraft have brought out some more fabulous First Edition paper pads. For today's project I selected the 6" x 6" Botanical Notes pad, which contains some simply stunning designs. These designs are also available as 8" x 8" pad and as 12" x 12" pad.

Especially the pearlescent butterfly paper with a lovely gold shimmer is so gorgeous that I did not want to cover it up too much and just let it work its own magic. I combined it with a large floral corner and butterfly die-cuts (all created using Tonic dies) in vintage gold. I glittered the edges of the paper roses and rosebuds by carefully applying PVA glue and then dusting them with DecoArt Glitter Dust in gold. which is also distributed by Trimcraft. Cream coloured adhesive pearls are highlighting the bodies of the butterflies.

A product list and instructions for this card are available in my Trimcraft gallery.

Celebrating Baby Girls

 
The focus of today's projects is the beautiful new First Edition paper pad 'It's a Girl!' by Trimcraft. It contains quality heavyweight papers in gorgeous designs including some sheets with glitter accents, some textured sheets, a foil design, tags that can be cut out and a sticker sheet with matching images. And half of the papers are also double-sided.

Product lists and instructions for both projects can be found in my gallery on the Trimcraft forum. But as I also know that many crafters are interested in the makes of the dies used, here are a few more details around those:

For the first card I used a lily die and a sentiment dies set by Britannia Dies and a heart die by Wild Rose Studio.

For the second card I used the carousel die from the Fun Fair collection by Trimcraft, a gift tag die by Tonic Studios as well as a leaf strip and a sentiment die set by Britannia Dies.

New First Edition Paper Pad

My second blog post this weekend is dedicated to the brand-new First Edition paper pad 'It's a Boy!'. The pad contains not only papers for male new arrivals, but also some that are suitable for a first birthday. The floral and bird papers could also be used for completely different occasions.

This new pad even contains a sheet of stickers. which is perfect for beginners, cards that have to mad in a hurry or for those days when the desired die or stamp just seems to hide in a secret corner. The pad also come swith some sheets full of tags, which can be cut out, and three sheets of a gorgeous patchwork-style paper. It can take quite a while to create the beautiful patchwork effects, so this is a welcome shortcut.

 You can find product lists and step-by-step instructions for all projects featured here in my Trimcraft gallery. But here are also a few more details relating to the dies for all those die addicts amongst you (and yes, I am definitely one of those as well ;) ...).

* Decorative dies by Sue Wilson
* Baby carriage die by Memory Box
* Sentiment die by Cheery Lynn
* Alphabet die set by Britannia Dies
* Baby rattle die by Marianne Design

Christmas Decorations II

I hope that you all had a great start into a happy, healthy, peaceful and successful 2014.

But will these storms never end? For weeks now it has been extremely wet and windy most of the time. I hope that you are all safe and dry.

I still need to share some more decorative items, which I made over the Christmas days, with you. These Christmas crackers are intended as decorative items that I can put on top of the fireplace, onto shelves, etc. They will get simple boxes, so that they can be safely stored away during the rest of the year and come out fresh and like new for the next festive season.

The cardstock used comes mainly from the First Edition paper pad 'Silent Night'. Other than these sheets I just used silver mirri card and a bit of textured cardstock. Additional items include adhesive pearls and curly ribbon.

The most important die for these decorations is the Christmas cracker die by Tonic Studios. Any Christmas themed dies can be used for the embellishments. I opted for Die'sire holly and snowflake dies as well as a bell by Crafts Too. The border punches used for these projects are geared punches by Tonic Studios, as these are easily copying with mirri card or textured cardstock.

Christmas Decorations I

The weather outside is really frightful, as the storm just does not want to come to an end. So I have simply taken out some time and created some handcrafted Christmas decorations.

The inspiration for this style of ornament came from the Trimcraft advent calendar, day 13. There are dies, which cut the cardstock in this style, but the Trimcraft advent calendar also provides a free template.

I used cardstock from the First Edition Silent Night paper pad, adhesive pearls and charms. The holes at the top and at the bottom of the ornament are reinforced with eyelets. I then attached the charms with one 8mm jump ring (at the eyelet) and two 5mm jump rings. I threaded beading elastic through the hole at the top, as this is not so visible when the ornament is hanging in front of a window or at the Christmas tree.

So I pretty much used just things that many of us have in their craft stash anyway. And the free Trimcraft template means that a) we can get a bit of crafting fix over the Christmas days or without spending much on additional materials and that b) this ornament could also be useful for those of us, who might need to keep kids entertained over the next days. And stored carefully these 3D ornaments can be lovely decorations for many years to come.

Tis the Season

Another new Christmas range by Trimcraft is the Dovecraft Tis the Season collection. The colours and designs are going more into the traditional direction although blue tones are also featured. The shades of many elements are slightly muted, which results in elegant and softer colour schemes.

For the card above I combined Tis the Season products with cardstock from a First Edition premium textured cardstock pad, organza ribbon from Woodware, a charm and holly die-cuts created with a die by Marianne Design.

Full step-by-step instructions can be found in my Trimcraft gallery. You are more than welcome to re-create the card, but please do not give it out as your own design/work.

Have a great start into the new week!

Christmas Stocking

Trimcraft have just added a fabulous new card workshop for a stocking card to their forum. Also perfect for Christmas decorations! And the template for the stocking can even be downloaded for free.

This is the Christmas stocking that I have created for Trimcraft. I based it on the beautiful Nordic Christmas designer papers by First Edition, a Trimcraft brand. A full product list and step-by-step instructions are in my project gallery, so that you can re-create the card. And for those diecutting addicts like myself: The branches are created with a die by Marianne Design.

Quilled Flowers

My first project during this Easter weekend (yes, I plan to add more than one blog post) concentrates on the First Edition J'Adore paper pad by Trimcraft and floral quilling dies.

I built up the card around the gorgeous embossed and delicately patterned paper that I mounted onto black cardstock and combined with a square ivory card blank. I added a decorative corner created from black cardstock using a Heartfelt Creations die and a sentiment cut with a set by Britannia Dies.

The quilled flowers and the leaves are created with Die'sire quilling dies by Crafter's Companion. For the large flower I used one stamen strip. one strip cut with the small rose die and two strips cut with the large rose die. One stamen strip and two strips prepared with the small rose die are the elements for the small flower.

I finished the card off by setting large adhesive pearls from Trimcraft's London Line collection into the centres of the flowers with the help of gel glue and by adding some small grey pearls from my stash.

A product list and step-by-step instructions for this project can be found in my Trimcraft gallery.