Paper Crafting by Heidi Angelika: April 2021

Friday, April 30, 2021

Explosion Boxes

Todays post is about Explosion Boxes. Explosion Boxes have been around for a very long time, but it took me quite a while before I tried making one, as I thought that they were pretty hard to make. I couldn't have been more wrong! It is actually one of the easiest type of card I have made. It is, however, quite time consuming, since it requires a fair amount of measuring and cutting mats and layers. The "hot" thing right now is to have several boxes in the original outer explosion box, and depending on the amount of walls that need to be decorated, you can end up with a rather high number of panels to cut and decorate.

The first explosion box I made was for a newborn baby girl and her parents. I have just included a picture of the ouside of the box, as it was a bit too hard to anonymize. I recently caught bits and pieces of a live craft-along by Sam Calcott from Mixed Up craft, on how to make a slider card Explosion Box. The box consisted of three boxes, one inside the other, and it looked pretty cool. It certainly inspired a lot of beautiful Explosion boxes being shared on FB. I decided to make an Explosion Box as well, but rather than having three boxes and a slider card on the lid, I decided to go with just one, and concentrate on the decorations instead. I didn't really have a specific occassion to make the box for, but I was inspired by a fellow crafter in my FB group, who had decorated her box with flowers. She makes her own really stunning paper flowers, which I don't, so I decided to go for hobby-store bought paper roses in two sizes.

I chose three medium sized white roses and some rose leaves to decorate the lid. I also stamped a sentiment in Norwegian saying "Thank you for being you" on white cardstock and glued it onto silver metallic cardstock, and attached it in front of the roses.

As can be seen on the photo from inside the box, I chose to keep all the panels of the 12"x12" piece of cardstock that I started out with. On the first Explosion Box card I made, I just kept five panels; the one in the middle and then the four panels that are directly connected to the middle panel. Most of the boxes inspired by Mixed Up Craft's live, all kept the the whole 12"x12", but the corner panels were cut down tp a decorative shape. I chose the top of a big butterfly on mine.

For the decorative centerpiece, I made a "flowerpot" from Silver metallic cardstock, filled it with packingfoam, and stuck small roses into it to cover it up. I then tied a matching ribbon around it to make it a bit more decorated. The papers I chose for the panels are from "Craft Consortium", called "at home in the Wildflowers". I also added two sentiments inside the box.

While I was in an Explosion Box mode, I decided to make another one while I was at it. This time I wanted one that wasn't as elaborately decorated, but at the same time "fun"!

I went with a congratulatory theme, and chose papers from the "Party Papers Pad" from Sam Calcott's first release from her brand "Made to Surprise".

I kept the theme going inside the box as well, making a tiny gift wrapped box, that could hold a small gift like a ring or a pair of earrings, or something like that. I also made a small banner saying "Hurrah!", that I attached to some acetate, so that it seems like it is hanging in the air above the little gift box.

On this Explosion Box I chose to cut off the corner panels, which I found makes the box a little bit less sturdy, unfortunately. The inside panels were then decorated with pockets that each got its own stamped tag.

I have really been inspired to make more Explosion Boxes, and there is really no limit as to how you can decorate these boxes, as you can litterally make miniature cards of most shapes and tuck them down on the inside panels. This is defnitely make more of this style of card!

Sunday, April 25, 2021

Tri-Fold Z Fold Card with Matching Box

I have wanted to make a card that would showcase some of the beautiful Graphic 45 papers that I have recently purchased. I have made a Double Gatefold:

and a Lattice Fold Card:

both displaying G45's collection "Fairie Wings", however, I have also bought another collection of stunning papers called the "Natures Notebook", and this time I wanted to try to highlight some of those papers.

After having had a look on YouTube, I decided I would make my own version of a Tri-Fold Z Fold Card. By making this type of card I would be able to use different patterns on the front, as supposed to on the back of the card. I would also have the chance to make a number of pockets in which I could show off other elements from the collection. I decided to go with a green card base, and layer that with gold, before displaying the pattern paper of my choice. I decided on two different sheets of papers. One for the front of the card, and one for the back of the card, using both sides of each sheet of paper alternating the patterns on both sides of both sheets.

The front of the card:

and the back of the card:

On each of the sides I added strips of Gold cardstock decorated with the same pattern paper that I had used on the panels, just alternating it, to create pockets that I could put tags in. I die cut out some gold tags to fit the pockets, and decided what I wanted to decorate them with. On the middle panel at the back of the card I added a cream piece of paper to write a message or a greeting on. I used matching green ink to create a slight border around the edge of the cream panel.

The tags on the front of the card, (both front and back of the tags):

The tags on the back of the card, (both front and back of the tags):

Because the card ends up being rather bulky, I decided to make a matching box for it, as supposed to a "roomy" envelope.

All in all I am rather happy with the end result!

Saturday, April 24, 2021

Mixed media card

I had an extra stamped and die cut flower sitting on my desk after making the Tri-Fold Window Card the other day, and figured that I would use it as a topper on a mixed media background that I was making. I have been wanting to make a background using a stencil, some ink and glimmer paste for a while, and felt that mixing those would make a perfect background for a flower like the one I had left over from that other project. I started by coloring the flower using watercolor brush pens, before chosing the color for the background. Since we have a "green" color challenge going in our FB group, I decided to go with a green background. I chose a stencil that I liked, and used some Ranger Dye Ins to fill in parts of the cardfront through the stencil. I then went over some of the inked up parts with Nuvo Glimmer Paste, to create some extra dimension to parts of the cardfront. Holding the flower approximately where I wanted it to go, I thought the end result would be a bit too simple, so I decided to stamp some text in a different shade of green underneath where the flower would be placed. I then added some foam tape to the back of the flower before adding it to the cardfront. The card was finished off with some half-parls in two different shades of green. A very simple, yet in my opinion, a great looking card.

Friday, April 23, 2021

Rain or Shine

Todays card is a simplified version of yesterday's Tri-Fold Window Card. I decided that I would make a regular top fold card, but instead of using two card bases to make one card, I decided that I could acheive the same "window look" by attaching a piece of die-cut-in-to card stock with the matching image stamped onto the card base underneath. If adhered on to the card base with foam tape, it would look like you were seeing the stamped image through a window. This time I used a stencil to create a special effect on the front, and then I chose a coordinating stamp/die set that matched the stenciled background that I had made. I created a rainy day, and chose sentiments to match the "mood" of the card. I finished it off with some "bling", and in the end I had a card of encouragement.

Tri-Fold Window Card

Just a couple of quick and simple cards today, based on a Tri-Fold Window Card video I watched yesterday with Lisa Curcio from Lisa's Stamp Studio. The reason for trying this style card out, was that I was in need of a fairly quick card to make, as I needed a Birthday Card for a crafting friend ASAP. As always when in need of ideas, I have a look on YouTube, and yesterday I came across this striking, however, fairly simple card. It is a Tri-Fold, which means that it opens up first once:

then once more:

To make a card like this you will need two equal sized card bases. In one of them you are going to be creating the so-called window. This is done by first stamping the image on to the card front, before die cutting it out. It is really smart to use a stamping platform when doing this, as the the same image is also going to be stamped on the second card front. This time the card front will be facing the opposite way, that is, with the opening facing up. The second card base will eventually be glued inside the first card base, so that the stamped image can be seen through the window. Lisa Curcio uses a beautiful coordinating floral stamp/die set from Stamping Up, and she didn't need to first stamp the outline of the image and then color it in, like I had to. I colored the flower with Copic Markers, and decorated the top and the bottom of the card with some glitter paper and a silk ribbon. To finish the card off, I adhered some matching gemstones. Since it was supposed to be a Birthday card, I stamped suitable greetings inside the card.

Thursday, April 22, 2021

Double Gatefold Card, using Graphic 45 Fairy Wings Collection

I'm in this Facebook Card making group where one of the members is always sharing the most beautiful cards using various patterned paper collections. She is an expert at making cards that showcases the papers of her choice. One of the makers of pattern paper that she uses a lot is Graphic 45. I have purchased some of their papers, but up until recently I haven't had any, but one, of their collections. However, after seeing all the beautiful cards that the group member have posted, I decided to try to get a hold of the Graphic 45 Collection called "Fairy Wings". Unfortunately, when the collection arrived, I was stomped for ideas of what card to make. I watched loads of tutorials on YouTube before I decided on making something as simple as a Double Gatefold Card. I find that a huge part of cardmaking is actually deciding on which card to make! Then the task of choosing which papers to use follows closely. I started out by picking my main paper, and chose the colors of the mats to best accompany the papers of my choice. When I was in the process of assembling the card, I wasn't really sure that a double gatefold was the best card to show off the papers I had chosen, however, I couldn't change my mind that far into the card. so I stuck with it, and the result is at least something I can live with. Even though it didn't turn into showcasing the papers the way I had intended. I have a lot to learn;-)

Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Lattice Fold, using Graphic 45's "Fairie Wings" collection

I have been looking at cards using the lattice fold technique for quite some time. Now and then tutorials pop up in my subscription list on YouTube, but until now I haven't found the corage to try it out. To do this card, I followed a tutorial by Sam Calcott of Mixed Up Craft, like I so often do when I think something looks quite hard. And once again she has provided a nice and easy-to-follow tutorial, for crafters, like myself, who worry that techniques will be too difficult to do. See the link to the tutorial below. I wanted a card that would showcase more of the papers from Graphic 45's collection "Fairie Wings", and I chose this card because I would be able to at least use the papers on two sides of the card, the front, and the back. The stunning papers speak for themselves as well, so I wouldn't need to cover it up with bold sentiments or anything like that.

I could have decorated the inside with pattern paper as well, but I chose to put in a piece of white paper, on which to write the message/greeting for the recipient.

Book Fold Pop Out Card

I have had the base for a Book Fold Pop Out Card laying around for quite som time now, and I finally decided it was about time to finish it up by decorating it. I had already made my mind up that the decoration needed to be a bunch of flowers, so I set out to produce plenty simple flowers. I have not taken the time to work on how to make striking flowers, so I have a lot to learn in that departement. However, my goal was't to have the most beautiful flowers, they just had to cover up the area I had in mind. I went with flowers in red, white, blue, yellow and purple, and stuck in a few green leaves here and there to complete the decoration. I also decided on heat embossing the little Norwegian sayings I had chosen for the card, in white, in order for it to stand out on my red background. As I so often do, I chose to finish the card off with some Nuvo Drops, white this time.

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Penny (not so much) Slider Rocker Card

A while back I had to come up with a card for my sisters 50th Birthday, and it took me quite some time to decide which card to make. I had just seen a lot of penny slider cards, and when Sam Calcott of Mixed Up Craft shared her beautiful combination of a Penny Slider and a Rocker Card, I instantly knew that was the card I wanted to make. I decided that I wanted clean bold colors, and went with red and white. I started by making the slider part, and was really happy when it seemed to be working just fine. The slider spun around the the entire circle track without any problems. So I glued it onto the card base and started decorating. Unfortunately, I quickly found out that the butterfly that I wanted to be the visible part of the slider, was to heavy, and just like that, my fully functional slider was no longer sliding like it should. The butterfly remained in the lower part of the slider track, upside-down for the most part. Dissapointed, but not defeated, I decided to glue it stuck where I thought it looked pretty. I finished the card off with red and white flowers, stuck on the number 50, and since the sliding track wasn't going to be used anylonger, I decorated it with some white Nuvo Drops. Even though the finished result wasn't really what I intended, I was quite happy with the end result. Here is the tutorial from Mixed Up Craft:

Paper Crafting by Heidi Angelika