Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 113 - You've been framed!

It's my turn to host the challenge at Crafty Cardmakers and more... today. 

I have chosen the theme 'You've Been Framed', and would like to see a prominently displayed frame on your project, this can be stamped, die cut, or made up of other materials, or you could decorate an actual frame.

Now, as I have previously said here, I have far, far too much stash.  So, my mission for the forseeable future is to try to use some of it up!

I have made a Mother's Day card with a difference - and the difference is that it isn't mounted onto an opening card, because it was going to be encased in a polybag and taken to the cemetery on Sunday.  It's almost two years since my mum died, and I still find it hard not to make her a card...

So the base card is a textured gold heavyweight card from my stash.  Onto this, I layered a Hunkydory Adorable Scorable backing card with a gorgeous amber rose on it.  The only problem with using this was that my frame then covered up the lovely buds - so I cut round them, which meant they could be lifted so that the frame would slot in underneath them!

This worked really well and I will remember the technique for the future.

The frame itself was a combination of dies - Nobel Rectangle -  from spellbinders.  I cut the frame itself out of a heavy white cardstock and then added colour using vintage photo and walnut stain distress inks.  I added a combination of gold and copper pan pastel over the raised elements.  Underneath, I glued a textured gold piece of backing card cut with the same base die. 

In my stash I had some vintage toppers (also Hunkydory, I believe) and I mounted this one, which had a real look of my mum when she was younger, onto the frame with foam pads.  Finally, I used a gold peeloff greeting, and some corners.

We are sponsored by 

SIR STAMPALOT

With these wonderful prizes

Singlz Embossing Folder

Square Frame Wood Mounted Stamp

Quick Frames Poinsettia Stickers
 

Sir Stampalot is a retail shop and online website that specialises in stamps, die cutting and paper-crafting goodies.  We try to offer exceptional delivery times on your orders as well as keeping our stock fresh, new and exciting!  Our dedicated team of card makers means we have a wonderful, inspirational online card gallery with many more cards still to upload!  Sir Stampalot ships internationally as well as domestic so why not check us out if you haven’t already – www.sirstampalot.co.uk.   Happy Crafting!

and also by

DI'S DIGISTAMPS

with a $12 gift voucher

I have been drawing since a child and studied graphics at College many years ago, I now work as a Medical photographer part time but my love was always drawing. I started cardmaking about 4yrs ago when I bought my daughter a cardmaking kit which we did together, but I’m afraid I got the bug! My daughter preferred scrapbooking. I then started looking online at other blogs and this then became my passion and I loved sharing my cards with like-minded people.
I love stamping and loved finding images, but sometimes I could not find what I wanted so I started to draw myself.
This then has become my second addiction and I have never looked back, I love thinking of new images, and its just fabulous to see others take them and make them into beautiful works of art. Long may it continue!

Using my stash - a birthday card

I've been having a sort out of my craftroom.  And I have come to realise that I have SO MUCH STUFF that I never, ever use.

So.  I have resolved that every single card I make from now on will utilise a different piece of my existing kit, be that stamps, or dies, or embossing folders.

This card, which I made for a friend's 70th birthday uses all three!

I have two favourite card sizes - the 6 x 6 square and the 7x5 rectangle.  On this occasion I chose to use a 7 x 5 base card, which I coloured using the stream adirondack inkpad through a stencil.  I really like this look as it keeps the colour tone but isn't too busy.

Then I ran a piece of Tim Holtz Kraft-Core (nostalgic collection) which I cut to size, through an embossing folder in my stash, and sanded it to distress it.  I wrapped some ribbon around the bottom right corner, and then matted  it onto some normal brown kraft card.  I made a bow from the same ribbon and attached it using a hot glue gun.

The embossing folder came with stamps, so I stamped out the extra butterflies and embossed them with fine gold detail powder. They were then cut out and stuck over their "mates" on the embossed card.

Next I chose a dielite die to make my sentiment base.  I stamped my sentiment (from a set by Crafters Companion) onto a textured cream card which I cut out with the die and coloured with the stream adirondack ink in the centre. On the edges I used the lemonade adirondack just to darken it slightly so that the cream centre would stand out.  The sentiment was attached to the card using foam pads to raise it.

Also from my stash were some paper flowers, which I tinted slightly with the stream adirondack to match.   In the centre of the largest flower I put a very small 70 (the lady wishes the number was lower!)  In the centre of the others I used a tiny AB gem.   Underneath the flowers I put a swirl, cut from a dielite die using the Kraft-Core surplus,

Finally using the same cream card as for the sentiment, I cut a small tab for my greeting.  The edges were coloured with the stream ink, and it was then mounted onto an offcut of the Kraft-Core card.  I used two AB gems as "brads" and the whole thing was mounted underneath the topper using a foam pad.

Storing dies

Over the past few years I have acquired a LOT of dies.  Not as many as some people, but a lot by my standards.  When I first started collecting them, I had a metal board and I stuck all my dies on there using magnetic strips.   This worked ok - but the numbers grew and soon I had lot that didn't fit on my board.

So I experimented.  First I just kept them in tupperware boxes by type, but if you can't see them you don't use them.  Then a friend suggested using the metal cd box that I used to keep my promarkers in.  But I didn't see them, either.  And I got tired of going through the box.

So then I splashed the cash and got one of those folders from Crafters Companion with the magnetic sheets.  And that works really well - but the folder is SUPER heavy.  I've put most of my matting dies in there though, and will get another couple of magnetic sheets for the remaining dies.  But I have a lot more dies that are one offs, or small sets, like flowers.  And I didn't really have the cash to go for another lot of sheets even if they would a) fit in the binder and b) I could lift it!

Halfway through loading the system with dies

Then my friend S happened to say that it was a shame there wasn't a system that let you move the sheets of dies around, like the poster displays in shops and I went off on a scouting mission.

First I bought a 10m roll of self adhesive magnetic tape, which I thought would be lighter than a whole sheet.  Dies don't need a lot to stick to as long as key points are covered.  This cost me £9.65 from a company on ebay.

Most of the wall mounted multi poster displays on sale in the UK were about £50 including postage - and that was a lot more than I wanted to pay for an experiment.  So I checked these out on ebay too, and on there found a company in Lithuania selling a plastic version for $35 (including postage) or around £21.  In a spirit of adventure I ordered it - and it arrived within the week.

So yes, it is plastic.  You get what you pay for.  But!  It also works really well.  There are 8 A4 poster holders (which you can use on both sides) and a sturdy plastic sheet is also supplied to go inside them.  I just put some grey board in there to give it some stability, and then stuck my magnetic tape at judicious intervals on the sheets.

Sadly, the plastic fixing that goes on the wall is not strong enough to bear the weight of the dies - like I said, you get what you pay for - even though to be fair, it would be fine with paper posters in it.  However, it stands up on my work top just fine - and sits neatly in my ikea expedit unit along with the two tupperware boxes I decided to keep for my small spellbinder die lites, memory box dies, and the cuttlebug thick dies, right next to the CC storage folder.

How cool is that?