Crafters Companion

I use a lot of  Crafters Companion products, ranging from their cardstock, glues, embossing folders and metal dies. Their centura pearl cardstock forms a base for the majority of my base card. At 300gsm, it scores perfectly with a lustrous sheen and looks elegant. I also love their A3 double sided printed cardstock which is great for construction and box making.

https://www.crafterscompanion.co.uk/

These easel cards where made using papers and elements from Crafters Companion the Downton Abby cd. The coin embellishments have been embossed with clear embossing powder to give dimension.

With this gatefold card I have used the Crafters Companion Create a Card Butterfly Garden die for the gatefold on pink centura pearl cardstock.

Inside the card I used a Tattered Lace shoe die, which came free in a craft magazine. I used a small flower punch on plum pearlescent paper for the bouquet of blooms.

For these cards I used a Crafters Companion Create a Card Beatrice die on kraft card. The centre lace border die was from The Works and I made the flowers using the Christmas Rose stamp from  Stamps by Chloe on vellum.

This last project was made using the cottage template by Crafters Companion. This was quite a quirky project, ideal for sweets. As you can see mine was stuffed with marshmallows and it held a lot of them. Would make a great gingerbread cottage or Halloween house for goodies.

Happy Crafting

Stamps by Chloe - Chloe Endean

Today I thought I would share another firm favourite of mine and that's stamps by Chloe. Her cards are always very sparkly and so pretty.

Chloe has her own range of Wow glitter embossing powder mixes which I have a good selection of.  I use the metallic gold and silver super fine embossing powders all the time as with all Wow powders they emboss really well and catch fine detail perfectly without doing dull, which can happen if you heat the powder too long.

https://www.chloescreativecards.co.uk/

I have a mix of spring and winter in this collection

With this card I used Crafters Companion black centura pearl cardstock and a layer of pink pearlescent paper. The Stamps by Chloe flower ring stamp has been heat embossed onto the co-ordinating pearlescent paper twice. I fussy cut around the edge of  the first flower ring so it left me with a pearlescent centre topper and then cut groups of the flowers out of the second ring, which were layered onto the first flower ring to give a little dimension. I like using Pinflair glue gel for dimensional projects. I finished the card of with some little black gems in the centres of the flowers.

Another card made in a different colour way with the Stamps by Chloe Flower Ring. This time it has been heat embossed onto vellum using the super fine Wow embossing powder. It has been layered up in the same way and has a piece of glitter backing paper and a white tonic centura pearl cardstock with a green hue. Finished off with co-ordinating pearls.

These cards were made using my absolute favourite of a flower stamp and that is the Christmas Rose, which at date of posting is still available on Chloes website. Its quite a big flower stamp which stamp beautifully and is so easy to cut out. On these cards I stamped onto Chloes Mars (red) pearlescent paper which is quite thick compared to other pearlescent papers I have used and has a rich lustrous rich sheen to it.

https://www.chloescreativecards.co.uk/stamps-by-chloe-sept010-large-christmas-rose.ir

 I used Versamark clear ink and rich gold super fine metallic Wow embossing powder to bring out
the fine detail of this stamp. I also used her pine branches stamp (which I'm not sure is still current, but if you can get hold of it I would recommend you do so as its very versatile and a fab stamp
 to use).  I watched Chloe demo making these flowers and wanted to recreate these on my cards.

After cutting these flowers out use a ball tool in the centre of the flower to give the flower a
 little shape. 

Then, pinch the centre if each leaf between finger and thumb to form a crease. Gently re-inforce
the shape of the flower by using the ball tool in the centre of each flower after you have finished
shaping the petals.

I use a foam mat when shaping my flowers. When you assemble them off set the petals. I use a
tacky pva based glue that dries clear when sticking them together, like Cosmic Shimmer acrylic glue.

I placed a co-ordinating gem in the centre of the flower and left my collection of flowers to dry before constructing my card.

The foliage branches behind the flowers were heat embossed with Chloe's Sparkling Spruce Wow powder mix embossing powder (which has flecks of gold in it) onto heat resistant acetate.

I used Ivory centura pearl cardstock and a Crafters Companion birthday sentiment for the card, along with some glittery peel offs for the names. As these cards were made for birthdays near Christmas, it seemed an ideal flower stamp to use. I these flowers have a real wow effect once you make them up.

This time I have used the Christmas Rose on ivory pearlescent paper and embossed it again with the rich gold super fine embossing powder. The card was made into a flower ring, inspired by the one Chloe Endean made with an acetate layer on each flower. I have to say I loved making this card.

I used heat resistant acetate to emboss the flowers in the same way I made the ivory flowers on pearlescent paper. It is a little more fiddly to shape and pinch the petals on the acetate but is worth it when you put your flowers together. The acetate layer gives such a beautiful delicate dimension to
the flowers which really stand out on the card. Apart from the pine branch foliage you really don't need anything else on your card as the flowers take centre stage.

I used Crafters Companion Timeless double sided cardstock for the card base as I wanted it to co-ordinate with the box I had made for the card. Gold mirri card and ivory centura pearl cardstock
was layered onto the card for a base for the flowers.  This card was made for another Christmas Birthday.

I do think that when you have put a lot of love into making a card for the receiver to enjoy, it should have a box to sit in. Cards like this will hopefully become a keepsake and thus need a box
 to go back into.

I have always scored my cards using my Crafters Companion Ultimate Pro. this was my first major craft purchase. For larger makes like boxes I use their A3 boxer board, it never fails me and I get perfect score lines every time.

The Christmas Rose stamps doesn't have to be used for Christmas, its a very versatile stamp as you can see here I have used it on two special birthday cards.

I have heat embossed these lovely flower stamps onto coloured vellum this time using the silver metallic super fine Wow embossing powder.

With vellum you need to heat emboss very gently, especially if it is not heat resistant as you will risk it buckling and shrivelling up if it gets too much heat. I love embossing onto vellum as it makes your flowers look so delicate and almost like frosted glass.

The detail on this stamp isn't lost using the vellum. This time I haven't creased the petals, just curled each petal gently from the edge using the end of a thin paint brush...would you believe. It does need to be gently so not to crease the vellum as you are going for a very natural curve.

I have used white (with a silver hue|) centura pearl cardstock and  Hunkydory rainbow shimmer mirri board. The dies are the Pretty Pearl circle dies by Tattered Lace. I have also use the same Crafters Companion birthday die.

Another card made using vellum for the flowers but this time for Mothers Day.

I used white (with a silver fleck) centura pearl cardstock, Hunkydory mirri cards and an Xcut heart die set. The silver swirl die was from The Dreamees.

These are some of the products used:-

   



If you have any questions about making these flowers or the products I have used, I'd be happy to answer them.

Happy Crafting

The Glitter Girls Embossing Boards

Finding The Glitter Girls along my crafting journey has formed a staple part of my crafting.

 I watched Barbara Scarlet & Kathy Mills on Create & Craft one day and was mesmerised by the stunning cards they produced.

By using a special embossing tool that fit in the channels of the board you created dimensional layered cards of different shapes by embossing onto cardstock. This is especially effective when using pearlescent card.

Even though The Glitter Girls are no longer trading, these very talented ladies are still very much crafting and giving inspiration to others as they have always done. As for the boards, certain ones are still very much sought after.

Once these layers had been cut out, you would then start layered up your card as some of the examples below.





This was one of the earlier cards I made using the Fanciful Embossing Board. It consisted of 5 layers and was embellished with a decoupaged garden fairy by Debbi Moore. I have used a mix of mirri board and embossed Hunkydory cardstock for the back layer of the card which has been folded back.



These boards are double sided so you can make  two styles of cards and this particular one has a corsage  panel on the side.

I made the little shoes out of patterned paper using a template I found on Pinterest. I have used Crafters Companion centura pearl cardstock in baby blue and white.

With this card I have used different colours and a personalised verse, along with one of The Glitter Girls cards stand templates. I also used the Illusion box board Embossing Board to make the box. I have used blue and white Crafters Companion centura pearl cardstock

Another card with a personalised verse using the same boards but this time I took an Anne Geddes image, pyramaged it  and made a watermark of the image on the back of the verse. I have used pink and white Crafters Companion centura pearl card stock.

The most popular and I think most used of these embossing boards is probably the Bookatrix embossing board and is still a very firm favourite with Glitter Girl fans like myself.

As you can see it has layers like a book which would be joined together using red liner tape along
the spine.

Definitely the most used of all my embossing boards and as intricate as it may look to make a card with one of these, you can actually put it altogether quite quickly as there are no fiddly bits to cut out.

I often put an acetate layer on these cards as I like to find a verse, change it, add to it and then print it onto heat resistant acetate which in this case is Crafters Companion.

I have used Crafters Companion white & Turquoise centura pearl cardstock as I wanted to theme it along with Tiffany colours.  The flower frame is a stamp by Chloe Endean - Stamps by Chloe, which has been heat embossed a few times onto off white pearlescent paper using super fine silver Wow embossing powder and then layered up to give the flower ring dimension.

This is a very similar style of card using the Lavender centura pearl card, an acetate top layer again

with another verse and the same Chloe Endean - Stamps by Chloe flower frame stamp.

This time it has been heat embossed a few times onto heat resistant acetate using bright white Wow embossing powder and I have fussy cut a layer of the flowers to give dimension to the flower frame.

With this card made with the Bookatrix board I added an easel base to the card so that I could add a large handmade embellishment. I made the flowers using The Dreamees A Charming Cascade Flower Stamp set which was embossed onto vellum using fine bright white Wow embossing powder.

I specifically wanted a converse boot for this card so found a shoe template on Pinterest which I had to adapt to make it look more like a boot. I used a piece of canvas for the toe and edge of the shoe to give it texture and shrunk the logo to fit on the boot.

This time I have made a wedding card, used peach and white centura pearl pearlescent card,

 an acetate panel and inked up some paper flowers to co-ordinate with the cardstock.

On this birthday card I have layered the centura pearl pearlescent card with vellum layers which have been printed from The Dreamees Sensational flowers CD.
I have heat embossed one of The Dreamees Recipe stamps onto matching pearlescent card using superfine gold metallic Wow powder. I managed to find a piece of lace to co-ordinate perfectly for the spine of the card and for the flowers.
I used a mix of Dreamees flower sets to make my flurry of blooms which have been heat embossed with the same embossing powder onto papers from their Sensational Flowers & Pretty Pets CDs

• A Charming Cascade Stamp Set
• Sensational Flowers Stamp Set
• Blossoming buds Stamp Set
• Recipe Bundle Stamp Set



  

http://www.dreamees.org.uk/

I love this image. Its from the Glitter Girls Vogue collection but can also be found on the Just Ladies CD and these images were made to fit perfectly on the embossing board collection. This embossing board is the The big Screen.

I have used black centura pearl pearlescent cardstock, burgundy Kanban Candy Core brocade card and an acetate layer.





The Big Screen Embossing board, Vogue topper, Chocolate centura pearl cardstock, gold mirri  board, embellishments to finish off.

This card was made with the other side of the Big Screen Embossing Board and the lovely topper is from The Glitter Girls Vogue collection CD (also on the Just Ladies CD). This style of card is still a show stopper but as it is flat makes it ideal for posting, finished off with some pearls, it really didn't need much added to this card. The image has a Grace Kelly look about it.

these days and still very sought after. This board has 3 templates on it and is a fair sized board.The finale of boards to showcase has to be the special edition Once Upon a Time Board, which appears to be very rare.

I needed to make a vintage wedding card and this board fit the bill perfectly. I used 5 layers of this board and a mix of white & Ivory centura pearl cardstock with ivory wedding print themed vellum.

A card like this needs to sit on a stand and used some ivory vintage wedding lace down the centre of the spine.  I added some cream/peach vintage paper roses which I glittered the edges of the petals with a Spectrum Noir clear overlay pen to make them glisten a little and finished it off with some embellishments and a printed personalised acetate verse.

I made the box using by Crafters Companion Box Board but used the Bookatrix embossing board to make the panel in the box. The box was made from some A3 Crafters Companion double sided Timeless cardstock which has a beautiful coated finish.

https://www.crafterscompanion.co.uk/


With die cut machines being the way forward and metal dies readily available to create these style books now, like many Glitter Girls followers, I still use my boards and have no intention of getting rid of them anytime soon!

I hope you've enjoyed an insight into some of my favourite makes using these boards.

Happy crafting.