Best laid plans....

Well, at my last post there were still three weeks left of the school hols. Now we've been back at school nearly a week, and I don't know where the last month has gone. Not to plan, that's for sure. Various things conspired to keep me from doing all that I wanted to, and the only crafting I did was to help my four year old grandson make birthday cards for his mum & dad. And a good job he made of them too!

A major problem was that my old laptop began to malfunction so much that it is not really safe to use now, and I had to get a new one. Not that I'm complaining about that! The new one is great, but of course I have had to spend a lot of time getting to know it & transferring everything from the old one.

However, it is now up and running, and I have managed to make two cards this week. Just as well, seeing as I will be restarting my card class tomorrow, after the summer break!

The first card was a belated one for a friend & I didn't have time to stop & photograph it. For the class I decided to have a go at a tri-shutter card, as illustrated on the Splitcoast Stampers website. It's one of those things which looks very impressive but is in fact quite easy to make (fortunately!). I am still trying to use up stuff from my stash, ahead of a trip to the Great Northern Papercrafts Extravaganza in Harrogate this coming weekend, and mostly succeeded on this card. The background paper I've had for years. It's by Provo Craft, from long before the Cuttlebug came on the scene! Sally & I have been very good, & haven't been to any other shows this year. (Well, ok, I went to a teeny tiny one in Nottingham several months back & hardly bought anything much, so I'm not really counting that.) We've been saving ourselves for Harrogate. The thing is, having just bought the laptop, I'm going to have to be very careful about how much I spend there....

Criss Cross Cards

Looking for something a bit different to do with my class, I came across this tutorial by Beate Johns on the Splitcoast Stampers website. (The SCS site is definitely worth a look, as it has lots of ideas, techniques and galleries for inspiration.)

Instead of opening in the usual way, the criss cross card forms a pocket to hold an insert upon which a message can be written. There is obviously great scope, then, for decorating both pocket and insert. In her tutorial Beate has used printed papers. I have such an amount of papers that I really should start to use them, instead of just admiring them, so I thought that these cards would be just the thing. I have made three so far, with a combination of papers and stamping. I used some more of my prize Elusive Images Damask Blocks, and that Martha Stewart punch also made an appearance.













I made the orange one first, then when I'd got used to the method it was quite easy to change the size and shape to make the different designs. I think they make a nice change from conventional cards, and I really do have lots of papers to use up, so I don't think these will be the last I'll be making!