Dazzled by Zebras

Hi Everyone

A lot of us can only imagine what it would be like to go on a safari in Africa.  I am hoping one day that I get the chance to see majestic animals in the wild.  The closest I have been to them in the wild would be the Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo, New South Wales, where they have more room to roam.

Finally I have a collection of papers and dies that I think do my photos from our trip some justice........

The WILD & FREE Collection by Couture Creations.

 I started with a piece of Ivory Ultimate Crafts Cardstock and die cut two full sets of the 'A Dazzle of Zebras' dies across the full 30cm.  Next I added the Zebra print paper from the Wild & Free Paper Collection pack to the back of the piece of cardstock I had just cut and adhered it to a full piece of Ivory cardstock.

 Next, cut two full sets of zebras in the Obsidian black cardstock.  I then heat embossed the die cut zebras with the Couture Creations Crystal Clear High Gloss embossing powder.  I double heat embossed the die cuts to give them more depth and looked more 3D. I then glued them into the original die cut panel. I then added a strip of the patterned paper with the green and blue peacock feathers to the top and bottom of the banner of zebras.

I selected several different flowers from the Couture Creations bulk flower range and inked them up in matching blue and green to match in with the peacock feather patterned paper.  To blend the inks into the flowers better I spritzed them all with water and then dried them off with my heat gun. The phots below show the before and after the water spritz.

As I put the layout together I decided it need something extra.  I used the Forest Frame die and cut two frames, one in Cyrpess Pine and one in Battle Fatigue cardstock.  I cut them down to use along either side of my mounted photo. 

To finish I added a title in chipboard letters and drew around the edges of the page.  

 

PRODUCTS USED

CO724820 - Wild & Free - A Dazzle of Zebras die

CO724823 - Wild & Free - Forest Frame die

CO724852 - Wild & Free - 12x12" Paper Collection

CO724959 - Embossing Powder - Crystal Clear High Gloss

CO724290 - Bulk Flowers - English Rose 1.5cm

CO724293 - Bulk Flowers - Tie Dyed & Jewelled Florettes 3cm

CO724295 - Bulk Flowers - Cottage Pollen 7cm

CO724297 - Bulk Flowers - Camden Cottage Roses 3cm

CO724301 - Bulk Flowers - Beaded Flower W/Script Print 4.5cm

ULT200087 - Ultimate Crafts Cardstock - Ivory

ULT20007 - Ultimate Crafts Cardstock - Obsidian

ULT200031 - Ultimate Crafts Cardstock - Cypress Pine

ULT200039 - Ultimate Crafts Cardstock - Battle Fatigue

CO721961 - 12mm Foam Mounting Tape
CO721985 - 6mm Double Sided Tape

Until next time... keep crafting

Anita

Pinks and blues... and Seashells too

Hi Everyone, I created a gorgeous card using the Sea Breeze papers and dies, teamed up with some of the beautiful flowers and using one of the Anna Griffin range of stencils designed for Couture Creations.

 

Have you tried the new Couture Creations card bases yet? They are wonderful.  It is great that you get prescored card bases and matching envelopes in a set of 50.  There are several different sizes and colours to choose from, white, cream and kraft, square rectangle and long.

For this card I used one of the white square card bases.

I selected two matching prints from the 6" paper pad,  A Windy Beach and Deep Seas and Whirling Winds. 

Cut down the Deep Seas and Whirling Winds paper to just slightly smaller than the card base and distress the edges. With the A Windy Beach piece cut off opposing corners of the paper and distress the edges.  See my picture below.

Next cut out two of the Sandy Border diesusing a coordinating peachy pink cardstock to match.
I have just gotten hold permanently of one of the new Couture Creations Go Cut and Emboss machines.  Oh my goodness!!! They are just so beautiful to work with.  The cut on it with the dies is phenomenal. It is so light and now takes pride and place on my craft desk.
Next, attach the two die cuts Sandy Border to the reverse of the A Windy Beach paper.
Attach the spot paper now with the dies adhered to it on to the square patterned paper.  See below.  Once adhered trim off the excess of the Sandy Border that overhang the edges.  Then adhere to the card base.

Next, I took my Anna Griffin stencil, Arabesquie, and with some texture paste add some elements to the corners of the spotted paper.  I had some matching coloured texture paste in my stash but if you only have white you can colour it with powders or inks. Set it aside to dry.

I then took one of my Cottage Pollen large flowers and four of the small 3cm Tie Dyed and Jewelled Florettes flowers and inked them in matching colours.  For the large Cottage Pollen flower I used both a teal ink for the edges and a salmon/peach pink for the centre.  For the small Tie Dyed and Jewelled Florettes I inked the edges in the teal ink.  I then totally soaked the flowers in a pearlised mist so that the inks soften and they got a gorgeous finish to them.  To speed the drying process up I blasted them with my head gun.  You will see how lovely they look in the closeup photos.  I also grabbed a couple of other flowers from my stash and inked them in the salmon/peach ink and used the pearlised mist on them too.

To finish the card I added the flowers in between the two stenciled accents and added a couple of white sprays in amongst the flowers and I was done.
When making my cards now I hold off with a sentiment on the front until I have the need to use it for someone.  I then have a myriad of cards to chose from and only need to put a fitting sentiment on the front.

Products Used

CO724651 - Sea Breeze - 6" paper pad

CO724696 - Sea Breeze - Sandy Border

CO724293 - Bulk Flowers - Tie Dyed and Jewelled Florettes

CO724295 - Bulk Flowers - Cottage Pollen

CO724824 - GoCut and Emboss Machine

CO724884 - Anna Griffin Stencils - Arabesque

CO724845 - Square White Card Base

CO721984 - 12mm Double Sided Tape

CO723816 - Craft Glue Dots

Thanks for stopping by

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 Until next time..... keep creating

Anita 

xx

Dream Big

 

 Hi Everyone, hope you are having a wonderfully crafty week.  

I am sharing with you one of, I would have to say, my favourite layouts that I have done in a long time.  It is showcasing the wonderful Sea Breeze collection that has not only wonderful dies, but also papers, embossing folders and embellishments.  It is the perfect packaged set.

 

 TO START I selected one of the gorgeous papers in the Collection Paper pack and using a sunburst stencil and texture paste added some some highlights to the paper.

If you want the drying process to speed up use your heat gun, however be careful so that the paper doesn't buckle.  If it does, I find turning the paper over and warming it up helps bring the paper back into shape again.

I then chose a couple of pearlised/shimmer sprays to spritz over the paper.  Below are a couple of photos that show how pretty the paper looks once spritzed.

Next I chose a selection of papers from both the 12" and 6" paper pads that matched in with the background paper I chose. I tore some and cut others and then inked the edges.

 After mounting my photo on some white cardstock, I then took the photo and my bundle of patterned papers and layered them to see how I like the look together.  So that I didn't forget the finished layering I took a quick photo .

I can't help myself when it comes to the Couture Creations flowers, and this layout was no different. I love the Cottage Pollen flowers and those centres, yum, but didn't want the entire flower, so I just used the centre petals.  Keep the rest as you just need to add a bit of bling or embellishment to the centre and you have another larger flower for another layout.

I inked around the edge of my now smaller flower.  See the before and after flower below. I made two for this project.

I fell in love with the Seashells dies and just had to use them in this layout.  I only chose one of the seashells to use along with the starfish.  I cut out two of each in two coordinating colours. Next I glued them done on to the alternative colour and fussy cut around each of them.

How gorgeous do they look!!!!

 Finally just put it all together.  I glued all the paper down and mounted my photo on mounting tape to make it pop.  I added a couple smaller flowers and heat embossed my title, added a metal charm and one of the cabochons and I'm done.

 I hope you like what I've created.

Below are some more close ups of the layout.

 

Products Used

 CO724732 - Sea Breeze - Metal Charms

CO724679 - Sea Breeze - Cabochons

CO724690 - Sea Breeze - Seashells dies

CO724905 - Sea Breeze - Collection Pack of Papers

CO724650 - Sea Breeze - 12x12" Paper Pad

CO724651 - Sea Breeze - 6x6" Paper Pad 

CO724295 - Bulk Flowers - Cottage Pollen

CO721984 - 12mm Double Sided Tape

CO724389 - Turbo Precision Glue Pen

CO721964 - 12mm Foam Tape

Thanks once again for stopping by.

Come visit again tomorrow to see another wonderful creation from the Creative Team.

Anita xx

 

5 Today

#couturecreationsaus #ultimatecrafts 

Hello Hello, I am really enjoying this cooler weather here in Brisbane, and I know it sounds strange but it has boosted my creative streak.  I have been playing quite a bit lately using the new releases from Couture Creations and today I am sharing with you a layout I have created using the 

IT'S A BEAUTIFUL LIFE collection of dies.  As my layout is from my niece Lilli's 5th birthday party I have used the balloons and cupcake dies.

From my paper stash I selected a background paper and some matching plain papers that matched my photo.  I think spritzed the background paper in a yellow and a pink shimmer spritz.

 

From the four matches plain papers cut out the two cupcakes in each of the colours.  I took the cupcakes that I die cut and sprayed them with adhesive and then sprinkled them with glitter and 

set them aside to dry.  I also cut out four of each colour in the balloons and used added a little bit of crystallina glitter glue to the balloons with my fingers to keep it minimal. You will notice when die cut the balloons there are two little stars.  I kept them as I attached them over the finished layout.

 

Once dry I added glue to the bottom edges of the cupcakes and attached them to the left side of my base paper.  I don't like to totally glue the die cuts down as leaving parts of it 'loose' it gives the page more dimension.  You will be able to see this in a couple of the closeups below. I then added some of the balloons throughout the cupcake dies.

I mounted my photo on foam tape and added the finishing touches to the page.   

Below are a few closeups of my finished page.

 

PRODUCTS USED:

 CO724514 - It's a Beautiful Life - Cherry Cupcake

CO724511 - It's a Beautiful Life - Birthday Cupcake

CO724510 - It's a Beautiful Life - Balloon Corner

CO721971 - Glitzn Glamour Glitter Glue - Cyrstallina

CO721963 - 18mm Foam Tape

CO724389 - Turbo Precision Tip Glue Pen

Don't forget to join 

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for all the latest updates from Couture Creations.

Thank you for stopping by today.  

Come back again tomorrow for another wonderful creation from the Design Team. 

Until next time... keep crafting

Anita