3d Cot Step by Step

Here's a quick step by step for making my 3d cot.

Import the svgs into scal and cut. The inner header is only required if you want to mask while stamping or if you need to reinforce the card. The inner side is used to hide the tabs if you want to but I havent found it necessary.

Use a ruler and embossing tool to score between the dotted lines on the sides and mattress.

If you are making a cot with a solid headboard or kickboard now is the time to decorate. I cut the inner header purely to use as a mask while I used some peg stamps to add a patterned border. While I was stamping I also decorated the inner panel.

Once the sides are decorate you need to fold along the creased lines of the sides and stick the tab from one of the headboards to the side of the other side.

Add some strong dst to the edges of the mattress.

Very carefully line one edge of the mattress to the side. I watch from the bottom so that I can get the bottom of the tab lined perfectly.

Gently place the headboard and kickboard to the mattress taking care to line the underside. And finally bring the last side in and attach to the mattress and head/kickboard.

Now you're ready to add blankets & all the pretties.

I'd love to see any cots you've made with my templates.

Happy cutting.

Desk Tidy

First off apologies for the photos, there wasnt a single place in the house that had decent light today thanks to dark grey skys and lots of rain.

The instructions are a very rough guide to assembling my desk tidy. Because my template has sizes for 2 different boxes I wont be talking of measurements. You will need to be accurate with your scoring or cutting. The single drawer box is the easiest to make.

First off cut, score and sharpen the folds of the back. It's vitally important for the smaller box or if using 2 drawers that you cut away as shown in the pic.

Attach plenty of strong dst to the flap and bring flush the side. When you've attached both sides you will have a 4 sided box.

Next I assemble the drawer sleeves. If you are making a single drawer you will only have 3 sections this will just be for the sides and top. Score and fold then cut away triangles from the smaller sections.

Lots and lots of dst

Use some glue stick over the tape and carefully ease one corner into place. It's important that the tiny flaps meet the back and that the side is flush to the outer sides. The smaller box drawers arent square so make sure you have the sleeve the right way up.

One corner of the sleeve will be lose but that's right.

Next fit in the other sleeve.

Now to assemble the front panel. Sharpen the creases and cut away 2 triangles. I used a scallop punch to create a lip. Plenty more strong dst

Again using glue stick over the dst carefully place one corner of the panel into place. The sides & back must meet and the bottom has to be flush to the top of the drawer sleeves.

Glue in the other side and you should nearly be finished.

Normally with a box I would cut the sections a different way but this time you need the strength that folding the flaps clockwise will give. Just a case now of glueing the sides together and adding ribbons, eyelets or brads for handles.

You might find it easier to assemble the drawers first and wrap the sleeves around them as you're fixing the sleeves into place. You might also find it easier to attach the sleeves & front panel before bringing the back section together.

Stationary Box step by step

I'd love to claim this idea as mine but it isnt. I've seen many similar templates and diecut kits around but my favourite and the one on which I took inspiration from is Dannie She has a pdf template for a US sized box and 2 video tutorials on making them. It's well worth watching and may make some of my instructions a bit clearer.

Going back to my version.

I'm going to assume that everyone knows the basics of boxmaking and only show some of the more important steps otherwise we'd have ended up with 100+ boring photos and an awful lot of waiting for the page to load.





First thing you need to do is cut your back, front, sides and lid either by hand or with my svg patterns for scal. If you're cutting by hand you will need at least 4 sheets of strong but not too thick card. Scal will take 3 sheets of 12*12.





Once cut and all the fold lines are scored you will need to think about which areas are going to be on show and need to be decorated. Stick all your paper in place apart from the inside of the front. You'll need to do that last so you can attach all your ribbons and slots before sticking into place.






This is the inside of the back, because only the top area will ever show I've only stuck the paper part way down. All of the sides have been folded inwards and the creases sharpened with a bone folder.



Attach strong dst to the 2 small flaps and stick them to the inside of the sides of the back.

You'll now have this shape section, I've turned it upside down so that it's easier to photo. Some people find it easier to attach to the front now, others find it easier to add the sections. I'm going to show adding the sections first because it was easier to photo.

Next you need to attach dst to the 2 larger sections if making the box to fit a6 cards. Please pay attention to one of the panels not having dst. Or just the outer edges of the 6*6 section panel. The bottom inch or so will not be seen so I've saved on paper.

I find it best to rub some glue stick over the tape before carefully sliding them together as shown. It's essential to have them butted together precisely, I find it helps to hold them flat to the table.

Remove the dst from one side and butt the side and tab against the back. Again it's essential to be precise.

Remove the rest of the dst and again butt up against the back and side. If you've been accurate with your cutting and folding the section will be level with the cutaway section.

Repeat this with the bottom panels. You'll see on this photo I chose the smaller sections of the scal cutting pattern to leave me room to stand a pen. If you want to do the same when cutting by hand cut one of the sections 1.5cms smaller

Now I'm going to add the front to the back, as I said earlier you can do this before attaching the sections.

Add some strong dst to the flap that was on the bottom of the cutting diagram. Rub over some glue stick and carefully attach to the bottom of the back. It must have all the folds lined properly or your front will not fold up properly.

The lid is a standard box so I've shown no step by steps.

Now you'll want to start adding all your contents.

The more of these boxes I make the more tips I'm discovering.

1, don't add the decoartive paper to the inside of the front until you've worked out what's going to be attached, where and how you're going to attach it. Specially important if you need to poke ribbon/elastic through to hold pencils/rubbers.

2, Slots to hold memo pads are normally a great idea but because of how the front folds upwards the memo pads will slide out. Making a small lid helps as it will hold the pad in place while the box is closed as well as looking pretty. You will still need to cut 2 slits to hold the back panel but think about having them quite low towards the end of the pad otherwise you wont be able to remove it.

3, Larger & busier patterns seem to work better on the outside with pretty delicate ones inside.

4, If you've aquired the plain wooden pencils like the ones from Ikea or Argos they can be inked to match the papers quite nicely but make sure you let them dry for an hour or so before putting them in the box, you don't want inky fingers or pencils ruining all your work.

5, If you've cut by hand the back fold around section can look a bit unsightly. A border punch can help liven it up a bit but you don't want to cut too much away or fold it in on itself. This fold around is needed to stop the front crashing down once you have your pad attached.

I'm sure I'll think up some more tips as I'm making more boxes but if you think of any please leave a comment and share it with others.

from this to this

I've always enjoyed making pop out aperature cards and scal has made it possible to make them with fancy aperatures. This is my Bauble w aperature card base and I've used my new flourish bauble design to make a dangly for it. The flourish bauble isnt available yet but it will be in a couple of days.

In case you're wondering it's not a fancy card I just used my new Stampin'Up! snowburst stamp set with some lavender lace, pale plum and cameo coral ink to create the background. Not 3 colours I'd normally put together but I think they work well for a contempory Christmas.

One of the beauties of this sort of card is if you make 5 identical you can back to back them to create a star/lantern card. (I do wish the companies selling diecut bases & templates would all call cards by the same name as each other!)

I took it a little bit further than just sticking 5 together by adding larger base layers to create more interest when it's open.

It's a very time consuming card to make and it takes a lot of card & strong dst but they do make for a wow factor when you open them.

If you fancy having a go you'll need to cut 5 w aperature cards 5" high.
5 of the next layer, 5*10" and scored in the middle.
5 of the next layer, 5* 11" again scored in the middle
5 of the outer layer (when closed) 5**12" and again scored in the middle.
Plus extra card and ribbon to decorate.

Basically all you do is stick everything together along the side edges. I like to use strong dst covered with some glue stick. The glue stick gives me a few moments of slippy time when I can make sure all of the edges are flush. If anyone wants just email me and I'll post a step by step but I'm assuming if you have scal and a cricut you'll be familiar with how star cards work.



This is a close up of the flourish bauble. It took a sticky mat and nerves of steel taking these off of the mat as I'd cut a dozen all about 2" wide. I doubt you can see the detail but behind the aperature I used lavender lace ink with my new SU Sparkling wheel to decorate the cardstock on the layer below.

Here is the card all ready to go in a box for hubbys head office. Stamps and colours have already been mentioned but I also used a punches three sentiment stamp plus the matching SU punch and the new SU lacey edge punch.

sneaky peek

One of the items I've always wanted to make is a stationary case but all of the tutorials I've found online are for US size cards and as much as I love 3" notecards I have little use for them. So after many naughty words and an awful lot of wasted card I've finally got the sizes right for uk a6 & 6*6 cards.



Here is the inside of 1 variation and it's designed to hold a6 cards in the back section and has a space on the lower row to hold a pen.

I've made several variations of the inside, the back section also comes ready to place 6"sqr cards & envies and the front section comes as shown with space for a pen or with 2 sections going right to the sides.

While I was making the box I did take some photos and I'll be making a step by step tutorial here. It's not going to be an in depth tutorial though and I'm going to assume everyone is familar with basic box making. If you want to go shopping ready to follow the tutorial you will need to have 4 sheets of good quality 12*12 card stock and 3 sheets of coordinating paper to decorate. The tutorial wont be here until about the 13th Oct though, this is so the how to is a secret from a great bunch of ladies from Docrafts. They're coming here for a play day and this is what I'm going to have them making although they will be using my pdf version and cutting everything by hand from a4.

Magic wallet/secret message card tutorial

Magic wallets are sometimes known as secret message cards. They're very easy to make but require pin point accuracy with the cutting and folding so I thought they would make a good template for scal. Trouble was I hadn't made one for years and have spent the best part of the last year trying to remember how to make them or find a tutorial. I knew it was by slipping 2 sections into the base but that's all I could remember until I saw Michelle Marsden on tv making one yesterday. woohoo, it all came flooding back and here is the result.

For those who've never seen them they don't look that special as a photo but in real life they're great fun. When you pull either side they lay out flat and the middle section sort of turns in on itself to reveal the reverse and any hidden message/image you've added. They've got quite a surprisingly strong spring action as they fold in and out of themselves.

First import the base svg into scal at 5 or 51/2 inches high and cut. Now import the section at the same height, copy and paste a 2nd section or import again and cut. OR cut and fold the base by hand if you havent scal.

Fold to create a mountain in the middle and the gatefold score lines to create valleys.

If you are stamping as decoration now is the easiest time to do so unless you want to stamp over the sections together.

2 ways to insert the sections, neither are better than the other but sometimes it's easier to do it one way other times the other.

1) Bend the tabs so that the top and bottom are pointing away from the middle tab.

Now you need to slide the 2 sections into the loops created by the folds. This is where the accuracy is needed, too thin a section and you'll get gaps, too wide a section and you'll be gnashing your teeth trying to slot them in.

2) Lay the base flat and thread one section over & under and the next section under and over, as though you are weaving.

Once the sections are in place all you have to do is finish decorating but don't add anything thick to the centre sections as it will intefere with the movement of the card.

Of course you don't need to buy my svg template to make this card, just remember to score on the gatefold & centre lines and to cut slits between the gatefolds.

Side step card

It's been a bit hectic here over the last week while I've been sorting out the webshop. But I have found the time to play with a new design.

This is a scalloped double side step card and the svg template is available from my webshop.

I cut this one at 8" square which makes a 4*8 card. To decorate I used several of the Messy Rabbit stamps from Joanna Sheen, the scenery is from 2 of the village sets and Mrs Messy from the hunny bunny set. Once the images were stamped on to bristol board they were coloured with lots of different copics before being cut by hand and mounted with pinflair gel. The mat behind mrs messy was made with a fiskars texture plate.

I've only got a few more designs to upload to the webshop now so hopefully I'll be able to start making some new ones I have ideas for as well as some finished cards.

Woohoo, at last my webshop is on it's way

The title says it all really... my old isp host has finally converted the technical gubbins over to my new host and I've made a start moving all the files & pictures over to a dedicated webshop.

www.playingwithpaper.co.uk

As we speak I've only managed to upload the nested shapes and moving cards but I shall be adding more and more of my designs over the next week or so before I start playing about making it look pretty.

Touch wood, so far it looks like it's working properly and the files should be automatically emailed but if anyone spots a mistake please let me know asap.

Designs can still be purchased by emailing me for a paypal request or if you would prefer let me know which design and I'll bump it to the top of the list to add to the webshop.

fancy lattice card svgs

My first cardmaking technique was parchment craft and I fell in love with lace grid work. Sadly it's far too time consuming with some of the patterns taking upwards of 20 hours to make.

Thankfully electronic diecutters can let us mimic the lattice work, this series is based on a pattern you often see on radiator cupboards, a long way from parchment but it does make a nice fine trellis.

Each set is based on a shape, circle, square, rectangle, ovals and church door. Each set contains 2 base cards one with a shape made totally from the trellis the other with an outline of trellis and a solid middle.

The ovals, rectangle and church door was sized to a 5*7 card but if you don't mind the trellis changing proportion slightly they can be cut at any proportion.






Also included are a couple of outer window frames.



Cost per shape set, £1.00 or £4 for the set of 5 shapes.

This is slightly different in that it's a gatefold card shaped as a church door. This was cut at 5 inch high but for stability I would suggest a larger size, sorry create owners. Provided the scores are done correctly it does meet in the middle without any gap or leading edge.

The design comes as 2 svgs, one with the back as trellis the other filled in.

Cost £1.00