Christmas cracker from A4 card tutorial

Need a quick Christmas Cracker template to make crackers with your own 'larger' gifts?

Well this is what I came up with, it fitted all my oversized cracker gifts, but there was a risk of things falling out :(.

Anyway, these are quick to make and as long as you wrap your gifts in tissue paper they should stay inside...

Score an A4 sheet of card (landscape) 7.5 cm, 8.5cm and 9.5 cm from each of the left and right edges.

Fold in the card at the second (8.5cm) score mark, then mark (with a pencil) and cut at 1cm intervals up to the next fold.

Then cut at 0.5cm, diagonally across to the same point. Pull out and remove the off-cuts.

Fold down the card along the 7.5cm and 9.5cm score lines so that they create a valley fold.

Repeat on the other/side and lay flat.

Cut and stick red tape between the 3rd and 4th cm point along the edge of the card.

Peel off the backing of the tape, along the centre section and roll the card lining up the fold at the 4cm section along the fold at the top of the centre section. Stick down once you are happy it is in place and repeat at the bottom before doing the ends.

You can now decorate your completed cracker.

I created some simple stamped tags:

And here are some of my completed crackers...

... I'd love to hear your feedback if you make any crackers using this tutorial :).

More Christmas cards

Of course I totally under estimated how many cards I needed to send. So after the last batch (and post - see here) I had more cards to make, although also planning to hand deliver most of these as hadn't really made them in time for the last post and had to send off the other ones first!

Belated Christmas card making

So, I've been a little busy enjoying travelling through Cuba... completely forgetting to keep my crafty posts up to date - apologies!

If you are in interested in seeing what I have been up to, check out my travel site over at www.tiggerbird.com.

If you are stopping by for your craft fix, today I have my limited Christmas card makes to share with you. Anyone who receives one of these should consider themselves very special as I only made 20...

 

And finally, I just wanted to wish you a very Happy Christmas and Prosperous 2015! Will be back in the New Year with some more crafty posts.

x

White Christmas card

Yup, I have finally given in to playing with my new stamp set from Stampin' Up!, White Christmas. And this is what I came up with.

I'm probably not going to send Christmas cards this year... but watch this space!

Smash pages from Bled, Slovenia

I have another couple of pages from my smash book to share with you today. From my trip to Bled for my birthday. 

If you would like to read more about my visit here, head over to my travel site here.

I just have a few pages left to complete my travel smash book now :).

Smash pages from Malta

I've been catching up on some of my recent travels smash book pages so thought I would share a few with you. Last month I was in Malta...

And here's a close up of the unfolded first page:

Sage green themed baby boy quilt

Here you go, as promised, this is the beautiful quilt that my mum made for my friends little baby boy.

Simple, but really very cute with all those little animals.

Every little bit baby card

One of my good friends has recently had a little baby boy. You may remember the baby announcement cards I made as a gift - see here.

Today I have the baby card to share with you:

I've gone with Pool Party colouring from Stampin' Up! rather than a traditional baby blue card.  Check back in a few days for the quilt I commissioned my mum to make for baby Charlie.

Scooter card

Needing to create a card for a man is often difficult. This cute scooter comes from the Today and Everyday stamp set from Stampin' Up! And I've used some leftover DSP strips in the background.

Watercolours in the garden

Summer is over, but gardeners are still found pottering around outside at this time of year... and hence the idea for this card.

I've used an old stamp and coloured in a waterolour style using blender pens from Stampin' Up!

Baby hedgehog for a boy

I've been playing with my old stamps and came up with this card idea for a new baby. Of course there is a Stampin' Up! stamp in there somewhere too...

Get well cute elephant

As promised I have another card to share with you which uses the Patterned Occasions free stamp set from  the 2013 Stampin' Up! Sale-A-Bration event. Another get well card, using the cute elephant this time.

Would probably work for a new baby card too...

Recover rapidly

The stamp set I have used for this card was a freebie from Stampin' Up during their Sale-A-Bration event last year. The stamp set is Patterned Occasions and is very versatile, check back later this week for another idea with the same set.

Cupcake balloon

I've shared similar card ideas using the cupcake punch from Stampin' Up! before. But it's just so versatile, I couldn't resist another.

Great for men, the colours just need to be more masculine and a great way to use up some papers.

Quick cupcakes

I still love using my Create a Cupcake stamp set from Stampin' Up! and the co-ordinating punch that just makes is so quick and easy to make a card.

Here's a quick card idea I came up with to use up some scraps of papers. 

Rainbow Braid loom bands review

So, after trying a number of different brands of loom bands I was becoming a little frustrated with them snapping all the time, and worse still the colour quality being a little lacking on the 2 bags for a quid that I had picked up at the local market.

The loom band craze has taken the UK by storm and of course as a crafter I have being enjoying making bracelets and all sorts too.

I was recently contacted by Rainbow Braid, to trial and review some of their refill sets and was actually pleasantly surprised that they weren't just another company that had mass produced rubber bands of poor quality.

These bands are also latex free and come with a money back guarantee. 

What I liked most was the variety of colours and the added extra's of bands with glitter which allowed me to create a few bracelets with a little bling.

Here's a close up of the startburst bracelet made with the glittery bands:

And of course I couldn't stop with just bracelets... 

Yes, it is supposed to be a tigger!

A caring bear

Minion pen/pencil top

The Rainbow Braid bands are definitely of a good quality, reasonably priced and delivery was extremely fast from Amazon so I would definitely recommend. They are currently selling at a discount so worth grabbing some here.

The only downside was that I did struggle to get these bands to make small daisies. The number of twists was just too much for them and I had several snapped bands. However as I have yet to find a band that doesn't snap for this design I still haven't managed to achieve flowers for card making just yet but will keep trying.

Check back for loom band card ideas, as I am sure I can get these into a card some how.

Please be assured that although I received this product for a review, all opinions are my own and 100% honest.

World Card Making day 2014

So, what are your plans for World Card Making Day 2014 - yup, it's today!

I've been busy playing with my stash and trying to avoid looking at anything related to Christmas cards... as it's just too early. So here are a few quick cards that I came up with to stock up my card box with and so I can send them out from time to time. After all a handmade card is so lovely to receive and send and these could be used for many occasions with a different sentiment :).

Here's a close up (please excuse the photo quality!):

Materials:

Boho Blossoms punch from Stampin' Up!

Misc papers and co-ordinating card.

Personalised 70th for a cat lover

Today I have a commission to share with you that I was instructed needed to feature cat's for a 70th birthday. I've had a play with my new alphabet dies (Little Letters from Stampin' Up!) which I just love :).

Cute banners for a mum

I had a little play with the Banner Blast stamp set from Stampin' Up! last month and love the variety of cards it can be used for. Here's a cute birthday card idea:

Colours (all Stampin' Up!) - Wisteria Wonder, Marina Mist and Whisper White.

Gardening themed card

I needed an idea for a garden themed birthday card. I found some random vegetable DSP and this is what I came up with... not sure I like it, what do you think?

Golfing at 70

70th birthday cards and cards for men, not my forte. But here's what I came up with:

The numbers are embossed and if you look closely you will see the polka dot embossing on the  golf ball has been used in reverse.

A smashing visit to Amsterdam

I have some more smash book pages to share with you today... my book is almost full up now :).

There is certainly a lot of food featured here - yum!

Planning a trip to Amsterdam or want to see what I got up to there - check out my travel blog here.

Every little bit cards

The Every Little Bit stamp set from Stampin' Up! is still one of my favourites as it has something for everyone. I was in need of a couple of last minute cards so here is what I came up with:

A quick stamp and sentiment change and a couple of quick and easy cards. Change the colour and stamp and you can create something for any occasion.

On the road to happiness, again

The Road to Happiness stamp set from Stampin' Up! is so versatile for so many occasions and great for male cards. Here's a birthday card idea that I made last month.

Colours (all Stampin' Up!) - Marina Mist & Crumb Cake.

Smash pages from a visit to Dublin

Wow, I am so far behind on sharing my crafty endeavours with you! These pages date back to a visit to Dublin in May, although I didn't get around to smashing them until last month...

There's lots to do there other than drinking, honest!

If you are interest in seeing what I got up to in Dublin or planning a trip there yourself, then check out my travel blog post: Dublin: Beautiful day(s) in a city of culture and tasty tipples.

Baby announcements for a gift

Last weekend I went to my friends baby shower, but hadn't quite finished making the gift! I made a box of baby announcement cards that can also double up as thank you cards when the little one arrives. I hope they like them...

I've used the Henry Says stamp set from Stampin' Up! and created a background with the perfect polka dots embossing folder.

Hopefully also a fitting card for the Paper Crafting Challenges challenge with a 'Baby' theme. 

Just trying out the loom band craze

Apologies that the blog posts and my crafty adventures have dried up a little lately... hoping to change that.

When I returned to the UK from travelling in January this year the loom band craze was just starting to spread. I had already got my eye on those coloured rubber bands, despite them being aimed at kids, but managed to refrain from playing with them. 

A couple of months ago, when the Duchess of Cambridge was seen wearing a loom band bracelet, then David Beckham, then numerous other celebrities... it's went from craze to crazy! And of course I've jumped on the band wagon. Although I must confess my first pack was a birthday present - but once tried, I was hooked... 

I'm going to leave you with that thought for now... as I head off to enjoy a few more bands and see if I can progress from the 2 finger styles. Did you already get into the craze? I would love to see what loom band ideas and designs you have made - leave a comment here or email me at jadedcrafter@gmail.com.

Birthday Minion

Isn't this card cute (even if I say so myself!). A personalise Minion birthday card for a special 5 year old in this case, but it would work for a 50 year old if they are a fan of the film.

I've used a lot of punches for this card which made it easy and finished off with a little sponge daubing :).

Smashing from Copenhagen,Denmark

Wow July has flown past and I feel like I have barely had any time to craft. More scheduled posts to come this month as I have a few projects to share with you, including some smashbook pages. In fact my travel smashbook is almost complete so even more of an incentive to get crafting.

So here are the pages from my visit to Copenhagen. If you are interested in visiting the city at all, please do check out my posts over on my travel site here.

I'd love to here what you think of my pages?

1st wedding anniversary smash book

You may recall a previous post where I shared with you a first anniversary card and present idea that I had been working on for my best friend.

Well, today I thought I would share with you a few more pages from the smashbook that I made for their 1st anniversary - although having to be careful as there is a lot of personal info that I am sure they don't want shared on the web too much... excuse the squishing of pictures too.

First date page:

Proposal page:

Wedding hair:

Speeches: