Hi

Hi, Thanks for dropping by.

My name is Eileen but to friends in the card making world I'm known as 'ikki'. (which is pronounced I-KEY) From where or how this came about I'm not sure - it just got shorten from my original craft name of Ikemo by various friends along my crafting way! I started crafting whilst recouperating from an accident, and from my first attempts with peeloffs and paint - I was hooked! Now my passion is my BUG! and now BEADING!

In the Cupboard you will find ideas, news, tips and techniques to help you get more from this fab little machine. So come in - join the fun and Cuttle with me!


Monday 29 June 2009

Spellbinders Wizard Butterfly Dies

I love working with dark textured cardstock - ideal for that difficult man card!

I started with a tent fold 5.1/2" square card and with my Spellbinders Pierceabilities - Butterfly Die (attached with low tack tape to hold the stencil) cut, embossed and pierce the bottom edge of the card. Depending on the thickness of the card you may have to run this through a couple of times.

For the top border I used a CB Frills border folder and a MFP.

By embossing both the front and back of your cardstock you get a great start to your inside!!!


Your base card now looks like this









Now for my embellishment. Spellbinders Butterfly Dies.
The set consists of 3 dies.


Using silver mirror card embossed with the CB Happy Birthday folder, cut the two smallest dies as shown. I found it impossible to get a decent piccy as you will see!






With the largest and middle make a frame.


Fix the middle die to the card.



Add a 3d pad to the smallest butterfly - place on top. Raise the large butterfly frame with double 3D pads to give a tunnel effect.


My finished card. With using the Cuttlebug Happy Birthday folder I don't need to add a sentiment.

Hope you like this one - your comments or views are always welcome and much appreciated. Thanks for dropping by - hope you'll come back on Tippy Thursday.

Thursday 25 June 2009

Tippy Thursday - Spellbinders New Dies

Just in case you hadn't heard the news - Spellbinders are introducing some new dies that are absolutely fab! Boy oh Boy will we want these!!! Check out these links for previews and to enter comp to win one.



Spellbinders Introduces:
Shapeabilities Pendants Blog Frenzy
June 22 through June 29th, available for ordering June 30, 2009


June 23, 2009 – Debbie Olson
http://debbiedesigns.typepad.com/

June 24, 2009 – Michelle Wooderson
http://michellewooderson.blogspot.com/

June 25, 3009 – Keri Lee Sereika
http://pinklemonade.typepad.com/my_weblog/

June 26, 2009 –– Sherry Cheever
http://sherrycheever.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/

June 27, 2009 – Heidi Blankenship
http://embellished-dreams.blogspot.com/

June 28, 2009 -– Linda Duke
www.lindaduke.typepad.com/

June 29, 2009 – Jennifer Davis
http://www.preservationarts.com/

No tips could better this one!


Sunday 21 June 2009

Cuttlebug and Wizard bits and pieces

I'll just make a card you think - no prob when I had my Bug 18 months ago. Then I would just emboss with a folder I fancied and done! BUT, these days I have collected so much Cuttlebug and Wizard bits and pieces that some times I forget just what I actually have in the drawer - AND, worse NEVER USE!!!

With this card I tried to use as many different elements as I could without going OTT.

I started with Navy Texture cardstock cut to make
a 6" x 6" card. With the Frills button border I emboss both
the front and back spine which gives a embossed inside panel.
Use a scoreboard to edge the border - this also gives a good edge for your paper and finishes off the border.







Difference sized Oval Nesties made the aperture, frame and tag.
Number and Letters - Olivia Alphabet










Just a Fancy Corner die to add to the book looking card
and finished! This would make a good layout for a front of a scrap album. The papers are Boxer by Basic Grey - they are bold, colourful patterns that make ideal male cards.

Making cards for our men folks always make you think what can I use ??? what can I do??? This turned out well and I was pleased that I had used some of those bit and pieces in the drawer! Happy 40th Phil.


Hope you all have a great creative crafting week.

Thursday 18 June 2009

Emboss and Deboss with your Wizard Dies - Tippy Thursday

Did you know that you can deboss with Wizard dies as well as emboss?

If you would like to know how to emboss straight on to your card you can check how to do this here

I have been playing around with my Squares and these are the results that I acheived.
I have photed the dies as you would place on your card to emboss or deboss a pattern


Deboss - both dies used with the cut side up










Emboss - both dies used with the cut side down









Deboss and Emboss - using the outer die cut side up and the inner die cut side down







Emboss and Deboss - using the outer die cut side down and the inner cut side up













Results using one die cut up and the other cut down you get an emboss and deboss pattern







Using both dies cut up or cut down you get either a emboss or deboss pattern









The Sandwich I used is slightly different - BUT THIS WORKS IN MY BUG

A Plate/ B Plate/ TAN mat/ Card/ Die (face up or down)/ Shim/ B Plate

If the die (dies) is face up in the sandwich - the shim actually saves cutting into the B Plate!!!

Interesting! I'm sorry about the poor quality of the pictures - I thought that coloured card would show up better - it didn't - but I think you will be able to see the results of my experiment by clicking on the picture. For a clean, simple, but at the same decorative card, this way of using your Wizard dies could be very useful. You could either stamp the centre panel, or add decoupage, or a sentiment, or an embellishment of flowers etc....lots of choices. Hope you'll try it and let me know how you get on.

Sunday 14 June 2009

Spellbinder Mega Curved Rectangle

The largest of the Mega Curved Rectangles dies is big enough to make a 5.1/2" x 4" card with an interesting edge. There are 6 dies in the set, and they go down in size by a 1/4". These are some of my new toys and boy did I enjoy playing with them!

For my card I used:
Cardstock A4 cut in down the centre, folded in half and centre scored
3 Mega Curved Rectangles
2 Doodles
Cuttlebug folder Swiss Dots
Penny Black Stamp
Bitsand pieces

The largest die is placed to the centre fold - run through the bug
Sandwich: A B Card Die C


Depending on the thickness of the card, you may have to pass this through the Bug twice or...? I found that I did not have to emboss because of the thickness of my card.


Cut 2 of the smaller dies (for matting and layering) and also 2 dies from the Wizard Doodles set (you could use something similiar to these dies or omit, but they are new toys and I wanted to use them and you'll be seeing them again, and again, and again!)

Emboss.
Sandwich: A plate - die cut side up with card inside - Tan Mat - Shim (I use 2 but your machine might be different) - 2 B plates







Emboss the base card with the Swiss Dots (or a folder you like).To make this card a bit different, I decided that I would emboss both the front and the back so giving a pattern to the inside. It
worked well because you can get a continuous pattern with this folder. If you don't know how to do this check it out here.

Having said that, I forgot to take a picture! Sorry...but it did look good and then all I had to do was cut another of the rectangles for the greeting.








To complete my card I have used a Penny Black image which I think in called something like "Cat in Jungle". Perhaps someone knows the correct title? The pink and sage green colourway came out really well, and I think my colouring is improving!?!? Practice makes purrrr-fect my Gran use to say!

Hope you like this little fellow...

Wednesday 10 June 2009

Tippy Thursday - Nestabilities Labels

Hi, this week's Tippy Thursday looks at the Spellbinders Nestabilitie Labels. There are 6 different labels in the range and the names are more straightforward - perhaps Spellbinders are beginning to realise how confusing their names are.

The first Labels come in 2 sets and are just called Labels Large and Small.
Labels Large S4-168
Labels Small S4-169

They are meant to nest together to give a l/8" border difference

So to get a small border you do need both sets as the label on this card shows. With only one set the difference between the dies would be 1/4".



These are the other Labels in the range - all of these nest together with a 1/4" border

Labels One S4-161
Labels Two S4-162
Labels Three S4-189
Labels Four S4-190
All of the Labels in the range are great for matting and layering. The edges emboss well (with the Tan mat or an embossing pen) and give definition and interest to layers - the only drawback is that they are very "addictive" little beggers, get one - want all!

I have now detailed Circles, Ovals and Labels - and I think I'm about half way there! See you next week with more!!!! Happy die cutting,


Monday 8 June 2009

Spellbinders Butterfly Nestabilities

For my new Spellbinders Butterfly Nestabilities, I have to thank Liz from Making a Lasting Impression for sponsoring this project. I can highly recommend her as a very reliable and efficient supplier. In this day and age, it's good to find someone like her to buy from.

For this project you need a 4" x 4" card and various paper butterfly shapes. Position the largest butterfly die on the cardstock as shown taking care not to cut the centre fold. Stick the patterned paper to
the card front and inside front.








Open the card and emboss the back inside. You will need a Tan embossing mat to do this, or an embossing pen. If you are looking for a tan mat, which is the only one to use in the Cuttlebug - you can purchase these in a special 6" x 6" size at Making a Lasting Impression. What an appropriate name since the tan mat certainly does make a deep lasting impression!



On the front of the card I have used the small butterfly to make an aperture.






My finished card with a bit of wire, chalking and stamping.
I think these Butterfly dies would make lovely novelty cards for any occasion, or gift tags or for a journalling and embellishments on a scrapbook page.















I enjoyed making this card so much that I started again! This time I cover a 5 x 5 card with one of my treasured papers and and cut a number of different sized butterflies.





After sticking the large butterfly onto card I debossed with the Divine Swirls folder and cut out a small butterfly aperture and inserted a small gold butterfly for contrast.



Assembling the card was a crafting pleasure. A bit of wire, a few gems, chalk and a bit of cutting and glueing ... and I had this.....






I think my butterfly dies are going to be used a lot!!!

Hope you like these cards and feel tempted to try them. Happy Cuttling,