Bc ci09 9pagesection by Crafter's Companion

LOONEW K!

H CARDS H PAPERCRAFTS H HOME DÉCOR Craft expert ies Sara Dav ISSUE 9 SPRING

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73 FRESH

FREE CRAFT KIT WORTH

£50

IDEAS

To make with your free kit

TURN OVER TO SEE WHAT YOU CAN MAKE WITH YOUR KIT

ning n u t Make this beautiful butterfly card tonight!

FREE HEART DIES

£2,200 WORTH OF

PRIZES TO WIN!

FREE EMBOSSING FOLDER

FREE STAMP SET

CUTE DIGI STAMPS

FREE TUTORIALS DVD

FREE PAPERCRAFT CD Brought to you by the craft experts

ann’s Take Lme Sparkle Spectrtuerclass! mas

ISSUE 9

CONTENTS

57 27

PROJECTS 6 13

27 35 37

Pretty botanicals Create beautiful floral and butterfly cards using the digi stamps on your free CD Clever die-cutting Discover the versatility of your free Sara Signature Collection heart dies with these 5 fabulous makes Elegant embossing Use your lightning embossing folder and make cards full of love, light and sparkle to show how much you care Quick & easy cards Short on time? Make stylish cards in 30 minutes or less with this classy collection Sweet shakers Be romantic with fun shaker cards on a hearts theme using your free dies Stylish stamping Create texture and dimension with your free Sheena Douglass stamp set and take inspiration from beautiful butterflies Dapper men’s cards Make cards for the men in your life using the stunning Downton Abbey Collection of sentiments and papers from your free CD Colouring masterclass Follow our helpful guide and step-by-step photographs to maximise shimmer and shine using Spectrum Noir Sparkle pens

56 Love Sara Be inspired by Sara Davies’ ideas with her new Love & Romance Signature Collection 59 Trinket box treasure Use your papercraft skills to make a stunning jewellery tidy using ornate-style papers on your free CD 62 10 ideas with... 3D bows Make napkin rings, place settings, gift boxes and more with the versatile 3D bows on your free CD 66 Back to basics... distressing Give your projects an on-trend vintage look with beautiful designs on a travel theme 69 Home décor Brighten up a bedroom with a pretty mobile, birdhouse and hanging decoration 72 Cute digi stamping Have fun with faux and real stitched borders and create a set of adorable nature-themed cards 75 Découpage cottage Create a beautiful découpage design using a magical, country cottage scene from your free CD 78 5 ideas for... Mother’s Day Show your mum how much you love her with these stylish designs created using your free Sheena Douglass stamp set

meet the team

Editor Kirstie Duhig Art Editor Carolyn Bunt Production Editor Katriel Costello Project Manager Celia Beale Photography Jesse Wild, Dave Caudery Brand Manager Louisa McLean Director of Immediate Media Branded Content Julie Williams

With thanks to our contributors: Nicole Bretherick, Sandra Carey, Leann Chivers, Fiona Clayton, Sara Davies, Carole Davis, Sheena Douglass, Sandra Dry, Debbie Fisher, Sharon Goold, Gaynor Greaves, Marie Jones, Jo McKelvey, Lisa Plummer, Donna Ratcliff, Claire Simpson, Amanda Stokes, Caroline Weir Please send all reader contributions to: editor@crafterscompanion.co.uk Brought to you by the craft experts

20 FEATURES 10 Your letters We love to see what you’ve been making – there are prizes up for grabs for every letter we feature too! 12 Shades of spring Our pick of the freshest spring colours in the Spectrum range 16 New for you We have so many fabulous new crafting goodies to share with you – here we introduce our latest collections 19 Our BIG competition! Don’t miss your chance to win a brand new Gemini digital die-cutting machine by Crafter’s Companion, worth £169.99! 26 Tempting textures Add an extra dimension to your designs with our pick of the hottest new embossing folders 33 Leann’s lookbook Take a look behind the scenes at Crafter’s Companion HQ with Creative Development Manager, Leann Chivers 43 To die for! Here’s our pick of fantastic dies from our newest releases – they’re our must-haves! 55 Fabulous freebies £1,700 worth of fantastic craft goodies to be won in our great giveaways

60 Ask the experts Let our panel of professionals help with all your card making queries, from stamping to die-cutting and beyond! 64 Exclusive reader offer Save 40% with this amazing Die’sire Edge’ables dies bundle! 65 Reader’s story Meet card maker Meg Blakey, who can’t be without her favourite hobby for long 74 Puzzles & prizes Take a break with our prize-winning crossword and fun brain teaser 76 Behind the scenes Just how do you launch a new TV show? We catch up with the dream team who make it happen! 80 Basic essentials New to card making? Here’s everything you’ll need in your basic card making kit 81 Our crafting heroes Design duo Ruth and Stacey tell us where they got their inspiration for their stunning Spectrum Sparkle stamp designs 83 Coming next issue… Fancy a sneak peek? Here’s why you won’t want to miss what’s coming up in our next brilliant issue...

Crafter’s Inspiration is produced by Immediate Media Branded Content, 2nd Floor, Tower House, Fairfax Street, Bristol BS1 3BN Crafter’s Inspiration is published by Immediate Media Co Ltd. All material © Immediate Media Branded Content. Printed in the UK by William Gibbons. All rights reserved. Unauthorised reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited without written permission of the publisher. This magazine is not to be resold, lent or hired out for more than the recommended retail price or in part. Every effort has been made to secure permission for copyright material. In the event of any material being used inadvertently, or where it proved impossible to trace the copyright owner, acknowledgement will be made in a future issue. The publisher welcomes contributions from readers. All such contributions and submissions to the magazine are sent to and accepted by the publisher on the basis of a non-exclusive transferable worldwide license unless otherwise agreed in writing prior to first publication. Such submissions are also subject to being used, reproduced, modified, published, edited, translated, distributed and displayed in any media or medium, or any form, format or forum now know or hereafter developed , for any purpose, in perpetuity. The views expressed herein are not necessarily the opinion of the publisher. While every care is taken in the preparation of this magazine, the publisher cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of the information or any event or consequence arising as a result of the information. While reasonable care is taken when accepting advertisements, the publisher cannot accept responsibility for any resulting unsatisfactory transactions, but will investigate any written complaints. All prices quoted are correct at the time of going to press. Immediate Media is working to ensure that all of its paper is sourced from well-managed forests. This magazine can be recycled, for use in newspapers and packaging. Please remove any gifts, samples or wrapping and dispose of it at your local collection point.

MASTERCLASS

MAKE WITH YOUR KIT

S S A L C R E T MAS

shimmer and shine!

Give your coloured images a beautiful glittered effect with Spectrum Noir Sparkle pens. Expert Leann Chivers shows you how

MASTERCLASS

Leann Chivers Leann has been crafting since the age of five! She’s been Creative Development Manager for Crafter’s Companion since 2010 and loves delivering craft workshops and demos so she can share her skills and passion for card making.

m aximu for markle sp 52

1 Make sure you prime your pens before you use them – follow the instructions on the pack to get the best results.

Everything seems to get a little better with a glimmer of sparkle! For a touch of glamour, a hint of sheen and added twinkle, Spectrum Noir Sparkle pens will give your colouring a beautiful shimmer, which is subtle, stylish and intense all at the same time. These water-based dye pens are infused with a microfine sparkle, which plays fantastically with the light and provides card makers with a wealth of design possibilities when trying out diﬀerent styles and techniques. Use these pens as they come or, because they’re water-based, use them with other watercolour mediums such as Spectrum Aqua markers. Use the Crystal Clear pen to go over alcohol marker colouring or colour your own chipboard embellishments – the possibilities are absolutely endless. In this masterclass I let the pens speak for themselves, so you can see just how fabulous they are. Go on, give them a try, I know you’re going to love the pens as much as I do.

YOU WILL NEED Digi stamps from your free CD Watercolour Card Printable Light Card Black card Spectrum Noir Sparkle pens: Moonlight, Pink Champagne & Red Berry Sentiment (optional) Ribbon Collall All-Purpose Glue and 3D Glue Gel

‘I love this custom background and masking technique, it really needs nothing else other than some black card for matting and layering to let the intense shimmer shine through – simple yet stunning!’ LEANN CHIVERS, DESIGNER

TOOLS Paintbrush

2 Spectrum Noir Sparkle pens can be used as a regular watercolour medium – experiment with all your favourite techniques.

3 Never dip your Spectrum Noir Sparkle pens into water to paint with. Always use a clean paintbrush and a water pot, if you’re using them to watercolour in the traditional sense of the word.

4 Use your Crystal Clear Spectrum Noir Sparkle pen over Spectrum Noir alcohol markers to add shimmer.

5 Mix two or more shades together on an old saucer to create custom colours, and apply with a paintbrush.

crafterscompanion.co.uk

SKILL LEVEL

MINS

MASTERCLASS HOW TO MAKE Prepare your card base: for this project I’ve chosen to make a simple step card from a piece of A4 watercolour card. Print three poppies from the digi stamps on your free CD. Using a laser printer, print two onto watercolour card and one onto Printable Light Card (if you don’t have a laser printer – print onto regular paper and photocopy onto the watercolour and light card. Carefully trim one of the images to a rectangle shape, which will fit in the centre of the step card you have made. Make a mask so you can paint the background whilst keeping the central image free. Cut out the poppy image that’s printed on light card – staying close to the printed black line – spray Stick & Spray repositionable adhesive on the back and secure over the image of the poppy you’ve cut to size in step 3.

Following the instructions on the pack, prime your Spectrum Noir Sparkle pens well before using them – this will help to create a lovely even flow of ink and glitter. Paint two complimentary colours of Spectrum Noir Sparkle around the image you have masked, I’ve used Moonlight and Pink

TIP You can flick the end of the brush nib on your pen too for a lovely artistic eﬀect

Champagne from the Spring/Summer set. Using a wet paintbrush, move the colours around until you have a soft watercoloured background. Leave for a few hours to dry, or use a heat gun if you don’t want to wait. Remove the mask once the background is completely dry then colour the poppy using Red Berry from the Autumn/Winter set. Cut out the three front petals from the remaining poppy image on watercolour card and colour them with Red Berry. Découpage them onto the base image using 3D glue gel to give a lovely dimensional effect to the flower. Finish the card by matting and layering the panel onto black card using All-Purpose glue. Create two coloured panels for the sides of your stepper, as you did for the background around the poppy, and finish with a black Chocolate Box bow. Add a sentiment to the front for the finishing touch.

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MASTERCLASS

‘Add ‘frosting’ to your cake with Spectrum Noir Sparkle pens’

YOU WILL NEED Digi stamps from your free CD Watercolour Card Printable Light Card Kraft card Pink card Spectrum Noir Sparkle Clear, pens: Cosmos, Crystal & t igh onl Mo t, rne Ga Pink Harvest Moon Ribbon Pompom trim Collall All-Purpose Glue and Tacky Glue

LEANN CHIVERS, DESIGNER

TIME FOR CAKE HOW TO MAKE Prepare a DL Kraft card base (a DL folded card blank size measures approximately 10x21cm (4x8¼in) and then mat and layer with pink and white card. Print the tiered cake image from the digi stamps on your free CD onto watercolour card, as you did for the poppy card. Cut into a rectangle and mat onto pink card. then stick to the Kraft card base. Colour the cake icing using the Cosmos Spectrum Noir Sparkle pen (from the Spring /Summer set). For the cake, add a small amount of Cosmos pen to the base of each layer and drag out with the Crystal Clear pen for a lovely sparkly effect. Use the Pink Garnet pen to add a pop of colour to the bead decorations around the cake and colour the candles in the same way as for the cake. Add embellishments of matching ribbon and pompom trim as a finishing touch.

54 YOU WILL NEED Digi stamps from your free CD Watercolour Card Printable Light Card Black and purple card Spectrum Noir Sparkle stal pens: Inspired Violet, Cry st rve Ha Clear, Moonlight &

SKILL LEVEL

‘Create a statement sparkly floral for the centre of a card’ LEANN CHIVERS, DESIGNER

Moon Collall All-Purpose Glue and 3D Glue Gel

SKILL LEVEL

MINS

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MINS

PERFECTLY PURPLE HOW TO MAKE Prepare a 15x15cm (6x6in) square black card base and mat and layer with purple and white card. Print four large flowers from the digi stamps on your free CD onto watercolour card, as you did for the poppy card. Colour the base flower using small amounts of the Inspired Violet Spectrum Noir Sparkle pen (which is in both the Spring/ Summer and Autumn/Winter sets). To do this, add a small amount of colour to the base of the petal and drag it out over the whole petal using the Crystal Clear pen: this will give the effect of watercolour paints but will create an intense shimmer at the same time. Cut out two inner layers of petals from the remaining printed flowers and paint their petals as you did in Step 2. Colour the centre of one of these flowers with the Moonlight and Harvest Moon shades of Spectrum Noir Sparkle pens. Now carefully shape the flower petals using your fingers, and stick them onto the base flower with a dab of 3D glue gel. Mat and layer your coloured image onto black card and stick to the card front. Cut the final printed flower in half to create a decorative panel for inside the card. Colour the image with your Spectrum Noir Sparkle pens as described above and mat and layer onto black card. Stick inside the card to finish.

BEST

BUYS

Pretty pastels Spectrum Noir AquaTint Inks are professional liquid watercolours which mix beautifully making them ideal for beginner and advanced crafters alike. This set includes 6 AquaTint bottles, 1 tray, 6 pipettes and 3 brushes. Use these lovely pastels to colour your stamped images for a cards with spring fling! Pretty Pastels Spectrum Noir AquaTint Inks kit costs £24.99

Shine on Add a touch of creative sparkle with these fabulous glitter pens from Spectrum Noir. Containing fine glitter micro-pigment and featuring a flexible nylon brush for accurate, mess-free application, these pens are perfect for colouring, writing, embellishing, accenting and more! These shimmering shades will add spring bling to all your projects! Perfect Pastels and Shades of Spring Spectrum Noir Sparkle 3-piece sets cost £12.99 each

Spring is sprung! Spectrum Noir pens are alcohol ink based markers which have been designed specifically for crafters. Each pen is double-ended, with a broad chisel nib for large areas and a fine bullet tip for detailed colouring. With 24 light shades that all work together, this is the perfect set to kick-start your spring crafting! Lights Spectrum Noir 24 Pen Box Set costs £29.99

ED’S fave

Here’s our pick of the freshest shades for spring Spring is on the horizon which means dusting off your pastels to add a splash of seasonal colour to your designs. The sweet deer, squirrel and butterfly digi stamps on your free CD are perfect for spring-themed cards. Why not have a search through your stamp collection and pick out some pretty florals? We're loving shades of daffodil, bluebell and purple crocus!

WE love

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Blooming marvellous Love the watercolour look but find brushes tricky to work with? Then you’ll love Aqua Markers! These versatile water-based pens will help you blend colour and create lifelike tones and subtle touches to bring your blooms to life. The pens are dual-tipped, with a soft brush nib for flexible line control and a natural feel, and a precise fine tip for definition and accurate line work. Floral Spectrum Aqua pens 12 pack costs £19.99