Crafts Beautiful December 2017: A Digital Sample

TOP FORFT PAPERCRA

DEC 2017

10 TO STAMP WITH QUICK CARDS

YOUR FREEBIES!

s! a m t s i r h C e t e l p m o C Your

4M0AS

X

CUTE ING COLOUR

CARDS

EASY DIE-CUTS

it Special e k a M to

Make, Wrap & Send with Love Paper Angels · Kinetic Cards · Simple Wreaths

20 Printables to download!

SHOP YOUR HIGH STREET HEROES!

8 PAGE EXTRA

FESTIVE FONTS & LETTERING

ILLING U Q R E V E CL

December 2017

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“If you break calligraphy down into simple steps, you don't need to have nice handwriting to get gorgeous results”

Kirsten Burke, Calligrapher and Author

42 TRENDY TREES

What’s inside...

Every Month

22 POP-UP SANTA

Countdown with Helen Fitzjohn's festive calendar

12 YOUR CRAFT CHAT 14 AT HOME WITH JULIE & WENDY 24 LIZ MOAD QUILLS 16 NEW FOR YOU Incorporate pretty poinsettias into 31 CREATE AND CRAFT your gift tags and boxes 40 ASK THE EXPERTS 26 GINGERBREAD HOUSES Model Fimo clay to dream up 76 SUBSCRIBE TODAY these fantasy fairy decs 108 COMING NEXT MONTH 28 SARA NAUMANN'S 114 PEEK INTO MY WEEK

Make It

MASTERCLASS

Get to grips with foiling and create beautiful metallic cards

7 BEAR FAMILY SCENE

36 LUXURY GREETINGS

20 SWEET ANGEL

38 TRY SOMETHING NEW!

Spread a little seasonal cheer with this cute card Say hello to a long lost friend with enchanting digi stamp designs

Add sparkle to your Christmas crafts using embossing powders Keren Baker's top techniques with Yuletide motifs

Use your Brother ScanNCut machine to craft gorgeous greenery

44 ROYAL DECS

Simple yet striking, this trio is sure to be the crowning glory of your crafting

48 BEADED GREETINGS

These cross-stitch cards are bound to make the recipient feel special

63 FIVE CARD CHALLENGE

This month Tracy tries out the new Stampin' Up! Quilted Christmas kit

87 CUDDLY PALS

Make this simple and adorable decoupage card for someone special

CB Chats To...

19 HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE WI Get the latest from the Women's Institute

95 MEET THE DESIGNER

Maggie Challinor of Impressions Crafts speaks about her fabulous jewellery business

Share it! with the rest of the CB community via 04

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44 BONUS

GOODIES...

Plus, your craft extras this month

51 “I'm loving all the Christmassy free gifts from Crafts Beautiful!”

Patrice Townsend, via Facebook

TREATS forYOU 8 Your Free Gift | 60 Bumper Prizes

79

WIN PRIZES WORTH

£7,250!

26

And More!

59 BRUNO BEAR

Sit down with a cuppa and crochet this cuddly winter toy

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66 YULETIDE TREATS

Whip up incredible makes in a short amount of time thanks to Duck Tape

69 STITCHED WITH LOVE

Gather round for harmonies of texture and detail

74 SCANDI TABLE SET

Feast your eyes on Sophia Palmer's enchanting dining display

89 ON TREND RIGHT NOW

Dodge the hustle and bustle of crowds, as handmade leads the way

90 LEATHER JEWELLERY

51 Ultimate Guide to Lettering

93 BEADED NECKLACE

79 International Craft

Plaiting is a key trend this year and a great way to embellish chains This gold and green beaded necklace oozes demure style

96 PLACE CARD COOKIES

Give your guests a sweet surprise with an edible gingerbread display

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Add a fun flourish to crafting with letters, scripts and fonts

Awards 2017

Vote to be in with the chance of winning a crafting holiday worth £1,000!

99 Your Crafty Essentials

Find your templates and free designer papers here!

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Craft the days away SEE THE STAMPS IN ACTION AT YOUTUBE.COM/ THECRAFTSCHANNEL

FREE

SPARK YOUR IMAGINATION WITH OUR 10 WINTRY CARD DESIGNS Darling Deer

Cover a blank with pale blue card. In brown ink, stamp two trees and 'Wild & free' at the top.

Cut a wavy edge across white card, 7cm x 10.5cm, and fix to the bottom of the blank. Stamp part of the narrow foliage randomly across the white card. Press a deer in brown, cut out and fix to the blank. Use white pen and markers to highlight and shade.

Forest Love

Colour shades of blue markers across white card, blending together. Stamp a cabin over the top and cut into an oval. Matt onto a bigger piece of white card.

Create a larger oval blank, cover in blue and trim the bottom to allow it to stand. Stick the cabin centrally onto the blank.

Blue Christmas

Cover a side-fold blank, 10cm x 12cm, with slightly smaller snowflake paper. Stamp a black squirrel onto white card and turn into a circle. Matt onto a larger circle of coloured card and secure to the bottom-right corner. Stamp 'Best wishes' onto white card, trim, then glue onto coloured and fix to the top-left. Wrap and tie ribbon around the fold.

MAKE ALL 10 CARDS 08

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W

S

CARDS & PAPER

with your

KE IT, SH MA AR E IT !

WoodlandStampSet This month, our whimsical and enchanting free gift is inspired by picturesque winter scenes, as we gift you with a 30-piece stamp set. Consisting of heartfelt sentiments and an array of forest friends, you can have so much fun stamping the images onto your projects. To start you off, Colette Smith has designed these charming all-occasion cards – don't forget to share your creations with us too!

Snowy Wishes

With black ink, stamp a sentiment on the bottom-right corner of bright pink card, 10cm square. Stamp snowflakes randomly around until the panel is full. Matt onto a white blank, 10.5cm square, then add gems to the centre of the snowflakes.

Batch-make in time for Christmas!

Love Birds Owl Friends

Cover the top 12cm of a top-fold blank, 10cm x 14cm, with patterned paper. Cut scallops along co-ordinating paper and fix underneath. Stamp owls in grey, die-cut into a circle and matt onto a larger circle.

Adhere centrally to the top of the blank.

Print a sentiment in grey, trim and attach across the papers.

WITH YOUR FREE STAMPS!

Create a side-fold landscape blank, 10cm x 14.5cm. Stamp birds on a branch to the left of pink card, 9cm x 12.5cm. Punch a fancy border along the right-edge and stick on the blank. Add 'For you' above the birds and secure pink gems to finish.

Turn over for more!

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Print and Colour our

Angel Card Sweet

Say 'hello' to a long lost friend with this gorgeous card by Marianne Fisher. These enchanting little digi stamp designs are easy to work with, simply download and colour them in using your favourite marker pens. Dies are a great way of building up the texture, so get creative with shapes and layers to make a greeting to be proud of.

Craft Clever Create 3-D effects with a pearl pen, simply form a small triangle with three dots and leave to dry

Essentials... 1 Digi stamp, Blessed Lili of the Valley Dies: My Favorite Things, Snow Doily; Stitched Circle, Lawn Fawn; Star Cluster, Tim Holtz, Sizzix; Star of Wonder, Memory Box Copic markers Christmas ribbon, nativity words Card: white, grey, lilac

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Create a card blank, 12.5cm x 17.8cm and fold at the top.

Trim two papers, 9cm x 11.5cm.

Cut pale grey card, 12.1cm x 17.4cm. Arrange the papers on the card, overlapping slightly to leave a small border. Fix to the card front.

Die-cut the snow doily and stitched circle and arrange on the left-hand side of the card front. Download and print the Blessed image, trim to size and colour with markers. Layer

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the image onto pale grey card, overlapping the doily slightly.

Cut a sentiment from ribbon and layer onto lilac, near the top of the card. Die-cut the smallest Memory Box star from lilac and position at the righthand corner.

Die-cut a white star cluster and secure to the top left-hand side. Add a pattern of pearl dots around the image. Apply subtle sparkle to the wings and ground area using a clear glitter pen. CB

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Craft Shop Lili of the Valley digi stamp, liliofthevalley.co.uk MFT and Lawn Fawn dies, diestodiefor.com Sizzix Tim Holtz, Star Cluster, simonsaysstamp.com Memory Box, Star of Wonder, craftworldonline.co.uk

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Angel card Marianne Fisher.indd 2

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Double Crochet two together (dc2tog) Turn two crochet stitches into one with this simple method

1 Insert hook through next stitch, yarn over hook, draw back through work. Two loops on hook. Insert hook into next stitch, yarn over hook, draw back through.

Three loops on hook.

Bruno the Bear Crochet a snowy pal

Sit down with a cuppa and your favourite Christmas movie whilst crocheting Heather Gibbs’ cuddly winter bear. You might see them as big scary creatures, but this hat-wearing animal is a big softie!

If you're new to crochet, he's perfect for beginners to try out. Want to make him for all seasons? Just switch up the colours on his outfit and voila!

You can find this fun crochet bear pattern online at

CRAFTS-BEAUTIFUL.COM

2 Yarn over hook, draw through all three loops.

One loop on hook.

Craft Shop

Craft Clever

Sections are worked without joining in continuous rounds – place a stitch marker in the top of the first stitch to indicate the start of each round

A shiny metallic polyester, Bergere de France Metalika is brilliant for blending with another yarn to give projects extra sparkle, £6.79 per 25g, loveknitting.com A fabulously soft 100% Merino wool yarn, King Cole Luxury Merino DK is the perfect shade for Christmas makes. £4.45 per 50g, wisebadger.com

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Clay

Model dainty

Houses

These adorable fairy doors and gingerbread houses are the perfect addition to your Christmas décor. Not only do they look good enough to eat, they are bright and eye-catching so children will love them too. Polymer clay is easy to work with and once baked and coated with varnish, you will be creating a beautiful decoration that you can use every year!

Essentials...

Fimo Soft and Effect polymer clay: white, two; cognac, three; mint, rose, aqua, red, tropical green, chocolate Mini metal cutters: 5mm and 15mm blossom; 7mm circle; 5mm and 10mm heart Polymer clay varnish, gloss Small glass jars Glue gun Card, festive colourways Decorative paper

Fairy Door

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Working on a tile or glass chopping board, condition and roll out the cognac clay. Use the image as a guide to cut out a door, then mark with a tool to simulate wood. Roll out two lengths of chocolate clay, flatten one to create a door frame, square off the other and wrap around the top of the door frame, trimming the ends.

Texture the frame with a tool and sprinkle with white glitter.

Roll out aqua clay and cut out a door shap. Create an aqua frame and decorate the door surround with small white snowflakes. Add a pink heart and a brown door handle.

Make a hole in a flattened ball of green clay and cover with leaves, add balls of colourful clay to decorate and position above the door. Make two ropes of candy canes across the colour change on the door frame. Decorate

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with small balls of clay, holly berries and leaves.

Cut out the doorstep from cognac clay. Add texture to the surface using sandpaper and a scoring tool. Create a gingerbread man, decorate and bake all the pieces.

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Use a glue gun to stick the door to the doorstep and the sweets, pudding and gingerbread man around it.

Coat the sweets, holly, pudding and candy cane with clear varnish. Stick the door to decorative card for display or sit in front of a skirting board for little ones to find!

“The Christmas fairy jars are really fun to make, why not get the children involved over the festive season?”

Ellen Kharade, Designer

MIXED MEDIA

Craft Tip

Use a large jar for your fairy house, cut out windows and pop an LED candle into the bottom for an extra special effect

Fairy Jar

1

Roll out cognac clay onto a flat sheet and wrap around the jar.

Work until flat, add texture using sandpaper, then bake. Use a glue gun to stick the lid to the jar, build up a dome shape using scrunched up tin foil, then stick to the top of the lid.

Cover the dome with clay and shape into a twist at the end. Cut out small circles and arrange over the roof, starting at the base of the lid and layering towards the top until it is evenly covered. Decorate with holly berries and red balls. Sprinkle glitter over the roof and bake.

Roll out a sheet of clay, then cut out a door. Texture it and glue to the jar. Make a door handle and wreath as before and position on the door.

Roll out a length of clay, wrap around the door and texture with a tool.

Create flowers, candy canes, iced gems and mini Christmas puddings, bake and glue in place once cool.

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Christmas Card

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Roll out two long pieces of red and white clay, and a thinner sausage of green clay. Twist them together, roll out and trim to size, then turn over the ends. Cut out holly leaves and berries, then bake.

Create a card blank. Cut red and green paper, 8cm x 10.5cm, and fix to green paper. Mount onto thick card and trim to 7cm x 9cm, then stick to the mounted paper. Use a glue gun to stick candy canes, holly and berries to front of card. CB

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Craft Shop Staedtler Fimo Soft polymer clay is available in 57g blocks. Prices start at ÂŁ2.50 per block from hobbycraft.co.uk

Fimo Polymer Clay Varnish will protect your makes from knocks and scraps. ÂŁ6.22, craftmill.co.uk

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Sponsored by

Ultimate

GUIDE TO LETTERING

Creative ideas and designer know-how inside!

ADD A FUN FLOURISH TO CRAFTING WITH LETTERS, SCRIPTS AND FONTS

TURN TO 52 TO SEE MORE FROM SAKURA'S RANGE!

Set pen to paper with a little help from our eight-page handbook, designed to spice up your handwriting just in time for the festive season! Whether you’re a calligraphy newbie or seasoned letterer, we've got the top tools you need to get started, from essential pens, nibs and inks – including the revered Pigma Calligrapher – on page 52, to lettering lovelies such as stamps and stencils (p55). Once you've got your kit sorted, it's time to put your skills to the test with a classic yuletide greeting (p58), then why not push the envelope with gorgeous gilded lettering (p53)? We also caught up with five calligraphy pros to find out how this age-old artform has transformed their career – plus, they've offered up their pearls of wisdom to help inspire beginners (p56) – it's a must-read!

YOUR

CHRISTMAS Starts Here!

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RD

Peek into

CA R A T S

m

MY WEEK...

STEPHANIE WEIGHTMAN SHOWS YOU HOW TO MAKE A FESTIVE BIRDHOUSE FOR YOUR HOME

A Festive Fleurs dies to help you deck the halls WINDOW WREATH Create this traditional display using Fleurs Poinsettia and Christmas Rose die sets.

Coat an MDF ring with white paint, add glitter and wrap red ribbon around the ring. Group white poinsettias and red roses, attach stamens and pearls, then finish with a luxe ribbon loop.

t this time of year, as families look forward to spending time together, the home becomes the focal point for much of our festive preparations. With most of my handmade cards already winging their way to their intended recipients, I've had time to indulge myself and create pretty pieces to brighten up my walls. This Christmas, I've been making indoor wreaths and festive hangings with a heart-shaped theme, arranged according to colour scheme.

Developing the theme of domestic bliss, I've also made a lovely MDF birdhouse and transformed it into a frosty, sparkly home for an ornamental dove. This is easy to recreate with the Fleurs Flower Forming Christmas Collection, using a selection of dies to create striking poinsettias and ivy leaves to decorate your domain.

Make Your Own...

You can quickly jazz up an MDF birdhouse blank with chalk paint, glitter, white cardstock and the Fleurs Poinsettia die set. Dab white paint onto the birdhouse and leave to dry. Apply duck egg blue to the lower part, then add a little white while it is still wet, blend with a brush and continue upwards to create an ombre effect. When dry, spray adhesive onto the painted birdhouse and coat with glitter. Arrange and layer a selection of white poinsettia petals, then stick together to create five distinct flowers. Add glitter to the poinsettias, push silver stamens into the centre of each bloom and attach to the birdhouse to finish.

HEART HANGING You'll be feeling the love with this cool blue decoration, crafted from Fleurs Poinsettia and When a Snowflake Falls dies. Paint and glitter an MDF heart, then top with tinted paper. Matt three shades of card, add a sentiment and a poinsettia with pompom trim, then embellish with a metallic bow and pearls.

Perfect partners

Fleurs Christmas Rose Code 406599

Fleurs Poinsettia Code 406598

FLORAL CARD Bring a heartfelt greeting to life with a dynamic arrangement of lustrous blooms. Using Fleurs Ivy and Poinsettia dies, layer a selection of red flowers and leaves, lightly spray and scrunch, then spritz in gold. Mount onto a square blank with a foil trim and finish with a triple bow.

Fleurs Ivy Code 406500 Top up your festive stash at createandcraft.com/shop

Tune into Create and Craft TV to see Stephanie Live!

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Steph weightman back page DEC.indd 2

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