Half Term Havoc!!!

Hi Blogland, how you doing? For those with kiddiwinks I hope you are surviving half term this week? I know I know, for some it's next week and for some it was last week.. It doesn't seem only 6 weeks since they went back to school after the Summer break does it? But with the arrival of half term it means firstly Halloween is just around the corner, I.E 3 days away!! and then Christmas begins it's rapid approach..
So I'll be out to Lakeside and Bluewater shopping malls very soon to do battle with everyone else, although I think I need to sharpen my elbows first....

Today's card encompasses, ooohh big word for me, 4 of my favorite crafting items.. Mirror Card, Stamping, Cuttlebug/Sizzix Embossing and of course my Cricut.

Firstly, I cut out 24 2.5" leaves from Silver Mirror card using my "Speaking of Fall" cartridge. Me and leaves at the moment are like best buddies and this cartridge has soooo many of them on it that it was ideal for this project.

Once they were cut out I positioned them inside the Summer Fun Sizzex Embossing Folder and passed them through my Cuttlebug. Although the leaves I had cut from the Cricut had the veins already cut into them, they were a little bit flat, so embossing them gave them a little more texture and dimension.

Once they had been embossed I added some high tack double sided tape to each stem and layered them one on top of each other slightly over lapping... I found I had a few left over so decided to do half a flower, I may use it I may not I thought!! In the end I did.!!

I then took my newest EK Success Punch (Morocco Lace EKPL8032) although to me it looks more like Art Deco than Moroccan Lace, but then again I have never been to Morocco and seen their lace so who am I to judge??!! Although I did have an incident with a rather jeleous camel in Lanzarote once so does that count? No! I didn't think so!

I punched out a border on some light Green Mirror card.

I tend to start in the middle of the card stock when doing a border and line up each side as I go..
I also cut out a 4" circle using Plantin Schoolbook Cricut Cartridge. I used the Centre Point function to then cut out an inner circle at 3".

Why I positioned these elements on the card where I did I will never know, I just fancied ringing the changes a bit..

Usually for me if it's not a right angle it's a wrong angle, however I'm pleased with how it worked out. Once the border and circles were stuck down I attached the full and half flowers to the card with Pinflair Glue..

Now, the centres of the flowers needed something. I came across these frosted brads which off set the shiny mirror card perfectly.

I removed the shanks of the brads with pliers and attached them to the centre of the flowers again with Pinflair glue.
Stamping is what I love best, no! Cricut, no! Stamping, no!.. oh you get the gist!! Any hoo, I wanted to show you how I got the greeting and border stamped onto the card.
It's probably not that clear on the final card so here it is on White card stock.

I used Cactus Green StazOn and the Poinsettia border from Inkadinkadoo Winter Borders (LM809529) and stamped out the image.

I then used my sentiment stamp which was inked up using Forest Green StazOn and stamped directly over the border image..

I hope you like the result and why not trying embossing an image which has already been cut out (like the leaves) it makes using your Cuttlebug or Big Shot and Embossing Folders more fun than just doing backgrounds for your projects...

Happy Halloween to you all and thanks for checking us out.
See you soon..
Pinnacles..

A perfect day for crafting!!

Hi everyone, well I think today could be the perfect crafting day.. When the alarm went off at silly O'clock this morning I could hear the rain on the roof, looking outside it wasn't hammering it down but it was sheets of that "fine" rain that would probably drench you in seconds... Which it did!!
Now, if I crafted at home, which I don't as I spend far too many hours here then I would guess I would be laying out all my goodies and having a right old play day...

Any hoo, I just wanted to share with you some quick and simple cards I have been making this week. I really have been churning them out, so if like me you are lagging behind on your crimbo cards, these will make some quick and simple, but oh so effective ones...

This weeks lesson at Pinnacles has been Peel Offs. I've always been a fan off Medallion Peel Offs as they are amazingly effective.

The best thing about them I think is the fact that you can also use the negative part of the Peel Off as well as the positive, which makes them great value for money..

On this card I coloured the Peel Off in with a ProMarker pen (Cardinal Red (R244) before taking it off of the backing sheet. ProMarker pens are an ideal way of colouring your Peel Offs. These day's Peel Offs come in a variety of colours to match your projects, but sometimes you just can't find the colour you want, so colouring them in with a ProMarker will expand the potential of all of your Peel Offs..
I coloured the images with a coat of the ProMarker and put it to one side to dry, this was taking a while so a sped the process up by drying the Peel Off with my Heat Gun.. The first layer of colour can appear a bit wishy washy, this can depend on how hard you press, which colour you are using (dark and lights seem to work slightly differently), and also the type of Peel Off you are using I.E Gold or Silver, a shiny finish or a Matt finish Peel Off. I also suspect which way the wind is blowing may have an effect! LOL!!!

Once the first layer was dry, (in seconds using my Heat Gun) I applied a second coat. I hope you can see on the top image the difference between the Two coats. The left hand side of the top image has had the second coat and looks much darker now..
Once the coats of ProMarker had dried I proceeded to cut the "waste" images from the Peel Off backing sheet.. just cutting close to the edge. This is a great way to use all off the peel off and as I said earlier, the waste is "as" effective if not more so that the positive image... By cutting the image straight from the backing sheet will mean that your colour will always be shown against a White background. Which, for this project was ideal as I think the Dark Red against the White is a great combination. However, if I wanted a different background I could have used a Peel Off transfer sheet to lift up all the waste to be placed on a different coloured background.

Once the images have been cut around I used foam pads to layer then one on top of each other, finally adding some White swirl Peel Offs to complete the card.

On this card I used Bright Green Promarker on a Silver Peel Off.

I just really love the dimension a Medallion Peel Off can bring to a card,

but what about ringing the changes and not layering it up at all!!!

Not just for Christmas either.

The colour combinations are endless and I think these Copper ones would make great male cards!

So if you're going to be crafting today I hope you get that spark of inspo.. and have a great day..
See you soon and thanks for checking us out.
Pinnacles....

Pinnacles in print!... again....!

Hi everyone, and how are you today?? If anything like me busy, busy, busy.. But that's fine! I much prefer it that way...

Today I have great pleasure in letting you all know that another one of our creations has made it into print.
The card is featured in Simply Cards & Papercraft magazine issue 64 on sale now from most leading Supermarkets..
You may recall I showed you a sneaky peek way back at the beginning of August, which seems ages ago now, but that was when the magazine requested the sample.. I actually made it in July when it was about 30 degrees outside... It's been a long time coming but I hope you'll agree, worth the wait!!! More commissions to come as well!!! So watch this space...
So, now that the card is winging it's way back to Pinnacle Crafts from the photographers, I thought I'd share the instructions with you on how to make it.

Cut out the Flippin Santa Peace image and put it together, I applied Diamond Stickles to Santa's suit and to the toilet chain, just to add a bit of bling!!!

Take a 12" x 12" piece of glossy White card stock and measure in 3" from the right hand side and make a mark with your embossing tool at the top of the card stock, measure in from the left hand side and make a mark at 3". Repeat this along the bottom edge of the card stock. With a ruler and an embossing tool, join the top and bottom marks together.
Measure 4" down the side of the card on both the right and the left hand sides and make a mark, From the top of the card at 3" cut a line with your craft knife to meet these 4" marks, I.E cutting away the top corner of the card stock.
Using a Guillotine cut 1" from the bottom of the card stock.
Measure down the original 3" scored lines to 8" and make a mark. At these marks score all the way across your card stock. Lastly, cut away the bottom square from the card.

This will leave you with a shape like this...
I wanted a modern looking bathroom for this card so I chose to use some Navy Blue striped paper.
This was cut to fit just inside all of the scored lines. Initially I covered the scores lines but the card would not close properly and the paper just got all creased up!!

I used strips of Black Mirror card to add a skirting board and picture rail...

I then cut out 1" squares from my Cricut Machine or you could use a 1" square punch.

I wanted a tiled effect for the floor and the "waste" from this cut fit's the bill perfectly. This is also the reason I used White glossy card stock.. I love the effect that you can see Santa's reflection in the floor.. Cool eh!!

I also used the 1" squares for the window frames, attaching them to some wintry scene backing paper...

I'm really proud of this card and appreciate all the comments we have had on it so far, even the editor gave us a call to tell us how much she liked it!!!

Oh, nearly forgot.. It folds down to go easily into an A5 envelope so there's no need to make a tricky box...

Thanks for checking us out, see you soon...
Pinnacles.

Time...

or lack of it I guess!... Hey Blogland, sorry for the lack of posting recently, what with one thing or another teaching, demonstrating, designing, updating the website, and trying to have some kind of social life time has eluded me yet again..
However, now that I have caught up with myself I have decided that today's project will be by someone else..
Now, you know fully well we don't get others to do our job for us, so it is in fact one of Joanne's amazing Parchment creations.. How she finds the time to do this I will never know, perhaps she slips into a third dimension where time slows down and you get more done.. I think I need to find this third dimension... anyone else???
So here it is in all it's glory, with a few close ups for you to really appreciate the work which has gone into this project. I think you'll agree, amazing.
This is the project for Joanne's Parchment lesson on Sunday 25th October.. So for those who are booked on the lesson, ENJOY!!!..
Oh, and for those wondering about the background, it's available in the shop.. I think it works brilliantly with Joanne's project or is it my photography is getting better!!!? Nah, it's definitely Jo's project and backing card doing all the work here!!
Have a great day & thanks for checking us out..
See you soon.
Pinnacles..

Monochromatic

Hi Blogland.. I wanted to share with you today some Monochromatic cards we have been playing with in our lessons this week.
Most people would class Monochromatic as Black & White... But like most this in life things are not Just Black & White...
Monochromatic means: A shade, tone or tint of one colour (hue). So in fact, a combination of Greens, Blues/Purples, Reds/Pinks etc would be categorised as Monochromatic...
One of the "IN" products at the moment are Promarker pens from Letraset. Did you know that you can use them on your Stamps???
With this in mind, here is what we have come up with to use them in a Monochromatic way.

Taking a White piece of card stock. I coloured it with Blue Chalk, applying it in a light circular motion with a sponge applicator.
On this occasion I have used Pastel Blue Promarker, to follow the Blue Monochromatic theme. Apply your pen to the stamping surface. I used the chisel tip to get a faster coverage. I did notice that when first applied the ink from the pen shrinks back from the edges of the stamp I.E the stamp resists the ink initially. I stamped off onto a scrap piece of card and the re applied my pen and it held onto the stamp perfectly. I suspect the solvent in the ink and the surface of the stamp need to get to know each other first!!!, or the initial application creates a surface for the ink to adhere too...

I then randomly stamped all over my now Blue card stock with my image. Try not to be too uniformed in the pattern.. The ink also dries pretty much instantly as it is solvent based.
Once you are happy with your pattern, score and fold your card.

I then coloured and stamped my front image onto some chalked card stock. I applied the chalk in the same way as before, but this time applying more colour to the top as to create a skyline effect. I added some Stickes just to give the image a little bit of bling!!
Here are a few other colour combinations.

In Green

In Silver & Grey

Not forgetting the Black & White..

You can also add more than one colour of Promarkers to your stamps to achieve a mixed effect, they blend very well...

I know a lot of you have Lot's & Lot's of Promarkers, so why not try some different with them today.. Just to point out, as Promarkers are solvent based and not water based you will need a solvent ink cleaner, such as StazOn to remove ink left on your stamp...
Thanks for checking us out.. Have a great day.
Pinnacles...