Spring Gift Tag

Easter is on its way - Why not attach a "Happy Spring" tag to brighten up any present!

Handmade by Emma  Whyley 

Things you will need:

Diecut Card Shapes Large Alteration Tags S57324
Diecut Card Shapes Flowers S57295
Hotmelt Glue Gun S57234
Hotmelt Glue Refills S57235
Crafting Sheet S57132
Stardust Glitter Card BottleGreen SCR51063510BOTTLE
Layer Perfect S57322 / S57321
Beads and Glitter BlueS57078
Pick Up Pencil S57265

Dotty Flower Trio Stamp set
Happy Spring Stamp
Versafine Ink Pad
Dreamweaver Metallic F/X powder
Pokey Tool
Foam Piercing Mat
Stencil Brush
Tombow Pen
Embroidery Thread
Tapestry Needle

Instructions:

On the non-stick craft sheet, make 6 petals and one additional circular gem for the flower centre, with your hot melt glue gun and glue stick.

Once these are dry brush over with Dreamweaver powder, the more you ‘buff’ the petals the deeper the colouring will be. For your flower centre sprinkle the micro beads to make this stand out.

Assemble the flower shape, adding a hot glue blob to secure in place. Once this is dry add the circular gem in the centre of the flower.

Use the layer perfect to pierce holes for the stem of the flower onto the white tag. Cut a leaf shape from the green stardust card and pierce holes down the centre.

Using the embroidery thread and needle, stitch the stem and the leaf into place on the tag.

Stamp directly onto the Die Cut flower and colour in sections with the Tombow pen for additional detail.

Curl the edges of the flowers with a pick up pencil and layer the die cut flowers on top of each other. #

Secure in place with the hot melt glue gun.

Place the hot glue flower in the centre of the die cut flower and secure onto the tag with the hot glue gun. Add a stamped sentiment ‘Happy Spring’.

You can create the same card many time with different coloured petals, keeping the centre the same or changing the colours, Even using different Tombow pens or none at all create a different look for this tag.

Have Fun Crafting!

22nd March - Demonstration Days in Your Area

We have three fantastic Demonstration Days and one fabulous event happening this week for you.

Hobby Crafts Show at The NEC Birmingham starting this week. Michelle will be on A1 Crafts stand. Their stand number is C11. Demonstrating our fabulous Layer Perfect Tool along with lots of other Stix2 products to make your crafting even more fun and inspiring. Do come and visit us on either Thursday, Friday or Saturday to join Michelle  and the A1 Crafts team.

Paper 'n' Card in Barnsley. Karen will be joining Dot and her girls for the day showing how to use the fantastic new Stix2 products.

Cardwell Nurseries The craft shop in Gourock have Emma joining Pauline & her team demonstration new techniques and sharing her handy tips using our fabulous Stix2 products.

Craft Zone in Pontefract, have Kirsty visiting for the day. She will be joining Wendy and her team creating some fantastic new projects, using Stix2 products.

For more details on each crafting day please go to our events page www.stix2.co.uk

Have Fun Crafting!

15th March - Demonstration Days In Your Area

We have 5 fantastic fun filled crafting days set up for you on Saturday 15th March:

Pantiles Papertole, in Tunbridge Wells: Here, we have Michelle to join Valerie and the team for the day to help you with all your questions and give you great ideas and tips for your crafting.

Crazy About Cake Craft, in Chesterfield: Karen will be joining Jackie and her team to show you our new and exciting products and how to use them.

Nina's Craft Shop, in Burgess Hill: The team have welcomed Jayne to assist them in all things 'crafty'.

The Pedlars Tray, in Wyvale: Lisa will be coming along to join Jane and her team for the day.

Mad Hatters Wee Craft Shop, in Turriff: Emma will be coming along to help Wendy and her team with all your enquiries.

For more details on each crafting day please go to our events page www.stix2.co.uk

Have Fun Crafting!

Beautiful Window Tags!

Here is a step by step guide on how to make a gift tag with something a little different.

Handmade by Emma Whyley

Things you will need:

Diecut Card Shapes Large Alteration Tag S57324
Clear Acetate Sheets Extra Thick - S57320
Beads and Glitter Red - S57076
Ultra Clear Tape Polyester Tape 3.5mm x 16m S56995

Punch
Ribbon
Small Alphabet Stamps

Instructions:

To make the decorative tags, first select your punch and position onto the tag. Punch a corresponding design onto the second tag. This will be the back to your tag (encasing the glitter/acetate pocket).

Cut the acetate to size (we used a trimmer), you will need two pieces of equal size, large enough to cover the punched design. Add 4 strips of ultra tape of each edge of one piece of acetate.
Remove 3 of the backing strips and position the 2nd piece of acetate on top to make your pocket, open and fill with glitter and seal.

Put Ultra tape around the edges on  the back of one tag and add the now sealed acetate/glitter pocket over the punched put area.

Line up the 2nd tag and stick to the back of the first, enveloping the acetate pocket within. We added a small piece of red card over the smaller red heart between these two layers of tag.
We then decorated the tag with dome co-coordinating ribbon and added a sentiment with small alphabet stamps.

You can use this method with many other designs. Here is an example of acetate pocket using a different medium. For this tag we used Mica Flakes and followed the above steps to achieve the result as seen in the picture.
We then decorated with butterflies punched from patterned paper, hemp cord, aged teal embossing powder (sprinkled on to the tag and heated from underneath with a heat gun). We then added some gems using the hot glue gun.

Have Fun Crafting!

Handmade Mother’s Day Card

Mother’s day is just around the corner, this year it’s on 30th March, which gives you plenty of time to make something special for your mum.

Handmade by Jenny Redfern

Things you will need:

Diecut Card Shapes Heart S57325
Ultra Clear Tapes 3mm x 15m S57084
Silicone Glue S57100
Fine Copper Dispensing Nib K910

6" x 6" White Card

Black A4 Card

Flower Punch

Tonic Square Base Affections Die

2cm Circle 

Instructions:

Separate 4 heart Diecuts into the 12 hearts, with a bone folder and curl slightly.

Using the 4 largest hearts, and the 2cm wide circle, cover the circle with doubled sided tape and stick the hearts together as shown in the photo.



Stick the middle sized hearts together with Silicone Glue and fine nib as show on the photo.



Layer the medium hearts on top of the larger hearts, rotating by 45 degrees to create a floral effect.

Stick together the last 4 full hearts and add this to the centre to create the middle of the flower. Layer on top of the other two layers of hearts.

Punch 2 black flowers and stick them on top of each other using the silicon glue. Attached this to the centre of the white flower you have just created. Add a gem if you wish.

For this card we used a tonic square base affections die shape and a circle of black card to create a background for the flower. If you don't have a die cut background you can improvise and create your own.

Have Fun Crafting!

Success at Stitches!

Thank you all for coming to see us at this year's Spring Stitches.

It is great to see you supporting our business and products.
Over the years, many of our customers have become loyal members of our crafting community.

Our new product Layer Perfects was a big hit with customers as well as products. Emma, one of our demonstrators was extremely busy demonstrating different techniques to use the Layer Perfect Tool.

Karen’s Make and Takes were also a huge hit and their demonstration table was rarely empty. Karen was showing how customers to make some simple but beautiful bookmarks and gift tags using both old and new products allowing you to get a first-hand experience of using our products and expert knowledge.

While at Stitches, Michelle was on hand to answer any questions you had about our products (here she is showing the wonders of the Adhesive Remover). Michelle also lead three workshops which, from the feedback given by those who attended, were extremely successful and helpful while being fun at the same time.

It was great to see you all at Stitches and hope you had a great an experience as we did. Now we are back at HQ we will get in touch with all our customers both old and new also those who couldn't make stitches to make sure you have a copy of our fantastic new brochure and how we can help in 2014. We had a wonderful response to our new products that are all available to view on our website here and look forward to discussing them with you.

In the meantime if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us on 0191 2697810 or email sales@stix2.co.uk 

Mothers Day Card using Layer Perfect

Mother's Day is slowly approaching and will be with us soon. Here is a fantastic idea to create your own card for Mother's Day.

Handmade by Jenny Redfern

Things you will need:

Craft Foam Pads 12mm x 12mm x 2mm S57038
Layer Perfect  S57321 / S57322
Ultra Clear Tape 6mm x 15m S57085

Verso square base Affections die set
Verso mothers day Affections insert die Gems
8" x 8" White Card
Pink A4 Card
White A4 Card

Instructions:

Cut a 6" x 6" white card out, use the Verso dies nesting inside each other to cut frame out for the centre of the card & layer it up on a 7" x 7" pink card.

Using the Layer Perfect go round the white 8" x 8" card marking every other hole in the Layer Perfect tool & place a gem on top of each mark to make a lovely border.

Using the Layer Perfect , layer the pink card on top of the 8" x 8" card using your craft foam pads.

Stick gems on to decorate.

Have Fun Crafting!