3-D Merganser

We took a trip up to Discovery Bay, Washington in January.  The weather was gorgeous and there were flocks of all kinds of ducks including a small group of Mergansers.  They were rather shy so it was a challenge to get a clear photo.  Here’s one of them that I converted to 3-D Paper Tole.

The paper tole sheet for this card is available for download and includes instructions for the picture frame.  Just click the link below.

Supplies

• Double-stick foam squares
• Rich & Spicy Autumn 3D Paper Tole (HOTP)
• Rich & Spicy Scrapbooking Papers (HOTP)
• Precision tip scissors (Cutter Bee)

Merganser Paper Tole Download

Spring is in the air

I was first introduced to Paper Mola several years ago when I purchased a book on the subject by Erica Pels.  It is based on a fabric applique technique.  if you scour the internet you can probably find some of Erica’s templates.  Most of hers are geometric.   I expanded on her technique and developed some of my own .svg cutting templates.  Here is a card I made with my Tulip template.

I created .svg files for all of the layers, but I like to cut just the top layer with my digital cutter and then do the rest by hand which requires a bit of planning.

Items used:

• Mola Tulip Cut Files Download (zip)
• Grapefruit double sided paper pack (HOTP)
• Vintage Christmas Paper Pack (HOTP)
• Unforgettable Double Sided Paper Pack(HOTP)
• Yellow Ginham Paper(HOTP)
• Four Seasons Stamp Set (HOTP 1076)
• Silver Dragonfly Dazzles(HOTP)

For more Mola templates, visit the Paper Mola page on my website.

Baby Shower Card

Here’s a quick and simple baby shower card I made last week  using one of my older stamp sets, some scraps from the Sew Cute paper pack.

Items used:

• Sew Cute paper pack (HOTP)
• Sweet Pea stamp set (Fiskars)
• Welcome Home stamp set (HOTP)
• Botanical Etchings free download (HOTP)
• Scraps of pink and yellow patterned paper

Never Ending Card

I’ve been wanting to make one of these for a long time, but with four panels, I just couldn’t figure out what to put on them all.  For some reason, a few days ago the theme to Lamb Chop started running through my head and I thought, “Aha! Modify the lyrics and that would be perfect.”  So…

 

 

You’re welcome for getting that song stuck in your head!

Here’s what I used:

• Boutique paper pack and labels (sadly, I don’t think this is available anymore.  Botanical Etchings would be another good one)
• Teal, Gold, Silver and Pink Jewel Border Dazzles
• Teal Jewel Dazzles
• Mix ‘Ems Butterflies
• Lacy Butterfly Silver Dazzles

I based my card design on this YouTube video:

http://youtu.be/3rLBknHCPcE

Hinged Card

We recently had a hinged card swap on the Just Cards Forum.  I wasn’t able to join in at the time, but I really like the look so I saved the instructions for later.  Here’s my interpretation:

Made with:

• Water Lily photo
• Sew Cute paper pack and labels
• Tiara border punch
• Butterflies stamp set
• Flower Frenzy stamp set
• Blush ink pad (Memories)
• 12 Flower Frenzy cutting die
• 8 Circles and Scallops cutting die
• Wisdom Owls Dazzles (border)
• Mix ‘Em Cupcake Dazzles (border)
• Pink Jewel Dazzles
• Mini flower brad (Making Memories)

If you’d like to make one, you can find an excellent tutorial by Wendy Weixler on her Wickedly Wonderful Creations site

Kit Swap!

I joined a Kit swap at the Paper Wishes forum this month.  If you’ve never joined one, you should.  They are a lot of fun.  Basically, each person builds two identical kits following a recipe, makes a card from one of the kits and sends the second kit to their partner.  Neither person posts pictures until both have finished making their cards.  It’s a lot of fun to see how different or similar the results are.

The kit I received had papers and die cuts from Emma’s Garden.  The really nice thing about the papers is that they’re double sided so I had six patterns to choose from (I chose all six!).

Here’s what I made with it.

 

I haven’t decided what to stamp on the inside yet, so the banner is still blank.

I cut the flowers and leaves using the 12 Flower Frenzy die set and I used Design Tool Kit #6 for the front card flap and the background on the inside.

The kit I sent to my partner included one of my photos and papers from several Personal Shopper kits.  Here’s the card I made with it.

 

Items used:

• Sparkle gold twine (Maya Rd.)
• Greeting from Card Greetings & Sentiments CD
• Tan Swirly Flowers paper
• Blue paper from February 2014 Dazzles PS Kit (you can get the paper without the printed border in the Ooh La La Artful Card kit.)
• Green paper from a Dazzles kit (I'm sure this is probably available in a paper pack, but I can't figure out which one)
• Feathers Dazzles
• Gold Jewel Border Dazzles
• Flower embellishment made with:

• Ecru card stock
• Flower Frenzy die
• Ranger Tea Dye Distress Ink
• Blue stickles

Check out the January Kit Swap at Paper Wishes to see what my partners made.

Using Photos on Cards

I’ve been in a creativity slump for about a year.  Endless hours sitting at my craft desk pushing papers around and finding no inspiration made me wonder if I would ever be able to create again.  Now I’m finally emerging from the fog and I’ve found that my style has shifted just a bit.  I think it has improved so perhaps I needed the break. 

One piece of creativity that I did manage to hang on to during those long months was my love for photography.  I especially like photographing winged things, be they birds or insects.  Several people have expressed an appreciation for my photos, so I decided to try incorporating them into my cards.

This is one of the first cards I made this year.  I created it for one of the people who helped me find my way back out of the fog.

For this card I used:

• 10 Tiny Things Plus Shadows Cutting Dies
• Unforgettable Double-Sided Paper Pack (teal background)
• Heritage Paper Pack (brown borders)
• Grapefruit Double Sided Paper Pack (orange butterfly backgrounds)
• Gold Thin Lines Dazzles
• Nestabilities Large Labels die set

My second card is from a recent trip to Discovery Bay, Washington.  There were quite a few ducks hanging around the dock and this Surf Scooter ventured the closest.  He’s a very goofy looking bird, but I just love the reflection in the water.  I chose a background that closely matched the color of the water to extend the look of the water from the photo onto the card.  I also wanted a natural looking wood frame, so I chose Paper Wishes’ Barnwood paper and popped it up on a few layers of card stock.  I mitered the corners to complete the wooden frame look.

I used the Wildflowers cutting die to cut an orange and a green layer for the flowers and pieced the two together.  I did the same with the dragonfly using green and brown scrapbook paper.  The torn edge of the tan paper from Natures watercolors gives the illusion of a shoreline.

Items Used:

• Pale blue paper (background)
• Barnwood Paper (frame)
• Nature’s Watercolors Paper Pack (tan foreground)
• Wildflowers Cutting die
• Batik Ditigal Paper Pack  (dragonfly wings and body)
• Roses in Harmony paper pack (green dot paper)
• Spooky! Halloween Papers (oragne flowers)
• Gold Tiny Words & Phrases Dazzles