Happy Birthday Mom

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. PLEASE READ MY DISCLOSURE FOR MORE INFO.

A friend asked me to make a card for her mother-in-law.  She didn't give me any specifics but wanted something special.  I must have changed the design at least 5 times before I finally settled on this easel card with quilled flowers.

I really love how it turned out. I used my Box Envelope Tool to generate the instructions for making the envelope for the card.  This really wasn't as hard to put together as it may look.  I think I could do a second one in far less time.  The supply list is quite lengthy, but you could substitute quite a few of the items with something you have.

Instructions:

Card base:

• Cut one 5" x 11" rectangle from Pretty Pansy card stock and score it at 6 1/4" and 9 3/8". 
• Cut one  5" x 6 1/4" rectangles from Pretty Pansy card stock.
• Adhere the first and second rectangles to form the base of an easel card.
• Cut one  5" x 6" rectangles from Pretty Pansy card stock.
• Center and Adhere the 5 1/2" doily to the 5"x 6" panel. Wrap the left and right edges of the doily around to the back of the panel and secure with tape or white liner.
• Adhere the 5" x 6" rectangle to bottom flap of the easel card.
• Stamp the banner from the Easter Blessings stamp set onto Cool Pool carsdstock using Turbo Teal ink.
• Stamp "With Love" from the Dancing Wildflowers stamp set onto the Banner using Turbo Teal Ink
• Use the banner die for the Easter Blessings die set to cut out the banner.
• Pop up the banner onto Journey medium foam squares and adhere it to the inside of the card between 1.5 and 2" from the fold line.

Front Panel

• Cut a 4.75" x 6" rectangle from Banana Cream cardstock.
• Use Clear Pigment ink and to stamp the small flower cluster from the Love Life stamp set randomly across the panel, stamping some of the images off of the edges.
• Let the ink dry for a minute or two, then use a Sponge tool to sponge Pretty Pansy PanPastel over the entire surface to create a floral background.
• Adhere the 7.5" doily to the panel, aligned slightly below the center with the right side aligned just inside the right side of the panel (refer to photo).  Wrap the edges around the panel and adhere them to the back with tape or White Liner
• Stamp the music score from the Fancy Patterns stamp set onto a scrap of white paper. Tear it out and ink with Ranger Tea Die Distress Ink.  Adhere it to the lower right portion of the front panel.
• Center and adhere the panel to the front of the card.

Framed Greeting:

• Print Happy Birthday Mom using size 28 ParkAvenue BT font.  Trim to fit the frame (about 2 1/4" x 3").  
• Use a Sofft tool with Pineapple Smoothie PanPastel to shade the edges.  
• Use Deep Lilac ink to stamp the small flower cluster from the Love Life stamp set two to three times in the lower left and upper right corners.
• Glue the greeting to the back of the vintage frame.
• Center and adhere the frame to the front of the card.

Quilled Roses

• Use the 3D Flowers template and trace one small and one large ruffled rose onto Cool Pool cardstock.  Cut them out, then ink the edges with Turbo Teal ink.
• Use tweezers or a quilling tool to create the roses.
• Cut two leaves from Lemon Grass cardstock using the Botanical Leaves cutting die.
• Glue the leaves and roses to the lower left corner of the frame.

Quilled Daisies

• Use detail scissors to cut a fringe along one edge of the 1/4" yellow quilling strip.
• Use a quilling tool and a 1/8" blue quilling strip to create small (just under 1/4") flower centers. 
• Adhere the fringed strip to the blue center and continue for 5 to 6 more turns or when you feel like there are enough petals.  Glue the end and remove from  the quilling tool
• Make 4 more daisies the same way.
• Use the two leaf and three leaf dies from the Flower Frenzy die set to cut two sets of leaves.
• Adhere the leaves and daisies to the upper right corner of the frame as shown.

Materials and Supplies

• 12 Flower Frenzy Cutting Dies (Paper Artist)
• Botanical Leaves Cutting Die (HOTP)
• Journey Craft Glue *
• Journey Foam Squares - Medium *
• Banana Cream Cardstock *
• Cool Pool Cardstock *
• Lemon Grass Cardstock *
• Pretty Pansy Cardstock *
• Confectionary Days PanPastels *
• Rich Sorbets PanPastels *
• Victorian Accent Bloom Benefit
• Clear Pigment Ink Pad *
• Deep Lilac ink pad *
• Turbo Teal ink pad *
• Easter Blessings Stamp set *
• Easter Blessings Die set *
• Love Life Stamp Set
• 5 1/2 inch paper doily
• 7 1/2 inch paper doily
• 1/4 inch quilling paper - yellow
• 1/8 inch quilling paper - light blue
• Dancing Wildflowers stamp set (HOTP)
• Fancy Patterns Stamp Set (HOTP)
• Tea Stain distress ink (Ranger)
• 3D Flowers template (HOTP)
• Dauber Dowel Small *
• Quilling tool
• Tweezers

* denotes an affiliate link - see my disclosure for details.

Pretty in Pink

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. PLEASE READ MY DISCLOSURE FOR MORE INFO.

Aren't these flowers pretty?  They go together so fast too.  It only takes six round tiles to make a flower and there are only three folds per tile.  You can find the instructions HERE.

Both tiles are available on my website, just go to the Print Tea Bag Tiles page, select round for the tile shape and pink for the tile color. Of course, there are lots of other shapes and colors too.  Why don't you hop on over and have a look?

Instructions:

Print six tiles of each color at size 150 (approximately 1 1/2 inches)
Follow the instructions for the flower petal fold to make two flowers.
Cover the front of a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card blank with cloud paper.
Die cut a cloud from Whip Cream cardstock using the second to smallest Cloud Dreams die.
Die cut the grass from Kiwi Slice cardstock using the grass Border Details di.
Die cut the leaves from Lemon Grass cardstock using both the Sweet Petals and Mystic Vine die sets.
Stamp, "Feel Better Soon," on the cloud using Catalina Splash ink.
Assemble as shown, popping the grass, flowers and cloud up on Journey foam squares.
Affix a yellow rainbow drop to the center of each flower with Journey Glaze.

Supply list:

• Spring Prints (Retired)
• Two sets of six round teabag tiles
• Rainbow Drops *
• Kiwi Slice cardstock *
• Lemon Grass cardstock *
• Border Details die set *
• Sweet Petals Die Set (DI-0362)
• Mystic Vine Die Set (DI-0322)
• Cloud Dreams Die Set *
• Get Well Stamp Set *
• Journey Glaze *
• Catalina Splash Ink Pad *

* denotes an affiliate link - see my disclosure for details.

A New Take on an Old Fold

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. PLEASE READ MY DISCLOSURE FOR MORE INFO.

I've been playing with teabag tiles the past couple of days and I came up with a new (to me) fold.  I don't know if anyone else has done this one before, but I haven't seen it.  I was playing with the Zig Zag fold for round tiles and wondered if I could adapt it to a square tile.  Why yes, I can and I like it.

For my card, I wanted to use a tile with the design radiating out from one corner, so I selected one of my pink tiles, sized it to 350 and cut it in quarters.  Two tiles makes a medallion.  I sized the same tile to 100 and printed five of them in a row for the strip across the card.  I thought the colors in the tile match the Raspberry Berry and Bubblegum papers really well so I used those as well as a little lemon drop to accent the little bits of yellow that were originally part of the center of a flower (this tile was created from a photo of a flower).  The card stock background seemed a little plain so I embossed it with the Love Letter embossing folder and then brushed it lightly with some Whip Cream ink to bring out the design. I also added Pink World sequins to the medallion to give it a little sparkle.

You can also mirror the fold for half of the tiles for a completely different look.

Supply List

• Lemon Drop Cardstock *

• Raspberry Berry Cardstock *

• Journey Sequins Pink World *

• Love Letter Embossing Folder

• Whip Cream Ink Pad *

• Story Book Occasions Stamp Set (Retired)

• 8 tea bag tiles

* denotes an affiliate link - see my disclosure for details.

Iris Folding Dos and Don'ts

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. PLEASE READ MY DISCLOSURE FOR MORE INFO.

It has been a long time since I have done any iris folding so last week I decided to make a card using that technique.  Most of the time when I've done iris folding in the past I've either used plain cardstock or paper with a subtle pattern.  This time, I wanted to use the yellow rose paper from the Through the Year paper pack.  I carefully selected coordinating iris folding papers from my stash (which is mostly gift wrap). I really liked the way the colors coordinatied and was hoping for a really pretty card, but when I flipped my finished work over, well...

It was less than spectacular (it actually looks better in the photo than in real life).  I tried dressing it up a bit with a yellow rose, which probably just made matters worse. The patterned gift wrap competes with the patterned background and your eyes just don't know where to focus.  I was really disappointed because I really wanted to use that background paper.

Back to the drawing board.  For my second attempt, I decided to go with a more monochromatic theme for the iris.  I chose a combination of solid blues with holographic and foil papers.  I think it turned out much better.

Once done with the iris folding, I added some sequins, a bow and a greeting.  I inked the bow with Huckleberry Fusion to give it a little more texture.

So, the lesson learned from this little experiment is, you can use a busy background with iris folding, but if you do, use un-patterned papers for the iris.

Materials List

• Cellophane tape
• Journey Craft Glue *
• Journey Foam Squares - Medium *
• Pineapple Smoothie Cardstock *
• Pool Play Cardstock *
• Create a Bow Mini Die Set *
• Hexagons Die Set *
• Journey Sequins Blue Skies *
• Special Day Organza Ribbon *
• Huckleberry Fusion Ink Pad *
• Through the Year Prints Paper Pack *
• Good Stuff Stamp Set (Retired)
• Giftwrap in varying shades of blue

* denotes an affiliate link - see my disclosure for details.