Back to Basics

I've been making cards for many years now and one of the things that I've noticed is the more toys that I have the harder it is to decide which ones to use. This weekend I took a trip to the beach and as usual I wanted to bring along some paper and crafting tools in case the weather was bad (which is highly probable during March in Oregon). Rather than drag along a bunch of stuff I probably wouldn't use, I wanted to stick to the basics.  Here are the items I put in my bag that I used to make this card:

• A  paper trimmer 
• Scissors (Cutter Bee)
• An embossing stylus 
• A mechanical pencil 
• White, silver and black gel pens (Signo Uniball UM-153) 
• Bib Stencil  (March Simply Stencils Personal Shopper Kit)
• A glue stick (Pioneer)
• Assorted colors of card stock
• Patterned paper (K & Company)
• Design Tool Kits # 2 and #3 (Hot off the Press)
• A light box. (If you don't have a lightbox a window will do as long as it's light outside.  Just tape the stencil to the window and tape the paper over the stencil. )
• 5.5" x 4.25" card blank
• Double-stick foam squares

 

I  used my light box and embossing stylus to emboss around the outside of the bib and the bib details.  I then cut it out very close to the embossed edge leaving about a 1/32 inch border.  After cutting it out I traced around the bib and added the dots with a white gel pen.  In retrospect, that probably wouild have been easier to do before I cut it out.

Next I embossed the duck  pull toy onto yellow, orange and blue card stock, cut the pieces out and glued them over the embossed duck on the bib.  I used a black gel pen to trace the pull-string and color in the wheels.  I added the hubs with a silver gel pen.

I created the bow by embossing around the the top of the bow and the ribbon tails, then I rotated the cardstock 180 degrees and traced the top of the bow again forming the bottom of the bow.  . I drew a white line around the border and cut it out very close to the edge of the embossing.  

The labels and the scalloped mat for this card were made with Design Tool Kit # 2.   I didn't bring any stamps with me on this trip so I used my white gel pen to write the words.  For the flowers, I used the small flower from Design Tool Kit #3 and embossed it on to yellow card stock.  I hadn’t thought of using the design tools for embossing, but it worked very well.  After embossing the flowers I traced around them with the white gel pen and add a dots to the centers.

I chose a piece of the bundled sage textured card stock for the background. I mounted the scalloped Matt on white paper and trimmed around it leaving about a 16th inch border. I glued the mat to the top of the card then added the labels.    I mounted the flowers and the bib on the front of the card using double stick foam squares.  Lastly I flipped the bif stencil over and embossed the duck on the bottom right corner of the inside of the card.

 

Welcome Baby Boy

I cut the onesies for this card using the Peek-a-boo SVG set from Lettering Delights.  I used the Baby Face alphabet dies for the lettering on the onesies.

I used the Peggy banner from the Layered Ribbon Banners template for the Welcome banner.  The stamp set I used was one of those dollar sets from Michael’s.

Made With:

• Peek-a-boo SVG set from Lettering Delights
• Layered Ribbon Banners template (Hot Off the Press)
• Baby Face Alphabet (Provo Craft)
• Tiny alphabet stamps
• Sparkle Gold Twine Cording (Maya Road)
• Patterned paper scraps
• Blue patterned paper
• Green patterned paper

Butterflies, Birthdays and Banners

I spent some time cleaning my craft room this afternoon and uncovered some projects I started but never finished.  When I got done cleaning, I decided that rather than start something new, I should finish something (what a novel concept!).

I had all the pieces cut out for a butterfly card, but had never assembled it, so that seemed pretty easy.  After I got done I added a banner and a greeting to it.

I cut the butterfly with my eCraft using the Butterflies and Blossoms cut-it set from letteringdelights.com.  I really like the way it turned out.  The banner is from the Build A Banner template by Hot Off The Press.  The stamps and papers are also from Hot Off The Press.

Here’s the inside of the card:

You can find the supplies list for this card on my website here:
http://www.handcraftedgreetings.com/card.php?card_id=00273

Friends Forever

Here’s a card I made for the challenge I’m hosting over at Just cards.  The challenge is to make a card out of black and white paper with just a splash of one color.  I chose this challenge because I recently bought a pack of black and white papers and needed an excuse to use them.

I have also accumulated quite the collection of .svg files to use with my eCraft, so of course, I used some of those too.  The flower, lace and the label inside the card were all cut with my eCraft.  The sentiment is from the Heart to Heart stamp set from Hot Off the Press.

Here’s what the inside looks like.

Items used:

• White card stock
• Pink card stock
• Recollections black and white paper pad
• Heart to Heart stamp set (Hot Off the Press)
• Anna Griffin Poppy embossing folder
• 15 Lovely Labels template (Hot Off the Press)
• Butterflies and Blossoms .svg set (Lettering Delights)
• Scalloped Borders .svg set (Lettering Delights)
• Dimensional Flowers Cut it set (Lettering Delights)
• Double-sided foam tape

June Color Challenge

This month’s color challenge at Just Cards is to make a card with hot pink, lime green, orange and bright blue. The challenge is open until midnight, June 9.  Come join in the fun! 

Here is the card I made for an example.

I made the flower pot, tag and leaves using the Playful Pockets template from Hot Off The Press.  I made the flowers using one of my old Coluzzle templates.  The Happy Birthday greeting is a Dazzle peel-off.  I sponged the background using Peeled Paint and Spun Glass distress ink.

Button Flower with Handmade Paper

This week’s challenge at Just Cards is to make a card using at least one button.  This is a really simple challenge so if you’ve never done one before, come over and play.  We promise we won’t bite! 

Here is one of the examples I posted:

Except for the label and the borders, it is all made from handmade papers.  When I was cleaning my craft room the other day, I discovered a huge stack of handmade papers in a rainbow of colors, so naturally I had to make something with them.

The label is from the 15 Lovely Labels template from Hot Off The Press and the flowers are from one of my old Coluzzle templates.  The button is from a stash I’ve had for years.  I cut the shank off of it so it would lay flat on the card and stuck it on with a glue dot.

Cut and Fold With Noted Paper Pack from HOTP

I’ve been in cut and fold mode lately.  It’s partly due to the two new double sided paper packs from Hot Off The Press (Kaleidoscope and Noted), and partly due to Papers and Pixels magazine asking me to write an article for their June issue (more on that in a later post).  It also helped that one of the requirements for the May Designer Challenge over at Paper Wishes was that we use the Noted paper pack in a way that shows off both sides of the paper.  With that in mind, I set out to make some new cut and fold templates.

Here’s my first entry:

I stamped the background with the small fern stamp.  All of the papers are from the Noted pack and the label is from the 15 lovely labels template.  The cut and fold template for this card will be available in the June Papers and Pixels magazine.

After making that card, I decided to make another. One of the stamps to choose from for the challenge was the Bicycle stamp.  My original plan was to create a template that looked like the sun and just use half the template with the bicycle in the foreground and say something about riding off into the sunset.  After I got done with the prototype, I changed my mind and came up with this layout instead. 

The cut and fold template will be available from my website (www.handcraftedgreetigns.com) soon.

With Heartfelt Sympathy

Here is my second (and winning) entry in the PaperWishes March designer challenge.  This is the first time I’ve won a competition in years.

Here is the inside of the card.

You can read more about this card on my website at: http://www.handcraftedgreetings.com/card.php?card_id=00241

Memories

This is the first of three of my entries in the March Paper Wishes Designer challenge.  The requirements were that we use the 3D flowers template and the Sunshine and Shadows paper pack and the 4” doilies. The lilies on the template had seven petals, but I didn’t think they looked much like lilies, so I removed a couple.  I like them better this way.

Of course, the down side is they won’t go into a regular envelope.  I had to make a box for this card.

Here’s the inside.

 

You can read more about this card on my website at: http://www.handcraftedgreetings.com/card.php?card_id=00243

Tri-Shutter Card

I have admired several tri-shutter cards over the past few weeks, so when I saw a Tri-Shutter swap on JustCards, I just had to give it a try.  This card was made with papers from the Chocolate Dipped Artful Card Kit.

I made the butterfly using the 15 Butterflies and Dragonflies template and painted it with Smooch Ink.  You can find instructions for making your own tri-shutter card at Splitcoast Stampers.   The list of supplies I used to make this card is located on handcraftedgreetings.com

A Little of This and a Little of That

I made this card for the January week 5 challenge at PaperWishes.  The challenge was to combine all four of the previous challenge criteria which were:

• Colors: Lime and Chocolate
• Use the week 2 sketch
• Use the mosaic technique somewhere on the card
• Use a punch or die cuts.

Here’s my entry.

The rose stamp is from Hot Off The Press Noteworthy stamp set.  I colored it with Copics.  This is my first time using them without the airbrush. I’m really pleased with the results.  I must buy more!

Parchment and Butterfly

Back to butterflies!  Here is another butterfly made from the 15 Butterflies and Dragonflies template.  I colored it with Smooch inks. The parchment work is a modification of a pattern from Pergamano’s Parchment Perforating Kit.

I got the inspiration for this card from PaperWishes’ January 27th Friday Freebies e-mail.

Z-Fold Valentine

Today’s card was inspired by the January 25 Creative Spark e-mail from Paper Wishes.  Rather than use the pattern supplied, I came up with my own modification which I posted on the Paper Wishes forum.

Here’s the front of the card…

… and the inside panels.

Except for the doilies, the papers are all from PaperWishes.  The stickers are from the Mix ‘ems Heart pack.  I don’t have very many stamps from PaperWishes yet so those are from a Valentine set I bought years ago. The labels are from the Layered Labels template.  I found the Forever Friend poem on scrapbook.com.  I tried to use fonts that matched the attributes in the poem.  That was quite a challenge!

Butterflies!

I had the day off from work today so of course, that means crafty time!  For a little inspiration, I checked out the current sketch over at Just Cards.  I’ve been wanting to use more of my Paper Wishes templates, so I selected the 15 Butterflies and Dragonflies, 15 Lovely Labels and Layered Labels templates. I also threw in some smooch inks to color the butterflies.  Here’s what I came up with.

It took quite a bit of practice to figure out how to color with the inks.  The large butterfly is the first one I did.  I think I like the technique I used on the smaller butterflies better.  I’m sure you will be seeing more of those here. They are really quite fun to make!

Everything on this card except the top and bottom corners, the lacy border across the center, and the holes in the corners of the red label is hand cut.  It wasn’t all that difficult either.

Banner Birthday

I finally got to play with my build a banner template that I received from Paper Wishes at the beginning of December.  The template comes with three different shaped banners in several sizes as well as templates for other shapes (19 shapes total, including the banners).  I’m just about out of birthday cards, so that’s what I decided to make.  Yes banners are simple and yes, I could have easily done this without the template, but I don’t like measuring, which is why I just love templates!

The butterflies at the bottom were punched with the Martha Stewart butterfly border punch.  I adhered them to a piece of yellow paper and then cut out around the butterflies and also cut out the spaces in between the butterflies.  It’s not too difficult if you have some good precision point scissors and I really like the effect.

More Christmas Kirigami

OK.  I’m pretty much hooked on kirigami.  Here are a few more of my creations made, for the most part, with the Christmas Kirigami template. 

I matted this one by tracing it about 1/16” from the edges onto vellum.  I then embossed the traced lines on the vellum, cut it out just to the outside of the embossed lines and stacked the snowflakes.  The label and writing are also embossed on vellum.

This one is just two stacked snowflakes, one on printed paper and the other on vellum.  I added punched snowflakes to the background.  You can’t really tell from the scan, but the background is sparkly.

Here’s another card with a sparkly background.  You won’t find the pattern for the red part on the template.  I freehanded that one.

I found a label I liked, but didn’t like the color, so I traced it onto vellum and embossed it the same way I did the first card.

Christmas Kirigami

Last month in my Templates Plus kit from Paper Wishes, I received a Christmas Kirigami.  I’d never done Kirigami before and it looked kind of difficult, so I was pleasantly surprised to find out I was wrong. Here’s my first card.

Not bad for a beginner.  I love the paper that came in the kit with the template.  It’s called Glimmer paper.  It is lightweight enough for kirigami and it holds its shape very well (Note the curved petals on the flower).

After playing with the template a while, I decided to branch out and make my own design.  Here’s what I came up with.

 

And here’s a close up.

 

See what I mean about the paper? It curled very easily and stayed put.

Alcohol Ink Fold-it Flower

Well, I’m off work for a few weeks due to surgery, so maybe I will get some cards made while I’m recuperating.  Here’s one I made today for my niece’s birthday.

I used alcohol ink to color both sides of a 12 x 12 sheet of shiny lightweight card stock (butterscotch on one side and a mixture of cranberry, wild plum and butterscotch on the other).  I used the Giant Fold-it Flower Card template from Paper Wishes to make the flower.  I love this template because both sides show on the finished flower.  I added happy birthday peel-offs to the petals of the large flower and cut apart some Border Dazzles and added them to the petals of the small flower.  The flower opens up to reveal a birthday sentiment inside.  Sorry, I forgot to scan the opened flower.

Ready to Shop

I made this card for my niece’s birthday.  I made the purse with Paper Wishes’ Pretty Little Purses template.  There are four purses on the template and they are adorable! I put some money inside the purse. It was a real hit with my niece.

The dress is a die-cut I received in a swap several years ago.  The shoes are paper-pieced based on a shoe from PCCrafter’s Club Diva collection.

Chocolate Sundae, Anyone?

Well, I did it. I was so impressed with the templates from Paper Wishes that I joined the template personal shopper club. My first template was this adorable ice cream sundae and it arrived just in time form my nephew’s birthday.

Along with the template, I received some very nice paper as well as a newsletter with suggestions. The sparkly brown paper I used to make the ice cream came in the kit. It also included some beautiful foils and some pink swirl paper, but since I was making this for my nephew, I opted for some blue paper I already had. The whole thing went together surprisingly fast and is cute as can be. The ice cream opens up to reveal a small surprise --in this case, money, but you could also put in a small piece of jewelry or perhaps some chocolate.