Retirement Card

I haven’t done any Lacé for a while.  I don’t know why.  It’s not all that difficult and is so pretty!  I made this card for the lunch lady at work who retired.  She is such a sweetheart.  I wanted to make something special.

You can’t find Lacé templates anymore, but a new company is making them and they’re called GEO-Dies. They even make some that you can put through your die cutter.

More information about this card including a supply list can be found on my website at: http://www.handcraftedgreetings.com/card.php?card_id=00238

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.

Thank You Cards

Now that the gifts have been opened, it’s time for thank-you cards. Since I’m trying to reduce the amount of scraps I had, I decided to make four cards on the same background.  Here’s what I came up with:

They don’t exactly fit the season, but it has been dark and dreary for the past few days and I wanted to work on something spring-like.

Spellbinders die templates used:

• Labels Two
• Labels Four
• Flower Creations

Quick Thank You Card

I have a small collection of card blanks with patterns printed on them.  Until now, I haven’t really figured out what to do with them, but the other day, I needed to make some quick thank-you cards and having the pre-printed backgrounds really saved me some time.

I cut a couple labels using my Nestabilities Labels Four template and punched out some flowers.  I layered the labels, stamped and embossed “Thanks” on the small label, then added the flowers, using tiny flower bradlets to hold them on.  Easy as can be and I think it turned out pretty nice.

Friends

I have loads of scraps and loads of die-cuts.  So when I sat down to make this card, I grabbed a box of die cuts and told myself I had to use something from the box and that I couldn’t use anything but scraps for the background.  I had no idea how it would turn out.

When I got done, I liked it so much that I sent it to a dear friend with whom I have been exchanging cards and ideas for several years now.  She truly is one of the flowers in my friendship garden!

Purple Birthday Flowers

I recently bought some new stamps at Joanne’s and decided to use them on this birthday card for my daughter-in-law.  The outer border stamp is from Heidi Grace Designs and the “happy birthday” and circle are from Inkadinkadoo.

After stamping and embossing the circle, I cut it out and mounted it using foam squares to make a raised frame. 

The punches I used for the flowers and leaves are as follows:

• 5/16” mini-daisy
• 5/8” daisy (Marvy Uchida)
• 1” daisy (Marvy Uchida)
• 5/8” tri-leaf (EK Success)
• 5/8” single leaf (EK Success)
• 5/8” swirl (EK Success)

I used 1/8” and 1/4” embossing tools to shape the leaves and flower petals.

Sympathy Card

Here’s a sympathy card I made recently.  It was one of my first attempts with perfect pearls and I had to re-do the stamped part 3 times before I got it right.  In spite of that, I really do like Perfect Pearls.  I’m sure I will be using it a lot on future projects.

The flowers were made with several different punches.  I used an embossing tool to shape the petals.  Punch flowers are some of my favorite things to make.

Giant Spiral Card

I have been eyeing the Fold-it card templates from Paper Wishes for quite some time, so when I saw the spiral template on sale for $1 I snapped it up right away. I wasn’t sure how I would like the template because it seemed like there was a lot of tracing and cutting involved, but it turned out to be quite easy to use.

Here is my first card.

I made it for my niece’s graduation. Inside, I put a verse from the Bible on each of the petals and an inspirational poem in the middle. Of all of the giant fold-it templates, I think this one has the most room in the center for writing.

The template also comes with a pattern for a small spiral, plus templates for tags and decorative dots and swirls. I know I will be using this one quite a bit!

Garden Theme Birthday Card

I made this card for my best friend’s birthday.  I used my Sizzlits garden set and my Sizzix flower pot die to make the die cuts.

 

I used distress ink to make the gloves look used and punched some flowers to add to the flower pot.

Red Flowers

I splurged on myself this week and bought some craft supplies from CreativExpress.  One of the things I bought was the Sylized Flowers embossing folder.  I had some yellow paper left over from the Card I made Thursday that was just the right size for a 4 1/4” x 5 1/2” card, so I embossed that. Next I broke out my Coluzzle templates and cut some red flowers and green leaves and stems.

It’s a very quick and simple card, but I like the bright colors.  They make me happy.

Iris Fold Fan

I came up with the idea for this card Tuesday while I was at work. That seems to happen to me a lot.  I come up with designs when I am away from my craft room and then when I arrive home, I have forgotten all about it.  Tuesdays are especially problematic because I go straight to night school after work.  After class is over I have to pick my youngest son up from high school because he is in the pep band and Tuesdays are game nights.  As a result, I didn't get home until after 9:00 p.m. and by then I was just dying to get my design down on paper before I forgot about it.

I created a pattern in SmartDraw, rummaged through my paper supply (which took a considerable amount of time) and got to work.  Here is the result.

The fan went together really fast.  I used the repeating pattern in some gift wrap for the iris folding.  The edging along the top and bottom of the fan is made from the edge of a paper doily.  The fan slats are cut from tan parchment card stock.  I think next time I will use some distress ink on them.  The flowers and leaves are made with paper punches.

You can find the pattern for the fan on my web site at: http://www.handcraftedgreetings.com/irisfoldinst.html

I will probably be making another one of these soon. I have all the paper picked out, it's just a matter of finding time. Lately my evenings and weekends have been extremely busy.

Pop-up Box

I got the idea for this box from some junk main one of my co-workers received.  If you push down on it, it flattens out so that you can put it in an envelope, but when you take it out of the envelope it springs into a box shape.  I thought it was just about the coolest thing I'd ever seen, so of course, I had to figure out how it was done.  The secret is that it has a rubber band inside.

The box my co-worker received was hexagon shaped, but I thought it would be easier to start out with a square.  Here's mine flattened out in my scanner:

I used Kaleidoscope Kreator 3 to print the graphics for the sides.  Next time, I will make sure that the flowers on the top half of the box sides are right side up.  Oops!

For the top, I punched out a square with my scalloped square punch, stamped Happy birthday and added some punch flowers.

And here's another view of it popped up:

You can download a copy of the box template and instructions from my website at:

http://www.handcraftedgreetings.com/miscprojects.php

Textured Vellum

Today I had a rare afternoon all to myself, so of course I sat down to make cards.   I stared at my empty craft table for quite a while trying to figure out what to do.  Tea bag folding? Embroidery? Iris Folding?  I just couldn't make up my mind, so I decided to rummage through a stack of paper I hadn't looked at for quite a while and discovered a few sheets of vellum with a weave texture.

I have had the vellum for quite some time. It was given to me several years ago and I never seemed to come up with an appropriate use for it because it is not nearly as transparent as most vellum used for scrapbooking.  Today, I decided to try stamping on it. 

I have a very pretty butterfly stamp from Stampin' Up.  I stamped it on the vellum using dark blue ink and then embossed it with holographic embossing powder.  you can't tell from the scan, but the effect is really pretty.

I punched a one and one half inch strip of vellum with my Fiskar's border punch for the left side border.  The flowers were punched with a mini-flower punch from Provo craft.  The "Thinking of you," stamp is from a Create A Card set I bought at Michael's.  I embossed the letters with silver embossing powder.

After finishing that card, I decided to try printing on the vellum.  My first couple of tries were not very successful and I was about to give up when I happened to set my printout down on a piece of bright orange paper.  The difference in background paper really brightened the image and enhanced the colors.

Here is the card I made using an image from PCCrafter.  I adjusted the brightness of the image as the colors in images printed on vellum tend to be fairly muted.

The border on this card was done with another Fiskar's border punch.  After punching the paper, I glued red paper to the back of it to make the leaves stand out.  The vellum is matted on a square of red scrapbooking paper, which in turn is matted on the same orange I used for the border.  I used the same "Thinking of you," stamp as before, but stamped and embossed it with red this time.

Punch Bouquet with Embroidered Border

It's been way too long since I sat down to make cards.  I have been designing some embroidered frames the past few days and this afternoon, I decided to test one of them. 

I stitched the pattern using some variegated metallic blending filament I picked up at JoAnn's several months ago (Kreinik Metallics #95). If you'd like to try it, you can download the pattern here.

After stitching the frame, I used my Coluzzle to cut around it, then mounted it on some patterned paper.  To get ideas for the flower arrangement, I searched the Internet florist sites for bouquets with the colors I wanted. 

Here's the finished product.

A Quick Iris Fold Birthday Card

I am on a break from school and work this week and have been catching up on all the house and yard work that has been neglected over the past quarter.  One of the things I was determined to do today was clean out my craft area.  For some reason, my craft table is the repository for every piece of paper that comes into my house.  I spent the morning filing, shredding and recycling and finally accomplished my goal.

As I sat down to my empty desktop, I discovered that I just couldn't come up with any good ideas.  Just great, after struggling with writers block most of the quarter, now I have card maker's block.  Maybe this is a sign that I'm too stressed out. 

I decided to rummage through my supplies in search of inspiration and I found some iris folding card blanks I cut out last fall.  I am short on birthday cards, so I chose one with a birthday theme.  This was a good start.  Now to find some paper to go with it.  After rummaging a bit more, I found a book of iris folding papers I forgot I had.  Here is the result...

The book of iris folding papers is from Search Press and is simply called "Iris Folding." (ISBN 1-84448-114-X) It contains a total of 24 sheets. The colors are green, red, yellow, orange, purple and blue.

You can find iris folding instructions and patterns at http://www.handcraftedgreetings.com/irisfoldinst.php.

Junk Mail

I am taking a class on Sustainability this quarter.  So far it has been both fascinating and frustrating.  Fascinating because of the innovation that has come from the Sustainability Movement, and frustrating because the prevalent view of several of my classmates seems to be that sustainability has everything to do with the environment and nothing to do with the economy or the quality of life. Nothing could be further from the truth. (For more information see: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/104)

Now, you are probably asking, "What is sustainability and what does it have to do with crafts?"

To put it in a very, very simple form, sustainability is insuring that we, as well as future generations can continue to exist while preserving the environment, our economy and our quality of life. The mantra, "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!" is a just tiny piece of it, and that's where my craft for today fits in.

For at least the first few sessions of this class, we have decided to put our names on name cards so we can get to know each other.  I thought it would be fun to make mine from junk mail.  Here is the result:

 

The background is made from an envelope.  The border and letters are made from the inside of a security envelope.  I used my Coluzzle Swing Alphabet template to cut out the letters of my name. 

The flowers and leaves are punched from the glossy paper used for advertising flyers. To give the leaves and flowers dimension, I shaped them using an embossing tool.

 

Glossy ad paper is perfect for punch flowers because it holds its shape well, and the vibrant colors really pop.

For a Sweet Two Year Old

My granddaughter turned two today!  She is such a delight.  Of course mommy and daddy think she's a little stinker most of the time, but grandma thinks she's all sugar, spice and everything nice!

Here is the card I made for the occasion:

Materials and equipment used:

• Paper Shapers funky flower punch
• Paper Shapers circle punch
• ProvoCraft mini flower punch
• Fiskars Lace corner punch
• Coluzzle Shadow Shapes number 2 template
• Keepsake Card Crafts Majestic Embossing Board
• Vellum
• Striped scrapbook paper (from ProvoCraft)
• Pink stamp pad
• Scraps of blue, green and yellow card stock

Just (barely) in time for Easter!

I have had the patterns finished for these cards for a couple weeks, but did not have time to make them until tonight.  They look a lot harder to make than they actually are.  The two most important tools for the job are a good, sharp craft knife paired with a good cutting mat.

 

These cards were a lot of fun to put together.  I used paper from the Provocraft David Walker Studios Super Slab.  Having coordinating papers really helped me put them together quickly.  The card to the left has a pink background behind the cut-out, but since I wanted to take advantage of the striped effect from the paper on the card on the left, I decided to leave the cut work open open so that the background shows through.

I finished off the cards with corner die cuts I made with my Cuttlebug Victorian die set.  The eggs are decorated with punch outs from some miniature punches I bought at Michael's and with scraps from the corner die cuts.

You can find general instructions for cut and fold on my website at www.handcraftedgreetings.com/cfeaster.html or www.handcraftedgreetings.com/cfbirthday.html.

The materials and equipment I used to make these cards are as follows:

• Double-sided paper or lightweight card stock (I used blue/dark purple for the first card and yellow/purple for the second card)
• Solid color to put behind cutout if desired.
• Patterned scrapbooking paper
• Sharp craft knife (X-Acto works very well)
• Cutting Pad
• Tiny punches (I found most of mine in the dollar bin at Michael's)
• Cuttlebug Victorian Die set
• Sizzix (or Cuttlebug, or any other die cutter)
• Decorative Scissors (for scalloped border around second egg)
• Coluzzle small nested oval
• Coluzzle knife
• Coluzzle cutting mat

Quick Embossed Birthday Card

This is a very quick card I put together today.

Here is what I used to make it:

• Majestic Embossing Board from The Glitter Girls
• Embossing tool
• Stampendous Happy Birthday stamp
• Paper Shapers flower and circle punches

The little flowers were a cover-up for a slight stamping mishap.  I wasn't about to throw the card out just because of a little ink spot!

Showing Gratitude

Now that Christmas is over and the presents have been opened, it is time to say "Thanks" to those who made this holiday season special.

When I sat down to make some thank you cards this afternoon, I decided to make them bright and cheery. The days are very gray and dreary here this time of year.  They are short and the weather is usually overcast and rainy so I wanted to make something to remind me of summer sunshine and flowers.

Here is what I came up with:

Equipment used:

• Sizzlits Bounce alphabet
• Cuttlebug Asterisks (Flower)
• Cuttelbug 2x2 sliders
• Red  and white trim
• Xyron Sticker maker
• Sticky Dots Die-Cut Adhesive
• Card blank - 4 1/4 x 5 1/2
• Red and Yellow card stock
• Red decorative paper - solid and print