Crafty Wednesday

Sorry this post is rather late in the day. I was at the office of the Manitoba Writer’s Guild all afternoon, helping to sort out their extensive library. Anyway, on with the cards!

I thought I’d start with this cute feminine card with plenty of visual elements. It was based on a sketch challenge, which featured three different patterned papers, each containing 3 embellishments. There was supposed to be a musical element and one other stamped image. I used a base card of beige card stock 5-1/2″ x 8-1/2″ folded in half so that it opens from the bottom. Onto that, I added some old calendar/ruler paper for the background. Before attaching the rectangles over the background, I put flower embellishments on the first rectangle, attached with tiny star brads. The middle rectangle contains green flower beads attached with green jute. The last rectangle holds gem-shaped brads in an antique brass colour. The rectangles were then attached to the card base with Sookwang to make sure the heavy bead & brads would not pull the paper off the card. I used a ticket corner punch with the corner guide removed so I could take bites out of the rectangle of music paper to get a scalloped edge. The corset is from the Stampin’ Up set ‘Rue des Fleurs’. I stamped it with red ink and carefully cut around it. I attached both the music and the corset with 3-D squares.

The above card is a whimsical concoction designed for a child using Close To MY Heart‘s ‘Magic Adventure’ stamp set. I really like this set. You may remember some of my other cards where I used the roller coaster stamps and the circus tent stamp from the same set. This time, I used the carousel horse, using black embossing powder to get the raised outline so the shiny paints I used to add colour didn’t run into the wrong places.

But let’s backtrack a bit – I began with a dark blue base measuring 5-1/2″ x 11″ folded in half to make a square card that opens from the right-hand side. I cut 4 – 2″ squares of different patterned paper and placed them around the card. I cut a light blue square measuring 4-1/2″ and a green square measuring 4″ and used a glue runner to attach them together. Around the square, I wound navy blue jute and placed a cloth-covered brad to the bottom centre, separating the strands of jute. I then attached it to the base card with Sookwang. Finally, I attached (with 3-D squares) the carousel and the sentiment, which was also from the same stamp set. I used my Versa Mark sticky pad and black embossing powder to create the sentiment.

Well, that’s all the photos I have processed from my Creative Gathering weekend. I am hoping by next week I will have processed all the pictures I took of the recent batch of birthday and anniversary cards so I can share them with you. Have any of you done anything crafty you’d like to share?

See you next Wednesday! 🙂

Advertisement

Crafty Wednesday

Welcome to my first real Crafty Wednesday post in quite some time. After finally getting my creative spaces rearranged and set up the way I want, I now have time to get down to the business of actually writing and creating. 

You may recall that, back in April, I participated in a Creative Gathering – a two-day event where a whole crowd of avid scrapbook enthusiasts get together and craft. I finally got around to taking pictures of the cards I made there and processing them so I can now share them with you.

 

The first couple of cards were made for one of their challenges where they provide a sketch of how the page or card should look, but it’s up to the creator to decide what materials they will use. As you can see by the similarities, we were to use 9 squares with ribbon to separate them and an embellishment on the right-hand side. These cards are a great way to get rid of those small paper bits you might have leftover from another project. The base card was made from yellow card stock measuring 4-1/4″ x 9″, folded in half. Each small square measures 1-1/4″ square and was punched with Stampin’ Up‘s ‘Postage Stamp’ punch. One could easily just use a cutter to get the appropriate size square. For the center of the flower on the left, I used a green brad. On the right, I used a self-adhesive ‘gem’. Both flowers were stuck to the cards with Glue Dots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These next two cards have similarities as well, although they look quite different. The sketch for this one required a contrasting rectangle with a ribbon of some kind down the middle. The sentiment needed to be nearly centered on the card with embellishments above and below it, along with a bow near the bottom.

I used a base card of 8-1/2″ x 5-1/2″ folded in half. The center rectangle measured 3-3/4″ x 4-3/4″. The Happy Birthdays were embossed using a Versa Mark sticky pad and black heat-activated embossing powder. I used two different stamps for it, one for the outer label and one for the words, which I cut from different paper and attached to the label with a glue runner. I used actual ribbon on the pink card for the central line, while I used Washi Tape (thin, self-adhesive ribbon) for the orange card. The bows were made with real ribbon and attached with Glue Dots.

I think that’s it, for today. I’ll share more with you next week. 🙂

Crafty Wednesday

Well, looking out the window this morning, I see winter has reasserted itself with another layer of the white stuff covering everything. Hope it’s warmer wherever you are. Okay, enough complaining and on to the cards!

Let’s start with this masculine card. The base is brown card stock, cut to 8-1/2″ x 5-1/2″ & folded in half. I used a piece of lined paper and one of the stars print paper, both from Bo Bunny, cut to 2-1/2″ x 3-3/4″ each and taped their backs together with plain cellophane tape. On the lined paper, I stamped “Happy Birthday” and “You’re a star” in brown ink. With the same brown ink, I stamped 2 stars using stamps from Close To My Heart‘s ‘Typeset’ Workshop on the Go set, one on orange card stock, the other on yellow and carefully cut them out. I popped them up off the card using 3D squares. Before attaching the two pieces of patterned paper to the card base, I cut a piece of yellow ribbon 4-1/2″ long. With a piercing tool, I made five holes near the centre of the ribbon and attached small star-shaped brads. Then I attached the ribbon to the seam of the two papers, wrapping the ends around the edge and fastening them securely with Sookwang double-sided tape. The last step was to centre the star/lined paper onto the card base, attaching it all with Sookwang.

This masculine card also has a brown card stock base (8-1/2″ x 5-1/2″, folded in half), as well as a piece of cream-coloured card stock (5″ x 3-3/4″) and paper with a brown and green swirly pattern (4-3/4″ x 3-1/2″). On a separate piece of cream card stock, I stamped “Happy Birthday” and a clock face and hands (from a stamp set by Recollections) using my Versa Mark sticky pad and sprinkling black embossing powder over the image, shaking off the excess. I used my heat tool to set the powder and then cut out both the sentiment and clock face images with my 2″ circle punch. I carefully cut around the clock hands and attached them to the clock face with a small black brad. I used a glue runner to attach the sentiment on the left and pop-up (3D) squares to attach the clock. I centered the patterned paper to the cream card stock and fastened it securely with double-sided tape. Then, I cut a 5-1/2″ long piece of green/brown polka dot ribbon, wrapped it around the patterned & cream-coloured card stock and attached it with Sookwang. Finally, I attached the whole piece onto the card base with Sookwang.

The last card for today is one of my favourites, to date. It has a red card stock base (same as above), a piece of orange paper cut to 5″ x 3-3/4″ and a sheet of diamond-patterned paper cut to 4-1/2″ x 3-1/4″. In the centre of the patterned paper, I cut out a frame that was 2″ x 1-1/2″. I then cut a piece of cream-coloured card stock that was 2-1/2″ x 1″ as a base for the dragon, which was cross-stitched on plastic canvass by my talented friend, who has so generously cross-stitched numerous card designs for me. I attached the dragon to a sheet of Sookwang and carefully cut around it. Peeling off the backing, I attached it to the small rectangle of cream card stock. Centering the orange paper to the base card, I attached it with glue runner, then attached the patterned paper to the centre of the orange paper, also with glue runner. I centered the cream card stock with the dragon design and attached it with more Sookwang – but I wasn’t done, yet!

I searched Goodreads for a quote about dragons and found the one by Ilona Andrews from her book, Fate’s Edge, that reads: “If the sky could dream, it would dream of dragons.” I printed it onto cream card stock, cut it out and sponged around the edges with orange ink, Then, I attached it with pop-up squares to the top left-hand corner. Inside, I wrote, “Hope your birthday is filled with dreams of dragons.” I gave it to my son-in-law who is a fan of fantasy stories, especially when they involve dragons. I’m sure most of you fall into that category, too! 🙂

Here’s hoping you all have a crafty day and dream of dragons! 🙂

Crafty Wednesday – Honey Pop

Welcome to another Crafty Wednesday. Today I’d like to introduce a fun new product, a honeycomb paper called Honey Pop by Inky Antics. You’ve certainly seen this pop-up product in cards and decorations, such as the bells for wedding and umbrellas for showers. I learned how to use this product while at my scrapbook weekend back in September. I noticed the product while browsing the ‘store’ at the event, which was an area set up by the owner of The Scrapbook Cottage. The stamp set first caught my eye, because it was very cute, and then I noticed the sample card with the pop-up element, so of course I had to buy the green honeycomb paper, too! 🙂

The stamp set was called ‘Ornament Birdy’ – and I’m sure you can see why! The tree and present are from a stamp set I borrowed from my sister-in-law and I’m afraid I don’t know the company or stamp set names. The chick is one of two bird stamps in the set by Inky Antics as is the star on top of the tree.

The inside is the fun part. Start by placing the stamp in the direction indicated on the honeycomb paper. See the arrow printed on the paper? There is a corresponding arrow on the stamp that came with the ‘Ornament Birdy’ stamp set. Ink up your stamp, line up those two lines, and press the stamp onto the paper to give you the outline around which you should cut. The dotted line indicates that it will be on the fold of the card and should be cut along with the other edges of the image.

Once you’ve cut out your tree (or whatever object you might want to pop out of your card), you’ll want to secure it to your card. They suggest glue, but I think that takes too long to dry and could muck up your paper. I used a sheet of Soowkang double-sided tape. I first stamped two of the half-tree images and cut out around them. I removed the backing on one side of the tape and attached it to the honeycomb tree. I did the same to the other side of the tree.

I peeled off the backing on one side of the tree and attached it near, but not quite on, the fold of the card. I then peeled off the backing from the other side, closed the card over it and rubbed the card so the Sookwang stuck evenly to the card. When it opens up, it looks like this:

Of course, I then added all the other elements, too. Please note: The inside of this card is not the one that matches the front of the card above. I made this one to demonstrate the process. Below are the inside & outside of these two cards. They can be mixed and matched any way you like, or you could come up with your own combination.

For the one card, before adding any of the elements, I ran it through the Cuttlebug using the ‘Dots’ embossing folder. On green paper, I heat embossed the tree (from the Stampin’ Up ‘Christmas Lodge’ stamp set) using green glittery embossing powder, then cut it out and attached the star and jewels with craft glue. The ‘Merry Christmas sentiment came from the ‘Ornament Birdy’ stamp set.

For the other card, before I stuck on the tree, I first attached a silver doily as a backdrop for the tree, using the strong Sookwang tape so it wouldn’t pull away from the card base. The other elements, including the sentiment, were from the ‘Ornament Birdy’ set.

Personally, I think I like the plainer inside of the ‘Dots’ card (without the doily) and the swirly tree stamp of the other card. I’ll definitely have to get my hands on that stamp, or borrow it from my Sister-in-law, again! 🙂

What do you think?

Crafty Wednesday – A poinsettia, a reindeer, and a mouse

Welcome to another Crafty Wednesday!

Sorry I haven’t posted too much else over the past week. Where does the time go? It has been busier than usual and I didn’t even have an interview to post last weekend. I had been toying with doing another character interview, but didn’t have time to compile one.

Okay, enough chit-chat. On with the cards! This card is the last one I made for the Sketch Challenges at my October scrapbook weekend. It is a landscape-oriented card, which called for two round-cornered squares on each side in different patterned paper, a fancy label section in the middle with a sentiment and a main element in the centre of the card. In addition, there should be embellishments along the top of the left-hand square and the bottom of the right-hand square.

Now let’s see my interpretation of the Sketch Challenge:

As you can see, I decided not to go with a ‘Partridge-In-A-Pear-Tree’ element but chose instead a poinsettia. You can get these types of flowers from your local craft store. There are four layers to mine – a paper flower, a fine mesh flower shape overlay and two paper leaf shapes held together with a yellow brad. Instead of centering the poinsettia, I decided to off-set it a bit, piercing the edge of the left-hand square before attaching it to the card.

I ran the front of the card base through the Cuttlebug, using the ‘Victoria’ embossing folder before attaching the squares. The label was cut and embossed with the Cuttlebug as well, using the ‘Fanciful Labels’ folder. I used a sponge to brush on a pale green ink to the raised parts of the label and heat-embossed the sentiment (from Close To My Heart‘s ‘Card Chatter – Christmas’ clear acrylic stamp set) with black embossing powder. I just realized I didn’t add the embellishments. I might still do so as I picked up some pearlized self-sticking ‘jewels’ that I could add along the edges of the squares to ‘punch’ it up a bit.

The design was very simple, so I finished the inside of the card in similar style by simply cutting out the label (Sizzix ‘Decorative Labels #4’) and embossing the sentiment across its middle.

The design on the next card was one that came to me in a dream. (Yes, I really do dream about making cards!) I thought it would look like a snow globe. What do you think?

Supplies:

White card stock base (8-1/2″ x 5-1/2″, folded in half).
Red/orange patterned paper as the background (5-1/2″ x 4-1/4″)
Dark green card stock (4-1/4″ x 3″).
2″ circle of white card stock (cut with a circle punch)
Reindeer stamp (I used the one from Stampin’ Up‘s ‘Winter Post’ wood stamp set).
2 – 2″ circles cut from a Sookwang sheet
Dark green ink pad (or black)
White glitter
Tree stamp (I used the one from Stampin’ Up‘s ‘Christmas Lodge’ set)
Close To My Heart‘s ‘Vanilla Cream’ pigment-based ink pad (or something similar that won’t bleed into the card stock)
6-1/2″ length of 1/4″ wide white ribbon tied in a bow
4-1/2″ x 3/4″ scrap of white card stock
Versa Mark sticky pad (or Martha Stewart‘s ‘Glue Pad’)
Black embossing powder
Heat tool
Sticky Dots
1/4″ wide Sookwang double-sided tape
Sharp scissors
Paper cutter

Instructions:

1. Use Sookwang tape to attach red/orange paper to front of the card base
2. To the right-hand side of the green card stock rectangle, stamp the tree using the Vanilla pigment ink pad. NB: Make sure you have scrap paper underneath the project so ink will not transfer to your desk top, since you will only be stamping half the tree. Set aside to allow drying time as the pigment ink takes much longer than normal inks to dry.
3. Stamp reindeer onto white card stock circle.
4. Affix Sookwang circles to both front and back of reindeer circle, but keep the backing on the rear until glitter has been applied.
5. Peel front backing off Sookwang/reindeer circle. Sprinkle on the glitter, rubbing it all around the circle until no sticky parts remain. Shake off extra glitter.
6. Once the tree on the green card stock has completely dried, peel off remaining Sookwang backing and affix sparkly reindeer circle to the centre of green card stock.
7. Using Sticky Dots, attach ribbon bow to the top left-hand corner of the green rectangle, securing the ends to the back of the card stock.
8. Attach green card stock to centre of red/orange patterned paper using Sookwang tape.
9. Stamp the sentiment onto scrap of white card stock using Versa Mark. Sprinkle embossing powder over it, ensuring that all the sentiment has been covered. Use heat tool to set the powder. Once the powder has cooled, cut around sentiment.
10. Affix sentiment to bottom of green card stock and overlapping the red/orange pattern slightly

And you’re done! It always seems more complicated when I write it all out in point form, like this. It really isn’t all that difficult. The main thing you need to remember is how long the pigment ink takes to dry. I’ve often ruined cards because I didn’t wait long enough and the image got smudged.

This final card is very cute, I think. I want to thank my sister-in-law for lending me her stamp. It went very well with the candy cane patterned paper I found.

I stamped the image using a Versa Mark sticky pad and sprinkled the black embossing powder over it, shaking off the extra. I used my heat tool to set the powder, then painted the candy cane, the light chord and the light bulbs with my shiny paints. Using the cotton balls that come with the set, I smudged ‘Pebbles Cream Chalk’  to make the ‘glow’ around the light bulbs and add colour to the mouse. Using my paper cutter, I cut out around the mouse and rounded the corners with a paper punch. I cut out a rectangle of wine-coloured card stock that was about a 1/2 inch larger than the mouse, also punching the rounded corners. I then rubbed the edges with a Versa Mark pen, sprinkled peppermint-scented embossing powder onto the sticky surface and used my heat tool to set it. It became a bit shiny, as you can see, and added that extra ‘Scratch-and-Sniff’ element that goes so well with the candy cane theme.

I attached the mouse to the red card stock and the red card stock to the candy cane patterned paper with a glue runner. I affixed the entire card front to a plain white card stock base (5-1/2″ x 8-1/2″, folded in half) with Sookwang two-sided tape to hold it securely.

There’s only one more card that I made during my crafting weekend, but it involves a brand new product and process which I will show you next time.

In the meantime, happy crafting, everyone! 🙂

Crafty Wednesday

Still continuing with the Christmas-themed cards, here are another couple using the Sketch Challenge. I’ll quickly run through the basics with you instead of spell out every detail.

The first is a square card using red card stock for the base. It is a very simple design using a large scalloped square over a patterned front, a ‘ribbon’ of sorts, buttons, a main element and a sentiment. If one was really ambitious, they could add stitching around the edge of the scalloped square, either by-hand or using the Sew Easy roller punch to make the holes before stitching.

I started with a cheery red/orange patterned paper with just a hint of green running through it.  I suppose I could have borrowed the Cricut from my sister-in-law to make the scalloped square bigger, but I used the largest punch I had, instead, and although you can’t really see it, I heat embossed a snowflake in the top right-hand corner of it. I used a contrasting green patterned paper for the ‘ribbon’ and found 6 matching green buttons.

I did use my sister-in-law’s Cricut for the snowman, painting the hat and scarf with my shiny paints and using a felt marker for the face and mitten. I used small punches to make the bow with holly embellishment for the simple sentiment, which was stamped with Versa Mark and heat embossed with black embossing powder.

On the inside I stamped the sentiment onto the same cream-coloured card stock as on the front, using a black ink pad and trimming the corners with a corner punch. I reversed the colours, using the green underneath the red/orange, which was cut using the 3″ scalloped square punch. I added the snowflake sequin as a finishing touch, reflecting the nearly invisible snowflake on the front.

For the second card, they ran out of copies so I very quickly copied the example that was hung up on the wall. Basically, the sketch called for 4 squares on the right-hand side, three main elements along the bottom with a sentiment in the top left-hand corner. This time, stitching along the outer edges was a requirement in order to qualify.

Here is my version, using Cricut-cut ‘gingerbread men’. While I was strolling around the ‘store’ that was set up in the hall, I noticed the very cute gingerbread man paper and used that as my background. Using the Sew Easy roller, I punched the stitch holes around the outside and wove red embroidery cotton through the holes. I cut out four plain green squares with my paper cutter. The sentiment was first stamped with Versa Mark and sprinkled with embossing powder, which was then heated until glossy.

There was a bit of a problem with the gingerbread men, since I am not too familiar with all the function buttons. The men came out in two pieces the main body as well as an outline strip. I simply used black marker on the outline and placed it back around the men, gluing both pieces onto card stock and recutting them with scissors.

I used something EXTRA SPECIAL my sister-in-law had brought with her and she wanted me to try it – gingerbread-scented embossing powder! I placed the men onto my Versa Mark pad to get sticky, sprinkled them with the powder and set it with the heat tool to create the shiny – and smelly – effect on the men. Now they are ‘Scratch-and-Sniff’ and smell like real gingerbread! The final touch was adding small coloured ‘jewels’ for the features. This one will definitely go to one of the younger nieces or nephews, this Christmas.

Had you ever heard of scented embossing powders before today? I thought they were pretty cool; what about you? 🙂

Crafty Wednesday – Christmas Cards

I just calculated that there are exactly 7 weeks until Christmas Day, so I will post a couple more Christmas cards for you eager beavers who might want some ideas on hand-crafted cards to hand out to your family and friends. Back in October, after my scrapbook weekend, I posted a couple of cards I’d made based on Sketch Challenges. I thought I’d do some more of those for you.

The first ‘challenge’ I want to cover today is this one. Notice that the main elements of this card are:

1) 5 squares (1-1/4″ each) of differing paper,

2) a ‘ribbon’ of some kind that runs the length of this portrait-oriented card

3) an embellishment (the flower)

4) the sentiment.

5) card stock base

This is a great card to use up any small scraps of paper you might have hanging around, as long as the colours sort of go together. You also will need a corner punch to round off the opposite corners on each square. That pretty much gives you the list of materials you will need, other than the usual, such as scissors, paper cutter and sticky tape/dots to affix your elements.

Option: two small brads

Step 1 – Cut card stock base 8-1/2″ x 5-1/2″. Fold in half.
Optional – the centre piece of card stock cut to 3 3/4″ x 5″. (I know pink isn’t a normal Christmas colour, but it complemented the glittery striped card stock that I used for the squares. In retrospect, I should have embossed it the same as the light blue squares)

Step 2 -Before cutting out the light blue squares, run the card stock through the Cuttlebug, embossing them using the ‘Large Snowflake’ folder. Cut out 5 – 1-1/2″ squares, rounding off opposing corners with a punch. Attach to card, as shown, using sticky dots or a glue runner.

Step 3 – Cut  5-1/2″ long piece of 1/2″ wide ribbon. Wrap around card, as shown, and affix ends to back of card with Sookwang or some other permanent double-sided tape. (Since the centre of the ribbon was transparent with small snowflakes, which are very hard to see in the picture, I wrapped three strands of purple chord  around the centre of the ribbon.) The ribbon I used was from a Walmart package of 5 spools, each of differing widths, that I purchased at an end-of-season sale. The package really drew my attention because I’m a magpie who loves glittery things! 🙂

Step 4 – Choose an embellishment no more than 2″ high or wide. Since I was focussing on Seasonal cards, I chose a snowflake as the main embellishment. This one was from a sheet of plastic stickers with metal trim. Other suggestions might be a sticker or stamped version of a snowman, Santa Clause, angel, reindeer, etc. Use your imagination and whatever you have in your craft supplies! 🙂

Step 5 – Centre your embellishment as shown and affix over ribbon. If you use brads to secure your embellishment, be sure to do this before gluing on the cover card.

Step 6 – Measure the distance from your embellishment to the edge of the card and cut a 3/4″ wide strip of white card stock. Stamp your sentiment with black ink or use embossing powder and a heat tool for a more finished look. Attach sentiment with glue runner, sticky dots or brads, as I have done.

Step 7 – If you decided to add the contrasting card stock cover, affix it to the card base, centering it and using a strong adhesive such as Sookwang tape or permanent glue runner.

This second card is a square one, the finished card measuring 5″ x 5″. This card design also uses up a lot of those scraps you might have lying around your craft room. It’s a bit more complicated, using many more elements than the last one, but I liked the way mine turned out.

As you can see, there is:

1) a base – card stock measuring 10″ x 5″, folded in half

2) cover card stock (4-1/2″ square)

3) a 3/4″ wide ribbon, cut to 5″ in length, placed horizontally across the centre

4) an image (stamped or an embellishment of some kind) placed over a ‘mat’, measuring 2″ x 2-3/4″

5) a strip of contrasting paper behind the image measuring 1-1/2″ x 5″

6) a 3-1/4″ x 2-1/4″ rectangle in the upper right-hand corner

7) a half-circle (cut with a 2″ circle punch and trimmed with a paper cutter) below the rectangle

8) the sentiment in the bottom right-hand corner.

Here is my version, The Skaters, from the Stampin’ Up set ‘Winter Post’:

As you can see, after heat embossing the image, I used my shiny paint set to colour the skaters. Once the paint dried, I trimmed the image and glued it to the ‘mat’.

Once you’ve cut out all the elements, it’s just a matter of attaching them to the card. I always make sure I use the most permanent type of glue-runner or Sookwang double-sided tape to affix the bottom elements that have other things stuck to it, as it has the most stress. In this case, that would be the orange square of textured card stock. After the cover card stock (orange square) is attached to the base, glue these on in order:

1) strip of card stock on left-hand side (striped), about 3/4″ from outer edge of card.

2) rectangle in upper right-hand corner, allowing an even spacing around the top and right-hand edges so the cover card stock is visible.

3) Attach the half-circle below the rectangle, partially covering the strip on the left.
Option: emboss the half-circle using the Cuttlebug and whichever folder you prefer. I used ‘Victoria’, one of my favourites. 🙂

4) ribbon, just below the centre mark, covering the bottom of the rectangle.

5) image, allowing about 1/4″ of the rectangle to be visible and overlapping the ribbon, slightly.

6) sentiment in the lower right-hand corner. I used the sentiment from Stampin’ Up‘s ‘Bells and Boughs’ set, which I trimmed with scissors.

Hope you enjoyed this little ‘demo’! 🙂

Sketch challenges

On Wednesday’s post, I mentioned volunteering for our local writer’s festival. I also briefly touched on last weekend’s scrapbook extravaganza during which I participated in a variety of sketch challenges. For those that missed the explanation of what a sketch challenge is, here it is in more detail. For each challenge we were presented with a sketch of a scrapbook page layout or a card layout. These sketches were guidelines, or blueprints, on how the page or card should look. We got to choose what stamps, embellishments and paper to use, but you had to follow the guidelines as closely as possible. Here is the first example:

As you can see, the card would need a sentiment, 3 different strips of paper, a contrasting ribbon-type thing beneath the strips and 3 of the same type of images. This is what my card looks like:

I chose to use the coffee mug stamps from the Close To My Heart set from the ‘Wonderland’ Workshop on the Go. Since the images are fairly large, I had to start with a larger-than-normal sized card stock base – 6-1/2″ x 5-1/2″ (folded dimensions). The ribbon element I created with a holly-edge punch and green card stock, trimming it so it fit the card. The sentiment is also from the WotG stamp set. The hardest part was trying to find paper that went together (sort-of).

Since I had time before the next challenge started, I finished the inside, as well. It’s kind of hard to see the sparkly snowflake pattern at the bottom. The mittens were also part of the WotG stamp set and fit in nicely with the ‘warm my heart’ sentiment on the front. Now, I’m sure all you crafty folk could use whatever stamp you wanted to start with and find complimentary papers to complete this challenge. 🙂

The second challenge was this:

As you can see, there is a musical theme to this sketch, requiring a strip of music paper cut around the ornament on the left. It is a standard-sized landscape card (5-1/2″ x 4-1/4″). Here is my vision of it:

I started by embossing the front of the card with the Polka Dot folder for the Cuttlebug, then added the green and gold contrast paper, an inch smaller in length and width to the card. For the ornament, I used the Cuttlebug die-cutter,  ‘Stocking, Ornament, Lightbulb’. I cut a square of shiny gold card stock to fit over the ornament cutter (there are 3 designs on the cutter), then passed it through the machine. The die-cutter also perforates the squiggly bit in the middle and the top part, so I cut out a red ornament and the silver bit for the top, trimming the pieces so they separated from the whole and used glue dots to attach them to the gold ornament. I looped a bit of silver elastic through the hole in the top to ‘hang’ it on the card. If you look closely at the sketch above the music, there are a series of dots. I decided to go along with the musical theme and added note-shaped sequins. I cut the half-circle end of the musical strip with my 2″ circle punch. I used some burgundy and white-striped ribbon and attached it over the music and under the ornament with Sookwang tape. The wavy bit of shiny striped card stock I first embossed with my wavy-edge folder and Cuttlebug, then cut the edge by following the embossing. (I didn’t have my shaping scissors with me!) I know the colours are a little unusual for a Christmas-themed card, but it seems anything goes, these days! 🙂

Well, that’s about all I have time for, today. I completed 7 challenges, so I will share the others another time. In addition, I managed to create 3 more cards using some unique elements, which I will also share at a later date. By the time Christmas rolls around, you’ll have lots of card ideas!

Feel free to share YOUR ideas for Christmas cards, too. 🙂

Crafty Wednesday – pretty cards for ladies

There are so many lovely stamps and accessories that making a feminine card is easy. Here are a few examples:

The front of this card has two elements from Stampin’ Up‘s ‘Rue des Fleur’ set. Along with the pen and parasol, there is also a corset bursting with flowers, a trumpet spouting greenery and the word ‘Thanks’. To make this card yourself, here is a list of other materials you will need:

Purple card stock for the base (5-1/2″ x 8-1/2″)
Blue ink pad
Blue card stock to match your ink
White card stock
Paper cutter
Ticket corner punch

Sharp scissors
Versa Mark sticky pad
Black heat-emboss powder
Heat tool
2-1/2″ scalloped circle punch
2″ circle punch
‘Happy Birthday’ stamp
Glue runner
3-D double-sided tape
Cuttlebug
‘Victoria’ embossing folder
MS Word and printer
Lost and Found2 stamp set
Shiny paint set
Extra-fine brush

Instructions

1. Emboss the front of the card, using the Cuttlebug and ‘Victoria’ folder. Fold card stock in half.
2. On the white card stock, print out sentiment using Word. Cut around it with paper cutter and use ticket corner punch on each corner.
3. Stamp pen and parasol, using blue ink pad on remaining white card stock. Carefully cut around images.
4. Stamp ‘Happy Birthday’ using Versa Mark pad, allowing enough room on the page for the circle punch to cut around it.
5. Sprinkle embossing powder onto image, shake off excess, and heat until the powder melts. Let cool. Cut out with the circle punch.
6. Punch out the blue scalloped circle and attach the ‘Happy Birthday’ circle to the centre of it using glue runner.
7. Attach the scalloped circle ‘Happy Birthday’ element to the centre of the front of the card with a glue runner.
8. Attach pen and parasol to the front of the card as shown using 3-D tape. The front is now complete.
9. For the inside of the card, cut out a piece of the blue card stock 5″ x 3″ and use the ticket corner punch on each corner.
10. Attach sentiment to the centre of the blue card stock with glue runner and attach to inside of card as shown.
11. Stamp 2 of the stained-glass elements with Versa Mark on remaining whit card stock. Sprinkle embossing powder onto image, removing excess. Heat powder until it melts and allow to cool.
12. Paint the stained glass in any colour variation you like, making sure that each half circle has the same colour combination.
13. Allow paint to dry for a few minutes, then cut around them, attaching one to each side of the card with glue runner.

I decided to do something completely different with card #2. I added velum to add another level. One thing I should have done was stamp the outline on one side, then turned it over to paint the rest on the other so the outline didn’t get painted over. Thats why I usually prefer to use the black embossing powder if I am going to paint an image because the outline is raised and more visible. I was not sure what heat would do to the velum, so I just used black ink.

Materials

Yellow card stock 5-1/2″ x 8-1/2″
White card stock
Velum 5-1/2″ x 4-1/4″
Cuttlebug
Poppies embossing folder

Pebbles Metallic Cream Chalks & applicator
Paper creaser (or pencil – not too sharp)
Ruler
Black permanent ink pad
Red ink pad
Brown ink pad
Rose or poppy stamp
Butterfly stamp (I used one from Martha Stewart’s set)
Shiny paint
Extra-fine brush
2″ circle punch
2-1/2″ scalloped circle punch
2 strips of 1/2″ yellow ribbon, each 5-1/2″ long
Strip of poppy-print paper 5″ x 1-1/2″
Orange paper
MS Word and printer
1/8″ Soowkwang double sided tape
Glue runner
3-D  double-sided tape

Instructions

1. Using Cuttlebug, emboss poppy pattern on a 5-1/2″ edge of the card, making sure that the raised part of the pattern will be on the right-hand side and right-side up.
2. Fold card in half so that the embossed poppies are on the right side of the card front.
3. Lightly brush green metallic chalk over raised portions of the stems and leaves of the embossed poppies, red chalk over the flowers and black over the stamens.
4. Along one 5-1/2″ edge of the velum, use the ruler to measure a 1/4″ seam the whole length of the edge.
5. Use your paper creaser (or pencil) to trace the edge so that you can easily fold the velum at the 1/4″ mark.
6. Wrap the 1/4″ edge of the velum around the right-hand edge of the card front to get a good idea where to stamp the rose/poppy image so that most of the embossed poppies are visible.
7. Stamp the flower in black ink on the front of the velum.
8. Turn velum over and paint the flower. Let dry for a few minutes.
9. On white card stock, print out the sentiment (“Hope your birthday blossoms into dreams that come true”)
10. Cut out sentiment with scalloped circle punch.
11. On remaining white card stock, stamp the Happy Birthday in red ink and cut out with circle punch.
12. Stamp butterfly in brown ink on orange paper and cut out.
13. Now that painted flower is dry, attach the Sookwang tape to the folded edge of the velum so that it will attach to the inside of the card. Attach a strip of the Sookwang tape to the inside of the opposite side of the velum. Peel off the Sookwang backing and carefully attach velum to the front of the card, wrapping the folded edge so it attaches snugly to the inside of the card. (Sorry if that sounds confusing. I should have taken pictures to illustrate the process. Basically, the velum is hooked onto the card front and attached with the double-sided tape)
14. Using the Sookwang tape, attach ribbon along both of the velum’s edges to hide the tape.
15.  With 3-D tape, attach ‘Happy Birthday’ circle to the top centre of the card front.
16. Inside, using a glue runner, attach the poppy-print paper strip to the folded edge of the card and secure the scalloped circle sentiment on the yellow part near the top of the card as shown.
17. Attach the butterfly as shown using the 3-D tape.

Phew! That was more complicated than I thought! Hope I didn’t confuse any of you! 🙂

I think that will be all for today. Enjoy your Wednesday, whether you choose to spend it crafting, writing or working on other things. 🙂

Crafty Wednesday – kids cards

Welcome to another Crafty Wednesday. Sorry it’s been awhile since I actually posted about my cards but I’m sure you know how busy life can get sometimes. Today I have a few cards for kids to show you. Some might be similar to ones I’ve shown you before, but they are not exactly the same. Let’s start with the owl. It is suitable for a girl or a boy.

To recreate the front of the card you will need:

Dark green card stock, 8-1/2″ x 5-1/2″
a long-stemmed plant stamp
black ink pad
wood-grain specialty paper
2-1/2″ circle punch
Stampin’ Up‘s Owl punch
brown paper (about 2″ x 3″)
cream-coloured paper (about 1-1/2″ x 2-1/2″)
yellow card stock (about 1″ square)
red permanent marker
glue runner &/or Sticky Dots
double-sided sticky tape
quick-drying white glue with narrow nozzle
yellow ‘google eyes (those plastic ones with the pupils that move)
leaf stamp
white card stock
olive green ink pad
a strip of green paper 1-1/2″ wide
sharp scissors
lady bug brad
sentiments printed using word processor – any font & colour you prefer

Instructions:

1. Fold green card stock in half to create the 4-1/4″ x 5-1/2″ portrait sized card
2. Stamp the foliage at the bottom of the card.
3. From the wood-grain paper, cut out a tree trunk that is at least an inch wider than your circle punch
4. Use the punch to cut out the hole in the tree, approximately 1/2 way down the trunk
5. Punch out the owl body from the brown paper and the chest part from the cream-coloured paper
6. Attach the chest part to the owl body with a glue runner
7. Cut out a 1″ diamond shape from the yellow card stock, fold it in half and draw a red line down from the fold to create the tongue.
8. Glue the beak just above the chest piece. Glue the eyes above the beak. Set aside to dry.
9. On the white card stock, print out the sentiments for both front and inside (see below) of card and cut it out. on the left over card stock, stamp out several ‘branches’ using the olive green ink pad and cut them out
10. Cut a fringe along one edge of the green paper to look like grass
11. Once the owl has dried, tape it to the inside of the tree trunk so it is looking out through the hole
12. Before attaching the tree trunk to middle of the card with the double-sided tape, stick the lady bug brad about an inch up from the bottom of the tree trunk
13. Tape the ‘grass’ strip to the bottom of the card, so that the lady bug is peeking above it. If the grass strip is too wide, it can be trimmed with a paper cutter
14. Attach the leafy branches in an overlap pattern at the top of the card using a glue runner or sticky dots

For the inside, I used:

Green paper 5″ x 3-3/4″
Cuttlebug
Owl embossing folder
2 gold-coloured ‘jewels’
quick-drying white glue
3-D sticky strips
double-sided tape
Brown and gold-coloured Pebbles Metallic Cream Chalks
Printed sentiment from word processor
Ticket corner punch (Stampin’ Up)
glue runner
Q-Tip

Instructions:

1. Use the Cuttlebug and owl embossing folder to create the owl pattern on the green paper. The paper will be a little smaller than the pattern, so place it fairly evenly on the folder before running it through the Cuttlebug
2. Using a Q-Tip (or the cotton balls that come with the Cream Chalks) apply the cream chalk colour to the raised portion of the owl embossing to help make it stand out (click above to see a demonstration)
3. Centre the green owl-embossed paper to the card and attach with double-sided tape
4. Attach jewel eyes with a drop of glue. Set aside to dry
5. Trim the sentiment to size and clip corners using the ticket corner punch. Attach it to the green with the 3-D sticky strips.

One down, two to go! This pretty little girl’s card is fairly simple to make using Close To My Heart‘s ‘Magic Adventure’ stamp set.

What else you will need:

White card stock 8-1/2″ x 5-1/2″ folded in half
White card stock for embossing
Pink polka-dot paper 5″ x 3-3/4″
Thin string, thread or cord at least 5-1/2″ long
small 1″ squares of multi-colored paper
2″ scalloped oval punch
double-sided tape
3-D strips
shiny paints (or markers or coloured pencils to fill in the design)
Versa Mark sticky pad
black heat-embossing powder
green heat-embossing powder
heat tool
star stamp
silver ink pad
curved-corner punch
printed sentiment using word processor

Instructions:

1. Attach double-sided tape to coloured squares and fold squares over the string to make little flags.
2. Attach string of flags to the back of the pink polka-dot paper with tape, about 1/2″ from the top
3. Centre pink polka-dot paper and attach to front of card
4. Stamp the carousel horse with Versa Mark. Sprinkle on embossing powder, shaking off excess. Use heat tool to melt and set the powder
5. Colour in the design as you like, either with paint, colored pencils or markers. The nice thing about the embossed image is that it keeps the paint from running into the wrong area.
6. Cut out sentiment with scalloped punch.
7. Attach both sentiment and stamped image to the card with squares of 3-D tape

Now for the inside:

1. Using the Versa Mark sticky pad, stamp the roller coaster image to the centre of the card.
2 Sprinkle on the embossing powder, shaking off excess, and heating to set.
3. Using a star stamp and silver ink pad, stamp the area of card above the roller coaster.
4. Stamp the sentiment from the ‘Magic Adventure’ set using the Versa Mark pad
5. Sprinkle on the green embossing powder, shake off excess and heat until set
6. Trim the sentiment and punch off the corners. Attach to card with 3-D sticky tape.

This next feminine card has a bit of a circus theme to it. I used the acrylic stamps from the My Mind’s Eye Lost & Found 2 ‘Rosy “Everything” designs’ stamp set. The set has a vintage look to it and included the tight-rope walker, a hot air balloon, stamps, coins, a typewriter, among other things. I think it might be a discontinued set, as I have not been able to find one on-line to show you. Anyway, without further ado, here is the list of supplies:

Pink card stock 8-1/2″ x 5-1/2″ folded on half
Cuttlebug
Dots embossing folder
Frames die-cutter
Pale blue card stock approximately 3″ x 2″
navy blue ink pad
sponge or ink dauber
Crop-A-Dile
2 pink flower eyelets
pink cord
Flowery ribbon approximately 10″ long
1/8″ wide double-sided tape
2 pieces of Cloud specialty paper, (5″ x 3-3/4″), (5-1/2″ x 2″) cut so that clouds are facing the right way
Versa Mark sticky pad
black heat-embossing powder
heat tool
2″ scalloped circle punch
shiny paints, coloured pencils or markers
sentiments printed on white card stock using word processor
stencils for oval shapes or oval punches (2″, 2-1/2″)
small sticky dots
3-D double-sided tape
glue runner
sharp scissors

Instructions:

1. Using the Cuttlebug and dots embossing folder, place the front of the card into the folder so the dots are punched out on the front. Run through Cuttlebug.
2. Using the Frames die-cutter, place pale blue card stock over the cutting blade and run through Cuttlebug.
3. Cut out the front sentiment by either tracing the oval around it and cutting it out with scissors or using the appropriate sized punch. Sponge around the edges of frame and sentiment with navy ink
4. Centre sentiment on frame and attach with glue runner. Attach frame to the front of the card with 3-D tape
5. Using the Crop-A-Dile, punch holes on either side of the larger piece of cloud paper a little higher than halfway up the page. Insert the flower eyelet into the hole and press with the Crop-A-Dile. Repeat with other hole.
6. String the cord through the eyelets loosely and secure to the back of the cloud paper with double-sided tape
7. Centre the cloud paper to the front of the card and attach with double-sided tape
8. Tie a bow in the centre of your ribbon and attach with double-sided tape to the left-hand edge of card, covering the edge of the cloud paper
9. Stamp images (tight-rope walker and balloon) using Versa Mark, sprinkle with embossing powder and heat until set. Carefully cut around images and colour as desired.
10. On front of the card, use Sticky Dots to attach the tight-rope walker to the cord and card as shown
11. Punch out half a scalloped circle from smaller rectangle of cloud paper about 1-1/2″ from the top. Attach remaining cloud paper rectangle to the left-hand side of the card with glue runner.
12. Place the half scalloped circle opposite its other half and attach with glue runner
13. Trace an oval shape around the sentiment for the inside of the card and cut (or punch) out. Centre over the scalloped circle and attach with 3-D tape
14. Attach the balloon to the bottom of the cloud rectangle with 3-D tape

And there you have it! Three cute cards for kids. Actually, the tight-rope walker one could also be for a teen or young adult. I gave this one to a pre-teen.

So, what crafty things have YOU done lately?