Fall Fiesta Greeting Card that becomes an Office Decoration

Hello everyone!

Tis the season for making greeting cards! Today I'm breaking from the marathon of Christmas card making with a Fall card that has a little something extra. I had made an Easter card of which the front lifted off to become a decoration, so I decided to do another one similar to that. I think this would be a cute card for someone who works in an office cubical and likes to decorate. The front section has a magnetic back so it can be placed on a filing cabinet or break-room refrigerator, but it also has a loop for hanging with a thumb-tack. I styled the front using a challenge sketch from Sketches4All.   To make the swirly background I die-cut two frames using the largest frame from the Spellbinders Card Creator - Reflective Moment dies. I had to make two because the frame is different on the top than it is on the bottom, so when placed on its side it's not symmetrical. To make a symmetrical background I cut both of the die-cuts in half and used just the bottoms halves of each die-cut. 

 

 

To color the background I used Rubber Stampede ink in Orange and Yellow and Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Red Barn.

To apply the ink I started with the lightest color and using a makeup sponge, placed the color in the areas I wanted it. Then I did the same thing with the remaining colors. Doing it this way allows you to blend the colors a little better.

  I used two dies, in combination, from the Spellbinders Card Creator - Bracket Borders One, to make the cut out at the bottom of the card.

I wanted Fall colors to show through the punched areas so I used white cardstock colored in the same inks that I used above. I did not color the entire piece, but just the area that would show through the cut out section.
The brown base-card is from the DCWV Neutrals Stack.

   The front section is easily lifted away with the magnets. I cut a small section of paper away from the back of the burlap paper that is attached to the card base which gave me the inset for my magnet and keeps it from showing.

Another magnet was placed on the back of the section that lifts off for decorating. I hate to see cards read and then tossed in the garbage so maybe this will help make cards a bit more useful.

   I used a small piece of double-sided tape for the photo, but this is how it would look when removed from the card and hanging.

All I had was white plastic buttons so I took some brown acrylic craft paint and just dragged the paint across the button to give it the look of wood.

The small green leaves were cut using a Sizzix wafer die and colored with Rubber Stampede inks in Green and Yellow.

The large leaves were cut using Tim Holtz Alterations - Tattered Leaves die and colored with the same inks as the background.

To make the leaves look aged I edged them in Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Vintage Photo. Then I used brown watercolor to go back and make the spots on the leaves and some aged veining.

I poked a hole in the burlap to feed my jute twine through, from back to front. To make it easier to get the twine to go through the hole as well as through the bead I used a little hot glue on the end and then twisted the twine ends to make them pointy. After I threaded the bead I placed hot glue where the bead meets the twine and cut off the pointy glued ends.

The entire card can be hung by the loop as well :)   There were a lot of steps to this card, but it was a fun and worthwhile project to do.

Happy Crafting!  

Fancy Christmas Joy Easel Card

Hello everyone!

Yesterday it rained all day here in western Pennsylvania so I got a lot of crafting done, but no photos. Don't you hate it when you want to take photos and it's so dreary you barely get any natural light through your windows. I love the rain, but not the overcast sky.

I just got new cutting dies in the mail yesterday so today I'm sharing a Christmas card that I made with them. I love the dies and can't wait to show you my card, so let's get right to it :)

I made my sentiment in Picmonkey, opened it in Paint, copied it into a document where I could resize it for the label I was going to use and it was worth the time. It turned out great!

 

My card is an easel card, surprise surprise, right? I wasn't sure how to make an easel card with intricate edged die cuts and couldn't find any tutorials on it that showed an easy way of doing it. So after some messing around I figured it out and I only had to use one piece of paper. No extra measuring, folding, joining, nothing. Yeah!

When folded for mailing the designed edge of the card and easel line up perfectly.

I will be making a tutorial, How to Make an Easel for the Spellbinders Card Creator - Reflective Moment Die Cut) and sharing it soon.

 

To make the inside fancy rectangle I used a die that comes in the Spellbinders Card Creator die set called Valiant Honor. I also used this set to make my sentiment die cut.

  To make the snowflake I used the Sizzix #3 Snowflake die and white cardstock. Then I used a mix of Hampton Art embossing powders in dark blue, light blue, dark teal, and cream sparkle to color it.

I added a note-card to the easel base that can be used for a personal message, gift card or whatever you like.

 

I had to run back and take a quick photo because, of course, I didn't remember to do that the first time. Oh well. Don't you just love the background color? It looks like baby, ummm, food. Ya, baby food.

The lacy cut out edge of my card is not very strong so to make it stand more solidly I added a support piece to the bottom center. Then all that was left was to embellish it.

I used a lot of pearls and some white sparkly edged ribbon for the bow.
The printed paper for this project is from the DCWV Winter Solstice Stack. 

Happy Crafting!

Homecoming Dance Scrapbook Layout

Hello everyone!

Just a quick post to show a layout I did for
The Memory Nest Challenge (Make it Monday No. 27).
My daughter and her boyfriend are seniors in high school which makes this homecoming dance the last one. They looked so adorable together with their matching bright red clothes, that I felt inspired to do a LO again. It was also a very convenient color to work with since I have all of my Christmas colors for making cards on my desk currently. I showed it to her this morning and her face lit up. She loves the big gaudy flowers. She is a very eclectic person. She likes bling, but she also loves things like aged-paper and soft lace too. So I tried to use elements that would best represent her.  

  This was a fun sketch to work with.  

   When you don't feel like sewing there is always markers :)

  Happy Crafting!

Christmas Holiday Card: Poinsettia Christmas Cheer

Hello everyone!

Today I'm sharing a Christmas card. With all this Christmas crafting I'm getting excited about decorating. When I asked my family if I could put the tree up this week they laughed at me and looked at me like I'm crazy. I was just kidding, kind of.

I'm enjoying working with the rich, vibrant, traditional Christmas colors and wow do they pop on camera! My card is just a simple 6x6 inch card, but the fun thing was making my first Poinsettia out of red ribbon and I think it turned out pretty good.

Due to the small size of my flower I found it difficult to get my fingers in there to tie off each set of petals, but I got it done and I'm glad I tried it. To make the center of my flower I put a dab of hot glue in the middle and then dipped my flower into some tiny beads. There is a tutorial included below.

I really like DCWV Holiday Cheer Stack paper.

To embellish my card I used flat-backed gems and pearls and to soften the look I incorporated lace and ribbon.

  Poinsettia Tutorial How to Make a Christmas Poinsettia Ribbon Flower
I cut my flower petal shape a little bit different than she shows in the video and I started out using wire as she does, but decided to finish up my petals with thread instead.

  I found the free digital sentiment at 
Aud Sentiments Challenge Blog
The sentiment is black, but I added some red to it.
To cut the sentiment I used Spellbinders Nestabilites Labels 17.
I just got this particular die set and I love the shape.
Well, back to making cards. Time flies when you're having fun :)

Happy Crafting!

Shaker Easel Card with a Note: Merry Christmas

Hello crafty peeps! Hope you are enjoying your day :)   I have continued to work on getting Christmas cards done and would like to share another one with you today. Shaker cards are so adorable and I'm already a fan of the easel card so I combined them. The shaker card does not open, but there is a card for a message on the easel itself.  

 

 A place for a message, gift card, or small photo.

I made both of my scenes digitally and then printed them out on cardstock. I added white glitter with silver flecks to give it that snowy shaker feel and to build out the back for the shaker window I used two layers of thin craft foam of which I hot glued together.

   I like this card so much that I sat shaking it to make snowdrifts this morning. So much fun :)

I shared a tutorial in my previous post on how to make an easel card. I didn't look/watch any tutorials to make my shaker card, but I know there are plenty on YouTube if you would like to make one and don't know how to.   Happy Crafting!  

Christmas Easel Card with a Couple of Surprises

Hello crafty peeps!
Today I'm sharing my first easel card and boy was it a journey! I decided to try making my card with just a pair of scissors, an X-acto knife, a ruler and two paper punches and although it took me a little longer, you can make this card if you don't have any special crafting equipment such as a paper trimmer and Sizzix Die Cutting machine. I have to say though, having the tools to make a card makes it MUCH easier.

I made some mistakes, one still shows, but some mistakes and getting carried away with layers led to new ideas.

  I used paper from the DCWV Holiday Cheers Stack.

 

 

There is a place for a wallet sized photo or gift card that can be added with a little dab of removable/temporary adhesive or you can make it a pocket for cash or a tag.

   

  The easel card opens to reveal a section of which you can write a personal message, add a larger photo, place a stamped image or whatever you want. 

The back of my easel looked too plain so I added some color.

There are no large embellishments inside my card, so it folds flat for ease of mailing. I added a bow to the front, but it won't deform the card as easily as adding something to the inside.

  I recommend the video tutorial below for making the basic easel card. Michael of Notefolds.com tells you the exact sizes of paper you will need for construction of the easel and matting. He made it so easy I had to make one.

Video Tutorial   Out-Take
My background took off, dead pine needles and leaves continued to drop into the photo area and my card kept blowing shut. In fact I couldn't keep my card completely open for any shot. Funny!
Nice Fall color in the background though :)

  Happy Crafting!  

Christmas Card: Happy Winter

Hello Everyone!   Today as I was making my Christmas card it dawned on me that I've been blogging for a year now. It's my Blogging Anniversary! It was a year ago when I discovered paper crafting too and I was so new to it I didn't even share any of my Christmas cards on here.  So this year I get to change that. It's been a wonderful journey of trying new things, growth and meeting so many talented and fabulous people. I've truly and thoroughly enjoyed it. Today's post is short and sweet as I've run out of time, but wanted to share my card. Hope everyone is having a great day.

There are 5 layers of cardstock. The base card is from the DCWV Neutrals Cardstock Stack and the blue printed paper and front snowman tag are from the DCWV Winter Solstice Stack. I usually don't use the pre-made tags from my stacks, but these ones are too cute to pass up. Other materials are white feathers, Sizzix Flourishes #10 (556538), Sizzix Snowflakes #3, white adhesive pearls, Martha Stewart Corner Punch, flat backed adhesive gems, white glitter and Glossy accents.

Happy Crafting!

Altered Paint Can with Altered Paint Brush for Gift Giving

Hello Everyone! Hope you're all having a good day.   For a while now I've wanted to alter a paint brush. There are so many beautiful brushes on the web, but I kind of hit a wall as I like the things I make to have a purpose other than collecting dust. So I decided to add a paint can. I was constantly seeing them separate and thought it would be cute to do them together.

Once the idea hit me, I thought this would be an adorable gift for a beginner, paper crafter filled with little stamps, inks, paper punches and so forth.

As I decorated the can I decided to keep it somewhat plain with a lot of blank, white space (especially on the sides and back) for the new crafter to add her own touches. I left the lid untouched as well, although I may add a white circle with a personalized note should I decide to give it as a gift or sell it. 

A gift package to be filled with items that inspire creativity.  

 

 

 

 

  The Brush

 

I dragged the ink pads (VersaMagic in Spring Pansy, Aloe Vera, Sea Breeze and Pixie Dust) across the surface making sure the edges of each color blended into the next. I love this particular ink for the soft colors and chalky finish.

For the flowers, butterfly, and dragonfly I used clear stamps and Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black. 

 

Then all that was left was to embellish my brush. I chose gems, pearls, lace, ribbon and a paper butterfly punch to top it off. For the hanging pearl strands I just hot glued the top bead to the brush bristles. To make the butterfly firm and shiny I used a light turquoise embossing powder over the entire butterfly.

Once my paint brush was finished I had an afterthought and decided to dip the bristles in pink paint. This step should be done before you decorate your brush and left to dry. Fortunately it worked out okay for me.

The Paint Can I bought my empty paint can at my local hardware store for about $3.50.

Honestly I had difficulty getting started with this. Trying to measure the paper correctly that wraps around the can was a real pain. Well at least until I said, "Heck with it", grabbed a couple of pieces of eight and a half inch by eleven inch cardstock and made a front panel and a back panel.

I'm not a measuring kind of gal, but I did measure from the bottom ridge of the can to the top ridge so I could use my paper cutter to get a precise cut. If you will be putting a border on your can as I did you don't have to worry about this cut being perfect either since it will be covered.

Then I held my cut paper up to the can and made a mark where the handles were located. In the end, my holes for the handle were a little too big and not round, but it didn't matter since I was going to be covering that area up with lace flowers.
  Using small sections of coordinating paper may be easier than trying to cover the whole can at once like I did.   To make the lace flowers I did a running stitch in lace ribbon with jewelry wire. Then I hot glued them to the can.

The rest was easy as you can add anything you want to decorate it.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask :)
Happy Crafting!