Showing posts with label magnetic card. Show all posts
Showing posts with label magnetic card. Show all posts

Thursday, October 30, 2014

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!
 

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Magnetic Burlap Card for Easter - From Card to Decoration

Hello everyone! I'm back in the crafting saddle again and ready to share a new card! A lot of thought went into this one and my goal was to use mostly burlap; so the background, the eggs, the grass, and basket accents are all burlap.

I was looking at greeting cards on Etsy and read in one of the descriptions that the card being sold didn't include an envelope. The reasoning behind this is because it was being sold as a decoration. I'm all for cards being a decoration, but was it really a decoration? It was a beautiful card that could definitely be framed or something, but does your everyday person frame their cards?  The recipient could just leave it on a mantle for a while, but is that truly a decoration or just a pretty card sitting on a mantle? I've also heard people state, "There is no way I would spend that much for a card that will just be thrown away". Well, even if it's not thrown away, what do you do with it? For the non-crafty person or the very busy person, that's a big question.

After some thought I decided to come up with something that really does make a card a decoration. It may not be the best answer and definitely not the only one, but this was my idea. I also want to add that people may be doing this already and I just haven't seen it. 

Make a card that the front lifts off to stand on it's own.


I placed magnetic strips between the decorative part of the card and the card itself. This allows the receiver to easily lift the front off of this #Eastercard and place it on his/her refrigerator, filing cabinet at work or where ever she wants. Then when Easter is over it can be placed with other Easter decorations and put back up next year.








 I had bought a pack of magnetic sheets for printing on and just cut some strips from one page. The strips are strong enough to stick to the refrigerator, but easily pulled from one another.



I cut the eggs out of paper-backed burlap (just free handed them as they don't need to be perfect just close in size) and then used markers to decorate them.


And here it is on the refrigerator :)
#Easterdecoration


Happy Crafting Everyone! 


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