Handmade Valentine's Day Card with a Modified Border Punched Edge

TGIF craft lovers! I'm sharing a card with a modified border punched edge. I decided to bring attention to this simple modification because it opens up new possibilities that I didn't even realize I had until I needed to change the size of my card border. As I sit here studying the rest of my border punches, I see that I can cut them to not only make them my own, but to make new things. The modification description can be found further down in this post.

To make this card I used two border punches, one embossing folder and some ready-made Valentines Day themed embellishments. Oh, and I can't forget to mention those cute little foam flower stickers made to decorate flip flops, but found their way to my house during a clearance sale one day. 
To make this card...
NOTE: After cutting all of your cardstock pieces and BEFORE adhering the pieces together remember to border punch your edges and add your ribbon.
Special NOTE: I modified one of the border punched pieces, details below. Paper Measurements 5" x 7" White base card 5" x 7" Pink plaid mat 5" x 8" White cardstock mat 5" x 6" Pink with white polka-dot cardstock mat 5" x 4" White cardstock mat
Border Punch - the modification 5" x 8" White cardstock mat - Use the Martha Stewart Crafts Around The Page Double Arches Large Punch. After punching the top and bottom of the cardstock, cut the two outer rows of arches off, leaving only one row of arches remaining.  Cut where you see the red lines

5" x 6" Pink with white polka-dot cardstock mat - Use the Ek Success Pointed Flower Border punch on the top and bottom and then attach your ribbon.
To complete your card Place a doily heart on the back of your foam glitter heart and a couple of flat backed adhesive pearls on the top and bottom and your finished!
 Supplies List

Happy crafting and thanks for stopping by!

How To Get More Out of Your Cutting Dies: Looking for Usable Shapes in Die-cuts

Hello crafty friends!
Today I'm sharing something I was messing around with recently. I decided to take one of my fancy die-cuts to see what I could do with it and below are a few of the things I discovered. 
I found a really cute flower among this design. You can also use this particular shaped piece to make wings for a dragonfly, leaves, a cross, etc.

Cut the corner designs away and you have a beautiful butterfly or corner designs for any shape card. Turn one corner upright and you have a crown. Turn it upside down and you have the entire body, hands and feet of a Christmas Caroler (just add a head). Remember you can always cut little pieces off to get a more specific shape. Place a doily or another piece over it and have it as a pretty background filler. Those little loops in the middle of the die-cut could be the trail of a bee.

I found that even your odd shapes can have many purposes. In fact when you look at the photo below on the left, imagine the corner brackets I made as scary pumpkin eyes. 

For one of my recent cards I used a piece of my die-cut just to make the corner of my card a little more interesting. 

So grab a die-cut and start seeing what you can make out of it. 

I used the Cricut Cuttlebug Flourish Emblem die
If you like this you might like these...

How to Get More Out of the Cutting Dies You Already Own: Making an Assymetrical Die-cut, Symetrical

How to Make Die Cuts a Different Shape to Match Your Image

Happy crafting and thanks for stopping by :)

Handmade Valentine's Day Gift Tag: Love with Hearts and Butterflies

Hello crafty friends!
My project today was inspired by Giorgia's January Challenge over at Sketches4All. Her challenge is to make ANY kind of paper project and include at least one heart. I decided to make a gift tag and although I wasn't sure how I was going to go about it at first, I'm really pleased with the way it turned out. 

1. I used a #8 sized Inkssentials manila tag and wanted to leave some of the original color showing through so I did not cover it with anything.

2. Then before I used the embossing folders I took die-cuts and pieces of die-cut swirls and designs and used them as masks.
 
3. Once I lightly applied my first coat of ink over swirls I placed my butterflies over the background and use my ink over them too. 

By using the same ink in increments and lightly each time I was able to build depth into my tag without using any other colors or adding anything to my tag, such as embellishments.

4. After I finished my background and stamped my sentiment with a clear stamp I used my heart embossing folders.

5. To make the hearts stand out more I sponged a little more ink on them while being careful not to hit the tag with my sponge too much.

6. To complete my project I added a tie and bow.

Supplies List

Happy crafting and thanks for stopping by!

Handmade Valentine's Day Card: Brown and Blue Masculine Old-West Valentine

Hello crafty friends! Today I'm sharing a card that fulfills one of the challenges over at Sketches4All. I decided to try making a masculine Valentine's Day card with a bit of an old-west feel. The challenge is to use blue and brown and incorporate at least one heart. If you would like to take part in it you can find it here... Fia's January Color Combo

The paper
The light brown and deep brown paper I used for the base of my card as well as the corners is from Core'dinations "Chocolate Lovers" paper pack. The striped paper I used is from the DCWV "The Basics Stack". There are a lot of cute papers in this 6"x 6" tablet.

The sentiment was a breeze to put together.
I just colored a pre-made white paper doily with Rubber Stampede blue ink and cut out a sentiment from the DCWV "The Basics Stack" and adhered it to the heart.

I used the same blue ink to edge my striped paper on all sides.
To dress up the corners of my card  I used Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Vintage Photo to color white cardstock and then used the Spellbinders Moroccan Accents cutting die to make four corner designs.

I decided to use ink instead of just the light brown paper I was already using because I wanted the designs to have a leather look which unfortunately doesn't show well in the photos, but looks great in person.
I then adhered each one to deep brown cardstock and cut them out using decorative edged craft scissors. 

I hope you will join us over at S4All for the challenge.
Have a wonderful day :)
Supplies List

Happy crafting and thanks for stopping by!

Handmade Valentine's Day Card: Love in Blue and Green

Happy Hump Day friends!
For the remainder of the month I've challenged myself to do as many of the January challenges over at Sketches4All as possible. Inspiration, motivation and direction are wonderful to have and that's exactly what S4All challenges provide. This specific card was made for  Stacy's - Something New or Blue, Card Challenge.

I always like to try and make my own embellishments, but these little cream colored paper roses and green translucent ribbon flowers were just too cute to pass up. 
My card is made up of a 6"x6" base-card with a heart that extends above the top by approximately 1 and 1/4 ".

To make the heart 

I do not have any measurements for this heart because I used a paper heart doily to cut around leaving a margin to make the larger heart. Then I used an extra doily to cut the middle out and use as a template for my smallest sentiment heart. 

• I layered polka-dotted paper and white cardstock that I cut into heart shapes using decorative edge craft scissors. 
• Between those two hearts I placed a paper heart doily.
• I wanted the inner heart to show up so I inked the edge of it with VersaMagic Chalk Ink in Sea Breeze. 
• I used a clear stamp and silver ink to make my sentiment. 
• For the blue decorative edge at the top of my card I used a waste piece from the die-cuts I made for the bottom of my card.

The patterned papers all came from DCWVs "The Basics Stack". I cut them with Spellbinders Card Creator "A2 Bracket Borders One" and then layered them. I used white lace to cover and finish off the upper exposed edge of the paper and I think the lace adds a nice touch.

Supply List

Happy crafting and thanks for stopping by!

Handmade Birthday Card: Pretty in Pink

Hello everyone! Amidst some recent life challenges I've managed to get back to crafting and make a card. What more can we do but move forward when hit with something and what better way to do it than relaxing with some pretty paper and embellishments. :) I wasn't sure what I wanted to do for this months challenge over at Sketches4All and I was preparing to make a Valentines Day card when I got sidetracked by the floral paper my daughter bought me for Christmas. As soon as I saw the paper, I knew what I wanted my challenge to be and what I wanted to make. I love those moments of inspiration. Now I have a beautiful card to give someone or sell in my shop.

I only have two 6" x 6" sheets of this particular floral paper and want to use it for multiple projects so I used it sparingly as accents on my card.

I don't own an embossing folder to make a lattice background so I used my Martha Stewart Scoring Board to make a lattice look.  I took a 6" x 6" piece of white cardstock and lined up the top left corner and bottom right corner on the 6" line on my scoring board and made lines every inch to the right and left of that center line. Then I turned my cardstock, lining up the top right corner and bottom left corner on the 6" mark and repeated the same process. 
I then cut the cardstock in half, saving the other half for a later project. 

To make my pink dots I dipped a knitting needle into light pink acrylic paint and lightly touched my paper where the scored lines cross.

I made my sentiment using a Sizzix die and white cardstock of which I used ink to color. 
Note: I've only used my phrase die on paper and only about five times and not once has it cleanly cut out the phrase for me. I'm not sure why, but even shimming it and running it through my die cutting machine multiple times before removing the paper has not worked. I end up having to cut my phrase out with an X-acto knife and that does not make me happy at all.

To make the corner a little fancy I lined the underside of the striped paper with the floral paper by just cutting a small triangle and taping it in place. Underneath, I used a piece of a die-cut shape cut from white cardstock.

Aside from a couple of bumps in the road this was an easy card to make and worthwhile.

Materials List American Crafts Dear Lizzy's Polka Dot Party 6x6 inch DCWV The Basics Stack (double sided) 6x6 inch Core'dinations White Cardstock StudioG pigment ink (WM0813) Sizzix Phrase Happy Birthday #3 Spellbinders Die D-Lites Flutters  Jolees Boutique Bling Stickers - Pearl Flower Gems Cricut Cuttlebug Flourish Emblem 2002208 Offray translucent ribbon
Lace Trim Happy crafting and thank you for stopping by!

Scrapbook Layout: New Year's Goals

Happy New Year everyone! We have our January DT Challenge posted at Sketches4All and would love you to join us. For the challenge I decided to make a layout that would represent what is going on in my life right now and my thoughts for the new year.

I've had some health problems that are still being worked out which is why I haven't posted since right before Christmas. Although on a good note I was released from the hospital so I could be with my family for the holidays. My recent experiences are the basis for my focus on health. I've already made major changes in my lifestyle so my goals-list is centered around being as strong as I can and to keep pushing forward while enveloped in the love and support of my family. 

All the paper I used for my layout is from the Colorbok Rosewood 12"x12" tablet. I think this paper is so pretty and it was very inexpensive at Walmart.

The health challenge I'm encountering right now has to do with my heart so of course I had to make a pretty heart. 

The first paper of the Colorbok Rosewood tablet is pre-made letters and numbers which were perfect to use for my layout.

To make the word "health" pop as well as the numbers for my square 2015 sign...

1) I was careful to cut out letters/numbers that would be a different color from the letter(s) next to it

2) I adhered each letter to a reddish strip of paper. 

3) I drew sewing stitch marks on the edges with my Sakura White Gel Pen that I excitedly received for Christmas.
4) To decorate the edges of my word I used my Martha Stewart Blooming Vines border punch to make a couple of leafy sections that I adhered to the back of my strip.

I made the clock using the Sizzix Alterations Weathered Clock die, Colorbok chip board and deep green textured paper from DCWV Neutrals Cardstock Stack. 

Note: The easiest way to add the green layer to your chipboard is to glue or tape the chipboard and paper together before running it through your die cutting machine. 

The little plastic flowers are Jolee's Boutique Bling Stickers. 

The awesome black words are epoxy stickers from Heidi Swapp.

Happy crafting and thanks for stopping by!