Tuesday, February 21, 2023

Everyday Smiles

This sweet card came from my friend Kay Pekin.  I will say getting real mail is such a pleasure!  Thanks, Kay!

What I wanted to highlight with this card is some of the elements.  See how the owl shimmers?  That's because Kay used Shimmer brushes to color the owl.  And she used glitter paper as a background.  Both just make the card extra special.

See the shimmer of the owl?!

Kay clustered elements and added dimension by using foam tape, die cuts shapes, and paper shapes.  

The saying is simple but because it goes across the whole card, it makes a statement.  Any font you have that is small enough will work.

Kay sticks with a few colors - Toffee, Seabrook, and Sapphire - as to not overcomplicate the card.

  • X5957 Sapphire Cardstock
  • D2142 Life's a Hoot Scrapbooking Stamp Set
  • Z4652 Stitched Card Front & Background Thin Cut (used with Z4611 Seabrook Glitter Paper and X5950 Toffee Cardstock)
  • Z3510 Sapphire Shimmer Brush (feet)
  • Z4585 Seabrook Shimmer Brush (wings toward body)
  • Z4373 Watercolor Paints (wings)
  • Z4189 Intense Black (good to use with alcohol markers or water - owl)
  • Z2848 Sapphire Ink (saying)
  • Alphabet font sized to fit


What will you create?

Monday, February 13, 2023

Sweet Treat

In January my Cardaholics group's theme was SWEET TREATS.  Our item needed to include an image or words reflecting that theme. This is my take.  : )  This design is from Make It From Your Heart volume 2, pattern #28.



Let me show you Eat Chocolate Set and Thin Cuts (Z4687) for this set.  Why? Because the sayings are awesome, and the thin cut of the box allows you to put chocolates inside of it (rather than on top of it)!  This is available through the end of March 2023.  But if you like it, get it now (CTMH, like the rest of the world, is having supply chain issues), because once it's gone, it's gone.



Back to the card information...

I used Toffee cardstock (X5950) and Mocha (X6060) with Mocha Ink (Z6531).  I stamped about 6 chocolates at a time, because after inking them, I added clear embossing powder to the Mocha Ink.  If you do it soon enough, the ink will keep the powder attached.  Heat the embossing powder  up and you get the raised look in the color you want!

The card is finished off with drops of Liquid Pearl.

Tuesday, February 7, 2023

Floating Strip Got Snow Card

What better way to associate Christmas with snow, right?!  Especially in Southern California where we don't much snow in December (let alone any month).  Okay, maybe you'll get some at the higher elevations, but not in San Diego.

For this challenge, I found the floating strip technique on Pinterest quite some time ago, and thought this would be a perfect fit.  It's perfect for using up scraps you have lying around (or filed away!)






Strips of paper of various widths are adhered to a transparency sheet.  Space it out as much or as little as you want.  I kept mine spaced the same.

I decided to cut my rectangles with a thin cut that included the scored border.  You don't have to do that if you don't want to (or don't have the thin cut/die cut to do so).  I just wanted to add a little "texture" to my card.

The snowflakes are also thin cuts I've had for awhile.  That's the beauty of buying things - you can still use them even after they aren't for sale anymore.  The larger snowflake I cut from White Glitter Paper (Z3237).  The smaller snowflake is Majestic Holographic Paper (Z3675).

I ran a strip of White Daisy through the rectangular thin cut so that my saying would be embossed too.  Then I cut them into strips, stamped them with my saying, and banner cut them.

Banner Cuts Made Simple:

  • rotate the paper you want to banner
  • eye the middle of the paper and cut upward as far as you want the banner to be.  This will make it so that the two sides will be equal distant from each end (assuming you cut in the middle)
  • rotate the paper back to its original orientation
  • cut from the corner of the paper to the top of the middle cut4
  • rotate the paper and cut the other corner to the middle cut

Putting it together:

Once I cut out the snowflakes and floating rectangles, the cards were ready to assemble.  The true effect of the floating strips are achieved by lifting that element off the card base.  So, 3D Foam was used under the strips to give it dimension.  Then the snowflakes were adhered to the rectangle.

Once that was done, I added individual Blue Belle Sequins (Z3676) to the card with Liquid Glass (Z679) and Pick Up Tool (Z4325).

Done!


An Aside:

You have to try the Pick Up Tool!!  I thought I didn't need it - I had gotten along so well without for so long - but enough people said how much they liked it that I figured I had to try it too! OMG, this tool is amazing!!  It holds onto the individual sequin and allows me to place them right where I want them.  No more struggling with my tweezers (because before sometimes the sequin would move when I removed the tweezers).  You get 2 - 9" tools that you sharpen with a pencil sharpener.  They'll last a long time, and are only $6.50.  Money well spent, I think!

Sunday, February 5, 2023

I'M BACK!

 After two years, I've missed putting information out here.  I've put things on Facebook, but I miss really diving into how and why I make the items I do.

I've updated the look and uploaded a more recent picture.  Now is about learning how to navigate this site again!  : /